#myeondong korea

[hotelinkorea]

‘The Westin Josun Seoul’ Detailed Review: From Finding the Best Deals to Real Guest Experiences!

Greetings! Your trusted Korean hotel guide HB (Hotel Boy) is here.

Today’s spotlight shines on ‘The Westin Josun Seoul‘ (★★★★★ 5 Star), nestled in Myeondong, Seoul, South Korea.

Drawing from numerous reviews from both local and global guests alike, we have prepared an insightful analysis that promises to engage all your senses. And above all else, we aim to assist you in making an informed decision for your memorable stay in Korea. Without further ado – let’s dive right in!

#hotel in korea #hotelinkorea #hotel in seoul #hotelinseoul #the westin josun seoul #the westin josun #thewestinjosunseoul #thewestinjosun

[thenomadinside]

A Seoul-o Trip to South Korea: Part 1

Places covered in this post: Myeong-dong (명동), Myeondong Kyoja (명동교자), Namdaemun Market (남대문시장), Dongdaemun Design Plaza (동대문디자인플라자 (DDP)), Lotte World (롯데월드)

It’s been 8 years since I’ve last visited Korea, so coming back to the country in a way reminded me of attending a 5-year high school reunion. It felt as if I was back to evaluate and access just much the country has not only changed but also stayed the same. Time really flies!

But wait, let’s first pause and rewind…

The first time I ever set foot in Korea was the summer of 2012 when my sister had just graduated from college and my family was on an Asia tour which consisted of Taiwan, Japan and Korea. The five of us (my mother, father, sister, grandma and I) stayed at a bed and breakfast called “Hongsi Guesthouse.” My sister had stayed here the summer before when she was interning in Korea. This adorable B&B was situated in the Mapo area and was hosted by a high-energy Korean lady who lived there with her two sons named 이강산 and Yun Whan, both of whom were aspiring artists. Everything inside the house felt very cheerful, positive and mundane: from the bed sheets they used all the way down to the interior decoration. The dining room was adorned with letters that were from visiting travelers from around the world and Polaroid photos. I’m sure my family photo is still hanging up there, assuming they still live in the same house.

The common area also had a little DIY station which would be replenished daily with local bread, basic spreads such as peanut butter and jam and a good ol’ carton of concentrated OJ. It was a really simple breakfast but weirdly felt “on brand” with the simplistic and positive vibes of the B&B. Oh, and how could I forget?! They also had an adorable puppy named Bpoom! That trip was so fun and I was left with amazing memories of Korea such as attending a live concert of Idiotape, eating spicy tteokbokki (떡볶이) that literally burned a hole in my mouth, going to a cat cafe near Ewha University, eating Dragon’s beard candy (꿀타래) in Insa-dong and more. Sadly today, they no longer operate as a B&B after closing their doors during the SARS pandemic and never reopened.

We named him Fashionkitty

First meal in Seoul

The 떡볶이 that killed me

Fresh juice vendor

How Koreans line up

Let’s make history

Idiotape concert, let’s goooooooo!

For those interested in watching the vlog I filmed for my Asia tour back in 2012, click the following link: https://vimeo.com/45953033

Fast forward to revisiting Seoul 8 years later…

I came here knowing quite well that this trip would be a totally different experience than my first one, especially coming as a solo traveler. My intent and purpose has changed drastically since the last time I traveled here. Also, as I’m much older this time around, I have a developed a specific way of traveling and know what things I like and don’t like. Following a Taiwan trip for Lunar New Years, I arrived in Seoul and was taken aback on how freezing it was! I’ve always heard about the brutal winters of Seoul but it was honestly a lot colder than I anticipated. I have a friend back in New York who always teases me that I’m always overdressed (as in wearing too much clothes than necessary). Sadly it doesn’t apply here as I had JUST enough clothing and basically piled on all my thicker clothing.

My flight arrived at the Incheon International Airport quite late at around 11pm and took a public charter bus towards the city center. The bus was rather empty with only one passenger besides me and it took approximately around an hour to get to Seoul. The bus dropped me off at the stop right outside of a Hilton hotel, which was a few blocks from my hotel in Myeongdong. After checking into the hotel, I went around my block in search for some quick eats and came across a 24-hour restaurant owned by a grandma where I ordered what I craved the most: soondobu and mandoo and then went back to rest.

Namdaemun Market (남대문시장)

The next day, I woke up early to get a head start to my day. I was only in Seoul for a few days so I didn’t have much time to waste. My first stop was Namdaemun Market (남대문시장) and it was only a 8-minute walk from where I stayed at (which seemed twice as long due to the freezing temperature). When I got there, most of the vendors were still setting up shop but there were a few thrift stores and boutique shops that were ready for browsing. I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here as the first thing on my mind was breakfast.

Delicious Kimchi at Myeongdong Kyoja

For those that don’t know, Myeong-dong (명동) is the shopping mecca for tourists as it has a wide variety of retail stores from Korean cosmetics to luxury fashion shops. It is easily accessible to all public transportation. I would definitely recommend staying at a hotel around here if you plan to spend most of your time in the city center. Some other areas that you could consider staying are Namyeong and Itaewon.

My first mission of the day was to eat breakfast at “Myeongdong Kyoja,” a Michelin-recommended eatery that is known for their noodle soups, kimchi and mandoo. When I arrived, the restaurant was already jam-packed with customers happily slurping on their noodles. I was a bit surprised at the popularity especially in the early morning as to me noodles aren’t the typical breakfast item. I ordered their most popular dish, the kalgaksu, which was delicious but I wasn’t actually a fan of the noodles, as the noodles felt gummy and lacked body to them. The broth, however, was very flavorful and enjoyable – and actually, perfect for a winter day! What I enjoyed the most about the restaurants was actually kimchi, as it had a unique taste to it. The kimchi had been fermented for a longer period of time and had a sort of licorice aftertaste to it that had me coming back for seconds and thirds to further identify the ingredients used and analyze the flavors. According to their website, their kimchi recipe is designed to compliment kalgaksu and mandu, which I definitely thought it did well.

By the time I finished breakfast, it was already 11:30am and Myeong-dong had become much more lively and all of the retail stores had opened. I didn’t plan to visit this area again so I did explore the area some more and looked at some shops including: Ziozia, ALAND flagship store, Mind Bridge

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (동대문디자인플라자 (DDP))

Lotto World & Mall: Seoul 101

“몰라몰라” – Confused taxi driver

I ended up chilling at some cafe around Gangnam and browsing through the underground mall right before my hair appointment. And that was the end of my first day in Korea: it was quite exhausting as I literally went all around Seoul but it was a jam-packed day and that is all I can ask for. Needless to say, I fell asleep in a slump right when I got back to my hotel.

Read the second part of my trip to Seoul here

[adventure-in-korea]

Outing on Wednesday, 01.03.23 This day I had signed up for my last group hike before going travelling - up Geomdansan. I was in good condition so it was a pretty easy hike. Unfortunately, the view was a bit disappointing due to the fine dust but still a statisfying hike overall. After that I went to dinner in Myeongdong with one of the guys from the group since we had already met before on another hike and, this time, had been together the whole hike. After that on the way to the subway station we walked past the Myeondong Cathedral, which I had not seen by night time.

It was a good time and great closure before starting my journey around Korea~

#Korea #Exploring Gyeonggi-do #Hiking #Geomdansan #Myeongdong Cathedral

[delaneypayne]

D-9

Our last scheduled day :(

We started our day by visiting the Design District designed by Zaha Hadid. This building had an incredibly intricate and complicated design but was executed beautifully.

After visiting Hadid’s building we went and visited an all women’s university. The concept behind the design of their buildings was interesting. With the hope of preserving the greenery and older buildings the designer decides to build underground. Pictured below are multiple classrooms and dorms all underground.

We finished our day at Myeondong Shopping District. The place was gorgeous! In the evening all the street vendors line the streets and you can buy street food native to Korea! I also had the opportunity to visit a cat cafe. Which was super cute. After the cat cafe we wandered the rest of Myeondong and I did some “necessary” shopping.

For dinner we ate Pork Katsu. Which was probably one of my favorite meals we had here. I did learn that the spicy yellow mustard however had wasabi in it the hard way… but it was still delicious. After dinner we went and watched a play called Nanta.

I absolutely loved the play! It was funny and honestly can be enjoyed by any age range. I HIGHLY recommend watching the play if you are able to visit Korea. However they also travel and do this play else where. If you’re able to catch it definitely go see it.

I will be missing Korea so much. Until my next visit!

[purest-expressionofgrief]

the past week.

gyeongbokgung - national museum of korea - myeondong - namsangol hanok village - lotte tower - yoojung sikdang (featured in bts' rookie king ep 1) - old bighit in nonhyeondong - streets 🤍

[bertbetripping]

SEOUL

Our first stop on our trip is Seoul. Oh my lord, it is so hot here. It is incredibly hot, and what seems to kick our asses the most is the humidity. It’s that feeling as if you’re getting steamed over a long period of time.

We booked out stay for the first days in Seoul over at Ibis Styles Ambassador Myeondong, located in… you guessed it Myeondong! I have many memories of my first visit to Seoul and we also visited Myeongdong that time. This time around the place felt different.

Upon arrival at Seoul we needed to get a PCR test and then we left Incheon airport for the hotel. We arrived there in the evening and then wanted to get some food at about 21:15. When we walked through the area we noticed its so quiet everywhere. Streets aren’t empty, but theyre definitely not crowded by any means. Not like 2012 in the slightest. Many places close around 22:00, where I have this memory of 2012 where places opened deep into the night.After looking for a place, we settles on somewhere that sells commons foods, bibimbap, teokkbokki, mandu and naengmyeon. The place was decently full, but upstairs had multiple tables free. The food was a bit plain and expensive, but like Sadea said ‘atleast we didn’t settle for easy McDonalds’. As we finished we got the result from our PCR test that we were negative. After this we walked and found out that Korea also has anti-vax people. Who are also very religious it seems.

The next day we started by walking to Myeondong Cathedral, a pretty church that really stands out in the area. Lots of buildings in Myeongdong are multiple floors or commercial stuff. Shops, restaurants and such. Around the cathedral are some other Christian sighs, like a cave of Mary and a chapel. We however decided on walking to Seoul Station.

While walking along this really bit road we saw a lot of the city, there was a temple that in hindsight a day later turned out to have been something interesting. It was a temple and hanok village, however we kept on walking the road to… Dongdaemun. Yes, I had guided us the opposite direction and we ended up in Dongdaemun. So we took the chance to take a look around the design center. I’d seen this place online before however it was much less shiny in person… We didn’t stop for any exhibition because our time in town is limited and was still hella humid.

We visited the Gate, bought some drinks and snacks… we bought new masks cause we were running out. Yes, in South Korea there is still masking. If understood correctly you mask inside and in crowded places where you cannot keep distance. So the later can also apply to outside.

After Dongdaemun we took a metro to one of the palaces called Gyeongbeokgung because it was the last day of Chuseok we had free admission as did hundreds of others visiting, many of them wearing rented hanbok. It was really crowded at the Palace grounds as well as at the plaza in front of the main gate. After this we retuned to Myeongdong, there we ate at Kimbap Cheonguk. This place we also went to with my friend Heelim in 2012. In fact she is the one who introduced this place to us! Its still as amazing as back then! Good food and cheap! Best combination ever!

After we left the sun had set and we left for Hongdae. This place was packed with people! A lot of young people. In 2012 we stayed at a Guesthouse in Hongdae, but it is no longer there. Hongdae has changed A LOT. 10 years ago I recall there being lots of small businesses. Now the whole street is lines with sleek looking stores and larger brands. 

We left and went to Sinchon, not far away. This place has a similar vibe to Hongdae of 2012. We walked around a bit and sat at a square where there were two guys busking or well it looked like noraebang for an audience. Sinchon also was not crowded aside from Hongdae the place felt empty really.

the next day we left early and went to buy and umbrella, because the forecast had mentioned rain and we saw people with umbrellas. We then found our way to Namsan and hiked up to the tower. This did not go as smoothly as in 2012, there was a lot of sweating an complaining involved from my side. Mind you, its still - on day 3 – humid as heck. Along the way there were quite a few elderly people passing us by, as always. Yet we made it, at the top of Namsan it was again very quiet, no crowds anywhere. So we went up the tower as well and looked around for a bit… It was cute, but pricy and honestly I think the views from downstairs are just as nice.

We had some dinner, I had a Samgyeopsal Set and Sadea had something spicy. The food tasted fresh, it was good and not expensive at all considering we were on top of Namsan. When we finished we took a cable cart down, because we are not THAT sporty. Although Sadea did suggest walking down a few times. We did succumb and paid to get off Namsan. In hindsight we saw a lot of people hiking down Namsan, with their iced coffee in-hand. No sweat to be seen. Likely cause they were smart and did our hike in reverse. At the time of that realization we were already back at the hotel and did our laundry. When it finished we at the top floor of the hotel and at waaay too expensive Haemool Pajeon and some cheese with pizza and ruccula. Like honestly that things as more cheese than anything else.

When then made out escape of the rooftop bar/restaurant with view on Namsan and beers costing 13.000 won. We went to buy our ticket at Seoul Station for our traintrip tomorrow to Jeonju. Then we continued to check out Sadea’s former house and internship. It’s on the southside of the city and the area is much more livable than the touristy areas. Stating the obvious probably, but as a tourist you probably would never go to a place like this. The area was walkable, there was a bicycle road it was really nice! From there we went to Hangang the river running through seoul and we sat there for a bit to reminisce. There was a breeze and it was bearable to be there. However as soon as we crossed the bridge it was humid again. We took some empty metro’s to the hotel and the next blog will be Jeonju.

[whathannelblogs]

Missing Myeongdong, Korea

Annyeonghaseyo! A Korean word for Hello. Since the Korean invasion in our country, Philippines, visiting Korean became the top of my list. From Koreanovelas, KPop artists and music to Korean products and cosmetics, Korea opened my heart to know more of their cultures and appreciate natural products that are really good to our body and skin. Myeongdong is one of Seoul’s main shopping districts…

View On WordPress

#beautiful place in korea #beauty of korea #busy street of korea #korea #korea tourism #myeondong korea #myeongdong #tour #tourist spot in korea #travel #travel blog #travel blogger #travel blogging #where to buy korean skincare products #where to go in korea #where to travel in korea

[quatresnuku]

Rose shaped ice cream from Milky Bee, Myeondong, Seoul

#food #ice cream #milky bee #rose #rose ice cream #food mention #korean food #foodie #food art #myeondong #seoul #south korea #kpop #yummy #pink #pink rose #strawberry #chocolate

[hellolamaramotteencoree]

9 juin 2019

A séoul il y a beaucoup BEAUCOUP d’églises un peu partout, et a myeondong il y a même une grande cathédrale. Mais franchement j'étais  un peu déçue parceque bon a coté des cathédrales françaises ..... C’est bof bof ^^ mais c'était intéressant de voir un élément plutôt associé a la culture européenne ici.

Et puis j’ai été dans un bar a chats (enfin!) qui aurais cru que je mettrai autant de temps a en visiter un ? 

#Chats #cats #myeondong #kitty #seoul #travel #south korea #coreedusud #voyage #korea #fun #church #eglise

[ettielle]

#Korea vlog #kvlog #브이로그 #일상 #데일리 #감성 #카카오톡 #kakaostore #kakaotalk #seoul #seoul city #city vibes #myeondong #shopping #cosmetic #k-beauty #kbeauty #youtube

[rachelzhen17]

서울, 안녕히 계세요 ~👋🏻. Seoul you’ve been a blast. Hit every “dong” in Seoul via train and they don’t disappoint at all! Too many photos were taken everywhere and I will soon upload them soon haha😊 • • • #seoul #korea #myeondong #서울 #명동 #nightlife #colourfulstreets #hustleandbustle #girl (at Myeong-dong) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3_92DdpeC5/?igshid=15ftjn9e649i7

#seoul #korea #myeondong #서울 #명동 #nightlife #colourfulstreets #hustleandbustle #girl

[la-series]

Korea, 2019.

#korea #seoul #myeondong

[miuglitch]

02.10.2017 [D155] Mood

#miu #everydays #creative #photo #korea #seoul #myeondong #chungmuro

[imafuckinglocket]

Two Years

In retrospective. i woke up and i smelled the smog from the tiny Dangsan streets and I smiled. Althrough my love for autum is for ever, that year i’ve never been so overwelmed by spring. It felt so much like winter that as my hands were cold my heart was pounding like the first day class, or the first time i fell in love.

I can relate Seoul to love everytime because of the places, smells and company. The girl I was and the woman I’m now, we have the same I can relate Seoul to love everytime because of the places, smells and company. The girl I was and the woman I’m now, we have the same goosebumps remembering or living it. I miss it everytime i drink a coffee and i take my self to those streets again by just remembering. Cherry blosom were as magical i remembered from Sakura card captor. Like snow, like magic. My feet under those petals and the texture when i grabbed it from the ground made me smile again.  remembering or living it. I miss it everytime i drink a coffee and i take my self to those streets again by just remembering.

As i crossed the Myeondong streets a song were played a lot, was Taeyeon Fine's , how i could know that was a song that i could resemble, everytime I heard it, to Korea. Anyway that wasn’t the only song I could relate to Seoul and the trip, I can say that’s obvious but hearing a SHINee unknown song at Hongdae streets were something that I can call like the universe had a smiling face because i was there with my best friend running around across the world to experience what world had to give us. That song is named “Beautiful life”, quite contradictory althrough the events that followed that year, but I always thought that in life there must be a balance, I was conscious and i cried a lot at the end of that year as a reward of the happiness I lived at the beggining of it. I could never forget what Korea gave to me and my future, which is now unknow, like everyone's. But I can tell that Asia got my heart like the first time my heart was pounding in love.  

#Korea #SHINee #taeyeon #Trip #dangsan #seoul #2017 #spring

[kambingputih]

Created with VSCO®

#VSCO #south korea #myeondong #odeng #streetfood #hotteok #city #food #winter

[royadventures]

march 14th, 2022--4:31pm

previous log

hello! good afternoon!! it's monday again... my classes go in person this week and we have no time to go to campus in advance to find our classes, so i guess we just figure it out as we go, as it's been with all things :]

on march 12th, we did end up going to myeondong (eventually T.T). there, in the underground market (cheap place for albums!), T found the second gen robong and i found a teulight ! the teulight is so cool,, you connect it to your phone and everything T.T i also finally bought the second step: chapter one aka jikjin album :D MY PULLS ARE AMAZING it brought tears to my eyes !

we then walked around the mainstreet and went into Music Korea. it has everything but is overpriced, so it's a give/take situation in some ways. we also found a HBAF store which had such cool flavours of almonds,, we need to go back cause there was such a cool sale :]

the street kind of reminded me of england, specifically London where all the shops are. very big n roomy + lots of 'high end' brand stores.

T tried a mochi-coated strawberry and loved it! (i couldnt have it cause i was fasting T.T). with time to spare, we headed to the jamsil olympic stadium to see if we could hear bts performing :D and sure enough, we could! it was a touching experience, hearing their old songs and what made me first enjoy this music genre. it was also cute seeing armys outside with their army bombs--most were international people, since only locals were allowed to purchase concert tickets.

an ahjussi told us to follow him to a better spot and a crowd of us ran after him to the other side of the stadium where through the stadium doors, you could get a small glimpse of a screen showing bts as they performed. people were growling, barking, and yelling. it was a little insane and i was over it, especially since i was hungry.

we ate in the area and had dumpling soup--it wasn't that good but that's okay. it was a warm, comforting way to break my fast. we then headed home after that.

that's where we received some bad news. the astro concert was cancelled because half of the members have caught covid. even if it wasn't cancelled, MJ wouldn't have been there due to health issues. we were fully refunded, but it was still bittersweet :(

so on march 13th, the day that was supposed to be astro d-day, T and i wandered around the streets, unsure of what to do. we did see this Hyunjin and i yelped right out of my seat ! i saw it as a good omen, but right after, T ate tteokbokki and spilled sauce all over her pants T.T it was also way too spicy for her so she struggled a lot. the place had rosé tteokbokki though--i was jealous i couldn't eat T.T

we went home so T could change before we went to hongdae from hyehwa station (the one closest to our house). we take the line 2 to dongdaemun (i think it's line 2 ?) and from there, go straight to hongdae. we went to the line friends store first, where i bought a romy to hug! he feels like a marshmallow :") it was Jihoon's birthday the next day, too, and he designed romy, so i think it's destiny!

we also went to the kakao friends store--they have a collab with care bears but we didn't find much we liked :O the goodies in the kakao café looked so good T.T but because of my fast, i couldn't touch a thing. it's good because i get to save money :P

T then took me to M playground so i could buy some clothes, but because i was so hungry, i couldn't really focus. i did end up finding a vest i liked for ₩15, 000, though!

there were so many stairs in that store and we kept going up and down; i don't think Tracy realized i felt like passing out T.T

finally after that, we ate kbbq at a place along the busking street in hongdae, just above a budaejjigae place. the atmosphere was so good. so loud and full of people! that kind of environment when eating, especially eating something like bbq, is the best. it was all-you-can-eat for ₩14, 500, which is really good for bbq!

after that, we had strawberry bingsu at a place called cream,, something? it was across the bbq place and mostly had coffee, so the bingsu was bad, i won't lie. for ₩13, 000, you can get bingsu at sulbing that is so much better. that was literally just shaved ice with strawberry jam thrown on top.

we took the subway back home but the night was still young (as T would say), so at 10pm, we went to our local coin karaoke and sang in a small room right by the front door where the mics were broken. we were kicked out right at 11pm because of the curfew and on our way home, i bought a strawberry magnum type ice cream from GS25 to make up for the bad sulbing. it was really good!

the next day, march 14th, T and i had class until 4:45pm. so, we studied hard (or tried to) and then went to hongdae again to meet a friend of T's who would take us to some Jihoon cupsleeve events!

(cupsleeve event/birthday café event = where fans rent out a café, decorate it and special drinks+desserts are served in customized cups to celebrate a birthday or debut anniversary)

we went to 4 and i spent ₩22,000 in total. it was so pretty, though >.< here is the first café~ i will post the others separately ^-^

we then went to the budaejjigae place below the kbbq place we went to on march 13th to eat! it was around ₩13,000 per person (on the pricier side) and it was bland as hell because they saw we were foreigners. honestly, i was mad. i like my budae jjigae spicy :(

T's friend is a bit of a alcoholic and made me drink even when i said i was at my limit. i ended up tipsier than i wanted to me and i really hated it. in a way, i'm glad for the experience, though. i've realized i don't ever want to feel like that again, especially around people whom i've just met and in a place so far from home. even if i'm with people i trust, i don't want to make anyone have to take care of me. plus, the tipsy feeling isn't even enjoyable. i feel dizzy but also like sonic the hedgehog, i feel super conscious of everything and like i could fall over at any second.

i felt fine after i used the bathroom, but still. never doing that again. never drinking when in the presence of T's friend's again. sumaek (soju and beer) is too strong of a combo, especially on an empty stomach.

we got home and now as i write this (on march 15th, 1:39pm) i am on campus in SK future hall--a newly built study-space on campus! i like it here ^-^ it's convenient, accessible, and there's food places if you wanna eat (which i can't T.T). we came here during my 9am class (i was using my phone to attend lecture) so we could locate where our in-person classes will be,, in person starts tomorrow! we had to do it at such a weird time because T and i are a bit busy for the rest of the day. i have one more lecture to attend at 2pm, and then we'll try to find a Jinjin cupsleeve, then go to the lotte mall.

can't believe T left me alone yet again to meet some new person T.T didn't even invite me to study with them! rude !!

i'm joking... maybe :")

next log

#in korea #royalog #royart gallery #music box #14.03.22