Sunday, 23 Oct

Bukcheon Hanok Village

It is officially our first day in Seoul. I plan to meet two of my friends in anguk station. We walked in to Bukcheon Hanok Village which it is close by to the station. I already prepared for a hiking trip at that day but in reality it was quite short trip. Naver Map said it takes about twenty minutes walking from Bukcheon to Gyeongbukgung but we entered behind so it was quite close somehow, thanks to our friend who has been staying for about one year in Korea. We visited Bukcheon at early day but many people were already there.  We  were lost at the beginning but bumped into Baek Inje Hanok Museum. We went straight down from Bukcheon to National Folk Museum.

Seoul Square (Gyeongbukgung Palace, Gwanghwamun Gate, Sejong Statue, Yi Shun Sin Statue, Sejong Museum)

We entered Gyeongbukgung from National Folk Museum which is located right behind. Sadly, we missed the guard changing ceremonial. We visited in Sunday morning so there were a lot of students coming to see the palace and also there was a flea market in front of Gwanghwamun Gate. I didnt really watch any of colosal drama so the palace area is quite new for me. I am quite upset now since I finished watching Scarlet Heart Ryeo drama and fell in love with the characters, why I didnt spend a lot of time in the palace area. I took some pictures with the palace guards. They are so tall. I accidentally speak to the guard men if they were tired. Lol. They put so much effort on their make up as a guard and standing for hours there, meanwhile people try to hold their arm for taking photos. I believed that they are part timer workers, which it can be found easily all around the country. Part time job is a common situation in Korea.

Right in front of Gwanghwamun, you can find Sejong statue and Yi Shun Sin statue (also a museum behind the statue which is free). Finally, I entered one of the Running Man site, Yi Shun Sin museum, which is quite famous for the war ship.  There is also a big korean post office nearby if you search for postcards and korean stamp. They have a small place for traveller who want to pray for the victims of Sewol accident. I hold my tears at that time cause they displayed all the victims there and most of them are students. I hope that their families are strong and living well. Gwanghwamun square are packed with a flea market every sunday. They sell shoes, clothes, accesories, bags, hanbok etc. Hanbok is quite cheap there. My friends bought some hanbok for his friends. It was about 10.000 won or equal 10USD. My friend told me that he bought so many stuffs back then when he first came to Korea in Gwanghwamun flea market. They sell second hand clothes and shoes which are very cheap but original. I found Nike, Reebok etc was sold at 15.000 won or 15USD in a very good condition.  I bought a coat which it cost 10USD. What impressed me a lot is I found the biggest subway exit in my life lol, the Gwanghwamun station is located right in front of the statue.

Tongin Market

I was following Cory youtube channel diligently before I went to Korea. One of the attraction place that I want to visit the most is Tongin Market. We can walk from Gyeongbukgung palace to the market but we decide to take the bus. The bus directions are written in korean, so better if you want to visit Korea please learn korean alphabet first. We pay 5000 won for a doshirak/lunch box and we got 10 coins. You can exchange the coins with any kind of food in the market. We got odeng tteokpokki, pajeon, mayak kimbab (I desperately want to try this), fruit salad, and sikhye (finally I got it). We shared our lunch box for two cause you’ll get a lot in one lunch box. For moslem, be careful of what you want to eat cause some foods are mixed with meat, for the example : kimbab are mostly mixed with ham.

K-Style Hub

We were looking for praying room. I know that K-Style Hub has one. We took the bus from Tongin Market to K-Style Hub. I had one thing that I’m quite confused about the bus driver in Korea. Some of bus driver asked us to get off from the bus (K-Style Hub and Arirang). We found out from the bus display that the place is not that we were looking for. We got off and what we find is our destination. Whats happen here, exactly? Lol. I just ... still confused. It was raining at that time. My accuweather told me that it was 8 celcius. So cold. The K-Style building was warm enough to make us stay. You can pay for about 10.000 won for experiencing cooking class or crafting class, but make sure the class is available at the time your arrival. There are some photozone where you can take photos with your favorite YG artists such as 2NE1, Big Bang and PSY.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza

We missed the opening hours of DDP yesterday night so we try to visit one more time. DDP is not as amazing as I see in youtube. There are a lot of walking and all the place are covered in white so it was boring enough for me personally. I got some beautiful postcards here. They were sold at 1000-2000 won each. I personally think visiting DDP at night is a lot better.

Ewha Womens University

We got only tired in DDP so we head to Ewdae. Shit, this is the most regrettable place for me. Simply because I didnt see alot around the area. I walked only for about one hour here and missed the famous shopping street which located left side of the university. I told myself that I will be back to visit this area one more time next time. The area is not really that crowdy maybe because it was raining? I saw bunch of cosmetic store all around the street. I visited almost all the stores lol. There are a lot of 50% sales when I visited Missha store, especially for their cushion line. I visited the famous Ewdae entrance gate and I dont know that it is actually a big library! Gosh! The entrance gate is covered with library both on the left and right side. That was so beautiful.  When we got back to the subway, we asked a man around. We finally met someone who can speak english fluently. Manse!  

Hongik University

Of course, we dont want to miss the opportunitty visitting Hongdae. Again, we only walked for about 30 minutes here so we got nothing. I definitely will be back here! I didnt even see the famous street perfomance here. There are a lot of cafes. There are so many people here. I cant see any of quiet place, all were packed! I think the most generous cosmetics store (in term of sample) are found here. I bought only one wash off mask from SkinFood and they gave toner and emulsion sample, also two other sample. 

Third chapter will be uploaded in few days! Stay tune! Follow the updates by entering your e-mail address on the blog bar or simply click follow! See you!