The Road to 40 Day 172/365: Namdaemorning, Hangang Biking, and Myeongdong Walking

We had a long and tiring day, hitting three spots and a change of hotels this day, so it may be one of our most productive days yet.

There was an agreement the night before that the morning would be free and easy, but Kali and I met in the living room at around 8am. We thought maybe we could push through with the plan of going to the market in the morning, and asked for any takers.

Che was up a little bit, so I let her know that Kali and I were going. She later decided to get up and join in, so we waited on her a bit.

Namdaemun Market was a bit of a walk from where we stayed. The original plan was to try Kalguksu Alley and maybe have some of the famous vegetable hotteok from the area.

We discovered that Kalguksu Alley was not a huge alley, it’s just a small gap in between two buildings that they put some tents in. Upon entering, we were greeted by an ahjumma who looked like she found her long lost family.

She opened the door and asked us to sit down already, but we politely declined because we did want to see what’s up inside.

Most of the shops sold the same thing, basically, it was just a matter of where you want to eat. We sat on one of them and picked a meal for each. I had the special, which practically had everything – cold spicy noodles, bibimbap, kalguksu, kimchi, and a soybean paste soup.

The auntie was pleased to see me finish the food. Meanwhile, Che and Kali went out to order cheese hotteok before queuing up at the famous hotteok stall.

On our way back, we got a little bit lost going through the tunnels, so it was a longer trip to the hotel. We were rushing to get back as it was almost 11am, and we still needed to check out of our current hotel.

Originally, we were supposed to be in Busan for the first few days, but ultimately decided against it so that it wouldn’t be too tiring. Unfortunately, this decision was made when our Seoul hotel was already fully booked, so we couldn’t extend our stay. Instead, we had to book a separate one for the first part of the trip.
After our morning rush, we all made it to the next hotel at around 12.30pm. Our check-in time was at 3pm, so we had lunch first at this kalguksu restaurant that Rey found nearby and had bingsu around the area as well.

We pivoted on the combination of rooms so that the kids can stay together in one room, which had them pumped.

A bit of rest and we were off to our next destination, Yeouido Hangang Park. We took the train and first ate at Hyundai Mall, which was famous as the set location for scenes in Queen of Tears.

Che and I were supposed to take a call from Vino’s homeroom teacher, but my earphones weren’t working for the call, so she had to take it by herself.

We went around the mall for a while after eating before proceeding to the park by the river.

The kids saw that there were bikes, and I said I could go with them while the others had ramen with a view of the river.

I had some parent guilt I wanted to alleviate. The kids have been a bit rowdy and difficult at times, but they’re truly warriors going around all these things the adults planned. They had fun while we had fun, but most of the time, they were always so eager to go back to the hotel and rest.

I thought I’d do something they like for a change.

There were moments I wanted to regret that decision, but ultimately, seeing them have fun on their terms made it all worth it.

We caught up with the gang after we returned our bikes and proceeded to arrange transportation going home not long after.

It was around 10pm when we got back to the hotel, so we settled the kids down first. The guys wanted to see Myeongdong, so we walked a bit to explore the area and some street food. Che stayed with the kids so she could rest a bit as she was feeling a bit tired and maybe a little sick.

When we got back to the hotel, we had drinks set up at the all-adult room. I wanted to stay back, but went back to be ready for anything Che might need for the night.

It may have been a good decision in hindsight, as I saw messages being sent at 4am. It could have been a fun night, but we still had a few days left on our trip, and Che being down wouldn’t make it as fun for the rest of it.

The sisters arrive tomorrow, so it’s going to be one big party.