South Korea

Steven’s oldest sister, Jamie, recently moved to South Korea in pursuit of her latest job in August. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to visit the bustling city of Seoul!

Korean culture has taken the world by storm. From K-beauty to K-pop, Korean culture has saturated countries beyond its borders. Lots of social drinking, eating meat (especially fried chicken), long work days, plastic surgery, and giant conglomerates like Lotte and Samsung stand out from Korea.

On our first day, we visited the traditional Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) where we rented traditional hanboks and walked around the old villages. Even baby Noah got an outfit and looked like a little Korean emperor. Oh my heart.

I mean, what a dream come true. It was SO fun.

Korea had so many stand-out dishes. I mean yum.

Roasted pig.

Fried chicken.

Seafood pancake.

Traditional Korean meats & veggies on the hot plate.

Very healthy entire chicken ginseng soup.

Yummy somewhat Americanized breakfast sandwiches and Korean bingsoo (shaved ice) - yum!

When in Korea, you can’t miss the famous jimjilbangs (Korean spas). They have mixed gender saunas ranging from icy cold to “I feel like I’m about to melt.” Delicious Korean food is never too far away with a plethora of food courts and Korean BBQ dishes enticing you around every corner. There is something for everyone with movie theaters, gaming arcades, and single gender jet stream baths to relax.

Noah running around in a diaper and his towel wrap helped us make many new friends :) Cutest little guy.

At night, we took a cable up up to visit the famous Namsan Tower in Seoul. Captivating views of the city awaited.

The #1 highlight of Korea undoubtably had to be visiting Petit France and Nami Island in the height of fall. A very rich Korean man visited France and loved it so much that he wanted to build his very own “little France” in Korea.

The island is based on the popular children’s book “Le Petite Prince” or “The Little Prince” in English. Below is our little prince ;)

If you watch Korean dramas, you may recognize Nami Island from the popular series “Winter Sonata.” Tall orange trees stretched towards the sky and the moment you entered the island, you felt at peace. Everything was picturesque and we biked around the entire island.

Would highly recommend visiting any season of the year.

Looking forward to many more visits to Korea (as long as Steven’s sister is still there) ;)

We loved our time there and are still dreaming of the Korean fried chicken. Until next time.