escaping winter - august edition

Well I wouldn't say spending two weeks in Jakarta is a holiday but since we had a family thing going on I went back for a bit, not to mention having to apply South Korea's tourist visa.

The travel agent that we're going with applied for my visa and I was told that it's the 'express' application so we had to add about $30 for the fee. I was sceptical at first but apparently it was really quick, They submitted the application on Monday and obtained the visa by Wednesday. Superb.

First of all, South Korea facts that I learned from the local tour guide during the trip:
- Other than ginseng, South Korea doesn't export produce. This is because their land are mostly rocks instead of soil
- Like in Japan, it's frickin' hard to find garbage bins
- Cosmetic surgery is a common thing. In Gangnam they have more than a thousand plastic surgeons. An eye job could be done for as quickly as twenty minutes
- It's common for guys to wear makeup
- Around 95% of cars on the streets are either Hyundai, Daewoo, KIA or other South Korean brands
- There are more men compared to women in South Korea. If I remember correctly the comparison is 3:1
- Most hotels have wireless internet connection (wi-fi) in their lobbies only
- There aren't a lot of porters available at hotels
- air-cons can't be set lower than 25 degrees in summer because they're trying to go green, but man that was quite a torture (especially this one night when I drank a bottle of soju, big mistake). I think it's also the same in winter
- South Korea isn't a religious country with most people having no religious preference but the biggest religion is Christianity
- Biggest company in South Korea is Samsung

And on to the trip.

We arrived at Incheon International Airport and was taken to dinner straight away. We spent the night in Songdo and was about to visit the convenience store when it started to rain and decided to just stay in and rest for the night.

The next day was the Seoul city tour. Went to the National Folk Museum of Korea and Gyeongbok Palace. I really liked how they showed the exhibits with bevelled letters since they make some really good photo objects. I especially liked this one passageway where it was quite dark and they had some tiles with numbers indicating years and some neon lights lighting the bigger tiles.

Gyeongbok palace was cool. Lots of colour and details. When we were about to leave, the changing of the guards was on so that was quite a bonus.

That day was raining quite a bit and that was definitely a bad combo in the humid summer weather.

Couldn't remember if we had lunch before or after flying from Gimpo airport to Jeju Island but afterwards, we went straight to the Mysterious Road (Dokkaebi-Doro) which earned its name because the surrounding trees created an optical illusion that would make objects appear to defy gravity and roll up the hill. Had some fishcake snack here as well. Food is always welcome.

Halla Arboretum was next. It was pretty much for me like the botanic gardens. Gotten some pretty nice shots here as well then off to the Dragon Head Rock (Yongduam Rock). It was created by nature and looked like a dragon's head and apparently there was a legend behind it, just like any other folklore. I'm not going to elaborate here, google it yourself. And after dinner, that was the end of the day.

Jeju Island day 2 started out with a hike. I love hikes. For me this was one of the two highlights in Jeju. We went to the Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) but I thought it was quite late to catch the sunrise, which was a shame really. I wouldn't mind waking up really early in the morning to get a glimpse of the sunrise since I haven't shot sunrises and sunsets for God knows how long. But again this was a tour and we had to be together, so, quite late we went. I hiked up ahead on my own and left mom and my cousin to hike by themselves. Now that I think about it now maybe I shouldn't have done it. I always just think of taking photos during trips, so so bad. Fortunately I still had my water bottle on my hike down. I gave it to them. And I did buy them soda when they finished. Kiss ass! haha.

Seongup Folk Village was next. We had a look of how traditional Jeju Islanders live day by day and of course it wouldn't be a tour if they didn't try to sell us something. This time it was honey and the Five-Flavour Tea. I tried but didn't buy any. It was refreshing though.

Then to Cheonjeyeon Falls. By this time I was pretty sure most people in the group were already pretty tired because of the hike earlier but I quite liked this place although still quite touristy. Oh by the way, all the places we went to were the touristy places so they were always packed with people because of the summer holidays. Hate the people, especially in photographs. This was also the place where I regret not having a tripod and an ND Filter. It's flowing water! But then again I prefer not to break my back carrying these items with me all the way so I made do with whatever was available.

Then half hour at the Oedolgae Rock (Lonely Rock). This also had a back story / legend but again I won't elaborate. This place actually reminded me of the Great Ocean Road heheh.

Jusangjeolli Cliffs. This was my second highlight in Jeju. Also proves that nature could sometimes go artsy fartsy. Loving the patterns on the rocks and cliffs. And the colour too. The rock was black, not gray, not dark gray, black. Just plain black.

Last visit of the day was to the Teddy Bear Museum. It was…amusing? They had pop culture stuff like Monalisa, the Beatles, Elvis etc immortalised in teddy bear form. I walked around and snapped quite quickly and had a bite of what I didn't have the chance to try in Japan before. Lotteria.

That night we went to see the Nanta show. A Cirque du Soleil-ish show utilising cooking equipment. Very entertaining, I would highly recommend this show to anyone.

Next morning we flew to Gimhae Airport in Busan and quickly visited Busan Tower (and the observatory at the top) and Busan International Film Festival Square. Then off by bus to Gyeongju and visited Tumuli Park which houses the Cheonmachong and other burial grounds covered in hill-like green vegetation. I found a wi-fi hotspot while inside believe it or not.

Before going back to the bus, we got to try the Gyeongju bun. It's like a small dorayaki. This time I bought a box (20 inside). Finished them in two days. Then visited Bulguksa Temple where I almost got lost on the way back to the bus. Yes, again, I walked around by myself although we were in a group. Way to go.

I hated the hotel we stayed in Gyeongju since we had to move quite far to the dark alleys inside the hotel lobby to find a working wi-fi spot. Boo!

Next morning was the eight hour bus ride to Mount Seorak. Once there, we went on the cable car to Gwonkeumsung Fortress and, again, I hiked for a little bit and went back down from the area where they didn't have steps anymore. It was foggy, it was wet and I didn't have my hiking shoes on (I wore a canvas all the way) so I wasn't brave enough to hike more than what was recommended.

Highlight of the day (and of the whole trip really) was that in the cable car going up they played Stevie Wonder - I Just Called to Say I Love You. I was laughing inside thinking if they couldn't find any other appropriate song to play in the cable car (Korean songs maybe?) and if the cable car broke and going down, that would be a really nice soundtrack going out.

Back down we visited Shinheungsa Temple and the Tongil Daebul (The Great Unification Buddha). I was, again, walking further on my own trying to visit the monks' residential area while mom was praying but reached a coffee shop instead. A lol moment there.

Second last day in South Korea we visited Nami Island. Only five minutes from the mainland by ferry. Pretty cool huh? This place was famous for the Korean drama fans because the drama Winter Sonata was shot here. It is its own country called Naminara Republic and apparently has their own passport etc (form my internet research). It also supported a lot of art exhibitions and worked a lot with UNESCO And UNICEF as there are plenty of their signs in the island.

Sightseeing ended here as for the rest of the day we spent in Seoul. Went to the ginseng place (I felt sick on the bus on the way). Wasn't allowed to take photos. Hate these kind of places. Learned a bit more about ginseng and tried some. Amazingly my sickness went away (or was it just my mind playing tricks on me). Then 'learned' how to make kimchi but when I told my brother (who's into cooking a lot) what they did (radish and mixed seasonings were already prepared), he sneered. The touristy things you do hahaha.

Then it was shopping time at Dongdaemun Market. I only bought souvenirs, seriously. The rest of the free time, I had my dinner (Burger King, lol) and sat down for coffee.

Last day in Seoul finally. In the morning they took us shopping again but this time for cosmetics (South Korea is infamous for cosmetics) and duty free goodies. I saw the demonstration they did for their cosmetics and I have to say I was pretty impressed, but then again I don't understand cosmetics. And again, I went for coffee by myself haha. I do love my coffee.

After lunch, I had hoped it would rain so we would go to Lotteworld instead of Everland. That didn't happen. So we spent some time in Everland and went back to Incheon airport afterwards. On the way to the airport, one of the bus' tires blewout and we had to wait for it to be replaced, right in the middle of the highway. That was an unforgettable experience. We also went to the toilet which was through a long tunnel under the toll booth and since we didn't have enough time to make it to dinner, we got Maccas instead. More bulgogi burger haha.

And the flight back, wow, that was tiring.

I flew Incheon-Singapore, then Singapore-Jakarta, went back home, packed up, slept for a bit, then off to the airport again and flew Jakarta-Singapore then Singapore-Melbourne.

I got home 9AM and slept all the way through to 3PM. Super tired. Overall was a good trip, but personally I still love Japan more. Maybe because I didn't have anymore time to explore, I don't know.

Oh, pics are up on my Flickr.

Next trip (last trip for this year) is end of this month. Turkey here I come! I'm not ready yet, aaacckkk!