Seoul Day 1: Lotus Lantern Festival & Cheonggyecheon Stream
We were still walking around the shops in Ssamziegil when we suddenly heard a drumming noise from the street. People started to rush out of the mall to the street, so we took a peek from the 3rd floor to see what’s going on out there. Turned out, the Lotus Lantern Festival parade is passing by. We were there on Buddha’s Birthday weekend celebration and I think the Lotus Lantern Festival ws part of that celebration.
Apparently Insa-dong was on the parade route and we didn’t even know that. We were thinking of going to Cheonggyecheon Stream later on tonight, because that’s where we thought the parade’s going to be. But I guess we lucked out. We also got a pretty good spot up front to see the parade clearly. I managed to snap photos and took a couple of footage of the parade.
After the parade, we started exploring the area around Ssamziegil. There are lots of shops that sell traditional items that are perfect for souvenirs.
Since it's almost 9 pm, we decided that it's time to grab dinner. We picked Gung (개성만두 궁) that's close by. They are known for their famous Gaeseong-style mandu.
Assorted Pancakes – Mung Bean, Ground Potato, Chopped Red Pepper & Leek, Chopped Kimchi
Gaesong Dumplings cooked in Casserole (개성만두전골) ₩30,000
Gaesong Steamed Dumplings (개성만두찜) ₩7,000
After dinner, since we still have time before the subway closes, we decided to head to Cheonggyecheon Stream (청계천), where the Lotus Lantern Festival happened to have their installments at. It was around 10 pm on a Sunday night and we're very surprised that the place was still packed with people—young, old, families, kids, couples. One of my friend made a comment, "It's like they don't need to work or something. How come Sunday night can be this packed?". I have to agree that it feels very different than here in the US. The nightlife in Seoul is definitely more alive. Plus the weather was perfect for just walking around the stream or sitting down while looking at the lanterns. We enjoyed the cool night breeze while watching the people around us. It was a perfect way to end our first day in Seoul.
Seoul Day 1: Bukchon & Ssamziegil
After walking around the Gyeongbokgung Palace for a while, we decided to find the nearest exit and make our way to our next destination. We're tired and hungry and it's already well past 1 pm, so we headed for lunch. We walked towards Bukchon-ro and found ourselves in this one road with a lot of restaurants on the left and right. We took a quick stroll down the road and decided that the first restaurant that we saw looks promising.
The name of the restaurant is 돈까스 (Tonkatsu), or at least that's what I read on the sign of the place when we walked in. I'm not too sure either. Anyway, we walked in, took our seat, started to look at the menus (which are in a form of photo album with the pictures of the food and a sticky label with the name of the food on top of it), and ordered a couple of dishes. The food was pretty delicious and there were definitely things that we never ordered before. Here are some shots of what we ate:
Kimchi Fried Rice with Cheese
Dosirak (도시락)
Spicy Seafood Noodles
After we got our energy back, we headed to Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을) to see Korea's traditional houses—called Hanok—that date back to the Joseon Dynasty. Bukchon apparently literally means 'northern village'. When we arrived there, there are quite a number of people walking around, including people who came from out of town (at least that's our guess because they looked like tourists, but they speak Korean).
One interesting thing that we saw, after you walked up the hill, when you looked back, you can see multiple rows of hanoks with modern architecture of the city on the background. It was pretty interesting to see how the two co-exist in Seoul.
One tip for you if you want to visit Bukchon, look up their website and find the photo spots that you want to go to. There are 8 views of Bukchon that can be seen from different places, you just have to find the right spot if you want to see those views. We made a mistake on not finding out about these spots before we came. We also missed it on the map that we got from the information center (that we hold on into the whole time we were there and just found that out towards the end of our time there). As a result, we walked (and ran) up and down the hill in circles. I felt like I just had a work out session after we finished exploring Bukchon. But the whole area is very charming and we had a great time just looking at the architecture of the exterior of the hanoks.
After Bukchon, we walked our way towards Insa-dong. We passed the subway station and saw a couple of interesting things, one of them is there was an ajuhssi begging for money on the street. Nothing about it is odd, but what's surprising is the way they do it is very different than anything I've seen in other countries. If I remembered correctly, my Korean teacher told me that begging for money is something that is considered humiliating in Korean culture, thus the posture. I can't say this for sure though. Maybe someone who have a better insight to Korean culture can gives a better explanation about this.
Anyway, on with our journey, one of the place we want to visit in Insa-dong is Ssamziegil (쌈지길), a shopping center that has a pretty unique architectural structure. There are four floors with over 70 stores that sell different range of items. The feeling that I got from the area is that it's very young and artsy. The place was pretty packed with young people and families and the spiral staircases are not wide enough for the number of people that were there so we have to fight our way forward a little bit.
Here's the spiral staircases that connect the four floors together. All you have to do just walk forward and follow the staircase while you're doing your shopping, and eventually you'll find yourself on the top of the building. Pretty cool right?
View from the top
After a long afternoon of walking (and what I called semi-hiking at Bukchon), we decided to take a break at Ddoong Cafe (또옹 카페) that is located on the top floor of the building. For those who doesn't know, Ddoong means p**p in Korean. I guess you kinda can guess from the graphics that they have on their store windows :p
Since the weather was pretty hot, we were (again) craving for something sweet and cold. So we ordered a couple of desserts for snack.
Waffle with Strawberry, Kiwi, and Green Tea Ice Cream
Fruit Bingsu & Ice Green Tea Latte
Seoul Day 1: Gwanghwamun Square & Gyeongbokgung Palace
After stuffing ourselves with the nice cold patbingsu, we headed towards the Gwanghwamun Square (광화문광장) and Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) and pretty much spent a good portion of our afternoon there. First stop is Gwanghwamun Square. There seemed to be some sort of festival or flea market when we were there. There were people selling stuff on small tents around the square. There were also some kind of music performances happening. The mood were very festive all around.
Saw this cute little girl posing for her dad:
After watching the performance for a while, we continue walking and found ourselves in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace front gate. It’s very majestic. The colors, the architecture, the guards, the size of the palace. Speaking of size, we didn’t realize how big the place is. Well, we kinda know that it’s big, but didn’t realize how BIG the place REALLY is. We were there around noon, and I have to say with the sun and the rising temperature, walking around the palace drained our energy quite a bit. But since the palace is so fascinatingly beautiful AND big, I think it’s safe to say that the five of us have an experience that we won’t forget :)
After we passed through the entrance gate, this is the view we’re greeted with:
Seoul Day 1: First Morning
“I love the feeling of being anonymous in a city I’ve never been before”—Unknown
That probably sums up what I felt on my first morning in Seoul. Since this is my first time exploring the city, I’m pretty excited about it.
We left the hotel around 9 and headed to Tosokchon (토속촌) for breakfast. Tosokchon is known for its signature Samgyetang 삼계탕 (chicken ginseng soup) made with glutinous rice, gingko nuts, ginseng, garlic and jujube, medicinal herbs and grains. From what I read, since the place is very popular, especially among tourists, the line could get pretty crazy. So we’re trying to get there right when they open—which is 10 am—before they got busy with the lunch hour.
The ahjumma who sitted us at the table quickly asked what we want to order, even before we sat down and look at the menu. From what I heard, this is pretty common in Korea. Nevertheless, we took our time and ask for the menu. There are only 3 items on the menu and we decided to try one each and just share them since it’s still morning and we don’t want to get too full on our first meal.
All in all, the Samgyetang were delicious and tasty.
On our way back to the subway station, we passed by this cute little coffee shop—Café Mr. Minsuk (카페 민석씨)—and decided to stopped by for a bit just because the cafe seems to be really nice and cozy. There seems to be a couple of interesting places around this area. Check out this article to find out more.
Next, we passed by a Twosome Place (투썸플레이스) after we got off the subway and decided to make another pit stop. The sun was up and the weather is getting hotter by the hour. We saw the sign for Patbingsu (팥빙수), a popular shaved ice dessert in Korea, and it sounds like a really good at the time to stop by and get something cold to cool us down.
