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Korea Trip 2014 This is a very interesting and event-filled trip because it is the first time I flew on a plane alone and it is also the first time I'm going to Korea and also the first time that I experience a REAL winter. Like a real legit winter with snow and like below zero degree kind of thing. So obviously I was super excited. I'm going to share with you what I did on all the 8 days, I'll try to make it as specific as possible! Also, for this trip I did not stay in Seoul the whole 8 days, I went to Jeju too. I'm going to share more later! So keep reading! :) Day 1: I took an afternoon flight, so I only arrived in Incheon Airport at about 10+pm, which was quite late. I booked a taxi to bring me to airport a month in advance, so upon arrival, I had someone waiting for me to fetch me to my hotel :) The only problem is that I realized that I told them the wrong hotel. (We planned to stay in 2 different hotel while we were in Seoul, I got confused with the dates) So I kind of tap into the free wifi and looked for my friend and told her the hotel's lobby there was locked and I needed a passcode to go in. It was a whole lot of confusion and then we finally realized that I was at the wrong place. But thank God that the taxi uncle was still with me until I found my friend. So even the time while I was at the wrong hotel, he was with me waiting for my friend. Then I told him that we were at the wrong place.. LOL. and we stayed in the cab and figure out how to get to the new hotel location. Then we realize that it is very nearby, and so he drove me to the new location and brought me up until I met my friend, without charging me for the last minute change of location and everything. So basically I unpacked awhile and went to sleep. Day 2: We woke up early but we still missed breakfast because we needed to catch a train. But while preparing to go out, IT SNOWED! IT FREAKING SNOWED LIKE IT FELL FROM THE SKY AND IT IS NOT ICE ON THE FLOOR! Of course I got really excited and I snap photos, did an instagram video and everything. This is legendary. I even speed up my packing to go outside so that I can kind of look at snow more close up instead of looking it through a window. Hahaha. Anyway, after that I got a T-card and then took the subway to Seoul Station and from there, we got ourselves train tickets heading to Cheonan. Meanwhile we went to LotteMart to just grab a quick burger bite. This is my second train ride in my entire life, so I guess this is pretty interesting. It is warm and snuggly inside the train cabin, the perfect tempreature for sleeping. LOL! And the best thing about the train is that there's wifi! (okay, there's basically wifi almost everywhere in Seoul) so I facetime my sis and also and show her the snow outside as we were nearing Cheonan. It was so quiet in the train so I decided to listen to my own music. And Back To December seem to be the perfect song because it is cold and snowing outside and it is so quiet inside, so Taylor's emo music are the best for this. :D So when we finally arrived at Cheonan station, the floor outside was snow-covered!   Although it snowed when I was at Seoul, it wasn't as heavy that it covered the floor.. So this 2 super excited girl went out to touch the snow and took photos. It was really beautiful and making a snowball is so fun!  I learnt that if you want a snowball to break (like scatter into tiny bits and pieces) you need to actually throw it with quite a lot of force! So after taking photos and playing with the snow, we went to take a cab and arrived at the place we were supposed to be at! A shrine for Admiral Yi. But before entering the place, once again the floor and everything was covered in snow, so while my friend went into the museum which I'm not exactly interested in, I stayed outside looking at snow, playing with snow, building snowing, and picking up maple leaves (because my sister asked me to take it) like a small kid.   I was really quite entertained for almost 15 minutes I think. Hahah! Then we walked around the Shrine and there's really pretty view all around.    We walked around the Shrine until it was about 4+ and then we decided to head back. With no cab in sight, we took a bus. The bus took so long to actually reach the train station and we alighted in advance by 1 stop and so we had to walk for 1 bus stop distance to reach the train station. And also when we tried to buy the tickets, the train that we took to come to Cheonan was fully booked and we had to take another train which was slower and also halfway we had to change seat. But what matters is that we made it back to Seoul safe and sound. We went to myeongdong to eat dinner and I was left to my own devices to shop around while my friend went back to the hotel first. So I had fun shopping and bought quite a lot of stuff .. then we had to pack for Seoul. Day 3: Woke up early again and I had time for breakfast, so I sat down and ate while my friend prepared herself. We took a cab and arrived at Gimpo pretty early, and finally we boarded the plane en route to Jeju! So we had this distance we had to walk before we reach the stairs of the airplane and then the staff of Jeju Air lined up there in the cold and they were all dressed up in different costume, like Snow white, Santa Clause, and also Anna from Frozen. Hahaha, but the joke is that they are all guys and they were all greeting us like "have a great trip!" and all. It really made me chuckle and made everything more awesome! :) the flight to Jeju took only an hour so it wasn't that bad. Upon arrival in Jeju, we didn't see any snow and like.. "oh so it is gonna be a sunny day and it is gonna be all good wether" we couldn't be more wrong. Jeju is waaaayyy colder than Seoul because it is near the sea and the wind blow is horrible. It is really freezing cold. anyway, we took a cab and we arrived at our hotel, Goodstay December Hotel. It is really not bad. It is quite comfortable and the staff was very helpful and detailed when he explained to us! :) So we unpacked out staff and rested for awhile before our 'tour guide' aka our driver brought us around. We visited quite a lot of places that day. Firstly we went to the Jeju Yongduam Rocks, the wind there was crazy but the view was spectacular! The waves were so big I thought that it was gonna splash on me!  I have never seen anything like this in my life ever! After that, we went to the other side of Jeju and so the journey took quite long. But halfway, the driver stopped us along some random road and let us play with the snow! We each built our own snowman and this is how mine looked like.. 
I also YOLO and lie down on the floor with ice and also TRIED to make a snow angel.   Am not very successful because I'm scared I'll get too wet. In case you don't know, snow meals when it comes into contact with your body heat (duh) and so if I lie down for too long and the snow starts to melt, my clothes and everything will be VERY wet! Anyway, after that little playing with snow session, we continued our journey. We went to this place called the mysterious road.. It is pretty cool. Like on the car ride, you look ahead and it is like you're going downhill, but actually you're going up. When the driver off his engine and released the brake, the car started moving downhill, backwards. LIKE WHAT? We also went to this cliff and took some photos there. Next we arrived at this really random park... I don't know, but I think they filmed some K-drama here before. One of which is secret garden and this is the bench that the kissing scene took place.. oooo.. and also the swing, I don't know which drama it appeared in either.   Well, basically because I don't watch drama. LOL! Anyway, the whole place was a nature mix with hipster and traditional korean culture kind of thing.  So it is pretty interesting. There's some nice cafe around there too. But we didn't eat there. Instead, the driver drove us to this place to have our dinner and we ate fish! This is my first Korean-ish meal in the trip! It was wonderful and we even had our own private room to dine in! While we watch the snow outside, we are enjoying our dinner indoor all warm and snuggly. The food was awesome though! After which, we went to Alive Museum, similar to the one in Singapore! :)    And then we went to this place called Loveland.. It is kind of for age 20 and above. But like what my friend said, I'm probably 20 in Korean age already. So I am legal to go in. What's in the place you ask? Basically everything R-rated and it is all about boobs and dicks. LOL! Here's me with the world's largest dick. :P  That's all for our day! It was tiring but fufilling! :) The weather for the entire day was crazy though, I couldn't take it. It is very tiring for the body to fight against the weather. One moment it is wind like mad, then it snows, then it is bright sun and then it snows like mad again. I don't even understand. Day 4: We finally had a day to sleep in and relax, but before my friend went out, I got out (as usual) and walked around the hotel's vicinity myself. It is fun to do really just shop on my own and be around on my own overseas. That's all I ever want to do really. :) So anyway, I got a few items before meeting my friend and we went to had brunch at an Indian Restaurant nearby. The food wasn't the best, neither is it the worst (I think we were just hungry). And so after the brunch, we took a cab and headed for Manjanggul Cave. I think it was food coma.. I got completely knocked out during the ride there. Anyway, it is the first time i've ever been to a cave. So this is pretty interesting.  The entire cave is a lava tube (oh did I mentioned, I learnt that Jeju is actually a volcanic island?) and that means that lava once flowed in the place that we stepped on and we are stepping on lava that has already been cooled down. So we had to walk for so long and finally we reached the final point. Which is this..  This is called a lava column, which means this is lava that fell from the ceiling to the floor.. and when it hardens it just stacks up. Pretty cool eh? And we realize that walking all the way in and all the way out, we've already walked 2km! Take photos inside the cave was a challenge because I didn't bring my external flash and I had to hold very still in order to capture a nice photo. Most of the photos are blurry but there are a few that still ended up looking pretty decent.  So after the cave place, we went to a market called Dongmun Market.. Didn't buy much there, except for a packet of Jeju Chocolates.   And after that, we went back and rested early. I went out around the hotel area once again to shop because in the morning, the shops were all closed. We also had pizza for dinner and that's pretty much all we did for today! Day 5: This is our last day in Jeju! We ate leftover pizza for breakfast, hahaha! and then got a cab and went to this place called the Sunrise Peak. It is very very very beautiful there. Just look at all these photos.   The climb uphill was super tiring and I started to cough. But anyway, the photos were all worth it! Then we went to a nearby beach and we stepped on the rocks to take some photos.
I slipped and fell, ALMOST into the water, but thankfully I didn't. I only had this really ugly greenish patch on my white pants because of the algae on the rocks. :/ I also stole a big seashell.. Heheheh. Afterwards, while heading to our next location, we stopped by a Tangerine Farm and we took some photos there too! Jeju is known for the tangerine, so it is not even surprising to see Tangerine trees everywhere you go!  Afterwards, we stopped by this really random place and it is beautiful af! Took some nice scenic photos and also tourist-y photo :P  
After that we headed to the airport and went back to Seoul!! And that's when I started contacting Vk again and stalking her around till she reaches Seoul! LOL! Day 6: Today is like a mini-photoshoot day! I went to rent a Hanbok (a Korean traditional costume) and then we went to take photos in a Changdeokgung Palace. It was really cheap, I rented it for 2 hours and it only cost me about 5000Won (which is about $6+ SGD). These are the outcome!     Then I went to return the costume and we went back to our hotel area and had a lunch there. It was yummy though, not the best, but it got me craving for more rice cakes! After that we just simply nua in the hotel! At night we met the guy from the Hanbok shop again and he drove us up the mountain in Seoul. I thought that I was about to die in the car... :/ Anyway, at the top of the mountain, IT IS LIKE WINTER WONDERLAND. the whole place is so pretty and it is filled with thick snow and it overlooks the whole of Seoul, which is extremely pretty!!   After that it is sleeping time!! :P Day 7: Today is kind of like a relax day till the extent I did not take any photos, so sorry if this day's post is going to be boring! So basically I woke up and after breakfast, we walked around Myeongdong for awhile, I was trying to spend money.. LOL! I had too much cash left. So anyway, after myeongdong, we went to look for the drums which my friend wanted! Got our drum, ate lunch and we headed back to hotel to rest! :) Afterwards, I met VK (finally) at the nearby subway station!  Then together with her friends, we all went to myeongdong again and we shopped and everything. It was fun with all the girls. Hahaha, i spent even more money then! After that, I went to vk's apartment which she shared with her friends while I wait for my friend to be back at the hotel because she got our room key. LOL. And finally I headed back to sleep! Day 8: I didn't take much photos today too because I was basically spending the whole day out on my own shopping. Later morning I went with my friend to City Hall station and we had macdonald for brunch, and from there on, we went our separate ways. I took the subway to Ewha Women University station and shopped around there, and since I had lots of money to spare, I went to a Juno Salon and had my hair done. I choosed that place because there are a lot of reviews on the internet about that place and so I went for a try! :) I told the person i initially wanted to dye, cut and do hair treatment for my hair. But the price went above what I was willing to spend. And guess what? In the end she decided that she'll help me cut my hair for free! :) That's so nice of her! And so this is how the whole process at the salon went.. 1. I walked in and asked about the price and told them I wanted to cut/dye/do hair treatment. 2. They helped me to remove my coat (it is winter time!) and also my bag and locked it up in a locker and put on a robe for me, with the key inside the pocket of the robe. 3. They bring you to a station and discuss about the colour/hairstyle/etc (depending on what you told them you wanted to do) 4. They'll offer you some free drinks + snacks.  5. The hairstylist will offer you her namecard. 6. You'll begin whatever process of cutting/dying/etc. So at point 3, I had some problem trying to communicate with the hairstylist. Hahaha, and guess what? Our whole conversation depended on google translate. Hahaha.. Anyway, besides that free haircut, the hairstylist also helped me to curl my hair for me too! Just a temporary one.. I felt that I look like 7 years older immediately! Anyhow, my hairstylist was kinda funny too though, she suddenly came to me while I was letting the hair dye sit on my head and told me that she fell down and showed me her leg :/ Hahaha I didn't know how to react like to laugh or what .. So when she did that all I did was "ouchh.." then i started giggling! This is my hairstylist!   Afterwards I look around for dinner place and also I continued to shop! So after clearing the Ewha University area, I went back to Myeongdong to spend up all my money until I'm left with less than 150000Won left. Hahaha. Day 9: Woke up super duper early.. had to pack up and catch our flight. And it SNOWED! :) So thankful that it snowed right when we are about to leave! :) I spend the remaining of my money up to the last cent at the airport!! Our flight had a delay cause of the snow, and so while waiting on the plane.. I slept before we even fly off. Hahaha the remainding time of the flight i dont remember sleeping lol! Anyway, the moment i landed in sunny Singapore, my first words were "SO HOT!!!!!" and yes it was! I was perspiring through one layer of clothes and shorts. WHAT. Anyway, that's the end of my fun-filled journey!!! :) If given the chance, I would definitely want to go back to Korea again!! :D |
