Seoul, Korea (June, 2014) – Day One: Arrival + Insa-dong

Upon arriving at the airport, we took a bus from the airport to our station near our hotel. We booked a place called BBUNGALOW Hotel, which was located at Jongno-gu, Seoul. It’s pretty much the area where the old palaces are located, as long as the government office and the Seoul City Hall.

Our hotel had a nice home-y and comfortable feel to it. Its quaint brick facade also adds its own interesting touch to its look. To add to that, our hotel, apparently, also housed a bar, cafe, and art gallery–truly something compatible with my interests! There’s nothing quite like a nice cup of coffee while appreciating the beauty of art!

Its surrounding area also felt very nice, safe, and clean, so it was a nice and easy walk from our place to the subway stations.

The view we typically see while walking to the nearest subway station.

Random banana thing we see all over the town! (I really don’t know.)

We always pass by this coffee shop on the way to the nearest subway station.

I don’t know ..I somehow found this amusing, so I took a photo. haha!

I’d like to point out that this is one of the most tiring trips I have ever had. It definitely involved a great deal of walking. This made me realize why almost all the people living in Korea are so fit! You’ll barely be able to find any fat person in Korea. (Seriously!) Despite all the strenuous walking, it was well worth it in the end though!

My three sisters attempting to decipher the conundrum that is the map of the KORAIL lines in relation to our planned-out destinations.

This bakery is called Manoffin. We always pass by this whenever we use the nearest station.

The first location of our itinerary was Insa-dong, which is considered to be a more traditional shopping area in Seoul. You’ll mostly find good buys here for souvenirs and other quaint and crafty things, but I found it to be fun seeing all the unusual traditional items being sold here. We wanted to start our trip with this place, so we could at least get an idea of a bit of the less modernized side of Korea, while, also, being able to take note of things we could probably come back for so we can purchase them towards the end of our trip.

The first thing you’ll see upon getting out of the subway exit is this plaza with a gigantic paintbrush sculpture.

These are also one of the first few stores you’ll at the main strip of Insa-dong. The man in red is one of the tourist information guides, as you’ll actually be able to spot a lot  of these people around the main tourist spots within Seoul.

One of the most popular sites in Insa-dong is the Ssamzie-gil culture and shopping complex. We took note of that place and decided to take look inside.

What’s interesting about the structure of the complex is that the upper floors are accessible through ramps that slope subtly, so users will feel the comfort of shopping through stores all the way up to the top floor without realizing as much that they have already been going upwards because of the ramps. There are also stairs you can access at discreet areas if you wish to get up and down a lot faster, plus an elevator for the elderly and those with disabilities.

Ssamzie-gil entrance signage.

Korean street food that looks like poop! I forgot the name they called it, but it sounded like ‘kung-pao.’ It’s filled with red bean paste. It immediately caught our eyes upon entering. lol

The stall decor for the ‘poop’ Korean street food.

Wooden art installation at the ground floor.

Some art installations you will see on the first few steps up to get to the start of the ramps.

When using the stairs, it also becomes a pleasant experience, since every nook and cranny of this complex seems to be filled with art. It really was such a pleasant visual experience while strolling.

This is the gigantic ‘rose’ art installation that most v/bloggers mention when they go here. It’s filled with doodles and whatnot. It reaches all the way up to the fourth floor.

I found the timing of this shot quite adorable, since it’s a bit reminiscent to me of a monk contemplating under a Bodhisattva tree.

While going up the ramps, I was able to get a good view of the unique buildings, and stores down the main street of Insa-dong.

I somehow found the facade of the building interesting, and I couldn’t resist taking a shot.

Two of my siblings posing at the opposite end.

I absolutely adored this quirky art store overdosed with feline art on canvases. I couldn’t help it, being such a huge cat lover myself!

At the top floor of the complex, you will find another Korean street food stall, an ice cream stall, a nice a comfy cafe, and an interesting alley full of note tags. I couldn’t read what was on the signage and on the tags, but I just assumed they were used for love notes and whatnot.

I found the mix of colors of the tags in the alley to be very alluring and uncanny. It’s somewhat reminiscent of the scene in ‘Spirited Away’ by Studio Ghibli where Chihiro ran through narrow path full of flower bushes.

It would be cool if someone could translate any of these messages.

Giraffes place on the green roof.

We went back to the main street of Insa-dong for another stroll, and decided it was about time for lunch. We chose to eat in the popular store that sells Korean Mandu, also known as some sort of dumpling. I wasn’t able to take a photo of the place we ate in, as I was feeling to exhausted and hungry, but I was able to take some shots of our walk going there and going to the station for our next destination.

We found more of the tourist information guides along the streets. They helped us look for a place to eat. It felt a bit strange that the lady caught me taking a photo of them though! hahaha

In Korea, you will definitely find a lot of pigeons. Unlike in the Philippines, where it’s mostly maya birds. lol

It’s strange, but I managed to find lots of calligraphy-related stores in Insa-dong. I have a bunch of more photos of them, actually. You can probably find them when I make a more detailed post about Insa-dong.

Apart from all the traditional stores, and cosmetic shops, another thing I was excited to see in Insa-dong was the old Starbucks. I’ve heard it was one of the oldest ones in Seoul, since its signage was still in traditional Korean characters, so I just had to visit it!

The old Starbucks Coffee with its old unusual signage.

Four of my siblings posing in front of the old Starbucks. lol

I couldn’t resist taking a photo of this shop due to its overly ‘kawaii’ factor! The pink just amps it up!

We’ve heard about this famous type of tube-like ice cream cone in Korea, and we managed to find a stall in Insa-dong. Some come in cane-like shapes, other come in, what I’d like to call ‘the awkward shape.’ You’ll probably understand why, once you see the photo down below.

This is the cone that I’d like to say comes in an ‘awkward shape.’ lol The mecha cartoon character (kind looks like Voltes V?) in the poster just makes it even more amusing.

We didn’t get to try the ice cream, since it seemed a bit too expensive for what was being offered, so we decided to continue strolling around. We managed to pass by what was called the ‘Alive Museum,’ and I just briefly took some photos of the place.

Amusing art installation. haha It’s actually not an elephant, though! It’s a totally different creature once you see its lower half.

Unusual installation in the Alive Museum. A man with legs, but the rest of him is actually the pillow.