호캉스 (hotel + vacance) is a word Koreans use often to describe a relaxing getaway trip to a hotel. So you literally stay in the hotel all day, call room service for food, exercise in the hotel gym, have fun in the swimming pool and etc. Just no contact with the outside-hotel world. Since it is a 호캉스, people usually find hotels that has great facilities like swimming pool, spas, bar, great food selection for room service or just a really pretty hotel room with amazing outdoor view.
I wanted to do 호캉스 so bad, I found a nice hotel at Incheon but it was located sooo near to Incheon's famous Chinatown (中華街) I had to just visit. It was only less than a 10 min walk away from the hotel. So, I made Chinatown listed in my to-go places. Another reason Incheon became my final choice of vacation was because Incheon is so near to Seoul and it is so easy to reach by public transport. I took only the subway from my place to Incheon and took buses to places nearby. It was very convenient.
It is a 2 days 1 night trip, I've listed places that I want to visit and food I want to try. However, it was a strategic planning for me because one day was gonna rain and one day was gonna be sunny. Other than Chinatown, there is a local market called Shinpo International Market (신포국제시장) that is sheltered. So, I went to the market on the first day before checking in to the hotel as it was raining and went to Chinatown on the second day after checking out from the hotel.
If you search for food that one must try at Shinpo International Market, it's gonna be that famous chicken called 신포닭강정. There is a very famous chicken restaurant in the market that went viral after a visit by Yoo Jae-suk while filming his TV show 'You Quiz On The Block' (유 퀴즈 온 더 블럭). I thought the line wouldn't be that bad since it was early in the morning and people are not coming out as often due to the pandemic, plus it was raining. But boy, how wrong was I. The line was so long I nearly gave up as soon as I saw the line. It was never ending.
I did my homework before going there, I noticed that the line that was never ending is for takeaways. If you were to dine in there (I STRONGLY recommend), then you don't have to line up at all. There was no line when I went to dine in and the dining hall was blasted with air-conditioning. Lucky me. Dining in there was definitely better, you practically skip the whole long line and they prepare it by order. There were still tables that were waiting for their orders before I even ordered, so it took like at least 15mins before I was served. And the people who came in later had to wait longer. But still, nothing compared to the line outside...
Their famous menu is obviously their signature sweet and spicy 닭강정, and they have fried chicken without the sauce too. You can order half-half menu that serves both type of chicken. I only tried their signature chicken and was blown away by the sauce. It was very nice. Although I would've preferred more dark meat.
The sauce was sweet and spicy with chunks of green chillies and crushed peanuts. If you cannot take spicy at all then you should probably prepare some juice or milk to go with it, but if you like at least mild-spicy, then you are good to go. The spiciness just makes you addicted.
After demolishing my chicken, I went out to the market for a walk. There are sooo many other delicacies like dumplings, steam bread, pancakes, bread, pastries, noodles, porridge and etc. I love 꽈배기, it is Korean twisted bread stick that taste like fluffy donuts. There are fried and sprinkled/coated in fine sugar. It is literally my favourite bread here in Korea because it is huge and often cheap. I tried my first 꽈배기 at Mangwon market and it is by far my number one. This one at Incheon is obviously bigger in size, very delicious but still doesn't beat the one at Mangwon.
After going round and round in the market, I went out to the streets. I was so surprised to see Rotiboy on the street in Korea. Every Malaysian knows Rotiboy. They are famous for their coffee bun that you can smell the fragrance of the coffee and butter a mile away in shopping malls. Although I was full, I knew I had to be support it no matter what LOL
As a proud Malaysian, I ordered the signature bun and my ice latte. I wanted to like the bun so much but it failed me. The bun was dry, it wasn't baked to the perfect brown and the butter inside the bun was meh. I was very disappointed to be honest. I wish they can do it as it is in Malaysia. It would have been so much more better, and more competitive with all the big franchise of cafe Korea has locally. However, the cafe was beautiful. It was small and cozy and has huge glass window with nicely designed bar table. It was definitely Instagram-worthy. The ice latte was nice too!
A Malaysian in a Malaysian cafe franchise in Korea :D
After the rain stopped, it was time to check in to the hotel. I requested for a corner room and higher floor, and they have exactly that. The view would be much nicer if it didn't rain that day but oh well. I took some nice pictures at night and when the sun came out the next day prior to checking out. I rested in the room for almost 4 hours before heading out again for my ultimate seafood dinner. The dinner place is at Wolmi-do (월미도), a 10mins bus drive away from the hotel.
Like I did for the lunch place, I've also did a little research before deciding on the dinner place. 월미도 is a place full with seafood restaurant, famous for its grilled clams (조개구이) because it is literally by the seaside. Since 월미도 Is located at the Western sea (서해) and 서해 is known for its mudflat where all the clams, shellfish, crabs, abalone etc are found. There is a stretch of street full of restaurants selling the same signature menu of grilled clams. After a few searches here and there, I decided on the restaurant called 대왕조개구이. Before reaching the destination, I did not see any lines queueing up for dinner outside any restaurant so I thought people are not lining up at all, but as soon as I turned to the corner of where my dinner place was, there was a line with chairs for people to sit and queue. And yes, it was the restaurant that I planned to go.
I queued for a good 30mins before I was escorted to the second floor. I ordered the smallest clam set that feeds 2 people, it costed 70,000won. In the set, there were clams and shellfish - razor shells (키조개), scallops (가리비), butter clam (개조개), manila clams (바지락), abalone (전복), and surf clams (동죽). For the sides, it comes with salted grilled shrimp (새우소금구이), sliced raw flatfish (광어회) and chopped noodles (칼국수). It is a DIY grilling set so they provide you with a pair of gloves, scissors and tongs. Before grilling, the waiter explained ways of grilling and how to eat them the right way. So you have to grill the clams until the juices overflow, then you are suppose to pour the juices into the cheese foil bowl to prevent the cheese from burning.
The one thing I would say and comment about the whole experience is that, it is waaaayyyyy too hot and complicated for a first time diner. You get burned here and there, contemplating whether are they cooked, then you overcook it. It was also very hot, even wearing thick gloves that they provide, you still feel the heat. That is also why they have individual mini fans by each table for you to cool off. After this meal, I realised that I am just not a grilled clam lover...at all.
However, I enjoyed the sliced raw flatfish very much. They were served on two chilled pebbles that cools off the raw fish so that it is served chilled. I love eating rawfish dipped in red chilli-pepper paste with vinegar (초장). I definitely help myself with A LOT of it. I wish they have more rawfish than clams...or I should've just went to a rawfish restaurant.
Another thing is that I really underestimate how full I can be by only eating seafood. There was no meat or rice, just plain grilled seafood and I still couldn't breathe properly by the end of the meal because I was sooo full. Instead of heading back to the hotel straight, I went to the main street where people were playing firecrackers and enjoying some busking time.
Oh, there is also a small amusement park called Myland (마이랜드), famous for its 디스코팡팡 and viking (바이킹). A lot of students purposely come here for their short school trip just to ride these machines, and I kid you not, it appeared on a lot of variety shows on TV and the DJ that controls the 디스코팡팡 is famous. People come all the way here just to see him DJ. He is really funny! There were obviously a ton of people, so I kept my distance standing by the side of a broken-down machine.
So, after some sightseeing here and there, I went back to the hotel by taxi because it was kinda late and the bus station was far because I kinda walked further away from where I came. But everywhere is near so the taxi costs less than 5,000won. By that time, the weather wasn't as cloudy as it was, the night view was amazing. It was so hard to capture it with my phone. I swear it was so much nicer looking at it with my own eyes.
Comments