Gyeongbokgung Palace

Thanks to Rooftop Prince, I had an urge to go see Gyeongbokgung Palace while I was in Seoul. It wasn't until I was there that I found out that Rooftop Prince was actually shot at a different palace.

-____-

But oh well!

It was a fairly quick walk from Gyeongbokgung Station to the palace. 

Upon reaching the entrance, we saw a cute little "changing of the guard shift" parade going on.

There was a lot of hollering.

I thought their costumes looked cheap though. Nothing like the spectacular brocades that you'd see in high budget periodic films.

Maybe it's because they're just... guards.

I was really tempted to make funny faces at them, but then I thought to myself: "let's not make their job more unpleasant than it already is."

Saw the old guard shift marching away.

The ticket was really cheap, only 3,000 won or approximately 3 SGD. A stark difference to the Forbidden Palace in Beijing which is ten times the price.

Thankfully, Gyeongbokgung Palace was a lot less crowded than the Forbidden City in Beijing. 

I thought the architecture looked pretty similar.

Here's Hyoju and I just inside of the main entrance. Doesn't she look super cute in her light purple shirt?

The throne room also looked similar to the throne room in China, just perhaps, less complicated.

The painted walls and ceiling looked vibrant and well-preserved.

Here outside the throne room too, was a crowd of tourists vying for first position. It was altogether rather intense.

Hyoju mentioned that the last time she'd been to Gyeongbokgung Palace, she was a middle school student. Guess this is just one of the typical school outing locations. 

I was relieved to see that the back of the palace was less crowded than the front.

Like in the Namsangol Hanok Village, there are rooms where you can remove your shoes to go inside for a quick tour. Hyoju went in. I was too lazy so I stood outside as usual.

Although Rooftop Prince wasn't really filmed here, there were scenes in Da Jang Geum that were!!! However, I watched DJG such a long time ago that I couldn't recognise the spots where they did some filming.

I really liked the brick patterns along this back wall.

They look almost like a Middle Eastern type pattern. Wonder how it ended up on these walls.

I asked Hyoju to take a photo of me here, not only because I liked the background, but also so that I could sit down.

^^v

The first signs of spring.

The mirror lake, with Bugaksan mountain in the background.

We spent a long time in this area taking photos because it was so pretty.

Spotted my favourite of Korean birds: the black-billed magpie.

It's my favourite not only because it's so beautiful, but also because it is a highly intelligent bird. It seems almost as intelligent as a dog.

The drainage system looks defunct now. 

The mirror lake has a special ancient device which keeps the water entering the lake from disturbing its surface. This maintains the beautiful reflection at all times.

Man I would love to sleep on a little canoe out there.

Well well look what I found. Police patrol on rollerblades! My kinda folks!

In between Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bugaksan mountain is the Blue House, where the Korean president lives.

Security seems tight in the front.

Nice work clothes for these modern-day guards.

And, is this man from the South Korean Secret Service? Well, I pretended to myself that he was. What with the shades and everything. He looked like a Korean actor.

Turned back in to Gyeongbokgung Palace through the back gate to see this completely unpainted wooden house.

The grounds smelled heavenly. 

Thanks to the untainted wood.

I really wouldn't mind living in a wooden house like this because it smells so nice.

And I could sleep out here all afternoon.

Saw more spring blooms.

And another magpie.