Korean Dream Part 15 - Changdeokgung and then it's time to say goodbye

WeeN's note: Finally, it's the final post on my trip to Seoul. I would like to thank all of you who've followed it diligently and waited patiently for each post to come up. It was a wonderful experience traveling to Seoul, and I want to go to Korea again if I'm able to. For now, this will be a long one, with 100+ pictures! LOL

1st October 2011

coffee to start the morning right! (and to clear the fridge)

Woke up, did our final packing and got ready to check out.

rerun of 58th episode of Running Man with Shin Se Kyung and Cha Tae Hyun as guests. This is the scene where the two guests had to carry out their missions on the other members without them knowing

We were able to leave our luggage at the guesthouse's store room even after checking out since we had a midnight flight and the pick-up jumbo taxi will only arrive at 7pm. A little bit view of our room, which is for 3 people:

excuse the slight mess, we were in the midst of clearing up

Then off we go on our final adventure, which is to the Changdeok Palace! :D

From Myeongdong station (Line 4), ride til Chungmuro (which is a station away), get into Line 3, ride all the way to Jongno 3 station and take the exit 9

Stopped by this cafe to grab breakfast. We like it better than Paris Baguette!






We sat and had our breakfast after purchasing our entrance tickets (KRW3,000 = approx. RM9 each) to the palace. Since we wanted to take part in the Secret Garden English tour (another KRW5,000 = approx. RM15 each) which was scheduled at 2.30pm (missed the 10.30am one), we decided not to enter the palace yet.

crab meat sandwich

can't remember what this was #foodbloggerfail

Photoshoot outside the palace walls! :P






Since we had more time to kill, we decided to walk around the town nearby the palace.

spotted a family having a party, all decked in their traditional clothes greeting guests

oh hello there! :D

LOL

i love this door! can i have this as my future house door?

lovin' the details

for those who are interested in experiencing a Korean Traditional House, click here

not sure what is happening here

i like this colour!

Had lunch at this place quite near to the palace.




I think it was the best lunch I had during my entire Seoul trip.

side dishes!

spicy beef soup

 We ordered two soups to keep us warm - the spicy beef soup and the beef ribs soup. The latter was obviously the star of the show.

beef ribs soup - i'm salivating right now

This has got to be the best beef soup i have ever tasted in my whole entire life! The soup was sooooo delicious - not thin, not thick but the beef flavour was just amazing. And not oily too!


Oh beef ribs soup near Changdeokgung, how i miss you.



Entered the palace ground to check out the area before joining the Secret Garden tour!



Anyways, you can read about my Gyeongbokgung visit here if you're interested :)





















At 2.30pm, we lined up with other tourists for our Secret Garden tour!

our tour guide, dressed in her hanbok

Secret Garden, or Biwon can only be entered through guided tours. This is to preserve the natural surroundings in the garden.

the Juhamnu

More pictures of this area later, because there were too many people!

you're supposed to have a long life after passing this. One fellow tourist cheekily said,"so if we passed this a few times then we'll become babies back again!"

the pond in Aeryeongji area

these trees were "pasted" with barks (or other parts) of other trees because they were infected with a disease

Yeongyeongdang

the door which connects the men's and the women's quarters (!!!!)

she's so colourful!

We actually left the tour quarterway because it was the only time we could leave the tour. After that it would be almost an hour journey before returning back to the start!

Left the palace and headed back to Myeongdong!

But of course, we went back to Paris Croissant! :P

Last look at Myeongdong!

Goodbye IB Ville! It was a nice stay! :)

Our jumbo taxi (for KRW60,000 = approx. RM180, not including toll) came at 7pm, and we got ourselves a very friendly driver who chit-chatted with us throughout the journey. We exchanged information on our countries. Quite funny hearing stuff like "Korean women are money-minded" i think he was talking about his wife LOL.

He told us that suicide rate among older men are higher than others because companies tend to higher younger men (whoa!). He also mentioned that Korean women receives lower pay than the men for a same position.

Wah. So much info.

Oh, after finding out that I know a lot about the K-pop and I have a Korean car, he told me to marry a Korean wtf. He didn't allow me to pay for the toll (kesian my two friends) and even when we reached the airport he said,"You. Stay."

WAH AHJUSSI MY PARENTS WANT ME BACK.

(part of)the airport

midnight flight therefore the shuttle train was quite empty

the girl who refused to go home

So that pretty much closes my Seoul trip with my two buddies.

An 8-day trip which I can and never forget. :)

I've got nothing much to say, but it has definitely made me want to travel more! :D Even put up a Travelogue page up there if you're interested. Heehee.

Some skincare/cosmetics I can back with, which some still unused -_-

and junks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2012, where will I take myself to?

:D