I went to PLDI in Seoul, South Korea. I had a nice time. Here are some unstructured thoughts.
It was great to see old familiar faces, meet new people, and unexpected (though not unwelcome) to have multiple people approach and say they read my blog. Hello, dear readers!
Vegetarian food is tricky, but if you look for a “temple meal” or restaurants specifically called out as vegetarian friendly (or even full vegan), you will be okay. A lot of food that otherwise looks vegetarian probably contains fish products. If you are okay with a bit of a grey area, the Myeong-dong night market has a good fried potato cheese stick thing and a cream cheese garlic bread.
Go to a chicken and beer place with friends. We spent a good deal of time looking for a cute bar vibe (and did find one secret bar!) but the best bang for buck is definitely fries and 4000 Won Cass beer.
I had a nice time walking the Cheonggyecheon river (creek?). It’s separated from traffic, has fish and birds, and many people enjoy sitting alongside it. Don’t go on rainy day because it is also where rainwater flows to, but on an overcast or sunny day it’s great.
Not many people online suggest the city wall walk—in fact, I did not see it mentioned on any website I looked at—but I stumbled across it coming out of the Cheonggyecheon walk and in search of a 7-Eleven. It’s a nice 15 mile circular tour of old Seoul. I didn’t do the whole thing because it was already so late in the day but I will next time. It’s a lovely way to escape the huge buildings and constant traffic and see the small homes where people actually live. Bring a cold beverage (corn silk tea is nice). It’s hilly.
On the city wall walk by Naksan there is a cute cafe called cafe cogito. I had ice cream there and looked out over the city. It’s a lovely place to sit and cool off. The neighbors have a cat that goes adventuring around.
After dinner, I stumbled across yet another thing that I had somehow not seen mentioned anywhere: Jongno! I accidentally wandered into the Ikseon-dong Hanok village at night, where there are restaurants and shops in a reconstructed stone-and-timber village.
As I departed for the train, I also wandered into the night market on Donhwamun-ro 11-gil, which was packed and also looked excellent. It had tables and seating, giving it a very different feel than Myeong-dong. Pity I had already eaten… this looked like the place to be.
Getting to and from the airport (ICN) is irritating. You can do one straight shot from ICN to Seoul Station on the AREX train (which I recommend if it’s in budget for you and/or your employer; the slower train is fine too), but you if you need to transfer anywhere, it’s up, down, and around in circles in the train station. There is a lot of transfer friction.
Until next time, South Korea!