An Nyung Ha Se Yo

Below is the summary of my 7 days Korea trip.

3rd June (Sat)

Changi International Airport:
Took Asiana Airline to Korea's Incheon International airport. It was a nite flight, thus my family n i left our home at 8 pm for the flight which is at 10.30pm. Watch Nanny Mcphee on board, however, due to tireness, i fell aslp halfway through the show. haha...


4th June (Sun)
Incheon~Yongin~Daejeon

Incheon International Airport:

Happy B'day Mum. Reached Korea at abt 6.55 am (s'pore time, 5.55am Korea time). My family was the last grp to gather outside the airport as we gt delayed due to the long q at the immigration counter. The custom officers took a long time to check out a woman who was in front of us and after the long check she was sent to a rm to do her visa. The custom officer also spend a long time toking to my mum cos he found out tt it was her b'day through her passport. ( Realli wonder whether my mum understand wad the person is saying, cos the person speaks in Korean wif a mixture of english here n there). Brushed my teeth at the toilet n had breakfast at the airport.

~Proceed to Yongin~

Yongin Everland:

Bought the Big 5 ticket for the theme park, which entitles me 5 rides in the park n a free cable car ride. As the park is being divided into the upper portion n the lower portion, thus we took the cable car down to the lower part to go for a 3d movie and a water current ride on a "boat". The 3d movie was sort of similar to the chinese sunwukong. The water current ride got me wet!! Water kept on splashing into the "boat". Haiz... After tt was the safari tour. The main highlight of the safari was the Liger, which is a fusion between a tiger n a lion. It is so cute!! cos it looks like a lion, yet it has faint tiger strips on its body. However, it is veri veri fierce. Neither the tiger nor the lion is it's match in turn of body size n fierceness. So dun mess ard wif it. So sad, i forgot to get a pic of the liger. Haha... The safari also had bears tt can perform tricks.

After the safari tour, my bro n i went for a ride on a viking ship, ferris wheel ( mum n dad came along for tis) and a super lame spooky hse. The viking ship was extremely thrilling, gt the feeling of committing suicide when the ship swing downwards. However, so shiok!! haha... However, thanks to my scardy cat bro, we sat on the seat at the centre of the ship. ( The least thrilling seat on the whole ship.) The super lame spooky hse onli freak me b cos of the darkness and the rest of it was jus so lame n sian. haha...

Gyeonggi Korean Traditional Music centre:

Went to watch a musical called " Wedding". It was abt a miser who wanna marry his daughter Sooni to a rich official, but the daughter want to marry a servant in the household. They argued n finally when Sooni faked death den her dad finally gave in. The whole show was filled wif music n dances. The show incorporated the various aspects of the Korean traditional arts, like the fan dance, songs, the traditional Korean music ( played using the korean traditional instru) etc... It was fun n entertaining. After the show, my family took photo wif the cast of the show. I also tried on the traditional Korean costume. I chose one tt resembles tt wore by Jang Geum when she bcame the principal doctor of the king.

(Me!!!)

Misc:
Had Korean cuisine for dinner. Kimchi was extremely spicy! Haha... But quite delicious thoough. Used metal chopsticks to eat. haha... My first time using it. so fun. haha... Spend nite at Daejeon.


5th June (Mon)
Daejeon~Daegu

Mt. Maisan:

Saw lotsa stone statues at the temple on the top of the mountain. It was built by a monk alone when he came to stay there. The stones r stacked upwards by size to form a big structure. The great thing was tt the monk alone can do up such a big structure n the temple wifout others help. Amazing!! There r stories tt during winter and someone pray veri veri hard to the deity at the temple wif a bowl of clean water, icicles wif wordings would form. After the visit, my family stroll down the mountain to our dinning restaurant. On the way, we even saw a big lake. It was so beautiful...

~Went to Daegu (the hottest place in Korea during summer due it is basin like land shape.)~

Donghwa Temple:

Went there onli for a short while as the tour was running slightly behind schedule. Found out tt the buddhas r also divided into 3 catagories. Those tt guards the past, the present n the future. Other tt, also learnt tt in Korea, no matter wad religious, all the religious relater ppl r well respected.

Jungang-ro Street:
Din do much shopping due to the search for adapters, so tt we can charge our camera batt. However, due to being unable to communicate to the Korean speaking shopkeepers, we din manage to get any. Last resort is to borrow frm either the hotel or if nt our tour grp ppl. Mum gt a bag which cost 5000 won. so cool... Tt's considered cheap, when taking into consideration the high standard and cost of living in Korea.

Spavalley:
Onli went for the swimming pool part, as the steam rm requires ppl to enter naked.( Dun worry... Males n female dun share the same steam rm. Haha... ) Din wan to try, as i super super scared of hot n warm n rather shy abt it. It is the culture of the Korean tt daughters go for sauna wif their mum n sons goes wif their dad. They r nt conservative like us tt upon reaching a certain age, parent no longer bathe wif their children. The swimming pool had jacuzzi in it. So fun!! Haha....

Misc:
Learn abt the Korean History today. The tour guide told us the history abt hw Korea bcame wad it is today. Korea started off as a 3 countries, den bcame Kao Li, den Joseon and den the present Korea. However, due to the Korean war, Korea is nw divided into North n South Korea. Was taught some simple Korean phrases too... Below r some of it.
Gam sa ham ni da (Thank You)
A Ga Ssi (Miss)
A Je Ssi (Mister)
A Zhu Ma (Auntie)
Lunch was mushroon steam boat and dinner was stone bowl rice. I'm beginning to get use to the Korean Cuisine, and starting to like it.

(Mushrm steamboat at Mt Maisan)

6th June (Tue)
Daegu~Yong Pyong

Boat Ride:

Went on a boat ride to view some island tt is on a man made lake. The lake supplied water for most parts of Korea. (Sry ... Could nt remember the name of it) During the ride, we saw lotsa of mountains tt r quite perculiar. They had shapes like tortoise, candle, whales etc. Took lotsa of pic on the boat. Haha... This was n additional activity tt is nt on our original schedule as the tour guide discover tt we r nw ahead of schedule.

(Candle)

Dodamsanbong:

Went to view 3 small hills tt was in the middle of a huge lake. It was beautiful. However onli went down to take some photos cos there was nothing much to do there.

~Proceed to Yong Pyong~

Gondola ride:
As it was suppose to b a skiing resort, thus it was super deserted (It's summer nw). Took a 20 min Gondola ride up mountain. We went up to a height of 1450m above sea lvl. The ride was rather fun b cause we get to c realli beautiful sceneries. The top of the mountain was the filming site of the Korean serial Winter Sonata. I din watch the show anyway, so din realli noe wad romantic scene was took there. Took photo up there as there was a mini garden tt has colourful flowers. Then took a 20 min ride down again.

(Mum n i on top of mountain)

Misc:
Learn abt the poor lives of the Korean women. Thanks to Confucius, Women in Korea ( past n present) lead lives tt r rather sad. The "side effects" of confucius teachings cos women to get unequal treatment n the men. There was a saying a millionaire in Korea b comes bankrupt if his wife gives birth to 3 daughters. Firstly, large amt of dowry r paid by the parents of the daughter so as to ensure tt their daughter can get to lead a good life after marriage n nt get abused or bullied. Secondly, during a marriage, the man's family either rent or buy a hse, n after which the bride's family would hav to buy all the funitures n appliances to furnish n fill up the hse. Tt's so unfair! Product of sexism! Bride's family tt fail to do the above, the bride would experience hardship n pressure exerted by their mother-in-law after marriage. Mother-in-law would bully the bride jus like the way tt they were bullied, and tis pass on down the generation. Sad to say, the law failed to protect the females. The tour guide also said tt nw the situation is getting better. Last time was worse, thus it was said tt the ribbons on the Hanbok was frequently used as tissue to wipe tears in olden days when women r cooking in the kitchen as they fear tt their mother-in-laws wil c them in tears. Other than that, also learnt abt the hw some women went being divorced by their husband in olden times n cannt return to their parents hse thus either end up commiting suicide or as became prostitues. Law was extremely unfair to women in the past in Korea. Other than that, the respect tt Koreans had for those tt r older then them was also mentioned by the tour guide. Youngsters do nt smoke in front of ppl older den them due to being respectful.

As for lunch n dinner, i had a cross breed fish steam boat for lunch, (The fishy smell was so disgusting. Din like it) n pork steam boat for dinner. The pork steam boat was delicious. Apparently, Koreans likes pork n beef (due to many ppl cannt eat beef, thus it was nt served). had pork when ever there r meat on the dinning table.

7th June (Wed)
Yong Pyong ~ Seoul

~Proceed to Seoul~

MBC Dae Jang Geum Theme Park:

Was so excited abt it cos i love the Dae Jang Geum serial... haha... The site was actualli the filming studio of the serial itself. As the serial was so popular, thus the company den decided to keep the site intact for tourist to view. The filming site was rather small. Nt as grand n big as wad i tot.

The place where Jang Geum used to put Pine leaves in the nuts. In the film site, i rent the costume to wear. Selected the one tt Jang Geum where when she went she was promoted after the cooking compeitition tt determines whether she get to stay in the palace.

I took lotsa photos. My mum wore wad Jang Geum wore when she was given the name Dae Jang Geum. Also visited river tt was used to take the part where Jang Geum escape frm the palace to look for peasant wif Keum Young, the sulphur ducks n the bridge where the king n Jang Geum took night strolls. The romantic scenes between Jang Geum n Min Jung Ho was also taken at the site. All the various scenes were mostly being taken in the filming site itself. So cool. realli enjoy tis part of the tour, as i feel as if like i am watching the serial another time. Hee...

(Us at the Refrigeration rm where sauces etc r kept)

The Blue House:

That a drive through to view the predident's residence. Due to the strict restriction, thus din manage to get a close look of it.

Changduk Palace:

When to visit the Changduk palace which was the last residential place for the last King of korea. The place was extremely big n it resembles the look of a China palace. However, the colours used to paint the walls were nt similar to tt of China's palace. The tour guide of Changduk Palace gave us a rough introduction of the various places wifthin the palace. As the palace was still nt too far in history, thus cars n western furnishing can b seen in the palace. Tour the whole palace wif a grp of tourist frm Beijing. Some rather funnie parts tt me n my bro laughed at as the tourist gave sarcastic remarks.

Dongdaemum Market:
When to Dongdaemum market to shop. On the street tt we alight frm our tour bus was actualli huge shopping malls. It was said tt Dongdaemum is the place tt ppl look out for the most in style fashion trends. As the things there r rather expensive, thus we did nt buy much stuffs. The tour guide sort of misunderstand. He din noe tt we actualli wanted to buy the "street market" kind of things as small sovenirs n nt branded goods (if we wan branded stuff, we can always buy in s'pore). When to the opps street to shop at the small road side stalls for sovenirs.

Misc:
Had bbq pork for lunch n Ginseng Chicken for dinner. Din realli enjoy dinner as i dislike the smell of ginseng. haha... However, lunch was scrumptious. BBQ pork wif a special sauce n den wrap wif vege was so delicious. Watch Dae Jang Geum throughout the bus ride, thus din get to listen to much stories abt Korea's culture etc. However, did learn abt the look of a ginseng farm as we pass by many during our bus ride frm one place to another.


8th June (Thurs)
Seoul

Ginseng monopoly show room:
When to the place where the govt set up to sell the Korean Ginseng. Learnt that Ginseng can b differentiated into the diff yrs tt it had been planted. 1st n 2nd yr r called baby ginseng. 3rd n 4th yr ginseng n teens and is the most heaty one. 5th n 6th yr ginseng n the adult ginseng. 6th yr ginseng is the best and the ginseng in Korea tt r cultivated by farmers r all collected in the autumn of the 6th yr, so as to keep the ginseng in the best condition. The medical value of Ginseng is the best at it's 6th yr and after tt the values would deterioriate. My family din buy ginseng cos my dad says tt diff ppl hav diff health condition thus it is nt safe to take it wifout consulting doctors, despite the fact tt we noe tt Ginseng has veri high medical values. Thus, we would den go n consult a doctor when we return to singapore for chinese medicine to improve our health.

Kimchi making:

(Me in hanbok!!)

(Bro in official costume)

(Mum n dad in Hanbok n official costume respectively)

Lotteworld Adventure:

Went to Lotte world theme park. Bought the big 5 ticket again. Lotte world was so much more fun den Everland. Lotte world consist of both indoor n outdoor theme park. As the rides on the outside theme park was either nt thrilling at all de, if nt den is super thrilling tt i dun take de. Thus we stayed indoor. Took the Sinbad boat ride tt goes into tunnels where there r figurines tt portrayed villians etc. So nice... The effect was so marvellous. However, the ride gt me wet again!!! Haiz.... After tt, me n my bro rushed for viking ship again. Haha... This time e r determined nt to sit in the centre seat. chose the 3rd row frm the centre, however, shortly, we changed to the 2nd row frm the centre. Luckily we did tt. This viking ship ride was super siao. The ship sway to it's full height within 3 sways n the row furthest frm the centre almost touch the ceiling of the building(the building is 4 storey high). OMG!! Tt's so thrilling. But it's so fun!!! Feeling of committing suicide again. Haha.... When to watch a show tt has a combination of flame n water. So cool!! Conincidently, when i was walking to my 3rd ride, i met Jasmine. Haha... So qiao. actualli met Jasmine in Korea. Haha... so fun. When for Paroah's fury which we explored the various scenes of the pyramid on a jeep. rather bumpy ride but fun. So exciting. After tt, took artificial hot air balloon ride to view the whole place. After tt, i had 2 times on the carrousel. Haha... It may sound rather childish, when riding on it, it realli gives a rather fairy tale like and dreamy feeling. The carrousel was actualli the film site for a scene in the korean serial, Stairway to heaven.

Mt Namsan park:
The bus passed by Mt Namsan n we looked at the beautiful nite sceneries. With all the lights of the roads n the buildings, it looks so attractive n it gives sort of a dreamy feeling.

Misc:
Had lunch at a restaurant tt serve rice in a bamboo container n steamboat pork. The rice had a strong bamboo smell tt makes it taste even better. Collected our photos from the korean photographer tt had followed us on our tour since day 1. Was still guessing the price of the photo. We guess 20000 won (S$34), but it turn out to b 150000 won (abt S$255) OMG!! Din realise tt we took so much as 30 photos. Anyway, my dad bought all the photos frm the photographer, as he feels tt his service was gd n the photos were well taken. However, there r ppl in my tour grp tt din buy the photos at all or they took some of it onli.

9th June (Fri)
Seoul~Incheon~Singapore

Mingdong:
When Mingdong to shop after a scrumptious breakfast of Korean breakfast (had fried rice wif a special curry tt was nt spicy. Other than that, also hadthe usual korean side dishes like kimchi n seaweed). When we went there, the shop was still close. But took a walk ard. All tt was there were either shops selling branded goods, or food. No road side stalls. Din manage to find any hanbok shop. Thus decide to approach the tourist info counter. They told us tt it is onli available at Namdaemum Market.

Namdaemum Market:
When there to look for hanbok shop. Found two den realise tt the designs were nt traditional Korean style ( dun hav the long ribbons) and yet they cost at (S$170). So expensive. So end up din buy. So sad, but nvm, ask me to wear one tt is ugly, i rather nt wear. Haha.... Anyway, after tt, we shop ard for sovenirs. As there r many road side stalls, thus we went frm stalls to stalls to shops to shops to buy stuff. I've gt a Korean fan for myself. Haha... My mum bought lotsa of cute magnets wif characters in korean traditional costume. Haha. I'm gonna ask her to gif me some. Haha... Bought a Dae Jang Geum sovenir too. haha... I also bought a bag. Hee... Actualli almost my whole family all bought bags. Hee... Den went KFC for lunch.

~Proceed to Incheon~

Local speciality shop:
When to the shop to buy Korea's local products. The things there were extremely expensive. Haha... However, every 5 item bought, can get a same product for free. Thus we had 6 bottles of pomelo tea, n some snacks... Other than tt, we also had seaweed is kimchi flavoured. So nice... Haha... After buying stuff, the ppl helped us to packed all our food stuff into a box for easier carry.


Incheon International Airport:

(Bro n me wif Shuai ge Korean photographer [Left] n korean tour guide [Right])