This so-called series of blog posts does not serve as a detailed travel guide for those wishing to venture the wonderful land of K-Dramas and K-Pop. I'm just going to put lots of pictures and insert anything worth mentioning that happened during my trip there. Okay..
Our flight to Seoul was at 9 am? (I can't remember LOL) but I do remember it was around 5-6 hours of journey by plane. I was so thirsty and bored. I hate long-distance journey on flight.
I had no idea why I ordered this for the flight meal. (pre-booked).
Vegetarian food. Plus tak sedap. I couldn't stomach this. I could never become a vegetarian. I ended up not finishing it. T__T
We arrived at Incheon International Airport at around 4 pm (local time). If it's Malaysian time, it was 3 pm. The pilot announced that the temperature was about 12 degrees celsius. It's okay. I could withstand cold environment. I'd even experienced winter before! Went to Incheon, had to wait for a long queue at the immigration, looking around, collected our luggage, went to a counter that rent 'Wifi-Egg' because you need wifi/good internet connection while you're there, then off to take the subway to our guesthouse located in Shinchon, Seoul, which is really near to Ewha Women's University. In fact, we got to our place of accommodation through Ewha Women University's exit. Hey wait, no need to explain so much. Fine!
Incheon International Airport
In the Airport Subway Train
When we arrived at our station, we went to the GS25 Convenience Store (Like 7E in Malaysia) and bought this famous Banana Milk! It tasted amazing, still lingering on my tongue, LOL.
I waited here, drinking my banana milk while waiting for my friends to buy their T-Money cards (kind of like Oyster card or any subway/public transport card). And oh, I forgot. I bought a Tuna Onigiri too. I checked the ingredients. Nothing suspicious. I asked the ahjumma there in broken Korean "Gogi isseoyo?" (is there any meat in this onigiri I don't even know whether my pronunciation's correct LOL belasah je la) and she said no. All right!
Even though it was spring, the temperature is just 'suam-suam sejuk', LOL. You can just wear a normal cardigan. It was like air-conditioner temperature only.
Ewha/Shinchon
A restaurant
Our Hostel, yes! Shin Chon Hostel.
Had to climb 2 storeys to get to our room. There's an elevator on the first floor (not ground floor) though, LOL.
Tadaa! Quite pleasant-looking right? A bunk bed (I occupied the top bunk, as usual), single bed with a bathroom. And oh, a funny thing that happened was, I asked the staff there "Why isn't the air cond functioning?" and he said "We turned off the air-cond during Spring (LOL) and instead turned on the heater," Duh, it was around 12 degrees celsius. Nak sejuk mana lagi...
Went to 7E again. (7E is our saviour everywhere!) and bought this again. Haha.
Okay, so the next day, we woke up to an early start.
Convenient Breakfast in front of the Convenience Store that is 7E. Instant rice, bought from 7E whereby you can just microwave it for 1 minute, kimchi, tuna and of course, Banana Milk, this time blue in colour. I prefer the original one. This tastes less banana-ny (?) I guess. I absolutely loved the weather. I loved sitting next to the road, eating peacefully with the soft wind ruffling our tudung, plus the sunshine was bright and welcoming, yet it wasn't scorching hot at the same time.
So steep! (Inside subway station)
And we reached Gwanghamun Square! The statue of King Sejong the Great greeted us the foreign commoners to his Kingdom.
It is stated here that King Sejong created the Hangul alphabets to replace the complex Chinese characters. Thanks to him, I also know how to read a bit of Hangul.
The two commoners and Jeonha.
Lo and Behold, Gyeongbokgung! Or Gyeongbok Palace. It's not Gyeongbokgung Palace as the suffix 'gung' already means 'Palace' in Korean. Now that's a Korean language lesson for you. Don't embarrass yourself when you're there.
LOL. Malaysians di mana-mana sahaja. But, isn't this a splendid view?
Throne Hall. Reminds me of the 'Hall of Supreme Harmony' in Forbidden City, Beijing.
I love old, historical structures!
Being a K-Drama fan (especially Sageuk dramas), I couldn't help but to visualise the people of the ancient days walking along various paths in the Palace compound. One of my favourite Sageuk dramas, 'Dae Jang Geum' was also filmed in Gyeongbokgung.
I tried to find the real Royal Kitchen (not the one in Dae Jang Geum Theme Park/MBC Dramia) but to no avail. I then discovered that the Royal Kitchen, 'Sojubang' was destroyed long ago during Japanese Invasion in 1592. Cis!
Queen's Palace Backyard
Queen's Garden. Not that impressive, to tell the truth.
We walked and walked and walked, and we chanced upon this amazing view.
Hyangwonjeong Pavillion.
So beautiful! I captured this picture myself. No filter! *proud*
This is the pavillion from 'The Moon that Embraces the Sun;.
Okayla, since I'm so in love and infatuated with this beautiful place, I dig out the history of it.
Taken from www.royalpalace.go.kr
"When Geoncheonggung Palace Residence was built, King Gojong redesigned the Palace's back garden. An artificial islet was created in the middle of the pond, on which a hexagonal pavilion was built with the name Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, meaning the “Pavilion of Far-Reaching Fragrance” The bridge across the pond was named Chwihyanggyo, meaning "intoxicated with fragrance."
In 1873, when King Gojong built Geoncheonggung Palace, he had a pond dug to the south, with an islet created in the middle. A two-tier hexagonal pavilion, built on the islet, was named Hyangwonjeong Pavilion and the wooden bridge leading to it was called Chwihyanggyo.
Chwihyanggyo Bridge was the longest wooden bridge constructed on a pond during the Joseon Dynasty. At present, the wooden bridge from the south provides access to the islet, but the bridge was originally on the north side to be reached from Geoncheonggung Palace. In 1953, the bridge was moved to the south side of the pond. The sources of the pond are underground water and a spring coming down from the mountain at the back of the Palace. The water eventually flows into the pond where Gyeonghoeru Pavilion stands."
There is a museum next to Gyeongbokgung. I love museums! But I didn't really spend much time there as I would have wanted to because my two friends do not really have the interest to know about Korean History, LOL.
And, end of trip to Gyeongbokgung. Next, we went to Bukchon Hanok Village! Bukchon Village is the place where the high officials and rich merchants of the Joseon Dynasty used to stay, as it's located just next to Gyeongbokgung. 'Hanok' means 'Traditional'.
It's not an ordinary village. This village is located at a hilly area whereby there were a lot of stairs and you need to have a good stamina to hike up through the village. Luckily we're still young, LOL.
So tiring!
And, we found a place where we could rent hanboks and take pictures.
The owner was the one who chose the outfits for us and she purposely gave me this ensemble. She said softly as though not to let anyone hear "This is the best one, very beautiful. You are lucky," LOL whyyyy.... But I do admit I loved my outfit. The material of the chima (skirt) is made of organza. It's just that I wanted to try the 'Princess' hanbok as well. Isn't that supposed to be the best one? *raised eyebrows*
At your service!
We exited Bukchon Hanok Village and headed off to Insadong, after much difficulties and loss of direction. We were hungry! And at Insadong, we went to this Vegetarian Restaurant. I can vouch that it is really a vegetarian restaurant as I saw an elderly monk having meal there with his family.
no, no monks seen here.
My friend right (not gonna tell which one hahah ), she was very greedy, LOL. She ordered two dishes just for herself, thinking that she could finish both by herself because she was so famished! And when those dishes arrived, the three of us couldn't believe that the portions would be this big! That big bowl of bibimbap (mixed rice) on the far right there? That's mine. (I only ordered that one). Filled with vegetables and rice. I couldn't finish the whole bowl. Like I said earlier, I could never become a vegetarian. I love vegetables, but I need my dose of meat too! I'm an omnivore! And well, my friend (the greedy one) regretted it. HAHAHA.
We just walked around the shopping streets of Insadong and didn't buy anything.
The Busy Street of Insadong.
So, done with Insadong, where to, next?
We decided to continue with the plan and go to Cheonggyecheon Stream, located at a walking distance away from Insadong.
Crystal Clear Cool Refreshing Water!!!!
Nothing much to see here, only that this place gets lively during night time, whereby the lamps along the stream would be lit up.
We decided to go to one last place before heading home (or so we thought). I wanted to go to Dongdaemun, to see the Seoul City Wall, also featured in the Korean Drama 'King 2 Hearts'. But it seemed like we couldn't find any signs of ancient walls in this modern city of Seoul. Initially, we thought that the Seoul City Wall must have been located in the suburbs, just like the Great Wall of China. We were sure that we had taken the right direction, using Google Maps and all but where is this freaking Seoul City Wall?
And alas, I discovered that it was hidden next to the tall building behind us. T__T Seriously, didn't realise that there was a mountain beside it.
Again, we had to hike all the way up the Naksan Mountain to get the best view of Seoul. Doesn't matter, I had, after all won a medal for climbing up the Great Wall of China, LOL.
At the base of the Naksan Mountain
You could see Namsan Tower at the top of the Namsan Mountain (of which we climbed it up the next day, LOL).
The three pharmacists
Anyway, the view from up there was spectacular!
And upon descending, we stopped by the Ihwa Mural Village, a location featured in various Korean dramas, one of them is 'Rooftop Prince'.
We stopped by a grocery store and bought some chu-chu bars (got to know its existence from the K-Drama 'Full House'). It's like Aiskrim Malaysia/ Popsicles.
Then, darkness was approaching. We decided to go to our last destination for the day, Hangang/ Han River.
Actually, we wanted to join the Han River Cruise but due to some mis-directions (aka getting lost), with lots of walking, aching feet, hungry stomachs, we ended up being in the less 'romantic' part of Han River.
It was the dark, gloomy part beneath the bridge. There were strangers, big dogs, murky river water with a repulsive stench. It was quite a dangerous place to be, and if it's in Malaysia, it is definitely NOT a place that I would venture. But I don't know, Korea just feels safe. In fact I felt safer in Korea than in Malaysia. Plus I don't think they'd dare to disturb foreigners, and perhaps with our tudung-wearing appearances, we didn't even attract the attention of any member from the opposite gender there, which is good! Hahaha .
We sat by the river bank enjoying the night view, sharing the kimbap my friend bought from the convenience store earlier. We talked about many things, doing a proper catch-up session with each other to make up for the past one year we haven't seen each other, PRP life, etc. It was a nice feeling.
Alas, time to go back to our hostel. Again, we had trouble to locate the nearest subway station, resulting in more walking and running across dark, secluded playgrounds (scary!) and tadaaa we found the subway station! We reached Ewha before 12 midnight and had a good night sleep, snoring.
To recap, on our first day here, we went to
- Shinchon/Ewha (Women University Street)
- Gwanghamun Square
- Gyeongbokgung
- Bukchon Hanok Village
- Insadong
- Dongdaemun, Seoul City Wall and Ihwa Mural Village
- Cheonggyecheon Stream
- Han River
This is the end of the Episode 1 of 'Spring in Seoul' series. Do tune in next week for the next episode, where I'll show you around:
- Namsan Park/Mountain/Tower as featured in 'Boys Over Flowers' and 'My Lovely Sam Soon'
- Myeongdong Shopping Street- where we shopped a lot lot lot. (at least, my friends did).
- Itaewon- The Best Place to get Halal foods in Korea!
EDIT: Forget it. So lazy already want to write about my experiences in Korea. It's been too long.
2 comments:
gah, I miss Seoul! Thanks for the walk down the memory lane, Sarah :p
Me too! I miss Seoul! Had such an amazing time there hahaha. You're welcome. Hope you're enjoying Barcelona! :D
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