Korea Trip - Day 2

We woke up early, partly because Seoul's 6.30 am is like Malaysia's 8.00 am; it was so bright. Nadia's parents cooked a lot of rendang and nasi impit and brought them from Malaysia so for our breakfast we heated them on the microwave.

Excited in the morning, before our feet started aching. Me and my iPod which was really useful for the subway navigation and common Korean phrases apps.

We walked to Myeongdong subway station and took the train to Anguk station for our very first destination, Changdeokgung Palace. From the subway's exit 3, it was a very short walk to the palace. There are 5 Grand Palaces in Seoul, but we chose Changdeokgung because it is home to the 'Huwon' or Secret Garden. The secret garden and the palace dated back since the Joseon Dynasty in Korea.

Inside the subway, Anis looking at the list of stations.

Walking from Anguk station to Changdeokgung.

In front of Changdeokgung's entrance with everyone's tickets.

Visitors are not allowed to tour the secret garden by our own, and the English guided tour starts only at 11.30 so we took our time touring the palace. It then started raining...

'Selca' with Korean schoolgirls. 'Selca' or 'Self Camera' is Korean term for photo of own picture taken by oneself.

In front of the gate to Huwon.

Although it was raining, can I say that their rain is different from Malaysia's? It wasn't as heavy, some of us that followed the guided tour didn't even use umbrella. I had mine brought from Malaysia because I checked the weather prediction and it was predicted to rain that day. One thing, the weather predictions were accurate too. Malaysians don't usually take notice of weather forecasts but Koreans very much do. I was told that it was going to rain that day by our airport taxi driver the previous night too, he said the radio said so.

Raining inside the Huwon.

The trip across Huwon took about one and a half hour. I must say that the Huwon is really beautiful, and our guide did a very good job explaining all the interesting parts of the garden. He pointed the places where the previous Great Kings of Korea used to sit and ponder about and just generally enjoying the nature. He pointed the different quarters for men and women, the low doors (Koreans height average were not more than 160cm back in Joseon dynasty. HOW DID THEY GET SO TALL NOW?) and also the ondol or Korean traditional heating system. Our guide informed us that winter in Korea used to be very cold, minus 20+ degrees. He said ondol ensured the survival of Korean people.

Part of ondol. This is where fire is lit. Heat and smoke will then be distributed throughout the connected floor and smoke will come out from a chimney at the end of the floor.

Like many other eastern gardens, Huwon is made up of elements of trees and water. This is a big pond inside Huwon.

Part of the same pond.

Just.. greens everywhere. The freshness of air here is really indescribable. Only slightly defeated by Nami Island.

I didn't manage to take a lot of pictures because I was holding my umbrella. Although I feel that the Huwon was already very beautiful then, the guide said that it is absolutely breathtaking during autumn. I think will go again in autumn and take more pictures then.


We waited for the Seoul City Tour Bus at its bus stop in front of the palace's entrance and took the bus to Itaewon. The price was 9500 KRW paid by T-Money for a one day pass. In the bus, every seat is provided with a headphone with multiple languages option including English and each time the bus pass through significant landmarks, we were provided with descriptions through the headphone. There were many landmarks and stops, including National Museum of Korea, War Memorial, the Blue House (official residence of the President of South Korea) but because it was past 2pm and we were starving we skipped all the other places and went straight to Itaewon.

In front of War Memorial of Korea. When I lowered my camera I saw the soldier guard was actually giving me "no picture" sign using his hands. Ooops.

Itaewon is a district in Seoul with the highest population of foreigners. The US Army base is located near here and so we saw many US Army personnel too. Itaewon is also home to Seoul Grand Mosque. The mosque is located up a hill, and the walking there was really tiring. Not only that, the women's prayer section is located on 3rd Floor. I was ready to cry.

Main prayer hall of Seoul Grand Mosque taken from women's prayer section. Two Koreans briefed (about the Mosque?) by a Muslim.

After our Jama' Zuhr + Asr prayers, it was finally time to eat! There are many halal restaurants in Itaewon and we had a hard time choosing a place to eat. We finally chose a restaurant named 'Little India Seoul'. Me, Anis and Nadia shared the 2 persons meal set but the meal was actually more than enough for 3 persons. And it was gooooooood. The tandoori chicken, the curry, the naan but especially the samosa. The samosa's pastry was really nice.

Tandoori chicken. It was served before the main dishes and Northern Indians eat it before main dishes but we wanted to wait for the rice until the server asked us if there's anything wrong with it. Sorry miss, we didn't know.

We found out that the restaurant actually just opened on that day and we were their second customers. We wished them the best of luck, especially when they didn't charge us the 10% Value Added Tax (VAT), and also served us free cinnamon teas.

Seoul City Tour Bus Stop at Itaewon.


Itaewon is also the subject of this homage to 80's pop songs, a song titled 'Itaewon Freedom'. If you don't find this awesome, there is something wrong with you.

From Itaewon, we boarded the Seoul City Tour Bus again to Namsan Mountain. I think everyone have to experience going up Namsan Mountain by bus. They have already restricted the vehicles allowed to be driven up the mountain to preserve the environment and personal vehicles and taxis are absolutely not allowed. Most of the other buses going up to Namsan Mountain have also been replaced to electric buses. Why I say it is a must have experience? The road up the Namsan Mountain crossing Namsan Park was really beautiful, and the way the bus driver drove the bus through all the slopes and curves was really 'beautiful' too, to the extend I wanted to shout "AHJUSSHI SLOW DOWN". It was a thrilling experience.

Bus stop for Namsan Tower. Electric buses!

From the Namsan stop, it was another journey uphill to the Namsan Tower. All things considered taking the cable car is maybe the less painful option.

Climbing up, up, up.

Because of the rain, it was foggy that day and very cold. When we wanted to buy tickets to observatory deck, we were advised not to because there was literally nothing to see.

Can't see the top!

I, however, have another mission in mind for this trip to Namsan Tower. It is a custom for couples to place a lock here (and throw the key away) as a symbol of their love. I have prepared something for my favourite cousin in the whole world!

Happy birthday Nad! SARANGHAE! ♥

We took the cable car down from Namsan Tower, and from the station we walked to Myeongdong and visited SPAO. I'm glad we visited SPAO at this time even though we already had a full day. For the other remaining days of our trip SPAO was closed.

The road from Namsan Cable Car to Myeongdong.

Shirts modeled by Super Junior.

Cardboard of Girls' Generation.

SPAO is a clothing line partly owned by SM Entertainment. It is mainly endorsed by Super Junior and Girls' Generation. I bought a cap. Hehe. Once the excitement of finally getting my cap was over, I realized that I am really exhausted. We then climbed back up to our rooms, tired but really satisfied with our day.

Korea Trip - Day 1

It took 10 months since the day I bought the ticket, but the day I went to Korea finally came and pass. I can't believe 6 days pass just like that, it feels like a dream now. Day 1 Mama sent me to the airport, and after eating a home-packed nuggets at the airport and waiting for fellow members of the trip to come we were finally ready to go to the boarding hall. Hugging Mama for the last time I had tears in my eyes. Next time it will be the two of us to Korea. Once in the boarding hall, we did our Zuhr + Asr prayers and by the time we finished it was already the last call for the flight to Incheon. Our plane departed on time, and the journey from LCCT to Incheon took around 6 hours.

Inside the plane. I had the window seat. Our lunch, which surprisingly was very good. Killing time by playing Scrabble. Leaving something of us on the plane's window. That first exciting glimpse of lights, and Korea. Train from our exit to the main arrival hall.

There is free WIFI here, so while waiting for Rahah, Kaifa and Azie to reach the train station I called Mama using my iPod informing that I've arrived safely. And though I can receive sms and calls to my phone, I am barred from sending sms/calling out. Apparently because I use prepaid. Huh.

I was assigned the strictest immigration officer in the whole Incheon Airport so I was the last one to get out. The other members were already there and excitedly telling me "Leen, look at this!" Hahaha I already knew the taxi driver will be holding a sign with my name, but the sight still filled me with so much glee.

Outside the airport building. We are finally here!

Once we exited the airport building, we were greeted by the most wonderful weather ever, pleasantly cold and comfortable and finally it sank: We are in Korea.

The taxi driver speaks passable English, but some words are still lost on him. I sat at the front and we chatted the whole journey through. He pointed some of the most significant buildings to us, chatted about Muslims, chatted about family, (he didn't believe me when I said I am 27 years old, 28 Korean age), insisted on us calling him oppa instead of ahjusshi/uncle, said that his son looks like Hyun Bin and he will give his son to me. Ahahaha.

Hyun Bin. :D

The journey from Incheon Airport to downtown Seoul where we stayed was 70km, around one and a half hours. There was a bit of confusion because the GPS pointed our taxi driver to a location that was below the correct location (our guesthouse was on a bit of a high terrain), but we arrived safely. The owner of the guesthouse Mr Ko speaks simple English and showed us our room. We fell in love with the room and how clean it is. We had to pay the accommodation fee for the whole six days we book upfront (30,000 KRW /day = 180,000 KRW) and then Mr Ko said we can use everything in the room without additional charge except for the phone. I shared the room with Rahah, Anis and Nadia. We each got our own bed, and the room is equipped with heater, washing machine, kitchen, TV, WIFI, etc.

The living room. Unfortunately this is the only picture I took of our room. Rahah is already testing the internet connection.

Once everything was settled, we went down to the nearest GS25 which is a chain of 24hours convenience stores and bought T-Money for everyone in the group, and load the card with 40,000 KRW. T-Money is similiar to our Touch N' Go and it costs 2,500 KRW without any value stored inside. We also had our first taste of the famous 'Banana Uyu' and I would grow to LOVE this milk.

Girls' Generation's Seohyun endorsing the Banana Milk.

Back from the stores (we also took a sneak peek of Myeongdong at 1 AM), we were faced with the excruciating task of climbing up the upward path, and the steep stairs back to our guesthouse. I will really recommend Seoul Tower Ville for everyone because of its reasonable price, room's condition and equipments but the high stairs are really difficult to climb and not suitable for legs not suited to it. We then took a shower in deliciously hot water, and winded down, preparing to sleep for our day tomorrow.