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1. Historic Sites Day

Gyeongbokgoong (경복궁)

historic landmark

Gyeongbokgoong is a royal palace from the Joseon Dynasty (I literally just looked that up from Wikipedia). It's a beautiful and gigantic Korean palace that you've probably seen in pictures of Korea. Here, you can observe traditional Korean architecture and reenactments of royal procedures by actors in traditional Korean wear. There are so many stores where you can rent traditional clothing for however many hours and some also do your hair and makeup. If you like taking photos, this is a must do. Such a fun experience! 

National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Right next door is the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, which has a free entrance fee for students! It's a great way to entertain yourself for free and also #free air conditioning in the summer. There is so much to see, I stayed there for about an hour and we didn't even get to see all the pieces. My favorite was the soju art installment :-).  

Insadong 

shopping, eating

Insadong is a quaint town that is filled with traditional-lookin buildings, stores, museums, etc. It's the type of old that I like, renovated and clean LOL. Insadong is great because there is a lot of attention to detail and visuals. For example, every store sign is written in Korean (the Starbucks store has a sign that says "스타벅스" instead of "Starbucks"). Here you can find shops that sell Korean snacks, like that String Honey Candy, BBOPKI (basically burnt sugar I'm quaking), rice crackers, bingsu, etc. The Osulloc there is quite popular since I believe it's one of the largest outside of Jeju Island. There are also restaurants that serve traditional full course meals called HanJongSik (한정식), however, I have limited experience with these restaurants. 

Tosokchon

restaurant

Tosokchon is a traditional Samgyetang(삼계탕) restaurant. Samgyetang is chicken ginseng stew that tastes very healthy but also very flavorful/delicious. People line up for this ish, although I will say that the line goes by really quickly. Inside the ancient looking doors is a legit village of separate rooms filled with tourists and low tables surrounding a small courtyard with a tree and a display of ginseng alcohol. The menu is really simple, with a few appetizers and two types of samgyetang (one with black chicken and one with regular chicken) the items are kind of expensive (15,000 won for the cheapest one) but you get a half chicken in your soup, so it makes sense. I also had the seafood pancake which was really good. They serve it with a shot of ginseng alcohol which tasted not great, but the whole thing was definitely a cool experience. I highly recommend visiting this place. 

DDP (Dongdaemun Plaza)

landmark

This building is designed by ZAHA HADID and holds events like SEOUL FASHION WEEK. It's a beautiful space to walk around and they usually hold interesting exhibits (last time, we went to see the Volez, Voguez, Voyagez by Louis Vuitton). There is also a shopping mall and SHAKE SHACK across the street. 

DONGDAEMUN

shopping, eating

Dongdaemun is also known for it's discount shopping. Not my favorite place, but it's definitely a more classic/old Korean experience when it comes to shopping. It's where your Korean grandma would buy her quilts and refrigerator pants. 

2. Gangnam Day 

Coex/Starfield Book Store/SMTown Artium 

shopping, eating

This is the largest underground shopping mall in the world. Check out all the shopz, all the restaurantz, the Gongchaz, ice cream storez, etc. I would visit the Hyundae Department Store if you haven't been to one before, it's basically a huge market with a bajillion restaurants, and dessert/food kiosks? Just check it out. The book store which was built this past summer is BEAUTIFUL. The SMTown Artium is a "museum" dedicated to SM Entertainment and has several floors of photos and merch filled with overwhelmingly attractive K-Pop stars. 

1MILLION Dance Studios 

recreation

Yes. my favorite place ever. If you want to see your favorite 1MIL choreographers, or just need to work off the millions of calories consumed that day, pay 35,000 won for one class, or buy sets of several classes if you want to go more than once. Classes start typically in the evening and the daily schedule varies, so check out their website for their calendar.  http://www.1milliondance.com/class/

Garosugil (Apgujeong Rodeo Station)

shopping, eating

Apgujeong is confusing because there are two subway stops, Apgujeong and Apgujeong Rodeo, and the stops are on different lines. I would suggest walking or taking a taxi between the two. But Apgujeong Rodeo Station is closest to Garosugil. Garosugil, also known as Rodeo Drive, is a street filled with cute shops and cafes. It's great to walk through in the daytime. I come here a lot for hype restaurants(search apgujeong or garosugil on my food list).

Apgujeong Station

luxury shopping

If you want to go luxury shopping (or window shopping) Apgujeong is the place to be! Here is where all the rich kids shop and drive the Maserati's that their daddy's bought for them. There is a Hyundai Department Store, Comme de Garcon flagship store, Johnny Walker flagship store, COS store, a Corso Como, and a bunch of streetwear shops that I've heard about but never had the chance to visit (link of suggested stores here). 

Octagon

recreation, nightlife

It's a club. It's f-ing huge. There's a hip hop section, a huge EDM area, and it's amazing. It's notorious for housing rich internationals and businessmen. Beware of 30-year-old men, unless that's your type ;-) and unless you're actually older than 25 sorry! 

Kakao Store

shopping, eating

Are you a fan of the adorable Kakao characters like Ryan, APeach, etc? You need to visit this store. It's a giant three-story building filled with notebooks, pens, stickers, stuffed animals, clothes, even t-shirts plastered with beautiful and adorable Kakao characters. On the top floor is a character cafe that serves drinks, pastries, and macaroons that are also character themed. 

3. Yongsan-gu Day

Linus Bama Barbecue 

eating

I have to put this here ugh I love it so much. 

D Museum 

recreation

Holds temporary exhibits, and a few restaurants. I went to the Chanel exhibit, Mademoiselle Prive. Usually requires reservations, so check out their website here. 

Cakeshop/clubbing 

recreation, nightlife

ugh cakeshop is really not my favorite but a lot of famous people go there for some reason and people seem to stan it (I really don't understand why). If you really like EDM you might enjoy it more than I do. They hold Boiler Rooms where famous people come to perform or watch. I met Jay Park while waiting in line to get in. The $20 cover charge was only worth because he was there lol. There are other clubs like The Fountain and Boombox that are nice too. 

Namsan Tower

landmark

A romantic destination for couples or great for a group of friends. I would recommend paying to go up the cable car, but not to go up the actual tower...but see it for yourself! I say this cuz the space right below the tower has all the love locks that you see in Korean dramas and a decent view of the city and the tower is mainly just the view of Seoul, which I didn't find that impressive idk .__. 

Myeongdong

shopping, eating, nightlife

Myeongdong is one of my favorite areas in Korea. The vibes are INCREDIBLE. At nighttime, the place is literally LIT. Like it looks like the middle of the day cuz it's so bright. This place is famous for its endless array of street food, with grilled butter lobster, strawberry daifuku, watermelon juice, ddeokboki, fish cakes, cheesy mussels cooked by a fucking torch, hoddeok, cocktails, TOAST (not just any toast, this egg-topped shit is magical), ice cream in penis shaped cones, EVERYTHING. Myeongdong is known to house many Chinese restaurants as well, typically lamb skewer places and jjajangmyeon. You can also find every Korean makeup store you can ever imagine here.

Style Nanda Hotel (in Myeongdong)

shopping

This is my favorite place in Myeongdong. If you love aesthetic, and pink things, you have to visit this shop. Its a whole building dedicated to Style Nanda, a Korean clothing brand, kind of like Nasty Gal. Everything floor is decorated intricately and uniquely, from a glamorous LED laundromat to a poolside cafe to a hotel hallway. The rooftop has frilly umbrellas over gigantic pink and white cushions where you can lay down and lounge.

4. MAPO-GU DAY

Hongdae 

shopping, eating, nightlife

Hongdae is similar to Myeongdong in that it's super busy all day and also has an amazing nightlife. It's also a great place to shop and find street food (although I think Myeongdong has a better food scene). Hongdae is a college city (where Hongik University is located), so this is where you go for clubbing till 4 AM, eat fried chicken, and wait shitfaced at the subway station until the first train comes at 6 AM. A must try at least once in your life! They also sell really cute and cheap clothing along the streets and have really cool stores. Here's a few of my favorite stores:  

Vintage Santa - street wear (Supreme x LV, Nike, BAPE, etc.) and vintage store. lots of windbreakers and old denim  (link to insta here)

Tomato Library - basically a bunch of knock-off streetwear and shirts with random logos, like Pringles and Simpsons and Ikea

ADER ERROR - an art exhibit centered on toilets/bathrooms and streetwear store in one! a must see. 

A Land - this store is everywhere, but it's a chain clothing store unique to Korea

Style Nanda flagship store - they have a free photo booth! 

There are several cute cafes that you can find on my Food List as well. 

Luxury Su Norebang (karaoke)

recreation, nightlife

There's a famous karaoke location in Hongdae and you can't miss it. You can see people singing in the rooms from outside, and the rooms also have a second story where you can sit and dangle your feet while singing. The rooms with windows cost extra, but the rooms inside are still really nice. The one I went to had a white marble podium with a standing mike and colored lights. One of my favorite past times in Korea. 

Animal cafes

recreation

Hongdae has several animal cafe's much more interesting than the conventional dog or cat cafe. There's a sheep cafe (no need to pay you can just see the sheep from outside), a meerkat cafe, and a raccoon cafe. Cafe's like these often require a cover charge, or require a drink purchase. 

DB Story Custom Phone Case Cafe

recreation

Talk about unique cafes. This place is filled with baubles, beads, and cases for you to browse through in order to design your very own! The workers give you a tray to collect your favorite pieces and two types of glue to adhere things to the case. Each piece ranges from 100-500 won (10-50cents) and the cases are pretty cheap, around 3,000-5,000 won (3-5 bucks). My case in total was somewhere around 15,000-18,000 and I had a lot of pieces, so I thought it was decently priced. 

5. lotte day (yay to monopoly)

lotte world 

recreation, theme park

Lotte World is one of Korea's largest theme parks. It's kind of like a rip off of Disney Land, but instead of Mickey and Minnie Mouse, you have Lotte and Lorry Raccoon. But the park itself is magnificent. The price of one ticket is around 40,000-60,000 won which is really affordable for a theme park. It has both an indoor and outdoor section. The indoor section has a lot of smaller rides, many of which are central to my childhood memories:  a hot air balloon ride, an Indiana Jones-esque Egyptian ride, a Viking ship, water ride called Sinbad, and several roller coasters. The outside has some big boy rides like the gyro drop (i will never), the gyro-swing, Atlantis Adventure (think Universal Studio's The Mummy mixed with Splash Mountain...or just Splash Mountain on steroids), and Comet Express (aka Space Mountain lol). Great for kids and adults alike. As for food, their soft serve ice cream is amazing. I have a traumatic but beautiful experience of finishing one in 2 minutes just so I won't get kicked out of the line for a ride (they didn't allow food after a certain point). 10/10 would do again. Also their Turkish Ice Cream. Also, jjajangmyeon at the food court.

HNNG I really tried not to include food in this blog post but I'm failing so badly. 

lotte ice skating rink

recreation

It's huge, it's affordable. It's kind of exciting since you can see/hear the noises from theme park on the floor above. 

Lotte virtual reality

recreation

It's next to the ice skating rink. If you're of younger age,  make sure to bring your ID to prove you're over 13 I think. 

Lotteria 

food

This is one of the greatest fast food chains in Korea, alongside McDonald's, Burger King, Mama's Kitchen, etc. I can't guarantee quality but I think it tastes better than most fast food in the states. I like their shrimp burger. They also have Bulgogi burgers. 

lotte world tower

recreation, shopping

The tower is crazy tall, apparently the 5th tallest building in the world. The top floors serve as an observatory/sky deck while the lower floors consist of hotel rooms then shops and a movie theatre. Walking through the movie theatre, you can feel the ground SHAKING cuz you're so high up. Apparently, each of the 21 auditoriums has ITS OWN FLOOR, with the largest one being on the 123RD FLOOR. SHOOK.

To Be Continued

Note to Self: anshim/deungshim place, Olympic stadium, han river, Everland