Things to do in Incheon: Ish Meets World Vlog S01 E01
Welcome to season 1 of my Vlog or web series for Ish Meets World. The first episode centers around Incheon, South Korea. This place may sound familiar to you since it is where their new international airport is located.
My friends and I stayed in Incheon because our expat friend, Pia, is based in SONGDO International City. It is a modern development close to the airport which is home to many professional expats.
For this season, I am joined by my friend Leah, her sister Zol and our new friend Anj. Together with Pia, we enjoy what Korea has to offer. In this video, I documented our first full day in Songdo.
lunch
We started the day with lunch at Hyundai Premium Outlet. We went to the food court to see a wide variety of options. I had a beef cube steak dish similar to the Japanese Saikoro Steak. For a food court meal, this was really good. In Korea, they put a real premium on their beef. Even the smallest restaurants will serve good quality meat.
I know that Korean food can sometimes be cloying because of the repetitive flavor profile (gochujang all the way). Luckily, the food court offers international flavors as well. It’s our first day so I went Korean. Zol however, couldn’t resists the Pad Thai. It was also pretty good and the serving was very generous. For those who don’t eat spicy food (why???) like my friend Leah, there are other options as well. She had a classic Korean chicken noodle soup.
hyundai premium outlet
After a great lunch, we decided to check out the bazaar and the outlet stores. I made a beeline for the Nike and Adidas outlet stores. Leah couldn’t escape from the allure of the Doc Martens which were 70% off.
There’s a wide selection of outlet stores to choose from. It was our first day so I was sensible enough to hold off on binge shopping since I was more interested in the food and in shopping for local products. Meanwhile, the mall also offers a lot of sightseeing and Instagram-friendly spots.
I couldn’t resist a bowl of spicy Korean rice cakes (tteokbokki) even though we just had lunch.
cherry blossom viewing
It was a gloomy day so we failed at taking photos of the sunset by the bridge. Luckily, Songdo is a lovely place to enjoy the cherry blossom season.
We just walked around and enjoyed the tree-lined streets which were picturesque to say the least. Since this isn’t as busy as Seoul, you wouldn’t be elbowing your way around hoards of tourists just to get some good photos.
samgyupsal dinner
Our first day in Korea would not be complete without some Korean Barbecue. We gathered around the sizzling grill at a popular joint called YUK KKOZIP. The pork belly slabs were thick and juicy. It was a big help that they had servers who cooked the meat for us. This way, there was no chance of messing things up. There was even some excitement provided by a large flambé right before we were ready to dig in.
The samgyupsal dinner was definitely the highlight of our say in Songdo, Incheon. Stay tuned to find out more about this city and the rest of our adventures in Korea.
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