[Part 5 - Gyeongju] My 1-month graduation trip to South Korea with Char!

Jaewoong, Charmaine & i

Gyeongju 경주, the city home to Silla, Goryeo and the Joseon dynasty! Out of the cities we visited, Gyeongju was one of our favourite! I really love this city because of its rich history and nature environment. No high rise buildings, no MRTs, no nothing. Just low rise buildings, greenery and more greenery! As Jaewoong drove us through the expressway, i can't help but to fall in love with the scenic view of the mountains and the sunset. I will never forget that moment. (Except for the screaming loud heavy metal Japanese music that was going on -.-)

Day 7 - Arrival in Gyeongju > Gyeongju National Museum > Gyeongju Donggung Palace and Wolji Pond > 돈꾸앙 5-Layered pork dinner 

Apparently, Charmaine was talking about how the train station from the back
looks even more traditional. But i only noticed the front of the train station. Damn doodoo. 

We arrived in Gyeongju at about 4:00PM and was greeted by a traditional hanok style train station because we took the Mugunghwa train, a train that travels along the rural area. If i'm not wrong, the train station was about 10 ~ 15 mins drive away from our accommodation. Our accommodation in Gyeongju was booked through Airbnb. Our host's name is Sam, a Chinese who have been working in Korea for quite some time. We didn't get to see him because he was on a business trip, somewhere in S.Korea and our timings didn't quite match. We took a taxi to his apartment and all i could remember was how rude the taxi ajusshi was! WHICH! i thought it was going to spoil my impression of Gyeongju but it didn't. Keke!

What happened was, i tried to show him the home address through my phone but he refused to look at it (老花眼, bad eyesight) and insist on calling Sam. I even tried reading the address out but i think my pronunciation was quite bad to his ears. In the end, i called Sam because i had no choice. I didn't want to disturb him as i knew that he was on a business trip but this taxi uncle, seriously! annoyed the shit out of me. Thankfully, Sam was really nice. He explained to the taxi uncle and we managed to reach our destination safely. (First time meeting a super rude taxi uncle in Gyeongju, Korea.)

Anyways, continuing, we got off the taxi and couldn't find the building when it was actually just at the first junction but we walked the opposite direction. So silly! But we manage to find it in the end and climbed 4 storeys up the building with our heavy luggages. This is how the apartment look like! Pretty small but cozy. To be honest, i think i can survive in here on my own. This amount of space is just enough for 2.

To the right is the main door. This is the kitchen area. 

Our toilet, to the left of the kitchen.  

Sleeping area. We slept on the floor. The balcony was where we did our laundry.
The floor heating system was really... omg. Sauna. And there was a TV infront of our mattress.
It was connected to a Xiao Mi TV.  

Chilling and doing some research before heading out.

The first place we decided to go to was the Gyeongju National Museum since we needed to find out more about this city but ended up at the Gyeongju Donggung Palace & Wolji Pond because the museum was closed by the time we reached there. Talking about luck! We took a bus from opposite our apartment to this bus stop, opposite a market, where most buses stop. Hopped on the bus that was going to bring us to the museum and arrived about 15 ~ 20 mins later. Thankfully, the palace was just opposite the museum! So we walked over after realising that the museum was closed and can i mention how cold it was?! We were both literally freezing in Gyeongju because like i mentioned previously, Gyeongju have no high rised buildings. At least those buildings can help to block off cold winds and all. But yea, no, there wasn't any and we were almost turning into Olaf. (Exaggerating) On a serious note, my hands turned super dry and cracked after being in Gyeongju. My hands sacrificed to take nice pictures. LOL!

The Gyeongju Donggung Palace and the Wolji pond was literally man-made by King Munmu himself. This was where royal banquets were held for important national events and guests. Somedays he'll take a stroll in this park with his Queen. Today, a few of the buildings were already taken down, leaving only the 2 main halls and 1 pavilion.

3 buildings

The pond

Proof shot!

As night falls...

Fun shot. LOL! Pancake face!! 

Really pretty at night!

Decided to leave after an hour because we were freezing. Took a taxi to our dinner place where Sam recommended! 오겹살! 5 layered pork! It was indeed delicious but felt so sinful after eating those layers of pork fat. And this was the BBQ that made Char stomachache. Probably due to overeating of garlic. LOL!

First BBQ in Korea!

The pork was served half cooked...

Then we had to grill it by ourselves after...

I remembered a table just diagonally opposite ours was a group of boys in their 20s. I felt full just by seeing how they enjoy their food. This was how they eat:

BBQ Pork wrapped in vegetables >> Cold Buckwheat Noodles 냉면 >> Fermented bean soup with rice 된장찌개 밥이랑 >> Unlimited egg 

I really... salute those Korean boys. Huge ass appetite. Hahaha! 대박이야~ We left after finishing our meat and i kinda regret not having this with soju/beer. I just don't like drinking outside. Im more comfortable drinking at home so after that i can head to bed straight. LOL!

We went to the mart to buy some soju and groceries before going home. I must say that the room had a really really good ambience to drink. And i was in the mood to drink some soju since i haven't been in my best mood the past days. So this was what we got, flavoured soju. Surprisingly delicious! with honey butter chips and dried persimmons. We tried mostly all of the flavours they offer - Grapefruit, Blueberry & Yuzu.

Slept immediately after drinking because my alcohol tolerance's quite low and fortunately i'm not the kind who cries or get violent. I couldn't even bathe that night. HAHA! The next morning i obviously bathed but it was a little big difficult to wake up because usually when i'm under alcohol, i tend to sleep longer. Now i know my remedy to my insomnia. :)

Day 8 - Gyeongju National Museum > Tteokgalbi lunch > Bulguksa Temple > Seokguram Grotto > Underwater Tomb of King Munmu > Yangnam-myeon Jusangjeolli Padasori-gil (sound of wave) > Jokbal dinner 

The next morning, i forced myself to get up because i had to make breakfast. Cooked scrambled eggs and sausages we got from the mart. Along with milk, we had a satisfying breakfast before meeting Jaewoong again! Yes, Ulsan is quite near to Gyeongju. Actually, i'm not sure but since he wants to bring us around then... why not right? I can't possibly reject his kindness. Thanks to him, we got to reach out to many places in Gyeongju. Really thankful!

This time round the museum was open! Hahaha! We took quite a long time at the museum. In fact, i forgot what i saw other than traditional pots and more pots. Couldn't be bothered to snap pictures because most of the things we saw, were seen at the Ulsan Museum as well. Again, the museum wasn't that informative because the English translated descriptions were all so vague.

Museum's entrance
(The only picture i took of the museum.)

We headed off for lunch at this place Jaewoong recommended. Apparently, his parents brought him there before when he was really young. Was it? Or was it just his research? I'm not too sure. We had Tteokgalbi!! It's actually beef patty. My first time ever having such Korean food. The beef literally melts in your mouth okay! Taste almost like the usual beef bulgogi, sweet and salty. I think it's better eating this with rice than a burger. The side dish was delicious as well. Was that like a baby flounder fish? That was awesome as well! AND THE BLACK BEANS! My favourite! Yums~ If i had a chance once more, i will go back there!!

Our first traditional Korean meal with so many side dishes! 

After lunch, we drove up Toham Mountain to visit the Bulguksa Temple, a world UNESCO heritage location. It's a must to visit when you're in Gyeongju!

Flowers blooming already...

Part of the temple

Troll

We then moved on to see the Seokguram Grotto, another world UNESCO heritage site.

The view of Gyeongju! on top from Toham Mountain!

Zoom in for you to see. 

:) 

A little walking required...

That's where the 3.5m high Buddha statue sits in.

We couldn't take pictures in that dome (rotunda). Such a pity! But it was amazing how the dome is built using just granite stones and then covered with carpeted grass. Simply amazing!

After that, we went to the coastal side to visit the King Munmu's underwater tomb, which made me kinda think of the plans me and another Korean friend made. Sadly, our plans couldn't be carried out but that's alright. And no, we couldn't go underwater to see the tomb. It's just the name. It was about an hour drive from Mt Toham to the beach. If you were to ask me to recall the coldness, i would say that it wasn't THAT cold because now that i'm back home in a warm country, i kind of miss that cold weather even though i was freezing. Lol! Can you imagine yourself in the cold and by the beach? >.<

On a sidenote// Remember that Queen Munmu's tomb was at the Daewangam Park, Ulsan? 

The amount of sea gulls... No joke. 

The King's Tomb

A pavilion where we can see the tomb.

Walked a bit along the beach and then headed off to this place called the Jusangjeolli Padasori-gil. I'm not really sure where that was but it was quite near.

Since we missed this in Jeju, we could see it at Gyeongju! :)

Wall murals

You know how difficult this was? I had to set the camera and make my way to where
they are standing... LOL! And i was worried that my camera might drop into the waters.

Prettier in real life!  

This too!

See the love lock? Next time i'll be there with the love of my life. ^^

As it was getting late, we went back to the apartment, rest a little and decided on what to have for dinner. We wanted to try something that was a must-eat in Gyeongju but then all of us were too lazy, we decided to just walk around the neighbourhood to find any food that we could find.

Sunset on our way back

My camera obviously love the kimchi more

All the vegetable to make the ssam!
깻잎을 좋아~

막걸리 Makgolli. You can find this in supermarkets as well.
But i choose not to drink Makgolli at our place because to me, it goes well only with food.
You can't drink this alone on its own. That's why, the Koreans drink this with Korean Pancake!

Charmaine and i ended the day with another bottle of Soju after Jaewoong left. Haha! He couldn't drink as he needed to drive. I think i didn't bathe that night again. Or did i bathe before drinking? Omg. Such a bad habit! But i definitely did brush my teeth. LOL!

Day 9 - Daereungwon Tomb Complex > Gyeongju Gyochon Traditional Village > Starbucks > Departure to Suwon

The next morning, i woke up and made breakfast again. Got ready and made our way to visit the tombs at the Daereungwon Tomb Complex! To be honest, those little hills they call tombs, didn't even look like a tomb. Why can't they build it underground? Why must it be like... a hill-like looking tomb? I can never get it. Anyways, since we were in Gyeongju, why not go and visit the tombs of Kings and nobles from the Silla Dynasty, right? Kekek.

It was a little funny how we made our way there. We took the bus that goes the same way towards the Museum, stopped a stop before and walked through construction sites before reaching the complex. I really trusted Naver Maps. Along the way, we saw more interesting wall art murals, really cute ones. Singapore should have these kind of street art among the HDBs.

Which one is the real batman?

UP! and we go!

Walked walked and walked and we finally arrive at the complex! It was really quiet that day. Practically not more than 20 people walking in that park. So peaceful and calm since it's like a cemetery to us. Was it? Were there really bodies in those hill like looking thing? We don't know. No one knows. We headed towards the Cheonmachong Tomb, one of the most popular ones, apparently.

The overview of the complex

Great weather that day with blue blue skies.

Some King's tomb.

Charmaine at the front of the Cheonmachong Tomb.

The inside of how the tomb looks like.

So apparently, there's a wooden box in the tomb.
The body lay down there with all the burial goods such as the King's crown and what not.

Doesn't it look peaceful to you?

The tomb of King Michu, the first King to sit on the Kim clan of Silla Throne.

Just a peek!

Jaewoong met up with us again after that since he needed to head back to Pohang. We bought Gyeongju 빵! but i don't find anything special because we also have this in Singapore/Malaysia. It's a red bean filled pastry.

경주 빵빵빵~! 

We then randomly made our way to the Gyeongju Gyochon Traditional Village that was recommended by Jaewoong. If not, me and Charmaine would have been chilling at some cafe before heading home and then to Suwon.

Overview of the village

Interesting Korean Traditional architecture

It's funny how Jaewoong was trying to explain the game, but i don't get it at all.
Not listening well. -.-

I don't know what is Charmaine doing. Saying hi to her neighbour. 

Don't mind living in such house.

Doing what tourists do.

This used to be an examination area, if im not wrong.  

Just had to take a picture together since the place was quite nice.

My favourite doggy

We had this famous kimbap at the village but i find it pretty normal. Meh~

Overall, the village was quite an interesting experience because we got to learn how to play traditional korean games. Actually, we already knew of it in Jeju but that's okay. And the village isn't just a tourist attraction. There were people still actually using the space. I felt like we were intruding into their space. Hahaha! Since we still had time, we decided to go have a cup of coffee at Starbucks since it attracted my eye. The Starbucks building is in a form of a hanok house. So pretty! But the interior was modern laaaa. I didn't take a picture of the building but if you search it on the internet, you'll definitely be able to see it. "Gyeongju Starbucks". After that, Jaewoong dropped us back at our apartment and we caught a taxi to Singyeongju KTX station.

Even at the train station, the scenery was...  

I found another tomb just outside the station!

Charmaine showing how nice Gyeongju was. 

I would say that the both of us really like LOVE! Gyeongju a lot! Everything was pretty laid back. Everything was so beautiful! to me at least. If you're someone who is able to appreciate such nature, then this is the place for you. Please please please! come during spring time because you'll get to see crazy trillions of cherry blossoms. It was a pity we were there in early March. But nevertheless, we still enjoyed it! :D

Off we went to Suwon! 

We didn't arrive at Suwon at 20:41PM, we got delayed and went up to Seoul instead.
Will talk more about it on the next post!