On Day 2 of our adventures, we visited Gyeongbokgung Palace (
경복궁). We visited the National Folk Museum of Korea (
국립민속박물관) which showcased the cultural and historial aspect of Korea. The palace itself actually covers a rather large area and to visit the museum, you should take note of the entrance that is nearest to the museum! It was a lovely day to be wandering about(:
Loved the gradient of the colours of leaves!
Little Korean girls trying on grass slippers that were worn in the olden days.
Here, you can visit the little cultural village! It's quite authentic looking and well done up.
Inside the museum itself, there are many displays showing the different aspects of the Korean culture. On display were some hanboks--traditional Korean garb.
The Koreans used to write in sand as part of their education in the past-- pretty much similar to the Chinese.
Model on display showing a traditional Korean wedding.
Loved the vastness and empty spaces.
These were the gates from which we entered. We managed to catch a taxi to Insadong (인사동). Insadong is known for being the cultural district in Seoul. Here, you can find many art galleries just tucked away along small streets, as well as many shops selling handcrafted knick knacks and accessories. It is frequented by tourists, so if you are looking for inexpensive yet presentable Korean souvenirs to bring home, this is the place to be! I personally found Insadong to be very refreshing, as it has a feel completely different feel as compared to the other districts in Seoul.
An interesting piece of installation art by the roadside.
I particularly liked these two sculptures by the roadside. (:
The roads of Insadong...
There are many small alleyways within Insadong itself. On the right you can see some restaurants, and even an art gallery.
This is Ssamziegil (쌈지길) which is the famous mall in Insadong. It's an open air mall and is five storeys high. This building is unique for there are no staircases connecting levels! The building's name, Ssamziegil, comes from its spiral structure.
The vendor making rice crackers. They're sweet and nutty, so we got a pack! There are many varieties sold and you can find these snack stalls on the street level entrance of the mall.
You can sample the different types before deciding what you would like!
The (in)famous ddong-bbang (똥빵) being sold. The literal translation is poop bread. (똥= poop and 빵= bread. )Of course, I had to get my fill of it! On a cool autumn day, it was the perfect snack. Nice and crispy on the outside, filled with warm sweet red bean paste. A must-try if you visit Insadong! I'm not sure whether it's similar to the stuffed fish that's sold around Myeong-dong and other parts of Korea, but I've heard it is. Oh well, I was drawn to the gimmick-y nature of eating poop bread. Haha.
There's a whole row of touch screens that you can draw on and decorate by the side of the mall. Really popular with girls, hehe.
Along the sloped ramp that connects the different levels, they put up some artsy pictures which I thought were very pretty. I liked the open air concept of the mall, but I don't think it would be possible in a hot and humid country like Singapore...
They had these bronze animal statuettes on the rooftop, which made the place less bare and more attractive.
Had lunch at this lovely place-- Guk Dam, it's on the top of Ssamziegil. Good food and good service. The shopowner was so nice, she even gave my sister and I postcards from "Winter Sonata". For those who don't know, Winter Sonata (2002) is a drama starring Bae Yong Jun, and it's really famous, mainy because it was one of the few that became really popular with international fans and kickstarted the K wave(:
The view of the mall from the top; you can kinda see the slanted levels.
Bibimbap (비빔밥) is basically rice mixed with different veggies and meat. My favourite Korean dish.
Stir-fried Beef with Rice Cakes (떡볶이). Not spicy, but I remember it being a little bland for our liking.
Appetizers (clockwise, from top left) cold beansprouts, pickled seaweed, tofu, and kimchi pancake!
There were more unidentifiable korean appetizers.
We were on the 5th floor, and when you looked out of the window, you could see someone drying chilli/peppers on the rooftop!
All full and satisfied! (I'm sure there were more dishes that we ordered like seafood pancake but I didn't manage to get a picture of it ): )
The famous dragon beard candy! If you've watched Beautiful Legacy (the one with Lee Seung Gi and Han Hyo Joo) you might find this place familiar because they filmed here on one of their dates.
Shop selling herbs by the roadside. Reminded me of those medicine houses in sageuk dramas.
Famous street delicacy shop by the roadside.
After we left Insadong, we decided to head to the area around Hongik University. It's the shopping area for students, and so things around here are supposedly more affordable. It has some really cute quaint shops and boutiques, as well as the Hello Kitty cafe^^
If you are into kpop and kdramas like I am, then you would be sufficiently satisfied with all the celebrity endorsements everywhere. Look, there's Big Bang and Taeyang with North Face~ I found it quite amusing how I actually enjoyed watching advertisements in Seoul in the evenings after a long day out, because I get to see all my idols, ahah.
This florist's shop had this cute heart-shaped wreath-plant on display.
The really huge Artbox. In Korea, do make a trip to the Artbox there, as the notebooks there are really cheap! As compared to purchasing them in other countries. I find that they really mark up the prices when they export the stationery...
The streets around Hongik University. Adidas Originals store on the right.
Boutiques by the side of the road selling fashionable outerwear. I must say, the Koreans are really fashion forward and dress quite well.
After much searching and some help from locals (who were really nice about it), we arrived at the Hello Kitty Cafe! Its right next to the Dog and Cat Cafe, so from afar you can hear barking of dogs, and see many people with pets in tow nearer the cafe. Do note that it was tucked away in a little alley, so if you are there, don't hesitate to ask for directions, though not everyone around knows of its existence...
So super cute.
The beeper we got after ordering our food.
Everything in the cafe is pink (except for the Male bathroom I think, which is blue, according to the dad).
Hello Kitty latte art!
My Hello Kitty hot chocolate.
We ordered waffles, which were alright. The quality of food in this cafe isn't the best around, but I guess it's a novel experience dining here. Seoul is known for its many coffee shops around, and some of the local coffee chains serve good coffee!
This was a church if I'm not wrong, on the way back to Myeong Dong. The sky in the background is beautiful! The Korean sky (at least the time we were there) was breathtaking.
Myeong Dong cathedral just before sunset. We attended daily mass here.
Myeong Dong Cathedral in the night, after mass. The whole look of the cathedral changed in less than half an hour!
We watched the performance NANTA (COOKIN) at the NANTA theatre in Myeong Dong. It was fun and unique. NANTA is pretty famous internationally and I believe they've performed in Singapore before(: One of the doorways in the theatre was decorated with pots and pans, amongst other kitchen utensils.
I'll be putting up a list of places and contacts in Seoul (in order of district) for convenience sake, so do look out for it!
