What a Wonderful World: South KOREA

rase macam nk muntah hijao tgok gambar2 Korea yg beribu riban tu. gagah kan jugak la ye, klu tak batal pose...

If a week before leave to Ho Chi Minh, we heard about the missing MH370 flight to Beijing. Couple days before I went to Incheon, South Korea; we heard another shocking news regards MAS flight (again??) that supposed to fly directly to Incheon was having an emergency landing at Hong Kong Airport due to power failure?? adoyaiii macam2 kes. tawakal jela yek

We (me & Along) were taking a night flight on Korean Air KE672 (2359/0710+1). Both KE & MAS depart at the midnight, while Air Asia departs in the morning; 1am & 8am (itu pon not daily). Enjoyed the KE’s in-flight services including the entertainment, Moslem meals (serve skali jek -.-"), and we are also given a toiletries set (toothbrush, slipper etc). I like the stewardess' uniform walaupon ribbon ikat kat leher tu nmpk mcm merimaskan, tp mcm comel jek.

annyeonghaseyo

Arrived at Incheon (ICN) Airport, the weather was very cold, okeh! It was 8°c; I actually can’t bear anything less than 13 degree… grrrrr Luckily I prepared myself a winter cloth, shawl, gloves, boots, knitted shirts, warmer etc. using the local services of Best Bus, they took us straight away to the east part of South Korea – Gangwon-do. We are not passing by the Seoul City; they were using the other road along the Han River. The Han River is a very long river in South Korea and I believe there are plenty of beautiful bridges with different designs across the river to the other side. Wahhh, the Cherry Blossom starts to blossom at the riverside, as the Spring is coming! Can’t wait to see them up-close.

UPDATE : see my 4th day in South Korea entry for cherry blossom's pictures

After 2 and half hours journey, we stop at local ‘R&R’ at Chuncheon for refreshment. I bought the local ‘yakult’ at 1,300 won (RM4) – big size and have few flavours. I tried the banana flavour but Sorry, I don’t like it much. We continued our journey to the east and finally arrived at 12noon (after another 2 hours’ drive) at the lunch place. Everything is in Hangul / Korean, so I have no idea the name of the restaurant. The nice restaurant's owner served us grilled fish, kimchi, seaweed soup etc. they said its mackerel fish, but I’m not sure ‘bout it. After lunch, outside of the restaurant, there are 2 small lorries selling fresh fruits and dried food from seaweed/sesame seeds etc. aku pon xtau la ape benda, sbb local products kan.

After lunch, we went to one of the Teddy Bear Farms in Korea; to the nearest one (only 15mins away from the lunch place). We spent half an hour there. Since it is at strategic hill area, in front of the Gallery have few apartments / resort too. The Korean people are too creative to produce teddy bear’s dresses in many ways. Such as, different era (Goryeo / Joseon), different sizes (the smallest one to the giant one like Gullivers), countries (Asean to Western Countries to US), folk stories (Snow White, Repunzel, Alice in the Wonderland, Spiderman etc). if you ever watch one of K-Dramas – “Goong” or Princess Hours in 2006, the teddy bear from that Drama also placed here. I'm not sure about the ticket price cause i can't read Hangul, but the biggest number i saw is 7,000won

ada Gulliver's, Spider-Bear, Snow white Bear, Bear in the Wonderland, Bear-Repunzel, panda-to-be Bear, Joseon Bear, Goryeo Bear etc

To Seorak-San National Park. San = Mountain. Only 15mins away from Teddy Bear Farm. Here, we spent about 1 hour – but a lot of walking or I can say… climbing hills. There’s cable car to the peak station (or Gwongeumseong Fortress) for the skiing at USD12. There’s also a Big Buddha Statue and Sinheung sa Temple with Monks+Mineral Spring Water+Tomb. Anyway, I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the view of the mountains.

To the dinner place (I also don’t know the restaurant name in English/Roman); we enroute to the Daepohang fish market. the purpose of the visit is not to buy the fresh alive seafood (a lot of weird-look of alive sea animals), but for the fried one. I’m not buying ‘cause I’m not sure whether is it Halal or not (takut minyak tu lps goreng babi). But the rest of the group said that the foods are fresh, delicious & cheap.
For the quick dinner at a beautiful restaurant, we've been served with a grilled fish (really enjoyed eating those tasty & tender fish), kimchi soup & etc. xtau nama, main makan jek, janji halal & sedap.

We need to rush to Jeongdongjin Station (1 hour journey) to experience KoRail at 6:17pm train to Gangneung Station. We’ve waited for the train at the seaside (and the rail is along the seaside as well). The station also awarded in the Guinness Book of World Record ‘cause of the location. It also was a shooting place for one of the episodes in “We Got Married” – utk which couple eh? Yonghwa CN Blue & Seohyun SNSD if i'm not mistaken. Oh ya, lupa plak nk bawak telur rebus yek ^^ pastu ketuk pecahkan telur pakai dahi. The journey to Gangneung is only for half-an hour.

We arrived at the hotel at 8pm. for the 1^st night in South Korea, we stayed at Alpensia Holiday Inn Resort, Pyeongchang. The Alpensia area is quite huge; including theme park, convention centre, convenience store etc; similar our Genting Highlands. Not to forget the skiing area. After check-in and taking photo of our big and nice room with balcony, we walked around and bought a cup of hot local coffee just to warm our tiny hands & body.