From Discipline to Tranquility !!!

South Korea, an East Asian nation on the southern half of the Korean Peninsula is known for its green, hilly countryside dotted with cherry trees and centuries-old Buddhist temples, sub-tropical islands and high-tech cities such as Seoul (capital) and Suwon. South Korea is a highly developed country and its citizens enjoy the world’s fastest Internet connection speeds. South Korea has been renowned for its globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and TV dramas, a phenomenon referred to as the Korean Wave. Talking about the places to visit in this country, here are some recommendations from our end.

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Exploring Suwon-Si

Suwon is a city located in South central of Gyeonggi-do. Suwon’s district has four general districts: Jangan District, Kwonseon District, Paldal District and Yeongtong District. Major attractions in Suwon include Suwon Hwaseong, a world heritage, and Samsung Electronics headquarters. The below are some of the places to visit in Suwon-Si:

Flying Suwon

Flying Suwon is a hot-air-balloon experience which takes you 150 meters up in the sky offering a near-bird’s-eye view of the city’s World Heritage–listed fortifications. Each ride can accommodate around 20 passengers and its duration is between 18-20 minutes. You can expect the place to be crowded on weekends and the waiting time is around 30-40 minutes. There is a park next to flying Suwon called “Tunso Rock Park” which gives a beautiful view of the city.

Gwanggyo Lake Park and Marsle Market

Gwanggyo Lake Park is one of the most beautiful lake park located in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon. The reflections of the tall buildings on the lake are just so spectacular to watch. The night looks even more magical when the lake park gets lit with colorful and bright lights. There are some cafes located next to the park where you can sip some coffee and enjoy the panoramic view of the lake. Marsle market is a popular market in Suwon known for selling clothes, handbags, and other accessories. You can find a lot of coffee shops, a comfortable seating area, and some local stores in this market.

Shopper’s dilemma at Nam-mun and Paldalmun Global Market

Nam-mun market is Suwon’s largest traditional market, covering a total area of 164 square meters and featuring over 80 kiosks selling a variety of food and goods. There’s a Daegu delicacy street surrounding Nammun Market and has about 20 stores specializing in minced pork wrapped with lettuce or Gimchi. Do try ‘Chi-maek’ – the compound word from ‘Chicken’ and ‘Maekju’ – the Korean word for “beer”. It refers to a combination of Korean-style fried chicken with beer.

The neighborhood surrounding Paldalmun Gate serves as the main business district of Suwon, where more than 300 stores and stalls are joined to make a huge market place. The atmosphere and the physical surroundings would leave you surprised..Since 1917 when the market first opened to the public, the vendors here have specialized in traditional garments, including handbook (traditional Korean clothes) and accessories.

Food items to try from these traditional food markets include chicken/veg momos with raddish pickle and a pinch of spicy sauce, fish cakes, rice cakes and soondae – korean blood sausage made of pigs intestines stuffed with cellophane noodles and vegetables.

#ISEOULU

Seoul – the capital city of South Korea is one of the most popular tourist attraction in the world. Seoul has the largest number of professional sports teams and facilities in South Korea. Seoul is home to 115 museums, including four national and nine official municipal museums. Seoul has a large quantity of parks. One of the most famous parks is Namsan Park, which offers recreational hiking and views of the downtown Seoul skyline. The below are the most recommended places to visit in Seoul.

Lotte World Experience

Lotte World is a major recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of the world’s largest indoor theme park called “Lotte Adventure Park”, an outdoor amusement park called “Magic Island”, an artificial island inside a lake linked by monorail, shopping malls, a luxury hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities, and movie theaters, Lotte World Folk Museum which uses imaginative techniques like dioramas, scale models and moving waxworks to bring scenes from Korean history to life, Lotte World Aquarium featuring 650 species of 55,000 different marine life forms up close where visitors can feel the ocean in an urban area, Lotte World Tower (SEOUL SKY TOWER) – a 123-floor, 555-metre supertall skyscraper located in Seoul, South Korea and is 6th tallest building in the world.  The best way to enjoy your Lotte World experience is by purchasing a Lotte world combo pass which covers all the four attractions mentioned above. You can visit Lotte Adventure park, Lotte Aquarium and Lotte Museum on day 1. On the very next day, you can head to Lotte World Tower. You just need a single weekend to finish this amazing Lotte World Experience.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) is the latest and most iconic landmark of the Korean design industry. Located at the center of the Dongdaemun area in Seoul, the DDP will serve as a key venue for design-related conferences and seminars, exhibitions, and other event gatherings. Designed by world renowned architect, Zaha Hadid, DDP is the world’s largest three-dimensional atypical architecture. The DDP is comprised of five halls: Art Hall, Museum, Design Market, Design Lab, Dongdaemun History and Culture Park. There is a piano placed in common area of the plaza and everyone is allowed to access and play the music of his/her choice. Don’t forget to visit the lawn area of DDP.  It gives a spectacular view of the plaza from the top.

N Seoul Tower

The N Seoul Tower, officially the YTN Seoul Tower and commonly known as the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower, is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central region of Seoul, South Korea.  The magnificent projectors placed near the entrance of the lift lobby gives us a perfect holographic experience (refer the image). The tower’s main attractions include multi-colored digital art projected onto the tower at night, a terrace on rooftop, a digital observatory and HanCook restaurant and the n.Grill restaurant located on the bottom floors of the building.  A recent attraction for courting couples is “Locks of Love,” thousands of padlocks attached to the fence by romantic Seoulites symbolizing their undying affection towards each other. Seoul has a number of viewing options where the guests can experience the nighttime city lights or gaze out onto the beautiful view of Hangang river but the tower’s digital observatory is unique, offering an astonishing 360 degree panoramic view over the city using 32 LCD screens for recounting the 600-year history of Seoul. That is why the N Seoul Tower is so popular and such a source of pride. One amazing fact about N Seoul Tower is its color changes at night based on the pollution levels observed during that particular day.

Myeong-dong Street Market

Myeong-dong is perhaps one of the most busiest street market in South Korea. Bustling Myeong-dong is a shopping area packed with luxury department stores, international fashion brands, street food stalls and homegrown cosmetics shops. Local street food delicacies offer Korean dumplings, ginseng chicken soup, chocolate and banana crepe, strawberry red bean mochi, sweet chicken, potato twisters with cheese, egg bun, Korean pancakes, chestnut, baked cheese, crispy sweet corn and cabbage omelette. You must try all the above mentioned food items.

Let’s discuss about their favorite drinks/delicacies:

• Hotteok

Hotteok (Korean sweet pancakes) is a popular korean street food dish which is usually consumed as a sweet delicious snack or as a mouthwatering dessert. The dough for hotteok is made from wheat flour, water, milk, sugar, and yeast. The dough is allowed to rise for several hours. Handful-sized balls of this stiff dough are filled with a sweet mixture, which may contain brown sugar, honey, chopped peanuts, and cinnamon.

• Quabegi

Quabegi is also known as “twisted korean donut” in south korea. The dough for this donut is made up of milk, egg, flour and yeast. It is then deep fried in an oil container and added to a mixture of caster sugar and cinnamon powder. Its a must try food dish in south korea.

• Naengmyeon Water Noodles

Naengmyeon or raengmyŏn is a Korean noodle dish of long and thin handmade noodles made from the flour and starch of various ingredients, including buckwheat, potatoes, sweet potatoes, kudzu and arrowroot starch. These long cold noodles usually contain radish, eggs and mixture of all vegetables. It is definitely a must try dish in South Korea.

• Fries & Burgers from New York’s Shake Shack in Gangnam

If you are really missing your normal routine then you should definitely try these french fries & burger combos with root or draft beer at Shack Shack in Gangnam. The chicken strips loaded with lots of veggies and mayonnaise sauce gave us an unforgettable experience. The dessert menu consists of Oreo special sundae and a normal vanilla or chocolate ice cream in waffle cone.

• Egg Buns in Myeong-dong

If you are an egg lover then this is a most recommended dish from our end. A little loaf of bread is steamed with a whole egg inside along with almond, peanut and sunflower seeds. It is usually sweet and fluffy in taste. The very first bite will leave you stunned.  Just #GoForIt.

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Overall Experience and Rating

We had an amazing time exploring the republic of South Korea. We got here in the month of October and could cover two major cities during our travel period i.e. Suwon and Seoul. We got a chance to visit Samsung Innovation Museum and Samsung Digital City in Suwon. #SamsungInSuwon. We had an amazing time experiencing the Seoul International fireworks festival which happens once a year in the month of October. We always preferred to commute by bus or subway here and it was pretty convenient for us as well. Myeong-dong night market was one of the best food markets we came across in south Korea and the street was usually crowded on weekends. If you want to go on a shopping spree then you are probably looking at the right place. As South Korea is well known for its beauty products and cosmetics, you can grab your favourite make-up kit from one of the global markets here. Apart from the above mentioned places, you should visit Itaewon for Halloween, Thursday Party in Ingye Dong – Suwon, Club Octagon in Gangnam for late night parties, Coex mall & Coex aquarium in Seoul, Carribean Bay water park, Everland amusement park, Busan, Nami island and Jeju Island. Coming to our food recommendations, you must try Hotteok (Korean Pancakes), fishcakes, Quabegi (Donuts), Bindaetteok (Ming Bean Pancake), kimchi pang (pork buns), cabbage omelette, chocolate and banana crepe, spicy squid, barbecue lobster, egg buns and strawberry read bean mochi from their street food markets.

Ambience – 4.5/5

Food – 4.5/5

Service – 5/5

Stay & Comfort – 4.5/5

Address: Dream Vill, Gyeonggi-do, Suwon-si, Yeongtong-gu, Woncheon-dong, 337-52

The Food Punch Recommendation – 4.6/5

Contact us regarding any queries – thefoodpunched@gmail.com

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