Bringing the Mother around Korea (Day 5) [Jeonju]

Returned the car after packing up and then headed to the bus terminal where we were to take a 3.5 hour bus ride from Gyeongju to Jeonju. Having been my first time driving a car around so freely, I was having withdrawal symptoms and really wanted to drive hahaha. But after a few hours that went away because of the ridiculous heat that distracted me most of the time. We arrived in the afternoon and went to check in to the highlight of the trip (according to the mum): The Hanok! 

Jeonju is very well known for its Hanok Village which is basically a village that preserved the old traditional Korean housing and has made it into an attraction for both locals and foreigners alike. Initially only Koreans, especially couples, used to come here where they could wear the traditional Korean costumes, Hanboks, and walk around to look like a traditional couple. However throughout the years many foreigners found out about this and, having interest in Korean culture, have come over to Jeonju's Hanok Village to participate in the festivities as well.

Jeonju is an amazingly beautiful city, and even though it's not as developed as Seoul, you can just spend all your time at the Hanok Village and it's adequate fun. So anyway, we arrived and we were hungry and therefore we went to eat something that my mum was really excited about: Jeonju Bibimbap. It's basically a bowl of rice with ingredients such as egg and many different vegetables that encompass the 5 different colors that Koreans love. These 5 colors are also a symbol of health and therefore in most Korean food they try to incorporate as many of these colors as possible.

My mum got the normal bibimbap and the one I got had yukhoe (육회) which is like a type of raw beef or tartare. But anyway it was really delicious and we got it together with beef rib patty. Lunch was really nice and since we were on holiday my mum was really open to eating more, especially desserts. Went to one of the chain ice dessert cafes and got this melon dessert below. It was really huge and since melon ice desserts are a seasonal thing in Korea, it was best to get them while they were available.

Headed back to our Hanok house to rest after a really filling lunch and the heat was really wearing us down. Decided to come back out again when the sun set and the place was packed with people here to see the night view, eat the good food and walk around to admire the place. Came back out a little past 9 because we were really lazy to get out of the air-conditioning and lying down was just so comfortable. Decided to head out since we didn't want to waste the time that we had in Jeonju resting. 

Walked around and saw that they were playing a light or video show? that was displayed on the great gate so it looked really interesting. I guess it's now another way to get the youths of this generation more interested in history and culture instead of just showing them structures and old buildings and expect them to be interested when there are tablets, games and smart phones that drain away their attention.

Headed back to get some supper before calling it a night and ordered my favorite!! It's a really huge squid on a stick that is fried with really amazing batter, and then the next item was chicken on a stick that they serve with sauce. I honestly don't really like the chicken but it's one of the food that's a must-try when you come over here. Frankly you can also find them in Seoul but this is more of a atmosphere kind of food that you have to eat since you're here. 

This place sells mystery boxes at 10,000W each.

There are many different types of prizes inside ranging from jewelry, money and other gift ideas.

This was one interesting thing that I've never seen before. It's called frosted beer. Apparently, beer is poured into one of those slushy makers and it becomes frosted. Beer is then poured into a glass and topped off with the frosted beer in place of the foam that usually comes with beer. It's really refreshing and it is basically beer in the form of slushy. It's extremely refreshing on a hot summer's day and on top of that it was cheap! 4,000W can you complain?

Anyway I know this post is rather short but I'm saving the rest of the photos for the post on Day 6 where my mum wore a traditional Korean costume; Hanbok, and we walked around to take photos as what people usually do. Really excited to finish the post and upload the photos. Stay tuned!