새해 복 많이 받으시고요!

"And Happy New Year!"

Something I can actually say now that I'm here for a year!

If there are two places I never get tired of, they're 남산 Namsan and 청계천 Cheonggyecheon. Both are two of the "must-see" places in Seoul, but regardless of how cliche they are, I've visited them both ad nauseum. As it's been winter, we haven't walked up or down the mountain (really icy and slippery...don't really wanna fall down several stairs) and the weather up there is pretty chilly but seeing a great view of the second largest city in the world (or eighth, if you don't count it as metropolitan area) from a mountain in the middle of the city is pretty breathtaking. Not to mention taking the cable car never gets tiring! There's also something sweet, yet a little bit creepy about seeing the multitude of locks up there (couples go up to Namsan, write some lovey-dovey message on a lock [and some of these we're talking industrial-size ones!], lock it on the barriers, and then throw away the key--ironically there's now a sign that says "Don't throw away your key!" in order to protect the environment haha).

I thought this was a nice picture--I don't have a picture of the city this time (I figured I've already posted enough of those from this blog haha)
I have yet to go up there!

As for Cheonggyecheon, I've always been a big fan of finding a bit of nature in a big city. Although Cheonggyecheon isn't exactly natural (being restored from being fully concrete a few years ago), it's still a great place to go when you wanna get away from the crowded city. Not to mention it's in the middle of the very chic-looking Gwanghwamun, where all the government buildings are, so the atmosphere's really nice. In the summer, you can enjoy walking in the cool stream water and even though it's all frozen in the winter, it's still nice to just wander the path (and see awesome huge icicles behind the waterfall). Okay, now I feel like I'm talking out of Chapter 2 of our textbook (about famous places in Seoul).
HUGE icicles!
Always something new at Cheonggyecheon, as you can see.
I set the shutter speed really low as to capture a lot of light, but in the process of doing that the flowing water got a pretty interesting effect haha.

Also, thanks to Tim, Ming, Simon, and Elliy visiting, I can finally say I've been to the famous palaces of Seoul: Changdeokgung and Gyeongbokgung!
Entrance to Changdeokgung.
The Secret Garden.
Tea in Insadong! Mm mm cinnamon ^^.
Going to Gyeongbokgung two days later, the most famous of the palaces.
These guards did not laugh or show any expression, like those guards in Britain whose names I can't remember!
So much snow!
And as for remaining adventures...
Ssamzie Road in Insadong, where there are lots of souvenir shops and tea shops.
Sundubu at my favorite Sundubu place with Simon, Ming, and Tim (I dunno if I introduced them properly!--Simon was a former China Light Fellow, Tim is my friend from NY, and Ming is his friend).
Red Mango for patbingsu! Which is not in season for other stores :(. This sounds quite propagandous hahaha.
Sannakji! Freshly cut up squid so the tentacles are still moving!
We were shopping around Ewha University and came across this interesting shirt...Engrish never fails to amuse me.
So at Gwanghwamun to promote awareness about global warming there was a lot of stuff up about Antarctica. And for some reason, there was this place where you could experience the cold harsh winds of Antarctica...keep in mind that that day it was in the single digits!
So there was a Light Festival near the statue of King Sejong. This was something called "Fractal Turtle Ship 프랙틀 거북선" made by the most famous artist in Korea. It's made from televisions...neat huh? ^^
The televisions as you can see.
Another cool light art.
This is the type of modern art I can appreciate :D!
King Sejong approves of this Light Festival!
One of the first and possibly the first time I've ever seen a celebrity. This is apparently 고수 Ko Su (I dunno who he is though...). There was quite a lot of screaming and intense following, including paparazzi who just pushed me out of the way when my friends and I were trying to walk away...

Ah! Midterms on Monday :(!