Once darkness envelops all over Seoul, one will instantly notice a remarkable point jutting out of the city’s skyline. The N-Seoul tower is the highest point in Seoul. It is a communication and observation center, turned into an ultimate tourist destination, located at Seoul’s Namsan Mountain.
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| Once we got off the taxi, we paid for the cable car which brought us to the Namsan Mountain. It was about a 10-15 minute ride on the cable car and then we hiked up at the peak of the mountain where the tower is located. Imagine 2 pairs of unconditioned knees with 2 sets of tropical-reared lungs, add a more than a hundred steps of stairs going up the mountain with an 8-degree night chill and you’ll get a clear image of 2 females struggling for breath while going up to the tower. Surely, the Koreans who were walking up the tower with us were probably thinking, “Oh, these two are not locals. Hindi sanay sa autumn temperature namin eh.” Oh snap! Ahahaha. |
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The tower was opened to the public in 1980. Aside from its famous observatory, it also has some souvenir shops, restaurants, and a teddy bear museum (next post). At night, the tower in itself is a spectacular site for it is illuminated by a brilliant blue light which is visible all over Seoul. At around 10:00 pm, this blue light is turned off which is the signal of the start digital movie presentation which features the whole tower as the screen. While everyone was watching the 20-minute digital video presentation, I stood in awe and uttered a silent prayer of thanks for having given this opportunity to travel (and I hope that this was just a start).
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| A large display of the N Seoul Tower logo and a wall covered with tourist information in Korean is not just a promotion, but a creation of a digital media artist. |
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| One of the most famous activities in the tower especially for lovers (ahem!) is to hang padlocks with love messages attached to them in an area on the Tower fence. According to legend, a couple who makes a wish in the Namsan mountain gets to be together forever. Now, this legend is definitely sensationalized, hence the line of padlock trees along the Tower fence. A pity, I didn’t have someone to lock the pads with. As a promise to myself, the next time I’m back to Korea with my one great love (ayeeeeee!) , I’ll surely bring a huge industrial padlock. Small padlocks are waaaaaay too passé in these times, don’t you think?… Ahahaha! |
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| This is the observatory room where a 300° view of Seoul can be seen. This was certainly the most perfect way to spend our last night in Korea. And see, we’ve got Manila posted on one of its glass walls! |
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