I am so excited to be back to Korea ~ My Kimchi land after my last impromptu visit back in 2019! It NEVER gets boring going back to Seoul time and time again. I booked my flight and accommodation SUPER SUPER early in early 2023 as the flight tickets were way cheaper than pre-covid times! AND dang it I did not put in much consideration on the date I visited as my trip coincided with Korean Thanksgiving Day (Chuseok), also known as their Mid-Autumn Holidays and the weather.

Chuseok is a nationwide holiday observed in Korea, shops will be closed – No shopping at the underground shopping center (except for big departmental stores, tourist frequent areas like – Myeonggdong, Hongdae, Gyeongbokgung Palace are open). For those who hometown is not from Seoul, this is the best time for them to travel back to their hometown given that Korean government has relax the Covid restriction. This holiday season is also an opportunity to allow restaurant owners to take a well deserve break and families to gather and pay their respect to their ancestors. Likewise, for those who chose to stay in Seoul the traffic is significantly not as congested as the daily traffic.

For this trip I planned to do things which I had never done before or only watched on K-varieties shows. Hopefully, I will not lose steam in sharing my thoughts on the activities/ foods that I tried during my trip. It was rather hot (H: 27^oC L: 21^oC) while I was there as the weather is slowly transiting from summer to autumn. It is slightly cooler at night and boy when it rains it rains the whole day! It’s not the typical rain drops I feel in Singapore. It almost felt like snow drizzling down from the skies.

Wifi Router – I am sure everyone will need wifi access to search for directions, what to do, what to eat, etc. In the past I used to purchase my wifi rental from Changi Travel Wifi. For this trip I did a comparation between Changi Travel Wifi and Klook and it appears that Klook offers a better deal. Redeeming the router at Incheon airport is very convenient, fuss free and the connection is fabulous. I opted for unlimited data, connect up to 5 devices with complementary device Insurance from WIFIDOSIRAK. At the end of the rental period, all you need to do is go to the counter where you pick up your router and drop it off at the collection box. Fuss free process.

Airport Limousine – When I was doing my research on the most convenient route to the hotel, Airport Limousine was a better option for us. On my previous trip, I took AREX Incheon Airport Express Train to Seoul Station and from Seoul Station I change subway to the hotel. Yes AREX is much faster; however, the thought of lugging the luggage from the different subway line and having to carry them up flight of stairs is just not appealing to me. It is rather difficult to find an elevator / escalator as mostly stairs are found within the subway station!!

While I was booking my Airport Limousine bus transfer from Klook it did not occurred to me that the Airport Limousine service offered by them is a different company from the one that is nearest to the Skypark Central Myeongdong. When I exchange the klook voucher for a physical ticket (very seamless process) I was told by the counter staff that I will need to alight at Lotte Hotel Seoul @ Euljiro 1(il)-ga. It did not ring any warning bell to me that I purchase the wrong ticket and all I was listening was the subway station.

As such when I arrived and alight at the bus stop outside Lotte Hotel Seoul I was so confused. I recall from the map that Skypark Central Myeongdong is very near to the airport bus stop. Doing a quick search via Google map, Kakao map and Naver Map was not exactly helpful at that point in time, it was rather stressful as my dad was asking where we should go! I end up walking to one of the entrances/ exit to Euljiro 1(il)-ga station, look for exit 5 , go up the street level I got confused again as I could see where I alight initially from a far! I could have just crossed the road and saved me the hassle of carrying my luggage down flight of stairs.

In summary, if you are staying at Skypark Central Myeongdong – Take bus 6015 (from Incheon airport, Terminal 1 – Level 1 Gate 5 (I believe) and alight Seoul Royal Hotel instead of bus 6701 where you will need to alight at Lotte Hotel Seoul. Alternatively, reach out to the hotel to confirm the airport bus number that is closer to where your hotel is.

Hotel – This time round I booked my hotel within the vicinity of Myeongdong and I seriously cannot be happier with my choice. Skypark Central Myeongdong is so convenient and due to their location they are sold out pretty fast. It is within walking distance to subway station (Euljiro 1(il)-ga), Incheon Airport Limousine bus stop (Bus 6015) and Myeongdong station, exit 6 which is within 10 mins walk.

If you are taking the subway, the hotel recommended exiting from Euljiro 1(il)-ga, exit 5 as there was a elevator to the street level and you do not need to carry your luggage up flights of stairs! Subsequently, I learned that exiting from Euljiipgu Underground Shopping Center (2nd exit / Euji 2) – you will bypass a men wear shop and it was very much nearer as compared to exiting from exit 5. Provided you do not have to carry heavy luggage, otherwise please stick to Euljiro 1(il)-ga, exit 5 and follow the map direction.

Cash or WOW Pass – Cash is widely accepted in Korea. You can also use credit cards at cafés/ restaurant. I saw Klook promoting the WOW Pass (a prepaid card for cashless payment in Korea) and I was initially thinking of getting that card. Since it will help me exchange my currency to Korean Won at a better rate, I do not have to carry coins and it also has a T-Money function (for subway/local bus). As I was debating whether to get the WOW Pass or bring more cash, I decided to go ahead and bring cash as it makes more sense to me. Based on my previous experience, street food + shopping at night markets / underground shopping mall prefers cash. A friend who visited Korea a week earlier than me also confirmed that street vendors prefer cash. Use credit cards when you feel you are slightly low in cash or if you do not wish to visit a money changer. Just a note: Money changer is easily available within Myeongdong. Also to be honest I do not see many people using the WOW Pass machine at the subway station.

T-Money – This is a local transport card which you can reload money at the subway station. You can easily purchase the T-Money card at a local convenient store such as GS25, CU, 7-ll. I got mine at one of the CU stores at Myeongdong, since I got the cuter design I paid slightly more as compared to the simpler design. There is no cash value in the card and you will need to reload it yourself. You will need cash to reload the card, indicate the amount you want and the machine will give you the change accordingly. For starter you might want to reload 10,000 won and top up accordingly during your trip. If I don’t remembered wrongly 1250 won was deducted and if your destination is beyond the 1250 won the reader will deduct the additional amount accordingly.

Since we were unable to check in, we drop off our luggage and excitedly head out to grab lunch. So let the rest of the trip adventure begins!

XOXO