Started Day 4 with a cultural tour of Seoul! There are many palaces in Seoul, and personally, I think it’s enough to just visit one, they look almost the same I guess? For us, we visited Gyeongbokgong (경복궁)! 
I think we chose this because it’s the largest palace among the 5 in Seoul, and because it was near the other places that we wanted to visit!! Palace tour was quite fascinating at first, but it became boring as we walked past buildings of similar designs, and it was really huge. I doubt we covered every area lol. But I still think the palaces are worth visiting to have a better idea of a country’s histories We also had a glance of the guards changing ceremony and I took it down with video! It’s just some kind of pseudo culture preserved for the sake of tourism. But we might not be able to have such experience without tourism too….. okay contradicting hahah! Just thankful for the people who participated in putting up the guards changing ceremony, but they were doing it with emotionless face :/
Took this while taking a rest on the bench by the lake
My attempt to get an “artistic” shot hehehe!
hehehe 
Then we proceeded to the National Folk Museum (국립민속박물관) which was just outside and nearby Gyeongbokgung! Admission is free! & we actually chanced upon our other group of Busan exchange-mates in the museum hahah! This museum mainly showcased the history of South Korean especially during the Joseon Dynasty. Somehow or rather, this is the part of their histories that was selected to be put into their education system. & even though King Sejong was not the founder of the Joseon Dynasty, he seemed to be glorified much more than other kings during the same era, just because of his contribution to creating the Hanguel writing system (which is the korean characters that you’re seeing now). It was said that Koreans used to learn chinese characters like Chinese, but it was too difficult for them which cause the low literacy rate. That’s why King Sejong created the Hanguel in hope of increasing the literacy rate of its people. Now you know why King Sejong’s glorified? He kinda created the difference between koreans and chinese, it is this difference in their writing and language system that made them unique as being a Korean There was also the history and story of Admiral Yi Sunshin who was a famous naval commander in Joseon Dynasty. He was especially reputated for the battle of Myeongnyang whereby he defeated the Japanese despite being terribly outnumbered (13 against 333).
LOL so as you can see, a country always seeks create difference between its neighbours, and glorify themselves as much as possible. The story of King Sejong is to let people recognise King Sejong’s effort in creating Hanguel that differentiates Koreans from its neighbour China; while the story of the Admiral Yi Sunshin is to let tourists see how Korea was more superior than its other neighbour, Japan.
US!
Touristic Activities: Writing our names and countries of origin in Hanguel!
Love the background and the pic! that’s ME!!! Some random place inside the folk museum
This is the Gwanghwamum! Statue inside is Admiral Yi Sunshin.
It would look much better if not for the gloomy weather! & I heard that it’s nicer at night! So perhaps the best time to visit this place is in the evening
Me is some Korean costume LOL. This was meant for males i think? But I didn’t care, just for the sake of fun! Felt more daring to do stupid and touristic things hehehe!
Part of Cheonggyecheon Stream!
This is just one small part of the Cheonggyecheon Stream. Best thing was that the Cheongye Plaza was very near to the Gwanghwamun Plaza! Now you know why we chose to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace hahah?? Cheongye Plaza is the place where the Grand fountain of the stream is located! It wasn’t very pretty since it was still very bright when we visited it 
But it’s okay, can visit it again in the future This long stretch of stream has many many couples lor… & so we walked all the way from Gwanghwamum area to Dongdaemum -_-”" We thought that it’s quite near, but we were so damn wrong and was even late for our dinner appointment -_-”" Imagine travelling around Seoul without a workable Korean mobile number. Our friends only had to wait patiently for us lol. But good thing is that Wifi is easily available in Seoul! So we depended quite alot on Whatsapp for communication purposes!
My first try at Korean Soju during our Korean BBQ dinner! I only had one very very small cup of serving, you know those traditional cups for soju? & that’s the super red me Soju smelled like petroleum to me :/ & it was really burning hot when it reached my throat :/ But good experience & I started getting high hahahha! & when I met the other group of friends at Myeongdong after our dinner, I was sleeping on the table while that group had their KFC dinner LOL. But I felt alright after that very short rest! Realised that the effects of soju come and go very quickly!
This was another part of the Cheonggyecheon stream located at the Dongdaemun area, taken when it was dark after our korean bbq dinner Can you imagine how much more beautiful it would be at the Cheonggye Plaza Grand Fountain at night?
Places visited:
- Gyeongbokgung Palace (Entrance Fee: 1500 won after DC for ISIC card)
- National Folk Museum
- Gwanghwamum Plaza
- Cheonggyecheon Stream
- Dongdaemun
- Myeongdong (Never sick of this place!!!)
