Our last day started the same way as the others - with breakfast at the hotel.
I didn't take any photos of the buffet, but there was an impressive selection of food. There were smoked salmon, several types of ham and cheese, different kinds of kimchi, cooked dishes such as sausages, eggs, noodles, and fried rice, as well as a station where you could make your own ramen or soup with various ingredients. There were also breads and buns, several kinds of yogurt, fresh fruit, and plenty of other options.
I especially enjoyed being able to eat foods that I normally wouldn't buy very often in Taiwan because they're quite expensive. It was definitely a great way to start the day.
After going back to our room, I heard some noise outside around 10 a.m. It turned out there was a ceremony taking place at Sungnyemun (Namdaemun Gate), right outside our hotel. From our room on the 18th floor, I could only catch a glimpse of it, but it was still interesting to watch. I'm not sure how often these ceremonies take place, but seeing it in person would have been much more fun.
Soon it was time to check out. The hotel kindly helped us call a taxi to the airport.
This ride was much cheaper than when we arrived - around 50,000 won, only about half the price of the taxi from the airport. Our arrival taxi had been a larger vehicle, but paying double still felt quite expensive.
Even though our flight wasn't until around 2 p.m., we arrived at Incheon Airport at about 11:30 a.m., giving ourselves plenty of time.
Checking in turned out to be more confusing than expected. My husband and son had been able to check in online without any problems, but I kept getting an error message. Because of that, they were able to choose their seats while I couldn't, meaning we were separated once again.
It turned out the airline simply needed to verify my APRC before issuing my boarding pass.
I really wish the website had just said that instead of showing a generic error message. It would have saved a lot of confusion.
One thing that left me a little frustrated was the check-in process at the airline counter. Since I was the one having trouble checking in online, I expected the staff to explain the issue directly to me. Instead, they mostly spoke to my husband, even though it was my boarding pass that needed to be sorted out.
After saying one sentence in English, the staff member switched to Mandarin instead of continuing in English. It was difficult to understand China accent and not really a good Chinese.... She literaly struggled to speak, yet wouldn't use English... In the end, everything was resolved, but the experience left me disappointed.
One thing Adrian absolutely loved at the airport was a guide robot. It offered to lead us to our departure gate, and of course we had to follow it. It wasn't exactly fast, we would have reached the gate sooner by walking ourselves, but it was a fun little experience, especially for kids.
Before boarding, we also discovered a small hidden garden inside Incheon Airport. It was a peaceful place to sit for a while and a surprisingly nice way to end our trip.
On board, Adrian received another activity pack with colouring pages and puzzles, which kept him busy for quite a while. And me too, as I had to read the instructions.
Unfortunately, I still wasn't very impressed with the airline itself. The aircraft felt quite old, with small entertainment screens that weren't very responsive. I often had to tap the screen several times just to select something, and although there was a remote control, it lagged even more. Watching a movie was manageable, but trying to play any of the games was almost impossible.
I think Taiwanese airlines have simply spoiled me over the years, it's hard not to compare the experience.
The flight back to Taiwan was smooth, and before long we had landed.
We took the shuttle bus back to the parking lot, picked up our car, and drove home. Although there's a train station near our house, taking the train would double the travel time compared to driving. Leaving the car parked outside in Taiwan's summer heat isn't ideal, but it was still the most convenient option.
As we pulled into the driveway, it felt strange that the trip was already over. Six days had flown by so quickly.
From beautiful palaces and delicious food to impossibly difficult claw machines, kind strangers, and countless kilometres of walking, our first trip to Korea gave us plenty of wonderful memories.
One thing I realized after this trip is that Seoul and my part of Taiwan feel very different. My husband was never very excited about visiting Korea in the first place, and after the flight he liked it even less 😆 For me, though, Seoul was a place I had dreamed of visiting for a long time, and I ended up loving almost everything about it, except the airport and airline experience.
I loved how easy it was to walk around. There were sidewalks everywhere, almost no scooters, the city felt very clean, and I generally felt safe walking around. People were also surprisingly friendly and many could speak English.
That said, I don’t think it’s fair to say all of Korea is amazing or all of Taiwan is a certain way. We only visited Seoul, and my experience there was great. I also don’t live in Taipei, and life in other parts of Taiwan can feel VERY different from what many tourists see during a short visit. I don't meet people that speak English, we don't have many sidewalks around, also there are usually scooters and cars parked on them...
Every place has its easier and harder sides, and language barriers can happen anywhere, especially outside the big tourist areas. In the end, this was simply our experience in Seoul, and I’m really happy I finally got to see the city I had wanted to visit for so long.
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