Seoul 2014 - Day 4 - Bukchon Hanok Village, Changdeokgung Palace, Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken, Jongmyo (Royal Shrine), Insa-dong

Is cultural day today as we happened to be there at month end - Do note that it is free entrance to the Palace on every last Wednesday of the month. But you still have to pay for the entrance to the Secret Garden. 

Alright, there was no plan to where's for breakfast today and we decided to head towards Changdeokgung Palace area for a look. Luck was on us and we managed to find this porridge place -  Bonjuk - Nice warm porridge to start off the day. 

Do try out the porridge at this shop, the porridge was really great and thy are generous in their servings. 2 bowls of porridge and the 3 of us weren't able to finish, not that it was bad but it was too much! 

Porridge at Bonjuk 

After the breakfast, it was time for some walk. We joined a free English guided tour at 10.30 am at Changdeokgung Palace. It was great with the guide around. We learnt more about the history of the Palace and of course, the country itself. The pace of the tour was just nice, taking an hour to bring us through the main events of the Palace. It was not the first time I've visited this Palace, but it was the first time I heard more about the place. 

Changdeokgung Palace

More of Changdeokgung Palace

After the guided tour at the main Palace, the timing was just right for the Secret Garden Guided Tour. This was not free and it costed 5,000 won per person. This secret garden was pretty well-preserved and the weather at end-March was pretty awesome for the walk. 

Directions to Changdeokgung Palace:

Anguk Station (Subway Line 3), Exit 3. Go straight for 5min.

For Bonjuk Porridge, it will be at one of the road intersection, turn to the left and walk straight. You will see it on the left side. 

Secret Garden 

Alright, time for lunch. As usual, we tried to do some research on the great food at the area and the best place we had was at Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken. 

Priced at 15,000 won, the Ginseng Chicken is truly worth the price - 

The ginseng taste is especially strong and the chicken soup is really thick and rich. The chicken meat is tender and moist and you do not need much effort to eat as it will fall off easily when you used your chopsticks.

We tried both the black chicken and the ginseng chicken. Both were equally good. Oh, the kimchi banchan was great too. This place was real crowded and though you do not speak Korean, the ordering was easy and smooth. 

Direction:

Gyeongbokgung Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 2.

Go straight about 170m and turn left onto Jahamun-ro 5-gil Road, the shop is on the left. 

Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken 

Next up, we went to  Bukchon Hanok Village. Pretty much a well-preserved place where there are people currently living at the Village. So do not talk loudly and make a nuisance out of yourself so as not to disturb the locals living there. 

Oh, by the way, the house which Lee Min Ho starred in Personal Taste was actually a real unit in Bukcon Hanok Village. Want to know where is the exact location, look out for the free information guide stationed at the Village, they will let you know the direction. 

One thing I love about Seoul is that they have guides all over the place. They are more than happy to provide the information we need and if they do not know, they tried their best to find out for us. It really made the travel experience at Seoul a pleasant one. 

Direction:
Anguk Station (Line 3), Exit 2.

Bukchon Hanok Village

Next up was Insa-dong. It was a pretty nice walk along the streets, exploring the different shops at the place. When tired, just find a cafe to sit in and relax. Enjoy a tea-break before we embarked on our walks.

Insa-dong

Insa-dong is pretty much a relaxing place to be in and well, we noted that some of the shops are not in their usual form. That is, the shop names were written in Korean instead of the usual alphabets. Pretty cool. 

Shop Names in Korean @ Insa-dong

When the sky got darker, we decided to try out the dine-in street stall for dinner. Pretty much a new experience to eat in the tentage with the locals. I would not say that the food was fantastic but at least, the eating atmosphere was not too bad and it's an experience indeed.

Street stall food

Taiwan 2013 - Day 1 - Taipei

Finally, I am going to start on my Taipei Trip -

Midnight flight was always the best - you can sleep through it especially when we are on budget flight with no entertainment or food to disturb us. This time round, scooting off to Taiwan for about 2 weeks. We bought the Scoots tickets at around SGD225 for person during the Scoots promotion. This included check-in luggage but excludes the entertainment and food. A relatively worth-it tickets. 

Timetable of the Buses

We reached Taoyuan International Terminal 1 at around 5 am and after collection of luggage, we followed the sign to the bus terminal. Before reaching the bus terminal, we passed by a convenience shop and popped in to grab breakfast - our first meal of the trip - ice coffee and rice bun. At the bus terminal, checked out the timing of the next bus and the destination it will bring you to. We stayed in Ximen area and thus, we took the Kuo Kuang bus(NT125, one way) to reach the Taipei Main Station (terminal stop) and then took the MRT to Ximen Station (NT16, 3 mins). The travel time to reach Taipei Main Station was around 1 hour.

As we reached the Taipei Main Station around 8am, people were travelling to work. Thus, it was a bit crowded but everyone was very orderly. Remember to purchase the Easy card at MRT station or convenience store so that you need not worry about not having enough change to take the public transport. Also, it did save up a bit in the long run. *Tip: After 9am, they have shuttle bus from Taipei Main station to Ximen Station. Do check it out when you are buying the bus ticket. 

Anyway, at Ximen Station, we exited from Exit 3 and our hotel - CityInn Plus Ximending - is on the left. It was initially hard to notice the hotel as it shares the same building with other shops. But no worries, looked up to the left and you will share to spot it. If you still cannot spot it, no worries, walked down to the pedestrian crossing in front, crossing the road to the left side and you will see it. It is next to shop - Bee Hiang  Cheng. This hotel was our rest point for Taipei. *I will give a review of the CityInn Plus in another post soon. 

Too early for check-in, but no worries, we left our luggage at the hotel and made our way out for our first stop - Mengjia Longshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺) - to pray for a good trip. From Ximen Station, take the MRT Blue Line to Longshan Temple Station (NT16, 2 mins). Well, the weather was not being nice to us, it was drizzling and that somehow dampened our mood. When you reaced Longshan Temple Station, followed the signs and you will be brought to the exit where you can see the Mengjia Longshan Temple at the opposite road, on the right. 

Mengjia Longshan Temple 艋舺龍山寺

I read it somewhere that the Taiwanese would do their daily ritual praying in the morning and we managed to catch it. The temple was filled with the devotees, who would make themselves comfortable by finding a seat or standing and chanting away. Though I do not understand what they were chanting, I did feel at ease. 

After the temple visit, we walked down the street to the Bopiliao Old Street (剝皮寮老街). Well, this is one of the historical street in Wanhua District and it increases its popularity after the movie, Monga (艋舺). Sadly to say, we missed out on this important information that is, the place is not opened on Monday. We just walked a bit round the circumference. Time check, it was around 10am and it was time for food. 

We popped in to Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥 for some stable food. This shop is recommended by our blogs when we were doing our research and since it was nearby, why not? Oh well, we did not regret this. The food was great. But it was confusing for the ordering part. We were ushered into the shop and given the menu (in chinese). Then, the service crew left us to 'fend' for ourselves. No instructions was given and we were really lost. Sis went over to the counter and well,she managed to order the food through the service crew's recommendation. I really agreed that when travelling, ASK when you are lost. It does not cost you anything and you will in turn, gain something from it. 

The food did not take long to be served. The porridge might look ordinary, looking brownish and unappetizing. But it was tasty with the pork bits and fried shallots. The roasted pork was tendered and well, oily. The bamboo shoot (till date, we still do not know which type that was) was recommended by the service crew who mentioned that the bamboo shoot was in the season now. It was tasty and crunchy. Good recommendation. We had a good meal there. 

1. Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥
2. Roasted Meat
3. Bamboo shoot

For this day, our initial plan was to visit Yang Ming Shan (阳明山) and to visit a hot spring for a wash up. But it was drizzling and we decided to push forward some indoor activities - National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院) and National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine (忠烈祠). 

From Longshan Temple Station, take the train to Taipei Main Station and change to the Red line to Shilin Station (NT24, 19mins). From the station, just follow the sign to the bus area where you could catch the bus to the National Palace Museum (國立故宮博物院). Well, it was good to do research on how to get to places, but the people and signs in Taipei were informative too. You won't get lost there. The bus ride took about half an hour to forty-five minutes. *Tip: It was confusing on whether to tap your easycard when you board the bus. Some buses require you to tap when getting up, some only require you to tap when getting down while some require you to tap when getting up. As days passed, we got the hang out of it. When both the front and rear door opened for boarding, it would mean to tap when you alight. If only the front door opened, the trick is just to observe the person in front of you. Needless to say, just asked if you are unsure. 

The National Palace Museum is really huge with its exhibition halls. We spent almost half a day there and we were not able to complete the halls. Moreover, it was crowded in the afternoon with many tourists hogging the place. Queues were formed to allow entry. The good thing was, we managed to cut the queues and we managed to catch some of the guide's story of the exhibits. We learnt a fair bit from them and were well informed than us just reading off the walls. 

The special exhibition we got to see was "The All Complete Qianlong: a Special Exhibition on the Aesthetic Tastes of the Qing Emperor Gaozong". Interesting history lessons for the trip.  

National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院

After which, we headed to the National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠. Sadly to say, the main hall was closed for maintenance. But we managed to catch the march of the changing of guards. Not a wasted trip after all. In spite of the rain, there were quite a crowd. The soldiers made their way from the entrance gate and walked the entire length of the grounds before heading back to the entrance gate. I guess the route would be different if the main hall was not under maintenance. 

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠

With this, we went back to the hotel to check in and to wash up a bit. And it was time to head to Ximending for some shopping and eating. Well, more time was spent on eating and sorry dude, I only managed to take some photos of the food we had. Not much research is required for food recommendation in Ximending. Just headed down and if you see queues, just queue if you are interested in the food. If not, I reckoned any street food tasted great!

Eating at Ximending

After much eating, time to head back to rest and recharge for another good 11 days in Taiwan.

Addresses:
CityInn Plus
No.63. Baoqing Rd., Zhongzheng District, Taipei, Taiwan 100

Mengjia Longshan Temple 艋舺龍山寺
No. 211, Guǎngzhōu St, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Bopiliao Old Street 剝皮寮老街
No.101, Guǎngzhōu Street, Wanhua District, Taipei City, Taiwan 108

Chow's Porridge 周記肉粥
No. 104, Guǎngzhōu Street, Wanhua District Taipei City, Taiwan 108

National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院
No. 221, Section 2, ZhìShàn Rd, Taipei, Taiwan

National Revolutionary Martyrs' Shrine 忠烈祠
No. 139, Běiān Rd, Zhongshan District Taipei City, Taiwan 104