5 Cool Things to do in South Korea

South Korea is a great place to visit especially in spring or autumn. For us Filipinos, going to Korea is a lot easier than visiting perhaps, the United States or Europe. Just present some documents to the nearest Korean embassy and once you're issued a visa, book a ticket, arrange a hotel, then fly!

[Related: How to Apply for a Korean Visa here in the Philippines?]

Now what? Here's five things you can do while in Korea.

1. Eat Korean Food!

Korean food culture is rich and colorful. Even if you already tried their ubiquitous KimChi (fermented veggies), try it once more in Korea. It's still best when prepared in it's original place.
Try Korean restaurants and you will be delighted with so many food options. You may try Bulgogi (beef), Samgeupsal (pork belly), Bibimbap (meat, rice, veggie combo) and many more. If it looked good in the picture, it probably is.

If you don't have problems with spicy foods, then there's no reason to get scared. Try as many variety of food as you can. You don't go to Korea just to eat Western or fast food. Go out and explore their food culture!

Short on budget? You can still eat nice food even without going to a restaurant. Try the their street food. You'll be surprised how delicious they are. Or just go to a convenience store and try Gimbap, Korean noodle, and many more etc.

Korean Street Food is awesomely delicious. Do not be afraid to try.

Street Food. There's so many varieties you can choose from.

2. Try Jjimjilbang (Korean bath house, sauna)!

Probably this is not for everyone but for those who wants adventure and unique Korean experience, try their bath house, Jim jil bang. These are sauna bath houses segregated to male and female. The thing here is, these are totally nude bath houses. Yes, you really have take off all your clothes. But don't worry, everyone inside does the same. There's a bit of shyness at first especially for tourists but it will disappear later.

3. Visit N Seoul Tower

One of the main tourist spot in Seoul, South Korea's capital city is the N Seoul Tower, aka Namsan Tower. It's a super tall tower where you can have an overlooking, 360 degree view of the entire Seoul. Love locks, a collection of pair of locks left by couples is also a nice feature of this place.

N Seoul Tower

Love locks in N Seoul Tower

4. Shop shop shop!

Shop til you drop or at least until your budget for shopping runs out. Shop for clothes and beauty products. Better shop in the underground tunnels to subways than in established malls. They tend to be cheaper. Aside from that, I would suggest you to to Dongdaemun Market for clothes and Myeongdong Night Market for beauty products.

For those buying electronic products, I don't recommend Korea for that purpose.

Myeongdong district is one of the most famous shopping districts in the whole South Korea..

5. Visit a Historic Place and Wear Hanbok

There are many historic places in Korea especially in Seoul. One place I would recommend is Gyeongbokgung Palace. There, you can find relics of an ancient Korean Kingdom. And one cute feature of this place is that you can wear Korean traditional clothes: Hanbok.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Of course, when you're in Gyeongbokgung Palace, make sure you wear Hanbok and take some pictures.

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