1 night, 2 days in Seoul
KAYO KISHIDA
17 days ago
I usually visit on a quick solo overnight trip, so this time I took my mother on a one-night, two-day trip to Seoul. We left Kansai Airport at around 10:00 and arrived at Incheon Terminal 2 around noon. Because we had to move to Terminal 1 for the reserved luggage delivery, it took about 20 minutes by free shuttle, and from there we took a limousine bus into Seoul. Losing so much time moving around the airport was a real pain.
Because it was my mother's first time in Korea, we next took the Seoul city bus at Gwanghwamun.
There was only one every 30 minutes, so we had to wait here as well. Because APEC was being held, traffic was severe, and what was supposed to be almost a full loop around Seoul had to be cut short with forced stops, which was disappointing → we were worried we might not make our next appointment. However, we were able to visit places we hadn’t been to yet, like Namsan’s hanok village, which will be helpful for next time. The bus allows passengers to get on and off freely and stops at famous points. We got off at Myeongdong, Namsan Gol Hanok Village, and Dongdaemun DDP Plaza.
However, the bus only runs until 5:00 PM, and as I mentioned earlier the roads were very congested, so at the Namsan Gol Hanok Village bus stop the bus didn't arrive for about 20 minutes. It was the last bus, so we were very anxious. I wish there had been a function online to check the bus location. Also, if you're going to use this bus, I think you should use it first thing in the morning. We didn't have nearly enough time. In addition, the bus stop at Namsan Seoul Tower in the evening had a very long line of people, and it didn't look like we could get on the bus easily.
The next plan was a reservation to make a norigae at Risle in the lodging area of Insadong. The roads were so congested that the bus barely moved, so we took the subway from Dongdaemun History & Culture Park to Anguk and somehow made it on time. The shop was on the Insadong street and was easy to find. Making the norigae involved choosing parts and fastening them with a clamp to finish. My mother picked her parts fairly quickly and finished, but there were so many parts for me that I couldn’t decide, so it took me quite a while. On top of that, I wasn’t good at fastening the clamp with the pliers, so the shop staff did most of it for me and helped me finish. The staff only spoke English or Korean, but they were very kind and even took a finished-photo for us, so it became a really nice souvenir.
After that, I went to a shopping mall called Annyeong Insadong, but even though it was the weekend, there were hardly any people, which surprised me. There were lots of stalls at the entrance and that area was fairly lively, but I went upstairs wondering if there was anywhere to have dinner, and although there were many restaurants, there really were no people. I lost my appetite. There was also a famous confectionery shop, but seeing it so deserted made me lose the desire to buy anything. In the end, I bought a vest as a souvenir for my grandmother at a stall and just played a gacha gacha.
I went outside and down a side street and found a Korean restaurant that looked welcoming to tourists, where I had egoma guksu. It was delicious! I visited Insadong about 30 years ago, but it felt a bit quieter than I remember — I thought it used to be livelier. Hot spots really do change. I stayed at the Insadong Royal Hotel. The front desk could handle Japanese and was kind. However, when I arrived the suitcase that was supposed to have been delivered hadn’t shown up yet; apparently the roads were too congested or the delivery company had taken on too many packages, so it arrived late at night. The front desk called to say it had arrived, which was a relief. The facilities are somewhat old overall, and there were odd steps in the corridors as if they’d added on. Still, there was at least a bathtub, slippers, and bottled mineral water in the mini-fridge, so I was comfortable. There were no toothbrushes, but there was shampoo and such. The walls of the room were a bit thin. The next day I had a flight from Incheon around 3:00 PM, so I decided to walk around the hotel area a bit that morning. Planning to take the airport limousine bus back, I left my suitcase at the front desk after checking out. For breakfast I went to a nearby coffee shop chain to try gamjapan, which I hadn’t had before. It was even better than I expected, and I definitely want to have it again. After that I went to Jongno 3-ga to try a fortune-telling capsule machine called Kubunioshida. You buy coins for 1,000 won and put one into the machine you want. A capsule comes out containing a fortune about the size of A5 paper, but of course it’s all in Hangul. It’s just the right size for the cover of my planner; I haven’t read them all yet, but I’ll read them little by little.
Around where this machine is located there are, as shown in the photo, lots of narrow alleys, old houses converted into cafés, and some popular shops lined up — I would have liked to visit if I had the time. Next I went to Tapgol Park featured in Squid Game 2. I could kind of see why they chose this place as the filming location for that scene. It felt larger in the show, but in reality it wasn’t quite that big.
There wasn’t nearly enough time, so I quickly stopped by Daiso, Olive Young, and a convenience store, hurried back to the hotel, sorted my suitcase, and took a taxi to Seoul Station. Come to think of it, the Lotte sweet roll I bought at the convenience store was really delicious — I want to buy it again next time! The limousine bus stop at Seoul Station is a little way from the station, and buses were parked nearby to wait for their departure times while drivers took restroom breaks. I wanted to use a bus ticket that I couldn’t use last time before it expired, so I took the limousine bus back to Incheon. Around Gangnam, I saw the moon of Seoul flying between the buildings. I want to ride that sometime, too. Limousine buses often get stuck in traffic, but you can check your suitcase, the seats are roomy, and it’s comfortable. I usually do pre-check-in at Seoul Station with AREX, but this time I took the bus so I couldn’t do that and used Incheon Smart Pass for the first time. The pre-registration was a bit of a hassle, but it was so worth it — the departure procedures were incredibly smooth. Since I was able to get to the gate early, I wandered around trying to figure out a slightly late lunch. Even though it was Terminal 2, it’s really huge, and although I’d arrived at the airport early, time went by faster than I expected. The food court was pretty crowded, so I gave up and bought donuts and a sandwich at Dunkin’ Donuts and sat on a waiting-area chair to eat. I was also glad I could buy some Incheon Airport–exclusive snacks. The donuts were of course delicious, and the egg sandwich was incredibly satisfying in portion and taste — it was the best. That’s the summary of this trip, but I keep regretting things I should have done differently each time. This trip was with my mother, so I tried not to make her walk too much → as a result, we actually ended up walking quite a bit. I planned the schedule in many ways, but traffic jams, getting lost, and waiting times kept things from going according to plan, so I feel there was a lot of wasted time. Still, my mother was happy and said she wanted to go again, so I guess that’s good. Next time I think we should do three nights, or at least two. If I went alone, I’d like to try a one-day whirlwind trip at least once. I just want to experience that smell and sounds of Seoul again as soon as possible.
