Deoksugung

Enroute to Deoksugung, there appeared to be a Sunday market of sorts on the grounds of City Hall so I stopped to check things out when I heard some clanging and fanfare accompanied by the sight of these marchers wearing traditional Korean garments. Apparently, they troop around between the palaces probably as a tourist attraction/curiosity to give a 'live demonstration' of their culture and history.

Gyeongbokgung Pavilions

In spite of the grand front gate of Gwanghwamun and the majestic throne room, the most splendid parts of the palace remained yet to be seen. Here, a cauldron stands on the platform near the throne room looking back at the throne room gate.

Gyeongbokgung Courtyard & Throne Room

Gyeongbokgung, the largest of the Five Palaces in Seoul built in the Joseon Dynasty, followed my ventures into Changdeokgung, Changyeonggung and Jongmyo. Having already seen two palaces, I was expecting something more along the same lines but was rather surprised by the augustness and grandeur given off by Gyeongbokgung in comparison to the former palaces. The outer courtyard of the palace was really quite huge and the majestic Gwanghwamun Gate was enough to give a good foretaste of the wonder to be seen inside.

Gwanghwamun Gate

Sitting at the start of Gwanghwamun Square is Gwanghwamun Gate, the main gates opening up to the splendour of Gyeongbokgung Palace.  To the gate's east is a watchtower that still stands next to the arterial road that's been built beside it.

As you approach from the east towards the gate, there stands a large statue of a haechi, the legendary creature that was used to project law and order and offer protection to the city.

Seoul Metro

As one of the largest and busiest metro systems in the world, I was bracing myself for Hong Kong MRT style crowds or something along the lines of the throngs in the Tokyo Subway when I got to the Seoul metro.  Oddly, the crowds never materialized and there were never too many people.

Jongmyo

After exiting from Changdeokgung's main entrace, I headed in a generally southeasterly direction (more south than east) according to some directions given by a local as to the location of Jongmyo, the royal shrine. You probably won't go wrong once you hit a giant wall that keeps going on and on - that's the wall that surrounds Jongmyo. As it was a sunny Sunday afternoon, most of the shops were closed enroute to the shrine.

There was an interesting building along the way with the tiled roof usually seen at palaces or temples.

Changgyeonggung

Sitting adjacent to the Changdeokgung compound is Changgyeonggung palace, where most of the supposed historical Korean palace intrigue upon which historical dramas are often based supposedly took place.

Some buildings in the palace compound.

Insadong

Insadong was the one area in Seoul I wish I had more time to explore.  The entire street is well known for its traditional and historical flavor, with many stores selling antiques and artworks. In fact, Queen Elizabeth II has visited this area.  Definitely going to spend some more time here next time I visit!

KBS Studio

Aside from the outdoor KBS studio in Suwon City, KBS has another studio/museum open to the public in Seoul in Yeongdeungpo. I had taken the metro to Yeouido station and little did I know how far a walk it was to get here, it certainly looked a lot closer on google maps! After exiting the subway, you can head towards the huge park in the northwest direction (you can't miss it, huge patch of green), then take the underground walkway (this was a bit scary since there was no one walking in it...). When you exit, don't walk to the nearest building because that's not KBS (I made this mistake =P). Head southwest for a little bit and then you should probably see this building below.

Animals of the Chinese Zodiac

It's a little bit late but Happy Year of the Dragon!  Do you recognize these statues?

Seeing as how its still within the Lunar New Year Festivities, I figured it might be somewhat relevant to post the twelve animals of the chinese zodiac as depicted in statue form in the Gyeongbokgung Palace compound in Seoul, South Korea.

Myeongdong

Myeongdong, essentially the equivalent of the Causeway Bay district in Hong Kong or the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, is one of the major shopping and tourist areas of Seoul. Here, you can find many department stores, shops, restaurants, noraebang (aka karaoke), roadside street-food vendors and even Samsung Fashion!

Gwanghwamun Square

After stopping by Changgyecheon, I continued up the main road to head towards Gwanghwamun and the central plaza in front of it. Caught a nice, big ad for Samsung's Smart TV here.

Changdeokgung

One of the Five Grand Palaces built by the Joseon Dynasty kings, Changdeokgung alternated with Gyeongbokgung as the main palace compound for the royal court throughout korean history.  As seen in the picture below, it is now a UNESCO world heritage site, added in 1997, as an example of far eastern palace architecture.

Cheonggyecheon @ night

If you thought Cheonggyecheon during the day was nice, Cheonggyecheon at night is perhaps even more alluring and romantic. Here, amidst the glow of the seashell sculpture and waterfall, the trickling sounds of water and the nice cool breeze, the atmosphere is just right for hanging out and taking a leisurely stroll along the banks.

Cheonggyecheon

One of my favourite parts of my Seoul trip was wandering around the downtown business area. You can feel the bustle and energy of the city as you walk up from the City Hall plaza on a street adjacent to the main  Sejong artery. Here, I ran into the amusing discovery that McDonald's even does deliveries!

Noryangjin Fish Market

When I go travelling, I'm a sucker for markets of all sorts, clothing markets, traditional markets, night markets, even fish markets. You tend to see another aspect of the culture and the way in which people do business in other countries in a variety of industries.  This fascination of mine was what brought me to Noryangjin (for future comparison with Tsukiji in Japan =P). The market is located at the Noryangjin subway stop and is a really rather non-descript building from the outside. In fact, if it weren't for the signs with the fish plastered on the poster, it would be unlikely that I would have taken this industrial-looking warehouse to be the market. Despite that however, the building is right at the subway station and not too difficult to find. Just exit the subway station and follow the signs with the fish to cross the bridge over the subway tracks and voila!

Namdaemun Market

Namdaemun market is a more traditional market selling all sorts of goods, clothes, groceries and other odds and ends as compared to the clothing mecca of Dongdaemun.  Here is one of the entrances to the market with N Seoul Tower in the distance.

Karaoke/Noraebang in Seoul

Went out the karaoke (ie. noraebang) a few times in Seoul and this was the first one at one of the karaoke places inside COEX Mall.  They've got a number of small rooms all with lots of 'decorative' graffiti on the walls and the mirrors of the room.

The most striking and obvious difference between karaoke in chinese establishments (in cities like NY, Toronto, LA, HK etc) and with korean ones is the remote for song selection.  It was to much bemusement to find a huge slab bigger than an iPad to use for picking songs.  One of the easier ways to look up korean songs is by typing out the song names using the strokes of the korean alphabet - especially if you know the song you want but are a slow korean reader like me (and would take forever to find the name of the artist).

Dongdaemun Market

One of my favorite sections of Seoul was Dongdaemun or "Great East Gate", part of the wall that used to surround the city. Today, it is the site of a huge shopping district known for its cloth and clothing market.  Any visit to Seoul would be incomplete without making a stop in this fascinating district regardless of whether you are a shopaholic or not.

Hotpot in Korea

After a long day trekking around the Seoul area, hotpot sounded like a great option.  This was one of the hotpot places along the side streets on the way from Changgyecheon Plaza back to the Westin Chosun hotel.