Anyeong Noona

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Revisiting the Beautiful Palaces in Korea

Anyeong! Watching Scarlet Heart Ryeo really makes your heart flutters like butterflies, especially when all the princes dote on the main character. Apart from the eye-pleasing characters, the background drop of the drama is simply gorgeous. The beautiful Goryeo scenery reminds Noona of the four beautiful remaining palaces in modern Seoul. If you visit Seoul anytime soon, you should make time to visit these beautiful four palaces.

The first is the Gyeongbokgung Palace (nearest to Gyeongbokgung Station), the biggest amongst all 4. Gyonghoeru Pavilion is the house inside the palace which the King used to throw royal banquet to entertain foreign envoys.

Revisiting the Beautiful Palaces in Seoul

If you prefer some lively activity, you can make your way to Deoksugung Palace (nearest to City Hall Station), there is a royal guard-changing ceremony held everyday (except Monday) at 11AM, 2PM and 3.30PM. The ceremony lasts around 30 - 40 minutes and you can even take picture with the performers. Cool!

Changing Guard Ceremony at Deoksugung Palace

Next is the wall of Changgyeonggung Palace (nearest to Anguk Station). Noona can imagine some playful scene between prince and princess while they are walking or even climbing when nobody's around in the palace's premise.

Last but not least is the vast and tranquil lake in Changdeokgung Palace (nearest to Anguk Station). Changdeokgung Palace is the most beautiful palace amongst all 4 and it is the only palace which have a Secret Garden/ Huwon (restricted entry, only with tour).

If you would like to visit all four palaces, you should get an integrated ticket. For 10,000 Korean Won, you can get a ticket to visit all the above four palaces plus Jongmyo Shrine. It will save you money compared to buying individual ticket at each palace. The pass is valid for up to one month.

Love Padlocks at Namsan Seoul Tower

After the Teddy Bear Museum has moved out from Namsan Seoul Tower (not sure moving out to where), there is less one thing to do at the tower. U_U.

But, anyway, if you have already made your way all the way here, you may as well go and purchase your ticket for the observatory tower. The ticket costs 10,000 KRW for adults and 8,000 KRW for children and elderly.

Namsan Seoul Tower Ticket Counter South Korea

The tower itself is actually not that tall but since it is located on a mountain, the height of the tower is kinda boosted by the terrain. Well, Noona guesses we should be able to see a decent view of Seoul from the observatory deck.

But before we go up, we should check out the area near the entrance of the tower first. Thanks to the variety show, Noona knows that there is a dedicated area catered for lovebirds, to allow them to lock their love to a keychain. If you think it's cheesy, the Korean seems to love this idea very much because the number of the locks locked here looks uncountable.

Love padlocks at Namsan Seoul Tower South Korea

The locks come in any type and size too. It is normal to write the love message on the locks and some people really have a lot of things to write. Hahaha.

Popular photo-taking spot here.

Certain spot takes a certain degree of challenge. Well, this is the time to prove your life, anyway, so why not? =P

Namsan (Sam Soon) Stairs and Park, Seoul

The trip to Namsan (Sam Soon) Stairs and Park was actually started with a bit of adventure as Noona and her friend were like kinda lost. We could not find the cable car station anywhere and instead, ended up following up a walking trail to we-did-not-know-where.

Noona heard about the trail being considered "mild" and not even a "hiking trail" but to tell you the truth, Namsan walking trail is pretty much tiring when the weather is hot. The trail is full of staircases.

More stairs. Although these few stairs are not steep, thankfully.

Noona shrieked with excitement when she saw this set of stairs. This what seems to be a normal stairs is actually quite famous thanks to the influence of Korean drama and variety show. The stairs was first featured in the movie, My Lovely Sam Soon, and hence, the name "Sam Soon Stairs".

The wall beside the stairs.

Wall beside Sam Soon stairs at Namsan Seoul

The Namsan Park is located right at the top of Sam Soon stairs. You will see a monument once you have reached the top.

The park is pretty nice to take a stroll. You can see a fountain with the view of Namsan Seoul Tower behind. If you go further beyond the fountain, you can continue your walking trail leading to the tower but we chose to find the cable car station, thank you very much.

Namsan Cable Car, Myeongdong Seoul

After trying to find an easier way to Namsan Seoul Tower and walking in circle around the Namsan walking trail, we finally made it to the cable car station. If you don't want to hike all the way up to Namsan Seoul Tower, this is your best option.

At the price of KRW 8,500 (return), Namsan Cable Car runs from the base of Namsan Mountain up to Namsan Seoul Tower.

We still had time before we needed to board the next cable car, so we bought something to quench our thirst.

Up, up and above. Oh right, if you don't want to walk to the Namsan Cable Car Station (like what we did because we got lost), you can take the Namsan Oreumi (i.e. Namsan outdoor elevator), the inclined outdoor elevator. It only takes about two minutes from the entrance of Namsan 3rd tunnel (near Myeongdong Cathedral) to the parking lot of Namsan Cable Car station.

After you have alighted at the station near to Namsan Seoul Tower, you still need to walk a bit to reach the tower. Along the way, you will see Namsan Bongsudae Beacon Tower site.

Namsan Bongsudae Beacon Site Myeongdong Seoul

You will be able to see the re-enactment of how the beacon light was used during the Joseon Dynasty daily from 11.30 AM to 12.30 PM (except on Mondays).

We know we were pretty much near to Namsan Seoul Tower when we passed by this pagoda, which was used as one of the mission venue for Running Man in its earlier episode.

Fun activities at Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul

If you are wondering what you can do at Namsangol Hanok Village apart from coming in and out from one hanok to another, well this post is for you. For a start, there is a traditional marriage ceremony that takes place during the weekends at Bak Yeong Hyo's residence. The traditional marriage ceremony is very interesting to watch for both local and international tourists.

On the grounds, there are a lot of traditional games which you can try at Namsangol Hanok Village such as neolttwigi (seesaw jumping), tuho (arrow throwing) and yutnori (traditional board game). I dunno why but I'm kinda sucks at those games.

Traditional Fire at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

If you love music, you may want to try your skill playing Gugak. The workshop opens everyday (except Tuesdays) from 11AM to 5PM.

Experience gugak at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

The little boy's learning how to play Gugak (which is directly translated into "national music"). If you heard Korean folk music before from any variety show or Korean drama, well basically this is the class to learn some instruments to play those style of music. The boy here took up the drum. It really looks fun to watch but the class is held in Korean though.

Gugak lesson at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

If you are more interested in tasting traditional Korean medicine, you can check out the medical services offered at Namsangol Hanok Village here.

Traditional Korean Medicine at Namsangol Hanok Vilalge Seoul

The medical services seem to be a very popular attraction here as a lot of people from young to old queuing up for some medical tests.

Korean Medicine at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

A few steps outside the entrance to Namsangol Hanok Village, there is a big traditional Korean building named Korea House. Well, basically it is also functioning as the cultural centre of Koreans, where visitors can experience traditional architecture and classical atmosphere of Korean culture.

Visitors can learn so many traditional Korean culture from dance to food to even pottery. There is even a theatre inside where visitors can watch traditional Korean performing arts. Do check out their programme for the day when you are there.

Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul (Part 1)

South Korea has a rich culture and tradition and a lot of tourists visit Seoul to experience this culture and tradition. If you are interested in checking out and even experiencing some of these South Korean tradition, you may want to visit Namsangol Hanok Village in Seoul.

Conveniently located within a few steps from Chungmuro Station, Namsangol Hanok Village is a traditional Korean village located between modern skyscrapers. Not only the hanok (re: traditional Korean house), the village is completed with a pavilion, a pond and a time capsule as well, making it a perfect place to take a leisure walk.

The hanok village is located at the foot of Namsan mountain. Hence, you can see Namsan Tower from inside the village.

A pavilion, where you can experience traditional Korean ceremony at certain timing.

Pavilion at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

There are a total of five hanok houses in Namsangol Hanok Village. All of the interior and exterior parts of the house are recovered from different parts of the city and relocated here. For examples, here are the kimchi making tools used back in that day to make kimchi.

Kimchi making utensils at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

The best thing about Namsangol Hanok Village is you can enter the houses to see how the interior of the house is designed back in Joseon era. The houses displayed here are all big because well, they used to belong to important figures from that era like a the relatives of the royal king and queen.

Hanok house at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

I guess you can deduce that these house really belongs to them from the interior. The bed and the furniture exudes these royal vibe and it's pretty similar to the design that you see in Joseon drama on television.

Bedroom in a hanok house at Namsangol Hanok Village Seoul

How to go to Namsangol Hanok Village:

1. Take subway to Chungmuro Station

2. Walk from exit 3 or 4 of Chungmuro Station

Namsangol Hanok Village's operating hours:

April to October: 9AM - 9PM

November to March: 9AM to 8PM

Closed on Tuesdays

Random Korean Fried Chicken at D-Cube City, Seoul

D-Cube City is basically a one-in-all multi complex located at Sindorim Station, near Yeouido district in Seoul. It comprises of a shopping mall, an office building, a park and it is linked to the five star Shangrila Seoul D Cube City Hotel.

There is a square with fountain at the entrance of the mall.

D Cube City mall is basically just like any other mall in the world. However, the reason why we come to D Cube City is because (1) we wanted to shop at H&M and Forever 21, that kind of high street fashion shop and (2) the building was used as one of filming location for Running Man. We even know that there is a Pororo Park inside D Cube City (there is one in Singapore too, if you have not known it yet).

After doing so much shopping (and changing extra cash, yes there is a money changer at the basement level of D Cube City), we decided to check out the food court area so that we could at least sit and stretch our legs.

Food Court at D Cube City Seoul South Korea

That's when we spotted the picture of Korean fried chicken. It surely looks pretty good.

Random Korean Fried Chicken at D-Cube City, Seoul

We quickly ordered one small bowl as pre-dinner treat that day. Hahaha. It tastes pretty good and thankfully we only ordered one bowl because one small bowl has a lot of chickens inside.

Fried Chicken with Pepper at D Cube City Seoul South Korea

If you are tired when you walk around at D Cube City, you can take a rest at the food court, I suppose. D Cube City opens everyday from 11AM to 9.30PM (10PM on weekends).

Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul (Part 2)

Changdeokgung Palace has a pretty big complex even though it is not as big as Gyeongbokgung Palace. You really need to allocate more time if you want to explore the palace deeper.

I know the stairs look pretty much daunting (and tiring too), but if you have managed to beat your...uhm...unwillingness, you will be able to see the beautiful lake of Changdeokgung Palace.

But first, let's check out this interesting stone structure which is called Taesil. The signs in Changdeokgung Palace are shown in both Korean and English.

Sign about taesil at Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

So what is a taesil? A taesil is basically a shrine where the royal family stored the placenta and umbilical cords of their children. In 1928, the Japanese moved this taesil to Changdeokgung Palace for research.

Few steps further, you will reach a big beautiful lake of Changdeokgung Palace. I would stay longer if the weather was not too hot to bear. *sweat*

You can walk around the lake to explore the area further. There are some areas covered by shades so we took our break at those area.

Serene lake at Changdeokgung Palace Seoul

Another taesil is spotted along the way.

There is a closed area named Secret Garden in Changdeokgung Palace. The garden is very beautiful during autumn. So if you want to see the palace at its best, go take your trip to Changdeokgung Palace in late October - early November.

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