So. Hello. (A very awkward hello. haha) After my brief blog post back in May, I'm back now! I'm ready to take on my blog again and add my adventures!
Well, I'm also back from outer space (or the other side of the world) for a month now. I haven't been blogging since it's been very busy for me. You know, running late with my enrollment and stuff. But never mind that, I am absolutely excited to share everything with everyone!
I spent my summer vacation with (what I'd like to think) a very well-deserved break. My mom and I booked a flight for an out-of-the-country trip for the summer vacation.
And our first stop was at Seoul, South Korea for (almost) six days! I thought we wouldn't push through this trip, actually. At that time, there was that thing between North Korea and South Korea where NK was threatening to have a war with SK, you know all those things in the news. But anyway, I'm super glad we still went.
Here's our first picture with the Korean pose (the famous peace sign)
My mom and I stayed at her friend's place, my ninong's place. Incidentally, his family, my ninang (my mom's best friend) and their kids, AJ, CJ and Ria. They were there, also on vacation. They fetched us at the airport the day we arrived.
The thing we always made sure to do when we arrive in another country is get maps. I swear you really need to pick up some maps in the airport and in Seoul, you especially need this subway map for your public transportation. It's easier and more convenient.
You can download a map like this online. Or you can just look for it at the airport.
Also, make sure you inquire about the T-money at the airport (we didn't need to do this since my ninang got it for us already). Or the card you can use and reload for the subway or any transportation. You can also use it to pay at convenience stores.
For someone who grew up in a tropical country, Seoul in April is really really, I mean, really, cold. There are three layers on me but I'm still shivering from the cold when we arrived at Seoul. My mom and I didn't expect it to be that cold so we only brought our sweaters.
We arrived pretty late in the afternoon so we just had dinner and went to bed.
This is my first jump shot in Seoul, yay!
My
ninong decided to show us around the city via the
Seoul City Bus Tour the next day. Their ticket booth is located at Gwanghwamun (Line 5 Exit 6). We took the City Circulation Course. It's a hop-on hop-off bus. You can get out the bus at a stop and another bus comes back every 30 minutes. You don't have to pay again, just show your ticket and you're okay.
Our first stop was at the National Museum of Korea
I got so excited when I saw the cherry blossom trees that we just stayed there for minutes.
This is a happy jump haha
Told you I was excited
We saw these kids running around catching bubbles. They were so cute I wanted to have a picture with them. But I didn't. :(
We didn't go inside the museum since we were running out of time. There were still a lot of stops left.
We stopped at the Korean War Memorial Hall next. We also didn't get to go inside because we already spent a lot of time taking pictures of the tanks, jets and ship outside. We had our lunch at Itaewon next. There are a lot of restaurants there, I suggest you keep looking, there's more restaurants at the back of the buildings.
My ninong's family had to go so it's just mom and I. We continued our tour and decided to stop at the Namsangol Korean Town.
We saw a couple doing some pre-nup pictorial. Too cute!
Our last stop was the Namsan Tower. You could see how large Seoul is from there.
Lots of locks of love scattered around there
Before I only see Seoul in dramas. Hahaha and I immediately remembered this scene from Boys Over Flowers. I was telling my mom, "Nasan si Jun Pyo? Di ba siya nakapaghintay sa kin???" Hahahaha okay so lame but hello, this is the exact spot where he waited for Jan Di. :p
The next day was allotted to Lotte World! We got there via subway at Jamsil Station (Line 2 or 8, Exit 4)
You just cannot leave Lotte World without buying any headdress. I bought the bunny ears!
Lotte World has the largest indoor amusement park. I don't if it's the largest in Asia or in the world. But it really is big.
Yeah, I swear this marching band is a great show. No joke. They even have dance steps while they play the instruments. haha
We decided to take the monorail to get out of the indoor theme park.
We didn't really know what to do in Lotte World anymore (since I'm not the type to go on rides and the lines are so long anyway, we didn't want to waste time) so we decided to go to Myeongdong.
I just had to try ddeokbokki! Well, it's too spicy for me. hahaha
We had bibimbap for dinner. It's yummy!!
It's not really ideal to go to places like these when there's just the two of us. I noticed people who are in groups of more than five usually go here.
My wanted to go see the palaces because we missed them during the city tour (they close early and the stops are at the end of the tour) Our first stop that was nearest to us was the Deoksugung Palace. (Seoul Station Line 1 or 2, Exit 2) We were fortunate enough to be just in time for the ceremony (changing of the Royal Guards).
It's amazing to see all the palace buildings. They did a great job preserving everything. The place is not polluted at all.
The next palace we went to is the Gyeongbokgung Palace. (Gwanghwamun Station, Line 5, Exit 2 or Gyeongbokgung Palace Station, Line 3, Exit 5) We're fortunate enough to watch the ceremony again.
This was the last palace we went to since we needed to go and meet my ninang already.
That evening, we needed to catch up with the Han River Ferry Cruise. The dock nearest us is at Yeouido Dock. (Yeouido Station Line 5, Exit 3). It's very chilly that evening that I could feel my hands and face freezing.
I stayed for about ten minutes outside before I went inside again because I can't take the chilly night.
See, I can't even smile. My face is frozen (chos) haha
Ha! I've always watched this thing at korean dramas!!! We had a super late dinner around 10pm I think? Because we went home around 11pm.
Our last day in Seoul was dedicated to Everland! (not really, but we have an early flight the next day so I consider this our last 'gala' day) Going to Everland was actually a last minute thing. We were hesitating to go because it's already outside Seoul and we think we already have very little time.
We got to Everland at around 5pm so we had the after 5 discount.
There are three bus pick-up locations to go to Everland. We took the Gangnam one. (Gangnam Station Line 2, Exit 5 or 10) You have to ride bus 5002 and it goes straight to Everland.
We actually got lost at Gangnam (we're there for thirty minutes before we got on the bus) because we didn't know where the bus stops. We didn't know if the bus to Everland would go to the right or to the left (there were several bus stops). We had to ask a few people for directions and thankfully, there were two students who helped us. The thing about the bus was we didn't know that once the bus stops at the station, whether it stops at the middle or at the very edge of the bus stop, you have to immediately approach it because it would not stop at the middle. The first 5002 bus arrived but it was at the very edge of the bus stop (very very edge that we thought it just stopped there because of the traffic lights). We thought it was going to stop again right at the middle of the bus stop (the bus stop was a long one and it's right beside the traffic lights, can't describe this properly) but it didn't so we had to wait for another 5002 bus for another thirty minutes.
Another tip, I do not advise the Sadang Station bus 1500-2 (straight to Everland also). It takes a super long time to and fro Everland because of the traffic. It doesn't pass through the highway and it has a lot of stops than the 5002 bus.
I look like pooping here hahahaha
Everland has different decorations every season. It just so happens that it's spring and it's the Tulip festival when we came. (Yes! The tulip are real!!!)
They have a Light Parade at night. (echos lang to, but I think the owner of Everland is from somewhere in Europe, didn't do my research so I don't know. It's because of the accents of the characters in the parade, yup, it's in English)
That is just too pretty! I didn't notice those when we arrived.
I have to thank my ninang and her family for their hospitality! Super bitin this side trip in South Korea and I want to go visit again! And yes, I know I would be there real soon!!!!
Anywhere you want to go to in Seoul or other parts of South Korea, just go to this website:
http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/index.kto (I swear this website is a lot of help. Search mo lang where you want to go! I just screen capture where we want to go and how to go there since I don't have internet all the time. (but in Seoul, may parts na libre wifi. I think yung ollehwifi kailangan ng payment so don't choose that.) )
Labels: South Korea, Travel
