Sunday, January 26, 2014

View from my Apartment

What I like the most about my apartment is the wonderful view of it. We are living in the highest floor of the building and it is located near downtown so it has a great view. But I'm afraid of the sun so I always close the window blinds and curtains during the day and open them at night. But one time as I was cleaning the house and shook the dusty rug on the window, this wonderful view has caught my attention again so I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it.

Here's the view on the left side of the building.


Here's the front view.


And the right view where you can watch the sunset.



Saturday, January 25, 2014

Neighborhood in Seoul

My hubby always feels bored when we are in my parents-in-law's house. So whenever we visit there, we always go out for a walk in the neighborhood. So, the last time that we went there, we took a walk in the neighborhood again.

We usually take this route which is very close to my in-law's apartment. Just go down the building and you'll see this walking course with artificial (man-made) stream.


We decided to walk a little bit farther and this lane made me laughed. It's just few steps but we had to wait for a few minutes for the traffic light to be changed before we can cross the street. I also live in one of the largest cities in Korea but I've never seen traffic lights in a very narrow street. Although there are lanes but no traffic lights so when there's no car coming, you can just cross the street anytime you want. Well, I just thought that this is Seoul, the capital city of Korea.


The next day, we decided to change our route. We walked and walked until we reached this beautiful village. It seems like we are traveling out of the country. I've never thought that there's something like this in Korea specially in Seoul. My in-laws who live in downtown of Seoul where there are lots of high buildings, so for me, this kind of view of Seoul is something unique.


Oh, that cute little puppy looks very sad staring outside.


Saturday, January 18, 2014

Namsangol Traditional Garden in Seoul

We visited my in-laws and my father in law invited us to go to Namsangol Traditional Garden which is just close to his place. It's just three stops using the subway so we didn't bring any car and used the subway instead.

Namsangol has the beautiful view of Namsan Tower.


The ancient name of Namsan (Mt. Nam), a symbol of Seoul and the Korean people is Mokmyeoksan. The mountain has been called Namsan (Southern Mountain) as it is located in the South of the capital, taking advantage of Namsan's picturesque, a leisurely life in harmony with the nature as they wrote poems, draw paintings and played games.

In building Namsangol Traditional Garden, original terrain shape and pavilions and ponds were restored. Native trees and grasses were planted and the valley was built to enable natural flow of water.

Because it was holiday, there were lots of people visiting the famous garden.



It was thanksgiving day so it's not surprising to see some cameras shooting the events of that particular occasion like the YTN News, the korean news TV program.


There were also lots of traditional games prepared for the visitors.


There's also a time capsule at the South of the traditional garden. The time capsule commemorating the 600th anniversary of Seoul as the new capital. It was buried 15 meters underground on November 29th, 1994. The time capsule which is shape like the Bell of Bosingak (Belfry), contains 600 artifacts that represent the urban landscape of Seoul, the life of Korean citizens, and the society and culture of Korea. The time capsule will be unearthed on November 29, 2394.



Five authentic Hanok (Traditional Korean Houses) that were scattered in the city were moved to the northeast of the garden. To help visitors understand Korean life, furniture that reflects the status of the people who lived in these houses were place inside the buildings.



The houses showed how people lived long time ago, although there are still some people living like it in the countryside. As you can see, they burn woods to heat the floor of the houses which is called ondol.


Namsangol Traditional Garden in Seoul is also the best place to see the full moon on thanksgiving day.