Korea Photos...Days 5-6

Day 5 (Wednesday): The day was devoted to visiting the National Museum of Korea and shopping at Nam Dae Mun Market (South Gate Market).  If you look closely, you'll notice the sign for the G20 Summit on the left-hand side of the banner.  Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised to recognize the main hall from the drama with Kim Sun Ah.  :)  Do you recognize it, too, from the photo?

I had a difficult time with the lighting on my camera for the picture right above; however, I wanted to try to at least get a shot of it to share with you all.  It was quite impressive simply standing there erect in the middle of the open center.

While I was roaming through the many halls and rooms, I was surprised to run into the next picture...the museum had several of these rooms dedicated to allowing visitors to sit, rest, and chat with people:

The one right above is actually the video room, where visitors can watch documentaries and such.  I think we were there too early for the museum to have started any of the short films.  Typically, I like to roam through museums for hours on end, but I had to do a cursory walk through the major rooms that day because I was with others so I wouldn't have been able to watch anyhow.  :(

Below is a photo of some items I purchased in the museum gift shop.  If any of you get a chance to visit, make sure to check out the brochure in the information area because I was able to find a 10% discount on all my purchases!  :)  You'll have to excuse my dog...he insisted on getting in the picture.  LOL

The next few shots are of the outside of the museum.  It was incredibly peaceful outside, and the cool fall weather was definitely a plus!

Once we got done with the museum, we headed over to a nearby mall (iPark Mall affiliated with Hyundai) and took a much-needed rest after the crazy shopping (my sister splurged on all these cute winter coats!) to drink some coffee and chat in a coffee shop inside the mall.

I forgot to take pictures of Nam Dae Mun Market (was too busy shopping LOL), but below is a photo of the pig-rabbit I managed to find :) I took the picture right before I started this post, and as soon as I got done shooting it, my dog claimed it as his!  LOL...he likes stuffed animals that can readily fit into his small Pomeranian mouth.  :P (ugh...the photo did something weird and uploaded sideways...oh well.)

I rounded that evening with a nice dinner with a family friend in one of those Korean food chains:

On my way back to my hotel, I just had to take some photos of the artwork that was hanging up on the walls of one of the subway stations.  I guess there had been an art contest of some sort recently, and the participants' works were being displayed.  It was quite a nice way to end the evening, that's for sure!

Day 6 (Thursday): The day was spent primarily meeting my friend for lunch, moving into a new hotel in Gang Nam, and going to see the Korean cast production of Billy Elliot, the musical, which started off a bit chaotic, but by the end, it was worth the wait.  The kids were phenomenal. Anyhow, below are some photos of Paris Croissant (bakery that I frequented) and the Grand Inter-Continental Hotel, which apparently was the same hotel that President Obama and a number of other dignitaries stayed during the G20 Summit...Cool!  :D

I was having problems with the camera again so there are weird shadows and such on the photos.  :P

Anyhow, I still have some exams to grade and class grades to post, so I'll have to conclude my break here.  I'll get to the last two days soon...as for the Secret Garden recaps, dramabeans.com does such a great job, I may refer you to their site.  :)

Great day, everyone!  Hope you enjoy the photos and feel a part of Korea as you view them!