Winter in Korea 2019: Day 1: Seoul (Christmas)

Merry Christmas! Ho Ho Ho!!!

What a Merry Merry Christmas this 2019! So I started out a new job 2 months ago and Praise God! I learnt that they have year end company closure (free holiday) and so I started planning out what I could do for the days off 😁

And Ms. P had days of leave to clear to so after contemplating on a few destinations to pick from, we decided on KOREA and booked 48 days before we fly!

We flew via Cathay (transiting in Hong Kong) because that seemed the most economical for this time period. We paid SGD $696.50 per person.

Ms. P's brother-in-law (and her niece and nephew) sent us to the airport (blessed). We took the 1.25am flight first to Hong Kong. Cathay was really nice that they gave us chocolates in line with the festive day.

We landed into Hong Kong at around 5am. Our next flight out was 8am. So we hang around the food area to rest for the layover.

Our meal from Hong Kong > Incheon

And finally finally, we arrived in Seoul!

Remember to fill in the arrival form for immigrations.

Arrival Card

You'll also need to fill up the declaration form.

Declaration Form

Once we were out, we went to freshen up a bit at the washrooms (and there is relatively less queue compared as when we were inside the transit area). Ms. P went to get the SIM card. Unlimited data for 10 days will cost you around 38500 won (

Then we got on our way to head to Seoul Station (where our AirBnB was).

Follow the signages that says "Airport Railroad"

You can either pre-book your tickets or like us, we bought it directly from the machine.

This was 9500 won each. (500won deposit you can redeem back)

Exit 15 (nearest exit to our accommodation)

And this was also the place where we met our friend Ms J. She was there to visit her sister so we met up too.


Exit 15 (nearest exit from AREX) was really near to the place where we have booked (just across the street and a few turns and you will be at the place).
We booked 현정's place for the first night.

The host provided really clear picture instructions so we were at the place in no time. Love it how she warmed up the place before our arrival (especially because it is winter!!!).

Seoul Station

She even prepared mandarin orange for us because it was Christmas!!!

Very thoughtful that she even have travel adaptors available

After chilling for a while, we finally head out (around 4pm). We took one stop to City Hall and came out from Exit 2 and this was the Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway

Next to the main entrance of Deoksugung, there is a small road when you turn right, you will see the Deoksugung Stonewall Walkway (very good photo spot).

There were a lot of people queuing for Liege Waffle on the street near the Stonewall Walkway

There was a tall building (Seoul City Hall Seosumun Building) on the left of the road.

Go in through the side entrance. 

Take to Level 13 (Cafe Dorak). And you will be awarded with a bird's eye view of the Deoksugung. 

View

We didn't manage to chill at the cafe because it was super crowded (and not sure if they closed early because it was Christmas Day). So we decided to join in the queue for Liege Waffle too!

Liege Waffle

The menu

We wanted to try the chocolate one but they ran out when we got to our turn. So we went for the blueberry one instead. 

Yum!

After that, Ms J brought us to walk around the area, until we got to Seoul Christmas Festival 2019 at Cheonggye Plaza (Exit 5 of Gwanghwamun). 

It was really crowded and I guess that's what brings out the festive feels on this Christmas Day! This was near the Cheonggyecheon stream. 

There were street food stalls set up along the way

Then we walked back to City Hall station where we then took the subway to Myeongdong. 

We wanted to have army stew for Christmas night (plus it was freezing - so something warm would be nice). We wanted to check out another place at first but since we couldn't find it, we settled for NOLBOO. 

Such a huge pot for 3 pax

The meal cost us 44000 won in total (wifi and toilet available). 

★★★

Nolboo

Myeongdong 2(i)-ga

Jung-gu, Seoul

Daily: 10.30am – 10pm

Nearest Station: Myeong-dong (Exit 5)

Because we were heading to Busan the next day, we didn't shop along Myeongdong but we headed to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DPP) to catch the Light Show at 8pm.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DPP)

Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station (line 2/4/5, exit 1 to arrive right next to DDP). 

And that was about it for Day 1 as we were getting a little tired (from the flights) and knowing we were waking up early the next day to catch the KTX to Busan.