Seoul 2011 - Day 2

Day 2
After a good night rest at the hotel, we started day 2 to the Changdeokgung Palace or Changdeok Palace. It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. The literal meaning of Changdeokgung (창덕궁, 昌德宮) is "Palace of Prospering Virtue". Changdeokgung, like the other five grand palaces in Seoul, was heavily damaged during the Japanese Occupation of Korea.


AS the palace is near to where we stay, we walk, run, skip, jump, hop all the way there.


Queuing up to buy tickets to get in the palace. Look at me and didi with the sun glasses on and you know how glaring the sun is....


This one looks different from the one near my hotel....n i just need to sit on him to tame him down....hehe....

This is the Injeongjeon Hall (National Treasure) - the throne hall of Changdeokgung and it was used for major state affairs including the coronation of a new king and receiving foreign envoys.

The palace is big and we had a good run around the place, kicking the sand and making our shoes real dirty on just the 2nd day.

This is the well which i wanted to jump in for a swim in this "hot" weather.

After the palace visit, had a quick super yummy thick ham toast bought from a stall along the street, we took a cab to Namsam Park, one of Seoul City’s largest green spaces, where we then took the namsam cable car up to the peak to see the N Seoul Tower

Namsam Park was once the center of capital defense. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910) the capital was changed to Hanyang,(current Seoul). To protect the city from invasions, castle walls were built on the 4 major mountains like Mt. Bukaksan, Mt. Inwangsan, Mt. Naksan and Mt. Namsan. On Namsan peak, five beacons were built to report the news from local governments to the central government with a five-signal system.

Dont they look like bee hives???

Nice view from the top....

This is the tower!

There’s also a Teddy Bear Museum....and we found 2 wandering outside on their own?

Lover locks Cone Tree? If you think this is many....check out the pics below

Thousands of padlocks are attached with love notes to the lower level fence.

So if you are lovers and planning a trip there, remember to buy a lock and seal your love for your love ones....

Ceremony starts

Cable car down....and we had our lunch at the resturant there before we walked down Namdaemun before hiring a cab back hotel to rest.

An evening walk around Insa-dong streets where our hotel is. Insa-dong Street is one of the most memorable attractions in Seoul and represents the focal point of Korean traditional culture and crafts. Stores in Insa-dong specialize in a wide variety of goods such as hanbok (traditional clothing), hanji (traditional paper), traditional teas, pottery, and folk crafts etc.

look at didi's cute expression.....the hungry boy pleads" Dinner Please...and stop taking photo, mommy!!!"

Rows of restaurants along the side streets......lots of choices.......

We had the yummy fried Nian Gao and some other korean style snacks here.....

Note: Vehicles are not permitted on the street at Insa-dong during weekends and this makes it more amenable for visitors to look around.

After a long walk, we headed back to hotel for another round of "Wee ar wee" in the bath tub. Before that, didi needs to use the computer first to check his "shares" prices before it hits down the rocket bottom?????