South Korea Adventures: Shingu Botanical Gardens

The other day, Mark and I were driving to Yongsan so he could get a haircut and we could get some food. On the way, not far from our house, we saw signs for Shingu Botanical Garden. I’d seen the signs before but never really cared. On this random day, Mark decided to just drive to it and take a look. So we did. We ended up staying and exploring and it turned out to be really fun. How have we driven past this so many times but never stopped at it?

It was only ₩7,000 which is about 6 dollars each, so not super expensive. We looked around the rooms first where there was some artwork about the history of the Gardens and some artwork of nature. Then we left that area to explore the actual gardens. 

In a greenhouse, we saw these crazy looking lily pad plants that look like they were pre-historic and were actually kind of creepy because they were so big and spiky.

Throughout the park, they had the cutest stuff like little statues, music instrument platforms, bug platforms, tons of little colorful frog statues, a sundial, and a rain measure pot. There may have been more but being in October, a lot of the flowers weren’t in bloom and special gardens were bare. Plus there are these GIGANTIC spiders here that were claiming some of the pathways.

The flowers that were in bloom were beautiful and some I haven’t seen before, which is to be expected since there are probably a lot of flowers that are native to Korea. They also used a lot of Kimchi Pots to plant some of the flowers which were cool since Kimchi pots are such a staple in Korean life. It was also way bigger than we expected! I mean we drive by this once a week or once every two weeks on our way to Yongsan and we never knew that there was this huge Garden right next to the road. 

This was such a great way to get out into nature and take a break from the city life for a while. It really felt like we were in nature, we couldn't really see many buildings and we couldn't hear the noise of the cars - which can be an issue with the inner city parks. It probably helps that we live on the outskirts of Seoul so a lot of nature stuff around is, is actually nature.

Overall, we had such a fun time walking around this place. It took us about an hour just looking at the main gardens. They also had a cute little shop where you can buy plants and decorations for your garden or house, a nice little cafe, and when we got there, they had live music playing. Throughout the gardens they had a quiet classical soundtrack playing. Which I thought really added to the tranquility of the gardens.

See you next week :)
Kylie <3

South Korea Adventures: Dongdaemun Market

So even though we’ve (well he has) been here eight months, I haven’t really been to any of the markets. For a while, I was favoring the INSANE malls here and streets like Hongik or Myeongdong (my FAVORITE) and we never really went to any markets. The other day I was feeling like I just wanted to go out in Seoul and just go somewhere and explore and see what we came across. I felt like we haven’t explored Seoul in a while because we had to deal with car issue and other life things.

For this exploration, we went to Dongdaemun Market. We first got off the subway exit for “Dongdaemun History and Culture Park,” where there was a museum, design gallery, and lots of interesting art scattered around the area. It was here that we found a little café that sold the best macaroons that we’ve had since being here and they’re sold at most cafés so we’ve had many.

We also walked around the area near the museum; unfortunately, the museum and design plaza were closed; but we did get to see some interesting artwork that was displayed outside.

We had plans to go to a Korean restaurant and eat, but then we found street food. Every time we go out and plan to actually eat at a restaurant, we end up eating street food. It’s just so good and so cheap! So we first got crepes with Nutella, banana’s, strawberries, and frosted flakes for 3,000 won each and they were so good! I love the street food crepes. Then I got tteokbokki, which are rice cakes in a spicy tomato-y sauce. They’re so good but so spicy. Mark got Sun-dae, which is stuffed pig intestine with a side of liver, heart, and lung (ick), and then we shared this crab meat on a stick and it was wrapped in something dough-y, and topped with mustard and ketchup (I think) and that was super good.

After exploring this area a little, we got back on the subway and rode one stop to “Dongdaemun.” This is where the actual market area was. We exited the subway and just started walking. At first, we saw a fortress wall in the middle of the area which was really interesting. Then we just walked and we happened down the street that was all hiking and outdoorsy clothing. There was so many! It was crazy the number of stores that sold the exact same thing. Then I saw a sign for the Pyounghwa Fashion Plaza. So we went in and it was a little late and a lot of the shops were closing so we only walked the first floor, but it was CRAZY! Like this was what I had pictured shopping in Korea would be like, especially because before moving here, we were told: “Korea is so cheap!” But when you go out in town, like Myeongdong, it's expensive! So seeing an actual market where it’s just shops upon shops upon shops of cheap clothing and cheap products was just crazy. I feeling like actually shopping there would be difficult because it seems like a place you haggle, and not only do I not haggle in English, I only know a couple words in Korean so I definitely can’t haggle in Korean.

At the end of the night, we went back to the history and culture park so that we could see the LED rose garden and the bottle tree at night, lit up in all their glory. It was worth the extra walk to see everything lit up so beautifully.

I do recommend checking out Dongdaemun if you want to experience shopping for clothes and other products unlike any other shopping experience. We’re definitely going to go back and check out the museum and the design plaza as well as other areas of the market that we haven't seen. Apparently there's so much more than what we saw.

South Korea Adventures: Namsan Seoul Tower

If you’re planning a trip to Seoul, odds are you know about Seoul Tower. In my opinion it is one of the hearts of Seoul as it can be seen from almost anywhere in Seoul and the suburbs of Seoul. Because of this, it is something that everyone should do.

My husband has gone once before while I was in America finishing school then he took me to celebrate our one year anniversary. Even though he had gone before, we found stuff that he didn’t know about when he first went. Instead of hiking up to Seoul Tower, we took the Namsan cable car. We walked from Myeongdong and took this little elevator up to the cable car boarding area where we purchased tickets, which were 8,500 won per round trip. If you aren’t up for hiking there, the cable car was worth it; it was convenient and the wait was fairly quick.

Once we got up there, we walked over to this little observation area that was at ground level with the tower. While up there, you can purchase a lock (or bring your own) and lock it to one of the many areas and leave a little memory there; we did this and it was fun to be able to leave a permanent memory in a new country that we are spending two years of our life. The view is also really great from there so if you’re afraid of heights, you can still get a taste of the view from here. There is also a gift shop, churro stand, and other restaurants that you can eat at if you please, we just got churros which were delicious. Also, it was here that he gave me my new wedding ring, one actually meant to last a lifetime. He said a beautiful little speech and made me cry happy tears and then presented my dream wedding set, it was absolutely perfect despite my hands feeling like icicles.

After a lot of looking from the bottom of the tower, we were about to leave when I noticed a ticket stand for the observatory deck. So we decided to do it. We got the two tickets, popcorn and two drink combo which was 21,000 won. We followed the crowd to get to the deck and we stopped by one of the stands to get our drinks and popcorn. We got the cheese popcorn and it was THE BEST, like seriously, THE BEST cheese popcorn I have ever had. I would go back just for the popcorn. Then we got in line and you take pictures before going to the elevator. The elevator wait wasn’t that long either and they played a little show of going into space on the ceiling of the elevator. We arrived at the deck and the view was even better than from the ground. Mark didn’t enjoy it as much as the height was a little too much; but I enjoyed it and loved that I could see little cities in the mountains outside of Seoul, Lotte Tower, Yongsan Garrison, and so much more. The windows also had little tidbits of information throughout which is helpful if you don’t know a lot about the area. After we made our way around the tower, we saw another picture booth where you could don traditional clothing and take themed pictures. So we did that and got copies of both pictures. They were about 12,000 won each if I remember correctly and they come in little cardboard frames. I don’t think I’ve ever bought pictures like that, but now that we’re home, I find that I’m glad we did.

If you decide to or can go, Seoul tower is very easy to get to by walking, subway, bus, or taxi. While I was back in America, my husband and some friends walked to Seoul tower and you can walk from Itaewon, Myeongdong, and probably other areas but I don’t yet know those. Otherwise, subway and bus directions can be found at VisitKorea as well as other information to help plan your trip. I’ve heard they also have a pretty good, fancy restaurant if you want to make a fancy date out of it, we didn’t because Mark had other plans for food :).  

Let's Catch Up

Since it’s been a while since I’ve posted on my blog and I want to continue my blog now, I thought it might be a good idea for us to have a little catch up. For me to tell you guys the major events of my life since I left.

I basically stopped posting on my blog around this time my sophomore year of college. What happened between then and the beginning of my junior year isn’t really important, in fact not much aside from doing college and spending time with my family and friends happened. It’s junior year through now where all my major life events have happened.

First, my then boyfriend joined the Army and I got to go to South Carolina to see him graduate from Basic Training. Not long after that, he took two weeks of leave to come home from the second half of his training. During that two-week leave, we got married! On December 27, 2015, he asked my parents if he could marry me and then subsequently asked me to marry him. Then on December 29, 2015, we got married! Yes, we were engaged for less than two days and yes, we gave our families basically no warning. But it’s okay. My dad was the officiant and we had a little get together at my house with my immediate family, his immediate family, and my high school best friend and her family.

My little brother, almost seven years old, walked me down the aisle.

A little after wedding picture. On the far left is one of my best friends, Shawna; then my little brother, and on the far left, my brother-in-law.

Shawna surprised us with a cake.

After that, I continued to go to college and Mark went back to Georgia to finish his training. In January, we got orders to move to Seoul, South Korea after he finished his training in June 2016. Then at the end of May, right after my 21^st birthday, he graduated from his training at the very top of the 3 classes that graduated that day! It was incredible to see him do so well and thrive.

Then at the beginning of June, we had two weeks of leave between him graduating and us moving to Korea. So we took a little honeymoon trip to Universal Studios in Florida! I have dreamed of going to Universal for years because I LOVE Harry Potter and wanted to visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter since I heard about it. Finally, that dream came true! The three days at Universal were THE BEST! It was so exciting and better than I could have imagined. We also went to Busch Gardens and while we had fun riding the roller coasters, we weren’t that impressed after coming from Universal. 

Then we spent a day and a half at Clearwater Beach and it was my first time at a beach. It was way, way more fun than I imagined it would be and I wish we had more time there. Then we visited our families before we moved to a new country.

 If you're ever at Clearwater Beach, I HIGHLY recommend you stop by Pearly's Beach Eats. They had THE BEST fish tacos I have ever had. They were all we ate.

So we moved to South Korea and I was here for two months before I had to leave to finish my last semester of college! I spent four months in the States finishing up my degree while spending time with my family and college friends. Then, on December 17, 2016, I graduated with my Bachelor’s degree in English Literature! It’s surreal to think that I finished college. I feel like my family just dropped me off at college and I’m already finished. I don’t think it really hit me yet because technically it’s still winter break. I think it will really feel real when school starts back up and I’m not joining my friends going to the first day of classes. 

My high school into college best friends. From left to right: Shawna, Felix, and Morgan. 

My English major friends. From left to right: Elizabeth, Sarah, and Jenna.

On the bright-side, I am now permanently living with my husband in Korea and we get to finally and truly begin our life together.

There we go! That is the last year and half of my life in a nutshell. Now I will be able to blog about our adventures as a married couple living overseas in Seoul, South Korea. :)