Last week was Chuseok, which is a holiday known as Korean Thanksgiving. Chuseok fell on Wednesday this year, which meant that we got an extra long break - 10 days off. My mom came to visit!
She already wrote up a lengthy account of her visit in the previous post, so I'll just give you the basics and a lot more pictures.
She arrived Sunday morning a little after 4 am. I stayed up all night waiting at the airport, so I was a little tired. I had planned on sleeping for a bit at the airport, but as soon as I got to the arrivals terminal a little after midnight one of my k-pop celebrities walked by. Like, right past me. It probably doesn't say anything good about me that he was wearing glasses, a face mask, and had his hood up and I still recognized him. After that I was wide awake.
After making it back to my apartment, mom napped for a bit then we met up with my co-teacher for lunch at a Korean BBQ restaurant near my apartment. In addition to being really tired, we drank so-maek. Soju and beer. I don't remember much about Sunday. I think we went to E-Mart afterwards, but I didn't buy anything there so maybe it didn't happen.
On Monday, we left for Seoul. We got off the bus at Gwanghwamun Square and walked around for a bit before heading to our guesthouse to drop our overnight bags off and going back to walk through Gyeongbukgung. The palaces were offering free admission to visitors during the holiday so it was really crowded, which doesn't make for the best pictures.
We left the palace and took the subway to Myeongdong, a popular shopping district in Seoul. The alleyways in Myeongdong are always super crowded, so I don't think my mom was a fan. The street food here is amazing, though, so we ate kimchi jeon and mandu, and mom got some super fancy street lobster.
I tried to get us a cab to Namsan Tower but the driver wouldn't take us because it was too close, so we had to walk uphill the whole way there. And then wait in a super long line to get a cable car to the top. And then when we got to the top I was starving but the restaurant had run out of food. I had a great time, obviously.
Tuesday... was a long day. We had breakfast at the guesthouse, packed up, and were out of there by 10.
I had planned for us to get dressed up in hanbok, traditional Korean clothing, on Monday for when we went to Gyeongbukgung, but the weather was supposed to be cooler on Tuesday so I figured that would be a better day to walk all over the city with a bunch of clothes on.
We went to a hanbok rental shop and the employees there were lovely. I picked out an outfit but had no idea what I was doing with sizing so one piece was way too big and the other was too small so the woman basically had to dress me. We left the shop looking pretty decent.
We went to walk around Changdeokgung, the second palace which was the King and Queen's residence. It was my first time at Changdeokgung and so far it's my favorite palace. Gyeonbukgung is really impressive, but I like how the buildings at Changdeokgung are more layered, and there are beautiful views that contrast the Joseon architecture with the modernity of the city.
We were at the palace for maybe 10 minutes and we picked up a friend! She offered to take a picture for us, then we started talking and ended up spending the whole day together.
After returning our hanbok, we wandered around Bukchon Hanok village. I say wandered because those alleys are confusing and I never actually found the famous photo spot that gives the best view. We found a food street and had ice cream, sandwiches, and churros - in that order.
Out last stop for the day was Cheonggyecheon, which is quite possibly my favorite place in the city. We say by the waterfall for a bit, threw some coins in for luck, then said bye to our friend and caught a bus home.
On Wednesday we visited my school, which was terribly boring for me but apparently my mom loved it. Afterwards we went to Everland, which is in my town and is the largest amusement park in Korea. Everything was decked out for Halloween and we caught a bit of a Halloween show they put on for the kids.
We got an early start on Thursday and were in Gangnam by noon to see a SHINee concert surround viewing at the SM Town COEX. I don't know how my mom felt about that - the concert was 100% for me and I had a great time.
After walking around the temple, we took the bus into the Jamsil area. I wanted to go to the top of Lotte World Tower, but it was busy and the lines were super confusing so we went to On The Border for dinner instead. We spent the rest of the evening walking along the Han river, then caught the bus to go home.
I totally had plans for us for Friday, but then we slept until 3pm, dragged ourselves out of bed to go for a walk and get dinner, and came back home to watch movies. My excuse is that I had stayed up reading until almost 4am.
1 comments
LOVE YOU NIK. And I swear, You and Rebecca could pass for sisters.....maybe even twins! You did a great job on the blog (as usual). Can't wait till the next vacation when you come home!
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