I'm back with another travelogue today and this time I'll finally be sharing the first part of our Korea Travelogue! I feel like I've been saying this so much in my posts but I've really accumulated a lot of travel backlogs. 😅This first travelogue will consist of two parts though since I don't want it to just look like a photo dump haha.

We went to Korea on January 2017, which is still during their winter season, and stayed at a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. It didn't snow during our trip but it was definitely cold! The area where our hotel was located is surrounded by residential places so it seemed much more alive even late at night. It was also nice that there's a park outside of our hotel. I love areas like this because it gives you a glimpse of the everyday lives of the locals and you get to learn more about their ways and culture. We also stayed in a similar area when we went to Japan and it was really nice to mingle and talk to the locals. There was this particular lola (grandma) who called out to me on our way to the train station to greet me and say "kawaii" haha!

I also love the fact that there were a lot of shops near where we were staying like 7-11 stores, CU and other Korean marts as well. The roasted sweet potato they sell in CU is so good, which we also used as hand warmers tbh hahaha, and this is where we also got our cute reloadable Kakao friends T money cards for the train rides. These cards were around 4000 KRW during that time and were very easy to reload at the ticket vending machines in any train station. Aside from collecting train cards as souvenirs when I travel, I usually visit convenience stores, as well as groceries, so that I could see and buy what the locals are eating haha! I liked visiting their convenience stores in Seoul to check out and try some local food products. 

It was nice that we had easy access to all these local shops and places. There was even a local market, which I'll be sharing in this post as well, that was also near our hotel. The train station isn't a stone's throw away from our place though so you really have to walk a lot before you get to the nearest one. I didn't really mind because, in a way, it gave us a chance to explore the city. 

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Our plan for our first day in Seoul was to explore the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Dongdaemun Shopping District. But on our way to the train station, we spotted this serene stream in Changgyeonggung-ro so we stopped by to appreciate the view. We just wanted to take it all in and see what the locals do here on a normal day. We saw children playing on the stone steps, people that seemed to be on their way to work or their homes, and those who, like us, were just there to relax and enjoy the view. 

That is what I like about travelling. It's not just about taking pictures, posting on social media and telling people that you went to this or that place. Travelling for me is when you take the time to really explore and learn about the place you're visiting. That even doing simple things like slowing down to take in the view is a wonderful thing to do. That you're not just there to visit touristy places for the sake of visiting them so that you could tell people that you've "been there." You get the best travel experience when you take the extra time and effort to really appreciate, know and, in some way, understand the place, culture and the people living in it.

Bustling streets surround this area but it's just like a peaceful hideaway at the heart of the city.

This stream is actually part of the Cheonggyecheon stream, which is a 10.9km long modern stream that has a total of 22 bridges encompassing it. The Baeogaedari Bridge and Saebyeokdari Bridge are two of the bridges that can be seen in this area. The white pedestrian bridge in the first picture is actually the Saebyeokdari Bridge. I actually didn't know how we got here because I think this is farther from our place than the nearest green line station haha! 

But I was so happy that we took the time to go down and explore this area for a couple of minutes before we proceeded to our destination. It was just nice to see the normal, everyday lives of the people living here.

There are also stone steps placed in the middle of the stream and I tried to walk on it too after seeing the kids having fun on it.

Took some photos before leaving and heading to the train station.

This was the local market that I mentioned at the start of this post! It is located near the hotel where we stayed in. We always passed by here on our way to and from our hotel and we even bought foods here as well. It was a really nice experience!

It's just a small market but it was well organized and clean. It was nice seeing not just the different types of foods being sold here but also the interaction between the locals.

We also saw these marinated crabs, shrimps, vegetables and a whole lot more. There were also a lot of dried foods here particularly dried fishes.

Aside from fishes, we also saw a lot of dried small shrimps. There were even giant kelps and seaweeds being sold here but I wasn't able to take pictures of those. 

We also saw dried squids being sold here along with more dried fishes. It was nice to see a lot of food varieties in this local market. I also liked the fact the foods look really clean and fresh.

That's it for my Korea Travelogue: Day 1 for now! Hope you enjoyed this post! 

Stay tuned for the Part 2 which I will be posting tomorrow! For now, if you want to check out my Singapore and Japan Travelogues then head over HERE and HERE!

Have a great weekend!! 😊