This past Saturday, I got a chance to join an instameet in Seoul that was hosted by Ken Lee from Seoulstateofmind (check out his blog if you haven't. He has a very cool photo collections). This was my first instameet experience and I got to say it was pretty interesting and fun. More than 40 people showed up for the event and everybody is from everywhere. It's kinda cool to meet people from different parts of the world. Since the group was kinda big, people split into smaller groups when exploring the areas. I walked together with 3 other people who I met that day for the first time and our group kinda get lost because we're pretty much always behind. Still, it was fun playing catch up and trying to find out where the rest of the group was :)

We started our route from Hyehwa Station (혜화역) and hiked up to Naksan Park (낙산공원) to see the view from the top. After that we headed down and explored the Ihwa Mural Village (이화 벽화마을), where they have these cool artworks painted on the walls around the neighborhood. Cheonggyecheon stream (청계천) was the next stop and for the last stop we made our way to Dongdaemun Design Plaza (동대문디자인플라자) and pretty much dispersed from there. I got some good shots, made new friends, and had a good time during the 4 hours we were doing the photowalk. Definitely going to go again if there's going to be one in the future. And special thanks to Ken Lee for organizing the event!

We were still walking around the shops in Ssamziegil when we suddenly heard a drumming noise from the street. People started to rush out of the mall to the street, so we took a peek from the 3rd floor to see what’s going on out there. Turned out, the Lotus Lantern Festival parade is passing by. We were there on Buddha’s Birthday weekend celebration and I think the Lotus Lantern Festival ws part of that celebration.

Apparently Insa-dong was on the parade route and we didn’t even know that. We were thinking of going to Cheonggyecheon Stream later on tonight, because that’s where we thought the parade’s going to be. But I guess we lucked out. We also got a pretty good spot up front to see the parade clearly. I managed to snap photos and took a couple of footage of the parade.

After the parade, we started exploring the area around Ssamziegil. There are lots of shops that sell traditional items that are perfect for souvenirs.

Since it's almost 9 pm, we decided that it's time to grab dinner. We picked Gung (개성만두 궁) that's close by. They are known for their famous Gaeseong-style mandu.

*Assorted Pancakes – Mung Bean, Ground Potato, Chopped Red Pepper & Leek, Chopped Kimchi*

Gaesong Dumplings cooked in Casserole (개성만두전골) ₩30,000 — *Gaesong Dumplings cooked in Casserole (개성만두전골) ₩30,000*

*Gaesong Steamed Dumplings (개성만두찜) ₩7,000*

After dinner, since we still have time before the subway closes, we decided to head to Cheonggyecheon Stream (청계천), where the Lotus Lantern Festival happened to have their installments at. It was around 10 pm on a Sunday night and we're very surprised that the place was still packed with people—young, old, families, kids, couples. One of my friend made a comment, "It's like they don't need to work or something. How come Sunday night can be this packed?". I have to agree that it feels very different than here in the US. The nightlife in Seoul is definitely more alive. Plus the weather was perfect for just walking around the stream or sitting down while looking at the lanterns. We enjoyed the cool night breeze while watching the people around us. It was a perfect way to end our first day in Seoul.

WWIM10Seoul

Seoul Day 1: Lotus Lantern Festival & Cheonggyecheon Stream