Our First Time in Seoul, South Korea (travel vlog)
welcome to so one of the most amazing cities we've ever been to. 1,2,3.. Over the next 5 days we will be exploring Seoul. Taking you with us for the best eats - savory and sweet! Temples museums and since this is our first time in Asia in this video we'll be sharing a lot of our first impressions and exploring the modern area of Gangam, including K Star Road, Bongeunsa temple, Coex mall, famous for its futuristic Library. oh and there will be a lot of eating in between we quickly realized Gangam is not for low budget travelers like ourselves but was it at least worth it? [Music] We're about to go into the neighborhood of Gangam which is basically south from here we're going to go catch the metro. We arrived yesterday morning and the little exploring we've done so far I am
so excited to explore a lot more everything feels so different yet not because the roads are a lot wider than I was expecting as you can see this road behind me if I didn't see the Korean letters everywhere and the license plates on the cars I would literally think um somewhere in America and coming from Europe it just feels very big for such a small country that was something that we were not expecting. Now we're on the way to Gangam and our first step is to get the best bagels in Seoul the line we'll be getting on is number three. I'm not going to lie the Metro system has been really confusing and never taking us as long to figure out but that makes sense we were expecting that. Let's share a little more to make your transportation a little easier let's
go get the ticket. so the easiest way to do it is come to these machines right here either to top up your reusable card or to buy a single use ticket for the time being we're going to get a single journey ticket and the way you do it select destination type the name of where you're going and it calculates the for you I need to check where we're going I don't remember the station what has been a little confusing we've been using Google Maps um because that has been doing the best translating however sometimes it just shows us the the character so we've been doing some character learning things but most of the time you'll have the color and the number which helps a lot we're doing two tickets not bad 4,200 Won but that's with a deposit so to get your single Journey ticket card is 500 Won as a deposit and you will come back at the end of your trip in this machine right here and you will get your 500 Won back these machines only take cash you put your money here now that we got our change let's go find our train another thing I want to share that is different than any other Metro System we've gone to and maybe it's like that Asia in general is how everyone cues out for the train that has been something that like in any other country everyone is is just kind of going in here you make two lines so we're in one of the lines and we're first in line so Olivia is right behind me and the person behind her is third in line and it's such an organized way cuz now the people are going to come out from the middle it's such an efficient concept that yesterday we didn't even know it was a thing but we just looked at each other and we realized we queued up. Very impressed very impressive. another thing I want to say is how quiet everything is and so our next country
from here is Japan and we knew that you know when we're comparing the countries and learning before the trip that Japan is a lot more quiet so now we're like we've been whispering everything here because once you enter the train during rush hour in so you you can't hear a thing maybe like a person here in there and for someone who's very easily over stimulated I feel very happy about that like even yesterday we were walking through the back like roads and alleys but like it's more residential there were so many people walking and were just like whispering [Music] [and then silence of the train] so many smells everywhere, everywhere we're going to do so much eating on this trip yesterday we went to this very popular place has a Michellin star has only four items in the menu and it was so amazing we're going to go back cuz we weren't filming yesterday we're just so tired right now you're probably like why the heck are you getting Bagels. Well Korea is really really really good in baked goods yeah I think just food in general just like the technique and the ritual of it the reviews we read this is supposed to be one of the best bagel places all over the world so we want to go there out of curiosity and see how does it compare to New York Bagels in America yeah because in Greece bagels are bread this is the same bagel place from Korean in New York and they opened one up here we're stopping every like little while looking at all the stuff seeing green tea ice cream is making me so excited for all the green tea and matcha everything we will be having for the next 3 weeks we're going to have some really good matcha today wait to see where I take you so crazy because you'd expect to be like coming all the way here to Asia to Korea thinking things that feel very foreign but they don't I mean like again how wide the roads are I feel like I could be walking to Michigan Avenue in Chicago right now also keep in mind we're in a more modern area right now so that's going to play a difference tomorrow we're going to be going and doing a lot of traditional stuff visiting temples and going to an old hanok village right in like the center so I'm sure once you're in that area that's when it's going to feel like you're in a different country so many nice cars everywhere you see very few older cars and by older I mean like 2017 maybe we've been in Greece too long but is everyone here rich? Doesn't feel new but at the same time it doesn't it doesn't it does like I feel like when you're in the big busy street it doesn't feel new because it's very familiar you get to these side streets and it's a different world yeah and as more an introverted person too I love how there's so many places where you just kind of get your own space there's so many like self catering places like here you come take pictures at a photo booth and you even have little like hair straighteners and mirrors to do your hair you pay it right there we're definitely going to be doing some photobooth pictures together right our play [Music] I'm very happy this place knows how to set the vibe before you even go to the front step of the [Music] door one locks bagel and two eggs bacon cheese [Music] this view oh I still can't believe we're in Asia we've talked about it so long and then we booked this trip pretty last minute till a month ago we had no idea we're coming and now we're here eating bagels almost, in a bamboo garden. ooh the Moment of Truth smells really good oh these are really big should have um we should have practiced expanding our stomachs so before we came wow this looks amazing smells really good too I can't open my mouth that big this is smaller that's like little stuff wow the bagel is really good but what really hits you and that's something that we read online The cream cheese is amazing they have really good flavor selections and we wanted to do the Fig one because that's supposed to be the best one the bagel is really good too I got the locks which basically has lettuce, capers scallion cream cheese, salmon. I got the can egg and cheese like classic breakfast sandwich I get smell the bacon it smells really nice this one's not as big as the other one so there we go very simple exactly what you would expect but the flavor is really good and the bagel has a nice like chew and you can see how it has like these bubbles it could be sour dough there may be sour dough oh I think that's what I read yeah look look I wouldn't call this the best bagel I've ever had I've definitely had better bagels but I think what sets this apart is the cream cheese it's I mean don't get me wrong the bagel is really good but I've definitely had better ones like the bacon all it's close to American bacon but it's like not there's a different flavor now what I get this bagel again after seeing the price this is the most expensive Bagel I've ever had both of these bagels together were $20 but we are in one of the wealthier areas, Gangam. And now we are going to try a very popular cran street food which is pretty much fruit on a stick and then they dip it in like a sugar syrup and it crystallizes and it's supposed to be really good and this place actually says ASMR because probably the sound of the sugar coating like crunching is ASMR so let's go see what we're going to something I heard the oranges are supposed to be really good here and I love oranges and Mandarin so I thought this was the best option to [Music] try it's exactly how you think it would be the Mandarin slice with the sugar syrup on top but the sensations are very interesting how you bite through it into just really sweet sugar syrup and then like the burst of like tangy orange and the combination it's fun I mean it's nothing crazy but I think it's more about the experience do it look how bright orange this is this is one flavorful mandarin another thing to note is that we're standing by the side so in Korean culture it's considered rude as an adult to be walking and eating, although I did see some they were teenagers so maybe they get off with it I really want to try the special grapes they have they have a grape version we'll have to do that another time interesting the syrup is not very sweet some ASMR for you. These are probably some of the best mandarins I've had in my life if you just think of it as just a mandarin they were so juicy and they coating is a bit sweet but it's not as sweet as I thought it would be I'd love to try the Mandarin by itself because I maybe getting tricked with the flavors mixed up but this is amazing Oh my God we're melting This is basically kind of like the Hollywood Walk of Fame but I think for K-pop Stars however instead of stars they get Teddy Bears which is even better.
Very cute! We may have run into someone famous As we're walking down K Star Road and not just this road in general but this road because it has all these expensive shops they have money to drop into the design even more and I'm just astounded at building after building after building just like such cool designs like honestly all of our travels I don't think I've seen it anywhere else in the world like I'm just astounded and like how clean everything is we love you Korea we love you next up on our exploring here in Gangam is Bongeunsa Temple it's an old Buddhist temple in the midst of all this modern architecture so let's go find out more about it. The temple was finished in 794 during the kingdom of Sila and the reign of King Wonseong In fact the temple was a type of government office established for the construction and operation of other temples built by the Royal Family. in 1498 the temple was reconstructed during the reign of Queen Jeonghyeon and although the temple survived the Japanese Occupation it did not survive the Korean War the temple has been restored since and the temple is home to over 3,000 different scriptures of 13 different types this is a lot bigger than we're expecting we thought it'd be just like one temple with a little bit of yard it's a park too it has a lot of nature to walk through although Korea technically doesn't have an official religion according to a 2021 poll 60% of the country identifies as atheists having no affiliation with any religion 17% identify as Protestant, 16% identify as Buddhist and 6% of the country identify as Catholic. I find the environment here really peaceful and it's just nice so now we're going to flip SP around and we're going to do something completely opposite and go to a mall but this mall is pretty special and uh it's right across the [Music] street and this Pokemon machine right here is why it's pretty special okay just kidding but I did have to go get a pack of Pokemon cards for myself special about the mole is how big it is and the library holds inside it's a pretty futuristic one and new because this whole building is pretty new and it's just amazing very impressive they do have foreign books as well the majority of them are Korean but they also have a lot of English magazines so if you want a place to like relax and come study or just pick a book and come and read place is a lot bigger than I expected well has anything you can live here for days I bet there's people that come to the hotel cuz it's connected to a couple different hotels they just don't leave if you're here for business and you don't have a lot of time to go places it literally has everything so we're right by the movie theater and I am just blown away by the screens behind us I mean the quality I've never seen before it's very Vivid and like real to life for bake screens like that they like for advertisement and stuff like that just it's so clear the colors are so good I'm sure the camera can really like show you exactly what we're looking at it's crazy so this movie theater has a special projector that is like a new technology laser and we look looked at the prices for the movie tickets before we knew this and it was probably around $30 a person most expensive movie ticket I've ever seen I'm like I cannot believe it but this is the only movie theater of this brand which is like one of the biggest brands here in Korea that has this technology and it makes me want to go to the movies even more to we don't have enough time to do that just just blown away you know the technology it just seems so Advanced yeah I think I read somewhere that Korea has some of the most technological innovations coming out of here I believe it I can see that it's it's great I mean you have Samsung and a lot of other companies that we' all heard before I mean it makes sense when you hear people say Korean and Japan are truly living in the future yeah once we found our way out of the mall and saw the famous Gnam Style statue yes Gnam Style was inspired by this area it was time to take a taxi and head over to the next destination that Maria had been anticipating or once again we were blown away by Korea there is so much space in the back seats wow this is very artistic wait till you see wait till you see this is like the Apple Store of desserts and I think we're about to have the best coffee of our life I completely forgot about this place this is what we're here for [Music] I want this one this is indeed [Music] art two desserts two coffees $41 this is black sesame coffee and I'm really excited to try it um I can't tell what the ice is problem is I didn't think was going to milk and I think it does and now it's it's really good I don't drink milk cuz it usually tastes really milky I don't taste the milk this is squeet ink cant with matcha in the middle I don't know how to eat it but I think the best way is it worth $10 this was actually about 20 the Coran flavors in this are amazing the matcho cream is really good you know with matcho you can usually get like a bit grainy this is perfectly smooth the Coran is so buttery and crunchy I'm just oh my God this is really good I have been very excited to have matcha in the source of where it all comes from Asia everything's so pretty and I love how like this little thing they have how it says new day gives you a place where your dessert fantasies come alive we make the most unique desserts inspired by fashion art and your own sweet dreams and I can definitely see how it's very fashion inspired I'll see and you're right how a lot of the time you can get it super grainy but I think it's because to get the good stuff like abroad you have to pay a lot more it's really nice I get why youve had that fi look on your face when you tried it now isn't it so good yeah it's really weird but it's so good when you first taste it the Sesame flavor just like fills your entire mouth and then you kind of come down and you're like oh this is coffee too and then you it can really accept all the flavors together I've never had a coffee like that it like in some ways it doesn't taste like coffee but then after a few seconds it does what is the ice cre it's amazing I don't know that I think it might be like more coffee like cold brew it's almost like charcoal I did a fries calculation for just this one and just this is $21 so for for size comparison it's not big oh my God I love a bit of cream this matcha like froth cream it's amazing when new Korea does coffee well and desserts this is beyond our expectations this cake ishio Fine sponge cake inside and honestly looking at this it looks fake the texture and the flavors are really nice I don't like things that are too sweet when it comes to dessert and it's quite balanced with the sweetness for dessert and the cream is like it's very light it's very good try the other one if you come here don't over order because you cannot pack the dessert so you have to eat everything here so I'm prepared all right we're going to dive into this this is our long I think this place is the perfect example to show how presentation can really trick your brain like the croissant when looking at it you wouldn't think it would taste how it tastes it just tastes like a really good buttery croissant and also like the cake it looks fake and then it's just like a really good pure dessert when you have it in your mouth and I I really like those things [Music] very happy we have come for some beers and chicken wings so we came to eat fried chicken because Fried Chicken is a very popular dish here in Korea and of course we had to get some local beers mine is an Amber and Olivia is having NPA from it Wong Wong which is actually the area here and instead of saying saying Indian Pale Ale is I want pale ale in this place everything smells so good we got honey butter which is probably my favorite Korean flavor ever cran garlic a big onion ring yya which is a type of Korean Tha and then Korean glaz and more a traditional Anda what are you going to have first go with the honey butter that like that combination is just a combination like I I can't even [Music] so good it's so [Music] good which one is this this is the Gangam sauce which I think may be a house sauce that they make and it's Cen glaze lightly spicy all right I'm going to start with the parmesan [Music] garlic oh wow it's like a jelly I was wondering how is a giant onion ring that there's no onions that are so big duh like they kind of grind it up Korean slap jelly so onion jelly anyone this is genius if you don't mind the texture I don't know how Olivia is going to like the texture with your typical onion ring you actually like get stringy you end up with some pieces where doesn't actually have onion this you're going to have onion in every single bite and it's filled with onion the sauce is amazing want to try the Korean [Music] glaze that's very nice I'm excited to try the honey butter they have honey butter chips here in Korea and they're so amazing hav't eaten one B thing that's genius and the flavor the sauce too and the onion ring talking about how genius Koreans are I just got to say about something earlier today with a Teo when we're taking off our shoes it's just in general a lot of things that should be common sense especially with hygiene I'm a germaphobe so like I'm very careful about contamination and all that stuff Koreans get it I haven't been to another Asian country so I don't know about the rest of Asia but the hygiene here is unbelievable and I am so happy about it everything's so clean and just it's like the Western World certain things don't click they try to be clean but it doesn't make sense I can give you an example and go on a around but I'm so excited to continue eating I can't wait for tomorrow and the rest of the goodies we're going to eat I love it here have I said how much I love it here I love it [Music]
2024-07-12 08:53
