Leaving footprints, heart and soul in Korea: Pretend princesses at Gyeongbokgung Palace on Day 7

14 December 2014

Its our 7th day here in Korea and today we were scheduled to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace. This is our second visit to a palace. Last summer we visited the Changdeokgung Palace and the place was really big that we did not manage to walk through the entire palace.

Therefore, today I was more prepared. The group decided to wear long dresses and skirts today so I did too. I was actually praying real hard that I will not trip over my long dress and fall down. Clumsy acts and ‘accidents’ are kinda my thing especially when I am trying to look like a demure lady.

We made our way to the subway and slighted at Gyeongbokgung Station (line 3).

Once we arrived at the station, we saw these collection of mirrors.

This calls for a selfie….or the koreans call it ‘selca’.

Just being dorky as usual since I can’t be that pretty chic with pouty lips you see who take beautiful selfies.

The palace is at Exit 5 and once you started walking towards exit 5, I think you will notice the that the station is designed to resemble the architecture from olden days.

We are here! Let me pretend I am a princess here since I am in a long dress.

The admission ticket only costs 3000 won. We were also informed that with this purchase, we can visit any of the 4 other palaces in Seoul for free. We simply had to keep this ticket and this offer was valid for 6 months.

Wow.

I wish we had time to visit another palace before we leave! Just the 5 of us today because Naqiyah was unwell and has chosen to stay in for the day.

I know the palace was going to be huge and we will not have the time and energy to see everything inside.

The place was so beautiful and almost every spot had the potential to be picturesque.

However, before we move on, let me introduce to you my partner in crime, Effa.

So you would imagine we would sit and smile sweetly at the camera such this right?

You thought wrong.

Yup we did all the jump shots and the fighting shots in our long skirt and dress. We did not care that some people were watching us. Lol.

One of the things I learnt from this trip is that with a click of the phone, anyone can look demure. So Effa made us do these poses of flying scarves and flipping skirts.

The funniest and the most hilarious was dear Tante. I don’t know how many shots Effa took but let me share with you a preview of the mysterious flying scarf. Lol.

Out of all the shots I think this one turned out pretty good. Hahaha.

I thought we spent too long laughing at ourselves. Lol. Anyway let’s move on because we barely explored the palace.

Like I thought, the palace was gorgeous.

As we walked around, it started to lightly snow again. Yup, it was so beautiful and this time we had the chance to enjoy it.

This is Kyeonghoe-ru which means “Joyous Meeting”. It is the largest pavilion in South Korea and that has been designated National Treasure #224. Supported by 48 stone pillars and set in a lotus pond, the pavilion was a favored place for the King to entertain visiting dignitaries. (credit:World Panorama Stock)

The Pavilion was surrounded by the frozen lotus pond.

Let me add my dorky self into this scenic view.

It stopped snowing for a while and the birds came to say hello to me.

As we continued to walk on, we found another treasure that was just as gorgeous.

It was really soothing to the eyes. I can’t resist taking these solo shots.

We met two ladies wearing the hanbok and requested this photo. They were glad to abide but after talking to them, I realized that they are Japanese tourists. Initially I thought they were koreans working in the palace. Lol.

Before we left, it started to snow again!

We had a lovely time here even though it was freezing cold.

Our next stop was Insadong!