Trip to Seoul, South Korea - Day 5

 We needed a day full of stupid fun, so we spent the ENTIRE day at Lotte World!

We just hopped on the bus and we were at Lotte World in about 20 minutes. Super easy. Lotte World is a theme park in the middle of Seoul, just east of Gangnam in Sincheon-dong.

Once you get in and pay for your tickets (and then get your cheesy headbands, of course), you can see that they have a huge ice skating rink! Every time we looked down into the rink, they were speed skating - as a figure skater, Natalie was annoyed by that!

We took this picture for our Domino's Pizza obsessed Grant. 

If you go to Lotte World, you can rent a school uniform. Ok, ok... that probably sounds really weird to the American's who are reading this but it's really normal for locals and visitor's alike to do this! In fact, only about a week after we were at Lotte World, Namjoon from BTS was there and he rented a boys uniform!

The Camelot Carousel at Lotte World is SUPER famous. I mainly wanted to ride it because Kang Tae-Mu and Shin Ha-Ri rode it in the K-Drama Business Proposal! Eeek! So cute!

So. We rode it. We might have been the oldest people on the ride who DID NOT have tiny children with them.

Ahhh Lotte World. Why do you weirdly feel like Germany? When we were walking around, we stumbled upon a little band doing a musical routine. It was so cute - I love the guy up on the drums!

After this, we went over to ride French Revolution, but we didn't get any pictures of that! It was the only roller coaster that we rode, sadly. Atlantis was closed for the day, which wasn't showing on the website as being closed. And we didn't ride Comet Express for some reason. French Revolution was worth the wait though - also, BTS rode it in their Lotte World episode of Run BTS!

I didn't know what Battlegrounds World Agent was gonna be about but this was legit the most fun we had all day. I came in 8th place, somewhere around the middle. But LOOK at my intensity! I don't know what event I'm only scoring 25% or 10% in but I felt like I did better than that. I feel like I got a LOT of bad guys here.

After we spent some time indoors, we decided to make our way outdoors to Magic Island.

Lotte Tower soars high above Magic Island. Believe it or not, this is the SIXTH tallest building in the world! Superlative, check!  It's also the first building in South Korea to have 100 plus stories (it has 123 above ground). 

I mean, that doesn't look like Cinderella's castle at Disney World/Land. Nope. No way.

Love that German vibe here in South Korea!

I wanted a picture of the ride going above her head (we did not go on the Gyro Swing, for the record- I did that once at Volksfest and I will never do that again!)  She got this adult Snackeez that had chicken in a bowl over her soda!

Hilariously, I, the one who is terrified of heights, wanted to ride the Gyro Drop, but Natalie didn't want to!

This little boy was chasing this pigeon around and I suddenly missed Grant a lot. 

Natalie in front of Magic Castle at Lotte World.

Switzerland, right here in South Korea!

Natalie wanted to ride the Gyro Spin but I can't spin (nope!) so she went on it by herself. Meanwhile, I watched these guys go up the side of Lotte World Tower (6th highest in the world, if you recall), washing windows on their way up. Absolutely not. Whatever they're making, it's not enough.

It was really hot outside (about 80 degrees) so we went back inside to ride the Conquistador, but we saw the parade going on so we stopped to watch that a bit. Natalie said they hire a TON of foreigners for the parades and shows. I didn't gather that the pay was great, but they often pay for housing so that's a bonus. Natalie and I went and signed up immediately! Just kidding!

Natalie and I braved the Conquistador but the line was pretty long. Worth it though, because not only was it super fun (she and I rode one of these in Santa Monica too!) but BTS rode this in their show Run BTS! (Episode 51) so of course, we had to ride it too!

We got off of the Conquistador and the parade was STILL going on! We were obsessed with the little kids on the far right in this picture who were dressed like little princesses - apparently you can pay for this experience. It was SO cute.

I saw these cute monkeys near the Conquistador after the parade ended!

Jayson Tatum jersey spotted at Lotte World when we stopped for some lunch. Let's go Celtics!

Because we had just eaten, we didn't want to ride anything crazy, so we rode the monorail around the indoor park after lunch. While we were waiting in line, we met the cutest little boy and his parents. His name was Jinew and he was 3-years-old-- and he said to Natalie in his best English, "I love you!" He was seriously the cutest thing ever! 

It was the perfect post-meal ride!

Lotte World is one of the largest indoor theme parks in the world. In fact, at one time, it WAS the largest. It's still probably top 5 or 6, but there are two in UAE that have taken over the top spots.

Natalie and I saw a few rides we didn't have a chance to get to. Some had lines (the Flume Ride) and some didn't (the Drunken Basket teacups).

Have fun going down that hill, #13!

You can see that Lotte World wasn't crazy packed - not like Busch Gardens was at the end of December!

I don't know what these are, ducks? They're so cute though!

We got some churros while in line for Pharaoh's Fury (although we never rode it because the wait was like 2 hours long) but this was the only picture we had of both of us with our frog eyeball headbands. Jungkook and Taehyung of BTS (our FAVORITES) wore this in the Lotte World episode of Run BTS!

I mean, we look just as cool as they do, right???

Apparently the monorail wasn't high enough for us, so we waited in line for the Pokémon Balloon Ride. The website says, "Ride a balloon full of hope and happiness" so duh, we had to ride it.

The balloons are much higher than the monorail but thankfully the "walls" of the balloon were high enough for me NOT to pass out from my extreme fear of heights.

Hello down there!

Everyone looks like ants from up here!

"Natalie, is there a line for the Flume Ride? Can you see the number of minutes we have to wait for the ride?"  "Not really, you should take a picture and we can zoom in on it."  Ok that didn't work because I still can't see it!

This balloon ride was sponsored by... Pokémon! Pikachu was feeling a bit shy today.

Ok this MIGHT be the cutest thing I've ever seen and I haaaate regular popcorn. I did kind of love the strawberry popcorn that I bought at the 7-11 EVERY night on this trip for a night time snack though. SO GOOD.

I need this to be a plushy that I can buy.

We rode ONE more ride before we left - The Adventures of Sinbad, which was a ride similar to Pirates of the Caribbean at Disney World (including the drop!).

Totally like Disney World.

There were actually TWO drops though, which we were NOT expecting since there was zero form of a seatbelt on this ride!

Before heading out, we watched the final show of the day called Mystic Mask Fairy Land - and it featured characters from the Wizard of Oz, Lotty and Lorry (the chipmunk - ?? - mascots of Lotte World), Pinocchio, Captain Hook and Peter Pan.

And whatever (waves hands wildly) this bearded wizard is that's floating above the stage.

Goodbye Lotte World, we had a super fun day!

It hilariously reminds me of a 1980s American mall, but I really love it.

Until next time, Lotte World!

Trip to Seoul, South Korea - Day 4

 Ok, we were starting to feel a bit more human today! But WAIT until you see the visuals from today! Today we visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace, the most famous of all of the Seoul royal residences.

It also happened to be Easter, but there wasn't really a huge sign of that as South Korea isn't a real religious country. Natalie and I stopped for some breakfast -- a cheese muffin and hot cappuccino for me - you have to specifically say that you want your coffee hot because the iced coffee craze is REAL in Seoul - they have a particular love for Iced Americanos!

So we got on the train to go north up to Gyeongbokgung Palace and THIS ahjussi stared at Natalie the entire time in the station and on the train (for several stops). Here he is STILL STARING so I took a selfie with him. And he was still staring when the train pulled away from the station we got off at!

But don't worry. We saw Jin in the train station and he made us feel all better.

Next stop... Yes Hanbok to rent a traditional Korean dress. If you do this, they will let you into Gyeongbokgung Palace for free!

This was actually a much better experience than I was anticipating. Was it a bit rushed? Yes, but they didn't make you feel that way. They were very patient and did their job efficiently. Even when they were helping me dress in the hanbok and Attitude by Ive came on in the store and I was dancing and singing during the fitting. (Annoying American!) But aren't our hanbok's so pretty?

They also do your hair- and for as intricate as it looks, they do it VERY quickly!

Here's mine! So pretty! The traditional silk or satin ribbon in the hair is called a Daenggi, and it's used to tie a woman's braid.

When our fitting and hair were complete, we walked over to the palace. Don't worry, just follow everyone else who is wearing beautiful hanboks!

Natalie and I at Gyeongbokgung Palace in our traditional Korean hanbok. The hanbok dates back to about 50 BC, and consists of three parts: Jeogori, or the top (which can be worn by men or women), Baji (the pants worn by men) or Chima (the skirt worn by women) and the outer coat called a Po, which we did not have on because it was almost 80 degrees.

Walking into Gyeongbokgung Palace, we saw these super pretty lamp posts! I love the detail on the glass.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the most famous of all of the five palaces of Seoul - Gyeongbokgung Palace, Changdeokgung Palace, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace and Gyeonghuigung Palace. Gyeongbokgung was the first to be built although it burned down several times so this is not the original.

We look so cute!

Gyeongbokgung Palace is also the LARGEST of the five palaces, and is known as the Northern Palace.

This palace was originally built in 1395 (!!) just a few years after the founding of the Joseon Dynasty. King Taejo overthrew the Goryeo Dynasty which had been, at that point, around for about 475 or so years. Goryeo is where the modern word for "Korea" came from.

A pretty princess in a pink Hanbok at the Heungnyemun Gate, with Gwanghwamun Gate in the distance behind her.

At the start of the Imjin War in 1592, the Japanese invaded and burned down Gyeongbokgung Palace under King Seonjo. The current palace is not the original (which is probably why the paint is still so vibrant!)

The palace sat in ruins for hundreds of years before they rebuilt it in 1867 under King Gojong. Most of the Gwanghwamun Gate burned several times, the last time being in the 1950s during the Korean War. 

One of the most important things to happen at Gyeongbokgung Palace was the invention of the Korean Hangul language and script. The citizens of Korea could not read or write the complicated Chinese script, so King Sejong (4th king of the Joseon Dynasty) invented the Hangul language to improve communication - both written and verbal - among the common people.

Don't we look so cute at Gyeongbokgung Palace? Here we are at Geunjeongmun Gate, and behind us is Geunjeongjeon Hall.

Natalie in front of Geunjeongjeon Hall.  This hall was built during the 4th year of the reign of King Gojong of Joseon in 1867, along with most of the rest of the palace area.

This is also where they held official state functions since 1867.  Although there had been a building here from 1399-1546 where 12 kings were coronated, the area sat vacant for more than 300 years. I'm so glad they rebuilt it!

It certainly makes a great backdrop for some beautiful pictures.

Someone told me that this almost looked like she was standing in front of a painting. It really does!

In 1910, Japan annexed Korea - and Korea sat under Japanese rule until 1945 (I think you know what happened that year!). In about 1915, they dismantled most of Gyeonbokgung Palace.

All of the girls were dressed up- and Natalie and I thought they were SO pretty! I think we complimented every girl that walked by us on how pretty their dresses were.

We continued to walk around the grounds and came upon the Gyeonghoeru Pavilion, where they used to hold royal banquets. So pretty!

This is about all we had left of the cherry blossoms by the time we got to Seoul. That's ok, at least we got to see them!

Another nice picture of Natalie and I at Gyeongbokgung Palace in our pretty Hanbok.

A lot of people would ask us if we wanted our picture taken together- which was really nice because we got a lot of great photos of the two of us together. But then this one random guy basically took my phone and did a 30 photo shoot which was hilarious!

Well, there's a few cherry blossoms still left, I guess.

After our two hours of Hanbok rental was up, we returned them to Yes Hanbok and looked for some lunch on the streets of Gyeongbokgung.

We stopped for some (gulp) pizza and beer. There was a guy in the restaurant across the way wearing a Tampa Bay Rays hat and when he and his family walked out, our eyes met, so I pointed at my head where a hat would sit and he gave me a thumbs up! (Of note: I do not root for the Rays- but it was funny to see a Rays hat in Seoul of all places!)  Natalie also ordered our entire meal here in Korean!

Natalie and I decided to go back to Gyeongbokgung Palace and we were treated to a practice/training of the changing of the guard. The real changing of the guard happened after this and it was really packed - so we were grateful we got to see this viewing! We also met some really super cool sisters (Hi Lavinia!!) from Brazil who were mad adorable - and really, isn't that the best part of traveling?

The changing of the guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace is a reenactment of the palace guard procedure that occurred back in the Joseon Dynasty.

My favorite guy was the man with the gong (who is behind the black flag, of course)

The uniforms were beautiful!

We loved all of the bright colors! During the Joseon Dynasty, the guards were in charge of protecting all of the palace gates, and thereby protecting the king.

We wandered through the various buildings and grounds at Gyeongbokgung Palace. Here, we were at the newly restored Gyejodang Hall. 

Gyejodang Hall was used as a sort of state office by the crown prince in the Joseon Dynasty. Of course, it was destroyed in 1910 by the Japanese, and was only recently restored and completed in 2023.

I truly loved the paint work on all of the buildings at Gyeongbokgung Palace!

Here is Natalie in front of Bihyeongak, which was also within the portion of the palace that belonged to the Crown Prince. Bihyeongak was also an office for the Crown Prince, but a more personal one where he would study. It was originally built in the 15th century but of course... was destroyed and rebuilt a few times. This restoration was done in the late 1990s.

It's really fun to wander around and get lost among the buildings! You can see how the palace was protected a bit by the mountains to the north and west of it.

We wandered over to the Sojubang area, or the royal kitchen and we found the well that was excavated in 2005.

There are two kitchens in this area - the Naesojubang, and the Oesojubang. The Naesojubang was the inner royal kitchen where daily meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner were prepared for the royal family. Only the best chefs prepared the daily meals with the best ingredients.  Even though she knocked, they wouldn't let Natalie in for some reason! Ha!

Oesojubang was the outer royal kitchen, which was used for large banquets and seasonal festivities like the New Year or Chuseok. It was even used for royal birthday parties!

As we continued to wander around, we spotted this tall building! This is the National Folk Museum of Korea. If it seems a bit out of place, well... that's because it is. It's scheduled to be demolished later this year. Many people did not like that it combined characteristics of many of the historic eras and dynasties of Korea, and they want to see it more in line with the Joseon Dynasty (since after all, Gyeongbokgung Palace was the primary palace of the Joseon Dynasty!)  There are also various Buddhist characteristics, which is very out of place since the Joseon Dynasty adopted Confucianism as it's philosophy.

I do like that color of blueish green paint, though!

This is the back side of Saenggwabang, or Saengmulbang where the desserts and snacks were prepared. You can go in here and have a little tea and snack party yourself (for a fee of course)! But we had to move on!

The last thing we visited as we left Gyeongbokgung Palace was Hyojagak Pavillion and Hyojamun Gate on the east side of the Palace. I think we were delirious at this point!

We had to get back to the metro stop, so we walked ALL the way around the palace, passing a fun circus-like event going on in front of Gwanghwamun Gate. Please don't fall!

Looking through the beautiful Gwanghwamun Gate, toward Heungnyemun Gate, with Bugaksan Mountain looming in the background.

After our visit to Geongbokgung Palace, we headed over to Myeongdong so we could finally do some shopping at Olive Young. This particular Olive Young is a MADHOUSE. The prices are so cheap that they have a hard time keeping stuff off the shelf and everyone is shoving and pushing to get the best products.

If you bring your passport, they will scan it and immediately give you the tax relief (rather than having to do it at the airport). I found it was much easier to just bring my passport everywhere with me, which is something I would NEVER do in Europe.  You can see we had a pretty good haul here! I was so excited to find my favorite D'Alba face spray serum here for super cheap! 

We saw Seoul Tower from the streets of Myeongdong!

Myeongdong is very busy and I wish this picture wasn't as blurry! 

We did see Shooky around town - featured here in a grocery store with Mang and Cooky advertising almonds.

We stopped by KPop Friends which was a really cool store with tons of merch from all the top K-Pop artists!

OMG stop, I love you Jungkook. They had HUGE pictures of the members of BTS up on the walls, and you could write a little note on a post-it note to them.

Natalie thought it was super hilarious that there were so many K-Pop stars on advertisements across Seoul and I think she pointed EVERY ONE of them out to me. We didn't see as much male K-Pop stars, but the female idols were EVERYWHERE. Here we have Eunbi from Iz*One, and we must have seen Wonyoung (also from Iz*One, currently in Ive) in a million places across the city. 

If you saw a guy on an advertisement, it was probably an actor - this is one of my FAVORITE actors, Byeon Woo-seok who was in Lovely Runner. We saw him EVERYWHERE (along with Cha Eun-Woo).  Woo-seok wasn't in a K-Pop group but he did portray a famous K-Pop idol in Lovely Runner and had a few hit singles as a result of the show!

We had some dinner at Kkanbu Chicken in Myeongdong - the windows were open and we sat upstairs and did some people watching!  We made up stories about the people we saw to pass the time while we waited for our fried chicken to arrive.

I ordered a beer and a soju - they still brought me two soju glasses, even though she's 17! Umm, ok???

Oh my word, other than my mom's homemade fried chicken, I think this was the best fried chicken I've ever had in my LIFE! It was so good and super cripsy!

Speaking of crispy... Because... why not? We spotted a Kripsy Kreme donut machine right there in the subway station of the Seoul Metro as we made our way back to the hotel for the night!

Cheers to another super successful, beautiful day in Seoul!