Travelling.

Travelling.
Travelling leaves you speechless. Then turn you into a storyteller. Hope I have been a good one ^.^

Monday, January 13, 2014

Mr & Missy in Korea Day 13 (28 May 2013)

Rainy weather continued :(

Oh well, what to do? We gotta do what we gotta do! I was determined to find all the photo spots in Bukchon Hanok Village today haha Bukchon refers to the area between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Changdeokgung Palace featuring well-preserved traditional Korean Hanok houses. During the Joseon era, this village was populated by royal family members and aristocrats. Today, it is a popular spot for shooting films and TV dramas (Personal Taste, 2Days1Night).

 Relying on the "Pleasant Tour of Seoul on Foot" Map (courtesy of Seoul City), we started our walk from Exit 3 of Anguk Station, Line 3. 
도보 관광코스 경로 지도 이미지
Tada! We found our first spot! It offers a very nice view of the Changdeokgung Palace.






Not many tourists at 9:30 am!
Beautiful area, don't you agree?


Too bad there is a construction going on!
This photo ended up not very scenic :(

Around 10 am, we stopped by this cute quaint little cafe to get a caffeine fix for Mister.  According to him, their hand-drip coffee was one of the best he has ever had in Korea!

We somehow could not find spot 3! So frustrating! And we ended up at Gahoe Folk Art Museum. Do not be fooled by its small size.  The owners have so much talismans, amulets, folk paintings and classic books that they have to rotate the displays every month.  The Gahoe museum houses the most comprehensive collection of Korean shamanistic art in the world and a repository of Korean indigenous culture and beliefs.

We decided to get hands-on experience by painting our own coasters!  You would not double-charged for entrance to the museum and hands-on session.  You would only be charged for hands-on session and while waiting for the paint to be dried, the museum owner walked you through every display, explaining the significance of each item!
Look at what I painted!
However, you should skip on this activity (just explore the museum) if you are pressed for time as this could take up to 45 min.


Very nice museum owner lady who help us (Mister actually) with our coasters!



A random but nice Hanok House :D




We couldn't find photo spot 7 again! So frustrating! But Mister was getting really hungry. You know, boys and their stomach. So we headed to get some snack!

As you walk down the stone path in View 8, you will end up on the road called Samcheong-ro.  Turn right and just walk along this main road. You should see this cute little shop on the right after a short walk (after passing by a big government office compound).  The name of the shop is Seoulseo Duljjaero Jalhaneun Jip and they only open at 12 noon. 

We ordered their specialty - sweet red bean porridge with rice cakes, chestnuts and ginkgo nuts.  Although 6,000 Won is quite pricey for a dessert, we felt that it was totally worth it! It was not too sweet and not bland at all.  It warms you up especially on a cold rainy day! They sell healthy traditional teas other than desserts too.

We took a break for about 30 min in this cozy place and left only around 12:30 am.

We walked back towards the stone path and continued walking along the Samcheong-ro. Oh my, this road has so many cute cafes and pretty boutique stores!


Can a restaurant's name be anymore original? :D

Still on Samcheong-ro road, along the Gyeongbokgung Palace's wall

Still on Samcheong-ro road, along the Gyeongbokgung Palace's wall

Walk along Samcheong-ro road, 
Turn right and walk straight towards Exit 2 of Gyeongbokgung Station,
From exit 2, walk straight for less than 200 m till you see a convenience store GS25,
Turn left onto Jahamun-ro 5-gil road and 
you will see Tosokchon (토속촌), famous for their Ginseng Chicken Soup.


Tosokchon (토속촌) is usually very crowded during meal times with a long line outside the shop. That's why we only went there around 1:30 pm to avoid the lunch crowd.

 Ginseng Chicken Soup / Samgyetang (15,000 Won) served with a cup of ginseng liquor - we poured it into our soup.

They were very efficient.  Our Samgyetang was delivered barely 5 min after we placed our orders! Apparently, there are so many Chinese tourist customers that even the waiters are from China.  Back to the samgyetang, omg we both loved the soup! It was flavorful but not overwhelmed with ginseng taste.  Plus, chicken was very well-done with all the flavors infused! Such a good lunch for a rainy weather!

We left just before 2:30 pm as Mister has a class at 3 pm. I went back to my guesthouse to rest a bit before meeting Miss Jeong Ah for tea at 4:30 pm.  Thank you for bringing me to a pretty cafe and keeping me company ^-^

Mister's class ended at 6 pm and we met back at Sinchon subway around 6:30 pm.  We then boarded a bus towards Yeouido park (여의도 공원) - a large recreational area in the central part of Seoul.  Many people go there to bike or run or just to stroll like us.






For dinner, we enjoyed Korean Fried Chicken with beer at a nearby restaurant. The meat is usually seasoned with spices, sugar and salt, prior to and after being fried.  Thus, although its just friend chicken, Korean version tastes much yummier than American version. And Koreans love to have their friend chicken with beer so that's exactly what we had!

After dinner, we walked over to Han River and enjoyed river breeze. We were lucky to be treated to a mini water show with music too.

Around 10+ pm, we headed back to Sinchon but we were not ready to part ways yet.  This was my last night in Korea. So we went to Lotteria near my guesthouse to enjoy Patbingsu and extended our date abit longer.  Of course, this red bean dessert is nowhere near as good as what we had in Jeonju. But oh well. While looking through our trip photos on Mister's laptop, I fell asleep :( Mister woke me up around midnight we eventually went our own ways to rest for the day...

Adios!

xoxo
Miss N

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Korea Trip Itinerary

Korea Day 1

Korea Day 2

Korea Day 3

Korea Day 9
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