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Namsangol Hanok Village. |
Mjau, after our visit to Japan in May 2023 we could not resist going there again during our butler's summer vacation in August that year. We decided to combine it with a visit to South Korea. As the flights to South Korea were slightly cheaper we decided to start our vacation in Seoul.
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Mjau, on our way to Seoul! |
We stayed in a hostel in Myeongdong in Seoul. On our first day there we walked around the Namsangol Hanok Village. Very nice old buildings and relaxing to sit by the pond. We saw several wild cats in the park but they did not want to be petted by our butler. Mjau, we do not blame them! Who in their right mind would! Mjauhihi. We also went to the night market in Myeongdong. We were a bit disappointed as the night market was not as good as the ones in Taiwan. We still had some nice snacks while listening to an elderly man singing karaoke.
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Namsangol Hanok Village. |
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Bacon wrapped kimbap. |
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Bungeoppang. |
Our butler was a bit overambitious and decided to walk from Myeongdong to Garosu-gil in Sinsadong. Mjau it took us several hours! It was also extremely hot outside, over 30 °C. There was even a World Scout Jamboree that got cancelled due to the heatwave so we saw several groups of scouts in their uniforms in Seoul and later in Jeju as well. Mjau it was so hot outside that our butler quickly ran out of water and had to buy a bottle of Mogu Mogu at a GS25 in Itaewon.
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Itaewon. |
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Crossing the Han river. |
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Mjau, are we there yet? |
When we finally arrived in Garosu-gil we immediately went to Sona, a luxurious dessert cafe. They have several interesting desserts, we wish we could have tried them all. We settled on the Sweet Corn dessert. It had so many interesting components that we simply could not resist; sweet corn crème brüleé, bourbon whiskey ice cream, sweet corn bread, cornhusk meringue and cinnamon caramelized popped corn. Scrumptious! After our delicious dessert we walked along Garosu-gil Street and visited the interesting shops there. In the evening we took the subway back to our hostel.
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Si shopping in Garosu-gil. |
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Delicious dessert plate at Sona. |
Another day we walked up to N Seoul Tower. The view was very nice from there and you could see all the way to Han River. We got some snacks from 7-Eleven and enjoyed them while enjoying the view. We decided to take the scenic route down and came across Cafe i.O with a lovely forest view so we were compelled to get a slice of cake and iced americano. On our hike down we saw a Tenodera angustipennis. Mjau, it was our first time seeing a mantis in the wild!
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Cafe i.O |
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A funny little creature. |
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Mjau, so many stairs! |
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Seoul skyline! |
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N Seoul Tower. |
After having watched several K-Dramas , specifically Lovestruck in the City, we really wanted to walk along the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We walked all the way from Cheonggye Plaza to Jongmyo Plaza Park. Close to Jongmyo Plaza Park is a street, Seosulla-gil, with several cozy hanok cafes and bars. We had delicious garlic bread and an orange chocolate cake at Solbangul Bakery. The interior and exterior was nice although we wish they had more comfortable seats.
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Cheonggye Plaza |
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Jongmyo Plaza Park |
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Solbangul Bakery |
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Mjau, time for some baked goods! |
While in Seoul we also visited Deoksugung Palace and the National Museum of Korea. Deoksugung Palace was very pretty with a nice garden and water fountain. The national museum had several interesting artifacts, we especially liked the minhwa with tigers. We also found the museum guide robots very charming and impressive.
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Deoksugung Palace |
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National Museum of Korea |
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Minhwa |
After enjoying five days in Seoul we took the subway to Gimpo International Airport for our flight to Jeju. We stayed one night in Jeju City in a hostel before taking the bus to Seogwipo. The A/C in the dorm was broken so we were upgraded to a private room. Muminpappa and Stitch were also on vacation and stayed in the same hostel, mjau!
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Jeju International Airport |
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Mjau, can you send us some Honolulu Cookies from Hawaii, please?
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Nuwemaru Street |
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Bu sightseeing in Jeju city. |
In Seogwipo we stayed at Good Day Pension in a room with a balcony with sea view. We were really impressed by Seogwipo. There are several Olle Trails with amazing view of the ocean. Our favourite is the Olle Trail 6. Along the coastal route there is the Honeymoon House, a great place for an iced americano with a breathtaking view. It is here we understood why Jeju is called the Hawaii of South Korea. Positively stunning! Close to Honeymoon House is also Sora's Castle, a library with a unique exterior, and Sojeongbang Waterfall. Sojeongbang Waterfall was our favourite waterfall in Seogwipo as it was more secluded, had free admission and you could actually swim there. One day while we were there a tourist group were very excited to take pictures of our butler swimming under the waterfall. We hid in our purse in shame and embarrassment.
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Si in front of Good Day Pension. |
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Our wonderful room. |
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The view from our balcony. |
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Enjoying breakfast on our balcony. Jeju tangerines and sweet potato bread from Tous Les Jours Bakery. |
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Walking Jeju Olle Trail 7. |
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Oedolgae Sea Stack. |
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Enjoying the view and cheesecake at Honeymoon House. |
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Sojeongbang Waterfall |
We also visited two other waterfalls: Cheonjiyeon Falls and Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall. We preferred Cheonjiyeon Falls as the surrounding park was nice with interesting sculptures and the walk there was relaxing. Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall was basically only a parking lot with a staircase down to the waterfall.
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Cheonjiyeon Falls |
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Seogwipo Jeongbang Waterfall |
Another nice cafe we visited was Cafe Gyulkkot Darak. If you like tangerines this is the place for you! The interior design was really nice as well and makes for nice photos.
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Jeju tangerine cheesecake and tangerine latte. |
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Cafe Gyulkkot Darak |
We basically spent the days walking the Olle Trails and a cafe or two. In the evenings we got dinner from the Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market. We had delicious black pork! One evening we had coctails at Bar Musk. Very nice with themed cocktails and relaxing atmosphere. They also had free bar snacks: cereal, nuts and chocolate! The owner also gave our butler a free shot of a local liquor. Unfortunately we do not remember the name only the picture of the plant used in the liquor. One evening we decided to try some soju from the convenience store. Mjau! We almost spit it out. It has not high enough alcohol content to have the right to taste that bad. Our butler mixed it with some orange juice so it went down easier. On our last day we had to pour it in the sink as it was not worth to drink it.
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Cocktails at Bar Musk |
After five days in Jeju it was unfortunately time to leave. Fortunately we were going to Kyoto for the first time so we were not sad for long.
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Goodbye Jeju! |
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