Korea Again and Again (Part 4): Prisons and Independence, the President's House, Unfaithfulness, the Olympics, and the Royal Tombs

- August 27-28, 2014, Wednesday to Thursday.

- I left Banghwa around noon, and arrived at Insadong Hostel around 1:30pm. I quickly changed my clothes, and rode the train to Seodaemun Prison Museum. The Seodaemun Prison Museum was a real prison in the early 1900s, during the time when Korea was under the Japanese Empire. Needless to say, the prison contained Koreans who were against the Japanese and wanted to fight for independence.

- The prison museum was one of the more unique places that I've gone to in Seoul, and is probably one of the creepiest too. Not only did the feeling of it being an "actual" prison in the past creep me out, but the very realistic exhibits themselves reinforced that feeling. Just when I thought the torture chambers had the most graphic exhibit, I realized that the prison cells were creepier despite being located in a well-lit area. Imagine a person walking through a long hall, empty cell after empty cell, and then one cell would suddenly have a very realistic and miserable-looking mannequin. Then, when one looks up, one will be startled by a figure of a prison guard with angry eyes, only to find out that it too is a mannequin.

Welcome to the Seodaemun Prison Museum.

Main hall.

Yoo Kwan Soon, a patriotic martyr.

Probably one of the creepiest rooms.

Water torture.

Interrogation room.

SEE?? These things scare the crap out of me.

This other dude startled me too.

Almost screamed when I looked up.

This is interesting.

He's banging communicating with his friend below.

Tada.

More creepy guards.

Prison costume.

Outside one of the prison halls.

- It didn't take too long for me to finish going around the prison museum, although I appreciated it so much. Before setting off again, I visited the independence park where the Independence Gate (Dongnimun) stood. I just took some photos and left afterwards.

Dongnimun.

Photoshoot.

- Realizing that I had a lot of time left before my much-awaited janggu class and Miso performance. I hurried off to Cheongwadae (Blue House,) located behind Gyeongbokgung, the largest palace in Seoul. It took me a long walk and two checkpoints before reaching the Blue House. Cheongwadae is the office and residence of the president of South Korea. While the site of the Blue House has been historically significant since 900AD, the actual building was built in the late 40s.

Saw him in the subway while I was on the way to Cheongwadae. According to my Korean friends Ji Eun and Jinny, this guy, Mr. Song Hae, is a celebrity. He is the host of the long-time singing-contest show "Cheongug Norae Charang."

Cheongwadae from the other side of the road.

Zoomed in.

I'm loving that guard house behind me.

- Near the Cheongwadae is a museum called Cheongwadae Sarangchae. It does not require an entrance fee, and it houses exhibits related to the presidents of Korea from past to present. My favorite part of the museum was the replica of the president's office. Of course, I had to take a photo there.

The new president of Korea. I hope India won't get jealous.

The real current president of Korea, and the first female president too.

- With still enough time to spare, I went to the Palace Museum located beside Gyeongbokgung, which was also free entrance, and arrived just in time for the final admittance. The museum focused more on the royal family, unlike the National Folk Museum located inside Gyeongbokgung that featured the lives, cultures, and societies of both the royal and common people.

A special kind of stupa.

An interesting exhibit from the museum.

Armor.

I like this, but probably hard to maintain.

Fancy car!!

Another interesting thing about the Korean historical look: hairstyles.

A wooden wig!!

Female royal robes.

One of the king's clothes.

Passed by Gyeongbokgung. It took me a while to take this shot because of the people going in and out, but it was worth the wait. It was almost sunset that time.

- I later hurried off to Jeongdong Theater, located behind Deoksugung, situated near the City Hall. It was 6:15pm by then and I realized that I skipped lunch for the day (although come to think of it I had a light "brunch" with Kavitha and Arati that morning.) I had a rather fine-dining dinner at the restaurant inside Jeongdong Theater just because it was the closest restaurant to the theater. I arrived just in time for my janggu class, and found out that I shared the class with an elderly Japanese couple. We learned some beats that I did not encounter during my earlier janggu class in Muju, so the class was still worth the money. It also felt cool that our 30-minute class was located at the very stage where I would be watching the theater performance after my janggu class.

Misooo.

Wearing a gyerang hanbok during my janggu class.

I'm a very diligent student.

Our teacher. (The staff was taking our photos by the way.)

Yay!! I like how the theater distributes certificates of completion to students; the theater/class was connected to the Korean Ministry of Culture. 

My janggu and my certificate.

Final shot before leaving the janggu behind.

- "Miso" is the brand of the traditional theater performance being shown by Jeongdong Theater since the theater opened in the mid 90s. This season, Jeongdong Theater's "Miso" performance featured the story "Baebijang-jeon." It was about a married secretary who was sent to Jeju Island, and scolded the other officials for engaging themselves with the gisaengs (Korean geishas.) The governor in turn wanted to test the secretary's morals, and so, with the help of the gisaeng Aerang and everyone else, they let Aerang seduce the secretary. Aerang manages to seduce him, and later on the secretary hides in a box when a false cry of Aerang's husband coming home was heard. The governor and everyone else jokingly say that they should throw the box because the heard there was a ghost inside. They pour some water inside the box until the secretary gave himself up to the governor. He had to apologize to his wife in the end.

With the standees.

The kisaeng Aerang and some horses.

The governor, a kisaeng, and the secretary.

Pansori performance of the secretary's wife. 

Seduction of Aerang.

Pretending to not know that the secretary was inside the box.

The confession.

Aerang and her bucket of water.

- The whole performance used minimal spoken language, and whenever it was necessary, translations to English, Chinese, and Japanese flashed on the screens beside at the sides of the stage. There was also a good integration of different styles of Korean traditional performing arts, such as the pansori and everyone's favorite, the pungmul-nori. The performers also greeted the audience outisde the theater, and stayed there for 10 minutes for those who wanted to take their photos with them.

Everyone's favorite, the pungmul-nori.

I'm glad I wore my hanbok.

- I went back to my hostel after watching the play, and fixed my things since I wouldn't have too much time to do that on my last day the following day. My bag had been pregnant since my first day, and since then I knew that I would need an extra bag when going home.

- On my last day, I headed to another faraway destination within Seoul: the Olympic Park. The Olympic Park was used in 1988 when Seoul hosted the Summer Olympics. I would not have had the idea of coming here if my former college professor, Sir Sev Sarmenta, did not mention this to us during my first visit to Seoul in 2011 for a broadcasting workshop with Korea's Educational Broadcasting System (EBS.) There is no entrance fee to the park, and the park itself is open 24/7, except for the establishments inside.

- Apart from the stadiums and arenas, as well as the famous World Peace Gate, the giant park is home to many cultural and historical places. The first one I visited was the Seoul Baekje Museum. this was perhaps my favorite place in the park apart, from the World Peace Gate, because the Baekje Kingdon doesn't usually share the same limelight as the Joseon Dynasty - the longest, most peaceful, and the last dynasty of Korea - when talking about Korean history. In this museum, the Baekje kingdom is given much importance, and is compared with the other two kingdoms during its time - the southern Silla, and the northern Goguryeo kingdoms.

This statue welcomes people at the East Gate.

Guarding the making of the fortress.

Baekje royal costume.

Palace official's robe.

Princess' costume.

Commoners.

That hair.

Armor.

Gold and bronze crowns.

Can't imagine them wearing these kinds of shoes.

Baekje crown.

Baekje people.

Comparison of crowns.

Large ship.

Royal accessories.

The fortress from afar.

- I later took jumpies in front of the World Peace Gate. I am glad that there were not too many people that day.

Flame of peace.

World Peace Gate.

Jumpitessss!!

My final shot.

- After having lunch at the small Lotteria beside the World Peace Gate, I went to visit the Mongchon/Gommal Bridge, the Mongchon Museum of History, the dugout hut site, and the wooden fences of the Mongchon Fortress. The Mongchontoseong, the earthen where all of these were located, was part of the Baekje kingdom.

Peace square.

Gommul Bridge.

Saw this sad and lonely tree.

Replica of old Mongchon houses.

Mongchon History Museum.

More Baekje jewelry.

Seven-branched sword.

Wooden Maitreya Buddha.

What's left of the fence.

The actual pit-hut site.

I remember my younger days when I wanted to be an archaeologist.

- From the Olympic Park, I changed my clothes and ran to the Gangnam area to visit one of Seoul's popular Buddhist Temples: Bongeunsa (Bongeun Temple.) The Bongeunsa was built in the 1400s during the Joseon Dynasty. Today, it is still a functioning temple among followers of Korean Buddhism. The temple offers temple stay programs, similar to the Jogyesa in downtown Seoul.

On the way to Bongeunsa.

Bongeunsa.

Historical pagoda.

Monk.

Another Buddhist monk.

He walks away, leaving traces of holiness for the lay people to grab.

Reminds me of the temples I saw in Japan.

- In fear of running out of time, I had a quick stroll in Bongeunsa, and went to visit the Seongjeongneung (Seolleung + Jeongneung) Royal Tombs. This place has three tombs. One for King Seongjong, and his wife Queen Jeonghyeon, and the Seongjong's son, the 11th king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Jungjong. The place was like a mini-forest in the middle of Seoul with plenty of uneven grounds. I tripped thrice and almost sprained my ankle too. I found out that it was difficult to see the tombs of King Jungjong and Queen Jeonghyeon, since going up the hill where the tombs are were restricted, and only King Seongjong's tomb was the only one with the stairs up the small hill for better viewing.

King Jungjong's tomb.

Queen Jeonghyeong's tomb.

King Seongjong's tomb.

A clear view.

OH LOOK I SAW A SQUIRREL.

- In bullet speed I went back to my hostel, took a quick shower at the ground floor common restroom, changed my clothes, and fixed my luggage since my bag was close to being overweight. After fixing my bag, I rushed to the samgyetang restaurant near my hostel, because I did not want to leave Korea this time without eating Korea's famous ginseng chicken. It was summer in Korea (despite the rain,) and the samgyetang is one of Korea's most popular dish during summer. The restaurant I went to specialized in samgyetang, although I felt that it wasn't the best there is, since it wasn't as aromatic, and it didn't have as many ingredents stuffed inside the chicken; that explains why my samgyetang was rather inexpensive. Despite this, I enjoyed my chicken soup, and it was served to me just hot enough for human consumption. This saved me a lot of time, because I was able to gobble my samgyetang in less than 15 minutes. Since it was in the middle of the afternoon, I was the only customer too, allowing for an even faster service.

There was a show in Insadong on my way back to the hostel.

Samgyetang!!

The quick ajumma cut my chicken before I got to take a nice photo.

My chicken on its side.

- I rode the train to the airport, and was very thankful that my bag wasn't overweight, and I was able to pass through airport security in peace (I had a lot to hand carry on the way back home.) I did not feel sad about leaving Korea, not because I hated the country, but because I was just filled with joy with the new experiences that I had during this visit to Korea. I met more than 70 new friends from around the world from the 25th International Youth Forum, had cultural lessons which I'm very fond of, saw North Korea up close (and technically, I got to step on it too during my Panmunjeom visit,) and went to a lot of places I haven't been to (looking back, I was afraid that I was running out of places to go to in Seoul; I've never been more wrong,) and best of all, I got to eat all my Korean favorite dishes within a single visit. This trip was also special because it marks the completion of my "all 4 seasons of Korea" experience: I was there spring in 2011, autumn and winter in 2013, and this year, 2014, summer. (I strongly suggest going to Korea during autumn. The weather is a bit cold, bot not too cold, the sun can still be seen, and the tree leaves change colors, adding a dramatic feel to everything. I think most countries with four seasons are best visited during autumn.) Despite this, I still look forward to visiting Korea in the future. There's still so much I haven't seen there.