Weekend with Steph in Seoul

Steph: If I forgot anything, just let me know.

This past weekend I headed to Seoul to visit Stephanie. I hadn’t seen her since my last night in Taipei at the end of June so I was quite excited to talk to her in person (we talk online everyday).

I decided to go for the weekend on Wednesday, but didn’t get the reservation for my flight until Thursday. I couldn’t pay online since I have an American credit card (they only take Korean credit cards) so I was a little worried that something would happen at the airport and they wouldn’t give me my ticket. I called the bank and warned them that I was going to use the card all weekend long in Seoul and probably purchase crazy things. They said ok (in reality I was quite forceful about the issue with them. They were quite smart to reply ok.)

Anyway, I left school a little early and got to the airport just in time. The flight was quick, 50-55 minutes, but I still finished my book half way through so I sat for a good 25 minutes twiddling my thumbs. Steph met me at the airport and we got on the MRT (or subway) to head to her house. She lives on the opposite side of the city so it took 1 1/2 hours to get there, but we had seats the whole time.

We were starving by the time we got to her house so we put my stuff down and went right back to the MRT to go 2 stops away to an Outback. Neither of us has had Western food since arriving in South Korea so we decided to make it a western food filled weekend. After Outback, we walked around the shopping area and headed toward her house. There seemed to be one shady spot while we were walking. I told Steph that if we were in a Western city we would see drug dealers and prostitutes, but since we were in Asia, it was just a quiet area. I got to see the outside of her school right before I twisted my ankle walking. I should have taken a picture of the sidewalks here. They are uneven to the points of having holes in random parts of the walk. I was lucky I didn’t fall to the ground, just a wobble and a twist.

As we were walking, we saw many noraebangs (KTV) places along the road.

Steph actually has one in her building so even after walking all that way back to her house and twisting my ankle, I just had to sing (badly). The place was wild. We paid 10 USD each for a tiny room with three TV screens on top of each other. There were no funny videos, just Korean boyband concerts with your song choice over top of it. We actually couldn't figure out how to work the remote and just pressed random buttons to play the songs. We spent an hour or so in there and then went back to her apartment to pass out.

My ankle was better by the next afternoon. Saturday was spent lounging around Steph’s apartment talking and getting ready for the day. We were both up early, but took our time so we didn’t leave the house until the afternoon. We lunched at TGI Fridays because I suddenly got a hankering for their chicken sandwich. When we got there we were put in the back in a corner which was nice since we could act silly and no one would stare back. The problem was that the servers forgot about us at one point. Just to let everyone know, the chicken sandwich is not the same. It was good, but it looks like TGI Fridays is going to be added to the food list when Steph and I vacation in Taiwan. They really had a good chicken sandwich. We didn’t get out of there until after 4pm so we quickly headed to the MRT so we could see some palaces before they closed.



No such luck though. Both were closed right before we got to them. We were able to take pictures of the outside and look around the area, but we couldn’t get in. Next time I go to Seoul, Steph and I are making it a Palace Weekend. After the palaces we headed to a huge shopping area. When I say huge, I mean bigger than huge like skyscrapers being the mall. There were several building full of shopping goodies. I bought an oversized beanie hat (so on trend here) and a butter knife for only 4 USD this time. Steph bought a hat and two scarves.



We only entered one because outside one of them we spotted a stage with the banner “Rock, Rock”. We had watched a portion of a drummer competition in the MRT earlier that day so we thought this could be interesting. We ended up staying for all three bands and yes, we were the only Western people there. It was funny when each band would point at us and say “Hello, nice to meet you.” The first band was mediocre, but the second and third ones were great. Both Steph and I liked the second one best since they were quite good and quite good looking. The third one was good, but a bit geeky (and not in the good way).
When the concert finished we started walking back to the MRT. Right before we crossed the street, Steph spotted the guitarist from the second band. She asked if we should go back to take a picture and I said “why not.” As I was trying to stealthy trying to take the picture he turned. I starting shifting with him so I could get a picture with his face in it when their manager/bodyguard? told on me (Steph told me that tidbit, I was too focused on trying to get the picture). I then was made to get in the picture (not what I wanted since I had no idea what I looked like after a long day of trekking about). Steph spotted the drummer and the lead singer behind him so I made her get in the picture with the lead singer and I took a picture of the drummer signing autographs. I wanted to get a picture with the bass guitarist, but he was no where to be seen. After our random picture taking session we headed to the river so I could take more pictures (Hello, My name is Julia Sterling and I am addicted to taking pictures, but not posting them.) We ended up walking along the river which had random art and light shows.

When we decided to walk back, we were no where near a MRT. I thought that my feet were going to fall off they hurt so badly. We finally got back to her apartment after midnight when we both realized that we didn’t eat any dinner. I changed my shoes and we went down to the convenience store to get a snack before bed. I was so tired that I collapsed in my bed with the potato chips still in my hand. They made for a nice breakfast though.

Steph and I decided to go to the palaces again on Sunday, but when we woke up we knew we were just too tired.

Sidenote: My curling iron exploded in her apartment scarring her table and floor. My pants also caught a little on fire.




After the explosion we went shopping. Surprise, surprise. I need to buy some books because I finished the ones I bought before I left, so Steph and I headed to the Western shopping area. This is the place to go if you need anything from home. I bought 6 books (all used and I will send them home as soon as I finish them) and a Korean travel book that doesn’t have Ulsan in it. What’s with that?! After that Steph and I concluded our Western food weekend binge at Burger King and Coldstone Creamery. We then went back to the apartment to put my purchases in my already packed suitcase and go to the airport.

Our ride to the airport was quite comical. We watched videos and listened to music on Steph’s Ipod while sitting on the floor of the MRT car. We received many strange and amused looks from the other passengers; we were sitting on the floor and banging our heads to the music. I went seamlessly through the airport and landed on time. The taxi driver was a little confused at first where I was going, but he figured it out eventually. I love that I live 15 minutes from the airport. I actually got home before Steph, haha.

To check out all the pictures from that weekend go here.