Soul Food in Seoul (day 2)

After the hotel breakfast, we braved the Seoul subway. Reputed to be one of the longest and most extensive subway system in the world, it was easy enough to navigate as there are english translations of the stations.

Cake selection

Wide array of breads

As we did not get a good feel of the city layout with yesterday's tour, we decided to go to Gwanghwamun to ride the Seoul city tour bus. The Downtown Tour runs every 25 mins like a hop on hop off bus. This passes through most of the city's tourists spots including most of the palaces. The tour guide spoke in monotonous robot-like tone that threatened to lull us to sleep. So after almost an hour we decided to go down at Namsangol Traditional Korean Village to get some coffee . We enetered Paris Baguette which is their local patisserie for some cappuccino and Bean filled bun.

Paris Baguette

Cappuccino 3000 Won, Bean filled bun 1000 Won

It was a good thing as we found a photostudio before entering the site that dresses you up in Traditional Korean costumes. For 15,000 Won , we had a great time donning and posing in Korean costumes. The photographer was so amused with our antic and whacky poses that he photoshopped our 'official' photo!

Our Official Photo

Basket weaver

Namsangol features traditional life and culture of Choseon Dynasty. They even have a basket weaver doing actual baskets. 






After this  we waited for the Seoul City bus. This is when we learned that the bus is rarely on time. In fact there was one time we waited almost an hour for the bus. our next stop was Dongdaemun. We went to the shopping building callled Migliore. If Namdaemun was Divisoria, Dongdaemun is like our Greenhills. Nine floors of shopping mecca ,organized according to what item they are selling.

with the food stall's lady boss

It was also lunchtime and  we headed to the top floor (9th) which houses the foodcourt. We chose that stall that has the most number of customers dining. This time we chose the Korean classic beef bulgogi which came to us served steaming on a big hotplate. It was good for2-3 people and costs 11,000 Won (Php 480).

The ever present appetizers

appetizers include fried egg, three linds of kimchi and sweet dried squid strips 

Vegetable broth with long huge bean sprouts.

Vegetable broth tasted like sweet corn and had really big and long yellow bean sprouts.

Beef Bulgogi- slightly sweet and non-spicy

N Seoul Tower

Next stop was N Seoul Tower, the 10th highest tower in the world (according to our drone voiced tour bus guide). We decided not to go down anymore as it involved more climbing and our feet were starting to ache (from shopping).












Changdeokgung Palace Complex was next on our list. It is the most preserved palace of the Choeson Dynasty and is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is composed of several buildings like  Myeongjeungjeon(main hall), Sungmundang and Haminjeong (conference halls), Tongmeongjeon (king's quarters),  and  Yangwhadang (Dowager queen's residence) .

Myeongjeungjeon

Sunmungdang and Haminjeong

Tongmeongjeon

It was past 4 pm and our last tourist spot of the day is Deoksugung Palace complex. This is near the seoul City Hall and there were a lot of policemen outside as a small demonstration was being held at the park nearby.

Junghwajeon

Deoksugung is another Palace complex with old style and some western style buildings. It was initially the residence of the descendants of the kings in Joseon Dynasty. The centercomplex (Junghwajeon) and the western style buildings are the only remaining original structures. 

GamJaTang before it boiled

After a brief rest, we ventured again at that alley beside the hotel. There is a traditional Korean resto with low tables and thin pillow seats. The place was half full and we decided to give it a try. We wanted a noodle dish and pointed to Gam Ja Tang. It is a pork sparerib stew with various mushrooms and glass noodles. The broth was only slightly spicy and hit the spot just right. The meat was falling off the bone soft. It was a bit pricy at 25,000 Won (php 1000) but it was good enough to feed 3-4 people. We could not finish the smallest order.

GanJaTang pork sparib stew

For dessert, we ate cherries we bought on the way home to the hotel. It was a bit pricy at 10,000 Won (php 400) at almost half a kilo, but I guess when on a holiday, we can make these few splurges!