Fly to Seoul : Day 4 (Nami Island, Teddy Bear Museum and Namsan Seoul Tower)

annyeong haseyo...we continue with our day 4 Korea trip...day 4 is Winter Sonata mode day as we went to Nami Island, the location where the famous Winter Sonata series was shoot...we booked the Winter Sonata tour via VIP Travel tour as we booked it thru the hotel where we stay...and again, the 2 Malaysian ladies from our previous day trip joined us for the trip as well as they wanted to join us to go to Nami Island...this time the van tour picked them up first and after that came to pick us up at about 8.30am...so, off we went to head to Nami Island...this time our tour guide was a Korean lady named Sofy...Sofy was okay but wasn't as entertaining as Simon was...the journey took about an hour and a half...

since it was an island, we need to go to the island via a ferry and there's no bridge going there...but it was only a 5 minutes long from the jetty to the Nami Island...all admission fee was taken care by Sofy...from a far, the Nami Island looks quite beautiful...once we were on the Nami Island, the scenery, the environment & the surrounding was just spectacular...it was really beautiful how they set the place up...it's hard to find the words to describe it...i'll let my pics tell the story :P ....

there were a few hot spots where the scenes of Winter Sonata was shoot...those spots were quite always crowded...we had to somehow queue up to snap at the hot spots...Sofy gave us about 1 hour and 45 minutes to walk around and wander around the island while she waited at the place where the ferry dropped us...almost every spot on the island was not left out for me to snap pictures...there were at least 100 shots taken at the Nami Island...the island wasn't that big actually which is why people can round the island on foot...it's actually a small island...but there are restaurants and chalets at the island for those who would like to stay or dine at the Nami Island...

in less than an hour and 45 minutes, we were done touring the island...it's time to leave the island and have lunch...Sofy brought us lunch at a restaurant somewhere around the jetty area...the restaurant sells meat but no pork, so we were okay with that and we had vegetarian dishes...was okay for the 3 of us but not for the other 2 ladies...probably because one of the dishes was cold, not really the cup of tea for Malaysians...then after lunch Sofy brought us to Petite France, a French Village built meant for exhibition & education purpose...not really a French village but some sort of a replica...the tour itinerary was supposed to bring us to the Ginseng outlet, but since we've covered that the day before, we then decided to go to Petite France...

took about 20 minutes to reach there...since it wasn't in our tour itinerary, we needed to fork out our own money for the entrance fee, but it was okay, the admission fee wasn't that expensive...the village was not big and nothing much to WOW about, but the landscape and scenery was quite beautiful & unique...was worth the penny...after about an hour, the tour ends and we asked Sofy to send us to the place near the Namsan Seoul Tower as the 3 of us wanted to continue our own personal tour while the other 2 ladies went back to their hotel as they need to charge the camera battery and to have something to eat...the Namsan Seoul Tower is actually located at the Namsan Mountain, near Myeongdong area, the place where the cosmetics heaven is located...there are 2 ways to go up to the Namsan Seoul Tower...number 1 is via the cable car at the cable station at the foot of the mountain, and number 2 is by foot walking along the road going up to the mountain...and ofcourse, we chose option number 1 since my mother-in-law was together with us...ticket price was 7,500 won for a return journey...

after purchasing the ticket and waited for the cable car to arrive, in about 10 minutes we then arrived at the Namsan Seoul Tower...there were quite many people there that made us wondering coz it was a normal weekday...probably Korean people like to hang out at outside after school & working hours...the Namsan Seoul Tower is similar to our local KL Tower here overseeing the whole city of KL...same goes to the Namsan Seoul Tower, it overlooks the whole city of Seoul which i think was at least 30 times bigger than KL...like our KL Tower, in order to go up, we need to purchase a ticket...we bought a 2-in-1 ticket at there, to go up to Namsan Seoul Tower and to go into the Teddy Bear Museum...sorry as i couldn't recall how much the admission fee was but u could always go to their website to find out...so, after purchasing the ticket, we went to the Teddy Bear Museum first...in there, there were exhibits of teddy bear where the teddy bears moves!...it was really damn cute i tell u...little teddy bears moving around, dancing, etc...really must not miss this if u ever go to the Namsan Seoul Tower...there are 2 museums of the Teddy Bear Museum...the 2 museums are apart, so after u exit the 1st museum, u need to enter the 2nd one as they are not connected together and they have 2 separate entrance and exits...

after that, we then proceed to go up to the observation tower...when we were up there, we can see the whole of Seoul...wow, it was really big and packed!...like i said, i think Seoul is at least 30 times bigger than KL...we went circling the whole tower deck and all we saw was skyscrapers & tall buildings which were all cramp together...no wonder almost every car in Seoul has a GPS...Seoul is really , really big which u can easily get lost in the middle of the building forest...Seoul truly is one of the South East Asia pride...after spending almost half an hour up there, we then decided to go down to head back to the hotel...went down from the observation tower and bought some souvenirs, as usual :P ...before heading back to our hotel, we went again to Myeongdong as my wife had a few more cosmetic products to look for...after about 20 minutes there, we then took the subway from Myeongdong station line 4 to Sadang station, then changed to line 2 heading to Seollung station exit 4, to head back to our hotel...reached our hotel at about 9.20 pm local time...after having some light meal, went to bed to call off for the day...

next day itinerary, Lotte World!...stay tuned...

entering adulthood ep. 8

annyeong haseyo...due to the Korea trip post will be hefty long, decided to add this post first in between the Korea trip posts...

last weekend on Friday, after work, me & my wife head to Malacca to put up a night at the Naza Talyya hotel as the next day we had a wedding reception tu attend...it's the wedding of my master classmate, Siti Rufaidah a.k.a Rufai...my wife knew her too since Rufai was my ex-classmate and they had a girls outing a couple of times before...

so, immediately after work, we shoot straight away to Malacca...again, my Garmin Asus was the saviour that led us to the Naza Talyya Hotel Malacca...the journey took about 2 hours as there was 1 part at the highway was jem due to road bottle neck...at about 7.30 pm, we reached the hotel...took our luggage, went to the reception and present the reservation voucher made via Agoda.com and went to our room...the room was surprisingly very okay for a RM98 a room per nite...however, it was a 2 single bed room instead of a queen bed room...but not a problem at all for us...the room even had a sofa which can accomodate 1 more person actually...overall, was really satisfied with the room...

after putting our luggages, we then went out to have diner...we had our diner at Medan Ikan Bakar Muara Sg Duyong...luckily the location was in my Garmin Asus GPS map as i had updated the map a few weeks ago...so the journey was a breeze without needing to ask around...arrived there after about 20 minutes of drive...ordered our dishes and after that realized that we don't have enough cash...crap!...so i went to the counter, asked how much had we already ordered so far and also asked if credit card is accepted...but the lady said 'NO', only cash is accepted...double crap as we only had RM80 cash with us...then she calculated and said that so far our order was only RM66...phewww~...damn relieved...so, if you're planning to have ikan bakar there, do bring extra cash as they do not accept credit card...

after a few minutes, our dishes then arrives...wow~...it was really mouth watering the dishes were...no wonder it was RM66...but it was really worth it...after almost an hour pleasing our hunger, we then paid (with relieve :P) and head back to our hotel...did some of my office work and then went to bed to call off for the day...

the next day morning, we had simple breakfast at the hotel as we already bought some buns before that...then at about 11 am, we checked out from the hotel and hit the road to head to Segamat where the wedding reception is...journey took almost 3 hours as the PLUS highway only reaches Tangkak and from Tangkak to Segamat, we had to drive via the normal road...reached Rufai's house at about 2pm...met her, took a few snaps of pics and it's time to makan...not long after that, one of my other ex masters classmate arrived...so he & his family joined us...after about an hour of makan, short chat & a couple more of picture taking session, me & my wife then hit the road to head back to KL...

would like to take this oppurtunity to congratz Rufai once again...congratz rufai...

stay tuned for my next Korea trip post...

Fly to Seoul : Day 3 (City Tour)

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 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...

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...