*SouthKorea2K16* 161203: Singapore ↠ South Korea

Pikachu at Changi Airport Terminal 1 Departure Hall

I met up with Vance at Changi Airport to board our flight together to Incheon. We took Airasia which transited at KLIA2, where we met up with Shu. Do take note that if you're taking AirAsia, extra payment is needed for baggage check-in and food on board. Therefore, do consider the extra costs and compare it with the normal airlines (SIA, Korean Air etc) to find out which airline suits you the most!

Wifi Router from Changi Recommendations! 

Also, we have rented the wifi router (or wifi egg as some of you might call it) for unlimited wifi and it only costs SGD$5 per day. I personally think everyone should get it because of the unlimited wifi and it supplies fast wifi almost all the time, you only need to charge the power every night because of its good battery life. You need to pay an extra $10 for the insurance of the wifi router in case of any mishaps happens.

Super fluffy clouds!

Flying to Korea this time has been a dread for me because I realised that I have no access to my Spotify music while in the air. And because we took a budget airline, there was absolutely no entertainment for me to pass through the 6-7 hours journey to Korea. So I basically survived the long flight by sleeping all the time and looking out the window for nice clouds and sunlight. And yes, I got a window seat!

TOUCHDOWN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We have finally touched down in INCHEON AIRPORT!!! Encountered some problems while collecting my luggage. Nonetheless, we made it through and WELCOME TO SOUTH KOREA! So here's a tip, get a luggage which is not black in colour, or a luggage cover(?) so that you can identify your luggage easily and get out of the airport ASAP to start your holiday!

Our first stop of the day was Hongik University (Hongdae) because we could only check into our Airbnb at Hapjeong after 3pm. Hongdae is literally one of our favourite spots in Seoul because of the abundance of local foods and how convenient it is to travel to other places in Seoul as it is an intersection of different subway lines. Both Shu and Vance found a spot to deposit their luggages at the subway station except me. I had to drag my luggage around until my Airbnb check in time.

Emoboy93 (._. )

We went to our must-go restaurant every time we visit Korea, Saemaeul Siktang. They sell the greatest, in my opinion, marbled beef and their signature dish. "7 minute Kimchi stew".

Vance when he looked normal. He had an allergy reaction after the meal when he ate a perilla leaf. 

Marbled beef with 7 minute kimchi stew!

BEST MARBLED BEEF EVERRRRRR

The kimchi stew is a MUST ORDER whenever you visit this restaurant! The kimchi stew is prepared in 7 minutes, as the name suggests, and there is a special way to devour this beast. Refer to video below!

If i was on a death row, this would be my last meal.

We went to Gelati Gelati to have some gelato for dessert afterwards because what's better than eating something cold on a cold winter morning right? :D

Chocolate with Royal Tea gelato!

Photobomb because im da bomb. 

We walked around Hongdae to look for a pharmacy for Vance's allergy pills. We headed to the subway station to collect their luggages and to Hapjeong for our Airbnb check in! Hapjeong was just one station away from Hongdae, so it was not much of a hassle.

Met up with the owner of our Airbnb apartment and he brought us to our apartment. We did not choose to stay in a hotel because we allocated more budget for food and entertainment. Besides, it is only a place for resting. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Our apartment was on the 34th floor which gave us a wonderful view of the area outside of our window and also the Han river!

We rested for a while in our apartment and left for Myeongdong to have some Sinseon Ox Bone Stew for dinner.

Swollen faced Vance with me enjoying the oh-so-good barley tea

Milky garlic Ox Bone Stew! 

BIG Mandus!

We walked around Myeongdong for a while before making our way to Namsan Tower (Seoul Tower). The Christmas lights in Myeongdong were so pretty!

Few moments later, we have reached the cable car station which leads us to Namsan Tower!

We paid about S$10 for a two-way cable car trip. The queue for the cable car was rather long, but it moved kind of fast and there was a shop selling snacks and souvenirs too. We waited for around half an hour and we boarded the cable car! It was rather squeezy tho. 

The cable car trip took about 5-10mins and the view of the city was amazing! 

The Namsan Tower is not only a famous tourist spot, but also a popular dating spot where couples come to put their "Padlocks of Love" alongside the railings of the tower base to signify the importance of their love. We went up to the observatory after that which gave us a 360 degree panoramic view of Seoul. Night view never fails but phone camera does. None of my pictures were nice, but the experience was good! Here's a picture of the night view from our apartment to end this post of our Day 1 in South Korea!