Chasing Autumn 2: Seooreung: Mausoleum of Kings and Queens

As I promised earlier, here is the separate article about Seooreung. Last Saturday, it took us 3 hours to reach the area.

You might lose interest going through a series of pictures of royal tombs (looking almost exactly the same). But through this article, let me take you with me to the sites and learn about the interesting historical stories behind each revered tomb...
Seooreung, Korea's Historic Site No. 198, means "Five Western Tombs" refering to the following Kings and Queens mausoleums: Gyeongneung, Changneung, Ingneung, Myeongneung and Hongneung.

Added to these are the tombs of the Kings/Queen's parents, Crown Princes and Crown Princesses called "Won." There's also one tomb of a King's concubine called "Myo."

Detailed maps are shown at each turning point or corner and directions are even given in 3 languages. I've Romanized the map for your reference and numbered them according to the order we've visited them. It took us more than 2 hours to see the 7 sites. Funny how we missed the "Myeongneung" site when in fact, it is the tomb that greets tourists near the entrance. I think most tourists miss this one out as it is located outside of the walled "Reung." The sight of it from the highway made me excited yet I still really couldn't believe I missed it... We only realized we haven't been to it when we were already driving out of the area.
So to appreciate the tomb sites all the more, let me REpost here the articles posted on the gateway of each tomb and excerpts from the Cultural Heritage Administration site.

So let's start this rather long journey...

First, Sunchangwon: This is the burial place of Crown Prince Sunhoe (1551-1563) and his wife Lady Yun. He is the eldest son of King Myeongjong, the 13th monarch of Joseon (or Choseon). He was at first supposed to marry at age 7 but the Crown Princess was sickly. Thus, she was replaced by Lady Yun. But only at the age of 13, he passed away without an heir.

After the gateway is a long pathway going to the central building, which is a shrine, where sacrifices were offered.
It was cccoollllddd... Just look at the mound of the tomb... I was a bit disappointed that we couldn't actually go near the altar(?) but after some time, I realized how important it is to really put barricades or fences around them...

Second, Gyeongneung: This is the royal tomb of Crown Prince Uigyeong (1438-1457) and his wife Queen Sohye (1437-1504). The Crown Prince was the eldest son of King Sejo, and was installed as Crown Prince in 1455 but died when he was only 19 years old. Queen Sohye was installed as Crown Princess in 1455. When her son second son, King Seongjong, ascended the throne, she became Queen Dowager (Queen Dowager Insu). She's known for writing a book on etiquette for women entitled "Naehun." King Seongjong also gave his father the posthumous title of King Deokjong.

Third, Daebinmyo: This is the burial place of Lady Jang (?-1701). She entered the palace at an early age as a court lady and won King Sukjong's favor (19th monarch of Joseon). She delivered him a son, Prince Yun (King Gyeongjong). When the Prince was made crown prince, she was elevated to royal concubine. The King removed his queen, Queen Inhyeon, from her position, and elevated Lady Jang to queen. He however later regretted this and restored the former queen and bestowed poison to Lady Jang with which to kill herself.

Fourth, Hongneung: This is the tomb of Queen Jeongsong (1692-1757), the lawful wife of King Yeongjo (21st monarch of Joseon). She passed away childless in the palace of Changdeokgung. It is said that the King appreciated his Queen a lot for doing her best to enshrine the ancestral tablet of his birth mother...

Fifth, Changneung: This is the royal tomb of King Yejong (1450-1469), the 8th monarch of Joseon, and his second queen, Queen Ansun (?-1498). He was the second son of King Sejo and Queen Jeonghui. As the Crown Prince Uigyeong died young, King Yejong ascended the throne at age 19, following his father. His brief reign of 14 months suffered from political disturbances. It is said he lost his health because of deep grief of losing his father, King Sejo. He completed the Gyeonggukdaejeon (Grand Code for State Administration) started during the reign of his father.

Can you just see the higher mound on the right (King's tomb) and the lower mound (Queen's tomb) on the left?

The small building on the right is a storehouse for the sacrifices offered at the Shrine.

From the Changneung, we climbed back a bit to where the yellow and blue lines meet (referring to the map) and followed the trail going to the last 2 royal tombs.

Sorry but sights of pine trees against the blue skies remind me much of home.. aaahhh...

At the top of the hill, I also climbed this watch tower (?) to get a better view of the fields below...

I took a short video of it and I just love the sound of the wind against the trees.. I prevented myself from trembling so much though...

Sixth, Ingneung: This is the royal tomb of Queen Ingyeong (1661-1680), the first queen of the 19th monarch of Joseon, King Sukjong. She became the Crown Princess in 1670 and was installed Queen in 1674. At the age of 20, she died of smallpox. She had three daughters, Princesses Myeongsun, Myeonghye and Myeongan.

Her tomb greeted us on our way down the hill...

But it took us about more or less than 10 minutes more to reach the gateway...

And upon arriving there, we just took this photo and headed to the next tombsite since we were also running out of time already. The grounds close at 5:30...

Seventh, Sugyeongwon: This is the burial place of Lady Yi (?-1764), concubine to King Yeongjo, the 21st monarch of Joseon. She entered the palace at a young age and was installed as Yeongbin. She had 4 princesses and the Crown Prince Sado (in 1735) who was later on dethroned and killed (by forced suicide) in 1762. When she died, the King held a funeral with the best ceremony for the royal concubine...

Eighth, Myeongneung: We weren't able to get close to this site but it definitely greeted us on our way to the "Reung." This is the royal tomb of the 19th monarch of Joseon, King Sukjong (1661-1720) and his second lawful wife, Queen Inhyeong (1667-1700) and his third lawful wife, Queen Inwon (1687-1757). His first wife is laid separately in the Ingneung (6th tombsite). Queen Inhyeon died from unknown disease during King Sukjong's 26th year (0f reign?) and Queen Inwon was installed as Queen in 1702.

Below are Myeongneung's images from the Cultural Heritage Administration...

I thanked my husband for this wonderful, simple as it may look, trip... He surely knows what I love to see or interests me most...

We were on our way to the third tombsite I think when he asked me to take a photo of this elder couple...

The road ahead of us may go on and on, may be zigzagged, steeply sloped, slippery, unpaved... but as long as we map it together, no matter how long it is, it's worth the trip, Alex...

Chasing Autumn 1: Cambridge Day 2009

Although this is our favorite season, Alex and I weren't able to travel at its peak when watching the autumn foliage would have been like looking at heaven itself.

But I enjoyed my own trips to Seoul for the KOTESOL Conference and the Cambridge Day when I got to take pictures of the trees and the rather gloomy air and skies...

Pictures were all taken inside the Korea University on November 7.

Funny how I concentrated centering the tree on fire....
Fellow attendees lunching on sandwiches and soft drinks or coffee...

One last picture before I finally left the University...

One last glance at the venue: Inchon Memorial Hall...

I actually went back to the book exhibition room to buy a book Alex and I could both use. I was able to chat with two of the speakers and was asked to send them a copy of our pictures taken together of which I haven't done yet, haha... And just enjoyed the walk alone to the subway where Anne, Professor Calano and Sir Jayson were waiting for me. I also had the pleasure of meeting Phoebe for the first time...

When 10 Minutes Became Two Hours and Snowed

So after my tear jerking experience at the medical center and lunching on ju-o-tang, we headed home to change into thicker clothes, and hubby and I headed to Seoul. Alex just drove on, checking his ever reliable Korean Tourism Guide Map.. (I believe I took a picture of it not so long long ago but I couldn't find it now...)

After about 3 hours of driving, we arrived at Seooreung, located at Mt. Yongdu-dong, Gyeonggi-do. It is the second largest royal burial site of the Joseon (or Choseon) Dynasty. "Reung" refers to mausoleums of Kings and Queens. In this "reung," there were also tombs of King's parents, Crown Princes and Crown Princesses called "Won," and a "Myon" which refer to a prince' or pricess' tomb... (I'll make a separate article for this.)

We drove back to Seoul after more than 2 hours. To avoid the heavy traffic going back home, we decided to just drive around for a while and maybe walk around... (My right breast still throbbed with pain when I cringed whenever a really cold wind struck us.)


We again found ourselves in Gangnam area and decided to have dinner. After scouting the area for something different, we ended up at a traditional public market and ate a serving of soon-dae... (He was actually craving for it since the other night...) ****not the actual pic of what we ate but it looks like this. I never really liked this at first but one of the students always buys this for his snack. He made me try it and I now like it. They are actually glass noodles contrary to what I first thought.. LOL...

For dinner, we decided to try one of the Vietnamese restaurants we saw earlier. It was terribly cold so we went to Pho Hoa for their noodle soup... We ordered just one serving but it came with this plate of additional things to put in like bean sprouts, shredded onions, the thinly sliced green chillies (not really hot but added to the refresing taste) and the lemon. It was more than enough for us who weren't really hungry...

We dropped by somewhere for coffee, checked the nearest movie theater but nothing really interested us and so we ended up warming ourselves in the car. Actually, we were surprised to see our car squeezed in between 2 police cars. It turned out something happened in a nearby hotel...creepy...

So after 30 minutes of musings, we decided to drive back to downtown Seoul, just walk around wherever the car or our feet could take us and head back home by 12mn.

We parked near and walked around the Shilla hotel grounds...

So what if we wrapped ourselves in a blanket? It was damn cold... hahahaha....
Something that warmed our bodies... Fountain at the parking area of the Shilla...

I only noticed the JangChung gymnasium where we actually parked our car when I saw these girls eagerly waiting for "someone" to come out of it. It was then I saw the big banner that said "FT ISLAND CONCERT November 14, 2009"... and did I tell you I like FT Island? Oh, I tried to stay a while to get a glimpse of them but the "MEN IN BLACK" you see in Korean dramas guarding the rich and famous ushered us to go further... Yay! They are actually true.... hahaha....
It's a sure treat for students who just took the college entrance exams.... Mimicking the ladies, I almost irritated my husband by saying, "Yeong-ho opppppaaaaaa, saranghae!!!"... grrr...

We decided to walk to the opposite direction, which he said is a really popular area, until we arrived at this place where the vendors were just starting to put up their (imitation) goods for sale... The lines of tents were endless. Poor shortie me just wasn't able to take a better picture.
I complained about the extreme cold so we started back to the Shilla. Alex made me wait for him inside a bank while he fetched his car. He kept on telling me something about a &*%$#@ tteokbokki (a way how rice cake sticks are cooked). He said we eat some before going home but we ended up having this:

Which was reduced to this.... It wasn't even delicious, we just kept on eating like the others around us did.. The place was actually full that we thought the food was delicious but it was blah...

The sight of women sharing the same serving reminded me much of my sisters... We never really got the chance to bond over a food and a drink when I went home. I hope someday, they can both come here for a visit and do the things we did whenever we went to a Korean restaurant back home... hahaha....

It was past 11pm when we finished. We drove around some more until midnight. He parked the car in front of the National Theater of Korea and requested we rest for just 10 minutes before starting home. (He came home late the previous night, slept late and woke up for the check up just 3-4 hours after.)

But to our surprise, we both woke up an hour later... We laughed hard and decided we just relax for 5 minutes more and guess what, we again woke up an hour later...

We decided to hit the road when it suddenly started to drizzle... I opened the car window to take a closer look because I thought I saw snow flakes... I took a video from inside the car, waiting for a full blast but my batteries went off...

I actually took this video while Alex went out to buy ice cream....

It was not as grand as I imagined it days prior the planned travel. The weather and my condition didn't permit us to go farther or do more strenuous activities... Besides, we were really late for autumn... But I loved the fact that Alex wanted to and did his best to please me...

What time we got home? Almost 4am, Sunday, November 15.....

A Painful Self-inflicted Pain...

(***maybe gross but it's for the YOUNG women out there considering undergoing mammography or for men who care about the woman they love...)


Vise (or vise grip)

was the only term I could think of after going through such unbearable pain last saturday, November 14... (It reminded me how I unmercilessly clamped wood or steel for my projects during my engineering materials laboratory subject)

I had an incision biopsy on my right breast at the end of November 2002. I was 23 then. My surgeon, Dr. Benedict, said I had to be thankful for it was nothing at all to worry about. The wound took longer to heal though because the CYST was located at the center bottom of my breast. The wound was deep and it was colder than usual for the month that followed (I felt throbbing pain when it was really cold). I religiously went back for my follow up check ups.

A few months later, my sister Donna admitted she'd also undergone mammography at St. Luke's Hospital months before my biopsy. She also had a lump but it was treated by oral medicine. She was only 26 then.

I'm among those women who really suffer from PMS. And lately, I always complain to husband about my painfully more swollen left breast compared to my right breast.

Last Saturday, Alex, mom in law and I left early for our scheduled general check up. Alex inquired about breast check up and it was not included in the free service the government offered to foreign spouses so he paid for the mammography.

I already know that the procedure is painful, recalling my sister's description back then, but I still thought I could do it. She was only 26 when she had it and I'm now 30. I can bear it, or so I thought...

While waiting for my turn, I thought maybe the procedures have improved now as the ajummas coming out from the mammography room wore blank faces. Some even smiled immediately to their companions.

When it was my turn, Alex volunteered to go with us inside to interpret for me but the attendant (?) declined. Inside the room, she noted that I was young and asked if I had a baby already. I understood it and said not yet. She was trying to tell me something and I repeatedly told her I couldn't understand her. She only spoke ONE ENLISH WORD: """"CANCEL???""""" making an "X" sign with her forefingers. And I said no...

And so the breast "clamping" procedure began...

After the first shot of pain, I immediately raised my hand and said it was painful... The attendant again said "CANCEL?" and I asked "How many times will you sandwich my breast?" And she said "Two times for each breast." I blinked 4 times for that I think and tried to compose myself and asked her to go on. Afterall, I also wanted to know if there's something wrong with my breasts. So the second "clamping" began.. I still complained it was painful. I managed to choke back my tears. But I thought I could do it. She still asked, "CANCEL?" and I said "No..." And for the third time, I thought I successfully conquered my low pain tolerance but I thought she moved really slow. It took her a while to get to her equipment to take the x-ray and I was already gnashing my teeth in pain. I repeatedly waved my hand to her and even screamed "Painful!" but she kept on telling me to keep still for she haven't taken the x-ray yet and she still didn't get my message of surrender... It was only after an agonizing 2-3 seconds more before I remembered she only understood "CANCEL"... So when I uttered "CANCEL" that's the only time she unclamped me... and she still asked, "CANCEL?" and in between sobs, I said "Yes!!!!"

I went out of the room crying. Alex immediately confronted the attendant. "Did she hurt you?" he repeatedly asked me. I said no, it was the procedure that was hurtful. I prevented myself from passing out. The pain suddenly reminded me I didn't eat anything after 7 the previous night... Alex offered to get me some water as we had a few more procedures to undergo...

And so 3 doctors explained to Alex how painful the procedure would be for a woman like me who hasn't given birth yet. Or let's just say to a woman younger than 40. Afterall, the procedure is recommended for women aged 40 and above.

I still have an option though, the ultrasound or MRI but maybe I'll just have to go back when I'm over with the thought of the pain.

Or like I've said to my younger sister (a nurse at Pines Hospital), who I called just minutes after the ordeal, I'll just go back when I've already given birth...

I knew of the pain I would go through but I was also curious about my breast condition. However, I could have asked first for other options. But after the discussion with my husband, they didn't offer us options.

After the check up, we went to my mom in law's favorite Ju-o-tang traditional restaurant to revive our energy...

With the medical invention patents I'd read from before, I couldn't remember reading any improvements with the mammography. How I wish they could make a procedure less painful and more appealing for younger women. Afterall, there are a lot of young ladies out there who lost a breast (or two) already because of breast cancer....

Why I Love Etude House...

Although I know it would be great to try them, I really prevent myself from buying every Korean trouble care or skin care products I see.. I easily break out and not all products out there meet (or surpass) your expectations so I just satisfy myself with samples...

I regretted not really trying this Red Spot Balm sample I got from E.H. the soonest I should. Actually, I even asked for the skin care line's balm sample when I bought a brush. I just remembered about it when I suddenly got a bump on my nose threatening to turn into another nasty pimple...
Small but incredible...

This lasted me a week...

And I was already preparing then for my week long vacation to P.I. I wanted to buy the regular jar but it costs KRW11,000 and I thought it was so expensive for I'd spent a lot already for my presents. Plus, when I buy the regular sized jar, I would get a travel size facial cleanser of the product line and thought I was already using a good soap. I don't need another tube in the bathroom...

Fortunately, my cousin requested I buy her a specially formulated facial cleanser for she was starting to break out again. I went back to E.H. to get the kit... As you can see from their pamphlet above, they didn't have the facial wash yet. It comes as a special item (about 30mL)when you buy the balm.

I got the balm jar for myself and gave the facial cleanser to my cousin. I also asked for a balm sample she could try.

But a few weeks after returning from the Philippines, I noticed that they already have the regular sized facial cleanser... So I might try this one afterall when I finish all the soaps and cleansers I have here at the moment...

And of course, you better get their pink membership card. You can either enjoy a 10% discount everytime you buy or just tell them to enter points to your card... Who doesn't like discounts? So I choose the former, hehe...

My non-drying soap, skin care products and mineral make up have been keeping my break outs manageable. I use the balm every now and then to successfully fight pimples on my forehead and especially on my brows. You see, the "beautician" shaved my brows when I had my make up for my sister's wedding celebration. Yes, I get pimples on my brows when they are shaved too much and the hairs start to regrow... So better watch out for that one too..

Have a nice weekend everyone...

Why I Shouldn't Miss The 2nd Annual Extensive Reading Symposium

... but inspite of them all, I'd still be missing it anyway...

This is co-hosted by the KOTESOL Extensive Reading SIG (ER SIG) and the Korea English Education Society (KEES).

It will be on Saturday, November 14 from 9:30am to 6pm at Sookmyung Women's University, Centennial Building.

Actually pre-registration ended just more than an hour ago. (Just a few minutes actually when I started writing this)

And I was just looking blankly at their site as minutes ticked by. I was thinking of the reasons why I should go... I imagined Marc Helgesen talking about Extensive Reading, Effective Reading...

It would be wonderful to hear a lecture about how to Promote Extensive Reading by Rob Waring... and all the other Speakers for the Plenary and Featured Sessions.

Added to these, there'll be a series of presentations and workshops for the attendees.

So after convincing 2 of the Korean English teachers from our academy to attend, promising I'll always explain to them things they might not understand well because of the pure English presentations, I had to tell them I wouldn't be going afterall because of the following:

Alex asked for a 2 day-off, that's on Saturday and Sunday and had my and mom in law's general check up scheduled on Saturday morning... and after that, maybe we'll go travel somewhere...

I jokingly asked him, "Are we going somewhere warm?" because the temperatures are killing me.. It's quite warm during the day and it suddenly gets so cold during the night. And by now, almost all trees' leaves have fallen off already.. What's there to see now, lakay?

Just like when I went out for a walk a while ago after depositing my things here at home, (well, I actually went out to buy an international calling card) the cold wind and temperature really bothered me. I just thought that instead of going to the countryside, I might just as well recommend we visit another epic drama shoot location or folk village... I couldn't get enough of them anyway...

The lights just turned red when I was about to cross the street. It was terribly cold and the newly opened Skin Food outlet's warm lights, also just 5 paces away, was too tempting. So I entered the shop.. I was anticipating their "grand" opening but maybe they'll have it on Saturday or Sunday... And please, no more ear piercing emceeing and scantily clad dancing girls on the sidewalk or sides of streets please... (like what telecommunications companies do when they open up a branch...I'll take a picture and video next time...) Afterall, it's toooo ccccollldd already...

The fool me forgot I have a SkinFood membership card. Nothing really special about it. I'll just get points and maybe when they're big enough, I can make a purchase out of them? I enjoyed this point system of the SM Advantage card and so I started paying for my purchases separately...kkkk...

But I just remembered about my card when I was about to pay for the Extra Virgin Olive Essence which promises to provide luster to the hair and control curling and unkemptness.. Just the product I need... Well, I hope it won't fall short of my expectations. Plus, the scent is really nice. Ooops, don't know how to describe it. Just maybe it's how extra virgin olive oil really smells.. hahahaha...

Product scent and content are important to me... I suffered from headaches or migraine attacks and allergic rhinitis not knowing the products I was actually using triggered them.. Oh well, maybe this is just me.. So I'm now more careful, even with the perfumes I use. I didn't know musky scents (my favorite) actually triggered my acne...

Oooops, how come this article shifted to something about cosmetics? haha...

Anyway, I have to go...

And to all the attendees: enjoy and share pictures after, okay?

Of My Favorite Ramyeon & Ppeppero Day...

This post is in reply to Kayni's query from my previous article.

My favorite (Korean) ramyeon is the Shin Ramyeon. But my MIL and Alex prefer the Samyeong Ramyeon and Jjamppong. These are also available in instant cups but I prefer the firmer noodles and tastier soup I get when I cook them.

So what brand could I recommend?

They all taste good and if you prefer a less "hot" Korean noodle, go for the Samyeong ramyeon... If you like a "hot" or "spicy" one, go for the Shin ramyeon... Jjamppong is spicy seafood flavor...
Shin Ramyeon is actually very popular in the Philippines, too..

No?

So maybe it is just among us DGP people...(? Mga taong Hi-Top ... haha... ) But I don't think so..

I don't like the Jjamppong though but many find it really delicious . It is also the favorite of a person I truly admire, Danilo Balagtas, a former officemate (we were in the same project) and a 7 (or 8) week champion of Game Ka Na Ba? Afterwhich he became one of the researchers for the show... (I called in sick that day and was able to watch when he explained our Abstracting work to Edu Manzano...)

I once asked the SA at SM Supermarket why the big cup of the Shin Ramyeon is cheaper than the smaller cup. He replied that the big cups are made in China and the smaller cups are made in Korea... So you now know what NOODLE cup size to buy if you are against all things made in China, haha!

They are also easy to cook... Just like you would a normal instant mami... No need to worry if there are no English instructions attached...

But you can also try the other brands and flavors you think you can handle, kkk.. They are all good, actually...


Oh, and it's ppeppero day (November 11 or 11.11) and I received this much from the students.

Too many? I don't think so.. The other teachers received much more. I think there would have been more in the picture but in each of my class today, I opened a box or 2 for us in the class to share...

I left most of them at the academy since I brought a small bag with me today. I completely forgot about it (aha! assuming I'll receive a lot?). Thanks to Lakshmi for reminding me this afternoon about it. I dropped by the Lotte mart nearby the academy and bought just enough for the Korean English teachers. Oh and I got one free of charge, haha!

The others felt so shy to receive one from me. So I ended up receiving "recycled" ones...

And yes... as I'm writing this, I'm also munching on ppeppero... (I can't remember now how much a box of this costs in the Philippines...) Hhmmm... mashitta!!!

How Do You Eat Fresh Hot Tofu and Kimchi...

After waking up this Tuesday morning, I immediately washed and dressed to go get my things from the fitness center. My 3-month course (is that how you call it?) has ended last Sunday and Alex thought it was USELESS to re-enroll, hahaha.... After bidding the good looking assistant goodbye, I directly headed to the market. I was already on my way home when I passed by my favorite tofu store. The ajosshi-owner always has a ready smile. I've been missing the fresh hot tofu we eat during the cold months... So I bought 2 big blocks...

Upon arriving home, I immediately cut one block into three and sliced a third into thick portions like this:

Topped it with Kimchi...

And stuffed them all into my mouth...

The soy sauce-sesame oil-sesame seeds sauce I made sucked so I didn't take a picture of it...