CutiCuti: South Korea Day 3 - Cheonggyecheon Stream

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

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Day 1

Day 2

Nami Island
Petite France

It will take me forever to continue updating about this trip IF I kept procrastinating. Lucky I managed to forced the super lazy moi to get to the lappy, squeezed the brain & started scribbling. 

Fuh, I miss South Korea tremendously! Looking back at all the pictures makes the feeling even worst. I want to fly to that country like now. Can I just celebrate Eid there? Aigoo Bie, bersabar sila. Another 4 months pun. Reaction terlebih over tau kau ni.

Fine, lets just skip the drama queen thingy.

That evening, after dinner we went out to see Seoul at night. It has always been in my plan to see the grand palace; Gyeongbok Palace view at night. With the lights on. We missed the time when this palace is open to public until late evening. 

Gyeongbuk Palace is open to public from 630p to 10p in May every year; marking the Family Month. Unfortunately, this only occur for two days. Obviously, we were late for more than a month. Sampai Seoul pun on the 22² June! 

View of Gwanghwamun Square at night. Area ni memang bercahaya terang as it is located at one of the main district in Seoul. Royal administrative buildings or the Street of Six Ministries is among the historical significant along this square. Bangunan kiri kanan pun memang bangunan administration. 

I got to know about this place after watching the 2009 Kdrama series; Iris. From what I read in wiki; as part of the Government's plans to promote the city...this square was closed to public for nearly twelve hours. Semata untuk bagi laluan to Iris' filming. Ndak dapat imagine major traffic jammed masa tu as five lanes were closed. Sudahlah tengah bandar, laluan penting & kawasan pentadbiran lagi. 

And ehem! Few scenes in one of my favourite Kdrama; Queen In Hyun's Man were filmed here as well. Memang malam tu, aku verangan macam dalam drama. Ndak dapat jumpa artis; sudah jejak shooting location pun jadilah!

Ni memang familiar habis...sebab Running Man buat shooting sini more than once. RM lagi kan.

Skyscrapers in Seoul are mostly found here. Sakit leher jugalah balik² mendongak untuk baca nama building. Perlu tau; kalau aku. 

Pavilion in the middle of the city. Ni kira macam pondok wakaf lah kalau di Malaysia. Eh?

Jalan straight along the Gwanghwamun Square route leads us to Cheonggye Plaza. Akan jumpa landmark for the plaze; this siput sedut ni on ur left side. Benda ni punya unik & berlampu terang benderang, memang impossible lah orang overlooked. 

Siput Sedut tu bagi aku landmark untuk permulaan Cheonggyecheon Stream. Last year pegi sini, aku ndak tau langsung pasal stream ni. Padah kalau travel semata langsung ndak da homework or research done prior coming. Hence I made it a mission to come here when I visit South Korea again. This time datang dengan ilmu gitu. 

Stream ni adalah one of the city's effort to urban renewal. Ever since its opening in 2005, it has become one of the popular recreational area among the locals & also tourists. Memang salute sama disiplin orang South Korea ni. Bukti kukuh, ndak guna government pongpang buat development kalau rakyat sendiri ndak usaha untuk maintain. Kerjasama is the main point here. Both parties kena main peranan. Bukan sibuk si A blame si B...in the end, semua gigit jari. 

Note that ring encircled with green lights; where a couple is standing in front of it. Kununnya, if baling coin ke arah that ring & the coin jatuh right in the middle, bolehlah request something. To whom aku ndak tau. I don't think it has something to do with any religious beliefs. From my point of view, this kind of thing is more to something people do out of trend. 

Hanya sempat sampai till the second bridge. *nangis darah* Angan² untuk tawaf sampai Dongdaemun went down to the drain. Pendapat bersama perlu diambil kira kalau jalan ramai² ni. Walau dapat mandat untuk draft itinerary, views dari ahli rombongan lain mestilah mau tau juga. Kalau aku solo or ahli rombongan semua bersatu mau tawaf, maka bolehlah proceed misi. 

Hmmm betul lah cakap bloggers yang biasa travel in group...bukan senang mau dapat travel buddy yang sekepala ni. Silap langkah, kalau ikut angin moody each member memang boleh trigger perang dunia di tempat orang. Fortunately nothing close to war happened masa kami di sana. Toleransi adalah perlu, gitu. Eh?

Stepping stones to connect each sides of the stream. Yours Truly practice jadi mermaid sesat. Gemokmaid ada!

I read in many blogs, the water is crystal clear here. Siang baru nampak clear aku rasa. Ms G managed to captured my gimbaran. Sedang dalam proses transition tapi major failed. Kembali ke bentuk manusia akhirnya.

Ni bukan man-made stream ok. The water naturally flows from east to west of Downtown Seoul, meeting at Jungnangcheon; which then connects to Han River & later empties into Yellow Sea. (source wiki).

Jongno Tower spotted. Bangunan tu sangatlah famous di mata aku, asal nampak jak mesti aku ndak lupa untuk mentioned "That's Jongno Tower". Selalu nampak waktu siang, this was my first time seeing it illuminated with lights. Once again another angan² untuk lepak coffee shop yang berhambur along the street above the stream...went straight into the drain. Sudah penat sekalian teman berjalan dari pagi. Aku boleh jak stay & continue wandering...masalah problem ahli lain ndak tau jalan pulang. Ngeks.

God's willing, next time akan continue misi² yang terbengkalai. Ni definitely NOT my last trip to South Korea. Insha Allah, insha Allah. 

We ended the evening walk along the stream with photo geteks. Although I am a bit frustrated sebab only managed to covered two bridges, I enjoyed the walk still. At least menyempat compare to my last visit. Nanti mau buat lawatan di waktu siang. 

And we missed the laser light show a.k.a Digital Canvas as well! The show is held at the Gwanggyo Bridge; at the upper end of the stream. We took the pictures above near the show area. It is said that unlike other light show, Digital Canvas conveys various messages in its show. Hostel I booked for the Dec trip located just a block away from the stream...kalau terlepas lagi ndak tau lah kan.

Map of bridges, routes & exits along the stream is provided to facilitate visitors. Kalau rasa sesat, sila lah rajin baca map. 

Sangat membantu specially for first timers like us. Mau cepat sampai hostel, kena tau the nearest exit to the subway station.

For more information about this stream, refer here. Ni alkisah kemalasan untuk mengolah. Sekian.

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