Category: Travel

From Gapyong, we took a taxi to the Nami Island Jetty. Nami Island is where mmmm Yong Jun and Ji Wu rode a bicycle and kissed all those mushy stuff. I don’t watch Winter Sonata by the way, Jane watched it.

Unfortunately, since its autumn, the sun sets by 5PM. We wandered around the island in the dark but thank god few parts of it were lighted! The weather was freezing as well. We had to get ourselves bottled warm drinks to warm our fingers.

This time round, we managed to get to Cheongnyanyi in time. I got myself the latest Christmas Stamp issue at the Post Office there. w00t! While waiting for Jane to make a phone call, an old man pushing a cart of bananas was shouting loudly in Korean. Jane and I had no idea what he was doing. It sounded like he was trying to sell his bananas but in an angry tone. Maybe gone crazy due to the Korean War.

Chuncheong is the place where the famous Korean Drama, Winter Sonata was shot. It is also very popular in Japan. I heard many Japanese obasans (aunties) were injured after trying to catch a glimpse of the main actor, Bai Yong Jun when he visited Japan.
Yong Jun’s face is everywhere. I see his face more than the President’s face. Japanese obasans were everywhere as well.

There is a Winter Sonata tour as well. One can hire tour guides to bring you around . Jane and I decided to go on our own. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out well. We got lost and even missed our train! We only managed to visit the part where Yong Jun and Choi Ji Wu first met. There were couple of souvenir stalls selling Bai Yong Jun merchandise and a Yong Jun mannequin.

We wanted to go to Chongdo Island (also where Winter Sonata was shot). We couldn’t find the jetty though. We ended up abandoning that plan and also missing our train to Gapyong.

Since we had to wait for an hour for the next train, I decided to commit a crime. I stole a stamp from an abandon post box. Hehe

We had dinner at Dongdaemun. Initially we didn’t know where to eat but after passing a Korean restaurant with Japanese words, we decided to eat there.

Dongdaemun is a must when visiting Seoul. It consists of endless roads of shops and markets. For sports wear, head to the Dongdaemun station. Be prepared to bargain.

Souvenirs are abundant there as well. I bought couple of Gundam keychains 😀

After a long walk, we rested at a café. The café had a funny looking cake. It looked like spaghetti cake.

Another thing to take note in Seoul is the shopping centres. Sometimes they would hold a performance or ask some of their customers to perform on stage. The one we saw was a dancing competition. It was really amusing as a weird looking schoolgirl did a sexy dance on stage. Unfortunately, she didn’t win the competition.

She danced too much till the hostess had to pull her away. Then during the finals (she was eliminated in the semi finals), she gatecrashed the stage and danced. She got kicked out of course.

We woke up late, very late. We couldn’t make it in time for Chuncheong.

While walking around Cheongnyanyi, we sat a group of ladies preparing kimchi in front of Lotte Shopping Centre. They were stuffing some red coloured paste into the cabbages and a man was announcing something. Sounds like they were trying to break the world record..

With the huge amount of spare time, we ate some sort of grilled octopus with vegetables for lunch at a home like styled restaurant. Jane was fascinated with the huge scissors the lady used to cut the meat. The scissor was as big as her face!

We then spent the entire day reading map and writing post cards. We bought a pack of postcards with 12 postcards in it from the palace souvenir shop.

We had some time left before the sun sets. Wasting no time, we headed to Gyeongbukgung Palace. It is bigger than Deoksugong Palace. However, there were not many artefacts lefts and most of the buildings were newly built. This was due to the fact that most of the buildings were destroyed during the Japanese occupation. Hence, most of the buildings were just a shell with nothing inside.

We were lucky to witness the guards changing ceremony. Actors dressed in traditional clothing with weapons would give a great performance. However, it was just a procedure, no kungfu or fighting action can be seen.

Jane wanted to try the traditional costumes provided by a shop. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open.

When visiting Gyeongbukgong Palace, one must see Gyeonghoeru. Official banquets were held and foreign envoys were once entertained there. The small pavilion is built next to a pond hence one can see the reflection of the pavilion on the pond.

The sun was setting when we finished exploring Nandaemun. Seoul Tower, which is located on top of Nam San, was our next destination. One can opt to take the cable car or walk up to the tower. We took the cable car, as we were tired from walking the entire day.

We could get a picturesque view from the cable car and from the top of the mountain. However, we decided to enter Seoul Tower for a better view. There is an entrance fee for it, student price available but only applies to University students or below (post graduates not included! God damn!)

It was a foggy day. I was bloody frustrated with that. If it were not for the fog, we could see the mountains, which surround Seoul.

I was advised to wait till night time. We waited and it paid off. The night view of Seoul was excellent. A tripod would be great while talking pictures. However, beware of the reflection due to the glass panel.

Jane and I were laughing at a lady who works in the elevator of the tower. Her job was pressing buttons, look pretty and translate some stuff. Gee..what a boring job.

We had bibinba at the restaurant next to the cable car station at the foothill. It didn’t taste good as it consist only vegetables and rice! However, according to Jane, in Tokyo, they serve meat in bibinbas.

We walked around Myeong Dong before heading to Yeouinaru. Yeouinaru Station leads to the riverbanks of Han River. It’s also a lover’s spot and a lovely place to spend the night with your love one.