Sunday in Seoul was full of activity, from Insadong (first official Korean bibimbap!) to Yeouido (we went to 3 Birds, a cafe owned by YG Entertainment, BIGBANG’s agency!
), but for my quick update I want to focus on our hike to Naksan Park for some sunset-viewing. Henry rues the day I watched Joan Keem’s vlog about the best sunset view in Seoul because I became fixated on it and when I become fixated on something, well, you know the outcome.
Fun fact: In Hangul, “nakta” means camel and “san” means mountain, so that’s where Naksan Mountain gets its name, because it’s shaped like a camel’s hump.
We left our hotel a bit after 5 to set off to Naksan, which Henry swore was “super close” yet it took us about an hour to get there. We almost gave up at one point because the directions Henry got online were super vague, and but then suddenly we rounded a corner in a super-popping college neighborhood and saw a sign that said NAKSAN PARK with an arrow pointing up the steepest fucking cobblestone-y road. Chooch was like *groan groan groan* and Henry’s moustache had turned into an undulating mass of middle fingers aimed at my direction, but then once we reached the top of the park, where all the observation areas were, everyone was suddenly in a great mood again. I mean, how could you not be, the view was breathtaking.
Here’s a shitload of photos from my camera and phone.
This place was definitely a date-area.
There were so many adorable young couples and believe the hype, you guys – couple culture in Korea is STRONG. It’s just like what you see in dramas — they love to match, they hold each other while walking, and the aegyo (over-the-top cuteness) is off the charts. We even passed a couple playing kai bai bo and I almost cried.
I love it here so much.
You can see the tops of the DDP down there to the right.
Chooch was happy because he saw many dogs and also got to pet TWO cats.
“I love it here,” he exclaimed at one point during our walk back to the hotel, suddenly forgetting about how much “pain” he was in on the trek there. I warned him months ago that he better get his ass in shape because I don’t play around when traveling!
Chooch waited patiently for a young couple to finish taking pictures of each other petting this cat, and when it was his turn, he was so excited that the couple turned around as they were walking away and giggled at him.
“Cat!” the guy giggled to Chooch and it was so fucking charming.
His face in this picture, though.
After walking back down from the park, we dined on street food. Chooch has decided that twigum (fried food), specifically the kimbap variety, is his favorite food here so far. I’m still down with tteokbokki though. I don’t think I’ll ever get enough of it!
I would stay here forever if I could.