最后一个星期的假期。。。

spent the first 2 days sorting out the photos, we took approx 1,200 pics and videos during the trip... spent alot of time looking around for houses and cars during the week... almost bought this 2 bedroom apartment, new, at carlingford, even made an offer for it, however, did not buy it at the end due to potential health risk because of the power line being so close by... it was a pity cos the unit itself was really nice and spacious, and airy and well ventilated... so back to looking again :(

decided to cut my hair short this time, the style did not come out as it looked on the pic, but not too bad, similar to a doll look... still getting used to the style... finished watching the moon embraces the sun... it was ok, sad at times, I thought the male lead acted really well... but it was really weird cos the female lead obviously looked older than him... some cheesy moments but hey, I consider myself one of the suckers for cheesiness... I love cheese :) currently the show which looks really interesting is Rooftop prince but is still airing, so I am waiting so im-patiently for it to end, and really having to tell myself not to fall into the trap of watching it now and becoming frustrated waiting for new episodes...

spent 3 days going for test drives, hyundai, mazda, nissan, ford, kia... after much time spent and negotiation, finally signed the contract today, for a 2012 KIA Cerato Hatch Auto in silver... in exchange for Auris... additional features include mats, tint darkest legal limit, rear parking sensors, wanted to get front ones but was told that even when stopped in traffic, the beeping starts, so decided not to, and leather seats and doortrim... the car itself is spacious, has standard Bluetooth and cruise control, the only thing I found not great was the old fashion look of the controls at the front... paid $13,000 out of pocket, cos Auris was only worth $8,000 due to the hail damage and the dents... I am going to miss Auris, my first car and I have had it for 5 years now... the other good thing abt the dealership at Hornsby is unlimited lifetime free carwash... which I thought was really good, and the station is close by, walking distance to Hornsby shops, the only thing was it did not come with roadside assist... oh the other weird thing was when we went to Ford Pennant Hills that day, the salesperson coincidentally turned out to be the future father-in-law of a colleague at work, what a small world... 

so now countdown starts before I go pick up the new car and exchange Auris... have to start sorting out the car registration, CTP and car insurance... 

back to work tomorrow :(

Anyeong Korea!

Day 14 (Fri)- our last day in Korea, had buffet breakfast but choices not as good as the one at Ramada's... but at least we had breakfast provided... slept again after breakfast, and checked out at 1200... walked to Gwanghwamun again to catch the Seoul city tour bus, WON10,000 each person... the tour took approx 2 hours one way, and you can hop on and off at any stop for the whole day until 7pm... we got off at Cheongwadae,which is apparently where the president of Korea conducts his business, and there were police patrolling the area... you have to be escorted by a tour guide if you want to enter though, so we just walked along the area... that was the only stop where we got down, otherwise, all I did was snap pics of the areas we drove pass... walked back to Myungdong where we had late lunch, I decided to eat bulgogi rather than my grilled chicken, it turned out to be expensive and not as nice as the one in Jeju despite the signboard saying that the black pork is from Jeju... after that, we made our way to the Ibis hotel bus stop where there is an airport shuttle for WON10,000 each... it was approx a 90mins journey to the airport due to traffic... 

once at the airport, it was still so early that the checkin counter is not even open, so we were sitting around waiting... once our luggage is checked in, we decided to go through customs, go settle our tax refund and find some food... we found this food court, which had Burger King and KFC and some korean food, but later realised that they were closing and that there was not much choices left, which made us really upset, complaining about the airport being voted best airport apparently but not being able to provide food 24 hours... so we ended up eating what we could, and settled down to await for our flight... we got to the airport about 1900 and our flight was not until 0020, talk about wasting all that time... finally it was time to board, again surrounded by crying babies, did not eat any food, arrived at singapore at approx 0545, not able to go out to eat my fishball noodles as the time in between the flights was too tight... so settled for yuntun noodles which were so expensive and not nice at all... and then it was time to board our next flight back to sydney... I hate flying... and that's the end of my 2 week hols in Korea... another week left before reality really sets in... no more travelling for at least a year, not going to NZ this year anymore, have to start looking for another job mid next year... continue looking for houses, painful... and maybe think of travelling to NZ in between jobs, hopefully...

Pity!

Day 12 (Wed)- last day on the tour, was so upset when I found out that the accomodation for that night was at the Hilton resort, damn!

1st stop... Suncheon where we visited the Boseong Green Tea plantation and the Nakaneupseong Folk Village... the view at the plantation was nice and we also got to sample the green tea, bought some back for uncle... the folk village was kind of boring... although the place where we had lunch was pretty grand... apparently it is something which a King would eat, 9 side dishes and some fish called corvina, the only thing I don't like about Korean food is the side dishes are cold, the fish was cold that day, and you apparently pour your rice into the cold green tea dish, scoop it up and take a piece of cold fish along with the pepper sauce and eat it... urggh... I prefer my food to be hot thanks... the fish was quite fishy though, and cold... 

2nd stop... apparently this was not included in our itinerary but we got to go anyway, Suncheon Bay eco-park... more walking but at least this was walking on a bridge, flat path, but when we got to the end, there was nothing much to see... visited the museum as well... boring... and was told that we were to catch the KTX back to Seoul which was a 3hour journey... so we got dropped off at Suncheon station, and got onto the KTX, the price of the ticket was not cheap though... but I was quite glad that we got to experience their bullet train... the only issue was getting our luggages on and off the steps of the train and the bus and onto the escalators... that was not fun at all, so I was pretty cranky by the end...  anyway, we got off at Yongsan station where we were picked up and taken to Hotel Royal back at Myungdong... 

when we arrived at the hotel, we were told to pay an amount lesser than I was quoted over the phone, and the mistake was not realised until we went up to the room, and received a phone call saying that he calculated the amount incorrectly... he even came up to the room to explain the mistake... I was already cranky then so I decided to act dumb and insist that the amount we paid was the amt quoted to us, he finally gave up and left... anyway, the room was not great at all... it was ok, and breakfast was not included despite us paying so much for one night... and no free wi-fi as well... we ended up eating Burger King for dinner at Myungdong and walked around a little, trying to locate this chicken shop which I saw initially... but did not find it until after we had our dinner... and mum decided to try asking at Metro hotel again to see if there was a room available, and her persistence paid off, cos we got a premium room at a lesser price than the Koreana hotel which we had reserved for the following night... the only thing was that it was smoking room...

Day 13 (Thurs)- we slept in and checked out at 1200, made our way to Metro Hotel, deposited our stuff, and walked to Gwanghwamun square, where the 2 statues were and where Running Man also filmed... walked around the place alittle, there is an underground museum, free entry... and caught a train to Yongsan where we had lunch at this ramyun place... it was ok... mum was not feeling well, so opted not to go with us to the jjimjilbang called Dragon Hill resort... entry was WON10,000 per person, clothes provided, and 2 towels, lockers were provided separately for shoes and other belongings included in the entry fee... quite alot of tourists and locals... we were told that there were 7 stories altogether, you can stay for 12 hours and if you stay longer than this, charged every hour... 1st floor is common area, 2nd and 3rd stories were for females only, and 4th, 5th, 6th were for males only, and there is a rooftop area which is a common area... so we deposited our shoes in the locker on 1st floor and took the elevator up to 3rd floor where we can change... once we came out of the elevator, oh my goodness, females of all ages, size and shapes were walking naked everywhere... and we found out later that you have to remove your clothing in the shower area so pongie and I were like okkkk, we are just going to explore the area and not get too sweaty... there were different sauna areas, in domes, pyramids, this green tea room, different levels of heat, outdoor pool, this hall area with massage chairs, and you can lie on the floor and there are sections where there is heat coming up from the floor, games area, a common room where you can sleep... we were not given pink clothes like on tv though, but we saw people eating eggs and drinking the rice wine... and pongie and I decided to try one, it tasted sweet and you can eat the rice grains in there, not really to my taste... and pongie also asked someone there to show her how to tie the towel into 2 buns... it was hilarious... we were there for maybe 90mins, the one we liked was probably the ice room, that was the only cooler place... you had to pay for some sections and other services... it was a good experience though... 

went back to the shopping centre to retrieve mum and made our way back to Metro hotel... the room was so smokey, tried to open the windows to get some fresh air but our window is facing the airconditioning vents and there were cigarette butts, and all sorts of gross things, so we had to settle for breathing in cigarette smoke and turning down the air con... the room itself was great... mum was becoming sicker, so pongie and I went to have dinner at this korean place and I had my kimchi bokkeumbap again and waffles and icecream for dessert... it was so crowded despite it being a weeknight...

Coach tour days 1 & 2

Day 10 (Mon)- we had to wake up quite early that day as we were to be picked up at Lotte Hotel, and had to manually lift our luggages up and down the steps and drag it across the road to Lotte Hotel where we awaited the coach... wanted to buy some food for breakfast but did not find anything good, ended up eating some bread along the Star Avenue at Lotte Hotel... finally the coach arrived and there were already some people on board... there were 5 groups altogether on the tour, all were couples, 3 oldies, one young couple and us 3... 

1st stop... had a rest stop at Jeong- An service area, and then made our way to Buyeo where we visited Busosan Seong Fortress, some walking and climbing required... Baekmagang river, where we took a ferry... the scenery was nice... Nakhawaam Rock... thank god the weather was really good during the coach tour... and then it was lunch time, lunch was samgyeopsal, pork belly meat, I thought we would be having it grilled but it turned out to be more like braised, but there were alot of side dishes, there was also some glutinous rice, which I did not eat... the good thing about this coach tour was meals were provided... 

2nd stop... went to Buan, where we visited the Naesosa Temple, Chaeseokgang river, Gyeokpohang harbour... after that, we finally got to check in at the first accomodation place for that night, OMG, our luck with accommodation has finally turned, 5 star hotel called Daemyung Resort... it was sooo nice, the best accommodation place during this trip for me... they had alot of facilities as well, billiard room, business centre, karaoke, shopping mart, water park but of course you have to pay for these facilities but the room was awesome... the only thing I could complain abt was the pillows being too soft for my liking...  and dinner was kimchi stew and grilled mackeral again... it was not too bad... one of the couples ordered a mulberry makgeolli, I tried a little and it was so much better than the one we had on the first day we arrived... I never want to leave that place and that room, it was soooo nice...the people on the tour were all really nice and friendly as well... there was this couple where the female is of Korean background but she migrated to Germany, and she is fluent in Korean, German, French, English and alittle Mandarin as well... and she's funny as well... we were lucky to have such a good group to travel with...

Day 11 (Tues)- 1st stop... went to Jeonju where we visited the Jeonju hanok village, which was pretty much the same as all the other hanok villages we have been to, Jeondong catholic cathedral, this was boring... rice wine museum, some toy museum, not very interesting... had to make our own bibimbap for lunch after demonstration... they put alot of ingredients in the bibimbap, and raw egg and beef, urgghh... I cooked my own beef and egg and added only the stuff I wanted which was carrots... haha... after lunch, we got to dress up in hanboks and take pics... this was hilarious, both pongie and me look ridiculous cos we are fat, and the lady had a hard time looking for our size and I ended up wearing a hanbok which resembles something a servant in the olden days would be wearing... where the arms are exposed... hanboks only look nice on people who are slim I conclude...

2nd stop... more walking, this time at Mt Maisan, had to walk approx 1.6km one way to see this temple at the bottom of the mountain, and all of us declined to walk any further... apparently the mountain is so called becos it resembles ears of a horse... the toilet facilities there are shocking... one was only squatting, which was hard for me as I have yet to squat for awhile, let alone for the older people, and the other toilet had no washing basin... and no paper... dinner was at this korean place where we had hotpot, not to my liking I have to say... the ingredients were not to my taste...

finally it was to our accomodation place for the night... this time at Ramada Hotel in downtown area... not as nice as the resort but still a 5 star hotel... we found a Lotte Mart across the road, so pongie and I went to have a look around, they have really long pads, bought mum her sore throat medicine, cos she was getting sick, had a hard time communicating what was it we were after, this young salesgirl was trying to help but no English at all, however, the next thing we knew, she whipped out her Iphone, and found an app which you type the english word and it translates to korean... we thought that was hilarious actually... not that she gave us the right direction anyway, we had to ask another lady, who directed us to the pharmacy thank god... medicine in korean is 'yaku'...  the breakfast was so much better than the resort one though, cooked breakfast, which meant bacon, eggs, pastries, and other nice stuff... we were there for almost an hour...

Definitely recommend Hana Tour, this tour company which we had for the coach tour, everything was pretty organised, the food was not too bad and the hotels were excellent...

Trains and Ferry

Day 9 (Sun)- free and easy day for us today... we decided to go have a late breakfast at the Singaporean Kaya cafe nearby... which was pretty good considering I have not had kaya toast for a while now... and they also had milk tea singaporean style... after breakfast, caught a train to Samseong station where the shopping mall Coex was located... pretty sure Running Man also went there to film in one of the episodes... only one level of shopping, but huge area and the rest are convention halls... they actually had marche there, we were going to eat that, but pongie and mum had a blowup whilst we were there over buying of shoes, and we did not end up eating... bought a pair of running shoes, grey based and hot pink laces... pretty cool, expensive but it was the only thing I bought for myself during the whole trip... pongie ended up taking a train back to the hostel on her own, whilst mum and I caught a train to Yeouido where the spring flower festival was at... 

Yeouido... we got off at Yeouinaru station cos we wanted to go buy the ferry tickets first, it was packed everywhere... there was the huge Hangang park where people were cycling, flying kites, just walking around... and alot of people were walking along the road admiring the cherry blossom trees... it was quite a walk towards the ticketing area, but we made it there, bought our ferry tickets, and I wanted to go to the 63 Building where My Girl filmed, but did not think to read the book which did say we have to pay for entry and that there is a free shuttle there from the station... mum did not want to go cos it was quite a long walk there... so in the end, we walked back to the station, made a call back to the hostel to make sure pongie got there ok, and attempted to make our way to the national assembly building where the festival was apparently held... we did not make it there in the end, cos there were so many people, and there did not seem to be an end in sight... there was no food to eat as well... only street food... so I ended up having biscuits again for dinner whilst waiting for the ferry... it became quite cold as night approaches, and the ferry was at 1930... finally got onto the ferry, again lots of people, we sat indoors first, and I went out on the deck to take videos... when the rainbow fountain at Banpo Bridge came on, the cold and the prolonged standing on the deck was worth it... we were probably stopped there for approx 15mins and then it was time to go, but the fountain was still going... and we were told to go back into the undercover area and not before long, the decks were splashed with water as we went under the bridge... it was pretty cool, approx WON 15,000 per person... about an hour return... by the time we arrived back on shore, it was freezing cold, and we had to walk the long road back to the station... once back at the hostel, there was another round of packing to be done, cos we are going on the 3D2N coach tour... there was alot of packing and repacking going on during the trip... :)

Back In Seoul

stupid blogger thing, I hit the wrong text background button and now my previous post is filled with this disgusting white background... and I can't seem to fix it... 

Day 8 (Sat)- last day in Jeju, our flight back to Seoul is at 1500 so our 1st stop for the day was at Yongduam rock, it's a lava formation in the shape of a dragon's head which is apparently quite popular amongst tourists, but I did not think it was anything special when we were there... but the scenery was pretty good...

2nd and 3rd stops... one was Jeju folk museum and the other was Jeju national museum, nothing very exciting... and that was it for the Jeju tour... requested for kimchi bokkeumbap again, and the tour guide brought us to this downtown area where young people hang out and found this korean restaurant, and the kimchi fried rice was really nice, probably the best I have eaten during the trip, cos it was spicy and it was served on a hotplate... yum... after lunch, we were dropped off at the airport where we awaited for our flight back to Seoul... 

picked up at Gimpo airport and was brought to Myungdong Hostel where we had booked for 3 nights... upon arrival, the first thing we realised was that there was no lift and the hostel was on the first level and our room on the second level, which meant pong and I had to manually lift 2 heavy luggages up and down 2 flights of steps... the room was dodgy as well, slightly better than the Jeju one in that it did not have such a bad smell and there were no flies, but other than that, we had to provide our own towels, amenities, and the shower is in the same room as the toilet... and the bed was hard as anything... no choice but to stay there since we have already paid, but after the first night, we decided to see if there was any other places we could sleep in for the 3rd night... many places were booked out already, and we found a room at Hotel Royal but it was very expensive becos we had 3 people and it was last minute booking... fortunately the hostel allowed us to refund the money for one night's stay... at least the person at the reception area could speak reasonable English... I was actually quite stressed at certain points during the trip I have to say, becos I did not expect things to be booked out so quickly, and my thoughts were that we would be able to organise tours, and accomodation through the tourism organisation when we arrive in Seoul, but that was not the case when we arrived, I had to do alot of ringing around to search for accomodation, and tours... 

Lesson learnt: book tours and accomodation prior to departure next time, and find out the cancellation policy... and whether meals are included in the package...

Anyway, we decided to explore Dongdaemun that night and have dinner there, caught a train there, again, crowded, but in terms of shopping, not much things to see, and the stuff were not suitable for us, and alot of smoking as usual... we ended up eating Burger King, which is probably the most decent fast food we had so far... the other thing I noticed was that you have to return the trays to the respective store or common area after your meal, most food places provide water dispensers which is pretty good and they also provide metal cups, which are then hopefully washed and stored in the UV cabinet...

Jeju Day 2

Day 7 (Fri)- day 2 in Jeju... the first thing we did when we saw the tour guide was complain about the shitty hotel... and this Jeju trip was the most expensive amongst all the other tours we booked... 

                                

1st stop... Manjanggul cave, apparently the longest lava tube in the world, but only a 1km section is open to visitors... and guess what, it rained again that day... seriously, it always rains when we have to do some active walking or climbing activities... 1km did not seem too bad, but it was dark, wet and most parts of the cave were us walking on uneven and irregular shaped rocks and stones... so it took us longer to arrive at the end, not mentioning the crowd of tourists and children as well... it took us approx 90mins to complete both ways... and it was still raining when we came out of the cave...

2nd stop... Seongsan ilchulbong peak... it was so crowded when we arrived, and was told that if we wanted to see the crater at the top, there is approx 500 steps to climb... some steep ones... in the end, mum opted to remain in the car, pong went alittle of the way with me, and I decided to do it... so armed with an umbrella, camera, shoes, and determination, I made my way slowly up the top... it took me approx 45mins to get up to the top, strategy was to have regular rest breaks along the way, when I take pics of the scenery, and pace myself and not look up... thank goodness it stopped raining about halfway up, but some of the steps still remained quite slippery, going up was not too bad, but coming down was quite scary at some sections... I finally made it up to the top, where there were quite a few people already as well... nothing very much except the crater, the scenery, and the sign saying the peak was 180m high... coming down was obviously easier, and I did it all without a rest break so it took me alot quicker... by the time I arrived at the bottom, my jacket was off and I was perspiring... it was a really good workout for me and proved that I could do things like that if I wanted to... lunch was at this really traditional restaurant where we had yummy bulgogi, apparently one of the things Jeju was famous for is its black pork... it was actually really lunch, cos besides bulgogi, we also had soup, and this green pancake, nothing in it, except this grass called 'sul' giving it its green colour... and it was also reasonable priced...

3rd stop... Seongeup folk village... where we had a Mandarin speaking guide explaining to us that the place continues to be inhibited by women divers, some who are still diving at 80 years of age... and their special products include this tea, honey, horse bone... apparently there are many horses in Jeju, and people in Jeju are known to eat horse meat, and eating the bones in pill form is good for the joints... Jeju is also well known for their tangerines...

4th stop... Sangumburi crater... nothing very exciting here, except obviously the crater, but there were no steps to get to this one, only some walking... that was the end of the tour for the day... we asked to be dropped off at Lotte mart, where we bought more food, and pretty much ate junk for dinner and breakfast... last night in the disgusting room...

JeJu Day 1

Day 6 (Thurs)- Papa's last day in Korea, and we are heading off to Jeju... got picked up at the Astoria in the am, headed for Gimpo international airport to catch a domestic flight Jin Air to Jeju... it was crowded everywhere we went... Gimpo airport looked really old both in and out... it was a small flight and filled mostly with students on a field trip to Jeju, lucky them... had to catch a shuttle to the plane itself, and get out and walk to the plane... it was approx an hour's flight one way... when we arrived, it was warm, much hotter than in Seoul itself... found out that it was another private tour, which was pretty good once again... the cherry blossoms there were much more probably due to the warmer weather...

1st stop... Yeomiji botanical garden... it was nice but became boring after awhile and I personally am not a green person as everyone knows... lunch was at a korean restaurant near Lotte hotel, and this tour does not cover meals, we ordered grilled mackeral and mum ate bibimbap... the fish was actually quite nice, and it was quite a big piece too...

2nd stop... Cheonjiyeon waterfall... considered one of the natural monuments on the island... again it was crowded with both tourists, children on field trips and locals...

3rd stop... Jeongbang falls... considered as the only waterfall that goes directly into the sea... many steps to get to this waterfall and if you wish to get closer to the waterfall, have to go through rocks, I have to say that both waterfalls are not the highest I have seen though... 

4th stop... Mysterious road... this is the stretch of road which you can stop the engine, and the car will move uphill by itself looking like it's going against gravity, but apparently it is an optical illusion only, the road is actually sloping downwards... 

that was the last stop for the first day in Jeju, the tour guide informed us that as we booked the tour really late, most of the accomodation places have already been booked out... hence we ended up with this really shitty place called VIP tourist hotel, the staff could not even speak English, the room was shitty, with a smell... and there were flies in the bathroom, and there was no curtains in the bathtub, and they provided only small towels, and becos the weather was cool, some hotels including this one do not turn on the air con, there was no kettle to boil water, the door does not close properly... when we tried to ask for towels, kettle, the staff had to ring our tour guide to translate... it was really bad, and we were stuck there for 2 nights, we actually complained to the tour guide the next day, but was told that there was no other places we could go, so they offered to refund some money WON30,000 each... the only good thing was that the floor was an ondol, it was heated and blankets were provided if you chose to sleep on the floor, but who would want to when it is so shitty??!! breakfast was included however the food was so unappetizing,  mostly cold korean food like kimchi, soup, some vegetables, etc... luckily we brought along some biscuits which we bought... had dinner in this small korean restaurant recommended by our tour guide which had my kimchi bokkeumbap... it was not bad, but not spicy though... within walking distance to our 'hotel'... after dinner, there was nothing much to see around the place, it's like sydney suburbs on a weekday night where most shops close after 7pm... went to the family mart which is like an equivalent of our 7/11... to buy more biscuits for breakfast... I thought the accomodation we were in at Melbourne was bad, but this has got to be the worst so far...

Mt Seorak tour

Day 5 (Wed)- Mum and papa opted out of this tour becos of the cost, so only pong and I went, it was day trip to Mt Seorak and surrounding areas... it was again raining that day... which was really annoying... it was approx a 3 hour bus trip one way, and there were 2 other tourists on the tour who coincidentally were also from singapore, mother and son... 

1st stop... when we arrived, there were again so many tourists despite the rain... along with locals, especially older people... had to catch a cable car up the mountain, and it was so stuffy in the cable car becos of the number of people and it was so wet... urggh... when we got down from the cable car, the tour guide told us we still had to climb the steps up further to reach the top... it was not a pleasant experience, becos it was raining, wet, cold, and slippery, there were still ice and snow on the ground and along the steps up...but the view once we were up there was worth the climb... alot of people went to climb further up but pong and I stayed down knowing that the trip back down would be scary... it was so slippery when we were descending, had to hold on to the ropes at times, and there were no supports at times, and some were not even proper steps, just rocks... had lunch at the bottom of the mountain, the food was not great, and we had to pay extra cos lunch was not included... 

2nd stop... this temple at the bottom of the mountain, where there was a huge Buddha statue, followed another temple called Naksansa temple... located nearby...  it was pretty much next to the sea and it was freezing cold when we got there cos it became really windy... and the last stop was another fishmarket... urggh... Koreans really love their seafood, there was all sorts of weird seafood... and I initially did not wish to step into the market, but had to in the end... yucky... water and God knows what else in there... 

that was the last stop of the tour, dropped back at Astoria, and decided we had some time before the Namsangol hanok village closed, so mum and papa joined us and it was approx a 5mins walk there... it was still quite crowded when we got there... walked around the place, at least this one is free entry and you can actually see the interior of the houses... after that we decided to catch a bus up Mt Namsan... again, when we got up there, there was alot of people, mainly young people... mum and papa decided not to go up to the Namsan Tower, cos it was quite a steep  ascent... saw a sign that there was going to be some laser performance at 1900 so we decided to wait up there, mum and papa decided to take a bus back first... walked around the place, pretty much just some restaurants and some shops, and the teddy bear museum, you have to pay to go up to the observatory though, so we stayed down... it stopped raining when we returned from the tour, but when the sun went down, it became really cold and 1900 came and went and there was nothing happening... so we went to ask and was told that the performance was at 2000... so we decided to wait for it... 2000 came and there was only a light show on the tower itself but no laser performance... so in the end, we decided to leave, so we took the cable car down, followed by an open elevator down to Myungdong, where we walked back to Astoria, and we were starving when we got back, so decided to buy Dominoes, which was really expensive, similar to the prices in singapore... and not nice at all... we had to throw some away cos mum and papa also ate pizza already for dinner...

Cultural and History tour

Day 4 (Tuesday)- Our first daily tour, pretty much a culture and history tour... our tourguide called Michelle, she's really funny and overly hyper... but she's really good at her job I think, and the other good thing was that we were the only ones on the tour, so it was like a private tour, which was pretty good... 

1st stop... Changdeokgung palace, so apparently all the 5 Joseon palaces are located in the downtown area, and this was the only palace that is a UNESCO heritage listed palace... you have to pay for entry fees at all palaces... it was pretty much crowded with tourists, mainly Jap and Chinese... it was pretty big...the tour guide was explaining abt the history of the place and different areas and I was pretty much only half hearing, too busy taking pics... I was pretty much trigger happy during the whole trip... haha... the only thing that day was it was a cloudy day, and the flowers are still not in bloom yet... 

2nd stop... National Museum of Korea... where Running Man filmed during one episode, so we were pretty excited to see the place ourselves... again pretty crowded, this time with kids mainly, apparently there are alot of spring field trips happening... free entry though... very open both in and out... but not really our thing I have to say, we pretty much only saw the highlights and completed it in less time than was given... 

lunchtime, we were brought to this korean restaurant located in Itaewon, this is a place apparently where foreign brands can be found, and apparently where foreigners hang out... I had kimchi jjigae (which is pretty much kimchi soup) and rice... not bad, except I don't eat most of the ingredients in there...

3rd stop... Bukchon hanok village... where you can actually stay in, but most of the hanoks are occupied, so you can't go in and see... and the area looks really expensive... and we were told that this was where Personal Taste was filmed as well...

4th stop... Hwasong Fortress at Suwon... it started to rain when we arrived... which was not very nice... but still full of tourists... another UNESCO world heritage... this was another site where Running Man was filmed as well... we were meant to take the traditional trolley to tour the whole fortress but did not due to the rain, hence we could only drive along the route the trolley would have taken... stopped by at the Hwasong Haenggung where apparently some parts of Daejanggum was filmed... and there would have been some martial arts performance if not for the rain... that was the last stop of the tour, we were dropped back at Astoria where we decided to catch a train to Seoul station where the Concos galleria was located... papa did not want to go, so we decided to have dinner there, when we arrived, there were not much food choices, so we ended up eating Macdonalds instead, which was really yucky, the oil they use really stinks, and the food is not great... again the level of English is shocking... it was still raining when we finished dinner, there was not really much of shopping and we were not really interested in shopping either... but saw Lotte Mart, which was pretty much a supermarket like Giant, where they sell both food, clothes, household stuff, etc...

HANgiNg wiTH thE oLd FoLks...

Day 3 (Monday)- Mr Park and his wife came and picked us up at the Astoria and we headed off on this 3 hour roadtrip to this place east of Seoul called Gangneung... along the coastal area... had our first restbreak and we had our toiletbreak at this rest stop, which is quite 'happening' as compared to the rest stops here... there are shops selling mainly food and the petrol station which is called 'oilbank' there, realised alot of street food over in Korea are deepfried which begs the question, how come the females are so slim???!!! maybe they eat alot of kimchi???!!!  the air in the outskirts are very fresh, probably becos we are surrounded by mountains and away from the pollution in the city, although we can never escape from cigarette smoke...

after the rest break, we are back on the road, first stop was a place called Ojukheon and Munseongsa shrine... first look at traditional houses called hanoks and ondols, which means underfloor heating, there are holes created at the side of the hanoks where people burn firewood to heat the floors, and the chimneys are actually created outside the houses, rather than in the houses itself, which is pretty clever... second stop was this beach, nothing very exciting... 3rd stop... was this wet fish market, where people sell fresh seafood and you can pretty much choose the one you like and they will cook it on the spot for you... gross... there was also this 2 people who were killing an eel, and curiosity got the better of me, so I stayed and watch a little, they first slice the eel into 2 from the top, and the eel is still moving despite being sliced... it was pretty disgusting... is this going to put me off eating unagi??? dunno yet, have yet to eat any unagi for a while now...

lunchtime, Mr Park brought us to this little family owned restaurant and of course, it was seafood again... seated on the floor, whereas the place we went for lunch on the first day, we were seated also on the floor, but our legs are actually dangling, sashimi, and other seafood, rice and soup, kimchi hotpot, so I pretty much ate rice, fish cooked in the soup, kimchi soup... apparently you can keep refilling your side dishes at no extra charge, which is pretty good for people who like eating the side dishes... after lunch, it was this temple where there is this huge Guanyin statue which apparently is specifically to bless people to do well in exams and we were told that parents often come here to pray for their children especially during exams, there was also this lying Buddha on the water, but you need a little imagination to see the lying Buddha... after that, it was the long drive back to  Seoul, where we also had dinner together... another Korean restaurant which specialises in 'samgyetang' (ginseng chicken), also seated on the floor... alot of side dishes, it was actually a whole chicken stuffed with glutinous rice in the ginseng soup each... nutritious and I know it is usually mentioned in tv about how good and nice it was, but I did not really like it, not something I would eat more than once... 

FAmiliARiziNG...

Day 2- Sunday, had buffet breakfast which was included at the Metro Hotel, not many choices, but the choc croissant was nice, so we smuggled some food for mum and papa who came to meet us back in the room... after breakfast, we made our way to the tourist office again...where we got some assistance looking for accomodation cos we only had accomodation booked until 12 April... was told that most of the places are fully booked already cos it is the peak season now, so we spent quite some time at the tourist office going through our options... in the end, we decided to book 3 nights at this guesthouse which I was told that we would be sleeping ondol style, which was one of the things I wanted to try... and we booked our Jeju trip from 12 April to 14 April, 3 days, 2 nights, and decided to go on a coach tour from 16-18 April 3 days 2 nights as well... and we booked 2 different daily tours... 

after all that, mum and papa went off with Mr Park and his wife to visit the DMZ and some ginseng wholesale market... whilst pong and I made our way to the Cheong Gye Cheon (this stream that stretches quite a long way) which was located across from the tourist office... walked along the stream for abit, and saw this singaporean opened kaya cafe similar to the Ya Kun toast place here, but this cafe was ran by Koreans... did not go in to eat but decided to come back another day to try the food... after that, made our way on foot to the Astoria Hotel, which is approx a 20mins walk, we definitely walked the long way bcos we later found a shortcut through the Myungdong streets... when we arrived, checked in and decided on the 6th floor rather than the 4th floor where mum and papa were, cos we were told that 4th floor is noisier cos there is a karaoke place, when we arrived in the room, realised that our room did not have a nice view like mum and papa's room where they could see the Namsan tower and our room was really hot and stuffy... anyway, we decided to stick with it for the next 4 days... 

we decided to catch a train to Hongdae where apparently Hongik Uni is located and weekend markets... we were told to purchase this Tmoney card which you can use on buses and trains, when we arrived at Hongdae train station, we got off at the specified exit but did not see the uni at all, tried to ask some people but again, language barrier, so we decided to walk towards the direction where more people are heading to, and went into this clothing store to ask for directions... and luckily this storeperson could speak some English and pointed us to the right direction... when we finally got to the place, it looked similar to Myungdong, alot of alleyways filled with shops selling food, clothes, accessories, cosmetics, and street hawkers... and alot of young people... it was pretty crowded, probably becos it was a sunday... you pretty much have to walk along the alleyways if you want to see more stuff otherwise if you stick to the main road, it looks pretty boring on the outside... walked quite awhile before deciding on a place for lunch, this small store where the seats are facing the wall, selling ramyun... it was not bad and it was pretty cheap... I chose this spicy ramyun and it ended up spicier than I could handle so pong and I swapped... after that we decided to go have dessert to cool ourselves... for some reason, it was pretty cold on the first day when we arrived, but that day it was pretty warm... dessert was at this place called nature cafe and we had waffles and brownie with ice cream... after that, we decided to catch a train to Insadong, where apparently it is famous for it arts and crafts and antiques stuff... again, when we got there, we had to ask for directions, this time from a policeman who was standing guard outside the police station... who also luckily knew some English... pointed us to the right direction and there were also alot of people... it was a whole street with shops selling arts and crafts, traditional Korean stuff and street food... also came upon Ssamziegil, where they sell accessories, clothes catering to the younger generation... it was actually quite a cool place, we went all the way up to the rooftop (only 4 stories high) where you can experience some traditional korean way of life... there were also narrow alleys where traditional restaurants are located... after that, we met up with mum and papa at Lotte department store and foodcourt, did not end up eating anything cos we were all pretty full still... made our way back to the Astoria after buying some bread for breakfast the next day... initially booked our daily tours to start on Monday, not knowing that mum and papa made plans with Mr Park to go out on Monday, so in the end, we had to postpone our daily tour to Tuesday and Wednesday... 

after 2 days in Seoul, the things I noticed were 1. alot of Koreans smoke, more males smoke than females, but it was not very pleasant when walking on the streets 2. alot of coffee cafes, the Koreans must drink alot of coffees 3. the streets are not very clean 4. there are no such thing as traffic rules, cos even though there are pedestrian crossing, you pretty much have to start walking first otherwise you are never going to cross the road, cars still go ahead even the lights are red, and there are U-turn lanes, but you can U-turn anywhere within the lane, no need to take turns 5. toilets- there are no such things as sanitary bins, people throw their pads into normal waste bins, and the bins are open... gross... but I think what they do is they wrap the pads in toilet paper and throw them in the bin cos the pads are not visible thank god...

ArriVEd in SeOuL...

Day 0- left for the airport on easter Friday afternoon to catch the plane to singapore, which is an 8 hour flight, no nice movies on the plane hence pretty much was sleeping throughout the flight, and constantly being surrounded by crying babies, seriously had thoughts of shoving the dummy into their mouths... arrived in singapore, was luckily allowed to go out and eat my fishball noodle in the foodcourt and met up with mum and papa... and then it was time again to catch the midnight flight to Seoul- Incheon airport, which is approx a 6 hour flight... which again was pretty much sleeping throughout the entire flight... 

Day 1- arrived at Incheon airport approx 7am... their airport is pretty massive, there is a separate concourse where we were and had to catch a shuttle to the main building where we retrieved our luggage... and was picked up by papa's friend, Mr Park... and the journey from the airport to the downtown area was approx an hour... Mr Park treated us lunch at this fusion Jap and Korean restaurant... did not like the food cos it was more raw food than anything else, like sashimi etc... but I liked the plum tea which he recommended... apparently called 'mei-shil cha'... after that, he dropped us off at Astoria hotel where mum and papa will be staying for the next 5 nights... and we headed to the tourist office located at Myungdong... which took us some time to locate actually even with a map... when we finally found it, we were told that we had to organise the Jeju trip ourselves, all they can do is provide us with some travel agencies which may be able to organise the trip... so we went in search of this travel agency which apparently was located close by... but took us forever to find it, and when we finally found the place, we found out that none of them spoke english and the guy rang up the airline and said we had to book our own flights... so in the end, we went back to the tourist office and found some brochures in english which organises trips to Jeju... so we pretty much took all the english brochures we could find and left... walked to Myungdong and decided to have dinner there... the place was quite crowded, probably becos it was a sat... there was so many alleyways filled with food shops, cosmetic shops, clothing shops, and stalls selling mainly clothes, accessories, food... finally decided to eat at this place which is located on the 2nd floor, had bibimbap, tteokbukki with cheese, and seafood pancake, and decided to try makgeolli... the one we had came from a bottle and it had quite a high alcohol content, which made it taste more like wine than rice wine... did not really like it... it was also quite difficult communicating with the locals, but luckily there was a waiter who spoke mandarin... so not too bad... the bibimbap and the cheesy tteokbukki were not bad, the seafood pancake was not quite that crispy... after dinner, went in search of the metro hotel where pong and I would be staying for one night... had a really hard time finding the place even with the map, we were asking people on the street, the cafe staff, pretty much anyone we thought could speak english, which mainly were the younger generation... we probably spent one hour finding the place... we finally found the place and it was quite a nice place despite being a small hotel and small room... and breakfast included... so we settled in and mum and papa went back to the Astoria for the night... the other good thing about the Metro hotel was that there was free wi-fi in both the lobby and in the room, and there were computers where we could upload pics...