Trip to Seoul for 4th Wedding Anniversary Celebration!!

I can't believe I didn't write for the whole month of October! I have been soooo busy! In Oct, I was  busy with finishing up my work before my holiday, as well as busy planning the itinery for my 6D5N trip to Seoul with DH to celebrate our 4th Wedding Anniversary on 22nd October 2015.

Then, there were also time spent on researching on what to buy (food, souvenirs and skin care); where to eat (recommendations from food bloggers); where to go (somewhere we haven't already been to during our past 2 trips to Seoul); how to go and how to speak basic Korean since most locals don't understand English.

As this is our 3rd time visiting Seoul (previous visits in Autumn 2012, then Summer in 2013), we already know what we want to do and where to go this time round. We were really excited to go as we have very pleasant memories of Seoul from our previous 2 trips and we really enjoyed the food and shopping and sightseeing there.

Of course, we were glad to be away from the hazardous haze caused by the massive open burning in the woods of Indonesia. The haze have been affecting us for many weeks now, and Klang Valley had it the worse in the mid of October 2015 (and we heard that the haze was gonna stay until beginning of next year!) Fortunately, the hourly API (Air Polution Index) went down from 'Dangerous' levels (above 300 API if I'm not mistaken) to 'Good' level (an average API of below 50) as I write now.

I foresee I'm going to write a lot in the next few posts about my holiday to Korea, as I took thousands of pictures and bought lots (and I mean, LOTS) of stuffs back! While I shortlist the pics, I'm going to post about our itinery here first.

Details of our trip...

20th Oct 2015 - 25th Oct 2015 (6D5N)  - Autumn Season  (Temperature ard 9-22deg C)
Airasia D7 506     KL - ICN      Depart: 1.00 a.m.   Arrive: 8.20 a.m.     20kg  (midnight flight)
Airasia D7 505     ICN - KL      Depart: 3.55 p.m.   Arrive: 9.40 a.m.     50kg

20th Oct (Tue)  - mostly Sunny

• Arrived Incheon Internayional Airportt, had breakfast at the basement, then took the Airport Shuttle Coach at Lane 7 at Arrival Hall.
• Arrived Ewha Subway station about 50 minutes later, but we weren't sure if it was the right stop so we didn't ring the bell to alight. Bus went on without stopping and we only got off the bus, 2 stops after that (only after I insisted, as DH still naively think that the bus will go back to Ewha Station after that!). Bus driver got off the bus to help us with our luggage stored in the luggage compartment of the bus. We then lugged our bags (1 large with a cabin bag inside and another cabin trolley bag with a hand carry bag on top) passed bridal shops and carpentry shops (weird combination, if you ask me) back to Ewha station Exit 4 in the sunny weather and we were both perspiring already. I thought October is supposed to be cool..!! We regretted our packed wardrobe of long sleeves and jackets immediately!
• Managed to find the hotel - Ever 8 Sinchon Residence another another 10-15min of lugging our bags around the streets of Edae (locals call Edae - the shopping district at Ewha University). Kept our bags at the concierge as we were only allowed to check in at 3 p.m.
•  Had lunch at Samyeupsal, Sinchon - superb! Details will be laid out in another post about the food we ate in Korea.
• Back to the hotel around 4 p.m. to check in and freshen up. Hotel staff wasn't the friendliest - just average. They'll answer your queries, but without a smile. Oh well, as long as the room is satisfactory.
• Oh, boy! The room was way beyond our expectations! The room is mostly white, it's clean and functional, and it comes with a very complete kitchen essentials - induction cooker, the thingy above that absorbs smells when you cook, 2 plates, 2 pairs of chopsticks, 2 spoons, 2 mugs, a kettle, a pan, a pot, a cutting mat, medium size knife, a full fridge with complimentary 2 bottles of water everyday, a washing machine (but no detergent) and a microwave! 
• The bathroom was average with basic amenities like shower gel and shampoo, and a bar of soap only. Everything else is not available... BUT!! The toilet bowl comes with an impressive auto-flushing mode! LOL...
• Had dinner at Two Two Chicken, Myeongdong. DH didn't mention, but I knew he was really looking forward to shoe-shopping in ABC Mart in Myeongdong. And I was just looking forward to snacking in the lively streets of Myeongdong. Turned out, DH was disappointed with the selections that were available and did not buy any due to the falling RM - it's so expensive now, compared to our previous trips. 1000won = RM 38 for this trip. :-(
• As for the weather, it wasn't much cooler at night, DH went out with only T-shirt & jeans. 

   
21st Oct (Wed)

• I was too tired to go Everland today as I was on a drowsy cold medicine the night before - forced to take it as I was having a lil runny nose and only managed to sleep by 3 a.m.
• Since we said we weren't gonna rush thru this trip like our previous trips, we took our time in the hotel and I even had the time to put on makeup properly this time round..  :-)
• We headed to Euljiro 3-Ga for our lunch at a chinese restaurant called Andongjang. 
• Then we took the subway south to Seoul Uni on the Orange Line and then transferred to the green line to Gangnam for the indoor shopping mall where I bought dresses and shoes in my previous Summer Shopping in Seoul trip. This time, I didn't get anything at all as all the stores were selling mostly sweaters and jackets, getting ready for the cold season. We ended up having a nice blueberry ice cream smoothie and I bought stuffs from Etude House and they were sooooo generous with the samples!! Will be posting about my damage on beauty products in another post separately.
• Took the train back to Myeongdong to go back to The Saem near Two Two Chicken to complain about the Snail Essence the salesgirl recommended me the night before as the pump wasn't working very well. Will document what happened in a later blog when I write about my beauty product spree.
• Went to a nearby coffee place called A Twosome Place few doors away to freshen up as we were both 'sugar crashing' and feeling sleepy. 
• Walked up the path as directed from the minimal signage available to the Namsan Tower Cable Car. 
• The cable car to Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower as they now call it, was a very short one. They allow about 20 pax or so in a car and there were no seats in it. Everyone will be busy taking pics or videos during the short uphill ride anyway. It was really stable thus I wasn't freaking out even though I have height phobia. Nevertheless, DH was slightly tensed... haha..
• We arrived at the base of the tower in the evening, around 5.50 p.m. The sun seems like it was going to set or is already setting. We could see lots of trees turning colour and dried autumn leaves already.. Oh, I love the colours of Autumn! My mom loves looking at colourful flowers, but I love looking at trees.. even the dried ones.. LOL!
• We were looking for the Love Locks to 'lock our love' just like the Koreans, and we didn't have to look far. There were locks all over the place - in every imaginable creative way! A few even climbed high to lock their locks on lamp posts! Some lock their locks on other people's locks, some simply lock them on any steel railings they see. We, too searched for a safe place we could remember well so that we could come back and visit it many years later, if the authorities don't bring it down like the French authorities did on the love locks on Paris' bridge, if I'm not mistaken...
• So, we went prepared as I've bought our lock with the biggest surface I could find from MR DIY for only RM 7.60 and I've painted & decorated it prettily for this function (DH contributed to the writings on the side of the lock). It costs 10000 won for a medium size lock if you buy it there, and it comes with a permanent marker as well. 
• Alas, we've decided on the spot and made history there. We were supposed to do it tomorrow on our Anniversary Day, but we swapped the program with Everland. So, we officially locked our love on the Eve of our Anniversary instead. Then we deposited our keys in one of the postboxes on higher grounds where we found the ORIGINAL location where the locks were supposed to be locked at. However, there weren't any available location left unless you have the time to really scrutinize every inch. And most of the locks there have already turned rusty and faded in colour. Also, I'm afraid they may take those down in the near future as they don't really look pretty anymore. So, we were happy with the location we chose. 
• The lights to the tower came on about 6 p.m. I think, but you can only see how beautiful it is when the sky turns dark around 7 p.m. onwards. But during that time, we both were enjoying ourselves in a 3D Alive Museum, busy posing silly poses with the creative 3D paintings! I didn't think DH will enjoy this kinda things, but he was acting silly with me.. LOL. There were 2 parts to the museum, by the time we finished with Museum part 2, we were starving as it was around 8 p.m. already.
• We quickly took a bus back down to the city and we stopped at Myeongdong subway station and quickly headed for dinner at Yoogane for Dakgalbi.
• Since we were in Myeongdong already, what was stopping us from walking around that lively place? Nothing! We strolled about again and DH bought a pair of jeans from Forever 21. We didn't think Forever 21 sells men's attire back home, but in actual fact, they do (after checking it out when we're back, but the selections here are really limited and miserable).
• Back to the hotel to rest....

22nd Oct (Thurs)

• It's the day where we feel like kids again at Everland Theme Park! It's also our 4th wedding anniversary day! I've been to Lotte World once while I was flying last time, so I've chosen Everland this time round. This is also the park where the super long roller coaster featured in Runningman is. Of cos we did not try!
• We had to take a bus no. 5002 about 500m walk fro Gangnam Subway Exit 10 and the bus ride was around 50 minutes. Then we transferred to a free shuttle bus to go up the theme park.
• We only reached Everland around 3.30p.m. or so because we waited around 30-40 min for bus 5002 earlier on. And the whole time, we had to see this super-glued couple flirting and showing lots of PDA (Public Display of Affection) queuing in front of us!
• We've printed out a 50% off entrance fee coupon from the website before we came so we only paid 48000 won for 2 admissions. 
• We grabbed a burger in a nearby burger joint for lunch and I was longing to try a not-so-thrilling ride with DH, but he said he'll stay on ground and take pics for me. :-( So I pushed that thought away, thinking that I'll be back after the Safari. 
• We headed to the Safari first cos this is one of the highlights of the park, esp for people like DH and I, who dare not take most of the thrilling rides. 
• We were all seated in a caged bus and we saw many tigers, lions, hyenas, bear, and even a Liger (Lion + tiger) roam free. Then the bears even showed their talents like posing 'sexily' when prompted by the driver; slam dunk a basketball; and even knew how to blew us kisses when prompted. Very impressive and we all enjoyed the short ride.
• We also went on the Amazon Express, DH's all time favourite. It's a ride where we share a big float tube with 4 others on a man-made river. Wore our wind breaker as the water could splash into the tube. 
• It was already 6 p.m. when we finished with the rides. We grabbed some snacks and strolled around the beautiful place and had dinner before all the restaurants close around 8 p.m.
• We also bought tickets for a special Horror Safari for an additional 5000 won each since Halloween was near. That is why the park is also fully decorated with spooky halloween decorations. The ride was at 8.30 p.m. and we enjoyed it even though the event was carried out fully in Korean. Basically we were sat in a bus with dark tinted windows and went inside the Safari park we went on earlier. Only this time, no wild animals were roaming free, but there were 'zombies' and dead bodies instead. The zombies would suddenly bang the window next to you while the 'host' was talking away to frighten you, or zombies would suddenly come up the bus and pull someone down. A girl was freaked out to bits and was seen crying after the ride. LOL.. 
• Remember the ride I wanted to try? Well, it was really late by the time we finished exploring most of the park and the Q for the ride was way too long by then. We've decided to call it a night then as it was already 10.30 p.m. and it's going to be a long ride back to the city... Ended up waiting about 30 min for bus no. 5002 and alighted at Gangnam, and took the subway back to Ewha. 

23rd Oct (Fri)

• Went out around noon again and we went to the Noryangjin Wholesale Seafood Market today. It was easy to go there, alight at Noryangjin on the blue line and then follow the crowd and signs to the market. We also saw the 69th building (gold building) as a famous landmark of Seoul. 
• The fishy smell of the market can't be missed and there were many many stalls touting us to buy their fresh seafood. Some of them tried to attract us by speaking chinese to us, and we were spoilt for choice! We chose a quiet but friendly Korean lady instead and ordered 3 x abalones for 10000 won, 3 x sea urchins for 10000 won, and 2 gigantic fresh shrimps for 20000 won cos it was too bizarre to try the rest - live baby octopus, elephant trunk-like seafood, water- squirting penis-like creature, and flat-bodied round fish! There were many huge crabs though, but we figured we didn't want to burst our budget on a big crab that 2 of us can't finish. 
• We stopped by Lotte Dept Outlet at Seoul Station after that. Wanted to look for Cell Fusion skincare brand but realized this department store is really miserable and sell mostly local brands at a 'discount' but the price tags were still high. So we ended up shopping in the Daiso found in Lotte Mart at Seoul Station. Shopping in Daiso Korea is very worthwhile cos 1000 won is only RM 3.80 now. Back home, it's RM 5.30 for any item now inclusive of GST. We also bought Dunkin Donuts for our breakkie tomorrow and had coffee at Paris Baguette, Seoul Station.
• Our next stop was Hongdae - home to Hongik University (their version of our Lim Kok Wing Uni I think). Very entertaining and interesting place - I love it here. This is where the youths love to hang out too - so you'll see plenty of cafes, clubs and pubs, small unique stalls offering accessories, handphone accessories, fashionable garments, etc. This place comes to live especially at night, when the students street perform - from playing musical instruments to performing magic shows! DH love it there 'cos he bought many accessories there. I also bought 2 rings where I place on mid fingers - a trend you see amongst Korean female idols. 
• DH bought a pair of New Balance shoes - finally he got himself a pair of new shoes! Has been a tradition for him to buy at least 1 new pair of shoes from our trips lately...
• We also managed to find Haha's restaurant - 401 and had BBQ there. 
• Called it a night after the super filling dinner. Didn't even get to try the Tiramisu Cake with the long queue as we walked past.

24th Oct (Sat)

• It's a free day today, nothing much planned as we said this is gonna be a relaxing trip. So we went out only in the afternoon and decided to drop by the Lotte Duty Free Dept Store at Myeongdong to try my luck at looking for Cell Fusion C Mist - read a Korean blogger who swears by it as the Holy Grail that calmed and improved her acne.
• Lotte Duty Free was packed with many many Chinese tourists talking loudly and pulling out wads of cash making bulk purchases of skincare products especially masks! We gave up searching after 10 minutes. I felt the sales people working there weren't friendly as well, and some were particularly nicer to the big spenders. Most of the skincare products sold here were packed in bulk, at least 2 or more and they were all tagged in US Dollar rather than Won. However, you can always ask them to quote in Won, and the price will be cheaper.
• We went to the Chinese street in Meongdong, same row with the Chinese Embassy and walked in one of the corner Korean restaurant to have our late lunch.
• We walked around Myeongdong somemore and realized Myeongdong is actually kinda big. Although we've been here many times during this holiday (Tue, Wed, Fri and today!) we still weren't bored with the place and even found more streets we missed earlier on. So we both shopped somemore. I bought many more cosmetics and skincare products and some 1000won earrings while DH bought Jeans and even a sweater - not sure where he's gonna wear that to!
• Went back to the hotel to freshen up and was supposed to go to Banpo Bridge to see the rainbow coloured fountain that DH was excited to see. But DH felt a bit under the weather once we got back the hotel and he took a nap. By the time he got up, it was kinda late for the long journey to Banpo Bridge...
• Decided to go to Sinchon to the mart below Pizza Mall to buy snacks and instant noodles to bring back home tomorrow. Prices for stuffs were generally cheaper here compared to Lotte Mart. We also went in to one of the stores in Pizza Mall selling lots of creative and interesting gadgets and stationeries and gifts. We bought a few as Christmas presents...
• In Sinchon subway Exit 7, there's a Daiso. Another round of last min shopping before we headed back to Ewha and settled down in a nearby café for dinner around 9 p.m.

25th October (Sun)

• So sad to be leaving today... Wish the holiday wasn't so short. We had instant noodles for breakfast and checked out around 11.15a.m. as we had to take the hotel shuttle bus to the airport at 11.30a.m. We paid 8000 won per pax for the airport transfer which took about 5 minutes.
• We checked in 3 bags - 1 large cargo bag, 2 cabin bags with a total of 42kg. We have 50kg allowance for check in bags.
• Did our tax refunds in Terminal 1 and had lunch there before we took the airport train to Terminal 2 to board our flight.
• The flight was unpleasant as the newly met couple seated behind us chatted for 6 hours nonstop, and they weren't exactly speaking softly! So we were both really restless by the time the plane touched down in KLIA 2 around 9.30p.m.
• Reached home, unpacked and washed up and K.O. around 1 a.m. that morning. Back to work the next morning! Arrrgghhh!!!....