When I was planning my trip, I had initially settled on three nights in a hostel and four nights in a hotel to accommodate my maarte self. I had booked the hotel nights right away, but kept putting off reserving the hostel nights. After all of that mental/monetary debate, I ended up booking all my rooms at hotels, three different hotels to be exact.
Today, I left my very lovely hotel in Insadong and moved to another hotel to a supposedly more central location in Myeongdong. Though, they're not very far from each other if you're a walker like me. After getting up in the morning, I walked around Insadong and the Gwanghamun area to finish off any tourist destinations that I've left off.
I dropped by Jogyesa Temple and saw the very many lanterns in preparation for Buddha's birthday. Right outside the temple is a smiling buddha which I just wanted to carry home with me. I also found the Hammering Man statue in Gwanghamun, which is similar to what we have outside the Seattle Art Museum. Walking around in the morning in any city is quite nice. No crowds, cool temperatures, just perfect for some peace and exercise.
After returning back to my homebase of Jonggak Station, I went inside Jongno Tower to find out if there was an observatory of some sort in the building. Being that it was Saturday, it was dead quiet in there and I spoke to the security guard. As always, I started with "Yongo haseyo?" and he said no, but I kept talking to him anyway. HaHa! For the first time I had to be a mime and act out what "observatory" meant. He eventually got what I meant and he said there's no observatory, but only a restaurant which didn't open until 11am. Darn, I'm way too early.
Disappointed, I took the train to Dongdaemun Market, or as I quickly found out, the Divisoria of Seoul. Seoul is really a shopper's paradise if you have the luggage space and body type that fits into these small-sized clothes. Unfortunately, I had neither so I ended up trying to find Dongdaemun Stadium. I kept walking around trying to find it, but duh, it was torn down. You know, it's really hard to find something that doesn't exist anymore. ;P
I took the train back to Jonggak, but still was too early to see the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak so I headed over to McDonalds. So, I decided to stay at this particular hotel because it was near food and there's a 24-hour McDonalds right at the street corner should I ever get hungry in the middle of the night (you know, you always gotta think like a Girl Scout!). However, I've never eaten there because I've opted for Korean food. Well, I decided that it was time to find out what a Mickey D's Bulgogi Burger tasted like. Surprisingly, it was actually edible. It was tasty, but weird that bulgogi came in a patty form...with mayo. The restaurant was full of teenagers dressed in their school uniforms and I kept thinking whether they'd grow up obese as I happily ate my french fries.
After checking out a couple minutes of the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak, which I already saw in 2007, I left my Insadong hotel and hauled my luggage all the way to Myeongdong. The problem? Those darn underpasses full of stairs. Dammit. It was also noontime so the sun didn't help with the situation. I only noticed that there were elevators in the subway stations after I exited Euljiro Il-ga. Ugh!
I managed to get to Ibis Myeongdong in one piece, but all sweaty and gross. I stayed in to cool down and analyzed my new hotel room. I liked my Insadong hotel better. There, I had a water cooler, computer with internet, plus 100 channels to choose from in my room, not to mention a very spacious bathroom. Here, think tiny. And this is more expensive. Tsk! Plus, unlike Insadong, there's not a bakery nearby where I can get my breakfast every morning. Bad move, girlfriend. I guess the only perks are being able to say that I got to stay in Myeongdong and the view from my window.
By 2pm, I met up with Cathy and Tess at Hongik University station. They wanted to shop at the flea market while I wanted to visit the 1st Coffee Prince shop. First stop: onomiyaki for lunch. Yum! Something to look forward to once I get to Japan. Second stop: flea market where I got pushed around by ajummas and every one else. I wouldn't mind it if people actually said "Excuse me" or "Sorry", but that's not done around here. Third stop: Coffee Prince shop. Yes, I made the pilgrimage. HaHa! Coffee is quite expensive over there, more expensive than at Starbucks! Cathy was all game for ordering and going all out with "experiencing" the place, but after being ignored by the waiters, I took the pictures that I went there for and told Cathy and Tess that I have no shame in leaving if they wanted to right now. Hey, no customer service for customers? And you want how much for the coffee?! No thanks.
Fourth stop: Ballerina Who Fell in Love with a BBoy show. This is actually the sequel to the popular original version. Unfortunately, the original version isn't playing right now because its new stage is still being constructed. Ugh. But since I can't wait for that, I decided to watch the sequel. Ehh, I shouldn't have; at least not for the W50,000 I paid. The plot dealt with death so it wasn't as fun as JUMP or NANTA which were more on the comedic side. Plus, the darn English explanations on the screen were all screwy so I couldn't really follow the story. People, please, contact me and I'd gladly clean up those English translations for free to avoid people experiencing the same frustration I had. Anyway, I came there to check out the bboys: they're actually good. Granted that I think there are way better bboys here in the States, but the poplockers of the Korea All-Stars were really good. I think the whole crew just lacked swag which is needed if you want people to think you're the shiznit (wow, I went hella old school on that word. HaHa!).
Fifth stop: noraebang. Okay, I may listen to music a lot from varying genres, but regardless of how many times I hear a song, I never ever remember the words and most often than not, I don't remember how songs start off. With those kind of problems and a horrible singing voice, I'm really the worst person to take to karaoke. I always need someone to back me up to keep me in line. HeHe. Regardless, it was a pleasure to say that I went to a noraebang while in Seoul. :)
Afterwards, I got to eat some more streetfood: those fish-shaped bread thingies stuffed with red beans/custard. I love these $1-$2 food options! They're so awesome!
Oh, another day down.
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Walk With Me
As if yesterday's DMZ Third Tunnel wasn't enough, yours truly found another place that almost gave me a heart attack.
The city of Suwon is about 80 minutes by subway from Seoul. Yes, the subway system reaches that far! Coming from Seattle, I get giddy whenever I'm in Asia because every city in the continent seems to have an efficient rail public transportation (yes, even I'm calling Manila's MRT efficient).
First stop? Korean Folk Village. I was actually grumpy in the beginning because Woori Bank gave me the most horrible exchange rate ever (it was the only bank open at 9:15am) and I ended up missing the first run of the free shuttle bus by ten minutes so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one to come along. By the time I got there, it was noon already and I didn't even bother to eat lunch because I only had two hours to explore the village before the 2pm return shuttle. Yeah, I'm letting off steam). LoL.
Well, the highlight of the village was my seeing all the elementary school kids on their field trip. I swear, they're all so cute from the tiny tots to the grade schoolers. One of them actually chased me down and asked me a question. Oh little one, if only I knew more Korean, we could converse and I can ask you if you have a twenty-something uncle! Tsk! ;P The areas of the village all looked the same after a while (similar to when you go to Siem Reap, Cambodia and you get all templed out after two days). With a headache from not having eaten lunch, I took the shuttle bus back to Suwon Station at 2pm. I immediately ran to the AK Mall and had jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) at Golden Plate. Another item on my must-eats down!
By 3pm, I was on a public bus to Paldalmun of Hwaseong Fortress. I was actually scared to take the bus because I knew that none of the drivers spoke English, but hey, you can't get lost when your destination is a big ass fortress gate.
I first checked out Hwaseong Haenggung, "The Best of detached Palace Architecture in Joseon Dynasty" as written verbatim from their tourist map. If you watched Jewel in the Palace, you might dig this place since parts of the TV drama was filmed here and some of the costumes used are displayed. I, however, haven't seen an episode so it looked like any other palace that I've been to thus far in Seoul. This led me to hike up the hill to Mirohanjeong to see a bird's eye view of the palace. The view was awesome. But alas, that wasn't the last of my strenous exercises for the day.
The real tourist "spot" in this part of South Korea is Hwaseong Fortress, consisting of four main gates. Little did I know that the second gate after Paldalmun, Hwaseomun, was not the highest part of the fortress. In turned out that the highest part is actually Seojangdae, which I kept aiming for since I kept seeing it from Haenggung. If I had aimed for Hwaseomun correctly, it would've been a much easier climb. Thankfully, I bought water before the climb ("Ajussi...mul" was the successful broken Korean phrase of the day) because I might've passed out half-way up that darn mountain. By the time I got to the third gate, Janganmun, I decided to just return to Paldalmun by walking along Paldal Street instead of walking along the fortress wall. Afterall, each "destination" along the wall looked the same to me as Cathy forewarned me about.
By 6:15, I was on the subway back to Seoul. I got off at the City Hall subway stop and ran to the nearest fast food place which turned out to be KFC. I've had KFC in the Philippines and Thailand so I know there's a bit of a difference in each country from the usual fare we get in the States. What's the difference here in Korea? No gravy (Thailand gives you sweet chili sauce instead) and no sides (Philippines serves rice). Just two pieces of chicken and a drink. Bon appetit!
I finished my meal as quickly as possible so I can catch my 8pm NANTA show. It turned out that the Tourist Information Center yesterday reserved my ticket at the wrong branch! So I ended up paying W10,000 more for a VIP seat just so that I can watch it right there and then. It wouldn't have been bad (my seat was dead center in the fifth row) had the theater not been small. Hmph! But I quickly forgot all my money issues of the day when two of the actors, just like in JUMP, took their shirts off during the latter half of the show. They must really know their audience. HaHa! The show is fun and quite entertaining music-wise and I can see how this is one of the most watched shows in Seoul. Two thumbs up!
When I got back to the hotel, I realized that tomorrow is Saturday already. *SIGH. This trip is nearing its end. *Sniff!
The city of Suwon is about 80 minutes by subway from Seoul. Yes, the subway system reaches that far! Coming from Seattle, I get giddy whenever I'm in Asia because every city in the continent seems to have an efficient rail public transportation (yes, even I'm calling Manila's MRT efficient).
First stop? Korean Folk Village. I was actually grumpy in the beginning because Woori Bank gave me the most horrible exchange rate ever (it was the only bank open at 9:15am) and I ended up missing the first run of the free shuttle bus by ten minutes so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one to come along. By the time I got there, it was noon already and I didn't even bother to eat lunch because I only had two hours to explore the village before the 2pm return shuttle. Yeah, I'm letting off steam). LoL.
Well, the highlight of the village was my seeing all the elementary school kids on their field trip. I swear, they're all so cute from the tiny tots to the grade schoolers. One of them actually chased me down and asked me a question. Oh little one, if only I knew more Korean, we could converse and I can ask you if you have a twenty-something uncle! Tsk! ;P The areas of the village all looked the same after a while (similar to when you go to Siem Reap, Cambodia and you get all templed out after two days). With a headache from not having eaten lunch, I took the shuttle bus back to Suwon Station at 2pm. I immediately ran to the AK Mall and had jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) at Golden Plate. Another item on my must-eats down!
By 3pm, I was on a public bus to Paldalmun of Hwaseong Fortress. I was actually scared to take the bus because I knew that none of the drivers spoke English, but hey, you can't get lost when your destination is a big ass fortress gate.
I first checked out Hwaseong Haenggung, "The Best of detached Palace Architecture in Joseon Dynasty" as written verbatim from their tourist map. If you watched Jewel in the Palace, you might dig this place since parts of the TV drama was filmed here and some of the costumes used are displayed. I, however, haven't seen an episode so it looked like any other palace that I've been to thus far in Seoul. This led me to hike up the hill to Mirohanjeong to see a bird's eye view of the palace. The view was awesome. But alas, that wasn't the last of my strenous exercises for the day.
The real tourist "spot" in this part of South Korea is Hwaseong Fortress, consisting of four main gates. Little did I know that the second gate after Paldalmun, Hwaseomun, was not the highest part of the fortress. In turned out that the highest part is actually Seojangdae, which I kept aiming for since I kept seeing it from Haenggung. If I had aimed for Hwaseomun correctly, it would've been a much easier climb. Thankfully, I bought water before the climb ("Ajussi...mul" was the successful broken Korean phrase of the day) because I might've passed out half-way up that darn mountain. By the time I got to the third gate, Janganmun, I decided to just return to Paldalmun by walking along Paldal Street instead of walking along the fortress wall. Afterall, each "destination" along the wall looked the same to me as Cathy forewarned me about.
By 6:15, I was on the subway back to Seoul. I got off at the City Hall subway stop and ran to the nearest fast food place which turned out to be KFC. I've had KFC in the Philippines and Thailand so I know there's a bit of a difference in each country from the usual fare we get in the States. What's the difference here in Korea? No gravy (Thailand gives you sweet chili sauce instead) and no sides (Philippines serves rice). Just two pieces of chicken and a drink. Bon appetit!
I finished my meal as quickly as possible so I can catch my 8pm NANTA show. It turned out that the Tourist Information Center yesterday reserved my ticket at the wrong branch! So I ended up paying W10,000 more for a VIP seat just so that I can watch it right there and then. It wouldn't have been bad (my seat was dead center in the fifth row) had the theater not been small. Hmph! But I quickly forgot all my money issues of the day when two of the actors, just like in JUMP, took their shirts off during the latter half of the show. They must really know their audience. HaHa! The show is fun and quite entertaining music-wise and I can see how this is one of the most watched shows in Seoul. Two thumbs up!
When I got back to the hotel, I realized that tomorrow is Saturday already. *SIGH. This trip is nearing its end. *Sniff!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
DMZ, Yeah You Know Me
Someone finally made it official...
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Are you Korean?
Me: Hanguk saram aniyo. Philipin saram. (I'm not Korean. I'm Filipino)
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Ahh, you look Korean.
Attention LeeDongWook or YooGun! If you're reading this (don't you guys always?!), we can have very cute Korean-looking kids.
Today, I went on a DMZ Tour (Panmunjeom + Third Tunnel). I took the Seoul subway system for the first time this morning to get to the USO office by 7am. My goodness, Seoul is so calm (ahh, there's truth to the "Land of the Morning Calm" monicker) in the wee hours of the morning. It was so calm that none of the bakeries were open; I had to settle for a 7-Eleven breakfast of water and red bean paste bun.
I thought it was all marketing, but the Korean DMZ really is quite tense. It's just in the air...and don't wave like you just don't care because they will shoot. I was actually scared to stand next to one of the soldiers for a photo-op, but I eventually did anyway. ;P
I don't have a fetish with men in uniforms unlike some women, but I swear some of those SouthKoreansoldiers were darn cute in their fatigues. One of them actually spoke straight American English (I had to make sure it wasn't Shinhwa's EricMun) which was just too much icing on the cake. *Drool.
The surprise of the day? I didn't know that visiting the Third Tunnel was a strenuous exercise. My goodness, they need to say something about this on the brochures! As if that wasn't enough, I actually had enough strength later on to walk from the USO office to Itaewon, which was darn far (and uphill!). I thought two subway stops meant a very short distance between the two, but as always, don't ASSume.
Thankfully, I capped off the night with a kalbi dinner with Cathy to recoup all that lost calories and energy. Earlier in the day, I had bulgogi for lunch and while waiting for Cathy, I found the elusive hotteok stall in Myeongdong! Fighting! HaHa! Leave it up to me to fulfill all my food desires ASAP. ;P
As I mentioned to Cathy, I love Seoul. Actually, I just love being anywhere in Asia. I feel quite at home whenever I'm here. Maybe I really do need to figure out a reason to stay here for an indefinite period of time (LeeDongWook, call me!).
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Are you Korean?
Me: Hanguk saram aniyo. Philipin saram. (I'm not Korean. I'm Filipino)
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Ahh, you look Korean.
Attention LeeDongWook or YooGun! If you're reading this (don't you guys always?!), we can have very cute Korean-looking kids.
Today, I went on a DMZ Tour (Panmunjeom + Third Tunnel). I took the Seoul subway system for the first time this morning to get to the USO office by 7am. My goodness, Seoul is so calm (ahh, there's truth to the "Land of the Morning Calm" monicker) in the wee hours of the morning. It was so calm that none of the bakeries were open; I had to settle for a 7-Eleven breakfast of water and red bean paste bun.
I thought it was all marketing, but the Korean DMZ really is quite tense. It's just in the air...and don't wave like you just don't care because they will shoot. I was actually scared to stand next to one of the soldiers for a photo-op, but I eventually did anyway. ;P
I don't have a fetish with men in uniforms unlike some women, but I swear some of those SouthKoreansoldiers were darn cute in their fatigues. One of them actually spoke straight American English (I had to make sure it wasn't Shinhwa's EricMun) which was just too much icing on the cake. *Drool.
The surprise of the day? I didn't know that visiting the Third Tunnel was a strenuous exercise. My goodness, they need to say something about this on the brochures! As if that wasn't enough, I actually had enough strength later on to walk from the USO office to Itaewon, which was darn far (and uphill!). I thought two subway stops meant a very short distance between the two, but as always, don't ASSume.
Thankfully, I capped off the night with a kalbi dinner with Cathy to recoup all that lost calories and energy. Earlier in the day, I had bulgogi for lunch and while waiting for Cathy, I found the elusive hotteok stall in Myeongdong! Fighting! HaHa! Leave it up to me to fulfill all my food desires ASAP. ;P
As I mentioned to Cathy, I love Seoul. Actually, I just love being anywhere in Asia. I feel quite at home whenever I'm here. Maybe I really do need to figure out a reason to stay here for an indefinite period of time (LeeDongWook, call me!).
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
By Looks Only
Ugh! I only slept for two hours last night! This is after getting no sleep at all during my long-haul flight. I turned off the lights at about 10pm and I woke up at 12am, hoping that it was already close to 6am, but no luck. I ended up catching on all the latest CFs and music videos (finally saw Big Bang's Hite commercial) as I tossed and turned until my 7am wake-up call.
Instead of taking the KAL bus to Seoul like I did in 2007, I took the more economical Airport Limosine Bus into the city which was a great idea because it allowed me to see all the different neighborhoods in this metropolis. However, this didn't help me orient myself. When the bus dropped me off at my stop, I knew where I was in reference to where I need to be, but I didn't know where I was in reference to everything else (this is why I always prefer walking whenever I'm on travel rather than taking a taxi or a bus).
After finding out that I couldn't check in early, I decided to kill time at Insadong before my 11:30am English tour of Changdeuk Palace. Ahh, Insadong. It looked quite different from what I remembered the last time I was there since traffic is allowed on the weekdays. It was still quite early at 10am so most of the stores haven't gotten their goods set up yet. After going up and down the street, I walked over to Tapgol Park where harabeojis were chillin', dressed up in their coat and dress pants, similar to how I found them in 2007. There were no school kids this time around, but a bus load of tourists arrived shortly after me. They were all ajummas and halmeonis without a camera so I didn't have to wait long before I could get some shots.
Still too early for Changdeukgung, I checked out a Skin Food store. Ahh, this was the start of my "No, I'm not Korean" escapades. Okay, it actually started at the Paris Baguette Cafe in the airport (their cream cheese danish was delish!) when the cashier asked me something (I'm guessing if I wanted a drink to go with it), but ended up just taking my money after she realized I'm not Korean by my confused look.
The Skin Food store just opened so I found one of the sales girls mopping the floor. When she got around to my side of the store, I tried to tell her to go ahead and don't mind me, but she stopped and started asking me questions to which I started shaking my hand at her while smiling. Not wanting to look like I was having an epileptic shock, I asked, "Yong-o haseyo (Do you know English)?" and she said something like, "No, blah blah blah"...at least that's how I interpreted her answer. Perhaps my pronunciation was perfect because she kept uttering more phrases in Korean. I didn't want to pull out my Lonely Planet Korean Phrasebook so I ended up just saying "I don't understand. Byane" a couple of times until she left me alone.
When I was paying, I tried to practice what little Korean I knew and said "Odi...Changdeukgung (Where...Changdeuk Palace)?" Unfortunately, she and her co-worker didn't know. I think they knew, but just didn't know how to make it easy for me because the Tourist Information Center told me the longest way to get there (I had to backtrack to the other end of Insadong where I was just at some thirty minutes ago). After leaving the underpass at Angguk station, I didn't find any more Changdeukgung directional signs and was worried that I was going to be late for the tour. Luckily, I found two teenagers who didn't ignore me and pointed me further down the street. By the time I got to the ticket booth, I was almost sweaty (almost because it's hard to be sweaty in the Northern Hemisphere during spring), but right on time for the tour. Woot!
Changdeukgung is huge and pretty. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, the trees and most of the flowers weren't in bloom yet so the shots were less than picture-perfect. Even Biwon, the Secret Garden, wasn't as picturesque as I hoped it would be.
Going for an authentic eating experience (and since I passed by it a gazillion times just today alone), I ate at a Korean restaurant, which resembled like a hanok, in Insadong. I had a nakji (octupus) dolsot bibimbap for W6,000. Even though I only put two spoonfuls of the sauce in the huge pot, my tongue was flaming and I had to keep on wiping my nose from all the snot that was generated (yummy picture, I know). The kimchi, part of the banchan, actually cooled the temperature down, in addition to the delish anchovies (or delish dilis, if you will) and the full jug of water I chugged down.
After a quick stop to buy a Starbucks mug at the uber-familiar store with the hangul-ized sign, I went back to my hotel to finally check in. In the process, I had to walk up and down Insadong again because I couldn't remember which alley in Insadong I came from earlier (darn those skinny streets). I eventually had to ask the Tourist Information Center to give me a hand.
The highlight of my day? Watching JUMP at the Cinecore Theatre, which was just a stone's throw away from my digs; I love being able to walk to these places! Two of the male actors were cute and there were a couple of parts in the show where they didn't have their shirts on. God is seriously not giving me a reason not to like this city. HaHa! One of the guys even looked like a spitting image of BaeYongJoon, a former flame. If this actor had plastic surgery, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his surgeon to make him look like BYJ because he seriously does. With a nice toned body that only martial arts can bring, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole show. Yes, I felt guilty for having dirtythoughts since this was a family-friendly show. ;P The show itself was quite entertaining and I highly recommend it, with or without the hot actors.
With the sun still up, I decided to finally orient myself because I totally felt lost by not knowing where everything was. I followed Cheonggye Stream which brought me to the city center-the area that I was familiar with-thanks to Cathy's walking tour in 2007. In the process, I found a Rotiboy Bakeshoppe and started thinking that Seoul might be a like Manila in terms of the abundance of restaurants from around the world. With a rotiboy in hand, I still wanted to find more sugary sweetness (who needs dinner when your tongue is still flaming from the bibimbap from some three hours ago) so I headed back to Insadong to find a hotteok stall. After rows of every street food available in Seoul, I didn't see one that resembled a hotteok (or maybe I just didn't recognize it?). Hmm, tomorrow is another day and I'm not leaving Seoul until I eat one!
Instead of taking the KAL bus to Seoul like I did in 2007, I took the more economical Airport Limosine Bus into the city which was a great idea because it allowed me to see all the different neighborhoods in this metropolis. However, this didn't help me orient myself. When the bus dropped me off at my stop, I knew where I was in reference to where I need to be, but I didn't know where I was in reference to everything else (this is why I always prefer walking whenever I'm on travel rather than taking a taxi or a bus).
After finding out that I couldn't check in early, I decided to kill time at Insadong before my 11:30am English tour of Changdeuk Palace. Ahh, Insadong. It looked quite different from what I remembered the last time I was there since traffic is allowed on the weekdays. It was still quite early at 10am so most of the stores haven't gotten their goods set up yet. After going up and down the street, I walked over to Tapgol Park where harabeojis were chillin', dressed up in their coat and dress pants, similar to how I found them in 2007. There were no school kids this time around, but a bus load of tourists arrived shortly after me. They were all ajummas and halmeonis without a camera so I didn't have to wait long before I could get some shots.
Still too early for Changdeukgung, I checked out a Skin Food store. Ahh, this was the start of my "No, I'm not Korean" escapades. Okay, it actually started at the Paris Baguette Cafe in the airport (their cream cheese danish was delish!) when the cashier asked me something (I'm guessing if I wanted a drink to go with it), but ended up just taking my money after she realized I'm not Korean by my confused look.
The Skin Food store just opened so I found one of the sales girls mopping the floor. When she got around to my side of the store, I tried to tell her to go ahead and don't mind me, but she stopped and started asking me questions to which I started shaking my hand at her while smiling. Not wanting to look like I was having an epileptic shock, I asked, "Yong-o haseyo (Do you know English)?" and she said something like, "No, blah blah blah"...at least that's how I interpreted her answer. Perhaps my pronunciation was perfect because she kept uttering more phrases in Korean. I didn't want to pull out my Lonely Planet Korean Phrasebook so I ended up just saying "I don't understand. Byane" a couple of times until she left me alone.
When I was paying, I tried to practice what little Korean I knew and said "Odi...Changdeukgung (Where...Changdeuk Palace)?" Unfortunately, she and her co-worker didn't know. I think they knew, but just didn't know how to make it easy for me because the Tourist Information Center told me the longest way to get there (I had to backtrack to the other end of Insadong where I was just at some thirty minutes ago). After leaving the underpass at Angguk station, I didn't find any more Changdeukgung directional signs and was worried that I was going to be late for the tour. Luckily, I found two teenagers who didn't ignore me and pointed me further down the street. By the time I got to the ticket booth, I was almost sweaty (almost because it's hard to be sweaty in the Northern Hemisphere during spring), but right on time for the tour. Woot!
Changdeukgung is huge and pretty. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, the trees and most of the flowers weren't in bloom yet so the shots were less than picture-perfect. Even Biwon, the Secret Garden, wasn't as picturesque as I hoped it would be.
Going for an authentic eating experience (and since I passed by it a gazillion times just today alone), I ate at a Korean restaurant, which resembled like a hanok, in Insadong. I had a nakji (octupus) dolsot bibimbap for W6,000. Even though I only put two spoonfuls of the sauce in the huge pot, my tongue was flaming and I had to keep on wiping my nose from all the snot that was generated (yummy picture, I know). The kimchi, part of the banchan, actually cooled the temperature down, in addition to the delish anchovies (or delish dilis, if you will) and the full jug of water I chugged down.
After a quick stop to buy a Starbucks mug at the uber-familiar store with the hangul-ized sign, I went back to my hotel to finally check in. In the process, I had to walk up and down Insadong again because I couldn't remember which alley in Insadong I came from earlier (darn those skinny streets). I eventually had to ask the Tourist Information Center to give me a hand.
The highlight of my day? Watching JUMP at the Cinecore Theatre, which was just a stone's throw away from my digs; I love being able to walk to these places! Two of the male actors were cute and there were a couple of parts in the show where they didn't have their shirts on. God is seriously not giving me a reason not to like this city. HaHa! One of the guys even looked like a spitting image of BaeYongJoon, a former flame. If this actor had plastic surgery, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his surgeon to make him look like BYJ because he seriously does. With a nice toned body that only martial arts can bring, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole show. Yes, I felt guilty for having dirtythoughts since this was a family-friendly show. ;P The show itself was quite entertaining and I highly recommend it, with or without the hot actors.
With the sun still up, I decided to finally orient myself because I totally felt lost by not knowing where everything was. I followed Cheonggye Stream which brought me to the city center-the area that I was familiar with-thanks to Cathy's walking tour in 2007. In the process, I found a Rotiboy Bakeshoppe and started thinking that Seoul might be a like Manila in terms of the abundance of restaurants from around the world. With a rotiboy in hand, I still wanted to find more sugary sweetness (who needs dinner when your tongue is still flaming from the bibimbap from some three hours ago) so I headed back to Insadong to find a hotteok stall. After rows of every street food available in Seoul, I didn't see one that resembled a hotteok (or maybe I just didn't recognize it?). Hmm, tomorrow is another day and I'm not leaving Seoul until I eat one!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hi Seoul Indeed
Oh Seoul, I have come back for you!
After almost two years since my 10-hour layover in 2007, I'm back in the Land of the Morning Calm (whatever that is supposed to really mean).
On my flight to Narita, I was sitting in the last row, window seat next to an ajussi. This might be my preferred seat from now on since no one was coughing behind me nor was someone using my headrest to balance himself/herself whenever nature called (the latter is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when flying).
And Asiana Airlines is still my favorite airline; United's food was not up to par compared to what Asiana served me in 2007; I'm not even going to try to describe the half-sandwich that they served as a snack from Narita to Incheon. Plus, no toiletry kit. Boo!
Incheon International is still the greatest airport for me; my local Sea-Tac International can't be compared. I just love how after you claim your luggage and pass the Customs, the double doors open (for each person) and the waiting area is full of people, looking towards you. It feeds the inner wanna-be-celebrity in me since I always imagine the paparazzi are taking pictures as I walk out. HaHa!
As if God granted my shallow wish of an eye-candy-filled trip, I was welcomed by hot oppas right off the bat. The hotel shuttle driver met me at the 1st floor Tourist Information Counter and we proceeded to the shuttle which was filled with passengers already; I ended up sitting in the front. Because of the tinted windows and my not wanting to look too obvious by looking back, I didn't exactly know who was there, but I heard all of them talking in Korean throughout the 15-minute ride from ICN to the Airport Square. I swear, hearing Korean spoken by young guys is music to my ears. ;P When we got to the hotel, God's gift was unwrapped: five twenty-something guys, decked out in suits, who were all equally good-looking by Korean drama standards (I thought one was more good-looking than the rest). "Omo, omo!" alright. Yeah, my happiness is THAT shallow. Let me be. HaHa!
So after my "first day in Seoul", here I am, on my double bed, looking forward to the next six days. Woot!
After almost two years since my 10-hour layover in 2007, I'm back in the Land of the Morning Calm (whatever that is supposed to really mean).
On my flight to Narita, I was sitting in the last row, window seat next to an ajussi. This might be my preferred seat from now on since no one was coughing behind me nor was someone using my headrest to balance himself/herself whenever nature called (the latter is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when flying).
And Asiana Airlines is still my favorite airline; United's food was not up to par compared to what Asiana served me in 2007; I'm not even going to try to describe the half-sandwich that they served as a snack from Narita to Incheon. Plus, no toiletry kit. Boo!
Incheon International is still the greatest airport for me; my local Sea-Tac International can't be compared. I just love how after you claim your luggage and pass the Customs, the double doors open (for each person) and the waiting area is full of people, looking towards you. It feeds the inner wanna-be-celebrity in me since I always imagine the paparazzi are taking pictures as I walk out. HaHa!
As if God granted my shallow wish of an eye-candy-filled trip, I was welcomed by hot oppas right off the bat. The hotel shuttle driver met me at the 1st floor Tourist Information Counter and we proceeded to the shuttle which was filled with passengers already; I ended up sitting in the front. Because of the tinted windows and my not wanting to look too obvious by looking back, I didn't exactly know who was there, but I heard all of them talking in Korean throughout the 15-minute ride from ICN to the Airport Square. I swear, hearing Korean spoken by young guys is music to my ears. ;P When we got to the hotel, God's gift was unwrapped: five twenty-something guys, decked out in suits, who were all equally good-looking by Korean drama standards (I thought one was more good-looking than the rest). "Omo, omo!" alright. Yeah, my happiness is THAT shallow. Let me be. HaHa!
So after my "first day in Seoul", here I am, on my double bed, looking forward to the next six days. Woot!
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