[KR; 2026] Part 1 - Seoul | Myeongdong, Hongdae, Namsan

September 03, 2026

[KR; 2026] Part 1 - Seoul | Myeongdong, Hongdae, Namsan

Annyeong Part 1 - Seoul

It has been a couple of years since I visited Seoul! I was excited to visit the city again.

Shuttle ride to Myeongdong

We got a taxi from the airport to the hotel - Grand Hyatt. The room wasn't ready, so to spend off some time, we took the hotel free shuttle bus to Myeongdong!

Shuttle bus operates between Hangangjin Station and Myeongdong Station from 8:00 AM to 6:00 PM
https://www.hyatt.com/content/dam/hotel/propertysites/assets/grand/selrs/documents/en_US/home/Shuttle-Bus-Service.pdf

This is the pick up / drop off point for the shuttle bus at Myeongdong.

Somewhere near McDonald's: https://maps.app.goo.gl/JPzi2hsYj3LQF4B68

We wanted to get some cash, so we explored the money exchange near Myeongdong - which supposedly to give the best exchange rates in town.

Money Exchangers located near here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/67fFFtry8u9CxMbi9

It was two streets filled with money exchange. I would say that the shops exchange rates were pretty similar for SGD > KRW, so just pick whichever that looks friendlier or better review on google. Some popular exchange shops are China Embassy or Moneybox.

Myeongdong streets

It was early in the morning where the shopping streets were not crowded at all:

We popped by a bakery for a small breakfast:

Myeongdong yanggwa 명동양과 카페
https://maps.app.goo.gl/fb1kE55FhUFD11y16

Everything looks so pretty! We grabbed some baked goodies, and headed up to level 2 to dine in:

I cannot believe a random bakery with 4.1 stars on google review tasted better than any top rated cafes in Singapore. The pain au chocolat was my favourite!

After the breakfast, most of the shops were opened, so window shopping time:

Without keeping track of the time - it was lunch, another random recommendations by google:

Daehan Samgyetang 대한삼계탕
https://maps.app.goo.gl/Sbk3JqE5Y7pyuz6H7

The lady owner was quite friendly to foreigners, and we had a pipping hot soup which totally warm us up after a long flight. The side dishes were yummy. Would recommend if you're roaming nearby Myeongdong!

Subway ride to Hongdae

I was tasked to find a starbucks in Hongdae, but the stamp rally activity had ended.

I wanted to get my blackheads fixed, so I'm back to Re-ele Clinic! I booked an appointment on their website.

RE-ELE CLINIC 리엘르의원 홍대
https://maps.app.goo.gl/SBaaaW3VvH2R8anN8

Gosh - blackhead extractions were so painful that I was tearing while the treatmet was on-going. But the staff were patient and friendly even though they didn't speak much english. The setting was a little like a factory line, but it doesn't matter to me since I'm just doing my face. They have a new branch in Myeongdong which I recommended a colleague to go - and it seems they are much foreigner friendly over there, and able to support more languages - which also means more upselling.

I had some time to explore Hongdae before dinner:

Daiso shopping was my favourite:

Do you know? Korea Daiso is different from Japan Daiso? Although they have the same "Daiso" branding, but Korea Daiso has their own production line, hence majority products in South Korea cannot be found at other parts of the world!