경복궁 Gyeongbokgung

 We finally entered Gyeongbokgung. Normally I would label all the building for you, but I'm too tired to do that right now, and I can't remember what they all here anymore, so just enjoy about a million pictures of building that look very similar. I'll try to explain a few. Also, keep in mind, I'm a lousy photographer. I accept this.

All the palaces will have a canal around them. This was to "purify" those entering the palace.

The main throne room. The smaller stone in the center were to denote the rank of the officials and military standing there.

Haetae, a unicorn, scaled lion that protected Seoul (formerly known as Hanyang)

The main throne

The smaller throne room that the king would meet with his advisers. I thought this one was more beautiful than the larger one.

I believe this was the king's study area.

I think this was the king's living quarters.

The doors could swing up to let in more light and air. I loved the restored ceilings. 

The Koreans had a unique heating system . A furnace would pump warmed air under the floor of the building and pipe out to a chimney built away from the house. Underfloor heating is still popular today in Korea, which is why you'll see Koreans sitting on the floor in casual settings- it's warm!

I believe this was the queen's quarters.

That red object in the middle is a mirror and a chest to hold comestics.

Even without the ramp, these doors were awfully short.

Based on the study tables and the sparseness, I think this would have been the prince's quarters and study.

I think these were the servant's rooms? 

This is the dowager queen's building.

Behind the building was this beautiful chimney, The small boxes on the top indicate this is where 10 furnaces were vent out to.

A close up of the carving on the front.

Believe it or not, this is only about half of Gyeongbokgung. We headed out of the palace to go to the National Folk museum. This is free, and you can go back into the palace with proof of entrance (which I believe was a hand stamp.) There's a cafe in the folk museum that I can heard had pretty good food, and at this point, I was STARVING. Unfortunately, they had run out all the sandwiches by the time we got there, only leaving drinks. I'm not proud to say, but I started to have a melt down. I was tired, hungry, and had reached a breaking point, especially since I had been eyeing the restaurant in the subway station with suck longing. I marched over to the entrance where the guard house, accidentally asked where the closest poem party (party as in political party, Shidang is restaurant; sidang is peom party). After clearing up the confusing, the guard kindly pointed in the direction of the closest streets where we found a bossam (boiled pork) restaurant. We ordered our food, and mercifully, our order can out quickly. I was so hungry I snarfed it down before getting a picture, sorry guys.