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!
