just got back from seoul....and will update the latest post and photos ....soon
02.11.2010
Day 1: Hallucination may be normal for 6hrs 25mins journey
I'm back.
Our trip to seoul actually wanna see and experience sendiri "the musim luruh"
Four of us went there for 10days from 2nd to 12th November 2010 via Air Asia (now everyone can fly-motto) Flight at 13:15 @LCCT and it took about 6hrs 25mins journey to incheon international airport.
and this is what happened to us...
almost 3hrs dalam flight dan tengok jam bila nak sampai..excited to view seoul from up above :-)
and finally...selamat sampai :-)
sebaik aja landing at incheon international airport, four of us terus senyum....and after the immigration check point, transfer via train to claim our bags/luggage.
Lepas claimed all bags, four of us try cari 'the seoul metro' to transfer us to Gimpo Airport Station, so we headed to B3 level and bought the single journey ticket to our hotel in Janganpyeong area. First we took a train at Line 9 to Gimpo Station and transfer to Line 5 to Janganpyoeng Station.
finding a train, the line and the right colours of the lane, took us about 1 1/2 hrs journey from Incheon International Airport to Janganpyeong area....we arrived at the hotel finally.
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| ZZZZ....ZZ....zzzz |
03.11.2010
Day 2- Wake Up and Smell The Coffee
Good Morning SEOUL! and try to find a coffee shop and ready to explore Janganpyeong area, I-Park Digital Shopping Mall and Gangnam Underground Market. The weather- 12 degree celcius...
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| nice weather!! |
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| Petrol station- Hyundai OilBank |
From line 5 at Janganpyeong area we headed to
Gangnam Station; is a station on Line 2 and actually next to Yeoksam and Seoul National University of Education Station.
Just follow your hotel line and colours (mine is Line 5: Purple Colour).
Then change the Colour and the Line at the Transfer Station to Line 2 to Gangnam Station (222) [this is a route number].
Once arrived at the Gangnam Station, swipe the single journey ticket and claim your deposit (500 KRW) equal to our myr 1.47 sen la... at the vending machine before exit the station. Follow exit no. 6 and 7.
After Gangnam Underground Market, we headed to Yongsan (Dragon Mountain) Station.
I-Park Digital Shopping Mall located at Yongsan area and basically the largest digital mall in that area. From Gangnam Station we bought the single journey ticket direct to Yongsan-gu Station; on Line 1.
(Tips: from Gangnam Station Line 2; change the Line and Colours at the 'Transfer Station' to Line 1)
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| Inside Yongsan Station |
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| The Coffee Shop attached to the I-Park Digital Mall |
The shopping centre consists of hypermarket owned by Shinsegae, a large cinema with 11 screens and a shopping centre for digital goods namely I-Park Digital Mall owned by Hyundai Development Company and basically consists of three main section- Fashion Store, Culture Store and Living Store (ground floor- camera, tripod, memory cards, camera bags and etc, second floor -laptop, laptop and more laptop......end of our 2nd day.
We headed back to Janganpyeong...again Line 5: Purple Colour
04.11.2010
Day 3: Long Live The King!
Some say- if four of us want to visit Geongbokgung Palace-please wake up early and be there before 10:30, a ceremonial; changing of guard ceremony will be held in front of the Gyeongbokgung Palace. We woke up a bit late on that day :-) and headed to Geongbokgung Palace.........(knowing that we have missed the ceremony). From our Line 5, we headed to Transfer Station and change to line to Line 3 at Gyoengbokyung Station. Exit No. 5.
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| kalau dah jumpa tanda ni, meaning tak sesat :-) |
It was built in 1935; the most popular tourist attraction in Seoul and for further information try
http://www.royalpalace.go.kr/html/eng/data/data_01.jsp?dep1=2
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| in front of Gyeongbokgung Palace |
Once we arrived in front of the gate of the Palace, we saw a colourful uniforms *blink blink and the royal guard dah start marching in front of the gate [woo-hoooo......we are lucky]
p/s closed every Tuesday
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Dengan pantas membeli tiket
the ticket (3000 KRW) |
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me with the royal guard woo-hoo..
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the marching and the ceremony tu about 30mins juga, once completed, four of us pun enter the gate, tunjuk tiket and explore the Palace...what did Pie in the Sky find inside the Palace???scenery images yang cantik inside the Palace....
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| woo-hoo |
ini baru permulaan selepas entrance gate.Then four of us, terus jalan and explore 'tempat royal melayan foreign vip/guest' kot depan tasik, then we headed to the royal secret garden pula..here are some photo to share...
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| ini dikatakan tempat royal melayan tetamu luar |
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| belakang Palace ada Bugaksan Mountain, in front ada tasik-a great feng-shui kot |
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| to the entrance of the secret garden |
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| persimmon tree a.k.a pisang kaki |
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| fridge magnet! fridge magnet!...sapa nak??? |
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| exit from d Palace...kuning biji mata :-S |
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| the yellow leaves belakang tu adalah pokok gingko....dan buah gingko kata one of the korean auntie tu, tak boleh makan sebabnya nanti sakit dan gatal tekak.... |
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| Tapinya si korean auntie tu dengan husband dia sakan pula kutip buah gingko....woo-hoo! |
we spend time kat sini lama jugala..about 2hrs sebab cantik, then we headed to one of the most market yang famous area berdekatan Palace, namely Insa-dong....actually exit aja this Palace turn to the right and cross opposite dah boleh jalan kaki, but for malaysian macam kami yang ikut direction betul betul and first time @korea-four of us naik train (even less than 15 minutes jalan kaki) hehehe....
p/s: FYI and after google and search all blogs, noticed that Changgyeonggung Palace also A Must Visit Palace and been told that this palace has been designated as A World heritage area by UNESCO and No.1 of all the palace in Seoul [how to get there: jump on to Line 3 (Angguk Station) and Exit No. 3....
NEXT...Insa-dong...where fridge magnet is located..LOL
so, we took a train to Insa-dong lepas keluar dari Gyeongbukgung Palace...where all the street vendors and shop along the pedestrian menjual souvenirs, clothes, and etc..termasuk cafe and restaurant. A very nice place but expensive compare with other market (mungkin sebab banyak mat-salleh and japan tourist berkumpul sini). Insa-dong area ni actually dalam daerah Jong-no gu, Seoul. Here are some photos...
so, if u guys naik train, exit aja, u will find police station and bus stop-walk 5mins and will see ....
Subway : follow Line 3 to Angguk Station and Exit No. 6
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| closed for traffic every Sunday only... |
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| korean university student tengah buat survey and research... |
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| 1st coffee shop spotted...nice arr? |
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| 2nd coffee shop spotted..unique arr? |
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| 3rd coffee shop spotted - attractive arr? |
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| 4th coffee shop spotted- creative & attractive arr....?? |
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5th coffee shop spotted..lovely arr...i like :-)
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So, we spend at Insadong til gelap, kat korea pukul 6pm dah gelap (macam 8pm kat malaysia)..so we headed back to the Hotel dinner and ZZzzzzzzzz.......
05.11.2010
Day 4 : Switch to Hwagok Area
on the 4th day, we have to pack everything and switch to the other Hotel at Hwagok area (actually Hwagok l transfer to our next Hotel for the next 6 days)
From Jananpyeong Line 5 we stopped at Hwagok Station- also Line 5..(senang sikit tak payah tukar Line) but we decided to take a taxi..woo-hoo (coz tak larat bawa bags yang makin beranak-pinak)....sampai saja Hotel, we decided to go to Dongdaemun Market, where the shopping mall closed at 4.30 am .....woo-hoo
Next Dongdaemun Market....where Hello Kitty is located :)
here are some photos.... at Dongdaemun Market
06.11.2010
Day 5: Myeong Dong Market - A Must Do Shopping Trip :)
Directions to Myeong Dong:
1.From Exit No. 5 of Euljiro Ipgu Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line no. 2), walk about 10 mins, or 2. From Exit No. 5,6,7 or 8 of Myeong Dong Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line 4) walk about 5mins...so pilih yang mana paling dekat and offcoz the '5mins'.... |
Myeong-Dong = The best market and the best place untuk ber-shopping :-). Tapi ramai sangat tourist including the korean yang tengah bershopping for the 'winter' soon....
myeong dong market ni, operating hrs dalam pukul 6pm sampai malam...and along jalan myeong dong actually banyak street vendors and small shop yang menjual serba serbinyaaaaa......tapikan, banyak la shop yang jual barang barang muka ni....termasuklah membeli 'mask' muka tu sampai seratus keping...hehehe
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| belum sempat habis jalan, dah gelap :-S |
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kedai muka pertama
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| woo-hoo the second kedai 'muka'... |
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| and...so on |
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comelnya yang pegang bunga tu...
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07.11.2010
Day 6: and it's My Birthday :-) ' Jalan -Jalan di Namdaemun Market
From the hotel (Hwagok Line) we all keluar noon....spotted the 'matahari' in korea? but the weather masih sejuk plus windy..14degree celcius. So from Hwagok Line No. 5 jump on Line No. 4 (Hoehyon Station) and Exit no. 5 and you will find the biggest traditional market in the very center of Seoul. Dekat sini pun ramai, dan tolong pegang tangan jangan sampai sesat... or alternatively pakai baju yang warna menonjol hehehe...
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| tak tau nak beli apa pulak dah... |
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| really?? |
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| katanya untuk mencuci pinggan...ermmm |
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| HanBok anyone?? the traditional korean dress.... |
It has children's clothing, men and women's clothing, daily goods, kitchenware and local and imported products and blablabla..... Most shops have their own factories and make the products themselves, offering both wholesale and retail prices.The Japanese are into foods like seaweed, gimchi and ginseng, while the Chinese are into clothing and household goods. Tourists from the west simply enjoy the ambience of a traditional market....Myeong dong still the best woo-hoo...bukan apa, too crowded..at namdaemun market nie :-)
Habis merayau Namdaemun Market, we all headed back to the Hotel for tomorrow trip..Nami Island woo-hoo...
08.11.2010 Day 7: Nami Island
Guess, all the korean drama -fans dah tahu tentang Nami Island nie, where the 'Winter Sonata' a.k.a Winter Love Story produced by KBS TV Drama shooting at this island; Namiseom.
"The story begins when Joon-sang, the son of an eminent musician, moves to Chuncheon, a rural city in South Korea. As an extraordinarily talented student, Joon-sang is welcomed by his fellow students as well as teachers, but remains a quiet, introverted young man......" [adding the sound effect here : WS ost :-)] "One day on the ride to school, Joon-sang's classmate Yu-jin interrupts him on the bus. Joon-sang soon falls in love with Yu-jin, who opens herself to him with an innocent heart. Their love, however, is cut short after Joon-sang is involved in a serious auto-accident and, due to brain damage, is unable to recall his past life....so what happened to the 'love story and Yu-jin?" -the end- (please get the DVD..'lah')
so, at 10am from the hotel we headed to Hwagok Line (Line 5) and jump on Line No. 2 (Gangbyeon Station and Exit No: 4) to Dong Seoul Terminal Bus Station
and from the Station we have to cross to the next building where the Dong Seoul terminal bus is situated (every 15 mins, fare 7800 KRW), or alternatively via train from Cheongnyangni Station to Nam Chuncheon Station (20 daily departures, fare 5,400 won)....so we decided to travel by Bus (journey 1hr only)
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| Brooommm..... |
we decided to go to Nami Island on Monday, sebabkan weekend terlalu ramai tourist, so we all pilih Monday on the 8th tu..and bila search all the blog, info describing that the journey to Nami Island took about 1 1/2 hrs, tapi disebabkan Monday, traffic so smooth, so we all sampai at Gapyeong bus terminal dalam masa satu jam. Masa turun from the Bus, the weather is like 10 degree celcius plus the windy...kami terus masuk coffee shop....Brrrrr....
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| Gapyeon Bus Station and from here we took a taxi to namiseom (less 10mins) |
next Namiseom....SEOUL Part 2
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