My stay at Jeju Island was a short one, waking up the next morning by the ocean and hitting my official birthday. I took time, to reflect what I want to do with my life. Our flight back to Seoul was due at 1pm, so we had so time on our hands to track down Jeju oranges. The local e-mart had absolutely nothing! Lucky for us we went to a local store and brought some. For breakfast we went to Dunkin Doughnuts, craving western flavours I went for meat and egg waffle sandwich with green tea matcha and some small doughnut balls. Dunkin doughnuts in London is non-existent in London but still deem popular elsewhere.
Then off we went jet setting back to Seoul to the original hotel we stayed Hotel Aropa. Taking a nap and freshening up I needed to decide what I actually wanted to do for my birthday. I knew I wanted to go Namsan N Seoul Tower at night for drinks and see the city view at night.
For a light lunch, we headed up a small cosy Japanese style congee house Sogong Jukjip. Massive bowls of nice smooth porridge is a fantastic bargain to fill you up.
86-1 Bukchang-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul 100-080, South Korea
To go to Namsan we needed a bus from Myeondong, since we arrived late in the afternoon all the lines of food stalls appeared. Myeongdong is the part of town where it’s so bright from all the streetlights and store fronts it is one of busiest places in Seoul.
Before eating from all the delicious street stalls, I wanted to go to my very first Cat Cafe. You see dancing cat mascots in Myeondong and they would happily direct you to the cafe. This particular cafe I visited was called the Cat Attic. Pay a fee and you get a free drink and play with the cats until your hearts desire. The cats were varied and came out to play.
Cat Attic Address: 8-5 Myeongdong 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea
I managed to pick up tasty meatballs, and good old zha jiang main炸醬麵. The good thing with Korea, the stalls restaurants proudly put screenshots of shows their been featured on.
After eating our hearts content at Myeongdong Street stalls, we headed to the tourist centre to ask for directions to N Seoul tower. You have a choice of either the fastest route via using the cable car or a bus ride.
Riding the bus gave us the opportunity to appreciate Seoul at night. Passing cute pet stores, and the main entrance to Bukchon Hanok Village along the way. Once you get up to the top, you need to pace yourself and go up hill to reach to Namsan Tower. N Seoul tower is a lot smaller than what I expected it to be. The love locks hanging on to metal steel cages is outside on a platform. Taking the elevator to the very top, you see extraordinary views of Seoul in 360o.
I wanted to have birthday drinks but the bar advertised on the site was not there anymore. Being so knackered from being up early and flying from Jeju we headed back to Namdaemun area.
Finishing off my birthday celebrations with a strawberry tiramisu cake and tea at the 24 hr coffee places, around the corner from the hotel. I loved the tiramisu fluffy soft sponge base with fresh sweet strawberries and air whipped cream.
