Korea: Autumn (Family Trip)

My second Korea trip. This time, with my family. We went during end of Sept til early Oct to Seoul and Jeju Island. So its Autumn this time.

I have pretty much explained all the places visited in my previous Korea post so I’ll just do the newly visited places in this post instead. As many of the places and attractions are mainly for my family that visited for the first time.

Seoul:

  1. LINE FRIENDS Store, Garuso-gil

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This huge signboard must not be missed!

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You will see this HUGE Brown bear just right in front of the entrance.

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Buy all you want! Its too cute to just ignore.

2. Dark Han Ma Ri, Restaurant near Sinchon.

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My second visit to this awesome restaurant that serves chicken in soup and many other dishes of cause. I brought my family here and they all loved it! Too hard to not include it here in this post, too.

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3. Hongdae

Hongdae is a university district that has so much to offer not only on food, fashion, beauty but also its unique ambience that draws so much attention in the country to check out their street performances by students and street artists.

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Strolling along Hongdae.

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FOOD!

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Street performance, daily.

4. Ewha Womans University

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Ewha Womans Univeristy is famous in Korea and it is one of the best university in the country. Despite its name Womans University, it is not restricted to only women, but men who wants a taste of Korean culture and the feeling of being in a womans university are also welcomed. Oh yes, only foreigners though.

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Its famous library. Even Runningman filmed a few of their episodes here. Walk along Ewha street, you can find many stalls like Banila co, Innisfree, fashion brands are all available. Some stalls are open for bargain too.

5. Guard changing ceremony, Gyeongbokgung

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Its Chuseok festival, we’ve seen many locals dressed  up in Hanbok (traditional Korean costume) taking pictures at Gyeongbokgung.

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I managed to hunt down a pair for a shot.

6. Korea Ginseng Chicken Soup since 1960

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7. Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

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On the way to DDP, the outstanding Dongdaemun Gate.

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The astonishing view.

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Award-winning architecture.

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A shot with DDP.

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8. Gwangjang Market 

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Variety of food.

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Visited this Ajumma’s stall. The best Mandu ever tasted.

9. Myeongdong night strolling

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Bro with a cat mascot.

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Egg bun.

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Cheeseeeeeeeee!

10. Nami Island + Bungy

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This time, its AUTUMN.

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Beautiful.

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Encouraged and dared both brother and sister to try out Bungy as I did it before at the same spot here in Nami.

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TADA!

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Jeju Island:

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  1. Yongduam Rock

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2. Neul Bom Black Pork Restaurant

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Jeju black pork is very famous worldwide. To my surprised, it was really very good.

3. Teddybear Safari

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There are 2 different companies of Teddy Bear Museum. I was at the other one during my previous visit.

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So cute!

4. Manjanggul Lava Tube [UNESCO World Heritage]

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It took us about an hour to complete the tour.

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5. Mysterious Road

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Click on link to read more about this Mysterious Road explanation.

6. Jeju National Folk Museum

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To be honest, nothing much here. There’s tour guide that will brief you a little about Korean history and wine making and so on. In the end, if you do not buy any products from them, they show temper.

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7. Seongsan Ilchulbong [UNESCO World Heritage]

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This place is beautiful beyond words.

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Le bf and I.

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Wanted to check out the woman diver performance but it was cancelled due to inappropriate weather.

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Managed to climb up the peak and the view was priceless.

8. Jeju Stone Park

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9. Hallasan Horse Ranch

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Til then.

Annyeong x

Korea Spring, Day Two: Seoul, Korea

We woke up pretty early on our second day in Korea. Mainly because we were feeling cold. Yes, coming from a tropical country like Malaysia, I am really not used to cold and dry weather like in Korea but it was a great experience for someone who doesn’t fancy cold weather much as it was nice strolling around without sweating, at least. Haha..

We were greeted by complimentary breakfast set from Cozybox Guesthouse. A set consists of hard boiled egg, ramyeon (aka Korean ramen/instant noodle), Gimbap (a popular Korean dish made from steamed white rice and other ingredients rolled in dried seaweed) and Yakult. I was too hungry and forgotten to take a snap shot of it 😦

Check out where we visited on our day two:

1. Nami Island

Gaining its fame from the Korean hit drama, Winter Sonata. Mainly took place in this historical island. Tourists from around the globe visit to take pictures and the island is always packed with people in all seasons. Claims to have different view all four seasons. It is crowded mostly during Winter (Winter Sonata, maybe) and Autumn.

Check out How to go to Nami Island

We took approximately an hour or more to reach Gapyeong station. Where you have to locate a cab to the Namiseom ticketing office to board the Nami Island ferry.

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pic: (left) Gapyeong station. (right) boyfriend waiting for a cab.

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pic: (left) ticketing office of Namiseom. (right) Nami Island entrance ticket/entry visa.

The ticketing counter is on your right when you approach Namiseom. Bear in mind that you will get a discount for the ticket to Nami Island if you are tourist at 8,000won instead of 10,000won. So much love!

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Group pic in front of Namiseom.

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The ferry to Nami Island from Namiseom.

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Finally! Nami Island!

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pic: (left) Signboard in Nami Island. (right) Cutiepie spotted!

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Nami Island bank.

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Filming location of Winter Sonata.

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Nami Island is an amazing place. Close to nature and it was so relaxing strolling around this small island. Love birds, families and many foreigners were seen spending time chilling and playing games on the grass that usually turn into an ice field during Winter. But Spring time, was just nice. You can spend a dollar or two trying out local snacks from the stalls available in the island or sitting down in a cafe or a restaurant having deep thoughts.

On our way back to Namiseom from Nami Island, we spotted a place possible enough to do bungy activity. I was in doubt at first but going closer to check it turned out to be a place for bungy jump! Without thinking twice, I have decided to give it a shot as bungy jump is always top of my bucket list! The dare devil me urged others to jump with me but unfortunately, only 4 out of 8 of us did it. It costs 40,000won per jump and no, you won’t get any certificate from it cause its not AJ Hackett!

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The Bungy Jump platform at Namiseom.

Curious? Check out my Korea bungy jump video HERE

Read about my nerve-wrenching Bungy Jump experience at Macau Tower coming very soon!

2. Dinner

The sad part is that I have forgotten the name of the restaurant we dine in after Nami Island visit. Maybe we were too hungry to figure that out and just stormed into any restaurant that sells.. FOOD!

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pic: (left) bibimbap set. (right) chicken ddeokbukki with rice.

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And some nice soju to end the night.

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