James collected us from the airbnb early,
and then we were on our way.We turned down the road, away from the hustle and
bustle of touristy Myeong-Dong and further down to where the locals were, at
Cheong Gye Cheon, to tall skycrapers with glass windows and steel supports. The
roads were empty, but James brought us down the stairs to a wall of history.
James told us that the scenery would've
been much more breathtaking if we had chosen to go during any other season. As
luck (and poor planning on my part) would have it, we went during winter, where
the leaves have all dropped and the branches were bare, still, the murals on
one side of the path provided us with rich history.
"In the second lunar month of 1795,
King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, accompanied by his
mother, Queen hyegyeonggung Hong, visited the tomb of his father, Prince Sado,
at Hwaseong to commemorate his father's 60th birthday. Upon returning to Seoul,
the king ordered the compilation of Wonhaeng Eulmyeo Jeongni Eugawae, a column
of sketches commemorating King Jeongjo's royal progress to Suwon."
"This book includes paintings showing
the royal processsion departing from Changdeokgung Palace and crossing
Gwangtonggyo Bridge to Hwaseon with an entourage of 1,779 people and 779
horses. The most talented court painters, including Kim Hong-do, were
commissioned to produce this piece. It fully expresses the dignity and authority
of the royal court and the free-spirited and joyful mood of the people."
"This piece is of great historical
value as it is both a genre painting and a documentary painting on the royal
court. It provides insight into the formalities, customers, and composition of
a royal procession of the times."
We weren't quite sure where we were at this
point, but it was very pretty, and James knew the way to the palace, so we just
let him lead the way.
Unbeknownst to us, we were a mere hour's
walk away from one of the ongoing demonstrations that called for the
resignation of President Park. It was interesting, seeing people set up props
for the peaceful demonstration. There were even camps along the path, for those
willing to stay the night. Police were stationed as well, but they were a
distance away.
But first, we managed to find our way to
the Sejong Center, where there's a mini underground museum where we could read
the story of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sunshin.
There was also an assortment of historical
recreations that was accompanied by english translations!
We spent a little while here, since both of
us were more excited to be going to the palace. The palace was named Gyeongbokgung Palace, the "Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven" with mount Bugaksan to its rear and Mount Namsan in the foreground. The site of the palace was in the heart of seoul. The main royal Palace was completed in 1395, 3 years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded by King Taejo.
You can have a virtual tour of the Palace on their official website here: Royal Palace. If you only have time for one Palace visit in Korea, make it this one. It's the oldest , largest, and grandest of the Palaces.
James revealed that the reason he wanted us
there early was in order for us to experience the guard-changing ceremony. The guard's bright colored costumes and reenactment of the original ceremony is worth experiencing. The performance times are as follows:
Sumunjang (Royal Guard) Changing Ceremony
10:00, 14:00 / 20 minutes per ceremony
Gwanghwamun Gate Guard-on-Duty Performance
11:00, 13:00 / 10 minutes per ceremony
Sumungun (Gatekeeper) Military Training (outside Hyeopsaengmun Gate)
09:30, 13:30 / 15 minutes per ceremony
We entered the palace shortly after the
guard change, and then waited for James to get our tickets. ^^ Have I mentioned James is the best? In the meantime, we took a few selfies! ^^
The first gate of the palace can be
entered without tickets, but the second required purchasing tickets, which
were pretty cheap at 3,000 won per person 19 and above, and 1,500won for ages 7-18. It's free for those ages 6 and under.
The palace was brimming with tourists, and
there were more than a few tour groups that spoke english and brought along
with them a parade of tourists like us.
I always found it a little easier to travel
away from big tour groups and take our time looking and what the palace has to
offer and just enjoy the experience.
After all, views like these is best experienced without the chatter of
the crowd and a million other people in your picture. :)
However, if you're curious about the history of the palace and want to learn more, there are free guided tour that's available in 3 languages, English, Chinese, and Japanese at different times. Tours last for an hour to and hour and thirty minutes with a limit of 30. Individuals of less than 10 people can just join the tour on a walk-in basis, or you'd need to make a reservation.
| Tour in foreign languages English : 11:00, 13:30, 15:30 Japanese : 10:00, 12:30, 14:30 Chinese : 10:30, 12:30, 14:00, 16:00 |
We exited through the back, where James
pointed out we could see the residence of the now-former president of South
Korea, President Park as well as Mount Bugaksan. This is the Cheongwadae Presidential Blue House, so named because of the blue roof (probably?). There were security guards around us to make sure we didn't try to trespass, but they were fine with pictures. :)
Instead of heading back, James brought us
further down the road, where we noticed that there were more and more armed
police as well as their busses. James duly informed us that the trial was
taking place at the
courthouse, but we should just keep going our way.
Look at James,
walking behind the police force as if he's one of them. They were very aloof about us being in their way and walking together with them, which is really nice. ^^ We enjoyed walking
alongside South Korea's police force. Made us feel important. XD
James brought us to the traditional,
less-travelled part of Seoul, where we could see the ways of living, away from
the city area. The houses were all distinct and wonderfully designed, created
with their own peculiarities. Afterwards, he treated us to a wonderfully spicy
seafood platter.
The meal was interesting and nothing like
what we're used to, and way too much for three. I wish we could tapao this back
home, but alas, it was too much.
James had a bottle of soju in the midst of
the meal while we opted for plain water alongside the savory dish. As usual, it
was accompanied by several side dishes that were part sour and part spicy.
Afterwards, we continued our journey to
Insadong Free Market, where we enjoyed cheaper street food and several sounvenir
shops.
Away from the touristy areas, the items are
significantly cheaper. Insadong has everything you could dream of buying, from the wide choices of food, to galleries of art, tea, traditional clothing, more food, and souvenirs. There's also the occasional event taking place, which in our case, was a traditional music show! ^^
We weren't looking to buy more things, so James asked if we were interested in seeing the local fishmarket.
We were curious enough that we agreed. Noryangjin fish market was a short train
ride away.
Kuching, Sarawak, where I'm from, is quite
well known for our seafood but Noryangjin's fish market took it to another
level altogether. The seafood here must've grown in the land of giants. Fish
were so fresh they were still moving (except for the obviously dead one in the
picture above) and they were gigantic!
We enjoyed looking at all the seafood available, but I would recommend this place not for the exotic fish, but for the fact that you can choose the fish here, pay for said fish, and then request for them to be cooked in the stalls they have either attatched to the fish vendors, or upstairs, where there were restaurants ready to cook the seafood you've just purchased for a fair price!
Seeing as we arrived freshly having eaten lunch, we skipped on the meal option. But honestly, I'd recommend this place for a nice lunch or dinner. The trip by train is easy enough, since the Noryangjin stop is directly opposite the fish market.
Afterwards, James brought us to Dongdaemun so we could have a view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the newest and most iconic landmark of the Korean design industry. The peculiar building is designed by world renowned architect, Zaha Hadid and the plaza is th eworld's largest atypical architecture. There's five halls in the plaza, Art Hall, Museum, Design Lab, Design Market, and Dongaemun History and Culture Park.
The Design Market is the one that we wandered into, and that offered cultural experiences as well as some shopping. ^^ The Art hall, as the name suggests, is where trade shows, exhibitions, fashion shows, concerts and performances take place. James told us that it's worth staying till the sun sets and enjoy the night view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, while he had to head back to the office.
It was an absolute pleasure visiting so many places alongside James. And it's also quite miraculous how much walking we did in one day. XD We literally walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace. How awesome is that? We wouldn't have been able to visit most of these places if not for James. We had so much travelling done and it was really worth the experience.
Since we were in Dongdaemun, my better half and I decided to take James's advice and stay the night instead of heading back to our room. Even with James's numerous intstructions on how to get back to our stop from the train, he didn't anticipate our lack of sense of direction, because once we exited the station, we completely forgot how to get back. Lol.
No matter. We needed to get food anyways! Street food in Dongdaemun is literally half the price of food in Myeong dong! We had a ridiculous amount of food. We had a custard red bean bun for 2000won, bacon bun microwaved 3500won (this tasted pretty bad. :( ), and 3 Cabbage buns for 6000won. We originally bought one, and liked it so much we came back for more, We also stood had a fish cake and fish roll for 1000won each.
I also got a strawberry crepe with nutella for 3500won, which is stupidly delicious. We walked past a fruit stall, where I bought a pack of ~10 pessimons for 5000won. They were delicious af.
After a few wrong twists and turns, we managed to get our way back to the Design Center, which really is beautiful at night. A magnificently designed marvel that gives you the best opportunity for camwhoring sessions like this one!
Unfortunately, by this time I was starting to feel a bit under the weather, so we called it a day and headed back to the hotel... after spending a little while looking for the train. Lol. The train ride back to Myeong Dong was 1250won per person.
I purchased 13,900won's worth of masks as souvenirs for friends and family. ^^ I had already started to lose my apetite by the end of the long day, but my better half had a better immune system and continued eating! He wanted to have McDonalds of all things! So we ordered a burger with bacon strips!
This cost 8,900won and is worth every won! It was delicious! Well, what little I tasted anyways. Someone (not me) ate most of it while I wasn't paying attention. Lol.
Total Expenses: 47,000 won / RM183
Majority of today's tour was curtesy of James and Triba-East Travels.
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