Seoul, South Korea Travelogue

A very fun, and somewhat hectic trip, although we already did our best NOT to include too many items in the plan... ah well, as they say, the best laid plans will go down the drain once you're there :)

Day 1: 12 Nov 2011 - Saturday
And soo.. on a "what started out as a" very bright and hot Saturday afternoon, my mom dropped me off at the airport and I met up with my two partners in crime, JoC, and SY... we walked around T3, had our lunch at BK inside the checked in area... then proceeded to board our flight. It was pouring cats and dogs... what can I say.. I love our every-changing weather..

Entertained ourselves with movies, TV and general chit-chat about our grand plans... By the time we arrived at Seoul, it was night (9pm_... fairly cold, not unreasonably, I would peg the temperature at about 12 degrees...

We took a taxi, decided for this as we really had no idea where the place we were staying, Changmuro Residence is... after searching through the GPS system, and making at least 3 calls, our cab driver finally seemed to locate our Residence... ~W90,000 poorer, he found the place. He was a v sweet and cautious driver and he even went with us to the lift lobby, it's more of a service apartment style that is part of a normal residential building... and talked and ensured we were 100% at the correct place before he left... :)

And... for the amount we paid for... it was well worth it... JoC and SY slept at the bed downstairs, while I slept on the loft. Partially cuz I think I was the only one willing to climb up the steep ladder, and I was the shortest. HAHAHA... It is really very small... but I am glad we had found the place... :)

We then walked out to look for dinner (yes, it was almost 11pm)... and just across the street were quite a couple of restaurants that were open 24hrs... good location! And we settled for this... with all the famous side dishes, I think kimchi started growing on me by day 3... my selection.. beef stew... probably abit too little meat... but I have read somewhere that beef is v expensive in Korea as they do not allow beef imports.. so, a matter of demand and supply :) We explored our neighbourhood, despite the fact that it was 12, to orientate ourselves to the nearest subway station, Chungmuro... and also, to pick up some drinking water... by the time we took turns to shower and went to bed, it was 130am... the start of many late dinners and late nights...

Day 2: 13 Nov 2011 - Sunday
Being tourists, we had to do what tourists do best... visit hotspots and allow ourselves to be lured into tourists traps... :) We took the subway to Chang Deok Palace...

When there, we decided to have breakfast at Dunkin Donuts just outside the subway station :) That and we all needed a caffeine injection... We then moved on to the palace... between the road signs and directions we had obtained from friends and relatives, and also downloaded from the web (thank you all for sharing in this information age), we managed to locate the palace fairly easily... we signed up for the tour around the palace and inside the "secret garden"... It was a beautiful place, filled with tourists of course, but the area was large enough to accommodate us, without losing its serenity...

My thoughts after touring the palace, it is sad that no members of the royal family are left... as a country with a rich history (I mean, my country is so young, we can't even claim to be part of any major war, except WW2)... and with a history of royalty, it's a pity that this is not continued. Even in the event that they are just a figurehead, it adds richness to the culture of the country... ah well, sometimes, things are not meant to be...

Moving on, we decided to visit the Bukchon Hanok village, renowned for its ancient architecture and which remains a residential zone. (Actually, it was also cuz it's within walking distance from Changdeok palace, and it is a very convenient additional place to visit). Aka, those houses we view along the streets are not for show only. I did feel bad and tried to make less noise as I can imagine the frustration of living in an area where tourists come to gawk, take photos and "pollute" your home. Having said that, unless you inherited the area, I would imagine if you had made the decision to purchase a home in this area, it would be a given that it is not going to be a serene zone.

Next up, it was almost 3pm, and our stomachs were growling for lunch.. we headed for a famous ginseng chicken spot.. which SY's cousin had recommended - Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken. Once again, it was just 1/2 subway stops from where we were... Enroute, we chanced upon the famous spicy rice cake, aka tteobokki... and couldn't help but stop to try... it was spicy (for sure!) but pretty yummy... this turned out to be a staple whenever we were running places and got hungry...

At about 330/4pm, we found the place! :) Yummy ginseng chicken that was generously stuffed with a huge ginseng root, chestnut, red date, gingko nuts and rice... well worth the effort of travelling down specially to eat this. 

And so... after the nourishing food, we headed down by sub to Ehwa Women's University to do some night shopping along the entire street, to link back to the Honggae area, and meet up with SY's cousin... window-shopped abit and succeeded in picking up some stationary that can serve as gifts for friends back home :)

We didn't want to hold back SY's cousin as it Monday the next day, a work day for her, so we went for dinner at about 10pm. Shared pork stew hot pot! :) We then subway back home, in anticipation of the next day... Lotte World!

Day 3: 14 Nov 2011 - Monday

Waking up at 7am, we left our residence by 8am to head for Lotte World. Breakfast was a yummy sandwich at a small store located when you exit Jamsil station (where Lotte World is located).

We stoned a while more.. and then headed over to Lotte to pick up our tickets... :) There was a Singapore tourist discount, so we paid 34,200 won  (~S$40) for our full day admission.. very decent price for a theme park. :) So it was that we spend two-thirds of the day in Lotte, trying out their rides and stuff. Can't say that it's the best (although I haven't been to many), and some of the staff were obviously on their part time shifts, and had sullen faces... :P But of course, no sullen staff is going to spoil my day!! A few pics of the rides we took... - Some roundabout thingee (that left us wanting to puke, NO MORE ROUNDABOUT STUFF) and Gryo Drop, one of the funnest, I went up twice! :)

The rest of the rides were fairly mild, and fun for a day out.. but I would imagine, given that the theme park is quite an old one, the newer ones, like Universal Studios in Singapore (somewhat new attraction) features funner rides and stuff.

Still at Lotte World, we decided to drop by the Folk Cultural Museum, also housed within the same area and part of entitlements for the full day ticket... it was a fun cold place.. but good for understanding the history of Korea... :) and the full sized/mini sized figurines are very well done and maintained...

 After Lotte, we had actually dropped by the Lotte supermarket (also at Jamsil) to look see into what local products we can buy back as unique gifts :P We found loads of stuff, including yummy cuttlefish. Regretted not having bought on the spot, as we were headed for Seoul N Tower in the evening and didn't want to carry many items. Regret as the other supermarkets we went to subsequently didn't offer the same range of products. Ah well, another lesson learnt in travel, sometimes, assuming it's within your limits... the cuttlefish.. the fun looking pastries... ah well...

And so... after supermarket window shopping, we made our way to N Seoul Tower... and enroute, we realized that we only had the sandwich from breakfast, ice-cream at Lotte World, and a coffee bun from the super market... BUT... for some reason, we still didn't sit down for an early dinner and proceeded straight to the tower. I think the three of us are really focused people. Hahaha... 

By public transport, take the train to Changmuro station, exit no. 2, then take bus no. 2. The Namsam Seoul Tower is at the top of hill, and it's like a terminal point, so no worries about which stop to get off :)

The view is magnificient... possibly over-rated, but still beautiful... and what is a trip to N.Seoul Tower without visiting the Teddy Museum as well right?? :D Loads of cute bears.. and my favourite, of the bear carrying the ancient "backpack".. hahaha...

And... after our Tower and Teddy Bear Museum visit, we were starving and cold... I think we were really running on reserve energy by then... and.. we somehow, still made our way to Dongdaemon, a shopping district. For some reason, instead of eating at some nice restaurant, we decided to eat tteobokki and fishcake for dinner again. Somehow, that seemed to work. We did some minor shopping (as Dongdaemon closes at 5am!!) but our stamina was all drained out, and we headed home... ahh.. but the story doesn't end here...

As we were exhausted, it was 12+, and the subways had stopped their service, we decided to try the much famed "affordable" taxi. Unfortunately, we were silly enough not to insist on the meter service. So the first cab we flagged down refused to take us, possible as the location we were headed to was too near. And the 2nd cab we flagged down told us he charges,  1000won. Now, we had never taken a cab before this, and although I recall my friends telling me the cabs were affordable, I have no idea what was the flag down meter rate.

And less than 2 minutes later, we were home. Wow, we didn't know we were that close... and... the cab driver turned around and demanded, 100,000 won!! We were shocked! Seriously, 100,000 is like S$120... for a 2 min ride. We were adamant and refused to pay, although two of them got out and I was still in the cab argueing with the cab driver. He reduced it to 10,000, which I still refused to pay. And then to 5,000, which I considered, but since I didn't have a 5000 note, giving him 10,000 means he won't give change, so I still refused. For some reason, he switched on the meter at the stage (I think he was shocked that we were so adamant) and it showed 2880. I think he was trying to tell us that the midnight meter rate starts at 2880. Me being the bozo, thought that WAS the actual cab fare... and I took 3000 out, shoved it to him, said I won't pay more than 3k and alighted. He was so pissed off, he moved forward by a metre, then opened the window and threw the 3k out the window. He then drove off.

We were still standing there staring at the money, and asking each other, eh, should we pick up the money? then one of us said, "pick it up and go, before he comes back and beat us up"... so we quickly picked up the money and ran into the lift lobby and quickly made sure the doors were locked behind us. So, after a huge fright and fight, we somehow conned the cab driver into giving us a free ride! It was the weirdest...  (as a post edit, we took a cab somedays later during the day and during heavier traffic, from almost the exact same spot, and the meter didn't jump. It was that near. So now we know, even giving him 3000 was in excess actually, and we stopped feeling bad after that)

Anyhow, the morale of the story from this tale is, don't get into the cab when you are a tourist, unless the cabdriver agrees to going by meter in korea.

Day 4: 15 Nov 2011 - Tuesday

And our 4th day... is Nami Island Day... in case you are wondering where that is, it's the famous "Winter Sonata" island, which started the whole Korean Drama craze that is fairly rampant throughout the world (yours truly is a victim of this K-Drama/K-Pop fever as well)... Well, I didn't really know what to expect, but the tickets were quite tough to get. We had to enlist SY's cousin, who works in Korea to help get the bus tickets to get us to the ferry terminal to cross over to the island. The shuttle bus was 15,000W round trip and it starts from Insadong (which is near Jamsil station, short 5 min walk, can't remember Exit no) And since we were quite late, breakfast was a calorie laden affair, burger, fries and coffee from Lotte Burger (aka, the local version of McD), which we scoffed down in record time at the pavement next to the bus before it left.

When we arrived about 1 hour later, we were all excited after the nap in the bus to take the Zipline! :) Supposedly the longest zipline in Asia... :)  Check out the height of that tower, and don't worry, there's a lift that brings you up, so it's not like you will have climb up the ladder! :) And the funnest thing, stepping on this Politically Correct weighing scale that ensures that you are [1] not underweight (<40kg), and [2] not overweight (>140kg). Phew, all three of us made it within the limit...

Although setting off was a little scary, cuz you feel the cold autumn breeze when you are that high up, the seats felt safe... and although I was expecting a dead fall, where I zoom off at top speed, it turned out to be a rather controlled  zip down towards Nami Island. Supposedly lasting more than a minute, it felt a lot shorter than that... :) But it was fun and added spice to an otherwise boring island. :P

So... other than the fact that it's a man-made island, with some weird UNESCO kids theme on the island, it has got to be one of the most garish and weird tourist attraction that I've been on. Sure, there are beautiful stretches of pine, and the air is so fresh, it's divine (main selling point, the fresh air)... but really... there's nothing on the island... good for brisk walk and probably refreshing for the soul, if it wasn't for the copious number of tourists walking around, including me! :P

Having said that, it was a tranquil morning/early afternoon, where we just strolled around this v small island, chatting about random stuff and looking at the weird UNESCO art pieces that REALLY spoiled the beauty of the place, and laughing at the tacky winter sonata stuff we see around the island. I am a fan of that show, really, but the stuff on the island... is really. very. tacky. hahahaha... after all that walking, naturally we are back to food, and we chanced upon the cafe that seemed most popular with the locals. 

What we ordered to share - Ramen, Udon, Pork Dumplings, Normal Pancake, Kimchi Pancake... It was yumzz.The ramen and udon were forgetable, but the pajeong (pancake) was good. And the dumpling was above average too :)

After lunch.. we explored the other parts of the island, took more photos and took the ferry back... :) Before boarding the bus, we went to pick up some stuff.. and I bought mandarin oranges from the back of a truck (just cuz it seems fun) and also, picked up the famous banana milk. My conclusion, the mandarins were okay and I still don't like milk (flavoured or not) :P

And after the bus journey into Seoul, the madness began again. As, we were trying to make it to Cityhall to try out a really good barbequed pork store (Nam Mae Jip), followed by action-comedy play, JUMP!... And... after finding out from the very very helpful staff from Cityhall station, exact instructions on how to get to this BBQ place, we still got lost. (=.=||) and so, after 20 minutes of wandering around in the dark, and after bugging the locals who were innocently minding their own business... We finally found the place... and it was super duper yummy! Although I think we were not too good at minding the pork and of not burning the meat, resulting in us being the worst offender in the restaurant and we were really smoking and stinking up the area. While it was a rather rushed meal (we were behind time as we had spent too much time being lost), it was definitely a super good meal...

 We then took off at the speed of lightning towards our next destination, IBK JUMP! Theatre, a place or location that evidently doesn't ring much of a bell for the locals as we were not able to locate the place! By then, we were on the brink of being really late, that it wasn't even good-natured meandering to try and find the place. Instead, it was more of the Amazing Race format, where we were running around, with the ticket confirmation (which doesn't have the location written in Korean, damn!) I am quite sure that we burned off our dinner with that jog around the entire area... trying to find the theatre.

The funny thing is, we were just in time for the show... but after a heavy dinner and all that running around, we really need to visit the ladies before the show (as there's no intermission) and because of that, we missed the start and had to wait until the opening was done. *face palm* All that running.. but ah well, most importantly, we found the theatre and the show was very hilarious and very entertaining. Quite worth the ticket price of 50,000W (including 1,000W booking fee) ~S$60.

After the show, we went to the cafe next door, for hot chocolates and lattes to just stone (after the experience of being lost twice in a day and our Amazing Race evening) and chill. That and to enjoy the free wi-fi at the cafe. :) I love being constantly online there as they are one of the most connected cities and there's always some free wifi or other that you can tap on. And yes, the cheese cake was yummy haha and we headed home and crashed at about 2am.

Day 5: 16 Nov 2011 - Wednesday

And... what do you know.. Wednesday was an even more shiong day... today, our aim was to visit Mount Sorak, also referred to as Seoraksan.... and the journey, starts with a 710am bus from some main bus interchange (Seoul Bus Interchange if I recall correctly). We took the subway there as usual, so we were up at 5am... The lack of sleep was starting to catch up with us at this stage. Waiting for the bus at the designated terminal... and comfy seats as usual for our 3-hour journey and we knocked out cold before the bus even drew out from the station!

 And 3 hours later... we are at the port town of Sokcho... from there, it was another public bus ride to the base of Mount Sorak...and  this is the last stretch... :) View from Mount Sorak is great, the cable car ride (well, it was a cable car ride, but I am glad it exists, else I would have to trek up!) The wind was HUGE and for me, where I am short and not thin, one would think my centre of gravity would be low.. but nope, still felt like I was going to get blown away quite a few times...

 And after fighting with the wind for some time, enjoying the sights, and frankly, enjoying the adventure of battling the cold and strong winds... we descended to visit the temple. I have to say, it's one of the more serene ones I have visited. There are bustling temples, and there are serene ones. The one located on the base of Mount Sokcho, and within the National Park is a serene one.

For a Buddhist, I am glad to have visited and it's one of the rare spots where I think my mom would have really happy to visit and she would have spent the whole day meditating there if she could. It was a beautiful place.

And after that, as it was a day trip, we had to depart, despite not having trekked through the national park, cuz it would take too long, and we would miss our bus back to Seoul if we were to attempt that. So, we went back down and headed for the wharf for another late lunch. :) 230pm...

After walking up and down the port, we decided to lunch by one of the small make shift stores along the port, where the lady grill and BBQed stuff for us. We had clams, shellfish, fish, squid with glutinous rice stuffed inside (this was the yummiest IMHO), that and a bottle of soju... no meal is complete in korea without having tasted SOJU :) And after stuffing ourselves full and turning quite red from drinking this highly intense rice wine/alcohol... we walked back down... and decided that we absolutely couldn't resist it, and had to order more stuff... deep fried seafood... SINFUL!!

On hind sight, this meal was possible (one can't quite confirm, since I ate so much rubbish) the cause of the rash that started and which has been with me for 3 weeks. ARRGGGHHHHH.... I think I am allergic to seafood & alcohol as a combination, I just hope it's not a permanent allergic!! *damn itchy and ugly :(*

We walked all the way back to the terminal (about 40 mins walk) to work off the effects of the alcohol... back to Seoul, and it was time to do what Singaporeans do best. SHOP!!! Henceforth, no further photos were taken as it was intense shopping for end of Day 5, and 6... except... mandatory photo taking during meal times... We... shopped till we dropped. I just wish.. I had bought more! Hahahhaha.. next aim, to go during spring/summer, so that the climate is similar to Singapore and I can buy clothes that is more suited to my weather! :)

Day 6: 17 Nov 2011 - Thursday and Day 7: 18 Nov 2011 - Friday (almost two-thirds of the day)
We Shopped. Nothing else but shop. And... here're some random photos of the food we had :)

Cold noodle with Fried pork (@MyeongDong)

Kimchi Fried Rice (@Restaurant near our Residence)

Pollack Soup (@Restaurant near our Residence)

Beef Porridge (@Restaurant near our Residence, specializing in  porridge)

Cold Buckwheat Noddles (@Dongdaemon, Doota! Foodcourt)

Chicken Stew (@MyeongDong)

Roasted Rice Porridge, fairly tasteless but quite fun to eat just cuz it's unique (@MyeongDong)

And that's all folks! :) This particular blog entry I think has taken the longest ever to write. It's been three weeks since my trip, I am still rashing and I am still working on this entry. :) As you can see, I got lazy towards the end... and my final words? That I went with 10kg of luggage and came back with 27kg... I think if I hadn't taken so many "by the way, can you help me get this when you are in korea" shopping items from friends... I would have been at about 20kg for items that I bought for myself.(including presents for friends and family) and so.. if ever there is a next trip... I will not be taking orders, except for those closest to me! Must be firm and learn to say no!! :)

Over and out...