Good Bye Seoul! :(

I woke today, feeling so reluctant going home. But this one week of enjoyment has come to an end. I have already pre-pack my stuff the night before. So I got ready and prepare to leave my so-called home at 11am..

I brought home 2 extra bags.. :P

My dinner hangouts..


My home for the week..


It was snowing while I'm otw to airport.


Free internet at Incheon Airport.
This note book is super large. Can I get one?

So I truly enjoyed this whole trip despite going alone. I must really pat myself on the back. Cuz I planned my trip really well. Everything went on smoothly. And I would definitely come back to Seoul. But for sure it won't be a week holiday. I hope to stay for a 2 weeks at least to venture Busan and other parts of Korea. So till then, Good bye Seoul!

Day 5 & 6: Shopping.. R & R

These two days was mainly rest & relax.. I woke up pretty late than usual.. And just shop around Insadong, my favourite place. And visit a few other places like Coex Mall, Lotte World, Myeongdong again..

One thing I like about Seoul, is the people are very cultured. They bowed and said "Hello", once you entered their shop or restaurants. And their city is extremely clean!

I remember walking down from Insadong to Jongno-Sam ga, finding my Kyobo Bookstore... And I bought a cup of hot choc for like 1,000won ($1.20).. walking down, nearly got lost as I was not good in recognizing building at night.. I finished my drink, I was desperately looking for a trash bin.. But there was none! I walked and walked till I finally found my destination.. Ahh.. Finally a trash can! Can you imagine Singapore without trash bin??? There will be trash everywhere... Well, they are trash seen in Seoul, like when I walked back home around 10pm.. They were like soju bottles all over the place.. Plastic bags.. And sometimes you can see vomits.. ( so be careful where you walk..) But by morning, the place has already been cleared up.. :)

Another think I like is the subway. It super clean. And they have these rack compartments on top where you can put your stuff. Seats near the exit door are only for elderly, pregnant women and children. If you sit there unknowingly, you might just hear a blast of words in Korean from old ahjussi and ahjummas.. :x

But of course, there's also kiasu-ism in them. As normal during peak hours... PLEASE avoid taking the subway or buses. I took subway during the peak hours and I was like a yo yo.. I was to get down at one of the stations , as I was about to head out.. I saw alot of people at the opposite door.. They are queuing in two rows..But once the doors opened, they rushed in... I was stuck in between the platform! One lady did tried to pull me out from there.. But I was pushed in again.. And no choice I had to push my way out.. And finally I managed! Phew!

Clean subway trains..

Hungry anyone? Vending machines at your convenience
while waiting for your train..

I see these everywhere. Dried Squids. I tried the peanut buttered ones at Lotte World.


Tteokbokki.. Yummy..

Samziegil. For the Artistic.

Juk 101

My fav juk. Vegetable Porridge.


Lotte World.


Merry Christmas..


Beef Bulgogi


Shinsegae. For the luxury shopping.

So after all that sight-seeing, great food, the short amazing race, etc. It was the last night I spent in Seoul! I'm soooo going to miss you, Seoul!

Day 4. Amazing Race to Jeju Island

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Yeah, I woke pretty early today! I've got to catch my flight at 7.15am so I woke up at 6am to get ready. I was pretty much done by 6.30am. Passport checked! Map checked! E-ticket Checked! By the way, I book ed this day trip through Yeha Tour. It's great. Do take a look if you're interested.

By the time I was out of the house, it was 6.35am. I walk briskly to the subway, and it was SO cold! The only people I saw was a cleaner clearing the trash. I'm supposed to catch the first train but I missed it. I waited for the second one. And I realized, I was going to be LATE!! I reached Gimpo Airport Station at 7am! By the time the subway door opened, I ran to find the check-in area! Yeah, I actually run! When I finally reached the check-in area. I was abit confused, at the same time I was catching my breath. I asked one lady on where is the Eastar Jet Check-In counter, she told me it's right at the end. So I did another 100metres. :(

When I finally got there, I showed the counter staff my passport and e-ticket. This is our conversation..

Me: Hi! I'm here to check-in for my 7.15am flight!

Lady: OK, can I have your passport please..

(after few clicking and typing sounds...)

Lady: Oh... You are TOO late! Do you have any baggage to check in?

Me: (Stunned ) Erm.. no...

Lady: Ok, this is your gate number and ticket. I think, you BETTER RUN!

And there I go again, running my way through up to Level 3 (Departure Hall). As like normal airport, they have security screenings.. And there was a queue.. I was practically panicking for like 10mins.. After the security screening, I had to find my gate number. Luckily it was near the screening area. When I finally check-in the gate area. I had to head down the staircase, then I saw shuttle bus.. Apparently, we gotta take shuttle bus to the plane. And thank goodness I was not the only ones that are late! After me there was a couple of people who are late too.
So when I reached the plane, all of the passengers are waiting for us. :P The plane finally tooked off at 7.40am... Hello Jeju!

Jeju International Airport

It was raining when I reached. And the temperature was not that cold as I was in Seoul. It was most probably 2-3 degrees? Anyway, I managed to find my tour guide, at the airport. He was already waiting for me. In the tour bus, there are one family of Singaporeans. The rest are from I don't know where, a group of teenagers and one ahjumma.

The tour guide also speak good English. He was born and raised in Jeju. People in Jeju Island have a different dialect. He said that sometimes, people mistook him as if he was shouting when he was actually just speaking as normal.

Jeju Island is like country side. All you see is these stretch of shop houses, many green spaces, and even if you see a housing estate, it only a few stories high. Our first stop was actually Mount Hallasan. The mountain was famous in the drama, My Lovely Kim Sam Soon. But sadly due to the foggy weather and rainy day. We could not go there.

But as we are heading to the second stop on the list. It was raining and suddenly I saw some snow patches on the ground. As the bus went further, I saw more snow field, I was very excited!! And it was snowing! Ahhhh... my birthday gift that I was waiting for! Trust me, I was smiling from ear to ear.. :)

Halfway through, it seems there was a traffic jam. And the bus have to stop a while. So all of us went down to play with the snow and take pictures! Here's a video of it too..! The snow was very fluffy, it melted the moment it touches your skin.. But of course, you will feel extremely drenched. :P

Snowy Trees..

Happy Birthday to Me!

After that snow experience, we finally reached Seong-eup Folk Village. This folk village has traditional thatched houses, a Confucian temple, etc. This village is a folklore Preservation Zone. There are still people living in the village. As it was raining , it was kinda muddy and I was as usual wet! :P

Thatched Houses

Say Hello to Summer!

The Confucian Temple

Next stop was Seopjikoji. It is situated on the edge of the coast near Sunrise Peak. It appears as natural stone exhibition with unusual rock formations.It is also a known shooting location for the drama All-In. ( I heard of the drama but have yet to watch it, but the view is lovely..)

The villas by the sea.. :)

Cool rock formations..

The House of All In

The Lighthouse.
[it was at the top of a steep hill,
I decided not to climb up, due to exhaustion.. :( ]

Another view if the shore..

After all that climbing, we are all famish. The guide gave us menu on what we would like to eat. And I so wanted to eat fish today. So I ordered grilled mackerel set - 10,000won (SGD $12)

Side dishes as usual :)

Seaweed Soup

Grilled Mackerel.
(it looked small here but it was actually very big.
It was size of a normal plate)

I actually managed to finish my food, considering it was a big fish. So worth my money! :) I'm glad that I ate enough, as I foresee another hiking destination. And I was right.

We went to Seongsan-Iichulbong (Sunrise Peak). It was one of the World Natural Heritage. And it took 30 mins to go up the peak.

The start of the hike..

how many more stairs? :(

After hiking halfway, my legs were super ache like crazy. I barely can lift my legs to take another step. But I told myself, I have to do this! If I give up, all the climbing was wasted. So I huff and puff again all the way up the staircase.It was raining and I was super wet! I don't recall how many hundreds steps I took.. But when I got up the view was ....... I was speechless...

View of the town

Next we visited was the Manjanggul Lava Tube. This time, it's not climbing up nor down.. It walking through the tube. This lava tube is the longest in the world. We are allowed to walk about 1km through the tube. The rest are inaccessible to visitors. Seriously, I injured my knee while I was walking down the tube. I didn't see there was a small hole in one of the area and missed my step. It was superly dark and the spot light was not helping. My vision is pretty bad when it runs dark.

Ahjumma always ahead of me :P

Unevenness of the walking area

Limestone creation..

Pointed rocks from the ground.

End of the Lava Tube (1km)

Since we missed the first stop, the guide gave us an alternative stop to Museum of Folklore and History. Here are some photos..

Smallest Mandarin Oranges.

Biggest Orange (size of human hand)

Traditional Chess Set

Boots Anyone?

I didn't know, those days have swimming costumes??

Our last stop is the mysterious road. It was found by newlyweds who are on their honey in 1981. It seemed that when they are taking pictures, they saw their parked car was moving uphill. I didn't take any video. But here's a video of one found in youtube.




After that last stop, it's time to bid goodbye to Jeju! So sad... Though my knee was very painful. Nonetheless, I enjoyed my day trip very much. It also tells me that next time I'm here, I must try to be fit to climb all the mountains.. :)

Day 3: DMZ Tour

600am Seoul

Woke up early today. This is one of the day trips that I truly gonna enjoy. My DMZ Tour. Click here for the tour's webbie --> DMZ Tour

A lady was supposed to come and pick me up at the hostel. So I've got to get ready by 630. Jay told me that she's going to give me a call. Wait and wait but no call. And suddenly I heard a lady's voice speaking in korean at the main entrance. I think, she's talking to Jay, asking how to open the main entrance. I quickly wear my boots and came down. Yup, she's the lady I've been waiting for.

Good Morning Seoul!

So she walked pretty fast, I think we had to pick up few more tour members. So she picked up, one couple from Malaysia, and one elderly guy from Germany. So four ONLY? LOL. Anyway, it was quite good that it's small. If we got lost anywhere, I could easily recognize our group.

So journey from Seoul to DMZ is about an hour. While we are on the way, the guide tell us about North & South Korea History. Basically, what we seen today is very exclusive as in, you must join a tour to go the border. NO Free & Easy! Strict photo regulations! We are in military site anyways. and passport is COMPULSORY! No passport, cannot go in!

For those, who does not the history. OK, let me share a bit of what I can recall. The Demilitarized Zone in Korea is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula that serves as a buffer zone between North & South Korea (2km for each side).

So she also talked about the tunnels that SK found near the border. They have already found 4 tunnels! North Korea began digging tunnels under the DMZ at the same time that the South and the North first launched peace talks in 1974.



1st Infiltration Tunnel
The first tunnel was discovered in November 1974, in the Western Sector of the DMZ near Gorang-po. With an estimated total length of 3.5 kilometers, it extends one kilometer south of the Military Demarcation Line that divides the DMZ. The walls and ceiling of the tunnel, 1.2 meters high and 0.9 meters wide, are reinforced with concrete slabs. It has the capacity to move an entire regiment per hour through it. The tunnel was lit with lamps connected to 220-volt power lines. Equipped with a narrow-gauge railway, rail cars and drainage devices were also found inside. This tunnel is located only 65 kilometers north of Seoul.

2nd Infiltration Tunnel

Twice as wide as the first tunnel, the second tunnel was discovered in March 1975 in the Central Sector of the DMZ, about 13 kilometers north of Cheorwon. Measuring two meters high and 2.1-2.2 meters wide, the arch-shaped tunnel is large enough to move heavy weapons as tanks, field artillery, and armored personnel carriers. More than 30,000 troops could move, three to four abreast (a division in strength), per hour. Bored through 3.5 kilometers of bedrock at a depth of 50-160 meters below ground, the 2nd tunnel extends 1.1 kilometers south of the Military Demarcation Line to a point 101 kilometers from Seoul. A spacious troop assembly area was carved out inside the tunnel, which has three exits.

The 3rd Infiltration Tunnel
Only 44 kilometers from Seoul (less than an hour's drive), the third tunnel was discovered in October 1978. Almost identical in structure to Tunnel 2, the 1.635 kilometer-long tunnel is 1.95 meters high and 2.1 meters wide. It penetrates 435 meters south of the Military Demarcation Line at a point 4 kilometers south of Panmunjeom, running through bedrock at a depth of about 73 meters below ground. Capable of moving a full division (plus their weapons) per hour, it was evidently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul. This tunnel is only 2 kilometers from a key outpost defending the Munsan corridor leading to Seoul.



The 4th Infiltration Tunnel

The fourth tunnel, which is located along one of the most strategic routes in the Eastern Sector, was discovered in March 1990 only 26 kilometers northeast of Yanggu. This tunnel is buried at a depth of 145 meters below ground and measures two meters high and two meters wide. Almost identical with Tunnel 2 and Tunnel 3 in size and structure, the fourth tunnel intrudes 1.03 kilometers south of the Military Demarcation Line and is designed to infiltrate massive forces into the Sohwa-Wontong corridor, the major access route to the Yeongdong (Seoul- Gangneung) Expressway.

(Above info - Thanks to lifeinkorea.com)

So for this tour, we are allowed to go through the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. Sounds cool but scary. I will tell you why later. Anyway, we have reached Imjingak, our first stop. As, they would need to screen our passport and stuff. We are given about half hour to roam around the area. Since, our tour group is small, we get to mixed around with other tour members from other agency. 99% are Ang Mohs. Only me and the couple are Asians.

Welcome to Imjingak!

Peace Bell
( They usually ring this bell 7 times during New Year = Peace)

Freedom Bridge..

Railway tracks leading to the North..

Some korean writings to encourage peace.

So after roaming for half hour.. It's time to board the bus.

SK military guys do checks on the security. They will ask for your passport for screening. The guide said this , " OK, please show your passport and SMILE, handsome military guy coming up the bus to check on you!".. LOL..

So next stop is the DMZ, where we get to watch a video on the history of DMZ. Just a short 20mins video. Then our guide told us that we should head down to the Infiltration Tunnel first, considering our group is small. As going up and down the tunnel takes quite some time.

Ok, one important Health Tip! Those with Claustrophobia, Asthma, breathing difficulty, high blood pressure, etc. is advised not to go through the tunnel. The temperature at the tunnel is 11 degrees. It's warmer in winter and cooler in summer.

First we had to put or belonging in the lockers, you will get to keep the locker key. So belongings are all safe. No photography as there are cameras everywhere even inside the tunnel. Next we have to put on Safety Helmets. This safety helmet is important as the tunnel itself is actually a mine and you are actually going underground.

So going down the tunnel was EASY! I was happily walking down.. After like 500m or so.. you start to see the real tunnel (those granite walls).. After walking further in, the tunnel was getting smaller and smaller.. and the height was just about mine. Around 1.56m.. So you can imagine all the guys who went down the tunnel have to duck their way through. The German guy, especially kept having his head hit against the metal poles that are supporting the tunnel. And alongside the walls of the tunnel, I saw some yellow round markings. It was actually the location of the bombs.. You know those TNT that they use to blow up stuff. Yeah, those kind. OK, it was pretty scary.

So next, it was the climbing up the tunnel.. It was a SUPER GREAT exercise for my legs. It's about 1.5km up the tunnel. By the time I'm halfway through, I was panting. After a lot of huff and puff, I managed to get to the main entrance. and yeah!! I was happy that I made it!

Welcome to DMZ!

Main entrance of 3rd Infiltration Tunnel


Viewing North Korea

After going through the tunnel, we went to Dora Observatory. Where we get to see North Korea, Unification Village and Gaeseong City. Gaeseong City is an industrial area where it's company is running by the South but the workers are by the North. Sadly, no pictures are allowed in this area. They allow picture taking but only within the yellow box provided (if you take pictures out of the yellow box, they will delete all your photos in the memory card). Which is too far, even if you zoom in.

Anyway, Through the binoculars, I could see the two flags. The world tallest flag was the North Korea. They kept competing on who flag is the tallest. End up the South gave up. Congrats to the North! :) Then I could also see Gaeseong City which is a black building. It seems that tours for going into North Korea are opening up. But currently for the South Koreans ONLY.

Next, we visited the Dorasan Station. It's the only station that is closest to the North. This station is still running for those South Koreans who are living near the border and working there. You heard me correctly.. People do live there. They live in this Unification Village. I think about 1000 people live in this village. They grew crops and even studied there. Yes, they even have a school.

Dorasan Station

Passing by Unification Village.

So after the tour, we head back down to Imjingak our first stop. And it was time to head back to Seoul. The final drop off point was Itaewon. I totally dislike Itaewon. First it was because there are a lot of bars around. And it's the most favourite hangout place for most foreigners. But Itaewon is the only place you can find Halal food and grocery store. But since I'm there, I decided to take a walk around. I was very much interested at finding the mosque. THe mosque was very secluded, it was on top of a hill. Anyone could have missed it.

Itaewon Mosque

After seeing the mosque, I went through the lane where they sell halal food. Most of the food are either Indian, Pakistan or Middle Eastern cuisine. So I'm not a big fan. So decided to skip that. And went to the grocery store and bought some Oreo-like cookies and Indomee instant noodles. I decided to head back to hostel as I meeting my friend TK, for dinner.

TK, is short for Tae Kyung. I knew him for about a year already. He's pretty cool!

Anyway, met him at Anguk's Starbucks as he lived near my area. Strangely, we click pretty ok, since we are meeting for the first time. He brought me somewhere near Jongno area for dinner. I requested him to let me eat korean food for dinner. So I have no idea what he ordered. It was actually black-sauced chicken with glass noodles and potato. As normal Asian, we have to order rice. The serving was large! It could be shared by four people. We only managed to eat 3/4 of the serving and left out the rest and a whole lot of glass noodles.

As I was people-watching at the same time. The group of ladies beside us, came earlier and has finished their meal. To my suprise, they actually order one more serving! Wah.... They can really eat!!!! Why are they yet so slim???! Must be the jimjilbang!!! :x

Anyway, TK, gave me a dinner treat and not forgetting my CoffeeBean Hot choc! He also suprise me with a little gift!!! 2NE1 music album.. Thanks TK!

I really had a great day! And enjoyable company for my pre-birthday celebration. :)

Next up, is my Jeju Island Day Trip!