In late March 2023, we marked the end of the pandemic with a visit to South Korea after years of watching Korean dramas. Knowing us, though, no first trip after the pandemic would be complete without our regular pilgrimage to Japan, so we returned for cherry blossom season after spending a week in South Korea.

Sydney, Australia

Sydney Airport, Terminal 1 International

Every international flight from Sydney involves a visit to the two-storey McDonald’s Sky Kitchen. This time was a hash brown to get us through to our flight at 9:30 AM.

This ‘Travel Edition’ Haribo Air-Parade was new to us.

Plush versions of native Australian animals in a convenient can.

We saw these expensive realistic plush toys and then lamented that they didn’t have the much more adorable 300+ arctic animals.

We saw these alpaca plush toys near our boarding gate…

Qantas Flight QF87

…and it turned out there was a herd of (live) alpacas joining us on our flight.

Shortly after take-off, we started with some pretzels chilli lime soy crisps, baked pretzels and salted nuts to get us through until lunch.

Not long after, we were served our mains. Mine was ‘braised wagyu beef with broccoli, carrots and soft polenta’, with ‘garlic, sea salt and rosemary focaccia’.

There were very few pieces of beef, which were tough, while the rest of the meal was similarly lacklustre: the broccoli was overcooked, and the foccacia was dry and crumbly — not at all satisfying.

D’s choice of the ‘Korean chilli and garlic chicken with rice, kim chi and roasted sesame seeds’ fared much better. There were two generous chicken thighs, which were tender and well-seasoned.

This Qantas Sky Spritz was a collaboration with SOFI and available on Qantas international flights. It celebrates Australian native botanicals and is described as a ‘white wine spritz with finger lime and Davidson plum’. At 8% alcohol content, the bitterness was surprisingly palatable (perhaps our tastebuds were dulled at altitude) with the zesty finger lime and tart Davidson plum delivering an enjoyable fruity drink that would’ve been perfect with some ice.

It turned out the promise of an ‘iconic Australian ice cream’ was a Streets Splice Pine Lime.

The mid-flight snacks were plentiful due to being a daytime flight.

For dinner, this was my ‘pepper chicken curry with basmati rice’. This replaced the menu option of ‘chicken with mushroom sauce, potato purée, carrots and broccoli’. ‘Garlic, sea salt and rosemary focaccia’ and a ‘raspberry blondie slice’ also accompanied the meal. The chicken was dry, but the curry was well-spiced, pairing well with the basmati rice and daal, while the focaccia was identical to the slice from the previous meal and the blondie was rather passable.

D had the ‘sesame garlic beef with rice, cabbage and bean sprouts’. The beef here was more generously portioned and tender than the ‘wagyu’ from lunch, but lacked overall flavour with the rice also being very mushy.

Seoul, South Korea

Incheon International Airport

We arrived in Seoul just as a yellow dust storm (arising in the Gobi Desert) descended on Korea for the third time in March.

Finnair had a plane with Moomin livery.

KFC was the first fried chicken store we spotted in South Korea, the rumoured land where fried chicken places outnumber McDonald’s globally.

On our way to the AREX, we spot the Incheon Airport Maglev (which links Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 to Long Term Parking, Incheon Airport Administration Complex, Paradise City entertainment precinct, and Yongyu Station and Leisure Complex while crossing Yeongjong Island).

We purchased a single journey ticket before realising discovering the vending machines for T-money cards (below). These single-journey tickets could be inserted into a Deposit Refund machine located at subway stations to get the deposit back (100 KRW).

There was a regular T-money card and a Line Friends version for a small premium (2500 KRW vs 4000KRW).

Jung-gu

Hotel Skypark Myeongdong II

호텔스카이파크 명동2호점, 22 Myeongdong 9-gil, Euljiro 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Our hotel, Hotel Skypark Myeongdong II, was centrally situated with very convenient access to the subway around Seoul as well as an incredible selection of all food a stone’s throw from the entrance.

The hotel was 69,325 KRW/night (around 81 AUD/night). The room was spacious with plenty of room to open luggage, surfaces to put our things on, and a closet for hanging up clothes. The bed was two single beds pushed together with firm mattresses. The pillows were rather flat, but we were given four pillows to do what we could to optimise comfort. Alas, the A/C unit was not individually controlled, and the hotel seemed to still be running on the heating schedule, but thankfully, the temperature overnight was acceptable without being stuffy.

This bathroom was really quite something else, and we’re sure we’ve had entire business hotel rooms in Japan not much bigger in size. The bathtub was sufficiently spacious that the shower curtain didn’t need to touch us, the water pressure was great, the toilet was fitted with a bidet, and the towels were reasonably thick.

Overall, we were very pleased with this hotel when considering its location (5/5), cleanliness (5/5), and spaciousness (5/5). The wireless internet was blazingly fast, the room was made every day (at our request) and the towels were swapped out every day. Our only complaint was the television was small at 24 inches in comparison to the size of the room, but that was a minor complaint and would not stop us from returning.

Hodu Boom

호두붐, 42 Myeongdong, Euljiro 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea (Exit 2, Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station)

We encountered walnut cakes or hodu-gwaja in Korean drama and were eager to try some for ourselves at Hodu Boom after exiting Euljiro 1(il)-ga Station.

Hodu-gwaja are walnut-shaped baked goods typically with red bean paste filling, whose outer dough is made of skinned and pounded walnuts and wheat flour. More modern varieties as at Hodu Boom commonly feature custard cream or peanuts.

The dough of these cakes was much denser than we’d expected, but nonetheless crispy and comforting with a warm nuttiness from the walnuts and gentle sweetness from the smooth red bean paste.

Lemon Mart

레몬마트, 45 Myeongdong 9-gil, Euljiro 2(i)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea

A minute away from our hotel was Lemon Mart, a decently sized neighbourhood supermarket.

We spotted some Pokemon-themed lip balm and distinctly Korean-flavoured Doritos.

This Goodday Calamansi Soju was a less fruity and more alcoholic chu hai. While we could taste the calamansi, the bold bitterness of the alcohol was overwhelming.

D enjoyed these Pringles Hot & Spicy, which — true to their claim – delivered a very healthy burn.

And just before heading back to the hotel for the evening, we stopped by the 7-11 for a Haitai Hodu Maroo or walnut ice cream. The caramelised walnut flavour reminded us of mild coffee with crushed walnuts for texture. It was an enjoyable end to a day that started at 5 AM in an earlier timezone.

Sydney to Seoul – Myeongdong was Day 0 of 6 in the South Korea 2023 trip. Day 1 saw us exploring more of Seoul – Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Namsan Park and Seoul Station.