Wednesday
Our trip to Seoul got off to an easy start. We traveled to O’Hare airport with enough time to board. We settled into our seats on Korean Air, had dinner on the plane, and fell asleep…
Thursday
…unfortunately not getting as much sleep as we’d have liked, especially given the length of the flight and the 13 time zone difference from home. But we made it without incident and quickly got through COVID checks and passport control.
Virginia‘s father met us at the Incheon arrivals hall and we all took the train into Seoul. It was about 10 minutes’ walk from the train station to the RYSE Hongdae hotel, which immediately endeared me to its modern look and excellent coffee (Tartine Bakery). We checked in, dropped off our bags, and took a taxi up to V’s father’s neighborhood. He treated us to a full-on omakase at his local Japanese restaurant where he’s obviously a regular. We at way more than we should have and had no regrets – everything was excellent!
Friday
We had breakfast at the hotel restaurant (Charr) pretty early. Why? Because we needed to back to the airport to get a COVID PCR test for reentry to the United States and that was the only available location. So we took the train to Incheon and found the test facility. I had a mini meltdown over the confusion of which test to take. Virginia was cooler-headed and we ended up getting the “safer test” that takes 6-7 hours for results.
We decided to not wait at the airport all day, so we went back to Hongdae and met with Virginia’s father for lunch. We stayed at the hotel and had lunch at Charr and followed with coffee in our room (we’d booked a junior suite so we had sitting room).
After that, we returned to the airport to pick up our test results (negative). With that over and done, we ended up in the central business district and met Virginia’s father at The Kitchen Salvatore for dinner. Afterwards we took our now-traditional tour through the Kyobo Book Center, which includes a significant English language book section, before calling it a night.
Saturday
After breakfast at the hotel, Virginia and I aimlessly walked around Hongdae for a while. We hadn’t stayed there before so we wanted to start learning the layout for future visits. Around 11am we started walking up to V’s father’s neighborhood, about 45 minutes away. Once we met up, we went grocery shopping at the corner store so we didn’t have to go out to restaurants (everyone was pretty tired).
I made beef and baby bok choy with rice for lunch, after which we all retreated into books and naps for the afternoon. I also cooked dinner – blanquette de porc with chard and fried smashed potatoes – which went over very well. Still tired, we took a taxi back to the hotel to sleep.
Sunday
We continued our post-breakfast walking around Hongdae, this time heading south. We found a park over a train line that had gone underground, which made for a lovely walk and unexpected scenery.
Returning to the hotel, we had coffee from Tartine and enjoyed the people watching. As lunch approached, we went upstairs to Tokki Bar, which was an amazing find for both their food and their soju. I had a breakfast burrito with chorizo, Virginia had poached eggs with tomatoes and meatballs, and we sampled their Gold Label whiskey-like soju, and an Amaro spritz. The place had a comfortable low-key speakeasy vibe and good music.
After lunch we connected with Virginia’s father for more coffee from Tartine (probably needed after the soju and spritz). We all took the train to Incheon airport. At check in, we decided to upgrade me with the last seat they had, knowing that I was going to be driving the next day, and confirmed we were cleared to travel to Hawaii. We three had dinner at a katsu restaurant before saying goodbye and going through security. Boarding was easy enough and we both took melatonin to get to sleep as our flight got underway.
record of m. 
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