24th February 11
It was finally finally the New Year.. Never been more excited for this day! You see in Korea, they have a culture of seeing the first sunrise of the new year, so they will go to coastal beach areas to see it. Gyeongpodae Beach, Gangneung City will hold it’s annual ‘Sunrise Event’ which include the countdown to the New Year, fireworks, and various enjoyable cultural events. Sounds so fun ahhhh, we knew we wouldn’t be able to make it since it takes 3 hours from Seoul to reach there, so seeing the sunrise at Mt Namsan was Plan B. Successful? No… I woke up a few minutes before the sun rose that day (7:53am) L So I rushed out in my PJ with my cam to try to snap some pic and enjoy the first morning, sad to say this was my best shot, the buildings blocked my view.. and I was freezing cold. Haha
It was time to move out of our cozy home at Inside to a Teaguesthouse Hanok at Bukchon Village. Lugging the luggages out to the main road for a cab was sheer madness haha. I remember when I was looking so haggard tryna drag the luggage along the uneven pathway, a Harapuchi came to my rescue.. hehe he was really sweet to help me with the luggage, chatted with him as he asked where I was from and told us to take care when I reached the main road.
We chose to stay in the Bamboo House at Teaguesthouse instead of the usual room for 2 because of the private bath and kitchen inset. It was 100,000KRW per night include breakfast. Peak period so it’s much more pricey if not you could always stay at a hanok for 50-80,000KRW.
When we reached TGH, found out that the BambooH was another location (becos it’s a house by itself) so again we had to lug the exploding luggages for 20min or so which the staff didn’t even bother to mention but I’m not grumbling becos he helped us with the luggage and we had a gist of what the area was like.
Korea housing depends on electronic security devices instead of locks. He told us a bunch of pin codes to remember. SO.. checked in and I love it actually.. sleeping on the ondol flooring with mattress, traditional feel the moment you step in.. clean toilet, nice balcony overlooking the roofs of many hanok houses in Bukchon.. too bad it was winter, if not we could have drank makgolli with some snack, overlooking the village.
Before taking the subway, we had breakfast at a bakery. Nice soft Anpan bread and a cuppa green tea..
The next big plan we had was also to go hiking in Mt Seorak, successful? NOOO.. time was ticking, again it takes a 3 hours journey. Backup plan? Mt Bukhansan. It is in Seoul. Other than that, we had no clue how and where to go. Did no prior research, we again took a risk.
Accessible by subway for less than an hour, we then took a bus up to the entrance of the trail which requires the least amount of time to trek up. Haha, lazy people but at least we were being realistic.
When we reached the entrance, we took pride in making it! And both of us were so enthralled by the beauty of it all.. really..
Snap snap snap. A lot of elderly were seen hiking in their hiking gear unlike us.. haha
Feels good to reach the ‘submit’
The view overlooking the city was just beautiful especially with the soon to come sunset.
Left with Garousil that we’ve yet to go, we made our way. It is street in Gangnam-gu lined with coffee house and apparently gingko nut trees. Of course we didn’t see any, it was winter! 
Coffee-smith is a coffee chain that Lee Min Ho frequents. Ordered a cuppa tea. See how excited Clarissa was.. haha
Shops at Garousil have a more artsy feel.. 
A whole shop level dedicated to selling hairpieces, hairbands. 
Finally dinner time.. we settled at School Food since we heard so much about it. And er hemm, it was the more reasonably priced restaurants there..haha
The restaurants feels lively like a school canteen but serving better tasting food. A lot of people ordered their Maki set thingy for about 11,000KRW or so
I asked the waitress for recommendation and she said the Butter Bimbimbap 7,000KRW. At first I was a bit turned off because I didn’t really want rice but I decided to try since I don’t see it elsewhere.
Clar went ahead with the Spicy Ramen for 4,000KRW
I HAVE TO CAP THIS. THIS BOWL OF SIMPLE LOOKING RICE IS ##$%^&%RTRDES$. Sheer delight..
Finally time for our jimjilbang experience! Hehe. Went to the hotspot for tourist - Dragon Hill. Walking distance from Yongsan station. There were so many people there, probably cos it was a public holiday. Entrance fee was 12.000KRW? There is a discount of 2,000KRW when you purchase the Seoul subway card.
After purchasing the entrance ticket, we were totally lost. So here’s how the procedure goes..
First you collect your bathhouse shirts, shorts, towels and a elastic band w your key. This elastic band also functions as a ‘card’ to tap for purchases inhouse like snacks, shampoo etc. Total bill will be payable when you leave.
Proceed to removal of shoes to be put in the first small locker. I thought they expected us to squeeze all our belonging in but there was another bigger locker for our usage.
Being lost, I asked an ajumma how do we go about and she explained that we stripped naked for a bath (to cleanse ourself) then we proceed to the many different sauna rooms with clothes on.
Come to think about it, clar is the only only one who bathed with me and seen my naked body twice, one in Hokkaido and the second in Korea. HAHAHAHA BATHING BUDDIES
The moment you take off your clothes, you start to regret on those days you suppered and did not exercise.. haha. And truth to be told there were some really S line ladies out there.. some au naturel some yea a little plasticy.. haha
Then we realized we didn’t have all the bathroom essentials (shampoo, conditioner etc) but not to fret because they sell it in sachet form. Each about 1,000KRW or so.
Headed to shower and bath, all in all it just took us less than 15mins? Amazingly, I’m so bewildered by how the Koreans are bathing for ages! I’ve seen the same woman sitting in the same seat scrubbing and bathing for God knows how long.. guess she is cleaning every nooks and corners.. did I mention it was almost 10pm? I wonder what are the techniques for bathing so long. Haha
Thereafter it was hot spring time! There were about 7-10 pools with water temp ranging from 37-45 degree celsius. It was ok because we were too cold from the wintery weather. Cold bath were provided but we were not up for that haha. Inside the bathhouse were many different payable services like hair threading, facial, massages, mani pedi, body scrubs. Total of 7 floors.. incredible ah.. Wished we have it in our tiny island.
We tried the legendary body scrub by ajumma in black lingerie.. haha it was 25,000KRW. Each session last 20-30mins? Depending on how much dead skin you have haha. Each stroke she takes, I have to take a deep breath and hold it.. it was painful yet ticklish.. madness haha. But it was worth it, I feel like I had baby skin on after it. My calves glowed.. haha. The whole scene was almost like a fishmonger scaling a fish.. haha
After the hot bath, we got dressed and headed to the main hall to eat. They have restaurants serving full Korean meals and snack bars. Famed bath house snacks are like Sikhye (rice drink) and boiled eggs. We got them including the cuttlefish snack for total of 7,000KRW? 
We both just loved the atmosphere there.. families gathered on new year’s, bonding and eating and sleeping and watching tv and doing everything together.. SO FUN!! It was almost close to midnight? Where in the world will you find Singaporeans doing that?
The drink was refreshing and much needed with all the water loss from the sweating.. the egg was bad.. the squid was nice in contrast with the egg. Haha
We then went to the small little sauna rooms that look like ovens. Haha. There were jade, mud?, wood?, charcoal? Floorings. Some were sleeping there.
Finishing it up, we sat on some painful massage chair before heading to bath yet again and head home.
the even have a mini arcade
a little girl with the towel bun thing on her, cute!
The blockbuster drama for the latter part of 2010 was SECRET GARDEN. Everywhere I go I see people tuning in to this show.. on subways, on the street walking with their friends, once its 9pm they will tune it with their smartphones.. that’s how scary.. haha I didn’t know then but now I know.. that’s another story haha.
Thinking we could head home for a good sleep after a good bath.. we met with quite an obstacle..
You see, earlier that day the man gave us a few pincodes to remember, one of which he messed up and said he will repair it and tell us again, so we thought we had to head back to the HQ to ask him for the new pin to access our room. It was about close to 1245am when we reach the HQ? By the way, it was a hard time for the driver to get us there.. Reaching the HQ, no one was in sight, we left for our Bamboo house (another long and windy drive as the driver wasn’t sure too) When we reach the Bamboo house, for some reason the security keypad was missing! PANIC faces, the uncle stayed behind and help us figure a way out. He tried calling the hotline for the guesthouse’s contact, apparently in vain. Then we drove back (long and windy road remember?) to find a slip of note that says “contact 123456789 if any emergency” So the kind but flustered driver called for us and almost after 10mins of interaction, the uncle said that we go back. At the back of my mind I wanted to kill the owners of the guesthouse already. Reached the Bamboo house again and we stood there hoping and wishing that the keypad would appear.. at that time I thought we were gonna sleep on the roadside already.. it was then I realized that wasn’t the Bamboo house.. it was the one next to it!!!!!!!
Actually it is these moments that makes a holiday trip fun.. experiences like that don just come by hahaha. ahh. dreading to do the last post.
"I love passionately and as if I’ve never been hurt before"
31st January 11
KHJ
25th January 11
Day 8 — Hair Salon, Myeong Dong, Gangnam Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping Mall, Shellfish Dinner, Jongak Boshingak Bell Tower Countdown
I HAD TO perm my hair and since clar wanted to trim hers to we went to the salon near our house. This time round we checked prices before settling haha. I had color and PERM for 160,000KRW and clar had hair cut for 13,000KRW.
Apparently the way I describe my perm cause them to think I wanted a MAGIC PERM which is actually a volumizing straightening process.. and not a PERM like the term is.. then again I came to love it hahaha, makes my flyaways gone and I started using iron curlers to curl my ends so no auntish perm! hee I must say they did a good dye job, thorough. They started with the root (darker hair) before going for the rest of the hair. Was in the salon for 3 hrs, by this time we all should know what clar’s reaction was.. haha pissed, to say the least. Hers took less than 45mins so she decided to head to DDM to look for a gift for her dad, ended up she had quite an ugly experience cos they were rather aggressive in their sales pitch.
Again, by the time we left the salon it was already 3pm+, headed to MD to do some last min shopping.
Had a Spicy Pork Lunch Set for just 5000KRW, so many banchans!! I wish wish wish wish this was a norm for SG :(((((
Clar’s haircut.. she looks.. young hahaha. nice profile shot eh
Realised we rarely had their street food… don’t ask me why because I was amused myself too, thought I would feast on it when I saw pictures of it online before coming Korea.. guess we saved our stomach for better cuisine.. So I wanted to see if the potato chip thingy was really that good.. hmm verdict was the seasoning makes it nice.. but it was a lil` soggy
Headed to Gangnam Express Bus Terminal for last min shopping too, it was over there that I spent most of my remaining KRW, so much that we headed back home to drop our stuff. We don’t wanna countdown w all the barangs.. just imagine.. haha
Us excited for our shellfish feast
Our messy room cluttered with all the stuff.. I was really quite worried we would have excess baggage. or rather I would have.. Clar keep giving me the vibe ‘you sure excess on..’ hahaha I was bent on proving her wrong!
TADA! For days we walked pass this steamed seafood restaurant and it will ALWAYS ALWAYS be brim packed with people, we even tried the day before and she denied us access! :( then it was on that day that we ‘beg’ her to give us a table and we said we r fine with waiting (tts when we headed back home to drop the stuff)
We ordered the mixture of shellfish instead of just oyster, it was 33,000KRW for 2.
Funny fact — there were more males than female.. Oysters as aphrodisiac? hehe
Fresh osyters! Suc-ccuuu-lleentt. Koreans eat it with the sweet radish or wasabi or gochujang. no lemon in sight. haha
Chatted up with the workers there, asked where we were from, how I could speak Korean well, ( i guess to them if you could understand them and give simple reply, they would praise you already cos of how korean language is so foreign to many people) which shellfish taste good, the hit show of 2010 Bread Love Dreams.. haha was fun to interact with them.
The ajumma was helping us to de-shell. But I think usually patrons just wear gloves and do it themself, guess they were afraid we didn’t know how to do it.
The scallop was the best! Zzaaanng! Fresh and sweet by itself..
It was mega huge in quantity hahaha, we said that we both had our 1 year’s fill of seafood.. with soju and this, i felt like my cholesterol hit an all time high
By the time we ended our meal, twas` 1130pm or so, we quickly rushed to Jongak for the countdown. We reach Jongak 3mins before the clock strikes 12am. Everyone in the train dashed out, it was funny and nerve wrecking at the same time.
We made it in time, the moment we exit the station, it was “2…1… OHHHH Sae Bon Mani Juseyo” Happy New Year in korean hahaha
This is the Boshingak Bell Pavillion. Sort of the main area where koreans countdown, performances held and the Bell supposedly will ring. Guess we missed it.
A cute korean man (in green cap) w his girlfriend. Oh and it was this time when we were all singing ‘oh dae han min guk..” the korean soccer cheer song.. haha the atmos was incredible.
This english man walked pass and purposely headed towards my camera when I was trying to get a shot. He then hugged and wished clar and i. irritating. haha
Funny thing was days after we were looking through the photos and the moment the cam showed this we both were shock (like really shocked with “oh!”) we didnt noe who and when it was taken, then we realised… ahh.. haha
Area was heavily guarded with policemen.. I will always stay close them in such circumstances. haha
There were traditional korean dance going on around the streets, people formed circles and dance along in the festivity spirit.
In Korea they don’t have full scale magnificent fireworks haha but rather it was those handheld stick version that people buy and told to create the atmos..
Goodbye to 2010 :)
22nd January 11
Day 7 - Apgujeong, Soon Soo Beauty Salon, Hyundai Departmental Store, MBC Dream Centre
Headed to Apgujeong station and we took a cab to Doosan Park (4000KRW), Gorilla in the Kitchen restaurant. It’s a famed health conscious eatery started up by none other than the Hallyu Star Bae Yong Jun. My man’s mentor and boss heeeee…. :)
The layout looks almost like a clinic.. they even have nutritionist stationed in the restaurant. I think they provide services that can calculate the right amount of nutrition you should take based on your height weight etc.. cool isn’t it? They don’t use butter, cream and they don’t deep fry.. which is something I am very suspicious about cos the food taste so good!
Ordered their Tofu Salad and Sea Urchin Pasta.. very clean tasting, refreshing yet indulgent enough especially the pasta.. wondered how they made it with no cream and butter… and the tofu.. how did they not deep fry?! Shallow fry? Haha Total bill was about 45000KRW? Oh and some places in Korea don’t charge for GST and service.
Apgujeong is DEFINITELY A VERY ATAS PLACE.. ALL the rich and famed people hangs out there.. We even thought about what we should wear here way in advance.. lol here you see fur, branded goods, sunglasses, set hair, blings, luxurious cars with tinted windows (which makes us all jittery if it’s a celeb or not haha) Even in Gorilla, you see 2 taitais with their daughters, all 4 of them dressed up to the max having lunch..woahhh I definitely am not up for such lifestyle.. hehe prefer dining in the ‘dirtiest place that serves awesome food..’
On to Soon Soo.. its where HJ goes for his hair and makeup.. Sad to say I didn’t see him.. not just that I didn’t perm my hair there which I originally wanted to and what’s more, clar and I almost lose each other there!!! Haha so it was I entered the salon, in Korea, they will take your coat (during winter) and bag and pass you a locker key and salon coat to wear on. Immediately they bring you for a rinse then proceed to cut. The perm I wanted cost 440,000KRW, yes there is no typo.. I was shocked! I searched online and it stated only 130,000KRW for perm which I was prepared to pay for.. Mad and furious with my wet hair, I had no choice but to have a haircut (45,000KRW) which in the end I didn’t regret that much cos they cut it the way I like it.
And how did I lose clar? We planned in a way that she would roam around for 2 hours before coming back to the salon to meet me, but the thing was I did no perm, cut was only 45mins.. didn’t wanted to sit there and thought that clar would be in some café reading, I left for the chilly streets looking for her.. to no avail I settled in Seven Monkeys Café with a sweet potato latte and a mag
Pardon my awful selca.. I was itching to see my new trimmed tames..
Short descript about Seven Monkeys.. you see all the cups below? They are all signatures of celebs.. my man included *_* its where they frequent cos its near their salons and hang out place.
And so around 3pm I left for the salon in search of clar.. waited 30mins outside the corner for her thinking she would pass this route.. sadly no… finally figured she might be INSIDE the salon, (which I thought was closed for some celeb as it seems from outside) went in and there she was. Poor clar actually sat there dozing off all because the man that washed my hair told her I was inside! I think there was some breakdown in communication.. arghh so almost half our day was gone.. I’m so sorry clar haha
Headed to Hyundai Dept store, we needed to run some errands again for our friends. Their B1 food section was woahhhh, we wanted to eat everything.. haha but we just had some dumplings and egg tart
Then off we were to the MBC drama award, we had no idea how where what when it is gonna be. I just knew that morning that HJ would be attending it. Ceremony starts 955PM at MBC Ilsan Dream Centre. We just decided to risk it all for the red carpet. On the way there (1 hr journey) we were still thinking if we would really make it.
Walking towards MBC, 4 ladies approached us asking if we knew where MBC was, I said in Korean “That way, let’s go together! Are you all going for the drama award? I’m from Singapore, you guys? Japanese?” When they heard that they laughed among themselves because they were Korean and they had to ask a foreigner for directions and so we all went together.
Found the red carpet! Excited! We made it! At least something went right today.. haha
The lobby of MBC Dream Centre.
While waiting, I took some pictures of notes hung by fans for their idols and I took the one with HJ’s name. Then the lady that we went together with, apparently also a HJ fan, saw that I took the pic and suppose I like HJ, which I do, suddenly passed me the SS501 official membership card and a picture of HJ. What are the chances?!
The unnie that I was talking about.. sweet of her. OD of sweetness..
Korean fans are.. enthusiastic.. to say the least.. they are older than me.. and yet more energectic and daring..
Waited for almost an hour half? It was also during that time we knew for sure Lee Min Ho will be gracing the red carpet too.. Clar went bonkers.. haha
The moment we all been waiting for.. STARS! Haha some we knew some we don’t
The top right hand woman in white, who kissed my man upteeeeemmmmm times.. err hemm.. so jung min ah, had your fill? :) my turn already ok! heh
Finally.. he appeared… my heart stopped again!
Never expect to see him on this trip!!
He was supposedly flying to Taiwan on the 26th for Taiwan Playful Kiss promotional event which was weirdly cancelled somehow.. and his appearance on this award show was also a last minute thing.. I know how much he wants to see me la.. aiyoo HJJJ…
When it all ended, Clar and I had to recollect back ourselves, totally totally out of our plan to even meet any stars, yet we met the ones that we want to see most.. 
Hungry, we headed to an eatery near our house, ordered simple yet delicciouuss stuff.
Seafood Bokkumbap and Teokbokki. Should have tried the Rabokki thou.. Ramen and Teok instead of pure teok. Funny how the ajumma is still doing kimbap even when its close to 12am..
Like Clar would say.. “Today is Epic low but Epic high.. ” which i totally second that! Her favourite word: EPIC
2 more days to go.. :)
21st January 11
Day 6 — Gyeongbokgung, Gwanghwamun, Jogyesa Temple, Samcheong-Dong, Bboy love Ballerina Musical, Jaksal chicken!
Cakes for breakfast.. Clar’s style haha.
It was finally Tuesday! We could go Gyeongbokgung for the Royal Guards Changing Ceremony.. This palace was way better than Changgyeonggung. Supposedly there was a free trying on of Hanbok but I guess it’s winter. Ahh the downside of winter travels.. So anyway we witnessed the whole procession. Love the sound of the beating of the big drum. The whole thing was rather grand but long.. not that I’m complaining because we don’t see this in Singapore anytime, but just a thought, if it takes such a lengthy period just to change guards, enemies could just launch an attack any moment.. haha
The whole architect with the clear blue sky and white snow-capped mountains as the backdrop.. I really am dreaming to be finally there!
There were english speaking tour for the palace, we weren’t in time for it. The next time I’m there I’ll definitely go for it.. So much more meaningful to tour the palace with a knowing of the historical background
Ran out the moment we heard the beating of the drum.. royal court changing procession!
Walked to Sejong Boulevard and we saw some TV filming being done.. I believe the scene shot was just for a few sec on TV yet it took long for them to film it, with the director yelling at the extras, what’s more under the harsh weather condition
Tried walking to Samcheong-Dong but was glad to find the shuttle bus stop and the moment we found it the bus came! Yay! But the bus took us up all the way to Jogyesa Temple, which we did not plan on going. Nonetheless it was a sweet find, the sunlight peering through the dried up wintery trees, great place for snapshots
The nice bo-si driver was kind enough to take us to the entrance of Samcheong-Dong (not part of the shuttle bus route) for our lunch which have been waiting for!
Chose this traditional supposedly vegetarian restaurant, apparently they served meat thou. We ordered the set lunch (25,000KRW) Was good, tried different stuff this time round. Cooking style definitely is what I like.. Healthy yet flavourful. 
Banchan- preserved squid, seasoned wild veg, fermented burdock?, radish, kimchi, braised pulled pork, spinach and bossam
Main Dishes - refreshing salad, milk rice porridge, wild veg pajeon, bossam, japchae (the best i ever eaten), mushroom soup, fried fish, multi-grain rice and soybean paste soup 
The next shop was really crowded.. It seems like people especially came Samcheong to taste this.. Young and old. Rustic place. NICE! And by the way we came here straight after our sumptious lunch haha, we knew we had to try this
Their House Specialty is Da Pan Juk - Red bean porridge.. Is out of the world la.. Different from the typical sweet kind, it is more salty yet with tinge of sweetness.. 
Fillings galore : chestnut, azuki beans, cinnamon powder, mochi, gingko nut.. 
Clar said i looked really happy in this shot.. haha actually i really was! my fav beans and nuts!!
Samcheong-Dong is one of Korea’s another quaint boulevard (imagine SG Holland or Haji Lane) Filled with lotsa eateries and café, was definitely a treat for both our eyes and stomach. Haha
Made our way to Jamsil for the musical. With time to spare we hanged out around the station.. Bought the legendary banana milk.. An acquired taste.
Further into the station was Lotte Mart, didn’t have much time to explore the place but there was quite a number of stores.
Decided to try out Red Mango since it’s a korean brand.. And we didn’t try it in SG before. Pricing was almost the same but they offered more toppings for a cup of yoghurt. 
Tickets! Time to feed our soul..
Forgot why this expression came about haha
Time for musical!! Story was about how a ballerina tried a different genre of dance (hip-hop) for the guy that she had slowly fallen in love with
Our host at Inside booked the tickets for us at 50,000KRW
Honestly, I think it’s not really really really worth the price.. Scenes were quite repetitive. Nevertheless cute guys to ogle at so hmm why not haha
Pumped up
Female lead - The flawless ballerina. Plasticy thou.. Hehe
Happy Ending
The guy beside me in black looks like Choi Siwon..
The one in “bulls” jersey looks like Junsu from JYJ.. heh
Male lead - Super Junior leader look-a-like
He of cos look like Shindong
After the musical, we zipped off to my man’s fried chicken shop! JAKSAL! He and his childhood friends made a pact when they were young that they would one day open a fried chicken shop together.. So sweeettt hehe
Even before reaching the place, a man came out and invited us into the shop, it was like he knew we would be eating there.. Haha
He designed the store logo.. haha
It was full house! So the man apologectically served us a cup of citron tea each and kindly ‘zipped’ up the tent so that we would not be so cold..
The man chatted with us in fluent english.. Was amazed and his hospitality was really good.. At the back of my mind I knew him.. He was one of HJ’s childhood friend.. I remained calm BUT OF COS I WASN’T!
Conversation was something like this..
Him: So where are you guys from?
Us: Singapore :)
Him: Oh Singapore.. I heard that it is a country with a lot of fines and there are many laws.. No gum etc..
Us: Haha yes..
the moment he said that, I felt like I was talkin to HJ!! Cos he said the same thing when he was in SG for an interview!
I forgot what was shared but I remember he too had the same cold sense of humor like HJ.. Almost fainted.. Haha he explained the menu and not long he led us in the shop..
A lot of people, surprisingly were more men than women (I thought it would all be HJ fans haha) goes to show that they served really good food.. And yes I can vouch for that.. Probably one of the sweet-spicy fried chicken I had. The grilled teok was good too!
sweetest thing was before we left, he asked us if we were taking a cab home we said no and he said we gotta take care as its late.. Can you imagine how I felt?? Lol I was telling Clar that prob HJ knew I was coming, asked his buddies to take extra care of me.. K I KNOW IM DREAMING.. CAN’T I DREAM.. LOL
Love how they can watch their shows so readily on subways..
Snowwwy walk home.. :D
One of the top 3 days hehe
18th January 11
Day 5 — Suwon Korean Folk Village, BBQ Lunch, DongDaeMun, Pojangmacha
The first morning where we saw Seoul covered with snow along the roads
On the hindsight, it was not all that beautiful as we people in the tropics would think. Imagine soil and snow mixed together, pathway turns black. Picture blocks of ice on pathways, literally you are skiing without the right equipments hahaha, but it was a funny sight to see how people would slide across and almost falling over.
Clarissa’s past time
Headed to Suwon by subway (was so lost this time round cause it was sort of like outta Seoul City) for about an hour. Funny thing happens in Korea Subway.
Once we were being cursed by some old man who tried to give us his namecard (with the yinyang symbol) which we rejected, once we encountered a young chap with a bruise on his head begging and kowtowing in downtown seoul subway (even gave each passenger a piece of paper which he later read, repeating this in every cabin), once a old basker was being chased out by the station officer, multiple times there were people selling things (gloves, stocking, CDs). Amuses me, disturbs Clar hahaha
A Yoido newsletter given by the gentleman below
Our planned plan was to head to Folk Village and the UNESCO Hwaseong Fortress Wall but as we head out to the folk village we knew that the Fortress Wall is history, time was running.
Excited when I saw this
Was gloomy that day
The folk village was bigggg, we paid 12000KRW for the bus trip and the entrance fee.. Toured around the ghostly looking place (I think summer or autumn would be a better time to visit) but still it was an experience..
how happy I was.. :))
I look mad with the scarf as my headcover
The next thing we knew when we head out of the toilet was.. There was a blizzard! The sky turned yellow! The first thought I had was “oh so this is what they say in Korea they always have yellow dust or ‘dirty air’” But as we walked on, we knew this was not a joke.. it was almost indescribable how heavy the snowfall was. my clothes were turning wet. we needed umbrellas! funny thing was the other group of Malaysian tourist were having the time of their life taking pictures and joking around under the blizzard. fed up and wet, we headed back to the entrance for the bus back to the subway station.
Feeling sort of demoralized that we didn’t make it to the Fortress Wall (they had a famed eatery that serves black pork BBQ, that made me more saddd :() plus the fact that we were almost like drenched from the snow, we settled for a nearby not so famous BBQ place. The pork was heavenly but as usual the beef wasn’t. Had to order a min. of 2 servings of meat (2 pax) then the other dishes like steamed egg, doenjang soup, fish roe bimbimbap would only be at a price of 2000-3500KRW. Not so bad.
Headed to DDM.. resting at Migliore deciding where to eat
Pojang Macha!!
A little tidbit: In Korea, the pojang-macha is the place for common folk and “salarymen” to go to relieve the stresses of life. Pojang Macha began in 1950 with a few rear-cars selling small snacks around Cheonggyecheon, Seoul. After several years passed, in 1970, the rear-car began to form its shape by covering itself with orange plastic wrap and people started to sell small appetizers. If you watched korean dramas, such tents are always in sight where the female lead will drink because she got dumped or the male lead will drink to release pent up anger and emotions. haha
Ordered Spicy Samgyeopsal, Udon, Soju and Cola. Oden was service. Then came another weird looking spicy thing (I think it was boneless chicken feet) which I didn’t order, wondering if it was service as well since the bill wasn’t that high.
Not so well-planned Day 5 but still really an experience..
17th January 11
Day 4 - Ski Trip, Cheongyangni area, Myeong Dong again
Headed out for our breakfast. Area around our house was closed and only opens at around 11am or so.. Then finally we found a small eatery where university students were having their breakfast too. 
The first snow we experienced in Korea, which i bet you can’t really see haha
Again menu was all in hangul, but I was proud that I could make up the words! Not all of it of course, then we decided to ask the group of uni students for help. There was a cute lookin guy like Rain hehe, so anyway they recommended what was good and we settled with cheese ramen and bulgogi and tuna kimbap for takeaways (ski lunch)
The ajusshi was a little erratic, I ordered in korean and he was sort of like repeating what I said and everything, we were both confused and yet do not want to mess up our orders, finally decided to rope in the help of a english speaking korean uni student and then breakfast was served.
Funny thing was when he served the food, he praised my korean and after a few second I replied ‘aniyo (blushingly)’ then he started speaking a little english (better than most ajusshi at his age could)
Back of my mind? ” why did you mumble a bunch of unneccessary stuff making us unsure of what we ordered especially when actually you understood what I said?! And why didn’t you just speak in english in the first place?!” hahaha cute ajusshi
Since we had time to the next shuttle bus out to the ski resort, we wondered around Hyehwa. Went into their pharmacy. Unlike SG, KR do not have clinics only hospital, so many of them visits pharmacy for medication. Like it how they have different types of energy boosting drinks!
Packed with Antioxidant for just 500KRW
Krispy Kremes
A little funny story about me and gloves… I bought a $2 daiso gloves in SG before the trip and many times I told Clar ” waaa, ur gloves looks way cooler and more expensive than mine.. ” Despising my gloves, sometimes I wished it would just disappear (often we drop one half when we take our gloves out when eating or when paying) sadly it would not leave me! so finally that day i forgot (really) to bring out my other half of the gloves and I had to buy one since we are skiing, then we chanced upon a make-shift store near the subway. Browsing through, I asked the gloomy looking halmonin how much it was and as expected she shouted the amount back (its common for them to do that) so I bought a supposedly cool looking polka dot black chic gloves for 3000krw. Clar was infront of me when I was wearing it before entering the subway and after I wore one side, looking at Clar who was throwing away rubbish, following suit, I too threw the plastic bag and (I thought) my newly bought gloves! STUNNED I shouted to Clar after recollecting myself “ I think I just threw my gloves in!” 5 seconds later a woman tapped my back and passed me my gloves. We laughed all the way into the train. THEN. as i tried to stretch my fingers to ‘test’ the gloves, this was what I saw.. STUCKED!! Gloves and Nixi— LAUGH OUT LOUD
Without a solid knowing that there is a shuttle bus, we just went ahead. As we were 10 mins earlier, we went around confirming with people if they really have free shuttle bus, sadly many weren’t even sure themselves. (just like how we Singaporeans aren’t sure about the Suntec light fountain show schedule.. wahaha)
Then finally on the dot, the bus arrived! How happy we were since we felt like we made quite a few bloopers with our itinerary. Journey was 1.5 hrs, slept our way there.
Reached!
A Real Victory sign :)
Cold face.
There were SungkyunKwan Uni students and some primary level kids having Ski Camp. They were enjoying their lunch.
Their lunch.. I wanted some badly too
I love this boy! He was with his ski boots holding his lunch and it almost looks like he would topple over any min.. I tried to help him but he just stared as me as he call “OMA…” geezz.. Hehe his soup was already half spilled! I told Clar I could wait 10 more years for him.. keke
Bought our tickets at student price, even when we had no authentication, the girl was kind to believe us and said I’ll just give you the discount. It was 30%! Yay! Paid a total of 60 or 70 thousand KRW when originally it was close to 90thousand. Price includes lift (1-5pm), ski and equipment rental.
It is my first time skiing, second for Clar I think. But we were both lost I tell you.. LOST. Aunty Nixi even asked a average-looking korean boy to help me with my boots and he almost fell on me.. Keke If only he was better looking, I would really wish he fell on me.. hahaha
Started with the Beginner’s Slope.. No joke. The next moment I knew was that I dashed down the slopes without knowing how to stop and with everyone avoiding me like as if I was a ticking bomb. Lowered myself slowly and fell to the side.
Waited for Clar who was stuck up there receiving exclusive training from a group of Uni student and the instructor. How embarassed she was..because the instructor asked the students to explain it to her in English hehe 
Lift up
Took a break at the cafeteria looking tired and hungry as we didn’t bring along our kimbap and we had no money along. I should have just went with my instinct to stuff the kimbaps in my pocket. hehe
Snow started getting heavier and we decided to head back. On the way down the last slope, apparently our ski got switched and Clar had difficulty coming down.. She had to walked down carrying the equipment in the coldest environment! By this time we were dead beat! Skiing is no easy feat!
Getting into the momentum, skiing was actually fun! Went on the Beginner’s slope for almost 4-5 times before going for a another longer distanced Beginner’s Slope. Just a side note to myself, invest in some chic looking skiing attire hahaha
Finally Kimbap!!
Just nice before we hoped on to the shuttle bus back to Seoul
Candid #1
Candid #2
Chose this restaurant as there were many people in there.. But they brought us to Level 2.. Where it was dead quiet haha. We like to eat with many people around (atmos) Here they have weird min. order thingy, couldn’t order the bossam but had to order the huge pajeon when it was the same price. but thing was we are ordering sujebi already.. flour and more flour.. bad dinner for me.. haha
No idea why this was served.. Koreans really love carbo.. haha
Sujebi (something like knife-cut noodle)
How could i resist not taking a shot with him.. :)
Underground sale of puppy at 50,000KRW
Headed to Myeong Dong, wanted to run both our friend’s errand but that particular shop closed (er hemm, cui if you are reading this SPAO)and we figure we had to go back to MD again… Clar was %&^%
Clar getting her Starbucks fix
While I had mine at Holly’s - Raspberry Mocha Frappe. Had a great talk there. :)
16th January 11
Day 3 – Ewha Women’ University, Namsangol Folk Village, Namsan Tower, Tosokchon Samgyetang
Left on a bus to Ewha, the bus driver was sweet enough not to yell (since we were sitting quite far off from him) to inform us to get off at Ewha. Rather he asked a lady to informed us. Once again we chatted up with her as she was willing to bring us to Ewha. Found out that she was 24 and a political science undergrad at Ewha itself! She speaks beautiful English. Kind soul. Pretty. She even let us in on a Ewha girl’s secret shopping alley.
Lunch time. Initially wanted to eat at Bapp –a famous eatery for Ewha girls as they serve good and affordable set lunches but it was closed! Thing is usually on Sundays, especially morning, Seoulites attend church, so eateries especially home-runned are closed. Not a good day to visit Ewha.. go on Fridays or Saturdays for the feel of it. For me I can’t see why many flock there to shop. Many prefer Ewha than anywhere else. Just not my luck.
But she recommended us another Ewha Girls’ hideout.. it was delicious and very value for money! :) only for 5000KRW each?
Off to Ewha Uni..
Ewha Women’ University was just picturesque! I’ll come school everyday hehe
The Ewha girl’s secret shopping alley. Bought 2 quality stuff. One was a rip off.. a Stella McCartney skirt for 15000KRW?
Some wedding was taking place.. they looked so good dressed up!
Wondered around and figured that it was too cold, settled at a coffee house. Once again, engaged the help of the staff as we wanted to check the availability of tickets for the musical Bboy loves Ballerina. The waiter even opened Google Translator which obviously wasn’t accurate. Then after some hand signs here and there, we now know only Wednesday tickets were available.
One of the kind soul that helped us
Feeling like we messed up our itinerary, we had limited places to go to so we decided with Namsangol Folk Village and Namsan Tower. Reached before sunset, we managed to catch a good idea of what went on centuries ago. Again wind was unbearable, we end up looking so ‘lang bei’ as we freshen up by hiding in some toilet drinking hot water ( in winter=runny nose, runny nose in winter= no feeling of mucus dripping down.. eeek you might say but its true! LOL)
I wanted to follow this boy in too.
Took a direct bus to Namsan Tower (N Seoul Tower), view from the bus up was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. It was nearing sunset so it was even more A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Words can’t even explain what I saw. How I really wish Singapore have some kind of a mountain.. like really.. Mountainous backdrop Nixi likes..
Took a pic at the deck where we feel was where Gu Jun Pyo waited for Jandi. Pardon the poor quality and shaky pics, we had lousy cam and weather was too cold hahaha
Noona Nixi in action
Tickets up to observatory cost about 7200KRW each after a 10% discount?
Taking the lift up
Different directions points in different country
Korean’s Past Time
A clown was stationed near the lift area so that he could entertain the many who were waiting for the elevator. How thoughtful can the management be? Haha
I actually thought the place filled with love locks was actually somewhere above the observatory where you gotta pay to go up.. But no its near the entrance and its free to enter! Haha we didn’t bring along any lock if not we would have done it too.. :(
Made our way to Tosokchon Samgyetang. Former President of SK grace the restaurant before. Also quite a touristy location but I think we were the only ones when we went that day. Ordering was a feat! We had to scream ‘Ajumma mul juseyo’ (water please) Menu was all in hangul. Thank God one of them spoke Chinese.
Had their grilled chicken (10000KRW) and the house specialty gingseng chicken soup (12000KRW), gingseng wine was given. Clar was quite sickish that day so eating it she felt more ‘bu’ haha. Koreans eat Samgyetang on hot summer days and winter season.
On the way back our ‘home’ we bought korean grapes from an ajusshi for 3000KRW and kimbap from the famous store near our house.
Eventful day afterall! YAY..
13th January 11
Today is the 14th, thought of sharing a cute culture in Korea.
Don’t ask me who came up with this but on every 14th of each month, couples in Korea have something to celebrate and look forward to.
14th of..
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11th January 11
Day 2 Christmas—>Insadong, Cheonggyecheon Stream, Gangnam Express Bus Terminal, Banpo Rainbow Bridge, Hongdae
Bus Stop.
How do we know which bus and where to stop?We basically asked..Koreans are more helpful than Singaporeans IMHO. They go the extra mile to help you.
Stop a stop later then we should have. Ended up at some Buddhist Monk place.
@ Insadong
We were fortunate enough when we asked a local where was the zzang place to have a meal at Insadong then she recommended here. She was with a Swede lady who stayed in Korea for 2 years to do art and somehow we became fast acquaintance as we talked about the beauty of Korea.
table spread hanjeongsik? Almost. For only 15,000KRW each for such a spread.
Tried ganjang gejang
sweet omonim making sure we were ok
sweet scene..treating your grandma for a meal on Christmas
Satisfied!
great lunch!
Ssamzegil here we come!
innovative street lamp burner haha
for some weird reason they love tarot readings
Tteok - yuzu and pumpkin
Jujube tea
walnut puff
rice crackers
Paris Bakery. Korean knows the art of bread-making. I tried a few sample n it was heavenly. I’m serious.
Paris Bakery gave this freebie! How sweet! Literally.
Entering the Cheonggyecheon stream. We were mad for trying to attempt crossing it all the way to Dongdaemun. Obviously we gave up halfway.
Crossing the stream
Headed to Gangnam Express Bus Terminal, by far the best place to shop for us. Compared to DDM,MD, Edae.
Drank this warm soy bean w peanut drink,only cos I read a fan account of how HJ bought it for 2 Chinese fans. It taste bad..
If u could make a guess…… this is none other than the Banpo Moonlight Rainbow Fountain (Recognised by the Guiness Book of Records as the world’s longest bridge fountain) BOF filmed here —> This was the setting of Jan Di and Ji Hoo’s last conversation together in episode 24 before Jandi decided to leave the gang to start a new life in a far away fishing village with her family. (credit anon)
BUT it was tedious finding our way here, fierce cold wind blew at our face as we walked along the roads for about 20 minutes. We quickly took some bad shots and left with awkward stares from the cars that drove past. Did i mention that we knew the lighting show was on in winter? All for the sake.. haha
The obligatory shot #1
The obligatory shot #2
Us, with our loots, resting our precious leg at the subway. On route to Hongdae!
A really good looking korean man took this photo for us.. of course Nixi purposely ask approached him even when his girlfriend was just beside him.. hehe
Love how Koreans gather to have a meal
Soju was like plain water there.. selling at only 1500KRW! But i heard that it contains 500kcal = 2 bowls of rice.. heh. Korean culture is such that after meals they drink so that they will be more ‘open’ to share heart to heart.. how cute is that?! Then again they also have the etiquettes for drinking (eg: no one pour their own soju, when a sunbae pours a drink for a hoobae, he or she must hold the cup with 2 hands etc.. ) CULTURE!
Bokkumbap — Korean version of Fried Rice
Dakgalbi in the making! Drools
We call them the Fur Couple
Hongdae’s Big husky
Ended the day with a Hobang! Red Bean Bun — the filling is made of real mashed up red bean compared to Singapore’s version of Dou Sa Bao
So how was my Christmas this year you might ask? Eye-opening yet pleasant thou I felt bad not being at Jesus’s birthday party…hee
On a side note, pardon the many food pics!
