After approx 1 and a half hour ride of bus from airport, we finally arrived at Suwon. Unfortunately it was still raining, and the airport bus stopped at a place next to Hotel Castle, east of the Hwaseong (화성 華城). We had one and only umbrella but the rain was still going on and on. So I asked a guy was there anywhere I can get an umbrella nearby. He looked around and told me there wasn't any, so he let us has his (As shown on the photograph above). Is very kind of him, unfortunately, we didn't get his name or his contact as his ride had arrived. If this kind person is reading this, please drop me a mail.
Despite the rain, we were hoping to go to our first destination, eating Suwon famous Galbi. Before arrival, 화춘옥 seems to be a perfect choice judging from the location to where our bus stopped. But after walking for so long in the rain, our luggage handle finally decided not to cooperate with us and broke off while we were still searching for the restaurant.
Failed to locate the restaurant, we decided to go straight to Hwaseong tourist information centre to seek for help. We took a taxi to Paldalmun (팔달문 八達門), as shown on the picture above. Lucky for us, the tourist information centre was really helpful, special thanks to Ms. Choi, who had provided us with great assistance on both keeping our luggage while we walked around the fortress and told us where to eat instead.
She recommended a restaurant near Hwahongmun (화홍문 華虹門), called Yeonpo Galbi (연포갈비 淵瀑갈비). There are so many write up in Internet about this restaurant, like this, this and this. Although we were expecting to have Korean beef, but the menu clearly stated it is Australian beef. More importantly, how much did it cost? You can see it from our receipt.
After our meal, we proceeded to our sightseeing, which is conveniently situated right outside the restaurant, the Hwaseong itself. If you wish to explore the whole fortress, make sure you have sufficient time on hand. We just picked a few to view as we had a bus to catch later. More on Hwaseong in the next post.
