Although most of the Cherry blossoms have gone now there are still a lot of beautiful flowers across Korea
Category: Arriving in Korea
Deoksugung Palace Korea Part 1
I’ve been in Korea more than a year and only recently had the opportunity to visit one of the Palaces. Contrary to popular belief, as a teacher in Korea, you do not have all the time in the world to do the touristy thing. But we had some time to spare on Sunday and decided to walk to one of the Palaces. Deoksugung Palace is situated in the Myeongdong district in Seoul.
History
Deoksugung Palace served as the king’s residence twice during the Joseon Dynasty. It was originally the home of King Seonjo and Prince Wolson who temporarily lived there after the Japanese forces withdrew from Korea in 1593. He lived here because all the main palaces where destroyed during the war. Prince Gwanghae renamed the Palace Gyeongungung Palace after rebuilding the palace and making it his main resident. The palace was used as a main residence by Gojong again during 1897. During the Joseon Dynasty the state was proclaimed an empire. The palace halls were rebuild and the compound was expanded to some three times its present size. Unfortunately Gojong was forced to hand his empire over to his son who became Emporor Sunjong in 1907. Emperor Sunjong Moved into Changdeokgung Palace and bestowed the title of Deoksu (virtue and long life) on his father, wishing him a long life. The compound came to be called Deoksugung Palace and the former emperor remained here until his death in 1919
Both Korean and Western architecture dominate the site. While walking amongst the Korean style buildings it feels like you’re walking in a different time. Almost like you’re part of a different era. It was quite an amazing feeling.
To get there you can take the dark blue line (line 1) and get off at the City Hall, across from Seoul Plaza. Alternatively if you get off at Myongdong (light blue line) you can walk about 2 blocks down Eulji-ro, past Lotte Duty Free to get there. Its right across from Seoul Plaza.
Next week I will feature the western style architecture at Deoksugung Palace.
Interesting reads to help save money in Korea
Betty Boop changed my life.
When I was 12 years old, one of the girls on my netball team had a costume themed birthday party. It was my first costume party ever. My Mom had the bright idea of dressing me in one of her emerald green mini dresses and adding 2 huge balloons in my dress to make me look like Betty Boop.
At the party all the girls chased me with needles and pins to try and burst my “boobs” considering I was really flat chested and shy at the time. I remember my mother saying that everyone liked me at the party and that gave me the confidence boost I needed at the time. I became good friends with all of the girls.
I think that is where my love for costume parties started because you can be someone else without fear of being judged because people will never know if that was the “real” you or the “make believe” you. In memory of that experience I’ve decided to post some very cute Betty Boop accessories I found on the net this week
Vogue Black Betty Boop Keychain
Betty Boop Salt and Pepper shakers
Betty Boop feathered hat figurine
Black and Red wallet and handbang
Pink and Black wallet and handbag
Cream studded wallet and handbag
Weekly finds
I love “window shopping” and I thought I’d share some beautiful living room spaces I found on the net this week. I love the beach and beach homes and I always think that having blue and white in a living room will make you feel like you own a beach home.
Beautiful white couch with blue and white pillows.
This room looks lovely with the dark pillows contrasted with the white. The glass vases with the candles makes it extra romantic.
All of the images where found on Pinterest
Stying fit in a Foreign country
Staying fit is pretty hard. You have work, family and other daily occurrences that makes it hard to stay fit. When moving to a new country you have other factors at work like not knowing where any gyms are and not being able to communicate with the locals to find the right price for gym membership among many others.
When we first arrived in Korea we were like Hansel and Gretel at the gingerbread house. We ate everything we could find. We were in food heaven, but as it turns out it wasn’t really heaven. :p
To get my mind in the game again took me a very long time, I must confess. Luckily because we don’t have a need for a car in Korea, we walk everywhere. We can walk for hours on end. We tried joining a few gyms but our first gym ($45 per month) was very uninspiring so we didn’t go everyday and then later we joined a “fancy” gym ($80 per month)It went well for a few months but we started going less and less until we skipped weeks on end. We eventually cancelled our membership but decided that we still have to keep going, so we started going to gym at the park and now that it’s warmer its becoming easier to go everyday. We do a variety of things. Sometimes we jump rope and sometimes we do pull-ups on the bar equipment.
In addition we generally do bodyweight type exercises. My husband goes to the Gym once or twice a week (we pay $2.50 per day) to exercise the muscles he can’t exercise at the park. We also ride our bikes ever so often.
On the days that we don’t go to the park or ride our bikes we try and walk for 20-30 minutes so as to keep moving. I’ll keep you updated on our quest for health and fitness.
Simi's trinkets and treats 