Surviving Seoul

Do you hate busy cities? I do. I currently live in a small city, and there's not that many people. I visited Seoul this weekend, and my oh my, as soon as I got off the bus, I wanted to get back on and go home! 

Seoul has about 10 million people living in it, not counting the tourists! That's a lot of people. London has about 6 million and I don't particularly like visiting London either. 

How exactly do people survive their visit? 

I visited Seoul this weekend and vowed to have a stress-free time. David and I booked our hotel in Dongdaemun called Philstay. We wanted a nice hotel, because last time we went, we stayed in a box room full of mould. Our hotel definitely created a better mood. It was clean and warm. The doors had electronic locks instead of keys, so it was modern and pretty decent. 

Second, I purchased a T-Money card. Why did I not do it earlier? You can buy T Money cards from the Gangbyeon Station that's opposite the Dong Seoul bus Terminal. It's hard to find, it's nowhere near the main ticket machines. You have to walk round the corner to the hidden machines. Or you can buy them in any convenience store. It costs 3,000 won for the card and you can only top up in cash using the machines. I loaded mine with 10,000 won and I had 4 subway trips with about 5,000 left to spare. It definitely made the visit easier, without having to go to the machines and buy single tickets. 

Third, I didn't plan anything to do! I've been to Seoul many times, and each time I was so stressed, trying to pack in everything each day. I had an idea of what I wanted to do, but I didn't make it a set goal. It was nice to stroll the city without having to rush to different places. 

The only times I got stressed was trying to find Yongsan electronics market. I was having a pretty good day and decided I wanted to visit the market and find a second hand laptop. Once I got off the subway at Sinyongsan station there was a sign telling me which exit to the market. But once out, it was so hard to find. There were no more sign posts. 

I'm not even sure I went to the right place. I ended up walking to Yongsan Station and walking through the building. Anyways, I ended up finding this market which sold computer parts and second hand computers. I'm not sure if the market is everything in the area or it's a specific building. If you know, please tell me. 

I ended up seeing someone sell a Macbook Air 2012 for 650,000W so decided to buy it. I'm pretty chuffed with it. 

I tried finding some  second hand camera goods at Namdaemun, but it was crazy. All of the stores has lenses everywhere, with no order. It stressed me out just looking through the window! Maybe next time when I know what lens to buy, I'll go back. 

My stress free Seoul trip was definitely not as bad as other times. It definitely helps when you don't need to be anywhere. Lets hope my Christmas trip in December will be okay too!! 

Kelly