Hello and welcome back to another installment of the Seoul Diaries. Finals are less than 2 weeks away and I am a bundle of mixed emotions. Half of me is extremely homesick and can’t wait to see my family again soon, but the other half of me is missing Korea (even though I haven’t left yet) and doesn’t want to start saying goodbye. To say that I am conflicted would be an understatement. I haven’t even started packing all of my stuff yet and I already know that I will have to buy another suitcase for all of the stuff that I have! Anywho… this post is dedicated to all the interesting, random, or cool places that I have been to in South Korea.

*in no particular order*

Proust Perfume Shop

[Location: 프루스트 혜화 점/Hyehwa Area]

Since winter break, Korea has made me become very obsessive over perfumes and different smells. So, because of this, my friend and I went here back in February of this year because I really wanted to go and make my own, signature perfume. It was so much fun! It took around an hour and a half, but you get to take a class where you can make your own 50mL bottle of perfume that you get to hand-pick scents and test. You have to book an appointment in advanced, but the worker was super nice and my friend and I managed to create our own personalized smells. It took a lot of math, smelling coffee beans to clean our nose palettes (lol), and learning about the bases and layering of perfumes to make our own.

Tip: If you save your sheet that lists your measurements and favorite smells, you can come back and have them remake it and refill your perfume if you run out of it! There might also be a discount for this from what I remember.

Tardis Restaurant

[Location: 맥주덕후 피자덕후 압구정/Beer Deokhu Pizza Apgujeong Branch]

When I tell you that I am the biggest fan of Doctor Who (controversially, only up until the 12th doctor), I AM. I love it so much. One day, I saw a girl on instagram posing next to a Tardis Box located somewhere in Korea and I KNEW that I had to go visit this place. She couldn’t give me the exact name of it so, through diligent google maps searching and Naver maps browsing, I managed to find the restaurant. While the actual theme of the restaurant isn’t in any way related to Doctor Who and just sells pizza and pasta, I still was determined to go and see it for myself!

Gucci Garden Exhibition

[Location: DDP]

Everyone in Seoul was posting about this exhibition on social media for 2 weeks straight. I thought that I wouldn’t be able to go because the exhibition closed in less than 3 days when I researched more about it, but – luckily – they extended their dates until the end of the month and I decided to go because it was FREE. YAY! It was an experience for sure and I learned a lot more about Gucci and the company’s different collections, inspirations, and fashion. It was definitely more of a photo-zone-friendly exhibition and I took wayyyyy too many photos because of this. No regrets.

Sinchan/Marvel Store

[Location: 용산아이파크몰/Yongsan I-Park Mall]

Hehe. I didn’t know this place existed until my friend brought me here and surprised me because they knew that I loved the character Sinchan (or 짱구). {thanks~~<3}

There was even a Sinchan Museum (admission fee of 20,000won/$20), but I didn’t get to that because of what was connected to the Sinchan Store.

After stepping outside, we were met with the largest Marvel Pop-up Store that I had ever seen. We were in complete shock for about 20 seconds before fangirling hardcore for another 30 minutes. From the latest comic books to expensive one-of-a-kind Marvel character figurines, this place had everything that a Marvel fan would love.

Toy Story Cafe

[Location: 스모어마켓 토이하우스/S’more Market Toy House]

Back when I first came to Korea and got out of quarantine (what an experience…), my friend took me to this cafe located in the Anguk-area. It has a theme of Toy Story and sells all kinds of cool Disney merchandise on the first floor. On the second floor, there are fun photo areas and seats to enjoy the cafe. This was just a really special memory for me so I wanted to include this place in my list in case there were any Disney-fans reading it! (You are also almost guarantee to find other Disney-related merchandise stores around Seoul, but this place was super fun to go into and enjoy the vibes.

Itaewon Station Squid Game Pop-up

[Location: 이태원역/Itaewon Station – NO LONGER THERE]

Lastly, I had the privilege of being in Korea during the boom that was SQUID GAME last fall. I will brag and say that I watched the series first before it became cool and trendy during the Chuseok weekend when it first came out. Due to its popularity, a pop-up in the Itaewon Station was created where there were elements of the drama built into the station. As a huge fan of the show, I HAD TO GO.

AND SO I DID.

I had lots of fun interacting with the staff dressed as guards, posing next to the Red Light, Green Light girl, and being fully immersed in the world of Squid Game. Sadly, I didn’t come across Gong Yoo in the subway station, but it was still a really fun event that I am happy that I went to while it was still running.

+ A Village Squid Game! [Location: 솔밭공원역 근처/near the Solbat Park Station]

Also, later on, one of my friends invited me to an actual Squid Game event happening near me. After clarifying over 50 times to my family that it wasn’t an ACTUAL Squid Game and that I wouldn’t be kidnapped into a mysterious van and held against my will while fighting to win money, I accepted the invitation and traveled to the location that the event organizer sent me via text message.

It turned out to be more of a small-town village remake of the show and we played all of the well-known games such as Red Light Green Light, the Dalgona Challenge, Tug of War, the Even/Odd Game, and of course Squid Game at the end. I will say that I was probably one of the few older people there (most of the participants were middle school/high school-aged kids) and the only foreigner. It was still fun though and my team of middle school girls won against a team of high school boys so I was very proud of us! We all made it to the second to last round, but I lost at the Dalgona Challenge.

I was given the umbrella ㅠㅠ

Afterwards, I was given an exclusive tour around the area because, apparently, scenes of Squid Game were actually filmed near/in this neighborhood. I visited the CU store, the place where the SNU guy’s mom worked her food booth, and a few other memorable scene filming spots. It was a very Squid Game-themed day to say the least and I was in my full fan-element.

I hope that you enjoyed the interesting places and events that I have seen/been to during my time in Korea.

Spontaneity and keeping an open mind are two things that you should always have when traveling abroad!

Until next time~~! 😎 

*The writing and photos here are meant for use on finsupabroad.com and are not to be copied or redistributed by other entities without permission from the author.