The next day we headed out to do some final touring before they left the next day. Lucky for us, it was hot, humid, and POURING the entire day. Good thing the weather decided to be so nice for us.
We first went to see the statue of King Sejong. He is one of the most famous kings of Korea (apparently) and is most well known for Hangul or the Korean alphabet. Until 1446, Koreans used Hanja (Chinese characters). It took years of study to master the complex Hanja, time the average citizen did not have. So Sejong created the less complex 28 letter alphabet of Hangul which people can learn with a few hours of study.
And I totally mean that. It does not take all that long to learn how to read Korean. Now, understanding what you read is a completely different matter.
Anyways. Here's King Sejong in all his awesomeness.
After marveling at the terrific King Sejong, we walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace which we could see from the statue.
Look at that fantastic weather. If it looked like this in Oregon, it would be freezing. Lucky for us it was hot and humid. Yay! *sarcasm*
We braided Jesi's hair the night before to make it all wavy and pretty. It did look pretty awesome when we took it out. However, the humidity made it get really fluffy and by the time we got to the palace, she had contained it in a ponytail.
The palace is really pretty. I love the colors they use on the beams.
Same building, farther away.
Jesi found a friend at the palace! He would look great out in the backyard, eh, Mom? It's a really good thing I'm 5,000 miles away right now. :)
After walking around the palace and the adjacent museum for a while longer, we went to Insadong for lunch. I almost got us lost, but HA! My keen sense of direction *cough cough* kicked in and I was able to get us there with no exciting detours.
I was not feeling good (again... but for different reasons) and all the pharmacies I found were closed so I couldn't use my "eeboopuhlohpehn joosehyo" (I'd like ibuprofen) line that I've learned. I was trying not to be grumpy because, well, when it feels like your body is eating you from the inside out, you tend to get snippy.
After looking through the pictures, I have since thrown away the poor camisole that is failing to give me a decent neckline right here. Also, I think I wore this dress nearly every day in Vietnam. It was totally worth the 12,000 won I spent on it (about $12). I might need to burn it when I get home, though.
We had delicious beef bulgogi. It's pretty much the same thing as the chicken I ate with Jesi except there is more broth in this one. It was delicious. I will miss this...
I WON'T miss kimchi. I wish I liked it... but I don't. I do like the colors of kimchi, though. I'm currently debating whether or not to go take a kimchi cooking class next week as one final adventure before I go home... we'll see.
In Insadong, we watched people make the dragon beard candy. I LOVE this stuff! Jesi bought some to try.
She tried to be all dainty while she ate it. How cute. It makes a mess, but it is really good.
Speaking of sweet treats...
After looking around Insadong for a little while, we got back on the subway (AGAIN) and went to Gangnam for Dr. Fish! Jesi and I were supposed to go there on Wednesday but we had decided against it because of the flooding. It was her last day there and we had to make sure she got a fish foot bath.
They make you buy something to eat as well if you want the Dr. Fish treatment so we got a shaved ice bowl. It has strawberries, bananas, kiwis, pineapple, fruit cocktail, a scoop of sorbet, and little squishy marshmallow things that are actually made of rice. Oh, and a GIANT scoop of shaved ice with sweetened condensed milk on it. DELICIOUS.
It was super yummy. Here is Dad enjoying his shaved ice thing. :)
Once we had finished eating our tasty treat, we went to the Dr. fish zone for a fishy foot bath!
This is where you sit, put your feet in the tank, and let the fish EAT YOUR FEET.
Jesi and I opted for the tiny fish. It tickles SOOO much!
If it weren't for taking Jesi here, I never would have gone back to this place. It tickles too much!! Ack!
I took a video of us getting our foot baths.
While the fish were nibbling on our feet, we could look out over the streets of Gangnam. It was absolutely POURING! Just buckets and buckets of water coming down like a broken rain machine on a movie. Cars were sending up sheets of water as they drove.
You can't really tell in this picture, but the first half of the sidewalk was about a foot deep in water. There was no going around it. If you wanted to cross the street, you had to wade calf deep in water. Ick! By the time we got outside, they had cleared the drains so the water wasn't so deep anymore. Also, we took a taxi. Yay!
The rest of the night included packing, dinner at the mall, and a second viewing of the new Harry Potter movie. So good. The next day, my chicky and daddy left for home. I miss them, and I'm counting down the days until I get to see them. It's less than two weeks now and I'm getting really excited (and a little sad) to head home.
0 comments:
Post a Comment