"Go outside and play!"

After my last blog, I knew that if I wanted to go somewhere, I'd have to literally kick myself out of the house and lock the door; just like mom used to do when she wanted us kids to play outside.

So, yesterday, I did that. I forced myself to get up and go. The weather promised another lovely day, in the high 30's.

I took the 11:30 free shuttle to Ilsan, got on the subway, and started making my way to Seoul. As I have been reading about the Great Gates of Seoul, I wanted to visit the main ones that I could. I found a good subway route that could take me to both the North (Sukjeongmun) and the East (Dongdaemun) gates; the only other existent Main gates (remember the West one was torn down in 1915) I hadn't yet seen.

I got off the subway at the Gyeongbokgung (say that 5 times fast) stop. This is where I believed the North Gate was located. I followed the signs to the Gyeongbokgung (say that 5 times fast) Palace. Lots of the subway tunnels are interesting for various reasons. But the tunnel on the way to the palace was especially cool. There was a little gate in the subway tunnel, with an accompanying sign (see below):

Pictures from the tunnel--
A picture in the tunnel showing a great view of the palace grounds (that's Mt. Bugak in the background)--**Oh, and just in case you didn't know, you can click on any of the pictures in these blogs and the pictures will expand to their original size; making it much easier for you to see things and read signs.

The light at the end of the tunnel--
The Palace is right by a museum, and when you first come above ground out of the subway, you're right next to the museum, and can't really see the Palace, because there are construction walls all around. You have to follow the walkway around a few corners and then you're suddenly at the entrance of this grand palace and many guards wearing colorful outfits.

Well, I saw the main entrance for the palace, but I could also a side entrance. At the side entrance, there was a group of guards lining up. It seemed to me that they were getting organized for some sort of show.

Side entrance; guards assembling, putting on hats, grabbing large swords--
Sure enough, I think I happened upon the Gate Guard Change Ceremony. I'm guessing it was about 1 p.m. when I arrived there, and apparently every hour there is a Ceremony. As I made my way towards the front entrance to the Palace, music started to play, and an announcement in several languages began. Click the link below to see a 30-second video I took of the beginning of the ceremony:

Guard Ceremony

Pictures of the Ceremony and the Palace:
Guards marching towards the Main Entrance--
Guards marching away, they turn around and came back--Okay, so I didn't come to this Palace to see the Ceremony, but it was definitely neat to see. I came to see the North Gate; which I couldn't immediately locate from where I was standing. So I went back through the subway tunnel to exit onto a different part of the street so I could see the gate from there.

I had to stop and ask some policemen who were walking by if I was in the right place. I pointed to a place on the map in my book, and then pointed to the big structure I saw in front of me; basically asking if I was in the right spot. They said yes.

Here's what I saw--
You can sort of see an outline of the gate-like structure in the weird artwork there. One of the policemen said that the gate was under construction--something about fixing the doors--and that's why it was covered up by this weird barn structure.

Here's what the gate normally looks like (not my picture) when not covered by a giant hangar--
Looks like a pretty nice gate, right? And I'm sure it is. And though it is located in the northern part of Seoul, and though it is great, and though it is a gate...it is not the Great North Gate.

I was wrong. After spending a great deal of time looking on the internet today, the actual North Gate is apparently somewhere up on Mt. Bugak (say that fiv--nevermind), the mountain that marked the original northern border of Seoul; where some of the fortress wall still exists.

For some reason, I am completely unable to find out exactly where the North Gate is...though I know the general vicinity it's in. Try typing "Sukjeongmun" into Google. It'll give you some info, but won't help you locate it on a map. There's no mapquest for Korea.

So, I saw some neat things, but not the Great North Gate of Seoul. I'll try again next week.

So I headed back to the subway to head for the Great East Gate (Dongdaemun). I knew exactly where it was. I walked by the Dongdaemun Stadium and outdoor marketplace to get to the gate.

Outside Dongdaemun Stadium--
On the way to the Gate, I passed over the famous Cheonggye Stream. I'm sure you've heard of it. Okay, maybe not. In 2005, the city finished removing an expressway that was covering up this old stream. Because Seoul is in a valley of sorts, for centuries, all the rain water from the city automatically drained to this stream. Well, in the name of urban development, this stream was uncovered and now has a beautiful walkway that goes through more than half the city. I've seen it various times, but never knew what it was. Decorative bridges have been built along the span of the stream. Cheonggye means clear and clean. Cheonggye Stream is a "Clear Clean" stream through the city.

Cheonggye Stream--
The East Gate is smack in the middle of the road. I mean, considering that its portal was once a main entrance into the city, it makes sense that there are now roads all around it.

Dongdaemun (Great East Gate, previously named Heunginjimun)--
As I approached the East Gate, I wondered if there would be a police presence, due to the recent fire at the other gate. I was right. This police officer was parked in the median just to the east of the gate itself.

There was another officer standing in the median on the south side of the gate, blowing his whistle to keep traffic moving. I noticed several Koreans taking pictures of the gate. I wonder if this fire has made them more conscious of the rich history these gates provide, and they've taken a greater interest. I know it's done that for me...and I'm not Korean.

After taking my pictures, I headed back to the subway station to continue my self-guided (misguided?) tour of Seoul. There were no other gates to see. I'll have to see the other existing gates another day.

I got back on the subway and headed for COEX Mall, a popular underground mall. My book says it's "Seoul's top entertainment and retail zone with a maze of shops and food courts, a department store, luxury hotels, a popular cinema multiplex" and more. There's even an aquarium there with 40,000 fish and a kimchi museum. It's the only museum dedicated to pickled cabbage and its health benefits. Just the thought of going to this museum makes me feel a bit...sick.

Well, at this point I still hadn't had lunch, and kimchi aside, I was hungry. As I entered the underground mall, which is indeed a maze, I prayed that there would be a Burger King or McDonalds nearby...or any other establishment that I knew my palate could handle. What I saw next can only be described as a mirage of water in a desert. Out of the corner of my left eye...I saw three colors. Green, white, and red. Italy's flag. I saw the letters "...rro". Were my eyes deceiving me? Could this be a Sbarro restaurant--famous in American mall food courts? Would I be saved by the presence of their famous pepperoni and sausage pizza? I ran, not walked, down this hallway. It was not a dream! It was not my mind playing mean, dirty tricks on me! It was indeed a Sbarro Italian Eatery!! There before me laid familiar foods! I may have yelled out, "Praise the Lord!", I can't really remember--I was in shock.

Sbarro--
I was so excited, I forgot where I was. I took a deep breath in. Released it. Then I grabbed a tray and calmly pointed to the piece of pizza I desired. Just like at home, they had the stuffed Pepperoni and Sausage pizza, which I love. I got a garlic bread stick and a large Coke--a meal fit for a King...a fat, lazy King.

My meal--
It was everything I hoped it would be. Delicious.

The food court, my new friend--
After feeding my face (that's for you Grandpa), I started to walk around the mall, just to see what was there. Signs were in English, and for the most part, I know my way around a mall. But this mall was quite different. It didn't have an open feeling, the ceilings were very low and dark colored. I felt a bit trapped. I went into a huge bookstore that my travel book recommended. I'm sure there was an English section in there somewhere, but my brain couldn't handle finding it. I'm sure the trans-fat in my lunch was doing it's duty and slowing me down. As I was getting ready to leave the bookstore (which is called Bandi & Luni's--not sure if that's Korean for Barnes & Noble...), I noticed a reading room of sorts. I was astounded at what I saw.

The reading area--
I count no less than 36 people in that picture that are sitting down reading books--not magazines--books!! It was so quiet...I didn't know what to do. So I started singing "Phantom of the Opera" really loud and then ran away. (No, I didn't do anything of the sort)

I made my way out of the bookstore and walked around for a little while longer. I found a CD store and did some shopping in there. They have lots and lots of imported CD's, including soundtracks. It was very exciting for me. A little slice of my American experience.

By this point it was around 5:00 p.m., and I knew I should start heading back towards home. It would take at least an hour to get back to Ilsan, where I would need to catch the free shuttle back home.

It was a crowded ride home--
When I got back to Ilsan, it was just about 6:30. I couldn't remember if the shuttle was at 6:30 or 7. I waited at the stop until 6:35, and when the shuttle didn't show up, I knew it was 7. That's when I visited a little cafe right by the stop. I've been in there before to buy water, and once I had a piece of cheesecake. Well, a sign out front had a picture of a 3 layered cake, with a pricetag of 2,500Won. It looked good, and I thought it would be a nice (by nice, I mean horribly fattening) completion of my daily food intake.

I went inside and pointed to the piece I wanted.

The piece I wanted--
The nice person behind the counter took it out of the glass case for me and took the glass cover off of it. I asked, "What kind of cake is it?" I suppose that question is usually best asked before ordering the cake, but everything in Korea is backwards...and frankly, I just forgot to ask. He paused for a moment, gathering his English words, then said, "Sweet potato." I thought I must have misheard him. "Sweet potato...CAKE?" "Yes." "Really? Sweet potato CAKE?" I mean, I've heard of sweet potato pie, and sweet potatoes...but never sweet potato CAKE. I asked, "Does it taste good?" He said, "Taste is good."

Perhaps some of you have heard of this kind of cake, and have even tried it before. Well, I hadn't. I love regular potatoes, but the thought of having them in CAKE form doesn't really appeal to me...and though this slice looked delicious, I didn't know what to think about having sweet potatoes in cake form. But what the heck--you only live once, right!?

I bought it. I took a bite. It was...delicious. I can't remember if I've eaten sweet potatoes, so I don't really know what they taste like, but the cake was very good.

I ate it all...eventually--

It was a good day. I'm glad I kicked myself out of the house and locked the door...just the way Mom used to do.