seoul's bygone palaces

for a change, a photo of myself at the first part. well, not that anyone cares! haha i may assume too much when i see myself as a schoolgirl here especially with this beanie on my head. i've never owned a beanie in my life and i have no idea that it has this youthful effect on me. but on the other hand, i'm giving you every right to disagree.

and i'd totally understand if you think otherwise. i can be delusional at times, you see.

so, what's up with this post? well, on my second day in seoul, the cold weather waned a little bit and just hovered around -6 degree celsius. yes, it's still freezing cold but the sun was out and the cold was something that i could endure an entire day of treading palaces. i must be a polar bear in my past life to declare such statement.

anyway, together with three young korean ladies, i visited 3 out of the 5 grand palaces during the joseon dynasty in korea. as a warning though, this will be sorta like a parade of excess photos because i plainly got carried away.

Changdeokgung Palace

Imagine the followers all bowing down before the king. With snow on the ground, I'd rather not! Brrrr

The palace grounds demand a serious case of hide and seek!

And the cloudless blue sky made it all perfect.

I'm a bit considering having this design on my house's ceiling. Although a paper house for now.

Thank you Mr. Sun! You were wonderful and very considerate that day.

i met up with 2 of the youth goodwill guides at anguk station and i was glad that i was right on time in our 10AM rendezvous. we then first made our way to changdeokgung palace, a walking distance from the station. it is built in a complex with several structures built around its area, as also the case of the other 2 palaces we visited that day.

with the snow as my main reason in going to seoul, i never got tired exclaiming the wonder of the snow on the ground which made the old palace a sight to behold! the 2 girls i was with, could only nod in slight perplexity.

Changgyeong Palace

How Peter Pan would look like in his winter clothing. lmao

I almost strained my neck looking at these intricate artworks!

These reminded me of the windows of the ancestral houses in the Philippines.

A witch's cauldron. Kidding. This is some kind of a fire pot.

Even doors appeared lovely before my eyes.

My guide told me that these mythical birds provided protection to the palace.

Oh hi there! Why so grumpy huh?

we met up with the remaining guide at the changgyeong palace and with them more prepared, she carried loose printed references as we went on with our tour. it wasn't a serious kind of tour because we also got to talk about the general life in south korea today, aside from the stories that happened centuries ago.

this palace is just adjacent to changdeokgung so, why not pay a visit to the other one if you already happen to be in either of the two?

according to one of my guides, the palace was built with the natural terrain in mind. instead of flattening out the land, the buildings were erected in such a way that it would adjust with the natural slopes.

Daeonsil (Great Glass House)

I thought trees are completely without leaves during winter. I was wrong.

The frozen lake livened up by a flock of birds. Not seen in photo.

Here are my 3 young guides with the peace signs, of course.

The landscape in front of the glass house.

Obviously, the non-functioning fountain.

I couldn't part from my beanie for I found my fountain of youth in it! lol

Are you okay up there pine cones? Now, don't fall down on me!

I just couldn't get enough with these colorful ceilings.

taking a break from the palaces, we farther walked towards a glass house where we found the comfort of being like in a tropical place. even if it was only for a short while, it was a welcome rest nonetheless.

and inside this glass house, my delusion of being just a couple of years older than my young guides, burst into the thin cold air. let's backtrack to the frozen lake to provide you a good explanation. during our photo pause with the lake, we bumped into a trio of young japanese girls who were vacationing in korea as well. picture them with my guides shrieking like young girls after they came to know that they are coincidentally all in senior high school. i was awkwardly transfixed at my spot and i wish i could shriek at the same time not because i'm also in my senior year but because, i have already been working for seven years! haha i simply couldn't relate!

we met up again with them at the glasshouse and after another set of lively greetings and photos, one of the japanese girls asked one of my guides if i was their mother. darn!　たいへんひどい！お母さんじゃないの！when all along, i thought my beanie could do me a huge favor! huhu do i really look that old?

putting that tormenting incident aside, these korean and japanese girls represented the modern irony of the turmoil past between the two nationalities on the very ground that we were standing. the glass house is left as a reminder of that past when the japanese had turned the palace grounds into a zoo and a botanical garden, a grave insult to the koreans then.

Gyeongbokgung Palace

Changing of the guards at the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

Look up! Only the gate Chinese character I can identify.

Why so serious Mister? And I already ditched my beanie this time.

The main hall at the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

One of the 12 Chinese zodiac animal signs.

This one too and it looks adorable!

Another fire pot and this was the spot where a block of snow fell from the roof!
Good thing no one was hurt!

The grandeur of the main hall.

A Jewel in the Palace scene. I completely forgot the title of the show 
when I was asked by my guides what Korean drama series I had seen.
Not that it mattered since they probably only knew the Korean titles.

This fierce lady admonished us after we spent 
a long time in the room with ondol. haha

Another frozen lake. I don't know what's this building. But can you see the mountains?

Uhm, not sure if Koreans have a Sadako counterpart.

Once again, these windows in green color.

Photo session, why not?

White sands?

Here we are! (Lisa, Youn Joo Kim, Myself, Helen)

I was told that the bird is a sign of good luck for the new year.
With great influence from the Chinese, Koreans also celebrate the Lunar New Year.
It was last Feb 10 this year. (The time of my visit in Seoul.)

the grandest of all the palaces in seoul is the gyeongbokgung palace where we spent a good amount of time, warming our frozen butts in an ondol (traditional korean underfloor heating). after insadong, we were just right on time to catch the changing of the guards in the palace, which is an attraction in itself.

it was the same layout as the previous two palaces although, everything was significantly magnified. for me, it has the best view since you can see the old palace with a backdrop of the mountains in one angle and the tall buildings in another. and just my luck, the azure skies completed the palace's appeal.

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My notes on these palaces:

• If you don't have the time and you're such a killjoy over a similar setup of the palaces, head over to the Gyeongbokgung Palace directly.
• Of course, if you have the time, the other palaces are also worth the visit and much better with a guide. I have learned a lesson that when visiting historical sights and most importantly ruins, it's a whole lot better if there's someone who can explain the significance of a slab of rock, for example.
• I got my guides for free because the young girls belong to the Youth Goodwill Guide in Seoul, a volunteer initiative and they're on Facebook!
• One of the guides exclaimed her view on how the palaces are forbidden from public use, unlike the ancient churches in Europe where some have been turned into bars, cafés, libraries, etc. She likes the idea of the presence of people in these palaces, instead of being a mere display. Well for me, there are always the pros and cons. We all know that not everyone has high regard for history, that some would take advantage if these are put into public use. What's your take?

Admission Fees
Changdeokgung Palace - ₩3,000 Adult

Changgyeong Palace - ₩1,000 Adult

Daeonsil (Great Glass House) - No ticket but it's at the back of Changgyeong Palace and I'm not sure if there's another access aside from the palace.

Gyeongbokgung Palace - ₩3,000 Adult

o-O