Take it easy in Jeonju

Omokdae is the best vantage point for a bird’s eye view of the Hanok Village. Your bibimbap-induced food baby will thank you for the five-minute uphill hike, as will your Instagram followers.

The first thing you should do in Jeonju is to go back in time. Almost everyone — tourists and vacaying Koreans alike — is togged out in hanboks rented from one of the countless shops. Ahjumma ‘stylists’ pick out traditional Korean garb for you and even style your hair (rentals start at 5,000 won for one-and-a-half hours). Then grab a selfie stick and hunt down the best spot for a historical #OOTD — that’s probably Gyeonggijeon Shrine, which translates literally to ‘royal palace built on a joyful site worthy of celebration’, which was built in 1410 to house the portrait of King Taejo, the founder of the Joseon Dynasty. No royalty ever lived here, but it doesn’t hurt to channel your inner prince or princess as you potter around the sprawling historical grounds, marvel at larger-than-life portraits (and some replicas), scrutinise royal annals that recorded the king’s every movement (er, bowels included) in the historical town that’s the hometown of nobles.

All you need now is a dramatic soundtrack, which you’ll find at a pansori (traditional Korean musical storytelling) gig at the Sori Cultural Centre. Warning for shy Singaporeans: things get really intimate — think one drummer, one singer, and an audience of no more than 10; and you might get cajoled into joining in a chorus, or three. Altogether now: Sarang, sarang, sarang!

Go the whole nine yards and book a stay in a hanok (traditional Korean house). Try one of the 800 that line the alleyways of Jeonju’s Hanok Village (some have been converted into quaint cafes and shops). Our spacious room in Hakindang House (http://from1908.kr) comes with antiquities full of old-world charm (a stack of futon mattresses, a small traditional chest of drawers) and modern luxuries (air-con, TV and wifi so you can update your Facebook status to inform your pals you’re living it up at a converted pansori theatre built in 1908).

There is one Etude House outlet here on Hanok Village’s main street, but hardly anybody’s in it. After all, people here are more preoccupied with the scrummy street snacks on sale outside, from chicken skewers to makgeolli (rice wine) ice-cream.

Street food like grilled octopus is readily available here.

But if you really crave retail therapy, mosey to downtown Jeonju, where Movie Street is. This is where Korea’s second largest film fest (after Busan) happens. Little wonder there are seven theatres crammed into the city hub that’s about the size of Orchard Road. Still, you can find familiar shops here — go to where the posters of homeboy Kim Woo Bin or Kim Soo Hyun are.

The nearby Nambu Traditional Market may look like an ahjumma’s dream come true — everything from veggies and dried fish to buckwheat pillows and furniture is sold in this 90-year-old institution — but venture to the second floor. Here you’ll find Chungnyun Mall (www.facebook.com/2Fchungnyunmall) that’s popular with the millennials of Jeonju.

At the hipster haven, you can find funky doodads, handmade accessories and organic food products, and is reminiscent of Bangkok’s Chatuchak Market — only cooler, less grimy, and with more artsy wall murals to add colour to your IG feed.

Jeonju folks are really, really proud of their most famed export, hanji (Korean traditional paper that looks like more refined papier mache). Make paper dolls decked in hanji hanboks at the Korea Traditional Culture Centre (8,000 won for an hour-long workshop and a doll), then traipse across to Hanji Industry Support Centre (www.hiscre.kr) to pore over the intricate paper-making process, and learn about the history of the material that was used in place of windows and doors in the days of yore.

If you prefer others to do the work for you, print a customised bookmark or portrait (use a pic from your phone’s camera roll) on hanji that the proprietors at Zisum Gallery (www.ezisum.com) make themselves.

That is, slowly and heartily. Wear loose clothing to Yangbanga restaurant in the Hanok Village. The traditional restaurant specialises in hanjeongsik, aka fine dining of the past. The full-course meal was served to royalty at palace banquets and comprises a buffet spread of so many dishes, we lose count after 60 plates (and the server is still heaping more food on our table for six). It’s like a crash course in K-cuisine. After we’ve chowed down soy sauce raw crabs, stews, hot pots, japchae, bulgogi, and countless types of kimchi (among many others), we roll out of the restaurant with our food baby, sorry, food triplets in tow.

It’s surreal being at Taekwondowon (www.tkdwon.kr), the world’s taekwondo headquarters that hosts the biggest global competitions, bootcamps for taekwondo students… and tours for curious tourists who’ve never pulled a punch in their lives.

Trek up a hill for 10 minutes or ride the monorail to the observatory to take in breathtaking views that look like scenes out of Kungfu Panda. Or watch taekwondo performances that meld K-pop boyband moves (guyliner included) with a K-dramatic love story that’s equal parts amusing and awe-inspiring. For noobs inspired to work out, former international taekwondo athletes (English-speaking, of course) hold introductory programmes that’s a hybrid of strength training, yoga and taekwondo. We leave feeling a little more kungfu and looking a little less like a rotund panda.

Hightail it 20 minutes away to the neighbouring county, whose population is one-tenth that of Bedok, and whose 261 sq km surrounds is 70 per cent mountainous. So why come here? Two words: Bandi Land.

Bandi Land may look like a kids’ amusement park (hello, kitschy bug-eyed creature mascots and, er, Shrek and Fiona-inspired statues that really ought to be in a Tim Burton movie) is really a “learning space studying in nature”.

There’s an Insect Museum that houses 20,000 types of creepy crawlies, an astounding 27-tiered structure made from 40,000 beetle wings; and a Bandi Observatory that’s a cosmo of astro-related exhibits and lets you take a real-time look at the International Space Station.

Wanna see more sparkly things? Say annyeonghase-glow to fireflies at the Muju Firefly Festival (http://english.firefly.or.kr) from Aug 27 to Sep 4 happening in and around Bandi Land. Plus, the festival’s fringe activities like music performances, trout fishing and rafting down the Namdaecheon stream make for fab Snapchat opps.