Seoul - Day 5: Bread, Sights & Namdaemun

I actually think the subconscious "relief" of knowing it was a PTO day made a difference because I woke up at 5AM today! Okay, that or just the multiple days of being in APAC were finally shifting my body clock. Either way, good night of sleep! Having woken up early, we decided to venture out for some Korean snack souvenir shopping. 

First we hit up this little mochi place right outside of our apartment -- I think because we were hungry - but hey, new food experience! 

I liked the beige "cheese" flavored one the most. I think Y and H appreciated the dried fruit/nut top one more.

We checked out random shops while we waited for the grocery store to open (yes, we were rope-dropping the e-mart 😂) - these grapes looked amazing...but they were also something crazily expensive (like $30 for the bag). I guess like Japan, fresh fruits like strawberries and grapes are expensive! (Update - V informs me that normal grapes are not this expensive, these ones were extra special - shine muscat - much sweeter and juicier than normal ones, this the high price!)

This is also when we hit up a pharmacy to pick up some Melatoning for Y (NOT to be confused with melatonin -- every time I asked for it, they'd first bring out the sleeping pills and then I'd have to point at my cheeks and emphasize the "niNG" syllable more and then they'd get it). Maybe I'll do a follow-up post in a month or so and report on how well it worked.  

Our top item at the grocery store were these milk cookies. We all bought multiple packs. My favorite was the cheese flavor - SO good. Basically like a cheese puff, but lighter and tastier (and I think healthier)!

We were headed back to the Myeongdong area today, but to a slightly different location -- instead of the street shopping, we were in search of the infamous salt bread.  A friend had informed me that there were multiple branches, but for the first-time visitor, the aesthetic of the one in the Jongno area would be best. So...here comes one of our tourist failures of the trip....

Look at how excited we are to find the place! (Yes we are wearing matching shirts today):

Me in the shop -- so proud of our purchase:

Close-up of the famous salt bread:

Close-up of the other fruit cream croissant we picked up:

And the little cafe was in this cute little preserved village area (sort of like the hutong experience in Beijing) with a ton of little shops and cafes. 

Amazing experience, yeah? So...turns out we just stopped at the first picturesque place the taxi dropped us off at, not realizing that the ACTUAL famous salt bread place was actually a few turns behind the block. The long line of people queuing tipped me off:

The real shop sold nothing but salt bread. It only comes in a little package of four - so most people were buying one or two packages.

So...we bought a second round of salt bread -- actually it worked out okay because this way we could compare the original with the knockoff.  We all agreed that hands down, the original is NOTICEABLY better. So much more butter - crispy on the bottom, soft all around, pillowy goodness. Even I - generally being a bread pooh-pooh-er, thought it was pretty darn good. Google maps link so you all make sure to go to the right place!

After two rounds of salt bread/croissants...we apparently didn't have enough gluten yet, so we rounded the corner and stood in line at MilToast:

This place is dine-in only and known for their steamed bread:

It was quite a long wait, but luckily with three of us we could swap out standing in line and shopping in the nearby stalls. I picked up some bookmarks for the twins while we were waiting. The atmosphere of the actual cafe inside was actually really cute and peaceful - it wasn't crowded at all because they really controlled volume which you don't appreciate as you're standing in line but once you're seated it made for a much more pleasant eating experience. We were able to actually rest and chat and take a breath from what has otherwise been a pretty go-go-go trip. Here's the famous steamed bread (we got a plain and a corn):

We also ordered a black sesame mochi covered version:

Overall thoughts? The steamed bread was good but not amazing (though it also suffered from being literally like the sixth piece of bread we were eating this morning) -- but the atmosphere was really nice -- so honestly this area (Ikseondong) ended up being one of the group's favorite places of the entire trip. We highly recommend it -- the whole vibe was just really cute and different from everywhere else in Seoul. 

After eating SO much bread, we were all interested in getting some steps in to help digest all those carbs. Naver maps reported that it would only be 30 minutes or so to Davich in Myeongdong (where Y had to pick up the glasses she ordered a few days ago), so off we went through the neighborhood streets!

We passed by a few parks that were actually pretty cool - I think this one is Tapgol Park - there was a big monument inside celebrating the fact that this was the site of the first reading of the proclamation of Korean independence.

Also modeled some street side sunglasses:

More shots of cool pagodas and statues.

We passed by a chestnut stand -- pretty cool as I didn't realize this is what chestnuts look like when they are picked from trees!

I thought Seoul was so much less crowded compared to Tokyo.

This is a shot of the Cheonggyecheon river walk:

The Myeongdong cathedral:

And we eventually found ourselves posing with the BTS bear...

Back again on the Myeongdong shopping street.

We didn't stay that long this time because we knew we had to get to Namdaemun before it closed at 6pm. We were in search of the famous hotteok pancakes -- first we tried the "sweet seed" version (very similar to the five-nut filling for Chinese mooncakes):

Before nabbing the larger vegetable/noodle filled version from the famous stall just outside the entrance to Namdaemun market:

This might be my favorite single food item of the trip so far - crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and the filling was tasty without being too heavy.

Somehow we still had room for more eating...we considered the Kalguksu noodle alley first:

But it was a little too overwhelming for me -- also the menus were too heavy on noodles -- I didn't think I could handle more gluten today...

Eventually we settled on Korean bbq at Namdaemoon Daega:

I really really enjoyed the kimchi at this place. They also had a decent bibimbop and the soup that came with the set wasn't bad either. 

The meat wasn't as impressive as Samwon Garden but I actually enjoyed the banchan here even more -- and after so much bread, it was nice getting some fresh vegetables in our stomachs. 

We couldn't leave the area without hitting the stalls one more time so we went off towards the Hoehyeon underground shopping mall -- and good thing we did because literally as the shops were all closing, we came upon this store and decided these jeans (with elastic waists - crucial after a day of so much eating) were special enough that we had to all buy our own pair:

The woman shop-owner also sent us off with these very tasty candies - they might not be Korean, but they were like softer hi-chews mixed with some soft fruit fillings:

Now it truly was the end of the night. We headed back to the apartment ready for bed - sadly tomorrow will be our departure day!

Seoul - Day 4: Coex, Micro-Blading & KFC

Having never done k-beauty treatments before, we weren't really sure how much recovery time we would need -- happy to report that for the types of treatments we did, we were all feeling pretty good by the next day.  I had some more early morning work so H and Y hit up the downstairs MMC cafe for some caffeine and sugar. I'm told the basque cheesecake was delicious!

Ah, never too old for a milk mustache!

By mid-day, I'd cleared out some of my inbox and we were ready to explore more of Seoul...or at least more of Seoul's eating and shopping offerings! Today's destination was the Coex mall, home of the famous Starfield library.  And also, Sea Life -- an aquarium in the mall. Based on the crowd gathered outside, it seemed quite popular with the kids. 

Seoul seemed to have a thing for fresh fruit juices -- I had my first orange one in Myeongdong which was delicious and then a carrot apple at the Google cafe -- today I decided to go green.  Kale pineapple --to keep hydrated and immunity-strong. 

It was interesting doing a trip with only girlfriends -- there were no husbands complaining about every stop at a shop or no kids complaining that they were bored. It was a little dangerous feeding off of each others' shopping energy.  We stopped into a few boutiques and an Artbox (as the name implies, art supplies and little knickknacks -- I'm pretty sure my kids would have stayed for hours there) before deciding that it was time for lunch -- the much-recommended samgyetang: whole chicken ginseng herbal soup! We stopped into Gobong Samgyetang -- seated and ordered right away - time zone conversion meant we were always VERY hungry in the mornings! 

This meal involves a whole chicken that is stuffed with rice and other herbs cooked in different types of broths -- you break off some of the chicken and then sprinkle some salt on it (to taste). It also comes with some vinegar wine that you're supposed to sip along with the soup. I appreciated the menu with the labels and instructions because we would have been lost otherwise!

We tried two different varietals of the ginseng broths (top two entries): the "Sanghwang" (mulberry) and "Hanbang" (Chinese). I am not sure which is more traditional - but both were tasty!

This one -- the Chinese ginseng -- had a thicker, more seasoned broth. 

 

This was the Mulberry ginseng: more clear and herb-forward. 

We also got a chicken "pancake" -- at first I thought it tasted like a bbq meatloaf - not objectionable per se, but nothing I'd write home about. 

It slowly grew on me as the meal went on...but probably still won't order it again next time. Overall our impression was that the meal was very nourishing and healthy-feeling (so good for travel) and I'm glad I tried it so I know what it tastes like now...but it probably wasn't my favorite of the trip. I tend to prefer stronger flavors so delicate and elegant aren't the profiles I gravitate towards. 

After lunch we made the obligatory visit to the Coex library/bookstore. It was indeed quite impressive:

Panoramic shot to try and capture the grandioseness -- pictures can't quite do it justice though - definitely worth a visit to see it for yourself.

We didn't go here...but I'd consider it next trip for a special occasion! I'm told that it's about $200 per person, but all you can eat seafood at the top of the tower with amazing views of Seoul. 

What is a trip to a mall in Seoul without another visit to Olive Young? We were actually here for Korea's "Black Friday" (I guess at the end of October instead of November?) - there did seem to be a bunch of pretty good sales...or at least that's what all the salespeople claimed as they talked us into some "you can't NOT buy this - such a good deal" purchases. 

We also hit up some shoe shopping.  

Yes, I know we just went to Tokyo earlier this year...but the shopping experience at the Onitsuka Tiger store in Tokyo was so crazy that we lasted all of 5 minutes there I think...I acknowledge that these same shoes probably would have cost another 10% less in Tokyo...but hey, at least they're cheaper than the US!

H and Y had a micro-blading appointment this evening to get their brows done - I'm not a big make-up person, so I went back home to do a little bit more work. They don't have photos to share, but report that the price was VERY good and they're very happy with how it turned out. Here's a screenshot from their Instagram account of what they offer. 

Per Y, our resident pain-wimp, it did not hurt much (or at least it didn't once she added the numbing cream). But the cream was wearing off halfway through and she started to complain so they paused and numbed her up a second time which helped get her through it. By comparison though, H apparently fell asleep during the treatment. 😆 They did also say it stung a little at night when they put on the healing cream (no numbing assistance there!) but not unmanageable. Here's the contact info if you want to try it:

After they finished, we all met up for another Korean must-do meal: KFC! (Korean fried chicken).  V protested that we weren't doing the meal properly because we were all not big beer drinkers but I would say the chicken is hella good even without the beer!

It's just so light and crispy but juicy and tender inside - and then the garlic soy coating sauce is also SO good. We were at Daily Beer (Seolleung Station location) but there is also a Kkanbu chain and a BHC chain - like literally in a one mile radius I think there were at least a dozen places -- Korean folks like their beer and fried chicken!

 

V and F also recommended the half dried squid - I really enjoyed the mayonnaise dipping sauce:

And then also some spicy-sweet "Army Stew" - budae jjigae - apparently this became popular as a stew that featured a lot of "American" items (like hot dogs) inside. It also had some instant ramen noodles and fish cakes.  I have no idea how a person could possibly eat all of this -- but maybe when you've had a lot of alcohol, you need something heavy like this in your stomach? 

Another great deal -- this area was actually walkable from our apartment so we tried to walk home - got some nice night-time street scenes: 

Unfortunately I navigated us in the wrong direction at a stoplight...but happened to stop right in front of yet another Olive Young, so we made what had to be our fifth trip into Olive Young and then taxi'd home instead. 

I received a "take more PTO" reminder email yesterday so I have decided to take tomorrow off - it will be our last full day in Seoul! Can't believe the trip is almost over already!

Seoul - Day 3: Costco & ID Dermatology Clinic

I woke up yet again at 3am...I think that's just going to be the norm for this trip. Gemini did tell me that trying to adjust to Seoul time was likely not a good idea given I'll be headed to Europe within a week of our return, so I guess I'm just heading that advice?

Sadly today is Monday back in the States, so I had work emails and pings waiting for me even at that early hour. Photo proof taken by H -- who also was working this trip -- she was very jealous of my foresight in bringing an external keyboard and mouse. :-D 

Thankfully not that many afternoon meetings, so by mid-morning local time, I could go back to being a k-beauty tourist. Not a bad time shift arrangement actually, which I guess makes sense since it's only 7 hours off from California if we count forward. 

First stop this morning -- visit to our local convenience store. 

I have to report that the stores in Korea are not as exciting/bountiful as the ones in Japan....but they still have the basics!

Today is our big dermatology clinic visit, so the only other item on our agenda was a lunchtime visit to...

That's right - Costco! Happy to report that our US membership cards worked seamlessly -- and even paying with our US Costco visa cards was easy. We had heard that the Costcos in Korea had some interesting food court items - still ridiculously cheap pricing - the exchange rate here is about $1: 1440 won, so the items below (generous serving sizes -- more than a single person could eat) are only $2.40 each. 

I devoured my bulgolgi pizza -- it was basically like a supreme (with olives, peppers, etc) but tastier because it had bulgolgi instead of pepperoni. 

It was really fun exploring each aisle and looking at what was different.  Interestingly, there was a pretty high amount of overlap from the US stores but still plenty that was unique. The top floor was mostly home things and fashion -- it had me worried that Korean Costcos didn't even have snacks -- I was very very relieved that there was an escalator down to a basement floor -- should have taken a photo, but it was reassuringly massive. It was so hard not to buy every pastry item.  We limited ourselves a bit based on suitcase space availability -- but still a pretty good haul!  

After lunch, it was time for our true destination of the day (and arguably of the trip): skincare treatments! We were introduced to ID Dermatology (which is the dermatology branch of ID Hospital) by a lawyer friend of mine who had come a year earlier and raved about the treatments. One of the founders also happens to also be a high school and college classmate of a new lawyer friend of ours -- so even if the prices weren't going to be the cheapest, I took comfort in the fact that we weren't going to be featured in any "medical travel disaster" horror stories. If you'd like the contact info for the ID Dermatology "VIP English" team -- feel free to shoot me an email. 

Oh - one very important note -- you MUST bring your passport with you to the clinics. V's husband F didn't have his passport on him when we got to the clinic and they would not allow him to even get a consult! I was really surprised that they were just turning away business like that. I had assumed there'd be some "you can send us a photo later" workaround but nope -- very adamant. So they ended up not getting any treatments today -- they'll be in Korea for another two weeks though and they both speak Korean so they'll just do their treatments later in the trip. 

Meanwhile, we sat down in our consultation room with our fancy Hermes tea cups -- look at the anticipation in our eyes! 

After some LONG consultations (maybe people who come often are in and out, but we were all newbies to this world of skincare treatments, so we all had very long conversations with multiple dermatologists/doctors), I decided on a session of Ultherapy (which is an ultrasound machine that shoots deep into your skin to promote more collagen creation).  Thanks to the color consult, I was really focused on fixing my under-eye darkness (which is partly due to poor sleep but is probably more caused by the lack of collagen from no longer being 25 years old) and giving me more neck definition (or as one of the doctors bluntly put it, "ah, the double chin" 😂).  I actually had come into the trip wanting to get some sun spots lasered off and some broken capillaries/scars hidden -- but the doctors told me that mine were not good candidates for laser! Apparently because my spots and scars are all not very dark (or rather, they were very close in color to my skin), you can't actually use very powerful lasers -- the lasers work best when the color of the spot/scar is highly contrasted against your skin. I was really sad about this -- but consoled myself with the reasoning that this probably meant they weren't too noticeable? V, as our local expert, suggested I visit a pharmacy and get some melatoning cream instead which targets pigmentation spots that are lighter.  A much cheaper option too!

But back to the Ultherapy (using an "Ulthera 2" machine, which I think is also known as Ulthera Prime) -- according to Gemini, the price I paid is on the higher end for Korea but still way way cheaper compared to the same treatment being done in the Bay Area. Here's me in the pre-treatment room waiting for the numbing cream they applied to my face to set in:  

 

They put eye patches on my face during the actual treatment so unfortunately I have no pictures to share of that -- but here's the immediate after-shot from the treatment chair! I admit the picture seems really good (no dark circles at all! face seems so glowing!) but I'm pretty sure it's the lighting -- Ulteraphy results aren't really supposed to be THAT noticeable until a month after treatment.

Y on the other hand was a good candidate for laser -- so she got several dozen bumps removed from her hairline/forehead/ear area. She was quoted about $7 for each one (which we think is a good deal compared to US, even if it was on the higher end for Seoul). Afterwards she got these pimple patch-looking things individually placed on each one -- you're supposed to keep them on for about two weeks until they fully heal...so she's considering how she's going to manage work calls and meetings.  She also decided to opt for a round of Thermage, which instead of ultrasound uses lasers and focuses more on tightening/reducing of fine lines/wrinkles. Like the Ultherapy, the results aren't really noticeable for another month or two. For immediate results, they recommended Botox, but that wasn't of interest to us -- my rules for treatments were that I didn't want to inject myself with any foreign things (which took Rejuran and some blood injection things off the table) or do anything that was so temporary that I'd have to return every six months. 

Were the treatments painful? Well, for my Ultherapy, I only got the numbing cream and I can report that outside of say, a 5 second segment in the middle where they were shooting deep around my chin that I probably couldn't have handled if it went longer, the rest wasn't too unbearable.  It did sting a little as the ultrasound rays were shooting in (so imagine like, 100 pin pricks, uncomfortable certainly, but not unbearable) and then afterwards my cheek and jaw bones felt a little sore (like if you hit yourself on something). Overall I think my pain tolerance is on the higher side though so perhaps I'm not a great reviewer on this point.

By comparison, Y kept vocalizing her wimpy pain tolerance levels so they decided that besides the numbing cream, they'd also give her shots of local anesthesia. She reports the shots weren't that painful (probably because her face was already numbed up from the cream) and as a result, she really didn't feel any of the treatments. For the Thermage she said it's basically electric currents of fire going deep into your skin. There were about 5 "shots" (not needle, just laser) of the 600 that must have hit in places where the anesthesia didn't take and she said those were pretty painful -- to the point where she will never consider not getting the local anesthesia in the future. If you are REALLY worried about pain, ID Dermatology actually offers a full anesthesia option (very rare and only possible because they are connected to ID Hospital)

By the time we were all done, the sun had gone down and we were pretty famished. We decided to order from the bossam take-out joint across the street from our apartment. What is bossam? It's basically thinly sliced boiled pork belly that you wrap in lettuce leaves or radish slices. 

Really hit the spot! Besides the normal bossam (center box, mostly white-colored meat), we also got the stewed kind that reminded me of Chinese pork knuckles (V informed me it's actually pork trotters - jokbal). Both versions equally tasty!

As you can see from the photo -- another benefit of either Thermage or Ultherapy is that the aftercare is basically nothing. You have no scars, no redness -- the only thing they said was to avoid alcohol for the rest of the day and to be more careful with sun exposure -- but we are literally in the land of sunscreen so that isn't going to be hard at all. 

Tomorrow is my "lots of meetings" workday, so I went to bed pretty early -- as a follow-up on the scalp cleanse, hair still feeling pretty bouncy and light today!