Floor Time
/flôr tīm/
noun
the 15-60 minute time period spent laying on the floor in the middle of the work day, typically as a relief from the soul-sucking reality of corporate America.
Hi friends! I am back from Korea / Floor Time hiatus and I’m so excited to dive in and share details of my trip with you. That said, I feel it would be remiss not to first acknowledge the horrifying events happening in the world at the moment. On vacation, I try to be as offline as possible, but this news story is everywhere even on the other side of the world—as it should be. My heart breaks for the human rights violations happening in Gaza and Israel, and for the Palestinian and Israeli civilians who are affected by this unfathomable devastation. It gives me this deep feeling of dread and heartbreak to witness this loss of life and ongoing demonstrations of hate, and I am holding the Palestinian and Israeli friends in my life a little tighter than usual. Floor Time was always meant to be a distraction, and I hope that in this case, it will be one that is welcome, joyful, and comforting in the midst of so much sorrow. Now on to the newsletter.
Korea was incredible. Seoul is such a cool city, and way bigger than I thought it was (I don’t know that I even scratched the surface of seeing the sites—what a great excuse to go back ASAP). For those who are curious about Korea or thinking of going, this Floor Time is for you!
P.S. Please be kind about typos and overall syntax this week—the jet lag be laggin’ and I am fighting for my life to form coherent sentences…
General Korea Learnings
Starting off with just some overall observations / good-to-knows I discovered while over in Korea.
It’s very chill to walk in Seoul at night. In general, I got the sense that it’s a very safe city with very little crime. At every food establishment, for instance, people straight up leave all their stuff (phone, keys, wallet, laptop, etc.) and get up to do other things like pick up their food and make phone calls. There’s a lot of communal trust.
Taxis don’t light up from the top like they do in New York. Rather, it’s two red characters in the window over the passenger seat that indicate they’re available. This may be obvious to others but it took a few tries for my sister and I to figure this out lol.
They’re very strict about if you’re dining in or taking away. If you order takeaway you’re not allowed to sit in with your to-go cup so you gotta make a decision when you pay. Always buss your table after.
Definitely get Korean won in cash. For the street markets, you’ll need some for sure (or at the very least, it gives you more bargaining power—got a purse down from 85,000 KRW to 70,000 KRW for paying cash instead of card 😎) but also for topping up your T money card (their transit card), they only take cash in the convenient stores.
There’s no tipping in Korea.
Things are actually quite far apart in Seoul—the bus and train work really well (you must have a T money card for the buses, whereas for trains you can use the card or buy single ride tickets in the station) and the taxi fare is quite cheap (base price 4,800 KRW if I remember right, which is like $3.50 USD) but definitely knowing this helps you be realistic about what you can really see during your time there.
Like any city in Asia, 7-Eleven is where it is AT. Go there, buy and try all the foods. Get late-night provisions for when you come home after the bars and want some salty and delicious ramyeon. Try the banana milk and strawberry milk (I know it sounds nasty but I promise it’s a thing and they were both so yummy I had like five while I was there).
Google Maps does not work in Korea. The app opens and all but the tracking is very inaccurate and directions don’t work. The apps I downloaded to help me around in general:
Kakao Maps
Google Translate
Kakao Taxi
Don’t stress about “food recs.” There are so many establishments and the quality of food is so high that there wasn’t a single dud of a meal even when we just picked a place at random. Reservations aren’t really a thing either, so we walked in everywhere and were seated immediately during prime dinner time.
Top Recommendations
I won’t bore you by making you sit and listen to me detail every day’s activities (that’s what boyfriends are for! 🤪), but instead, I’ll share what my top highlights were.
Visit any temple
We went to Bong-eunsa Temple on the first day, a beautiful Buddhist temple in the middle of the city, near Starfield Co-Ex mall (a mall I definitely recommend going to to get all your shopping done, but also for checking out the beautiful library).
Drink at Bar Cham
Korea didn’t seem to be as into the cocktail scene as we are here in New York—that said, Bar Cham is one of Asia’s top 50 bars. My sister went to war for the reservation and grabbed us one of two they have each night. The remaining bar seats and three tables are available for walk-ins but definitely by our second drink the wait was getting longer, so arrive at opening.
Eat any KBBQ
Order hangover noodles (that’s actually what they’re called), and a stew on the side, then pick your cuts and enjoy some of the best quality meat I’ve ever tasted. All the restaurants we went to cooked the meat for us and the banchan and somaeks were flowin’. I will say, even though you can get great KBBQ anywhere, my favorite of the whole trip was at 돈주는남자 본점, this spot in Hongdae that I miraculously found on Google Maps for the purpose of this Floor Time so SAVE THIS.
Shop at Gentle Monster
Especially for people with face-shapes like me, this is the place to GO. Their glasses run around $200 and they carry both sunglasses and eyeglasses. I bought a pair that I’d been yearning for, and then a few days later, my sister and I both bought prescription eyeglasses. It was such a funny thing to do but the Gentle Monster people explained that the quality of lenses in Korea is so much higher while the price is much lower. They recommended us to an optometrist around the corner who took our prescriptions and cut and fit the lenses in 10 minutes.
Get your beauty on
I will caveat that Koreans are relentless with pointing out your facial problem areas and recommending products as a result (notably while there, I heard the following: “oh my god! your face is so dry!", “you should really buy a serum for all those dark spots”, “eye cream would help with those bags”). You may think it’s harsh, but it’s just the culture—not unlike my own aunties, mother, and late grandmother who would say things like this from a place of caring. My second-gen kids know what I mean but if you’re not used to this just don’t take it personally.
Anyway! Skincare is so accessible here. The price and quality of face washes, moisturizers, sunscreen, and face masks can’t miss. Then there’s the matter of procedures if it’s something you’re into. Botox, fillers, hair removal, and microblading are all super run-of-the-mill things that many Koreans do as regularly as say, we would go to the dentist. Definitely research clinics and make reservations beforehand because like I said these services are in high-demand.
Visit a street market and feel overwhelmed
We hit up Gwangjang Market, Namdaemun Market, and Hongdae (more storefronts than street markets). Definitely get some tteokbokki at Gwangjang, and the taiyaki I had was out of this world—probably one of the top 5 best foods I had on the trip. Grab some mandus and call it a day. Definitely bring cash!
Namdaemun had food but was definitely more shopping-focused. As my family always says, bargain and ask them to give you the “new” thing (not the one on display). This is where I got a lot of souvenirs but also where I had the worst decision fatigue of my life haha, there was way too much to see and little me is easily overly stimulated.
Hit the tourist spots
My favorites being: Seoul Tower (I hiked rather than took the bus—the path through the park was lovely but it is very uphill so something to note if you choose to do it), Hanok Village, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (entrance to the plaza is free but there is a fee for the special galleries), Ihwa Mural Village (probably my favorite stop—a little quaint village on a hill covered in art. I walked from DDP along the Fortress Wall to Ihwa and it took me maybe 30 minutes), and the Blue House / Cheong Wa Dae (formerly the official residence of the President of South Korea).
Break up the city trip with a few days in Jeju
Jeju is this tiny Island to the south, but it is also South Korea’s largest island. There are so many flights from Seoul to Jeju each day (the flight time is about an hour) that the fare is very affordable ($40 USD). Definitely rent a car when you’re on the island but the island itself is tiny and we drove from the north to south in an hour. It’s a volcanic island so the landscape was stunning and the climate was super warm even in October. A great stop for people who love the outdoors :) See above for our insane Airbnb with private onsen!!
I could say so much more about this trip but I think those are the top highlights. If you have specific questions for an upcoming trip definitely don’t hesitate to reach out—I love talking travel!
Something I Thought of in the Shower
When will this jet lag end?
Something Pretty
I mean, Jeju.
Something To Soothe
It’s a heavy time in the world. These videos gave me moments of peace—I hope they do the same for you.
Umm. This idea. 😭
Let Maggie heal you with this.
And for this Yebba cover to bring you peace.
A little bonus for my Gilmore Girls and Guys—whoever did this is magic.
Something for Clarice
Hey! This newsletter is free and I intend to keep it that way. That said, if you love it and want to show your appreciation, buy me a coffee :)
By the way…I’m reading this.
I read four books on my trip and now I’m on to Empire of Storms aka Throne of Glass #5. In a surprising turn of events the series is getting better as I read more. But oh my GOD is it long. I had no idea what I’d be committing to.
It’s rainy in New York so fall be fallin’! Planning to have a cozy evening, trying to fight off this relentless jetlag, and having some more kimchi for lunch which is now an integral part of my diet.
안녕히 가세요! Til’ next time, wanderlusters. Your friend,
Clarice