[ FIRSTIMER EXPERIENCE ] KOREA - NATIONAL FOLK MUSEUM & GYEONGBOKGUNG

Thursday, November 29, 2018
By Ann
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It was a beautiful morning, I can feel the warmth of sun on my face.. little did i know, i am finally arrived at SEOUL, South korea. I always wanted to go this country after got hooked by kpop and dramas since 2009. All begin with a kpop music video ; SNSD - GEE .Since then, I always dreamed to land into this so-called heart of Asia. Yet , fate brought me here only by 2018, such a long period of waiting - but it was worth it :)

travel in korea seoul firstimer experience

My first random Seoul's street picture taken from bus

We stayed for 1 night at L'Art Hotel Gimpo ,kind of suburb area of Seoul yet still near within the reach of Gimpo Airport - where we need to go to the day after for Jeju.I was utterly surprised when I woke up that the weather is such warm and nice. Unlike the night before when I was first arrived at Incheon airport ; freezing cold around 15°C ! Our local guide, said that this is what Summer in Korea really like : warm at day, cold at noon.

So after breakfast, we pack up our luggage, get in the bus and went straight to the ..National Folk House. Before that ,we passed by this iconic building...

The Blue House / Cheong Wa Dae

Here's a presidential house ,executive office and official residence of South Korea. Our local guide said this is the place where the South Koreans political protests mostly happen, including resignation petition for ex President ,Park Geun Ye.

NATIONAL FOLK MUSEUM OF KOREA

There is reason why this place was our first visited site in Seoul , is simply because you can literally know more about KOREA inside out. From culture, ideology, cuisine,language and everything else from ancient Korea till the end of Joseon Dinasty. This place totally broaden my perspective about Korean people and their way of living and so on .For example ; why there is so much scenes on Korean drama with noonas and dongsaeng romantic relationship ?You'll get the answer here

( well, our local guide explained so as we observed the historical replica)

GYEONGBOKGUNG PALACE

I'm sure you know all about this place. This place is mostly seen in Korean period drama and in every Korea tourism promotional board videos . Gyeongbokgung is a main royal palace of Joseon Dinasty,it is also the biggest palace and most well-known touristy sites in South Korea. I still remember in 2011 when I watched 'Annyeong Korea with 2PM' ( you can watch it here ) ,an interactive movie about travel in Korea , there's a scene that my (then) idol bias, 2PM Wooyoung promoted this palace. Now even though I'm not that into Kpop anymore, I am still fond of this place and I'm happy to finally be there.

Spacious and Panoramic
seoul travel diary experience

Here you can also transform into Korean girl in Hanbok for a day. With perfect spot, perfect ootd, perfect weather, I bet you'll shoot some nice instagram -able photos ! Gyeongbokgung is such a place you shouldn't miss to visit after all!

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Being here after a day, All i can say is there's difference of Korea from what I expected before. I used to 'know' it from, internet,K- dramas, and books before. Now after being there for real, I can see the true beauty and sides of Korea which is not shown in front of screen. This is, the true Korea and captures my heart.