8D7N Korea - Seoul and Busan | Day 1 | Myeongdong Iwha Mural Village Dongdaemun Warehouse toy Market

 posting photos first. Will blog our travel in details later.

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Earlier in the year March 2019, there was a new flight destination for Silkair to Busan and I quickly grabbed my chance at getting the tickets since I've always wanted to visit Gamcheon which is famous for it's little colourful houses, wall murals and cafes. By the time it was our turn to travel in Nov 2019, the tickets to Busan was so popular that SQ decided to park it under her wings and we flew SQ there! Each return ticket was approx $590.

After researching much online, I found out that 1 week in Busan is too long and probably a visit to Seoul would be better. We wanted to give the KTX a try but realised that with 3 kids, luggages and all, it might not work for us. KTX was approx 3 hours ride from Busan to Seoul while the domestic flight like BusanAir takes only 1 hour! And it would be so easy for us to transit from Busan airport to Seoul via flight. And it was cheaper than KTX!!!!

Flights from Busan to Seoul happens every hour so it's so easy and convenient. Good to have at least a 2 hour between flights in case of flight delay. Also we used that time to freshen up, get ourselves a good cup of coffee and let the kids roam the airport a bit.

Once we reached Seoul airport, we took a maxi cab to the hotel. We are staying at Myeongdong Skypark II if you are interested. Small lobby but located very conveniently. Close to convenience stores like 7-11 and subways. At night it is just next to the food street and lots of shopping can be done. We bought so many korean snacks back to give to love ones, colleagues and friends. Also Myeongdong street has many many beauty brands so you can stock up on your facial masks too!

Lunch - Myeongdong Kyoja
This little restaurant located on the 2nd floor has a huge floor space and is always crowded. I think I don't have to write too much about it since there's already lots of literature online. Just to let everyone know, we really enjoyed their food alot, even the kids do too. The service was very fast too. You might think winter eat cold noodles might sound too cold, but it's sooo good that I don't mind it at all!

Once we had our lunch, we walked down the streets of Myeongdong to find the Milky Bee Rose Ice Cream. It's the perfect instagram ice cream roses to take photos of!

it's amazing that in winter how much we can eat!

Next stop, we went to Osulloc to try their drinks and green tea tiramisu cake. I bought 4 bottles of their famous green tea milk spread, 10 slates of their green tea chocolate! I didn't regret it at all even though it was my first time buying their products cos all my colleagues and mummy, and MIL love their stuff! 

The hot drinks were very welcoming and lovely in our tummies.

above: See how much the kids are enjoying themselves albeit the cold weather!

Ihwa Mural Village
As many tourists have flocked to this village in the past, the people staying there are quite upset over the noise and racket, so it's not highly promoted to tourists to prevent overcrowding and noise pollution. Even at the tourist information board, they didn't give us a map but told me to take a photo of the directions with my mobile.

in short. it is a long way up and uphill. But there are many pretty things to see along the way. So keep calm and enjoy the walk up.

I found this blog online which has great directions on how to get there once you reached Hyehwa Station! click

above: these was taken on the way to the Mural Village

above: James resting at the foot of Naksan Park. We didn't visit Naksan Park cos it was close to sun setting and we wanted to get to the Mural Village as soon as possible.

above: the road to the Mural Village, lined with orange leafed trees.

Autumn looks so pretty here.

and we have finally reached the beginning of the Ihwa Mural Village!

there are so many colourful spots to take photo, rest and have fun!

above: walking down the Mural Village, eating fishcake on sticks and making our way to Dongdaemun on foot.

Dongdaemun Toys Street at Warehouse prices.

it's a long day...the kids only slept a few hours on the plane and the weather here is too cold to get customised on the first day. So we had a quick visit at the Toys Street before we went back to Myeongdong for our dinner.

There are many choices to choose from. We settled on a quiet restaurant on the 2nd storey and had hot porridge (juk), Seolleongtang (Ox Bone Soup) and steamed egg.

Once we have warmed up our tummies, we are ready to explore Myeongdong again!!! SO we off we went for more street food!

stay tuned for Day 2 of our Seoul visits!