Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Day five of our South Korean trip was a Saturday and both my children wanted to have a lie-in. Hence we decided to take it easy and visit the local area instead. We were within walking distance (maybe 30 minutes) of N Seoul Tower and booked the tickets with Namsan Cable Car via Klook (costs £76.16 for four people). As the Wonder Trip ticket office only opened at 1pm on Saturdays, we had plenty of time to explore the nearby area before picking up the tickets.
Jogyesa Temple is the main temple of the Jogye Order and a symbol of Korean Buddhism, and it is located in the heart of Seoul. It was founded in 1910 and is a place to practice Buddhism as well as a centre for education, culture and social services. This is a very impressive and colourful temple. The Main Dharma Hall/Daeungjeon is open 24 hours a day to the public.
On Day 6 of our South Korea trip, we went on a DMZ and Ganghwa Island day tour which we booked via the Klook app. When we first booked this trip, we were unsure if this was the same DMZ trip as we had previously booked. Anyway, after booking it, we realised that this DMZ trip is on the other end of South Korea – Peace Observatory in Ganghwa island. Hence we booked another proper DMZ tour.
Bukchon Hanok Village is home to over 900 traditional Korean houses and it is one of the recommended places to visit while on holiday in Seoul. The location didn’t disappoint me at all, but many tourists dressed up in hanbok and spent ages taking multiple shots and some were even doing a live feed on the street. They do have a number of tourist officials to control the crowds and make sure they don’t invade the local people’s privacy, especially around the hilltop. I still think it is not easy to enjoy the architecture of the buildings. All we did was try to avoid photobombing other people’s photos or videos. It was not easy to take any nice shots.
We had booked this trip to visit Italian Village and Petite France, along with Nami Island and Gangchon Rail Bike. If I was given the choice again, I probably would not have added these two places as part of our day trip. It felt a bit too too rushed and it was an extremely hot summer’s day.
My sister-in-law recommended we visit Nami Island via public transport from Seoul (over 1.5 hours to 2 hours or more to travel). As we had two teenagers travelling with us, we decided to take the easy route by booking a day tour instead (around £50 each person, along with these two other locations: Gangchon Rail Bike and Italian Village & Petite France). Therefore, we didn’t need to look out for trains, platforms, exits and walking in the hot sun!
If you are visiting South Korea for the first time, besides eating their delicious street foods and kimchi, you have to try out their barbecue at least once! Depending on what you order, it can be quite expensive, but it’s a great experience!
When we first researched South Korea, a biking activity never came across my mind. Someone even suggested to me to go biking at the Han River which is definitely not my cup of tea!
Anyway, I decided to take on the Gangchon rail bike only after I came across the day trip for Nami Island offers on the Klook app. As the Nami Island day trip offers add-on activities, I decided to book it along with Petite France and Italian Village. I was so glad we went for it as both my children loved this activity!
On day 3 in South Korea, we went to the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) Peace Tour with Seoul City Tour which we booked via the Klook app. It was a half-day morning trip and we were back by 3pm, which gave us time to do other activities. For this trip, we were all required to bring our passports for checking as we were entering the military area. If you don’t have any ID, you will be refused entry.
The National Folk Museum of Korea originally began as the National Museum of Anthropology, which was founded in 1945 and opened in Namsan in 1946. It is an educational venue where visitors learn about the daily lives of Koreans in the past and present. There are many artefacts on display, educational photographs, films and videos of the sites of various folk events.
On day two of our trip to South Korea, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace but it was raining cats and dogs! We may have been soaking wet but it didn’t dampen our spirits for this delightful place. It was built in 1395 as the main palace and is commonly referred to as the Northern Palace because its location is furthest north compared to the neighbouring palaces of Changdeokgung (Eastern Palace) and Gyeonghuigung (Western Palace).
Meerkat Friends was the second pet cafe we went to as it was near Samoyed Cafe ‘Winters Village’. This place has a range of animals, meerkats, foxes, wallabies, genets, cats, dogs, and raccoons. They do have an Instagram account, which you should check out!
One of the things we wanted to do for my daughter was to visit a raccoon cafe and a dog cafe. Samoyed Cafe ‘Winters Village’ is one of the more established dog cafes in Seoul we found reviews on various websites. They have an Instagram account and it is easy to find them via Google Maps.
After five long years of not having a family holiday, we finally packed and headed off to South Korea for eight days. It has always been my dream place to visit because I love watching K-dramas and wanted to experience their life there.
Whenever I visit Singapore with friends, I will often take them to Chinatown. Not only to get a feel for the vibe but also to visit the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple and Museum.
