So back to Namsan Tower it is! It is now Tuesday night so hopefully it is less crowded than it was on Friday night. I brought along my teddy bear tag I bought last time I went to Namsan, properly written on like everyone else's :)
Side note on the subway: A lot of Korean phones I've noticed have these cool little mini antennae sticking out, I'm assuming because they use their phones so much underground in the subway. I will never get over how funny it is that every single middle-aged man or women I see on the subway is 95% fully engrossed in their texting on Kakaotalk (messaging application used here in Korea). The other 5% are watching television or a movie on their phones. It's like seeing grandpas and grandmas walking around everywhere with their noses in their iPhones (which they do here too haha). I will never get over how amusing this is :D Never.
As promised, today I will cover the famous Love Locks at Namsan Tower! These love locks can be found all over the world in various places (although sometimes the government takes them down for aesthetic reasons). These locks are supposed to symbolize everlasting love, with participants often locking locks with messages or names written on them, or attached tags with messages and names. The sight is really quite amazing, to see just fences after fences after fences around the huge terrace deck completely covered in locks, locked upon locks, locked upon MORE locks! It's beautiful and warming at the same time. It makes you feel so connected to all the people who came before, to do the same thing you are doing and to see the same things you are seeing right then. The views of course, are similarly awe-inspiring. You don't really appreciate how huge Seoul is until you can see it spread out at your feet; it's hard to comprehend!
I wrote on my bear tag (who's the mascot of Namsan Tower) for me and Sonny and locked my little blue lock (it's the one with the sun :D) on an area of fencing that hadn't been thicketed yet. I think the Tower manages where people are allowed to hang their locks by putting wire ties on the fencing at various spots. The fence itself is too thick to fit a lock around, so people can only hang their locks where the Tower puts individual wire ties on the fencing (to attach locks to). I don't know if I explained that very well lol. Anyways, my little bear will have a nice view of the city until this area gets completely blanketed with locks too, in years to come :)
Leaving the first Terrace, I bought a ticket to go up to the Observatory at the top of the Tower and headed down the outside stairs to the lower level of the Tower (where we would take an elevator up).
The elevator itself was super cool! We had to wait in line because there were only two elevators and it was still packed with people (since it was nighttime, I found out it is always busy at the Tower). The wall was sick, with a changing projector movie-like thing. The elevator didn't FEEL fast but my ears popped like a gazillion times on the way up and we arrived waywaywaaaaaay up there in no time at all O.O How did they do that?? I didn't even feel us moving really...inside the elevator there was another movie playing that took up the whole elevator ceiling. It was a fun animation with it a first-person view of zooming upwards along the outside of the Tower and suddenly rocketing into outer space complete with planets and asteroid belts lol.
At the top, the views were even MORE incredible! I didn't think it was possible haha. It's a literal 360 degree panoramic view. I stayed up there for awhile, just strolling around happily and listening to the excited chatter of Korean, Japanese, and Chinese visitors. Now that I'm in a city where all three languages are spoken relatively frequently I can easily pick them apart from hearing just a word or two. I could never do that back home, probably because you don't hear them very much (if at all lol).
At the top you can also send mail! I suppose it's a poetic gesture to be sending mail from the top of Namsan Tower haha. I wrote one and attached proper change for postage, then dropped it into the cute mailbox, just to say I did it :)
At the top you can also send mail! I suppose it's a poetic gesture to be sending mail from the top of Namsan Tower haha. I wrote one and attached proper change for postage, then dropped it into the cute mailbox, just to say I did it :)
On the way down from the Observatory, we passed the Wall of Love Tiles, something unique to the Tower. I guess if you buy a tile and write on it to place on the wall you get these two "Love Tokens" which you can toss into the Love Pond on the Second Floor :) Very cute. By now it was getting late and close to 11pm so I grabbed a 50 cent coffee on the way out of the Tower from a store.
Back outside, they have the coolest benches (they are all shaped like this here). I wonder why? I've considered the fact that it looks more like a heart this way, or to make whoever sits on it slide together in the middle and be cozier (since it's all about love here at the Tower)?? Who knows, they're sure as heck cuter than the ones back home haha. The map for the Tower was located on the ground in the plaza in front of the Tower, all lit up and adorable.
Also, when I first went inside they had this little animated scenario set up. They sell a bunch of trinkets, stationary, and goodies with these characters in it. I believe they are from the Legend of Chunhyang (a famous Korean folktale: "Chunhyangga is the most famous pansori in Korea, having had considerable popularity in the country for the past century. Chunhyangga is considered to be the best pansori musically, and as a work of literature and play."). A festival is even held each year in it's honor. Anyways, I digress lol. The characters are super cute!
Also, when I first went inside they had this little animated scenario set up. They sell a bunch of trinkets, stationary, and goodies with these characters in it. I believe they are from the Legend of Chunhyang (a famous Korean folktale: "Chunhyangga is the most famous pansori in Korea, having had considerable popularity in the country for the past century. Chunhyangga is considered to be the best pansori musically, and as a work of literature and play."). A festival is even held each year in it's honor. Anyways, I digress lol. The characters are super cute!
Didn't want to miss the bus so I double-timed it down the epicly-steep-hill-of-death (seriously, I didn't struggle going up it at all while people around me were slowing down and having trouble, so I felt pretty good about myself. But once I got to the top it just hits me WHAMMO like a bulldozer, and I was gasping for air like a fishie T.T). The freezing cold night air probably contributed, because my throat was so dry it was in pain lol. Good thing I carry water everywhere!