*those written in bold AND italic are from Nnylanna's facebook picture captions and the rest are all Piberg...
*thank God for Nnylanna's notes i am able to write and post a blog update about this trip to Korea that happened 4 years ago. so it goes without saying that most of what's written below is from Nnylanna.May 2013
Woke up really early in the morning of may 13, 2013... No, not to go to the airport but to vote in the local and national elections! Aaahhh... The precincts open at 7am and i was there at 7am, did what i was suppose to do, came home for some last minute preps for our afternoon flight that will take us to Incheon, South Korea.
So, my brother and his family were waiting for us at the airport, they arrived in an earlier flight from O'Hare in Chicago where they are based and we all took the airport bus that will take us to our hotel in Myeongdong... Lotte Hotel.
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| *cto of pic |
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| *cto of pic |
the lobby of Lotte Hotel...
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| "customary" groufie when we reached our hotel. from L-R: my bro V, Nnylanna, Vdragon, ate V | & Piberg |
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| waiting at the lobby for our tour guide |
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| my bro with a hotel staff |
this was taken outside our hotel room. so, we have 2 rooms with a connecting door...
Day2: whole day tour of Seoul
1st stop: Jogyesa Buddhist Temple. The center of Zen buddhism in Korea. It does not give off the solemn and traditional air of the other temples located deep in the mountains because it is located in the middle of the city.
this piece of real estate where this temple is located is the priciest real estate in all of Seoul. well that's according to Ryan, our guide.
The baeksong tree is designated as a Natural Monument and is about 500 years old. Our guide said holding the tree gives you energy...
my brother pushing all the energy to me and me taking everything in.lol...
Daeungjeon, the main temple building
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| Piberg&Nnylanna |
2nd stop: Cheongwadae Sarangchae is a historical memorial museum where visitors can learn about the past, present and future visions of Seoul and Korea.
looking at these pictures makes me cringe... hahaha... all these touristy poses that we did in these place.lolololll
3rd stop: Deoksu Palace. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty.The buildings are of varying construction, including some of natural cryptomeria wood, painted wood, and stucco. Some buildings were built in Western style.
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| changing of the guards |
4th stop: Ginseng Center. The herb ginseng has been used for thousands of years to improve people's overall health. My brother was so impressed and bought one.
when you go abroad and join a tour, it's inevitable that you will be taken to one of the more popular local industries so they can promote and/or sell their products.
5th stop: Lunch... Beef Bulgogi ......YUMMMMY
group photo with our guide Ryan (top row left). our morning group composed of: a lady from Malaysia, a mother & daughter from the Philippines & a Vietnamese couple from Canada.
fyi, Ryan is the tallest guy in this photo...
6th stop: whole afternoon tour of Korean Folk village. A pleasant greetings from the cast of Sungkyunkwan Scandal. This was the place where the drama was filmed.
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| dont' we just look like one of those korean families in Kdramas.lol. |
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| took a picture with our guide, she's 2nd from the right |
debating with myself on whether to put these here or not... why not... *hidesssss
Finally after our UK tour of 2011 we were able to catched up with our beautiful Korean chingu, Soo, who treated us to a sumptuous dinner. A big KOMAWO chingu .. hope you can come & visit me downunder.
so what else can i say to our dear korean friend but, thank you. your kindness and generosity was extended not only to nnylanna and i but to our brother and his family. Soo insisted on seeing us and taking us out to dinner before she leaves for Spain with her mother for a vacay the next day. i wish we could return the kindness and generosity one day.
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| L-R: Nnylanna, Soo & Piberg |
Day 3...World Cultural Heritage Full Day Tour
1st stop: Changdeok Palace.."Prospering Virtue Palace" -- also known as
Changdeokgung Palace -- is set within a large park in Jongno-gu,
Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the
kings of the Joseon Dynasty (1392–1897). As it is located east of
Gyeongbok Palace, Changdeokgung, along with Changgyeonggung, is also
referred to as the "East
Palace".According to our tour guide , Grace, it was the most favored
palace of many Joseon princes and retained many elements dating from the
Three Kingdoms of Korea period that were not incorporated in the more
contemporary Gyeongbokgung. One such element is the fact that the
buildings of Changdeokgung blend with the natural topography of the site
instead of imposing themselves upon it. It, like the other Five Grand
Palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese occupation of
Korea (1910-1945). Currently, only about 30% of the pre-Japanese
structures survive
i went in and out of that place several times, wondering why it's taking like forever to get that patbingsoo done. we opted to have our patbingsoo as a takeout so we can eat it while checking out the stores in the area. we were expecting it to be served in those plastic glasses but when it finally came, it was in one of those typical rectangular "takeout plastic containers" and when i touched it... the thing was HOT! omg, hayaan na natin at magkatunog naman ng konti
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| they were serving all these other stuff at the patbingsoo place |
found him in Insadong,lol. im not a fan of his but a friend of mine is and i promised to say hi for her...
3rd stop: Jongmyo Shrine
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| an example of how those royal tablet looks like |
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| my bro, the most attentive among the 5 of tour guide Grace's history students. the others were busy taking pictures.lol |
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| the actual tablets is in each of the rooms of the long hall |
4th stop: Hwaseong Fortress in Suwon
Hwaseong (Brilliant Castle/ Fortress) is the wall surrounding the centre of Suwon, the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. It was built from 1794 to 1796 by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to house and honour the remains of his father Prince Sado, who had been murdered by being locked alive inside a rice chest by his own father King Yeongjo after failing to obey the command to commit suicide. Located 30 kilometres south of Seoul and enclosing much of central Suwon, the Fortress includes King Jeongjo's palace Haenggung. The site was designated as a World Heritage site by the UNESCO in 1997. The Suwoncheon, the main stream in Suwon, flows through the centre of the fortress.
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| All aboard the mighty Dragon train to have a view of the fortress... |
Hwaseong Haenggung castle is the biggest one of these shelters; Kings used them since the Jeongjo King period. Haenggung means a shelter where King rested or retired from a war.
Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower, is a communication and observation tower located on Namsan Mountain in central Seoul.
Nnylanna, Piberg and Vdragon took a taxi and headed to Namsan Tower. the boy insisted on going and im glad he did. my favorite place from this korea trip.
well nobody told us we still have to do a lot of climbing after the cable car ride. again because of the altitude, i was panting, clasping for air before i could see the actual tower, haaayyyy...
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| inside the cable car that will take us to the tower |
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| korean version of Pont des Arts |
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| the view of Seoul city from the cable car we were riding on our way down from the tower |
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| ok, only kdrama addicts will get this... the vendo machine where Geum Jan Di bought Goo Jun Pyo a cup of coffee before boarding the cable car |
Myeongdong (literally means 'bright town') is a dong in Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea between Chungmu-ro, Eulji-ro, and Namdaemun-ro. It is one of Seoul's main shopping and tourism districts. In 2011 and 2012, Myeong-dong was listed as the ninth most expensive shopping street in the world. On our way back to our hotel...
Day 4.... free day to do some souvenir shopping at Namdaemun Market...Bong, Vivian & Bombo's last day....
Namdaemun Market is a large traditional market in Seoul. The market is located next to Namdaemun, the "Great South Gate," which was the main southern gate to the old city. It is the oldest and largest market in Korea
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| that's nnylanna, she's 'bout to do some serious damage, to her wallet .lolol. |
found this amazing street food near the entrance of the market. i dunno what it is exactly but it is definitely delish. could this be a kind of mandu, korean dumpling? well whatever it is, we came back and bought more before we came home.
Bong, Vivian & Bombo waiting for the KAL airport shuttle... See you guys in the Philippines.....
Day 5.. 1st stop Seoul City Hall... impressive outside & beautiful inside.....a truly 'Green' building.. kudos to the architect Yoo Kerl of iArc.
2nd stop: Gwanghwamun Square.
Admiral Yi Sun-sin of Joseon Dynasty. A famous Korean naval commander, famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war (credit to our Day 3 tour guide Grace for the info).
King Sejong was the fourth king of Joseon. He profoundly affected Korean history with his introduction of hangul, the native phonetic alphabet system for the Korean language.
Namdaemun, officially known as the Sungnyemun (literally Gate of Exalted Ceremonies), is one of the Eight Gates in the Fortress Wall of Seoul, South Korea, which surrounded the city in the Joseon Dynasty. The gate is located in Jung-gu between Seoul Station and Seoul City Plaza. The gate, dating back to the 14th century, is a historic pagoda-style gateway, and is designated as the first National Treasure of South Korea.
In 2008, the wooden pagoda atop the gate was severely damaged by arson. It was rebuilt & was officially reopened on 5 May 2013, after a five-year restoration period.
3rd stop: Cheonggye stream.
tried this and got it on my first try...
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| ready... |
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| throw... |
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| success! |
AGREE!!! but of course... we didn't exactly try the street food in Japan. so i guess i'll reserve judgement until then.
note: nnylanna's FB entries ends here but this travel blog is not done yet. i'm still looking for some pictures so i'll just add them later and maybe some additional comments and some personal thoughts about this trip as well.
