One Day in Jeonju Culture Village
The KAIST ISSS (International Scholar and Student Services) Buddy Program arranged a one day Jeonju trip for all the exchange students to the Jeonju traditional village (전주한옥마을 Jeonju Hanok Maeul) . There were limited seats but I managed to register just in time for it. The entire trip costed 10,000 KRW (transportation and breakfast). At about 8:30 AM on September 9, 2017 (officially my third weekend in Korea), all the participating students boarded the coach buses. With lack of sleep, we all ate our sandwiches quickly and dozed off to dreamland. After about 1-2 hours, we arrived at our destination, Jeonju.
joined the camera crew for a good 10 seconds, but kept getting beat as bigger and better cameras were whipped out
We had to gather around to take a ritual photo with the student staff in front of Gyeonggijeon Shrine. The rest of the trip until 3:45 PM was free time. My group walked towards the outskirts of the village to the art village area. There were many cute shops and handmade boutiques decorated with plants, all were very instagram-worthy. There's also a mural wall which unfortunately, I didn't have time to take any photos but I managed to get footage of it in my video down below (0:39).
Not so scary alleyway, somewhat cozy
all these colors and textures
more plants
empty street before the tourists and locals flock in
planters and plants and ceramics | edited with VSCO
cute coffee shop
organic and environmentally friendly planter
me! | taken by Jo (check out her blogpost about Jeonju here) | edited with VSCO
miniature lily pond?!
After our walk around the art village, we headed back to the main Hanok Village for some lunch.
traditional architecture blending well with its mountainous environment | edited with VSCO
little guy on a swing hung on a restaurant entrance
intricate and calculated masterpieces by web masters
We went to Hyundai Ok Jeonju is known for its bibimbap (more detailed review) since it's the birthplace of this dish.
the famous Jeonju bibimbap - such a colorful dish!
really liked the coloring | edited with VSCO
close up of all the veggies, sauce and yolky goodness
Desert is a must to complete a satisfying meal. We decided to go for traditional patbingsoo (more detailed review) that helped cool down the heat and humidity.
snow ice with a layer of mildly sweet red bean paste, sprinkled with almonds and nuts and topped off with rice cakes covered in soybean powder - thats a mouthful
strawberry rice cake (more popular as - ichigo mochi) sweet strawberry nestled on top of red bean paste and wrapped in a layer of chewy mochi sprinkled with soybean powder
cute plants in cute teacup planters
Local tourists of Jeonju
Here are some fun and cute instances that I managed to capture also interesting cultural differences spotted.
1. The norm: many people carry their own phone tripods to take timed photos
2. Three middle-aged men taking a rest, whilst sharing a bench and the view.
3. Innocence is being fascinated by an artificial water fountain.
3. Couple culture! So much matching!
Spicing up their gender bending game by exchanging outfits accompanied with makeup and a flower crown.
Notice: guy on the right is adorned in a woman's hanbok, the definition of truly matching.
4. Child blowing raspberries into father's hands.
Stay tuned for more adventures around Korea and overseas soon! I apologize for being so slow at making blog posts... Enjoy my Jeonju video (also Week 3 of Korea) and be sure to check out my detailed post about the food I ate on this trip!
Until next time, happy travels!
All photos and video footage (unless otherwise stated) are taken by Kaity Chen. Please credit if using.