Covid has changed the way we travel. With the opening of borders between countries, H and I took the opportunity to visit Korea in January. Thanks to VTL, we visited Korea to reignite our love for travel and can’t wait to travel more often when the borders open. Interestingly, the last trip before covid was to Seoul too!
For this trip, we didn’t pre-plan any itinerary other than booking a night at Suwon because we are not sure if we are allowed to travel if we were tested positive. Thus, a lot was impromptu and H loved to bookmark places he wanted to visit in the past!
As this is our xth trip to Korea, we decide to explore new places even though the ones we visited previously were memorable too.
Day 1: Singapore – Seoul – Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae – Donsubaek –
Day 2: Mangwon Market – 79 Founyard – Ugly Bakery – Hongdate Dakgalbi
Day 3: Café – Namsangol Hanok Village – Hwanggeum Kongbat
Day 4: Suwon – Suwon Hwaseong Museum –Suwon Fried Chicken - Hwaseong Fortress – Changryongmun – Ji Dong Market – Suwon City Center
Day 5: Beansprout Soup – Yongsan Market – Myeong Dong
Day 6: Seoul History Museum – Korea House – Bookstore Lotte World –
Day 7: Seoul Medicine Market – Market – Army Stew - Korean BBQ
Day 8: Seoul – Singapore
Day 1: Singapore – Seoul – Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae – Donsubaek
Upon arrival, we proceed to do a PCR test at the airport. Afterward, we proceed to Mercure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae for self-quarantine. We stayed in Hong Dae this round as many had feedback that myeongdong has become very quiet without the tourist. Many shops are closed and nothing much to explore at night.
Read more about Mecure Ambassador Seoul Hongdae Here
Donsubaek 돈수백
Our first stop was to visit Donsubaek where they serve traditional pork rice soup. The pork soup is light but delicious. You can try the Bossam pork which comes with kimchi soup in the middle of the original pork soup. It Is even better to have it during a cold winter night. & The best part? it is very reasonably priced!
Donsubaek 돈수백
Address: 56 Hongik-ro 6-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Opening Hour: 24 Hour
After dinner, we went to explore Hongdae street which is still very happening. With the covid restriction in place previously, restaurants and bars have to close at 9pm. In the end, we bought supper back at the hotel to enjoy the food
Day 2: Mangwon Market – 79 Founyard – Ugly Bakery – Hongdate Dakgalbi
Mangwon Market
We visited Mangwon Market on our first day in Seoul as we missed out on many street foods on our last trip. With that in our mind, we tried all the popular street food even though the serving size was big.
Read more on Mangwon Market here
Address: 486-8 Mangwon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul
Opening hours 10am – 9pm, daily
79 Founyard
The bright Tiffany blue building caught our attention when we were freezing. The vintage interior design is cute and the perfect spot for photo-taking.
The café serves various flavors of Crowaffle such as Walnut Crowaffle, Cranberry Almond Crowaffle, Classic Butter Crowaffle, Cheddar Cheese Crowaffle, and Dirty Choco Crowaffle.
We went for the original flavor with walnut and it did not disappoint. The coffee was decent and tasted better than some we had in Seoul. The visit was so memorable that H bought a waffle pan when we return back to Singapore.
With the expansion of the store, you can see many outlets in Seoul and Korea. The one we visited was near Mangwon Market
79 Founyard
Address: 79 World Cup-ro 13-gil, Mangwon 1(il)-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Opening Hour: Daily 11am – 11pm
Ugly Bakery
We chance upon Ugly Bakery when we were at Mangwon Market and saw a long queue outside the bakery. Being the typical Singaporean, we join in the queue after our pitstop at 79 Founyard.
The bakery serves bread with various cream cheeses. It looks really pretty but sadly, it didn’t live up to the hype. Generous filling but after a few bites, you get sick of it. The kaya buns you get at HDB neighborhood are definitely better than that. Nonetheless, the scones are worth getting. Tried the matcha scones with the chocolate and it was good when taken warm
Ugly Bakery
Address: Mangwon 2 World cup-ro 29-gil, i)-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Opening Hour: Daily 12–8pm. Close on Monday and Tuesday
Public Hospital
In the afternoon, we went to convert our vaccination certificate to Korean at the public hospital. Currently, there is no need to use COOV to verify vaccination service.
Hongdae Dakgalbi
We tried Hongdae Dakgalbi since it was just a minute of walk from our hotel. The staff was really friendly and the service was good. Unlike the ones we visited previously, the Dakgalbi was cooked before being served. Thus making it easier for us to "cook" as we only have to heat it up. The chicken was tender and delicious but personally, I still prefer Okeunnae Chicken Rib 오근내닭갈비
Hongdae Dakgalbi
Address: South Korea, Seoul, Mapo-gu, Wausan-ro 21-gil, 31-10 1층
Opening Hour: Daily 11am – 11pm
Day 3: 신이도가Café – Namsangol Hanok Village – Hwanggeum Kongbat
신이도가Café
This pretty Hanok café is hidden in the alley of Hong Dae Street. Love its ambiance, especially the fireplace! Definitely, a place for you to take lots of nice photos. Unfortunately, the drinks and dessert are mediocre.
신이도가
20-12 Jandari-ro, Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Namsangol Hanok Village
After visiting another Hanok village previously, we decided to explore Namsangol Hanok Village which is located in the city! It’s a small and quiet village with Namsan Tower as the backdrop. Personally, I thought it was a nice place to take a stroll.
Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul
28 Toegye-ro 34-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Daily 9am – 6pm , close on Monday
Hwanggeum Kongbat
We set off for early dinner at Hwanggeum Kongbat, the bib gourmand award winner. Love the food and service there!
The Chunggookjang didn’t have a strong fermented odor and was very flavorful! Not forgetting the tofu pancake that tastes a little like potato pancake is equally good! Definitely will be back with my parents in the next round!
Lastly, really thankful for the Ajumma that help us that day. She was worried that we didn’t know how to order and was constantly sharing with us how to enjoy the food even though we can barely understand her.
Hwanggeum Kongbat
9 Mapo-daero 16-gil, Seoul, South Korea
Daily 11:30am – 3pm , 5pm – 9pm
Part 2 Coming soon!
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