the-iridescent-drifter-blog

[the-iridescent-drifter-blog]

South Korea | October 2016

The first time I set foot on Seoul, I swear I had tears in my eyes. It was indeed a dream come true. 

| October 31 2016 - November 05 2016 |

After years of praying and wishing to travel to Korea, I was finally, finally able to fulfill my dream. Thanks to my mom who brought me along for her years-of-service incentive, thank you mom!

If there is one thing that you definitely have to know about me, it’s that I am a huge fan of the Korean Culture. Naturally and unsurprisingly, my love for Korea started with the Korean Pop Culture. 

Year 2009 was when I first watched SHINee’s Ring Ding Dong music video (albeit not on purpose) during that one fateful lunch break. The song wouldn’t stop playing in my head until I arrived home from school so I booted up our PC, went on Youtube and the rest was ancient history.

Since then, I gradually fell more and more in love with not only their music but also their culture in general. So many years later - seven, to be exact - well, just imagine how frantic I became when my mother told me to start fixing my requirements for my visa processing.

It was really happening, me and my ugly silver nail polish couldn’t believe it was really happening. 

Your typical flying-over-the-clouds shot.

Our flight bound to Korea was scheduled in the afternoon so when we arrived at the Incheon International Airport, it was already nighttime and all that was left for us to do was have dinner in our hotel and prepare for the next day.

We were signed up for a group tour so our full itinerary has been set up before hand. From our tours down to our meals, everything was already prepared.

The view from the highest point of  “Le Petite France”, a small tourist spot in Gapyeong with a concept which encapsulates the famous French novel, “The Little Prince”. 

The mountains in the background look like they were painted, don’t they?

On board the ferry boat ride to Nami Island.

Aside from being the perfect picnic spot, Nami Island is also famous for being a shooting location for the iconic “Winter Sonata” Korean drama series.

I absolutely adore Autumn. With its gentle breeze that is not too hot like the summer and not too cold like the winter. But I am more in love with the colors of Autumn, what with its leaves turning into a beautiful shade of auburn , sometimes a striking vermilion and at times even a fiery amber hue.

Pyeongchang (Yes, the Pyeongchang 2018) was also one of our destinations. In which we made ice cream from freshly squeezed sheep’s milk!

Hello, Mr. Sheep.

바람개비

Next stop was Everland in Gyeonggi-do. My only regret was that I didn’t ride the T-Express on this trip because I didn’t want to ride it all by myself.

My mom’s outfit blends in!

An adorable bear waiting for her treat.

Can you guess what this well-lit street is?

If you guessed Myeongdong, then you’re absolutely right! 

Myeongdong is one of the main shopping districts in Seoul and is very famous for tourists. In my opinion, it’s part of starter pack for first time travelers in Korea along with the N Seoul Tower and the Gyeongbokgung Palace but we’ll get to that in a bit.

This is sadly my one and only “decent” shot of the N Seoul Tower because one, it was cloudy and two, my iPhone 5S camera and my non-existent photography skills can only do so much, sobs. 

The south gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Located right in front of the Blue House or South Korea’s White House, if you know what I mean.

The north gate of the Gyeongbokgung Palace teeming with tourists of all ages and nationality.

The Gyeongbokgung Palace was the main palace (but not the only palace) of the Joseon dynasty. It served as the household of the Joseon dynasty Kings and the center of governance during the time.

The Hyangwonjeong Pavillion also known as,  "Pavilion of Far-Reaching Fragrance”

As I mentioned earlier, I feel that it is very important for a first-time tourist to visit Myeongdong, the N Seoul Tower and the Gyeongbokgung Palace because these are the places where you can definitely see how the Korean culture was founded and had flourished since then, from the past on to the present. With these three destinations ticked off from your itinerary, you can finally roam around the rest of South Korea.