Seoul Day 1

Ok so I'm obviously trying to prolong my vacation high by blogging about it! Realised my vlog was way too short and I wanted to immortalise some memories and photos of the trip anyway so here's day 1!

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Day 1 

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So day 1. We got on a night flight so we arrived in the morning at about 6:30? It's a 6 hour flight from KLIA to Incheon Airport. Tania and I, because we bought tickets at different times, travelled on different airlines! Both on the same night, and I left 15 minutes earlier. I got on Korean Air and she on MAS. We arrived within 30 minutes of each other but eventually reunited at baggage carousel.

We had to wait around in the airport for about 4 hours before leaving for our accommodation. I highly, highly recommend an AirBnb for your accommodation rather than a hotel because Airbnb's in Seoul are incredibly well located and are all over the place. They are also really nicely decorated and really well-kept. Not that other Airbnb's aren't but the other day I was looking around for Airbnb's in Japan (for funs sake) and it was so... dodgy! See the difference for yourself and you'll agree with me that Airbnb's in Seoul are so much nicer and so much more convenient in terms of location.

We stayed in Hongdae because I personally really really really love Hongdae and we wanted to be near it. Though I will say it's so far from Gangnam and Myeong-Dong and became quite a chore to go back and forth. But Hongdae is just so convenient because the AREX (the airport train express) gets you from Incheon Airport to Hongdae straightaway. You don't have to change trains and all that. Which is probably our main reason of choosing Hongdae. We had bags with us and didn't fancy the idea of lugging them around the city.

Completely forgot to take photos of our accommodation but you can kind of see it through our vlogs. It was really, really nice. Small but really homey. Tania and I got our own queen sized bed, there was a couch, a TV, a kitchenette and all sorts of handy facilities (like a hair straightener... forgot how much I loved having one). Most (although not all) Airbnb's in Korea also provide a WiFi egg that you can bring around so you're good with Internet wherever you go. Super super handy and saves you from buying data. Sigh should I just go on and on and on about how I love going to Korea???

So after arriving our accommodation, guess what we did?

Slept.

Yep. We slept! We were basically dozing off whilst waiting at the airport and we were just so so so mengantuk. I hardly got any sleep on the plane and I could feel my body and soul calling out for the massive bed. We both took a nap before than heading to one of our favourite places in Seoul - Myeong-Dong!

Myeong-Dong is a beauty haven. Just shops after shops after shops of beauty and skincare. If you're a big fan of Korean make-up and skincare then having Myeong-Dong as your first stop isn't really a great idea considering how you'd just spend ALL your money there. We didn't because we knew we were going to go again next time. We were there to see the nightlife - soooooo busy! So many food stalls and it was so lively. Lights from store fronts and different kinds of smells from the different food. It was so fun but ridiculously crowded.

Whilst walking around, we saw a big poster about an Indian restaurant so we decided why not? Indian food anywhere is always a great idea, right?

Right. Because we had the best tikka chicken ever in life. Duuuuudezz, better than Khan's any day and I LOVE Khan's. SO good! I took the first bite out of the chicken and if animation was real, I'd have heart eyes 5x the size of my own eyes. SO good and I was so perplexed how they could make such great chicken tikka. But so sedap lah ok, please go if you can!! Halal options are also available there. It's called The Masala and it's located on the 6th floor of this mall (I ***think*** it's called Noon Plaza or something like that) in Myeongdong. I'm the worst when it comes to giving directions, sorry babes. But if you're up to eat really traditional Korean food, there's aplenty! You just have to navigate yourself around some of its alleys and you'll find everything you want and need. 

And then we went on around shopping. Aland is one of our favourite place to shop cause it exudes really cool and quirky vibes all around. It's also one of the only places you can find COSRX products in Seoul. Some of the pieces can be quite pricey but if you're determined to find a good bargain, then you totally can. I found a pair of black pants for 18,000 W (so $18 USD) which I think is so affordable. Even after converting to MYR, it was still really cheap.

After all that and walking around, we went back home. Sigh. I love Myeong-Dong, brings out the inner shopper in you. It was pretty inevitable to spend a bomb whenever I was in Myeong-Dong. Had a sales assistant who literally pulled me in. LITERALLY. Grabbed me by my arms and dragged me in. I mean, gotta admire the persistence.

Food, skincare, make-up, clothes, K-Pop (there's 2 shops at Exit 6 that dedicates everything in store to K-Pop... *heart eyed emoji*), everything! The colourful shop signage and the really cute store exterior adds to the charm of Myeong-Dong. Koreans themselves don't really like to go to MD because it can get pretty intense with the influx of tourist but hey, I am a tourist so I love it hahaha

See you in day 2's post!

xx