…or just one of them, at least. When you think of Seoul, South Korea, it’s probably not on everyone’s travel bucket list. People immediately think of Korea being North Korea, which is actually quite different from South Korea. For starters, they’re not a united land. Northern K is oppressive, while Southern K is more westernized and well-off.

One of the things I loved about Seoul is that it’s filled with a lot of young couples always being affectionate with each other in public. Hand-holding and embracing were everywhere you went. Not in the gross and annoying overly PDA kind of way, but the kind of way where you felt the love everywhere you went. I’m sure that’s nowhere to be found on the streets of Pyongyang.

I haven’t been to Tokyo yet, but Seoul is often compared to Tokyo, except a secretly better version as it’s more photo-friendly (apparently in Tokyo, a lot of shops with elaborate street/window displays prohibit photography), easier to get around, and a large number of residents in Seoul know quite a bit of English. It’s also VERY pro-arts, and totally lights up at night and looks vastly different in the day time than it does at night. I have friends from Orange County that now reside in Seoul so I couldn’t wait to come visit them and have them show me around this amazing and fascinating city.

It was sort of a last minute trip I did on a whim. I kept receiving notifications on my phone that flights to Seoul were cheap, then one afternoon while I was on a treadmill at the gym, the channel on the little TV was stuck on a Korean channel, and me not knowing how to change it, just sort of watched it while I ran for an hour, laughing at all the really weirdly sexual noodle commercials and food commercials that were making me really hungry so I then decided FUCK IT, I’M GOING TO SEOUL. I had about a week off so it was perfect. I asked my friend if that was a good time to visit and it worked out just fine for them too so it was a done deal. Two days later, I hopped on a plane to hang in Beijing for a day, then Seoul the next.

Every corner and pocket of this city is so dreamy. It felt so futuristic and had a very interesting vibe.

The piano steps at the Express Bus Terminal Station – 10 Korean Won is donated anytime a citizen uses the entire set of stairs by the Gov’t as a part of the “Giving Healthy Stairs” campaign.

 A bookworm’s dream: Starfield Library in Starfield COEX Mall