[Travelogue] Korea Joa Day 7 – Korean Folk Village, Naver Green Factory and MU:CON Showcase

November 8, 2015 Jiji

October 6th, Tuesday – It was a brand new day in Seoul. The weather was just nice, a little bit windy but not too cold. Our first stop of the day was the famous visitors’ spot, Korean Folk Village.

If you are a fan of Korean historical drama, you might want to visit this place. Many Korean hit dramas were filmed here, such as ‘My Love from the Star’, ‘Arang and the Magistrate’, ‘The Moon that Embraces the Sun’, ‘Jewel in the Palace’ and many more. In this Korean Folk Village, the customs and various lifestyles of past generations during the Joseon Dynasty can be seen. At the Performing Arena we managed to watch the Acrobatics on a Tightrope and the Equestrian Feats. Interesting experiences! More photos during my trip at Korean Folk Village here.

Korean Folk Village (3) — Some of the drama that was filmed at Korean Folk Village. Reminisce this place, now I feel like watching the drama The Moon that Embraces the Sun again.

Korean Folk Village (7) — Our translator told us, during Joseon dynasty, you can differentiate the class by looking at their rooftop. This probably the lowest class during that time.

We spent few hours at the Korean Folk Village until the lunch time. We had our lunch at Grill Dining Look at Me at Bundang area.

spicy seafood pasta — Spicy seafood pasta. I ate a lot of pasta during this trip. No, I’m not complaining! ^_^

Apparently, the restaurant is nearby to our next stop, NAVER Green Factory. The Green Factory is the headquarters of the NHN Corporation, a well known company for providing one of Korea’s top search engine portal NAVER, mobile messenger app LINE, and the latest live streaming video V App. Forget about Google, in Korea, NAVER is the best search engine!

Naver Green Factory (14) — Naver Library on the ground floor can be accessed by public. I might not be a bookworm, but who knows I will start reading books if I work here. Haha!

Inside the building, we were divided into two groups to tour the building. Each group was introduced to a staff from Naver that will bring us to tour the building and explain to us about their company and stuff. As we were touring the building, I can only hear ‘Woah!’, ‘Cool!’, ‘Daebak’, ‘Can I work here?’ and much more amazed reactions from us. Obviously everyone wished to work in a company like this. Find out what is inside Naver Green Factory here.

Naver Green Factory (11) — Jaw-dropped when we were told that most drinks and snacks here cost under 1USD. I heard a can of Cola is 100KRW. Like…seriously? I might end up starving here if I bring 1USD to my office. Brb crying.

Naver Green Factory (12) — I might not have recorded all the awesome things in this building in my post, but this bean bags are definitely one of the best features! And look at my favourite LINE characters standing behind!

After we were done touring the building, we were brought into a room where the name of each Korea Joa member was set up on the table with a smart phone. We were introduced to V App, its history, the current marketing and so on. Well, as a K-pop fan, V App is not a stranger to me. K-popped! had posted a few press releases about V App, and I’ve come to know about it through those articles and had downloaded the app. For those who did not know, V is a global live-streaming video application officially launched by NAVER early in September 2015. More about V App here.

Naver V app — Our name and a smart phone on each table. Nope, they were not giving us the phone.:p

V App GOT7 — During the V App presentation, all the mobile phones on the table suddenly start ringing and vibrating. Turns out it was a notification for GOT7 live on V App!

We were introduced to the people who worked hard behind the scenes for the successful launch of V App. Thanks to them, fans now can enjoy more videos of their idols and even have interactions with them. After having a chat over drinks and snacks, it’s time to leave. Thank you Naver for welcoming us, and thank you for all the gifts too!^^

20151108_115354 — Some of the merchandises by NAVER. Thank you! <3

Next, we went to the Dongdaemun area to have our dinner at Season Table in Lotte Fittin Mall. It is a buffet style restaurant and they have a variety of Korean dishes.

Korean food (3) — Variety of cookies and snacks in desserts section

After dinner we had some free time. We can choose either we want to watch 2015 MU:CON Seoul Showcase, shopping, or head back to the hotel to rest. Most of the group went shopping or headed back to the hotel. As for me and Ida, we went shopping for an hour, then met our K-popped! crew member in Seoul, Dixxon and his friend, and the four of us went to the MU:CON Seoul Showcase 2015.

MU:CON Seoul 2015 is the annual Seoul International Music Fair 2015 and is currently in its 4th consecutive year. Held for 3 days from 6th October to 8th October, MU:CON Seoul is a music market consisting of the Biz-matching program, the conference, the global music showcase, as well as other networking programs geared towards stimulating artists’ global expansion in the music business. The showcase is more like a music fair where they are providing an opportunity for musicians to realize their dream of foreign-stage-debut by setting up a global showcase. At this year’s showcase, 42 musicians and bands expected to participate in various genres of music such as Rock & Modern Rock, Dance & Electronic, Rap & Hiphop and much more.

Mucon pass — Our 3 day passes for MU:CON SEOUL 2015. Unfortunately, due to limited time, we were able to attend for first night only.

There were 3 night for the showcase, and each night have 2 venues (indoor and outdoor). Visitors have to register and get the pass before entering the venue. We went there for the first night of showcase and managed to watch Buslav (a band from Poland), rookie girl group GFRIEND that fame shot up after their professional performance went viral, and Kiha & The Faces, an indie band from Korea that seems to already have a lot of fans.