Korea Tour (part 3)

Day 4:


We woke up at the same time as day 3 at the resort by the wake up call. After we got changed into our warm clothings, we went down to B1 to have our breakfast. It was a buffet breakfast. It opens at 7 am to 9 am. They usually serves us cereal, boiled eggs, sausages, porridge, salads etc. What I'm amazed at is that the bananas are cut in half. Very rare I see those O.o.
As we step outside, it was more colder than ever. The weather was -22 C that day. Oh my!! It was also windy too. Our day starts with a walk at Cheonggyecheon Stream in Seoul, which is a river tour of course. I think Libera came to this stream before during their visit to Korea. But I'm not sure if this is the stream they went to. Anyways, the river was quite clean than our river which was filled with rubbish. One of the colleagues touch the river. But felt nothing. Maybe our hands were cold because of the weather. Ha ha!! The walk was quite long but we managed to finish it.

Can anyone translate this? :)

Next location is visiting Deoksugung palace to see the changing of the guards ceremony. But unfortunately, we didn't manage to see it due to the weather. So sad. But we must go on. As we explore the palace, Jenny explain every detail about the history of the palace. My feet are starting to feel numb during the whole event. Of course, we're not forgetting a group photo in front of the king's throne room. Outside the palace, we saw a man making some Korean words with only one hand. Amazing! O.O

Before we continue our tour for the day, time for lunch. We had Korean ginseng chicken soup. Inside the chicken has rice in it. It took me for awhile to finished everything. We even had a bitter drink which was suppose to be put into the soup. 

After lunch, we proceed on to N-Seoul Tower to observe the whole of Seoul city. It's located on top of a hill. Before we head to the observation deck, we went to Teddy Bear Museum first. It's also inside N-Seoul Tower. There are two exhibitions: One is past, and the other is present. We went inside the past museum first. Instead of using people, they use teddy bears to represent the event that people doing in the past. The teddy bears can even move too. Aren't they cute? :) 

Even in the present side, it's all the same. Same moving teddy bears. So I don't have to explain that^^.

We then went up to the deck using the elevator for a fantastic view of the city. It was amazing. Even when we went to Victoria Peak, we didn't even see the observation deck there :(. Anyways, we had our family photos of the tower. I wish you could see them. One is day time, the other is night time. 

Wow! Our day is almost done. But it's not yet finished without visiting the largest theme park in Seoul. And that is Lotte World Theme Park :D. We had 4 hours to play some rides or enjoy the view of the theme park. Once we got our 1 Day passes and a photo taking in front of the castle by Alex oppa, we're on our own. This theme park has two parks: Adventure Land (indoor) and Magic Island (outdoor). It's similar to Genting Highlands because they both have indoor and outdoor theme parks and there are some similar rides we know too. Yeah, it's like a Korean Genting Highlands and Disneyland combine together. Ha ha!!

I rode 3 rides this time than Disneyland. Plus, it's also on Wednesday, so not many people and not so crowded inside. Great :D!! Before we explore around the theme park, we sat on the monorail around the indoor park.
The first ride I rode is Pharoah's Fury. It's a roller coaster kind of ride that takes you inside the Egyptian tomb accompanied by Egyptian kind of music in the background, as if like you're in a real Egyptian cave to find Pharoah's treasure just like Indiana Jones style. Of course, the audio is all in Korean so I didn't understand what they were saying. I screamed a lot during the ride until I got no voice. Oh yes. I forgot to tell you. Before your ride, you'll see a hall of famous Egyptian artifacts. 
That was one scary ride. Next ride is Swing Tree at Magic Island. It's like a spinner ride that takes you round and round. During the ride, something thought in my mind: "Now I know why I didn't took that ride in Genting". My head was dizzy after the ride.

At first I thought this was my last ride but it's not. I'll tell you later. We went back inside Adventure Land, as it was still very cold outside. We rest our legs by sitting down on a bench behind the stage. I did have some photos with the people who dressed up as pirates. After our feet were well rested, we continue walking around.
When I saw the carousel and teens like my age riding that, I went to line up. Well, at least I have to have some non-scary rides. I had enough of scary rides for the day. But when the ride ends, my horse ends up in a higher position. I had a hard time climbing down, as I'm quite short. And that was my final ride.

Dinner is on our own again. We went to a fast food cafe and order a pizza baguette for me, since my parents don't want to eat fast food. Well, I got to taste a bit of fast food sometimes, okay. I began eating my baguette while watching a stage show. My parents went off to find a restaurant to eat. The reason why I sit there is because in case they miss the parade show, at least I get to watch. But good thing they didn't :). Mom suddenly call me to come with her to an Italian restaurant where they both had pasta for their dinner. Since I just finished my baguette, except for my fries and cola, I went back to the stage and wait for my parents there. When they came, the parade hasn't start yet, except for the crew members showing some actions to the crowd while music was playing throughout the whole park. After waiting for so long, the parade began. It started at 7 pm. It was so magical with lights and it's held in the indoor park instead of outside. But to be honest, I still think Disneyland's parade is the best. Mom took the photos of the whole parade again. Sorry if some of the photos were quite blur because of the lights on the floats and costumes and our camera quality isn't that fantastic but enjoy.

It's time to go back to the hotel. What a fun night it was. We came back to our room tired but happy :). I wonder what is gonna be installed for us on the next day.


To be continue......

Korea Tour (part 2)

Day 3:


We woke up at 7 o' clock in the morning by the wake up call. Mom also took a few photos of the beautiful scenery of the resort from our hotel room window. Lots of snow, right? :)

We went down to the lobby to meet up with the others. And most of them are all dressed in their ski jackets. Of course, we have to take our luggages out, as we only stay for 1 night in the resort. Once everyone is down and all check-out, we went to the back of the hotel to have our breakfast. We had udon again but this time they serve pork cutlets. Since Muslims can't eat pork, they eat fish instead. 
Next is skiing time. But for us, we stay down at the resort for relaxation family time and more photo taking. When we step outside, it was very cold and windy. Brrrrr!! Now I know how people feel wearing so many layers for winter. 

We had a coffee in a fast food restaurant called 'Lotteria'. Of course, we do photo taking as well to past the time. And there's something new I had to try. We went to a small mini mart and got ourselves some snacks. For me, I wanted to try the Melona flavored ice cream. I remember "Star Date with U Kiss in Hong Kong" was sponsored by this ice cream brand and both Kevin, Eli and the four girls who went on a date with them were eating that ice cream during the whole show. And since I didn't try it in Hong Kong, I try it in Korea for the first time and see how it taste like. It was quite sweet and it's melon flavor. Well, at least its better than corn or red bean flavor. 

It didn't take long for the others to come back from skiing. For lunch, it's on our own arrangement. We tried fried rice with pork cutlet in a food court. This food court is very unique. After you order and pay for your meal, you are given a number to wait for your meal. Once the machine holds your number, you get your meal. Our side dishes were more kimchi, preserved radishes and some vegetables.
After lunch, we get back on the bus and went to the shop to return the ski gears before heading for Seoul. From here, it took us about 6 hours to reach the city. It's just like travelling to Penang. Of course, we had toilet break in between. What do we do in the bus? Sleep of course! :)
Finally we're back in Seoul after a long journey. Next stop is the largest shopping mall called Dongdaemun. It's a shopping district where you can buy clothes, souvenirs, shoes etc. It's like a shopping paradise. What's unique to us is that outside the mall, we can see lots of food stand. So we had to try one. We bought a sausage with chili sauce. My, it taste crunchy. Not too soft, not too hard, just right :). After all, it's pork. Inside the mall, we got ourselves some souvenirs to bring back and give to our friends and relatives. What amazes me is that they also sell clocks, card games, posters, notebooks etc. with a picture of your favorite K-pop stars besides CDs. I hardly see these things in Malaysia. We do sell it but not as much as Korea. I got myself a U Kiss paper notes with their pictures on it. 

It's dinner time. We had Korean bibimbap with grilled fish set that night. It's some kind of rice mixed with sorts of other varieties. And oh my word, our faces were burning hot in the restaurant while we're eating our meal.

After dinner, we cross the other side of the streets to our bus. For your general info, in Korea, we can't simply walk on the road anywhere you like. You had to cross the zebra line at all times. 
We got to our hotel for check in and get our meal coupons too before we head to our rooms. Inside our room, it was quite narrow and small. According to Jenny, space is very expensive. But one very unique thing is that the floor is very warm. You can even sit on it. Don't worry. It won't burn you, I guarantee ;). After we washed up, it's time for bed. 

To be continue.......

Korea Tour (part 1)

Hi all. We came back from Korea at 11.17 pm yesterday. Yeah, I was so tired during the whole flight. Couldn't sleep well on the plane. Anyways, here is my review for the whole tour. I hope you enjoy reading it. 


Day 1:
We all assemble at KLIA at night, because our flight is at 11 pm. We had dinner first then we met up with dad's office colleagues. Oh BTW, this is a company's trip to Korea, so we hardly see any unknown people on our tour, unlike our Shenzhen and HK tour. Except that some of them bring their wives, girlfriends and close friends/relatives along, just like us :). So this is easier for us to enjoy the rest of the tour. After our bags were check in, our local tour guide, Rachelle, give us some instructions before we head to down to the immigration. After changing to our winter clothes, we got onto our plane, which is Korean Air. We slept on the plane too but it was difficult since we are sitting down in an Economy Class seats.


Day 2:
Before we arrive to Seoul, we had breakfast very early in the morning. It was still very dark outside the plane. My parents had omelettes while I got rice with chicken. But me and mom exchange our meals. Hee hee. I didn't want to do that at first but she said it was okay. Finally, we arrived at Incheon Airport around 7 am. It was still dark but we can see a little daylight once we finished brushing our teeth and changing some more clothes. 
When we step outside, it was freezing cold than HK's weather last year. Like I said earlier, it's winter season. Of course we didn't see snow dropping down yet. While our luggages are being loaded, we hop on our tour bus. Rachelle gave some more details about this tour on our way for another light breakfast. For breakfast, we had udon. It's similar to the Japanese kind of noodles but they serve with kimchi and preserved radish. They taste like chee cheong fun. 

After breakfast, we hop back on the bus. We met up with Korea's tour guide, Jenny, photographer and helper for the whole tour, Alex, and Driver Lee for the very first time. Jenny also speaks English during the journey besides Korean. She is also an interpreter for some places. As you know, in Korea, people don't speak much English. So that's why she or Rachelle have to help us as we go along. At least both Jenny and Rachelle interacts with us the whole time than Maggie or Victor (our local tour guide for Shenzhen and HK tour).
Before we tour around Seoul, we head to Pyeongchang, which took us about a few hours. We proceed to Namiseom Island for some exploration. We took a ferry across the island. Plus, this island is also a shooting spot for the famous romantic Korean drama, "Winter Sonata". Wow. This is the first time I'm going to a place where they shoot a drama. Of course, for those who have watched this drama, you might recognize the place. All of us took lots of good photos. We even see snow on the ground. Don't worry. It's clean ;). 

Up next is lunch time. For lunch, we had Korean pan fried chicken. Jenny taught us how to eat wrapped up chicken with lettuces. First you pick up the meat, put bean paste and then rolled them up and eat the whole thing. It was delicious. I've never eaten Korean food before so this is my first time trying all these. Yes, they serve kimchi again. Every restaurant you go, they always serve you kimchi (breakfast, lunch and dinner). There's also cabbages inside the pan. Of course, Alex oppa (a term for brother called by females younger than them) not only takes pictures or help with our luggages but also serves us in restaurants. He usually refills any food or helps the waitresses to add in the food. Rice was served after the chicken and cabbage. Before we go to our next location, we bought some strawberries for about 2, 000 Won (Korea's currency). And my word, they are huge, nice looking and juicy :). They were so delicious than our strawberries in Cameron Highlands. We even gave some to the other colleagues. 
Next location is at Yeoju Kimchi Village, where we get to know about the ginseng grown in Korea, tried their traditional Hanbok and make your own kimchi. We met up with the farmer, who explains the details about the ginseng plantation. Jenny translates what he is saying. We even get to try the ginseng slices and milk. The milk taste nice, even though it taste like ginseng. Before kimchi making, we tried their Hanbok. It was quite tight but it was okay for me. We take a lot of photos too. Alex oppa also took our pictures for individuals near the drums and group photo outside the village. After that, it's kimchi making. Jenny taught us how to make kimchi. We take a few layers of the cabbage and spread chili paste onto it one by one. While we're making, we tried their Korean pancake. It was soft and nice, although it looks a bit like the omelette mom use to cook for dinner at home. Our kimchis were put into the refrigerator which looks like an ice box.

After all these activities, we put back our jackets on and head to the ski resort called "Alpensia Holiday Inn Resort". Our dinner for the night is mushroom hotpot. 

Before we head to our hotel to check-in, we had to rent the ski clothes and gears for skiing tomorrow. They cost about 50, 000 Won, except the gloves. I didn't want to take it because it's no fun going alone and my parents have health problems. Maybe if I bring my friends to Korea on winter, then I'll try skiing with them :).
Once we check into our rooms, we rest ourselves for another day at the resort.

To be continue.......

CNY Holidays

Sorry for late posting about my CNY holiday celebrations. Here's what I did during the holidays. On the first day, we went to my grandma's house at Petaling Jaya for a visit. I got to see Vickie and Willie again. We talk about fun stuff in the house and I got loads of red packets from my relatives. Actually, we were about to see a movie "Journey 2 The Mysterious Island" at 1 Utama. That's why Vickie called me during the Eve. It was raining on our way to the mall. After we got our tickets, we went down and watch the nine dragon dance and lion dance. We didn't have time to watch the whole show because we had to rush back to the cinema for our movie. 

Once the movie finishes, we walk around 1 Utama. We also had a little snack there. I tried gelato for the first time. It taste like ice cream though but sticky. 

 

We got back to the house around 6 pm. It was dinner time. We order Domino's Pizzas for our dinner, as the Chinese restaurants might be fully booked. 
Well, it was a fun day. Hope to enjoy this kind of event on CNY again next year.