annyeong haseyo...continuing to the 3rd day of our korea trip...for the 3rd day, we booked a city tour trip via airasiago.com since here at Malaysia...rate per pax was RM178....the tour covered the Presidential Blue House, National Folklore Museum, Kyeongbok Palace, Ginseng outlet, A Plus duty free cosmetic center, Amethyst Factory, Insadong Antique Street, Dongdaemun Market, Myeongdong, and together with lunch & diner...not bad and quite reasonable for RM178...
the tour guide and the driver came to fetch us at 8.30 am in the morning at our hotel...actually they arrived earlier than that but since we've been told that it will be 8.30, we then went down at about 8.20am...the tour guide's name was Simon Liu...a chinese korean...he was quite a funny guy together with his slang, was quite an entertaining guy...from our hotel, we then headed to the downtown area somewhere around Itaewon area to pickup another 2 ladies that took the same city tour trip as ours...fortunately, the other 2 ladies were from Malaysia, and were from KL too...that makes things easier as we had company from Malaysia and that it would be easier to arrange lunch for us....
so, 1st stop was the Presidential Blue House...this is where the South Korea's president's office is i think...similar to the White House...we were not allowed to go into the Presidential Blue House area, only could see & take pictures from afar...after that, off to the National Folklore Museum as it was located near the Presidential Blue House...in the National Folklore Museum, there are exhibits of the folklore and culture history of South Korea...exhibits such as clothes, costumes, palace, houses of the ancient korean were exhibited there...and also much other things can be seen there...after about half an hour there, the tour guide then took us to the Kyeongbok Palace which was also located near the area...the Kyeongbok Palace was one of the 4 main palace in Seoul...the surrounding area of the Presidential Blue House, National Folklore Museum and Kyeongbok Palace was really beautiful and breath taking...there's no where in Malaysia that you could see that kind of scenery...
the tour guide and the driver came to fetch us at 8.30 am in the morning at our hotel...actually they arrived earlier than that but since we've been told that it will be 8.30, we then went down at about 8.20am...the tour guide's name was Simon Liu...a chinese korean...he was quite a funny guy together with his slang, was quite an entertaining guy...from our hotel, we then headed to the downtown area somewhere around Itaewon area to pickup another 2 ladies that took the same city tour trip as ours...fortunately, the other 2 ladies were from Malaysia, and were from KL too...that makes things easier as we had company from Malaysia and that it would be easier to arrange lunch for us....
so, 1st stop was the Presidential Blue House...this is where the South Korea's president's office is i think...similar to the White House...we were not allowed to go into the Presidential Blue House area, only could see & take pictures from afar...after that, off to the National Folklore Museum as it was located near the Presidential Blue House...in the National Folklore Museum, there are exhibits of the folklore and culture history of South Korea...exhibits such as clothes, costumes, palace, houses of the ancient korean were exhibited there...and also much other things can be seen there...after about half an hour there, the tour guide then took us to the Kyeongbok Palace which was also located near the area...the Kyeongbok Palace was one of the 4 main palace in Seoul...the surrounding area of the Presidential Blue House, National Folklore Museum and Kyeongbok Palace was really beautiful and breath taking...there's no where in Malaysia that you could see that kind of scenery...
the Kyeongbok Palace was one of the Palace of the emperor of Korea...chinese elements can be seen on the palace as it is said that the ancient korean emperor had some connections and relations with the chinese history...the palace area was quite big...it consist of the emperor's bedroom, the queen's bedroom, bedroom for the winter season, a study room, the royal chamber room, an entertainment hall which was at the middle of a pond where the view was really spectacular, and also a very big lawn...after almost an hour tour lead by the tour guide, we then headed to the next destination, the Ginseng outlet...
at the Ginseng outlet, we were shown & brief about how Ginseng is cultivated...according to the guy who gave us the walkthrough, Korean Ginseng is one of the best Ginseng out there due to it is harvested only after 6 years which is why their packaging has the label 6...other normal Ginseng is harvested less than 6 years which makes them premature...however, Korean Ginseng are harvested only after the 6th year of cultivation, making it the best time to harvest and is matured enough....the sales person guy was so convincing that we bought the Ginseng capsules & also the Ginseng powder :P....and about the pricing, lets just assume it's around the same price as other Ginseng out there...and also, you couldn't get the Korean Ginseng anywhere outside of Korea as it is controlled by the Korean government...it was made exclusive that it can only be purchased in Korea...but however ofcourse, we can bring the Ginseng back to Malaysia...but a limit of 3 boxes only i think...and also, at the packaging, there's a Samsung label indicating that the product is insured under Samsung...let's say something happens to you due to the consumption of the Ginseng, you are covered under the Samsung insurance...so, we can see how reliable & assured their products are which made us convinced to purchase the Ginsengs...after that, we bought some other products made of ginseng such as chocolates & cereal bars and head to Itaewon to have lunch...
at Itaewon, we had lunch at a halal restaurant called the Foreign Restaurant...i had a briyani rice with lamb...was quite nice & delicious...was 12,000 won for the meal...the tour's budget per person for lunch was actually 6,000 won per person, so we topup ourselves for the remaining...was considered okay actually coz there's actually a meal at the price of 6,000 won...but since we wanted something more and a bit nice, we then decided to topup the remaining...for that price of that meal, was quite okay actually given that korea is a high cost of living country...that kind of meal here at Malaysia will come around to that price too actually...so was considered okay actually...after lunch, we then headed to the A Plus cosmetic center, a duty free cosmetic outlet...none of my interest, so only my wife & mother-in-law and the other 2 ladies walked around there and bought some stuffs...
at Itaewon, we had lunch at a halal restaurant called the Foreign Restaurant...i had a briyani rice with lamb...was quite nice & delicious...was 12,000 won for the meal...the tour's budget per person for lunch was actually 6,000 won per person, so we topup ourselves for the remaining...was considered okay actually coz there's actually a meal at the price of 6,000 won...but since we wanted something more and a bit nice, we then decided to topup the remaining...for that price of that meal, was quite okay actually given that korea is a high cost of living country...that kind of meal here at Malaysia will come around to that price too actually...so was considered okay actually...after lunch, we then headed to the A Plus cosmetic center, a duty free cosmetic outlet...none of my interest, so only my wife & mother-in-law and the other 2 ladies walked around there and bought some stuffs...
next stop was the Amethyst Factory...that place is where Amethyst is being made and being sold...the amethyst there was really nice & beautiful...due to it's high price tag, no way we were going to buy those...so just walking around and looking at the amethyst...then, off to Insadong Antique Street....at here, the whole is street was selling souveniers and also antique stuffs...most of our souveniers such as keychains, t-shirts, fridge magnets, etc. were bought here...pricing wise, not that cheap...average price of an item was 5,000 ~ 10,000 won...after about 40 minutes spent there, the tour guide then brought us to Dongdaemun Market...nothing much here, only a couple of shopping complex which one ot them we did not even went in and also some shops & stalls selling sun glasses, t-shirts, apparels & attires...nothing much to look and shop here...however, got myself a pair of sunglasses due to i left mine here at Malaysia...so just bought one coz the weather there was sunny during our stay there...
after about an hour hanging around there, the tour guide then brought us to the final stop, Myeongdong, one of Seoul's main shopping district...Myeongdong is really the cosmetic heaven of Seoul, and probably South East Asia...from Etude House to Holika Holika to Faceshop to Tony Moly and other numerous shops are at there...but not only cosmetic, even sporting shops & boutiques are available there...and it was definitely very crowded there...i think there was at least 3 Etude House outlets and 2 Holika Holika outlets there...over there, it was really a shopping paradise...and definitely a heaven for my wife, a cosmetic lover...i think it was at least a few hundred ringgit she spent there solely on cosmetics....definitely she was in shopping spree mode :P ....after about 1 hour there, it's time to head back to the hotel...by right, diner was also provided but we decided to have diner at hotel...so the tour guide gave us 6,000 won each for diner budget...the driver dropped the tour guide and the other 2 ladies near their hotel and then sent us back to our hotel...in about 40 minutes, we were then at our hotel...after having diner, it's time to call off for the day to energize for the next day's itinerary...the Nami Island tour...
stay tuned...
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