Korea ( 20 - 26 Mar 2012) Day 3 Suwon & Everland

We woke up again at 6 am and had breakfast in the hotel. It was a set breakfast and most ladies were unable to finish them as the portion was a bit huge. At least, huge to me. The rice was nice. It was sticky and nice to chew.

L-R : Luncheon meat, salad, fried potatoes, scramble eggs. Middle : Rice

We left the hotel at around 8 am for the Yeoju Outlet. It is a Duty Free Shop selling branded items. Something similar to the Premium Outlet which opened recently in Johor. We were only given an hour to shop in this place and everyone complaint the time were too short ! Due to we have many other places to visit, we need to leave at the time given. We then proceeded to the Hwaseong Fortress for a train ride.



HWASEONG FORTRESS

Dragon head

YX enjoying Korean's popcorn

While waiting for some of our group members using the loos, I bought a box of mix flavoured popcorn to temporary fill up our hungry stomach. The popcorn cost 1200 won (RM3.30). We then proceed to have our lunch at Suwon.

SUWON  

BBQ chicken and pork

This is the only meal not provided in our tour. After discussion with the guide, everyone agreed to have the Korean BBQ and each of us paid 15,000 won (RM42) while child is free. We can eat as much meat as we like but any wastage will be charged accordingly. As beef was too expensive in Korea, the guide did not encourage us to order that. The BBQ was served with a bowl of steamed white rice and salad leaves. Not forgetting the kimchi and 'friends', which we did not touch that. 

EVERLAND

After a hefty lunch, our adventure began. We proceeded to the Everland Theme Park, ranked as the 4th theme park in the world.

 

YX had so much fun

The longest and fastest roller coaster

Dad and one of my cousin rode on this Roller Coaster. Everyone applaud dad for his bravery. At 64 of age, he had the courage for this thrilled rides. Before he went up, other relatives were so worried for him and asked mum and me if dad was really fit for the roller coaster. hahaha....... Cousin even made a quick survey, saying dad was the oldest passenger.

Fan heater

We came across this innovative heater fan. It was placed along the way towards the Animal Safari.

White Tiger

We were all seated in a bus and we can have a closer view of the animals.

Liger

Liger is a mixture of a Lion and a Tiger. It has a head of a Lion while a body of a Tiger. Look at what have a human done to the animal. Kesian.....

Black bears

These black bears were all very well trained. They understand instructions from the bus driver and it was really amazing. As a reward, the bus driver fed them biscuits.

YX with his idol - Sun Wukong

After visiting the Safari, we walked around the theme park and saw the Sun Wukong statue near to the monkey's cage.

YX eating the butter corn

The butter corn was aromatic but it was not delicious at all. It was sticky, soft and bland in taste. Each cost 1500 won (RM4.20) if not mistaken. I can't remember clearly for this.

Stoller parking

Outside the 3D theater, they have a stroller parking. So well organized.

Pororo and Friends

Watching 3D Pororo Show

A happy child with new Pororo toy

Once the Pororo movie was finished, we were being ushered to the Souvenir shop. YX quickly grab a box of Pororo toy and the doting gong gong bought for him. The toy cost 25,000 won (RM 70). Back to the hotel room, he couldn't wait to play with his toys. But barely playing for 30 minutes, he accidentally broke one of the leg of the toy.  * Shake head *

Delicious Ginseng chicken soup with mee suah

After the theme park, we traveled to Seoul to have our dinner. Each of us were given a pot of Ginseng Chicken soup which consist of a whole small chicken stuffed with glutinous rice. The soup tasted delicious. Even YX enjoyed his dinner and had 2 helpings of the mee suah.

Day 4 coming up next..........

Korea ~ Day 2 Mt Sorak& Daepohang Fish Market

After visiting the Nami Island, we had our lunch at the Chuncheon Myeongdong Street (another filming site of the Winter Sonata). The guide brought us to have the hot plate chicken which are well known in that area. Majority of the shops there were selling this dish.

Hot plate chicken and side dishes

Once we arrived at the restaurant, food were already prepared. We could actually smell the nice aroma when walking towards the shop. As Korean culture, every meal they eat comes with side dishes and the main side dish will be the Kimchi. My cousins love it and wallop the whole plate in a jiff. However, my parents and me just does not appreciate the taste of Kimchi. We did tried, but unable to accept the taste.

Hot plate chicken with cabbages, rice cake and sweet potatoes

The hot plate consists of chicken meat, sweet potatoes, cabbages and Korean rice cake. With their special sauce, stir fried everything on the hot plate until cooked. The taste was good. One thing about Korean food, it was neither too salty nor sweet.

MT SORAK NATIONAL PARK

Snow ball time

After lunch, we proceeded to the Mt Sorak. The journey took us around 2 hours drive. Along the way up to the mountain, our guide saw a large pile of snow by the road side. He was kind enough to get the bus driver to stop for us to take pictures.

One part of the Mt Sorak

From the bus, we could see blocks of mountains covered with white snow. They were beautiful. Before reaching the mountain, we stopped by at the Teddy Bear Farm.
 

YX with a white bunny. But where is the bear ?

Snow !

The open area of this place were covered with snow. We were more interested in the snow than the displayed bears and bunnies !

Ais Kacang, anyone ?

YX enjoyed himself and trying to make a snow ball.

Giant bear entrance

After having enough of fun with the snow, we proceeded to the inside to see a variety of teddy bear being displayed. If XJ were here, am sure she will love this place because she loves teddy bears.
 

I'm the number 4 bunny.

Spending around 20 minutes at the Teddy Bear Farm, we continued our journey to the mountain.

more snow

This place have even more and thicker snow on the ground.

Throwing snow balls 

YX having loads of fun throwing snow balls. He played until both his gloves were wet.

 

Buddha statue

Further inside, we came to this huge Buddha statue. It reminds me of Genting Highlands. haha .

Nice view of the mountain

Growing up seeing only green mountains, this is the first time we saw white mountain in real life. One of my cousin joked by saying our photos were just as nice as a postcard.

DAEPOHANG FISH MARKET

Seafood steamboat

As it was time for dinner, we left the mountain to the Daepohang Fish Market. We had seafood steamboat served with steamed white rice. Each 4 of us shared a pot of steamboat.  

Side dishes

As usual, we were given some side dishes which we did not touched except for the fried fish (dad loves it) and toasted seaweed (YX's favourite).

Fried prawns and squids

After dinner, we went to visit the wet market. It was still opened during night time but it was not crowded.

Stuffed squids

Along the way, we saw these street food but did not give them a try, so I can't tell you whether it was nice or not. The guide told us the squid was stuffed with glutinous rice. 

Korean crabs

And these are the crabs we had during the dinner earlier. They were meatless. I think our Malaysian crab are better. haha

Variety of live seafood

We spent a night at the Sorak Kumho Hotel before shifting again the next day. During this trip, besides than experiencing different type of food, we even had the chance to experience the local's culture. This hotel does not provide bed but instead, they provide mattresses. In ever hotel we stayed, all the floor were heated. It was very comfortable to sleep this way. 

The mattress and pillows kept in the cabinet

Laid them straight

Since the floor were heated, I even washed our socks before going to bed. I placed them on the floor and they were dried and warm the next day.

More fun ahead ...........

Korea ( 20 - 26 Mar 2012) Day 2 Nami Island

NAMI ISLAND

We woke up very early every morning. At 6 am, the hotel will give us morning call. After breakfast at the hotel, we proceeded to the Nami Island - The filming site of the Idol Drama 'Winter Sonata'. This drama was filmed about 10 over years ago and are still so popular. The filming site was very well maintained. Clean and beautiful.

YX with 2 cute fake snowman

When YX saw the 2 little snowman, he just couldn't resist and wanted to take photos with them. He thought it was a real snowman made with snow, but to his disappointment, it was a fake one. YX was really looking forward to see snow because before we left for this trip, I told him we will have the chance to play with snow.

Beautiful scenery

Nami Maid - ferry

We boarded the Nami Maid Ferry to go across to the Nami Island. The ferry ride was only a short 5 minutes. We were allowed to stand at the side of the ferry throughout the journey to enjoy the cool breeze. Mum was afraid of the coldness decided to sit inside the ferry whereby it was warmed with a heater.

Nami Island

From the ferry, we saw the Nami Island. It was not crowded as it was not a peak season. Between, we reached early that morning. According to the tour guide, during peak season the Island was full of local and overseas tourists. We will need at least 2 hours to queue up for the ferry.

Just as we stepped into the Island, something caught our eyes. YX couldn't contained his excitement, rushed towards it ! Yes ! We saw snow ! It was a block of huge snow piled up 2 times taller than YX.

YX touching the snow !

Instead of listening to the guide's stories (history of the Island), we rushed towards the snow and take pictures. At last, YX's wish came true.

The site of Winter Sonata being filmed.

We took a walk around the Island before coming to the site where the drama was filmed. The surrounding was beautiful. Tall trees were everywhere. It was so romantic. LOL ! Mind you, dad fell in love with this Island. He kept on saying how beautiful it was !

I want to reach the sky !

According to the guide, this Island was a Private property. It was clean. Not even a single piece of rubbish on the floor. With such a cool weather with fresh air, the walk in the Island was a great one.

Sunny but cold

The weather that day was also perfect. It was sunny and that allowed us to walk in the Island without worries. Don't be deceived by the bright sun. When the wind blows, it was freezing cold. Mum always commented that we will have to wrap ourselves up like a dumpling.

More snow coming up on the next post............

Korea ( 20 - 26 Mar 2012) Day 1

안녕하세요 (Ahn-nyung-ha-se-yo) ! We are back from our holidays in Korea. It was a fantastic holidays and everyone of us enjoyed tremendously. The food, the people, the weather and the places were all great !

Fly by Air Asia X

Our flight departed at around 2.30 pm. The journey was smooth and the over active YX did not even sleep in the plane. I guess he must be too excited. Luckily I brought some papers and pen for him to doodle while I took a quick nap.

Getting ready to fight the cold weather ( 3 Degree ) 

It was a 6 hours flight. By the time we arrived at the Incheon Airport, it was already dark. Korean time was 1 hour ahead of us, which means we touched down at around 9 pm (Malaysian time at 8 pm). The captain announced the temperature was at 3 Degree and everyone of us prepared to wrap ourselves with thick clothing before stepping down from the plane.

Yeah ! We are in Korea ! The full of energy YX did not even show any sign of tiredness after a long journey.

When I dressed YX into his winter clothing, he thought he could see snow. However, from the plane's window, he did not see a single drop of snow and was quite disappointed. He asked "Why there isn't any snow ? "

Banana Milk

At the airport, our local tour guide was already waiting for us. He gave us about 20 minutes to go to the toilet and to shop for some snacks because we will be transferred to the hotel to have a good rest before our adventure start tomorrow. I bought a bottle of Banana Milk recommended by the tour guide. It tasted delicious with a hint of banana flavour. The milk cost 1200 won ( RM3.30 ). That's all for our Day 1.