Hello, hello again. Here is yet another post about my spring travel to Korea. This time I will be sharing about some more of the places we went to. Enjoy!
If you have been watching Kdramas like me, then you will recognize this place. Yup, you got it! This is the Banpo Rainbow Fountain bridge, which is a favorite dating place for Kdrama couples. :-)
We went there just before dusk, and we just took the train, and if you go there in the future, you could take subway line 3, 7 or 9, and get off at Express Bus Terminal Station, and take exit 8-1.
We continued on until we found this path that leads to the bridge. It was quite a walk, but we enjoyed it because the weather was cold.
People flock to this bridge because there is a light show that happens every night. Both sides of the bridge are lined with pumps that spout water, and at night, they are illuminated with LED lights, showing a very colorful fountain.
That's why it is also called the Rainbow fountain bridge. The Banpo bridge is the world's longest bridge fountain.
The Namsan Tower is visible in the distance. It is indeed a landmark that is visible almost everywhere in Seoul as it is situated on top of a mountain.
Doesn't that look pretty? Imagine sitting on a blanket, happily munching on something, and listening to some music, or just chatting about anything under the sun. Ahhh. Bliss.
It was very cold when we went there as it was 2 degrees Celsius at the time so we were wrapped up like that and it was still cold!
So we just walked around a little bit, took some pictures, and left. Just like that. Ha ha.
There are also cruise boats that ply the Hangang River but of course we did not take one, and we were not lucky enough to see one pass us by. Oh well. Better luck next time.
We also went up to the viewing deck where people watch the light show, but unfortunately, we missed it. What a bummer.
And since we got so tired walking around already, and somewhat feeling dejected after missing the show, we could not even bring ourselves to walk back to the subway station we just hailed a taxi and went back. Sad. :-(
Anyway, time to leave the sadness behind and I take you to the rest of the places we went to. This is the pond by the Namsangol Park. There is a pavilion as is customary to Korean gardens.
In this park is a time capsule for Seoul. To celebrate the 600th anniversary of Seoul becoming a city, a time capsule that contains the 600 representative cultural properties was buried under the ground in 1994, only to be opened in the year 2394, for the future Seoulites to see their history and culture.
Isn't that a very cool idea? You store something for the future generation to see, and you can imagine them looking at it and exclaim, ah, so that was how they lived back then. Amazing. This is the pathway that leads to the time capsule.
This picture shows the description of the time capsule, when it is going to be opened, etc.
This is the closest I got to wearing a hanbok. Ha ha ha. My sister and her husband wore costumes in Gwanghamun Square which you will see in a separate post, but dressing up is just not my thing, so I just stood behind this cardboard costume and took a picture.
And of course, no visit to Seoul is complete without seeing another famous landmark, the Myeongdong Cathedral. If you go shopping in Myeongdong, you can just drop by at the top of the hill to see this church.
Tried to put Namsan Tower in my fingers. We took this picture on the compound of Myeongdong Cathedral. The Tower is not very clear as it was hazy that day.
And down we go to Myeongdong shopping area. Here you see shops of everything. Literally. Food, clothes, cosmetics, kpop memorabilia and the likes.You name it, they have it. It is a shopper's paradise.
This is the Myeongdong Theater as you can see. And while we were there, we went to watch a show called 'Cookin Nanta.' The show is the longest running show in Korean history, and has also been shown in other countries such as Thailand, the US and Scotland.
The show is a non-verbal comedy musical about chefs trying to prepare a wedding feast in a limited amount of time. The show involves acrobatics, magic tricks, comedy, pantomime and audience participation. My brother-in-law was selected to participate so he was very happy!
Of course photography or video recording was prohibited during the show but it was indeed very funny. The musical instruments to produce the 'music' were knives and chopping boards and all things found in a kitchen.
The rythm was very good, and we laughed a lot during the show. All in all, it was a very good experience, and it was an indulgence as well.
Now we leave Nanta and we go to the rest. I just took a picture of these trees. Looking at them, they look so barren, but then you also see hope as you see the buds coming out of them. Indeed, moments in life change, just like the seasons- winter, spring, summer and autumn, and then back again.
Now I can't remember where we saw these, but it was definitely on our way to Insadong or one of the palaces. These are wishing stones- they believe that when you pile stones on top of each other and make a wish and the stone you put does not fall, your wish will come true. :-)
These herbs were on our way to Bukchon Hanok Village. I love seeing herbs, as I love cooking. So whenever I see them, I get drawn to them and I smell them.
I think this was taken during our cable ride up to the Namsan Tower. Not sure which neighborhood though.
This is just a picture of one subway station. They are clean, no vendors are blocking the way, you get what I mean.
During the time we were there, tensions were high as the North Korean leader was spouting some threats about sending missiles so there was a public display of what happened during the Korean War.
It was a sobering thing to see- and makes you think about life and reflect about what needs to be done. It must be hard living with a neighboring country that is not stable at all and speaks war every time he is provoked.
The neighborhood near our hotel. Near a subway station again. It's nice to walk around when there are no obstacles while you walk, isn't it?
This is on the way to the Namsangol Hanok Village. We walked on the way there as it was near our hotel, and we passed this location, and we went click, click. :-)
Insadong is a place where you can get souvenirs, Korean crafts and lots of good food as well.
More of Insadong. You see the potteries behind me. There are a lot more handicrafts, even paintings and hanboks, if you want to buy one.
Since I didn't know much about Hallyu stars then, I was not as excited as my sister so she was the one who took a lot of pictures.
Of course what they had were just cardboard replicas, but if one is into the Hallyu wave and you know your chances of seeing the real stars are very slim, then you'd be happy to take pictures with them like this, ha ha.
This picture is not very clear but the caption on her FB page says Woo Yong oppa, ha ha ha! Since there are quite a lot of Woo Yongs, I won't dare hazard a guess, lest I get mistaken.
Now I recognize some of the faces, but I am still unable to spout their names immediately, unless they're ones whose dramas I watched recently. :-)
So if you want to see these too, you can just go to the Coex Mall in Gangnam and pay them a visit. Maybe they may even be upgraded or have been added to already.
So there you have it my friends! All other places indeed as I took you all around Seoul in this article. Don't worry, I'm sure you will be able to go one of these days too. Hwaiting!
For more travel articles, please click here.
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