Welcome back to my blog! This week was packed with fun adventures. A lot of the things I did this week were unplanned and really spontaneous. I went to a really fancy pocha in Apgujeong on a Friday night with a friend from my Korea University to enjoy really delicious fried chicken and fries. Afterwards, I realized that I left my dorm card in my room. 
This means that I am not able to get back into my room. My roommate left to go to Busan this weekend, so I was not able to message her to ask if she can open the door. Usually, there is a security guard card with a master key to help students get into their rooms if they forgot their dorm card but it was past midnight and the guard was off work. Luckily, my friend called me and told me she had a free hotel night at a 5 star hotel. I was extremely grateful because I was worried where I was going to stay that night since I was basically locked out of my room until the next day when the guard woke me up for work. I stayed at the Andaz Hotel which is super fancy as it is one of the most highly rated hotels in South Korea. 
The room was $350, but my friend was able to get it for free. My friend and I ended up chatting, eating snacks, and catching up until 7:00am, so I did not even sleep that night. The subway opens up at 5:40am, so I ended up just going back to the dorms because I thought the security guard would be there for work at that time. However, I was wrong. I found out about the guard work at 8:30am, so I was just sitting outside in the cold waiting for the guards to come. To make matters worse, my phone battery was at 5% so I could not even keep myself busy to help pass time. It was quite an experience….
The next day I went to Itaewon to meet up with two of my friends who are doing their exchange semester at Chung-Ang University. 
Itaewon is the most foreign friendly place in Seoul due to their high number of foreigners and expats. Therefore, I think Itaewon is the best place to go if you are craving Western food. I met my friends at a Mexican restaurant called Vatos for delicious quesadillas. I actually came here last time back in February when I just got out of my quarantine period. I remember it being so good so I had to come back. We also ordered kimchi carnitas fries which was a great appetizer as well! The restaurant is located near the bar street so my friends and I went around the area afterwards for a fun girls night out. I ended up making my way back home after sunrise again. I initially wanted to go home around 2am, but it was so hard to catch a taxi, so my friends and I just decided to stay in Itaewon until the first subway train.
On Children’s Day, a lot of people went to Lotte World so I decided to avoid the crowd and visit Gyeongbokgung Palace instead. There is an entrance fee of $3, but it is free if you rent a hanbok! It was quite hot today, so my friends and I decided to skip the hanbok and come back another time when the weather is a bit cooler. Most people go during the day, but we decided to go at night because it is much prettier in my opinion. This palace was built in 1395 and served as the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. 
A lot of tourist as well as locals come here to take pictures in hanboks, which is the traditional Korean dress .Gyeongbokgung Palace is commonly referred to as the Northern Palace because its location is furthest north when compared to the neighboring palaces of Changdeokgung (Eastern Palace) and Gyeonghuigung (Western Palace). Gyeongbokgung Palace is arguably the most beautiful, and remains the largest of all five palaces. I wanted to go to Changdeokgung palace nearby, but I did not have enough time to go since my friend and I arrived very late at night. We were not too disappointed, because I already made plans to come back sometime before I leave South Korea during the daytime.
To end the night, my friends and I walked about the area since there are a lot of traditional restaurants nearby with beautiful architecture. I am not Buddhist, but we passed by a festival that was celebrating Buddha’s birthday nearby which had a large attendance of people. There were a lot of pretty lanterns and the atmosphere was really lively. After a long tiring day of walking, we stopped by a random pub to grab dinner. The main dish was not that tasty, but we ordered sotteok, sausage and rice cake skewers, which was super delicious! And that concludes this week’s blog on my adventures in South Korea. See you next time!