Easter Weekend Trip to Seoul

Easter isn't celebrated in Japan, but it is in the Philippines, and Reichell had a 5 day weekend so suggested a catch up in Seoul. I had never been there before and it was a good chance to also catch up with so many of my Meigaku friends that now live there - Christina, Shikwan, Jung Eun, GaeYoun and Jaeman (I haven't seen the last three since we left Japan over 6 years ago!) - being able to see them again made it such a special weekend.

This was my first time to fly out of Kansai since I was in Kyoto for my high school exchange way back in 98-99 so it was nice to be going to the airport to go on holiday myself rather than picking someone up or seeing someone off. Leaving on Thursday evening I ended up with almost four full days to explore Seoul - here's what we got up to:

Day 1 (Friday 22 April)

Original plan was to go to Everland but it was a little drizzly so decided on Lotte World (the world's largest indoor theme park) instead but still had a great time especially as the rain eased in the afternoon and we could check out the outdoor rides too.

Met up with Christina around the Coex Mall area that night for a delicious samgyeopsal dinner

Day 2 (Saturday 23 April)

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Samcheong-dong, Chinese for lunch (jjajangmyeon - Noodles in Black Bean Sauce is a Chinese dish they only serve in Korea, traditionally eaten by singles on Black Day April 14) and the Seoul Museum of Chicken Art

Headed down to Insadong and spent too long shopping and chilling in Starbucks that we had to run to catch the sunset cruise on the Han River (but it was well worth it), Hanjeongsik Dinner and shopping in Jamsil.

Day 3 (Sunday 24 April)

Morning coffee with Christina and the girls in Hongdae and some shopping in Sinchon and Myeondong. Met up with Shikwan for lunch and he joined us for an afternoon in the Hanok Village and then took the cable car up to Namsan Tower.

Had fun catching up with Jungeun and GaeYoun and feeling the love around Namsan tower before heading up. We finished off the day with Samguetang for dinner and a walk down Cheonggyecheon Stream and Gwanghamun.

Day 4 (Monday 25 April)

Reichell and Trisha went to check out a gelato shop that an idol of theirs owned so Kaje and I went to the Folk Flea Market in Sinsel-dong which was great.

Tried some local delicacies (inlcuding silkworm larvae) and some final shopping in Dongdaemun before heading off to Incheon Airport and catching up with Jaeman just before my flight home to Osaka :)

Had a great long weekend in Seoul, huge thanks to Reich for planning everything, Christina for showing us around, and everyone else for meeting up with us. I had a great time - please let me know if you are ever visiting New Zealand - I would love to return the favour!