Love padlocks at N Seoul tower
If you haven't heard of K-Pop before, well, I don't know where you live (joking). Personally, I have watched a number of K-dramas before (like years before) and know a little about Korean music since many Filipinos love them. Besides, this is not my first post regarding what to like about Korea since I listed 5 things about them on this previous post. Trivia: I almost published the video below with K-Pop music background (lol).Recently, we got this great experience to visit the country and know more about those stuffs personally. My brother (Simon) is the most Korean-fanatic within the family but I know everyone of us will enjoy the trip since it is everyone's first time going there. And as usual, I get to create our whole itinerary for 4 counting days (2 complete days), yes, a super short amount of period to play with, so we are again making the most out of it by jam packing our schedule. We had major changes in flight details and time of departure and arrival days before the flight but nonetheless it pushed through with that given information. As per research, we are going there on fall season (October) so the temperature should be perfect for strolling with dramatic background.
B My Guesthouse - Myeongdong
Jump starting our trip, we arrived at our hotel "B my guesthouse" around somewhere in the afternoon, which is a very affordable place to stay at Myeongdong (a famous area for shopping especially on cosmetics). We coordinated with them our shuttle service from the airport and everything went smoothly. Mr. Ji, the owner of the place, was easy to talk to so after settling for a moment and placed our baggage in the family room - which was on their top floor (semi-attic area), we went on to the first itinerary in no time! On the original plan, we are to rest for the first day, but due to the changes that happened, we need to hustle a bit if we wanted to maximize our time there.1. Namsam Cable Car - N Seoul Tower at Seoul (Day 1)
Stairs going up to Seoul tower after riding the Namsan cable car
This was suggested by dad to at least feel first the Seoul vibe literally, And guess what, it is a few blocks away from our hotel. Well, the Namsan cable car was. It is the only way to get to the tower without hiking the mountain. And yes, you have the option to hike it. I would have loved to do that but of course we did the easier, more convenient, and faster way to save time. We were greeted with colorful trees going out the cable car. The view was just picturesque. The temperature was a bit cold since the night was nearing but everything was just new to our eyes! It was a refreshing view. I was actually surprised to see the thousands of love padlocks there because I did not knew that it was located at the bottom of the tower (lol). Hearsay is that a lot of K-Dramas made it a location (not familiar though, sorry) on their series making it more and more famous and being one of Korea's tourist attractions already. Actually, according to my research, many tourist destinations of Korea are continuously added because they are made popularized by K-Dramas and K-Pop music.
View on top of Seoul tower
Pushing our way to the top, we walked through a number of food stalls and restaurants to see the city view while the sun is setting. We actually did it but this is the best photo I can share since it was hard to get a good picture with all the sun rays shining all over us and the place. It was a great view of the city. But the thing that caught my attention while on top is what you see in this photo. Even though the city is quite commercialized, they still allocate spaces for trees to grow from and we are not talking about tiny spaces here, we are talking about huge areas you can call a forest! Man, these such priorities is what I want our government to appreciate too (and the world). So for this, one point for respect goes to the Koreans. We used the cable car to go back down again and ended our first day.Good thing that our hotel is just really near by the area giving us the chance to get to know the vicinity and be familiar on where to shop, where the nearest train station is located and where some important meet-up places is PHYSICALLY (haha!). We will be needing them on the coming days. Missing some of them can be a game-changer for the whole trip.
2. Garden of Morning Calm at Gyeonggi-do (Day 2)
Inside the Garden of Morning Calm
Thus day 2 began which is the tour day! We met-up with the "Funtastic Korea crew" in one of the areas in Myeongdong to group the number of people into bus numbers who will be touring with us. It was challenge for us to make sure at first that we were on the right area since a lot of people were there but nonetheless we made it. A lot of changes happened along the way as well for the tour operator with the bus numbers and all plus us going to the garden first before the Nami Island but come on, as long as we get there, were good. It was an hour or two to get there.. You'll know you are near the garden since you will be surrounded by hills covered with autumn colored trees. Seeing them is like seeing snow fall for the first time. It was an experience to know that they are true. Haha.. especially that we came from a tropical country.I remember going to its entrance feeling so cold because it was drizzling a bit that day, adding cold to a cold day. How exciting right? It was a huge garden filled with thousands of trees and plants. There were actually some staffs there planting on-site which was very cool. All were strategically planted and managed. I did not saw a single plant that was like not taken care of honestly. All of them were blooming with colors and as far as I can see growing healthy. The views were breathe-taking. These moments are the moments dad also mentioned to the family regarding why they like doing this kind of trips. It was for fresh views, to break the routine, breathe authentic clean air (haha!) and more.
There were even high and wide views of the area which are perfect for photos. Of course mom loved it so I will post more photos of her here. You'll see more on the video below so enjoy them. After roaming this giant garden, the drizzle became stronger and stronger. Good thing that we decided to go back to the bus earlier than the meet-up time but we did catch some shower on the way back. It was not that long when we arrived on our next destination..3. Nami Island at Gangwon (Day 2)
The rain poured when we were here but thanks to the tall trees on the trail that sheltered us, we felt less of it. You'll know Filipinos from the crowd as we really don't care about the rain and still strolled through without any head protection (lol).
There will be a boat ride that will bring you to the island, you also have the option to take the zip line to make a grander entrance. But for us that time, it was not practical because you will be frozen when you reach the ground of Nami on that temperature.
The island was divided into parts where different trees grow, a camp fire was present on the entrance, grounds were covered with fallen colored leaves, there were different plants growing on the sides, there was even a squirrel that entertained us upon resting on a covered hut. Again, this place became a sensation due to the famous K-Drama "Winter Sonata" that was shot there. Nature lovers will really enjoy the place, include me in there but preferably not raining hopefully if there will be a next time. The place is quite big where in you can go to spot so you can be alone and contemplate. But there are also areas where a lot of tourists are present and you cannot even take a decent photo because 101% someone will photo-bomb your picture. A crazy place at the same time really! The place is so popular that there were several boats servicing people that come and go to the island. The body count was continuous that it amazed me on how people are so dramatic (lol this was a joke). We saw the flow of people because we ate at a restaurant near the dock but not that long that I was distracted how beautiful the island was. Fog was spreading on the colored islands.. imagine that.
4. Petite France at Gyeonggi-do (Day 2)
Sensation-ed again by a K-Drama "My Love From The Star", the tour included this itinerary as the finisher of the tour. Can be considered as a side trip as to a few things that can be done aside from taking photos.
At the top of Petite France
From what I searched, the place was constructed really for shooting movies and series purposes. So I think they have done a great job serving its real purpose and even more - becoming a tourist attraction. We did not expect it to have many stairs as we really are avoiding it for our parents but it did. And it has so much stairs that you can go on top of the area and have a view, like Simon did. Kuya have gone the other side to check it as well but both will have the same view just in different in different perspective.
It was a nice tone down activity to slower the phase a bit from a tiring non-stop walking to a live puppet show treat.
5. Dongdaemun Design Plaza at Seoul (Day 2)
10,000 LED white roses at Dongdaemun Design Plaza
To end our day 2, we visited this architectural wonder which is a museum home to their historical and cultural exhibits. It is just a few train stations away from Myeongdong so we took the opportunity to drop by and see it. It had huge spaces which claustrophobic people will love. The structures has futuristic machine-like design that makes the place unique. It also houses the popular 10,000 LED white roses which lights up at night which we did not fail to see.Aside from those, food temptation will be around you because so much food trucks were present on the sides that it was so hard to resist not buying at least one from them - which we conquered (applause for the family, yey). As far as I remember, this was the night we ate at "Two Two Chicken" which was part of our goals (Another one for the family, great job!) near our hotel.
6. Bukchon Hanok Village at Seoul (Day 3)
Bukchon Hanok Village
Day 3 baby and we are still alive and kicking! We are at DIY tour day! The most challenging day since DIY day always tests the planned itinerary to the detail. First stop, Bukchon Hanok Village. Another surprising trap coming to test the knees of our parents haha! Since it is located just around the wall of Gyeongbokgung Palace (our next stop) and it is too early for any itinerary to go to, we pushed through on seeing this famous village popular to have those traditional Korean houses. The surprising catch? It was a long walk around the palace, and it has steep roads before locating the target spot (If I was exhausted going here, what about them? lol). Don't worry, we made it, but we did rest after that at a local cafe near its entrance. Going here, we passed by the yellow house too which is like the "president's house" in our case. There were signs here that tourist are only allowed at some point and that creating noises is prohibited. I totally understand it due to the private people living in the area but I think they still have issues to fix as to the place being a tourist spot. Oh well, let's move on.7. Gyeongbokgung Palace at Seoul (Day 3)
within Gyeongbokgung Palace
You can actually have your photos already near its entrance and not go inside the palace anymore because just the mere facade of it was great already. That is what we actually did for the reason of our jam packed schedule and you'll save money too as going inside of the "actual" palace has fees too though very minimal.
There were a lot of buses around the walls of the palace which was carrying tons of people wanting to go inside. You don't have to worry though as to the place can accommodate all of you really. One of the events I knew that can take place there is the changing of the guards. I was not aiming for us to like its a must to see it but you know what, we actually did see it. The timing was just right as to the moment we entered its walls before the designated area where you have to pay, they were there, holding their spears and flags moving in formation and watched by the people around them. So after that, the people, including us, took the opportunity to take pictures with them while at their post. I can somewhat say that they are really trained for combat as to when you see them in person, there is something different in their built which is very different from a normal person (What are you saying Michael?). Or maybe I was just wrong because looking back at our photos with them, they are actually standing in a platform. It is in the video below.
8. Lotte Tower at Seoul (Day 3)
Of course! Skyscraper again! Haha! Just currently the tallest building in Korea and 5th in the world. Nothing much. HAHA! Well, the ticket price to the observation deck are quite a handful but we are here for this kind of experiences. You can actually tell that the queue line can get super long but that time, we went from its entrance to the lift without stopping.
And upon reaching the top where the elevator can, it still has a few levels to go further as to there were different attractions present on each floor. It has the food level, the indoor observation deck level, the claiming of pictures level, the outdoor observation deck level and my favorite level, the photo-op level where the big glass floor is (Yes, the picture above). It actually take a lot of guts to step there if its your first time. Before seeing it, I was wondering why some tourists were crawling around that area.. and after seeing it, I was laughing at myself because unintentionally, I was about to crawl myself too. The funny thing is that most of us in the photo above were in a hurry for the photographer to take the shot so we can go back to the regular floor haha! By the way, this Lotte tower is located inside the Lotte mall, that is beside the Lotte world - their theme park. Welcome to the Lotte land people.9. K-Star Road and COEX mall at Gangnam (Day 3)
And wrapping our Korea trip before the "shopping" night near the hotel is at Gangnam City! I initially planned to go to other famous places but this is the most practical one due to it is nearer than the others, easier to visit, and more sites to see. Thus, we present to you the K-Star road [a must-visit place for K-Pop fans].
K-Star Road at Gangnam City
This is the Korean version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles. Just like also in L.A., the start of it is located outside on one of its subway stations (Apgujeong Rodeo Station near Hanyang apt). In here, you'll see different named dolls where the actual famous Korean stars had their photo taken. In the vicinity as well are the famous buildings of Korean producing artists and their training centers.
One of the catch in our itinerary though is to see the last destination which is the Starfield library at COEX. In Google map, it can be located just by walking the K-Star road street straight with a few lefts and rights.. It seemed close as well there. But walking it in reality was different. It was so far that we thought like 3 times that we are near it but were not (lol). Just to find out near the end that there is an option to take the another subway so we can be nearer to it.. What a day combined with the Bukchon Hanok Village stroll. I felt my knees on the brink of giving up and my feet getting hurt as well back those times. We rested on a few spots and bought drinks at a convenient store on the side. After pushing ourselves a little bit more, we made it to COEX.
Starfield Library at COEX
We ate in one of the restaurants there. But as far as I remember mom was so tired we need to rest in between walks inside the mall before reaching the library. COEX is so huge that it has an aquarium, a giant library, and even a convention center area aside from the mall part.I appreciated this area right here as books will most probably be eaten completely by electronic gadgets in the future. But still in someway, Koreans manages to promote and put effort on these kind of things making it "useful" rather than be in any worse situation than it now. There were many people (like me) who goes there only for the photo but the good thing there which I believe is that many still visits it genuinely to read.
With that, we rode the train station nearest to COEX back to our hotel to wrap up the night, and the trip. We bought a few "pasalubong" things and food around Myeongdong since our hotel was located in it. We need to rest soon as our flight back to Manila was scheduled early the next day. No problem though as our hotel got the same shuttle and the same driver (unexpectedly, lol) to bring us to back to Incheon airport. At the least we comfortably know him already thinking less of any hassle that might still happen on our way there. Below is the complete video of our trip to Korea and I hope it serves you well.
Watch the complete video here. Annyeonghaseyo!
