A stationery addict’s Seoul adventure 

People travel to Seoul for all sorts of reasons—to see the sights, experience the culture, eat good food, live their K-drama fantasies and follow in the footsteps of their K-pop idols. I was there for stationery.

I was dropping by Seoul on my way home from the United States, which is something you can do. If your layover at Incheon Airport is less than 24 hours, you can sign up for free transit tours, or you can do what I did and stay for a couple of nights.

If you do, here’s a tip: Take the limousine bus. It’s a comfortable, convenient and affordable way to travel from the airport to wherever you’re staying. My ticket cost 17,000 won (around P725) and the bus dropped me off just steps away from my hotel in Myeongdong.

“Google Maps doesn’t work in Korea,” was a warning I read repeatedly online. And it’s true—you couldn’t navigate using Google Maps. I ended up using Kakao Map and Naver Map in conjunction with Google Maps.

I arrived in Seoul late and most of the stores on my list were already closed. Luckily, Artbox in Myeongdong (38 Myeongdong 10-gil, Jung District) was open until 11.

Artbox (@artbox_kr_official), a popular chain known for stationery and gift items, was a sensory overload. Music was blasting (K-pop, of course) and the shelves and displays were overflowing with all kinds of cute things. I grabbed some Artbox-branded letter sets with adorable bears, tiny stickers for my planner and sticker sheets featuring popular Korean dishes. I was also thrilled to find stickers and postcards from Zero Per Zero, a Korean graphic design studio that I love. I was really on the hunt for their stuff.

Zero Per Zero

I first discovered Zero Per Zero last year, when I stumbled upon their washi tapes, sticker sheets and enamel pins at a bookstore in Jeonju. I loved their designs so much I ended up buying almost everything.

At Artbox, I got more of their stickers plus a bunch of Seoul-themed postcards.

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped by CU for some convenience store essentials: sweet corn Turtle Chips, Delaffe peach iced tea and Binggrae banana milk.

I started the next day with subpar Korean fried chicken before continuing my stationery journey. I walked to The T.I.ME (#103 1F, Namsan Platinum Ssangyong APT Commercial Centre, 46 Sogong-ro, Jung-gu; @the_t.i.me_ns), a Traveler’s Company partner shop. There, I picked up new Sticker Release Paper inserts so I can put together all the stickers I will be buying in one place. The T.I.ME also had a corner where you can customize your Traveler’s Notebook with their lovely collection of stamps.

I had grand plans to master Seoul’s subway system on this trip but because time was limited and I had a long list of places I wanted to visit, plus injured knees that made going up and down the stairs a real pain, I ended up walking and walking and taking Ubers and taxis.

I Ubered to Object (@insideobject). If you were going to visit only one stationery store in Seoul, make it Object and make it their Seogyo Head Store (13, Wausan-ro 35-gil, Mapo-gu). It’s a wonderland for lovers of stationery and cute things, offering floor after floor of pop-ups (there were Gosimperson and Ottogi pop-ups when I went), stationery, accessories, home goods and more. They also have areas where people can customize pouches, bag tags and keychains with little patches that come in all kinds of designs.

Object

Object stocks an impressive collection of stationery by talented Korean artists and studios—Drawing Mary, Daye Kim, Cherry Coco by Varietysum, Kim Hyeon-ju, 3Months, Warmgrey Tail, Dinotaeng, PPP Studio, Inapsquare, Zero Per Zero (of course) and more. At Object, I bought more stickers, postcards (my favorite was a bibimbap one), washi tapes (including one that looks like watermelon rind). I also resisted the urge to buy an enormous plushie shaped like a bottle of Ottogi mayonnaise.

Object is in the youthful Hongdae neighborhood. There’s plenty to see and enjoy here if you go for a stroll. I walked to Youngpoong Bookstore (161 Yanghwa-ro, Mapo-gu) because Suatelier promised me that it carried a lot of their products. Suatelier is a Korean brand that makes little stickers that are perfect for sprucing up the pages of your planners and journals. I ended up finding those stickers plus many other Korean and Japanese brands at Youngpoong.

Took a quick ice cream break at Baekmidang (Hyundai Department Store Sinchon U-PLEX, 13 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu), which offers soft serve made with organic milk, before going up to the 12th floor to visit Arc N Book’s (@arc.n.book_official) Sinchon branch. There, I ended up buying more Zero Per Zero stuff plus stationery by other Korean artists. Arc N Book had this beautiful long table where people were sitting, reading, writing and drawing. Such a peaceful, welcoming place. I would have loved to spend hours there.

On my way to catch a taxi, I ran across Hongik Bookstore (2 Yonsei-ro, Seodaemun-gu) which turned out to be another treasure trove of stickers. The wall leading up to the second floor was covered from top to bottom with sticker sheets—Suatelier, Mind Wave and more. Grabbed a lot of sheets from Suatelier’s Mini Series there.

I have a system for hailing cabs in Korea when I’m not using Uber. I flag down a taxi, get in and let Google Maps read my destination to the driver in Korean so he could input it on his phone or GPS device. It’s a system that has always worked … until my ride to Zero Space (32 Huiujeong-ro 16-gil, Mapo-gu), Zero Per Zero’s store and my mecca.

The driver kept trying to input the address but his phone wouldn’t recognize it. He tried typing it and using voice … but nada. I thought he would kick me out of the taxi. But instead, we laughed about what a struggle it had been and he used my phone to navigate.

Zero Space

I was grateful the driver didn’t give up because Zero Space was the store I was most excited to visit. The entire place was filled with Zero Per Zero’s designs—and they also had a room dedicated to their Miffy line. I bought more stickers, washi tapes and postcards. I also bought rolls of packaging tape that featured the subway maps of New York, London and Tokyo. I bought so many things that the shopkeeper added a lot of extras to my package. So sweet!

I love Mangwon, the area where Zero Space is. If I were to go back to Seoul, this neighborhood would be the first place I’d want to go back to. There are so many little stationery and artist-led shops and studios there like Your Goods (@yourgoods_official), Forest Company (@forest_company_), Xxpress (@xxpress.official), a shop that hosts pop-ups, and Lazy Cactus (@lazycactus.woongjang) which called out to me with its storefront that read “It’s okay to be lazy” and won me over with its loveable characters—a lazy cactus and a lazy banana.

I could probably spend an entire day just exploring Mangwon but my next stop was waiting: Koriko Cafe (@cafe_koriko, 165-7 Seongmisan-ro, Mapo-gu), which is inspired by my favorite Studio Ghibli film “Kiki’s Delivery Service” (the café is officially licensed by the studio).

Walking into Koriko Cafe feels like stepping into the world of Kiki and Jiji. At the café, you can enjoy Dutch baby pancakes, bundt cakes, meat pies (like the herring and pumpkin pie in the movie!), cookie mug tarts and mousse cakes shaped like Jiji, Lily and Kiki’s red ribbon. I ordered the Fondant au Chocolat—a chocolate lava cake dusted with confectioner’s sugar in the shape of Kiki flying on her broom with Jiji—and a melon soda.

I enjoyed looking around the place and spotting the little details (the stained glass, the broom, the little kitchen in the corner). There’s a shop too, with all the Kiki and Jiji (plus other Ghibli characters) merch you could want including some café exclusives.

My next stop was unplanned. On my way to dinner, I came across a They B (@theyb_official) pop-up at D Tower Gwanghwamun and found even more artists and stationery brands to love like Acre and Happy Seoul Project. That’s when I realized that in Seoul, even if you’re not looking for stationery, stationery will find you. At the pop-up, I resisted the urge to buy a banana milk-shaped lamp.

Modern Shabu House

Dinner was at Modern Shabu House (5F, 17, Jong-ro 3-gil, Jongno-gu, D Tower Gwanghwamun), a place I first tried on a trip with the Korea Tourism Organization. Loved it so much that I swore I’d eat there every time I’m in Seoul. I was worried they wouldn’t accept solo diners but no, they welcomed me and gave me a great table with a view.

Excellent meat quality (there are different levels available) plus you have nine different broths to choose from. And, here’s my favorite part: near the end of your meal, when you’ve had your fill of meat and fresh veggies and all the other good things you’ve cooked in your broth, they will make a second dish right in front of you, using your now super meaty broth. Your broth choice will dictate what second dish you’ll get. I picked mushroom as my broth and my second dish was a lovely mushroom truffle risotto.

They handed me a refreshing pineapple fruit pop for dessert. A beautiful meal, for sure.

I needed to walk off all that food and so I went to Kyobo Book Centre (1 Jong-ro, Jongno-gu) for more stationery shopping. The Hottracks section is also heaven for stationery lovers—so many great finds there that I didn’t see anywhere else. It was there that I was able to finally get my hands on the Index Highlighter sticky notes which you can use to mark your notes or your books without damaging the pages.

Outdoor library

I woke up the next morning, my last day in Seoul, feeling all shopped out. I was done hunting for stationery. I walked to the Seoul Outdoor Library at Seoul Plaza, one of the summer outdoor libraries Seoul Metropolitan Library had set up; lovely places for reading, relaxing and recharging.

I noticed the memorial altar for the Oct. 29 Itaewon disaster victims. I didn’t know it was still going to be there when I went. (It has since been moved to Burim Building near City Hall).

I followed the news closely when the crowd crush happened in 2022, such a shocking, heartbreaking, incomprehensible tragedy.

It felt different, seeing the rows of the victims’ photographs, their faces up close, frozen in time, all these bright young people who just wanted to have fun, who left the world too soon and in such an awful way. I paused, prayed and paid my respects.

There was a wall of messages for the victims, the pieces of paper fluttering in the wind.

“We remember,” one read.

“Hope you’re all at peace,” said another.

I added my own message and as I was leaving, one of the women tending to the memorial chased after me to give me a purple ribbon. I took it from her hand and bowed, thanking her. It had been a memorable trip but this is the moment I don’t think I’ll ever forget.

I walked back to the hotel, had lunch at the basement of Lotte Department Store and then boarded the limousine bus back to the airport. After one last banana milk, this stationery addict was ready to go home.