REMINISCING MY TRIP TO SEOUL (PART 2)

Highlights of my trip part 2 :)

6. Petite France (040516)

Petite France is a theme park featuring small European-style buildings surrounded by mountains and a lake. The village has a model house built like a traditional French house as well as a memorial hall dedicated to Saint-Exupery, the author of the celebrated French novel Le Petit Prince. There are also various things to enjoy, including a traditional French hand puppet show, a Czech traditional puppet show, concerts, and magic shows. Petite France was also the filming location of Korean dramas such as Secret Garden, My Love from the Star and Beethoven Virus, as well as TV variety program Running Man. The village has become a must-see tourist destination for those visiting Gapyeong. 

 

kita mengeteh dulu...

7. Hanbok Experience @ M Plaza (050516)

A trip to Korea will never be complete if you have not tried on the hanbok or traditional Korean dress. Whilst there are many places that offer this experience, only a couple offer free service. We chose M Plaza near Myeongdong for our hanbok experience since it was near to our Guesthouse and it's FREE.

8. Gwanghwamun Square (060516)

Gwanghwamun Square opened in front of Gwanghwamun Gate where the bronze statues of King Sejong the Great and General Yi Sun-sin stand proud and tail. At the underground Haechi Madang are the “Story of Sejong Exhibition Hall” and various other facilities. To the left of the square, is the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, one of the largest arts and culture complexes in Seoul. Also nearby is the nation’s first mega bookstore, Kyobo Book Center.

It was raining on that day, hence, we didn't really get a nice picture with King Sejong and General Yi Sun-sin. The tour was also no longer enjoyable since it was cold and wet.

7.Gyeongbokgung Palace (060516)

This is one of the most popular and must see palaces for tourists. If you plan to save on some time going around the tourist spots, I suggest you pick one palace because usually the interiors are the same and Gyeongbukgung is more than enough to satisfy your royalty cravings or feeling like Jewel in the Palace.

Free guided tour in foreign languages is also available (English: 11:00, 13:30, 15:30). The tour starts in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace Information Center inside the Heungnyemun Gate and lasts for an hour to an hour and thirty minutes. Groups with 10 or more people must make a reservation in advance. In order to take advantage of this free guided tour, we started off our day a little bit early.

awat serious sangat ooppaa

Since it was raining, The Gwanghwamun Gate Guard Duty Performance has been cancelled. Takde rezeki :(

Lady in blue jacket was our tour guide

Hyangwonjeong Pavilion. An artificial islet was created in the middle of the pond, on which a hexagonal pavilion was built with the name Hyangwonjeong, meaning the “Pavilion of Far-Reaching Fragrance” The bridge across the pond was named Chwihyanggyo, meaning “intoxicated with fragrance.

Chwihyanggyo Bridge was the longest wooden bridge constructed on a pond during the Joseon Dynasty. Sadly, this bridge is out of bounds due to safety reasons.

9. Apgujeong Rodeo Street (060516)

Since the 1990s, Apgujeong has been renowned the center of fashion and trend in Korea and is still known as such today. Passing through Sinsa-dong and Cheongdam-dong,  has been a popular place where wealthy young people used to go have fun, but now it is transforming into a place where various cultures live and breathe. The Apgujeong Rodeo Station on the Bundang Line launched in 2012, which made Apgujeong Rodeo Street much easier to reach.

Fashion outlets, flagship stores and famous restaurants are lined with the street. There are many famous places where Korean dramas have been filmed, and even now it's not hard to directly find places where the current filming for dramas and films are taking place. Around Apgujeong Rode Street some of Korea's most famous hair salons are clustered together. Recently, many tourists from various countries including Japan and China come to the salons here to get their hair done like the characters in Korean drama. This place is called the mecca of beauty-tours as there are many skin and cosmetic surgery clinics.

 

Masa ni pasrah sangat2 sebab penat berjalan jauh dan bertanya orang, masih jugak tak jumpa Gangnam K-Star Road. So in the end we decided to call it a day and just go for dinner. I personally am so impressed with my dad's stamina because he followed us without any complains.

Dinner at Yang Good Halal BBQ (Halal Korean BBQ -Lamb, Chicken, Steak)

 

TO BE CONTINUED