It is only when the semester is ending that you start to realize there are so many things yet to do and so many places yet to go. And this is when you start to panic and cram things together. This is why I decided to go out of the campus on a Thursday night (this is a big deal since most of the time I'm too lazy to get out of my room :P). On this particular day, we decided to explore the area around City Hall Station.
We actually wanted to get some souvenirs at Namdaemun first, but by the time we got there, a lot of stores have already closed and we were too hungry to care. And so we decided to follow what our stomachs were telling us to do: eat. There are so many restaurants at the market itself but we settled for Jokbal (pig feet).
After pigging out (get it?), we walked back near the station and went to Deoksugong Palace. This palace is part of the "Five Grand Palaces" built during the Joseon Dynasty but after intentional destruction during the Japanese colonization period, only 1/3 of its original size remains. The most special feature of this palace is that it contains both historical Korean and Western architectures.
Who says you need to go all the way to Nami Island to see beautiful colored trees?
I love how different the style of the structures are. It really tells the story of this palace.
These are actually the chimneys for the smoke that comes from heating the floors of the buildings. It is built separate and away from the main building.
Two story buildings were very rare, so it's pretty amazing to see it still very intact.
This is perhaps the first ever cafe in the Korean history. Rumors has it that the King used to enjoy his coffee and free time here.
Next, we went to the Seoul Lantern Festival. Lanterns were set up and lit along the Cheonggyecheon Stream and crowds of people were there to enjoy the artworks.
Gyeongbokgung!
The wings actually move!!
Korean's favorite cartoons - for kids and adults alike!
They also had a special corner for Korean paper art. They were so cute and detailed!! I would've bought one only if they weren't so expensive >.<
That area was actually really close to Myeongdong but we decided to call it a night as we were getting really tired from all the walking. However, when I got back to the dorms, I started to feel really uncomfortable to the point where I even vomited. My friend that was with me also told me afterwards that she didn't feel so good either. We concluded that either we ate too much (we also had some hotteok and a really big cotton candy) or there was something wrong with the jokbal. Although it was really satisfying when we were eating everything, neither of us could look at meat properly for the next few days (a horrifying thing for a carnivore, me, to say).
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