This Korea Adventures series is going to replace the Life Lately series for the time that I'm in Korea. This one will also be more frequent than Life Lately (I hope) because I only post that once in like three months. I don't think this will be a regular thing, but I will try to post as much as I can. If I go to an exciting place or hang out with some friends, I'll most definitely make a blog post about it. So, stay tuned for that!
This post might be quite picture heavy since I did take a lot of pictures around the city. Also, please know that I'm not good at taking photos, so there will be some blurry ones here and there. I just have to put them here because I want to show you guys what the place looks like. Sorry! I promise I will try to take better pictures in the future. But for now, please bare with me.
Okay, then. All of those disclaimers done, let us get started!
Gwanghwamun Square
One of the first well known place I went to was Gwanghwamun Square. My roommate suggested that we should go there because it's one of the famous historical place in Seoul. I had no idea how to get there. I knew nothing about how the bus and subway system worked at the time. Can I pay by cash? Do I need a travel card of some sort? If I do, where do I get it? Thankfully, my roommate has done her research and we got there safe and sound. We did miss the bus stop at our destination, but we managed to figure it out without getting terribly lost. Whew.
We went to a museum of some kind. It's for the King in Joseon dynasty who invented the Korean alphabet, Hangeul. There's a lot of history of how it come about, but most of them is in Korean. I have no idea what it said. Not to mention I read Korean writing really slowly and it involves a lot of thinking. I can't risk my head exploding on the spot, so I just look at the pictures
Connected to the King's museum, there's also one for Admiral Yi Sunshin who was the leader for the war between Korea and Japan. It was interesting to see the installment for this part of the museum. There was an imitation of the war ship that the visitors can get into. There's a lot of dolls depicting what they do inside the ship while the war's still going on.
After we passed the ship, there was this theater for something I don't know and it looked interesting. My roommate and I was looking around to see if we can somehow get in or if we need ticket to enter. Then, out of nowhere, this lovely lady appeared in front us and asked if we wanted to watch the show. We immediately nodded our heads and she lets us in for free. I still don't know if we actually have to pay or not, but who are we to refuse free stuff? So we get in and it's a 4D theater showing an animation reenactment of the war. It was kind of short, just a little bit above five minutes, but it was quite nice. I like being fed knowledge. Okay, that sounds weird.
Ihwa-dong Mural Village
I met some lovely new friends during the orientation after party and they invited me and my roommate to go with them to the Mural Village. I have no idea what it is, but you know, why not? New friends and adventures sound great to me. We later found out that we live in the same building, so we promised to meet the next day at the lobby.
I was really lucky that day because IT WAS SNOWING!! I was really excited because I've never seen snow in my life before. I told some of my Korean "buddies" that I kind of want to see snow here and they say that it's quite unlikely because it's already the end of February. I was kind of bummed by that but it snowed the day we went out together and I was really happy about it.
The place is quite high up. We had to climb a lot of stairs to see the paintings and other installments at the village. The stairs were really small and steep, so it was horrifying for me to climb up and down especially with the snow. I guess it was not the right day for us to be climbing up. The snow, it was not convenient. Sure, it was really beautiful to see and it makes the scenery around us look really pretty, but it was really wet and cold. I was dreading the moment when I will fall flat on my butt the whole time. But it was still a really nice day.
One of the first well known place I went to was Gwanghwamun Square. My roommate suggested that we should go there because it's one of the famous historical place in Seoul. I had no idea how to get there. I knew nothing about how the bus and subway system worked at the time. Can I pay by cash? Do I need a travel card of some sort? If I do, where do I get it? Thankfully, my roommate has done her research and we got there safe and sound. We did miss the bus stop at our destination, but we managed to figure it out without getting terribly lost. Whew.
We went to a museum of some kind. It's for the King in Joseon dynasty who invented the Korean alphabet, Hangeul. There's a lot of history of how it come about, but most of them is in Korean. I have no idea what it said. Not to mention I read Korean writing really slowly and it involves a lot of thinking. I can't risk my head exploding on the spot, so I just look at the pictures
Connected to the King's museum, there's also one for Admiral Yi Sunshin who was the leader for the war between Korea and Japan. It was interesting to see the installment for this part of the museum. There was an imitation of the war ship that the visitors can get into. There's a lot of dolls depicting what they do inside the ship while the war's still going on.
Ihwa-dong Mural Village
I met some lovely new friends during the orientation after party and they invited me and my roommate to go with them to the Mural Village. I have no idea what it is, but you know, why not? New friends and adventures sound great to me. We later found out that we live in the same building, so we promised to meet the next day at the lobby.
The place is quite high up. We had to climb a lot of stairs to see the paintings and other installments at the village. The stairs were really small and steep, so it was horrifying for me to climb up and down especially with the snow. I guess it was not the right day for us to be climbing up. The snow, it was not convenient. Sure, it was really beautiful to see and it makes the scenery around us look really pretty, but it was really wet and cold. I was dreading the moment when I will fall flat on my butt the whole time. But it was still a really nice day.
Red Food
After we finished with the village, we went for a late lunch slash early dinner together near our university. There's this nice little Korean food restaurant and it was really cheap. Well, compared to Australia at least. We all ordered different things and I kid you not, all of them were so freaking red. Just so you know, I am not very good at eating spicy food. I don't mind it, but my face will turn really read and my eyes, nose, and ears become watery when I eat it. That sounds disgusting, but that's just how it is.
The thing about spicy food is that it's painful but it's really hard to stop eating. It has this addicting quality to it and I just keep reaching for it. Don't even get me started on what it does to my digestion. I have to apologise mentally to my toilet before I eat something spicy because it will definitely get destroyed when I get home. That's a visual you'll have for at least ten minutes forward. Sorry not sorry.
That's all I have for you guys today. Also, it's my birthday today. Yay~ I can't wait to have more existential crisis during my twenties. Can you believe I forgot about it until I write this part of the blog? I can. Last year, I didn't even remember until one of my friends said happy birthday to me. I have horrible memory, so if I forget your birthday, please don't get too upset about it. I forget my own birthday. The only person I can remember the birthday every year is my dad's because it's on new year's eve.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading all of this nonsense. If you made it to this part, you're cool. I'll give you a virtual hug.
See you next time!
Riz
After we finished with the village, we went for a late lunch slash early dinner together near our university. There's this nice little Korean food restaurant and it was really cheap. Well, compared to Australia at least. We all ordered different things and I kid you not, all of them were so freaking red. Just so you know, I am not very good at eating spicy food. I don't mind it, but my face will turn really read and my eyes, nose, and ears become watery when I eat it. That sounds disgusting, but that's just how it is.
The thing about spicy food is that it's painful but it's really hard to stop eating. It has this addicting quality to it and I just keep reaching for it. Don't even get me started on what it does to my digestion. I have to apologise mentally to my toilet before I eat something spicy because it will definitely get destroyed when I get home. That's a visual you'll have for at least ten minutes forward. Sorry not sorry.
Anyway, thank you so much for reading all of this nonsense. If you made it to this part, you're cool. I'll give you a virtual hug.
See you next time!
Riz
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