If Thailand and Cambodia have amazing temples and ruins,
Seoul has a beautiful and fairytale palace. To complete the amazing fairytale
moment, you need to have an amazing photo wearing their traditional costume
Hanbok. But how to do it if you are traveling solo? You need to read till the
end of this blog post, I assure you, you will never regret. **wink**
Gyeongbokgung Palace is one of the famous palaces in Seoul,
a lot of tourists visited this place but did you know you can go inside for
FREE? Yes, you read it right, as long as you are wearing a Hanbok. What is
Hanbok? According to Wikipedia “traditional Korean dress for semi-formal or
formal attire during traditional occasions such as festivals, celebrations, and
ceremonies. It is characterized by vibrant colors and simple lines without
pockets” It’s like a national costume. There are a lot of Hanbok Rentals
outside Gyeongbokgung Palace you can pre-book online or just go there and rent
on the spot.
Before I fly to Seoul, I am so stressed out on how I will
take good photos of myself with the Hanbok inside the Gyeongbokgung Palace. I
can set my DSLR to timer mode and place it in my tripod and run fast to the
spot and smile. It will work, however, it takes a lot of time, effort and
patience, I do have the patience and effort but time? I’m not sure. As far as I
know in my research renting Hanbok has a time limit, if you return the Hanbok
beyond your time limit you need to pay an additional fee, which is not so ideal
for me. So I decided to research for a freelance Photographer in Seoul, and
boy! It was so expensive. Until I discover the Hanboknam, you can rent a Hanbok
from them with Photographer, plus they will do your hairstyling for Free. I booked
a package of them in Klook for 2,574 THB or ₱ 4,362. Loves, the 2,574 THB or ₱
4,362 is good for two-person, however, I’m alone so I need to pay the full
2,574 THB. After I paid the booking, I received an email from Hanboknam, they
asked me what time I will rent the Hanbok and some information like your
Kakaotalk app.
It’s easy to locate the Hanboknam store, take a subway to
Gyeongbokgung Station, then go to Exit 4. You will see a yellow building and it
is the only yellow building in that area. I choose the 10:00 AM slot to rent
the Hanbok, when I entered the store I was greeted with their staff with a
smile and they are so accommodating, by the way, loves this is not sponsored
post. The staff speaks so good in English, they check my booking and borrowed
my passport for a deposit, they will return it once I return the Hanbok. They
also hand me a key to the locker which is also free. They explained to me what
to do like I need to go up on the 2nd floor to choose my preferred Hanbok, and
I can ask the staff upstairs to help me with any kind of assistance. After
choosing and wearing the Hanbok, I need to go back downstairs for my free hair
styling. I did all the instructions and honestly? I was so surprised how
hospitable, friendly and kind the Korean staff are. It was a little bit chaotic
upstairs because there is a lot of tourists but the staff remains calm,
friendly and helpful, so amazing. I finally choose my Hanbok, put it on and ask
assistance with the staff to help me because it’s my first time, I don’t have
any clue on how to wear a Hanbok. After, I went downstairs to ask the
hairstylist to fix my hair, by the way, if you want to add more accessories to
your hair its 9,000 KWN. After I’m settled and ready to take a pose, the staff
asked me to wait for 5 minutes as they are going to contact the Photographer to
pick me up at the store. The Photographer came, he is cute though and friendly
and kind and speaks good English as well, Koreans you surprised me! He showed
me the palace, as I mentioned above, I didn’t pay any Entrance fee because I’m
wearing a Hanbok already. He showed me a great spot in the palace where to
shoot, it was only a 1-hour photoshoot but it felt like 2 hours. Not that
I’m not enjoying it, I enjoyed the experience a lot, maybe he gives me a few
minutes for more shots, LOL!
Anyways, after the photoshoots, he gets my email and on that
evening he already sent my photos, which are a lot. I am surprised how the
photos turn out, according to my research in Hanboknam, the Photographer will
send me unedited photos, if I want it to be edited, I need to pay extra. You
know me loves, so I choose the unedited, LOL! The photos were amazing, it looks
like he made some simple editing already like corrections or color corrections
to the photos, which I am so happy and satisfied with it.
My full experienced with Hanboknam store is worth the money
I paid for, it’s not cheap but it’s the best. I never had any regrets that I
made a booking with them. I love the experience from the moment I walk into the
store until I come back to return the handbook and get my passport. I highly
suggest loves to try getting a Hanbok if you are visiting Seoul Palace because
you will get Free entrance and try if possible to have your own Professional
Photographer, to get that perfect photo souvenir that you will treasure in your
life, we will never know when we will come back to Seoul, so as much as
possible grab the opportunity.
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