Travel Diary : Seoul, Spring and Love

By Korea.net Honorary Reporter Magdalena Krisnawati

Photos = Magdalena Krisnawati

I haven't written for the Korea Blog in a long time. Thank God I finally have spare time, so I can focus on writing again. This time, I want to share my experiences and my personal feelings and thoughts about Korea after visiting the country in mid-April. For some other  Korea.net honorary reporters who live in Korea, and for you who have visited Korea many times, what I write here may not be very special. However, for me, who just visited Korea for the first time, I was so excited and it made for me some really unforgettable memories. 

I went to Korea with my best friend  to enjoy the spring there. Though this was my first time in Korea, I chose not to go with a tourist group, but planned my trip myself, from getting the visa and arranging the itinerary all the way through to booking a room in a hostel. What made me a bit worried was when I applied for a visa. I was so happy when my friend's and my visa applications were approved. Then we were just counting the time, day by day, until the big day came.

It was Sunday, April 16, 2017, when our plane took off at 11:30 p.m. from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Jakarta. I could hardly sleep during the night flight. I wondered what we would be going through tommorrow. Until the morning came, a few minutes before landing, we had a lot of turbulence as the weather was gloomy and cloudy. Thank God everything was fine and we safely landed at Incheon International Airport on time at 9:30 a.m. local times. Finally! Korea here we come!

Heavy rain welcomed us upon our arrival in Korea. The weather was very cold and windy. This wasn't what I expected. I thought the weather would be warm in the spring. From the hot weather in Jakarta to the suddenly cold weather in Korea, my body needed to adjust for a while.

The next surpise came when I took the airport bus to our hostel in the neighborhood of Sinchon. I really felt the word bbali-bbali when the middle-aged man in charge at the bus stop asked me to hurry up, to move faster, to get on the bus quickly. It was a bit surprising, but it makes me smile to remember that.

After an hour and a half journey by bus, we checked in at our hostel, took a break for a while, and then we started our adventures in Seoul.

Night tour at Gyeongbokgung Palace

Our first destination was the Cheonggyecheon Stream. I took the subway to get there. I downloaded an app to help me use the subway in Seoul and to find directions to almost all the places we want to go to during our stay in Seoul. 

By the time we found the location of the Cheonggyecheon Stream, we just said, "Wow. Here it is! The Cheonggyecheon Stream, the stream that I usually see in many Korean soap operas." It's still unbelievable now that I was in the land of Korea. After enjoying the nuances of the Cheonggyecheon Stream and taking some pictures, I went to a big building across the street, the main tourist information center, where the K-Style Hub is located. We can find all sorts of information about Korea here. We can try on some traditional Hanbok attire for free, and at the K-Pop Star zone -- thanks to technology -- we can take a picture with our favorite star as if we were really side by side. It's really fun there.

We continued our walking tour that day, heading for Gwanghwamun. It was very crowded. There was a campaign going on for a presidential election, and the tents to commemorate the Sewol ferry tragedy in 2014 were still there. From Gwanghwamun Square we reached Gyeongbokgung Palace. This is really special because in April the palace offers night tours for visitors. We bought tickets for the night tour and I saw that there were many professional photographers there, and  also  some visitors wearing beautiful Hanbok attire. It was getting dark when I went through the main gate of Gyeongbokgung Palace and I was able to see the beauty of the palace at night with colorful lights. Lucky me, that I still could feel the nuance of the cherry blossoms there. It was a really romantic night tour.

Nami Island, Petite France and Myeongdong

We enjoyed these three places on our second day in Korea. It was raining during our tour of Nami Island, but it couldn't dampen my spirit to explore this country. What we were looking for was the filming spot of the soap opera "Winter Sonata." I think this show means a lot to a lot of people, not only in Korea but also for Korean soap opera lovers all around the world. We all knew that "Winter Sonata" was the starting point of the Korean Wave, the popularity of Korean pop music, TV shows and movies across East Asia and elsewhere. For lovers of Korean TV, "Winter Sonata" made a deep impression on us, and that's why people around the world come to Nami Island to bring back the memory of the sad story of "Winter Sonata." Again, I was happy that I still could see some cheery blossoms on Nami Island. It looked more beautiful in the rain. 

Enjoying the nature of Nami Island made us feel fresh and peaceful, but I had to say goodbye to the romantic island and leave for Petite France. As the name implies, we were able to experience what it felt like to be in a small village in France at Petite France, a filming spot for many Korean soap operas, such as "Bethoven Virus," "Secret Garden" and "My Love From the Star." I like the pastel colours of all the buildings combined with the colorful flowers there.

We were back in Seoul in the afternoon and went to Myeongdong. This neighborhood is a real paradise for those who love to dress up and put on make up. What I like here was that there were various Korean brands of cosmetics with cute packaging. My friend told me that buying Korean cosmetics in Korea was cheaper compared to buying them in Indonesia. That’s why I saw many Indonesian tourists in Myeongdong buying all sorts of Korean cosmetics. 

Insadong, the Bukchon Hanok Village, KBS and the Hangang River

My friend and I woke up early the next morning on our third day in Seoul because we were going to visit four locations that were quite far apart from each other. Again, we did a walking tour of Insadong and of the Bukchon Hanok Village. I think I fell in love with Insadong because there were many traditional Korean handicrafts there and I bought some Korea souvenirs, too. By the way, for any other Indonesian tourists out there, if you run out of Korean cash after shopping in Insadong and if you only have pupiah left, you can find a KEB Bank there and change your rupiah into won at that bank. You don’t have to worry any more about shopping in Insadong. 

From Insadong, we went to the Bukchon Hanok Village where I was able to enjoy some traditional Korean houses among the many modern buildings. We followed the small alleys to see many types of traditional Hanok homes and their distinctive architecture. They were all beautiful and unique. If you don’t want to walk, you can hire a rickshaw to get around the Bukchon Hanok Village, the best way to save your energy.

The weather that day was very hot. So after lunchtime, we decide to go to our next destination, the Korea Broadcasting Service (KBS), to meet our friend who work at KBS Radio Indonesia Service. I will tell you about my experience at KBS in a separate article. Now, however, I will tell you about a place that's very cool and a must-visit when you're in Seoul. This is the Yeouinaru Hangang River where you can take an Instagram-worthy picture here under the sign that says "I Seoul U." For me, this was the main landmark of Seoul, after the N Seoul Tower, of course. 

We spent an afternoon at Yeouinaru enjoying some live music and the Hangang riverside. I really felt a good ambiance there that eliminated our fatigue after our day-long trips.

Itaewon, N Seoul Tower, Seokchon Lake and Banpo Bridge

Those are the places we hit on our fourth day in Seoul. For Muslim travelers, visiting Itaewon is a must, where we could see and feel the life of the Muslim community in Korea. Besides that, we were able to visit the Seoul Central Masque in Itaewon. If you're lucky, you can meet some Korean Muslims there and ask about  the life of Muslims in Korea. 

After looking around Itaewon, we went to the N Seoul Tower by bus. Initially, we planned to go to the observatory deck, but we just went to the terrace of N Seoul Tower where we could see a panoramic view  the city of Seoul. , As you all know, you may leave a trail of "locks of love" at the N Seoul Tower. 

We were there for only an hour and a half. We took the subway again to go to Seokchon Lake. We went there because we wanted to see the Sweet Swans project. It’s a floating family of giant swans and five cygnets around them. The swans are inflatable sculptures created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

“The swan family is a visualization of love, which, like the air, surrounds us, but we often forget about it,” said Hofman, as quoted in Korean media.

I truly felt the beautiful spring air as I was sitting by the lake looking at the giant inflatable swan. People all around me also looked happy there. This was the joy of spring. However, we had to leave the beautiful sights of Seokchon Lake as the dusk was coming and we still had one more destination. We again took the subway to the Banpo Bridge to enjoy the rainbow fountain there. We asked some people for directions to the bridge. After walking about 30 minutes, we finally found the perfect position from which to enjoy the Banpo Bridge.

The Banpo Bridge rainbow fountain show started at 8 p.m. Looking at the colorful fountain water, I suddenly felt a bit sad that this would be our last day in Seoul. We had to pack this night, and take a morning flight the next day.

Above all, I thank God that He gave me a chance to see other parts of  the world. I really had a good time in Seoul over the past four days. I also thank and remember the people who kindheartedly came to us and helped us find the right directions and take the right train during our trip. These were people who spoke to us nicely even though we could only communicate with gestures. Nonetheless, we exchanged smiles and laughter.

I don’t know if I'll be able to go back to Korea again. Nonetheless, what I have gone through in Seoul will be everlasting for me. Maybe that’s why spring is always beautiful and  full of love.

Annyeong, Seoul. Until we meet again~

wisdom117@korea.kr

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