I landed in Seoul ready to hit the ground running. What I wasn’t ready for was the T-money card situation.
If you’ve been to Japan, you know how painless it is — tap your iPhone, Apple Pay loads your Suica, you’re on the train in 30 seconds. Korea hasn’t gotten there yet. Getting a T-money card loaded and working felt like a minor production compared to Japan’s transit system. It’s a small thing, but when you’re jet-lagged and hauling bags, small things feel big. Korea, please fix this.
Getting to Myeongdong
We skipped the subway and took the airport bus directly into Myeongdong — easy, comfortable, no luggage-dragging through underground stations. Right call.
The Hotel: Mohenic Seoul Myeongdong
We booked the Mohenic Hotel — a boutique property right in the heart of Myeongdong, steps from the station and walking distance to everything, with views of N Seoul Tower. On paper, perfect.
The check-in experience, though? A little surreal. You walk through the Migliore Hotel lobby next door, find a freight elevator in the back, and ride it up to the 17th floor where Mohenic’s front desk is waiting. Nobody warns you. You figure it out.
The AC situation is real — the reviews weren’t wrong. But the hotel is aware of it. They’ve installed portable AC units in the rooms and ours worked fine. One other note: no in-room WiFi, but they’ll lend you a portable hotspot for a ₩100,000 (~$70) deposit. Given the location and price point, I’d still book it again.
Walking Around Myeongdong
After settling in, we hit the streets. Myeongdong delivered — street vendors, K-beauty shops, summer energy, the whole neighborhood outside and moving.
Dinner: Lotte Food Court, Myeongdong
We wandered over to the Lotte Department Store food court. Three bowls. Squid ink rose pasta with blue crab from Lee Seok-deok’s Pasta Fresca. Chinese-style beef brisket noodle soup from Xiongmao. Tantan men.
Total: ₩40,500. Roughly $26 USD. For three. At a department store food court.
This is why people fall in love with Seoul.
The City Was Alive
Then we found Cheonggyecheon Stream — and that’s where Seoul stopped me cold.
Hundreds of colorful lanterns strung over the water. People sitting on the stone banks, feet dangling in. The stream lit up blue and purple, a small waterfall glowing in the background, LED billboards towering above. It looks like a dream sequence. It’s a Sunday night in a major city and everyone just… came outside.
The city runs the Seoul Outdoor Library — a free public program running every Friday through Sunday from April through June (and again September through November). They set up bean bag chairs, books, and little reading lights along the stream and at Seoul Plaza for anyone to use.
Hundreds of people lounging on colorful bean bags on the grass at night, reading books, under the city skyline. Professional photographers even walk around capturing “reading moments” for families and couples as part of the program.
It sounds small. It isn’t. It’s a city that decided its public spaces should be for living in, not just passing through. In 2026, a major city is doing this on a Sunday night. That felt like something worth writing down.
We crashed hard that night. Day 2 is going to hit different.