Seoul is buzzing and I would love to go back one day because 3 days certainly weren’t enough. I mean, Seoul was close to on-par with Japan in terms of awesomeness.

A city where even the “No parking” signs next to a shop look nice (see picture below). The emphasis on aesthetics and the sense of style is really high. Sadly, the whole beauty culture is at times a bit sickening, with cosmetic surgery ads being more prominent than street art in Shoreditch.

What I loved:

The shopping

• Garuso-gil in Gangnam. Great area for shopping and food, you/I could spend days there…
• Aland: a small chain of fashion and accessories stores that makes you think it’s Scandinavian given the name, but it’s totally Korean.
• Queenmama market: design department store with a super-cool coffee shop on the roof.
• All the flower shops everywhere! With dried flowers unlike anything I’ve seen anywhere else (they are preserved to last 5 years and look like new!)
• All the beauty shops on every corner. All the hundreds of Korean beauty brands.

The food

• Korean BBQ: yumyumyum. One place we loved was Bo Reum Sae in Gangnam.
• Mr Holmes Bakehouse: A Cali-Korea love affair made in Cruffin-Croissant heaven.
• The Pancake Epidemic. Haamazing pancakes and coffee, associated with Stumptown coffee (I think).
• Gwangjang / Dongdaemun market: this is hailed as one of Seoul’s best markets to taste Korea’s traditional food. Full disclosure: this was an experience to see but we didn’t really feel tempted to try things – lots of fried pork feet etc.

Everything else

• Secret Garden. Part of the Changdeokgung, this stunning garden was the palace of Joseon Dynasty. You can only visit as part of a guided tour, which is really worth doing.
• Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Really worth seeing, an architectural masterpiece by Zaha Hadid.