Eyra's Presents

She made these to welcome me back home from the hospital.

It's an intricately designed handicraft she.made for me.

Oh ...even a small flower was inserted into the ....hmmm...are those songpyeon? Chuseok's ricecakes?

Chuseok: Wearing Hanbok to School (part 2)

Wait...you're ready to go home, Freya?

What's in the bag? 

Meeting her friend on her way home after the 3-hour activity of celebrating Chuseok.

Oh, she was holding the songpyeon (rice cakes) that she made today. 

Hmmmm...It was indeed such a memorable day for her... 

then..the playground became deserted once again..

all kids were gone. 

But..the memories linger on.

Chuseok Gift (part 1)

yeaach....instead of songpyeon, what they got first...was a toy!!

er..what? No songpyeon tteeok? apparently so.

Chuggingtown train! The toy train that Freya, especially, loves to have. 

they just couldn't wait to tear off the wrapping and cut off the wires that hold them inside the box....and ready to play with it.

Oh, well...Chuseok means gift and presents for them.

okay..wait..wait..wait..a minute!!!!

This is what they wanted. 

Ok ...go play, gals.

Celebrating Chuseok @ Namsangol Hanok Village

What could be more fun than having outdoor activities in the holiday season like this?

We searched on the internet and bumped into an info from Korea Tourism Organization that some parks or palaces around Korea were having lots of Chuseok-theme activities for anyone to enjoy.

So, we decided to go to Hanok Village which was just a 30-minute ride by subway. After getting off at Chungmuro station, we were glad to have decided to come here.

Why? our kids loved it.

First: there were varieties of first-hand experiences for children to take park in. There were traditional Korean kite making, sculpture making, Korean mask making, etc. The one that attracted Eyra and Freya was the kite-making activity.

After paying 8,000 Won for two, they were ready to make their own first kite of its kind.

They glued and tied them up all by themselves.

Of course, parents supervised them..^^

The colorful kites seemed to have captured Eyra's creativity. 

In the chilling temperature (for us^^) of around 15 degree Celsius, the children were happy and seemed not to care of its surrounding...but to glued themselves into what they were making.

Tatatata......It's done.! They were so amazed at how things worked. They did it by themselves and they were just impatient of flying their kites off into the sky.^^

Aha....I knew it, Eyra and Freya chose the color and pictures of their favorite, ducks and dolphin.

It was a good thing that the sky was blue and that lots of things to do and see where just right there.

Afterwards, we went into several traditional houses available in the complex. Eyra learned about how things worked in the traditional Korean houses. Her Mom was just as curious as Eyra was.^^

This is pretty much how the house looked. Lots of visitors thronged into the house to take a closer look at it.See the white tent? I just learned that some Chuseok-related ceremonies were held in the morning.:( oh, no.... Had we known about it.

Still, it did not hamper or dampen our spirit of enjoying our time there. After all, there were other things to do and see inside Hanok Village. See the tteok that Mom was holding? We just bought it and ready to eat it...on the spot.

Eyra loved the green and yellow ones. She kept eating and munching the glutinous tteok.

One of the interesting things about this Hanok village is that it is located right at the center of the city (see the Namsan Tower?) that makes it accessible through varied means of transportation. So, we would take the  kids here again to learn more about this. 

Pose@! Action! 

Oops..it was getting dark.

But...we haven't seen all. So, let's go and start exploring...

Off we went to circle around another house. The Hanok village indeed offers to its visitors a rare chance of seeing authentic Korean traditional houses right in the middle of the city. Sky scrappers that dotted the village seemed to be the striking contrast of how modern and traditional legacies could exist at the same time and space.

While happily clutching her self-made kite, Eyra was happy to tag us along into the journey of learning or at least admiring the beauty of Korean traditional house/architecture.

Freya, too, was seen clutching her kite and her Mom was busy taking pictures into the interior of the house. 

I love the chimney (that's what I think it is...though I am not so sure)^^ Gosh, I wish there'd been some guide telling us what that was.^^

Anyone knows what those Chinese characters say? Hmm..wish I knew.

Freya:"Daddy, could you take my picture, please?"

* *Oh, sure, Honey..^^

Mom: "Me, too, please....^^"

**Oh...well, okay^^

This kind of stone-wall is typical of Korean wall. Well, I am not sure about it myself. But, judging from the fact that I found it at many other places, I think it could be it.

The red & blue lanterns hanging above were another typical Korean festivity-must have items.

*.* Have a Great Holiday*-*

Chuseok--Korea's Thanksgiving Day

풍성한 한가위 되세요^^

"Have an affluent Chuseok"

Chuseok, Chuseok, Chuseok..that's the catchy word for these days.

추석 or Chuseok or Thanksgiving Day for Korean comes today on September 29. 

Of course based on the lunar calendar, it is the 15th day of the 8th month. The full moon is right her for us to behold. 

Ok, I am not going to tell about this festivity directly but....what comes along with it...is what prompted me to write this entry.

I was walking by, transferring at, going to several subway stations....and..to my surprise, something caught my attention. Lots of new-to-my-eyes snacks were like popping out of nowhere in just one night..or that..I never paid any attention to i before? Anyhow, these traditional snack, candies, cookies, and sweets were all there to celebrate the Chuseok Holiday.

Since they were so tempting and that..I never tried those kinds of snacks before...I was urged to try it. The price was not pricey. It cost only 1,200 won per 100 grams of any kinds you took. So, I took some that interest me. A kind of random sampling^^

This is what I bought. So colorful, right?

Although I did not know most of their names^^:D....I enjoyed eating them very much.

Some resembled snacks back home in Indonesia. I guess...the rice flour being the main ingredient of this traditional snack was the reason why we had similar stuffs back home.

Happy Chuseok, everyone.^^

Have an affluent chuseok.

(I know that we should have eaten some songpyeon--the representative tteok or rice-cake in Chuseok), but  we have not yet eaten them.^^Instead, we had this first.^^