Life This Week in South Korea: October 19-23, 2026

Monday, October 19

I gave myself a pretty easy schedule today: brunch and picking up my new glasses.

I have to say – I am public transportationing like a pro! I think it’s part: my anxiety brain is quiet right now, and the anxiety used to shut my brain down…and part, where I’m staying is just on more central bus lines. It’s not really closer to places, but it’s on different lines so I’m having 0-1 transfers to get from Point A to Point B vs 2-3. And transfers is where mistakes can happen.

Plus, I spent so much of my time here before with The Injured Knee, so I was always looking for the shortest route or just taking an Uber…and while I can still stress it with a lot of stairs or hill walking, in general, it’s much better at walking some distance now.

I went to a place called Standard Bread in Gangnam. It’s a very popular place, they only recently opened this second location cuz the first one in Seongsu did so well. It’s beautiful breads and bread…things. The ordering system was a little confusing at first…not exactly self-explanatory. On the first floor your placed your beverage and food order. They gave you two buzzers. You went to the 2nd floor to get a table to wait for your beverage. Buzzer buzzed, you picked up your coffee from the counter on the 2nd floor, took it to your table. After about 10 minutes the other buzzer buzzed and you went back to the first floor to get your food on a tray and take it back up to your table on the 2nd floor. Thank goodness there was an elevator!

But the coffee was lovely and I got the creme brulee french toast, which was delicious but extremely rich and I could only eat about half of it. It came with like a custardy drizzle thing, a little pot of maple syrup, one of raspberry jam, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Wowee.

Afterwards I went back to the eyeglasses place and I’d thought I would meet with the vision testing guy again so we could assess the glasses…but it was just like a guy who was like “here you go,” and that was that. I asked if if could come back after a few days wearing them and he said sure.

So…they seem okay for close range reading, but they’re not great for laptop looking. And the lenses seem the same and I feel like they should be very different as the vision in my two eyes is very different. So, I’ll be going back in a day or two.

Tuesday, October 20

Got up bright and…to head to the Seoul Museum of Art to see an exhibit by Yoo Youngkook, a Korean abstract painter. The weather was delightful and even though I had to walk a bit to the museum it was lovely.

The exhibit was Very Crowded….surprising for a Tuesday morning but I guess maybe cuz it only has a couple days to go. I looked at a lot of paintings, naming them for myself. And sat for a bit and looked at people’s clothes, which I love to do.

One thing I did not get a picture of was a young woman wearing wide-legged blue denim jeans with wide strapped white sandals with red socks underneath, so it sort of looked like red and white shoes but wasn’t. It looked better than it sounds, ha ha.

After the exhibit I sat outside in the cool shade for a bit, which was very nice. Then walked to a cafe in a nearby high-rise building with great views of the city from high up. Unfortunately it was quite crowded so I couldn’t get a table by a window but I still stole a couple shots.

Then cuz I was early to the bus and there was a Starbucks Right There at the bus stop…and there was outdoor seating…AND trash cans (the most rarity of rare)…I stopped in for a grapefruit honey iced tea. I can feel my stomach expanding after just a week here in Seoul!

Took a little rest when I got home, then headed to a coworking space I found (finally!) that doesn’t require a Korean phone number to get in. It’s not far, at all, but it’s a bus ride away…and the other one is RIGHT HERE. I will never get over being annoyed by that situation (I’ve told you about that, haven’t I?). Anyway, it worked out fine and I’ll go back there again tomorrow when I have more time.

It’s such a nice evening, just sitting at the bus stop waiting to come home was a pleasure. I wish I had someplace really nearby to sit outside, like a cafe or Baskin Robbins.

Wednesday, October 21

I enjoyed a lazy morning just not getting out of bed til around noon. I forgot I’d placed a Coupang (Korean Amazon) order for food and “things.” So I got up and gathered my belongings and set about organizing my room – putting together a storage drawer bin thing and finally figuring out the recycling separation mandates. I went to the study cafe in the late afternoon, and when I got back around 7pm it was So Nice to return to a neat, organized room.

It took a turn for the cooler this evening, I was a little unprepared for being cold!

Thursday, October 22

I went back to the eyeglass store and tried to explain what was still not right. Between me not knowing correct vision terms OR that much Korean, and Mr Eye Tester not understanding my attempts at vision terms OR that much English, it was…bumpy at best. And I think whatever I get next is going to be the best I’m going to get under these conditions. In the end we decided to just put plain glass on the right side (the “bad” eye) and prescription lens in only the left side, and to let the left eye do the heavy lifting.

I hope the left eye understands what is expected of it.

I should get the re-done glasses next week. In the meantime, it’s back to the drugstore magnifiers, that are either running out of steam or both my eyes are rapidly getting worse, cuz seriously, it’s getting more and more difficult to read anything I can’t enlarge.

And why CAN’T I enlarge every page on my iphone?? That’s So Annoying!!!

Afterwards I headed to Songpa, a small district in Gangnam (of famed Gangnam Style). It has nice restaurant alleys with views of Lotte Tower and I wanted to just wander around and see what pictures I could find. I also had one of my favorite Korean pizzas: gorgonzola pizza that is served with honey for dipping. It’s a delightful thing and should really make it’s way to the US.

Friday, October 23

This day was pretty much all about preparing for a weekend trip I was taking with a group. Yes. Me. With a group. Planned activities. Structure. Sharing a room and bathroom with other people. For two days. Who even am I right now??

Not my usual thing, for sure. But it was wildly inexpensive (8,000won / $6.00US) (that’s not a typo – Six Dollars US) as it’s mostly funded by the government, trying to get people to visit parts of Korea outside the main cities.

Anyway, I needed to do laundry and clean my room so I had an easy return on Sunday night…and to buy some things for the trip…especially after learning there was a typhoon going on down south and the whole weekend would be rainy in the southern part of the country. I wanted a bigger, sturdier umbrella…and some socks for nighttime…bus snacks, a small towel in case that was not provided (it was a little unclear where we were sleeping or what would be provided). So I made my first trip to the mall and big grocery store (EMart) that I used to go to when I lived here.

Got frustrated pretty quickly as they had rearranged a lot of parts of the store and there were things I couldn’t find. I do hate grocery shopping, being in large stores and malls. They’re so HOT. And crowded. So I rewarded myself with a Starbucks stop afterwards for my favorite Grapefruit Honey Black Iced Tea (another thing I wish would make its way to the US, but at least it’s in Korea and Vietnam, so I have access pretty much six+ months of the year).

Had to pack extra stuff cuz of the rain forecast, so ugh. We all know how I hate having to carry more stuff.

The weekend will be a separate post cuz I Have Thoughts.

See ya in a few days!