Trip to South Korea: Busan - Ulsan - Pyeongchang - Seoul Part 3
By Kirah - April 08, 2018
I can't believe we have reaching Day 5 or am I too slow? Please bare with my novel-kinda-entry. I was so excited to share with you our experience. Finally after almost 1 month, I had the desire to do this. How is your day so far? I was discouraged earlier to continue my writing for Part 3 because I noticed one of my hard disk was broken. I am working on how to get it fix. Anyway, lets get started!
Day 5
SEOUL: NAMDAEMUN - MYEONGDONG - EHWA UNI - GANGNAM
As usual, we woke up early and had our breakfast. We had strawberry dipped with nuttella. We brought the nuttella from Malaysia. For today, it was bit special because we had our own personal guide. Fateha is my friend from high school and she studied in Korea until recently. Having her as our guide was a plus point. She could speak Hanguk so well and knew the direction the best. We were so grateful towards her. From Tukseom station, we went to Hoehyeon Station and exit 5. This is the entrance of Namdaemun market. Namdaemun market is the largest traditional market in Seoul. It is similar to Jalan Masjid India. The only different is the goods they are selling. If you wish to buy bags, socks, fancy clothes, kpop merchandise, brooches and especially souvenirs, here is the right place for you. We arrived there, maybe around 10am in the morning. Not so crowded as picture below. The funny thing was once I stepped out exit 5, I could see a lot of Malaysian roaming around. This place seemed so familiar. There are two options for you. You can buy things from the outside stalls or you can enter the building and buy it from inside. For us, we bought kpop merchandise from outside stall and went inside to have better bargain for souvenirs and more peaceful.
These are pictures from the outside at Namdaemun market
This is how it looks from the inside. A lot of jewelry shops here.
Before that, Fateha insisted us to try Hotteok. Hotteok is a sweet pancake with syrup filling inside and it is a very popular street snack in Korea. There were two flavors or fillings inside, veggie and sweet chocolate (i guess). I prefer veggie one. There is a famous Hotteok stall in Namdaemun and you must try it. It will cost you KRM1,000 (approximately MYR3.5).
This is with sweet chocolate filings.
We spent about 2 hours buying things and only window shopping for me. From Namdaemun, we walked to MyeongDong area. These two areas are located across each other. Fateha showed us the best place to shop souvenirs and even the kpop stuffs. Amiera and I bought some kpop merchandise at the underground shops. I forgot to take pictures of it. As we were rushing that day, so we did not go further to the big shops. Then, we walked to Ehwa Woman University. We were so lucky because that day was the graduation ceremony at the university. So we got to see their culture on how they celebrate the graduates and of course the graduation robe. There were a lot of handsome oppa everywhere. And the girls were pretty, I couldn't even compare to myself. There were many florists selling flowers. If I were the locals, I will buy the bouquet for myself because they were just too pretty! We took a lot of picture around the campus. Ehwa University is one of beautiful campus that I've been other than my own university. Fateha took some time to greet her seniors and juniors whom just graduated. So we decided to look around first and maybe some shopping at that area. It was a good spot to buy socks (bundle) and fancy stuffs. I got a sling bag for myself, it costed me KRW10,000 (approximately MYR35). We roamed for about one hour and went back to Fateha.
Shopping at Ehwa Woman University. The socks costed you around KRW1000 to KRW1500 depending on the store. You can have good bargain or free socks if you buy more.
Fateha brought two of her Malaysian friends who studied in Korea to have lunch with us. We wanted something light and they brought us to YangPang Chicken. We walked for 200m from Ehwa Woman University. We ordered for huge meal and shared it. One portion was good enough to share it for 2 persons. You will have few options of spiciness depending on your endurance. Because we are true "Malay", we ordered the spiciest chicken on the menu. Unfortunately, we under-estimated the spiciness. We barely finished our lunch and our eyes were literally tearing. I had only few pieces of chicken and gave up. I can't stand it. So we had it takeaway. But it was a good one. You can refer to below pictures if you wish to go to this restaurant. They were quite popular among locals and foreigners.
Yang Pang chicken from outside
The interior inside Yang Pang Chicken
I had an issue with camera back then, so I decided to go to camera shop to have my camera checked. After lunch, Fateha accompanied me to the camera shop in Namdaemun while the others went to MyeongDong for shopping. I was stunned when I stepped into the shops. It is similar to lowyat where you can find camera and gadget shops on your right and left. But it was so intense. If you are gadget lover, you will definitely not going to miss this. I didn't manage to take any picture because I was so excited. You need to go to shop number 50. The owner of this shop will give you special price for Malaysian. I think I still keep his name card. I will search for it later. I left my camera for further checking and we gathered with the others at exit 5 Hoehyeon station. While waiting for the others, I bought 2 packets of strawberry which only costed me KRW7000 (approximately MYR20). Once everyone was there, we parted our way with Fateha. It was around 5pm so we need to check in our hotel at Insadong. We went to Anguk station and exit 4. Then walked for 200m before reaching our new accommodation. We stayed at Alice Residence. Forgot to mention, we left our luggage at our previous hostel, so we decided to take it after dinner since we have to meet Fateha again at the restaurant for dinner. Once checked in, from Anguk station we went towards Yeoksam station exit 7 with one transfer needed at Seoul University station. We dined at Yang Good BBQ. By the way, alcohol is served here as the restaurant serves many locals too, but the ingredients and the lamb meat are halal certified. It was not cheap but affordable. Once in a life time guys.
Indeed, it was a great dinner. We actually rented a car for next day. So the car was brought here at the restaurant. The car was a bit old but we didn't have any option. We paid for KRW100,000 (approximately MYR350) and it costed us around KRW37,000 per person including the gas. Syimir was the only one who drove the car because he got the International license. We paid for it together. Fateha, Syimir and I went to our previous hostel to pick up our bags and luggage by car while the others went back to our new hotel to have a rest. End of our day 5. I know it was quite a long day.
Day 6 : SUWON - PYEONGCHANG
As early as 7am, we already prepared for our journey today. It's going to be fun! Once Fateha arrived at our hotel, Syimir drove us to Pyeongchang. It took around 4 hours drive and we went to Sungkyungkwan University first. Fateha had to return back her graduation robe. Again, we were so lucky because that day was orientation day for the new comers. So we got to pretend to be one of them. SKK or Sungkyungkwan University is famous with it's library. Samsung invested their money to develop this cool library. If I were to compared with our library (I used to study in UTP), I will say "no winner". The facilitators were wearing korean traditional clothes while showing around the campus area to the junior. It was refreshing to see that. We bought our lunch in advance and ate in the car. We continued our journey to Pyeongchang.
4 hours journey seemed nothing to us because we had 6 chatty mouths. We talked about everything. Our schools, the korean culture, struggle as foreigner, travel plans, kpop idols, the food and the list goes on. This video was when we arrived at Pyeongchang.
We arrived at Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm around 1pm at noon. It was -3 Celcius. So cold! There are many ranches in Pyeongchang, but Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm is the only ranch that raises sheep. If we arrived Pyeongchang 2 days early we might able to attend the closing for Pyeongchang Olympic. So close yet so far. It took us 30 minutes hike (not so hard) to reach the top. To get a closer experience with the sheep, we signed up for the feeding experience, where we gave hay to the sheep and even reached out to touch their fuzzy heads. If you wish to stay at Pyeongchang, please bare in mind the cheapest rate you can get for a standard room is around MYR1000 per night. You must be rich person I guess.
This is the walkaway in order to reach the top.
Look at me! Can you imagine how cold was that.
One out of many group photos
And it's feeding time! You need to pay for KRW5000 (approximately MYR15) in order to feed the sheep.
This was the Starbucks shop we went to.
We headed back to Seoul. We bared for another 4 hours journey and arrived our hotel around 10pm. We returned back the car and sent our goodbye to Fateha. No worries will be meeting her again on our last day. By the way, this entry will be a bit longer compared to previous post. Cheese:)
Day 7: INSADONG, SEOUL
We woke up early and checked out. As usual, we left our luggage temporarily at the hotel reception and will get it back before end of the day. We were lucky because our hotel was located in Insadong area. So we just need to find any nearest Bukchon village to rent the Hanbok attire. At first, we were little bit confuse about how to rent the traditional clothes. We bumped into locals who were wearing hanbok and asked them for the rental shop which offer cheapest rate. So they were kind enough to show us the way to the shop. There were many rental shops around Insadong area, however it could be tricky due to similar prices. You might need to survey them online and maybe ask the local's opinion. We had the Hanbok for 2 hours and it costed us KRW15,000 (approximately MYR55). However, the rate for men's clothes slightly higher. Syimir paid for KRW20,000 (approximately MYR70). The owner was very nice. They styled us with flower band and cute clutch. Please be noted, you might need to wear thermal inner first (because it was winter that time). We roamed and walked around Insadong area and went to Gyeongbokgung palace which located 7 minutes walk from the shop. Then we took our sweet time to take pictures as many as we could. We had to return the Hanbok at 1pm.
Fateha brought two of her Malaysian friends who studied in Korea to have lunch with us. We wanted something light and they brought us to YangPang Chicken. We walked for 200m from Ehwa Woman University. We ordered for huge meal and shared it. One portion was good enough to share it for 2 persons. You will have few options of spiciness depending on your endurance. Because we are true "Malay", we ordered the spiciest chicken on the menu. Unfortunately, we under-estimated the spiciness. We barely finished our lunch and our eyes were literally tearing. I had only few pieces of chicken and gave up. I can't stand it. So we had it takeaway. But it was a good one. You can refer to below pictures if you wish to go to this restaurant. They were quite popular among locals and foreigners.
I had an issue with camera back then, so I decided to go to camera shop to have my camera checked. After lunch, Fateha accompanied me to the camera shop in Namdaemun while the others went to MyeongDong for shopping. I was stunned when I stepped into the shops. It is similar to lowyat where you can find camera and gadget shops on your right and left. But it was so intense. If you are gadget lover, you will definitely not going to miss this. I didn't manage to take any picture because I was so excited. You need to go to shop number 50. The owner of this shop will give you special price for Malaysian. I think I still keep his name card. I will search for it later. I left my camera for further checking and we gathered with the others at exit 5 Hoehyeon station. While waiting for the others, I bought 2 packets of strawberry which only costed me KRW7000 (approximately MYR20). Once everyone was there, we parted our way with Fateha. It was around 5pm so we need to check in our hotel at Insadong. We went to Anguk station and exit 4. Then walked for 200m before reaching our new accommodation. We stayed at Alice Residence. Forgot to mention, we left our luggage at our previous hostel, so we decided to take it after dinner since we have to meet Fateha again at the restaurant for dinner. Once checked in, from Anguk station we went towards Yeoksam station exit 7 with one transfer needed at Seoul University station. We dined at Yang Good BBQ. By the way, alcohol is served here as the restaurant serves many locals too, but the ingredients and the lamb meat are halal certified. It was not cheap but affordable. Once in a life time guys.
Indeed, it was a great dinner. We actually rented a car for next day. So the car was brought here at the restaurant. The car was a bit old but we didn't have any option. We paid for KRW100,000 (approximately MYR350) and it costed us around KRW37,000 per person including the gas. Syimir was the only one who drove the car because he got the International license. We paid for it together. Fateha, Syimir and I went to our previous hostel to pick up our bags and luggage by car while the others went back to our new hotel to have a rest. End of our day 5. I know it was quite a long day.
Day 6 : SUWON - PYEONGCHANG
As early as 7am, we already prepared for our journey today. It's going to be fun! Once Fateha arrived at our hotel, Syimir drove us to Pyeongchang. It took around 4 hours drive and we went to Sungkyungkwan University first. Fateha had to return back her graduation robe. Again, we were so lucky because that day was orientation day for the new comers. So we got to pretend to be one of them. SKK or Sungkyungkwan University is famous with it's library. Samsung invested their money to develop this cool library. If I were to compared with our library (I used to study in UTP), I will say "no winner". The facilitators were wearing korean traditional clothes while showing around the campus area to the junior. It was refreshing to see that. We bought our lunch in advance and ate in the car. We continued our journey to Pyeongchang.
4 hours journey seemed nothing to us because we had 6 chatty mouths. We talked about everything. Our schools, the korean culture, struggle as foreigner, travel plans, kpop idols, the food and the list goes on. This video was when we arrived at Pyeongchang.
We arrived at Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm around 1pm at noon. It was -3 Celcius. So cold! There are many ranches in Pyeongchang, but Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm is the only ranch that raises sheep. If we arrived Pyeongchang 2 days early we might able to attend the closing for Pyeongchang Olympic. So close yet so far. It took us 30 minutes hike (not so hard) to reach the top. To get a closer experience with the sheep, we signed up for the feeding experience, where we gave hay to the sheep and even reached out to touch their fuzzy heads. If you wish to stay at Pyeongchang, please bare in mind the cheapest rate you can get for a standard room is around MYR1000 per night. You must be rich person I guess.
And it's feeding time! You need to pay for KRW5000 (approximately MYR15) in order to feed the sheep.
After that, we decided to go to Gangneung Coffee Street. For the coffee lovers and caffeine addict, if you have extra time, you can actually do cafe hopping and taste their coffee while enjoying the sea view. One more thing that you need to know, with almost all coffee shops in the area roasting their own coffee beans, Gangneung is well-recognized as the "city of coffee". There are almost hundred coffee shops located at this street side by side. You probably will having hard time to choose where to go. As of us, we chose Starbucks, because we were really in dilemma plus we did not have much time. We chilled out for an hour before heading back to Seoul.
We headed back to Seoul. We bared for another 4 hours journey and arrived our hotel around 10pm. We returned back the car and sent our goodbye to Fateha. No worries will be meeting her again on our last day. By the way, this entry will be a bit longer compared to previous post. Cheese:)
Day 7: INSADONG, SEOUL
We woke up early and checked out. As usual, we left our luggage temporarily at the hotel reception and will get it back before end of the day. We were lucky because our hotel was located in Insadong area. So we just need to find any nearest Bukchon village to rent the Hanbok attire. At first, we were little bit confuse about how to rent the traditional clothes. We bumped into locals who were wearing hanbok and asked them for the rental shop which offer cheapest rate. So they were kind enough to show us the way to the shop. There were many rental shops around Insadong area, however it could be tricky due to similar prices. You might need to survey them online and maybe ask the local's opinion. We had the Hanbok for 2 hours and it costed us KRW15,000 (approximately MYR55). However, the rate for men's clothes slightly higher. Syimir paid for KRW20,000 (approximately MYR70). The owner was very nice. They styled us with flower band and cute clutch. Please be noted, you might need to wear thermal inner first (because it was winter that time). We roamed and walked around Insadong area and went to Gyeongbokgung palace which located 7 minutes walk from the shop. Then we took our sweet time to take pictures as many as we could. We had to return the Hanbok at 1pm.
Did we look like queens? At 1pm sharp, we returned to the shop and got changed. Once the payment settled, the owner gave souvenir to each of us. It was a portrait of our-self.
It was raining. So we had hard time to move to subway station. Our next destination was YG Entertainment building. We went towards Hapjeong station and searched for the building. It was tough to find the right building plus it was raining that time. However, because of our kpop spirit we managed to find it and waited for 30 mins in front of YG building. There was a tinted van approaching the building and the guards were starring at us. Indeed it was suspicious. We guessed it was Blank Pink in the van (it was during Blank Pink's comeback) but not sure. There was an abundant parking area in front of the building, we stayed there for a while as a shelter. Once the rain got better we moved our way. We were unlucky, not even a single YG artist spotted. We went towards Itaewon station and had our dinner. We had kebab, honestly I am not a fan of Arabian meals but it was okay after all. Pictures below proove our struggles.
After dinner, we headed back to Insadong to take our luggage and bags. Due to our big sized luggage and numbers of hand carry bags, we were struggling to carry those bags. And do you still remember when I tell you some of the subway stations do not have elevator or even escalator? Yes, one of them was Anguk station. Fortunately, there were 2 handsome common sensed oppa helped us along the way. Thank god! Our next accommodation was located at Gyeonggi Gwangju. It was an apartment that we booked from Airbnb. We need to travel 2 hours by train. So it was a long tough journey. Luckily, the host was so kind. He offered train to fetch us at the station. Thank you so much. We chose to stay there because it was near to the Everland. The host explained to us which bus and how to get to the Everland. If you wish to go to Everland from Seoul by subway or bus, you will need to begin your journey at least at 6am in order to reach Everland at 9-10am. So we did not want that kind of rush feelings. We had a goodnight sleep at the homestay. It was warm and comfy. That is it for this entry. Currently, I am travelling for my business trip. I will try to write as soon as possible. See you very soon! Thanks for reading :)
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