weiling-notes

Hey, everyone! Still at the desk in KL, still not on a beach. Last post was the transit one, so this is the other thing I promised: the free museums in Seoul, the ones I kept walking straight past on two trips. And here's the thing nobody told me before my first trip: most of the big museums in this city cost nothing to walk into. Not "cheap." Zero. The permanent halls at the national museums, t..

Hey, everyone! Still at the desk in KL, still not on a beach. Last post I promised you one of two things next, and getting around Seoul on a budget beat the free exhibitions to it, because this is the one I get asked about most. And here's the thing nobody told me before my first trip: moving around this city cheaply is less about a clever pass and more about one free trick and a lot of walking...

Hey, everyone! Still at the desk in KL, still not on a beach. Last post I sorted two trips of photos; this one is the money post I kept meaning to write, because here's the thing nobody told me before my first trip: you can fill most of a Seoul day for 0 won. Not "cheap." Zero. I'm a freelancer, so I count every ringgit, and across two trips the free things to do in Seoul turned out to be the go..

Hey, everyone! Back home in KL, and the first thing I did after unpacking was NOT sleep. It was to tip two SD cards and a very full laptop onto my desk and finally deal with the question I've been dodging since last year: how do you organise travel photos after a trip when the trip was fifteen posts long and the one before it was 800 files you never sorted? So this is the post from the desk, not..

Hey, everyone! It's time for the post I've been putting off: the wrap-up. This is my last full week in Seoul this visit, and between the trip last year and this one I've now written fifteen posts about where to point a camera in this city. Fifteen! So this is the master list. Every Seoul photography spot I actually shot across two trips, sorted by the time of day it works, one line each, free on..

Hey, everyone! Back with another 0-won photo post, and this one I've been sitting on since my first trip. Yeouido Hangang Park at sunset. I've shot it more times than any other spot in Seoul across two visits, and I still got it wrong the first time (arrived after the sun had gone, LOL, more on that below). So this is the post I wish I'd read before trip one: where to stand, when to get there, a..

Hey, it's Wei Ling! Remember at the end of the Cheonggyecheon post I asked if anyone had walked the bit past Dongdaemun towards the Han? Nobody had LOL. So on my last week here I just went and did it myself, camera and all, and honestly it's a completely different stream from the one everyone photographs. Spoiler: no crowds, no shade, one very old bridge, and the best sky I've had in Seoul. Also..

Hey! A different kind of post this week. No river picnic, no rooftop, no night mode - a walk. Someone asked in the comments whether Cheonggyecheon is "actually worth it or just a ditch with lights", and I laughed because on my first trip that was basically my verdict. I went down at the plaza, took the waterfall photo everyone takes, climbed back up. Done in ten minutes, one photo, meh. This tri..

Hey! Comments again, and this one made me smile: "you keep ending your posts at the Han River, but how do you actually DO the Han River picnic thing? Is it expensive?" Okay so first, guilty. I do keep ending up there. And second: it might be the single cheapest good evening in Seoul. The whole ritual - convenience store, ramyeon machine, mat, grass, sunset, bridge - came to under 10,000 won both..

Hey! Another one from the comments, and this one's a money question, which I like. Someone asked where the free Seoul viewpoints are for skyline photos, because the tower observatory is 29,000 won a head and they're on a student budget. Same, honestly. Two trips and I've still never paid to go up the tower, and I haven't missed a skyline. Three hills did it for me: Naksan, Haneul Park, and a tin..