A Visit to Seoul, Korea - Day 2 of 6 (Part 1)

DAY 2: 22/11/12 (Thursday)

Got a morning call at 6.00am and went down to the lobby at 6.50am. Even working days I don't wake up this early, but the feeling of want to see more about this country wakes me up early and started my day well, even without coffee. We all gathered at lobby on time and left the Incheon, heading to Seoul for breakfast. One of the reason Melvin the tour guide told us to leave early was to anticipate the morning traffic jam where people rushing in to the city for work.

Seems like many people who works in Seoul stays at Incheon because of the inflated price of apartments and condominium. With US$100K, a person can buy a 3-rooms apartment in Incheon, but may not be able to find a good 1-room studio. Hence, they rather drive or use the Metro (train) to work in Seoul. Travelling time around 1 to 1.5 hours for 1 way.

We had simple buffet breakfast which were included in our tour package, can't expect much as many tours goes to the same place. The food was nice as there are quit a variety to choose from. Eggs, sausages, noodles and more; of course there are lots of Kimchi! We saw groups from Hong Kong, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and many more...

Saw something very interesting there nearby the restaurant, the parking, awesome!!!

After breakfast, we proceed to the President Blue House. This was a very serious place as Melvin told us the do and don't when walking near the Blue House. There were roadblocks for the bus with lots of policemen around the area. No tourist can get near to the Blue House and were advised not to take pictures. We just follow the instruction...We passes by the Blue House and went to visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace also allowing us to enter the National Folklore Museum. Here, they introduces the culture and custom of Korea.

After spending about 1 hour in the museum, we gather at the garden and proceed to the see the main buildings of the palace. The surrounding was so nice, with the autumn feeling, seeing maple leafs everywhere and the natural colours which make the whole palace like a dreamland.

Most of these buildings were destroyed in World War II and the Korean Government is now trying to rebuild the architecture from historical research, in order to re-construct the actual look of the entire palace.

The scenery there is great and you don't need to be a professional photographer to shoot nice pictures. Just snap anywhere you want and the photos looks great. That's the feeling I had there...

Lunch Time!

By noon, we departed from the palace and went for lunch. Yes, day 2 lunch was included in the package and we went to the famous Ginseng Chicken Soup. The restaurant is in Seoul, meaning there will be lots of people and need reservation. According to Melvin, the Ginseng Chicken Soup is very popular especially during the winter time. We are so lucky that the tour included this for us and make all the arrangement.

   

At first we thought we have to share among four person for 1 bowl of soup. Not at all, everyone gets their own Ginseng Chicken Soup, served with noodles, and Ginseng Wine. There were rice stuffing in the chicken. Yummy, it was so tasty and the soup is great!!! I can still remember the taste until now. Also, this was the last time we had chicken for the entire trip. Seems like chicken is very expensive in Korea. Here, per person is around US$20.

After lunch, we proceed to Namiseom Island, the Winter Sonata drama shooting site. Stay tuned for Day 2 part 2 for the autumn beauty of Namiseom Island.