Seoul: Bus ride from Hongdae to Hwajeong

Having satisfied my craving for Taco Bell and gotten the results of some lab work I'd had done at a nearby clinic, it was time to pack it in and head back. Hongdae is an excellent area if you want to hang out for awhile, though! There are tons of restaurants, trendy shops from big name to indie creators, street food stalls, bars and plenty more. I, however, had plans that evening somewhere else and it was nearing go-time.  

I found the public buses to be rather comfortable for the most part, though some of the busier routes (like Namsan tower) could get claustrophobic during peak times... This route was rarely crowded when I took it, and it was quite an affordable method to take, too. I could take one bus from a shopping mall a few blocks from where I was staying straight into the heart of Hongdae! So convenient. Funny thing is, I had posted a photo of some street food from a stall near the apartment and someone on Instagram recognized the area! They clued me into the bus route and I'm so very grateful for that. Social media can be pretty amazing sometimes, right?

This is going to be a pretty photo heavy post, but I wanted to capture as much of the experience as I could. I know it's routine for many people, but this is a novelty for me and I feel very honored and privileged to have had the opportunity to live like a local for a little while. I think it's the best way to explore and experience any new culture, personally, so I strive to do that whenever I can... so far I've lived in Japan and Korea, and the week I spent staying in Hong Kong was fantastic- though I stayed in a hotel for that one. It was nice, though I'd like to try an AirBnB next time we visit. It's definitely on my to-do list, but for now, enjoy these photos from my stay in Seoul!

 

 

Seoul: Bus from Hwajeong to Hongdae

Seoul and it's surrounding areas have no shortage of means by which to get from one end of the city to the other, which means it can be beneficial to look into your options. Living in Hwajeong while there, a suburb not far from the city proper by Line 3, I had a decent assortment of strategies... Taking the trains could, at times, be quite crowded depending on the time of day, as I found during my work commute. Living in the suburbs is a popular choice for many residents, and many of those people, just like myself, had to commute into the urban center for their work or school. Depending on where I was going, it could sometimes be much better to take a bus- Hongdae being one such area. While I could ride Line 3 over to an adjacent station, then transfer to a different line and crowd in with the students headed to class, I found the hard way that it was a little too easy to miss my stop and end up at Seoul station, where to reroute to the place I needed to be would require walking to the opposite end of the rather large building (and up/down so very many stairs). If I was in a hurry, say to catch a doctor's appointment my lovely friend and experienced ex-pat Carmen had arranged for me with an English-speaking woman doctor, taking the bus would drop me off within five minutes' walk of the clinic's front door. This would spare me the potential panic of realizing I'd gotten a smidgeon too absorbed in a story on Reddit and missed my stop, losing valuable time.  No transfers to worry about, either. The bus stop for the ride to Hongdae was in front of a large department store complex not far from the train station entrance, so it was no less convenient getting to it, either. There was a handy LED sign displaying the bus routes, their ETA and destinations- albeit in Hangul, but it's not the hardest alphabet to learn and you can start to parse out key words and phrases with a little effort. At least, after being in Korea for a few months at this point, I found my comprehension of Hangul increasing without having to spend an intensive amount of energy into studying it... that is to say, I didn't really study much, if at all... I probably would have picked it up much sooner and more smoothly had I applied myself, but I digress.   

Your preloaded transit card works for the busses, as well, so no need to panic trying to figure out pocket change for fair. Just make sure your card is loaded at a train station and go about your day. I very much enjoyed taking the bus into the vibrant, trendy area of Hongdae, and the ease with which it returned me to my area. I took lots of photos because I found the different perspective novel. 

Enjoy!

Korea: Journey through Hongdae

On this particular day, I had to head in to Hongdae station for a visit at a medical clinic. I was getting a routine check up done, but I also wanted to follow up on some dizzy spells I'd been experiencing. After getting to Korea I found I quickly started to lose weight with the more active lifestyle, and having control over my food choices again was really empowering after living in a household with four very different food preferences where meat would often be cooked unseasoned, you know, because you can add whatever sauce you like when it's been boiled to submission...but I digress... once I was living more or less independently in the apartment, I'd gotten into a routine of eating scrambled eggs for breakfast, a packed lunch and salads for dinner...which was all well and good, but I was stretching out the duration between meals too long. My commute to work was over three hours on some days, so there were nights were I wouldn't get home until well after 8 or 9pm, and I wanted my lunch to be in the middle of my day, around 3pm, so I'd go without food for over 7 hours somedays...which with all my walking around left me drained. Luckily the clinic visit was all good news and I left feeling optimistic and hungry! In Hongdae station I stopped and grabbed a little pastry from a stand inside the secure area, which was super tasty! Cream and sweet bean, yum. I love all the little shops and stalls in every transit station, you never have to search far for a fresh coffee or a snack to tide you over, which makes it all the sillier that I would go so long without indulging myself. Korea has such an abundance of tasty foods available and conveniently, I definitely had no problem regaining some of the weight I'd lost once I stopped feeling intimidated. Same sort of thing happened when I first moved to Japan...the first couple months I find myself adjusting and still reeling from the move and culture change, and as a result I find myself mildly trepidatious about trying to order from any restaurants or stands, especially since my ability to speak Korean is abysmal at best. Thankfully most people I interacted with were patient and amicable! 

These photos are all about capturing that commuter life vibe I was talking about a bit in my previous post. With the short walk from the apartment, most of Seoul was readily available! I can't talk up their public transportation enough, it's really good at doing what it needs to do. It serves it's purpose well, and I am immensely grateful for it's existence. 

Enjoy the photos!