My week in Korea

My old coworker friend from NYC had a trip planned to Seoul, Korea and was kind enough to let me join her for a week! She lived in Korea before and speaks Korean, so she was really helpful in making the itinerary, showing me around, and navigating the city. She’s coming to Chiang Mai and Bangkok at the end of November, so I promised to return the favor then by showing her my favorite spots in Bangkok.

Some highlights broken down by day:

Day 1 – perfume making class; light show at Han River

Day 2 – Alpaca World and Nami Island

Day 3 – color consultation; shopping at Goto Mall

Day 4 – exploring Insadong

Day 5 – hanbok rental and photoshoot; exploring Hanok Village

Day 6 – Coex Mall; Seoul Forest Park; Dongdaemun Design Plaza; watching buskers in Hongdae

Day 7 – Sokcho beach

My friend took me to a bunch of different neighborhoods throughout Seoul, including Myeongdong, Hongdae, Apgujeong, Insadong (lots of cute/trendy cafes and shopping), Hanok Village, Sinchon, Namsan, etc.

Color consultations and color theory is pretty big in Korea, and has gained popularity outside of Korea as well. Before doing the consult, I had a feeling that I’d be a light spring. It turns out, my main palette is indeed light spring, and my sub palette is mute autumn. My worst palette is deep & dark winter (I don’t know if I’m ready to get rid of all my black clothes just yet :/). It was pretty fascinating how quickly they were able to decide my colors, by holding fabric swatches up to my face and flipping through them. At the end, they gave me a packet highlighting which makeup, outfits, hair colors, accessories, and nail colors suit me. Even though I still love my black and white neutrals, I may try to incorporate more light colors and pastels into my wardrobe, like pinks, blues, etc.

My friend and I also did all-day hanbok rental and photoshoot. The hanboks were really intricate, and we also got free admission to Gyeongbokgung Palace since we were wearing them. I loved seeing all the different hanbok colors and patterns that people were wearing. However, it was pretty hot to be totally covered up in hanboks, so we lasted a few hours and then decided to return them and walk around Hanok Village.

It was nice to take a few day trips and explore outside of Seoul as well. At Nami Island, I liked seeing the wild bunnies everywhere, which were actually really comfortable with people. They let us get so close to them! I also enjoyed the Gangchon rail bike; I’d never done it before, and the scenery and views were incredible.

The last day before my flight, we went to Sokcho beach, and this might’ve been my favorite day in Korea. I wish we could’ve had more time in Sokcho. We were only able to reserve the bus tickets in person since we don’t have Korean credit cards, so ended up reserving them last-minute. Luckily, we got the last two spots going to Sokcho in the morning and were able to depart later that night. Sokcho is such a charming beach town with great food. It was beautiful to be surrounded by the beach on one side and mountains on the other.

Korea has been on my bucket list for a while, and I’m so grateful that I had the opportunity to go. It’s really amazing to be able to explore throughout Asia while I am here, especially because it’s much more affordable to do so while I’m already in Asia, as opposed to traveling there from the US.

Now, it’s back to work for me!