3 Day Seoul Itinerary

May 17, 2015May 23, 2015
by Zhi Lee

3 Days in Seoul

My wife and I had the opportunity to visit Seoul for 5 days. We wanted to share our Seoul itinerary and tips because of the lack of English resources around. As a photographer, I wanted to get as much in as possible in a short time. This itinerary presents many colourful photographic opportunities, with a mixture of street, food and landscape photography. I hope you enjoy these images!

Hot Tips

Seoul’s subway is a myriad of easily 200-300 stations. Any time spent counting I’d rather be writing this blog post. In the next few hours, a new station would probably be being built as we speak! We were lucky enough to be given an oldish (what looked to be) 2 year old map from a relative. Already it was outdated and we identified a couple of new lines on it!

Korea Travel Hotline and Subway Map

To help you get around the subway, you need an up-to-date map from one of the many visitor centres, or the airport. We found that the best map is one produced by the Korea Travel Hotline. It comes in a small-ish format without too many folds and doesn’t flop around like the cheaper massive town map. The Korea Travel hotline is a free service for tourists – dial 1330 from a mobile or landline, or Skype them free through this account – “kto1330”. They’ll help you with translations, directions, food, anything!

The next essential must-have time-saving life-saving website you absolutely need to bookmark is this subway map that will allow you to plug in the name of a station and have it highlighted on the screen. Trust me, it will save you tons of time especially if you’ve got a train to catch!

Useful bookmark to have while travelling in Seoul http://subway.umka.org/map.php?find=&city=seoul

Changing Money

The best place for currency exchange is in Myeong Dong – the best rates are on the street where the Chinese Embassy is. We hunted around multiple shops and found the rates around Ewha Women’s university pretty favourable too.

Travelling to the Boseong Green Tea Plantation

The Boseong Green Tea Plantation is well known for its luscious green fields. We did really want to visit it during the week as we had blocked out other activities for the weekend. Fortunately we realised (through the 1330 Korea Travel Hotline) that the express bus from Seoul Station only runs once a day at 3.10pm during the week. Take note!!

I found various sources of bus timetables such as this, and they had conflicting information so your best bet is to call the 1330 hotline directly. There are other less direct ways to get from Seoul to Boseong, but we didn’t want to spend more than 10 hours in a day in transit – it was either a direct express bus or nothing! There is a direct bus we’re told that runs from Seoul Bus station to Boseong at 8.10am on Saturday. Do note that it will not take you straight to the green tea plantation – you’ll still need to take a cab or local bus.

Making the most of a short trip

You’ll find the best of Seoul through day trips.

Day 1 – City Tour

Myeong Dong Shopping District

However if you’re a metropolitan city shopper and foodie, there’s lots to see and eat around Myeong Dong (think Made-in-Korea sock shops, dessert shops, restaurants with very cheap Soju ~ US$2. And we did have an interesting encounter with restaurant staff protecting us from a gentleman who had one too many to drink!).

Try the Milk Shaven Ice desserts at Sul Bing in Myeong Dong — Try the Milk Shaven Ice desserts at Sul Bing Korean Dessert Cafe in Myeong Dong

Ewha Women’s University

This is THE area for cosmetics, makeup and trendy clothes, obviously targeting the young demographics in the area. You’ll find great food, and even a little cat cafe nearby in Shinchon (within walking distance).

US$1 pairs of socks in Ewha (also lots in Myeong Dong)

Streets around Ewha Women's University — Streets around Ewha Women’s University

Insadong Arts and Crafts Market

Insadong is known as the local folk flea market with lots of arts and crafts for a bargain. We scored some framed hand painted paintings for NZ$10, and hand-made muslin baby face cloths for $2.

Apart from the crafts, you will also find quaint eateries down back-street alley ways. I’m told everything’s delectable but go for the more “off-the-track” ones for the best food. We were fortunate to indulge in the best grilled mackerel we’ve ever had. It was crispy on the outside and moist on the inside, full of flavour!

Bosingak

A 15 minute walk from Insadon is this bell pavillion called “Bosingak”. You can’t enter it, but it’s quite a sight to walk around from the outside.

Namdaemun Market

After a day of shopping, head on down to Namdaemun market for a slightly different shopping scene – one lined with street food, ginseng vendors, textiles, bags, apparel, anything conceivable really! This is the perfect place to end your day with the food options and the nearby Namdaemun Gate (10 minutes walk from the market). If you’re asking for directions, you’ll need to refer to it by the local name “Sungnyemun”.

Known locally as Sungnyemun, the Namdaemun Gate is a sight to see at any time of the day. Note that it is not much more than a gate. You’ll be able to walk around it before it closes at 6pm, but otherwise it’s pretty much visible and lit up after closing time, and it makes a great photograph.

Day 2 – Nami Island

This is where they filmed the Korean drama series Winter Sonata. The whole place is quite gimmicky, centred around the movie, with Winter Sonata souvenir shops, Winter Sonata statues around the Island and lots of tourists. They call their ticket booth “Immigration” and you need to get a “Visa” into the island. BUT, if you wander off the touristy paths around the fringes of the island, you’ll find serenity in the leaves of Verdant Trees, and a foggy mysteriousness that surrounds the enclosing waters. For the adventurous, try Ziplining into the island!

Day Trip 3 – Korean Folk Village

It takes about 2 hours to get there by train (Suwon station) and a free shuttle bus just outside the visitor centre. It’s best to head here when they just open during a weekday. Crowds start to arrive after mid-day for the later shows. Allow half to a full-day at the KFV. There’s plenty to soak in.

Traditional Wedding Ceremony at the Korean Folk Village

Equestrian Stunt Show at the Korean Folk Village

Pottery Making at KFV. For a small fee, you can have the pots posted to you, but you’ll need a valid Korean address a few weeks past your visit.

Day 3 – Changdeokgung Palace

Changdeokgung is one of the “Five Grand Palaces” built by the kings of the Joseon Dynasty. This palace is not the largest, but it’s big enough with lots to see, and you could easily spend a few hours discovering the many nooks and crannies of this magnificent piece of Korean architecture.

Nicely landscaped and scattered with flowers, Changdeokgung palace is both majestic and peaceful at the same time

Parting Notes

There’s so much to see in Seoul. It’s a vibrant city with a rich history, that has preserved it’s culture, yet it feels so technologically advanced when you look at the skyscrapers around you in town. I’d recommend spending at least 3 days here, but if you have but 3 days, this is the perfect itinerary!

For those interested, I travel light with a Canon 6D (for full-frame goodness without weighing a ton) and these lenses – 24-105mm f/4 L (for versatility) and 40mm F2.8 STM (for compactness).

Camera: Canon EOS 6D

Creative

Epic Steel Wool Photography with a Graffiti Backdrop

May 10, 2015May 10, 2015
by Zhi Lee

The Images

Canon 6D, 10.0 sec at f /10, 5 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

Idea and Theme

Following from our fiery dark angel shoot that also involved fire, I wanted to build on the experience we already had shooting at Corbans Estate Arts Centre. (For more info on our previous hip hop themed shoot, check out this blog post). And so we set out with a casting call with the keywords “Epic”, “Dark”, “Graffiti” and “Fire”.

Kyran Tashea Makeup Artist responded with these concepts when I asked for a gangster / rock-and-roll look. The final makeup on the day differed slightly as we had to improvise with water resistant makeup that wouldn’t run in the rain.

Makeup Diagram by Kyran Tashea Makeup Artist

Warm-up Profile Shots

To get into the groove, we warmed up with a few profile shots that Kyran and Priya could use in their portfolio. As this was an unpaid collaboration, I feel it’s important for everyone to take something valuable home (apart from the fun we had on-set of course!).

Canon 6D, 1/160 sec at f /7.1, 58 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox, YN 568 EX II model rear right with 30x30cm Softbox (no baffle). Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

Preparation

Having asked for permission from Corbans Estate Arts Centre (Henderson, Auckland), we set out to meet at 8pm on a Friday, despite the rain. Vijay and I pulled up in different cars to a lone car parked in the upper carpark. We knew it had to be our model, Priya Wallabh, or makeup artist, Kyran. It was Kyran.

To add to the challenging conditions, we had to push start Kyran’s car as her battery went flat while waiting with headlights on. Turning up to a shoot early, that’s dedication! Priya arrived shortly after and as it was still pouring, the best course of action was to have makeup done in the car. More trying conditions!

Makeup in trying conditions - What can you do in the rain, right? — Makeup in trying conditions – what can you do in the rain, right? Makeup: The talented Kyran Tashea.

Lighting

Finally, with a bit of patience and luck, the skies cleared up at 9pm. There were 2 walls to choose from – a low colourful wall that turned out to be too overwhemling with the sparks so I made it monochrome …

Canon 6D, 10.0 sec at f /10, 24 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

… and a much taller black and white one. We decided to go for the latter because it gave us good height as a backdrop, and the top of the wall was conveniently the upper deck of the carpark, which allowed us to spin the steel wool from a height.

This was the final lighting setup, a powerful strobe at 3/4 power to the right of the model. Initially, we started out with a 20 second exposure, which was very challenging for Priya, as 20 seconds is a long time to keep absolutely still. We then dropped it to 10 seconds, but that required more fervour from the steel wool swinger, getting as much sparks flying as possible within the shorter amount of time.

Canon 6D, 20.0 sec at f /10, 5 mm, 100 ISO, Visico 300W Strobe to Camera Right with 80x120cm Softbox. Makeup: Kyran Tashea. Model: Priya Wallabh. Photographer: Zhi Lee

The Crew

Thanks to these outstanding people who made it possible:

Model: Priya Wallabh
Makeup: Kyran Tashea
Photographer: Zhi Lee http://localhost:8888/zlphotography
Assistants: Vijay Prema, Sirina

Safety

Precautions were taken with a fire extinguishing can on standby. Vijay and I had practised on a separate set beforehand so we knew what we were doing. Never attempt steel wool photography on dry grass or near flammable items. We had the safety net of wet walls and floors that were the aftermath of the rain.