Places Which Sound like Indonesians Talking!
Papa got well in time for our day out in the Anguk and Samcheong-dong area. We followed the itinerary that Shu passed to me. Started off at the traditional Buchon-Hanok Village, approximately 300 m from exit #2 of the Anguk Station (subway line 2).Map taken at the station just in case
We could see traditional Korean houses with their distinctive roofs, and some of them are still private residences.
Sis found the surroundings familiar and commented that it reminded her of a scene in Winter Sonata when the male lead, Bae Yong Jun leaned against a stone wall to smoke. Then later, indeed we saw a sign proclaiming it was the film site!
Evidence haha
The family got hungry and I had to lead them to Samcheong-dong, which was also "approximately 300 m from exit #2 of the Anguk Station". However, the internet never mentioned that we had to make our way there by clambering up the hill, round the crest and down the other side. If there was a shorter and more direct route, I could not find it.
Samcheong-dong exudes a vibe much like our Holland Village. I like the pretty pop-arty buildings that we kept snapping pictures of.
All tired out from the unexpected hike to Samcheong-dong
Sis and I like this one! If you look carefully on the right wall of the building, you can see the grey silhouette of the Gardener from the story sweeping leaves away.
At one of the cafes, I had trouble deciding what to eat. The owner tried to help me along.
"You like noodles?" she asked, notepad in hand already filled with the orders of the rest of my family.
"Yes!"
"You like vegetables?" she continued.
"Yes! But I don't want spicy," I thought to warn her.
"It's just a little spicy," she held out her finger and thumb to signify how little it was. I eventually agreed to it, and ended not finishing the big bowl of chewy cold noodles that appeared in front of me.
Fake smile
Instead, I had to stare longingly at the bowls of instant Korean ramen that Sis and Bro had, my favourite brand which used to be sold at the food court at Vista Point, and it reminded me of A again, of that time he bought 2 orders to go and we enjoyed them in front of his tv.
True smile of enjoyment
After lunch, we made our way to the palace, Gyeongbokgong. It was nothing much to talk about. We amused ourselves at the cut-outs though.
Papa and Mummy
Bro and Sis as prince and princess in sunnies!
Everyone felt bored walking aimlessly on the garden gravel, so we decided to walk to Insa-dong to see what was on offer (all these "dong"s...). It was another lovely, artsy street, but I could not find any Keith Haring art pieces, as all these were original artworks.
So far from the city that Starbucks was not written in English
And neither was Nature Republic
The family had a laugh at this, pretending this was the blusher brush that I had been looking for the past few days!
The wind was blustery that day, and Brent learnt the usefulness of a nearby phone booth.
That evening, we had a 90-minute break in a theatre, watching Jump!, a comic martial arts performance. It was slapstick and good clean fun. Some parts reminded me of Stephen Chow's antics in his earlier movies. Highly recommended! You don't need to understand/speak Korean to enjoy it. We were inspired to spring a few moves of our own hehe.
Onward to the last part of our day. Shopping time at Dongdaemun! We started off at the Dongdaemun Market, thinking it was where the action was at. However, Sis, Mum and I realised that the REAL shopping was next door, at Maxtyle, one of the shopping centres that close at 5 am.
Sis and I shopped till we literally dropped at 1 am. We were really exhausted by the time we hopped into a yellow cab to go back to Savoy Hotel. Our mood did not improve upon hearing the cab driver quoting us a "midnight charge" of 30,000 won for that short trip. Worse still, we found out from the hotel that the short trip after midnight should have been about 5,000 - 6,000 won max!
Tip: Take the big black taxis; they charge by the meter.
posted by Addy @ 11:39 PM
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