Day 4: Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon at Night
I made it my intention to check out Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon again but at night so after resting up and having dinner, I decided to go out again.
I got to the area around the twilight hour as the remaining light was all about set to disappear. As much as Seoul was beautiful during the day, there were spots that were equally, if not more beautiful at night. During my trip, I visited Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon on 4 separate occasion, today being my 2nd time. Overall, it just seemed like a close, familiar and comfortable spot for me to return to and walk around.
Here is a collection of clips I took of Gwanghwamun Square that includes footage from my first day in Seoul during the day time, the twilight time on this evening and also at night from a later visit.
And here is the same for the Admiral Yi Sun-shin Fountain. The colours become so vibrant when it’s completely night.
After the Square, I headed south towards Cheonggyecheon and met the big cone once again, this time lit up.
One of the things I liked about coming here at night is with fewer tourists around, it made me feel like I was seeing a truer representation of Seoul. At night, it felt like it was just Seoul, the local people of Seoul and I. I don't think there’s any actual validity to that statement but that’s just how I felt.
One of the first things I noticed about Seoul was the proportionally larger number of visible couples I saw. It just seemed like everywhere I went and looked, people were hitched and travelled in twos. It made me kind of wonder where all the friends and single people were at!^^ I’m kind of exaggerating a little bit but that’s the perception I got. They say you only see what you are looking for so perhaps it was just my subconscious self, but it’s not something that ever caught my attention in Toronto. Before going to Korea, I asked one of my friends who grew up in Korea about the perception of things like eating by yourself in a restaurant and what not. At first, she said that in the past some people might look at you oddly but that nowadays people didn’t care. I think it all depends on where you go as I never felt out of place eating alone, except for this one time which I will talk about in a future post. At any rate, the Cheonggyecheon was no exception and it seemed to be a naturally popular hang out as there were many couples there. Unlike the tourists I saw during the day snapping photos and what not, the local couples would just choose to hang out and sit quietly together by the water or walk slowly along the water side.
On this night, the Hi!Seoul Festival 2010 was still ongoing and therefore the Cheonggyecheon was still decorated with many pieces of art along the way. Here is a collection of video clips of the Cheonggyecheon I took that night and on subsequent visits at night. Most of the exhibits from the festival were the stationary kind but there was one moving piece called Waterheads where a couple of people in suits walked around with a tank of water encased over their heads which you will see in the video. I’m still not entirely sure how they did it…
At around 6:30PM, there was still the very faintest of light out but by 7PM, it was completely dark. Here are some more exhibits that were on display.
This was a giant dialogue bubble that was floating in mid-air…what would you write in that bubble? I think I would write “Where are all the friends and single people at?” ^^
Along one wall, they had tons of individual boards written by Koreans (I think it was only Koreans) from all over the world describing what they liked or hated about their hometown or where they were currently.
After walking east down the river, I decided to leave and go north towards Jongno. In between the river and the parallel main road where the subway stations are was an active street filled with a steady rotation of cafes, restaurants, 노래방 (karaoke bars), and DVD 방 (DVD rooms) all the way through.
A lot of the places seemed busy with with Koreans looking for a place to eat, chill out, and release their stress after a hard days work. Have a look for yourself!
When looking at my videos when I got home, these walking type videos were always my favourite and I wish I had taken more because to me they most accurately captured the pulse of what everyday Seoul was like. I did a bit more walking taking in all the sights and sounds and store fronts along Jongno and then headed back home to call it a night.
I got to the area around the twilight hour as the remaining light was all about set to disappear. As much as Seoul was beautiful during the day, there were spots that were equally, if not more beautiful at night. During my trip, I visited Gwanghwamun Square and Cheonggyecheon on 4 separate occasion, today being my 2nd time. Overall, it just seemed like a close, familiar and comfortable spot for me to return to and walk around.
Here is a collection of clips I took of Gwanghwamun Square that includes footage from my first day in Seoul during the day time, the twilight time on this evening and also at night from a later visit.
And here is the same for the Admiral Yi Sun-shin Fountain. The colours become so vibrant when it’s completely night.
After the Square, I headed south towards Cheonggyecheon and met the big cone once again, this time lit up.
One of the first things I noticed about Seoul was the proportionally larger number of visible couples I saw. It just seemed like everywhere I went and looked, people were hitched and travelled in twos. It made me kind of wonder where all the friends and single people were at!^^ I’m kind of exaggerating a little bit but that’s the perception I got. They say you only see what you are looking for so perhaps it was just my subconscious self, but it’s not something that ever caught my attention in Toronto. Before going to Korea, I asked one of my friends who grew up in Korea about the perception of things like eating by yourself in a restaurant and what not. At first, she said that in the past some people might look at you oddly but that nowadays people didn’t care. I think it all depends on where you go as I never felt out of place eating alone, except for this one time which I will talk about in a future post. At any rate, the Cheonggyecheon was no exception and it seemed to be a naturally popular hang out as there were many couples there. Unlike the tourists I saw during the day snapping photos and what not, the local couples would just choose to hang out and sit quietly together by the water or walk slowly along the water side.
On this night, the Hi!Seoul Festival 2010 was still ongoing and therefore the Cheonggyecheon was still decorated with many pieces of art along the way. Here is a collection of video clips of the Cheonggyecheon I took that night and on subsequent visits at night. Most of the exhibits from the festival were the stationary kind but there was one moving piece called Waterheads where a couple of people in suits walked around with a tank of water encased over their heads which you will see in the video. I’m still not entirely sure how they did it…
At around 6:30PM, there was still the very faintest of light out but by 7PM, it was completely dark. Here are some more exhibits that were on display.
This was a giant dialogue bubble that was floating in mid-air…what would you write in that bubble? I think I would write “Where are all the friends and single people at?” ^^
When looking at my videos when I got home, these walking type videos were always my favourite and I wish I had taken more because to me they most accurately captured the pulse of what everyday Seoul was like. I did a bit more walking taking in all the sights and sounds and store fronts along Jongno and then headed back home to call it a night.
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