[seoul] day 2: bukchon, palaces, korean folk museum & namsan tower

23/03/2014 (sunday)

on our second day in seoul, we visited quite a lof of places. we started at bukchon hanok village. bukchon is actually the name of the place and hanok is the korean traditional house. we arrived there around 9am. there were not so many people around yet. as usual, the first thing that we did everytime was to find a tourist information booth. we took the map and started the tour. there are eight specified photo spots in bukchon. i think we went to all eight but couldn't be sure, hehe.. because to our untrained and inartistic eyes, they all looked quite the same..

there are a lot of small but interesting museums and culture centers around this area. entrance is usually free but if you want to engage in the traditional crafts making, you have to pay a little. as for us, we went to the bukchon tradtional culture center. the workshop provided are different each days. since, we were here on sunday, we got a choice of either making traditional shoes or dyeing handkerchief naturally. we chose the second one since it's faster and cheaper, KRW7500/pax. and the results were as shown below:

we finished our tour around bukchon around 11am. we planned to go to watch the 'changing guard ceremony' at gyeongbokgung at 1pm. the ceremony is three times per day; 10am,1pm and 3pm. oh,gyeongbokgung is actuall one of the palaces in seoul. there are quite a numbers of them. the famous one are, gyeongbokgung, changdeokgung, changgyeonggung and deoksugung. since, we got a couple of hours to spare (the palace is a walking distance from bukchon), we explore the cute and charming stores along the way. we found one etude shop that got a sale and bought a few of things..

we arrived at gyeongbokgung around 12.30pm. so, we took the time to explore a little bit on front of the palace. the entrance fee is KRW3000. the guard changing ceremony is in front of the castle, so it's free to watch. some of the guards are already in front of the gate (gwaghwamun), standing guard. we took the chance to take photo with them. they are really tall, so we look quite petite standing next to them. while waiting, an elderly korean couple approach us with a camera. so, we assumed that they wanted us to help them taking photo. surprisingly, they want to take photo with us! we were quite shocked, huhu.. maybe they found us unique because of our hijab. but then, there were quite a lot of people wearing hijab around. so, we just vainly made the conclusion that we are just so much cuter compared to others, hahaha.. ok, back to the guard changing ceremony.. it was for 20 minutes and very interesting to watch.

after the ceremony, we entered the palace.. it was quite big. the architecture was amazing, again an opinion based on my untrained eyes.. we took several pictures and moved on to the korean folk museum. there are a lot of amazing inside. i loved the row of antique stores most of all.. i really don't know how to describe this experience in details. all i could say that visiting the palaces, not all, maybe one or two like us is recommended. you'll learn a little bit about korea culture and history.

around gyeongbokgung

korean folk museum

we went to changdeokgung to catch the huwon (secret garden) tour. we walked and we got a little bit lost, hehe.. we stumbled at this small palace, unhyeongung, thinking it was changdeokgung.. so, we were wondering together, why is the palace so small.. according to the map, the area should be quite huge. while we were pondering upon the map, this nice ahjuma approached us. in english, she asked where we were from. and she personally gave us a free tour around this small humble palace herself (seemed she worked there). when the tour finished, she showed us the way to the real changdeokgung. don't underestimate the power of two cute malay girls with hijab has on the elderly ajussi and ahjuma, haha...

we finally arrived at our intended place and just is time for the tour. the tour costs KRW5000/pax and was around 90 minutes. the tour brought us the the secret garden that are only used by the royal family back in the old days. the garden was very beautiful but i bet it would look much more beautiful in late spring, when the trees got more leaves and more flowers.. still, it was worth the time and money. our tour guide this time us a very beautiful and graceful korea lady wearing hanbok. our tour finish around 5pm.

our last destination for the day is the famous namsan tower. we went there by train until myeongdong and then cable car. maybe, it was sunday, there are a lot of people around. we had to queue for about one and a half hour. the fees for rounddtrip cable car is KRW8500. previously,there was a teddy bear museum there. but, now it was changed into a sort of trickeye museum. the fee for going up the tower is KRW9000. up at observatory, there are a post office. me and hawa posted a few postcards for our beloved family and friends back home. when we got back down, we looked at the famous love padlocks. we even bought padlocks for ourselves and put it there...

we went back to myeongdong and walked along the streets. they were many stalls that sold different sorts of things, from accessories to foods. we found a halal kebab store managed by a muslim korean man. and that kebab became our dinner with a few of other things like dried squid, corn and twisted potato sticks. oh, and for lunch, we ate a lot of fish cakes.. okay, i admit, we don't eat much here.. we made do of what we saw, hehe.. done was the 2nd day entry, hoping to write the 3rd entry soon..

[seoul] day 1: SHINHWA!!!

22/03/2014 (saturday)

this time around, i managed to coax my sister a.k.a my brother-in-law since he's the one that's driving to send hawa and me to lcct. our flight departure time is 1am. we arrived at lcct around 10:30pm. by the time we got there, we could already check in. as usual, i already checked in online. so, we just need to drop our luggage and passport checked. we had a little trouble here since our luggage exceeded the weight bought. we only bought 20kg under my name since we'll not be bringing a lot of things there. alhamdulillah, we managed to reduce the weight by transferring few items into our hand luggage. our flight departed as schedule.

we also arrived as schedule. but it took some time through the immigration and getting our luggage. once we got our luggage, we went to the K-Books store to get the SIM card i bought online from EG SIM CARD website. since the roaming charges are expensive, i bought the local SIM in order to stay connected. unfortunately, the SIM i bought couldn't make any outgoing calls or sending text messages. so, i just used in for data purpose alone but still it was worth the money. after retrieving the card, we bought T-Money from 7-11 store nearby. may i emphasized again here, as a tourist with no transportation, T-Money is a MUST!!! this card will save you time and money while using the public transportation.

we took several trains to get to our hotel, girl's generation hostel (all girls, dormitory style). the ride took about one and a half hour. the subway here in seoul is very effective but a little bit confusing if you are new and unfamiliar to it. they got many line,  many stations and many exits. sometimes, you could just walk underground, while looking at the interesting shops there (there are A LOT), and you'll find yourself already at another station. beside T-Money, the SUBWAY MAP is a must. you could get them easily at any of the station. and if you have a smartphone, which i'm pretty sure you do, just visit this Cyber Station site. no need to worry about the connection, there are almost free wifi everywhere, here in seoul.

we got off at the right station but exited through the wrong exit. we crossed the same road almost five times. luckily, there were not many people around. otherwise, they may think that we're crazy. our hotel is located behind an alley. that's why we couldn't find them in the first place. and then out of nowhere, well maybe from behind us, a kind ajussi showed us the way. he just kept pointing his finger to our hotel direction without uttering a single word. i think, he saw us crossing and re-crossing the road, with big luggage and such and knew that we need help. when we arrived, our landlady was nowhere to be found. a few nice girls even helped us to call her but still couldn't get through.

while waiting, we did something a little bit crazy! hehe, we painted our nails... oh, in this hostel, we shared bathrooms. it also got a kitchen, a laundry room and a cyberroom. we met a lot of nice girls from different countries. there is this one korean girl who could speak malay since she learned indonesia language. the walls here are full of the korean boyband posters. once the landlady arrived, she showed us our room. the room is very small but we need it only for sleeping, right? fortunately, our room is directly in front of the bathroom, easy access..

once done, we took a train to seoul global culture and tourism center which is located in the myeongdong area. initially, we wanted to makea reservation for hanbok wearing experience for tomorrow, but it turned out that reservation could only be made on the same day basis. we rushed to the olympic hall, where the concert is being held afterwards. the place was already crowded when we reached there. a lot of fans wearing orange (orange is the official color for shinhwa fans, they called themselves 'shinhwa changjo.') colored clothes with orange accessories. by the way, hawa is the real die hard fan, and i'm just a so-so fan. for me personally, i preferred jpop (exile, kinki kids, arashi) to kpop...

we sat at the back cause it's obviously cheaper. we met a fellow malaysian there and she must be more hardcore fan since she'll be coming again on sunday to watch the concert. and that sunday ticket is a VIP ticket. she just bought it here, at a lower price, for those tickets were unclaimed/unpaid by the original buyers. i felt very excited and i knew hawa must also feel the same, maybe more. this is her main objective after all, hehe.. overall, we REALLY enjoyed ourselves! we sang and even dance to the songs! the crowd was wild!!! i felt like i'm a teenager once again.. oh, we did bought head scarves with the light before we went it.. the name on mine was dong wan, while hawa was jun jin...

the concert started around 6pm and finished around 10pm.. like i said, we really enjoyed it and had the time of our lives! we took train back to our hostel and turning in early. we are tired and tomorrow we must wake up early for another new experience.. if you guys are wondering what we have for breakfast, lunch and dinner, here are the answer.. breakfast: in flight, lunch: rice and kimchi (courtesy from the hostel kitchen), dinner: bought onigiri, bibimbap, and bread from the convenient store.. me and hawa are not so choosy about food as long as they are halal and edible.. so, that's all for this entry.. hope to write on later days soon..

destination: seoul & busan, south korea

okay, finally an entry about my visit to south korea with awed. another dream destination checked. the reason i still go to korea right after my trip to siem ream, regardless of the money issue, is because, my bestfriend here want to go to SHINHWA concert before getting married end of this year! being the good friend that i am, i agreed to it, hehe.. we got a 20% discount on the flight ticket, courtesy of maxis..

for your information, we planned this trip a.k.a coming up with itinerary by ourselves! ok, i admit that i've been getting a little help from friends that have been there and a lot of help online a.k.a mr google. this trip of ours is one week long, from the 22/03/2014 to 28/03/2014. we'll spend the first four days in seoul and the balance days in busan. i was in charged for seoul itinerary and my good teacher friend, awed prepared the itinerary for busan.

FLIGHT DETAILS

HOTEL DETAILS

SEOUL

BUSAN

TRAVEL ITINERARY

22 March 2014 (Saturday)

0100: Departure

0830: Arrival

0930: K-Books (G7; Arrivals 1F)

　　  Buy T-Money (E5/E10)

1030: Take Subway to hotel

1200: Check-in

1215: Seoul Global Culture & Tourism

　　  Center (Book Hanbok)

1300: Rush to Olympic Park

1400: Pick-up ticket

1800: Concert TIME!

2200: Back to hotel

23 March 2014 (Sunday)

0700: Breakfast

0730: Bukchon Hanok Village

1230: Palace Time

1300: Gyeongbokgung (Changing Guard Ceremony)

　　  Changdeokgung (Huwon tour)

         Korean Folk Museum

1800: Namsan Tower/Night Shopping

2230: Back to hotel

24 March 2014 (Monday)

0700: Breakfast

0730: Nami Island

1500: - Seoul Global Culture & Tourism

　　  Center (Hanbok experience)

          - Shopping

          - Gwanghwamun Gate

          - King Sejong Monument

2300: Back to hotel

25 March 2014 (Tuesday)

0700: Breakfast

0730: Korea Folk Village

2030: Korea House Performance

2200: Back to hotel

26 March 2014 (Wednesday)

0600: Bus ride to Busan

1100: Check in (Jagalchi Market)

1300: Lunch & Sightseeing around market

1630: Beomosa Temple

1830: Dinner

1900: Busan Tower

2200: Back to hotel

27 March 2014 (Thursday)

0730: Breakfast

0900: Busan Museum

1130: UN Cemetery

1400: Yonggungsa Temple

1500: Shinsegae Department Store

1700: Back to hotel early to pack

28 March 2014 (Friday)

0830: Bus ride to Incheon Airport

1300: Arrived at Incheon

1615: Flight back to Malaysia

Some tips from me:

1. t-money is a MUST! it helps you travel easily around seoul and busan

2. make sure you take the subway map that located  at most of the tourist booth. the map is your life.

3. don't expect them to understand english. if you got time, please learn the basic korean language.

4. halal food can be located around the ITAEWON area..

5. you could get a free hanbok experience at Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center. you could book but only on daily basis, meaning you could only book for the same day slot, not a couple day earlier.

6. useful websites, TripAdvisor, VisitKorea

7. these are the plug they use in korea, please don't forget to bring the adapter.

welcome ramadan..