Hello everyone,
I hope you’ve all been well! I’ve dived right back into work after might slightly hectic drop off trip of the beloved mother in law. Work has been very busy and my new goal for February is to get my sleeping habits in check before I go into my new role in the company that involves 4 REALLY early morning shifts a month!
I know I said I would give a little trip tip for a a 12 hour lay over in Seoul. The only problem being my planned 12 hour lay over became a 5 hour lay over in Seoul and a 4 hour lay over in Tokyo. I love these cities and I’m quite comfortable with getting around but a 5 hour lay over is a bit of a reach to document even for me!
I’m quite proud about the fact that I still managed to do a little shopping getaway to Unseo, Incheon in those 5 hours. Unseo is a great place to stay if you have a short stop-over in Korea. Me and my boyfriend stayed at the Howard Johnson by Wyndham there in the summer when we picked up his grandmother and mother. The location was great and the rooms even impressed my mother in law, buuut the attitude by some of the staff was not top notch. Around the area you have a Daiso, a Lottemart and the subway station all just 5 minutes away from the hotel! My plan was to have a relaxing 12 hour lay over but alas, I had a 2 hour shopping run instead.
After my shopping I quickly made my way back to Incheon airport and checked in to my flight to Japan.Since I travel on staff tickets my options get limited with cancellations and I accessed I would have a higher chance getting back home if I went through Japan than from Korea. I got there and checked in to my Asiana flight at around 1400 but didn’t make it through security for a good 2 hours after that! I love Incheon airport but ALWAYS forget how SLOOOOW their security is! I always have the idea that because it’s such a modern airport security will be a breeze and get caught of guard EVERYTIME. As a blessing in disguise my Asiana flight was delayed 1 hour, had it not been I wouldn’t have made it to Tokyo in time for any of my flights…
Once through security I was famished and excited to have a little convenience store run before my flight. The odds being against me, made it so that the flight left from an area of Incheon I haven’t been to in a while. Right after you get out of the security you have three axis of gate areas to go to( sort of like the Korean oh ㅗ). To the left axis is where our regular Finnair flight leaves has a GS25, probably the best place to pick up a snack before your flight! Alas this time when I really needed it I didn’t… the middle Axis where my Asiana flight left from had a couple of bunsik food places(there was a kimbap stand that was unfortunately closed) and a Dunkin donuts, where I picked up an emergency peach refresher and glazed donut! The right hand axis is uncharted terrain for me but I have a goal of exploring it next time to know for sure where I should pick up a snack for my next flights!
I had a good nap on my flight to Japan, which was well needed because once I landed it was a sin prisa, pero sin pausa no stress, but no dillydallying trajectory to Haneda airport from Narita… The options I had from Incheon didn’t match with my options from Tokyo so I had to change airports. Not the best layout but since I feel comfortable in these two cities it was doable. I took the train from NRT to HND and eneded up taking an All Nippon Airlines flight to Munich and from there to Sweden.
In Haneda I checked in to my flight and made a speedy run through the security control before I finally got my first real meal of the day. A completely okay airport ramen, not anything out of this world but the service was superb and it really filled me up nicely before my flight.
After my meal I hopped on my first ever ANA flight to Munich. After a 13, 14…15 hour flight I landed in Munich and after that it was just a short 3 hour flight home to Sweden. Would I do this trip again? 100% all the back and forth was still worth while to have my beloved 시어머님 home safe❤️❤️❤️
