NAMSAN TOWER

Namsan Tower, also known as N Seoul Tower, is a famous tourist place for those visiting South Korea as it has also served as a filming site for some Kdramas. It's something you'd usually see as you tour different areas in Seoul since it's overlooking the city. I'd usually see the tower from the window in our hotel room and even while strolling Myeongdong at night when it's usually lit up in bright colors. 

The Namsan Tower (236.7m) is located in Yongsan-gu and is sitting on top of the Namsan Mountain which is 243m above sea level (Visit Korea). One way to get here is through the Namsan Cable Car which costs 9500 won for a roundtrip. Aside from checking out the view through the observatory, you can also find a Starbucks coffee shop, some restaurants and even a gift shop here. The admission ticket for the observatory is 11,000 won for adults.

Unfortunately in our case,  I wasn't able to properly check the route via cable car so we went the long and seemingly impossible way which is through hiking to Namsan Park (and we weren't ready for it haha). The long way to the hiking entrance - passing by a day care center and a lot of other things - and as well as the hike to the top was so tiring!! There were a lot of stairs haha! 

I was actually gutted because we ended up not getting to the top because of my mistake haha. I didn't realize that it was so far! But we still tried to enjoy the view while we were there and we saw a lot of locals getting their daily dose of exercise in this place too.

As I said, we just tried to enjoy the view, and nature itself, which is why is why a short OOTD photoshoot is coming your way below haha.

It's sad that we weren't able to get to the top as my family enjoys visiting towers and tall buildings with observatory decks, to see the view of the city, during trips. But we're hoping to finally visit the actual Namsan Tower the next time we come back to Seoul! 😊

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MYEONGDONG

I've lost count how many times we've visited Myeongdong during this trip but it was fun! I loved this bustling place in the city. 😁

By now, I think you're used to this, as we got our Bomb Rice rolls fix again haha! We also ordered the same yummy fried chicken too! 

It was really good too and it was so pretty you wouldn't want to eat it! 

We also visited the Line Friends shop just because it was too cute not too! I didn't buy anything as I just wanted to see what cute stuff they were selling. 

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DONGDAEMUN DESIGN PLAZA AND DONGDAEMUN SHOPPING DISTRICT

After our mini visit to the Chungbu Market and the beautiful stream somewhere in Changgyeonggung-ro, we then headed to the train station to go to the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Dongdaemun Shopping District. We got there via train ride through the Seoul Metropolitan Subway Line 2 (Green line).

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DONGDAEMUN DESIGN PLAZA

Dongdaemun Design Plaza, according to the Seoul Tourism Organization, is actually a venue where different shows, exhibitions, conferences and other events are held. I also found out from their site that it actually served as filming sites for some of the famous Korean dramas we know such as "My Love from the Star." Apart from this, DDP is actually famous for its very modern architectural design. According to STO, DDP is actually the "world's largest atypical architecture" and it was designed by Zaha Hadid, who is a world renowned architect.

The train station is just right in front of the DDP so it wasn't hard to miss. We just roamed around the grounds to admire the building and the sculptures surrounding it. It was a bit gloomy when we arrived here and it started getting colder. I saw pictures online of this building at night and it is stunning! We arrived around mid-afternoon that day so we didn't get to see this structure at night. 

I'm back with another travelogue today and this time I'll finally be sharing the first part of our Korea Travelogue! I feel like I've been saying this so much in my posts but I've really accumulated a lot of travel backlogs. 😅This first travelogue will consist of two parts though since I don't want it to just look like a photo dump haha.

We went to Korea on January 2017, which is still during their winter season, and stayed at a hotel in Jung-gu, Seoul. It didn't snow during our trip but it was definitely cold! The area where our hotel was located is surrounded by residential places so it seemed much more alive even late at night. It was also nice that there's a park outside of our hotel. I love areas like this because it gives you a glimpse of the everyday lives of the locals and you get to learn more about their ways and culture. We also stayed in a similar area when we went to Japan and it was really nice to mingle and talk to the locals. There was this particular lola (grandma) who called out to me on our way to the train station to greet me and say "kawaii" haha!

I also love the fact that there were a lot of shops near where we were staying like 7-11 stores, CU and other Korean marts as well. The roasted sweet potato they sell in CU is so good, which we also used as hand warmers tbh hahaha, and this is where we also got our cute reloadable Kakao friends T money cards for the train rides. These cards were around 4000 KRW during that time and were very easy to reload at the ticket vending machines in any train station. Aside from collecting train cards as souvenirs when I travel, I usually visit convenience stores, as well as groceries, so that I could see and buy what the locals are eating haha! I liked visiting their convenience stores in Seoul to check out and try some local food products. 

It was nice that we had easy access to all these local shops and places. There was even a local market, which I'll be sharing in this post as well, that was also near our hotel. The train station isn't a stone's throw away from our place though so you really have to walk a lot before you get to the nearest one. I didn't really mind because, in a way, it gave us a chance to explore the city. 

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Our plan for our first day in Seoul was to explore the Dongdaemun Design Plaza and Dongdaemun Shopping District. But on our way to the train station, we spotted this serene stream in Changgyeonggung-ro so we stopped by to appreciate the view. We just wanted to take it all in and see what the locals do here on a normal day. We saw children playing on the stone steps, people that seemed to be on their way to work or their homes, and those who, like us, were just there to relax and enjoy the view. 

That is what I like about travelling. It's not just about taking pictures, posting on social media and telling people that you went to this or that place. Travelling for me is when you take the time to really explore and learn about the place you're visiting. That even doing simple things like slowing down to take in the view is a wonderful thing to do. That you're not just there to visit touristy places for the sake of visiting them so that you could tell people that you've "been there." You get the best travel experience when you take the extra time and effort to really appreciate, know and, in some way, understand the place, culture and the people living in it.