seoul. (a long one with heavy image!)

I;ve been wanting to visit Korea ever since I got hooked up with this Korean stuff. But as much as I want to go to South Korea, Id still put Athens-Greece-Santorini as priority.

This is quite a last minute trip. Bought the tickets sometime in December. MAS had the MH SMART offer. and compared to AA, it was only for few hundred different. Plus, our flight was at midnight. which means we dont have to skip work. I took the day off nevertheless.

Day 1.

It was a six hour flight. Full flight. I was busy watching Twilight all night, till I fell asleep. Little did I know that I only slept for about one hour when the flight attendants woke us up for breakfast. Had nasi lemak. The pilot was a chatty one. He was busy talking about everything. All I know was my jaw dropped when I heard he said '0' degrees. Looking at what I was wearing. I was no way prepared for the cold weather. Expected at least-lah 6-10 degrees.

Arrived in Incheon earlier than expected. About 6.20 local time. So freshened up and since we had heavy breakfast in flight we head straight to buy the T-Money. 

*T Money is like a touch&go card. Easier to travel. One card costs about KRW2,500 and you can buy like a USB thing hang it on your phone if you;re worried you might lose it. It costs about KRW10,000. Most T  Money can be used at subways, buses and taxis. 

One thing I love about Koreans are they are so friendly. They do look at us as we're wearing tudung/scarf weirdly but they dont stare. When we went to convinience store. bought T-Money and 'charged' for about KRW25,000 (Roughly about RM75) This last us for about a week. In the store there were few pilots buying stuff. While I was calculating the cash and trying to figure out the notes I had one came to me closely. I was suprised at first, of course people always say never never show off the cash you have. I looked up and he smiled saying 'Apa Khabar!' Excitedly I replied 'Khabar Baik.' Haha. surprised huh. Then at the cashier the girl really liked the fact we're wearing tudung and asked what we're wearing. We said it's scarves. And she said '예쁜' 'pretty'. Kembang sekejap. Kat KL semua tudung hana tajima bagai selendang biasa takde siapa kisah dohhh.

okay so anyways, we took the subway. We're staying somewhere in 'Chungmuro'/'Myeongdong' area for the first 4 nights. Took the subway and switched couple of times. It took us quite sometime to figure out the lines there. Even though I had the 'subway' app on my phone, we get confused on trying to fugure out which exits we should take. But as I said, Korean people are so friendly! There's always people who would help. We had our huge luggage. And it was peak hour as everyone is rushing for work&school. So yes. after about an hour journey we arrived at 'Chungmuro' station. I had lot of things printed in advance to ensure we were on the right track. Boy I was kinda wrong. I printed mostly in alphabets and not hangul. On our way up to the crazy stairs we met this really nice lady. When she saw us she excitedly asked 'Where are you from?' The moment we said Malaysia she started chit chatting away that she used to stay in Hartamas for 2 years, her son is still in KL. And she even helped to carry our bags up.

She actually owns a photo studio nearby our hostel. it's called Arirang studio. Located just before Namsangol Hanok Village. Since we got lost they showed us where our hostel were. Just stones away from the subway actually.

In cold we walked to our hostel. We stayed at IPS Lounge Hostel . Its located exactly behind Astoria Hotel. So Astoria was our landmark if we missed the train and take the cab back. Met Ted and Ms. Kim. Finally drop off our luggage, and it was only 10 we decided to grab a drink nearby. 

*To get to IPS, get off Chungmuro Station (exit 4). And walk straight. You will pass by a pharmacy, convenience store and police station on your left. Take the path exactly after the police station, IPS should be on your right. 

Koreans love love coffee. They have coffee shop like every 3 shops. Starbucks is everywhere too. But other coffee shops wasnt that bad either. And they love waffles. We grabbed a latte at EDIYA COFFEE. It was about KRW3,200 and KRW2,300 for waffles. So spent about RM16 for coffee and decent breakfast. They had this cute thing which vibrates when our orders are ready. Oh dont worry about difficulty to order stuff. Since they know everything about coffee. Caramel machiato, Americano etc are everywhere anyways.

One thing I like bout Seoul is that theres wifi everywhere. So we contacted our Singaporean buddies. Organized our itineraries.

Took the subway from Chungmuro and stopped at City Hall Station. Went to Cheonggyecheon stream for a walk and to head for Deoksogung Palace since its nearby. The stream is like a huge drain/longkang... haha. A clean one. The stream/water that flows are clean. And its a bout 8km walk where there's art, some air terjun on the way, ducks...... People just walk there to enjoy the view and weather. It was about 12 so everyone was walking around in cold sipping coffee. We arrived at Deoksogung Palace about 12.00 so missed the change of guard ceremmony. Nevertheless, went in also. Admission fee is KRW1000 per person. On our way in we met two ladies. They introduced themselves and said one of them is from Singapore and another is from Kelantan. So cute. Even took pictures with them... .in their camera-lah.

*In preparing our itineraries since we had a tight schedule, I referred to kampungboycitygirl 's . We made sure   our next stop were around the corner so we didnt have to waste so much time in the subway or getting lost. I installed the itour city Seoul app in my phone. So it was easier to know which station to stop/where to exit at.

This palace alone is beautiful. in the middle of city. And its huge. We've only been in Korea for what 6 hours and I think I walked more than 10km already. We spent bout one hour walking around in  palace and joked about shinhwa a lot. But didnt't feel tired at all since it was cold.

We went back to our hostel around 3 pm. And settled in. Performed our prayers. By 4 we went back out to Namsangol Hanok Village just behind our hostel. The admission is free. Its sort of like an old/traditional village. Its known for its beautiful scenery since we could see Namsan river and Namsan tower. After coming back from jeju I only found our that hanok houses are usually owned by wealthy/rich people. While we were walking around the village we met another Malaysian couple. I forgot her name. I think it's Serene. She stayed in Subang also. Funny how one day alone met so many people.

By 5 we went to Yeouido to check out KBS. And to catch a glimpse of KBS Music Bank. But since we got lost. We end up going straight to Han River to catch the cruise or to ride the bicycle. There wasnt any available except for the dinner party cruise. Instead we freeze ourself to death  walking around Han River. I think it was only 4degrees. But it was really cold. There were some shooting going on there. Not sure what they were filming though. Since it was almost 9 and we were tired and lost and trying to figure out whats subway in hangul. We walked back to the subway and went to Myeongdong.

Myeongdong is just a station away from where we're staying. About 10 minutes walk if on foot. Its a shopping area with lots of idols stuff. We went there to meet our fellow Singaporean friends. End up going crazy with the stuff there. Super cheap. You can get nice winter boots for like KRW15,000 about RM45.00. Bags for KRW10,000. ETC. Since its too cold out we walked around the Subway shopping mall. There's few shops that sells KPOP cds. No money. Didnt buy anything. While we were there met our other half. China Shinhwa Changjo. They were like 'Shinhwa' HERE. pointing at a corner. So cute.

It was almost 11 so most of the shops were closed. Only few stalls are opened. By 11.20 PM took the last train back to our hostel. And had our dinner quietly in room. Awesome maggi and banana milk. Heee. Okay. to be continued. wow. this is indeed a long entry!

*last train is around 11++ . In case you missed the train you can always catch the bus. But make sure you take the right bus. Most of the busses last trip is around 12. In case you missed the busses too, theres still cab. Its not as expensive as what people say. We took cab when we're just too tired to climb the stairs. Costs mostly about KRW3500 , depends on where you're going. But still it's like KRW2000++ more expensive than taking the subway.