Tom In our South Korea Travel Itinerary, on day 9 of our travels in Gyeongju, we checked out all the interesting food offerings in Gyeongju! We left Hotel Valentine in the morning for Namsan Dong.
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Gyeongju Attractions – Namsan Mountain
Because of the temples and shrines around Namsan Mountain, it has also earned a name of being an “open air museum in Gyeongju”. This time, we chose to visit Namsan Dong. However, it was a rainy day. Hence, we were only able to capture a couple of shots during this visit…
During this visit to Namsan Dong, we saw a stone buddha while Kate saw a green frog with black spots.
Gyeongju Attractions – Tong Il Jeon Palace
Tong Il Jeon Palace was where young shilla warriors trained. In 1977, to signify the unification of the Shilla states in 668, the Tong Il Jeon Palace was built. As it started to pour, we were not able to alight to check out the area.
For breakfast, we headed back to Bomun Tourist Complex to have breakfast at emart 24. There, we had pork cutlet gimbap and ramen for 6,000krw…
After breakfast, we walked around to capture some unique architectures in Gyeongju including
We wanted to visit Shilla Millenium Museum but even at 10am, it was still closed. Wonder if it has closed down?
Since it was still raining, we decided to do shopping at Home Mart Gyeongju as well as some cafe hopping (korean style), starting off with Coffee Bellus, perched atop a hill in Gyeongju. Because of its location, Coffee Bellus enjoys views over Bomun Lake albeit a little rainy…
For a more detailed coverage of what we bought as souvenirs from Gyeongju’s Home Mart, check out this post on the 9 Souvenirs to get from South Korean Supermarket.
While circling Lake Bomunho, we passed by Coffee Bellus several times. Hence, we stopped by for a latte (5,000krw) and cake (6,000krw). Here, we enjoyed coffee, cake and the views for an hour and a half…
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
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Gyeongju Food – Choi Yeonghwa Gyeongju Bread
One of the most famous food in Gyeongju has got to be Gyeongju Bread. It is a red bean filled pastry that originated in Hwangnam-dong, Gyeongju, in 1939.
The tricky part about visiting Choi Yeonghwa Gyeongju is its parking. This is because of the huge number of customers visiting, there are limited street parking lots here. Do note that parking is similar to that of Cheomseongdae where a parking attendant will note your time of arrival and come back again when you depart to receive payment. The parking is 1,000krw per hour.
We queued for 30 minutes before we were finally able to enter the Choi Yeonghwa Gyeongju Bread Shop. It was interesting to observe how the workers worked to put Gyeongju bread together. There was a mountain of red bean paste on the right hand side of each worker where generous amounts of it will be place unto a dough then kneaded into shape. Another lady will stamp the flower-like shape atop the Gyeongju bread before putting them into the oven. Another lady would check the ovens from the time to time and when she thinks that the bread was ready, she would retrieve them and place them on the wooden board. Lastly, once the order has been placed, the cashier would come over and place the piping hot Gyeongju bread into boxes before serving the customers. She even reminded us that it was hot and have to wait an hour before eating. Of course, we didn’t and had our first bite on the car. It was delicious! The paste was not too sweet while the pastry itself was fluffy and not too oily. The healthier version of Loong Fatt 😛
The other thing we noticed was that none of the workers spoke a word during the making of the Gyeongju. Literally no one. The discipline it takes to make Gyeongju bread.
Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
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Gyeongju Food – Korean Beef Hanwoo BBQ
For dinner, we tried the Korean Beef Hanwoo BBQ at the foot of the hill from Hotel Valentine…
The style of this Korean Beef BBQ restaurant is a little different. Besides being a restaurant, it is also a butchery.
Before you get a seat, you’ll choose the meat that you like from the butchery. This time, we chose 2 different cuts of the beef for 45,000krw as recommended by the restaurant staff. Soon, we were seated and we were able to make other orders. Side dishes costs 5,000krw per person while rice costs 1,000krw. Together with the 4,000krw for soju, the total cost was 60,000krw.
The 5,000krw side dishes included high quality vegetables, mushrooms, kimchi and salad. This we felt was value for money as we were able to load up on fibre and nutrients that complemented the BBQ beef really well. Overall, an enjoyable dinner – although a little expensive we felt.
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Book with Agoda Here: Popular Hotels in Gyeongju
Book Here with Klook: Popular Activities in Gyeongju
We hope you have enjoyed day 9 of our travels in South Korea. On day 10, we depart from Gyeongju and drove up to Danyang, another one of our favourite locations in South Korea. Stay tuned to find out why! We’ll now leave you with this video coverage of the top things to do and attractions in Gyeongju!
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You have just finished reading a post from our 14 Days Travels in South Korea. Check out the rest of the posts from this series below!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 1: Busan Gwangalli Beach, Spaland and Fried Chicken Army Stew!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 6: Flight from Jeju to Busan PLUS Hilton Busan Review!
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 7: Haeundae Beach, Dalmaji Road and Dalmaji Hill
South Korea Travel Itinerary Day 11: Driving from Danyang to Seoul!
Top 17 Things to do and Attractions in Jeju South Korea!
Top 8 Busan Travel Experiences, Things to do and Attractions!
Top 7 Gyeongju Things to do, Attractions and Travel Experiences!
Top 5 Danyang Attractions, Travel Experiences and Things to do!
Top 7 Seoul Attractions and Things to do
Top 8 Food to eat in Seoul South Korea
The Ultimate Guide to Driving in South Korea!
What Souvenirs to buy from South Korea? 9 Souvenirs to get from South Korean Supermarkets!
The Complete Hilton Busan Review: Probably the Most Instagrammable Hotel in the World!
Jeju Shinhwa World Landing Resort Review: The Perfect Base to Discover Jeju!
Da Moim Buffet Restaurant Hilton Busan Review
Singapore Airlines (SQ) 777-300ER Business Class Review: Singapore to Beijing
Air China Business Class Review: Beijing to Busan CA 129
Singapore Airlines Business Class A330-300 Review: Incheon to Singapore
