Day 5: 1 May 2026, Friday

After spending four fabulous days in Busan, it’s time to head back to Seoul. We woke up around 5:40am and had breakfast in our room before checking out of our Lotte Hotel Busan at 7:10am. Unexpectedly, we received an instant tax refund of 74,000 won (S$65.12) in cash upon check-out. Apparently, only certain hotels designated by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism that participate in the programme are eligible for this tax refund for tourists. I wasn’t aware of this programme, but we were certainly more than happy to get some money back.

From our hotel, we walked to Seomyeon station to take the Metro to Busan Station. By this time, I thought I had figured out the trick to access the elevator to the train platform but I was so wrong. At Seomyeon station, we followed the directional arrows on the ground and entered a dedicated gantry for the elevator. It did bring us to the train platform level but it was for the wrong direction (towards Nopo instead of Dadaepo Beach).

In the end, we had to carry our heavy luggage down two short flights of stairs, ride the escalator and then take the elevator up again to the correct platform on the other side. Somehow, the train platforms are not connected and the elevator only serves that one direction. Also, the signs are not very clear so it’s easy to make a mistake. Or perhaps, I was just blind. At 7:37am, we hopped on the train and alighted at Busan Station at 7:47am. The fare was 1,600 won (S$1.40).

We had been here when we first arrived five days ago so we knew where to go and what to do. Even at that early hour, the main hall of Busan Station was packed with tourists waiting to catch their respective trains. Actually, we could have come here for our breakfast because there are many cafes and convenience stores here, making it very easy for travellers to grab a bite before departing Busan.

At 8:35am, we made our way to the platform to catch our KTX no. 18 train to Seoul. For this return leg, I decided to pamper ourselves by booking First Class seats. The fare is 83,700 won (S$72.64), a little more expensive than the 59,800 won (S$51.90) we paid for the Economy Class seats from Seoul to Busan five days ago. For that S$20 price difference, I think it’s worth it.

The First Class car has a seating configuration of 2-1 compared to 2-2 on Economy Class. As a result, the seats are wider. There is also much more legroom between the rows. With fewer passengers, the First Class car is also considerably quieter. Furthermore, First Class passengers are entitled to a free snack (two cookies) and bottled water (self-service). For the 2 hour 38 minute train journey, I think it’s worth getting First Class tickets. However, I was a bit late to book so I ended up in a different First Class car from mum and dad.

The KTX bullet train departed Busan promptly at 8:50am and arrived at Seoul Station at 11:31am, 3 minutes behind schedule. Seoul Station was just as busy as Busan Station. We followed the directional arrows on the ground to the Metro station below. From Seoul Station, you can take Line 4 directly to Myeongdong station. But even though our hotel is in Myeongdong, it is located closer to Euljiro 10(il)-ga station than Myeongdong station. Hence, we had to do a transfer. At 11:45am, we boarded the Line 1 train and transferred at City Hall station one stop away for Line 2, alighting at Euljiro 1(il)-ga at 12:01pm. The fare was 1,550 yen (S$1.36).

From Euljiro 1(il)-ga station, it took around 5 minutes to walk to our Stanford Hotel Myeongdong. The hotel is located in the same building as the Apple Store on the ground floor, and opposite Lotte department store. The hotel’s entrance is at the side of the building and the lobby is on the 9^th floor. The building is pretty new as it was constructed in September 2021. As we could not check in to our rooms yet (check-in is at 3:0pm), we deposited our luggage at the front desk before heading out again at 12:25pm. First things first, lunch.

I picked Stanford Hotel because of its excellent location. It is very close to the Metro station and the main Myeongdong shopping street. There are also lots of restaurants around the corner so it’s really very convenient. We walked around to check out the eateries and eventually settled on one called Two Two Fried Chicken, near our hotel.

We ordered the half-and-half boneless chicken with two flavours – garlic and seasoned (24,000 won/S$21.12), a bowl of abalone rice porridge, a can of Sprite and a bottle of Cass beer. The chicken was good but the abalone porridge wasn’t great. I’m sure the abalone porridge at Jagalchi Market in Busan would have been much better. I’m still upset we didn’t get to eat it yesterday. With food in our stomachs, we were ready to explore Myeongdong!

Our visit on this Friday coincided with the Labour Day public holiday (1^st May). Not only that, 5^th May (Tuesday) is also a public holiday for Children’s Day, so many locals took a day’s leave on Monday to enjoy a five-day super long weekend. Hence, Myeongdong was especially crowded not only with tourists but with locals as well.

We realised that our hotel is really located close to the heart of the action in Myeongdong. The shopping street is full of retail stores, restaurants and street food. There was so much to see at every corner. It was packed with people and super buzzy. To top it off, the weather was beautiful (around 23 deg C) and the energy was great, love it!

We headed to the Daiso store opposite Myeongdong Theatre to check out its offerings. By the way, the Daiso in South Korea is different from the Daiso in Japan or Singapore because it became fully Korean-owned when it separated from the Japanese franchise in 2023. Its store logo and products are also completely different. However, it retains the concept of providing useful and high-quality products at affordable prices. Nothing in Daiso Korea is priced more than 5,000 won (S$4.40).

It appeared as if all the tourists in Seoul were in Daiso. The store was packed to the rafters! Like its Japanese counterpart, the Daiso here sold everything under the sun, from snacks to K-beauty products to household items to souvenirs. The Fashion section had lots of sportswear products, like socks, tank tops, shorts and jackets at ridiculously low prices. We each grabbed quite a few items and also bought a trendy tote bag just to store our purchases.

The street food stalls in Myeongdong were amazing and they sold all sorts of interesting things. However, we were still full from lunch so we didn’t try any of the street food yet. As we strolled towards Myeongdong station, we saw tons of Olive Young stores (literally one at every corner), ABC-Mart, H&M, New Balance, Top Ten, Adidas, Fila and more. So much to shop here! I went to the Kodak store and bought a Charmera mini camera and blind box, something I had been eyeing for a while.

At 3:00pm, we took a bubble tea break at Gong Cha. Out on the street, a peaceful demonstration was taking place. Hundreds of people were walking on the road, carrying huge flags and accompanied by music from speakers while being escorted by police officers. Some of the members wore orange bibs with the words “Against Ableism”.

After watching the demonstrators march past us, we went to Hoehyeon Underground Shopping Center, where I had bookmarked a few record stores to visit. If you’re a music collector like me, Hoehyeon Underground Shopping Center is a place you must go. There are several old-school vinyl record stores clustered together and it is a wonderful place for crate digging. I counted at least seven stores when I was there.

The first I visited was Livingsa, supposedly the oldest in the arcade with a history spanning over 60 years. Livingsa specialises in used records for pop, rock and hip hop. The vinyl records were displayed on shelves and in plastic boxes outside the store. It also carried some CDs and music DVDs. I managed to buy two Janet 12” singles here.

Directly opposite Livingsa is LP Love, apparently run by the same family as Livingsa. LP Love focuses more on classical and jazz music so I didn’t get anything there. Next up was Coda, a smaller shop with mostly new titles of pop, rock and jazz. My mission today is to add to my Michael/Janet/Jacksons collection and there wasn’t anything here that I didn’t already have.

After that, I struck gold at the next shop, which I think is called Mine Records. It had a huge collection of both used and new pop, rock, soul and funk records. I swept almost the entire Janet selection and bought the Korean pressings of MJ’s Bad and Dangerous albums at a decent price. The Korean pressing of Thriller was a little expensive so I restrained myself. Best of all, the store owner is very friendly and patient. I used up a big chunk of my Korean currency here but it was so worth it.

Right across Mine Records is another established shop called The Disk. It has a very extensive collection and also carries many MJ titles at decent prices. However, I already splurged at Mine Records and I couldn’t afford to buy any more, so I put an end to my shopping spree here. Overall, it was a very productive but costly outing. Definitely a must-visit for music collectors!

After spending about an hour at Hoehyeon Underground Shopping Center, we left at 4:30pm. I initially planned to visit Namdaemun Market but we were tired so we walked back to our hotel for check-in. Our Family Twin Edge Room was located on the 17^th floor. The room is called Twin Edge because it is at the corner of the building and there are windows along the L-shape perimeter, offering good city views. It is modern and quite big at almost 30 sq m. However, the double bed was smaller than the one we had at Lotte Hotel Busan so it was a little cosy for mum and dad, but perfect for me.

After freshening up and resting for a bit, we headed out again at 5:45pm. With the temperature dipping slightly to 20 deg C, the weather was beautiful and the narrow pedestrian streets were even more packed as the weekend crowd descended fully upon Myeongdong. We went to the flagship Daiso store near Myeongdong station for more shopping.

This is Korea’s second largest Daiso store and it has its own building, occupying a whooping 12 floors. The one we went to earlier in Myeongdong Shopping Street is much smaller, with only one basement level. This flagship store has a much larger product range, with each level dedicated to specific categories like K-beauty, food, homeware and stationery products. The building is tall and narrow and it is served by only two elevators. We joined the queue and took the elevator to the top floor (Fashion and Accessories) and worked our way down using the stairs.

We spent about 40 minutes at Daiso and bought more stuff. It’s impossible to leave Daiso empty-handed, but the danger is that you’ll find more things to buy the longer you stay, so it’s important to be decisive. After the mini shopping spree, we dropped off the bags in our room before hitting the street food stands for dinner.

There were so many options but we went for the chicken skewers, which were really tasty. The meat was nicely marinated and the seasoning was delicious. We also bought some garlic bread, which were nicely glazed, warm and stuffed with chunks of garlic butter. Yummy!

At 7:30pm, we went to the UNESCO House building along the food street and took the lift to the third floor, where the Nanta theatre is at. Nanta (click here) is described as a burlesque performing funny events in wacky kitchens and acrobatics. The show had excellent reviews and I was very excited to watch it. I booked our VIP tickets more than two months in advance so I could secure the best seats in the house.

Regular VIP tickets cost 70,000 won but with the early bird discount of 30%, we paid only 49,000 won (S$43) per person. Regular Stall seats cost 60,000 won while Circle seats on the second floor cost 50,000 won before discount. The show sells out almost every day, so it’s advisable to book your tickets as soon as possible to take advantage of the early bird discount and get the best seats.

Doors opened at 7:40pm. Our seats were in the third row and dead centre. The viewing distance was just right. Anyway, it’s also best not to sit in the first row, unless you wish to be pulled up on stage to participate (no spoilers on what you’ll have to do!). Photography and videography are not allowed during the show, except for the last segment. At 8:00pm, the Nanta show began to a sold-out audience.

The storyline is quite simple: three cooks are rushing against a tight deadline to prepare a large wedding banquet by 6:00pm. However, the manager drops off his incompetent nephew and forces the kitchen staff to train him, complicating matters. Chaos ensues as they race against time to pull off the meal.

The show combines percussive elements with circus theatrics and comedy. It is non-verbal, relying on facial expressions and mime so everyone can understand it, even children, old folks and tourists. It is similar to STOMP, a theatrical production where the cast members use everyday and unconventional objects instead of traditional instruments to create music and rhythms.

For Nanta, there are only five cast members – four guys and a girl. Right from the get go, it was high energy all the way to the finish, there was no letting up. The sequences were inventive, the acrobatic stuff was really cool and the comedy was genuinely laugh-out-loud funny. The kitchen percussion – using knives and other kitchen objects, was also seriously impressive.

The show was so worth the money, possibly the best theatre/musical production I have ever seen, and that’s saying a lot. By the end of the 90-minute show, the entire audience was on its feet, giving the hardworking cast a well-deserved standing ovation. If you ever visit Seoul or Jeju (where it is also being staged), please go watch the Nanta show. I highly recommend it!

After the show ended, the cast members even held a free photo session with the audience at the lobby outside the theatre. Not many people stayed behind so we joined the queue and had our photos taken with the five members. They must have been so tired after that energetic performance but they were all smiles and gamely posed for many photos.

All that cooking during the show made us hungry so we back to the food street to find something to munch on. We bought the red bean taiyaki (Japanese fish-shaped waffle) and a sweet potato. After the light supper, we walked back to our hotel and called it a night. What a perfect end to our first full day in Seoul!