Cheng Deok Gung

Dae Jang Guem (大長今) didn't work here. (yes, I get a kick out of starting like this everytime).

The real her works here, but the filming set actually models this palace. It is the best preserved palace and the newest one. The last king spends his remaining days here. But this is not what sets it apart from the rest of the palaces. The one thing that sets it apart from all the other palaces is...(drum rolls!!!) the walking distance from my apartment.

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(insert flying crows)

You guys seriously have no sense of humour. Ok, the thing that set this palace apart is its Secret Garden. Like all Secret Gardens, you have to pay a separate entrance fee and you must be accompany by a guide so it's like paying for a compulsory guided tour. Good for economy, bad for the tourist.

The entrance looks like any other Kimchi Palace but this time I manage to take the courtyard view and you can see 2 rows of headstones on left and right. No, they are not grave headstones. These are labels for the ministers and officials and where they should stand during any official meeting. One side for arts and one side for martial arts. If you study your history or watch Stephen Chow movies, you will know the lowest ranking is 9. For the sharp eyes that notice there are more than 9 stones, yup, for the upper rankings there are further spilts to upper and lower. I believe banks and my organization copied their organization practises from here. It takes forever to promote up and information didn't always cascade down to the working level. I doubt the king's voice can reach to Official number 9 all the way at the back. I bet he always dozed off in the middle of the king's speech given he probably only hear a buzz equivalent to flies buzzing around some poop.

 The main hall

There are quite a few free tours of various languages but we missed all of it due to our impromptu visit. But thanks to me helping a China tourist we get ourselves a free guide. So I have more juice on this palace than any other. This palace was condemn by many due to the extravagance use of blue roof tiles. The people think it is a waste of government money to use the expensive blue tiles to build the palace.

The last king also took a concubine as the queen didn't manage to give him sons. I don't know why it's always the wife's fault when there are no sons. Anyway in difference to the queen, the concubine lived in a common surroundings. A commoner's home. As you can see everything is not as majestic as the usual palace designs. It's just plain wood. Though I like the simple design, I think that is pretty unfair to the concubine.

The concubine house

Anyway the king died after 2 years of marrying this concubine. Maybe he tried too hard. At his death, there are daughters and nephews but they are not recognize as direct heirs. Maybe no one really want him to have a heir after the blue tiles incident. Regardless, the line died with him.

Due to our impromptu-ness we also miss all the Secret Garden tours. Not because there are no more tours, but because there are no more english or mandarin speaking tours at timing that we wanted and I balked at paying a guided Korean tour which serves no purpose.

The secret garden behind

Anyway according to our guide, the Secret Garden is built by the King for the Queen's pleasure. Since the Queen is always nesting in the palace and there are only so many places she can go, the King built a garden for her. It's rumoured to be beautiful with capital 'B' but since I didn't get to go, it remains a secret. But we manage to glimpse it now and then. I even manage to get a sneak snap shot. In my honest opinion, I think the King should build a shopping mall for the Queen instead.

Last but not least, I asked the guide is the below drive way for the horse carriage to stop for the king. He had a good laugh and said I watch too much drama. The driveway is actually for the king's car. It just feels wrong for a car being used in a palace such as this.

The driveway

The car is still preserved in the National Museum. To find out how to get here, refer this link. If you are going, drop me note. I want to tag along for the Secret Garden that I miss out.