I was beginning to hate the cold. For some reason, I woke up later than usual that day, I wanted to snuggle some more and retain the warmth. But then, we did not endure all those weeks gathering requirements for a South Korean Visa just to spend the day in bed so I have to drag my cold ass off to prepare for another battle against the cold.
Aside from the street food, the other thing that was on my ‘must-do’ list for Korea was to visit the palaces. I know, its to touristy but I watched too many episodes of Princess Hours and had this fascination with Asian royalty for a while so a visit to a real palace is tantamount to a dream come true for a 19 yr old me.
Carl likewise wanted to visit the palaces, although Seoul is a progressive nation, it is quite impressive that the people managed to maintain their culture. I come from a poor country and I think the people even know their true identity as Filipinos. The government is too busy trying to eradicate poverty to even think of promoting culture; and now we have poverty and no culture, NICE. Anyway, we got the directions to Gyeongbokgung Palace in the train station. The thing about being progressive is that you can use all the technology and resources you have in your disposal to promote your culture so that other people from different countries are willing to pay to have that glimpse of culture. In the train station there were several kiosks that is mighty helpful for tourists. It will tell you what train to ride, how many stops and transfers will there be, how much the fare is from your original location. But for a more detailed direction, click here.
Hwangyongeong Palace
I knew palaces were supposed to be enormous but I did not think it could be THAT enormous. It was like a compound with several palaces within the walls. Given the Korean’s culture that leans more into familial love and respect, the smaller palaces are most probably occupied by the elders. Read more
We roamed the lively streets in Hongik and for some weird reason decided to try 
