Autumn 2022 in South Korea! Day 3 – Meeting Familiar Faces

Day 3 and and it was our 2nd full day in South Korea. We woke up at 7:30 AM to have an early breakfast. But for some reason we still end up leaving the hotel 2 hours after.

We also still were living on single journey tickets on the train. We had been having difficulties looking for TMoney, unless it was something we had to personalize with some photos. We walked all the way to Myeongdong, hoping there was some TMoney there but we found none. It was comical how we were not able to find any, considering it was not our first time in South Korea.

We were supposed to meet Monette at 10:30 am somewhere near Ewha University, as it was much nearer where she was staying. We walked, and walked, and unsurpisingly we got lost again. We also figured it may have been much quicker for us if we were to go at Sinchon Station instead, to save us from walking long to where she pinned the meet-up point at Naver.

We ended up waiting for her at a waiting shed somewhere at Seongsan-ro near the hospital. We’d minimize getting lost again if she were to go to us instead. At 10:43 AM, as fashionably late as she was, we were so ecstatic to see here half-walking and half-running on the way to us.

I’ve known Monette since 2007. In fact, I’ve known her almost a year more than Mon. During my first day at my second job, she was absent as it was her birthday week. It was not easy to forget that as she was the only person missing when I met the whole team.

I’ve last seen her back in 2017 at a dinner after I left my old job. More than a year after that, she had flown to South Korea. She is currently studying (and doing her best to finish her master’s degree) at Yonsei University, which was very exciting. She was on a study leave from the diplomatic corps of our country’s foreign affairs agency.

Funny how we were meeting her at Yonsei, as it seemed only yesterday that I had the honor of making one of her recommendation letters for her admission. Again, it felt surreal and I could not be more proud of her!

I must admit that we only wanted to drop by Yonsei University because of her, not knowing what we would find inside. Little I know that what was supposed to be a catch-up turned into a tour of their beautiful campus. That was very unexpected as it was full autumn inside at least to my eyes. Even the entrance was already screaming ‘AUTUMN!’.

She first brought us to a historical area inside the campus. She explained that Chejungwon was South Korea’s first medical institution founded around the 19th century. It was that old. We took a couple of shots before we started walking around the campus again.

I’m going to repeat this — Yonsei is so beautiful. I only realized the following day that it was, to no surprise, a filming location to a lot KDramas I have not watched at all. Even without that information, it was worth dropping by the university, especially during autumn.

We even dropped by Monette’s building inside the campus, as well as trekked a bit up to the university amphitheater.

We also got some more information about quirks and interesting bits of living and studying in South Korea from a foreigner’s perspective (which I would not, of course discuss in detail here).

At around 12:00 noon, we decided to leave the campus, walking with the lunchtime rush of students scrambling to get out of the campus. Our first request from her was to help us get TMoney. She happened to have one extra that she gave to Mon, while I bought a new one with a cute Charmander print on it.

We planned to eat lunch at Hongdae, and Monette wanted that we take the bus instead. She also explained a bit how to use the nifty tools at Naver for the uninitiated. We just let her lead the way.

In just a couple of minutes, we found ourselves back in Hongdae and got a flashback of our error in ordering 2 groups meals for 2 people back in 2016. But for the second time, we were very sure we would not over-order again.

A trip at Hongdae would not be complete with, well, fried chicken! We also had cheeseballs, which I have not ever tried. Mon had been wanting to order one, as it was supposed to be good.

Chatting over lunch, we were able to discuss a lot of things: where we were from, where we at now, and where we are headed. It was refreshing to be talking about all these adult topics when we are (I believe) more mature and discerning about things.

After lunch, we almost went for desserts (for Mon, mostly). But as it was already 2:00 PM, we had to go back to Myeongdong for some KPop merch errands.

We just walked around a bit, took some more photos with the autumn leaves, and looked for the Hongik University Station. Monette had to alight earlier than us, and we promised we’d be meeting each other again for dinner the following day for our last evening after getting back from Gapyeong.

Mon, of course, had his list of things he needed bought. I, on the other hand, would be looking for some Seventeed merch for Charm, who was our fairy godmother for that last minute 2NE1 concert tickets back in 2014.

Our first stop was at Lotte Young Plaza, which was very near our hotel (we could see it from our window). We first went to the YG Store to look for a Blackpink lightstick for Mon’s sister. But as the group recently just finished their concert, there were non for sale, as in the case of other stores.

We then went to the KPop Concept Store at the basement, as they’d hopefully have a wider selection of merch. I was busy fiddling and chatting with Charm on albums she may be looking for. But alas, those earlier Seventeen releases were not available.

Mon on the other hand was able to buy some things there, so the stop by Lotte Young Plaza did not go to waste.

Our next stop was at Myeongdong Underground where, we hoped, there’d be more merch to look at and choose from. But before that, we had a quick coffee at Tous Les Jours near Exit 8.

It was already 3:30 PM by that time, and we still had to still look for some merch and albums — or else we would have to go somewhere else again. We also would be dropping by the stretch of Deoksugung to Gwanghamun, so we were chasing the daylight.

Luckily, I was able to buy at least one album for Charm (who was text-squealing on Messenger upon seeing the photo), while Mon was also able to buy some other merch for his sister. We then immediately went back to higher ground to drop by Daiso near Myeongdong Theater.

At that point, it was my last chance to find the tripod with the height I needed. I intently looked and inspected the boxes, so as not to buy the incorrect one again and lose previous money.

We could not obviously open the boxes, but the “1.5m” description was re-assuring. The Google Translate camera also confirmed it, so there was a very slim chance we’d be wrong.

We went back to the hotel to quickly drop by the things we bought and, at least for me, get one of my coats for the cold evening. At 4:20 PM, we were already traveling from Euljiro(1) to City Hall.

Our first destination was Deoksugung, not to go inside the palace, but to walk by the perimeter wall.

Again, I only had the opportunity to watch KDrama at the height of the pandemic. I have not seen/finished one KDrama, as I was into KPop instead in the last 3 instances we visited South Korea.

Frankly, it felt like visiting South Korea for the first time, as I already had a new lens while walking. When previously, it was a music video fantasy, this autumn was a bit of a KDrama dream.LOL I know it sounded a bit exaggerated, but I even had some shots storyboarded in my mind, thus I was bummed with not having the correct tripod with us.

Of course, Deoksugung is very famous for those who have watched Goblin. Funnily, I have only watched and finished it the week before our flight. Thus, I still had some fresh imageries of how I wanted some of our photos to look like.

Even only as a wall, I enjoyed taking photos of the perimeter. Aside from the sweaters on the trees (which I hope had some more functional reasons, aside from looking cute), the leaves looked amazing in this area.

More than anything else, we really had to go much further around the perimeter just to drop by one particular corner. It was the exact area where Goblin had to stop to peer at the Grim Reaper’s house, which looked just like a wall from the outside.

It has, of course, changed over the years with some concrete tiling on the ground. But one would know that it was the same spot as it had the strange stain on the third tile on top. Not easy to miss.

After that we took a couple of more tripod photos by the autumn leaves, before we started walking back to Gwanghwamun Square. The walk to the square took only around 15 minutes of leisurely walk. We did not want to rush, as we were just allowing ourselves to bask on the surroundings and observe the people.

It was already 5:30 PM when we reached the intersection leading up to the square, which basically left us with less than one hour before sunset.

The square had undergone renovation reportedly since November 2020 during the pandemic. There were familiar spots, but there were more new features that we have not seen on our last visit back in 2016.

I loved, though, that they still have water fountains around that tickled the fancy of the kids playin on the water. We could tell it must be cold, but kids are kids.

There was also either a program or film showing at almost 6:00 pm, as there were beanbags at picnic mats on the ground across Gwanghwamun.

And speaking of Gwanghwamun, we literally just stood there for around 10 minutes and watched people.

Not to sound dramatic, but that was the point I got teary-eyed again. I was telling Mon how, again, it felt surreal to be back in our favorite city, after everything that the world has been through because of the pandemic, as well as my personal mental health struggles from last year.

Seeing Gwanghwamun Square felt like seeing an old and familiar friend, to remind me that everything would be alright.

From Gwanghwamun, we crossed the other side of the road and walked all the way to Cheonggyecheon. We did not intend to stay for long, and just rested by the stream and took photos for around 20 minutes.

We also had the chance to chat how this part of the stream did not change much from the last time we visited it, except perhaps for the row of brightly colored flowers by the stairs.

We also had the opportunity to look back at the year that was, and discuss some things to look forward to the future, especially our possible return on winter early next year with his sister if we were granted a visa again. She is a big KPop and KDrama fan more than any of us, and it would amazing for her to visit South Korea for the first time.

From the City Hall Station, we traveled all the way to Dongdaemun Design Plaza. The architecture was amazing as ever, with the light changing panels all over.

But for some reason, I just felt sad that the LED roses installation was no longer there. I had to Google when it was ‘decommissioned’, and it was reportedly shut down in April 2019. Good thing we had the opportunity to see it way back, but that does not stop me from feeling a bit let down it was no longer there.

At that point, we decided to go back to Myeongdong for dinner, as we also had to do our usual souvenir shopping after.

We decided to have dinner again at Yoogane, but at a different branch. Unlike the one from last time where they’d cook the galbi in front of the customer, this other branch would already be bringing the cooked meal to our table.

This time, we managed to finally order some rice with the galbi, which felt slightly strange. I have not been regularly eating rice for years, and somehow the serving felt quite much? Or perhaps it was just really the rice.

I admire Mon for both having the tenacity to stick to his shopping list, as well the energy to still be doing the late night store-to-store, looking for the best deal routine night after night.🤯 It was astonishing.

For instance, he really did go inside the fully packed Olive Young and managed to buy everything he needed to buy. The queue to the counter was very long as well.

I tried looking for a pair of pants I could use and found none. I, however, found some cute lip balm for my niece and a couple of matte lipstick for my sister.

At 10:00 PM, we went back again to buy some to-go coffee from A Twosome Place, and just sat on the sidewalk near the stretch of street food to eat some cinnamon waffle.

I slightly felt nervous how I could squeeze in my shopping, given I was mostly tired in the evening after a long day.

At around 10:30 PM, we called it a night and walked back to the hotel. We would have to wake up earlier than usual the following day, as we booked one of those group tours to Gapyeong for Petite France, Nami Island, and the Garden of Morning Calm.