Our Winter Seoul-stice

We spent Christmas in Seoul, Korea! 

This post is a bit overdue, but I still want to share some great memories (photos) of our family trip last month. 

First, here's what winter packing for myself +baby+toddler looks like  -_-  . See already, don't feel like going on holiday.  Hahaa, damn a lot of logistics.

But hey, we made it.. with 2 suitcases and 2 carry ons, for both myself and Adamson and our 2 little ones (most of our baggage space is their stuff).

We flew SQ, it's the first SQ trip for both Myla and MJ...  and yes, finally having flown SQ with babies, I can definitely confirm that the SQ crew are much more accommodating and helpful than other airlines when it comes to families with very young children/babies. To us, this is especially appreciated because MJ is quite difficult to travel with (cranky and very sensitive to changes). With Myla, I always just took the cheapest flights/airlines cos she's easy to fly with. From now on, I want SQ. 

The flight was so good, no crying from MJ actually, surprisingly. (I still have PTSD from when he cried super duper loudly and for a super prolonged period of time when he got overtired and wouldn't nap on our (silk air I think) Phuket flight last November). So stressful!

Adamson's Mom, Sister and her husband joined us on this trip so he booked a spacious Airbnb apartment for all of us. This apartment was fabulousssss so much so that we even said to each other one night that we wouldn't mind moving in permanently lol. Location was great, walking distance to all the must go spots like Myeong-dong, the palace, night markets, the monuments etc.

Heated floors, and 4 bedrooms, and lots of space... plus modern style and fully equipped ( I even did all our laundry in their washer and dryer so no need to do laundry back home after our trip. Yes that's such an auntie perk to look out for hahaa... but hey I'm a mum of 2 with no helper or childcare... these perks MATTER!)

Oh, did you know, my husband is McGuyver? He managed to anchor MJ's YaoLan to a travel pull up bar, with some army toggle rope. I am impressed and also grateful, because MJ needs his Yaolan to nap  -_-  (did I mention he doesn't like changes to his routines...). So if you also have a high needs baby and are using a yaolan, you can use this hack when travelling too!

The view from our apartment the first morning. Love the vibe.

At night it's quite a busy place, with mostly bars and restaurants but within the apartment it was quite sound proof. 

Good thing is, we managed to get a few nights of just us two out and about. We left the apartment after the kids slept. And we were always pretty close and can get back in like 20mins comfortably if MJ wakes and won't go back down.

Our first couple's time out, we had korean bbq and I tried that live octopus thing for the first time. I liked it !!

You know, we never had a disappointing meal in Seoul at all. Every place we chanced upon was really good. 

The only place we could not walk to was Noryangjin Fisheries Wholesale Market. It was like 30 min cab ride. Worth the journey, if you go to seoul, and you like to eat seafood, and the freshest sashimi, go to this fish market.

Lots of stalls to choose from, just go with whoever looks nice to you because the prices are all around the same. 

Sashimi heavennnnnnnn

What happens is, you pick your live seafood from the market, then the market stall owner will take you to a restaurant on the second floor where your seafood will be served to you, however you want it done (raw, boiled, steamed etc).

We picked an Alaskan King Crab and it was then served to us steamed.

Good lord. The sweetest and freshest crab meat I every tasted. I've had Alaskan king crab legs at buffets in Singapore before, but those didn't taste anything as good as this one. Price wise was quite dear though, around $200 for one. However, that's still a  pretty good rate for this kind of crab. The rest of the stuff at this fish market like oysters, and salmon sashimi are actually very very affordable, you can stuff your face without breaking the bank.

One of the afternoons, we walked to Bukchon Hanok Village. A bit of a back-breaking trek because MJ heavy but at least he slept cozily all of the way. 

Very thankful for having the Tula to carry MJ all over, plus the On the Go blanket which clips on over the tula from @maisonelmesasg

One of our final nights there we went to have some street grub (after the kids slept). 

This night was cut short because MJ woke up though lol lol. Oh wells.

Eating piping hot and freshly cooked food while it's chilly outside, mmmmmm nice.

Only one minor bummer of this trip was that it didn't snow. :( Adamson asked if I wanted to go to Japan in a month or so, so I can finally experience snow. Tempting but cannot ah... must recover from this trip first, travelling with baby + toddler really no freaking joke. I'm glad we made this trip though and it went really well (just that it was super tiring for both Adamson and I), so many memories made and moments enjoyed.