FROMSOLOTOTAIWAN: TAIPEI (PART I)

Hi readers~~

I will keep post every city I've been touched to you. Last summer, I went to Taiwan
I decided to go Taiwan to meet my two friends and to learn many new things there.
Btw I have my travel book who helped me to record my expenses and for stamp book too.
What you need to know before going to Taiwan?
1. VISA
Check whether you need any kind of visa or not. For China mainland citizen they need a permit too to enter Taiwan. For me, since I have Korean allien card so I got permit to go Taiwan by applying travel permit in their immigration website!

2. Book a guest house ! I recommend you to book guest house near the main station cause it will be easy to reach any famous place. I booked Here and there Hostel for 840 NTD (two nights) for female dorm.

TAIWAN (2017-08-20)
Taipei day 1
I arrived in Taoyuan airport around 12 at night. I took bus 1819 to Taipe around 1am (from Taoyuan it takes 30 minutes) so almost at 2am I arrived at Taipei main station. I was alone and it was  suprisingly  different then what I expected. No body in station at that time (compared to Seoul station even at 1am you still can see people ). I just saw some taxies but since my guest house just across to the street, I just walked. I tried to find the sign but could find anywhere till I saw a man who went to mart. He helped me with his internet and said that i was in right direction and voila I found out my guest house sign is soooo small. Well I thanked to him and went to elevator to check in. When i arrived, there was a woman who actually look so sleepy but she still received and counted my money well. She showed me where is my bed and the bathroom.  So for me Taipe at night especially in main station area is super quiet. Only McDonalds and mini market open 24 hours.

Taipei day 2

I woke up quite early even just arrived at 2am. Taipe is one hour late than Seoul. My friend came around  evening so I have free time alone in the morning. I checked all Taiwan national museum. I really like it and found many interesting jades (especially the green jade). Ah before entering the museum, I met a girl who took my potrait photo (and I took for her). We talked for a while about museum and I praised her hospitality.
possible place and I found

Next to museum, there is a park. I think it is a peace park. You can have some photoshoots or just walking. The weather at that time was so hot and I brought my handy automatic fan from Korea. 

Looks like a temple

It was sunny day but i loved the sky :)

After minutes, I decided to have my first meal. Following recommendations from friend, I decided to buy Taiwanese omelette and of course , bubble milk tea. Do not worry if you cant read the menu book. Even some words are weird but still understable. The name of the francise is show want. I spent 80 NTD for bubble tea and omelette

Here is the show want shop. It is easy to find

The menu book

my bubble tea (45 NTD)

Omelette (35 NTD)

I did not eat the omelette in the shop cause it was so uncomfortable. They just have one table and I prefer to eat in guest house while waiting my friend's reply. If you go to Taiwan, prepare your money for food. Cause they have so many delicous food, but if you have some restriction, please mind they have lots menu with pork and other meats so make sure twice if the food contain any meat or not. I preferred to not eat any meat here . Next, when my friend came, we went to some famous spots in Taipei but i will write in next part. click here. See you

FROM SOLO TO SEOUL: YEOUI NARU PARK

Hi readers !

Good to be back again! If you are visiting Seoul maybe you once pass the river called Hangang. Gang in Korean means river. So it called Han river. How much Korean people love the river? I can say A LOT! Why? 
1. Miracle of Han .
 They named their high speed economic growth fenomena as miracle of Han.
2. Gangnam Style
What is the relation between Gangnam and hangang? well geographically, Hangang is a river which divided Seoul into two area , one is gangbuk, and another is gangnam. Can you guess the meaning? Gangbuk means north path
of river and Gangnam means South part of river.
3. Every long holiday or public holiday park near Hangang will be an ocean of human.
I don't try to kid you but really will be crowded

So let me give you recommendations to do in hangang!
a. You can have a picnic
Why do not try to have picnic time with friends? if you do not bring picnic mat or food dont worry, there, already many food stalls and ajumma who are ready to give you some delivery flyers. Even after you dropped it,  they will take it and give to next target. They are fighters!For picnic mat, there is also another ajumma who is ready to lend you mat or even tent. I usually bring my own so I dont know how much it cost

picnic is a must thing here in summer (this was taken in 2016)

b. What about biclycing around Hangang?
It is a good idea to spend a day biclying around Hangang. Why? Cause it is so fresh (but check first the pollutant indicator or weather that day)

I never regret , this was so beautiful. 

How much for rent a bicycle?
Well there are two type of bicycle you can rent, for one person or for two. For one person, an hour is 6000won. And you need to give your ID card. There is a tip for you if you want the cheapest one. Go to next side of Hangang Yeoui naru park. There are bicylcles which are ready to use if you download an app or go to their site =>https://www.bikeseoul.com/.

Hangang during Spring 2018

Hangang in Summer 2016

Finally, How to get here?

Actually there are two park in Yeouido to enjoy Hangang. I prefer Yeoui naru than Yeouido park. But not only these two parks for visiting Hangang. Next I will post about what I did in Ttukseom park. 

Subway: Yeoui naru station exit 2 (line 5)

Bus     : you can check in naver map, but bus number 261, 5713 pass this park. 

NOTICE:
If you take bus on weekend, watch out your bus stop. Cause they have a bus stop only for weekend. 

I am going to post the second part of this part if have something to do else in Hangang and can be your reference!

FROM SOLO TO SEOUL: GYEONGBUKGUNG

Hi traveller,


Are you planning to visit Seoul soon?
If you wonder how palaces in Korean look like, I recommend you to visit Gyeongbuk gung. Although Joseon has five palaces in Seoul, but the main one is Gyeongbuk gung.
What makes it special? It is the main palace and place where many historical things happened.

How to get there? 
You can reach Gyeongbuk palace by bus (171 etc) and subway (Gyeongbuk station or anguk station). The nearest subway near Gyeongbuk is Gyeongbuk station (Line no 5, purple). And it is actually close to other palaces.

I have been there for three times. If you wonder if there is still king or queen who lives there, there is no one. Unfortunately after King Sojong (the last emperor under japan-korea annexation) Korean became republic (but it is a long story to explain here).

mostly the palaces in Korea are located near mountain. What makes gyeongbuk beautiful? We can see imwang mount in a frame together with palace. 

How much for the entrance ticket?
3000won for adult but if you wear hanbok, it is FREE

Where can i rent hanbok?
It is a lot of rent house near palace. Usually they will rent based on how many hours you will spend. Start from one hour to one day.
I rent for two hours in costed 15000won. You can also have the bag and the headband accecories. As a comparison, in Jeonju korean village, one hour is 10000won. Since Seoul it is a metropolitan city, so that price is considerably adorable.

hanbok 

bring a tripod if you want to take a good angle. Btw, this one we used one of monument there hehe :)


why i recommend a tripod than asking for a help?causee they didnt do it properly hmm anywy
thanks hahah

Is there any festival or event?

I recommend you to go on weekend. Cause usually they have more events. When i visited this palace, I saw Korean traditional (gugak) music performance. But outside , near gwanghwamun (which is soo close to gyeongbuk) has market every weekend and last time they had a child festival too.

How about WIFI?
They provide Seoul public wifi, but unfortunately I could not connect.

Other information?
Last year, gyeongbuk also was opened at night for public. But need to reservation first. Gyeongbuk palace only open until 6 PM.

those wood pillars is not the old one, gyeongbuk palace was destroyed two times by Japanese.

FROM SOLO TO SEOUL: MYEONGDONG's STYLE NANDA

Hi reader,

Long time no write

Few days ago I joined my friend who needed information about STYLE NANDA in Myeongdong
. I heard before that this shop has a rooftoop cafe where they put all pink grand pillows for relaxing. Here are my SUBJECTIVE opinions about this pinky shop

1. ONE STOP SHOPPING

This shop actually has 7 floors. Rooftop is in 6 floors and tower in 7 floor. Why I called it one stop shopping? Because you can buy cosmetics, clothes and beverages in a place.

from outside

2. AMAZING DECORATIONS

If you wanna have a photo shoot, I think this place is designed for you at somewhat. Cause the decoration is really good

if you look up , then you will find this

keys as you are visitors in a hotel 

3. BRILLIANT CONCEPTS IN EACH FLOORS
Each floors has different concepts but it has big theme. When you enter this shop, you will fill that you just visit a hotel

flying bed on 2nd floor

You can find a pool theme in 6th floor

old laundry machines in 5th floor

a bath up , full of flower

4. FINALLY, PINKY PILLOWS

the most reason people go there are for the PINKY pillows in rooftop

but it is not free. You need to order beverage in 6th floor. Americano is the cheapest one and it costed 5500 won. Before you go, I recommend you to check the weather cause it might not really good to be there when its too sunny or too cold. Anyway, enjoy^^

well here is the pinky roof top. 

I ordered green tree for 7000won

 Overall, for the shop has unique design. They want every visitor feels that they are not in a shop but in hotel. If you are too tired to go up stairs, you can take the elevator.

WHAT TO EAT IN SEJONG CITY: The Fastars

Hi I am in holiday and decided to challenge my self for writing more stories.

Sejong city is South Korea's central administrative city. I do not say Seoul is not their capital but Korean separated the government area with business area, so here they are building a special self governing city called Sejong. According to Wikipedia, the new offices opened in 2012, and around 36 government agencies slated to move there by 2015.

As new administrative city, Sejong city has less things to see than Seoul. When Seoul is so crowded everywhere, not in Sejong. Some time when i visited the city, it looks like a dead city. No body walks in streets. Sejong doesn't have any subway line and they set up all the cables underground. But in this post i would not talk a lot about Sejong. But more like give you an option where you should eat in new built city like Sejong.

The Fastars

They have to branches in Sejong city. The first branch we visited was full and we had to wait 20 minutes. So after comparing the prices too, we decide to go to the second branch. 

We took 215 bus to another place, which took around 10 minutes. But since the restaurant under the same management we could ask them to prepare place for us. 

It was in the fourth floor (correct me if i am wrong) . And here is how to get there

https://store.naver.com/restaurants/detail?id=37688422

Personally, I like the idea of open space of the cooking room. Ah, since me and two friends have restrictions so we asked them what we can eat and could not. And does not matter they can take it out the bacon from my pasta. hehe. Our order was spicy carbonara pasta with and one without bacon, two curry pasta, and chicken risotto. For addition, we ordered gorgonzola pizza

(spicy carbonara : 8500 Won)

 

(curry pasta : 10500 won)

chicken risotto (the most expensive one but forgot the price)

and the last one, our pizza. Well, they use peach instead of potato or sweet potato.

(yummy)

That's all for today . Enjoy your lunch, dinner or even brunch. See you on next posting

Follow their instagram : thefastars

FROM SOLO TO SEOUL : Seodaemun Prison

The day was so gloomy, i was wondering if it is better to go for skating or just walking somewhere. So i started to search. I didn't know what was in my mind until i suggested my friend to go to prisoner. Oh i mean ex prisoner where now is being used as a museum.
I just expected a historical place but never knew that  I would learn many things that day.

Before Japan invaded Korea, they approached 5 people who later known as nation traitors, to sign an annexation treaty call " eulsa treaty". I could even imagine what circumstances happened so five people decided to sign agreement which starting the imperialism.

During the occupation, Japan built many prisoners in big cities. One of them is Seodamun prison. It was built on 1908, October 21st and originally named as "Gyeongsong Prison". When Japan ruled Korea, the name of Seoul was Gyeongsong. 

As like many prison in all over the world, prison is design to depress people. It because all buildings look same, red brick walls.  The first building is near the entrance gate . Ah let me tell you 

the entrance is not free. They need money for maintaining the museum. It's quite cheap for a whole experience, 3000 Won a person.  Recommended way, go first to the main museum. Cause inside, there are several exhibition rooms where you can find many information about prison history, Korean resist wars during Japanese colonialism. And the one in basement, which actually the saddest one, shows the torture variation from water torture, chair torture, small box torture etc. Not only physical abuse but also mental abuse. Why? Cause when a prisoner was investigating or torturing the other prisoners can hear it all. It SOUNDS like a movie? Nah It sounds horror 

forget about hall of fame.. here is the tribute wall for reminding how many people arrested and died in this prison. After had a tour inside one building, we continued our walk and stopped in the biggest Korean flag I ever saw. 

This is me and the flag. Did you know that Korean Flag has changed by times? When Ewha (my school) was established Korean flag didn't look as the newest version . 

So if you wonder why there are some white color marks in the wall, well it was believed Japan destroyed the toilet room in the end of their ruling period. Japan also arrested their political prisoners here.  

Inside of the building 9 or 10, i forgot, we can see the rooms that used to be jail rooms for Korean Independence activists. You can feel how hard it was in the small room. Even you are not a claustrophobia.  And since some rooms are opened for exhibitions, we could know that for expressing their thought,  prisoners wrote poems or symbols in the door or wall. 

We found out that actually we took the opposite way from normal visitor . Some one there inside in the past tried to express her/himself  with Swastika symbol. Svastika is exist in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. 

How grateful I am now. I am free and even still unemployed but I have my right to what I want to do. Still in many places, freedom is as valuable as your blood. 

After had a tour, we went up to a hill where we can see the prisoners in better view. 

Everybody looks small now. But wait we found that this prison has what called gymnastic hall (don't imagine like modern gym, it is just walls) but for us it looks like labirin.

My friend said she wanted to go for toilet but since we saw many depressed things , she said she could bear till home. I doubted and convinced her that everything would be fine. The toilet is new built one and separated from the real history. After coming back, I asked her whether we  would finish or going to one building in the back which we skipped before. And we decided to go there. 

I was aware the last spot was the "interesting" one. I mean the sacred one. 

                            The tree was planted the same year with the death capital building. So in other words, the tree saw everything. I didn't expect the difference feeling outside and inside the area. My friend refused to go inside. If you start to imagine what was happened there , I might not be able to look around. It  is prohibited to take picture inside the area. So I took a picture in the gate and just before stepped in. Don't worry , nothing happened. CCTVs are installed in all corners. 

BUT, I have to admit that when i went to see closer, it chilled me. This wooden house is not an usual home. In this place, many patriots passed away. So inside the house, there are two parts. One parts is an open room and another is backstage. In the open room, there are some chairs (like court) and in front of all chairs i mentioned, there is a stage. A small stage where I still can see the hanging rope. Right in the middle. Btw, I observed from outside since visitors could not enter inside. and probably I wont. Then, I walked behind. I found the backstage of the open room. You can see clearly from windows. They have really big windows behind. And an interesting thing, this house has a basement and trench.  

Last, there is a tunnel behind the death capital house. It was hidden until the Korean found . Why would Japan build a tunnel? Because it would make easier for them to deliver the tortured body unseen. If society see that they worried it might caused an upraising.

So this my story to Seodamun Prison. I learnt many things. Going to place like this, should be our reminder for not allowing ANY COUNTRY rule another independence nation or land. And if there is a comment, we shall hate Japan, they are cruel, i would like to condemn by saying so would you like to be the cruel as Japan in the past by spreading hatred?