Posts in Category: Korea 2025

COEX and Kalguksu

On March 6, 2025 2 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

COEX Aquarium

We love aquariums so we went to see the one at Coex Mall in Gangnam. The aquarium was pretty good, lots of sharks and rays. The Coex Mall itself was not that interesting. Just lots of shops and food courts, same as any big mall. There were some cool places to take photos but otherwise, not for me.

An LED wrapped building at COEX in Gangnam
LED screen wrapped building at COEX in Gangnam
White Koi photographed from above at COEX aquarium
Pretty white koi
Koi with round mouths poking above water at COEX aquarium
These boys want to eat kalguksu too
Jellyfish at COEX aquarium
Jellies
Pacific Giant Octopus at COEX aquarium
Eye to eye with a Pacific Giant Octopus. He was my favourite…HUGE!
Woman silhouette against coral reef tank at COEX aquarium
Offspring with Reef
This is a big fish just under the surface. I like all the smeared colours from the moving water.

COEX Aquarium …in case you want to visit. If you like aquariums there are a few pics of Sumida aquarium in Tokyo in this post.

Kalguksu 칼국수

Kalguksu at a family restaurant in Hwanghakdong
Kalguksu at 할아버지 손 칼국수… one of my favourites. Young husband and wife team make fresh noodles by hand every morning. Delicious and only 5$ a big bowl.
Outside of Kalgugksu restaurant in Hwanghakdong
Look at this place ♥️. Everything covered in flour! This is my favourite kind of restaurant. One or two things on the menu made with pride and care. They make the noodles outside on this table every morning.
This basically says that each person has to order a menu item. The place is tiny and there is usually a lineup outside. This sign is no-doubt aimed at people who ask to share a bowl of soup so they only have to pay 2.50 each 🙄. I think that’s what it says… probably aimed at cheap tourists or food bloggers. Kenny Shopsin had the same rule at Shopsin’s in NYC.

Hwanghak-dong Flea Market

These are just a few quick snaps of Hwanghak-dong Market. It goes on for blocks and blocks. You can buy anything here but you have to do a little work to find it. It is a fun place full of clothes, books, records, electronics, food, antiques, army surplus, kitchenware, ingredients, car parts…everything!

Hwanghak-dong Flea Market book sellers
One of the bookstores
Hwanghak-dong Flea Market guitars and backpacks stall
Korean made guitar and backpack shop
Old family photos in a bucket for sale at Hwanghak-dong Flea Market
This was my favourite things from the market today. One seller had a big wooden bucket full of random black and white photos mostly from the 60s and 70s. Family photos, weddings, army photos, candid shots. Looking at them was like traveling through time. And the aesthetic impact of the paper photos…there is something ghostly and beautiful about them. Probably most of the people in them are very old by now, if not gone altogether.
Hwanghak-dong is like the opposite of COEX mall. I like it so much better ^^

For a more detailed look at Hwanghak-dong check out this post.

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Naksan Wild Cats and Kaesong Mandu Koong

On March 5, 2025 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Before heading up Naksan to look for cats and and eat mandu, we had to go to Seoul station:

KTX can’t take payments with foreign cards online right now so we went to Seoul Station to buy tickets. The station is huge and open and full of light and the buzz of travel. There are cafes and food vendors everywhere so you can buy a snack, sit on the steps in the sunshine and wait for your train. And you can go right down to the tracks even if you don’t have a ticket.

Seoul Station street view
Seoul Station view of the tracks with KTX train arriving
KTX bullet train: 305km/hour, Seoul to Busan in just over 2 hours
View from Seoul old city wall near Dongdaemun
From the Seoul City wall: Lotte Castle right in the middle is where our apartment is in Sungin-dong
Trail near Naksan Park along the outer wall
City wall outer path
Naksan wild cats
There are lots of cat colonies up along the wall. People feed them and they have bushes and grass to hide in and rooftops to sleep on.
Naksan kitten
As we were walking I said: “I usually start seeing cats around here” and this little kitten burst out of the bushes right in front of us. Perfect timing. I have never seen a kitten here before.
Woman feeding chicken to Naksan wild cats
Naksan wild cats get a chicken dinner
Naksan wild cats scratching branch
Nature’s scratching post…better than Ikea couch
Naksan cats
More cats…
Woman with Naksan cats
Even more cats…
Man on moped delivery near Naksan park up the old city wall in Seoul
Working man: I was taking a picture down the road and he just zoomed through.
View of Dongdaemun from above with 2 women walking
Dongdaemun ơn the way down
Mandu soup at Kaesong Mandu Koong
Meat dumpling soup 고기만두국 at Kaesong Mandu Koong.
Gwangjang Market
Quick walk through Gwangjang Market for some hotteok 호떡 on the way home.

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Snow and Seolleongtang

On March 4, 2025 0 Comments - Korea 2025, Travel

Snow!!

Today is the first time I have seen snow in Seoul so we decided to go out and take a morning walk around Gwanghwamun Square. We tried to go to Gyeongbokgung Palace to take some pictures but unfortunately it was closed today. You can check here for information and hours..I should have too!

Gyeongbokgung front gate with people dressed in hanbok
Gyeongbokgung front gate with lots of people in hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. You can rent hanbok to wear from nearby shops. And if you do, admission to the Palace is free.
Statue of Sejong the Great in Gwanghwamun Square during a light snowfall
Sejong the Great, king and inventor of the hangul language, seems happy to see the snow too.
Two girls in Gwanghwamun square in the snow
Cold legs…

Admiral Yi Sun Shin from behind in Gwanghwamun Square during a snowfall
Admiral Yi Sun Shin keeping an eye on things…
Man in green hat holding a mini bungeoppang up to his face to show the size
Mini-bungeoppang snack. These are fish shaped waffles with red bean or custard filling inside.
LG Twins baseball cap

We went to the KBL shop and I got an official LG Twins cap for summertime. I don’t usually wear baseball caps but this one seems to fit well. I like it. Sorry Doosan fans!

Seolleongtang

Seolleongtang in an old family owned restaurant in Seoul
Seolleongtang and doganitang for dinner at 옥천옥. One of my favourite meals here, doganitang is like seolleongtang except all cartilage. I always feel 5 years younger after I eat this. Both dishes are made with unseasoned long cooked beef bone stock, rich and white. Doganitang has noodles and cartilage inside, with ginseng and daechu and green onion. Seolleongtang is almost the same but has strips of beef, less cartilage and no medicinal herbs. You can season them with salt or kkakdugi juice.
A colourful old shack in Hwanghakdong Flea Market after dark.

We walked back through Hwanghak-dong. During the day this is a massive outdoor flea market crawling with people. After dark it is empty. I love the look of these old shops when they are closed up…the colours and the signage. Look at that coffee vending machine: it has a print of an old grandpa taking a little kid fishing.

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