south korea

seoul, south korea

on our way to taiwan, we decided to book our flights from canada in and out of korea as a backup in case anything happened in taiwan between booking our flights and leaving (trump had just invaded venezula), but we have also wanted to go to korea for a while, so we took a couple days to check out seoul.

one of the first things i noticed about seoul is how familiar it feels. seoul is very cold - winters go down to -15c or so, summers are up to +35c. it snows here all winter. not what i picture when i think of weather in asia. we are here in march so it feels a lot like april in ottawa - all the grass is yellow, all the trees are bare, it is still -5 at night, +10 during the day. down jacket, sweater.

but it is more than just the weather - the city is built around cars in a way that north american cities are and most asian cities aren't (no scooters, there are sidewalks, normal rules of the road), everybody here drives a full-sized suv or sedan, often mercedes or audi, so walking around the streets feels a lot more like canada. people here are friendly, casual, funny, and outgoing in a way that just doesn't exist in public in places like japan. there is urban density but the buildings are about the same scope and spacing as in north america, not anything like the crazy urban density of tokyo. it basically feels like toronto but with mountains around it.

after 24h of travelling, we finally arrive at our hotel in seoul, very tired but we need some dinner before bed - we ask at our hotel and they recommend a kimpbap place around the corner. kind of like fast food, you order at a big screen and within a few minutes you have kimbap (sort of like sushi but often with egg, carrot, cheese, etc.) and this ubiquitous korean spicy soft tofu stew. healthy, delicious, fast, and cheap.

a lot of seoul feels like toronto, but there are also a lot of temples. another thing i really like here is the pine trees, similar but also somehow distinctly korean

we are arriving right after a major holiday so there are still decorations at all the temples, but we are also arriving right before the return of bts - korea's international sensation kpop boy band, who are filming their first concert post-military service for netflix in downtown seoul this weekend. they are shutting down a lot of the downtown even a week before to get ready. bts is a really big deal here.

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coffee is a huge deal in south korea, this is one of the more famous cafes in seoul - cafe onion, known for their excellent baked goods, served in a traditional hanok house

now a democracy, seoul still has a number of historical imperial palaces scattered around the city, this is the major one in the centre of the city

apparently dressing in traditional garb and visiting the palace is a common pastime here

all the vehicles in seoul are north-american sized, even the kei trucks here are massive!

korean pine

a tradition of korean cuisine is banchan - many small side dishes, often of pickles and vegetables. the more banchan you had, the richer you were. this is sort of an older style of eating but you can still often find some sort of pickles served on the side at most restaurants. also: spicy tofu stew, which is seemingly served with every meal here.

we toured around the historical hanok village - this is what seoul used to look like before the boom of modernization, now it is just homes for the very rich. housing in korea is a bit of a disaster - a good korean salaryman job for a major company pays around $45k cad. a one bedroom apartment in seoul costs about $1 million cad. when we ask how much worse can housing in canada get, apparently the answer is much worse. there is also a very weird rent system here - instead of paying rent to your landlord, instead you take out a loan for about 80% of the value of the apartment and give that to the landlord, you then pay the interest to the bank and that is your 'rent'. no wonder all the korean media i have ever seen has strong themes of wealth disparity and anti-capitalism (parasite, squid game, train to busan, etc.).

namsam tower in the distance

myeoungdong is one of the major shopping districts in seoul. because nobody can afford to buy a house, koreans have other financial priorities - despite the modest salaries, korea is the largest purchaser of luxury goods in the world - everyone here is dressed in designer clothes with a $3000 handbag and often driving a new mercedes. nobody here has children and the population is plummeting, in part because of the insane work hours but also the cost of living. so if you can't afford a house or kids, you set other financial goals i suppose.

every male in korea is mandated to do military service, which has resulted in a nostalgia based comfort dish called "military stew" - a typical ration-based meal of instant ramen, hot dogs, and spam (except this one is vegan). turns out if you fly halfway around the world you can go to a restaurant and get exactly what i eat when i go camping - veggie dogs and instant ramen (this also technically counts as a spicy tofu stew).

we did a hike up to namsam tower. there are some really nice parks and green spaces in the city. this involved a 4km 220m hike through the woods up one of the small mountains in the middle of the city, which involves around 1000 stairs.

it also provides and excellent view of the cityscape at sunset

we stayed in insadong which is known for its traditional hanok houses, art stores, cafes, and proximity to the palace.

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this cafe is studio ghibli themed, miyazaki is very popular here

markets are super popular here, this is the gwangjang market

dumplings, kimbap

took a quick swing by seongsudong, the arty hipster neighbourhood. very big on shopping, microbreweries, new condo buildings, stores in shipping containers etc., but also very close to the seoul forest, a huge urban park, which even has deer!

very canada

we also went to check out hongdae, the main nightlife district here - lots of bars, lots of fried chicken, lots of karaoke, lots of people. drinking is a pretty big part of korean work and social culture, so the nightlife areas are very busy. getting around the city is really easy with the subway, and often faster than driving.

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we couldn't leave korea without getting some korean bbq, this was a bit of a splurge by korean standards but still pretty cheap ($75 with drinks for both of us). excellent stuff, prepared right at your table. note that this also comes with spicy tofu stew.

rainy seoul morning

overall, seoul is extremely cool. beautiful, comfortable, familiar but different, lots to do. would highly recommend visiting. we definitely want to come back and see more of the country, but now it is off to taiwan!