Seoul (Day 31): Spring has Sprung

March 31, 2016

I suppose the beds at Hotel Shin Shin are comfortable because we both slept in and with Seoul being one hour ahead, we didn’t leave the hotel until about 11am! We did a quick look at the map and decided that we’d check out the Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong and Myeongdong shopping streets. The weather today was perfect, sunny and a high of 20 degrees Celsius.

Hotel Shin Shin entrance in the day light
Hotel Shin Shin entrance in the day light

The Gyeonbokgung Palace wasn’t too far from the hotel so we started making our way there on foot. The walk there was a nice walk along Seoul’s business district and we passed by City Hall. There were lots of high rises and businessmen in suits walking around. We’ve both noticed that the male to female ratio in Seoul’s business district seems to be like 10:1 (Where are all the business women?).

Seoul is a very modern city, Tim described it well when he mentioned it felt a bit like Berlin.  Like Berlin, much of Seoul was destroyed during the Korean War and they had to rebuild everything in the last 50 years, making it a very modern city with lots of (destructive) history.

On our way to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, we came across a large statue of King Sejong. He is most known for inventing the Korean alphabet in the 15th century. Previous to his invention, Korea was using Chinese logograms to represent their language, which left some parts of the Korean language without appropriate written representation. Later in the day, we found out that up until a few years ago, learning to read and write Chinese characters was still in the school curriculum in South Korea, but apparently they are moving away from that.

Seoul City Hall
Seoul City Hall
These are useful since there are a lot of smokers in Seoul
This no smoking sign is useful and cute
We weren't sure if there was a special event going on today, but there were so many police on each street
We weren’t sure if there was a special event going on today, but there were so many police officers on block until we got to the palace gates
Along the middle of the boulevard, they had signs and tents honouring and reminding people to not forget the ferry disaster of 2014
Along the middle of the boulevard, they had signs and tents honouring and reminding people to not forget the ferry disaster in 2013
Tim in front of the King Sejong statue. He was the inventor of the Korean alphabet
Tim in front of the King Sejong statue. He was the inventor of the Korean alphabet
Below the King Sejong statue was a extensive museum about his life and the invention of the Korean alphabet (Hangeul)
Below the King Sejong statue was a extensive museum about his life and the invention of the Korean alphabet (Hangeul)

After going through King Sejong’s museum (free admission), we made it to the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was about 12:30pm, and we hadn’t eaten lunch yet so we decided to get something to eat before heading in. Our good friend, Sabine, lived in South Korea for about a year, so we asked her for some recommendations. She told us there was a really good ginseng chicken place close to the palace so we made our way there for lunch.

We made to the Gyeonbokgung Palace gates
In front of the Gyeonbokgung Palace gates
Line up at Tosokchon Samgyetang. The restaurant is large so the line went quickly
Line up at Tosokchon Samgyetang. The restaurant is large so the line went quickly

The restaurant is called Tosokchon Samgyetang and it specializes in their ginseng chicken soup (Samgyetang). There was a huge line up when we got there around 12:45pm, but the restaurant is like a compound inside with different rooms, so the wait was only around 10 minutes. All the dining rooms required customers to take their shoes off before they sat down. We sat down and ordered their ginseng chicken and a roasted chicken. When the dishes came, we realized (again) that it was a lot of food for us.

Everything we had was really tasty, but we regretted ordering two chicken dishes because it was too much chicken (2 full chickens!). I regret not ordering a seafood pancake as planned. We decided we’d have a light dinner tonight!

Inside the restaurant
Inside the restaurant
Traditional seating area - shoes off
Traditional seating area – shoes off
Roasted chicken was a whole chicken. It was juicy and delicious (15,000 KRW = $17 CAD)
Roasted chicken was a whole chicken. It was juicy and delicious (15,000 KRW = $17 CAD)
Ginseng chicken soup. It was a whole chicken in a simmering ginseng broth with congee like rice
Ginseng chicken soup. It was a whole chicken in a simmering ginseng broth with congee like rice (16,000 KRW = $18.15 CAD)

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Our first kimchi in Korea. They leave a pot of kimchi and daikon kimchi on the table. You can take as much as you like
Our first kimchi in Korea. They leave a pot of kimchi and daikon kimchi on the table. You can take as much as you like

After lunch we walked back to Gyeongbokgung Palace to spend the rest of the afternoon. Admission to the palace is 3,000 KRW = $3.40 CAD. Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 and was destroyed once during the Japanese invasions during the 1500s and then restored in the 19th century by the reigning king at the time. During the Japanese occupation in the early 1900’s, they dismantled the majority of the palace only leaving a couple of the main buildings. That being said, much of the palace that stands today are not the original buildings. They plan to finish the entire palace as it originally was by 2045.

We walked around the palace grounds ourselves but then went back to the entrance to meet a guide for a free English tour. This ended up being really informative as there weren’t many informational signs in English around the palace.

With one of the guards
With one of the guards. They all have (fake) beards. (Tim: I really hope there are a few super committed dudes that grew out beards for their job).
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Gyeongbokgung Palace
Changing of the guards
Changing of the guards
The building behind us is one of the two buildings that is an original
The building behind us is one of the two buildings that is an original (from the 1800s, not 1300s)
Girls wearing Hanboks (Korean dresses)
Girls wearing Hanboks (Korean dresses)
Cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in Seoul
Cherry blossoms are starting to bloom in Seoul
King and Queen's recreational area where they would read and relax
King and Queen’s recreational area where they would read and relax
In front of the royal banquet hall
In front of the royal banquet hall
Us with our English guide
Us with our English guide

After the tour ended, we exited behind the palace to see the “Blue House”, where the President works and lives. It called Cheong Wa Dae, but is nicknamed the “Blue House” because the roof is blue tiled. It is located right behind the palace grounds. When we went to take a look, there was a lot of security and secret service looking guys all around the grounds.

Blue House in the distance
Blue House in the distance
South Korean flags lined the streets
South Korean flags lined the streets. The palace is on the other side of the wall

We eventually made our way to the Insadong area. Insadong is known for their arts and craft stores. There were a lot of art galleries and stores that sold Korean stationary. It was a neat street and I would like to go back and take a closer look at the stores another day.

Walking through Insadong
Walking through Insadong
Korean Starbucks
Korean Starbucks
This store had a lot of really nice teas and this green tea milk spread was delicious!
This store had a lot of really nice teas and this green tea milk spread was delicious! Thinking of buying some to bring back home

After walking through Insadong, we made our way back towards our hotel by walking through the famous Myeondong shopping area. Before we got to the crazy shopping part of Myeongdong Street, we stumbled upon the Myeongdong Cathedral. It is the first Catholic church in Seoul and was built in 1892. When it was built, you used to be able to see the cathedral from most places around Seoul as it was built on a hill, but now with all the high rises it’s no longer that visible.

Myeongdong Cathedral or also known as the Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception
Myeongdong Cathedral or also known as the Cathedral Church of the Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception

Seeing the Cathedral was the calm before the storm as we made our way into Myeongdong’s shopping area. Since being in Asia, I hadn’t been in such a dense area with that many people. Even at Shilin Night market in Taipei, it didn’t feel this crowded. Myeongdong is Seoul’s shopping district filled with endless beauty product stores (you can buy face masks in bulk here), sock stands, high end brands and department stores. I can see why people just shop when they come to Seoul. Since this isn’t really (Tim: “or not in the slightest”) a shopping trip for us, I have to limit myself to socks and maybe some masks.

Along the streets were also food vendors, which was where we ended up having dinner. We had kalbi meatballs, japchae bulgogi and black soybean noodles. Everything was good, prices are higher than street food in Taiwan but I think we just have to get used to everything being more expensive here. We took out 300,000 KRW = $340 CAD for our 6 days in Seoul and have already used up a third. We’ll have to take out more cash or start to use our credit card.

Busy streets of Myeongdong
Busy streets of Myeongdong
Korean socks! 1000 KRW each = $1.15 CAD (buy 10 get 1 free) I'll be back...
Korean socks! 1000 KRW each = $1.15 CAD (buy 10 get 1 free) I’ll be back…
Kalbi meatballs (3000 KRW = $3.40 CAD)
Kalbi meatballs (3000 KRW = $3.40 CAD)
Animated noodle vendor
Animated noodle vendor. He spoke Mandarin and Korean
Black soybean noodles (3000 KRW = $3.40 CAD)
Black soybean noodles (3000 KRW = $3.40 CAD)
I ordered japchae bulgogi (4000 KRW = $4.50 CAD)
I ordered japchae bulgogi (4000 KRW = $4.50 CAD)
I put way too much hot sauce and my mouth was on fire
I put way too much hot sauce and my mouth was on fire. The hot sauce is way spicier than Sriracha!
Tim posing in Myeongdong
Tim posing in Myeongdong (Tim: by request)

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We called it an early night, getting back to the hotel around 8pm. We have an early morning tomorrow as our tour for the DMZ leaves at 7:45am. We have to take the train to the another area to meet our tour. We ended up picking Koridoor tours after reading their reviews on Trip Advisor. Looking forward to an interesting day tomorrow.

Total steps for today: 25,000