#yusasouthkorea17

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 06/7 (10th & 11th Nov)

So pretty much after reaching Seoul, its all about visiting touristy places such as seaweed factory or ginseng outlet, and of course loads of shopping which me and my sis had been looking forward to for ages!

Went to this famous Korean restaurant for Dakgalbi

Dakgalbi is stir-fried spicy chicken with vegetables, usually there’s also rice cake inside and you can mix in some rice too. Its really popular to eat this when you are with a group of friends/family because its easy to share with one another.

Honestly tasted SOOOOOO good!!!

^ Xmas tree near Myeongdong

We went to Myeongdong – the main shopping district in Seoul and there were not only a lot of cosmetics shops and clothing shops, there were plenty of street food too!  

Grilled lobster

Grilled abalone

Red bean paste cake

Dumplings!!

^ Sikhye – a type of traditional rice beverage

^ Dumpling stew (I guess?)

We went to Dongdaemun and Myeongdong for shopping and it was crazy! In a good way! There were just so many different brands and shops that you can shop from, and tourist get instant tax refund which is always useful (just remember to have your passport with you). My sis brought a luggage along with us while we shop at Myeongdong – yes, a silly idea but proved to be really useful especially the skincare products are all in bottles which can be rather heavy. We almost shopped till we drop, and we did shopped till the shop closes, mainly because we went there around late evening so we really haven’t got much time to shop.

The following day was our last day. A shame that our flight was in the afternoon so we our day were shorter. We went to the famous Ewha Woman University in Seoul – the best and more expensive female uni in South Korea. There’s also a shopping street there so time for last minute shopping!

Outside the university

And that’s the end of my South Korea trip! It has been sooooo amazing, I’ve enjoyed every bit of it, be it the food, the weather, the shoppings or simply just spending time with my family. My one and only trip in 2017 was so great and awesome. Thanks for those who made this happen. Thanks for everything! 

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 05 (9th Nov)

Stayed a night at Yongpyong Ski Resort which is at Pyeongchang, where the Winter Olympic 2018 will be taking place at, but when we were there, it wasn’t winter yet nor did it snow, still, the place is lovely and I can imagine people from around the world loving this place.

View from outside our hotel

Going to take cable car to the Alpine centre

The cable car is the longest in Asia – 7.4 Km! You are able to see Balwangsan Mountain which I actually don’t know is which one but its a pretty cool experience.

We reached the Dragon Peak

I wonder if it’d be prettier during winter or spring???

Its sunny but cold, and the photo is overexposed but I can’t be bothered to edit it, soz.

Going down now

Goblin was filmed here so me and sis was just trying to act like them lol

Quick selfie before getting back on the coach to head to Seoul

^ Lunch was Korean BBQ, I LOVE MY MEAT!! 

Unexpected story: So when we reached Seoul, the tour brought us to this seaweed factory and when I get off the coach I turned and I was like hang on, this building looks familiar! And indeed, it was YG Entertainment building. So you all know I’ve been in the Kpop scene for AGES (quite literally), and YG is the company of Bigbang, PSY, 2NE1, Winner etc, and Bigbang is my fav Kpop group, so obviously I was very hyped to see this legendary building – and the fact that I didn’t even expect this at all was just a really really pleasant surprise!!

It wasn’t really on my bucket list, but I might as well add it in and tick it!

Dinner was Ginseng chicken and oh my, it was just the right food to comfort the cold stomach. It was significantly a lot colder as we travel up to Seoul.

There’s even abalone! Well, safe to say my stomach was very very pleased and satisfied.

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 04 Part 2/2 (8th Nov)

We then went to Andong Hahoe Folk Village, a world heritage that is well known for its traditional houses, it is also home of the Ryu clan. It is the birthplace of many scholars during Joseon Period and even Queen Elizabeth visited the village! Hahoe Village is located at the foothills of Hwasan Mountain and is near Nakdong River.

The entrance to a house

^ The house with tiles are meant for the masters/owner, and the smaller one without the tiles are for the servants. 

The roof against the autumn leaves

Tangerine trees easily found everywhere

Fam-shot under the super red leaves against the traditional wall.

Hahoe Village was defo a great place to visit, it is huge, and I only wished I’ve got more time to explore around. The weather was good enough as well. I’ve enjoyed looking at the different traditional houses and trying to imagine how would it be like living there in the past. Imagine just one clan occupying such a big plot of land. Tell me about it man! Almost all my pictures there turned out really pretty and that is defo because of how lovely the place was. Hahoe village is not very accessible, a bit outskirts if you ask me, so might be easier if you are going with a tour, nonetheless, if you’ve got the chance, please do visit the place!

Went to the rest station before heading to Seoul, and WOW, like I’ve been to a few rest-stop in various countries, but THIS is amazing.  They have got LOTS of washrooms, even have a map of the layout of the washroom and using green/red lights to tell you which is empty so you can use it. They also have lots of snacks shops, and even a proper food area that sells proper meals, and convenient store. South Korea is doing it right~!

Such a clean and spacious rest station!

Quick snack

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 04 Part 1/2 (8th Nov)

Our two hours coach journey led us to Geumosan where we stayed one night there, and the following morning (day 4), we went to the Geumosan Provincial Park to do some light hiking, and see the autumn leaves!

Surprised to see Singapore’s flag outside the hotel. And that’s Hongkong’s flag by the side.

^ Ginkgo tree leaf, very typically found around South Korea. But beware of the ginkgo nuts – they smells!!!

Getting ready for the cable car ride 

^ Shame the picture doesn’t show exactly how beautiful the scenery was!

One of my fav family picture for the trip! Absolutely love the colours of autumn

Last picture before heading off

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 03 Part 2/2 (7th Nov)

Went for lunch (we are still in Busan in case you lost track of where we were), and main dish was FISH! We were all really not looking forward or expecting anything because the thought of fried fish was just average, but boy, were we wrong! The fried fishes doesn’t look very appealing, but hun, they were well good! Very well seasoned, not too salty, and the taste goes very well with the rice. It was a great meal indeed!!

After lunch, we went to the most popular tourist spot in Busan, and personally it was my number one place that I looked forward to the most – the Gamcheon Culture Village! Y’all how much I enjoy going to cultural places so of course this was on my list, right?! I specifically told my parents I’d wanna go there so yeah!

Gamcheon culture village is formed by many colourful houses that are built on the foothills of a coastal mountain. There’s lots of murals and sculptures around the village that are created by the resident – and yes, people still live there! Also, it was once a neighborhood that housed refugees from the Korean War. There’s many cute little shops that sells touristy stuff, and what I like is that many things were made from the residents there. So I make sure I actually purchased these items from them because 1) its good to show them support, 2) a lot more unique compared to general souvenirs.

Looking at all the colourful houses, unique boutique shops and murals really makes me very very happy :’)

transparent jelly that looks interesting but was very average

a cold day calls for some ice cream

Our last for the day was Nampodong & Jagalchi Market, the first is a central shopping district in Busan and the latter is a fresh fish and seafood market.

^ Our tour guide told us that we must queue for this hotteok

Hotteok is a street food, something like a Korean pancake but different various fillings, there are the typical sweet fillings kind and this one we got, it was filled with brown sugar and some nuts.

I got kimbap (korean sushi)

Inside Jagalchi market

Look at the massive crabs!!!

Some stalls are just situated outside the market

all sorts of seafood

After walking around, eating and shopping, we went for a simple dinner which was bibimbap, Korean hot stone mixed rice. Together with a vegetable stew. And off we went to our next accommodation which is a good two hours coach ride! Day 3 was yet another amazing day!

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 03 Part 1/2 (7th Nov)

colourful flowers by the road

Flew to Busan from Jeju after our short stay, and first stop was Oryukdo Sky Walk, although the actual glass walkway was closed for maintenance, but the view was still really lovely. Also, it was getting more chilly as we moved from Jeju (south) to Busan (up north, but not as northwest as Seoul).

Quick selfie after getting off the coach

And view from the right – defo like the view more because you can the islands. Oryukdo Island literally means five-six island, because depending on the day and the tides, sometimes you can either see give or six islands, thus the name.

Messy hair from sleeping on the flight/coach

Someone trying to get coffee advertisement LOL

Last shot of the place before leaving.

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 02 Part 2/2 (6th Nov)

Next stop – Jusangjeolli Cliffs, that is a volcanic rock formation, at the southern coast of Jeju. It was rather crowded and the platform to view the cliffs is not very big, so brace yourself for the crowd. But I’ve gotta say the cliffs was so gorgeous, it is just some amazing thing that’s created by Mother Nature. And y’all should really go there if you are visiting Jeju, doesn’t need to spend very long but it all worth it

Mother Nature is just amazing. I mean look at the structure of the rocks, its so unique and special. Honestly, I haven’t seen anything like this before, and it was just so so beautiful. The weather was also good thus everything just looks so much better, I am blessed! 

If you see carefully, you can see the crowd…

We then went to OSulloc, a tea museum that is very famous in Jeju (Chloe, you’d love this place!). Jeju is well known for its green tea, and this museum showcase lots of tea cups from around the world. It also has a store that sells different kinds of tea with really pretty packaging, and also green tea desserts. Apparently, the museum is also awarded best architecture award for its design. So architecture-lover, remember to go there!!

Last stop of the day were the Teddy Bear Museum, literally everything was made with Teddy bears inside, was really not expecting anything but it was actually pretty fun and they are quite creative. Not that I’d go again, but at least I’ve been there.

My best friend, the sloth!

Went for seafood stew after visiting the museum, and our tour guide was so nice to add fresh abalone for each of us! She’s honestly a very good and experienced tour guide! And we also had korean pancake! It was a hearty meal indeed after quite a long day, but thank god the weather was amazing! And that’s how we ended our second day!

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 02 Part 1/2 (6th Nov)

Properly started our day off in Jeju after a very good night sleep and a hearty breakfast at the hotel (no pictures cause I didn’t remember to take any), and our first stop was tangerine picking! Did I mentioned in previous post that it was tangerine season now? So of course we had to go and try it out, right?

The tangerine farm reminds me a lot of Malaysia because it felt very outskirt and rural, and it was really nice to get some fresh air and just to be away from the city.

The trick in picking tangerine is to find the smaller ones because then they are sweeter.

These little red berries are called Omiga (or five-flavour berry), Koreans make them into tea because they are good for detox and lowering the blood pressure. We tried drinking the tea, and was told that if you tasted bitterness – it means your liver is not in a very good condition.

Next stop was Seongsan Ilchulbong or the Sunrise Peak, and it is formed by volcanic eruptions five-thousand year ago (!!!). It is also listed as UNESCO world heritage and its one of the most popular tourist spot, esp for those that enjoys hiking. We were with a tour so we didn’t make it to the top, so perhaps next time then? (More time for me to train my stamina then!)

We were really lucky that it was sunny when we went, and it’s the kind of sunny but cooling weather so you don’t need a coat, and also good-enough weather for a cuppa iced coffee. Also, looking at the pictures, its not hard to understand why people love coming here because its so picturesque. Its just generally a nice place for people to chill/hike and get some fresh air

The only family photo there, and the person only took one shot. ONE SHOT – and my mum closed her eyes which I know its not obvious. Alright, can’t blame the person who took this, not everyone is a photographer even if they’ve got good camera. But here’s a tip to everyone – ALWAYS take two shot of whatever you are taking, even if its the same angle, chances are one of the picture might ended up blurred or what. So yes.

Afterwards, we went to Seongeup Folk Village, which is a traditional/old-fashioned Jeju Village. It is how the ancient people in Jeju live, and it was just interesting to see how their housing and the equipment is like. The lady also gave us some historical lesson, oh also we also saw the legendary black pig in Jeju. It was all great fun!

^ Explaining to us how people used to climb up the mountain to get water.

^ One of the most popular/famous Korean ancient drama shot some scenes here.

^ The black piggy

^ How the housing looks like, a small little hut it is

^ Kitchen from the past

And it was indeed a good learning experience, and I think that one thing bout joining a tour is that sometimes they bring you to places that you wouldn’t necessary explore on your own and that’s a nice surprise, well at least to me.

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 01 Part 2/2 (5th Nov)

After going to the Namsam Tower, we head to Gyeongbokgung – the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty and was built in 1395!! But before we actually head towards the palace, we went to rent some Hanbok which is the traditional Korean costume. The rental was included in the tour so thats easy for us once again. Hanbok has so many colours it was actually hard to choose from, me and sis said to wear something similar, in fact she actually chose the one that I wore and she has got great taste as seen from the photos. Koreans still wear Hanbok on special occasion these days, very much like the Japanese wearing their Kimonos.

Family shot before leaving the rental shop

while walking towards the palace 

Very amazed to think people from the past built impressive buildings like these, and the intricate design, colours and everything.

Don’t you love the colours of the tree leaves!?

^ So we found this plaque that has got our last name on it “Huang” so we were a little too excited and of course we had to take a shot with it, right?!

^ Inside one of the hall, and in the middle – there’s where the King sits.

Pano shot outside the palace.

^ Fav picture of the day

along the street~ what a view that’s rare in Singapore

After returning the Hanbok, going to lunch, we took a domestic flight to Jeju and we went to the Yongduam Rock (Dragon Head Rock) – as the name suggest, the rock looks like a dragon head. BUT, it really only look like one from far, and we were pretty upclose, and I heard its nicer in the morning. So yeah.

^ Does it look like anything at all really?

On a side note, lovely sea view

Us with the famous Jeju Dol hareubang that are actually rock statue that are scattered around Jeju and are considered to be God to provide protection.

^ Tangerine season in Jeju so you see loads and loads of tangerine everywhere!

Dinner was typical (well I wouldn’t quite say this is typical but that’s what the tour guide said) Korean cuisine. And I finally understand why Koreans love their rice so much because honestly tho, the rice just tasted so different! Even I loved it and y’all know I don’t really eat that much rice, so that sure shows something!

^ Had an early check in to the hotel, but we went around checking out the surroundings, got ourselves some Soju (Korean’s alcohol) and this just smells like the ethanol I use in lab because of how high the alcohol concentration is, but Koreans love this, and its really cheap, like only $1 plus? Less than $2, that’s REALLY cheap!

And so our first day sure felt extra long, travelling from Sg to Incheon, and then to Jeju, but at least we all had a really good time, and the weather was amazing too, the hotel was great as well. Nothing to complain really! x

[yvonneyusa]

South Korea Day 01 Part 1/2 (5th Nov)

YES guys! I am so proud to say I have finally travelled to South Korea!!! My first and last oversea trip of this year.. What happened to traveling to more places? Guess this is just adulthood! Nonetheless, South Korea with my family was LIT. Absolutely love every bit of it. Though of course it was rather rushing for some tourist attraction, but better than nothing! So be prepared for lots of photos!

Firstly, we took the flight from Singapore to Incheon straight, then we spent half a day in Seoul before taking another domestic flight to Jeju. The initial plan from the tour company was to fly to Hongkong to transit to Jeju but they wasn’t able to get the tickets thus the change in itinerary.

^A picture before departure (or before the tired face)

Bibimbap on flight

^Tired from the flight but still trying to look good!

So our first stop was Namsan Tower or N Seoul Tower. We were lucky to have our bus driving us up ’cause I have no idea if we would be able to actually climb up the mountain. The view was lovely, although it was a little foggy since it was still early in the morning but it was great to see the autumn leaves and breathe in some fresh air after being in the plane for almost 6 hours. The weather was also pretty good, a lil’ chilling but its the kind of weather you’d like.

^This is defo one of my fav picture because you can see the transition of the colours and it’s just so gorgeous!

Honestly love their convenient store SO much, there’s literally so much choices and things you can buy.