Seoul 2010 Trip

Korean New Year @ Namsangol Hanok Village

February 2, 2011 by Yein Jee

It’s Lunar New Year’s eve, best wishes to everyone who’s celebrating it. I’ll be taking a blogging-break, updates will resume by around February 14.

Till then, sharing some photos from last year’s Seollal (Korean New Year) when I was in Seoul, at the Namsangol Hanok Village in Jung-gu…

Korean New Year at Namsangol Hanok Village, Seoul

Traditional performances at Namsangol Hanok Village during Seollal

Namsangol Hanok Village is a cultural village with five restored traditional Korean houses and huge garden. Visitors can experienced various traditional stuff (arts & games etc.) on normal days; and it’s a popular place for the locals to celebrate Seollal, with extra activities being held during the festive period.

Namsan locks of love, Seoul, South Korea

November 14, 2010 by Yein Jee

At Seoul’s Mt Namsan, thousands of love padlocks can be seen hanging on the fences around the base level of N Seoul Tower. Locks of love is a custom in some cultures where love birds would lock their padlocks at public areas and throw away the key to symbolise that their love will be locked forever.

Namsan locks of love, Seoul, South Korea

Korean Folk Village, Yongin, South Korea

November 3, 2010 by Yein Jee

The Korean Folk Village in Yongin City is the largest of its kind in South Korea. It has reproduced over 260 traditional houses reminiscent of the late Chosun Dynasty and has recreated the life of Korean people through the exhibition of various household goods and workshop items. Photos from my Feb 2010 visit…

Korean Folk Village, Yongin, South Korea

Bulgogi beef stew

August 12, 2010 by Yein Jee

Bulgogi (lit. meat fire) stew is one of the common dishes in Korean restaurants around the world, with marinated meat slices (most often beef) cooked on a hot pan with other ingredients like veges, mushrooms and glass noodles etc.

Bulgogi beef stew in Seoul, South Korea

Had this a few times in various spots in Seoul; the photo above was taken while dining out with some hostel friends near Sinseol-dong Station. Actually you can hardly find any place which cook this badly… the marination might be a bit time consuming but it’s basically a simple dish. Goes well with rice wine too lol.

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Seven Luck Casino, Seoul, South Korea

August 10, 2010 by Yein Jee

Seven Luck Casino, Seoul, South Korea There are more than a dozen casinos in South Korea, all but one are opened only to foreigners. There are three in Seoul if not mistaken – Seven Luck with two branches (in Jung-gu and Gangnam) and Walker Hill.

I’m a social gambler, normally visiting a casino 2-3 times a year. Not here to endorse gambling though, in fact it’s advisable to stay away from it if possible lol.

I ended up losing a bit after three visits to the Seven Luck casinos during my Seoul visit, but their hospitality mesmerised me – where patrons are treated like VIP with free food, free drinks (served to the table) and great customer care.

With all the pampering I thought I was living in a rich man’s world for a few moments lol, but reality is that nothing came free in this world… unfortunately some people would have to pay a high price on the gaming tables (and some would lose more than just $) to learn the fact.

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Sindang-dong Tteokbokki, Seoul, South Korea

June 12, 2010 by Yein Jee

Sindang-dong, Seoul’s famous place to have Korean tteokbokki (rice-cakes in red-pepper sauce). There’s dozen of restaurants selling the Korean dish at one particular street; we dined at the Mabongnim Halmeoni Tteokbokki restaurant (in February) which is one of the earliest to open its biz in the area in 1953.

Mabongnim Halmeoni Tteokbokki, Sindang-dong, Seoul