Korea D-4 – Riding Roller Coaster pt.1

Hi, sorry to keep you waiting for the new post. It’s been 2 months since I was in South Korea and it’s Ramadhan now. So let’s continue the journey!

It was D-4 on our last day in Seoul before going to Busan. We planned to go to many places, Gyeongbokgung Palace Changdeokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, Ewha Womans University, and Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP).

CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE

We dedicated this day to experience Korea Culture by visited Changdeokgung Palace & wore Hanbok, traditional Korean dress. You could get free entance if you’re wearing Hanbok at the Palace, but you could buy the ticket (KRW 3,000) if you don't wear the Hanbok. Wearing Hanbok is one of my bucket list while I’m in South Korea. We searched Hanbok rental before going to South Korea using Klook. But you don’t have to reserve Hanbok rental before going to South Korea. You’ll find many Hanbok rental around this area.

Constitutional Court of Korea

We woke up little bit late since the place is not too far from our Studio and the Hanbok rental is open at 9 AM. If you use Metro, go to Anguk St. exit 1 (close to Gyeongbokgung Palace) or exit 3 (close to Changdeokgung Palace). We took exit 2 since it’s close to our Hanbok Rental. Our Hanbok rental is across Jaeodong Elementary School. When we’re going to Hanbok rental we found Constitutional Court of Korea. If you’re a K-Drama maniac, I’m sure you know this place. You can see this place many times on I Hear Your Voice or While You Were Sleeping (I watched this K-Drama because I stan Lee Jong Suk XD).

our Hanbok Rental (source: Klook)

We’re the first customer. Since we booked from Klook they asked for our reservation. After they confirmed, they give us a big bag to put our stuff there. They don’t let the customer bring bags when you choose the Hanbok. Before choosing the Hanbok, the unnies will let you know the size of your Hanbok then we can start to choose the Hanbok based on your size. They only give us 2 times to try the Hanbok. You can choose accessories like bags, hairpins, ribbon, pins, etc. You have to pay extra for some accessories & hairdresser. Because it’s rental you only have time 4 hours to wear the Hanbok, you need to pay more if you use Hanbok more than 4 hours. It’s better for you to come earlier because you can choose good Hanbok while still available & you don’t have tou wait the unnies to help you to wear the Hanbok.

After long dressing to be Korean Princess, we walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We met Red Angel at intersection of Jeongdok Public Library. Red Angel is Korean tourism volunteers, they will help you if you’re visiting around Insadong-Bukchon area especially for foreign visitors. You’ll see them wearing red uniform with ‘i’ symbol. We asked where the main entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace. And they said thay the Palace is closed since it was Tuesday and they said we can go to Changdeokgung Palace instead. I’m so frustrated that time, why don’t we know this information at first place?? I’m too tired already because we have to walk uphill to go there. So we decided to go Changdeokgung Palace and it’s quite far away from here since there’s no public transportation from here to go to Changdeokgung Palace T.T

Tips:

1. Make sure you know closing day & opening hours for Palace. Gyeongbokgung Palace is close every Tuesday, while Changdeokgung Palace is close every Monday.

2. If you plan to rent the Hanbok before visiting South Korea, make sure the Hanbok rental is near the Palace. It’ll save your time & energy because it’s quite far if you want to walk from Gyeongbokgung Palace-Changdeokgung Palace or from one Palace to Bukchon Hanok Village.

3. Make sure to wear comfortable shoes while visiting Palace & Bukchon Hanok Village. The road quite uphill here.

We met many tourist at Changdeokgung Palace from other countries USA, Japan, China, Europe, India, and many more. Maybe it’s because peak season and Gyeongbokgung Palace is close that time. We met many elder tourist from Japan bring their huge camera and they even took a picture of us wearing Hanbok. We also met Korean Student and some of them asked to take pictures with us, but sadly I removed the picture from my camera :(

After take so many pictures here, we decided to go back to Hanbok rental to change our clothes.

PICNIC AT JEONGDOK PUBLIC LIBRARY

It’s a long way to go back to Hanbok rental. After we change our clothes we decided to take a break and having lunch at Jeongdok Public Library. I just knew this place when we asked about Gyeongbokgung Palace to Red Angel. I saw many trees start to blossom and many people go there.

It’s a good choice for us to having lunch here. There’s so many cherry blossom here. And you’ll find many workers take a break here. We brought our last night dinner, korean chicken, and buy Gimbap on 7Eleven near Jeongdok Public Library. It’s picnic time!

After fullfill our stomach, our next destination is Bukchon Hanok Village.

BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE

If you want to go here, you have to prepare yourself because the road is really uphill *we start to feel tired since we walk all day*. We start from Bukchon-ro 9 gil to Bukchon-ro 11 gil. We’re lucky since there’s not much tourist that day. Since the village is the residential area, make sure to keep quite.

We only here for a while, since we don’t have any energy left to explore. So we decided to go back to Anguk St. We met an unnies from Shilla Duty Free on the way back to Anguk St. She asked for questionnaire about Shilla Duty Free. After we filled out the questionnaire she gave us souvenir. I forgot the names, but it’s like traditional dream catcher :D

Tips:

1. You can use Bus No.11 (if I’m not mistaken) to go back to Anguk St. But we didn’t know that time. It’ll save your time & energy. But you will skip the good part, enjoy the road here. Because many cafes & the road is beautiful.

2. I really suggest you to have one day full to explore here. Because many good spot for traditional Korea & good cafes that you could visit while you’re here. If you want to buy cheaper Korean souvenir at Insa-dong Market, make sure you put on the same day on your itinerary.

EWHA WOMANS UNIVERSITY

You won’t skip this beautiful university while you’re in South Korea. Yup, our next destination in Ewha Womans University. It’s quite far from Anguk St. So it’s not a good choice for us to visit here after an exhausted trip before.

Ewha Womans University was Korea’s first educational institute for women. It’s popluar because of the beautiful buildings & the shopping street. Make sure you visit here when in Spring, because the view is way too beautiful. If you wear hijab, make sure you don’t wear satin hijab since you’ll face strong wind of Spring *I have to take many pictures since the wind ruin my hijab :(*

We’re not explore too deep in the University since we have to catch up to DDP before sunset. Then we go to shopping market. Ewha Womans University area also one of the most popular shopping district in Seoul. Many stores sell affordable and stylish fashions for young people *like me LOL*. I have to say this place is way better than in Myeongdong. I regret not to buy trench coat there T.T

students queuing for bus

Ewha Shopping Market

Tips:

Since I love shopping, It’s better for you take half day here. I regret not to explore deeper to the University and of course for the shopping. If you find good clothes and still hesitant to buy, I have to say “YOU SHOULD BUY WHILE YOU THERE!”. Because the models is more stylish & cheaper then in Myeongdong. I don’t find the same clothes here in Myeongdong. I’ll make sure to buy lots if I’m back here again XD

DONGDAEMUN DESIGN PLAZA (DDP)

If you like modern achitecture, you sure you won’t skip this place. The architecture is amazing. We saw many people have a good pictures at DDP. But it’s not easy for us to take the beautiful one XD

Even both of our camera didn’t work well so we just take picture with our camera phones *actually because we’re amateur, not the camera fault*. We did’t take much picture here because it’s hard to take the good one and we’re too exhausted. We’re even in sensitive mode *I should say this is one of critical moment on our trip*.

We planned to be there until night because we want to see the DDP LED Rose Garden. But we didn’t find it when we’re there. So we decided to go back since we’re too tired and we had to put our luggage to the next accommodation before going to Busan.

When we went back to Chungmoro St, I lost my T-Money. I didn’t know what to do since we didn’t see Metro operator that I could asked for help. I was thinking to jump out the gate since there’s not many people XD When we’re busy checking if the T-Money still on my jacket or on my bag, an ahjussi came to us. He helped us by talking to the operator from the gate. You’ll find help button on the corner of the gate. This will connect you to Metro operator. But we didn’t notice that since the button is with Hangul. Thanks God you bring the ahjussi to us :)

Tips:

It’s not good to go more than 3 places on the same day if the place is far from one to another. Our D-4 itinerary is sucks but still pretty in our memories :)