Bits & Pieces - The World & Me: Seoul Autumn Love 2011

01st November 2011

광화문 Gwanghwamun Station (光化門)

Our 1^st stop today is Gwanghwamun Station where we board our Seoul City Tour bus. We took the City Circulation Course so that we can have a city sightseeing tour and finally alight at Changdeokgung which is #23.

The bus route we chose.

The tour bus

Why that face again???

창덕궁 Changdeokgung (昌德宮)

We miscalculate our time and therefore we were late for our Chinese guided tour to Secret Garden at 1230hrs. Our alternative was to follow the English guided tour at 1430hrs. Since we have 2 hours before the tour starts, we went for a simple lunch at the convenience store located opposite Changdeokgung (only choice we can find in the vicinity). Kimbap and ramen were our lunch for today.

Our pathetic lunch

Changdeokgung was designated as UNESCO’s World Cultural Heritage in February 1997. It is one of the five grand palaces within Seoul. The autumn leaves were stunning in Changdeokgung. Trees with a beautiful mixture of green, orange and red leaves were everywhere. We came at the right season. Surprisingly, it is not as crowded as what we anticipated. We managed to take a few nice shots without “extras”.

Say cheese.....!!!

Autumn leaves or Maple leaves???

Can you see the 3 different colors???

The architecture of the palace

This is what I say without "extras"

There are more to see...........

There are many doors in the palace. Hmm..........!!

This view is outside the toilet. Oops..... but nice, right???

I am impressed by the Koreans

Another nice place

Tour of Secret Garden – 비원 Biwon (秘院) previously known as Rear Garden - 후원 Huwon (後苑)
You need to pay a separate entrance fee to enter the Secret Garden and you can only enter as part of an organised tour. The tour takes about 2 hours and can be quite tough for elderly people, as the footpath includes some uneven stone stairs.

The Secret Garden in Changdeokgung boasts pavilions, lily ponds, a stream as well as luscious vegetation. The garden was kept as natural as possible and was touched by human hands only when absolutely necessary. The most beautiful time to see the garden is during the fall when the autumn foliage is at its peak and the leaves have just started to fall.

The entrance to the world of "secrets"

Our 1st stop....... pictures taking time

This is said to be the photo spot of Secret Garden

N Seoul Tower on남산 Namsan (南山)
After Changdeokgung, we hopped back onto the Seoul City Tour Bus and head towards N Seoul Tower. We wanted to catch it before sunset so that we can have the best of both day and night view of N Seoul Tower but again, we miscalculated the time and didn’t expect sunset to be so early therefore when we arrive, it’s already dark.

We managed to capture just this!!

Magnificent (View from where we alighted)

N Seoul Tower Info

Love is all around

Couples came here with locks and hope that they remain together

This is a nice view or I should say a good photo taken (*Puke*)

The next time we visit N Seoul Tower again, we wanna go up by Namsan Cable Car.

동대문 Dongdaemun (東大門동대문 Dongdaemun (東大門)

Our last stop for the day was Dongdaemun.

Dongdaemun Market presents an interesting mix of tradition and modernity; fabric and fashion accessories are sold in the older buildings littered throughout the area and the newer, flashier complexes are teeming with young ladies flaunting their fashion prowess. Though the market is open throughout the day, the night market is particularly popular with people coming from all over the country to shop from late evening to early morning.

We had dinner at one of the Chinese restaurant, 东华饭店, which served delicious자장면 (Jajangmyeon), 만두 (Mandu) and shrimp fried rice. However, the seafood noodle was too fishy for us. Think again if you want to try, don’t regret like us.