My First Ever Winter Wonderland Experience in Korea

First published on March 13, 2012, Tuesday

 

Up to this time, I'm still under spell of my winter wonderland trip. I don't want to wake up from my winter wonderland dream. I can't believe I'm back in Singapore. But, yes, I'm here again with reality in front of me.

The days we spent in Korea were so damn great. And I was proven wrong with all my preconceived ideas about the place. My world turned 360 degrees when I saw the mass of white thing from the windows of the plane. Korea is great, so as the people and foods. Yes, food. And I gained 3 kilos in 8 days. What do I expect? Korean food is so yummy! I never thought that I would actually fall in-love with the place. I wanna be there again. There are still lots to see and do. Hopefully next time would be in spring when everything starts to bloom and brag its beauty to the world again. That would be so very lovely!

The first time I set foot in Korea was a big "oh-yeah-snow!" reaction for me. I was like a child brought to a playground with totally different set-up from where I usually play everyday. And its true. It's my first time to see snow and it is really so-so fantastic for me. You can't blame me if I cannot hide my excitement. And bacause I am an alien in that place, small unfamiliar and weird things (at least, for me) gets my attention so quick. So, what? I was from the mountains afar from Korea, you can't blame me for acting like a real weirdo.Now, let me begin my childlike storytelling about our 8 wonderful days there.  I hope you guys bear with me.

I have this attitude that, whenever I am on a vacation or a place for a limited time, I always see to it that I maximize my time exploring or doing things that I need to finish. So, I did not let ourselves take a quick nap even if we were from 3days International Thanksgiving plus the fact that we had a night flight. In short, 4 days without decent sleep. After putting down our baggages, I immediately dragged my husband to Seoul Tower at Namsam. On getting to the tower, you can take a cable car ride, get a taxi, or walk if you are healthy and strong enough to walk up hill. The place was near our hotel but since we were still tired, we chose to get a cab instead of walking.

Since we have chosen to travel on a winter, I have no choice but to courageously endure the  -7degrees celcius that night! Hahaha! Nevertheless, the negative temperature is equally blasting with the view of the Seoul city lights  and the taste of what a real chilling cold place is. The view was perfectly awesome. We came at the tower at the right timing- at night! Aside from city lights  view, we also experienced to watch the illumination show that is being played daily from 7pm-12am. On each floor of the tower, there are also some other more interesting things to see like souvenir shops, beauty stores, cafes and restaurants, and a lot more.

 MYEANGDONG

After we enjoyed the view on top of the tower, we went to Myeongdong, one of the expensive shopping centers in the world and the representative shopping district of Seoul. You can find here the mid-to-high priced retail stores and a few branded product stores. I am not really a big fan of shopping, but we still explored the place. We are aliens in Seoul, remember? Same with Singaporeans, Koreans are lovers of fashion and yes, beauty products!

A day at YONGPYONG Ski Resort

Of all the places that we were scheduled to visit in Korea, my loving husband was so excited about this second day- the Ski day! I guess, (Yes, I just guessed) he has been imagining himself sliding effortlessly down the snow-covered hills with complete gears on!

However, this second day was a half-failure for him and maybe, to Mun and Roy, our companions in the coach- ah I mean, school bus hahaha. You heard it right, school bus. That's how ridiculous the travel agent was.What made the trip a bit more annoying were the driver and the guide who accompanied us. They were both first timers. And the sadder part, they cannot speak simple English. The saddest part, they didn't spend effort to at least talk to us in any manner they know (hand gestures, maybe? hehehe) and let us know what was going on. We kept roaming around Yongpyong area and no one among us knew that we're actually lost.  But with all honesty, I really cared less (or did'nt care at all, maybe) compared with the three adults I was with in that trip. My mind is just within the level of Mun and Roi's children. We we're busy with our own worlds. We enjoyed the joyride hahaha! I enjoyed all the things I saw along the way. The frozen lake, the snow on the road and trees. It is the journey not the trip, so the saying goes.

 

My happy day became more interesting as we had this nice couple with us to spend the day with. After experiencing the "lost" moment again with Uncle Driver (Yeah, he got lost again in Seoul on our way back. Unbelievable!), we had a sumptuous dinner in a restaurant near their hotel. With a Korean barbeque on the table, we talked about lot of things. Oh, I forgot to mention, Mun, the wife is a Korean raised in US. She has shared a lot about Korean culture. How Koreans do this and that. Though she was raised in the US, here deep-rooted Korean values are in here system as her parents trained her in that manner. They also shared their experiences their life in Shanghai where they presently stay because her pilot husband landed a good-paying job there. From them, I learrned a bit about Chinese culture. though We've been in Shanghai two years ago, I didn't get an ample time to mingle with them. I now understand from Mun and Roy why Chinese people do what they do. And now, Vicky (my China Girlfriend cum workmate) will not piss me off now. I now understand her hehehe.

The Boring but not boring Gyeongju day!

 

Well, it is true. The place was quite boring. The places we visited in Gyeongju were temples and and a tombs park. Those places did not amaze us. Firstly, we've got nothing to do there aside from seeing some relics and artifacts. Duh! I am not interested. Secondly, they've got religious touch and that made the boredom level go a bit higher. Well, those who know me probably can guess why. Thirdly, we are more into fascinating scenery and views, anf themed parks. But then, because of our jolly tour guide, Ms. ___________(I forgot the name, oh oh!), the day became almost as lovely as the rest of the days because she is was good enough to make the boring tour interesting. She also got a lot of "extras" in her pocket that she was able to use as weapon to handle us. To add on these, I learned a lot of funny and not-so-funny facts about Korea from her. Let me mention some things that I can remember:

1. We consider pork as unhealthy food regardless of the way it was cooked. In Korea, t is the other way around. Eating steamed pork everyday is a very health practice.

2. Only Koreans are using medium length stainless or brass steel rods that taper to a square blunted end.

Korean metal chopsticks are lavishly adorned in the untapered tip. The tapered chopsticks give additional surface area for holding food and for shoveling rice.

3. For everyday, all-day-long interaction, "annyeong haseyo" is the greeting used and it means "Are you at peace?" in English; 'where' is 'Eodi, 'thank-you' is 'Gomapseumnida'and 'Bang' is a room.So, men's room can be translated as "HE Bang" and ladies' room is "SHE bang". Hehehe, I am so very corny.

Honestly, I like her so much. She's got this positive aura that attracts light feelings. From the time she fetched us until we parted ways the following day when she drove us to the train station, the smile on her face seems to be built in. I hope a had an aura like her. I know, most of the time I look so snobbish. :(

 

 

Falling in-love with Busan and Jeju  

 

Busan and Jeju are equally tourist-drawing place as Seoul. Most of the attractions found here are more on Sight-seeing and nature tripping. And we loved it so much! In Busan we visited 5 places: First is Yungdusan Park.  The tour guide, Mr. Kim, said that it is called Yongdusan because the shape of the mountain looks like the head of a dragon that climbs to land from sea. In this park is where the Busan Tower is also located. As i have researched, a traditional dance troupe perform on weekends in the courtyard next to the tower, and sad because we were there on a weekday.   The next place we visited is the UN Memorial Park. The cemetery was built in January 1951 to pay tribute to all those men who lost their lives in defense of the Korea. We also visited The Jacalchi Market. Well, I was wondering why a market was on our itinerary. hehehe. Anyway, the market was no neat. The smell was'nt foul and they are selling live sea foods! After walking around the wet market, we stroll along the street of Kukje market. It is like Divisoria. Cheap clothes, foods, and random stuff are being sold in every corner. If in the Divisoria they sell lugaw (porridge) and cold drinks in the middle of the street, in Kukje they sell ramen and tea. Afterwhich, we went to uuhhmmm... I forgot the name hehehe. It was not on our itinerary, it is a place where we tried on the traditional Korean clothes. hahaha. We enjoyed that trip filler. Mr kim said that we finished too early so he brought us to this place to burn time :) So sweet.

 

 

After a day in Busan, we spent the next two days in Jeju. I really fought for this Jeju thing. I dont know why. I just wanted to see the place. In my head, I do not know if I will ever set my feet again in Korea so I better insist. And I am right, the place is perfectly awesome.

Here are the places we visited:

1.Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as the  ‘Sunrise Peak’. This archetypal this tuff cone is 182 meters high, and we conquered it. Yipee!

2. Seongup folk village - 2. Seongup Jeju Folk Village features traditional Jeju folk village. It is typically Asian- the simple, practical, harmonious.

3. Haenyo Museum - At first, I thought we will be seeing those real women sea divers as they have not mentioned so much about what it is all about. The place is just a museum that represents The haenyo, literally meaning "sea women". They are female divers in the Korean province of Jeju and representatiing the matriarchal family structure of Jeju.

4. Manjanggul Heritage - The Manjanggul Lava Tube is such a long tunnel but we were able to see a portion of it. That's all. It's amazing but not much to see and enjoy.

5. Kimnyoung Maze Park - it is actually a labyrinth of fun and delight. Dr Frederic Bellingham from Washington designed it.  The maze is made up of Leyland Cypress, a tough and hybrid plant suitable to the climate of Jeju all throughout the year. The maze looks so simple but its not. According to the tour guide, not all who came in finished the maze. 60% were successful, 30% turned their backs, 10% were rescued. Ajie and I? Of course, we finished the maze without being rescued LOL. Yabang lang :)) We really had fun doing it!

6. Dongmun Traditional market- Again, I don't understand why a market is in our itinerary. But we still went there, anyway. its just a normal market showcasing a lot of fresh veggies and seafoods. What I liked about the place is, it is so clean. You will not be worried about your boots messing up with mud.

 

 

7. Osulloc Green Tea Museum -   The island has an idealistic climate and excellent geographical conditions for producing good tea. The museum building is modeled after a green tea cup and has a grass square and walkway with a pavilion and bridge. The road through the tea field is a famous for a place for couples to go for a walk while on a date. Inside the museum, a cup gallery displays tea items and tea sets, a tea culture room allows visitors to view many types of tea, and a gift shop where visitors can purchase various types of tea, tea-related food, green tea ice cream, and gifts. Visitors can also view the endless green tea field, Halla-san, Sanbang-san, and the ocean scenery from the third floor observatory. The view from there is very relaxing.

8. Hallim Park - Hallim Park showcases eight themed areas to explore: Palm Tree Avenue, Subtropical Botanical Garden, Hyeopjae and Ssangyong caves, Stone and Bonsai Garden, Jae-am Folk Village, Bird Garden, Water garden, and Jae-Am Stone Exhibition Hall. There’s so much to do that it’s worth making a day trip to fully explore, and worth remembering to bring something warm to wear for the journey into the caves. In our case, we don't have that whole day, sad to say. Our time to explore the area was so limited so, we missed to see some areas. All I can say is, the place is awesome.

9. Cheonjiyeon waterfalls- The falls is so charming. That is all I can say.

10. Saeseom (Sod Island) - On Saeyeon Bridge, The footbridge is the longest ever built in Korea, and is decorated with splendid, colorful LED lights. In addition, the bridge has been built using a new method in bridge construction, which means that instead of using wires to support both sides of the bridge, they are only used to support one. This allows for greater freedom of design and unobstructed views from the walkway.

11. Yakcheonsa - This prayer hall is the largest in Asia. Visistors got a lot of areas to explore here. The main temple got a lot of floors and balconies that overlook the Buddha. However, we do not believe in Buddha so it has no appeal to us. So, let us move on to the next place :))

12. Jusangjeolli- The Jusangjeolli are stone pillars piled up along the coast and is a designated cultural monument of Jejudo Island. The Jusangjeolli was formed when the lava from Mt.Hallasan erupted into the sea of Jungmun. They are rock pillars shaped like cubes or hexagons of various sizes and almost seem as if stonemasons had carved them out. The waves of the high tides crashing into the side of the cliff provide a breathtaking view of the ocean surrounding the  pillar.

 

 

The Nami Day! (I met Jhun Khang in.... In pictures!)

 

The time we spent in Nami was so short. So, it equally means that we need to go back there :))

Nami became popular to me because I was once hooked in the Winter Sonata Craze. Who among you have forgotten Janice and Jun Khang, anyway? On that same day, we left Jeju. So, right after we reached hotel, we just dropped our things and we flew to Nami Island right away. The travel was around 2hrs. If you will visit Korea, here's how to get there. The main things they promote there, aside from the place itself are ceramic accessories, glass crafts, glass cups and Hangnam Chinaware.

 

We love adventure and action,so to NEVERLAND we went!

Neverland, as of this writing, is the best themed park I have been to. Compared to Sentosa and Universal Studios here in Singapore, its a lot better. The place is much, much bigger, more rides and shows, and way lot cheaper. Not mentioning the fact that the rides are fantastic. I don't think 2days will be enough to get around and enjoy all the rides and shows. And because of that, I will pester my Beybiaj my husband so we go back here. Sssshhhh! Let this be a secret so he'll be surprised. If you want to discover more on what Neverland can offer, check it out here!

 

 

Well, Korea. I am looking forward to see once more in the future ;)

 (All of these took place last 26December2011-02January2012)