Day 2: Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower)

After that long walking course at Suwon. I've decided to head down to Namsan Tower. So again from heading from Suwon to back to Seoul it's another one hour plus.

The nearest subway station to Seoul Tower is either Myeongdong or Chungmuro. But I suggest you should take subway to Chungmuro Station, as they provided buses to Seoul Tower with a minimum fee.

By the time I reached Chungmuro, it's already 6pm I think. First, I need to find the directions on how to get to the bus stop in front of Daehan Cinema. The bus stop is wasy to find. Just follow the directions in the subway showing to Daehan Cinema. And when you climb up the stairs, You will see the bus stop.

There are a couple of buses that goes to the tower. But I decided to take bus no. 5 (yellow bus). If not sure, you can always ask the driver, well that's what I did. Again, with the English announcement system, you can never get lost. Seoul Tower is the last stop for this bus. It went up a hill, felt like I was going to Genting. LOL. The journey was roughly 15mins. I'm not sure how much it cost, could be less than 900won. Coz throughout the trip, I just tap my card in and out. :P

Pretty X'mas Lights!

Yellow Namsan Bus
(Their buses have very limited seats.
During peak hours these seats are meant for the elderly and pregnant women & kids.)

Actually without going in the tower, you can actually view the beautiful lights from the hill itself. Alot of couples though. :P Free viewing who doesn't want.

Free Viewing of the beautiful night!

Seoul Tower!

So the ticket booth is outside of the tower. YES, out in the cold. I was already so cold! Luckily there isn't much people queuing. I bought the package which cost about 12,000 won. It includes the fee to the observatory deck and Teddy Bear Museum I & II.

So before I can go up the observatory, I need to visit Teddy Museums. There's two. Mainly because Museum I is the teddy bears in the olden days.. - The Past. While Museum II, as you guessed.. is the Present.

(I chose a few pics for this, and a couple of videos. Enjoy!)

I was greeted by haraboji (Grandfather)

Super small teddies, yet with so much detail.

My favourite of all.
( Yeah, I'm too historical)

Teddies building a palace. :)

Below is a video of the teddies. I took a couple, but this is the best. I like the teddy that was vandalizing the wall. Super cute. :P

So next was Museum II. They are also big teddy bears for both museum. Like Haraboji, it was nearly my height. Here are the pics!

Christmas Teddies.

Boyband Teddies.

Seoul World Cup Teddies.


Insadong Culture Teddies.

So after viewing the two museums, I proceed to the elevator to the observatory deck. It was just less than 40secs. Yes! It was very fast. My ears didn't even pop. :P

The view was ...... AMAZING! I took pictures but either it was too blur or has lots of reflection. This are my best photos.. But my memory has captured it much more vividly. :)

Singapore!

View of Seoul night lights.

After spending some time in the observatory deck. Another must place visit is their Sky Restroom. Their restrooms too have an amazing view of the city. I wanted to take a photo of it but for privacy and courtesy reasons, I did not.

So after all that viewing, I head down back home. Was feeling hungry as I have not eaten dinner. As my guesthouse is nearby a whole row of restaurants. I decided to pop by one and try some authentic korean dishes. Here's what I ordered.

Spicy Tofu Soup

Rice & Side Dishes.

The side dishes are very yummy. Of course, I end up eating my kimchi first! Others includes salted green veggies, anchovies and sweet flowered shaped veg. The soup was delicious. It's made with red pepper paste and has seafood - cuttlefish, crabmeat, clams and eggs. :)
And I also added freshly brewed Chrysanthemum Tea as my beverage.

Total cost?? Only 10,000won. About $12 dollars. Yeah, if we look it at Singapore context, it is very expensive. Twice? The Soup+Rice+Side dish = 5, 000won. Drink =5,000won.
But they really have good service. That's one reason why I like Seoul. :)

After having the delicious dinner, I was head back home and crashed for the night. As I gotta wake up early tomorrow for my day tour to DMZ..