Winter Trip with Family - Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgung & Murree Restaurant

Assalamualaikum. 안녕.

Previous post (here).

Few things happened this past few days.

Nenek Jawa; Ezza's grandmother from her father's side passed away last Sunday. Al Fatihah to her. And, new semester started last Monday. Jadinya telah secara tiba² menjadi busy. Pagi di cafe, petang attend tahlil. Kepenatan melampau, shall I say?

Hence, tertangguh entry balik kampong. Walaupun sebenarnya excited mau share. Tapi tulah, time constraint. Tettt!!!

21 Jan 2015
Bukchon Hanok Village

Ok lets continue to our 4th day in South Korea. Today, I decided to bring the family jalan² around Seoul only. Sudah dua hari bangun awal; travel few hours away from Seoul. So harini, boleh bangun lambat sikit. Breakfast pun ala santai. Nothing to rush.

Naik subway from Euljiro sa-4 ga & turun di Anguk Station. Antara subway station yang ada staircases super pembunuh. Amazingly, family members aku yang lain sangat enjoy turun naik tangga. Especially the three sisters. Tidak ku sangka, langsung tiada rungutan from them! Aku pula yang banyak pancit masa naik tangga. Sobs.

# First stop was Bukchon Hanok Village.
 As Bukchon is a residential area, so kenalah hormat their privacy. Tu yang sampai 3 exclamation marks.

Saja bawa diorang masuk area ni sebab hanok (Korean traditional house) ni selalu jak muncul dalam Kdrama. Kali ni pergi for real...and ambil feel.

Honestly speaking, aku belum pernah lagi jejak 8 photo spots yang famous di Bukchon ni. Maybe ada few aku accidentally jejak tapi memang ndak pernah ambil tau pasal spots tu. Next visit, akan ku gigih completekan all 8 spots. Insha Allah.

# Group photo & aku jugalah segumpal di depan sekali.
Alhamdulillah, diorang suka jalan² area ni. Apa lagi pagi tu ndak berapa sejuk. Again, walking on the hilly terrain means nothing to them. Daebak betul! Proud gila aku sama diorang ni. 

# Random pic.

Sebab selalu datang Bukchon, aku suka jalan tanpa arah...this time pun aku buat macam tu juga. Dengan kembang kuncupnya hidung aku bagitau diorang...we need no map today. Although almost all the alleys look the same, alhamdulillah I managed to 'guide' them without getting lost.

U can browse here for pictures of Bukchon I took a couple of years ago. 

# Thanks for not complaining! Ikut pi mana jak aku bawa.

# Tabahlah layan the only bujang senang. Nasib owner motor tu tiada. Else, merasa lah kena ceramah free di pagi buta. Sukasuki buat motor orang macam harta sendiri.

# Untuk kesekian kalinya, I am easily amuse with little thing such as this.

# Because Bunda loves that small stool. Like Mother, like daughter. Ntah papa jaklah yang attract our attention.

# Aunty ambil feel cherry blossom; di musim winter. Walaupun pelestik, yang penting pose. 

# Paksa Ezza pose depan this shop. I like its white brick wall. 

Sedang asyik layan view kedai comel & kreatif, suddenly Ezza decided to enter Etude House to purchase something. And the rest pun haruslah join juga. Dari cuma mau beli 1 barang, ended up keluar dengan berbakul² pink paperbags. Spent nearly 2 hours dalam ni. Kejadian paling haru betul kan! Awal pagi perabis Won. 

Aku pun ndak terkecuali sebenarnya. I spent almost 60,000 Won! Sebab aku belum sure when my next balik kampong trip will be...so aku pun pulunlah top up itu ini. And alang² juga aku beli terus kiriman Ms G. Aku memang sangat sangat jarang terima pesanan orang; only certain people akan dientertain. Banyak faktor kenapa aku malas terima. So selalu aku akan terus terang cakap; tiada pesanan diterima. Simple. And direct to the point. 

# Sesi distribute belian masing². Depan kedai pun jadi kan. As if ndak boleh buat di tempat lain.

# Bundle shop at Samcheongdong 

Dari Bukchon, kami jalan kaki pi Samcheongdong. Pastu ronda area sana sambil cuci mata. Main tujuan pi Samcheongdong adalah untuk tunjuk Bunda semua cafe yang comel & unik di area ni. Selama ni kerja aku gebang pasal coffee shop di Seoul jak so kali ni aku tunjuklah versi real punya. Boleh curi idea for future project as well.

Last autumn, I went to one of the hanok cafe in Samcheongdong (here). Tapi trip kali ni tiada singgah to any of the cafes there. Ish, rasa menyesal lah pula.

From there, we walked to Gyeongbok Palace. Ni pun kena jejak kaki juga sebab Bunda suka tengok Korean historical drama. Rugilah sudah sampai Seoul tapi ndak masuk one of the palaces. At least masuklah satu, buat pencukup syarat. And yes, boleh ambil feel life raja². 

# Kalau dari Samcheongdong, masuk ikut gate ni jak untuk pi Gyeongbokgung. 

# Ancient Lunar Calendar

Kami ndak masuk National Folk Museum sebab yang lain cuma mau explore the palace's vicinity. So kami ambil gambar depan statue binatang yang represent zodiak di luar muzium jak. 

# Aunty pose mahal with Hyangwonjeong Pavilion in the background.
The pavilion is situated on an artificial island in a lake & connected to the palace ground by bridge.

# Hmmm...back to their 20s I guess.

# The Pavilion from different side.
Sebenarnya aku suka tengok frozen lake yang encircled something. Just like this one. 

# Pose depa tangan adalah pose-mesti-ada.

# Mesti lagi best kalau dapat tour this palace during the snowfall. 

# Look how massive this building is.
Baru main building. Belum masuk lagi segala istana kecil, halls, gates & gardens dalam istana ni. Super luas!

# Standing before the Geunjongjeon (Imperial Throne Hall).
This is where the King is formally briefed by His officials. Foreign ambassadors pun diraihkan sini juga. Kiranya tempat ni memang central venue for various events during that era.

# Tablets
Yang ni memang banyak kali muncul dalam Kdrama. So Bunda & Angah super excited terus bawa bergambar di sini. 

Kami sempat tengok changing of guards (evening session). Pastu diorang semua pakat lari pi Gwanghwamun Gate. The main gate of Gyeongbokgung. Mau bergambar sama guards katanye! 

# Guard yang berdiri dengan tekun regardless the weather.
Kali ni ndak boleh bergambar dekat sangat sama guard. Siap ada bodyguard yang tegur kalau ada anyone stands too close to the palace guard. Last time boleh pula bergambar sebelah diorang. I peliks.

# Angah & King Sejong.

# Selfoots. 

# Gwanghwamun Square
Bila tengok ni, automatik...rindu Seoul!! 

Jalan lebih kurang di sini, then cousins aku mengadu lapar. And laju jak disahut oleh the three sisters. Masa ni haruslah ndak kan dapat sambutan kalau aku cakap mau pi Cheonggyecheon Stream lagi. Padahal aku sudah lama 'mengidam' mau view stream tu di waktu siang. Tiap kali balik kampong, ndak pernah lagi aku berjalan area stream tu di siang hari. Ndak pa, next trip insha Allah. 

We hopped the subway train from Gwanghwamun Station & alighted at Itaewon. Initially aku planned bawa diorang lunch di Han Gwa Chae, Insadong lepas meronda palace & kawasan sekitar. But considering diorang memang sudah kelaparan, teruslah aku suggest makan di Itaewon jak. Sebab dalam itinerary, harini akan lawat Masjid Seoul.

Sebelum pi makan, kami singgah bank untuk tukar duit. Won Angah makin susut. Ada try withdraw duit dari ATM tapi asyiklah ndak boleh. Bila sudah sampai bilik malam tu, barulah aku perasan kebingaian aku yang tiada tolok bandingnya ni. Instead of choosing saving account, aku secara super pintar pi pilih current account. Walau seribu ATM kami cuba pun memang confirm ndak kan dapat withdraw duit! Kesian Angah terpaksa tukar duit di bank. Exchange rate haruslah mencekik darah! Murah gila diorang ambil currency kita. Sobs!

# Murree Restaurant
Memang semua laju jak masuk. Aku jak terkedek still di luar ambil gambar segala. 

# Telek menu.
Ezza just ordered anything yang aku cakap sedap. Senang kan lidah universal ni.

Before pi sini, aku selalu baca di blog orang Murree ni famous dengan 'makanan lambat sampai' & 'servis lambat'. It was my first time dining at this restaurant. Mau bagi family rasa local cuisine yang halal so aku yakinkan diri bawa diorang makan di sini; dengan harapan janganlah lambat seperti yang diwar²kan.

Alhamdulillah, we waited not more than 15 minutes for the food to arrived after we placed our order. Except for Bunda's sebab Anakonda dia yang bertuah lupa untuk order. Memang terbaik melantun²kan perangai gitu. Punyalah sedap jamu perut sendiri...suddenly

"Why my food hasn't arrived?"

"Ya kan. Order apa tadi?"

"Dalsot bimbimbap."

"Alamak! Macam tidak terorder oh tadi. Lupa!"

Dan cengkerik pun berbunyi. Nasiblah lepas tu cuma dengar arahan suruh order lagi sekali. Semboyan ndak larat berbunyi sebab lapar. Wachaaa!

# My luncheon. Fav aku gaul nasi sama kim (seaweed) tu.
Kimchii jigae ni ndak pekat macam yang aku makan di Chilgabsan last year. Tapi the one at Murree ni pun sedap juga. 

Sudah kenyang semua...jadi marilah tunaikan kewajipan sebagai hamba Nya. Aku yang mula tu ingat mau order dessert terus cancel niat. Takut ndak larat mendaki bukit pi masjid. Ada nanti yang kena suruh mengensot macam siput.

# Syukur! Diorang sempat solat di sini.

# Jea's favourite restaurant. Lupa ambil gambar Abang Sado ko wei!
Sebabkan Angah baru tukar duit, so dia belanja ayam golek untuk dinner di rumah. Gembira diorang jumpa ayam golek di bumi Seoul ya tuan puan! Tapi rasa nan hado. 

Singgah beli Turkish delight di Salam Bakery. Sudah jalan naik turun bukit, haruslah perut start berdangdut balik. Aku beli baklava. Girl & Adek beli aiskrim Turki; RM 12 sebiji! Pasrah jaklah, mau merasa sangat kan. Biar sejuk gigil, gigih mau makan aiskrim juga. 

Then kami pi Foreign Food Mart untuk stock up groceries. Nasi himpit kami bawa dari Malaysia sudah habis so haruslah beli beras. Telur pun siap beli 1 carton sebab bak kata Adek "telur kalau campur apa jak pun, tetap sedap". Memang aku sokong! Boleh buat spagetti goreng! Ntah apa lagi yang kami beli tapi masa di kaunter aku ingat Angah bayar dalam 90,000 Won. Sila nangis! And paksa diri untuk jangan convert pi RM. Nasiblah tong² bayar. 

Dari Itaewon, kami terus balik rumah. Dinner sungguh meriah sampai langsung tiada 'nafsu' untuk ambil gambar. And aku ndak keluar lagi malam tu. Leka layan Kdrama lepas dinner. 

Aku tidur awal! Macamlah penat gila kan?? Padahal bukan jauh pun aku menapak siang tu. Alasan aku sebab esok paginya kena bangun awal. Akan pi luar Seoul lagi! 

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 6: Gyeongbok Palace / Chilgabsan Restaurant, Insadong

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

It's our last day in Seoul. Sepatutnya balik on the 2^nd Jan tapi sebab niat untuk visit Gyeongbuk Palace belum tertunai so aku tambah lagi sehari di Seoul. Unfortunately, kami ndak dapat sambung stay di Dongdaemun House sebab fully booked. Padanlah muka Bie, last minute decision lagi. 

Terpaksalah check-out awal pagi & check-in at a hostel somewhere in Hongdae. Yang hostel nanti aku buat entry asing. Bapa punya jauh kena menapak dalam station Hongik untuk sampai exit. Tu belum campur aktiviti walkertapaki from the exit to the hostel. Nasiblah beg ndak berbeban berat sangat. Kira balance berat backpacks depan & belakang yang aku hangkut. As we arrived early, kami just ambil kunci & bayar. Pastu first destination adalah Seoul Station. I have to exchanged our KTX e-ticket bound for Singyeongju to an actual ticket. Yang ni kalau lupa, confirm menggelupur awal pagi esoknya ndak dapat naik train. 

Ramai juga yang queued tapi macam biasa urusan cepat & berjalan lancar. Suka aku tengok cara diorang ni layan pelanggan. Senyum & suara semua lebih kurang. Macam aku bercakap sama skrin komputer, semua sudah set.

Settled with exchanging the e-ticket, we took the subway train to Gwanghwamun Station Line 5, Exit 2. 

In front of the King Sejong famous statue at Gwanghwamun Square. Considering I've been here & puluhan gambar sudah aku snapped during my last trip so aku kasi chance the cousin to be in the picture pula. 

Gwanghwamun Gate; the main entrance to Gyeongbokgung. First time mau masuk; dream unfulfilled due to lack of time. Second time; aku bijak bestari planned pigi on Tues; the day when this palace is close to public. Alhamdulillah I managed to enter the palace on the third attempt.  

Also accesibble via Gyeongbokgung Palace Station Line 3, Exit 5. One will enter the palace through Heungnyemun Gate; the Second Inner Gate to the left of Gwanghwamun Gate. 

Reenactment of Korean Royal Guard in front of the main gate. Hujan ka panas ka, tetap berdiri teguh sang guard. This one ada sense of humor sikit; siap pandang camera & kecilkan mata. Budget seksi ler tu.

View of Gwanghwamun Gate from inside the palace.

We paid 4,500₩ for the admission fee. And another 2,000₩ for the palace guide book. More info here. 

"Located in Northern Seoul, this palace is first constructed in 1395. It was later burned & left abandoned for three centuries before it was reconstructed in 1867. Gyeongbokgung is the grand palace of the Five Grand Palaces built by Joseon Dynasty. In the early 20^th century, much of the palace was destroyed by Imperial Japan." (source wiki)

Geunjeongmun Gate & Yeongjegyo Bridge. And Seosu; an imaginary creature.

Us before the Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall). Sudah hari keenam baru perasan the fish-eye lens that I borrowed from my cousin. Main clip² di handphone jak, senang. Macamana boleh lupa existence lens tu dalam bag ntah!

View inside the Throne Hall. Background gunung & 2 bulan tu tetap ada. Di mana raja berada, background tu tetap akan ada. Even dalam not kertas yang ada lukisan raja wujud background tu. 

To the right is the Sajeongjeon; used by the king as the main executive office. And to the left is Cheonchujeon. 

According to the guide book, there was a bridge connecting this two buildings but it was destroyed during the Japanese Invasion. Sigh. I lost count of how many were the historicals & precious treasures that the Japanese had destroyed back then. 

Hyangwonjeong Pavilion. One of the most photographed site in Korea. 

Artificial lake Hyangwonji was completely frozen at this time. Regardless the sunlight. The bridge that connects the pavilion to the palace ground is named Chwihyanggyo. Dulu kala before the Korean War, this bridge was the longest bridge constructed entirely of woods by the Joseon Dynasty. 

Shout out to my dearie bestie; Ms ErnieKhairina! I made it to the pavilion, babe! 

Pas posing buing² depan tasik ni, teruslah masuk IG & tagged her. A mission she indirectly gave me prior this trip. Yeah! Tercapai impian untuk tengok tasik tu beku juga. Only ndak da snow that covered the rooftop. Else it would've been perfect. Ok Bie, be grateful already!

This spot reminded me of some of the scenes in Queen In Hyun's Man as well. Hence paksa cousin aku posing sekali. Muntah kang kalau asyiklah muka aku depan pavilion ni.

We entered the Folk Museum after posing sakan in front of Hyangwonjeong. Entrance is free. Items in the picture adalah winter apparel. The Korean invented boots from leather in the early 18's while from straws since early 16's. 

Masuk dalam ni aku ndak ambil gambar banyak sebab aku bila masuk muzium memang akan menghayati isi dalam. Poyo! I only snapped few photos & most of the time aku spent baca 'cerita' displayed dalam tu. I could spent a whole day in a museum. Explained kenapa aku suka baca & menghafal. 

Various types of kimchi! It's Korean sort-of staple food. 

Aku memang suka makan kimchi ni. And when I found out about its benefit, teruslah jadi makanan harus ada everytime turun Korea. Pernah beli yang jual di market dekat rumah, tapi rasa adalah jauh ke laut. Everyday while I was in Korea, memang aku beli kimchi from the convenient store. Menu tetap setiap hari. I really wish one day dapat makan homemade kimchi. My Korean friend told me the taste is soooo much different than the ones sold at the mart. Sob. Matilah telan liur berkali².

Mak Temah, Mak Jemah & Mak Joyah sibuk gosip whilst making kimchi. Kau tengok ah sikap suka buruk sangka kau Bie! Ntah² diorang tengah busy discuss pasal siapakah the hottest idol in town at this time. Sila bersangka baik please.

Outside the museum. One of the many smart ways the Korea government does to educate the young people to recycle! Sangat kreatif! 

We spent almost a good one hour plus in there. Ada few tempat mau dijelajahi lagi petang tu so ndak boleh spend masa lama sangat dalam tu.

Pameran few types of rumah zaman dulu kala near the museum vicinity. Kami round lebih kurang as the cousin started complaining about her grumpy tummy. Lapar gila sebab pagi tadi cuma sempat breakfast maggi. 

On our way out, we managed to watched the changing of guard ceremony. Lucky us! We missed the morning session but we made it on time for the evening session. Tapi yang ni memang ndak plan untuk tengok pun as I didn't know the exact time for the changing ceremony in the evening.

Annyeonghigyeseyo Gyeongbok. Sampai ketemu lagi. Kalau datang sendiri memang aku ndak masuk dalam ni lagi but who knows nanti kena membawa ahli jemaah dari KK ni kan. 

Made our way to Ssamziegil. We wanted to go up & have a look but seriously lapar gila sudah time tu. So aku pusing area ground tu jak. And baru dapat tau juga, ada Trick Eye Museum di sini. Newly opened.

Ingat mau cancel jak untuk pigi Trick Eye di Hongdae tu. I was queueing to purchase the ticket when I suddenly remembered the discount voucher I've printed. Voucher tu cuma valid for the branch in Hongdae. Berjimat adalah perlu so we decided to just go to the one in Hongdae. Lagipun dekat sama hostel, lewat macam mana pun ndak payah risau tinggal train. Superwalkertapaki harus!

Some of the artworks at Ssamziegil. Tempat ni memang best. Macam² hasil kreativiti displayed here. See picture above. Itu entrance untuk washroom! See how they transformed the wall into something yang boleh kasi jadi picture background. Vandalism of art at its best.

Update as of 20 Feb 2015: I went to Chilgabsan during my trip last month (Jan, 2015). Just to share this information, in the menu they serves pork now. 

Lunch at Chilgabsan Restaurant. It is situated just opposite the street from the vegan restaurant we went last summer (here). Ndak susah cari restoran ni as aku sudah tau jalan & arah area tu.

Green tea & plain water is free of charge at any restaurant in Seoul. Coffee shops yang fancy excluded lah tapi. Self service jadi sila buat macam rumah sendiri.

As usual, banchans akan sampai dulu. Belum sampai main dishes, aku sudah start mencekik. Perut sudah berdangdut buat konsert ntah apa, nampak ni jak haruslah aku terus membaham. 

Seaweed has become one of my favourite as of now! Gila wei sebab selama ni aku langsung ndak reti makan seaweed. Fyi, banchan tu kami tambah sampai 3x. Free kan, jadi mari tambah selagi mampu.

Ntahlah perut jenis apa kami haritu. Banchan sudah bertambah tapi bila sampai order; kami terus lapar balik. Membaham makanan as if kami belum sentuh anything since pagi! Mentekedarah ndak hengat!

Saeongseon gu-i (mackerel bakar) + sundubu jjigae (Korean tofu, mushroom & seafood stew) cost us only 13,000₩ pi! Totally worth it! Sedap sangat sangat!

Kami makan dengan penuh selera. Licin semua pinggan! Ohmy, diet ke laut sungguh! Time sejuk makan benda panas² gitu, tipulah kalau ndak tambah nasi bermangkuk². 

After lunch, kami tour Insadong kejap. Before making our way to a cafe that recently became famous because of someone named Kim Tan. 

But till here for now, annyeong. Nanti aku update lagi.

eryantierdabdulkarim