The Road to 40 Day 171/365: Hanbok, N-Seoul Tower, and the Chills

Today marked the coldest day we’ve had in Korea so far, with temperatures dropping to 5 degrees Celsius, and at some point felt like 3.

Despite a late end to the night before, the runners were able to get up early in the morning to get a run in. Apparently, Che was not able to sleep much because of my snoring, so she got up earlier than me.

The plan was to get moving before 12 noon, but the runners got lost on their way back home, and again, we only had one bathroom each for our two rooms. It’s just impossible to get everyone ready in time.

We expected a chilly day, as the forecast stated we were looking at five degrees Celsius in the morning, with a high of about 12 or 13 later in the afternoon. We had layers and layers of clothes to prepare us for the cold.

There was a nearby hanok village, but we were anticipating a lot of tourists like the previous days. So we decided to travel to Eunpyeong, the same hanok village we visited the other day.

This was an idea that was made this same morning, so we just took a chance and thought we’d just find a place to eat there. Unfortunately, Monday is usually when most places close up for the week.

We did find a place that we could walk to. It was actually a happy accident, as the place we were looking for had different utensils in the pictures. But it was a local eatery that had nice local food. It was operated by two ahjummas, with one manning the kitchen, and the other as a one-woman army serving the customers.

The kids wanted to go to a museum, but unfortunately, it was also closed. The others went to have tea or something, so Kali and I stayed with the kids. On top of the closed museum was a nice open rooftop where you can get a great view of the hanok village and the mountain.

Our next stop was going to be N-Seoul Tower. We had to take four separate cabs to fit everyone, and the ride took about 30 minutes.

The line to the cable cars was insanely long. It took us about an hour just to ride the cable car. It was crazy because it was a Monday, so we definitely did not expect that huge crowd.

It’s our third time here, with the first without Vino, the second with a toddler, and now with him as an older kid, so it was nice to make new memories with him here.

We enjoyed the view at the top, but it was freezing, and there was a strong breeze precisely because we were at a high altitude. Kali and I took the kids to eat while the others relaxed a bit at the coffee shop on top of the tower.

Rey suggested a stone-grilled meat place in Hongdae, and it looked real good. However, there was a matter of the kids – it’s too chilly for them outside, and the shop doesn’t appear to cater to minors. Someone had to take them home.

From hearing Che, I understood that she wanted to take the kids home already and fix our bags. The gang was hoping she’d also have dinner in Hongdae after settling the kids, but she seems adamant that she’s not going to follow.

I volunteered to help her with the kids and with packing, which meant no stone-grilled meat for me. Honestly, I’d want to go with the guys to eat, and Che insisted that I join them, but I didn’t want to leave her alone with the kids, knowing she’s going to pack.

Someone else would have volunteered to go with her, but I felt like it would take away from their experience here.

We had a nice walk despite the cold weather. While we could have actually walked home, we decided to ride the train because we’re not sure when we could ride it during this trip.

Once we got home, I searched for a place to buy takeaway food, but ultimately ended up in the restaurant below our place that we’ve tried before. After some communication issues was resolved, I managed to buy Che pizza for her dinner.

She had plenty of work to be done, and I was just waiting for my name to be called so that she’d have the room to herself.

Meanwhile, the kids were refusing to sleep and even had snacks while watching random videos on YouTube. When Che got done with her things, I asked to boys to sleep as well because we had an early call time the next day.

It was around this time that Kali arrived at our door, as the guys were back. Everyone looked tired, but there were some chores still needed to be done.
We had a quick rundown of plans for the next day before we turned in and called it a night. A rare end to the day with not much alcohol involved with this group, but it was still fun as always with the gang together.