27 April 2013 - KTX ~ Seoul ~ Namsan Guesthouse ~ Changdeokgung ~ Namdaemun Shopping

We bid Jac & her family farwell this morning for they were heading to Fukuoka, Japan via ferry for 5 days before returning to Seoul for another 4 days. Whereas Elaine & myself will be embarking on a whirlwind adventure in Seoul for 3 days. And I mean a real adventure. Read on...

Our driver sent us to Busan KTX Station at 0830hrs. We anticipated a traffic congestion since its the weekend but nope, traffic was a breeze.

However, our preferred time slot was fully booked & the next available train leaves Busan @ 0950hrs. We arrived Seoul at about 1230hrs.

Seoul Station was big with a few subway lines running through this station & also the main KTX Station. We navigated around the station with directional signs but we were lugging a cabbage baggage each & zig zagging thru the huge crowd was no easy feat for us.

Finally, we saw the subway and oh no, its stairs & escalators everywhere. We could not find any elevator within our sight. So up & down we go & once we arrived at the station, we stopped dead in our tracks.

Firstly, the ticketing machine was filled with longggggg queues. I remembered about the T-money (similar version of our EZ Link card) I read about in blogs & forums & was wondering where to get it. There was a machine which sold this T-money card for 3500won but I enquired about the card inside a convenience stall and it was selling at only 2500won. So Elaine & myself bought one each & we topped up 10000won.

2 stops down to Myeongdong Station & again, there was no elevators within sight. So up we go via stairs & escalators again. And its hot & squeezy inside the train compartments. I believe there was no air conditioning at all cos the weather outside was still cold.

Exit 3 of Myeongdong Station should bring you to Namsan Guesthouse. We stayed there for 3 nights.

After lunch at Myeongdong area, we head over to Jongno Shrine. Our initial discussion was to visit Gwangjang market instead.

Jongno Shrine @ Jongno Sam(3)-ga station, exit 8. We came up above & dunno which direction to go at all. A local read our minds & directed us to turn right & with hand gestures, pointed us to the shrine walls & to turn right again. We could only say Kamsahamnida with a smile.

We walked towards Jongno Shrine, bypass this park full of elderly people & stopped right in front of Jongno Shrine. All of a sudden, we felt that Jongno Shrine does not appeal to us anymore. Looking on inside, we lost the interest to visit this shrine.

Elaine said to visit Gwangjang Market instead since its also nearby. We backtracked to the station & wondered again. No locals read our mind this time. We walked along the main road, hoping to see Gwangjang Market along the way. After what seemed like eternity ( about half an hour), we figured we could be walking in the wrong direction afterall. But we were tired & didnt want to walk back again.

It was at this point, Elaine saw a directional sign for Changdeokgung. And so it was onto CDG.( my abbreaviation for Changdeokgung lah; not Charles De Gaulle). And heaven was playing a cruel trick on us. We found out that CDG was right behind Jongno Shrine. Remember, when the local pointed out to us to walk towards the shrine walls & turned right, CDG direction was to turn left.

Recapped: Changdeokgung ~ Jongno sam(3)-ga Station, exit 8. Turn right towards a small road, Jongno Shrine walls in front of u. Turn right to Jongno Shrine or left to CDG.

Or Jongno 3(sam)-ga Station, exit 6 / Anguk Station, exit 3.

So it was us walking down the along the shrine walls again. The lady at Jongno Shrine ticketing counter told us its about 20mins walk down. It was already like 1700hrs & we hoping that CDG will not close so soon. Finally, we saw CDG across the road & we were like kids jumping for joy.

The Secret Garden was closed to public, hence no luck going in.

Standing at the entrance of CDG, we realised we actually walked from one station to another. From Jongno 3(sam)-ga station to Anguk Station. Oh my!

Next, Namdaemum ( NDM).  Hoehyeon Station, exit 5. We bought a few items & decided to head back. What a day!

Myeongdong sights & sounds.

Myeongdong Theatre. We mistook this to be the theatre for our NANTA Cookin Show. But when I looked into the building, it was already closed for the day. How could it be when there was a 2000hrs show on a Sat? Looking at Myeongdong map which we got it at the subway, we saw that there is another NANTA Theatre. So folks, dun go running to this Myeongdong Theatre if you are watching the show. Its NANTA Theatre you should be looking out for. ( Hint: just opposite Burger King)

The many different snacks we ate along the way thruout the day. We retired for the night, deadbeat. Yawn!

26 April 2013 - Taejongdae Park ~ Taegukdo Village ~ BIFF/Busan University Street ~ New Day Hostel

We agreed to have breakfast at one the bakeries we saw last night : Angels-in-us Coffee. A short 5 mins walk from across out hotel.

Waffles, Toast, Buns, Coffee & Hot Choco. Perfect combination!

Our 1st POI for the day: Taejongdae Park. We bought tickets for a tram ride round the park & made a stop at the lighthouse.

Jiwoo Love Story in Busan. Was wondering which Korean actress & realized its Choi Jiwoo - 崔智友. An exhibition of herself showcased here in Busan. Elaine saw a lady whom she thought looked very much alike Choi Jiwoo & nearly wanted to ask for a picture. Haha..

Lunch.

Next POI: Taegukdo Village. A mini version of Santorini.

Love these drawings. Get a hold of the wolf in sheep clothings?... Look out for the wolf, lying in wait for the duck?...

Back alleys of the residents' houses. Well kept & clean.

Just messing around.

Next, a shopping paradise @ BIFF ~ Busan International Film Festival. Or better known as Busan University Street. No pics as hands burdened with shopping bags & street food. LOL.

Dinner ( after all that street food; we can still eat?). Seefood Seafood dinner @ Jagalchi Market. And Kin in Korea = Sprite.

Reason: when you are cold, you are hungry easily.

New Day Hostel. Our accomodation for the night.

Very nice. Homey. Cozy. 有家的感觉.

This is the lounge on the 7th floor.

Okay, our driver took a little while searching for this hostel. We were looking out for a building with the words: New Day Hostel. After a phone call, we found out this hostel is located inside a building on the 5th floor & not what we thought to be a building by itself.

Very well equipped amenities.

This was our room. 4 bunk beds to accomodate 7 people. A little cramped but we were fine with it. Okay folks, the only negative point is that this is a shared bathroom or rather a common bathroom for all. It does not have individual shower cubicles but 4 shower pipes within the shower area. Meaning, you can see your friends beside you as you bath.  Heck! We concentrated on our bath...seriously.

25 April 2013 - Palgongsan Park ~ Cheongdo Wine Tunnel ~ Daegu Hotel

Waking up to the crisp country-side air, birds chirping & yellings to cold tap water when it touches your face, a hot cocoa & some rice crackers was the way to start the day.

The outside of our unit.

The road leading to our resort. Elaine & myself took a slow walk around & found many beautiful units along the road. Some of them even have private swimming pools.

We made our way to Palgongsan Park. A cable ride up to the top & we were in awe. The 3 sisters attempted to climb up on all fours the rest of the way but since we were not in appropriate gear, the rest of us decided to wait at the cafe.

Seafood pancake.

Cant remember what is this. Some noodle soup for sure :P

Halfway thru our meals, it rained again but not for long.

There were only 2 places to visit. Cheondo Pesimmon Wine Tunnel was next on our agenda. Its an old railway tunnel & persimmons were growing everywhere, hence the name of this POI.

We walked along the tracks & it was nicely decorated inside the tunnel. They sold pesimmon wine & many interesting snacks such as chocolates, preserved fruits, cakes...etc. And obviously, all were made using persimmons.

We sat down & ordered 1 bottle of persimmon wine @ 18000won & a plate of small titbits @ 5000won. Make that 2 plates. All of us ate & drink, laugh & enjoyed ourselves. I am not a good drinker, therefore 1 half filled wine glass is more than enough for me. The rest, well, at least 2 full filled wine glass each.

We had our dinner at a typical Chinese restaurant ( a change of taste after so many Korean dishes). Za Jiang Noodles & sweet n sour pork. Super delicious. The service staff spoke perfect Chinese & Korean language.

And since Daegu is a city, there were many sights to behold. We saw many cafes, bakeries, ice cream parlours, etc... The weather was cold but we enjoyed our little walk.

We retired to Mythos Hotel for the night. Delighted with the free internet usage in our room but wifi was only available at the lobby. Top left hand photo of our drive we had since our arrival at the airport on 23 April.  I forgot to take a pic of our driver who had been most helpful & patient.

A view of the inside of Cheongdo Permission Wine Tunnel.

24 April 2013 - Yangdong Village ~ Bulguksa Temple ~ Seokguram Grotto ~ Anapji Pond ~ Cheomseongdae Observatory

Peeking into our dark room, a little sun ray smiled upon us. At 8am in the morning, the room was so brightly lit when we opened our windows wide. And the rain had stopped. It was still drizzling when we came back last night after dinner.

Jac had discussed with us the night before on our breakfast menu for this morning & we all agreed to have Korean Traditional Porridge (Bonjuk). We all met in Jac's parents' room for breakfast.

Left: Seafood porridge & Wild mushrooms porridge.

Right: Red bean with dumplings porridge & Pumpkin porridge.

We left out hotel at 10am & travelled for another 2hrs 30 mins before coming to a rest stop. I thought we had arrived at our 1st POI for the day but realized its only a toilet stop. (still in a daze; slept all the way). Jac's parents suggested having lunch. Huh?! Lunch? Now? Eat again?....

So we had a simple lunch of Udon soup. 

Finally, we arrived at Yangdong Village. Jac wanted to skip this attraction since we had already visited Yongin Village yesterday but her parents said to just look around first. If there are nothing much, then we can all leave early.

Yangdong Village (UNESCO Heritage) were one of the 1st clan villages formed in the early Joseon period (1392 ~ 1910) & survived up till today. There were still residents inside those houses & we felt awkard stepping inside their compound to take pictures. Not that there were anyone around but we felt like thieves. LOL.

Just like the little yellow tulip (bottom right photo), it was growing inside the garden area in one of the houses & I just had to take a picture of it. I ran quickly inside, as far as i dared to, zoom in my lens to its max. and snapped. The rest followed. Haha!

Next stop, Bulguksa Temple. 佛国寺

Oh... many lovely cherry blossoms everywhere. Sorry, our driver had to wait a little while longer. Think we spent at least half an hour there, soaking in the delights of the blossoms around us. Reminder: it was already late April; who would have thought these flowers still existed..

Come to think of it, were they really cherry blossoms? There were many species all around. Heck! Its pink! And its everywhere!

After a long & winding uphill, we arrived at the gates of Seokguram Grotto & was told its closed for the day. Time: 1800hrs.

Lets just said I did not enjoy this scenic drive & my lunch came right out.

Before the skies turned dark, we made it to Anapji Pond.

And this is Cheomseongde Observatory. What is this for? For star glazing.

Actually, we saw some dome shaped structures & we suspected it to be tombs. I took a photo of it but Uncle (Jac's father) told me to delete it. You never know what might be seen on the photo other than the tomb.

Across from the observatory, we had our dinner at a Korean Traditional Restaurant.

Look at all the different varieties. And they refill it for you again when any particular dish is finished. And all for only 10,000won/person.

Our country side resort for the night - Gyeongju Happy Plus Pension.

And since there were 1 big bed each in the living room & bedroom, we took the beds down & lay them together for the 3 of us. ( Jac, Elaine & Yvonne)

23 April 2013 - Yongin Korean Folk Village ~ Suwon Hwaseong Fortress ~ Suwon Hotel

I hate travelling on a plane as I cannot fall asleep on matter how I tired I am. And to add on, the damn flight entertainment was not working so there was no movies I could watched, no games I could played nor music I could listened to. Sucks!

I could not be more than happy when our flight touched down at 0700hrs. We meet our driver who took us to meet Jac & her family. They had arrived the night before, hence we picked them up at their hotel first before heading to our next destination together.

The drive to Yongin Everland Folk Village took slightly more than an hour & when we arrived, it was drizzling. Damn! The rain never stop & it continued into the night.

Cherry Blossoms were still around everywhere in Korea & we were lucky to have seen it. Due to adverse weather conditions, the flowers were still in their cheeky bloom :)

There were many, many school children everywhere. Goodness! I'm not sure if it is their school holiday or what... Every corner we turned, groups after groups...  However, I was totally pissed off at their manners!

Some of the many performance we caught. Cant possible looked at all; the rain, the crowd, and majority of the umbrellas posed a danger. Those children never did bother about the adults around them; swaying & swishing their umbrellas as if there were fairy wands. Yikes...

And when they blocked our views. we had to gently but firmly pulled their umbrellas aside & with our hand gestures, told them to buzz off please move away ( we do not know how to speak their language). Except for Jac who can speak Korean.

Our lunch consisted of some spiced pork slices & bean paste stew. For those of you who can read Korean, you can read & understand the menu.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress. Walking under the rain & cold wind, we were exhausted but the walls never seemed to end. It was only when we saw the map, we realised we had: (1) started off from the wrong point in the 1st place & (2) only 1/4 of the walls covered after such a long time.The rain was pelting down heavier & we were very reluctant to open our umbrellas as the wind was so strong; our umbrellas could have been blown away.

We arrived at Suwon Hotel around 1730hrs, took a little nap ( i fell asleep within seconds) & met for dinner again at 1930hrs.

Elaine & Yvonne ( top right photo)

Together with Jac & her family (bottom left photo)

Hot Ginger Ginseng Chicken Broth for a wet & cold day. Yummy! Of cos, not forgetting those spicy kimchi soup & ramen .