Fly to Seoul
We flew to Seoul via Beijing on Air China! I was kinda doubtful of the choice we made on the airline but now that I flew on it, Air China is quite a good choice. Comfy seats, good food. And Beijing International Airport is as huuuuuuge as I could imagine it to be. Only one thing was a boohoo: I was falling ill since on the day we flew to Seoul, my hamster died the day before. Yes I was all wrapped up in the blanket cause it was effing cold and the journey to Beijing was nearly 6 hours long. Didn't go anywhere on the first day in Seoul and all I could do was to lie down and be all fluffed up under the comforter.
The you-must-go-or-you'll-regret-it places to go when you visit Korea
Dongdaemun - There's Doota, Migliore, Hello Apm, Maxtyle, street markets and so much more that one day is not enough to cover the whole of Dongdaemun. Myeondong - Shoppaholics would definitely love it here! Great bargains could be found at every corner in Myeongdong. Forever21 was having a huuuuuge sale as it was the Christmas period. For shoe lovers, there's ABC Mart, LesMore, Spris which have good prices for shoes that cannot be found in Singapore! And nuff said about the beauty shops they have there, Etude House, Baviphat, Faceshop, Innisfree, Missha, Nature Republic like oh my cat it'll drive you girlies spoilt for choices heeehee.
Winter in Seoul
Since our first visit to Seoul in 2010, we chose to go during the Winter season. An obvious enough reason will be that Singapore has no snow! It's a little more pricey to go during the Winter season as you need to get all the necessary winter clothings and such. It was worth the price we paid for the trip cause this time, it snowed so heavily for three out of the ten days we were there! And since it was minus 11 degrees cold, I had a dose of Vanilla Latte every single day to warm myself. Oh and hot chocolate tastes especially yummy during the Winter season heehee.
F1RST and ZE:A live in Seoul
One of the wishes we had deeeeeeeep in the corner of our hearts when we visit Seoul this time round was to actually go to a concert of any idol group. And so first had this wish fulfilled when we were shopping at Migliore in Dongdaemun on Christmas day! We actually had no idea who was gonna perform but since we saw some fan girls with banners and everything, we took no chances and stayed still in the cold waiting to see who'll perform. There were cute korean boys b-boying and soon after there was this ooober cool performance. Came back home only to find out they were one of the few co-ed groups in the kpop industry; F1RST. Try listening to their songs, You like me I like you and Ma Ma My. Find it hard to believe that we were only like approximately 40cm away from them! Heeeheeee.
And yes yes yes ZE:A's first charity christmas party concert! Found out about it through Allkpop before we flew. So when we were there we dropped by at AX Seoul and saw the ticketing boooth. Me and my sister was so excited that we were ready to buy the tickets only to find out that it's free. Yes my girlies, F R E E. It was a two hour plus concert with ZE:A singing and dancing right in front of our faces. I wanted to scream my lungs out but apparently I couldn't since my throat was in pain due to the fever I had! They even gave out freebies and cute apparels. The atmosphere is starkly different from the concerts these idols have in Singapore. They were able to communicate comfortably with their fans and Dongjun is five thousand times more goodlooking than he is on the teevee screen that I got so excited when he looked in my direction. Go ZE:A go ZE:A go! And they gave out posters after the concert so we took 11 back home heh.
Star Avenue at Jamsil Lotte World
We failed to go to Star Avenue during our visit in 2010 so I made sure we went this time round and yes we did! It was prolly our luck cause they added 2PM, JYJ, Kim Hyun Joong to the exhibition. What's more exciting for me was the fact that we were able to wear a Hanbok that the Queen wore in the ancient times like oh my cat they even had this heavy wig for us to wear. Snapped gazillion of photos in Star Avenue and we had much fun!
Itaewon
Itaewon's the only place in Seoul where you can find a masjid. It was a breathtaking view in my opinion when we reached the masjid as it was located at the top of a hill. I was also touched by the fact that the imam of the masjid is a Korean whereas the place was filled with foreigners (in which their countries have a really high percentage of Muslims) like the Arabs, Malaysians and even Indonesians. And we finally had a proper meal when we visited Itaewon cause apparently it's the place where there's abundant of halal foods! Itaewon Murree is the place where you can find halal korean food and yes it was yummy. We had bimbimbap, samgyetang, and dad had prata like lolzzzz. Nevertheless the day we visited Itaewon was the day my tummy was the most happiest!
Gyeongbokgung
It was unfortunate that we picked a Tuesday to go visit Gyeongbokgung cause apparently it was the day the palace is closed! So we took photos with the palace at the background and it still looks pretty. Since the palace was closed, we went to the museum instead and I gained much knowledge of Korea's royal history.
Sinchon
We had no regrets coming to Sinchon because we were able to make our tummies happy once more while we were in a place where its difficult to get proper meal and also we discovered more about the Korean culture. Thanks to Loving Hut, a 100% Vegetarian restaurant which has branches worldwide (yes in Singapore even), we were able to feast on the authentic Korean cuisine! It was yummy wummy I tell you, even though most of the ingredients were flour and tofu heehee. And we even went to a Cat cafe which I babbled to my dad about before we flew. The place was filled with adorable kitty cats that I almost lose myself to their cuteness! This kind of things aren't what you can see in Singapore so it was another eye-opening experience for us.
A friend in Seoul
I'm blessed to have met my Korean friend Ji Sung while he was on a study trip to Singapore. During our visit in 2010, he was only able to accompany us to Lotte World and had lunch with me. But this time round, he spent the whole entire day with my sister and I, bringing us to places like his school, Gyeongbok High School (which apparently is the top school in Seoul), Blue House, and even follow us on a shopping spree in Myeongdong and he even bought us all gifts. It was already late but he didn't want to go off as he wanted to greet my parents which he did as he followed my sister and I to meet my parents at a shopping mart near our hotel. And Ji Sung, I read your letter and I'm very much touched by the characteristics you possess! Till we meet again my friend (:
Goodbye Seoul
Before our flight, we did some last minute shopping! Heehee and finally arriving at the airport, we checked the weight of the luggage and two of'em exceeded 23kg. What's ironic is that I felt that I could have done more shopping! Anyhoo the duty free shops in Seoul nearly drove me nuts. Bought a large limited edition le pliage Longchamp (Pony patch) at Shilla duty free for only US$122. It retails for SGD$360 here. And speaking of Longchamp, we also bought the 2011 winter collection le pliage at Lotte department store. My point is, the shopping experience in Seoul is overwhelming okay girlies!
Okay when it was time to go, I admit it was quite easy for me to do it cause I was so thrilled to see my hamster which I left in the care of my grandmama. But now, I really want to be back in Seoul! My sister cried when the plane took off, like seriously. And she only stopped when I told her that food will be served by the stewardess shortly. And when we arrived in Beijing, we had like four hours to look around the airport! And so we snapped lots of photos as they had this replicas of Pagodas and traditional Chinese gardens and such. Much time was also spent at Starbucks! It was hilarious for the fact that they don't accept US dollars there so mum paid for the drinks using Visa. Visa for drinks?! Doesn't make much sense to me.
Heh heh. Since Visit Korea year is from 2010-2012, there's this huuuuge possibility that we'll visit again this year. We could totally be Visit Korea year ambassador for Singapore lolzzzz but yes. Its not just the music which appeals to me. It is also the people, the culture, the language and the whole environment there which captures my heart. Heehee Seoul, wait for us! We'll be there again sooon enough insya Allah. Alhamdulillah we were given much blessings to make another visit there and a gazillion thanks to my parents for being the most understanding parents ever and brought us to Seoul where we could actually keep pretty memories of our youth. I love you ibu and ayah heehee.