Seoul

From Burden's Landing

Capital of South Korea, and Mom and Dad's hometown.

To Do

Noryangjin seafood market. Pretty well known, but Mom isn't a fan.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

Panmunjom / DMZ

Neighborhoods

Samcheong-dong

Moka's favorite neighborhood. "There's a main strip with a bunch of shops and things to see... it's really great on a Saturday afternoon. Also near Insa-dong and the Blue House so you can see both in one day."

Hongdae

Good place for a wiki meetup: "You should do samgyeopsal in hongdae, if you want to do a wiki meet up dinner. It's close to a major stop and at the university so people will be interested in coming... there's a ton of places around there to get samgyeopsal, but i dont remember the places or the names... oh korea, there's no such thing as addresses. :) There's a good place across from the sang sang madang building in hongdae. There's a small side street across from that building and if you follow it back, there's a nice, outdoor place to sit and eat. Sorry, no address."

서소문동

Great 냉면 at 강서면옥. (Or is this in Namdaemun?)

Ojang-dong

Home of 오장동흥남집, which makes the world's best 비빔냉면.

To Eat

Tosokchon supposedly has the best 삼계탕. Mom and Jessica have both been, and they liked. I had 삼계탕 in Punggi, so I'm not in a huge rush to go here, especially since it seems a little touristy.

Hotels

(The notes are for our Korea (October 2010) trip.)

Subway

"If planning on using the metro extensively or staying for more than a few weeks, you should consider purchasing a T-money stored value contactless smart card. You can buy this card at most subway stations and many newspaper kiosks near subway entrances, as well as convenience stores. The card itself costs ₩3000 and cash can be charged onto the card as often as you like. When entering and leaving a subway turnstile, place the card on the reader (leaving it inside your purse or wallet is fine) and it will deduct the appropriate fare from the card. Using this card will allow you to save ₩100 on all transfers (these are common with Seoul's extensive subway system) and you can get all but ₩500 back if you have unused credit. Typically for most travellers staying less than 2 weeks in Seoul, purchasing this card may not be cheaper but other factors should be considered: it can also be used for taxi fares, buses, storage lockers, pay phones, etc. It also saves the hassle from figuring out how much you need to pay or waiting in line to buy a single-use ticket. The subway is not open 24 hours, so you may be stranded late at night" (from Wikitravel).