south korea'08!

woohoo~! Back from another holiday. hahaha. please do not say you are jealous of me, i will feel bad. LOL =P again, this trip took up 300++ photos in my memory stick (what's new) so i kinda need to figure out how to blog about the trip. i will try to make it less wordy, and let you have more pictures to see k? i promise you will take less time to read than the taiwan entries. haha =P

on the flight to incheon! we took the 0025h flight...
and reached about 5 in the morning - korea time, which is one hour faster. the incheon airport is supposedly the best airport in 2005, 2006 and 2007! what happened to our Changi?! and by the way, it didn't really live up to its name actually. oops. =/
me waiting for them at the toilet...i don't look tired hor, even though i only slept on and off for an hour or so? =P
we reached our first destination at about 0640h, which was 50mins ahead of the 0730h we were supposed to be there. we were going to take a vessel across the sea, and it's those kind of vessel on which vehicles can go. it was freaking cold, especially with the wind blowing, and we were the only 4 siao char bors who got outside to "take in fresh air". hahaha. i think we were too excited lah. =)
can you feel our excitement just by looking at the photos? =P

and this is what i meant by the vehicles can go on the vessel....
the purpose of us going on the ship is to feed seagulls with prawn crackers! seriously, they eat prawn crackers, and they have very swift movements! only jinli was brave enough to hold A prawn cracker in her hand and wait for a seagull to come and eat it off. i tried, but i screamed like mad when the seagull took it from my hand. i think i scared the seagull lor. hahaha =P

then we headed to the war memorial...i don't know the exact name of the place, but it's to commemorate the war between south and north korea.
in case you can't tell, that's jinli trying to be some big-shot. =P

and this is our first meal in korea! not too bad, we finished everything up. haha =P in fact, for the rest of the meals, we finished all, if not most, of our food =) and we always had something to refill, be it kimchi or mushrooms or sth else. hahaha. but the hongkongers in our tour group didnt seem to be very used to the food...our conclusion was singaporeans adapt more easily to foreign foods since we have a lot of foreign influence in singapore. maybe i should add "young" singaporeans cos i've heard of stories where some aunties got really sick of kimchi when they go on tour to korea. haha =P

and this is myeong dong, one of the most popular shopping places in korea...didn't buy much though, i think we didn't have enough time to shop properly cos the area was really big.
the first day ended in the afternoon, since we started the day really early. and it was free and easy that night so we went in search for dinner...settled for one of these tents. does it remind you of some scenes in korean dramas? haha =P
had some korean drink that contains 21% alcohol. goodness, 4 of us share one bottle already want to puke blood, but there are aunties who can down 2 bottles each. hahaha we are very good drinkers hor? =P okay correction, jinli can drink, just that she doesnt like the taste of this one.....and the result of that small little shot? go decide for yourself. hahaha. =P

day 2 was free and easy. after some discussion and studying maps, itinerary for the day: seoul world cup stadium, ewha womans university and namdaemun area...
and so the first stop: seoul world cup stadium!
paid 1000 Won (which is slightly less than SGD$1.50) to go into the stadium. ehhh this picture MUST MUST click to enlarge k? cos they all had expressions on their faces but er...the silly me didn't zoom in. thought wanted to take in more of the stadium mah. hahaha. =P
and these 2 爱演的 think they some soccer superstars. haha -_-
i love this shot...very pretty hor? =) and jodi looks like a mummy who brought her 3 kids out in the picture. hahaha =P
and these 2 photos must be seen in succession...
haha don't know if you can catch the humour, but yah, we ourselves think it's quite funny =P

and i think i am into taking photos in mirrors now leh. lol =P this is the changing room, and the showers actually work.
yes yes i know this is a little lame lah...haha =P

anyway, we headed to the area around ewha womans university next, it's supposed to be good for shopping too cos they cater to university students. =) we happened to pass by a small eatery, and had a very yummy-licious lunch! seriously, it was really good! erm, how do you eat these? well you barbecue the pork, kimchi, mushrooms, then you wrap them with lettuce lor. yup, that's it but it was good! YUMMY! and we had 2 other similar meals in the following days...heh i like =P
and this is the university. looks like some victorian age buildings. cuiyi commented that she felt she was in ireland instead. haha =P
a bit about the university...it is the world's largest female educational institute, and is one of the best-known universities in South Korea. ehh want to know more, go wiki and find la k? haha =P i thought i saw somewhere a guy's a student at the school, but looks like i didn't see correctly. haha =P

went over to namdaemun, supposed to be this wholesale place that sells anything and everything, which was really the case, but the alley that's supposed to sell ladies' clothes was not opened when we got there....apparently, they open from 1030pm onwards till 5pm the next day or sth. anyway, spotted a tee with very very very bad english. haha =P
and this is 辣炒年糕 (rice cake)..i think it appears quite often in korean dramas? haha =P
and my chicken gizzards. one whole plate leh, eat until~ ^_^
we started off day 3 with a trip to some korean culture place. first up was making kimchi! hahaha. it was really easy, if you already have the paste and the vegetables prepared for you. =P
er...i think we, okay at least me, look weird in that korean traditional costume. hahaha =P it's super loose fitting one leh, so it makes me look fatter than i am. hahaha. =P
and this is our whole tour group. there were only 11 of us, 2 couples, 3 colleagues, and us. =) it was good that we are all about the same generation i.e. planning of the trip was much easier cos don't have to accomodate those aunties uncles mah. haha =P

after that we headed to sinchon area for lunch, it was actually the same place we went to the day before - near the university. so we dint do much shopping, instead we stopped at cold stone to have ice cream! the day before we alr had 4 chops, one more chop on the card = free ice cream! haha =P
we had ginseng chicken for early dinner that evening...wah, i think i very lucky lah, cos the one i had, the ginseng was actually quite big a piece compared to others'. haha =P
had an early dinner because we were heading to lotte world, one of the best-known amusement parks in korea! =) FEEBS, this is where stairway to heaven was shot! haha =P
this sight actually reminds me of disney land... =)
comet express, the first ride we went on that jodi and macy, our fellow tour group member, started screaming even before the ride started. -_- the ride wasnt that scary lah. haha =P

then cuiyi and i decided to join the others in this ride called gyro swing. goodness me...
it's this thing that spins and swings...and it goes REALLY REALLY REALLY high up. =.= don't even know where i got the courage to get up on the ride. =/ i was okay at first, but when it started going really high, i wanted to puke blood - i stopped screaming and shut my eyes after i saw the surrounding scenery for that split second and thinking to myself, why on earth am i on this?! hahaha. but it was really exhilarating lah, can feel the wind distorting my face even with the protective shield in front lor pls. hahaha =P
ehh try enlarging the photo and finding me, quite easy de. hahaha. =P
there was also a ice-skating rink within the compound, and i was thinking if full house was shot here. hahaha. remember there was a part where rain and song hye kyo went ice-skating late at night?? hahaha.
this is lotte world's mascot...
and this is the carousel where stairway to heaven apparently filmed at too! the girl in the middle is macy, yup the one who screamed with jodi =)
there was this ride called pharaoh's fury. the ride itself wasnt scary or exciting, but the backdrops were done very delicately and they really made an effort to make you feel like you are in egypt. haha =)
very cute hor?? cuiyi bought it at the very last minute, just before we were supposed to go and gather. haha =P

day 4 began with a trip to the korean tourism bureau to visit the korean wave hallyu, where they have those man-sized cardboards of famous korean stars. hahhaa. =) of cos, they have RAIN! =)
and all of us found our own "partners". hahaha =P

cuiyi with her sang-woo!
jodi with her byung-hun...
jinli with her shi-won...
and myself with who else...RAIN! hahaha. and i thought i was over him already. tsk tsk.

and we could "take photos" with stars also! hahaha =P there was this interactive booth that you can go choose the background and the stars you want to put into your photos then you can email the photos to yourself. but sadly ah, i only got one out of the 3 or 4 i sent to myself =(

the next stop was the korean presidential office. of course we couldn't go in lah, could only take photos at the park. haha =P
ehhh tourists can actually take photos with the policemen on duty, but you are not allowed to snap photos of their female cops. interesting rule. =)
and this is the oldest drum in korea, some >600 years old.
this is the city hall area - where the olympic torch relay was held just a day before. it's kinda cool that we were there in korea when the torch was there, and we can also catch the hong kong leg on 2 may. cool. haha =P
we also went to tiger world that day, which has a water park, spa, golf, indoor ski etc. we didn't do much there cos we didn't bring swimsuits...heh. got some artificial tanning, which apparently has quite strong an effect on me compared to jodi and jinli, while cuiyi went to swim in the pool that circles the whole area...
we moved to another hotel that night, and we stayed at paradise hotel at incheon. i think korea has too much land, so much so that their hotel rooms all very big and spacious. =)
the hotel was next to the chinatown in korea...but frankly speaking, there wasn't anything much, the streets were deserted. =.=

we had dinner at a korean eatery. we wanted to order food but the uncle didn't understand, so it was a good thing that there happened to be a korean woman who had lived in US for 20 years who helped us out. =) in korea, sometimes i feel like i suddenly forget how to speak. =/ but the people are nice, they try their best to help. the funny thing is they answer me in korean, which i dun understand. haha. but coupled with handsigns, then okay la, can barely get by. haha =P
this photo got feel?! you know those korean dramas, the guy will always drive and wait outside the girl's home for her to come back?? imagine imagine imagine! haha =P

and a self-taken shot on timer on the way up to jayu park - i hope i didn't get the name of the park wrong... =)

this is the view from a pavilion look-out. =) nice!

we walked for awhile when we saw a cafe with interesting interiors through its windows. it's called cafe castle and we had a little drink...

the purpose of this photo is not only to tell you the time we were at the cafe, but also to show you my new watch. HAHAH =P it costs just slightly more then SGD5.50 lor. haha. happy =)

a plague i saw at the hotel's lift. cool =)
we went to itaewon, where we were supposed to be shopping, but i think we were all too tired already lah. so we settled down at coffee bean, and they have this really cool thing that will beep when your order is ready so you don't have to stand there to wait like an idiot. someone please tell me singapore still doesn't have this, if not i am really outdated. haha =P
and our last meal in korea - the barbecue meat and stone pot rice! i forgot what it is called in korean..is it dolsot ah? =)
us with our victory goods. haha =P cuiyi and i had a luggage of 20kg can?! LOL =P
and this is our tour group...the guy in front is the tour guide, and the lady on the left is our tour leader lor. =)
we think our tour leader - the lady - looks like this hong kong actress zhang ke yi. haha =P
oh can i just say, i think the four of us have really good smiles? hahaha. see already also very happy. =P you go and see all our photos if you dun believe me. haha =P

heh some tak-glam shots of myself....
alright, time to go to bed. it's like 330am now. =/ but you know what? my stomach is grumbling. rahhh. =( got to start doing some work later, exams are starting on the 7th...do some work later then 2 may can go and watch the torch relay already. haha =P

a pat on your back for getting to the end of this entry, and another sunset photo for the collection =)