Ello everyone!

If you had known me long enough, you'd have known that I've been here in Korea for almost three years now. Certainly, it is not my first time wearing the Hanbok. I had couple of experiences wearing the Korean traditional dress, but I had never got the chance to have a professional photo studio shoot with the headpiece adorned. Henceforth, I'm here with today's post on my my recent experience at Go Guan Studio, located inside the building of Trick Eye Museum in Hongdae, Seoul!

Brochure for Go Guan Photo-Studio

How to Get there?
As mentioned, I went to the smaller branch which is located in the building of Trick Eye Museum @ Hongdae, Seoul. That is simply because I happened to be visiting Trick Eye Museum with my friend, and decided to get the photo shoot done as well. Their main branch is located at Insadong, and you may refer to the map below:







I must say that overall, I had a super fun time. As some of you would have known, I am wearing a Korean Geisha Hanbok costume. I had a photo of myself in a Geisha costume when I first came to Korea three years ago, and so you guys probably would think, why did I choose to wear a Geisha costume again? The reason is simple. Hanboks of Geishas are usually prettier, hahahas. As for Yumi, she had decided to for the Royal Court Hanbok costume, which I thought it suited her perfectly! I was totally on cloud nine that day because I felt like I had transformed her back into her roots. Hahaha. For more viewing of costumes, you may visit their website here.

On a side note, I kinda had an embarrassing moment when I asked the assistant who helped me with my hanbok and hair styling, if she wore Hanbok very frequently. She quietly smiled and shook her head. Only thereafter I realised that she is a Chinese because she had accidentally spoken Chinese to me instead of Korean. Hahahas. Nonetheless, a very friendly and kind lady, as compared to the other not-so-friendly assistants. Would love to bring my friends if she is still working there!

Tip!!
While Yumi and I were trying to take a good photo of the photographs, (if you know what I'm trying to say..) I just thought "how great it would be if they could send us soft copies of our photos". And so, Yumi and I decided to make a trip back to the photo-studio to ask for it. To our surprise, the person was really kind and told us to write our e-mail addresses and he would send it to me by end of the day. True enough, I got it! And that explains how I got the photo studio photo above :)

--

Where to get FREE Hanbok experience?

FYI, NOT all places by Tourist Information Centre (TIC) are free. The one in Insadong for instance, requires a fee of 3,000won. I was so surprised because three years ago, I vividly remember I took it for free. I guess because there is an influx of tourists these days, they had decided to charge. From my understanding, only the following two mentioned places in Seoul allow you to try the hanbok experience for free :)
1. Tourist Information Centre at Korea Tourism Organization Main Office (Level B1)

Address: 40, Cheonggyecheon-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul. B1F of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) building. 
Time: 09:30–17:30 on Monday to Saturday (3rd week of every month; 2–5 people at a time) 

How to get there?
Jonggak Station (Subway Line 1), Exit 5 
Go straight for 3 minutes and cross the street above Cheonggyecheon Stream.
Turn right and continue down the street that runs parallel to Cheonggycheon.
The KTO building is the second building on the left.

Euljiro 1-ga Station (Subway Line 2), Exit 2 
Go straight for about 5 minutes. 
Turn left into the last street before reaching Cheonggyecheon. 
The KTO building is the second building on the left. 

2. Seoul Global Centre & Tourism Centre @ M Plaza (Level 5) Myeongdong, Seoul 

Address: 27, Myeongdong 8-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul
Time: 10:30 - 18:00 

How to get there?
Myeongdong Station (Subway Line 4), Exit 4
Go straight (about 150m) to arrive at M Plaza on the right

--

Hope you guys find this post helpful!

Till then,

irenesiah