Starting off our first full day in Seoul, we headed towards Namsan Tower to grab some breakfast. This proved to be a bit of a challenge partially because breakfast in the Western sense isn’t as widely supported in Seoul as it is in the other places we’ve traveled (God knows UK doesn’t pull any stops), but also because South Korea is the one country on earth that doesn’t support Google maps.

You heard that right, Google maps will work in North Korea, but due to some issues regarding government privacy, Google maps is not full supported here. You get to have a map and (thankfully!) you get information regarding the time and routes of their local public transportation system, but when it comes to answering the question “Where am I?”, you need to rely on Korea’s own apps for that. Imagine if Google maps for whatever reason couldn’t use GPS and that’s about how things work here. Fortunately we were able to figure things out and by the end of the 2nd day we weren’t really affected by it, switching between Google maps and Korea’s maps app like pros. On the bright side, tons of free and fast wifi!

One thing that surprised us a little was the presence of Tartine Bakery, a chain known in the Bay Area. Not only was there this one, but there are 4 locations throughout Seoul. Then again, Seoul was filled to the brim with cafes (more so than Europe or Japan) so it fit right in pretty well.

Of course we had to swing by Gangnam District, best known for Gangnam Style by PSY. To understand both the song and the area, Gangnam is more or less Seoul’s “Beverly Hills” and this mall (with it’s very pretty book store) could be comparable to Beverly Center except bigger. That screen by the way was absolutely MASSIVE. It played a bunch of commercials, but this moment I caught gave off very strong Orwellian vibes.