Visit Seoul: Lotteria

Lotteria is a huge fast food chain in Seoul that originated in Japan.

Some call them the "McDonald's of South Korea," with its numerous burger options, including shrimp burgers and bulgogi burgers.  

Mozzarella Burger

The Mozzarella Burger consisted of a huge patty of breaded mozzarella cheese with a burger and bacon.  Wow!

And of course, there are the sides, such as fries, squid rings, or cheese sticks.  

 

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Visit Seoul: Gangnam

It was a rainy day in Seoul, but we took the bus to the 3rd largest city - Gangnam.

Most people know Gangnam from the popular song Gangnam Style, and there is actually a monument dedicate to Psy and this song (complete with a video monitor so you can dance and sing along, if you wish).

The statue is located right outside the Starfield COEX Mall - a huge underground mall with over 200 stores, restaurants, an aquarium, a movie theater, and more.

A centerpiece of the mall is the Starfield Library.  The towers of books are quite a sight!

We did some shopping at the mall, ate at McDonald's, then explored the area a bit more.

We even made sure to stop at Baskin-Robbins Brown - a must-stop for any ice cream lover.

Aside from the world-famous song, Gangnam has been popular for it's trendy, luxury shops.   Although that kind of shopping is not our style, it was fun to visit the COEX mall while we were in Gangnam!

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Visit South Korea: Lotte World

Some links below are affiliate.

Lotte World was not on our itinerary for South Korea, but when my oldest son requested we go there, we figured, "Why not?"

We bought "Foreigner" discounted tickets off of Klook, which included one Magic Pass ride per person.  

We caught the train to Lotte World, and had to go to a specific entrance to redeem our tickets.  We went on the Wild Jungle and Wild Wing Rides, both of which had fairly short waits.  They were essentially "virtual" rides, where you watch a huge screen and the ride car moves according to what is on screen, so you feel like you are spinning, falling, or flying through the air.

Then we went to look for more rides.  The area we were at, Underland, consisted of more "kiddie" rides, so we went to look for the big kid rides . . . which turned out to be not so easy!

Eventually we found our way to the Adventure area, which consisted of a number of rides, a small food court, and shops, all indoors.

There are multiple levels in Adventure, which we eventually figured out after looking for rides, and for the most part, lines were pretty long, so we pretty much just ate lunch and watched the parade in Adventure.

There is very limited seating in the food court area, which was very surprising considering the number of people at the amusement park, so be prepared to scramble for seats!

Parade is show on the big screen

The food options were limited, but I thought what we ordered was good.  

We were satisfied, and ready to go to Magic Island - the outdoor portion of the amusement park.

It was very difficult to even find out how to get there!  After getting lost a few times, we finally found the bridge to get to Magic Island.

We happened to go during Halloween festivities, so the park was decked out in ghoulish decor.

It was amazing how many people were there.  It was just a sea of tweens and teens at Magic Island.  I saw very few adults and young kids (they were mostly at Adventure).

Lines were crazy long for both food and rides, but fortunately we had a Magic Pass each for the rides.

The rules to redeem the Magic Pass had changed, and after searching online and asking people around the park, we finally figured out that you simply had to go to the Magic Pass entrance, show your ticket, and the park employee manually writes something on the ticket to show that your Magic Pass has been used.  Not as technologically advanced as I thought it would be, but it worked.

My oldest son loves rides so he was the one who made use of the Magic Passes to ride a few things at Magic Island.

As it was getting late and started to rain, I helped him use up a Magic Pass, and we went on the Atlantis coaster.

The castle was lit up with Halloween images, and it was pretty neat.

Lotte World packs a lot into very small spaces, and I imagined the rides to be more spread out across a bigger area.  The small area made it feel way more cramped, considering how long the lines were.

There is of course a Disney vibe, and many of the rides are a take on classic Disney ones.

We got lost a lot, and didn't get to do as much as we had hoped, but it was still something to experience.  

Lotte World
240 Olympic-ro

Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea

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Visit Seoul: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Visiting one of the palaces in Seoul was a must for us, so we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, where we also watched the Changing of the Guard.

The Palace has undergone numerous restoration and renovation efforts since it was originally built in the late 1300s, and was even left in a run-down state for nearly three centuries at one point in time after the invasion of the Japanese.

In the present day, it's an amazing, world-renown historical site drawing thousands of visitors daily.

We made it just in time for the Changing of the Guard, which takes place 10am and 2pm every day except Tuesdays.

We had prime viewing, and it was very neat to watch the whole process.  A narrator translates in English so you can understand what is happening and why.  She would explain what they were holding and wearing, and the gestures that were occurring.

After the Changing of the Guard, we self-toured the Palace grounds (a small fee for adults, kids are free).

We walked past the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, where feasts would be held, as well as the picturesque Hyangwonjeong Pavilion.

Gyeonghoeru Pavilion

Hyangwonjeong Pavilion

We also saw the Geunjeongjeon Hall, the site of major events.  Take a peek inside to see the throne, and be sure to look all around, up and down, to see the ornate designs.

Tucked away in the Northeast is a series of buildings away from the main buildings, which included shrines and halls.

The grounds are stunning, spanning acres, with beautifully maintained gardens, and intricately designed buildings.

There are places to sit throughout, and although there were a lot of people, it wasn't overwhelmingly crowded.

We could've spent a lot longer at the Gyeongbokgung Palace than we did, but we still got to see a lot in the short time we spent there.  It was such a significant place to visit!

Gyeongbokgung Palace

161 Sajik-ro, Jongno-guSeoul, South Korea

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Visit Seoul: Yeji Sikdang

We found another hole-in-the-wall gem for breakfast one morning in Seoul - Yeji Sikdang.

In the tiniest space we've dined at in Seoul, the friendliest couple dished out food with heart and soul.

The owner made suggestions of what to eat via a wall of pictures, wrote our order on a dry erase board, then dropped an array of banchan.

I seriously could've gotten full off of just the banchan (my youngest son especially loved the eggs, rice, and nori, which the owner thoughtfully showed him how to prepare).

As for our actual breakfast order, we got:

Steamed Eggs

Korean Pancake

Ox Bone Soup

Bibimbap

King-Sized Dumplings

The Ox Bone Soup and King-Sized Dumplings were recommended by the owner, both of which were great.  The dumplings were my favorite (a single one could be a meal in itself!), and the soup was perfect for a chilly morning.  

The Korean Pancake was filled with seafood and veggies, and the eggs came out piping hot.

All the food was standard for Korean restaurants, and they were all so delicious.  You could sense how much care and pride was put into each dish.

The owners were just the sweetest, and we were truly welcomed into the tiny space that was full of passion for food.

Yeji Sikdang

17-3 Myeongdong 9-gil

Jung-gu, Seou,k South Korea
 

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