A HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Last December, we, as a family, took on a new experience.
For about two weeks, we "lived" in a different country, ate food not common to us and experienced a different season.
We had a getaway in Seoul. To be precise, we chose a home at Gangseo-gu. It was a narrow yet interesting seven-level home called Mangosteen.
For convenience sake (because we have two children with us), we rented a car. Prior to our trip, we did some research on driving in Seoul and while most of the information we gathered did not really recommend tourists to drive there, surprisingly, we had a very pleasant experience. Except that the parking fees were way higher than how we charge here in Malaysia.
Unlike the usual tourists who would have a long list of places to go and to do list to check off on a daily basis, we visited only one attraction per day. We wanted to be as relaxed as possible so we could enjoy each day to the maximum.
THE ATTRACTIONS
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA
Our first stop was the National Museum of Korea. Yes, it was not a good choice to kick start a tour with young children but it was a rainy day and definitely not a good day to be outdoors.
Our children have never been to a museum. The only museum they knew was the one they saw in the movie: Night At The Museum. Not a realistic comparison of course! Nevertheless, they now have an idea of what a real museum is like.
CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE
The weather was good the next day so we decided to check out one of the five main palaces - the Gyeongbokgung Palace but was disappointed to find it closed! We didn't do our homework well. This palace is closed on every Tuesday.
Fortunately, other palaces were just around the corner so we visited the Changdeokgung Palace instead.
GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE
The following day, we went back to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and spent the entire day there.
Due to the cold weather, we decided not to rent the Korean traditional costumes. I, for one, did not want to walk around with a winter coat over a traditional costume. Furthermore, I had cut my hair short and thought I would look funny in a Hanbok with short hair.
BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE
Our next stop was the Bukchon Hanok Village. It is a quiet village where you can see rows of traditional Korean homes dated as long as 600 years ago. It is an inhibited residential area and tourists were advised to keep their voices down in respect of the residents.
PLACES TO SHOP
After a few days of being outdoors, we decided to check out some indoor places for shopping and decided on the Coex Mall. The other indoor shopping mall that we went was the Lotte Mall. Although both places were on the list of places to shop in Seoul, we did not find them to be as interesting as the street malls at Mydeong Street.
This street houses huge stores of international brands such as Uniqlo, Zara and Forever 21. If you were a food lover, you would be delighted to find an entire row of interesting and delicious street food stalls here. We loved the street and the malls so much that we went there twice!
ON OTHER DAYS
Some days, we didn't even visit any places of attractions. We just lazed around at home, watching TV or taking long naps. The cold weather made it especially nice for sleep ins too!
GOODBYE SEOUL
Our trip ended on December 13, a very memorable day for the children as it was their first time seeing snow! Yes!! After days of "hoping"... they finally saw snow the moment our cab pulled up at the airport! Since we were too early to check-in, they had some fun playing in the snow before bidding goodbye to South Korea.
What a way to end their first overseas trip!
So much for now and I'll share more about the trip, especially on FOOD in another post.
Stay tuned!!
Last December, we, as a family, took on a new experience.
For about two weeks, we "lived" in a different country, ate food not common to us and experienced a different season.
We had a getaway in Seoul. To be precise, we chose a home at Gangseo-gu. It was a narrow yet interesting seven-level home called Mangosteen.
For convenience sake (because we have two children with us), we rented a car. Prior to our trip, we did some research on driving in Seoul and while most of the information we gathered did not really recommend tourists to drive there, surprisingly, we had a very pleasant experience. Except that the parking fees were way higher than how we charge here in Malaysia.
Unlike the usual tourists who would have a long list of places to go and to do list to check off on a daily basis, we visited only one attraction per day. We wanted to be as relaxed as possible so we could enjoy each day to the maximum.
THE ATTRACTIONS
NATIONAL MUSEUM OF KOREA
Our first stop was the National Museum of Korea. Yes, it was not a good choice to kick start a tour with young children but it was a rainy day and definitely not a good day to be outdoors.
Our children have never been to a museum. The only museum they knew was the one they saw in the movie: Night At The Museum. Not a realistic comparison of course! Nevertheless, they now have an idea of what a real museum is like.
CHANGDEOKGUNG PALACE
The weather was good the next day so we decided to check out one of the five main palaces - the Gyeongbokgung Palace but was disappointed to find it closed! We didn't do our homework well. This palace is closed on every Tuesday.
Fortunately, other palaces were just around the corner so we visited the Changdeokgung Palace instead.
 |
| Bountiful: A persimmon tree full of fruits. This picture was taken at the Changdeokgung Palace |
GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE
The following day, we went back to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and spent the entire day there.
Due to the cold weather, we decided not to rent the Korean traditional costumes. I, for one, did not want to walk around with a winter coat over a traditional costume. Furthermore, I had cut my hair short and thought I would look funny in a Hanbok with short hair.
 |
| Architecture: The roofs of the buildings in Gyeongbokgung Palace. |
 |
| Performance: Tourists get to see how the changing of palace guards takes place at the Gyeongbokgung Palace. |
BUKCHON HANOK VILLAGE
Our next stop was the Bukchon Hanok Village. It is a quiet village where you can see rows of traditional Korean homes dated as long as 600 years ago. It is an inhibited residential area and tourists were advised to keep their voices down in respect of the residents.
 |
| Residential buildings at Bukchon Hanok Village. |
 |
| One of the random restaurants at Bukchon Hanok Village |
PLACES TO SHOP
 |
| The Starfield Library in Coex Mall, Seoul |
After a few days of being outdoors, we decided to check out some indoor places for shopping and decided on the Coex Mall. The other indoor shopping mall that we went was the Lotte Mall. Although both places were on the list of places to shop in Seoul, we did not find them to be as interesting as the street malls at Mydeong Street.
This street houses huge stores of international brands such as Uniqlo, Zara and Forever 21. If you were a food lover, you would be delighted to find an entire row of interesting and delicious street food stalls here. We loved the street and the malls so much that we went there twice!
ON OTHER DAYS
Some days, we didn't even visit any places of attractions. We just lazed around at home, watching TV or taking long naps. The cold weather made it especially nice for sleep ins too!
GOODBYE SEOUL
Our trip ended on December 13, a very memorable day for the children as it was their first time seeing snow! Yes!! After days of "hoping"... they finally saw snow the moment our cab pulled up at the airport! Since we were too early to check-in, they had some fun playing in the snow before bidding goodbye to South Korea.
 |
| A shower of snow before we bid goodbye to South Korea! |
What a way to end their first overseas trip!
So much for now and I'll share more about the trip, especially on FOOD in another post.
Stay tuned!!
👍
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