Korea Trip - Part 2.
DAY 4
We left Jeju and flew to Seoul, which is colder than all of the places we visited. We had bibimbap for lunch, something I never tried. It was delicious.
The first location we went was Nami Island, a self-governing country, It was very known for the Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I didn't watch the drama, but I know the island is filled with beautiful Maple and Ginkgo trees.
This is the reason why me and mom decided to visit Korea during autumn. Unfortunately, we were probably a week too early. The leaves already turned yellow or red, but not completely. It's still a beautiful sight, but it could be better.
I believe you can spend a whole day on the island, you can even stay in the resorts here. But of course, we didn't have that luxury.
We took a boat back to the main island and our tour guide took us to visit an aunty and her fruit stall. My mom and I bought a peach, which is not something we get to see or eat every day.
We had dak-galbi chicken for dinner and it was great. After that, we stayed in a ski resort for a night, which doesn't make sense at all because we left the resort in the morning. What's the point of that?
The resort had lots of things to do and its own supermarket, which is cool. But if you're not there for skiing or for the water park in the summer, there's no point in staying there.
DAY 5
When we left the resort, we saw many beautiful autumn trees. It was such a wonderful sight, except we were on a bus and we can't stop and our tour guide gets pissy if we stare out the window.
On this day, we spent our time at Lotte World. The first thing we did was visiting the Lotte World Tower which is 123 floors high. On the highest floors you can get the view of Seoul and the Han River.
We visited the Aquarium next which is some distance away. I been to many aquariums in my life so I'm not particularly impressed with anything. We had shrimp burgers at Lotteria later.
And then we went to one of the places I've been looking forward to─ the Lotte World Theme Park.
I don't know why I always end up going to theme parks during Halloween but I was terrified when I found out the theme park was decorated in a Halloween theme. I never realized it was that season. At least I didn't have to stay after the sunset.
I got the information that the more thrilling rides were outdoors, so that's where I went. The first ride I queue for was the Gyro Drop, which is similar to Space Shot in Genting. Took about 40 minutes, but it was great!
The second and last ride I queue for was Atlantis, which took me two hours. Was the ride great? Yeah. Was it worth the two hour wait in the cold? Not really.
And just like that, I left the theme park. I can't blame the queue because it's expected. It's just it's unfortunate that tours don't give time for people who truly want to enjoy theme parks, which is just me out of the 20 other tour members.
We had our dinner at Todai, an expensive buffet restaurant. They served lots of things to eat, including snow crabs. Their dessert was great too. But of course, we weren't given enough time.
We stayed at Novotel in Seoul, which is nice I guess.
DAY 6
This was the shittiest day in this whole tour.
It's the day when the tour would bring you to "tourist shops" and try to get you to buy expensive items. We went to four shops (selling Ginseng, cosmetics, seaweed, Lingzhi) and in all shops I was wearing the most bored face in my life.
Well, the shop selling the seaweed was better than the rest because I actually like seaweed. And it's right beside the YG Entertainment building! I totally didn't expect that! Our tour guide didn't know acknowledge it at all, but me and the young tour leader fangirled at the sight of it.
The whole shopping thing pretty much took the whole day. By the time we're done, we're given time to walk around the area near our hotel. Lots of shops and restaurants to see.
Ever since the first day, the tour have been asking our tour guide for Korean fried chicken. And we were supposed to have it on this day. But when the old people in our tour realized it's more of a supper meal, they just gave up! WTH?!?!?!?
Except me and my mom. We decided to skip dinner and asked our tour guide to order for us, because according to him, the best fried chicken brand is only by delivery. We were okay with that.
Fast forward to 9PM, I went down to the hotel lobby wearing only a dress, a jacket, and slippers. I didn't dress warmly because I didn't expect to be waiting there for so long. I even went outside for a while, afraid that I would miss the delivery guy.
But he never came, and I made a fool out of myself by asking the receptionist and a random delivery guy about my fried chicken.
Turns out, someone forgot about our order! It was either the tour guide that forgot to make the order, or the fried chicken shop that forgot. It was really frustrating. But me and my mom got fried chicken anyway from a nearby restaurant.
It was okay. Our tour guide never apologized for the mistake.
DAY 7
On our final day in Korea, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We got to wear the traditional Korean attire, hanbok. I really liked the colours I chosed for my hanbok.
The palace itself wasn't really that impressive. There wasn't amazing architectural designs or buildings. It was just different palace rooms on a land. It wasn't even the original structure because the Japanese burned the original palace down.
There was a play going on with the actors in traditional clothing, but of course, we didn't have time to watch it.
After the visit to the palace, we went to the final store where I bought some tea. Then, we head to Incheon airport where we bid our tour guide goodbye.
---
If you feel underwhelmed while reading these posts about my Korea trip, it's because it is underwhelming for me. I thought it was very average, and I wouldn't consider going back soon.
However, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the Korean culture. I know more about it now and I'm glad I had a knowledgeable tour guide to show us the way of the Koreans.
I have a lot of thoughts about the country, the people, their way of life. I'm gonna share these thoughts in another post, because I don't think they fit in here.
---
Read Part 1.
Read Part 3.
We left Jeju and flew to Seoul, which is colder than all of the places we visited. We had bibimbap for lunch, something I never tried. It was delicious.
The first location we went was Nami Island, a self-governing country, It was very known for the Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I didn't watch the drama, but I know the island is filled with beautiful Maple and Ginkgo trees.
This is the reason why me and mom decided to visit Korea during autumn. Unfortunately, we were probably a week too early. The leaves already turned yellow or red, but not completely. It's still a beautiful sight, but it could be better.
I believe you can spend a whole day on the island, you can even stay in the resorts here. But of course, we didn't have that luxury.
We took a boat back to the main island and our tour guide took us to visit an aunty and her fruit stall. My mom and I bought a peach, which is not something we get to see or eat every day.
We had dak-galbi chicken for dinner and it was great. After that, we stayed in a ski resort for a night, which doesn't make sense at all because we left the resort in the morning. What's the point of that?
The resort had lots of things to do and its own supermarket, which is cool. But if you're not there for skiing or for the water park in the summer, there's no point in staying there.
DAY 5
When we left the resort, we saw many beautiful autumn trees. It was such a wonderful sight, except we were on a bus and we can't stop and our tour guide gets pissy if we stare out the window.
On this day, we spent our time at Lotte World. The first thing we did was visiting the Lotte World Tower which is 123 floors high. On the highest floors you can get the view of Seoul and the Han River.
We visited the Aquarium next which is some distance away. I been to many aquariums in my life so I'm not particularly impressed with anything. We had shrimp burgers at Lotteria later.
And then we went to one of the places I've been looking forward to─ the Lotte World Theme Park.
I don't know why I always end up going to theme parks during Halloween but I was terrified when I found out the theme park was decorated in a Halloween theme. I never realized it was that season. At least I didn't have to stay after the sunset.
I got the information that the more thrilling rides were outdoors, so that's where I went. The first ride I queue for was the Gyro Drop, which is similar to Space Shot in Genting. Took about 40 minutes, but it was great!
The second and last ride I queue for was Atlantis, which took me two hours. Was the ride great? Yeah. Was it worth the two hour wait in the cold? Not really.
And just like that, I left the theme park. I can't blame the queue because it's expected. It's just it's unfortunate that tours don't give time for people who truly want to enjoy theme parks, which is just me out of the 20 other tour members.
We had our dinner at Todai, an expensive buffet restaurant. They served lots of things to eat, including snow crabs. Their dessert was great too. But of course, we weren't given enough time.
We stayed at Novotel in Seoul, which is nice I guess.
DAY 6
This was the shittiest day in this whole tour.
It's the day when the tour would bring you to "tourist shops" and try to get you to buy expensive items. We went to four shops (selling Ginseng, cosmetics, seaweed, Lingzhi) and in all shops I was wearing the most bored face in my life.
Well, the shop selling the seaweed was better than the rest because I actually like seaweed. And it's right beside the YG Entertainment building! I totally didn't expect that! Our tour guide didn't know acknowledge it at all, but me and the young tour leader fangirled at the sight of it.
Didn't spot my favourite celebrities because they're either in the army, overseas, or have already disbanded.
Ever since the first day, the tour have been asking our tour guide for Korean fried chicken. And we were supposed to have it on this day. But when the old people in our tour realized it's more of a supper meal, they just gave up! WTH?!?!?!?
Except me and my mom. We decided to skip dinner and asked our tour guide to order for us, because according to him, the best fried chicken brand is only by delivery. We were okay with that.
Fast forward to 9PM, I went down to the hotel lobby wearing only a dress, a jacket, and slippers. I didn't dress warmly because I didn't expect to be waiting there for so long. I even went outside for a while, afraid that I would miss the delivery guy.
But he never came, and I made a fool out of myself by asking the receptionist and a random delivery guy about my fried chicken.
Turns out, someone forgot about our order! It was either the tour guide that forgot to make the order, or the fried chicken shop that forgot. It was really frustrating. But me and my mom got fried chicken anyway from a nearby restaurant.
It was okay. Our tour guide never apologized for the mistake.
DAY 7
On our final day in Korea, we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We got to wear the traditional Korean attire, hanbok. I really liked the colours I chosed for my hanbok.
The palace itself wasn't really that impressive. There wasn't amazing architectural designs or buildings. It was just different palace rooms on a land. It wasn't even the original structure because the Japanese burned the original palace down.
There was a play going on with the actors in traditional clothing, but of course, we didn't have time to watch it.
After the visit to the palace, we went to the final store where I bought some tea. Then, we head to Incheon airport where we bid our tour guide goodbye.
---
If you feel underwhelmed while reading these posts about my Korea trip, it's because it is underwhelming for me. I thought it was very average, and I wouldn't consider going back soon.
However, that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the Korean culture. I know more about it now and I'm glad I had a knowledgeable tour guide to show us the way of the Koreans.
I have a lot of thoughts about the country, the people, their way of life. I'm gonna share these thoughts in another post, because I don't think they fit in here.
---
Read Part 1.
Read Part 3.
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