Hi, I’m Haeyoon — a 33-year-old based in Seoul, and the person behind everything you’ll read here.
Why this blog exists
I was born and raised in Korea, and I love the way I get to live here — eating my way through neighborhood spots that don’t show up in guidebooks, climbing whatever mountain my legs will let me, escaping to a hotel for a weekend when I need a reset, and testing approximately every K-beauty product that lands on a shelf at Olive Young.
So when friends started asking me “what should I actually do in Seoul?” or “is this toner worth it?”, I realized the same questions get asked over and over. I wanted somewhere to send people that wasn’t another generic top-10 list written by someone who flew in for three days.
That’s mademyseoul. Honest, lived-in recommendations from a Korean who actually lives here — written for people who are visiting Korea, planning to, or just curious about what locals genuinely love.
What you’ll find here
- Food — neighborhood restaurants I keep going back to, what to actually order, what to skip
- Hiking — Seoul mountains and nearby trails, with realistic difficulty notes (no “easy hike” lies)
- Staycations — hotel reviews based on actual nights stayed, not press tours
- K-beauty — products I’ve used for at least two weeks before writing about them, compared honestly to others I’ve tried
How I review things
Three rules I don’t break:
- I pay for everything myself. No comped hotel stays, no PR samples, no sponsored restaurant visits.
- I write about things I actually used or visited. No round-up posts cobbled together from other people’s reviews.
- I tell you what’s bad, too. Every place has trade-offs. If a hotel’s bed is amazing but the breakfast is a sad $40 buffet, I’ll say so.
Get in touch
Have a question, a suggestion, or want to argue about whether jjajangmyeon is overrated? You can reach me at [email protected].
Thanks for being here.
— Haeyoon