It's a brand new year. Sorry I have been busy with 알바 (part-time/holiday job) during December. But since it's a new year, I shall start updating again (though it's already five days from the new year). Anyway, happy 2014 to all! :DD
So, let's talk about day 18. Day 18 and 19 were the days and the first weekend which I had to be alone. The girls left to Jeju and since I had already been there before (and they are going to all those tourist attractions which I have already went), I decided to not waste the money again. I am a poor student who is extremely on budget, you see. So there I begin my solo trip.
Okay so I had to do the laundry before leaving the house, because we have this huge stack of clothes to be washed (and were accumulated over a few days already). And hey, we were partly helping to save water okay, though I do agree it is more like we are too lazy. My guesthouse had this rule that we are not allowed to use the washing machines from 8.30am to 1pm because that is the time that they need to wash the bedsheets and all other things. So... I had to wait till 1pm before I can use the laundry, and collect it nearly an hour later, and after hanging it to dry and everything, it was over 2pm when I left the house.
Proof of me doing the laundry
And so, I was planning to explore some quiet areas alone. Okay, partly because it was also the self-conscious me at work. I didn't want to hang out in areas that were too crowded because it made me feel even more alone, and it was so scary being alone like I feel people will judge me. Actually, come to think of it, being alone in a foreign land (and not understanding most of what the locals say) is the best time for me to just be myself, because I don't get to hear how they thought I was, but unfortunately, I was too busy being self-conscious.
Anyway, I found out about this place from a friend's blog (http://seoulotraveller.blogspot.sg/). She provides really useful information as well. So, after a bit of googling (while waiting for the laundry to be done), I decided to go to The National Folk Museum of Korea and Namsagol Hanok Village. Of which both are cultural sites AGAIN. I think I am really into cultural stuff, even though I might not think so. I was also planning to visit Samcheong-dong for some quiet time in a quaint cafe, since it was in the vicinity.
To get the the Folk Museum, first go to Gyeongbukgung. (Refer to directions in my previous post: http://lizsayseoul.blogspot.sg/2013/09/day-6-ancient-and-cultural-seoul.html) After that, you can follow the signs to get to the Folk Museum. I don't know if I take an extremely long way or what, but the walk was about 20 minutes long before I reached the Folk Museum. Okay, and technically speaking, I wasn't going to the Folk Museum. I was just visiting this oldies street that they have there that depicts life in the 1960's/70's.
All in all, this place, though a little small, was a nice place for you to walk down memory lane. Most of the shops don't look familiar to me, but it does look like this in dramas, and I really felt like I went back to the past. This coffee salon, in particular, is a functional cafe, that allows you to buy a cup of coffee from the vending machine (at only 300won = 40cents), and just sit down to chit chat. I really wanted to, except that I couldn't find a seat in this small place.
I decide to cross over to Samcheong-dong, which is supposedly opposite the Folk Museum. I turned rounds and rounds and spent half an hour walking and walking nonstop because I am not too sure if I was in the right place. I did see a number of cafes (Samcheong-dong is famous for rows and rows of cafes), but not rows and rows of them. They were countable with my ten fingers, so I thought I wasn't in the right place. I wanted to settle down anyhow but I didn't find that kind of quaint cafe which I like. So feeling disappointed, I left that place.
I was ahead by my schedule for a whole hour, because I predict that I will be sitting in a cafe for an hour. So while on the way back to the subway station, I decided to cross over to the King Sejong statue. Just in case you are interested, you can read all about King Sejong here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sejong_the_Great. Wikipedia is our best friend hahah, along with Google. In short, I learnt that King Sejong is a wonderful and smart man who had many beneficial acts while he was the king, hence the name Sejong the Great. Also, he was the man who invented Hangeul, which is the Korean character/alphabet (before that, they borrowed Chinese characters) and I have to say that Hanguel is really easy to read and write, but of course the grammar and vocabulary and everything else is mad difficult.
Do not just think that you are there just to snap a picture of the statue of King Sejong. Behind this statue, there is an underpass. In this underpass, it shows you the history of Korea, and some of the beneficial acts of King Sejong and all the facts about him. Really shows how much respect Koreans have for him, and also I am amazed by Korea once again - I never expected an underpass below this statue. By the way, the underpass also links to the statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin, so you can explore further. There are also booths in front of these two statues where you can try out costumes of generals and kings for a small amount (3,000won).
I then hurried to Namsangol Hanok Village. Having failed a similar hanok village (Bukchon Hanok Village) a week ago, I am not too sure whether Namsangol Hanok Village is able to surprise me. However, exactly because I failed to conquer Bukchon Hanok Village, I wanted to be here to conquer another hanok village. It was also highly recommended by my friend Saiful.
Namsangol Hanok Village, in comparison, is a quaint quiet place. It features five restored traditional Korean houses (hanoks), a pavilion, a pond and a time capsule. To get to Namsangol Hanok Village, get off at Chungmuro Station (Exit 4), turn 180 degrees and walk for a few minutes before turning left at the cafes. It is hidden among tall buildings so you may not see it at first sight, but a rare traditional area is still quite obvious within modern buildings, so just pay slightly more attention.
In Namsangol Hanok Village, you get to watch traditional wedding ceremonies, traditional Korean plays, and also try on hanboks (traditional korean costumes) for a small price. It's a pity I didn't get to know about the hanbok trying session here, but anyway I didn't have anyone who could help me snap a picture too. Woes of a solo traveller.
After rounding up all the places I wanted to go (some was a success, some quite a failure), I ended up back in Myeongdong. Myeongdong is my comfort place, I really love that place, I will explain it much later in another post. So I was really craving for Japanese curry rice for two whole weeks and that was the day I decided to satisfy my craving and headed to Saboten for dinner. I think it was weird to eat alone because Koreans love big groups and they don't really eat alone but the food was too nice for me to bother after a while. I also wanted to drink Gongcha (bubble tea that reminds me of home) but the queue was crazily long and I wasn't confident enough to order a drink where I had to indicate so many preferences so I gave up (even before trying).
I ended the night searching for DVDs and checking out their prices for Lissya at one of the two underground KPOP shops in Myeongdong subway station. I also bought this SHINee 2014 calendar, which was nothing but useless, because it only listed down all the dates, without even indicating if it was a Sunday or Monday. ZzZzzzZzzzzZ I hate impractical stuff but at 5,000KRW and also the fact that it has really nice pictures of SHINee, I decided to close one eye.
Preview of next post: Shopping with Okta!
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