Limes Tour [Seoul - Day 2] 13-3-10

 

It's 8AM in the morning and I didn't get an ounce of sleep because I was still suffering from jet lag. This photo is of the floor below the one I slept. The reason why I didn't choose to sleep on this floor was because at that time the lights were not switched off. I was really surprise that nobody was snoring here whereas the floor I was sleeping on, I had to bare with many variations of snores from over 10 people as if they were trying to make music together. I wait for Lime and she comes around 8:30AM. We go to the sauna but don't stay for too long because the heat is unbearable for her so we go get ready to leave for breakfast.

                    

We go to a small restaurant to eat Gimbab which is similar to Makizushi. Unlike the Japanese version, you can eat Gimbab without soy sauce, wasabi, or pickled ginger. As standard, side dishes are provided for free with every meal and I get to eat kimchi for breakfast which doesn't feel right but I guess it takes time getting use to.

 

Next we go to Deoksugung Palace which is one of the Five Grand Palaces in Seoul. 

 

I saw a Western looking building and asked Lime why it was there next to the palace? She told me it was built by the Japanese during the Japanese Occupation which is sad. The palace was intentionally heavily destroyed by the Japanese and now only 1/3 of the structure remains.

This is a statue of the mythical animal known as Haetae. At that time I couldn't guess what the animal is but now I know it's suppose to be a lion.

 

Throughout the day there are royal guard-changing ceremonies so we went to front of the gate and checked it out. Traditional Korean instruments are played during the ceremony. I remember disliking the sound of one of the instruments because it reminded me of music played during funerals. 

     

The ceremony lasts for around 30 minutes and then after you can take a lovely photo with the guards. There was a stand where you could try on traditional Korean clothes for free so I was persuaded by Lime to do so.

 

Still to this day, I do not know why this blue looking cat is here nor do I know what he or she is?

I remember we had to take this photo again because I closed my eyes in the previous one so Lime called me stupid in Korean, ha-ha.

Apparently, I look stupid in this photo. I mentioned before about the mythical animal known as Haetae. Lime said the Haetae was chosen to be the icon and symbol of Seoul.

I've always been interested in art especially contemporary art so I couldn't miss taking a photo of this. It's quite hard to see but this piece of art was created using thousands of photos. 

Next, we went to walk a long Cheonggyecheon stream. Lime said walking along this stream reminds her of her ex-boyfriend so I can imagine a lot couples will walk along here at night when it looks more beautiful with the lights turned on.

We went for a snack at Mister Donut. There was some free samples at the counter so I tried a few but honestly don't think it tastes as good as Krispy Kreme. Krispy Kreme is not popular in Korea. I've only seen one during my travels however, I have seen around 20 Dunkin' Donuts stores. I think Koreans don't like Krispy Kreme because it tastes too sweet as I remember Lime and Rosalie don't like it. After seeing many Dunkin' Donuts stores, I thought Koreans must love eating it but Rosalie told me that's not the case because the company has a mass expansion plan in S. Korea which has raised criticism.

After eating doughnuts we went to Insadong which is a large market for antiques, artworks and a perfect place for buying souvenirs. I brought most of my souvenirs from here so that I could get it over and done with and enjoy the rest of my holiday.

Here are a couple of guys singing and freshly making Kkultarae (Traditonal Court Cake). The cake is made of ripened honey and malt costing ₩5000 for a box of 10. I remember watching a video clip of this store on the internet over a year ago so to see them in real life felt unreal. Here is a video clip link from YouTube: [Kkulturae - Traditional Court Cake]

For lunch we went to eat Samgyetang (A Korean soup with a whole baby chicken). Inside the chicken is stuffed with glutinous rice and boiled in a broth of Korean ginseng, dried seeded jujube fruits, garlic and ginger. Lime said that Koreans will eat it in the Summer to re-energise them from physical exertion during the hot summers and that it's a dish to help cheer people up. The chicken tasted better when dipped into the salt provided. It was nice to have soup and eat something healthy because I was feeling tired and exhausted from the lack of sleep I've been getting.

Being a tea drinker I wanted to buy some tea to take back to London. The shop assistant from the tea shop recommended me buying the tea on the left which I don't have a clue what it is but I brought it anyway. Lime brought me the tea on the right which is Samhwa Honey Quince Tea. I haven't tried it yet so I'll write a review once I get the chance.

One of my to do list, is to drink traditional tea in a Korean tea house which you can easily find in Insadong.

 

Most menus in Seoul are in Korean which of course I can't read so I told Lime I wanted to try a sweet tea. She recommended me Daechu cha, a traditional tea made with dried jujubes which are red dates. The texture of the tea was thick and the taste of jujubes was strong and sweet. I thought it tasted okay but I don't think I would drink it again because I'm officially not a fan of jujubes. 

 

Lime ordered Omija cha, which is made from dried fruits of Schisandra Chinensis. Omija cha is named because the tea comprises five distinct flavors: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent. Out of the 2 teas, Omija cha tasted better because I liked the sweet fruitiness and sour taste of the tea. 

We ate the Kkultare that I brought earlier because it's suppose to taste better with tea. The cake tasted delicious. The strands of honey had a flaky textured taste and it would start to melt into my mouth and then biting into a chewy, sweet and nutty filling. Eating 2-3 is enough but anymore would be too much. Apparently the end product of the cake has 16,000 strands suggesting the prayer for longevity, health, good fortune and wish-fulfillment. I thought it might be a popular Korean snack but all the Koreans I've asked have not tasted it and said it's probably a tourist thing.

 

Here are strawberry and dung (turd) shaped bread with red bean paste in the centre. I didn't buy any because the queue was long and I was stuffed from lunch and tea. I'm guessing it would have been the best turd anyone can eat.  

 

Before reaching the end of Insadong I see a sign offering free drinks and entertainment so we went to check it out. Lime helped me get a free Korean tea, which to be honest I didn't want to drink because we just came from a tea house. Since it was for free, I didn't expect much from it but it actually tasted good. I remember the tea tasted creamy and sweet but I don't know what it is which is a shame.

I tried playing the game Tuho (투호) where you test your hand-eye coordination skills by throwing arrows into a vase. 

Looking at this photo, it looks like the arrow will smoothly flow straight into the vase but it ends up completely missing. I'm no spear chucker but this game is near impossible to win. I mean the arrows are almost as long as my arms.

Next, we went to Samcheong-dong where Lime said a lot of couples will go to. She's right because I kind of notice from the crowd change between Samcheong-dong and Insadong. In this photo is a photo of the first traditional Korean house that I saw. We walked past a restaurant after, which is apparently suppose to be famous for Dukboki. I wanted to try it but we were still stuffed to eat anything.

This is the National Folk Museum. 

Before we went inside the museum we walked around the entrance and looked at the old Korean stores.

The museum inside looked like it was newly built because it was modern. I have to admit that I'm not a big fan of history museums but it was interesting because Lime was able to explain some history to me.

 

I do have to admit I'm a big fan of fans but not the electrical ones of course. My love for fans started when I visited Japan in 2006 but I didn't start collecting them until last year when Lime brought me my first fan. I brought the mini version of the traditional fan in the middle when I went to Insadong. 

After exploring the museum we walked around the entrance where there were statues of the Zodiac Animals.

 

Lime is a few months older than me and is born in the year of the cow. I remember she overheard a boy saying if she was a foreigner, ha-ha. It's actually her first time visiting this museum.