Studio Ghibli Exhibition

After knowing that Studio Ghibli is coming to Seoul to hold an exhibition, we did not hesitate even one second to find a time to go visit.

A childhood memory to many, Studio Ghibli is where animations like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl's Moving Castle were born. I had so much fun just going through all the different film sets and just remembering the scenes. 

Can you recognize and identify all the different movies that are displayed?

Namsangol Hanok Village

With the whole Monday morning and afternoon free, I decided I could use some time alone to explore. I ended up choosing Namsangol Hanok Village as it seemed like a good place to go where I won't be reminded too much that I am by myself. I figured that since it's not the weekends it won't be as crowded. And boy, was I right. Except for a few student groups and a couple of tourist groups, I was able to pretty much wander around and snap pictures without waiting for the scene to clear. 

This village is situated right under the Namsan mountain, as you can see by some of my pictures (you can see the Namsan Tower!). It consists of 5 representative traditional houses kept from the Joseon Dynasty. This government project started relocating the houses to where it is now (except two of them are replicates, since it was too old to move it and it was precise to the point where even the slant of the land was replicated exactly), and serves as an attraction for tourists and locals alike to discover how people used to live. 

A stage where performances take place daily. The day I went it was a taekwondo performance.

Kids listening to their guide/teacher (?) explain

This is how people back then used to heat up their floors. This method of heating rooms is still widely used today in modern houses and is super effective. 

Although the size of the houses aren't big, the interior seemed really spacious.

You can even try on a hanbok if you pay a litte. But I was a little tight on time so I decided to skip out this time!

This is a traditional theater where they actually hold performances.

After going through all the houses, it is not hard to spot the similarities in the historic architectural styles between the Koreans and the Chinese. At the same time, though, it's still different to the point where you can differentiate which is which. It feels like I've actually traveled back in time (if you ignore all the people that were there) and it makes me wonder what it would be like to actually live in that era in those houses.

HyeHwa - Ihwa Mural Village

After almost 2 weeks of staying around campus and nothing to do on a Saturday afternoon, I decided to find a place to explore in Seoul. Since everyone was studying (I'm not being lazy, my midterms are just later than theirs!), I wanted to find a place where being alone would be a better idea.

So I picked Hyehwa! This is actually where the old campus of SNU is situated, but then has since moved its current location of Gwanak-gu in 1975. 

The old campus map and my shadow ^^

Next, I went to Ihwa Mural Village. This is a project initiated by the government back in 2006 to revitalize the neighborhood. Once an isolated neighborhood, this project brought in life and art, and of course, visitors to the village. 

Where are you guys going??

The village is right next to a part of the remains of the Seoul (Hanyang) city wall. In other words, a smaller scale of the great wall of China...?

... what do you want to do?

Obviously, this is the most popular piece of art. I didn't have anyone to take a picture for me, so I skipped out.

Lock Museum

This exploration was very exciting for me. I love how the art just integrates with whatever is around them. It was also a great day to walk around, though it did get hot once you start hiking around as the  village is situated on a mountain.