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. 

CNY Reunion Dinner + Dessert

Tonight we went to my grandma's house in Kepong for our CNY reunion dinner. On the eve of CNY, it's a tradition to visit relatives from the husband's side for reunion dinner. So we did it too. We had variety of food like duck, veggies, mushrooms, prawns and soup. Mom baked a pineapple cake but it's meant for grandma only, so we didn't ate any of those. But that's okay :). After a not so long dinner, we went to Bangsar for a little family time of coffee and dessert. We found a nice Spanish cafe that serves their famous Spanish creme brulee style. It was quite sweet but nice. The fruit smoothie taste like heaven ><. It's a fun night. And it's so much better than last year's reunion dinner up at Genting. 

Shenzhen and Hong Kong tour (part 5)

Day 4 (cont'd):-


After coming out from Disneyland around 5 pm (which was the time that all of us have to come out), we wait for the other group at the parking area. It seems that some of them stayed longer in there or went shopping after coming out earlier. 
Our final destination of our Hong Kong tour is up to Victoria Peak again to see the wax museum called "Madame Tussaud". It's a place where you can see your favorite stars. Of course they don't move but you can take photos with them. Besides Hollywood/Chinese stars, you can also see some important people of the world (Queen Elizabeth, Prince Philip, President Obama etc.) and historical people (Adolf Hitler, William Shakespeare, Albert Einstein etc.). There's also another "Madame Tussaud" in the UK. These are the only two countries that you can find such wax museum. I guess UK one got a lot of models than Hong Kong. But to be honest, Hong Kong is better because in the UK, you have to queue up just to get inside whereas in Hong Kong, we just pay the tickets and inside you go straight away. Here are our photos that we took inside the museum. I can only post a few. Can you guessed who they are :)?

We went back to our hotel feeling so tired until our feet want to burst. It was pretty cold outside the town. Brrrr. After washing up, I straightaway fixed my new charm bracelet I bought from Disneyland. It was so pretty. It doesn't matter if it's three only. Hope I can collect some more back home in Malaysia.

Isn't it pretty?

The cute Pooh bear for Yue Xin :). He looks like her too.

Oh, before I end this review, you remember I said I couldn't find a right gift for Carmen in Disneyland? Well, we did get her something somehow. Here's what happen. 


Day 5:-
On our way to the airport on our last day in Hong Kong, Derek asked us to buy some stuff. When he took out the key chains from Disneyland, me and mom take a look at it and we like it. So we bought it! Now finally I can give one of the key chains to Carmen :). 


That's all about my trip to Shenzhen and Hong Kong. I hope you enjoy reading my reviews :).