This trip to APAC was centered around a friend of mine getting married. He's Korean, as is his wife, and so naturally the wedding was in Seoul. I would've shown up for his wedding anywhere, but I was secretly stoked for another chance to visit this amazing city. Seoul has become one of my favorite places to visit! There's some great hikes that aren't too far from the city, and there's of course tons to do in the city itself. The cocktail and cafe scenes are second-to-none, and those types of environments are ones that I really enjoy. And, of course, the food in Seoul is out of this world. As much as I love Japan, I have found it difficult to find many food options that aren't Japanese food. Even in large cities like Tokyo! So one thing that I've come to appreciate from Seoul is that the Korean food is phenomenal, but you can find a huge variety of really great cuisine.

Since this leg of the trip centered around a wedding, I also got to experience a little bit more of the party side of Seoul, which I hadn't previously seen. Overall, I had a really amazing time and can't wait to go back. There's lots of photos to share, and perhaps more food pics than any other blog entry so far!

It was really "off to the races" for me on this trip. I landed in Seoul in the late afternoon, went straight to my hostel to drop off my bags, and then straight to dinner with my friends. They saw me coming in and snagged this photo, which made me feel like a celebrity!
We were eating dinner at the NFW seafood market, which was a wild place. This is the lower floor of the market, which had tons of vendors selling fresh seafood, usually straight from the boat. They had any type of seafood you could possibly imagine.
And when I say any kind of seafood, I truly mean it! This particular vendor had tanks of some kind of alligator, and flounder. I've never seen that before!
In the market, you pick out your seafood (a huge king crab in this case) and the vendors will deliver it to the restaurants that are on the upper floor. Pictured are my friends Mike, Jani and Sonal.
And just like that, the king crab becomes dinner! This was insane - just one leg of that crab had more meat than an entire normal-sized crab. Not an exaggeration! The shell was filled with crab butter for dipping. Afterwards, they take the rest and use it to make stir fried rice.
After dinner, it was off to some swanky cocktails. It's getting harder and harder to find places that do smoke-infused drinks, so when I saw this one I had to get it.
The next day, we slept in late (as should be expected on vacation) and then headed out to walk around town. We stopped in for lunch at this nice Korean stew place.
Here was another serendipitous find - 글로우 성수 (Glow Seongsu), which was a dining hall tucked away in the city with a very nature-centric decor. There were a few restaurants all connected to this spot, and we liked it so much that we came back again the next night.
The next day was a bit uneventful, more wandering around the city exploring. As night started to settle in, we decided to check out some cocktail bars. This was Zodiac, which had a really cool theme. All the cocktails were based on zodiac signs, and the decor matched. Unfortunately the cocktails themselves were just alright...

After leaving Zodiac, we stumbled our way into The Storage Room. This was a real hit - a cool little speakeasy with a clever entrance, with a simple theme of "American Prohibition." The cocktails were classic, but really well-made, and the staff spoke great English and were happy to shoot the shit with us for a while. Here's a video of the entrance!

The following day, I moved locations from the Airbnb near Hongdae street over to Gangnam district. That's where the Google office is, so I stopped in to admire the views and grab lunch.
I spent a good portion of the day just as you see here: reading at a cafe. It's nice to revisit cities, because I can spend time doing things like this rather than feeling pressure to go sightseeing or maximizing my days.
That night, I met up with some of the gang for dinner. Afterwards, we headed to Woori Super, which is a really cool craft beer spot. I actually visited this same place last time I was in Korea, and really enjoyed it both times.
Nothing to add here, just being goofy with the gang 😄
The next day, we headed off to an archery lesson. This was my first time trying archery, and it was way more difficult than I expected it to be. But loads of fun! From left to right: Phelix (the groom), Mike, Sonal, myself, Robert and George. Some more folks from the wedding group were here as well, but out of frame.
I was feeling a bit socially drained after archery, and everyone else was going to visit Changdeokgung palace. I've already been, so decided to set off on my own. Following my time-tested rule, I just started walking whichever way gained elevation. This was a scenic residential area I passed on my way "up."
Before I fully realized what was happening, my "idk just walking up" path ended up on a trail to the top of Bugaksan Mountain. This was a really beautiful hike, and I just so happened to be there right at sunset. There was also very few people on the trail.
The views were really quite nice, and I just so happened to have brought my camera with me. I just kept going up, because after spending so much time in the city I was really in the mood to get out in nature and lose myself in my thoughts for a while.
As I got closer to the top, the sunset really started to bloom. It was quite spectacular, and I felt really fortunate to have such a crazy set of coincidences: beautiful hike, great weather, no other foot traffic, and a gorgeous sunset to boot!
One final photo to share - from the peak of the mountain. I was super sweaty, exhausted, and my legs were killing me. I didn't expect to go on such a long hike, and had a heavy backpack and clothes (including shoes) that weren't ideal for a long hike. Still super worth it!
After the hike, I walked past a so-called "listening bar." Curious what that could mean, I ducked inside and ended up having one of the most memorable nights.

The listening room was one of my favorite moments of the trip, and so it deserves a brief intermission for story time! It turns out it was a whiskey bar with incredibly expensive high-fidelity speakers. After chatting with the owner for a moment, he offered to play a song for me. I requested Nobody's Fault but Mine by Nina Simone, since it seemed to fit the atmosphere and my own mood. I think the owner was happy with my choice, because he brought over a pad, and told me I could write down and request as many songs as I'd like.

I started requesting other soft, vocal-forward songs like Good Thing by Maple Glider. Before I knew it, the staff was bringing me free snacks and drinks! I was feeling introspective, and ended up writing in my notepad, listening to music, sipping good whiskey and letting the literal hours slip by. Once I finally broke out of my spell and asked for the check, a member of the staff came over to say thanks, and that they really enjoyed my music requests.

It was an amazing moment, and I remember walking away from the bar with this immense gratitude for the small, quiet moments in life and the power that music has to connect us all.

The next day was the wedding! I didn't take too many photos of the wedding myself, and hopefully will get some shared with me soon. But here's a cute photo of the bride and groom as little kiddos!
After the wedding, we went out to celebrate! First was a club that the bride and groom had arranged private bottle service at. That was really fun, and afterwards a smaller group of us decided to keep the party going. The bride and groom were exhausted, and off to sleep.
The night ended up being a long one - easily until 2 or 3 in the morning. But we all had a really great time just dancing and goofing around. That's me, Sonal, Lana and Steve.
A final photo of the last party survivors trying to arrange rides back to our hotels and houses. Steve had drove his car there, and it turns out there's a cool service in Korea where a driver will meet at your location, and drive your car (and you) home.

And that's all, folks! After the wedding day, I was back on a flight to the states. This trip was an interesting one for me, with a roller coaster of emotions. I had some really great moments, and met some really great people. I also had some really low moments, dealing with a spell of anxiety and depression that I couldn't seem to shake off. Overall I think it was a turning point for me, and gave me the space and time to process a wealth of emotions that I've been dealing with.

Anyways, without further adieu, here's some of all the amazing food!

Here's some more seafood from the NFW market. Sashimi and abalone.
I found this little hole in the wall one night. The owner didn't speak any English, so I just shrugged and pointed at something on the menu. I wasn't disappointed! A variety delicious chicken skewers.
I walked by Koriko Cafe one day, and the entrance was compelling enough to pop in. I wasn't disappointed, and it's apparently a really popular spot! These edible desserts were especially cute, but the coffee was great and other pastries looked amazing!
A big plate of authentic and delicious Chinese food from YeongHwaRu.
This is going to sound crazy, so bear with me here. Fried chicken, topped with what I'd describe as a egg salad. It was absolutely phenomenal.
A really great cocktail from Cobbler. On brand with their name, every drink came with a tiny souffle cup of fresh-baked blackberry cobbler. Delicious!
Some of the (many) foods served at the wedding. It was buffet style, with a huge spread of tons of delicious foods. I couldn't stop eating!
One of the best meals I had while in Korea; grilled short rib from Mongtan.
Some more shots from Mongtan. On the right, they cut up the leftover shortrib scraps and made a delicious fried rice. On the top left there's truffle steamed egg, which might have been my first time having fresh sliced truffle! And on the bottom right was what I can only describe as a kimchi ice cream cone. It sounds gross, but was one of my favorites.
What trip to Korea would be complete without a drunken, late-night Korean fried chicken indulgence? This was from the chain restaurant Kkanbu, and it was incredibly delicious. Sticky, sweet, and the perfect amount of spicy! I tried to finish the plate myself, but alas even my drunken munchies were no competition to this amount of food.
The next morning, I was recommended by the Koreans in the group chat to find Haejang-guk, or "hangover stew." I couldn't be bothered to find that in particular, but went with a hearty stew close to it. It hit the spot, and I think they might be onto something with this cure!