Travelette: Korea - Itinerary

 posting my itinerary on our Korea trip. it was a free and easy one. 

and here are a few tips (based on personal preferences) on what to (or not to) do.

it was a wonderful one, despite several 'lost' moments.

but it was these 'lost' moments when we stumbled on the best food and lovely shopping streets.

feel free to drop questions and i hope you'll enjoy Korea through my posts as i did!

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also, we stayed at this really cozy and sweet place we got through 

airbnb (get RM95 worth of credit by opening your account through this link)

we nested up in this lovely abode at Ashley's place

- to put it simply her place was clean, convenient, comfortable and 

every reason you should stay at Ashley's place already.

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A brief itinerary of our trip (click on links for individual posts!)

Day 1

Airport > Ashley's place> Myeongdong

Day 2

Yeoido FGCA> Ewha University> Hongik University

Day 3

Nami Island> Petite France

Day 4

Prayer Mountain> Express Bus Terminal

Day 5

Gwangjang Market> Gyeongbukgung> Bukchon Hanok> Oksu

Day 6 

Suwon> Haenggung Hwaseong (Suwon Beef)> Korean Folk Village

Day 7

Gongdeok Food Market> Airport

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Gongdeok Food Market - Home

 it is our final day in Seoul (SOBS) and what else more to do before flying home? 

eat! (i mean EAT!)

as Ashley's place was in Gongdeok and super close to the famous 

Gongdeok market (well known for pork trotters and bindatteok),

we decided to go for it on our last day.

Gongdeok market did not disappoint.

Directions:

Take exit 5 of Gongdeok station and walk straight on.

you should see the Gongdeok market soon.

if you ever get lost, just ask for Gongdeok shijang (공덕시장) and the locals will point you towards it

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we had great food at Mapo Grandma Bindatteok (마포할머니빈대떡)

you will want to try this when you're in Seoul!

i think this shop might be popular in the area as 

this lovely halmeoni (grandma in korean) has her own logo

 and bus advert

and a list of shows halmeoni's shop has been on

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a portion of the scrumptions spread laid before our eyes

what we had (plus rabboki - tteokbokki plus ramen)

and sikhye (traditional sweet Korean rice beverage - yums)

last but not least - halmeoni herself!

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this marked the end of our trip in Seoul.

it was wonderful, but it will definitely not be my last.

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until next time Seoul! and thank you for the lovely memories.

 okay, so maybe our eating did not end at Gongdeok market.

we had beautiful donuts at the airport

and traditional korean desserts (this is worth it. trust me. serious.)

the end.

Day 6: Korean Folk Village (KFV)

Korean Folk Village

oh my, how i love this place.

we were super blessed to have a discount on our entrance tickets 

(remember to print some useful discount coupons 

on the Korean Tourism website here before each trip!)

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it was truly a travel back in time here at the KFV.

on a side note, the KFV runs free shuttle buses at different times from the Suwon Station to the KFV. so no worries about transportation fees here!

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the whole village was built in an ancient time manner and i loved it to bits!

it was so authentic that their gardeners were also dressed like how they would back in time.

even their souvenir store looked like this - super on point.

they even had an olden day trader selling his goods in the village

and how can we miss the healthy crops that can be found behind one's backyard

*mandatory(?) selfie!*

 i really liked this woodcraft shop

and practically every house looks similar to this

- but will still vary in size and patterns depending on the class of the house owner

for example, peasants and noblemen live in very different houses (duh)

spring water! - i guess you drink from these last time...

it was truly beautiful inside

 and the highlight was...*drumrolls*
the horse show!
- i wouldn't want to spoil it for you so i won't be uploading any photos.
but it was basically acrobats performing stunts (breathtakingly) on fast galloping horses

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Thoughts:
as we arrived after noon, we didn't get to spend much time at the KFV (edit: let me rephrase, KFV was lovely, it was the fact that our trip there was cut short which was a disappointment!) which was a little bit of a let down. thus i would advise that you go there earlier in the morning to catch more performances and absorb the whole ancient vibe all together. all in all, a one night stay in Suwon would have been perfect to cover more of Suwon (and its unforgettable beef!)
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Until next time,