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| busy-ness. all pictures posted are on an as is, where is basis LOL no time to edit or make it more visually palatable |
Because we found out that we're actually going on this trip, wala kaming kaayti-itinerary. We already canceled the hotel reservation. Hindi na kami nag-research. I even spent more than I usually spend cos I thought we're not going anyway. But all the powers of the universe conspired to make this happen- ang ending, we just winged it.
Annyeong, Seoul!
Arrived Korea around 10 in the evening. We had no idea whatsoever how to get to our hotel (which AC booked just that morning).We met a group of friendly Filipinas who, like us, were also clueless how to get to our hotels. Good thing our hotels were in the same area so we ended taking up the same bus.
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| first meal in Korea siempre na-extra pa si Nadine |
We stayed at the Skypark Hotel III in the Myeongdong area on our first night. Very nice hotel and it should be as it cost around Php3,000++ a night. The room comes with complete amenities, a TV and a computer, may complimentary mask pa but this was what I missed the most
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| kinabog niya ang bidet! may blower pa for your pwet, o ha! haha! heated pa ☺ |
Day 1: Exploring Myeongdong
We usually start our day late in Korea, around 10 am. Dahil na rin siguro sa pagod but most definitely because our rooms don't have windows so don't have any idea if the sun's out already.
So after checking out of our nice hotel (to transfer to an okay hostel), we explored the streets and the shops of Myeongdong. There's a Face Shop, Etude, Skin Food and Innisfree store in every street. Clothing stores are putting summer styles on sale. Traveling with the ultimate shopaholic, nabuhayan ng dugo si AC. We scoured the different alleys aimlessly, just checking out stuff.
For lunch, we chose this small Korean restaurant because it's the cheapest in the area.
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| AC's rice roll |
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| and my drenched-in-sauce katsu |
Affordable, yummy meals. My katsu reminded me of Yabu. Our meals cost around 10,000 won total. Cheap na yun sa kanila. Haha!
We transferred to our next home away from home, 24 Guesthouse in Namsan. Our cab driver didn't take us to our destination as the road going there was closed, so he just dropped off us at the corner of the street. He doesn't know English so he's giving us instructions in Korean on how to get to our hostel. Syempre wala kaming na-gets sa pinagsasabi niya. So there we were, lugging our luggage through the unfamiliar streets of Seoul.
Which could be a blessing in disguise cos we came across this
It's a traditional chuva we got to watch on our way to our hostel. Syempre wala pa rin kaming naintindihan pero it's still cool to have witnessed such.
AC and I couldn't find our hostel so we asked for directions from Ate Girl. She was very accommodating and even looked for our destination on her phone but alas, she didn't give us the correct directions. Thank God for open Wi-Fi connnections! We were able to "ninja" some signal from nearby shops and used Google maps to find our destination. Wagi.
This is our area at night- sprawling with pop-up inuman stalls
What's admirable is in the morning, it's as if nothing happened in the streets during the night. No evidence from office people's drinking spree the night before. Zilch. Nada. Nil. I wish we could be more disciplined in keeping our surroundings clean.
Walked around Namsan area and looked for a place to have dinner. When in Korea, of course one has to have bibimbap
I really love walking around cities. On our walk back to our hotel, we witnessed a couple fighting as in with matching sipaan at hampasan (in fernez, si ate ang naninipa at nanghahampas), drunk Korean men talking loudly to each other, and more office people drinking.
Day 2: Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung Palace at ang mailap na Myeongdong Cathedral
Took the train going to Bukchon Hanok Village which was just one stop away. We stopped by the tourist office and got our map of the place but in the end, of course, we just followed the swarm of Chinese tourists.
Bukchon Hanok Village is mainly an old neighborhood with very well-maintained old houses. I'm sad that we couldn't do this with our old houses here in Manila. I often see dilapidated old houses that I'm sure would be very beautiful had they've been well-taken cared of.
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| 360° |
We also went to the Fragrance Museum which isn't actually a museum.
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| it's a sign! combination of the names of my two businesses |
I want something similar to this. I want my own shop na standalone but standalone shops don't fare well especially if not inside a mall. But right now I'm perfectly happy with my pop-up thingy n Eastwood.
I really enjoyed going around the area of Bukchon- it's so Pinterest-y. Haha! I don't know if there's an area here in the Philippines that's like that. Everywhere you look there are pretty things and what-nots.
We had lunch at Segafredo because AC didn't want to eat Korean food again plus at that time, we were very tired from walking and it was past lunch time already and it was the nearest non-Korean place we could find.
We were just exploring the area when to our surprise and delight, we saw the Museum of Modern Art and the National Folk Museum of Korea. We just went around the Modern Art Museum perimeter and the lobby, we didn't go inside anymore.
The city's so clean and I'm so inggit. Why can't we do this in our city? Hindi ba talaga natin kaya na hindi magtapon sa kalye o umihi sa tabi? Seriously, Intramuros (the most tourist-y place in Manila) smells like wiwi. Ang liit na lang ng Intramuros hindi pa natin maayos. Oh well.
So, let's go to the National Folk Museum of Korea.
Again, to our delight and surprise- the National Folk Museum is also connected to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Since everything's last minute, we weren't able to plan this vacation nor do research kaya ayan bulagaan.
On our way out of the palace, we thought we saw the National Museum of Korea. So we planned to visit it after Gyeongbokgung. When we went out we started walking to where we thought we saw it. Hindi namin mahanap. At dahil wala kaming INTERNET(!!!!), hinulaan lang namin kung saan kami pupunta. So after thirty minutes or so of walking around, hindi pa rin namin siya nakita. We later found out that it is not the National Museum but the National Palace Museum and it is inside the palace compound. Shiyet. So anyway, that's the first time we got lost that day [we got lost thrice. THRICE!!!]
We finally found station and the line which we'll be taking going to Myeongdong since we wanted to hear mass at Myeongdong Cathedral. We were already running late for the mass but it's' Sunday so we wanted to go kahit to say a prayer lang. Umm, eh, so that was the second time we got lost- while looking for Myeongdong Cathedral. We must have went around in circles three to four times in Myeongdong looking for the cathedral. Lahat na ng building pinagkamalan na naming katedral. Haha. Basta to cut the story short, nahanap din namin siya. After 48 years uli. Good thing we were able to hear mass even if it's in Korean.
I was actually surprised to enter a packed church. I think we were able to hear part of the sermon but it's in Korean so wala din. At this time, both my phone and the camera already ran out of juice but I tried lang to power it on and it did and I was able to take these photos of the church. After that, deds na siya talaga.
After we heard mass, gallivanted around Myeongdong area and ate dinner (korean fried chicken and tteokbokki), we headed back to our hostel. AC and I had an argument as to which exit or entrance to the subway we took. Eh ayoko na ng tension so I went with what she wanted. We walked for minutes before reaching the station itself and when we reached Jongno area, we took the wrong exit and we didn't notice that until we bought two 1.5 liter bottles of water from 7-11. So that was the third time we got lost. Masakit na paa namin from walking ALL DAY plus we're lugging around heavy chorva. we tried to go around the area, kept on walking at baka sakali makarating kami ng hotel. After walking for a few minutes, we saw the Gyeongbokgung Palace and that is near Anguk station. UMABOT NA KAMI NG ANGUK SA KAKALAKAD! Que barbaridad! Thank God for some of Seoul's establishments who have open Wi-Fi because if it weren't for them, haha hindi ko alam kung ano ginawa namin. Also, we didn't notice taxis in the area and that was already 9 in the evening, wala na masyadong tao sa kalye. OMIGAAAAHD after a bazillion steps, we finally found our hotel. And we learned our lesson- alamin kung anong number ang exit namin.
We even walked inside a tunnel and I know we have pictures but I think they're in AC's phone.
Aka walkathon day 3. Haha. When we got lost on our way back home, we were intrigued what was the palace-like structure that blocked could've-been-short-way back to our hostel. It was the Jongmyo Shrine and it was just a ten-minute walk away.
You can't enter the shrine without a guide and the English guided tour is still an hour away so we looked for another place to explore that's just nearby, We decided to take a look at the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Going there, we passed by a Raon-like area where they sell electronics chuva. At first medyo nagdalawang-isip pa kami ni AC if we're really taking the correct way- yes we did.
Ang linis DIBA??? Nakakinggit.
The walk to the stream and back took around 30-40 minutes. When we got back to Jongmyo Shrine, we waited, more or less, 20 more minutes. Turned out that the shrine is sacred to the Koreans kaya they can't let people just go inside without guides.
These structures are divided into rooms and each room houses the memorial tables of the kings and their queens.
After Jongmyo Shrine, we went back to Gyeongbokgung Palace to witness the changing of the guards. We were just in time.
Then off to King Sejong's monument
We almost missed this cos we didn't know this monument is near Gyeongbokgung Palace (again, lack of research and planning).
From there, we headed to Dongdaemun for some shopping.
AC wanted to find kasi "cheap" finds. Yung cheap nila eh mahal na actually sa atin, but we want the big shirts na maganda yung cut. Pagakatapos namin maikot ang malls and finally decided what we want to buy, hindi na namin sila makita. Haha. Such is life. Although I was able to buy a dress you can wear above a shirt (yung porma nung Grade 7 ako).
On our way back home, we watched a girl group gyrate on stage
and we passed by a part of Cheonggyecheon Stream and at night, it's beautiful~
and the Heunginjimun Gate.
We didn't get lost that day. Hindi lang namin naabutan na bukas ang Dongdaemun Market.
Days 4 and 5 on my next post. My bed is calling me.
I really enjoyed going around the area of Bukchon- it's so Pinterest-y. Haha! I don't know if there's an area here in the Philippines that's like that. Everywhere you look there are pretty things and what-nots.
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| I didn't catch the name of this store but this is HOARDER'S HEAVEN Hahahaha!!! I wanted to get all the colors but alas, my budget restricted me. |
We were just exploring the area when to our surprise and delight, we saw the Museum of Modern Art and the National Folk Museum of Korea. We just went around the Modern Art Museum perimeter and the lobby, we didn't go inside anymore.
The city's so clean and I'm so inggit. Why can't we do this in our city? Hindi ba talaga natin kaya na hindi magtapon sa kalye o umihi sa tabi? Seriously, Intramuros (the most tourist-y place in Manila) smells like wiwi. Ang liit na lang ng Intramuros hindi pa natin maayos. Oh well.
So, let's go to the National Folk Museum of Korea.
Again, to our delight and surprise- the National Folk Museum is also connected to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Since everything's last minute, we weren't able to plan this vacation nor do research kaya ayan bulagaan.
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| Past & Present Korea in harmony |
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| Gyeongbokgung Palace facade which was actually taken on another day since we didn't get to see the Changing of the Guards ceremony and had to go back for it. |
We finally found station and the line which we'll be taking going to Myeongdong since we wanted to hear mass at Myeongdong Cathedral. We were already running late for the mass but it's' Sunday so we wanted to go kahit to say a prayer lang. Umm, eh, so that was the second time we got lost- while looking for Myeongdong Cathedral. We must have went around in circles three to four times in Myeongdong looking for the cathedral. Lahat na ng building pinagkamalan na naming katedral. Haha. Basta to cut the story short, nahanap din namin siya. After 48 years uli. Good thing we were able to hear mass even if it's in Korean.
I was actually surprised to enter a packed church. I think we were able to hear part of the sermon but it's in Korean so wala din. At this time, both my phone and the camera already ran out of juice but I tried lang to power it on and it did and I was able to take these photos of the church. After that, deds na siya talaga.
After we heard mass, gallivanted around Myeongdong area and ate dinner (korean fried chicken and tteokbokki), we headed back to our hostel. AC and I had an argument as to which exit or entrance to the subway we took. Eh ayoko na ng tension so I went with what she wanted. We walked for minutes before reaching the station itself and when we reached Jongno area, we took the wrong exit and we didn't notice that until we bought two 1.5 liter bottles of water from 7-11. So that was the third time we got lost. Masakit na paa namin from walking ALL DAY plus we're lugging around heavy chorva. we tried to go around the area, kept on walking at baka sakali makarating kami ng hotel. After walking for a few minutes, we saw the Gyeongbokgung Palace and that is near Anguk station. UMABOT NA KAMI NG ANGUK SA KAKALAKAD! Que barbaridad! Thank God for some of Seoul's establishments who have open Wi-Fi because if it weren't for them, haha hindi ko alam kung ano ginawa namin. Also, we didn't notice taxis in the area and that was already 9 in the evening, wala na masyadong tao sa kalye. OMIGAAAAHD after a bazillion steps, we finally found our hotel. And we learned our lesson- alamin kung anong number ang exit namin.
We even walked inside a tunnel and I know we have pictures but I think they're in AC's phone.
Day 3: Jongmyo Shrine, Cheonggyecheon Stream, King Sejong and Dongdaemun
Aka walkathon day 3. Haha. When we got lost on our way back home, we were intrigued what was the palace-like structure that blocked could've-been-short-way back to our hostel. It was the Jongmyo Shrine and it was just a ten-minute walk away.
You can't enter the shrine without a guide and the English guided tour is still an hour away so we looked for another place to explore that's just nearby, We decided to take a look at the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Going there, we passed by a Raon-like area where they sell electronics chuva. At first medyo nagdalawang-isip pa kami ni AC if we're really taking the correct way- yes we did.
Ang linis DIBA??? Nakakinggit.
The walk to the stream and back took around 30-40 minutes. When we got back to Jongmyo Shrine, we waited, more or less, 20 more minutes. Turned out that the shrine is sacred to the Koreans kaya they can't let people just go inside without guides.
These structures are divided into rooms and each room houses the memorial tables of the kings and their queens.
After Jongmyo Shrine, we went back to Gyeongbokgung Palace to witness the changing of the guards. We were just in time.
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| hangtangkad ni koya |
Then off to King Sejong's monument
We almost missed this cos we didn't know this monument is near Gyeongbokgung Palace (again, lack of research and planning).
From there, we headed to Dongdaemun for some shopping.
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| traffic na yan sa kanila |
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| ang linis |
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| Dongdaemun Design Plaza at night from Holly's Coffee |
On our way back home, we watched a girl group gyrate on stage
and we passed by a part of Cheonggyecheon Stream and at night, it's beautiful~
and the Heunginjimun Gate.
We didn't get lost that day. Hindi lang namin naabutan na bukas ang Dongdaemun Market.
Days 4 and 5 on my next post. My bed is calling me.
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