Am in the midst of planning a mini getaway with Thom towards the end of this year and I'm really excited even though the place that we're going to isn't really your usual tourist spot.
There isn't going to be any shopping and there is probably a whole lot of walking and exploring to be done.
But I'm still excited.
Heh.
Anyway,
Here is my final post on Korea!
Looking at my Korea photos is making me miss that place a whole lot.
I heard that it is getting pretty cold now...
So if you're thinking of planning a trip there,
I think April, May and October are good months to visit!
Our must-have drink every morning.
BANANA MILK!
It is available at practically every single convenience store/supermarket in Korea.
I'm still drinking it every day now actually..
Some of the girls on my IG told me that I can get it here in Singapore too,
too happy to hear that!
It's available in NTUC but in packet form.
We were headed to Everland on day 5 because our plan to wake up early and go on day 3 flopped terribly.
Anyway,
there are several ways you can get to Everland but Aloy assured us that his route was the best.
So here's how you can get to Everland the same way as we did:
Take the subway to the Gangnam station,
come out from the exit 10 station and walk straight.
Along the way you'll see Body Shop, VDL and Innisfree on your left.
The bus stop is right in front of this shop called Who.AU.
Which I have a photo below to show you in case you still miss it despite my specific instructions.
Take bus 5002.
It costs 2100 per person.
Tadah!
The bus stop is right smack in front.
You can never miss it.
BANANA MILK!
It is available at practically every single convenience store/supermarket in Korea.
I'm still drinking it every day now actually..
Some of the girls on my IG told me that I can get it here in Singapore too,
too happy to hear that!
It's available in NTUC but in packet form.
We were headed to Everland on day 5 because our plan to wake up early and go on day 3 flopped terribly.
Anyway,
there are several ways you can get to Everland but Aloy assured us that his route was the best.
So here's how you can get to Everland the same way as we did:
Take the subway to the Gangnam station,
come out from the exit 10 station and walk straight.
Along the way you'll see Body Shop, VDL and Innisfree on your left.
The bus stop is right in front of this shop called Who.AU.
Which I have a photo below to show you in case you still miss it despite my specific instructions.
Take bus 5002.
It costs 2100 per person.
Tadah!
The bus stop is right smack in front.
You can never miss it.
Please pray that you get a seat on the bus because the journey is super long (45 minutes!!) and the bus will go up a mountain and jerk all the standing passengers around.
I know because we didn't get seats on our way back from Everland.
/CRIES
There's a free shuttle bus you have to take from the final stop to get to Everland.
Just follow the crowd!
We got student price tickets at only SGD$25 thanks to Aloy's student pass!
Hehehe.
It was more than 50% off the normal ticket price and we were damn happy about it.
Please try to go earlier than we did if you want to try out more rides!
We spent 6 hours queuing for 3 rides only.
The park opens at 10am and closes at 10pm so if you reach early,
you can definitely go on more rides!
:)
YOU MUSTN'T MISS THE TWO RIDES ABOVE IF YOU LOVE THRILLING RIDES LIKE ME.
Hehehe.
Definitely worth the 2 hours of queuing for each ride!
It wasn't that fun queuing for the T-express because it was night fall by the time we got in line.
And we were queuing for 2 hours in 8 degrees Celsius.
Cold die us.
We didn't expect it to get so cold so our layers of outfits were insufficient to say the least.
Still,
all worth it!!
The entire 3 minutes of the T-express was so thrilling!
It has got to be the best roller coaster I've been on so far!
Heh,
I'm pretty fearless when it comes to amusement park rides.
Grabbed some pastries as we passed by Paris Croissant on our way back from Everland!
Really regretted that I only tried the Crunch Pecan when I was back in Singapore.
THEY ARE SO GODDAMN YUMMY.
I already told Aloy to buy back many packets for me when he comes back in December.
Hahaha.
Egg with rice, tofu stew and potato pancakes
Korean food looks really plain and ugly and downright unappetizing on photos.
But they taste super good!!
We had our dinner in a little wooden shack near our hotel because we were crazily exhausted after spending the day at Everland.
And as much as I didn't want the trip to end,
our last day in Seoul came.
:(((
I kept hoping for my stomach to be constantly hungry so that I could stuff more goodness inside.
Started our day off with some nutritious traditional Korean porridge - Bonjuk!
We randomly asked a cab driver if he had any nice places to recommend for bonjuk,
and he told us Myeongdong.
HAHAH.
Myeongdong is how specific please.
But anyway, we did some research (okay actually Aloy did) and we really found this place in Myeongdong which many locals go for bonjuk.
How to get to bonjuk place:
Come out from Myeongdong station exit 6,
turn left and then turn right at the first turn.
You'll find this place opposite Starbucks,
on level 2.
We ordered the abalone and crabmeat flavours to try and both were good.
I'm making myself really hungry RIGHT NOW.
And that's bad because I'm trying to avoid carbs after 8pm.
#sayonlyla
Please add the chilli and the meat thingy which they serve in the banchan dishes!
Skip the kimchi,
theirs is horrible.
Did some reallyyyyy quick shopping at Myeongdong again.
Hahaha.
Everyday also got things to buy.
We finally dragged ourselves away from shopping because Aloy reminded us that we have a plane to catch at night and thus we're on tight schedule that day.
We decided to check out another cafe area in Seoul on our last day.
I really love their cafe culture!
We did some googling for the place we wanted to go but unfortunately it seemed too difficult and tedious to get there via public transport.
Which means...
TAXI!
It was a really good call because we would have died trying to climb up the mountain before we can even reach the cafes.
We showed the cab driver the Korean address of the place which we wanted to get to.
And I've copied and pasted it for you here (부암동주민센터) in case you want to show your cab driver too!
The cafe which we went to is located at Jongno-gu Buamdong 97-5.
Do note that most cab drivers cannot speak English,
nor do they understand the places you want to go to if you show them English words of the places.
So it would be best if you could do your research before you hop on a cab!
Most of them have GPS and know how to use it so if you have the exact address,
it shouldn't be a problem!
We still had to do some walking before we reached this cafe.
But apparently it is super famous because the Korean drama series - The Coffee Prince was filmed there.
It's called the Sanmootonge if you want to ask around in case you cannot find your way.
True enough,
it was brimming with tourists and all the good seats were taken when we found our way there.
It was my favourite cafe out of all those which we've visited on this trip.
Not for their cakes and coffee though,
those were pretty mediocre and frankly quite expensive.
(We spent over SGD$40 for 3 cakes and 3 drinks)
Their ambience was so tranquil and peaceful I could have sat there forever just admiring the mountainous view.
Wished we could have gotten an outdoor seat because the temperature was really nice then.
Walked around the area to take photos because there was no cab down.
Thankfully it was only a short walk down the mountain (hahah weak) before we hit the main road and got ourselves a cab.
Had the most amazing time in Seoul thanks to our good friend Aloy who never fails to go the extra mile in making sure we are comfortable at all times,
and always bringing us to the best places he's been to in Seoul.
And also for being super patient whenever I go on my crazy shopping sprees.
We wouldn't have half the fun we had in Seoul without him!
Wouldn't even have thought of going to Seoul if not for him asking us to visit him there,
actually.
Our last few moments with Korean food before catching our flight back to Singapore.
:'(
I'll be back next year for sure!!
Seoul is a really lovely holiday destination and I'm sure many who have been there would agree wholeheartedly with me.
Just be sure to do your homework for the places which you want to visit before going there and you'll be fine getting around.
We didn't really try talking to many of the locals there but I think they understand simple English.
Just that they cannot really speak it well.
Some shops (especially shops in the major shopping areas like Myeongdong, Hongdae and Ewha) hire shop assistants from China so you can converse with them in Mandarin too!
The subway system is really easy to figure out unlike Japan's,
just a little more complicated than Singapore's.
Just install the app which I mentioned in my first post,
you'll definitely find it helpful!
My favourite places to shop at are Myeongdong and Ewha,
I'm sure you will go crazy there with all the clothes and cosmetics!
Maybe not the clothes now because it's all winter wear.
Read Part I and II of my trip below (more travel tips included!):
http://www.joycesayshello.com/2013/11/korea-travelogue-i.html
http://www.joycesayshello.com/2013/11/korea-travelogue-ii.html
WHOOHOO finally completed my Korea travelogue and it's a huge load off my shoulders!
;)
Got my eyelash extensions done today and recently received a super duper awesome hair product (my holy grail when it comes to styling my impossibly flat hair) so I've lots of share!
