Category: Seoul (Page 2 of 7)

Seoul Apartment Tour

2020/02/17 / Nic / 0 Comments

Living in Seoul

Although we have lived in Seoul for years, we have never done a proper apartment tour before.

It took years to work how best to use our small space. Since living here we’ve changed what room was the bedroom so we could have a bigger living room space. We moved in with almost all the furniture being given to us, so we just had to make do, instead of buying furniture that fit the space well. Even just a few years ago, options were limited for furniture in Korea too. Now it’s not just the IKEA option, there are many furniture companies designing reasonably priced furniture for small spaces.

Slowly we’ve been switching furniture and changing the space. Finally I felt I could do a video and also give people ideas on how to make the most of a small space. On sites like Buzzfeed they have lists of products that help in small spaces and I always check those lists. Often you don’t even know what awesome products there are that can help you manage a small apartment.

We do love this apartment, but it will be time to move on soon. We want to move into a bigger apartment, but still in the same area. I think if we didn’t have a two-year-old we could continue to live here, but we need more space. We also want more space for guests too and I want to be able to paint in a bigger space.

Seoul can be an expensive place to live, but our neighbourhood is amazing and we got lucky with our lower rent price. Our apartment has lots of natural light and has character. I hope showing our place gives others some ideas on how to live in a small apartment.

If you are moving to Seoul or Korea, be aware that the names for things can be different to what you may expect in English. For example, our place is technically a “villa” not an apartment. Apartments in the Korean sense are the very big buildings and have certain requirements.

Make the most of your time in Seoul

2019/10/24 / Nic / 0 Comments

How to make the most of your time in Seoul

I think when people visit Seoul they can make the mistake of doing a lot of wandering around but missing all the good points. We recently did this video for Seoul Guided Walking Tour, which is a free government program for tourists (or residents) that offers many walking tours.

For example, a lot of people go to Gyeongbokgung palace and aimlessly walk around. While there are some signs with history points, it is actually hard to get a good sense of the cultural and historical context. There are tours that the palace provides but I was way more impressed with our guide who is from the Seoul Guided Walking Tour program. He also showed us the best way to get around, particularly as we had a stroller. The course we did is designed for those with wheelchairs, strollers, or those who have less mobility.

Our son really liked the palace because of the space and the sand for playing in with his dinosaurs. Our tour guide was also understanding how difficult it can be with a toddler too.

We also had a famous friend do the course with us! Check out the video to see who it is.

There are many different types of tours provided and our friends have tried out some of the others. Even living in Seoul, they did not know so much of what their tour guide told them. There are many hidden gems in Seoul. It’s a lot harder finding these places yourself, and even if you do, you may not have the information and context about it. If you are planning a trip to Seoul, check out some walking tours.

You can view the tours and booking information on the site here.

Jurassic World Exhibition in Seoul

2019/09/26 / Nic / 0 Comments

Visiting Jurassic World Exhibition in Seoul

As you may already know, our son Yul LOVES dinosaurs. A few months ago when my parents were visiting we all went to the Jurassic World Exhibition. We had been told that very young children might get scared of the huge animatronic dinosaurs but we were pretty sure Yul would love them.

Even though some other kids were scared, (you can hear a child saying “Daddy, it’s scary”) Yul was just completely enthralled. Even the scary tyrannosaurus was amazing to him. He didn’t want to leave it. We just wish the exhibition was bigger! He could stay all day there.

I think this exhibition has been in lots of cities around the world already, and it will be in Seoul for about a year. If you missed it in your country and are visiting Seoul you can check it out.

If you love seeing dinosaur content make sure you are subscribed to us as I’m sure we’ll be taking Yul to many more dinosaur things in the future!

Visiting Seoul City Hall

2019/08/06 / Nic / 0 Comments

Take a trip to Seoul City Hall

My parents are visiting at the moment. Since they have visited many times before, they have already done most touristy things. We decided to check out Seoul City Hall as they hadn’t seen it before. Visiting a city hall doesn’t sound that exciting at first, but it’s a very interesting building.

The vertical garden in particular was really interesting, and apparently the biggest in the world. Yul is obsessed with drawing at the moment, so he drew something for the wall where you can leave notes.

Hugh also left a message about multiculturalism in the booth where ordinary citizens can leave a video message. We didn’t know if anyone actually watches them, but a representative called Hugh later to talk to him about it! Hugh explained about wanting better representation of multiculturalism in Korea and how to educate the general population about it. So that was interesting that they are actually listening to what people are suggesting.

Seoul City Hall is an area where there are many other things to see as well. We headed to a museum after our visit, so it’s something to stop by and see if you are in that area of Seoul.

Getting hair done in Hongdae: hairdresser for foreign hair in Seoul

2019/03/22 / Nic / 0 Comments

If you have hair like mine (western, dyed hair) it can be a bit worrying when you move to a country like Korea. How do you know which hairdresser to go to? Do they have experience with western hair? Especially dying fine hair?

When I first came to Korea and we were living in the countryside, I had some bad experiences with hairdressers. This wasn’t even for dying my hair, just a haircut! The hairdresser would automatically get out the thinning scissors and thin out my hair. My hair is already fine, it doesn’t need thinning out! Unfortunately there are many hairdressers in Korea who have no experience with nonKorean hair. My friends have had some dying disasters in Korea. It’s even harder if you are black, as the options are even more limited.

However, there are several hairdressers in Hongdae that are good with foreign hair. Today I want to talk about Dean who is at The Day’s Hair Salon in Hongdae. Dean reached out to me because is passionate about doing western hair and wants more and more experience. He offered to do my hair for me so more people will know about him.

It has been a while since I’d had my hair done (busy mum life) but I did want it a bit lighter, especially as we are coming into Spring and Summer.

This is the before:

During:

And after:

Dean was super lovely and I was really pleased with how my hair was after. If you’d like to go to him at The Day’s hair salon the info is below:

http://www.Instagram.com/thedays_dean

Facebook

The Day’s Hair Salon website

Address = 20, Hongik-ro 5an-gil, Mapo-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2nd floor.

How to find Kpop fashion? DDP Dongdaemun in Seoul.

2018/09/07 / Nic / 0 Comments

In this video we head to HiSeoul Fashion Market which is a shopping event every 3 months and lots of designer clothes are discounted. It’s a great place to find the brands Kpop idols have worn. They helpfully have signs and point out which clothes they are. Hugh and I haven’t had time to go shopping lately, but with this collab video we were able to actually buy some new clothes!

Summer Picnic in Secret Seoul Spot

2018/08/25 / Nic / 0 Comments

This is a video for Emart which is a collab and also part of a competition. Just watching and liking the video counts as points for us. You can also watch it on Emart’s channel here.

If you are in Korea you can also vote for it on the app here.

There are lots of parks in Seoul and lots of great hidden spots. This one is in or near the World Cup Parks. There is a little stream that is great for kids to play in. It was actually my parents who discovered it while they were here, as they go out and explore the parks in Seoul. There was no one there when we went on a week day. Yul is getting big enough to enjoy playing in water so it’s a great place to go, especially as our local outdoor pool is closed for construction this summer.