3rd Winter in South Korea 2023: Last day

So we have finally reached the end of this winter trip to Seoul.

We did not bother buying breakfast the night before, as we had decided to have breakfast at McDonald’s the following morning.

It rained for a bit, but it was only a couple of minutes before the sun shone again.

Over breakfast, we were still planning what to do next so we can maximized the time before we checked out of the hotel, and continue our shopping again.

We have decided that since we had to finish packing our things, we had to first buy the bulky items.

As soon as we finished breakfast, we went straight to Myeongdong Underground and buy some K-Pop albums. I had no idea that Brie was into Blackpink, so I bought their Born Pink album, and some transparent photo cards.

Mon, on the other hand, bought some New Jeans merch for their sister, Anne.

From the Myeongdong Underground, we then dropped by Olive Young. I had to buy some lotion for Mama, and some masks, lip balms, and hand creams as souvenirs for the others.

I always say that it is best to drop by Olive Young in the morning, and not in the evening when everyone was there. The queue to the cashier was infernal in the evening.

After, Olive Young, we went (again) to HBAF to buy some almond snacks, same as last autumn.

By 11:11 AM, we were already back at the hotel. It was a clever choice to buy all these bulky items before we totally closed off our luggage. All the other items we had to buy would be squeezed in our hand carry.

Almost 45 minutes seemed to short of a time to bathe ourselves and get dressed. Somehow, we managed to finally fix our stuff by 12:00 NN.

Then it was time for check-out.

We left our bags by the concierge of Stanford Hotel, as we still have a couple of ours until around 4:30 PM before we travel to Incheon International Airport.

From Stanford, we headed straight to Lotte Young Plaza’s K-Pop Zone. I did not buy anything there, but Mon managed to buy a couple of BTS merch. The YG pop-up store from last autumn was also no longer there.

We had a lot of time to kill. We roamed around Myeongdong (which already looked busy on a Saturday lunch time) to do some more window shopping.

At around 1:30 PM, we had lunch (again) at BBQ Chicken & Beer. We were still amazed by Kim Dilly, their robot staff who brought all of our orders to our table. It would also be the last time we had to eat some cheese balls, and I ate about 4 of those!

After lunch, we went back to Holika Holika to buy two tube’s of Ate’s preferred shade, then at ABC Mart for some sporting goods for JB, Papa and Kuya.

By 3:15 PM, we already had our last coffee at Holly’s Coffee behind the hotel, before we headed back to the concierge to collect our things. We also had to weigh on the last minute our bags, to make sure we did not exceed the weight allowance both for the carry on and the check-in luggage.

At around 4:00 PM, we retrieved our bags and squeezed our last purchases inside our bags. Naver indicated that it will be around a 15-minute walk until the airport bus station.

It was a bit challenging having to pull our luggage on uneven areas of Myeongdong, as we followed the directions of the shortest path given to us. We could have taken the sidewalks near the Chinese Embassy but it meant a longer distance. The sooner we arrive at the bus stop, the better.

It was the first time that we had to take the airport bus to Incheon International Airport, as we usually take AREX. But hey, how will we learn using it if not finally take one?

There were two airport buses to the airport: Bus 6001 and Bus 6015. The stop was by the highway, in front of Tous Les Jours in Myeongdong. There was fortunately a kind gentleman there, who informed us that we were in the correct area.

Barely 5 minutes standing, we immediately saw Bus 6001 approach us. I had in mind Bus 6015, but we had been reassured that Bus 6001 would reach the airport as well. So who we are not to listen?

The travel to the airport took about an hour, plying the route where some spots are. We got to see Namdaemun again, and even Nodeul and the National Assembly.

While we took almost the same route but in reverse when we first arrived, that was an evening and we did not have the chance to appreciate the view.

At around 5:45 PM, we finally arrived at Incheon International Airport.

There was still some trauma from our flight back home last autumn, and I was very anxious whether or not we’d be able to fly back.

We sat at the bench near the check-in counter, waiting for the ground staff to appear. When they finally arrived, we were already second in line for check-in and, in no time, we got our boarding passes.

We had an opportunity to get a decent dinner at the airport before we headed in at the security check. We were still quite early and we won’t be flying until after midnight.

It was a bit confusing, though, on the counter where we had to get our food. It turned out, we had to get the ramyun separately from the rice bowls.

It did not help that the staff has mistakenly thrown our claim stub, and had to fish it out of the trash can. I just felt bad not being able to speak Korean as it could have been faster for both of us.

After dinner, we headed to the security checks. That was where we spent a long time, more than an hour. For some reason, the line was so long that day.

We were supposed to have some coffee and buy some last minute stuff at the Duty Free. But alas, we missed those stops because of the long queue and most of the stores were already closed.

We were looking for the open Dunkin’ indicated in the sign boards, but to no avail. I also had to go to the restroom in a deserted wing of the airport and specifically asked them to wait for me.

But once I got out, they were not there. My cellphone, passport and boarding pass were not with me, and I was panicking and close to tears as I tried to look for them.

I eventually found them. They went to a Duty Free much further down where we came from.

I was mad. Towards the end of our trip, there was still a mishap.😅 I was not talking even until we reached the boarding gate, and only talked when we were about to board the plane.

I could not end the trip pissed off. Overall, I was very happy that we finally got to tick this trip with Lot to South Korea off of our list.

And I could not wait to finally see the 3 kitties back home.