South Korea - Fall 2022
fall is also a great time to visit South Korea for the comfortable weather and less tourists.
I love visiting South Korea in the fall and will be sharing my two-week trip with lodging in Myeongdong and Hongdae. I also visited both of my favorite dermatologists for skin treatments and tried some new restaurants. Continue reading for a trip report and travel tips.
Pre-flight items
Both pre-departure and arrival PCR tests were removed so the only pre-flight requirement was getting the K-ETA (electronic visa valid for two years and stays up to 90 days per entry). Processing time is about 24-72 hours and costs approximately $10 USD (at time of this writing). My K-ETA was approved in 2021 therefore I could use my existing K-ETA.
Flight
I took Korean Air again, economy direct from San Francisco to Incheon airport. I booked through Delta for the non-fee flight changes (Korean Air has a change fee for economy flights). Masks are still required for both inbound and outbound flights.
Hotel
I stayed at my usual hotel near Myeongdong area because the location is convenient to get around Seoul with two metro lines and a bus hub nearby. I also booked a few nights at a hotel in Hongdae for a different experience. Hotel prices are starting to revert to pre-COVID ranges. This could be considered both a good and bad change - Good: it’s helping with the economic recovery in South Korea and the hotels will be less affordable for local couples to use as “love hotels” and the Bad: some tourists will be priced out of these hotels now and have to rent nearby AirBnbs or choose a different area.
The Hongdae hotel was much smaller than the Myeongdong hotel even though prices were similar. Also Hongdae is a much busier area vs Myeongdong (at least for now) and gets very crowded during the weekends.
Transportation
I mainly use the metro lines and buses to commute around Seoul. The public transit system is very easy to navigate with the Naver Maps app and a T-money card. I only use taxis to/from the airport and late at night. Taxis are affordable and best to book using the Kakao Taxi app where you can input the destination in English in case the driver doesn’t speak English.
Eats
Unfortunately a lot of my trusty restaurants and cafes have closed permanently due to the pandemic, many that were around in May 2022 have since closed…thankfully some new restaurants have opened in the old spaces. I highly recommend checking out the menus and photos on Naver Maps and MangoPlate.
I was introduced to a new area called Seongsu (Seoul Forest) that has cute cafes, boutique shopping and delicious restaurants. I went to a grilled seafood restaurant with amazing seafood, home-made noodles and soju - all for $60 USD total for 3 people and we were super stuffed!
Skin Treatments - Renewme, Seocho branch with Dr. Yang
Of course I had to visit Dr. Yang for more DNA scar treatments (DES scar in outer corner of left eye), Shurink (Korean version of Ultherapy with milder effects), pico toning, tattoo removal and lip fillers. I asked Dr. Yang for another round of Ultherapy but he recommended Shurink instead since I just got Ultherapy 4 months ago. He said Shurink will help extend the skin tightening effects of Ultherapy. All sessions were great, as usual. Lip fillers still hurts like crazy, even with numbing cream. Shurink is slightly less painful than Ultherapy but still uncomfortable and I couldn’t wait for it to be over. The rest of the treatments were a breeze compared to Shurink and lip fillers.
Skin Treatments - JFeel with Dr. Lee
Dr. Lee is my other favorite dermatologist who speaks perfect English. His clinic has different Happy Hour specials each month on Mondays to Fridays from 10am-4pm (+/- an hour). Dr. Lee has a “celebrity peel” that’s a wonderful one-time treatment for healthy glowing skin. I usually get compliments on my skin condition a few days post-treatment. This is non-invasive and no pain. I also tried his new micro-needling treatment with a special serum. Dr. Lee is usually very honest about the pain level of the various treatments (said Rejuran Healer was 10/10 and patients usually cry afterwards!) and said the microneedling treatment was less painful than Ultheraphy (6/10) but I would have to disagree! The pain level for this treatment was same as Ultheraphy (6/10) and a different type of pain. I felt like I was being stabbed with tiny needles (which is actually what microneedling is…). The treatment lasted 5-7 minutes and I was trying my best to not cry. Maybe the pain level would decrease if I had the numbing cream, they only iced my face for a few minutes because I had the celebrity peel too.
