Trip to Korea Part 3

Ah! I am back in Miri and also went to the office as well. Not to work but to distribute souvenirs from Korea. I just unpacked the night before and I want to distribute everything so that I have less things to think about. Does that sounds logical?

Today is the second day back in Miri. I haven't opened the pack of cabbage kimchi yet and I am anxious to open it. Hehe. I nearly drove to the wrong lane when I was driving yesterday to get a blood test. Yes, wrong lane. I need to remember that I am no longer in Korea and the correct lanes to drive in Malaysia. Erk...

Blood test? Yea, I went to get my blood extracted for a blood examination. I want to see how unhealthy I am. Finally after so long, I decided to do it.

Today, I have mopped (almost) the whole house and wiped some of the surfaces in the house. Also did my laundry. And now, I am actually kind of sleepy and tired.

Ah! I have corrected the 'date' mistake in my previous entries. I don't know how I can make such mistake. Thanks to the people who told me about it.

Errmmm... So, where did I stop?

Day 4 08.09.2008

Again, American Breakfast. It is getting kind of boring but there isn't anything else they can serve us. Sweat.

We get to learn how to make kimchi, at least get to try out a small part of kimchi-making process.

My kimchi and I

Ah! Btw, I just checked online how to make kimchi steamboat. Apparently, there is this other thing called kimchi stew aka Kimchi jjigae and it is so damn easy to make. I think I will try to make kimchi jjigae for lunch tomorrow. Need to get ingredient.

After the kimchi-making, we get to try on hanbok, Korean traditional costume. Ah! I am not going to put any pic of myself in hanbok 'cause my pics are so ... ugly.

Then.... we went to Ginseng Centre to get a lecture in Korean ginseng and for the tai-tais to purchase ginseng. After the Ginseng Centre, our Korean tour guide decided to bring us to another duty free shop that sells only beauty products since we are all ladies.

After all the shopping, it was time to fill our stomach. Lunch is something like Bak Kut Teh but not quite the taste. I think it is of a lower quality food that we are having. It is somewhat disappointing.
After makan, comes more shopping. Actually, we were supposed to go to Apgujeong, a street where all the high fashion (and also very expensive) shops are. But then, our Korean guide got us to choose between that or a duty free shop that also sells branded (and expensive) goods but we can get about 30% reduction in price if we shop at the duty free shop. If we choose Apgujeong, we will kena the duty charge and we (I am referring to us, the 15 ladies) have no idea where to claim for this duty refund. So, we went to the duty free instead. I actually would prefer to go to Apgujeong for the environment. Just to have a look at the place. To see the rich people or people who pretend to be rich. But who am I to say anything if the rest agree to go to Duty Free Shop. I am the youngest in the whole bus. So, become even less speaking power. Too bad...

Ok, honestly, I cant possibly afford to shop in Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Prada, Burberry etc. So, four of us (Mum, her two friends and I) went out and saw KFC. Yes, Kentucky Fried Chicken. We pergi makan KFC.
It is not as nice as Malaysia one. Trust me. The fried chicken doesnt have enough seasoning, I think. The Zinger burger is not as hot and spicy as Malaysian. The BBQ chicken burger is something different and this is the only thing that is worth trying.

After the duty free shop, we walked across the street to see the Cheong Gye Stream. So, this stream is restored by the ex-mayor of Seoul after many years of 'shut down.'

Just a visit to a 'kind of' historical site lor. After the visit, we headed to Coex Mall for more shopping.

COEX Mall is an underground mall and it has an aquarium and some more stuff. We just walked around and shop though. I actually wanted to try McD there but decided not to because I was too full and because their menu is not much different than ours.

Ah! Lotte World. I have been looking forward to this place. Why? Because this is where some of the scenes of Stairway to Heaven were filmed.

The disadvantage of following a tour group is that there is always not enough time. The time spent at Lotte World is not sufficient. The four of us only managed to cover the indoor theme park. The outdoor theme park - we simply had no time to go. Even the indoor theme park, we only managed to go for four rides.

Something to remember about this place would be two things.

Number one - I ran all the way to the Merry-Go-Round to take a pic of it. The memorable scene from the drama. I must have the pic! Sadly, the painting on the wall is gone. Oh well...

Number two - My mum's friend and I ran all the way to the entrance to the outdoor theme park to capture of pic of us with the castle. I believe the two of us were cursed and scolded (when we were on our way running to the outdoor theme park and not around to hear them) by the rest of tour group for going there when the meeting time is almost up. :p

Dinner for the day is another version of hot pot with pork. Ladies and gentlemen, by now, I realised that the variation of Korean food that I had is really...limited (?). It is almost the same lor. And each lunch and dinner is definitely with cabbage. The down point about this place is that the waitress doesnt look willing to serve us. We usually get our refill of the side dishes (even if we didnt call for the waitress) at other places but this place, we had to call so many times before she was willing to serve us.

That ends the fourth day. Err... ok, not really. A group of the ladies went out to Dongdaemun again. I refused to follow with the reason that I want to go online at the hotel. But the truth is actually because I was slowly running out of cash and I havent gotten Yuanz his Nike shirt. I need to save the cash le. Then, there is also this other reason...but... nvm.

Day 5 09.09.2008

So, after the American Breakfast, we headed to Namsangol Hanok Village to see the traditional Korean house. During this visit, I was so bored that I went to walk around by myself and sort of made friend with two japanese tourist girls. Err... I helped them to take pics and then... we took pic together and then... when we left the place, we were waving goodbyes to each other. :D

From the Hanok Village, we went to N Seoul Tower so that we can see the overall view of Seoul. I am a bit curious as to why we did not use the cable car to go up to mountain where the tower is. We rode the bus to a point where we had to walk up to the base of the tower.

The view from the top of the tower was quite breath-taking. Although... I also would like to see Seoul's nightview. I wanted to take a pic of Seoul at night. I think it will be so beautiful. Again, too bad.

Ah! There is a mini Teddy Bear Museum at the base of the tower. But I didn't manage to go in for a look. One is because it actually look more like a teddy bear shop inside and two is because we were leaving at the time. No time. The next place we went reminds me of the places I went to Shanghai. It is an amethyst factory and it is so secluded and unnoticed. Nothing interesting to talk about this place. Or does the info that one of the rich tai-tais bought a USD500 necklace interest you?

So... lunch. Finally, after many days of Korean food, we get to eat some Chinese food. Cooked by Chinese who live in Korea.

There is no escape from cabbage. The first dish we had is Cabbage and Tofu Soup. Aaaaa....Then, there were Squid with Celery, Sweet Sour Chicken, Spicy Sour Pork, Mushroom with Cabbage, and Cai Xin.

Somehow, all of us think that the food was too oily. Have we actually gotten used to Korean's almost oil-less food?

Anyways... we headed to Myeong-Dong to do more shopping. Erm... I had this 32cm ice cream there. Not sure if it is really 32cm but it is sure very tall. Green Tea and Strawberry Flavour is what i ordered.

Doesnt the face of that man at the back looks so cheerful? He was so into promoting the ice cream. And his colleague is so busy giving everyone their ice-cream. Ah! Then, there is also that hand that is taking the ice-cream away. My Mum's friend, who ordered Strawberry Flavour ice-cream, took my ice-cream and ate it as if it was hers. Sigh... The guy gave me another one when they realised that my ice-cream was given to the wrong person. Sweat...

One thing that made me really scream is this.

The Brunei tour guide bought this for her niece. Her niece asked her to buy it because she is a fan of them. Damn... This book is about RM126 or 38,000 Korean Won, ok? I am so envious... Anyone want to get it for me? Kidding. No use la.

Well, it is finally our last meal in Korea. The Korean guide had asked us to choose something that we would like to eat, either a new dish or a repeat from what we had previously. We chose Bibimbap.

After returning to the hotel, there was the final expedition to Dongdaemun but I didn't join. I went online and packed my stuff instead.

Day 6 10.09.2008

It was finally our last day..morning in Korea. Mum and I increased our baggage number from three unit to five unit.

We had kimchi for our flight meal. Not bad.
And so, after five and a half hour flight, we were back in Malaysia.

Finally done with the Korea Trip... Blogging from my own laptop is so comfortable. hehe.... Now, I guess I better take pics of things I bought so that I can blog about them too. :P