29/11

Last day in Gyeongju now. Morning was spent at the Gyeongju Hwangnamin Gobungun Tomb Park. Whew… that’s a mouthful! I prefer it’s other name, Daeneungwon Tomb Park. The tombs here look, from the outside, just like grassy little mounds. Nothing impressive about them as you would have expected of the tomb of royals, just pretty grassy symmetrical small hills. The walk winded all around the tombs and it works for a beautiful walk. They even play background music from speakers perched atop the lamplights around the park! How’s that for creating ambience?! The only tomb that was open for tourists to enter was the Cheonmachong, which the name is supposed to mean Heavenly Flying Horse Tomb, more or less. It was name as such because they found a mudguard flap made of birch bark within the tomb that had the picture of a white flying horse painted onto it. Most of the relics on display there were actually replicas of what they had found within the tomb. The genuine ones were being held in the national museum. The tomb was composed of layers. The body and whatever burial stuff that was to go with it was placed into a strong wooden chamber, and then loads of rocks were then placed onto it, packed tightly, to form a layer around it that had the shape of the mound. The a layer of soil, and finally the grass on it. I guess this must have been even greater of a grave-robber-proof style of protecting the tomb because the tour guide said none of the tombs had even been plundered, and I couldn’t help wondering how the pyramids couldn’t even beat a little mound!

A stop after that at the Hwangnam Bread Shop to have a taste of its ‘bread’. It seemed more of pastry than bread to me though, with its incredibly thin layer of ‘bread’. It was essentially a red bean ball covered with a film of bread. But one could watch the workers behind the counter at work, and it’s amazing how quickly they make the little pastries! Then back into the car and it’s off to Seoul! Well, not exactly, because we stopped by the Sangsoo Herb-land in Chungbuk on the way up. It’s not too bad, not the most interesting of spots to visit. I suppose part of it may be attributed to the fact that it’s winter and not much of the plants are flowering and all, but to tell the truth there didn’t seem to be much herbs there of note, apart from the Helio trope that had light bluish flowers that smelled of chocolate! There was a whole green house dedicated to foxglove as well, and the one that interested me the most, the so-called Indian cucumber plant, tree rather. The ‘cucumbers’ that hung down at seemingly random points off the branches were incredibly long, and snake-like. Creepy! There were other unrelated stuff on display, such as the fish-pond-aquarium, and thousand year old pine tree which appear a bit stunted to me, and a donated stone formation that was supposed to appear obscene from one point, and like a chicken laying eggs from another. Then lunch there. I had always thought the only sort of flower that could actually be eaten was the rose, simply because I had seen people dusting it with icing sugar and then using it as edible decoration. But the stuff that came out of the kitchen that day would have been ordinary, very much like bibimbap, except for the addition of loads of flowers! Red, purple, blue, yellow, pink… all sorts that I know not the name of. Not that they had any taste to boast of actually, it just looked pretty. LOL! And it was slow progress to Seoul by the way, on account of the heavy traffic :S!

30/11

First stop was the Jongmyo Royal Ancestral shrine that was built during the Joseon dynasty. The ancestral tablets of the royal family during this period are kept here and every year traditional rituals are still carried out. The area where the tablets are stored is closed off to tourists, so only the outside of the building can be seen. The roof had little figurines which the tour guide said was the Monkey King, placed there to protect the building from evil spirits that would attack from the air. And the building itself had a doorway for each monarch, and each of the wooden door is made so that it does not close well, with gaps in between, just so that the spirits of the monarch can enter and leave easily :S! *gulp* The doors were also elevated off the floor, some slightly more than others, and if I’m not mistaken, the older or senior the monarch, the less elevated it is.

After that it was a short walk over a stone bridge to Changyeonggung palace. The hill that used to separate the palace from the ancestral shrine had been blasted off when the Japanese came, and a stone bridge and road below built in place. The palace was two entrances, as in one after another before one got into the actual palace grounds, with a small ditch or moat in between. Despite some parts of the palace having been burned and destroyed completely by the Japanese during their invasion, the number of buildings still standing is pretty amazing. The only building that I thought was of note was the throne room. There wasn’t really much in the room actually, just a big throne that I think would probably seat three people easily… normal sized people if I may add, very ornately carved, but there didn’t appear to be any cushioning so I wouldn’t think it’s all that comfortable. But then I suppose little cushions could have been used back then. A screen with paintings of mountains and cranes with a sun rising is placed behind the throne. Three or four big pillars in the front part of the throne room. Their use I’ve no idea, but they do add to the grandeur of the room. The roof must have taken a lot of time to complete as well, since it’s covered with carvings and right above the throne, there is a hollowed out semicircle with two phoenix ‘statues’ hung within. The windows of the building, and for all the others actually, have carvings too! They sure have really skilled craftsmen in those days! And then there’s the pathway leading up to the throne room which has three lanes. Who else but the king is to walk the middle elevated path? To his right would have been his civil officers. To his left his military officers marched along grandly. Too bad that it’s all the past that we’re seeing, because it would be super if it were all happening real time at that point! Part of the palace grounds has also been converted to botanical gardens. It’s a shame that it’s winter right now so most of the little plants are all gone now, but lots and lots of Japanese maple around, with their dainty reddish orangey leaves and dark coloured bark which provide interesting contrast. It’s extremely beautiful. Grandma and I were randomly walking around when we bumped into my uncles walking around as well (we split halfway somehow while looking around the palace) and then came upon a green house right in the middle of the gardens which housed all sorts of greenery from South Korea. Somehow some of the plants look a lot like those we get back home as well… and there were bonsai as well… and Chinggyu gave us all a scare by saying there was a crocodile in the little waterway in the middle of the greenhouse. Turns out that it was all just fish that all came bobbing up begging for food when we came near. LOL! Poor things, my pockets were empty of food just then!

And how could I forget the most important detail of the day. It snowed! Only a little, but it’s been ages that I’ve seen snow fall. It fell down lightly at first, so little we didn’t really notice it, while we were still back in the ancestral shrine. Then it got heavier and heavier, not enough to cover the ground with even a fine sprinkling of snow, but the snowflakes were starting to look like shavings of ice! Then it turned into rain L. Not that I mind it that much anyway because it lasted only a short while before it all stopped completely. But the rain started to pick up again after lunch, so we ended up not visiting one of the other palaces around Seoul as originally planned since we’ll be having to walk around in the open, so we ended up in a shopping complex called Doota!. And the exclamation mark is part of the name apparently. We spent most of the time on floor where the kidswear was because my cousins needed scarves and gloves ^-^. The clothes on sale are simply fantastic! Very stylish, even though it’s just for little toddlers to young kids, all in the latest fashions and colours. But the price was just as astounding!

1/12

Woke up early and was in the car on the way to Incheon International Airport by 7.30am. Even Aunt J’s cousin woke up early to see us off even though the van was already full and she wouldn’t be able to come along to the airport. So sweet of her ^_^! Nothing much else to report after this, 6 hour flight to KL and then a connecting flight to Kuching J, few days later, back in oven-like Penang.