South Korea Video

I wanted to share this very cool video that Ric's brother made when he came to visit us in May. The places shown (in order) are: Manchester airport departures lounge, Gyeongbokgung Palace Seoul, Namsan Tower cable car, the base of Namsan Tower, Hongdae, Hongdae again, Seoul's Hyundai Residence Hotel overlooking Namsan Tower, Anapji Pond Gyeongju, outside Busan Train Station (x3), Busan Harbour from Busan Tower, Taejongdae Busan, Gwangalli beach, Gwangan Bridge. Enjoy!

By Jeremy Stopher

Another Day in Seoul

One of the great things about living in Cheonan is that it's not too far from Seoul, and you can get there in as little as 30 minutes on the high speed KTX train. The bus only takes an hour too, and is more comfortable and cheaper than the train.

Changdeokgung 

So we went up to the capital for another day of sightseeing and checked out two palaces: Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung. The two are side by side, not too far from the city's main palace, Gyeongbokgung.

I'm no big palace enthusiast and after 9 months in Korea I do sometimes feel like 'seen one seen em all' when it comes to palaces. It was, however, nice to visit one after the other yesterday as it was easier to compare the two.

We first went to Changdeokgung, the city's second palace. Apparently the king who built it, King Taejong, lived there for some years after murdering his own half brothers at the main palace (Gyeongbokgung) in order to ascend to the throne.

Changdeokgung 

From Changdeokgung you can enter Changgyeonggung. Changgyeonggung was built later than Changdeokgung, in 1483 and was built by King Sejong, for his father King Taejong. We enjoyed walking around the gardens, ponds, pagodas and green houses that sprawl out behind the palace.

Changgyeonggung

Changgyeonggung

One thing about visiting palaces in Korea is that they don't feel very authentic. Although Changdeokgung was originally built in 1405, it has been completely destroyed and rebuilt numerous times, thanks to the Japanese, and was most recently rebuilt and restored in the 90's. Same goes for most of the palaces we've visited.

Nonetheless it was a peaceful stroll on a sunny Saturday and we made the most of the tranquil gardens and ornate buildings.

Changgyeonggung

Changgyeonggung

After our palace tour we met up with Sydney and went for a walk around Bukchon, an area of Seoul designated as a traditional hanok village where traditional houses (hanoks) are maintained and have been lovingly restored to attract tourists in search of an authentic stay in Seoul.

Hanok houses in Bukchon

Hanok houses in Bukchon

There were some cool vintage shops there and a secondary school that would look more at home in Downton Abbey than in the middle of Korea. Add that to some beers, shopping and a rotisserie chicken off the back of a van and it all makes for a nice day out.

Downton Abbey??

Family photo!

Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and Bukchon are all within walking distance of subway station 'Anguk' (line 3) exit 3.

My Birthday With My Best Friends

Cake for breakfast.

I got to turn 25 in Korea. That's pretty cool. Turning 25 for me means: a more liberal approach to body hair (thanks Korea); the acceptance that I'm never going to have a "career"; and the pressure of knowing that all my friends at home are all moving in, getting mortgages, getting married and having babies, whist I'm pratting about on the other side of the globe with less responsibility than when I was 18. 

The day before my birthday Stacey and Jenny landed in Korea. Having them here was the best present I could ever have dreamed of. After 9 months without them I was in desperate need for a good chat, a large dose of head-size related banter and some girl time.

They took to Korea like naturals: eating all the gross spicy pickled food; eating without plates or knives and forks; and getting shouted at in Korean by old people in the street.

♥ Aren't they adorable? ♥

They brought with them cards and presents from my friends and family back home, making the actual day of my birthday really special; it was just like being at home! 

We went for some sight seeing in Seoul and watched the sunset from the top of Namsam Tower, before meeting up with some friends from Cheonan and pigging out on Western food and imported wine at VIPS. 

Seoul sunset

Namsam Tower

It was a really great night out in Hongdae and [naturally] it ended in 노래방 (karaoke) until the early hours.

Dinner at VIPS

Second birthday cake of the day (thanks Sydney!)

Embracing karaoke Korean style.

 Thank you to:
♥Stacey and Jenny for coming so far to see me. It was amazing having you here.
♥Kirsty, Lauren, Gaz, Amy, Jake and Mum and Dad for sending me lovely things. Especially the Vimto!!!
♥Ric for living in a small corner while the rest of the apartment was overrun with women! And also for being really lovely and keeping me sane in Korea.

It was emotional...

♥Sydney and Aaron for the very personal present, for a great night out in Seoul and for being really awesome friends (Sydney, mainly). 
♥Alex, for the offensive presents and awkward serenade at the 노래방, it was hilarious.
♥And everyone whose photo's I have stolen from the week because you all have better cameras than me!

 Enough about me, here are some more pictures of Stacey's and Jenny's Korean adventure....

Visiting Big Buddha

Another cracking sunset

Cocktails....

...More cocktails

Cheonan

Snowboarding

Stacey (going right)

Oops we went up the wrong ski lift and now have to go down a 'blue' slope
(two levels steeper and scarier than the previous slope....)

Luckily Jen knew what she was doing!

 Thanks for coming girls! Love yoooou!! 

Walking Seoul's Fortrss Wall

On Saturday we decided to have an afternoon out in Seoul, walking the old fortress walls and enjoying the cityscape. Little did we know it would be such an intense military experience!

Changuimun Gate

From Seoul Station we took a taxi to Changuimun, one of four gates to the city walls. The taxi cost 8,000w, although it is cheaper to go by subway and bus, we didn't want to waste any time, and the taxi only took 15 minutes.

The entire city used to be within the walls, which were first built in 1396 under King Taejo's rule and extend 18.2km around Seoul. Nowadays, the walk is a popular tourist attraction, however; on the north part of the circuit, around Mount. Bugaksan, the wall is still heavily militarised.

When we arrived at Changuimun the first thing we did was set off a very loud alarm by getting too close to a pagoda. There were no barriers, and no signs in English telling us to keep away, so we were rather startled. But then we did it again and took a video! Much to the annoyance of the guards and fortress-wall employees!

The area around the mountain is a military controlled area as it overlooks the presidential residence (Cheongwadae). In 1968 there was an assassination attempt on the President's life from the fortress by North Korean troops! There is a tree (still standing) that shows the bullet holes it received in the cross fire. 

To begin our hike we had to fill out an application form, hand it in along with our ID cards at a desk, wait while they checked that we weren't North Korean spies, and then we were issued with a pass that we had to wear around our necks for the duration of the walk. 

There are "city wall officials" every 100 meters along the wall and soldiers complete with rifles at regular look out points. You can only take photographs in certain areas, and you're watched like a hawk constantly. After getting a telling off by a city wall official, I asked why we weren't allowed to take photos in the particular area, the answer was a short and precise "secret". The wall is protected by no less that three barbed wire fences on the outside and alarmed motion detectors on the inside. It was more intimidating the the DMZ! 

Aside from the excessive security, the walk was great. As usual, we unintentionally started our hike on the wrong side of the mountain, meaning our ascent was incredibly steep and painful, and our descent on the other side was much flatter and more gentle! The advantage of this was that we were the only people going in that direction, everybody else was coming down the way we were going up. 

At the summit of Bugaksan (342m above sea level) we were randomly interviewed for by a Korean radio station about what we thought of the fortress walls. It was conducted in English, by a Finnish interpreter. 

The views were great; from the wall you can see over to Namsan tower, the river and the sprawling neighbourhoods of skyscrapers that wind through the valleys between dozens of mountains. 

Access to the protected part of the wall stops and 3pm, and you must be out of the area by 5pm. As we were going against the flow of most of the Korean hiking enthusiasts, this meant that as of 3pm we alone on the wall (except for the ever present soldiers and guards keeping an eye on us!)

The steep climb from Changuimun to the top of Bugaksan.

Namsan mountain.

Bugaksan

When we got out of the military protected zone on the opposite side of Bugaksan, we left the wall in search of food and water! It was a great afternoon walk and I think we'll definitely return and walk another section of it. 

From the section of wall at Waryong Park we took a bus to Insadong, where we did some shopping in the wonderfully tacky tourists shops and ate a platter of pajeon in a traditional restaurant.

Pajeon

Pajeon is Korean for pancake, on our platter we had: mung-bean and chilli pancakes, fish curd pancakes, spinach and seaweed pancakes, pork wrapped in sesame leaf pancakes, and crabstick and sausage pancakes! It was a grease feast.

Mum and Dad's Visit. First Stop: Seoul

Our first visitors in Korea!

Oct 27th - Nov 6th

When I told my parents I was going to live in Korea for a year they were happy for me, but not necessarily bursting with excitement to come visit. Fortunately though, my Mum realised she could make the trip with a 6 day layover in Abu Dahbi and that swung the vote.

It was wonderful to see them again looking so happy and healthy a year into their retirement and I was excited to give them a massive culture shock with Korean food, language and general oddness. As it turns out, this required no input from me and simply being in Asia proved traumatising enough.

Following what I can only imagine was a very dry, sober stay in Abu Dhabi, we went straight from the airport to our [small, seedy] hotel in Gangnam (Bangbae Olso Hotel, I wouldn't recommend it), and then straight to a bar where we ordered the biggest pitcher of beer we could find. To give my parents that extra special welcome to Korea there was even Premiership football on the TV!

Welcome to Korea Dad!

Gyeongbokgung
After an alcohol induced nights sleep in our pokey room we headed out for some sightseeing, to Gyeongbokgung, for some Korea history. The palace is beautiful, set against a backdrop of mountains it feels a million miles away from the centre of the capital city. The autumnal colours in the gardens and the crisp October sunshine were just perfect for our family reunion (gush gush).

Centre of Seoul? Chincha?

Family holiday shot.

I heart Autumn in Korea

The National Folk Museum is inside the palace walls

Insadong

Insadong is supposed to be the cool, arty neighbourhood of Seoul but it was so busy it felt more like a theme park. The touristy shops had some good traditional [tacky] presents and I really liked Ssamzie shopping gallery, a spiralling ramp of arty shops and boutiques with a centre courtyard and trendy cafes. We had some traditional bulgogi for lunch and my parents got their first taste of kimchi! It didn't go down well.

Ssamzie shopping

Han River
We walked all the way through Insadong to the Han River which was being decorated for the Seoul Lantern Festival. Having exhausted my poor jet lagged parents, we jumped in a taxi to go to Namsan Tower but failed when we got there and realised the queue for the cable car would take us into the early hours of the morning [I didn't dare suggest we take the stairs!].

The Han at dusk.

Next stop: Cheonan....

FC Seoul

Saturday 22nd August

Deoksu Gung palace

Last Saturday I made my second trip to Korea's capital in order to pursue Ric's insatiable love for football; we were going to watch FC Seoul vs. Pohang Steelers and somehow the voyage had attracted the interest of three Americans: Claire, Alex and Jared.

We arrived in Seoul a little after midday and decided to fit in a palace visit before the main event. Deoksu Gung palace is in the center of Seoul, nestled nicely between sky scrapers and Seoul's city hall. The palace looks fairly modern, as with many palaces in Seoul it was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt during the years of Japanese occupation. It was pleasant to walk around and entrance cost only 1000won (50p)!

The Expo in central Seoul

Across from Deoksu Gung there was an exposition of tradition medicines and general health products that offered a pleasing amount of free samples! Everything from fried duck to fermented
fungus!

We stocked up on samples and had a picnic on the grass in the middle of the stalls.

Teacher's picnic; my colleagues Claire and Alex to the right.

Finally it was time to go watch the football, and even I was a little excited. The subway to the World Cup Stadium was packed with red and black striped shirts and everybody rushed out of the underground to be first in line to buy tickets.

Ric outside the World Cup Stadium

At the ticket booth the attendant asked me a question in Korean which I didn't understand, she then waved her arms at me and made a "wooooo" noise. I told her yes, we do want to be in the stand with the crazy fans.

The following 90 minutes were more of a work out than I've ever done in the gym! Constant jumping, clapping, singing and chanting. There were fireworks at kick-off and every time Seoul scored and there were dozens of flags being waved. Seoul won 3-2 and although Ric wasn't at all impressed with the quality of the football, the fans didn't half put on a cracking show.

After the match had finished all the hardcore fans gathered behind the stands and starting singing and dancing. Right in the middle of the chaos was of course, my boyfriend. As if to prove the adaptability of football chants, FC Seoul's songs were to the same tune as any generic UK football song, so we could even sing along!

The fans.

World Cup Stadium, attendance 17,000. Capacity 66,000.

Americans LOVE "soccer", it's so cultural!!

Ric's souvenir of the day

When the excitement finally fizzled out we ended to Itaewon for some dinner. Itaewon is the most westernised part of Seoul and this was reflected in the prices! We had Mexican food and an expensive cocktail before heading home on Korea's bullet train, the KTX (which was nothing compared to the Chinese bullet trains that went over 300km/hr).

Itaewon at sunset