South Korea Day 5: From Seoul City Tour (Deoksugung Palace, Cheonggyecheon Stream, K-Style Hub and GwanghwamunSquare) to Incheon International Airport

Travel to South Korea Bucket List Goals (Day 5)

Since our flight back to the Philippines was scheduled at 7:35, we spent more than half of our last day touring the Seoul City proper.

From Sangil-dong station, we took off at the Gwanghwamun Station. We walked less than 5 minutes from the exit to find the Deoksugung Palace right across the street. This is where you can rent hanbok for free. However, we were so early that no one was yet stationed at the booth. What we did was take a photo as souvenir with the guards at its gate.

Next spot we looked for was the Cheongyecheon Stream. We crossed another highway towards City Hall. On our way there, we found this lovely flower sculpture with I Seoul U. It summed up our feelings from our two day tour around the city.

We were so fond also of this in-ground fountain. If we have spare time and clothes, we will be delightful to play and feel refreshed.

There was also this spot where you can see the Namsan Tower from afar.

After 10 minutes of walking, we finally found the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We took a photo first just in case we ran out of time to explore it.

Our primary agenda that day was to look for K-Style Hub. When we reached the middle part of the stream, the building of K-Style Hub is located on the right side. It can be easily spotted because of the large signage of its name and the large billboard of Imagine Your Korea. 

 

 

This is a new attraction opened last February. Korean President Park Geun-hye and Song Joong Ki, who stood as the honorary ambassador for tourism of Korea, were present at the opening of a new K-Style hub at the Korea Tourism Organization headquarters in Seoul last April 11. 

Photo courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae website

The entrance for all tourists is free. I highly recommend that first-time goers to South Korea must visit this place first before exploring the country. You can find free brochures, maps and magazines here. You can also ask assistance from the staff there regarding tours available for your number of days in SK depending to your location as well.

Photo courtesy of K Beauty Now

 

We also read from a blog that there is a K-Star Zone where Bigbang, 2ne1 and Psy are featured. We got so excited that upon entrance, we directly proceeded to the second floor where the tourist information center is located. When you go further on the left side, you can see a television with various Korean idols and above it is the K-Star Zone signage. 

And this standee below welcomed us.

We live Bigbang so we posed with their standee.

 

On the right side wall is the K-Star Window. You can choose your favorite idol and push the door bell to pose with them.

 

The in-demand areas there are the Star Music Bench where you can pose with GD while he is lying on your lap. Sadly, this was not working when we went there. That justifies how tourists are fond of using that area. Thus, we spent half an hour at the Star Photo. We were the only ones using the area so we're so happy and grateful. We did what we ached to do in Everland there. K-Style offers this area for free and no one is watching as well. 

 

Hangeul wall also attracted our eyes as to how art is incorporated along with tourism and education.

Medical tourism is also being promoted today. We learned from various Korean TV shows that doctors in South Korea are very good in terms of surgery and alternative medicine. Their services offered are way cheaper than other countries,

We underwent inbody test for free. Our whole body structure was examined. My test results showed normal while my sister's were not. She lacked weight, nutrition as well as muscles.

We also tried the heart rate variability analysis. Again, I received good results regarding my stress level and blood circulation. What made my day was the younger age that was showed in the results. Tests revealed that I am 23 years which in truth is 27.

As to my sister, she got high mental stress and 38 years of age. I kept on teasing her but she defended herself via her nature of work.

We also joined a contest there via SNS by tagging #medicaltourismKTO. We got sunscreens in return.

There is a prayer room allotted for Muslim tourists as well.

From our Everland VR experience, we also tried this Korea 360 degree virtual tour where you can select different tourist spots to view.

 

 

We went upstairs to see other services offered by K-Style Hub. We found out that third floor is where the photo of Song Joong Ki and President Park was taken.

Photo courtesy of www.wowkeren.com

This pathway may look ordinary but each wooden panel introduces the different dishes that you can find in a Korean table.

 

Indeed, the saying designed on the wall is true. You are what you eat. If you eat healthy food, then, definitely you will become healthy also.

 

Korean desserts are also shown through these beautiful wall and jar decorations.

And as for the exit, you will see these Korean deities which are comparable to Philippine version of "anito".

Next walkatour fo us is the popular strip of Cheonggyecheon Stream. We started from this fountain down the wishing well and stone steps across its other side. 

 

 

We also crossed the highway near the Gwanghwamun Square to capture its in-ground water fountain where most Koreans play and shower during summer time. We can feel the heat since it's almost 12 noon that time.

 

Since it was our last day in South Korea, we made an obligatory documentation of our subway experience. 

When we arrived at Sangil-dong, we also got the precious time with our god son and daughter who are half Filipino and Korean before heading back to our home country. 

 

We also filled our hungry tummy with these very affordable and delicious Korean street food plus peach juice and Filipino made spaghetti and gelatin.

By 4pm, we boarded Bus 6200 from Sangil-dong bus stop. We prayed really hard to catch this trip or else we will be late for our flight. Thanks God that we made it. At 6pm, we were at the Incheon International Airport already. The photos below were taken at around 7pm, which was minutes away from our boarding time. We felt so relieved then and inspired since one staff of Jeju Air really looked like Song Joong Ki. Maybe, this was my hallucination but my sister said that the guy seemed a known model for her. Due to excitement, we line up fast and we were actually second and third in the line. 

Due to air traffic, we did not notice that our flight was delayed by two hours. Thanks to Mr. Hyun Mo Park who taught us Hangeul and told us his stories about urban farming, business and also some Filipino celebrities and athletes and more importantly Korean idols like Sandara Park's profile.

We were supposed to be back in the Philippines by 10 pm but we arrived there by 12 am. We're glad to be home again but we'll definitely visit South Korea again and again. We have lots of memories of wonderful places and people.