Cappuccino Time

carrie

Lying astride the Han River, Seoul offers a unique blend of the ultra-modern along with a wealth of ancient palaces and gardens. We visited this fascinating city twice and liked it. Bidding farewell to Busan, we returned to Seoul again. We bought Bentos for the train trip back to Seoul. Kappa worked on the train while I edited photos to prepare for the albums. I enjoyed time on the train. Knowing that we are heading to a place totally unknown, we are still looking forward to unveiling that unknown destination layer by layer.

Seoul train station impressed me deeply for two reasons. One is that I once got lost here and Kappa got mad at me. The other is that across the road on the top of a tower stands a giant lifting a model bus. I don’t read korean. I don’t know what that advertisement is but it is an awesome sight.

Myenogdong where the Staz Hotel is located is famous for its hectic business streets and night fair while Gangnam is trendy and more expensive with skyscraper towers. I am happy we have chances to experience more perspectives of Soeul. Taxi driver took us to a hotel called Cappuccino.

As its name suggested, the hotel decoration is very romantic and innovative with artistic touch. Its style is so avant-garde that we we accepted the mini-size of the room, taking it as part of the hotel style.

The room was tiny. A narrow passage led to a king-sized bed with soft comfortable matress. We often watched funny videos done by a nice-looking Italian gay, planned itinerary and had chats on this huge bed. The funny moment was when we were out of bath standing in front of the mirror we discovered how much suntanned our feet got due to the sandals we wore.

Hungry! Dinner time! Since we were not yet familiar with our surroundings in Gangnam, we strolled around and bought something for breakfast. Then we dumped everything in the room and headed to the bus stop to Lotte where we had some experience with selecting place to eat. Eating well was important after a long day exploration. Walking around a while in the food mall, we settled on sushi which never disappointed us. And the price was acceptable.

After dinner, we got back by bus and had a walk in the neibourhood of Cappuccino. I remembered the landscape was a bit like Central in HK with very steep slopes. There is more traffic here, more impressive high-rise towers, expensive hotels and looks more cosmopolitan.

Our destination for the first day was The Blue House, a complex of multiple buildings, built largely in the traditional Korean architectural style with some modern elements. It is also called Cheongwadae, which is the executive office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea. After getting off the bus we went uphill in a very quiet area with few passers- by. It turned out that we were walking in the wrong direction.

Cheongwadae consists of the main office building and its annexes.The main building has a hipped-and-gabled roof, which is the most refined and beautiful style among Korean architecture, covered with Korean style blue tiles from which "Cheongwadae" takes its name. It is said that approximately 150,000 tiles compose the roof of Cheongwadae, each baked individually, which makes them strong enough to be used for over one hundred years.

Public admission to Cheongwadae was permitted only recently. Visitors can access to a defined course inside Cheongwadae through a prior application on the Cheongwadae website. Since we did not plan early, we just had a walk around . It was noon time and very hot.

Walking down a long avenue, we approached Gwanghwamun, the gateway to the Gyeongbokgung palace. Gwanghwamun was originally built as a wooden structure. Its ingenious craftsmanship, structure and its magnificent appearance are considered to be one of the greatest gatehouse buildings in Korean history. It was ruined three times due to Japan invasion and was reconstructed into how it looks now.

While walking along, we saw a bunch of women brightly dressed in Korean traditional costume talking laughing loudly as if they were in thier own private garden. Judging from the language they spoke, I could tell they are Chinese from Guangdong area. I felt ashamed that they were so noisy in public places.

It seemed there would be an important sports event in Seoul. Standing right in front of Gwanghwamun, an army of atheletes in cartoon miniture were doing all kinds of sports. They looked so cute.

The playful nature in Kappa was instantly brought out by the sight. Facing a shooter, he immediately knelt down, offering euros to the shooter, asking him to spare his life. I had a good laugh!

Kappa, I wish you were happy and carefree. When not travelling, it seems you hold a heavy weight on your mind about kids, houses, and a lot of other stuff. They are toxic and jeopardize your well-being. Please relax. In China we have a saying 儿孙自有儿孙福，which means whatever will be will be.

The giant statue sitting there on the throne is the emperor who reformed Korean language from ancient Chinese to what it is now, cutting off their bond with China. Farther away is the statue of General Lee who fought bravely against Japanese invaders and was considered a national hero. Mansions on both sides of the square are important government sections, museums, and opera house.

When we were feeling hungry, thinking of eating something, we happened to be passing by a sushi place, so we popped in. Sushi never disappointed us.

After sushi, we headed towards Ihwa Mural Village which was in the vicinity of Nansam Park on top of hills.

Ihwa Mural Village was once set for destruction as it was seen as a bit of slum and down-trodden area. 2006 saw the “Art in City Project” carried out by The Ministry of Culture, and Tourism. Murals were then added in an effort to revitalize the neighborhood in Seoul.

Colorful murals added artistic touch to this Ihwa Village, making it a hot spot for tourists.

With an influx of people, the noise increased, the foot traffic increased and peering eyes around every corner became the norm. In April of 2016, some of the residents became so fed up that they took their grievances and turned them into action, painting over some of the most popular murals in the neighborhood. What a pity!

Was it the right thing to do? That’s not for me to say. I think it’s okay to visit this mural village IF people abide by some specific guidelines in order to respect the residents that may not be happy about their popularity. When we were there we found the murals for the most part are intact. We had a very pleasant gallery walk around.

On a sign, I read Guidelines with many DON’TS to bear in mind while cruising around in the mural village: Remember this is a residential living neighborhood. DO NOT walk into doorways or gates. DO NOT assume the building is open for your peering eyes. Considering it’s a neighborhood. DO NOT yell or make noise above conversation level. DO NOT throw trash onto the ground and assume someone else will sweep it up for you......

Out of respect, we were very considerate when we were exploring the village, conversing in low voice , taking care not to litter at all.

There are some great murals in the area and art installations and it does make for a lovely place to walk around to get views of the city below. After touring along the sloping hill with so many fancy murals to see, kappa was tired. When we attained the summit of the hill, kappa threw himself onto the wooden pavillion floor for a rest, while I watched the sunset.

When we left Ihwa village and walked back to the chaotic city streets, we found our router failed to orient us. We were hungry and lost. Kappa decided to go to a random restaurant in the street corner to have dinner, in the meantime giving time for the burning hot brain-damaged router to cool down to boost itself again. It was a wise decision.

Our plan for the bext day was to explore Cheonggyecheon. We took a different route to go down a very steep slope to reach the bus stop. Kappa was happy to see a frango statue in front of a genseng chicken soup restaurant. It is a pity we did not have a chance to try genseng chicken soup, a typical Koren food.

Cheonggyecheon stream starts from Gwanghwamun but we did not know it until we came back the the next day. Cheonggyecheon Stream is an 8.4 kilometer waterway and public space that runs from west to east through the heart of downtown Seoul. Cheonggyecheon has been mentioned in history, even before Korea was an established country. Settlements and villages have appeared along its banks and used it as a stable source of water for hundreds of years.

History of Cheonggyecheon was written on the war as well as the history of Korea. It wasn’t until the Korean War that the modern incarnation of the Cheonggyecheon was really born. In the aftermath of the Korean War, much of Seoul was left in ashes and ruins. Gun battles and explosions left entire districts charred and uninhabitable.

The onslaught of people, housing, and waste left the Cheonggyecheon littered with garbage and overflowing with waste. Then the year 1958 witnessed the solution with the construction of an elevated highway above the stream which covered Seoul’s longest lasting blemish.

Later a redesign followed. In the past, the stream was at ground level but the redesign placed the water and banks at a sub level, making it an intimate setting for dates , giving the feeling of being apart from the urban backdrop. Looking down, I saw crystal murmuring water with egrets strolling . Looking up, I saw vibrant city view with jungles of skyscrapers.

Large stretches of the Cheonggyecheon have been restored to wetlands. Cranes and frogs are common sights. Stream banks have been paved with smooth bricks and pavement, giving an ultra-modern look and feel.

The dilapidated and polluted waterway is now a distant memory of local residents. The stream is turned home to species of fish, birds, and insects. How healing is peace to the world and its inhabitants.

It is said that a boat cruise along the Han River is one of the best ways to view Seoul's river front areas, but we just leisurely walked along Han River bank and the view was awesome.

Han River rises in the western slopes of the T’aebaek-sanmaek mountains and flows westward across the peninsula through three provinces, and then winds its way through Seoul to the Yellow Sea with a length of 514-kilometre length.

It has been a valuable river transportation route since ancient times. Various agricultural products are grown in its 26,000-square-kilometre drainage basin. It supplies the cities along its course with water for industrial and general use. The river’s upper course, in the mountains, is used to generate hydroelectric power. In a nutshell, it is like the mother river of South Korea.

We had a nice afternoon wandering around, admiring its vastness and the life that is going on here.

We strolled up and down the bank enjoying our moment sitting by Han River and admiring its sunset.

Time to go back to hotel. This was our last leg of trip in South Korea. Sunset gilded the towers in Gangnam with gold. Traffic was heavily flowing in the evening rush hour.

We were wandering along a busy street lined up with restaurants of one kind or another. It was just a point of which one to choose. We entered this one specializing in grilled pork. It turned out very good and we were very satisfied. We liked its salad with sesame, bean sprouts and onion. It was so appetizing.

Kappa planned a shopping day for me. We went by subway to the outlet of Lotte and Mario, which concluded our visit to South Korea. I would view this visit to South Korea perfect as always, despite all the odds.

For the last supper, we tried a Japanese restaurant near our hotel where was packed with diners. It had an expensive look with very good service. The food was very nice starting with Japanese cold noodles, followed by sashimi sushi and Tempura prawns. All was good, leaving nothing more to be desired!

The interior decoration was modern with some Japanese style elements. Some Chinese characters were used but written in Japanese way.

When kappa paid the bill , it was even not very expensive, cheaper than Senryo for sure. A perfect conclusion.

The is a map marked with the destinations of our Korean visit. We like each of them. Every country is unique, so is Korea, in its particular way. Kappa discovered each hotel room was equipped with a box containing strong rope with a hook. He said it was a fire escape. How come they are so nerve-wrecking about the next-minute emergency? North Korea threat might be the reason. When I was visiting the palaces, I received twice the notices for possible air raid. It is nation who is prepared for the worst. Also interestingly, what we saw in Korea broke some stereotypes I held about Korea. To start with, commonplace people here are not as trendy as they are on Korean TV drama. Secondly, women here are not as elegant as women in Japan. They are more plain looking as if still preoccupied with daily survival. Some of them are horribly bow-backed. Thirdly, dragon statues here look different from those in China, with two horns but no whiskers. They don’t look fierce or powerful but funny. Besides, Young people speak little English and few foreigners are found on the streets here. We were both surprised that high-voltage wires are intertwined in big mess hanging in the mid-air of street corners without being hidden underneath, which made Korea look a kind of falling behind the times. Of course we found good things too. We found the country dynamic and lively with everybody working hard. We like the classical music when there pulled in a subway train, which is an effort to educate and enlighten their people. Music is a universal language and the best cure around the world. It will inject into their people with some sense of aesthetics, slowly but surely! We like Korean grilled pork and pickled onion with vinegar. We picked up food words like Gimbap, bibimbap, annyeonghaseyo and gamsahabnida. I also found a funny thing about kappa that almost each time he forgot to count the steps when walking upstairs from a subway he would go down again to count. My dear kappa!

Every day in South Korea was a nice day but on the last day when we were to get to the airpot it was raining like mad. Kappa was totally drenched. What was worse, the bus stopped at every big hotel to pick up guests. We were so worried that we might miss our flight. We made it in time but it was indeed very risky. When I was seated in my plane by the fenestra , I suddenly caught sight of kappa’s Lufthansa plane taking off. I burst into tears in silence. I caught this sad moment with my camera, wishing loudly in my heart that my kappa would have a smooth flight home. When the tails of the two planes met and departed, when kappa’s plane soared to sky , I drooped! It was a tough moment for me! Kappa, I love you! Please take very good care of yourself when I am not by your side!