When in Seoul: Explore Gyeongbokgung Palace

Missing Gyeongbokgung Palace when in Seoul is like missing Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei or Fort Santiago in Manila. One can’t say he or she’s been to that particular country without visiting such historical landmark—there is so much to see and feel in terms of history, and of course, culture. And for a landmark that’s such a standout in the city, it’s not hard to overlook this piece of history.

I was filled with much awe the moment I saw Gyeongbokgung close up. It was that type of landmark you would see on Korean historical dramas, and it sort of felt unreal. More than the artifacts and ornaments we saw at the Folk Museum, this place truly gave me a chance to immerse myself in Korean culture—minus the hanbok traditional clothing and what not. Nevertheless, it was a lovely feeling.

You know, just casually windblown… haha.

The admission fee varies for adults and kids. We got our tickets for 4,500 won each. For a wonderful and maintained landmark like this, it’s hard to believe it only cost around 135 pesos that time! Relatively cheap, if you ask me. And worth it. Korea lead me to a lot of surprises, actually. Surprisingly affordable things are just a few of them.

Joy’s baon which she shared with us that day—barley tea (called màichá in Mandarin—yep, I am amazed!) and sweet rice drink.

Gyeongbokgung Palace offers quite a lot of traditional activities like monthly tea ceremonies and calligraphy sessions. We experienced neither, unfortunately.

When you’ve gone past the palaces, there is this stream you’ll pass by. With the clean, green waters, it was so calming and serene to look at.

And another regret… I swear we only had like less than 10 touristy pictures with our faces actually in it throughout the trip. I don’t know why either. Haha.Media men from Korean TV stations such as KBS, MBC and SBS were present during that time for some reason I’m quite unsure about. It was a cool scenario.

I haven’t been to a lot of capitals but I have to say that Seoul is one of the most genuinely beautiful ones out there! There’s always that contrast of tall buildings and towering skyscrapers with mountain views—don’t forget the palaces and temples that add culture and vibrance to the city. It’s a beautiful mix of everything.

When in Seoul: Walk around Insadong

A close friend of mine in class was telling me about her day trip to Korea happening days after graduation and I was so excited for her as she showed me a paper of her itinerary! One of which written was Insadong, a place in Korea I truly enjoyed. It then prompted me to start adding words to this post that has been sitting in my drafts for quite a long time.

Among all the destinations included in the Seoul city tour bus itinerary, Insadong was my favorite because of the Ssamziegil complex located there. The beautiful mix of art, culture, and pretty things gives off this unique charm that makes this happy place so admirable.

Ssamziegil is basically a mall composed of shops located in small spaces that sell one-of-a-kind, fancy trinkets. A lot of them sell unique pieces of accessories, paintings, and music boxes. I love how it’s open-air—it gives you that cozy and homey feeling. The neon lampshades break the monotone color of the complex and it makes the place all the more visually appealing!

Insadong, in general, sells a variety of cultural crafts (from fans to bags, and from calligraphy materials to jars), souvenirs, artworks, accessories, clothing, and tea.

It was here where I had what was probably the best snack I had in Korea—ddong bbang! It literally translates to poop bread, as Joy mentioned. I really don’t know what is up with poop these days (there’s the famous toilet-themed restaurant in Taiwan, then poop-shaped bread in Korea), but I think it is such an absurd yet adorable concept.

It was for 1,000 won which is around 30 pesos, and I must say—it was so good! Totally worth the price. It had this bread/pancake texture and had walnuts in every bite. I didn’t even know what the filling was made of but I loved every bit of it. Tonight, I found out that it was made of red bean. Now I know why. Ahh… everything red bean is so good, from that fish bread ice cream to milk tea (and the song with that as the title which happens to be my favorite). I was actually tempted to buy a few to bring back home, but… yeah. Me and my regrets again.

Poop bread, I still dream of you.

YoonA’s signature! (Sorry, I mistakenly wrote BoA at first. Honest mistake.)

See that guy wearing blue standing by the sidewalk on the left? He was playing the violin with the case opened for some spare change! Pretty random but I love seeing things like this. It’s so… movie-esque. When we saw this view again from the building an hour after or so, he wasn’t there anymore. We were like, “Aww, he’s gone!”.

I love this place. It’s too artsy for words.

Poop again! I do not understand. But I am fascinated by the pretty toilet above.

I really don’t know if it’s just me, but Ssamziegil really gave me that hipster feel. I heard that there are more “hipster” places in Korea such as the Hongdae district… but this was quite hipster to me already, and maybe that’s why I like it? Hmm… just a joke. Haha.

Ombre-ish skies, a contrast of mountains with high-rise buildings and small establishments, wall scribbles… a favorite picture of mine of the trip to date.

I was glad to see a photobooth for a photo op! The pictures taken were sent directly to e-mail, although I wish they were printed straight from the machine instead. In that way, it would make things feel so “real”. It was actually one of our few pictures with us actually in it. I think we only have around five pictures or less (with our faces) throughout the whole trip? Another regret… again!

Joy was so persistent in letting me try this. She kept on forcing me to buy but my sore throat and the expensive price of it (almost 100 pesos!) didn’t really permit me to. It looked like normal ice cream to me, I thought, so I wasn’t too keen on trying it. It turned out to be Turkish ice cream which had this distinct consistency. But that wasn’t the fun part actually—it probably took a minute or two for it to be served! The ice cream man did all these weird tricks (like turning the cone upside down, dancing as he was flipping and twisting the ice cream scooper…my lack of descriptive words makes it hard to explain) before handing the ice cream to me—no, he abruptly stuck the ice cream to my teeth. Haha. I was just staring the whole time, so shocked with what was happening. I had no clue of what was gonna happen, so imagine my face. What an experience! Joy and her brother were just looking at me like I was an idiot or something. I wish they had videoed it to immortalize the hilarious happening.

Forgive the semi-annoying and tired faces.

Random, shallow realization: if we call our promos buy 1, take 1, in Korea, it’s 1 plus 1!

After almost two hours of touring the place, we had our early dinner at one of the restaurants in the streets of Insadong. Comfort food, if I must say. Had bibimbap, really delicious soup, spicy crab claws (gahd, I need to familiarize myself with Korean food vocabulary…). Then off we hopped to the subway to head home. In between that, we had a stopover at Kyobo Bookstore for some window-shopping and music album-hunting. It’s where I got a watch half its price which I wear to school every single day! I love a great steal. And can I just say that it was where I held a C-pop album (physically) for the first time in my whole life? Yeah, my likes are pretty unusual… it’s in another country where I get the chance to fulfill my interests. Haha, so annoyingly high maintenance.

I wasn’t able to take snapshots of everything I saw and passed by. A lot of the stores didn’t allow cameras to be brought out. Also, I found things here to be a bit expensive as well, as it is a tourist destination. The prices are nowhere near rock bottom, compared to the underground markets at train stations. But then, that’s fine with me. I didn’t bring anything home, but exploring such a pretty place was the most fulfilling and satisfying part of it!

When in Seoul: Shop at Myeongdong

Local brands, high street stuff, known and familiar names, and no brand shops make up the renowned shopping district of Myeongdong. You will see that tourists and locals alike thrive to the place for some shopping. A bit pricey in quite a lot of stores, but very affordable in a handful as well. I love how the establishments are all compacted together in buildings that are quite high. It really gives that distinct Myeongdong feel.

This was our one of our first stops in Seoul and this was where we had our late lunch (really awesome street food!), bought three Face Shop nail polishes for less than a hundred pesos, and got quite a lot of Korean beauty samples randomly handed to us by salesladies!

Myeongdong is such a happy place. You see and hear at least four different languages written and spoken here. Korea is so tourist-friendly, it’s amazing. The red banner above is written in Chinese. What I like about stores and shops in Korea (in general) is that there is at least someone who can speak Japanese or Chinese to assist you as you buy. Of course I took advantage of that opportunity, not by speaking, of course, but by listening to people conversing. Tested my non-existent skills. Hehe. You also get to see random guy groups dancing to G-Dragon’s music and people playing their instruments for a tip or two.

On a semi-unrelated note, a random seller actually talked to me in Chinese! It wasn’t in Myeongdong but in either Namdaemun or Dongdaemun market (I’ve got a terrible memory). As we were walking, the man selling in one of the booths said something in Chinese to me. I actually don’t remember what the sentence was, but all I remember was replying, “我不会中文！“ then ran away laughing like an idiot because I realized what I said was wrong (I think it can be used in chatting or what, but yeah). I missed one word which was “说” (say) so it pretty much came off weird. Well, with what I said, I wasn’t lying anyway right? Haha. But then, him talking to me in Chinese means he thought I was Chinese? I wonder what was in his head right after. I didn’t fool anyone!

One of our biggest regrets was not buying stuff. Since it was only me and my brother depending on each other on budgeting our money, we would say no to purchases most of the time. Joy was our living conscience and she would always tell us, “Buy! Buy! Buy!!” My brother and I were so afraid that we would spend all our pocket money and not have a single cent left. We were too overwhelmed that we barely bought anything! Looking back, I could have bought so many more things because they were relatively cheap.

Would you believe I didn’t even buy any article of clothing throughout the trip? I don’t know what was going on my head… I was already in the land of pretty clothing. There were denim jeans in the perfect shade of blue being sold in the underground shopping markets for three hundred pesos and I didn’t even buy. I have so many regrets about this trip that even up this day I cringe. Joy was right. We should have bought, bought, bought. Haha. 

This was our lunch! Joy, her oppa, my oppa, and I shared these two plates of ddeokbokki and sausages with a name I’m unsure of. Served with them were warm tea. Street food can make you feel fulfilled so easily. 

When in Seoul: Visit Gwangjang Market

I was sorting some of my stuff lying around the house when I came across a postcard of the Namsan Tower that had the most touching dedication at the back of it. Then I just realized that it has been exactly four months since our trip to Korea happened. I clearly remember that during this very moment in May, we were fixing our luggage and trying to fit our pasalubong into the boxes we got at E-mart, with Joy’s dad helping us tie the red straw around the boxes to keep them secured, even if it was way past his sleeping time. The hospitality of Koreans is just one of a kind.

Aside from posting a vlog, I haven’t really said much on the trip. I’ve always wondered how I would be able to make entries that wouldn’t be too lengthy, and now I’d thought of a way to post them in a logical manner by making a When in Korea series of sorts. Hopefully it’ll be something I’d be able to do religiously.

I first heard of Gwangjang Market when my brother and I were watching an episode of K-Pop Star Hunt on Channel M way back last year, and the contestants were sent to a mission to visit different places in Seoul, and they were tasked to taste the different kinds of food sold at the market and to take a picture of the dish which they think is the most famous. That show was so cool, by the way, and we’ve been faithful followers of it ever since season one. I don’t think there’s anyone around me who has heard of the show (even Joy isn’t familiar with it) probably because it airs on a channel that is only provided by the cable we are subscribed to. Basically it is a talent search for people around our age (or older) who hail from different countries of Asia and are sent to Korea and are trained to be, well, K-pop stars. If there weren’t any Filipino contestants I don’t think I would have bothered watching it, haha. Season three’s auditions are ongoing and I can’t wait for the show to resume again!

I remember Joy asking me during school days what places we wanted to go to in Seoul so that she could plan our itinerary and I would always mention this place and she would respond, “What’s that?” and I would always say, “What? I saw it on TV!!” The place never rang a bell to her. She never even knew it existed… haha.

The traditional market sold everything from fresh fish to ceramic plates. It was also hanbok heaven, as what we coined it to be as we were walking.

 

Seeing products that come all the way from the Philippines literally put a smile on my face!

But of course, we went here for what else but food. The three of us shared lunch, having a plate of drug kimbap (ever since the TV show, the ‘drug’ part of the name has always made me curious… would it be that addictive? haha), cold barley tea, kimchi pancake, and deep fried vegetables coated in batter… I think they were called yachae twigim. There are so many food stalls to choose from that serve a variety of Korean food, while some that sell the same, exact dish, so you’ll be lucky if the stall you end up sitting at serves the cheaper or more delicious one.

When you walk out of the place a bit, you get to see Cheonggyecheon. The water was so clear that you can see fish and ducks swimming. We crossed the stream to get to the nearby establishments in the area such as department stores that sell clothes… think of the stall-like type such as Greenhills.

I haven’t been to a lot of places but I’d like to think that Korea sure is one of the most photogenic places on earth!