South Korea 2013: Day 1 (Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggye Stream, Hangang Park and Hello Kitty Cafe)

September 2, 2013

Annyeong Haseyo!

It's a lovely day! So thankful that the weather is nice, the sun is up but there's a cool breeze of air. It is indeed a perfect time to explore SEOUL!

Gwanghwamun Square
How to get here:
Take subway line#5 to Gwanghwamun Square, then take exit 2 & 3.

Gwanghwamun Square is located in front of Gyeongbukgong Palace, we take the subway to Gyeongbukgong Palace Station and walk to Gwanghwamun Square.

front of Gyeongbukgong Palace

view from Gwanghwamun Square

Statue of King Sejong The Great

Me w/ my dongsaeng Tina

Statue of Admiral Lee Soon Shin

If you love watching Korean Dramas, you probably seen this was place a lot. One of Korean Dramas that was filmed here is "City Hunter", oh my LEE MINHO :)

Lee MinHo (City Hunter)

Queen In Hyun's Man

IRIS

There's ongoing filming at Gwanghwamun Square when we visit, but I have no idea if they are shooting a drama or commercial.

Sejong Center of Performing Arts

Beautiful SEOUL :)

CHEONGGYE STREAM 

The famous stream located in the center of Seoul. My second time in this place, I appreciate being here again because the last time I've been here is winter season, and now the weather is so good that I enjoyed much of the view.

cuties

GYEONGBUKGONG PALACE

We head back to Gyeongbukgung Palace, luckily we witness the changing of guards. We did not enter the Palace, we went here last November, we just took some photos of the guards and outside the palace.

There is free hanbok wearing in Gyeongbukgung Palace.

I love SEOUL :)

After sight seeing the beauty of Gwanghwamun Square, Cheonggye Stream and Gyeongbukgong Palace, we went to Express Bus Terminal Station. This place is famous for the latest Korean Fashion!

YEOUIDO HANGANG PARK

Finally I was able to visit the famous Han River that mostly featured in Korean Dramas. I always include to visit Hangang Park in my itinerary, but failed to visit during my first and second visit. I'm so happy that now I'm here enjoying this beautiful place! FINALLY! ^_^

What to do here:

This place is awesome, with the beautiful weather everybody will enjoy here. I've seen some biking here, dipping their feet on the water while enjoying the view. Most of the locals already set their tent they will probably spent  overnight here. 

mobile restroom

Sunset at Yeouido Hangang Park

HELLO KITTY CAFE

Time for some coffee break! Welcome to Hello Kitty Cafe!

Located to one of the busiest place in Seoul "Hongdae", this is our second time here, pretty much familiar to this cafe, nothing changed here. The cutest ever Hello Kitty Cafe, if you're a big fan of Hello Kitty, don't forget to put this on your list.

How to get here: 

Directions to Hello Kitty Cafe

PINK OVERLOAD!!!

Hello Kitty Restroom

Opening Hours: 11am to 12midnight

Our last stop for the day is Myeongdong. If you are looking for clothes, accessories, cosmetics, food, kpop merchandise, souvenirs, well you're in the right place. Myeongdong is LOVE for me, I also love Korean Cosmetics and you'll be surprised to see those stores like Skinfood, Etude House, Nature Republic, Tony Moly, Missha, Laneige, Holika Holika, The Face Shop, The Saem, Innisfree. 

South Korea Again - Day 3

Annyeong Haseyo!!!

Another cold day here in Korea, we still manage to wake up early, as we want to accomplish many places today!

breakfast "spicy noodles"

GYEONGBUKGONG PALACE

I wanted to visit this palace because of the drama Rooftop Prince! I really love that drama starring Micky Yoochun of JYJ and Han Ji Min, this place was feature during their Joseon Dynasty part in the drama.

But before we enter the palace, we watched the marching ceremony or changing of guards in front of palace.

Cool outfits that can be seen on some sageuk drama, I just love the colorful outfit with their accessories/armors. 

After the changing of guards we entered the palace, 3000won for the entrance fee.

Another Korean Drama that was filmed here is JEWEL IN THE PALACE, but the area was under renovation, it's the kitchen area of the palace.

Still exploring the place until I found what I'm looking for, the pond where Bak Ha drowned :) Well another part of the Korean Drama "ROOFTOP PRINCE", I'm so happy to see the place, but again they are doing some constructions on this place. I love the view here, I'm reminiscing the drama too, sad part of the drama :(

feeling Koreana ^^

More pics of the palace.

We exit on the left side of the palace and seen The Blue House.

I just love these trees, the changing of leaves ... lovely!

We kinda lost our way going to the subway, so we ended up again infront of Gyeongbokgung Palace and watched the changing of guards (again), this time we took photos with the guards! Woah these guards were amazing, like they don't move at all, and I noticed that they were kinda tall and they also wearing a make up (BB Cream!!! kekekeke)

BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE/ SANGGOJAE

Our next destination is Sanggojae which is located in Bukchon Hanok Village, from Gyeongbukgong Station we ride the subway going to Anguk Station, though it's not my first time here, but just to make sure I did asked some Koreans along the way if we are on the right way , well they were very helpful and kind as always (I really love Koreans). On the front of the village, tourist information staff/crew can be found, they understand English well, so I still asked the way to Sanggojae, again just to make sure that we won't get lost , we don't want to waste time ^^

Reaching the place,  it still makes me giggles that my LEE MIN HO had been to this place, sit on the same place we've sit, stand on the same place we've stand in, walk to same place that we also walked in! Crazy huh???, yeah right! So crazy over LEE MIN HO <3

Enough of these craziness! ^^ Move!! move ^_^

Some pics of Buckhon Hanok Village

We didn't explore much here in the village, basically you'll be seeing the same place or same style of the house/structure. But it doesn't mean I don't like the place, I actually want to experience living in hanok 'coz I love the structure of it, hoping that someday I can own one ^_^

So what's next??? We head back to Myeongdong (at our place) and we had our lunch first before going to Namsan Tower or N Seoul Tower.

N SEOUL TOWER

This place is just near to Namsan Guesthouse 3, we just walked for about 10 minutes and reach the Namsan Cable car, we queued for the tickets and paid 8000won (roundtrip).

Must visit place for Korean Drama addicts! Boys Over Flower, Rooftop Prince, My Lovely Kim Sam Soon, Protect The Boss, Can't Lose, My Girl, Iris, Beautiful Days, etc was filmed here. See how famous is this place, a really tourist spot! You'll see a lot of tourist here and locals as well.

Riding the cable car, of course would remind you a lot of Korean Dramas too ^^ 

Beautiful Seoul

It was a short ride in a cable car, nothing beats Ngong Ping Cable Car in Hong Kong! ^^ 

N Seoul Tower

Love Locks

Teddy Bear Museum

Observatory Tower + Teddy Bear Museum Ticket for 14,000won

Observatory Tower

To view the beauty of SEOUL, make sure you go here at the observatory tower. You can also buy here some souvenirs, love a letter to your special someone at N Love Letter, look for your country and see how many miles away are you from Seoul ^^

Manila ^^

That's it for Day 3, see how beautiful the N Seoul Tower at night!