Revisiting the Homeland (Part 3): The Olympic Park, Wangfujing at Night, and Courtesy Calls

- June 1-3, 2017, Thursday-Saturday.

- From scorching hot Guangzhou (click here and here for my adventures in Guangzhou), we arrived in late-spring chilly Beijing safely after our 5-hour delay. We checked in in Jingdu Guilong Hotel, near Liuliqiaodong metro station. Though conveniently located near the subway, most places of attraction are quite far (center and east,) as the hotel is in the western side of downtown Beijing.

- Since we arrived at around midnight, when we were supposed to have some free time, the most I needed that night (well I can speak for everyone too,) was sleep.

At the very least, I got to have a comfortable sleep that night, especially since I already had a bad sore throat by that day.

- The following morning, we had a courtesy call to the Philippine Embassy in Beijing, to hear the thoughts of H.E. Chito Sta. Romana and other Philippine journalists on the Belt and Road Initiative. Along the way, I noticed that the air in Beijing was quite dusty, making the whole sky "light sepia." We were told that we went to Beijing during the better season (late spring to summer,) since there were more chances for us to see the blue sky as the air is denser during the winter. That is when the air pollution stays longer, and there are chances of not seeing sunlight during the day because of the air pollution.

Outside the Embassy. Feels like home.

Out group photo; photo from Dr. Stephanie Coo.

With H.E. Chito Sta. Romana. I wore something both Filipino and Chinese - it was a Chinese vest but made from Ilokano inabel fabric.

Proud to be Pinoy.

- After our courtesy call in the Philippine Embassy, we had an interesting lunch. Although the food was Chinese, I later realized that the restaurant we were brought to was a partnership between China and North Korea. Most of the staff were North Korean, or ethnic Koreans in China. (Damn, I would have wanted to experience North-Korean cuisine.)

Bad lighting, but wouldn't miss this for the world. See those flags?? They're China's and North Korea's. The name says that the restaurant is a partnership between those two countries.

- That afternoon, we visited one of China's premier universities - Peking University. We had a small chitchat with students from the school's Philippine Studies program. To our pleasant surprise, all the students we met had spent some time in our university as exchange students a few years back. The talk ended with a better understanding of how China is expanding its Philippine Studies by training more students and opening more Philippine Studies classes and majors in other universities in China.

Peking University.

Peking University School of Foreign Languages.

School of Literature.

School of Psychology.

Pagodaaaaa.

Why so lonely??

PLOWUHRS.

Typically Chinese.

The Boya Pagoda.

- We were brought back to the hotel after our early dinner, and so I grabbed the opportunity of going around the city. I first visited the Olympic Park by riding the subway to the Olympic Sports Center metro station. That is the nearest metro station to the Bird's Nest (National Stadium) and the Water Cube; both structures are just right across each other. These two modern and geometrically-designed structures, as known by many, were built for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Today, these structures are still used once in a while, but mainly serve as tourist attractions. The Bird's Nest also plays the Olympic theme song in an endless loop. I also decided to visit this place since it wasn't part of our itinerary.

Until now, I still like these Chinese Olympic mascots.

The Bird's Nest looks like something Lady Gaga would step out of.

Mandatory tourist shot.

The Water Cube looks like one big water tank.

In front of the stadium, took this photo while being blasted with an endless loop of the Olympic heme song.

Space mushroommmsssss.

- With little time to spare, I also decided to drop by Wangfujing Street by stopping at the Wangfujing metro station. Although today's Wangfujing is equated with shopping and exotic street food, this street has been around for more than 700 years. Its name "Wangfu" (royal mansions) and "jing" (well) refer to the royal mansions and wells that were built in the area before. Today, it is a bustling pedestrian street, and the top of many tourists' minds when it comes to shopping.

Wangfujing is a big street, but look for this Chinese arch in one of the alleys towards the South. That's where most of the tourist goodies are.

- Unfortunately, the street was quite dead when I went there as I arrived a bit late, around 10 in the evening. Most stores have already closed for the night, and the small alley with the Chinese arch selling exotic food was also quite quiet. According to friends who went to Beijing before, it might have closed earlier since it was a weekday night, and so it wasn't as lively. At the very least, I got to be familiar with the street for easier navigation when I'd get a second chance to go.

- The next morning, we had a long drive to Renmin University, to gain political-economic perspectives on the Belt and Road. We gained many intriguing insights, and learned perspectives that are mainly extremely sided with the Chinese government. After lunch inside the school, we visited the university's Psychology Department to talk about the social psychological analyses of the Belt and Road initiative. However, the encounter was more of a getting to know, as my university's Psychology Department had a close relationship with Renmin University's Psychology Department.

Beijing's Central TV and Radio Tower. Reminds me of Shanghai's Pearl Tower, just without the lower "pearl."

We're here!!

Reminds me of universities in Russia.

The logo has three people on it. That's the original way of writing "ren" of "Renmin." "Ren" means person.

Copy paste. (Saw these children in the mini-mall we went to after our visit to Renmin University.)

- That evening, we were brought back to the hotel quite early, and I invited my professor friend Annie to roam around with me. Initially, we were supposed to eat at a restaurant called Pyongyang, which is one of the propaganda restaurants of North Korea stationed in many countries allied with North Korea. Unfortunately, the one in Beijing just closed down the day we arrived in Beijing (at least, based on what I understood from the government-issued paper stuck on the door.) I only got to have a photo with the facade, but hey, at least I got to see it in person. (There are other branches in other main cities of China, and other countries like Cambodia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Laos, etc.) Still, there are other North Korean restaurants in Beijing, but since they were quite far, I didn't get to visit them anymore during my whole stay in China.

It closed down. :( :( :( :(

- As the night was still quite young, I brought Annie to Wangfujing. It was a Saturday night, and so some of the exotic food stalls were still open a bit later than the night before, though most souvenir stores have already closed for the night. Apparently, Beijing is not much of a "night-market" city, unlike Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, or Bangkok. Still, Annie and I were able to get ourselves some lamb skewers. We now saw the scorpions and the other creepy crawlies being sold as exotic food, and all we could do was look.

Should I or shouldn't I??

Can't eat these, they're too big!!

Skewered pupae.

I hate insects with wings. Huhu.

We had the tame choice: lamb skewers.

A semi successful second return.

Heyo homie.

- Annie and I went back at the hotel with just enough time to wind down before getting some shut eye. Our itinerary for our last two days in Beijing were the ones I was waiting for the most. Up next, the essentials of Beijing and the Great Wall!! (Please do not forget to read Part 1 here, Part 2 here, and Part 4 here.)

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.