Just Keep Walking

Man, I am sure exhausted from walking all day long! I hope my feet get used to it soon. I remember all too well the super tired feet at first when we went to Hong Kong. It was so nice when my feet weren't falling off by the end of the day.

But today was a fairly good day. My first day exploring all on my own. It actually really wasn't half as bad as I thought. Traveling alone definitely has its perks, like being able to set your own schedule and do whatever you want, whenever you want. It really is kinda nice in a way. I'd still prefer traveling with someone of course, cuz traveling alone for a whole month would get super boring.

Anyway, so I went to Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung in the morning. Explored the palaces on my own until the tour for the Secret Garden started. The Secret Garden was the King's relaxation /entertaining places. It was pretty interesting learning about all the Korean history. The tour lasted about 1.5 hours, so I got a good amount of information from it. Like how there was a prince who started ruling when he was 19 and was a very influential and successful ruler, until he died 3 years later from some sort of illness, or how one of the kings had 9 lovers, how he loved the lotus flower and made one of the roofs of a building to resemble one. So yeah, lots of interesting tidbits of history.

After the palaces, I went to eat lunch and guess what I tried...! Live octopus! I will have to be honest and say that it didn't look appetizing in the least bit, with the tentacles still squirming around like worms. Eek. But it didn't taste bad. I hurried and chewed them before I could feel them squirming in my mouth, but a few times they did suck on my cheeks. Ha. Don't think I'll be ordering live octopus again anytime soon. So after lunch, I went to Insadong. I went and bought a bunch more earrings and necklaces, as well as socks as gifts. Then I went to Cheonggyechon Stream and walked along the length of it and headed to Myeongdong for more shopping. It was fun just walking around looking at everything. There were so many street food vendors lined along the streets, and I wanted to try everything, but of course I couldn't cuz first, I don't wanna gain 20 lbs, and 2nd, I didn't wanna ruin my appetite for dinner, and 3rd, I wasn't hungry anyway.

So for dinner, I went to the Lotte Department Store basement and got some Udon and then I pretty much just went home, got back by 7:15. I am so tired! Don't even wanna get up to shower or anything...but I need to cuz I am gross, plus I squirted a bunch of sugary filling onto my hair from this fried thing I got on the street. 

But yep, that was my day. Tomorrow I think I will go see the other big palace and a shrine, then go for some more shopping. Seoul really is pretty similar to Hong Kong. Mostly it's just shopping and eating. I'm so glad Andrea will be coming next week so it will be fun to show her around  HK!