Kyobo Book Store at Gwanghwamun & Cheonggyecheon, Seoul

Gwanghwamun main street

For my 3rd time, I went to Cheonggyecheon--one of the man-made marvels in the world. It is actually a simple river that used to be buried underneath a highway that used to be crossing the downtown Seoul. It is now one of the major tourists and local attractions. I took my friend,

the restroom @ Kyobo

The Blue House (where?)

Wawan, who was also mesmerized by the immensity of the river.
We started our journey from our campus, HUFS. we took the line 1 Seoul Metro and headed ourselves to Gwanghwamun, first.

It was actually our first intention of going this morning. We just wanted to stroll along the main thorough fare in downtown Seoul.  It was not 10 o'clock that we left home. Since it was weekend, it was a bit packed with lots of people who were taking their kids to have a weekend day-out.

one of the bridges

The Starting point of the river

We arrived at Kyobo and headed towards the Korean language books that were displayed there. It turned out to be quite an interesting experience since I could have a chance to see the varieties of books on Korean language. I was surprised as well as confused as to which one to buy. I ended up buying not a single book. But, Wawan bought a very interesting book that cost only 9,000 Won. It was "Mastering Korean Alphabet in 40 hours". An intriguing and helpful book for him, for the beginner.
I met an Indonesian man who has been living in Seoul for more than 3 years. It turned out that he is now working at Samsung headquarter. And to make it more interesting, his wife is a Korean. So, that is the reason as to why he is living here. He was with his American friend whose wife happens to be a Korean as well. OK..back to the title of this blog..

cool summer

Inside Kyobo, I got a chance to see how it has changed after my last visit back in 2009, I guess. I went to the restroom which reminded of Harry Potter's Mourning Myrtle's bathroom:) It is, indeed....but with modern touch, of course.

After checking out the book, we went out of the book store and headed towards the Gwanghwamun main street where the statue of King Sejong and Admiral Li (?) were standing majestically overlooking the main street. Behind those statues, Gyeongbokgung or the Gyeongbok Palace as well as the Blue House (Presidential Palace) were visible from afar.
We had a chance to take a picture there. It was stiflingly hot,but it was worth the time.
Lots of things to see.

green downtown

We did not go to the main street, since our intention was going to Cheonggyecheon.
It was summer and yet it was not that hot since it was so peaceful and calm being surrounded by the breeze of air and the sound of water flowing down the river.
Amazingly, we managed to walk for about 4 km more; right from the Gwanghwamun until Dongdaemun Undongjang where we stopped and took a rest.

Doota Mall

But, instead of taking a rest, we went inside Doota Shopping Center (a hip fashion mall) where lots of tourists flock in to find those Korean stars-like fashions.
It was a tiring day but hey...it was worth the time coz it was a great weekend.

see the ducks out there?

Both of us, Wawan and I, were already imagining taking our family for a day or night out at the same places we had been today. It will surely be another great experience for all of us.
Can't wait to be there again with our family. Amiin.