about us In alphabetical order, Hsuwen, 170696 Jo, 131296 Wanlin, 181096 Yuyan, 300496 This blog is a documentation of 4 girls' 10-day vacay in Korea, for now hehe. Naturally, when you give 4 girls a camera, please do expect to see our 4 faces (possibly) everywhere on this blog ☺☺☺ tagboard exits Jo Archives May 2015 June 2015 Credits basecodes ©Glamouresque.	Saturday, May 30, 2015 KOREA Trippin' Day 3: Palaces, Bukchon Hanok Village and Insadong [22Apr] Continuing on with our adventures in Seoul... Day 3! ★ Gyeongbokgung Palace [Mirror selfie, in fact, a lot of mirrors haha] [Concentration game strong haha] [Fruit of that concentration hahaha] [Pretty palace!] [Changing guard ceremony despite the drizzle] [Super up close view haha thanks to our KIASU-ism for the front row] [Scary-looking palace guard who had to entertain typical tourists like us ahha] [Can we bring these flowers back please??] [Super intricate interior of the palace] [Getting overboard as usual with our jump shots and totally got judged haha] [Swaggy swag swag] Overall Experience and Thoughts: The palaces are so beautiful and they aren't something we get to see in Singapore. Despite the slight drizzle, there were still many tourists and locals who made their way down to the largest palace in Korea. The Royal Guard Changing Ceremony was quite interesting. It was a really unique experience, touring the entire palace and feeling like royalties. It's always good to immerse yourself in the local traditional culture :)  How to get there: Gyeongbokgung Station (Line 3), Exit 5 *Tip: Follow the sign boards in the metro stations Admission Fee:  W3,000 per ticket ★ Bukchon Hanok Village and Samcheongdong [Upgraded trains woohoo]  [Desperately trying to find our way to Bukchon Hanok Village] [Walked past this Hammock Nap Cafe. And as you can see, it used to be a filming location for a Kpop variety show.] [Jo writing on the guest book at the Bukchon Traditional Culture Centre!] We had to walk quite abit before arriving at the Bukchon Hanok Village, home to hundreds of Korean traditional houses (hanoks). There are 8 photo spots around Bukchon, where you will get the best view of the hanoks and alleys. [Bukchon 3rd spot: Gahoe-dong Museum Lane] We saw museums and workshops of traditional craftwork around this area. If you do have the time to spare, you can join some of their available classes! :) [Watch out for this pharmacy to get to the most popular cluster of traditional houses!] [Matcha ice cream to beat the afternoon heat! :P] [Bukchon 6th spot: Gahoe-dong Alley] [Jo asking for directions to Samcheongdong from Bukchon] [Think we arrived?] [Softree honeycomb ice cream! Yum] [Grafitti Art which would leave you going 'awww' :>] Overall Experience and Thoughts: Bukchon Hanok Village was flooded with tourists since it is a popular tourist attraction. Kinda pity the residents who are living there. Remember to be considerate and keep your volume down!  We didn't manage to find all 8 photo spots ): And the ones we found were crowded with tourists, which kinda ruined some of photos we took. However, we managed to take some really nice photos at quieter alleys in the village, which has such beautiful traditional architecture! So basically, just explore and get to see the other parts of the place! Samcheondong shopping street has pretty good shopping, but the things there were rather expensive. We did find some nice clothings from the 'sale' racks though. We also spotted lots of cafes! Unfortunately, we didn't have the luxury of time to stop by at a cafe, since we were rushing off to our next destination. ); How to get there: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 2 *Tip: Head to the information centre first to get a map of Bukchon. Friendly English-speaking staff will assist you on how to get to the clusters of traditional houses and the 8 photo spots. ★ Unhyeongung Palace [Pretty hanboks~] [Totally going against the sophisticated feel ahha] We met this really kind Samaritan Ahjussi, who offered to help take our photos all around the palace at super professional angles. Even after we left this small area, he approached us and offered to take more photos for us. We were definitely overwhelmed by his actions and were beyond thankful at the same time since we were rushing to take as many shots as possible in the given time limit (10 minutes). Bless you kind Ahjussi! :) Overall Experience and Thoughts: The ahjumma who was helping us with the hanbok fitting was quite hostile upon finding out that we were Singaporeans -- a drastic change in service attitude from the group of Japanese girls before us. However, the other ladies at the 'Planned Exhibition Hall' were really friendly. We reached the palace at around 5 and it was quite empty at that point in time, which was a good thing! There may be more people earlier in the day since many on the Internet have also said that it is a popular hotspot for hanbok fitting! Unhyeongung palace is a lot smaller compared to Gyeongbokgung Palace. However, it was alright since we visited this palace mainly to try on the hanboks. It would have been much better if the time given was longer though. Thankfully, we made full use of the time, with much help from our personal photographer (aka nicest Ahjussi). We left the place with all smiles because we were so glad and satisfied with the pictures he took for us. YAY to kind people :D How to get there: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 4 The palace is at the exit. Walk straight about 50m to the entrance.  Hanbok fitting is at the 'Planned Exhibition Hall'. Turn left at the entrance. Cost: Admission: Free Hanbok fitting experience: W3,300 for 10 minutes ★ Insadong [Overly-friendly dragon beard candy dudes who eventually persuaded us to buy a total of 6 boxes, which hardened when we were back in SG -.- But the 'performance' was really cute and funny haha "you see this very hard honey, *knock knock* now we will do some stretching stretching, pulling pulling, *rambles on with the multiplication* hahaha] [Ssamziegil mall] [Super unique architectural layout of the mall. All the levels are connected in a spiral shape, like *mindblown*] [Yummy Poo bread with red bean filling but the Sikhye (rice drink) tasted a little funky] [Entire building was filled with artistic graffiti] [Even the toilets?!] Overall Experience and Thoughts: Insadong is basically where we got to experience Korea's traditional culture and crafts. You can find lots of souvenir stores selling traditional items along the streets. Ssamziegil mall is filled with designer art shops and traditional handicraft stores, which sells really pretty items, but comes at quite an expensive price. I mean, it would be really worth it if you are into hand made items! The whole place is so artsy and colourful, with cool graffiti and sculptures at every corner. There are tarot reading stores, stationery and clothing shops, as well as a cafe on the highest level. We probably spent most of our time at Insadong in this mall. Be sure to check it out! How to get there: Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 4 Walk about 400m. (Cr: Naver Maps) Lunch: Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken *Tip: Come early to avoid the lunchtime crowd. By early, we mean 11am.  We didn't even have to queue (whee) [Side dishes which come in huge pots to share with the table beside] [Menu] We each got the Chicken Stew with Ginseng (W15,000) [The meat is super tender and smooth like wow. Super in love with the ingredients (glutinous rice, red dates, gingko nuts, ginseng) stuffed inside the chicken. Tasted so AMAZING!] [Damn huge ginseng] [Yay we found a wish bone in our ginseng chicken stew!] [By the time we finished our meal (12.30pm), a long queue had already formed outside the restaurant. Thank god we came early!! This photo is Jo's attempt at getting a photo of the insane queue since everyone was staring ahhahaha] [Then this kind Korean thought we wanted a full group shot and offered to help us take one instead HAHA!] Rating: 5/5 We finally got to try Tosokchon's signature samgyetang (chicken ginseng soup) and we now know why it is so famous and popular among locals and tourists. It's just so delicious and worth every single cent. The chicken is the most tender and fresh chicken we have ever tasted in our life! Service was also fast and efficient which is always a plus! How to get there: Gyeongbokgung Station (Line 3), Exit 2.  Walk straight about 150m and turn left at GS 25 convenience store. Dinner: Doo Dae Mun Jib [Side dishes] [Soft Tofu Stew] [Spicy Seafood Stew] [Chicken Bulgogi] Rating: 4/5 The food was really good, especially the chicken bulgogi, which tasted so flavourful and tender! We were quite surprised by how good the food turned out to be, because we randomly chose a restaurant since we were all hungry and tired from walking. Guess we chose a good restaurant. However, the total cost of the meal was on the pricey side. Nevertheless, we had a really good meal :) Yum yum in our tum tums! How to get there: Located at the food alley next to Ssamziegil Mall.  Has a hanok exterior and is pretty crowded during dinner time! Labels: Anguk, Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung, Insadong, Samcheongdong, Seoul, Tosokchon, Unhyeongung
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