Taste of Nature, Heart of Sharing

'Taste of Nature, Heart of Sharing' is the theme of 2009 Korean Temple Food Festival which will take place at Bongnyeongsa Temple in Suwon from October 8-10. Korean Temple food is a precious cultural heritage Korea has long nurtured.

The three-day event will be held in a quiet and and serene Buddhist University located in Suwon city, about an hour drive from Seoul. Showcasing a series of exhibitions including a temple food market, tea ceremony, tea talks with monks, temple stay programs (for selected international students only), and 'balwoo-gongyang' (communal Buddhist meal service). Eating is called gongyang in Budhism while balwoo means bowls containing rice and vegetables. In this unique and special way of eating in Korean temples, the meal is eaten in total silence and not a single grain of rice is wasted.

This festival is admission free and visitors can register via www.templefood.org until September 30, to get there go to Gangnam Subway station line 2, exit 3 and take buses 3001 or 3007 or take bus 7, 77-1 or 700 from Suwon station. For more information, visit the 2009 Korean Temple Food Festival website.(source: Korea Herald and Korea Tourism)

For your who interested in temple stay program, you can find the detail information on Korea Tourism web.

The beauty of autumn

The beauty of Autumn leaves is on the way.. but be patient since it's coming a bit late this year. The Korean Meteorological Administration said that the autumnal tint this year will appear 1-8 days later than usual, which means that the middle regions of the country and Mt. Jirisan will see the colors of autumn leaves from October 20th to November 5th. (source: Korea Tourism)

For you who visiting Korea this autumn and wish to enjoy the warm foliage of reds and yellows may check the timing on Korea Tourism web as well as the best spot's list. The schedule shows the first foliage and peak time on each region. If you are visiting Seoul only and don't have much time to visit the mountains, don't worry.. there are some famous spots to enjoy the beauty of autumn in the city. The Palaces in Seoul including Changdeokgung has its own special walking tour to enjoy the autumn foliage while Hyang-wonjeong pavilion at Gyeongbokgung is a place you shouldn't miss. If you choose to have romantic walks, Deoksugung will open till late to give you the autumn warm when the night is getting cold.

(Picture courtesy of Korea Tourism)

Bau House, a dog cafe in Seoul

Doggie Lover? Wanna go on a date with your dog? You definitely should try this unique and perfect cafe for dog lovers in Seoul: Bau House, a dog cafe in Hongdae.

Bau House not only allows you to sip your latte while your pooch share the same table with you, they even got their own pooches ready to be your companion, just pick your desired breed, spaniel, maltese, lassies, huskies or other cute puppies. This cafe open from 1.20 pm to 11.30 pm.

Here are picture and map from their website

(Pictures courtesy of Bau House)

Seoul Flea Market

I always love browsing around in flea market, enjoying the weekend's sunshine while making bargains for something unique and you never know what you might find in a flea market.

During our trip in Seoul, visiting the folk flea market was on our list, I was planning to find some unique souvenir for family and friends like Hahoe mask and kid's Hanbok for nieces but my missus ended up buying a hanbok for herself!

The Seoul Folk Flea Market is a downtown market where and contemporary coexist, souvenirs shops sell unique items like Hanbok apron which transform traditional hanbok into a practical apron, Hahoe masks and hand-made natural soap. On the second floor Boradong, handicrafts from Jeju island and North Gyeongsan Province, traditional alcoholic beverages and other regional specialties are on sale. If you are looking for unique gifts for foreigners or the elderly, this is the the right place to go to.

When you get tired, you can take a break in front of the flea market stage which is open to performances by anyone.

(Source: The Korea Herald)

(Picture courtesy of The Korea Herald)

Lotte World and Coex Mall

Got back to Seoul from Nami-seom, we spent half of our last day in Seoul visiting Lotte World and Coex Mall.

Lotte world is a big complex with one-stop concept so you'd find anything you need from accomodation (hotel), both indoor and outdoor theme park, shopping mall, folk museum, sports facilities and movie theater in one place. The Lotte world indoor theme park is one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world. If you are a Korean drama lover, you'd notice some spots used for filming 'Stairway to Heaven'.

If you wish to learn about Korean history and tradition then you should visit the Lotte World Folk Museum. A collection of minature and life-sized exhibition along with performance stages for traditional music and dance would amuse you while learning Korean history and culture. The traditional restaurants are located on the market (Jeoja) street on the third floor of Lotte World Shopping Mall, giving visitors the chance to taste Korean traditional dishes.

(Some restaurants inside the traditional market inside Lotte World)

How to get to there? Take subway line 2 to Jamsil station and take exit no 4 (underground plaza). Admisson fee including performance viewing is 24,000 won and 21,000 won after 4 pm.

Off The Lotte World, we jumped on the subway headed to Coex Mall, a huge shopping arcade located beneath Samsung-dong Trade Centre. It's only 3 stops away from Jamsil station (The Lotte World), got off at Samsoeng (Samsung) station and took exit 5 where we walked down to the end of Ocean Walk straight to Coex Aquarium. This Korea's largest aquarium has 40,000 marine wildlife of 650 species. Once again it's also a place used for filming a Korean drama 'One Fine Day' after the first six episodes were filmed at Busan Aquarium.

Coex Aquarium with posters from One Fine Day

Coex Mall off the Samsung station

Nami island

Nami-seom or Nami island is another 'romantic spot' in Korea, located in Chuncheon City this beautiful tiny island attracts 1.5 million visitors on average year. According to wikipedia, its name originated from General Nami, who died at the age of 28 after falsely accused of treason during the reign of King Sejo, the seventh king of Joseon Dynasty of Korea. Also known as 'Naminara Republic' since 2006, it's an imaginary country that has invented its own passport, currency, stamps for promoting its tourism. Naminara Republic is fully equipped with facilities including Tourist Info Centre which provide currency exchange for the tourist.

Famous as the shooting place of 'Winter Sonata', a famous Korean Drama by KBS in 2002, the beautiful forest path of pine trees is a must see spot in this island.

(Some snaps in Naminara Republic)

We opted to get to this island by bus from Dong Seoul Terminal headed to Chuncheon, after one and half hours ride we got off at Gapyeong bus terminal. Staff from our hotel suggested to take taxi from this point to Nami-seom wharf which would cost about 8,000 won, just say "Nami seom ga juseyo" he said, but we decided to take our own adventure riding the local bus from Gapyeong station, it took us only 10 minutes to the wharf where we boarded the ferry for another 10 minutes to the island.

If you'd rather take the train, you can take train from Cheongryang-ri station to Chuncheon and then take taxi from the station to the ferry wharf.

Enjoying the beautiful Naminara Republic for about 2 hours wasn't long enough for us but we had to rush back to Seoul for our last day visit in the city and yet to visit another places on our list.

(Our mode of transport: local bus and ferry)

(Nami seom's map, courtesy of Chuncheon City)

Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)

Seoul - second installment: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Gyeongbokgung Palace literally means 'Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven', is the main and largest palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by Joseon Dynasty. The palace was originally constructed in 1394 by King Taejo, the first king and founder of Joseon Dynasty (source: wikipedia).

Gyeongbokgung Palace is also known as 'Northern Palace' since it's located more toward the north while Changdeokgung known as 'Eastern Palace' and Gyeongheegung as 'Western Palace'. The National Palace Museum of Korea is located south of heungnyemun gate and the National Folk Museum is located east within Hyangwonjeong.

The ticket pass for Gyeongbokgung Palace can also be used at National Palace Museum and National Folk Museum.

The 'must see' attraction at this Palace is 'Changing guard ceremony', but unfortunately we missed this so I didn't have any picture to show, furthermore I didn't manage to shoot proper pictures only got a few pictures of my wife with the couple. Talking about these buddies, we just met for the first time in the morning but ended up hanging around together all day exploring Seoul, squeezing ourselves in the huge crowd at Myong Dong and dropped dead tired on the busy buzzing streets packed with people enjoying the city's illumination of Christmas eve!

This Palace is open from 9.00 - 18.00 during summer and 9.00 - 17.00 during winter, closed every Tuesday. Address: Seoul-si Jongno-gu Sejong-ro 1.

Admission fee is 3,000 won for 19+ and 1,500 won for 7-18 and free for age 6 or under.

For detail information about Gyeogbokgung Palace you can visit the official website here.

Changdeokgung (창덕궁)

Seoul-first installment:Changdeokgung Palace

As a I mentioned on my previous post, one of my 'must visits' in Seoul was Changdeokgung Palace, at that time I only knew that this Palace is one of the shooting places for the famous series of 'Jewel in the Palace' or 'Dae Jang Geum'.It was my first visit of the day since it's only a stroll walk from my hotel.

Changdeokgung Palace (literally means 'Palace of Prosperous Virtue) is one of Five Grand Palaces in Seoul built by Joseon Dynasty. Located in a large park in Jongno-gu, Seoul, this UNESCO World Heritage site can be reached by subway line 3, get off at Anguk station and take exit 3.

Accompanied by three friends from Japan and a new couple friend from Seoul, we decided to take our own walking tour instead of waiting for the next English guided tour. We explored this beautiflul Palace for about 2 hours before heading to another palace called Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Here are some snaps we took in the Palace:

Here are some useful information about this Palace:

	- Address
	1, Waryong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul
	- Tel : 82-2-762-8262
	- Admission Fee
	Ages 19~64 : 3000 won Ages 7 ~18 : 1500 won Ages 6 and below, Ages 65 and up : Free Closed: Mondays For full information of this Palace you can clik here

Seoul

Korea Trip - Seoul day 1

After several years dreaming of visiting this Ginseng Country finally we made it in winter 2006. Touching down at Incheon international airport early in the morning on December 24, located 70 km from the city of Seoul, this modern airport has been consecutively rated as the best airport in the world and received the full 5-star ranking by skytrax.

Upon our arrival we made our way to the airport coach service and after one and half our ride we got off at Anguk Dong station and took a stroll walk to Seoul backpackers hotel located at Iksun-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul. The hotel has now reopened as Banana backpackers with a new face-lift. Conviniently located within walking distance to some tourist spots like Insadong and Changdeokgung Palace, the hostel offers affordable rooms with friendly staff, great hospitality, free breakfast and free internet service, which is very important for travelers who needs to find information online.

(Incheon airport-Seoul coach transfer)

The coach was very convinient and the staffs were really helpful, made it easy for us to find the right bus even we don't speak Korean.

(My wife in front of the hostel)

My list for the first day in Seoul was visiting some historical Palaces, there are five Palaces in Seoul:

- Gyeongbokgung.

- Gyeonghuigung.

- Deoksugung.

- Changgyeonggung.

- Changdeokgung.

Unfortunately, we managed to visit only two Palaces: Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung. I will write about these two palaces on separate posts.

For some 'must see' spots in Seoul you can visit the official website here.