My Traditional Dwelling Experience in Bukchon Village

In every travel that I plan, I always make sure that I can experience the locals' dwelling place.  

We decided to spend our last night in Seoul in Bukchon Village so from our Full House experience, we transferred to Bukchon Guesthouse via subway and as mentioned, it was excruciating lifting our trolleys from the stairs and pulling up in the subway under drizzling weather. 

a little uphill to Bukchon Guesthouse

Coming out of Anguk Station, we met Jay, the owner of Bukchon Guesthouse at the famous landmark, Mister Donut.  Going there is quite an uphill. It was like going back to the past and how a typical neighborhood of yesterday's Korea looked like. I loved it! It was so charming, so calm and so humbling.  I can compare it to our own Intramuros or Vigan during Spanish Era. Along the streets are a mixture of artsy and fancy stores from bookstores to souvenir shops, handicrafts to vintage decors, from noodles to pizza houses and one coffee shops to another. I really loved it - my old soul!

the street uphill

To stay in Hanok is one of our South Korea bucketlists. Described by Wikipedia as Korea's traditional houses which interior structure planned accordingly.  

Description copied from Wikipedia: This principle is also calledBaesanimsu (배산임수), literally meaning that the ideal house is built with a mountain in the back and a river in the front, with the ondol heated rock system for heating during cold winters and a wide daecheong (대청) front porch for keeping the house cool during hot summers.

Typical Hanok House is very homey and cozy. With jars (sometimes of fermented kimchi) in the garden

Koreans are very particular of leaving your shoes outside the house. This is also a gesture of courtesy to the owner of the house.

We occupied three twin-rooms and had our own ondol (heated floor map). Breakfast is free from 7am to 9am and computer/washing machine, iron and other facilities are free. 

Scene from "Personal Taste"
Photo credits: www.dramabeans.com

Am I in "Personal Taste"? another Korean drama starring Lee Min Ho.

One more thing I liked about staying in Bukchon was that we cooked our own breakfast.  The common area was very welcoming that we felt like we're just home away from home.

Dining area decorated with pictures and notes from guests all around the world.

The place is very cozy and homey. We had a good sleep that night. If you don't mind sleeping on the floor, then experience Ondol, the sleeping pad on the floor with heater. 

After a whole day of island tour, pulling and lifting of our luggages in the subway and walking on the streets under drizzling weather, we bought some soju and had our own drinking session to warm the cold night and celebrate our last night in seoul.

My Korea's Full House Experience

When we woke up on our second to the last day in Seoul, the rain kept pouring and the temperature was getting unbearable for an island trip. But the weather did not stop us to push through with our plan for that day.  We were were scheduled to go to Si-do Island located off coast of Incheon, South Korea.  I've never thought going to the island was more than seeing the Full House, the famous Koreanovela located near the beach.

Going there was an adventure - interacting with locals and with nature and the whole experience worth the time spent finding the famous  Full House  of South Korea.

Here I shared how to get there.

The sign that will bring you to Full House

some of the scenes in Full House and us in the actual location

I was too enthralled to see the house! This is exactly the same in the movie drama. More than the story, I'd really wanted to see the design of the house for my dream house near the beach or overlooking the beach.  I immediately had my photo riding the famous yellow bike. I even bought one but in pink here in Manila. =)

Song Hye-Kwon's bike

My bike

Ticket booth at the entrance of the house

The house has a very welcoming feel and I was amazed of the bright ideas of the architect who designed that house. It is located near the beach, very tranquil and very near to nature. 

the solitude of Full house

We took photos of almost all parts of the house where the drama was filmed. It was very, very spacious. unfortunately, we run out of batteries already and my camera is not an anti-freeze so we only captured as much as we can.

the famous spiral stairs

the lower ground of the house

Re-enacting the famous scenes in the drama

at the1st floor (bedrooms)

with Rain and Song Hye-gyo

South Korea Spring/Summer Trip: Nami Island

I had to include Nami Island in our itinerary because I want to see Metasequoia Lane, a kind of tree which name is foreign to me.  The arrays of other foreign trees such ginko trees, white pine trees and white birch trees serve like a long pathway that can make a living postcard of  how the four seasons of South Korea change in beauty and color. Peaceful green at summer, sparkling white at winter, translucent leafless at spring and vibrantly yellow and red at autumn.  

Metasequoia Lane
Photo from Nami website
(Was not able to take a good photo with so many tourists local & foreign in the island that day)

Our trip to the island is the most relaxing - sort of taking a break from the "Amazing Race" like travel that we had for the last three days. We took the direct shuttle bus to Nami from Insa-dong. The package rate already included roundtrip bus fare, round trip ferry ticket and entrance to Nami Island.  The shuttle bus operates from Jamsil and Insa-dong. Since we were staying near Insa-dong, we took the shuttle bus from there.  You can make a reservation a day before or take a chance to wait for any available spot.

If you want to take some route and more adventure, you may go to Nami Island via subway Gapyeong Station. Check out this link for more details.

From Hongdae hostel, we went to Tapgol Park where the direct shuttle buses to Naminara Republic are waiting for the tourists. It is scheduled until 9:30am but if the buses are already full as early as 8:30, they leave insadong right away. We were lucky to get the vacant spots since we did not make any reservation for the trip.

how to get to the shuttle bus terminal in Insa-dong:

get off in jongno 3(sam)-ga station 1then take exit 3. walk straight towards the bus stop which is next to tapgol park. before tapgol park, you will pass-by McDo and Skinfood. After Tapgol Park, turn right and there you'll see the shuttle buses. Better landmark? - It's just across the tony moly store =) and at the other side of the main road is the famous cheonggyecheon stream.

too early to open our eyes wide!

The travel took 1.5hrs but I enjoyed the scenery from famous world cup of seoul to the green fields and a lot of parks surrounding hangang river. From one town to another, I saw a lot of football fields and now I understand why Koreans love football so much.

Nami is an independent island, have their own visa!

When we arrived, it was almost lunchtime and saw the long queues of tourist to the port. I read from some blogs that it is better to visit Nami on a weekday. But since we had our all-inclusive ticket already, we were not worried at all. we can go directly to the Gapyong dock without hassle.

But before getting on the ship to Nami island, we had another adventure in South Korea - food trip! It was very difficult ordering from that certain restaurant without an English menu nor a picture, and they can only understand "chicken"as english word but I think the food is alright. I tried wrapping the meat with lettuce as what I saw in koreanovelas and put some chili paste. It was fun but not appealing though. I also tried the naengmyeon (cold buckwheat noodles).

After having another taste of korean cuisine, we proceeded to the dock and boarded the ship to nami island. It was like Philippines' version of "ro-ro" ship (Roll-On/Roll-Off vessels) and the travel time took 5-6minutes only.

Namiseon or Nami Island is a tiny half-moon shaped island located in chuncheon, gangwon province. It is named after General Nami who died at the age of 28 after falsely accused of treason during the reign of King Sejo, 7th king of joseon dynasty. Naminara Republic declared its cultural independence on march 1, 2006 and re-named itself naminara republic. it is an imaginary country but has invented its own passport, currency, stamp and telephone island.

The place is also the filming location of koreanovela, "Winter sonata", though i haven't watched this yet so i just wrote something on the wall near the male lead. the place is very beautiful - too small but with too many activities  to do- i can compare it to our version of potipot island, lakawon island or another island in Coron, Palawan where you can tour around the island in a short period of time. this place is best to visit during autumn where everything will turn to red/orange. 

After exploring around the island on our bikes, we went back to another long queue again to board the ferry back from Nami Port to Gapyong since we need to catch up the 5PM departure of the shuttle bus. i bought notebooks souvenir featuring four seasons of nami. i would suggest an overnight stay in the island to enjoy more the place.

the charm of nami - long stretch of trees

what's in nami:

1. tour the island on bikes - if you're a couple, you can rent a couple bike but make sure that your partner knows how to bike too.

2. if you don't know how to bike, then rent the electronic car

3. small themed gardens - very beautiful landscape!

4. unicef train strollers - ask for donation only - this is where i left my seoul book and print copies of my itineraries =(

5. herb world - bought some tea and tasted free samples too! =)

Important info for your Nami Trip:

Ferry Schedule:
From 7:30-09:00 - every 30 minutes interval (first ferry from Gapyong 7:30AM and from Nami 7:35AM)
From 09:00-18:00 - every 10-20 minutes interval
From 18:00-21:40 - every 30 minutes interval (last ferry from Gapyong 21:40 and from Nami 21:45)

Visa Fees include roundtrip ferry fare and tax:
Regular - KRW 10,000
Foreigners -KRW 8,000

Check out nami's official website for more info:

https://www.namisum.com/_ver01/_bbs_iw2000/?link_code=0900

South Korea: The Royalty Experience in Gyeongbokgung Palace

My first palace experience was in March 2007 in Bangkok when I had my own palace- hopping along the Chao Phraya river. But coming to Korea, particularly Seoul, is quite different.  From then on, for every palaces or temples that I had gone to, I have Korea to compare.

Amidst high-rise buildings and modern skyscrapers of Seoul, the vibrant city of South Korea takes pride in its five royal palaces where royal families lived.  These contain relics that were used by royals and served as living proof of the 500-year-old history of Korea. 

Gyeongbokgung Palace - the oldest palace of Joseon built in the founding year of the dynasty in 1392.
Deoksugung Palace  - located next to Seoul City Hall, this is the only palace among the five to have modern stone structures and a Western-style garden.
Changgyeonggung Palace - built by the 9th king of Joseon for the three queen mothers out of filial devotion
Changdeokgung Palace - the second palace built after Gyeongbokgung Palace where the kings of the Joseon Dynasty resided for the longest time. Listed as UNESCO World Cultural Heritage in 1997.
Gyeonghuigung Palace - used after the Japanese invasion of 1592.

Note: Related information copied from Visit Korea Tourist Brochure

To fully experience the royalty of the five palaces, tourists can avail the Integrated Ticket of Palaces.

From the exit of Gyeongbokgung Station, we passed by the National Museum and walked a few meters to the ticket booth of Gyeongbokgung Palace. We first asked the English tour to make our trip around the palace more meaningful and jotted down the schedule of the Changing of the Guards Ceremony and the Royal Parade. But I think we just joined only half of the tour with our impatient soles wanting more to explore the palace at much faster pace but with many stops for photo-ops.

Like restless preschoolers, we're excited to join the flock of tourists for the English tour and then became impatient to know what's next; then finally left behind when we took too much attention getting pictures of ourselves

I don't understand the bits and pieces of architecture nor the intricate details of the history attached to it but I got interested in looking at the very detail of some of the architectural structures inside the Gyeongbokgung Palace as the tour guide explained the story behind those to us.

the intricate architectures surrounding the palace

Take for example (1) the monkeys at the edge of the roof of the main hall of the palace - those had served like the watching guards of the palace or  the complicated meaning or sort of a password on the carvings in the cobblestones.  Also, our tour guide mentioned that (2)the king had his six concubinage pointing her finger to the cottages or "quarters" as the right royal term, where they stayed - and it's in the same area! The queen can decide if they will adopt the son or daughter of the concubines.  The palace consists of (3)official quarters, living quarters and resting places.  The throne hall, (4)Geunjeongjeon, is where the king granted audiences to the officials, presided over large function and meet foreign envoys.  This is the largest and the most formal hall in the palace. Gyeongoeru Pavillion that (5) floats on a man-made lake across a man-made hill called Masensan was built to serve as a venue for feasts.

We witnessed the two most important activities or rather rituals of the dynasty times - Changing of the Guards Ceremony  and the  Royal Parade.

The Royal Parade like one of the scenes in Jewel in the Palace (K-Drama)

Changing of the Royal Guards Ceremony

More than knowing the story of a certain historical place, the behind the scenes /main story matters the most! That is, the captured moments or the famous brand's ad line "Kodak Moments"!

our "kodak moments" in Gyeongbokgung Palace

The Royal families have had their share of grandest perks and pleasures but I'm pretty sure a bunch of headaches as well. As Spiderman said, "Great power comes with great responsibility".  And I don't think I had my sort of royalty experience like that.

Rather, I'd summed up the best royalty moments from my Gyeongbokgung Palace experience:

1.  Wearing the Royal Guard suit.  Should have been the Princess but hey, "This is free!" You should just have patience to fall in line and wait for your turn.

2. Having a photo with the celebrity-looking-royal guard.

if only he is allowed to move, he could have poked me!hehehe!

3.  Watched the Changing of the Guards ceremony live! It felt like I'm one of the actors of the historical k-drama!

4.  Talking to a Korean pre-schooler who's very eager to practive his English, a picture with Ajummas and Ajjussi and with other fellow tourists - this the experience that travelling has given me - talking to strangers like me in a foreign land like them

with some Aussies and Ajummas

5. Carefree with my girlfriends - and we loved posing sexy!

Below, I'm sharing the "A Must-Do" in Gyeongbokgung Palace:

1. Ask for the English Tour schedule. You'll appreciate more the culture and history of the palace.

2. Watch the changing of the guards ceremony. this is the reenactment held since 1996 that takes place every hour from 10AM to 3PM. the tall and handsome guardsmen are ready to take photo with the tourists after the ceremony for free.

3. Royal promenade - you can see the king and his queen followed by court ladies and guards strolling in the royal residence. it's like watching live korean epic drama.

4. Avail their free use of royal guards costume and experience how it feels like to be in royalty (even just a guardsmen =))

how to get there:

1. Exit #5 of Gyeongbokgung station (subway line #3)

2. Exit #2 of Ganghwamun Station (subway line #5) and walk 400 meters

entrance fees:

adult - KRW3,000 (Php120) also valid to national palace museum and national folk museum

Itinerary Maker

i find fun and excitement in creating travel itineraries for friends and families for the countries that i had gone to already. i made several times for hongkong, singapore, bangkok and south korea. my itinerary is more of "personalised" because i based it on the location of accommodation from point of entry to point of exit. :-)

what do i consider in preparing itinerary:

• accommodation - i do suggest cheap yet decent, clean and safe hostel. what i consider here is the value of money since you'll be out most of the day, having a place to sleep and to take a bath is enough. the place should be accessible to nearby subway or bus stop too. sometimes, i do consider the personalities of the travelers too - are you very particular to service and facilities of a hotel/hostel, traveling with group of same age, or with family or kids because i'm more of flash packer.
• duration of the trip - how many days (inclusive), what are the places of interest so i can maximize the whole trip.
• places to go - i do make suggestions of the places that are worth seeing and make some comments on the places that not worth going to. i also consider the group of travelers. if they are young and can go by an amazing-like of a trip, then i'd cater an itinerary to maximize the whole trip.
• budget - i do share the tour fees and estimated expenses especially for budget travelers

more than preparing the itinerary, i look forward more on the feedback of the people who travel with my itinerary - did it help them find the places easily? is there any changes in the directions/landmarks? the appreciation is what matter most to me.

Beijing Tour: Day 3 Wangfujing Street & Bird's Nest

On our third and officially the last full day in Beijing, we started off our mornings with different itinerary.

Anna went out of the city to attend her church service while the rest of us found our way to St. John Cathedral in Dongdan for the Palm Sunday Mass. 

Getting to St. John Cathedral

From Yonghegong Stn (Line 2), we get off in Dongdan Stn (Line 2) and transfer to Line 1 and get off in Wangfujing Stn (Line 1) just one station away. We then walked like 3kms to St. Joseph Cathedral church but we didn't feel tired because we saw the array of malls and boutiques of signature brands on the right while on the left is array of jewelry stores, electronics, flea market and famous Wangfujing street foods. It was like a one-stop-shop. The weather is cold seems like 7-10C and heavy winds -and we learned later on that it rained in Great Wall and slightly rain of snow. Good thing we scheduled our trip during our 1st day, otherwise, we did not see anything!

Of course, we first searched for the church. Indeed, just follow the star and you will find what you are searching for. =) And what i was looking for is a mall!!



the long stretch of Wangfujing Street



Amidst the tempting malls, boutiques and stores, we kept on walking until we found the church.   They have their own version of "palaspas" made out of pine trees and for FREE! It was a solemn mass though in Chinese language but somehow we managed to pray on our own, thanking God for a beautiful life I have.



St John Cathedral



After the mass, we had our breakfast in Mcdo and then went to the nearby flea market for a quick- 30 min-shopping!



Who can't miss Mcdo even in Beijing?



I recommend for a good place to buy souvenirs - Wangfujing Street!

Since we'd seen Bird's Nest at night, we decided to take a quick visit at day and had our photo souvenir of the famous Beijing landmark.

Getting there, we walked back to Wangfujing Stn (Line1) and transfer in Dongdan (Line 5). From Dongdan Stn, we took Line 5 going to Beituchengdonglu Stn to transfer in Line 10. From there, we get off in Xiongmaohuandao Stn to transfer to the Special Olympic Lane (Line 8) and get off in Olympic Green Stn. We took Exit D to National Stadium and had our quick photo-op.

We then headed back to our inn to meet Anna and check-out. We left our luggages in their storage area so we can continue with our tour. At 2PM, we checkout from Candy Inn and had our final lunch in the restaurant near Lama Temple. It was another bounty late lunch.

One thing I love in Beijing? - FOOD!