A Packed Lunch on Nodeul Island: A Cool Breeze, the 63 Building and a Cup of Black Tea

The day before, the sky had been packed with small clouds.

The next day, Wednesday, the sky over Nodeul Island had not a single cloud in it. The breeze was cool.

In Part 1, I took a public bike to a riverside deck and finished an açaí bowl. The second lunch is on Nodeul Island, an island in the middle of the Han. This time I went with a packed lunch box, and a flask of black tea.

The 63 Building beyond a green bridge

Stand on the island's west bank and past the grass is the river, crossed by the green truss Hangang Railway Bridge. Behind it rise the towers of Yeouido, and the tallest, with the Hanwha logo at the top, is the 63 Building. The sky is blue from top to bottom.

Nodeul Island sits in the Han River with Hangang Bridge running across its middle; it belongs to Yongsan-gu. Freshly renovated, the island looked lovely.

A few steps on, willows line the riverside path. Their branches hang almost to the ground and sway in the cool breeze. Through them: apartment blocks and a riverside road on the far bank.

Over the lawn, a few tall, thin trees point straight at the sky. One of them has already lost about half its leaves.

A thermal lunch box on a stone bench

A little after noon I opened lunch, on a grey stone bench at the edge of the lawn. The same railway bridge and 63 Building are right there behind it. I laid a napkin on the stone and set out the black thermal containers one by one.

What I packed:

• Rice: white rice mixed with red grains
• Soup: a clear soup with what looks like napa cabbage and scallion
• Rolled omelette (gyeran-mari): yellow, studded with scallion and bits of carrot, cut into thick slices
• Kimchi: leafy-green kimchi with chunks of radish in a small tub; the empty tub beside it holds only streaks of red seasoning

The rice, soup and omelette are in matching black thermal containers; the kimchi is in small plastic tubs. A stainless steel thermos stands beside them.

A cup of black tea

After lunch came the black tea. A Twinings Lady Grey tea bag tag hangs from the stainless tumbler, and the tea in the white ceramic mug is a light brown. A larger thermos stands next to it.

A cup of black tea, outdoors. I loved it.

A loop through the flower beds

Toward the end of the lunch break I walked the paths inside the island. On a sloping lawn stands a magpie, with dry grasses and shrubs along the edge and a small wooden birdhouse-like structure on the grass.

The beds on the river side are full of low pink and white flowers, with name labels tucked among them. Beyond them, a willow, a pier at the water's edge and apartments on a hill across the river all fit in one frame. The water glittered in the sun.

Through the silver grass

A roadside bed is thick with silver grass (eoksae), its plumes leaning in the wind, and one of the island's low buildings sits behind it. Nearly 1 p.m.; I had spent a little over fifty minutes on the island.

The lunch route

• 📅 Date: Wednesday, October 14, 2026, a little over fifty minutes around noon
• 📍 Place: Nodeul Island, Yongsan-gu, Seoul (the island in the Han crossed by Hangang Bridge)
• 👀 The view: the Hangang Railway Bridge, the 63 Building and Yeouido's towers to the west
• 🍱 Lunch: a packed thermal lunch box (multigrain rice, soup, rolled omelette, kimchi)
• ☕ Tea: Twinings Lady Grey black tea from a tumbler, a mug and a thermos
• ☀️ Weather: clear, not a cloud, cool breeze
• 🗺️ Map: Nodeul Island on Google Maps

Jayden's verdict

A packed lunch, a cool breeze and a cup of black tea. I want to go back to Nodeul Island.

• Highlight: a lunch box facing the Hangang Railway Bridge and the 63 Building, and a cup of black tea outdoors
• Would I go back?: Yes. The renovated island looked lovely.
• Tip: sit on the stone benches at the edge of the lawn and the railway bridge and the 63 Building are straight ahead. The next day's lunch was on Nodeul Island too. Part 1 was a Seoul Bike and an açaí bowl.