November 2nd, 2022

Day 2

Since I didn’t sleep at all on the plane, I slept pretty early on the night of Day 1, so I woke up at 6 in the morning. My PCR test appointment is at 10 AM, and is 20 minutes away on a cab ride, so I had a little bit of time to explore the city.

My Hotel is not in a fancy area, and it gives me a chance to see what Koreans really see on a daily basis.

I read on Chinese tourism sites that a breakfast place called “Isaac Toast” is very popular and supposedly tastes very good. It is a chain, and just so happens to have a store that’s 10 minutes walking distance from me. So I started walking, using Naver Maps, I was able to locate the general area, but I could not find the store. Turns out the store had a very small sign, and I missed it by walking too far. That’s what you get for not having turn-by-turn navigation.

Here is a picture of the store that I bought my breakfast from. I did not take this picture, and I found it on KakaoMaps. The menus are mine though.

I ordered the Deep Cheese Bacon sandwich that’s in the middle of the third roll, and a “Cafe latte” on the drinks menu. After the old lady finished my order, I took my food back to my hotel room.

After I finished my breakfast, I looked up the address of my first PCR test appointment, and taxied there. I got there 20 minutes early, and just walked in.

Here is my appointment information:

Seegene Medical Foundation (씨젠의료재단)

Address: 1F, 320, Cheonho-daero, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, 04805, Republic of Korea

Address in Korean: 서울특별시 성동구 천호대로 320(용답동 2-3)

10:00 AM

Price: 25000 KRW, or $17.8

Website: https://direct.seegenemedical.com/main/

After you walk in, open the link they sent you as your confirmation, and it will open a QR code. Wait for your turn, pay for your test, and you will be directed to sit and get your test done. They poke both your throat and your nose. The nose part is extra brutal when they just jab it in there. You’re free to go afterwards, and the result will be sent to you 5 hours later through email.

I literally put 1 hour of testing onto my itinerary, but the whole thing took just 5 minutes in real life. I guess in Asia it is just so much faster and so much more efficient than America. So now I have nothing to do for an hour and a half.

After standing in the street for 20 minutes not knowing what to do, I decided to consult Google, and apparently the #1 tourist attraction in Seoul is Gyeongbokgung. I have read that Korea has an extremely convenient metro line all throughout the country, that’s why I decided to try myself.

I went down to the subway station, and fumbled around for the correct key to punch. I gave it 20 minutes before I gave up and just called a taxi lol. It is very confusing for foreigners, so unless you did your homework, I’d recommend for you to just call a taxi.

The first place I visited was the museum. It does not have the most plenty of collections for a museum, but it has enough stuff for you to experience the history yourself. Below are some pictures that I thought were interesting.

After exiting the museum, I bought a ticket into Gyeongbokgung, and it is indeed very awesome and I can see why it is the #1 tourist attraction. I spent 3 hours just walking through every doorway that is open, and I went into the library at the very back of the palace. It was awesome.

12,000 steps later, I was famished. Based on my itinerary, I am supposed to go to a restaurant in Myeongdong called Gangnam Noodle House.

Restaurant info:

Gangnam Noodle House (명동 강남면옥)

Address: 8, Myeongdong 7-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul

Address in Korean: 중구 명동1가 48-2 미래빌딩 5층

Even though it is called “noodle house”, but they are really famous for their stew beef ribs. It is best when there are 2 or more people going, because there’s too much food for just one of you. They have cold noodles too (picture 2), but it’s not the cold noodle I was expecting and I wasn’t much of a fan. But the beef ribs though, they are fantastic. I would 100% recommend them.

I received my first PCR test result before lunch, but I didn’t see it until after.

After lunch, it’s basically just free time for me. Apparently Myeongdong is really famous for the shopping for foreigners. I went to Lotte Department Store, and since my brother in law wants a luxury watch, I went up there and see if I could place an order.

Patek Phillip, like its stores in the US, does not have any stock left, and refuses to let anyone onto the waiting list without a purchase history. Like, how am I supposed to have a purchase history if you won’t let me get one. And, what’s the point of keeping the stores open when there is no stock?

I went to Rolex, and they won’t let me in at all. They need a reservation to get in, and again, apparently, it also depends on the last digit of your phone number. If the last digit of your phone number is 5, you can only make appointments for 5th, 15th, and the 25th in a month. In other words, you can only make appointments 3 days a month. I leave on the 4th, so there is no way for me to get in there at all. Again, what is wrong with them.

I just walked around the district for a while. There used to be a lot of Chinese people here, but since China doesn’t allow citizens to travel, the street is not as busy as it looked from the photos online. By that point I already walked for 15,000 steps, I was tired. I found a random seat by the end of the main street. I started searching for the address of the Myeongdong Cathedral because it seems famous. I put the address in the navigation app, and it says it’s just within 100 meters. I thought something was wrong, until I looked up, and there it was. It was not a joke, I did not see it when I was finding a seat.

There is still a lot of people in the cathedral praying. It is a beautiful cathedral, although not as grandiose as some other ones I have seen. I took a couple of pictures after seeing people taking pictures. At least my phone doesn’t make shutter sounds when all those Korean phones do.

There are two paintings hanging on both left and right side of the cathedral.

The one on the right seemed just right, it is the perfect blend between western style painting and Eastern style clothing. The second one though, if you look closely, the women that wears traditional Korean clothings do not actually look Korean. They look caucasian, which is funny to me.

I also got to a room that holds sculptures for a certain Saint Kim Dae-geon, who is the first Korean priest to be a saint. That is honestly very surprising because I thought all saints are white.

After seeing Saint Kim, I was too tired from all the 17,000 steps I took. That’s when I decided to just get a seat at a local Starbucks. It is only then did I know that Korean cafes can either be dine-in or take-out. I mean, sure, American Starbucks do that too, but in America, whether you dine-in or take-out, you only get a take-out cup. In Korea, though, if you choose to dine-in, you get a dine-in cup. This is the better way to be environmentally responsible, and I think the American Starbucks should really learn a few things from Korean Starbucks. Also, Korean Starbucks seems to be spelled “Seutabeokseukolia” (Starbucks Korea) on my credit card statement. That’s just funny.

After sitting in Seutabeokseukolia for a very long while, the sun has completely set, and I needed to eat something for dinner. Not because I was hungry, but because I do not want to waste a meal in Korea. I planned to get Korea’s Samgyetang, which left a very good impression on me when I had it back in China. I went to a restaurant that was recommended on the same website that recommended the stew beef ribs I had for lunch earlier. I thought that since I had a positive experience with the first restaurant, the one I’m going must be of the same quality. Boy was I wrong.

For the sake of my full word experience, I will still put the information of the restaurant up here.

Restaurant info:

Baekje Samgyetang (백제삼계탕) [Baekje Ginseng Chicken Soup]

Address: 8-10, Myeongdong 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, 04536

Address in Korean: 서울 중구 명동8길 8-10

This restaurant is apparently famous for its ginseng chicken soup, and based on what the Chinese website told me, this restaurant has stayed opened for more than 50 years. It was not what I expected, as it was a little bit too bitter for me. Perhaps this might be really good and authentic Samgyetang, but I didn’t like it at all. I don’t like anything bitter.

The owner or the waitress there spoke Chinese to me when I got there, the first time this happened. Perhaps this is a very famous place for Chinese visitors.

After the disappointing dinner, I have no room in my stomach for any of the street food on Myeongdong street. That is one of the biggest regret I had this entire trip. I could not get any taxi by using Kakao T, like at all. That’s why I decided to just walk back to my hotel, which is 20 minutes away by foot. When I finally got back to my hotel room, my final step tally is over 20,000. That’s how I got blisters. Lol.

When I got back to my hotel, I opened the website of China’s embassy in Korea and logged on to its health declaration portal for foreigners. The website is really designed for browsers in smartphones, but you can try using a laptop like I did. Just input all the information in, including your first test result, and wait till the embassy to review your information. Once everything is set, they will send you an email notifying you of the results, and you will receive a QR code with a blue background for when you try to board your plane to China.