Sunday 4 September, 2022
Day 2 | Seoul
[Missed the previous post? Check it out here]
We wake up to the sound of rain – it’s not that heavy (yet) but we expect the weather to get crazier over the next few days.
Throughout the day we start receiving public health alerts on our phone. Some are about the typhoon, others give COVID-19 updates and one even gives information about a teenage boy who has gone missing.
We decide to spend the day wandering around the area towards Gangnam, which is an area we are quite familiar with having stayed here a few times on previous trips.
After a long and much needed sleep in, followed by a run in the rain, we set off for the streets.
Our first stop is a traditional market in Gangnam, which we come across by accident down a side street. The great thing about South Korea is there is so much to discover when you wander off the main roads, as well as the upper levels of buildings if you look up.
Because of the rain the market is pretty empty.
We stop by a shop on the corner selling twist donuts, one of our favourites.
For lunch we decide to stop into Egg Drop.
Egg Drop was one of our favourite places from previous trips. We’ve discovered similar stores back in Perth but they’re just not as good as the Korean version which are lighter and taste much better in general, not to mention cost about half as much.
We get the Avoholic and Mr Egg. So good!
We wander around a bit more and eventually find our way to Gangnam eat street
This street comes alive at night but even in the rain it’s still pretty busy…
We pass by a busy looking arcade called Zzang Games so we pop in for a bit. Cheye spots a candy pusher machine and decides to have a crack…
And wins the jackpot.
He wants to play again but considering we’ll have to carrying everything on our bikes during our trip (and being the boring, sensible one) I suggest it might be better to wait until we get back to Seoul after all our cycling has been completed. I’m already reluctant to carry the extra kilo of chocolate and popcorn we just won in our panniers.
We make our way back via Paris Baguette. It doesn’t matter where you are in Seoul, you’ll always be within close range of a Paris Baguette store. Their cheese and onion loaf is pretty awesome.
The rain picks up after arriving back at the accommodation so we chill for a bit before deciding to head out for dinner later.
A bit earlier, Cheye suggests downloading the KakaoMap App as it works so much better in South Korea than other maps (which it does). It not only marks out many places of interest, but includes details such as photos, ratings, reviews, menus and links to websites and blog posts.
I do a search on the map and find Manghyang Bibim Guksu, a place that sells spicy noodles. We decide to head there for dinner, which is perfect as it’s just a short walk across the road.
We both order the Bibim Guksu (mixed spicy noodles) and some cheese dumplings.
The food is so good we eat in silence, between glances at the TV showing updates on the weather conditions and developing typhoon.
We have plans to visit Dessert 39 for some bingsu (Korean shaved ice) but they are closed. Maybe another day. On our way back we pass by a local shop selling Chuseok hampers containing things like Spam and giant fruit.
Chuseok is the equivalent of Thanksgiving in South Korea, and most businesses will shut shop over the holiday weekend. We somehow always find ourselves here during the holiday weekend, which is a little inconvenient but has led to some interesting situations (like the time we ended up staying in a Love Motel).
As we need to take the bike to the repair shop tomorrow we decide to extend our stay by another night at our accommodation and figure out our options tomorrow once we have word on how long our bikes will take to fix. The rain is supposed to pick up a lot tomorrow because of the typhoon, so it’s going to be fun walking them down in the rain (sarcasm). Wish us luck!
Here a close up of Cheye’s arcade winnings:
Lunch: Egg Drop
Dinner: 망향비빔국수 (Manghyang Bibim Guksu)
Accommodation: E-Residence
Other: Zzang Games | Paris Baguette
App: Kakao Maps Apple | Kakao Maps Android
eat bike fly 