Korea - Ode to Autumn | Seoul and Wrap Up

Today post will be the wrap up post for the Korea trip, where it will be a combo post of 4 days (Yeah 4 days!) It will be a very long post with tones of photos to view. :") The previous Nami Island post is part of the Seoul tour and still, like I mentioned before since it is a special location, so I have prepared a dedicated post for it. :")

More photos after the jump...

It is (super) early in the morning when we reach at the train station to depart from Busan to Seoul. The sun has just started to rise and the view is just magnificent. You have to love the sunlight at that time. :") When we reach Seoul, the first thing we did is to check in the Doo guest house. It is a traditional Korea house setup which is pretty cool. :") (Plus the guest house owner has been waited for us at the junction to help us with our luggage and guide us to our next stay). Our first stop is the Bukchon Hanok Village where it is fill with very authentic and classic korea traditional house. The view there are very nice and there are some couples who get their portrait shoot there too. :") The next destination near by is the Gyeongbokgung and Gwanghwamun Square where you will have a chance to experience the palace in Korea and of course there is a small marching show there too. (Remember to check the schedule of the marching show, cause if you miss it, you will need to wait for a very long one for another one). Our final stop of the day is the Insadong, where you will be able to find a lot of souvenirs shops (at a reasonable price there). The place that grab my interest the most is the Ssamzie-gil complex. It got all types of artist design items there for you to select. :") I think the area has been nicely decorated indeed. When you are there, don't forget to try out the unique Korean snack called hotteok. It is made with wheat flour dough filled with dark brown sugar, cinnamon, sesame, and chopped peanuts. The filled dough is griddled and flattened into a large circle. One of the most famous hotteok stall is located in Insadong, so do look out for this stall! ;)

It is day 8 of our trip where we eventually would like to try our luck if we could go to Nami island one day earlier. The bus driver told us that the bus is not that full (you will need to prebook your bus ticket to go to Nami island), but he cannot guarantee that he will have a place to return back. So we have cancelled our plan and departed to the North Seoul Tower and then headed back to Jongno-gu for our italian lunch. (Alright, this restaurant is seriously good. The pasta (specially the carbonara) and pizza is superbly nice and is worth a visit). :") It is small… but you will definitely enjoy the food there. :") At least I know we are. Our final stop of the day is the Apgujeong-dong to do some window shopping and somehow we manage to bump into the Kyochon chicken which has been recommended by MC. Alright, after we tried it, we prefer the Outdark chicken. :") Anyway there goes the Day 8 of our trip.

It is the day 9 of our trip and we have move out from the Doo Guesthouse to move in to another area (Which is Myeongdong). Our next guest house is ZAZA backpackers. A bunch of friendly folks are ready to serve you. (And some of the people working there is from Taiwan!). Eventually, this is a weird day where we have went to a wrong destination and found that the scenery, view and people there is not bad at all. (I think it is a university or schooling area where you will see a lot of kids doing their school activities and university students gather together for a drink). We headed to watch Nanta after that where I will say that the show is an awesome one. It's worth every penny you pay where the show has a lot of interaction with the audience where the audience will be invited up to the stage (if you are sitting at the first floor) to join the performance if you have been chosen. :") Anyway, we did went to the 2013 Lantern Festival at the Cheonggyecheon stream after that. From the information provided by LB, it used to be a very very dirty drain which in the end, has been transform by the mayor where it has become the most famous and romantic place for dating. :") Our final stop is Dongdaemun. Where it is famous for their midnight shopping where the shops at this location will be open until 4am in the morning! (Alright I did not walk until that late, I have went back to get my rest before 12am). Haha… :"D

It is the last day where we will have one full day to wonder around. We have decided to slowdown our pace walking around at the MyeongDong area. We also have a chance to try out our first Jingseng Chicken in Korea (finally…). :") One thing to bring up in Seoul is that, they do have a lot of helpful tour guide near the tourist spot to help people with directions. (They wear a red hat and red cost and are fluent in Korean, Japanese, English and Chinese language). They are very very helpful in deed for the first timer like me to Seoul. so do watch out for them if you need any help along the way. :") We have quite a lot of pit stop on that day and one of the pit stop I could remember the most is the MMMG Cafe. Where it gives me a very cozy feeling with it's ambient, coffee and view outside the shop. I just love this place. :") We have headed back to MyeongDong again for our last round of Korea night market food. And yes do watch out for the sticks of tofu skin sold by the couple there. (It is just outside of the Nanta show auditorium). Do try to eat it with stick (don't request them to put in the cup) and I will tell you, you will be surprise by the spiciness level that it has. Even LB (who is so superbly good in spicy food, have tears in eyes when try it, so I will not need to describe how do I look like by then). ~:"| Even though, it is so HOT…, but it is very delicious though, I will highly recommended to you guys! :")

Good things will still need to comes to an end. Where we will need to head back to Penang taking the earliest shuttle bus to the airport. The weather is still very cold (around -2C) and I know that I am going to miss everything here. (Specially the cold weather, haha). Personally, Korea a country where you will see different culture from their village area to the most develop city area. It is a culturally transforming country which has develop so fast in the last few years. A very nice place to visit, and of course, tones of nice foods and friendly people there. :") Well…, as a last note, thanks to ML for sharing her itinerary with us and LB… for coming out with an itinerary that suits our schedule. I hope that all of you have enjoy all the Korea series… :") Have a great night people!! CHEERS!


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