SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA — Everywhere in Seoul looks the same.
I heard that from a couple of local residents, and after spending nine days in South Korea’s capital city in September, I agree. You can’t escape the bright neon lights, skyscrapers, tightly packed retail buildings and open-air, self-cook Korean barbecue restaurants.
But looks aside, many of the districts and neighborhoods in this ultra-dense city of more than 10 million residents have their own signatures. Hongdae, for example, is a university hub catering to the under-30 crowd.
About a 20-minute subway ride away is Itaewon, known as foreigner central, where you’ll see more English-speaking servers and non-Koreans than anywhere else in the city.
Yongsan, meanwhile, is noted for its electronics market, a huge outlet of vendors selling all things technological.
Wherever you are, however, restaurants and bars are abundant, and they don’t close until late, and seemingly never on the weekends. In fact, some businesses don’t list a closing time at all, meaning they’ll stay open as long as patrons would like to drink and eat. There is no last call in Seoul.
Here are some more tips for navigating this crowded but kinetic party city.
GETTING AROUND:
The best way to navigate the city is to use the vast subway system. One-way trips usually cost less than $1. Keep in mind that the subway closes at midnight, well before many businesses call it a night. Pay the $3 for the reloadable subway fare card. (If you plan to visit Seoul Tower, there’s a coupon for 10 percent off the observatory fee included in the purchase of a reloadable subway fare card.)
You’ll have to do some walking from the metro stations to reach places such as Walkerhill and Seoul Tower. For short trips, taxi service is reasonably priced, though traffic can run up the fares. A 15-minute cab ride costs about $6. A subway ride of similar distance is less than $1.
DINING:
You seat yourself at most restaurants. Some restaurants will have servers who understand English, but if not, a lot of menus have pictures to point to (that’s what we did when we didn’t have Korean friends with us). Tips aren’t expected. Cigarette smoking is allowed. On the subway, it’s every man for himself; you may get run over if you stand in the way of someone who needs to exit.
Many restaurants require a food order if you want to sit at a table. If you only want to drink, look for signs with “HOF,” which indicates that the business caters to drinking and appetizers rather than full-scale dining.
All but one of the Korean barbeque restaurants we ate at featured charcoal grills rather than the gas grills that are typical at such restaurants in Colorado, giving the spicy pork and other meats extra flavor. The one restaurant that featured gas grills was in Itaewon. Other than the grills, there weren’t any notable differences between the restaurants.
Soju, a distilled rice drink, is the beverage of choice when eating Korean barbeque. Taken as shots but not nearly as strong as vodka or tequila, Soju eventually hits you because the tradition is to take a shot after every other bite. Another popular Korean alcoholic beverage is Makgeolli, a rice wine consumed from a bowl rather than a glass.
A good place to chase away that hangover the next morning is at Mister Donut, a chain with a large presence in Asia that features green tea and mango-filled doughnuts. Perhaps recognizing the late-night hours of its residents, the Mister Donut in Hongdae doesn’t open till 10 a.m. If you’re an early bird, a number of other coffee shops have you covered, including Tom N Toms and Paris Baguette.
NIGHT LIFE:
A good place to grab a late-night drink in Hongdae is Vent, a cozy underground dive bar. A large pitcher of the local brew, either Cass or Hite, costs $10. Korean and American music videos are played on a projection screen.
As in Las Vegas, you can carry open alcoholic beverages on the streets in Seoul. Smoking is allowed inside restaurants and bars. Coffee shops are also smoker-friendly, though they have designated areas.
Some nightclubs have reverse age restrictions. We were turned away at a club in Gangnam, located in southern Seoul, because it allowed entrance only to those 29 and under. Even so, Gangnam night life is the place to be if you’re looking for the over-30 dance crowd.
For the budget-minded, grab a beer from one of the myriad 7-Eleven convenience stores and hang out at the area playground, where amateur musicians provide the entertainment.
LODGING:
Don’t stay at a hotel near Incheon International Airport; it’s on the outskirts of Seoul, similar to Denver International Airport’s location relative to Denver. Pick a hotel near a central neighborhood or district such as Jung-gu or Hongdae.
We stayed at Hotel Seokyo in Hongdae, about a 45-minute shuttle ride from Incheon International Airport (see Room Report, Page 13E). I’m told it was once an art district until an invasion of Korean (such as Ho Bar) and American chains (including Dunkin’ Donuts and Starbucks).
SIGHTSEEING:
Seoul Tower, in the northern part of Seoul, is one of the city’s premier tourist attractions, offering sweeping views. We walked from the street level to the base of the 777-foot tower, which sits atop Namsan Mountain. The roughly 1.5-mile trek is extremely tough, particularly the last three-quarters of a mile, which is all uphill.
A tram that runs from the street level to the base costs about $6 one way or $7.50 round trip, though lines are long. Entrance into the tower’s observatory is about $10 per adult.
The advantage of hiking up the mountain is the views along the way. Once you reach the base, there are a number of restaurants and street vendors.
SHOPPING:
The upscale Walkerhill area, accessible via subway, offers great views of the Han River and duty-free shops. But if you really want to shop, visit Lotte Town, near the financial district. It has an 11-floor department store that includes a large selection of duty-free shops on the 10th floor and a grocery store on the basement level. Restaurants are on the top floor.
Walk across the street and you’ll find a lot of restaurants squeezed in the alley between office buildings. That’s where we ate at Two Two’s, the local fried-chicken chain. It puts KFC to shame.
About a 10-minute walk from the Lotte department store is a huge outdoor marketplace called Namdaemun that goes on for blocks and blocks. It was by far the most crowded place we visited in Seoul. With vendors selling everything from clothes to toys to name-brand knockoffs to food, you can easily spend an entire day at the market. Bargains are to be had and price haggling is expected.
Andy Vuong: 303-954-1209 or avuong@denverpost.com,
More Seoul scoops
Get there
United Airlines operates one direct flight daily from San Francisco to Seoul, and several others with connections, starting at $860 round-trip. A direct flight is about 10 hours; total in-air time is about 12 hours, including the flight from Denver to San Francisco.
Staying connected
Paris Baguette, Mister Donut and Starbucks provide free Wi-Fi. You also can sometimes snag free connections from the streets. There are Internet cafes sprinkled across the city, but the one we used had really slow computers.
A few free iPhone apps
Jihachul subway map: This is the must-have app, because the subway system is the easiest way to get around Seoul. The program features an interactive map of all lines on the system. After entering arrival and departure stations, the app will calculate the shortest route. It also includes the layout for the various exits at each station, which can include more than a half-dozen.
Currency converter: Search those words, and the top-notch, easy-to-use one with current rates by OANDA Corp. is the first to pop up. Use the results as a general ballpark for what you might get, because exchange rates at airports and hotels aren’t as good.
iTranslate: This app provides both written and spoken translation, but requires an Internet connection.
iTour Seoul: The app is huge, but that’s the key. You won’t need an Internet connection to use it. It lists restaurants, landmarks, hotels, shopping and other categories.
Skype and Skype WiFi: The public Wi-Fi network in Seoul is vast, and you can use the Skype WiFi app to access it. It costs about 16 cents a minute. Be sure to load up your Skype account with funds before leaving. I used the standard Skype app for all of my calls to the U.S.
United Airlines: You can check in, check flight status and get a mobile boarding pass. With the mobile boarding pass, instead of showing the paper pass to Transportation Security Administration and United agents, you scan your phone at the security line and boarding gate.
