Korea is almost just like what I imagined and saw in the shows. The street stalls, the snow, the beautiful sceneries, the buildings, the shopping districts and etc.
Together with LY and Mic, we went to South Korea by Korean Air (part of the package tour) on the night of 2nd March 2009 at 10.45pm. While boarding the plane, the air stewards and stewardess stood at their places and greet us with the typical polite Korean style- bow and “annyeonghaseyo”. Excited I was as I briefly felt Korea even before reaching the destination.
Honestly, the last time I stepped onto a plane was 9 years ago when I went to Thailand at the age of 10. So I didn’t realise that even on planes do I feel the signs of motion sickness until this trip. Terrible. I couldn’t even enjoy the list of movies available for us to watch on the TV screens which was placed in front of every passengers. It was a delight at first, when I discovered that the movies available were some of the latest ones that are being shown in theatres right now, like Slumdog Millionaire, Suspect X, Quantam of the Solace and so many more!
More so to my extreme excitement was discovering the list of Korean songs available on board! Shin Hye Sung, Big Bang, Davichi, 8eight, Brown Eyes, etc! Sadly they didn’t have DBSK’s album (probably due to the mindless age-limit ban).
I wanted to watch Slumdog Millionaire but the headache I got from motion sickness was unbearable. I had to sleep. But I slept while listening to the songs. :)
And the breakfast on board was a Korean dish delight! Instant bibimbap!
At that time, I first realised that the chilli sauce could actually come in the form of a tube! You pour the packed rice into the main dish and squeeze out the sauce, then MIX! Damn it tasted gooood. The preserved cucumber and soup was delicious as well. Nice!
The time when we were in Korea was a period of transition from Winter season to Spring. I wasn’t really expecting to see falling snow during our stay since it’s almost Spring but when we first arrived at Incheon Airport, my goodness! It was snowing outside! SNOWING. Not raining or drizzling but SNOWING. What a sight to behold.
I’ve never been to a cold country, much less witness falling snow. So I was extremely excited! All 3 of us were so excited!
This was around 7am Seoul Time.
Around 20 to 30 minutes later…
The trees and bushes are covered in a thin layer of snow! Beautiful, isn’t it? On our first day in Korea, almost everywhere in Seoul was covered in snow. On the way to Everland, I took some pictures of the scenery from inside the coach.
Man, I really love snow, especially when it’s falling.
We visited lots of places in Korea and many filled with unforgettable memories like walking under the snow in Everland, skiing for the first time in my life, playing in Lotte World, eating a live octopus, watching an A-rated LIVE performance, shooting our own “drama” on the filming site of Winter Sonata, shopping in Dong Dae Mun and etc!
Also while in Korea, in this short span of 7 days, I felt as if my Korean has improved by heaps! The street signs, the shop signs, the television programmes and shopping during our free and easy time really challenged my knowledge of the language. Oh and it really does help that I know some Korean because it’s really much easier while shopping there.
It is absolutely heaven that while in Korea, the TV programmes broadcasted are some of the ones which I really love watching! Every night in the hotel without fail, it is either Mic or I who switch the TV on. Both of us are fanatics of Korean entertainment. We caught variety shows like Happy Together, Infinity Challenge, Star Golden Bell and We Got married! The highlight was the drama which we caught on Tuesday night, 3rd March- BOYS OVER FLOWERS! Episode 17!
I was kind of expecting that we were able to watch at least one episode. Hehe. Seriously shoick even though there’re no subs. I could actually understand about half of the episodes because of my beginner Korean and the storyline.
While walking the streets of Seoul and Jeju, seeing posters of famous celebrities is a very common sight! And for a Korean entertainment fanatic like me, it’s just awesome. I turn my head here, it’s Lee Junki! I turn my head there, hey it’s SHINee. Oh it’s Big Bang! Hey there’s FT Island! And there’s Go Ara! Sadly, not much of DBSK due to their little activities in Korea. HOWEVER they did a huge endorsement in Korea last year before leaving for Japan and that’s why I was able to spot this gigantic poster of them hung on a rather prestigious building. That, I will mention in another blog entry some other time. ;)
Oh yes. During this trip, I discovered my travel woe- motion sickness. It is especially prominent while on the coach and the airplane. The headaches could get so bad I felt a little nauseous at times. Totally ruins my anticipation and excitement. And from place to place we always travelled by coach. Never once did I felt completely non-headachey. Daaaamn to motion sickness.
First day:
LY and I shared 2 large luggages (the red one on top and the black one) and 1 hand carry bag. The other 2 bags belonged to Mic.
Last day:
All that belonged to me and LY. :)
Shopping is just fantastic in Korea! Cosmetics/Skincare products (local brands) are SUUUUUUUUUPER cheap. Clothes are averagely priced (it’s a little bit cheaper than Fast East Plaza) but the designs are EXTREMELYYYYYYY nice and quality not bad.
Okay, that’s a brief overview of my trip to the Land of Morning Calm. I’ll be blogging separate entries about the places we visited and the activities we did. :)
P.S. Click on pictures to enlarge them!