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| Entrance to Gyeongbokgung, the pride of the Joseon Dynasty |
Hunting for Lunch
We arrived at Gyeongbokgung at around noon. Gyeongbokgung is easily accessible via the very efficient subway system in Seoul. There is a station next to the palace, Gyeongbokgung Station. From the exit of the station, the palace is right in front of the station. As we did not have breakfast yet, we begin hunting for food nearby. As we were walking past Gyeongbokgung, we bumped into the hourly changing of guards ceremony at the main gate of the palace. The guards are dressed in ancient Joseon dynasty outfit, with a serious look on their faces, these role players take their job seriously in replicating what was being done in yesteryears. After watching the changing of guards ceremony, we continued our quest in the hunting of food. We walked into a street that seems to be populated with restaurants and settled in one of the restaurants that serve modern Korean food. As we were famished, we ordered what seemed delicious on the menu. The food indeed was tasty (not too sure if our hunger made it seemed delicious), however as we over-ordered the quantity that we were able to finish, we had quite a bit of leftover.
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| Taking the Subway to Gyeongbokgung station |
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| We saw the change of guard ceremony the moment we arrived at the entrance |
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| Change of guard ceremony at Gwanghwamun |
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| The role players took their role seriously during the hourly change of guard ceremony |
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| We have no clue where to find lunch and walked along this street to hunt for lunch |
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| We bumped into this street and turned in to look for lunch |
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| Eventually, we ended up in this street |
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| The ambience in the restaurant |
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| One thing I like about Korean restaurants is that they always come with side dishes |
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| I ordered pork cutlet for lunch, it is quite a big portion |
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| My friend got the kimchi soup noodle |
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| We also got Korean fried chicken |
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| We traced our way back to Gyeongbokgung after lunch |
Gwanghawmun Square
After lunch, we traced our footsteps back to where we came from – Gyeongbokgung. We headed towards Gwanghawmun Square, which is directly in front of the main entrance to Gyeongbokgung. At the centre of the square, a huge statue of King Sejong was being erected. The statue depicted the king sitting on his throne, with a book on his left hand and a gentle smile on his face. King Sejong is the inventor of the Korean Language. In front of the statues are some artefacts that were invented by King Sejong. A celestial glove, rain gauge and a sundial were placed in front of the statue. After taking some photos, we continued our walk towards Gyeongbokgung.
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| A rain gauge in front of the statue of King Sejong |
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| Taking a wefie with King Sejong |
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| This road leads to Gyeongbokgung |
Gyeongbokgung
It did not take us long to reach Gyeongbokgung. Gyeongbokgung is the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty until it was being destroyed by fire during the war and was abandoned for around two centuries. The palace was restored in the 19th century during the reign of King Gojong. It was, however, being destroyed by the Japanese in the 20th century. Since then the palace was being reconstructed to what we see today. Being the largest of the five palaces in Seoul today, Gyeongbokgung is situated north of the city.
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| Panoramic shot of Gwanghwamun, the gateway to Gyeongbokgung |
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| Taking a wefie at the entrance of Gyeongbokgung |
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| Gwanghwamun, the entrance to Gyeongbokgung |
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| A stone lion guarding the entrance of Gyeongbokgung. There are several such statues around in the palace, which is believed to ward off evil spirits |
At the entrance, we witnessed another change of guard ceremony. After the ceremony, we headed inside the palace grounds and gotten our tickets for entry into the palace. The main gate of the palace, Gwanghwamun, looks like two big pavilions stacking on top of each other. The double roofed, three-storey gate has wooden structures painted in bright green and red, a typical colour scheme for royalties in Korea (as seen in Suwon Fortress and Changdeokgung), is perched high atop of a stone wall with three arch entrances. Passing through Gwanghwamun, a large courtyard awaits the visitors before one would reach a second gate in the palace grounds. Heungnyemun, the second gate as one enters the palace, guards the entrance to the throne hall. Heungnyemun, compared to Gwanghwamun, has a much simpler architecture. The gate also has two roofs stacking on top of each other and painted in elaborate decors on its under roof. The base of the three arches wooden gate is painted in red. There are two additional doors at either side of the gate, forming part of the walls protecting the throne hall area.
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| Another hourly change of guard ceremony. We were told this would be the last session of the day |
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| Change of guard ceremony |
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| My friend in front of what would be a guard post in the olden days |
Passing Heungnyemun, between the gate and the throne hall is a large courtyard. Similar to that of Changdeokgung, there are tablets on the ground of this courtyard marking where the various rank officials would stand when the King is holding his audience sessions with his subjects inside the throne hall. I would imagine the higher ranked officials will be housed inside the throne hall, while the relatively lower-ranking officials would stand, according to their ranks as inscribed on these tablets, in this courtyard. Before we head to Geunjeongjeon, we exited left of the throne hall area headed for Sujeongjeon. The lone building red building of Sujeongjeon was once used as an office for the cabinet. The building is fairly simple in its design and decor. Opposite Sujeongjeon is a cafe and a gift shop where one can grab a cup of coffee or get some souvenirs.
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| Heungnyemun is a wooden structure that looks like two pavilions stacking on top of each other. This gate guards the entrance to the throne hall |
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| Heungnyemun up close |
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| Geunjeongjeon – The throne hall |
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| Sujeongjeon |
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| Me at Sujeongjeon |
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| Another view of Sujeongjeon from the cafe |
We moved backed into the throne hall area and headed to the throne hall. The throne hall, Geunjeongjeon Hall, is nested on top of two raised platforms. The throne hall is where the King held important state functions and court officials’ audiences. It also served as a venue where the new kings were being crowned. The decor of the interior of the throne hall is rather simple, covered with black tiles with high elaborated decorated ceilings, painted with red and green colour schemes. In the centre of the hall is the throne, perched on a raised platform, decked in red with a painting of mountain as a backdrop, the throne hall looks different from that in Changdeokgung. In comparison, the throne hall in Gyeongbokgung looks smaller and modern, while that in Changdeokgung looks roomier and older. There is some furniture in Geunjeongjeon, which probably serves to show visitors how the throne hall was decorated in the olden days.
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| It seems that all royal places are painted in green and red colour schemes in Kore |
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| Under the roof of Geunjeongjeon is pretty elaborate in its design |
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| A guardian statue at Geunjeongjeon to ward off evil spirits |
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| The throne inside Geunjeongjeon Hall |
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| Taking a wefie with Geunjeongjeon at the background |
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| There are several such statues around the palace to ward off evil |
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| Around the throne hall |
After taking some pictures of the throne hall, we headed to the rear of the throne hall to the Sajeongjeon Hall. This simple stand-alone building is one of the three buildings directly behind the throne hall. It is at Sajeongjeon where the king carried out his daily kingdom affairs, akin to the office of the king. The interior of Sajeongjeon feels like a miniature version of Geunjeongjeon. There is a smaller throne in the centre of the building, with a portrait of the mountain again as backdrop to the throne. Together with the buildings to the left (Cheonchujeon) and the right (Manchunjeon) of the Geunjeongjeon, this area forms the office quarters of the palace. The king would use the building in the centre, whereas his ministers use those to the left and right.
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| Inside of Sajeongjeon, which looks like a scaled-down version of the throne hall. This is where the King used to work and discuss country affairs with his ministers |
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| Sajeongjeon on the left and the building far right is Manchunjeon, which are two of the three buildings that form the office district behind the throne hall |
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| Sajeongjeon with Cheonchujeon in the office district |
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| Sajeongjeon up close |
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| Cheonchujeon up close |
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| Inside Cheonchujeon which serves as the office of the ministers |
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| Inside Cheonchujeon |
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| Around the office district of Gyeongbokgung |
Passing a gated wall to the rear of the office quarters, we arrived at the living quarters for the royal family. The centrepiece of this area is the king’s sleeping quarters – Gangnyeongjeon Hall. The centre portion of Gangnyeongjeon Hall was left open for visitors to see how it looked inside. This open area is rather large and I would imagine this is where the king would entertain some of his subjects and even his queen and concubines. There weren’t any items of furniture placed here at the time of our visit. There are some buildings around Gangnyeongjeon Hall, which are closed to visitors. To add to the confusion of the purposes of these other buildings around the King’s chambers, there aren’t any signages around to explain the purpose of these buildings. I can only imagine these are perhaps quarters for the king’s bodyguards, who were likely to keep watch over the king while he is in his chambers.
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| Panoramic shot of Gangnyeongjeon hall, the sleeping quarters of the King |
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| A large living room of some sorts in Gangnyeongjeon hall |
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| Some other buildings within the compounds of the king’s sleeping quarters. We overheard a tour guide explaining to the group that the reason for having a sandy floor is so that the movement of assassins managing to get past the heavily guarded entrance of the palace can be heard |
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| Around the King’s sleeping quarters |
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| Some buildings around the King’s sleeping quarters |
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| Back alley around the King’s sleeping quarters |
As we did not get a copy of the map around the palace (the compounds of the palace is huge), my friend and I roamed around the remaining palace grounds, without knowing what is what. At a certain point, all the buildings looked the same to us and we were starting to get bored. As we were walking around from buildings to buildings, we ended up in an open area where we saw a frozen pond with a man-made island in the centre, connected by a small bridge. On the island is a two-storey pagoda building decked in mostly green painting. I reckon the pond and the pagoda built in front of mountains form a picturesque and tranquil scene.
Back into Gyeongbokgung
Heading back into Gyeongbokgung, we continued where we left off. By this time, the palace is about to close and we could only brush through some of the buildings, hoping to cover as much as we could in the remaining time we have in the palace before it calls off the day. As we headed southwards towards the entrance of the palace, we came across the Jagyeongjeon Hall, the living quarters of the adoptive mother of King Gojong, Dowager Jo. This hall is composed of two rooms with Ondol (heated) floors, Bogandang and Jagyeongjeon Hall and a veranda, Cheongyeonnu, to the southwest. The east side of Cheongyeonnu is connected with another room.
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| The walls surrounding Jagyeongjeon Hall where the adoptive mother of the King used to stay in |
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| Outside Jagyeongjeon Hall |
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| Some of the buildings inside Jagyeongjeon Hall |
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| This is the main sleeping chamber of Dowager Jo |
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| A guardian statue protecting the Dowager |
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| The building where the Dowager used to sleep in |
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| Peeking at the other side of the wall inside Jagyeongjeon Hall |
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| The scene inside Jagyeongjeon Hall |
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| Inside the compounds of Jagyeongjeon Hall |
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| The holes at the bottom of the building were where firewood was burnt during winter to keep the floors warm |
Bukchon Hanok Village
One of the places we wanted to visit is the Bukchon Hanok Village. Bukchon Hanok Village is a residential area which still retains the traditional Korean house architecture. As the village is smack in between Gyeongbokgung and Changdeokgung, it is a short distance from Gyeongbokgung. We relied on the Goggle map to bring us there on foot. As soon as we reached where Bukchon Hanok Village, we were expecting to see some traditional housings the moment we reached Bukchon Hanok Village. We were disappointed to see some modern architecture, we continued to walk towards a more secluded part of the area and soon some traditional buildings came into our sight. As it is already close to nightfall, most of the tourists would have already called it a day here. Strolling along the alley of Bukchon Hanok Village, looking at the various traditional houses is indeed a joy. Soon all the buildings looked repetitive, we decided to get out of Bukchon Hanok Village and visit Namsan once more, hoping that there will not be a crowd like Day 1 of our trip in Korea.
Night View of Seoul At Namsan
By this time, we were rather familiar on which subway station to alight and how to get to Namsan Cable car station from the subway station. It did not take us long to reach the cable car station. We were not disappointed with our trip here. There was hardly any queue at the cable car station, we could board the cable car as soon as we bought our tickets. The ride from the cable car station to Namsan station took less than 5 mins and we soon found ourselves at the base of N Seoul Tower.
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| View of Seoul from the cable car |
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| Getting close to N Seoul Tower station |
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| On top of Namsan |
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| Countless padlocks where it is believed that couples locking their pair of padlocks here will stay together forever |
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| N Seoul Tower |
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| More padlocks at the base of N Seoul Tower on top of Namsan |
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| View of Seoul from top of Namsan |
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| N Seoul Tower and the padlocks |
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| N Seoul Tower at night |
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| Pavilion at the base of N Seoul Tower |
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| Panoramic shot of the view of Seoul at night on top of Namsan |
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| N Seoul Tower closed up |
After we took some pictures of Seoul at night, we headed towards N Seoul Tower. At the base of the tower, we found out that we would have to pay entrance to get up to the tower. As we were hungry, we opted to spend our time filling our stomachs instead. We headed to one Korean restaurant and got our stomachs filled. Though the food at the restaurant isn’t fantastic, the view from our table is enough to compensate for the lack of taste in the food.
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| View from the restaurant is enough to make up for the lack of taste of the food here |
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| I ordered Jajiangmien |
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| My friend had the omelette fried rice |
After dinner, we headed back to the viewpoint again and took in the view of Seoul at night. No wonder comments from people who have been here recommended to visit this place at night. It gives one a different feeling, a feeling of peace and zen, rather than having to squeeze with the crowd we had the luxury of time and space. We also did not have to take pictures with people in them. As the temperature seems to get colder by the minute, we headed towards the cable car station for our ride back to the base. Alighting from the cable car, we followed the crowd to what appears to be a single cabin tram up to the base of the cable car station. At this point, I turned to my friend and commented: “I felt cheated”. Now to walk up the cable car station from Myeongdong subway station requires one to walk upslope, with this tram system, it made getting to the cable car station a breeze and effortless.
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| N Seoul Tower ticketing counter |
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| View of Seoul from Namsan at night. It is very peaceful here, partly due to the absence of crowds |
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| Night view of Seoul from Namsan |
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| The single carriage tram fetching people up from the base of the cable car station |
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| Tram approaching our stop |
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| Inside the tram |
Last Shopping at Myeongdong
We headed to Myeongdong to walk around when we reached the base stop of the tram system. Myeongdong at this hour, despite close to 10 pm, was still buzzing with life. Thought most of the shops are closing, the street food vendors and pushcarts selling goods do not seem to abide by the 10 pm close shop timing. We did some final shopping and walked around, munching on street food as we walk along Myeongdong. As we had to wake up early the next day to catch our flight out of Seoul, on top of that we have yet to pack our luggage for our trip home, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel.
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| Myeongdong at night |
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| Last shopping at Myeongdong |
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| Despite being at 10 pm, these pushcarts do not seem to be closing |
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| Still quite a crowd at Myeongdong |
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| Tteokbokki! |
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| Myeongdong at night |
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| Myeongdong at night |
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