Seoul Searching - A Return to My New Leaf Town

Briar · Mar 10, 2025

I last played New Leaf during the Farewell to New Leaf event last year, and before that it had been a long time since I'd opened the game. But lately I've been feeling like playing it a bit again, so I thought I'd make a journal for my New Leaf adventures. I don't really remember what I was doing the last time I played, what items I have, what villagers I have, or anything else, so this should be a fun journey of rediscovery and making new progress~

To start with, my New Leaf town is called Seoul. When I started playing New Leaf I was learning Korean, and I loved Kpop and Korean shows. I still remember a decent amount of Korean, although my knowledge of the language has certainly atrophied. I listen to Kpop occasionally still, but I haven't watched any Korean shows recently.

My First Day Back

Today I just wandered around a bit, exploring and refamiliarizing myself with the lay of the land.

I seem to have a bit of bedhead... But no time to worry about that for now! I started by checking my mail. I had a letter from Nintendo containing a Flower Fairy Dress and a farewell letter from Ruby.

My storage is almost full and there are gemstones littering the ground. Yeah, that checks out.

I put on a braided wig to cover my bedhead and began to greet some of the villagers. I started with my beloved Eunice. She looks so cute in her scarf!

I talked to Phineas and he gave me a Village Representative badge.I checked and it's my second badge. The only other one I have is called Fish Maniac.

There's a café that needs to be built. I should probably work on funding that.

I fell in a hole.

After that traumatic event, it was time for some retail therapy!

Next I decided to go see what my house looks like. These are my rooms at the moment...

And finally I checked my debt!

Current Goals: Pay off my loans, expand my house, and fund the café!

Briar · Mar 11, 2025

My Second Day Back

I started the day by going to see Harriet to get my hair done! After consulting a guide, I ended up with a cute ponytail in my preferred shade of brown.

Next up I took a trip to the museum. These are my exhibit rooms at the moment:

I also checked my collection, and I'm missing a good number of bugs, fish, and deep-sea creatures, so I'll need to try to collect more of those.

Always have to hit the shops and see what's for sale!

I collected some fruit and shells to sell, and I caught some fish and sold those as well.

I fell in another hole.

Also, I do have another character in my town, and this is his house:

I made sure to talk to Broffina after the conversation we had yesterday, and I did talk to some other villagers as well.

I donated about 50k bells to help fund the café.

And that was all for the day! I'm going to keep trying to earn more bells each day to pay off my loan and get the café funded. I really would like to expand my house some more and start (re)decorating~

Briar · Mar 12, 2025

Day Three

I started the day off strong by falling in a hole again. Third time's the charm?

Next I decided I was tired of the gemstones littering the ground, so I sold most of them. I kept the gold and silver nuggets though.

I met Marcel!

Then I went fishing, shell collecting, and bug catching. I also dug up some fossils.

I ran into Merry, and she invited me to go to her house for a visit. I accepted her invitation of course.

Went to the museum to have Blathers identify the fossils I found. No new discoveries unfortunately.

Donated more bells to the café fund. I'm making progress!

Can't forget to check the shops~

Hit a rock and found more gems, which I sold.

It seems there's going to be a fishing tourney on Saturday. I'll have to give it my best!

I changed our town ordinance from the beautiful ordinance to the night owl ordinance. I like to play at night, so I think it will be helpful.

Next I decided to go diving, and I found some new creatures for my encyclopedia and the museum!

Finally, I found Gulliver lying on the the beach. I helped him remember that the country he was heading to was Vietnam, and he said he'd send me something in the mail!

Briar · Mar 13, 2025

Day Four

I stepped out of my house to find that I had gotten a letter from Gulliver! He sent me a conical straw hat.

After that I went to Re-Tail to sell some fruit, fish, and shells.

While I was walking through the town I stumbled upon Phineas and Saharah. I brought Saharah to my house and got an ancient wall and an illusion floor. Phineas gave me the Seafood Maniac badge.

Daily shopping trip!

I headed back to the sea and found a spider crab. It went straight to the museum of course.

A miracle occurred. I didn't fall in a hole today. Instead, I dug up a pitfall seed.

I talked to some villagers. Eunice suggested a modern bridge as our next public works project. I do think we could use another bridge. The town only has one at the moment.

To finish off the day I shot down a balloon present and opened it to receive a balloon chair!

(Also, I decided to put images in spoilers from now on for my own sanity.

)

Briar · Mar 14, 2025

Day Five

I didn't play yesterday, but I still wanted to do a journal entry! For today, I'm going to document my current encyclopedia progress.

The bugs I've caught so far are the common butterfly, peacock butterfly, agrias butterfly, yellow butterfly, monarch butterfly, raja b. butterfly, tiger butterfly, birdwing butterfly, honeybee, long locust, migratory locust, rice grasshopper, mantis, lantern fly, red dragonfly, stinkbug, cricket, grasshopper, walking stick, bagworm, ladybug, tiger beetle, wharf roach, hermit crab, fruit beetle, jewel beetle, miyama stag, cyclommatus stag, golden stag, horned atlas, horned elephant, horned hercules, goliath beetle, flea, and pill bug.

The fish I've caught so far are the bitterling, dace, koi, pale chub, barbel steed, goldfish, crucian carp, carp, pop-eyed goldfish, tadpole, frog, freshwater goby, loach, bluegill, yellow perch, black bass, pike, pond smelt, cherry salmon, rainbow trout, sea butterfly, sea horse, clown fish, surgeonfish, butterfly fish, napoleonfish, zebra turkeyfish, puffer fish, horse mackerel, barred knifejaw, sea bass, red snapper, dab, olive flounder, squid, moray eel, ribbon eel, football fish, tuna, blue marlin, giant trevally, ray, ocean sunfish, hammerhead shark, shark, saw shark, whale shark, and oarfish.

The deep-sea creatures I've caught so far are seaweed, acorn barnacle, sea grapes, sea urchin, turban shell, clam, pearl oyster, sea anemone, sea star, sea cucumber, sea slug, mantis shrimp, spider crab, octopus, spotted garden eel, and chambered nautilus.

I'm missing a good amount of creatures, so I want to work on filling out my encyclopedia some more. I'll have to look into what creatures are able to be caught this month~

Briar · Mar 15, 2025

Day Six

I started the day off by talking to Diva. She informed me of her plans to to move from Seoul. I hope her move goes well, and I wish her the best!

Redd was visiting the town today. He said he was pleased to see me back, and I purchased a solemn painting from him.

The trees bore fresh fruit, so I spent some time picking and selling the fruit.

Bad news... I fell in a hole again. I really need to pay more attention to my surroundings.

Shopping! I bought a fortune cookie, got my fortune, and received a Toad hat. Does it suit me? I checked out the Able Sisters shop, and they were selling a crown. Unfortunately, it's a bit outside of my budget.

There was a reminder about the upcoming Fishing Tourney on the notice board. I definitely would have forgotten about it, so that was nice.

Next up it was time for a trip to Tortimer Island. I caught lots of beetles and sold them once I was back in Seoul. With my newfound riches, I was able to finish funding the café! I can't wait to enjoy some coffee~

Briar · Mar 16, 2025

Day Seven

Finally, the day of the fishing tourney arrived! We were tasked with catching crucian carp. I made sure to stop and chat with a few villagers who were also participating in the tourney. Through my efforts, I managed to earn a jellyfish lamp, marine pop wall, puffer-fish TV, red-snapper chair, and a gold fish trophy! Eunice, my queen, came in second place, and Papi came in third. Out of all the prizes I received, the jellyfish lamp has to be my favorite.

At some point during the tourney, I took a break to check out the newly opened café. I enjoyed a fresh cup of coffee.

I also received the solemn painting I purchased from Redd yesterday in the mail. It was donated to the museum of course.

I added a new badge to my collection, the Skilled Angler badge!

There were two new notices on the notice board. One was about the new café, and the other was about cherry blossoms. I can't wait to see them bloom!

I love Sable.

Briar · Mar 17, 2025

Day Eight

After the fishing tourney yesterday, I was ready for a chill day today. The first thing I did after leaving my house was to go say my final farewells to Diva.

Once I was done with that, I checked out the notice board. Tomorrow is Shamrock Day! I'll have to remember to wear green.

Then it was time for the daily shopping trip. I made sure to chat with Sable and Mabel of course.

I finished the day with a trip to Tortimer Island for some more beetle catching.

All in all, today was a good day. I didn't even fall in a hole!

Briar · Mar 19, 2025

Day Nine

I woke up to find a letter in my mailbox. It was a goodbye letter from Diva.

Since it was Shamrock Day, I made sure to throw on some green clothing, talk to Isabelle, and make use of the photo stand-in!

After that I headed to Re-Tail to sell the beetles I caught yesterday. This gave me enough funds to finish paying off my home loan! For the next addition to my house, I opted for a secret storeroom. I'm tired of random items littering the ground around Seoul...

I finished the day with a bit of shopping.

Days since I last fell in a hole: 2

Briar · Mar 20, 2025

Day Ten

I started the day off with my daily shopping trip.

Next I headed to the campground and ordered a leaf bed from Nat.

Time for a coffee break!

After enjoying my cup of coffee, I headed to Nook's Homes. Tom Nook congratulated me on my secret storeroom and introduced me to Lottie. I then attended a seminar she was hosting. Once I completed the seminar, I went to the post office next door and paid off my home loan. I decided on a basement for my next home expansion.

Next it was time to make use of my new secret storeroom. I collected items that were scattered around Seoul as well as the items in my room on the second floor and put them all into the storeroom. Everything looks so much nicer now~

My house is cockroach free!

I finished the day by helping Gulliver again. He's headed to Scotland this time.

Days since I last fell in a hole: 3

Briar · Mar 20, 2025

Day Eleven

I started the day by checking my mail. I had a letter from the campground with my leaf bed and a letter from Gulliver with a gift from Scotland, bagpipes!

After that I headed inside to check out my new basement.

As I walked through the town I ran into Broffina, who challenged me to a game of hide-and-seek. I came out victorious in the end, and Broffina gave me steel flooring as a prize.

Redd was visiting again, and this time I purchased a worthy painting from him.

I finished the day with my daily cup of coffee, my daily shopping trip, and my daily chat with Sable and Mabel. Mabel gave me a mannequin!

Days since I last fell in a hole: 4

Briar · Mar 22, 2025

Day Twelve

I received the worthy painting I ordered from Redd, and I donated it to the museum.

Went on my daily shopping trip, and Sable has a sewing machine now!

After I finished drinking my daily cup of coffee, Brewster informed me that I'll be able to get takeout coffee starting tomorrow!

Katrina was visiting, so I stopped by her tent to have my fortune read.

Jack was at the campground, so we chatted a bit, but I didn't order anything from him.

I need more bells to pay off the loan for my basement, so I finished the day with a trip to Tortimer Island for more beetle catching~

Days since I last fell in a hole: 5

Briar · Mar 23, 2025

Day Thirteen

It seems we're getting a new resident in Seoul: Cousteau!

I bought my first takeout coffee, and we held a grand completion ceremony for the café! I feel like perhaps we should have held that sooner, but better late than never~

I sold the beetles I caught yesterday and used the bells to pay off my home loan. The next addition to my home will be a new room on the left side of the first floor.