Korea Day 3: A Day Tour

Hey everyone!

It's day 3 now and it's been great so far - my phone is fine (more or less) in case you're wondering.. The weather has been wonderful and today was not an exception, it was just great! My parents and I went on a tour today and we basically spend the whole day walking. Decided to give my new shoes a go but thank goodness it was pretty alright! 

This post is going to be mostly photos, because I did snap a fair few (until my camera died) and I suppose, the photos will be the best way to show you guys what I saw today, until you guys see the vlog next week, which I am pretty excited about because there's just so much awesome footage from today!!

We got up pretty early today, at about 7 in the morning and I was honestly pretty reluctant to get out of bed, it was just so nice and comfortable with all the pillows and the fluffy duvet around me. But of course, I do like cultural tours, usually anywhere I go, I like to see stuff like this, palaces or cultural sites or museums too! 

First stop, Jogyesa Buddhist Temple!

Look at all the beautiful lanterns!!

Made a wish by this really big tree!

I did snap so many photos with it but I just looked horrible, so I didn't end up keeping them, but it was a nice experience, to hug a tree that had no bugs flying around it or crawling on it. It was actually quite bizarre (in a good way of course). 

one for the social media~

I quite liked the temple, I thought it was very beautiful, I've never seen so many colourful lanterns in one place before! There was a section towards the back that had white lanterns that were very very pretty as well!

The white lanterns!

We didn't stay for long~

We did get to roam around and snap some photos for about 30-45 minutes, before we had to get up the bus again because we were heading to Gyeongbukgung palace to witness the changing of guards!

And we're here~

We did get a good view of the ceremony, almost to the middle, in fact! The last time I came here to witness the changing of guards, I was 18 and had no idea how much I was missing!

WHOOO!

Before we knew it, the ceremony was over.

I'm pretty sure that this is a very popular attraction because there were announcements (narrations, if you may) as the ceremony went on and if I heard them right, they were in Korean, English and Mandarin, I can't exactly remember if they did do the announcements in Japanese but yeah, definitely had the other three languages mentioned!

And we went to tour the gounds!

The inside of the palace!

Photos~~ ^^

I remember taking a photo like this the last time I came here!

It was for an assignment (I had come on a school trip while I was still in Poly) so we visited so many palaces and museums to take photos for various overlapping assignments. It was honestly just crazy because we were rushing everywhere and we had to make sure that we had all the material we needed because if we missed anything, we would be doomed.

Spot the hanbok!

Apparently, you can rent a hanbok and walk around the palace ground for fun. I would like to do that one day just for the fun of it. I didn't get to try one on just yet, so I think it'd be nice. There were so many girls wandering around and taking photos in their hanboks and it was just such a pretty sight!

Our tiny tour group! Led by the speedy Erica.

Doesn't that view look amazing?

So much green! ^^

Apparently, the second last empress of Korea was assassinated and her body was then burnt, and the ashes were then dumped into this pond. Oddly enough, I told my mum (moments before Erica told us the story) that I really liked the pond.

The Presidential Area.

We didn't really see much of it, I suppose it was because it just happened to be along the route that we were taking while we toured the palace grounds.

I liked that white tree. 

Up next, we headed to this ginseng tower/factory/museum place to learn more about Korean ginseng. So I didn't think that different types of ginseng had either cooling or heating effects, and the korean ones apparently have a balance. My parents used to give me ginseng in the morning when I was younger and I hated it. I just never really learned to appreciate ginseng so I didn't exactly enjoy the free tasters we got at the store. Of course, mum and dad did buy a thing or two~

And then we had lunch!!

I was honestly just so hungry and sleepy at this point, I didn't even think about what I was going to have for lunch. 

Galbitang

Bulgogi

Bibimbap

A group photo with half the tour group~

There were three choices for lunch, and apparently, my parents chose to order one of each and I took the bulgogi of course. Dad took the bibimbap because he cannot eat beef, and mum had the galbitang which she liked! Lunch was generally pretty alright, not the absolute best, but it as delicious!

Last stop, the Korean Folk Village!

We had a little bit of a long drive, well, not really, but longer than the other trips throughout the day. It was a 45min drive from the lunch place to the village. I must say, I enjoyed this place the most today. I've never been here before so it was something new and exciting!

We reached in the middle of a music performance!

A family photo with the musicians!

THIS THIS THIS

So there was a performance that we watched, which was a tightrope act. I enjoyed this so so much and the guy was really funny. Didn't understand him too well but I enjoyed it very much nontheless! 

Like WHAAT?!?!

He even sat there posing for photos! What a great guy!

HE EVEN JUMPED EVERYWHERE MY GOODNESS.

I honestly was enjoying it too much, I didn't want the performance to end. It was a whole lot of fun and it was just so good to watch!

We then got to see various homes!

And prisons.. 

Bought some taffy as well!

I do like this very much actually, I love chewy sweets and if I'm not wrong this has pumpkin and rice? I'm not sure what else is in there but.. I like it! I finished half the pack in a few minutes which was a tad bit naughty...

I saw these horses in the distance but.. we didn't get to watch that performance ):

The village just looked so peaceful, I love it!

The little stream was nice to look at for some reason.

They put this out when there's a newborn baby boy!

I liked these! Unfortunately, I didn't know what they were for..

I call it the kimchi cave

Clearly, I enjoyed myself very very much.

I was honestly very tired, but because of the cold weather, my feet weren't as tired as they might have been if I were to walk that much in Singapore. We went back to the hotel after that (it was about 5pm at this point) and we were just so tired that we all took a nap.

I then woke up to cramps, which then made me feel like staying at the hotel and having some ramen for dinner instead of heading out into the cold. My parents went to have the barbecue, and they brought back a little bit of beef ribs for me which was pretty good, though it would obviously be better if I went with them but I was just too tired.

So I gave this a go..

Didn't turn out that amazing...

I know that there's supposed to be a brand that had amazing instant jajangmyeon. I suppose it wasn't the one I had bought. It was alright, but it never really matched up to the actual thing. I highly doubt any form of instant noodle can ever match up to the real thing actually. Either way, at least I managed to have dinner without calling room service and without leaving the hotel. 

It's currently midnight in Seoul as I type this and I'm just waiting for my hair to dry so I can head back to bed. Tomorrow is going to be yet another exciting day because I'll be meeting B after my parents and I go wander around and we'll be having dinner for mothers day as well ^^

I hope you guys enjoyed this blogpost as much as I've enjoyed myself on the tour today. I did wish that I got to see more palaces and have more time at the village, I think there was so much more to see and I'd like to have more time to snap more photos of the place and perhaps stare at the stream/river a little longer because it was just very very pretty. So, till my next blogpost! Happy weekend everyone!

xx

Shayne