SK 2012: Traditional Meets Modern Seoul

I woke up around 7:00 AM feeling recharged. Thanks to our hanok's ondol flooring, I slept like a baby. The heated floors were like hot compresses on my tired and hurting legs. So good~!

Complimentary traditional breakfast. Excuse our bangag faces.

Our host called us one by one for our free complimentary traditional breakfast around 8:00 AM. She told us that we should eat breakfast first before anything else (i.e. make-up). I later found out that she told Faye to wait for everyone to be seated at the table before she starts eating. Haha Low EQ kasi e! I guess they value meal times that much.

Our breakfast consisted of Happy New Year soup (떡국), sticky white rice, kim, kimchi and hot coffee. Define carbo loading! It was my first time to try the soup which is basically rice cakes in beef broth topped with egg  and strips of beef. The meal was really filling and I tried my hardest to at least finish my bowl of rice. I couldn't eat all those rice cakes because it was really heavy. I feel like my tummy is about to burst from too much eating!

One last look at Friends House.

After thanking our hosts for the delicious meal, we started to get ready to leave. We wanted to stay there forever but of course, we had to see the rest of Seoul. After a couple of pictures, we said goodbye to our host and gave her Philippine dried mangoes as a token of our thanks. It felt really good to see the smile on her face as she thanked us and told us she loves mangoes! Tip #6: When traveling, don't forget to promote your own country in any way you can.

Tip #7: Remember to remove your shoes before entering houses. :)

We went back to Hongdae Guesthouse to check-in and finally meet up with Karen. Yay! HS reunion once again. We left our luggage in our room and chose our beds then got ready to leave for Gyeongbokgung.

Aaaand it's Karen!! So nice to see her again.

I'm off the hook for today's commuting directions as we have Karen who has turned into a Korean in just a few years. We arrived at Gyeongbokgung a little before 10:00 AM so after Karen bought our tickets, we decided to hang outside to watch the Changing of the Royal Guards Ceremony before going inside the palace.

Hello Gyeongbokgung, we meet again!

I've been to Gyeongbokgung before but it's my first time to watch the ceremony. And boy, were we lucky to be in front when it started.

Tip #8: Be sure to catch the Ceremonial Changing of the Royal Guards at Gyeongbokgung for a cultural experience.

The ceremony was so beautiful in its entirety. The colorful costumes were all made from silk and I loved how they glistened in the sun. I didn't know any of the guards' ranks but that didn't stop me from enjoying the ceremony. I'm not a cultured snob but I do love anything that's traditional or cultural that showcases a country's rich history.

Happy tourists vs serious-looking guards

After the ceremony, tourists were allowed to take pictures with the guards. Look at all their serious faces! We were laughing the entire time because the flags kept on covering their faces but they remained unfazed. So professional!

Pasaway tourists are pasaway! Wag tularan!

Posing with the royal guards during the ceremony is prohibited though. But that didn't discourage us at all. #YOLO Karen had to leave after the ceremony to attend to some thesis work. Sayang. :(

The court ladies and the lady guard. Haha

Upon getting inside the palace grounds, we signed up for the FREE traditional Joseon costume experience at the booth beside the souvenir shop which is in front of  Gyeonghoeru pavilion. Rona couldn't take the cold so she decided to pass and just wait for us at the cafe. When it was already our turn, we found out that they only have 4 costumes for women and since there were 6 of us, 2 would have to settle for guy costumes. Que horror! The attendant offered Faye the big girl costume as she's the smallest among us. So that means only one of us will dress up as a guy. We settled this like adults and had a pompyang - maalis, konti. Each one of us celebrated as we got eliminated and as the number of hands diminished, the tension grew. Eventually, it was Jona had to wear the royal guard costume. Haha Thanks for being a good sport, bestie!

I became a queen and a court lady in a day!

We had the option of choosing the hanbok we want. I really felt like royalty raising my arms and turning around  as the attendant dressed us. My royalty bubble burst after finding out we were wearing court lady costumes. Haha A girl can dream, you know!

Presenting the court ladies of Gyeongbokgung headed by Madame Munira.

Nonetheless, the costumes were beautiful. We can pass as court ladies in Koreanovelas, what with chismisan as our expertise? Pwede na! We went around the courtyard and posed for pictures when we noticed a couple taking pictures of us too! It was totally okay with me but I still found it weird and funny at the same time. Did we look like cast members walking around the palace courtyard ala Disneyland? Or maybe they just found it amusing how much we enjoyed the costumes, they couldn't help but take pictures.

Twinsies! Ready to serve the king yo.

After fooling around a bit, it was already time for us to go back to wearing normal clothes again. Boo. :( We had too much fun, we certainly lost track of time! We were too hungry, we didn't bother going around the palace. Instead, we went looking for Tosokchon to grab some lunch.

Lunch at the famous Tosokchon.

You know how I take travel research seriously? Well, this is one of the restaurants I found near Gyeongbokgung that was worth trying out. It's so popular, a line forms outside the restaurant during lunch time. Good thing, it was already around 2:00 PM so we were seated immediately. We had to seat in 2 separate tables though. The restaurant didn't have any English sign but we managed to find it thanks to my Hangeul-reading skills. Haha Since I'm the only one who could read Hangeul (really slow), we asked for their English menu. Tip #9: Don't be afraid to ask for English menus in restaurants. :)

Since their servings are huge, Jona, Rona, Vanie and I shared an order of whole roast chicken and 2 bowls of the famous Samgyetang which the restaurant is known for. Samgyetang reminds me of our very own local dish, arroz caldo, but with a whole spring chicken stuffed with ginseng in it instead of chicken bits. The roast chicken was so good, there was no need for any sauce. The meat was literally falling off the bones. Being self-proclaimed foodies, Vanie and I finished our portion of the roast chicken in no time while we struggled to finish our Samgyetang. The dish may be good for 1 Korean, but it's definitely good for 2 Filipina girls with big appetites. We ate the chicken and the rice but we couldn't finish the soup. It was too filling! But with all the activities we have in store for today, we'll need all the energy we can get from the Samgyetang to survive.

Lost again? Just taking a quick side trip. Hihi

And now we're off to Bukchon Hanok Village! As usual, we had a little trouble finding it. HAHAHA Thanks to the help of kind strangers, policemen and staff at the tourist information center, we found the main street and our photo ops commenced!

Beautiful traditional hanoks line up the street along with colorful flowerbeds.

First stop: Sanggojae! All of us have seen Personal Taste and we absolutely fell in love with the Sanggojae (and Lee Min Ho duh). It's just the gate but still!! It was sad to see that they have removed the photo spots that were strategically placed along the street before.

Residents in Bukchon Hanok Village definitely has the meanest parking skills I know.

Funny/awkward story: while posing along a steep road, I saw a Chinese-looking couple with a baby in a stroller about to pass by while Vanie was still setting up her camera. I said hurriedly, "Huy Vanie, bilisan mo. Hirap na hirap na siya sa stroller oh. Baka gumulong." when the dad suddenly said, "Hindi, sige. Ok lang." O.O It turns out, they are Filipinos as well! Haha Tip #10: Make sure to speak of nothing but positive things in any language because you'll never know who can understand you.

Nakiki-couple jacket lang. I am so in! :))

Since we were pressed for time, we decided to scratch Insadong and Seoul Animation Center off our itinerary and just go straight to Namsan. Jona and I have been to Namsan before but since we went there during the evening as well, I couldn't remember how to get there. We managed to get to Namsan Oreumi by asking around and relying on my Hangeul-reading skills once again. Weird how it didn't have an English sign for tourists like us. After riding the elevator that goes up diagonally, we bought round-trip Namsan Cable Car tickets for only ₩8,000 to get to Namsan,

The Teddy Bear Museum

Again, we got discounts thanks to our Seoul City Pass Plus cards. The rest of the girls went to the Teddy Bear Museum while Jona and I stayed behind as we've already been there. We bought more souvenirs and had a light snack at A Twosome Place while waiting for them to finish the tour. I ordered their green tea latte which was delicious and I ate the 2-day old J.Co doughnut I had in my bag. Haha Still good!

At the observatory deck.

The rest of the girls joined us for snacks after their tour. Then we went up to the Observatory to gaze at the pretty Seoul skyline. After touring the deck, we went down to take pictures at the famous locks of love but not without stopping by Olive Young first to buy Market O goodies and Jagabee as snacks for tomorrow's Everland trip.

Locks of love.

It was really cold on the deck outside but that didn't stop us from taking and posing for pictures. For some reason, another tourist was taking pictures of us in front of the big heart sculpture. Weird.

Weird SC girls vs normal Navitaire girls

After more silly pictures, we rode the Namsan Cable Car back to the city and met up with Karen at Sinchon station. She promised to take us to a good restaurant for dinner. Unfortunately, her restaurant of choice was already starting to close when we got there. While we looked at the line of open restaurants, we remembered the numerous chicken and beer restaurants that lined the main street that led to our hanok so we asked Karen to take us to a similar restaurant instead.

Chicken and beer for dinner!

I forgot the name of the chicken and beer restaurant we tried but whoa their chicken platters were huge! Aaand we ordered 2. Haha A chicken platter consists of fried chicken, cheesy chicken, sausages, spicy chicken with tteok and noodles, and potato fries and wedges on the side. Too many options to try but my favorite was the cheese fondue that came with it! Everything dipped in it was so good. We ordered a pitcher of Max draft beer just to try it and we knew why Koreans are crazy for chicken and beer. We had so much fun eating and chatting the night away, it was already past midnight when we decided to head home. Patay, we have to wake up early tomorrow for Everland pa naman. Goodluck talaga!


Traveling party: Erin, Faye, Jona (organizer), Light (organizer), Rona, Sera (organizer), and Vanie
Travel date: 7 November 2012 [Day 2]
Photo credits: Faye, Light, Vanie