Korea Again (Part 1): "The Cold Never Bothered My Anyway," Gilbert the Family Guide and Slave

Prologue: My family (*cough* my dad *cough*) decided to go to Korea this December, mainly to experience winter, and the ski resort. My sister and I insisted really hard to opt to go on our own instead of joining a packed tour offered by travel agencies, because we'd have more control of our time, and really because my dad is high-maintenance when it comes to what he wants. Other than that, my family knew that I could speak the language and I knew my way around Seoul from my on-my-own trip to Seoul to present a paper in an academic conference just this October.

- For this trip, I had to compromise my likes with theirs, which meant that I had to place a lot of shopping on the list. My dad's only visit to Korea was in 1990, just months before I was born, so I had a few arguments with my dad while arranging the itinerary, because Korea now is greatly different from the Korea he knew. For one, the shopping street that he visited that used to sell imitation goods now sells original goods; stores that seemed to look like bargain-able places were surprisingly licensed sellers of original goods too. Of course, I still had to bring my dad there to let him understand.


The Real Thing

December 25-28, 2013, Wednesday to Saturday.

- We flew with Korean Air to Seoul, and the sign at the check-in counter horrified me. (Just in case you can't relate, "Final Destination" is a movie series that revolves around survivors of vehicular accidents who die one by one based on their sequence/position when the accidents happened. There are 5 movies in the series; just search for the plot summaries online.)

Snowy Korea.

- We arrived at chilly winter Incheon around 5 in the afternoon, and we were driven by our driver to Dongdaemun Golden Forest. Apparently, there were 2 Golden Forests, both in Dongdaemun. One is Golden Forest "Residences" near the Sindap (Line 2) and Dapshimni (Line 5) stations, and the other one, Golden Forest "River" is near the Janghanpyeong station (Line 5); there was a mix-up with the travel agency that arranged our accommodations, and the Korean operator, so we were brought to the wrong hotel. Fortunately, there was a free shuttle that drove us to Golden Forest River. Our hotel is far from civilization, with mostly car-repair shops and a highway (with some restaurants and coffee shops) outside our hotel. Our hotel was nice and cozy; it's just too far from everything.

- At night, we "journeyed" to Jonggak, and passed by Bosingak, the great bell, and Jongno Tower. We later had dinner at Potala Restaurant, the Tibetan restaurant I went to before, in hopes of meeting my friend Kelsang again. Kelsang is the brother of the owner, and also works as a waiter there. Fortunately, he was there, and he was also our server. My family seemed to like Tibetan food, which was surprising especialyl for my dad and sister, both of which are not too adventurous with food. I also bought myself a white and a yellow khada. The "khada" or "hada" is a scarf used for ceremonial and decorative purposes. It is also offered to guests or visitors as a welcome gift.

Bosingak.

Jongno Tower.

At Potala Restaurant.

With my friend Kelsang.

- After dinner, we strolled at Cheonggyechon, the man-made river restored by former-president and then-Seoul-mayor Lee Myeong Bak. Some parts of the stream were decorated or lit-up with Christmas/winter-themed decorations. However, the glowing blue waterfalls near the opening was, and will always be, the main attraction of Cheonggyechon.

Cheonggyechon.

- Our final stop was the Jogyesa (Jogye Temple,) the center of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. The temple surprisingly had a Christmas tree outside the gate, and unlike my visit last October, the courtyard was now barren. If I remember correctly, I think it was because I chanced upon a certain Buddhist celebration when I last visited there in autumn.

Jogyesa.

- We rode a cab back to our hotel since it was too late at night, and rested for our morning ride to Gyeonggi.

- Our driver together with our guide, Ms. Kim Hee Young, fetched us after breakfast and headed to Gyeonggi Province, the province surrounding Seoul. We went to Yangji Ski Resort to experience skiing, and for my dad to satisfy his longing to see a white-capped mountain with skiers at night. I don't know why he has these very very specific things in his bucket list, but he does, and unfortunately we couldn't check the "have a fireplace" off his bucket list since there wasn't one; fireplaces are not popular in Korea because of the traditional "ondol" system, or floor-heater system. Oh, I also experienced my first snowfall in Yangji!! It was rare to have a heavy snowfall in December because bigger snowfalls usually come in January or February.

"Hey!! Snow!!"

- We had to have a guide for the ski resort, because reserving rooms in ski resorts all throughout Korea is difficult, unless via travel agency or if we had someone who was a member of whichever resort. Our guide also served as our basic-ski teacher. She helped us put on our gear and shoes; the shoes hurt my legs and feet very much because I have big leg muscles. This made skiing more difficult. I couldn't even get on the most basic slope because each step I take hurts my leg. I just practiced on the ground and managed to have a "legit ski" experience. Perhaps, if there were ski shoes that fit my feet and legs better, I might have gone to try the basic slope. My sister seemed to have a good time, well, she's the sporty one anyway and she likes those kinds of things.

Pretending to smile while my boots killed my legs and feet.

- I spent the rest of the afternoon goofing around taking selfies with my handy tripod.

Twilight-inspired photo; no I am not a fan.

Frozen-inspired shoot.

Because many people insisted that Oaken reminded them of me.

- My sister skied for half a day before we checked out of the ski resort, had lunch, and proceeded to the Korean Folk Village (Hanguk Minsok Chon.) This place was on my dad's bucket list (and mine too.) This "village" contains replicas of houses of different social classes in ancient and medieval Korea. This place was also used numerous times as a filming site for different Korean movies and period dramas. The village also holds several performances, one of which is the "nongak" or farmer's dance. This is one of the most popular folk dances of Korea.

Lunch with our guide and driver.

My favorite Korean drama.

Village guardians.

Jungki!!

My mom and my fan.

Korean traditional masks.

Nongak/samulnori.

"Hanguk Minsok Chon."

- On our way back to Seoul, we also stopped by the Suwon Hwaseong Fortress, also a fort I went to in 2011 while following the director of our broadcasting workshop during an early morning walk/shoot, not knowing it was already the Hwaseong Fortress. The fortress in Suwon, Gyeonggi is a UNESCO world heritage site, and also has a small palace inside as it was done by Joseon Dynasty's King Jeongjo when he wanted to move the capital from Seoul to Suwon. (I just found out now that I've also been to the small palace before with my walk with the director in 2011, although only at the door since we went too early and the palace was still closed.) To see some parts of the fortress, we rode on a train that passed by and explained the different parts of the fortress. Had we more time, I would've wanted to walk along the fortress, just to see the guard stations closely and feel how the guards must have felt walking on those brick roads more than 200 years ago.

Majestic!!

I photographed this before in 2011, but I wasn't able to go up close.

We rode on a train like this while I took this shot.

Guard.

Our train.

Archery field.

- We arrived at our Seoul hotel just before dinner, rested, had dinner at a nearby restaurant, and rested the whole night.

- The following morning, I wanted to let my family experience a bit of culture in Seoul, so I led them to Gyeongbokgung, the biggest palace in Seoul and built by the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, King Taejo. The National Folk Museum of Korea is also located in the palace, and is free of charge. Thankfully, we arrived at the palace just in time for the first changing of guards (in this case, it's just the posting of guards since the guards were to be posted in their positions for the first time within the day and had no one to change their positions yet.)

Gwanghwamun Square.

Gwanghwamun.

Nice armor.

Changing of guards.

Would I pass off an excuse to dress up?? :> :> :> :>

Ah, memories!!

"What yah lookin' at??"

Gyeonghoeru, the 2-story banquet hall.

Hyangwonjeong Pavillon.

Piggie!!

My zodiac sign. :D:D:D:D

My dad and I share the same zodiac.

Awesome hanboks/jeogeoris made from....glass??

More Janggeum!!

- Before our afternoon trip, I led them to the free joint underground museum located beneath the statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sunshin. We also had lunch in one of the small restaurants located at the underground museum. It was my first time to eat beef sashimi in my normal bibimbap; it was an awkward experience, and the restaurant specialized in beef sashimi so I trusted the restaurant.

- Our afternoon trip was part of my sister's bucket list: Hongdae (Hongik Daehakkyo/ Hongik University.) The Hongdae area is Seoul's university belt, and is one of the many fashion hubs in Seoul, mainly due to the number of university students passing by/living in the area. It has an indie vibe to it, and has a weekend market every Saturday afternoon until around 6pm. It was my first time in Hongdae, although it wasn't too different from the other shopping places I've been to, I think. My sister seemed to fall in love with the place, and she told me that it was her favorite place in Seoul. We also got to visit the Coffee Prince First Coffee Shop, where the popular Korean drama Coffee Prince was filmed. The coffee and cheesecakes were darn expensive, but they tasted light and were done artfully.

"Coffee Prince."

Cat cafe; no I didn't go in. Haha.

Streets of Hongdae.

- At night, we had lunch at faraway Gangnam; my dad insisted on visiting Gangnam just for the sake of taking a photo with the name "Gangnam." Obviously, a homage to Psy's "Gangnam Style." Gangnam is an affluent place, and its affluence was parodied in Psy's song. The stores were top of the line, but we just had dinner at Lotteria, Korea's very own fastfood chain.

Mandatory shot.

- We went home afterwards, with my sister feeling very much accomplished. I forgot how much (and how expensive) my sister shopped. We still had to rest and prepare for our next adventure the day after.