{Seoul-Mate} Bukchon Hanok Village 북촌한옥마을 and N Seoul Tower N서울타워

The first day had us whipped! We both were exhausted and our feet were hurting from all the walking, which is a good sign right? It only means we had a successful first day! 

Waking up and stepping out of the hotel into heart of Seoul was just surreal. Our plan for today was the Bukchon Hanok Village and we originally wanted to do a night bus tour (we found out later was sold out) so we ended up going to N Seoul Tower by ourselves, which I think was a much better decision! 

Nearby our hotel was this cute little shop that we had not notice before. It is only open in the morning during certain hours selling croquettes in various flavors. 

There was vegetable, potato, mustard, cream cheese, and red bean jam for ₩1,500 (USD$1.50). Hello breakfast! 

Freshly made croquettes. 

Everything looked and smelled so delicious. We went with the cream cheese and red bean jam ones. Soo good! 

We then set off to Bukchon Hanok Village, which can be reached via the handy dandy subway from Anguk Station (Subway Line 3), Exit 2. The Village is a neighborhood of hundreds of traditional houses called "Hanok" that dates back to the Joseon Dynasty. There are people living in the hanoks even though it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Seoul. Within the village, there are also a lot of cultural centers, guesthouses, and restaurants. A great way to experience and see the Korean culture for ourselves.

Tiny mochi shop set at the beginning of the Village street. Super cute and dainty.

Lunch time! We picked a random place and went with it. There were quite a bit of people inside, so it must be good right? It turned out to be like a small snack shop with traditional dishes, such as toppoki (the rice cakes) and sundae (Korean sausages). I failed to realize before ordering that Korean sausages are made of cow or pig's intestines stuffed with cellophane noodles with pork blood... yum.... (I actually am just finding this out now as I am writing this, soo I'm glad I didn't find out before eating!) But then again, regular hot dogs/sausages are made of unknown materials so at least they can identify what is in there. 

We ordered the Korean sausages, spicy toppoki (bad idea), and a clear broth stew? I don't remember what it was called exactly but it was radish, fish cakes, and an egg in clear broth. I learn quite a lot during this trip and one of those things was that I am not a fan of Korean sausages and that Korean standard of spicy is SPICY. Do not attempt even though it's very tempting.

Our tongues were numb from the unexpected heat from the food and we happened to stumble upon Dalsuda, a dessert house!

We got a french toast and a shaved ice which came with a red bean paste with mochi on top! It was so cute and we definitely needed something sweet after our meal. I don't remember what flavors we picked but they had many many flavors ranging from fruits (strawberry, mango, etc) to chocolate, oreos, etc.

One may say, I took the picture for the two fancy pants cars with hot tattooed Korean boys driving them, but I will stick to my story of taking the picture of the VW for my fatty. 

A little look inside of a hanok, very simple yet efficient with a very home-y feel. 

On our way home via the subway, we saw this lady selling bunnies at the subway station! Poor bunnies, they were so cute! If only I wasn't allergic..

Like I mentioned earlier, we wanted to join the Seoul City Bus Tour for their Night 2 tour of the bridges but they were sold out for the evening. Change of plans so we headed to the N Seoul Tower (which would have been one of the destinations). The line for the cable car up to the N Seoul Tower was very long that it extended out to the outside of the building. After we bought our ticket, we had to wait in another line to board the cable car. There are a few ways to get to the N Seoul Tower and that's either by cable car (our method of choice) which can be reached by Exit 3 of the Myeong-dong Station (Line 4), by bus, or by taxi. The N Seoul Tower is operates from 10AM to 11PM. I would highly recommend the night view, although I'm sure during the day, it's beautiful as well. The night view with the lights were just phenomenal and breathtaking.

Round trip for the cable car was ₩8,500 per person.

After the 1 hour wait, we were finally up at the N Seoul Tower! Now to get our tickets to enter the Tower.

We got the tickets to only the Observation deck (since we were more interested in the view more than the Alive museum) that was ₩9,000 per person. The cable car and the observation deck would total ₩17,500 per person (USD$17.50), which is not bad if you compare how much attractions in the States cost.

Once you get the ticket, you receive a number on your ticket that says which group/how long until you can go up to the Observation deck. We had 30 minutes to spare so we walked around the area and we found the Love Padlock area! It's where couples lock a padlock to the gate area to symbolize their love. People write all over it and they are suppose to throw away the key (not into the bushes or down the hill cause that's a hefty fine) to symbolize their unbreakable love. There are estimated 10,000 "locks of love" hanging around the Roof Terrance with new ones added every day. It's also really popular because one of the Korean dramas had a scene with the main characters up here (no clue which one though).

Below were the views of Seoul from the Observation deck. Soo pretty. 

We explored a bit and came back via cable car/waited in long lines once again. Headed back to the hotel area and at this point, I believe it was close to 11PM and we still haven't eaten. There was a 24 hour Korean BBQ right around the corner from the hotel that I've been wanting to try so we decided to head over there. We ordered two things from the menu, it was ribs to be BBQ'd at our table and a Korean seafood noodles. All the banchans ♡♡♡♡. 

One of us wanted soju, and how many times are we gonna be in Korea again together?! We're not going to talk about what happened.

DROOL. I'm not a big fan of meat, but I LOVE noodles so this was definitely HEAVENNNN.

Our table was filled even though we only ordered 2 things but it was the most expensive meal we had in Seoul (definitely worth it though!)

Ice cream from 7/11 for dessert! Watermelon for me and a fish filled with red bean and ice cream for Ilisha.

Another productive (and delicious) day!

xoxoxoxo