3rd Winter in South Korea 2023: Nami, Yonsei, Hongdae

It was our second full day in South Korea and we had Nami Island mostly in store for the whole day. It has been around 6 years the last time we were there on a winter, and our recollection of how to get there got rusty.

We were just there last autumn 2022, but it was a bit uncomfortable bus trip all throughout. This time, we decided to take several train transfer instead. Thank God for Google and the meticulous guides that gave us updated directions.

Still, we got a bit lost. How was that even possible? LOL

We may have been living under the rock, but it appears that the Cheongnyangni route may have been operational since 2016. We, however, had opted the one that stops at Mangu — a route we had taken since 2012.

While the direction to Cheongnyangni to Gapyeong was more straightforward, it was challenging as we had to rush that morning. For some reason, everyone was moving slowly despite us waking up very early. If we had to follow the advice on Naver, we’ll miss the train to Gapyeong we had already booked at least a month ago.

I was admittedly annoyed as I did not want to run. It was difficult to think when one would keep on looking at the time. We, however, got lucky as we got in time in our train, which departed within the minute we boarded.

I calmed myself down, and did the needed self-talk of not letting the mishap of the first 2 hours deter me from having a good second day.

The trip to Gapyeong, while uneventful, was still as picturesque as ever. Granted there was no sight of snow anywhere, the scenery was still as magnificent as I remember it.

At around 10:00 am, we reached Gapyeong Station. We made a quick stop at a convenience store to buy water (I had to take my medication), before boarding the taxi.

Unsurprisingly, it was not very crowded. The autumn crowd in Nami Island is/was/will be insane, but it was a relatively calmer atmosphere during winter. The ferry was not even half-full and we were able to go in front and watch the waters as we crossed the river.

Upon reaching the island, there were still not too many tourists. And it was not covered in snow, which was kind of expected. I was not sure whether those white patches we found on the ground were snow from the middle of night or just frost.

There was an area with man-made snow near one of the first tree lanes to the right but we did not fancy having to step on the muddy area before reaching where the snow was.

Still, it was a trip for Lot and she was very delighted to finally visit Nami Island, as a big KDrama and KPop fan. We were so happy for her.

She could not believe that the place she had just been watching for years was finally a reality.

As it was still only around 11:00 am that time, we decided to immediately go to the area around metasequoia tree lane. We reckoned that after lunch, a huge wave of tourists may arrive, making it difficult to take decent photos.

For several minutes, we had the tree lane just for us, allowing us several opportunities to take photos to our heart’s content.

I even had the opportunity to call my family back at home and check on my 10-year old cat, Miso, who was still regaining her strength from a series of hospitalizations since the second half of 2022.

While it was almost lunch time, we still managed to eat some hotteok, as we watched some peacocks and peahens frolic around.

I had no idea that peacocks are able to jump very high, as there were several of them on the branches of the barren tree just above the hotteok stall. You learn new things everyday.

Right after a couple of  cups of hotteok, we then ate lunch. We loved, loved, loved Nammoon Restaurant the last time we were there, thus it was no brainer that we’d eat there again. Their pajeon was, always, to die for.

While having lunch, we noticed that the restaurant was slowly getting crowded. We also saw a lot of people already walking about. Good decision to go to the metasequoia tree lane first thing as we arrived.

We took our sweet time eating, finishing around 1:00 pm. By that time, we have decided to walk around the southern end of the island, right past where the ginkgo tree lane was. That ginkgo tree lane was the farthest we have reached ever.

Although it was already Mon and I’s fourth time there, we somehow never walked in that direction. I was surprised how much quieter it was. I did not even know that there was wooden bridge there.

At almost 2:00 pm, we decided to go back to Seoul as we had to visit Yonsei University. But before going there, we made a quick stop at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) despite it (obviously) not being lit up.

We also had some coffee with a side of bickering from Mon and me. We already got back to Seoul at almost 4:00 pm, and I was so concerned chasing after the sunlight. Or else we’d have crappy photos at Yonsei.

It was a long way from DDP to Yonsei (around 1 hour), and we only had a little more than 1 hour as well to catch the golden hour.

I was frankly fixated to see the university goldenly lit at that time, as we admittedly had crappy photos back in October with the sun way too up in the sky casting harsh lighting everywhere.

We reached Yonsei at around 5:00 pm, with the sun already setting.

Before this trip, we just finished watching True Beauty on Netflix, and it was one of the filming locations. It was also a popular location for a lot of KDramas, and we’d be crazy not to see it flooded by the best lighting from the golden hour.

As soon as we enter the university, the first thing we noticed were the tarpaulins hanged everywhere. It was graduation season. From the painstakingly made to meme worthy ones, they all carried congratulatory messages to the graduates.

We wondered whether Monette had her tarpaulin there.

From Monette’s old school building, we then went to the amphitheater. It was the most gorgeous thing ever under the setting sun I could almost cry. Monette brought us there last October but I never got the chance to appreciate it because of the harsh sun.

On a sunset, however, it as magical.

We were there for nearly 20 minutes by the bleachers, just watching the sun set over that part of the Seoul (as we were way up). Everything really looks wonderful under the pretty yellow light.

From Yonsei, we then went to Yonsei-ro to catch the bus going to Hongdae. After several trips to Seoul, we never got the hang of the buses, always opting for the usually longer walks and routes by the train.

But since we were just there a couple of months ago, we already knew which specific bus to take and learned how to use Naver properly.

Yes, some of the search results were in hangul, but as long as one knows some rudimentary hangul reading, it goes a long way than having none.

As soon as we reached Hongdae, we immediately went to BBQ Chicken & Beer to have dinner. Yes, we were such old farts that we tend to stick to the same restaurants we already know and familiar with, having eaten lunch there with Monette last autumn.

But as it was dinner and this university district was bustling with students and tourists alike, we were ushered to a small ‘room’ at the back.

It was awkward having to share that area with another set of diners, as we were facing each other the whole time.LOL We were unsure whether we should talk to them, and my truly introverted self really do not wish some small talks unless really necessary.

At the time, it was not.

We are mostly Myeongdong peeps, but we enjoyed Hongdae so much that time that we vowed to stay there the next time we were to visit Seoul again. (Assuming the visa process becomes easier, of course).

We enjoyed our time watching the buskers from almost every corner.

There was a solo rapper right outside BBQ Chicken & Beer. And a couple of meters away, there were B Boys dancing to some EXO hits. A couple of paces away, there was also a girl group who was nailing the choreography to New Jeans’s songs.

Right in front of the area where the girl group was busking, there was a brightly lit self-service photo booth area.

We have NEVER tried it ever.

I forgot how much it was, as we were busy picking from the assortment of crazy glasses, stuffed headbands and whatnots, on top of us panicking a bit how to operate it despite the countdown almost always counting without us doing anything.

That was fun. A bit frantic, but fun.

At almost 9:00 pm, we decided to go back to our hotel in Myeongdong.

We freshened up a bit, so we can head out again and do a bit of souvenir shopping. Again, I’m very open of not being a fan of shopping, as I always tend to pick and buy the first thing I see.

What I was most excited of was the coffee and the street food. The highlight of that was the 2 sticks of odeng on a cup with the best and hottest soup on a winter’s night.

At around 11:00 pm, we called it a day. We had been awake since 6:30 am, and we had Gangnam to prepare for the following day.

Steps count: 23, 314