Myeong-dong 명동 & Cheonggyecheon Stream 청계천

After I found Ilisha at the airport, we headed directly to the bus terminal to pay our bus fare to go into Seoul, which was 45 mins/1 hour from the airport. Royal Seoul Hotel, the hotel we were staying at for the next few days, did provide free shuttle service but we had just missed the shuttle going into the city. The next one would have been 2-3 hours later. The bus into Seoul was ₩10,000, which was basically USD$10.

The sinking of the South Korean ferry just happened right before I boarded my flight for Korea and throughout our stay, the news covered every bit of it. It's a terrible tragedy. The survivors guilt is real and absolutely heartwrenching to witness. 

We arrived at our hotel that happened to be in the heart of Myeong-dong, which is known for Korea's financial, social, cultural, and shopping (like Downtown/Financial District).  

The area right below the hotel (below). Everything you need is basically within reach and super convenient. Myeong-dong is the #1 tourist destination and one of the busiest places in Seoul. There are countless shops and restaurants. Since Ilisha and I are both very indecisive, it was basically impossible for us to decide on a place to eat. There were so many street stalls along with clothing and cosmetics shops everywhere you turn offering really tasty looking snacks, clothes, accessories, and various souvenirs. The stores were a mix of the well-known brands like H&M, Forever21, and Adidas as well as thousands of Korean cosmetic and skin-care brands, like Tony Moly, Too Cool For School, Etude House, and etc. 

My favorite part about traveling in Korea without knowing a bit of Korean are these handy dandy helpful red long-sleeved representatives from the Korea Tourism Board who understand several languages to help you get to your desired destination. They also carry maps with them in different languages to draw out a route for you to follow. Extremely helpful and super nice! They can be found nearly everywhere around the tourist destinations wandering around, waiting for lost tourists to ask them questions. 

Oh you know.. just walking down the busy streets of Seoul nonchalantly.

Fresh lemon juice with club soda. Yum.

We were finally able to check into our rooms (delayed for an hour, which allowed us to explore the area) and the size was perfect, not too big, not too small. The beds were also super comfortable! 

Shortly after dropping off our luggage and being able to settle down, we decided to head out again since it was getting late to have our first meal in Korea (together)! Like I mentioned earlier, we are extremely indecisive so when it started raining, we had no choice but to just pick one and go with it. We ended up at this really cute (some might say creepy..) place that was on the second floor and they had paper notes hanging everywhere! It was very interesting.  

We realized that there was only one bento box dinner option in their menu and we were hungry... so we dipped. It was a cute place though! Wandered a bit and just went into another place that had no English name. It turned out to be a Japanese restaurant. Our first meal in Korea and we had Japanese food. At least it was really yummy Japanese food!

We're basically the same person so we (almost) always order the same thing. We had the curry pork katsu dinner set, which included miso soup and salad. On the side, I think we ordered a sweet potato croquette as an appetizer. Our eyes always play us telling us we need more food than we really do. But great meal nonetheless! 

We were super full and decided to head out to do some exploring and to find the Cheonggyecheon Stream, which was apparently "10 minutes" away according to the lady at the Tourism office. The streets are really confusing so maybe we misunderstood her directions. It took us probably 30-45 minutes in order to get relatively close to the stream. We definitely wondered into these dark sketchy looking areas with a bunch of garages and mechanic shops. Lol! Lost in Korea, Part 1. We eventually found it! It was beautiful but then it started raining and the stream wasn't well lit (when we were there at least). It's suppose to look like this below:

And this is what we actually saw:

I think we just went at the wrong time as it was past 10PM I believe. Maybe it looks better during the day or when something is happening? 

Final remarks:

1. Book a hotel (knudge, knudge: Royal Seoul Hotel) near Myeong-dong! Everything is opened until midnight and past midnight, there are still 24 hour restaurants. 

2. Walk along the streets of Myeong-dong. You will get lost but you will also quickly find your way. And even if you do get lost, there are still a lot of things to look at. It is the number 1 tourist destination afterall. There is also a Myeong-dong Tourism Information Center equipped with maps and everything you will need to go anywhere in the heart of Myeong-dong. Accessible via Euljiro 1-ga Station (Subway Line 2) Exit #6. Or Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4) Exit #6)

3. Visit the Cheonggyecheon Stream, which is within walking distance from Meyong-dong Shopping District-- just get a map from the Tourism Information Booth, during the day! Accessible via - Gwanghwamun Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), Exit 5. Or, City Hall Station (Seoul Subway Line 1, 2), Exit 4.

(110, Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul | 서울특별시 중구 태평로1가 ~성동구 신답철교)