Day 1: Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon

Right across the street from Gyeongbokgung and Gwanghwamun is Gwanghwamun Square. I think I first saw Gwanghwamun Square in pictures during one of the World Cups where there was a sea of red shirts surrounding the statue of King Sejong and spilling out on to the streets. More recently, I saw Gwanghwamun Square featured in one of the action sequences during the KBS drama Iris. You’ll probably noticed this as a repeating pattern through my blog whereby I first saw something or got the inspiration to visit somewhere in Seoul from watching a Korean TV show, drama or movie.

Gwanghwamun Square, is just that, a square block (or more accurately, a rectangular block) defined by 4 busy streets on all sides. The contents of the square transforms depending on the season. During the summer the square contains a large flower bed and during the winter, a portion gets converted into an ice rink. The constants of the square though are 2 statues commemorating 2 historical figures from Korea’s past.

Along the side of the square, there is a long running fountain or stream that flows over the names of the Kings that once ruled Korea.

Around the mid-way point of the square is the first large statue commemorating King Sejong. King Sejong was the founding father of the Korean alphabet which they inscribed on the side of the statue and influential in the fields of science which yielded items like the sundial. It’s quite a prominent looking statue in size and its gold luster and is probably the most memorable statue I saw in Seoul.

As you walk further south, there is an underground museum dedicated to the life and times of King Sejong. It is also connected to various underground facilities like the Gwanghwamun Subway Station and there’s a Seoul gift shop that sells a lot of Iris-centric souvenirs.

Across the street from the square was this wicker man like statue all lonesome by himself and an advertisement banner with actor Song Seung-hun.

After seeing how busy the square was and what traffic was like all around the square, I’m amazed with such a busy traffic city like Seoul that they were able close it off to shoot that sequence in Iris. There must have been some pretty angry drivers that day stuck in traffic.

At the south end of the square is the Admiral Yi Sun-shin Fountain. The fountain is in commemoration of the great naval commander and is sometimes called the 12.23 Fountain to signify the 12 ships used in 23 wins out of 23 battles fought against the Japanese. The fountain is composed of numerous spouts that run along the side of and front of the statue. It’s not blocked off or anything so you can go all the way up to the statue when the fountain isn’t in action (or is if you want to get wet).

Just south of Gwanghwamun Square on the East side of the road is where Cheonggyecheon or Cheonggye Stream starts. The reconstruction of the stream was part of a revitalization project to clean up the area and I understand that when it was being built, there was quite a lot of opposition because it meant that all the street vendors along the stream would have to find somewhere else to do business. I found it to be a very beautiful attraction to visit and to me it was one of the places that defined Seoul. I had also seen Cheonggyecheon in a variety of dramas but the one that stands out is the episode of MBC’s We Got Married where Marcos ran and fell in to the cool waters trying to impress his “wife” Son Dambi who was standing atop the bridge....what people will do for love ^^.

The start of the stream is hard to miss because it is marked by a giant colourful cone that I still have no clue what it’s suppose to be.

The stream starts here and runs East for many kilometers. I think the farthest along the Cheonggyecheon I got during my trip was to Dongdaemun Market. The stream was built with two levels so you have the choice of walking along at street level looking down at the waters or you can go down and walk along the stream right next to the waters. Stairs going up and down between the levels are not as frequent as you might think though so just keep that in mind.

While I was there, the Cheonggyecheon was decorated with many exhibits of art work as part of the Hi!Seoul Festival which is an annual art festival where parts of Seoul become the canvass for artists to display their works and creativity.

While walking along Cheonggyecheon, I found that it was a popular place for couples to hang out and for salary men and women to go for walks on their breaks from work. A lot of the pictures and videos I found on the internet of Cheonggyecheon portrayed the stream as even more beautiful at night so it was my intention to return to Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon some time later in my trip at night. Here is a collection of clips I took portraying Cheonggyecheon that day.

By this time, it was past lunch so I headed north to Jongno where there were a lot of Korean and Western restaurants to choose from. I always go on a trip with the intentions of eating as authentic as possible but why does that never happen?! I think it’s because when I’m on the move, I don’t tend to think about food until it really hits me and then I just end up wanting to grab something quickly to satisfy my hunger. I passed many a restaurant but then doubled back and went into Lotteria. Lotteria is like Korea’s answer to McDonald’s. Korea also has McDonald’s which was actually just down the street from this Lotteria but they don’t have anywhere near the presence that Lotteria does. I found Lotteria was literally everywhere I went. I bought a chicken burger combo which was surprisingly very affordable (around $5CAN). I noticed that the size of soft drink cups in Seoul are smaller than in Toronto. When I was finished my meal, I was met with the challenge of trying to decide where all my garbage went. In Toronto, everything pretty much goes in the same garbage bin at a fast food restaurant. At Lotteria, the garbage area had separate bins for food scraps, waste, cups, and liquids. I wasn’t sure what was what so I just watched and followed what others did. It felt embarrassing for some reason not knowing what went where…

When I got back to my aunt’s place, I met one of my other aunts who came by to visit and say hello. She brought with her one of those cakes that I always see on Korean TV and that I’ve always wanted to try. It was made with fresh cream and tasted as good as it looked. Mmmm…맛이있다!!!

For dinner, my uncle came over and we ordered jajangmyun (noodles in black bean sauce) and gangpungi (battered pieces of chicken in a spicy and vinegar sauce mixed with other vegetables) via 배달 (delivery). It was such a small thing but I was so excited to try a delivery ordered meal as you can pretty much get anything via delivery in Seoul. I don’t know when delivery service started in Seoul but it’s become the norm now and for a business to compete, it seems like it has to deliver. I had seen it on Korean TV so many times where someone would be in the middle of nowhere and still be able to get a jajangmyun delivered. When the meal comes, it comes all prepared and ready to eat in a porcelain or plastic plate covered with saran wrap. When you are done your meal, you just leave the plates outside your door and they will come back to pick them up usually a couple of hours later. The jajangmyun was pretty good but I was disappointed in the gangpungi. I was expecting to be blown away by it since I was in Korea but it fell short of the best gangpungi I’ve had which is still at the H-Mart Korean Supermarket food court in Thornhill. I was feeling a little woozy and tired by the end of the day and had no problems falling asleep. I think I went to bed around 8PM.