First Time in South Korea (Seoul)

Hello world, I am in Seoul, South Korea, my

first

time

traveling outside of Japan to another Asian country. I knew practically nothing a week before visiting. So all I did was take a look at Google Maps. and observe the place from the air and the streets One thing I noticed were the clusters of residential apartment buildings. I also saw some beautiful mountains surrounding the city and a huge river. Since I didn't know anything about Seoul, I spread the word on social media. The media and some kind people agreed to show me around, so this is what I experienced during one night, two days and one morning in Seoul.

And by the way, I was going to make this a chronological video, which will be more or less... But seriously I'm going to digress and jump back and forth in

time

throughout the entire process. It will be OK. But we have to start somewhere, so how about at the amazing airport? Yeah, I'm using Google Translate for all the Korean names because well, I guess he's better than me. Google Translate: I really couldn't ask for much more from the airport; beautiful, clean, spacious, modern. Everything from immigration to baggage claim, exchanging cash and getting Wi-Fi was easy. Although they penalized me like five percent in the exchange.

Finding where the trains were was simple and my next task was to get some money No, no, not this guy. Once these guys were in my hands, I loaded it up at the kiosk and was ready to ride public transportation or pick up a few things at the convenience stores. The train system was fantastic. It's quite affordable, especially compared to rates in Tokyo, for example, to get there. to the heart of Seoul from the airport cost me four thousand one hundred and fifty won using the A'REX train with all stops. Which sounds like a lot, but it's actually about four US dollars.

Okay, quick pause here. I'll mention money a few times. The quick and dirty way to calculate how much Korean currency is in US dollars is to divide the number by a thousand. Yes one zero zero zero, thousand. So if you have five thousand won, that would be five dollars. Well, back to the trains. Anyone who has traveled to Seoul knows that it is about an hour's drive to the heart of the city from the main international airport. During my trip, what caught my attention. Right away, the roads, the width of the roads were much more similar to what I saw on my visits to the US and what I was used to in Japan.

For example, let's pause here. There are ten lanes in total. In Japan, the largest highways I've seen have six. Although there are usually only four: two lanes in one direction, two lanes in the other. Very good. So those are the highways, or highways... or whatever you want to call them. The local roads were even more noticeable to me. In Tokyo, you can find eight lanes from time to time. But the design usually includes a median, most likely 2 or 4 lanes. Honestly, some of the streets in Seoul reminded me a lot of some found in Vancouver in Canada.

I also like some cities I visited in the United States. Anyway, long story short: Coming from Tokyo, I noticed there were bigger roads and more cars in Seoul. When I got further into the city, the train became underground and well, the subway is boring. footage So let's move on to a night out. Now, the goal of my trip was not to party or do touristy things. But because of what I needed to film, which wasn't actually this video, I ended up staying in the Hongdae university area, where I was told that young people like to let themselves go.

Look at this photo: Notice anything? My wife did it. Holding the arm After she gave me a hint, I opened my eyes and saw that there were public displays of affection everywhere, yes, PDA all over Seoul. Now, depending on where you are from. This may be gentle or tame, but coming from Japan it seemed wild, absolutely wild. Anyway, nice park, fun atmosphere. Many people enjoying a night out with friends and lovers. I was getting hungry and needed something to eat. Since my only friend in Korea abandoned me. Thanks T. Just kidding, wedding anniversaries are big things.

I had to try to solve my hunger problem on my own. I decided to limit my risk and choose a place with picture menus. Now I heard that Koreans spoke English pretty well and I was in a university area of ​​the city. So I decided to just say the name of the dish on the menu: Number One, Aged Beef Steak. What I got was a blank stare (laughs). But hey, that's why I pointed to the image menu and everything was fine. I did a couple of hours of language study. But from all that time the only thing I can say is, what I think it means.

Thank you. But who knows if any Korean understood me when I muttered it. I know you're wondering. No, I don't think it was the number one aged beef steak in Seoul. But I will say that inside that building... I sure give them that. After eating, I went to a few different areas. These are much more festive. I noticed a lot of things, but to prevent this video from going off the rails, I'll only talk about one of them now: street food and street vendors. It was a nice atmosphere and there were many things you could easily buy while walking the streets.

Come to think of it, I only filmed people receiving it. I didn't actually try any, but I'm sure everything was fine. Well, to bed. I woke up and during the day I did what I came to Seoul to do. So we'll go straight into the night, where I had some locals to show me the ropes. First stop was Korean BBQ. Alcohol and meat, sounds like a fun time. Yeah...I have that whole Asian blush. That? Have you never heard of him? Thanks to my DNA, alcohol makes my skin red. It's called Asian flush and it affects about 36 percent of Northeast Asians, with higher rates among Asian Americans.

Yeah, so no drinks for me, but it was fun to see the meat, on the other hand. , it was great . It's perfect for those of us following a low carb diet. I've been to Korean BBQ in Canada and Japan, but it's fun to get the real experience in Korea. Of course, Korean food in Korea is good. After that I was going to go home but somehow another friend joined in and I went to an old school Korean inspired pub that the ladies made, which is an unfiltered rice wine. It looks cloudy. Since this is an old school bar, they used these gold bowls, reminiscent of those used over half a century ago.

And as you had, you also need to get what a salty pancake is. There were also thin, chewy noodles. in a cold, vinegary broth. Of course, the always useful scissors were used again. Food? All good, I had to try a little Asian color or not. Well, good morning. I arrived earlier than when I was going to meet a couple of good people. But really, children in my eyes. So I decided to take a stroll through the attractive doors and had a chance encounter with this group. By the way, this was the actual changing of the guard, I found it quite fortuitous as it seems they had a lot of enthusiastic followers.

To take my photos I didn't even have to run like a groupie, luckily. Another type of group I found were students, some of them were having discussions in English. So I guess they were from the United States and came for the culture. studies. It would be a great experience for a Korean-American. I think most of the students came from Korea and, in case it wasn't a bad tour, after leaving the palace gates, I met my

first

group of tour guides, Jonas and * *I hope this is correct ...if not, I'm sorry. I expected to only go by subway and on foot, but instead I was told that a taxi would be the best way to get where we were going quickly.

Taxis in Tokyo can be expensive, so it was good news for her that taxis in Seoul are quite affordable. starting from 3,000 won for the first two kilometers. Where we headed was an area in , which is full of small alleys and fancy restaurants. Apparently it is not yet a foreign tourist spot, but it is popular with locals. They took an old area and modernized it with stylish cafes and shops. And then there was time for lunch. No, we did not eat at this store, which is what it is doing. We went to the more geriatric area a few blocks away.

That's when I realized this. I was pretty sure what was going on, but I had to ask for confirmation. Yes, these random things on the road were saving parking spots. In fact, I had encountered scenes like this on my first night in the city. Kind of like when someone in Philadelphia will call the savesies after they shovel snow. Except in Seoul this seems to be happening without snow. But back to our food, I'll let one of my tour guides explain to me what we're going to eat. Well, these are cold noodles (naengmyun). There are two versions, with broth and without broth.

They gave us the one with the broth. And this tastes like vinegar and pork. It is generally very chewy, so you have to cut it with scissors before eating it. Koreans make the cross like this: one way, another way (cutting noodles vertically and horizontally). This is mandu. I think it's the same thing, equivalent to gyoza in Japan... But this one is steamed. This is kimbap. It is similar to sushi rolls. Like maki. Pickled radish and... what's it called, some green salad and the most famous Korean dish, kimchi, fermented cabbage. Next on the itinerary was to return to the west side of the city.

We are now standing at the entrance of Mangwon Market. and this is near the World Cup stadium. Until 3 or 4 years ago, a celebrity put this area on her show. This place was pretty bad, but he revived it and the market became famous with many foods and the like. , appetizers. So, a lot of people visit during the weekends for dates or with family. I was told that this market was made by the Japanese, a long time ago. It makes sense since the top structure is very similar to what I've seen in Japan. For example, this is an arcade in Asakusa in Tokyo.

However, the atmosphere is completely different. While in Japan sellers sell their products mainly in stores. You can see here that the products are actually spilled on the streets. It reminds me a little of the stores you would see in Chinatowns. Some sellers will sell directly from the farm. So it's also kind of a farmers market. This store is where they sell kimchi, the most famous Korean food. And they also have savory side dishes (banchan) that you can eat. They put gochujang on everything, which is the red paste that all Korean dishes use and they add salt, soy sauce, everything and it is eaten (banchan) with a little rice.

And it's really good. Koreans love to eat with their dishes. One of the things that visitors writing about the area seem to do is try and sample the wide variety of food along the way. I participated in some shows, but I was very busy. I was filming and had only a few hours in the day. So unfortunately I didn't take much time to stop and try everything. I would recommend spending more than 30 minutes and coming on an empty stomach. Despite some taxi trips I took. I find myself riding the Seoul subway system again. I found it quite easy to navigate.

The main system in Seoul proper is the Seoul Subway, which has nine color-coded lines. Every time you get on the subway. With the t-money card it costs only 1,250 won to travel up to ten kilometers, which is incredibly cheap: just over one US dollar. Every station I visited had protective walls. Which was very nice to see; In Tokyo many stations do not have this and every year there are many accidental deaths. One thing that was hard for me not to notice was the relief item storage area and smoke masks in some of the video feeds. They also had a description of what to do in case of an emergency, like a fire on the train.

I had heard that trains can be loud when people talk, and yes, sometimes people talk on the phone, but it is much quieter and orderly than the public transportation I've taken in Vancouver and out of the city. On five or six trains I took, the volume levels didn't seem all that drastically different from the Tokyo trains. Although I will say that the Seoul subway system has a lot more video screens. Now I really wanted to see the inside of different types of homes while I was in Seoul, I'm a messer, what can I say? But seriously, it's something a tourist wouldn't have the opportunity to do and I wanted to be more like a local.

I totally failed in that sense, but I did learn a little about the different types of accommodation. That's because my next local guide, Peter, who is an architect, was able to share some things with me. These buildings, our office phones, which are rooms that you can rent for business, but they also have amenities like a small kitchen, so some people end up as well. living where they work In addition to them, and perhaps difficult to distinguish, are the usual homes. This area is very close to the old palace walls,so just after passing the skyscrapers you find these small houses crammed into a hill.

You may have noticed that some of these are falling apart. Why is that ? I was told that some of these types of areas were rebuilt into clusters of skyscrapers like this one. Well, this area was on its way to doing so, so why keep its place if it's going to be torn down and rebuilt? As I said before. This is right near the historic palace walls. So the redevelopment plans were stopped by the current mayor of Seoul City. So this resident here was telling us all about it and how many of the houses in front of him have been abandoned.

Others have decided not to wait and simply renovated their homes. On the other side of the hill we find this completely remodeled area. If you use Google Maps in satellite view, you can see that these groups of towers can be found all over Seoul. Between the towers, I have to say that it is a very nice place to walk. There are amenities like parks spread everywhere and there is cafe seating here. Without the cafe, I'm told some of these trees are very expensive imports from other areas. quite a different feel than the older areas of Seoul.

And what is an old housing area like? Well, like thisSo, the brick building in the back is where most Koreans live with their family. It has a floor for a house and a villa called in Korean and they are very old, so if you walk in it's really...what's up? you call it---the plumbing and the bathroom, the kitchen, everything is so old, as if real Koreans live there. This is the only type of housing unit. I was able to enter because my guide Jonas resided in one. Here's a quick tour for all the curious. I don't even have a bed frame because it was out of stock when I went to Ikea to buy it.

So I never bought it since then. I noticed three things I didn't see in Japan or Canada. First was the bathroom. Yes, the bathroom does not have a shower or bathtub. So when it gets wet, it gets wet everywhere. A wet bathroom People, I tried really hard to see a more spacious and modern bathroom. I heard they exist, but what I saw in another house was similar, an all-in-one bathroom with no separation between the shower, toilet and sink so the water would go down and drain and you would have to wear slippers to not get your feet wet, but well, I got a video of a more modern bathroom; exist.

The second difference is the closed balconies. Most balconies in Japan. It may have a roof, but it's usually outdoors for drying clothes, even in Japan's fancy new residential buildings. It will be like this. These old apartment blocks in Seoul have enclosed balconies. Finally, the third big difference is the roofs of these old buildings. It seems like everyone has access to the roof. I did a terrible job filming, but there was a small garden and racks for drying clothes. By now you may have noticed that the afternoon was starting to fall, but I was actually a little early.

So let me back up a bit before going to To see what some of the old dwellings were like, I found myself in the area of ​​In the distance you can see the gate, which is the entrance to *, (* Cheonggyecheon is not the royal palace .Gyeongbokgung is the royal palace, I think Greg I just used the wrong sound bite :) ) the royal palace whose name means It is a palace truly blessed by heaven. I didn't go in, there were many other areas to travel and traverse like *this stream used to be covered in concrete* (This is not Myeong-dong, this is Cheonggyecheon) until in 2003, a project was undertaken to tear down an overpass and restore the creek While the walk along the creek is beautiful today It didn't actually look like this before, when it was covered in concrete in 1958.

In 1904, it looked like this After the Korean War in the 1950s, it housed houses improvised and it was a bit monstrous. In any case, it's a lovely walk and the stream helps keep the temperatures down. It's a shame I was only able to spend about 30 minutes here before moving on to the next place. Which was, I actually only stopped here because it was on my way to another place we were going. Apparently it is a very touristy market. And I was told that if you are looking for something more authentic, you should go to one like the one shown above.

At the next stop, we first had to take a short bus ride to the area. In fact, we traveled through this mountain to get here is the big boring area of ​​Seoul. There is a large US military base next door. It has been slated for years to become a large park like Central Park in New York, but it hasn't happened yet. It is a very lively area. area and even on the streets you feel like you are in the Food club. Yes, "I like to eat" is what Fifty Cent said. Something that caught my attention were the large open windows and seats.

I can see everyone eating, from outside! This is not just in . But in all the areas I visited. Most restaurants I see in Japan seem more closed and intimate. While this area clearly has foreign influence, I felt that way in many of the areas I visited. Some things were Chinese, some American, and some Japanese. In fact, I was surprised by how many American fast food chains I could see, from KFC to Dairy Queen, that didn't just have a presence in the United States. There was also a prominent Muslim section of the city and generally an interesting mix of cultures in the area.

We ended tonight at a restaurant that served a variety of dishes that you would find made in a family home. Even ask my guide to explain them all to you. Since that would be a whole video in itself! And surprise, surprise...again, the food was good. Well, it's my last day in Seoul and I finally reached the Han River, the huge river that divides the city into the north and

south

. I had been traveling on the north side, so it was nice to be able to see the

south

. This part of the city is actually an island in the Han River and is Seoul's main financial and investment banking district.

What I saw once again were motorcycles that had been seen passing throughout the city. I thought Tokyo had a lot of motorcycle deliveries, but I was very sad. mistaken. I was really looking forward to receiving a delivery. I was told that it was popular to have chicken delivered while enjoying the boardwalk along the Han River. Unfortunately, this was not to be this time. Another thing I could see in the area were older style apartment buildings. The numbering was similar to what I have seen in public housing in Japan, so I assume they were public housing. But I honestly don't know if this was the case.

So my guide for this morning was to show me the river park. Here, it's usually busy on the weekends, although quite a different scene on weekdays. Something I didn't expect to see was a high number of road bikes and a low number of city bikes. In Japan, almost everyone uses basic bicycles. From mothers with their children to grandparents away from home. Somehow I thought it would be the same in Seoul. But it turns out that cycling is a much more serious thing here. Kind of similar to where it used to be in Vancouver. The day before I had experienced fantastic weather, but today was not going to be the same.

Although it was forecast to be sunny later in the morning The fog never seemed to lift My guide told me that if the fog had not lifted by late morning It was actually smog and not fog One of my guides the day before told me had said that many in Seoul are now learning to monitor air quality through apps. It's much easier to see what's happening in the air. You can see the flow compiled from weather data. And with that it was time to rush to the airport, but not before eating one last thing. This time we went to a shopping center, which I think was the least distinctive building.

I had visited it throughout my time in Korea. It could have been any mall in North America or Japan that I visited. Of course. The food court was a little different though. We tried to order on a touch screen, but it turns out: Guide: You need a card, but I only have Samsung Pay. Greg: Oh! Then you can't even order. Guide: Yes :c I think this was the meal with the least amount of dishes I've tried so far. Many thanks to everyone who showed me around Seoul and apologies to those I couldn't meet. Thanks for watching. , See you next time.

Bye bye! Have you ever lived in or visited Seoul before? How was your experience? I'm tired