Escape to Seoul Day 3 (Part 1 of 3)

Day 3 Itinerary:

• Brunch/Lunch
• Chandeokgung Palace
• Jongmyu Ancestral Shrine
• Deoksugung Palace
• Myeongdong!

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As usual, we woke up late (because it was really hard to get up – our room was nice and cold and the blankets are so soft and warm) and decided to eat brunch/lunch before going around the city and palaces. We decided to go back to the palaces to take decent pictures and follow our own pace.

We stopped by Mr. Pizza (61 Jong-ro, Insadong) but line’s too long so we decided to try another pizza place.

Pizza More is still in Insadong (if you found Mr. Pizza, you have to get across the street and get lost. You’ll find it sitting quietly between bars, norea-bang and restaurants)

Located in a quiet corner, this place offers the best cheese and corn pizza and sweet corn soup I have ever tasted.  The place is cozy and the food is delicious!

We also ordered pasta, marinara was it? The surprise here is it was a bit spicy. But delicious. But the corn pizza was something new to us, we gobbled it down until it’s finished. Love it.

We decided to walk to our first destination, Changdeokgung Palace, which is nearest to our place. We passed by Insadong to see what we can buy and explore around there when we get back. We saw a couple of young adults doing a street show and there were a lot of people around them. There was even a camera crew filming them – maybe from a broadcasting network?

We passed by the famous Ssamssigil, looked around for a while, grabbed a cup of hot choco for the road and bought a ‘poop’ bread or ‘dung bread.

And headed to our first Palace: Changdeok-gung or Changdeok Palace.

Changdeok-gung or Chandeok-gung Palace literally means “The Palace of Prospering Virtue.” It is often referred to as the East Palace as it is located East of the Grand Palace, Gyeongbuk-gung. It was the second royal villa built after Gyeongbuk-gung Palace.

Yes, we walked from Insadong to here. It’s a bit far, but manageable. We’re avoiding taxis. Haha!

“One such notable difference is the fact that the architecture of Changdeokgung harmonizes beautifully with the surrounding nature without appearing intrusive or destructive in the process.” 

GETTING THERE: Take subway Line 3 to Anguk Station and get out at Exit 3. Changdeokgung Palace is open from 09:15~17:45 (April ~ October) and 09:15~15:45 (November ~ February). In March, visiting hours are from 09:15~16:45. Entry is permitted every 15 and 45 minutes past the hour. The palace is closed Mondays. Entry to the palace is only permitted with a guided tour. Visitors do not have to join the tour on Thursdays. Admission is 3,000 won.

- From Visit Korea

I love this palace because of the way it was built. The buildings and the garden goes well together. Although we didn’t go to the Secret Garden, you can sense that the plants around the area are well-maintained. For me, this is my favorite. It’s very feminine.

We saw a monk (?) on vacation, maybe, going around the palace just like us.

It’s really nice.

I will post a lot of pictures of Changdeokgung after this!

And oh!!! When we’re leaving, we saw some snow at the side of the road. <3

<3 love love!

Seoul Day 2 – Korean Barbecue

This post is about FOOD. And our first authentic Korean Barbecue in Korea with Narae.

To start this off, here is Kizia getting ready for the meal:

Seoul Day 2 (Palaces)

Perfectly preserved details:

Last-minute testing with a borrowed lens hehe.

I had to put this here: I love my hair color!

This one I think is also from Kizia:

The small figures/statues on the rooftop:

All photos taken March 2011 by Kizia and yours truly.

Please forgive our personal photos. It’s just we look so darn pretty there. Haha!

Escape to Seoul Day 2 (Part 2 of 2)

Read Day 2 Part 1 here.

NAMDAEMUN MARKET.

We stopped by Namdaemun Market that afternoon. Nana (so so sweet) offered to help us get cheaper prices from the ajhummas in Namdaemun. But we didn’t buy anything (yet again) because, well, we really don’t feel like buying stuff right there and then. We also felt that we are such a big burden to Nana if we make her do the haggling. And it’s a bit awkward too.

In Namdaemun, it’s better if you know how to speak in Korean because most unnis and ajhummas in Namdaemun doesn’t speak that much Englilsh. The place has a Divisoria feel to it (Divisoria in the Philippines), not the 168 area. The old parts of Divisoria. No, scratch that. It’s like Baclaran! The market place near the Baclaran Church is similar to Namdaemun Market – only it’s bigger and cleaner.

We passed by Ssamziegil along Insadong when Nana dropped us off. It was already on our list so imagine how happy we were when we learned  how near it was to our hotel! After saying our goodbyes to Nana, we walked back to the hotel to rest for a while and freshen up because we have a date in Hongdae with Narae.

HONGDAE WITH NARAE.

Kizia met Narae in a marketing class back in college. She went to the Philippines to study, and went back to Korea right after graduation. When we finalized our trip, Kizia immediately left her a message – the date was set (although it was finalized when we were in Seoul already haha), and with our trusty Seoul Tourist Map, and our ‘how to get in a packed train’ skills we learned in Manila, we braved the snowy/rainy weather to see Narae and set our foot in the famous Hongdae.

OH YAH! IT SNOWED-slash-rained. AND I WAS SO HAPPY. Oh wait, I don’t have a photo. (-_-) Pffft

Narae said that some Koreans love rain, some love snow, but most of them hate the kind of weather we had that night. Snow / rain. It was more of raining than snowing actually. But I still loved it!

The first restaurant that we went to is full so we transferred to another (unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a photo of the place). The dinner was spectacular!

Me and our cook, Narae

Dearest Kizia, please remind me the food we ate that night. All I remembered was the Pork skin. Yum-meh. I will put another blog post about the dinner after this one!

Another great thing about the place is that you can ask for big plastic bags where you can put your stuff in so the smell of the barbecue place won’t stick to them. Narae forgot they were available and only remembered it AFTER our meal.

plastic bags for your bags (and stuff)

Narae also forgot to tell us that tissue papers and napkins are also available (we were looking for napkins all night). It was just right above us!

We badly needed a sweet hot drink after the big dinner. And on our way to the coffee shop, we passed by THE Tukbokki Shop where Mary Stayed Out All Night was filmed! I know this is THE store. Plus Narae confirmed it! Yipee!

The Tukbokki Shop from Mary Stayed Out All Night

Go to and take a picture of one location in your favorite Korean Drama: check.

The boys are so cute. They posed for the camera too when they saw us taking a picture. )

We also passed by this:

Hehehehe. So back to the coffee shop.

We stopped by EDIYA Coffee shop in Hongdae. It’s a small coffee shop, with a few tables and chairs. Fortunately, we found a table despite the crowd.

The brick walls are great, the colors of all elements inside the shop blends well, and it looks really warm from the outside! The store is part-glass so you can see everything from the inside – the shops outside, the people walking by, it’s a nice spot to people-watch! You can also watch falling snow without feeling cold. Ediya Coffee is small, but cozy. It’s a mixture of modern architecture and just plain cuteness. I love the hanging light bulbs by the way. It adds to the modern feel to the place.

That night, we learned about the power of the… STRAW.

THE STRAW

It’s not just A straw. It’s THE straw. Haha! It’s really a stirrer but it’s also a straw. You can drink/sip your coffee or latte from it. It’s really nice. And it’s blue! We were so amazed with this technology (whut) that we were tempted to get more. Haha! We’ve now seen these strawstirrers here in the Philippines, starting with the first branch of Holly’s Coffee along Taft Avenue. Some branches of Jollibee started providing strawstirrers for their customers’ coffee.

Being a non-user, I rely on Kizia for make up tips and whatnots. And Korea is a known haven for cosmetics. It was one of the topics we had during our coffee time. But Narae felt her knowledge with cosmetics were limited. She decided to phone a friend. Thus the picture:

We were already in Hongdae so the urge to party was strong. But Narae’s got work the following day so the partying will have to wait. Haha! We took the subway home and surprisingly, it was still crowded at that time!

Even though it was kind of a short date with her, it was definitely one of the most memorable nights ever in my life. Meeting a new friend in a faraway country and the discovery of the STRAW = EPIC.

Let’s not forget the Sweet Potato Latte! Love love love…

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P.S. We had a little stop over at Family Mart:

Kizia's Starbucks Latte

and my ice cream. I ate all three of them while Kizia was in the bathroom. Sorry, they were delicious. I'll treat you to an ice cream soon na lang .

And another day passed in Seoul.

Escape to Seoul Day 2 (Part 1 of 2)

MARCH 24, 2011. ALMOST, BUT NOT QUITE. 

Our DAY 2 itinerary:

• Gyeongokgung Palace
• Cheongdokgung Palace
• Ginseng Store
• Jewelry Store
• Namdaemun Market
• Hongdae

Day 2 is maybe the busiest day in this trip. And it almost didn’t happen. Why? Because we didn’t know we’re supposed to wake up early for the City Tour that came in with our package. We woke up with a phone call at 9 AM and they told us that they’re already downstairs, waiting for us at the lobby for the tour. We didn’t know what else to do! Good thing our tour guide, Nana, suggested that she’ll have us picked up in an hour so we could prepare, get dressed etc.

So we hurriedly showered, dressed, put on make up (YES, I WORE MAKE UP IN KOREA, and that week is the longest week of make up and contact lenses in my life) (and yes, we had time to put on make up) and waited for our ride to come.

OUR FIRST STOP: GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE

Gyeongbokgung Palace

So here’s what I learned from the tour (and well, I did some research too):

• Gyeongbokgung was built in 1395 and is the grandest among all the palaces in the area. It’s also called the Palace of Shining Happiness.
• The main gate and the entrance to the Palace is the Gwanghwamun Gate or the South gate. From there, you will enter two inner gates: Heungnyemun and Geunjeongmun.
• And my favorite fact: The floors/walkways are at different levels. The King should only step on the middle walkway. He alone could walk on it. The Queen walks along the second level. And the lowest is for the other people, with lower status than that of the king and queen. I got to step on the king’s walkway. Awesome!
• There are different buildings for the King’s quarter. A different quarter for different seasons (during winter, he stays in one room, and during summer he stays in another). There is also another room for the King’s study or office. The queen had a different room too. There are also different rooms for different occasions and for different number of guests.
• and… If you look closely, the buildings have mini-statues or icons on the roof. These small statues represent the importance of each building in the area. The more statues on top, the more important the building is.

We also met a wonderful group of Filipinos who joined us in the tour.

Kizia and Me with other Filipinos in Gyeongbokgung Palace

They all assumed we drank Soju the night before that’s why we were late. Pssshhhh.. Can’t blame them. Two pretty young adults in Seoul – what else could they do but party? Haha! What they didn’t know is that we were up all night having fun with our facial masks. (^o^)

More turista shots:

at the gates

random location. look at the space!!

You can also explore the National Folklore Museum inside Gyeongbokgung Palace/Area to travel back in time and witness South Korea’s juicy past. You also might get hit on by some high school dude and get teased by his classmates (psh.. kids. on a field trip probably). True story.

BECAUSE YOU ARE ON TOUR, I WILL SELL YOU SOME GINSENG.

After the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we went to a Ginseng Store (they tried to sell some to our group but, sorry, no one bought even a single pack). Expect a stop over at some store and expect your guide to sell you some. That’s normal if you’re on a package tour or if you got a city tour from the hotel.  Apparently, ginseng is very popular in Korea. They don’t export a 5-year old ginseng (or was it 6?). After the Ginseng Store, we dropped off our fellow Pinoys somewhere (can’t remember where) because their flight’s that afternoon.

Nana also brought us to a jewelry store (was it?) where they tried to sell us jade. I think it was jade. No matter how cute the stones may be, Kizia and I got each a mobile phone accessory from our friend (her sister worked in Korea for a long time, and the stuff came from her).

TRADITIONAL KOREAN RESTAURANT FOR LUNCH.

Nana brought us to a Traditional Korean Restaurant where we can “sit down” on the floor with a traditional Korean house ambiance. She ordered Bulgogi for us and it was one heck of a meal.

Bulgogi

We were weirded out by the fact that Kizia and I were sitting across each other with another couple of girls sitting right beside us. It looked like we are all eating together. We are so used to having our “personal space” but eventually, we got used to that setting after a few days.

After the hearty lunch, we headed to Changdeokgung Palace.

CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE.

Changdeokgung Palace

The literal meaning of Chandeokgung Palace is “Palace of Prospering Virtue.” It was built after Gyeongbokgung and is one of the five grandest palaces in Seoul. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997 because of its incredible architectural and garden design.

I instantly fell in love with the palace the moment we stepped inside the area. Here you will see several buildings, again, for the King’s study, bed chambers etc. but what struck me most was the building/chambers of the King’s (at that time) concubine. He loved her dearly but unfortunately, they didn’t have any children.

I also learned that the last in line or the last king of the royal family died in 2005 in Japan. The sad thing here was the Republic of Korea didn’t allow him to go back to Korea fearing the empire or another dynasty will rise again. His remains were brought back in Korea though.

At this point in the tour, the only people left were me, Kizia and Nana. And instead of learning more about S. Korea’s history through this beautiful palace, we asked Nana for tips and tricks on how to survive 7 days in this amazing country. You’d think our guide will just go back to discussing history, right? Wrong.

Nana was very nice to answer all our questions. She also gave us a very wonderful tip when picking up talking to Korean boys and how to approach them inside a bar/club.

You say: (in a deep low sexy voice) Hey… let’s party!

She was hilarious.

Nana, our tour guide

After the boy tips, we rode a…… BUS (from Van in the morning to a BUS in the afternoon. And yes, we were the only people inside, plus the driver = 3 people in one big bus) to Namdaemun Market.

Seoul Day 1

Here are some photos of our first day in Seoul. Please excuse my vanity.  Haha! Enjoy!

After our breakfast/lunch in McDonald’s. Taken around 4-5 PM. Crazy right? Crazy for us at least.

Escape To Seoul – Day 1 (Part 2 of 2)

Read part 1 here…

FIRST MEAL IN SEOUL

When we woke up, we remembered that we haven’t eaten anything since we got there, so we walked around and remembered that our hotel is near a McDonald’s place. And guess what our first meal in Seoul was?

Bulgogi Burger!

I also learned (and assumed) that all fast-food places and the people there practice Claygo (Clean as You Go). They clean up their tables after eating. It is SO COOL. They’re all disciplined. I love it.

I love the semi-glass cup of drink we had. I should have kept it. Kidding.

As I mentioned in Day 1 Part 1, we didn’t really have anything planned that day so we walked around Jonggak and we intentionally got lost somehow.

Photo by Kizia. Taken at around 5 PM. Craaazy right?

TOURIST INFORMATION CENTERS.

I don’t have a picture, but in Seoul, you will find several Information Centers scattered everywhere to help tourists like us! We got several brochures but we kept the map, HOPING to get LOST because we want to explore the area on our own.

ARTBOX = HEAVEN.

We stumbled upon an Artbox branch and spent an hour or so browsing through cute stuff! We bought stickers and stickers and notebooks and stuff.

Artbox in Jonggak

CHEONGGYECHEON STREAM.

After Artbox, we started walking again, hoping to find a good place for dinner. All the while, we were just walking along Cheonggyecheon stream! It was a very pretty sight. We wanted to go down to see it up close but we got scared because there are only a few people down there. Back here in the Philippines, we were so used to avoiding places where there are less/no people, afraid that something might happen to you.

Cheonggyecheon Stream

We later learned that it is safer in Seoul: you can leave your bags on the table and order food and you can expect it to be there safe and sound when you get back.

SEMI-DINNER and AFTER-DINNER.

So we took some more pictures and decided to grab something to eat. Where?:) Along Jonggak street of course!

Fried Kimchi (Kimchi Jeon) for me

Odeng for Kizia

Ajhumma was really nice to us. Even though she couldn’t speak English well, and we couldn’t talk to her in Korean also, she was nice enough to entertain our questions (about the other food she is selling). I also bought Mandu so we can feast on it when we get back to the Hotel (but the feast didn’t happen).

We decided to look for a coffee shop to ‘gather’ our thoughts and ‘make plans’ for the following day. But we had another pitstop at DAISO, and found this:

Eatyourkimchi did a review on this and it was really funny. When we saw this we were like “Oh this is eatyourkimchi’s WTF of the day!” Watch Simon and Martina’s video/review on this.

We also bought other items such as: facial masks (we’ll get into that later) and some socks for my friend’s….. hands. Because it’s really really really cold and her hands are getting numb. )

After Daiso, we finally found our coffee shop! It’s along Jonggak (near 70 Jonggak if I’m not mistaken, hehe obviously because of the sign at the back of the above photo). Welcome to Cafe Mare/Mare Coffee.

Mare Coffee/ Cafe Mare

The café is at the second floor so you have to go up the stairs. You will also see these cool drawings:

Aren’t they pretty? Especially the second photo.

The café is really nice and cozy. It’s got smoking and non-smoking areas too. During our stay there, sometimes it feels like I’m in a gypsy/hippie place because of the beads and lights.

inside Mare Coffee

the bar area

I love it. We were supposed to plan for the following day:

Some brochures and maps you can get from Tourist Information Centers

But instead browsed through our newly bought stickers and pencil-case and and and..

We finished our nice warm cup of coffee and headed to Dongdaemun to have a look and experience the night shopping there. We bought our T-Money Card at the Jonggak station!

T-Money Card

We had to ask the nice person at the station’s office how we can get one of these. No matter how hard we try to blend in and avoid looking like a tourist, we keep failing. Haha!

Dongdaemun.

It’s sorta like the Rustan’s here in the Philippines. The malls are HUGE and OMG, they’re huge. We didn’t buy anything. ) YET.

Since it was already around 12mn or 1 (I think), while looking for a cab (we assumed the subway will be closed when we get there) we took the moment to have our TOURIST SHOT in front of the Dongdaemun East Gate or Heunginjimun.

Dongdaemun

We were supposed to take the bus on our way home but we didn’t know how. Teehee.

When we got back to the hotel, we were so dead tired we thought of a beauty regimen to make us feel better: OUR FACIAL MASKS FROM DAISO.

Facial Masks from Daiso

We ended the night really good with these facial masks. Haha! OH what a girly thing to do in Korea. Please don’t blame us.

Day 2 coming up!

Escape To Seoul – Day 1 (Part 1 of 2)

Like what I mentioned in my earlier post, I’ll soon be updating you guys with our Seoul experience last year. I’ve put this blog entry off for a while because, to badly put it, I was kind of depressed about not being able to stay longeeeerrrr in Korea. And to think we were there for seven days. I was missing S.Korea so bad that instead of editing photos, I just went on with my life, blabbing about how I miss Korea so much. Haha! Pathetic, I know. But that is what you will feel if you went on a trip and you fell in love with the place, right? 

It’s already March so what’s the best way to celebrate the anniversary of our trip other than to reminisce and tell the whole world about how WE fell in love with the Land of the Morning Calm? You’ve seen the video, now here are photos and a blow by blow account of happened. The entries are mostly based (aka copied) from my tumblr site. You can also check these out there if you are following me.

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Almost 6 months ago, Seoul was just a dream. It was a plan that was out of reach. Impossible. It’s only on TV, on YouTube, in my mind. But who would have thought that OUR Seoul experience will happen???

My dear friend , driventolive told her mom about how we truly oh-so-want to go to Korea. And lo and behold, plane tickets were booked, the hotel was booked, and all we have to do is to plan our itinerary, our outfits and lust for more Seoul videos/Kdramas/music videos before we actually step on the Land of Morning Calm. We instantly became two girls who will explore a new city, who will soon escape reality, hoping to find answers, creating new dreams, who will soon have fun in a far away land, divulging in the culture, the people, the Korean way of life.

THE BIG DAY. March 22, 2011.

Nothing really happened during the check-in (well except for the 12KG, 15KG and 13.5 KG bags that we have) and before boarding, except for the “I still can’t believe we’re going to Korea” phrases that we exchange and the “OMG, we’re boarding the plane, are we really going there???” questions we ask each other.

Korean Air offers Bibimbap onboard. Of course we had to try it out!

Me with my Bibimbap!

Kizia with ze long spoon!

I slept through the flight (I got sick too because I lack sleep for almost a week before the trip. Barf. And well, I went to the office that morning of our flight).

 

TOUCHDOWN! March 23, 2011.

Incheon Airport was breathtaking. No wonder it was one of the most awesome airports in the world. (We don’t have any photo of our arrival. We were so amazed we forgot to take one. Or did we delete it by accident??)

Anyway, we were picked up by our friendly driver Mr. Yoon who speaks little English, but even so, we were able to understand him. His van’s got GPS (and we later learned that almost every car/vehicle especially the cabs got one too) and he even showed us the Hangang River as we pass by it.

Mr. Yoon's GPS

 

GOOD MORNING SEOUL.

At around 5-6 AM, we arrived in Seoul and saw how it was early in the morning. It was peaceful. It was spectacular.

 

When we got to the hotel, we actually planned on looking around Jonggak area since we didn’t have any plans for that day. But we were so groggy and so sleepy we decided to check in early to get some sleep.

Hotel Sunbee

We stayed in Hotel The Sun Bee. I’m not sure what room we got but as far as I can remember their deluxe room is as low as 99,000 Won (around Php 4,500) per night. NOT BAD BECAUSE I SUPER DUPER LOVE OUR ROOM.

Our beds

Deluxe room has one single bed and one queen-sized bed. The room also has a big LCD TV with DVD and VHS players.

I’m not sure if other hotel rooms have a desktop PC included but Hotel Sunbee does. AND THE INTERNET CONNECTION’S FREAKING FAST. IT’S FAST, I TELL YOU MY FRIEND.

The place is heavenly.

It’s got a big bathroom with shower and tub, and the ‘powder room’ makes us look even prettier. Haha! It’s also complete with shampoos, conditioners, body wash, hair sprays, shaving cream, lotions, toner and even a comb!

Hotel Stuff

After kind of settling down, we slept from 7 AM until 2 PM. And it was lovely. The sleep. The sleep time  was lovely.

You can check out Hotel Sunbee’s website here:

http://hotelsunbee.com/en/main/main.php

Apparently, they already increased rates since we stayed there: http://hotelsunbee.com/en/accommodation/accom2.php

But I promise you, you will love their rooms!

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Part 2 coming up next!

Escape To Korea!

Since this blog is also about travelling, expect posts even way back in 200-something. I won’t post a lengthy entry about my 2006 travel in someplace, but at least you’ll see pictures. Some pictures, that is. And videos. So let me add an international trip I had last year (2011) with my friend in one of our most favorite cities in the world – Seoul, South Korea.

Please enjoy this short video I made last year about our trip. I’ll post a detailed entry soon!