Day 30: Maebongsan Park and SIM Cards

My goal for today was to go back to Hannam and actually find the park/lookout area that I had tried to look for a couple days ago. I had found lots of pictures online of really beautiful night sky views and I really wanted to watch the sunset from that point.

I had time to kill in the morning though so I started off by searching for Starship entertainment, which was only about 25 minutes away from where I was staying. Starship entertainment is the company for another one of my favourite k-pop groups Monsta X. When I found the building I discovered that there were also several other companies that had offices there. Starship probably had one of the floors. I wasn’t able to go inside even though there was a cafe on the first floor (I did try because I thought it was like the JYP cafe but the security guard person did not like that… oops).

I took a picture of the building and then tried to find a place to grab a snack or drink. I found a cafe that had yummy looking food online and went looking for it. I crossed the street and started walking and then realized I had been looking at my map upside down and I was going in the completely wrong direction. I walked back to the same intersection and then tried to find it again. This time I was on the right side of the street but I had still walked in the wrong direction (please send help). I had to turn around yet again and walk past the exact same intersection AGAIN before I finally found the cafe. When I got there I didn’t see any food in the display cabinets so I asked the cafe owner and he said they didn’t sell food anymore… So there went that plan. Instead of walking to find another cafe I got a kiwi drink and chatted with the owner while he made it. He had good English and asked me where I was from and why I was in Korea.

The drink was super yummy and huge! It was kind of like a smoothie since the barista had blended together kiwi and water and probably some other stuff. It tasted healthy and was actually kind of filling. I still wasn’t happy that I hadn’t gotten food though so I decided to go looking for a cafe that I had found online and starred as one I wanted to visit. My search took me through this really cool street that was filled with super yummy looking restaurants. I need to go back there again for dinner or something because a lot of the restaurants had great menus. I found the cafe but kept walking past it so I could explore the rest of the street more and finish my drink.

Once I had finished my drink I found a different cafe that had yummy looking treats so I decided to check that one out instead of walking back up to the other cafe. They had these super delicious looking pecan croissants that I wanted to try but when I went to order them they said they didn’t have the ingredients to serve them at that time. Today was just not my day for getting the food I was hoping for haha. I ended up getting a chocolate croissant which was covered on the outside with chocolate and also had chocolate on the inside. It was really sweet but good.

After I finished my snack I had to go to the airport. When I arrived in Korea I purchased a 30-day data SIM card. Tomorrow is the last day that I can use the card but I have plans so I needed to go and pick up a new one today. There are locations closer by that I could have gone to but if I pick it up at one of the airports (Gimpo or Incheon) then I get free local incoming calls and texts because of the website I booked it through (Trazy).

I took the subway to the airport and picked up my new SIM card. I also got instructions on how I can extend my contract without having to come pick up a new card. I took the subway back to my house and then took another subway to try and find the pavilion at Maebongsan Park. I was successful this time! Rather than trying the same path as last time I decided to try a completely different entrance and it ended up being the right one.

There were so many steep stairs… I was sweating buckets and super out of breath by the time I made it to the rest area.

I was trying to walk fast because the sun was setting but I still didn’t end up making it in time. I found one area where the sky was beautiful but it wasn’t the view I had seen online so I continued walking to try and find the pavilion. I walked by several tennis courts and a huge workout area.

Korea has a lot of exercise areas! They are typically in parks or green spaces and range in size but they have several different basic workout machines. It seems like a really cool idea because it’s outside with nice scenery but it's also free. Just past the workout area I found the pavilion. The view was so worth the hike up the mountain! I think it looks out over Hannam, Gangnam and the area where Seoul forest is.

I sat there for quite a while just watching the city change as the sky got darker. It was beautiful to see everything start to light up. There was also so much traffic! All along the roads near the river it looked like bumper to bumper traffic, which was quite pretty from a distance because there were tons of lights from the cars braking.

Eventually the mosquitos started to bother me and it was getting a little cold so I decided to head back. I chose to take a longer route back which took me past another pavilion. I know I promised my parents not to go exploring forests in the dark again but I couldn’t help it. Most of the trip down was confusing because there were so many different paths I could take and a lot of them weren't lit. I used my phone flashlight and Kakao Map to make sure I wasn’t getting too lost. I eventually made it to the second pavilion and wandered behind Hannam the Hills.

The walk down took awhile and it was pretty dark out by the time I made it back to the main street. I grabbed a tea at Ediya Coffee and then hopped on a bus to go back to my room. Tomorrow I am going to watch a music show and I need to meet people earlier in the day so I thought it would probably be a good idea to go to bed before 3 am tonight.

Hope everyone is doing well,

Emily

(October 25, 2018)

Distance walked: 13.7 km