Kimchi-Land (Seoul-Day 3)

6 December 2009: Cultural day! We arrived at Gyeongbokgung just on time to spectate the change of palace guards ceremony at the main gate. The guards were dressed in colourful robes, carried large flags and accompanied by an orchestral fanfare of drums, percussions, trumpets and even conch shells. Built in 1395, Gyeongbokgung (also commonly referred to as the 'Northern Palace') served as the main palace during the Joseon Dynasty. Similarly, the premises were destroyed by fire at the time of the Japan's occupation of Korea from 1592~1598. However, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Heungseondaewongun in the years of King Gojong (1852~1919). We could only see the symbolic blue tiles of curved roof of The Presidential Blue House (Cheongwadae) from the palace ground.. in beautiful harmony against the back drop of the majestic Mount Bukhansan.



Remarkably, the most representative edifices of the Joseon Dynasty, Gyeonghoe-ru Pavilion and Hyangwonjeong Pond are still relatively intact. Gyeongbokgung remains the most beautiful and grandest of all the five palaces. Justin and Jared had more fun throwing stones and pine cones on to the frozen pond than exploring the palace grounds.. I guess hundreds of years of history have fallen on deaf ears and gone unappreciated???




The National Folk Museum is located east within Hyangwonjeong and displayed the lifestyle of ancient Koreans from the pre-historic times to the Joseon Period (1392~1910).. ranging from the development of pottery, printing, tools for farming, hunting, fishing, clothes and houses. It also featured handicrafts, accessories, dishes, kimchi, jangdokdae and presented the life of an ancient Korean from birth to marriage to death.


The Jejudo Island sculptures such as Dolharubang, windmills, treadmills and sheds were displayed outdoors. The 'hanbok' is an ABSOLUTELY PERFECT duo-design for the more generously proportioned women like me which can also double-up as maternity wear if required! Hey, why spend money unnecessarily? Ha ha ha...

The National Palace Museum of Korea is a national museum of South Korea located in Gyeongbokgung. The museum first began as the 'Korean Imperial Museum', which was established in 1908 and was originally located in Changgyeonggung. It was moved to the Seokjojeon (Stone Hall) of Deoksugung in 1991 and the museum was finally relocated to the current modern building inside Gyeongbokgung in 2005. It houses over 40,000 artifacts from the palaces of the Joseon Dynasty and the Korean Empire. We also sampled some Royal Court cousine at the Museum restaurant which comprised of steamed dumplings and seafood with sweet pumpkin.

We had reached the subway (as the Koreans call it) when Jared quipped that he had a tummy ache.. talk about great timing! So I walked ALL the way back to the Museum toilet with him only to discover later that the subway had toilets too.. DUH! Then we learnt (the hard way) that the Dongdaemun wholesale toy market apparently closed early during winter.. much to Justin and Jared's disappointment...