Travel – Page 27 – w w w . x e .s . c x

Day 2, Day time @ Seoul, South Korea

Myeongdong was our first destination of the day. Myeong-dong, also known as the Fashion Street, consist of hundreds of fashion malls, shoe shop, sporting goods and so on. They even have an underground shopping area. One can expect stamp shops there 😀

However, we didn’t do many things there. We had breakfast, great stuff.

We walked to the city hall after that. There were couple of Falun Gong members strutting their shit on the gardens. With them were few flyers protesting the crackdown of Falun Gong in China. We took couple of pictures and left. While on the way, we saw few police officers trying to expel the poor Falun Gong members.

Since Gyeokbukgong Palace is closed every Tuesday, we went to Deoksugong palace, which is just next to the city hall. We have to pay a small entrance fee into the palace, students get discount.

The view of red leaves and arches were beautiful. However, we were not allowed to enter into the buildings. The only building admissible was the museum which is located next to the palace. The museum was boring though. The signboards were not translated into English hence we had no idea what the fark they were saying.

However, there is a little souvenir shop in the museum with great selection of gifts. Price is reasonable as well.

After Deoksugong Palace, we went to Nandaemun market, which is within walking distance from the palace. Nandaemun market is another huge market area with counterfeit clothes, food and many other accessories. Sights of beggars were common as well. They were pretty hardcore. I saw 2 dudes crawling on the floor pushing a music player with his head!

According to Jane, many Japanese get their glasses done in Korea. So many till opticians had to learn Japanese to cater the huge market! Jane had hers done for 4000won and it only took 20 minutes!
To be continued….

Day 1 of Seoul, South Korea

The 6 and a half hour flight was lousy. Bloody Airbus doesn’t have personalized screens for passengers and the lady who sat next to me had bad breath. However, I had one of the best seats, which were seats with no seats in front!

For most countries, no entry visa is required for stay less than 90 days. I got through the immigration and custom easily.

Since Jane was due to arrive 8 hours later, I decided to leave my bags at Brown Hotel first. Bus would be the most appropriate way to travel to Seoul. It costs 7000won and takes about an hour plus.

I had problem looking for the hotel initially. I had no map and no guide. I didn’t bothered to ask around as Koreans couldn’t speak English. My only guess was that the hotel is located near Shinseouldong station and Bomun station.

After wandering around for half an hour, I accidentally found it! The hotel allowed me to check in few hours earlier than the official check in time. The hotel room was small though but enough to accommodate the two of us and the plus side is that the floor is heated!

We had dinner at the restaurant next door. Jane read good reviews about it hence we decided to try it. Oh my god, it was so good. Service was absolutely great as well. The lady showered us with loads of attention and taught us the proper way to eat Korean food.

We retired early, with great amount of excitement over the events which were installed for us tomorrow 😀

Back from South Korea!

In brief

No words can describe how good South Korea was. I guess it was due to the company I had.

The weather was cold. About single digit Celsius everyday.

Fortunately, it didn’t rain till the last day of my trip.

Getting around South Korea was easy like ABC. Subway is the best way to get around, it cost about 900won for every trip. Every signboard has English translation but most South Koreans cant speak English. Unfortunately, signboard on bus stands sometimes doesn’t have translation for it.

One big thing in South Korea are the power of Chaebo, family dominated conglomerates such as Samsung and Hyundai. They even have apartments with their name on them!

As for the Korean people, I find that more South Koreans could speak Japanese than English. Even staff at an Optical Centre could speak Japanese! Further, they treat tourists very well especially in Korean restaurants. They would personally teach us the way to eat their food. However, occasionally I feel like punching them on the face when I’m walking on the streets. They push and shove without discrimination!

I’ll post more on my next post! Stay tuned!

South Korea, here i come!

I’m leaving in few hours time.

I’ll be staying @ Brown Hotel, Seongbuk-gu. I got it at a very cheap rate, about $29 a day. In total, I’m paying RM400+ for 5 days!

500,000 won – If only I have this amount in Ringgit Malaysia…

Gotta run now!

Cya guys in 5 days!

Seoul, Korea.

Before I succumb to the wrenching lifestyle of legal work this 1st December, I’ve decided to make a trip down to Seoul, Korea for a 5 days 4 nights holiday starting 22nd November.

Yes yes, I’ll try to get you guys some souvenirs.

I’ve made a list of places to go. They are Gyeongbokgang Palace, Dongdaemun Market, 63 Building and Chongno-2-ga. And of course, the Philatelic Department of South Korea Postal!!

Introducing the most delicious stamp ever!!!

Any other interesting place to visit in Seoul?

I thought of visiting the 38th Parallel at Panmunjeom (the buffet zone that divides North and South Korea). However, I heard that all tourists must follow a tour group and certain places of interest are not accessible (for example the discovered tunnels built by North Koreans. However some sources claims that it is accessible).

Btw, any South Korean readers want to meet up in Seoul (I doubt I have any though)? 😀

Day 3 – Tokyo Night.. END

Ok one last post before I wrap up the Japan trip post.

Day 3 – Night time
Odaiba was our next destination. Since its located on the other end of the train line, we had to change trains. Odaiba is built on reclaimed land at The Bay of Tokyo. There it houses couple of huge supermarkets, offices and one of the the largest Ferris wheels in the world! It is also a popular dating spot, not to be missed if you are on your honeymoon trip!

Ferris wheel

Rainbow Bridge

We bought sushi and chocolates to eat by the beach. The view of Tokyo city was magnificent, never once I saw such a lively city. There were floating restaurants by the beach. We could hear drunken Japanese singing songs on the boat.

mmm sushi , sake and woman..

lalalala the drunken men sang..

The weather was fine except for the chilling wind. We had our sushi and took photos.

Outside Palette Town

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. I took a flight back to Kuala Lumpur the next day. Jane didnt send me off cause she had to work. I left her a message saying goodbye to her.

Tokyo, we shall meet again!

Tokyo Day 3 – day time

Tokyo Day 3 – Day time
Initially Jane thought that I have been to Japan. However, once she found out that it was my first time, she immediately brought me to Asakusa, a tourist area.

Asakusa main attraction is the Asakusa shrine. The only thing that interests me was the huge red lanterns. Further, there was a row of souvenirs shops leading to the shrine. Katana cost about 6000YEN to 13000YEN. I didn?t have enough money to buy one.

You can get your fortune told at the shrine as well. All you need to do is donate 100YEN, shake a container containing wooden sticks with numbers. Once a wooden stick falls off, get the number and look for the drawer which contains the predictions. The paper that contains your fortune is called omikuji.

Jane was extremely happy with her predictions. Hers was something between the line of, ?be patient and you?ll be rich and famous?.

Unfortunately, I got a fucking bad prediction. It went something like,

‘Loyalty is of no use. Hard work has no value as it could only avoid damage. Sickness will take long time to cure. Stop or cancel all trips’

I was devastated! It?s just as bad as the prediction from Frank?s tarot cards. Fortunately, according to Jane, we could avoid the predictions by leaving the omikuji at the shrine.

We had dinner there. tekken don was awesome!

Tokyo escort

Lonely in Tokyo? Need an escort service? Just grab one of the stickers below and call the number 😀

Tokyo Day 2

Day 2
I met up with Jane for lunch @ Freshness Burger, very nice. Their cheeseburger contains beef patty and a fat slice of tomato.

After lunch, we ended up at Tokyo Post Office. This post office is special. They have a counter for stamp collectors! I bought 2 Hello Kitty stamps, a Astro boy stamp and another manga related stamp. It cost me a bomb (about 2000 YEN!)! I was dying for Doreamon stamps. Unfortunately, they ran out of Doreamon stamps.

We then walked to the Emperor’s palace. The palace was so huge that, right after our trip, our legs were literally falling off. However, we could only enter the palace gardens. Entrance to other buildings was strictly prohibited.

Water and tall walls surround the palace compound. Imagine during the old days when soldiers have to swim across the river, dodge arrows, track through the garden, fight and climb walls!

We headed straight to Shinjuku after that. We took a lift up to observation deck of the Tokyo Metro. There we could catch a bird eye’s view of Tokyo City!

Jane and I separated for a while. She had to attend a 2 hours class. I wandered around the streets of Shinjuku on my own.

Things were going fine time until my camera broke down! What could be disastrous on your Japan trip other than having your only camera breaking down at the scenic view of Shinjuku??

I meddled with it for half an hour. I thought this would be the end of my photography spree in Japan. Fortunately, after ripping out the film from the camera, It worked again! I was almost tripping when I found out that my camera was working fine! Phew!

Pachinko King??

Jane and I were supposed to meet up at 8:15PM. However, due to miscommunication, we waited at the wrong place and hence met up an hour later.

Engrish – A man waiting on a girl? Does that mean that he is on top of a girl? mm..in that case, A man waiting in a girl would be better 😀

One thing you’ll notice in Shinjuku is the homeless people. Some of them sleep in cardboxes but some would sleep on concrete floor.

I saw one living under a bridge. I approached him and pointed my camera to him. I then said,
“ii desu ka?”

He looked at me and smiled.

We dragged our aching body around Shinjuku, looking for a place to eat. Jane was very indecisive. We went places to places to compare prices.

Me: This one?
Jane: Nooooo..
Me: How about thiss One????
Jane: NOOO!!
Me: thiis onee???
Jane: chotto chotoo..NO!!

We ended up in a shabby looking restaurant! But oh well, the food was excellent!

Tokyo Day 1!

The first few hours in Japan was fucked. I got lost in Narita Airport. I got into the wrong gate and accidentally gave my train ticket to the wrong person. I spent half an hour describing in broken Japanese and searching for my ticket. Fortunately, one of the staff there found my ticket within a stack of used tickets. Oh boy, what a great start.

The weight of my backpack almost killed me, especially when I had to wander around searching for train stations and my hotel. My shoulders ached. Its shitty when you travel alone in a foreign place with little knowledge of their system. Their public phones were in Japanese. Train stations were scattered around and not many people speaks English.

After leaving my luggage at my hotel (ANA Hotel Tokyo @ Minato-ku), I headed straight to the Malaysian Embassy. I ended up in Shibuya station and asked for directions. The first bus driver asked me to go to the other side of the station. I went. Found nothing. I asked another bus driver again. This time, he gave me directions and claimed that its within walking distance. So I thought, I was saved. Guess how long did I take to walk to the embassy? FUCKING 20 minutes!!!
I met up with Jane, my former Uni Hall mate. We had lunch @ Shibuya. According to her, the restaurant serves huge portions at a cheap price. It�s true, I had a bowl of noodles and a huge plate of rice at the price of 800 yen. We chatted and did a lot of catching up.

Shibuya 109