A couple weeks ago I took a three day trip to Seoul on my way to Beijing from Tokyo. Once I got myself situated at my place in the Gangam distrcit, I took a walk down to Garosu-gil, which is an area in Sinsa-dong. The name literally means tree-lined street, which is appropriate considering the street is lined with tons of ginkgo trees. I liken the area to the Newbury Street of Seoul. There are a lot of cool little shops and cafes to hang out. I stopped by Per Se (right across the street from Theory) to grab a bite to eat and do a little reading. I snagged some milk tea, and instead of the traditional Korean BBQ, I went for ink pasta with some calamari and shrimp.
After lunch I managed to do some shoppping. There are a ton of little boutiques with fashion forward Korean made clothes. Some stores I would recommend are 8ight Seconds, Around the Corner, Youk Shim Won, and 9 Owls, which is a really cute vintage store. I had a tough time finding things that fit because often times they only had pieces in one or two sizes, and not a lot of it would fit a 5’11 frame, but it was fun to browse.
Later that night I met up with a friend and we went to Eden, which is a club connected to the Ritz, for a night of dancing and fun. The cover is a little steep, but not bad. On a Friday night, you can expect a good mix of locals and tourists.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get out too much during my stay in Seoul. The weekend was a sneak preview into a city that I would definitely like to get to know a little bit better. Looks like I will have to go back!
