DAY 7: South Korea Winter 13 -- 20 Dec 2014 (Jeju & Seoul)

Day 7 (20 Dec)--
SEOUL (16 Dec- 20 Dec 2014)

When you're having fun, time passes way way way too fast. It's already the last day of our tour :(

Woke up early and headed out for breakfast of porridge, before we went to the supermarket to shop for groceries. I have absolutely no idea how to describe the supermarket we went to, except that it was more of a local specialties' store, approx. 10 mins journey away from Incheon Airport.

On the way to the supermarket, Jiejie was really showing concern for her fellow colleague when she sincerely shared with us regarding purchasing the photos taken by Jacky. Ends up, except for a few exceptional cases like mine where he slot in a wrong picture which didn't belong to us, I saw that most of our group bought almost the whole set of pictures. My family's set cost ~SGD$140, and the amount we paid was actually okay, considering how Jacky had taken care of us along the way.

No doubt, you could say he's just doing his job. But we saw other tour guides/ assistants/ leaders that just didn't bother with their own group, but instead just went to have their own meals. I'm so glad that my guides/ assistants/ leaders were all amazing in their own ways, always looking out for us, and we could all see how they went above and beyond their call of duty, to ensure our comfort and full tummies :)

We also had to bid goodbye to Jiejie as she had to go to the airport first, as she was leaving for Taiwan at 1330 (Our flight would be at 1450). So Perrine went to the airport with her to reserve flight seats for our group, and Jacky would head over to the airport with us after we were done at the supermarket. :( Was so sad when I had to hug Jiejie for the last time for this trip. Especially so because she would randomly just reach out for a hug and say she's cold. :) I think almost all if not all, the kids and adults alike, liked her so much!! Took a last picture for this tour with her before we bade her goodbye for now~

Didn't have much time to slowly shop for snacks to bring back, so I just grabbed as much as I could within that limited time frame!

While Jacky helped us by guiding us to the counter where they boxed our purchases for easy transportation and shipping, he also took the opportunity to take pictures with every one of us!! :D

Problem came when we reached the airport. By right, our check-in baggage would be only 1 item, and limit within 23kg. But a few days back, Jiejie told us that due to an ongoing promotion, we could check in 2 items, which would mean a totla of 46kg!! Naturally, all of us just shopped awayyyyyy at the supermarket. Then when we got to the airport, NOT A SINGLE STAFF KNEW ABOUT THE 2ND BAGGAGE ALLOWANCE GIVEN.

Though the issue was resolved within 15 mins with Jacky and Perrine both flustered and anxious, we also ended up being caught in a long queue to enter the customs. That being said, while all of us were flustered and anxious to grab a bite after entering the departure area, I realized my family forgot to big goodbye to Jacky :(

Still feel very bad for not saying a proper goodbye before we went off at the airport, cos even though we couldn't communicate as well with one another, he was always being all smiley and helpful, and could see how he actually placed us customers above himself, especially from the incident where he was walking around helping us with our baggage outdoors, WITHOUT his down jacket, because he had lent it to one of our tour mates whom felt cold. He was already shivering but he continued helping us to move our luggages without complaint. And even when taking pictures, he was more than glad to help me take a picture with my DSLR, even if it meant I might not purchase the photo from him since I had my own copy....

Ah well, to conclude this trip, I daresay it was money well-spent. My family was happy, albeit with small hiccups here and there, like having separate seats on the flight to Seoul from SG, but we were fortunate and blessed enough to have had a safe trip. We met an awesome tour guide Jiejie, an amazing tour guide assistant Jacky, and our ever cute tour leader Perrine. It was also a happy 7 days period with my tour mates. Though I never did ask anyone for their name, I'm so glad that we've added one another on Facebook, for contact purposes. My other regret, while filtering through photos, was not taking more pictures of my tour mates...

Hopefully, when Jiejie comes to SG next year, our dinner gathering will really take place. :)
<3
My first winter was amazing.

DAY 6: South Korea Winter 13 -- 20 Dec 2014 (Jeju & Seoul)

Day 6 (19 Dec)--
SEOUL (16 Dec- 20 Dec 2014)

Time passes so fast! It's already Day 6 and we were all dreading the end of the tour already. Jiejie was being so sweet and telling us how she would miss us. And seeing how she was already losing her voice, but yet not under-performing her duties as a Tour Guide, everyone really loved her :)

Today's itinerary!
1. Ginseng & Bokan Showrooms (skip!)
2. Hanbok try-out
3. Gyeongbokgung Palace
4. N Seoul Tower
5. Namdaemun Market
6. Lotte Duty-free Store
7. Myeongdong Street

Now, as everyone definitely knows, our passport is literally our life. Lose it and you'll have a damn tough time of your life getting back to your country and resolving any potential problems that come with it.

My parents were so close to that happening to them.
Bear with me while I share this incident, as it is definitely a learning lesson for my own parents. If you'd prefer skipping this, just skip the below smaller-fonts~

What happened was, at the Hanbok try-out place, it was a open-concept 'locker room' style, where everyone collected their Hanbok, and then put their down jackets and belongings at the nearby shelves which were divided into individual compartments, without any form of lock whatsoever. As the ladies and mens' area were at different sides of the room, of course we went to collect our own respective Hanbok at different sides of the room.

Less than 2 mins later, my father came over and said "Someone took my down jacket. I left it there for less than 30 seconds and it was gone. Passports are inside".

The staff at the showroom were not exactly helpful. 2 of them nonchalantly repeated ONE AFTER ANOTHER, "Oh, maybe your family member took it for you and shifted it to another locker.", and gave me the poker-face and stare. At that moment, I wanted to scream out at her already, that that would be the case if I didn't have any common sense... Seriously!?

And then I saw it.

A China woman holding onto my father's jacket, walking inside the showroom. So yup, my father, being the extremely hot-tempered person, went over and confronted her. The conversation went like that:

Dad- Excuse me (still very polite while reaching out), this might be my jacket. Why is it with you?
Bxtch A- WHAT, THIS IS MINE OKAY! *yanks it away from my dad's hand*

At this moment, I saw that the jacket was tagged size 3XL, which is indeed my dad's jacket size. While she yanked it away, of course, my quick-witted dad instantly unzipped the pocket of the jacket and pulled the 2 passports out, shoving it in her face...

Dad- TELL ME, THIS PASSPORT IS YOURS? YOURS? YOURS? WHAT THE FXXK DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? WHAT THE FXXK ARE YOU TAKING MY PASSPORT FOR????!!!
Bxtch A- Oh oh oh, I think I took the wrong jacket. *turns to walk away*

)($*@@%*@*%(*!(@*!%*T$)(%#!
DO YOU THINK I WILL LET IT GO JUST LIKE THAT?!

Of course not. While my father continued screaming at her at the top of his lungs, I had no choice but to step in, else someone might die under his fist. Hahha.

Ends up, I had to literally grab my father's face to tell him to shut up while I reprimanded her, and the other guy whom was trying to hard to defend her. Her excuses were aplenty.

First, she said "Oh, I think I took wrongly. I really took wrongly."
Then, she said "Couple jacket, you cannot blame me for taking it wrongly"
Thirdly, she said "I have no use for stealing your passport"
Lastly, she said "Why would I take your passport when I have my own"

Now, let's look at all these nonsensical excuses. I wouldn't even need to think much for reasons to rebutt her, but I just wanted to take my Hanbok pictures so I didn't continue pursuing the matter...
1. She was wearing a down jacket of her own
2. Her other tour mates were also already wearing down jackets of their own
3. There was no effort to go search for the 'correct jacket' or so she claims to exist
4. I'm sorry to say this which will definitely bring about some displeasure- but our SG passport is worth damn fxcking a lot if you were to sell it in a xxxxx market

It was so obvious this was theft.

Of course, back to the beginning where my father was careless enough to leave his jacket even for 30 seconds... That's his fault. I've already scolded him for that. But all I needed from that woman was a sincere apology for this 'mistake'. They really had lots of stunts- other tour mates gathering around, others speaking up for her, others apologizing for her etc etc etc.

Had to stop all their nonsense with a super loud shout at them to shut the fxxk up while I talked. I just needed an apology. I could lodge a police report on the spot, no doubt about it at all. She was caught red-handed. But I couldn't and didn't want to trouble my tour mates.

On a sidenote, it was rather funny to hear my tour mates cussing and swearing at people from that country. Well, this wasn't the only destination which we encountered a horde of them at. And everytime, they would have to piss someone from my tour group off. HAHAHA. Maybe that's why my tour group is so united. We are united against a common detestable group.

So yup, lesson learnt, always to keep your own passport rather than nominating one person to keep it for you/ for the whole group. I kept my own passport in my own waterproof sling pouch which was with me throughout the day. Money, my ID cards and my passports were in that pouch.

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So anyhooooo, we were headed for the N Seoul Tower next, but passed by a palace we were supposed to visit. Due to time constraints, the whole group consented to cancel that location, which is the Gyeongbokgung Palace. Was a waste I didn't manage to visit it, but here's some information that I gathered online while being all excited prior to the trip~

According to KTO, it's history dates back to 1395, and because it was destroyed before, it has actually been restored closely to its original form. The tour by Jiejie would've taken us 2 hours there, which is why we had no choice but to opt to take that out if we wanted to have time for shopping~

Sourced for some pictures online and came across these. It's a really majestic place!

Credits: http://www.shillatour.co.id/trips/tour-detail.php?tourdetail=Experience-Summer-Korea-5D

Nonetheless, we saw the guards standing firmly outside the palace when our coach passed by it. What a waste we didn't go there though~

Sidenote:
The changing of guards ceremony has always been the highlight program at the palace. This reenactment of such a ceremony from the ancient times is a rare scene to be caught in Seoul. But there are 3 slots where this happens everyday (except Tuesdays):

Sumunjang (Royal Guard) Changing Ceremony-
1000, 1300, 1500 (3 times a day, 20 mins per ceremony)

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Next up, N Seoul Tower! It was extremely windy while we were there, not helping that we had to climb up a very steep slope to get to the tower entrance!! OMG!

According to KTO, the view from the top offers a panoramic view of Seoul and its surroundings. I believe it's a stunning view since there's even a restaurant at one of the top levels~

N Seoul Tower Observatory original entry ticket pricing: 9,000won~

There's also cable car there, but the ticket is separately purchased. I didn't check it out too since we were pressed for time and it was so cold!!

I could never get enough of taking pictures of the snow, the trees...

It was rather crowded as we were heading up too, but this picture only shows the gentlest part of the slope up... I was too tired to take a picture of the extremely steep portion :/

 So anyways, Jacky climbed up with us too :) And this pose was a suggestion of his HAHAHA. And my parents gladly obliged hahha!! Super cute :D

Extra note:
Notice the shape of the bench? It's designed as such so that the couple will both slide towards the center of the bench to be together. So corny, but I LIKE :'D

And while I was taking a picture of my parents, I spotted this lil' wrapped-up munchkin trying very hard to pick ice off the ground~ And unintentionally photo bombed a few shots (you can see my father's feet and that bench behind lol)

The winds were sooooooooo chilly I didn't even attempt to look at what others wrote on their love locks even though there were so many just next to me.

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Thereafter, it was a short journey to Namdaemun Market!

According to KTO, it is the largest traditional market in Korea. Clothes, kitchenware, fine arts, carpets, souvenirs, clothes, and even FISH, can be found there at affordable prices. There's really an area where it was like a wet market setting~

There wasn't much for me to shop there, to be honest~ Because it was... Just not my type of thanggg. As the description speaks truth of it- it is a traditional market, which would imply little/ no international brands there. I didn't spot any, that's for sure. And many stalls were selling things like gloves and carpets which we wouldn't really buy... Ended up just grabbing coffee and other snacks like fish cake and such to warm ourselves :)

In comparison, look at Myeongdong Street! This street is really bustling with activities! Shops on both sides of the street, and food stalls on BOTH sides of the street! This place is so amazing :D

2 things on my mind:
1. Facial products/ Cosmetics
2. Street fooooood!

A tip from Jiejie before we started shopping- if we spent above 30,000won in a shop, we could get the necessary receipts and forms from them to do a tax refund claim (10%) at the airport before departure. If the shop instead offered you a cash discount, chances are, their products may not be authentic. Because authentic stores are definitely able to and would give you the tax refund forms!

For tax refund claims procedures and documents, you can click here ---> KTO site.
* I have included my own references and guide for tax refund claim at the bottom of this post too :)

Visited only Innisfree, The Face Shop and Tony Moly but didn't buy too much. Totally forgot about my Etude House products o.o Will do up a separate post on my facial products purchase~

On the other hand, here's some street food that I can recommend!! Images are credited to individual sources, cos I was too busy eating to take more pictures of my own!! :P

1. Egg Bread (Gyeran bbang) 2,000won
This is like, the simplest food I ate, it's just egg and bread. It was a surprise to eat because even though I knew I was hunting for this, I never expected a WHOLE EGG inside the bread! And the bread doesn't taste entirely like bread. It's more of a waffley-taste.

It's really hot when you buy it, so it's a perfect snack during the cold winter! So simple yet so amazing a snack!

Credits: http://seoulistic.com/korean-food/complete-guide-korean-street-food-pictures/3

2. Fish Cake 어묵(오뎅) (Eumok/ Odeng) 500 - 700won

Credits: http://www.kpopnews.org/2012/11/popular-korean-street-food-that-you_13.html

In such cold weather this is seafood fish cake snack is OH-SO-GOOD. It's cheap, very doink-doink, and even comes with a cup of the hot hot soup :D Mummy thinks the soup tastes abit maggi-ish though~

3. Red Bean Cake 붕어빵 (Boong-eo-bbang)

Credits: http://www.kpopnews.org/2012/11/popular-korean-street-food-that-you_13.html

Filled with red beans goodness, similar to what Japan has too, but I still love it!! :D Slight crisp with the soft and hot cake along with its filling, omggggg.

4. Glass Noodle Dumplings (Jjinmandu) 3 pcs @ 5,000won

* Not sure if the Korean name is correct? :(

Credits: http://insatiabletwosome.blogspot.sg/2014/08/south-korea-seoul-part-1-arrival-at.html

This is basically dumplings with pork, vegetables and glass noodles inside, and topped with cabbage, chilli and sweet sauces. I knew I was supposed to keep a lookout for it, but didn't realize it would taste so good!


Even my parents and aunt were giving praises to it while nom-ing away :) No doubt only 3 pieces, but the portion is big, unlike our normal dumplings size yo!

5. Buttered Squid

Credits: http://www.koreaboo.com/interactive/13-delicious-korean-street-foods-2-00/

Do I even need to say more? Hahahha!!

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Back tracking a little, we went to Lotte Duty Free Store which was just opposite Myeongdong Street. I only visited 2 counters though- the MCM store and the Laniege counter.

The Laniege there is so amazingly cheap, that for the product I use- Laniege Water Sleeping Pack_EX, it retails at SGD$45 for 1 here, but is at USD$37 for 2 there.

The below 'Travel Exclusive' packaging actually consists of 2 bottles of the above- individually packed too :)

It's actually USD$20 for one or USD$37 for two. LUCKILY I BOUGHT 2! Else I wouldn't even be offered this better value option!

That converts to.....
~SGD$25 for 1 bottle there.
OH MY GAWDDDD!!!!!!!!!

Ben's mummy also went to the counter to snag 2 Firming Packs for her friend, but she didn't know it was THAT much cheaper in Korea until I told her lol~

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End of the day's activities, everyone went back to the hotel well-fed and happy with our shopping :) And then, the moment we alighted from our coach at our hotel,

IT SNOWED.

IT SNOWED.

IT SNOWED.

IT SNOWED.

Bit by bit, it started to snow. I remember I was one of the last few to alight from the coach, and most of our tour mates had already gone indoors. Just when I heard an outburst of "OMG it's snowing!!" I looked upwards and right at that moment, a little piece of snowflake landed right in my eye. Without a doubt, it was snowing :')

We quickly went upstairs to drop off our stuff, before heading downstairs again to buy some snacks and drinks from the nearby convenience store, and to watch the snow fall.

Since it was already our last night there, my parents, aunt and I stood by the roadside and just watched the snow... I think we stood there for like 5 minutes, fascinated by the falling snow.

Ahhhh, I still feel so amazed thinking back about it.. It was really like such a scene- us standing by the roadside as cars pass by, then we are looking up at the sky, looking at the car lamps that illuminate the falling snow...

And the funny thing is, while we judge ourselves for being so suaku, a few steps away, were our fellow tour mates with the same reaction to snow. HAHAHH.

That was about 11pm+, and according to Jiejie, she told us the next day that at about 1am, the snow got significantly heavier. But we were all too tired and in bed already hhaha!

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TIP: For tax refund, this is the guide I did up for myself prior to the trip. Thought eventually, due to time constraints at the airport, I did not proceed with my refund. So I do not know how accurate this may be... It may not be 100% accurate, but I hope it helps in your understanding at the very least! :)

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Post-trip thoughts: I would definitely have preferred more time to be spent at Myeongdong Street. Though infiltrated by lots of non-Koreans, but it's a rather good place to shop. And to take a walk along the food stalls which sell snacks that most would say, defines Korea's street food culture, I think it is a way that I like to immerse in the Korean culture by.

Oh yes, I will be going back for the palace ;)

DAY 5: South Korea Winter 13 -- 20 Dec 2014 (Jeju & Seoul)

Day 5 (18 Dec)--
SEOUL (16 Dec- 20 Dec 2014)

Today's itinerary was not very packed cos we were expecting the travelling time to be rather long between places~
1. Seaweed Museum (skip)
2. Korean BBQ Meal!!! (skip)
3. Everland Theme Park
4. DrumCat Show

Our first huge destination was none other than the Everland Theme Park!! Journey there from Mt Seorak was long and I was actually soooooo looking forward to it after lunch :D

According to KTO, Everland Theme Park opened way back in 1976 and was the first family amusement park in Korea! It is divided into multiple sections- American Adventure, Magic Land, European Adventure, Global Fair and Zoo Topia.

Original entry ticket pricing: 46,000won~ [Adult, fullday entry pass]
Refer to their site for operating hours and seasonal discount coupons for the entry pass!
*Typical aunty, have to place particular emphasis on it cos.... Discount ma! :P

So off our group goes to explore Everland! :) First things first, PICTURES!!

Had pictures taken at the big tree which is sooo famous! I like to call it the Rainbow Tree cos it's decorations differ with each season hahha. It's such a significant display at Everland cos of Running Man episodes that captured this too :)

And we saw Santa Claus!! :D

Had my eyes specifically on a few rides since I'd read up about it prior to the trip. Ends up, I was a weeee bit disappointed because:

1. Only 2 hours given to cover... The whole place. Seriouslyyyy? :(
2. 3 out of 4 of the rides I wanted to go on were closed due to bad weather, and the staff did not know if it would be opened before I had to leave the theme park

On the bright side, I did manage to go on 2 amazing rides that SG doesn't have for sure!

This was the safari ride- Lost Valley, we took, and we opted for the vehicle which is not enclosed, just so I could see the giraffe stick his neck in during the feeding by the vehicle guide. AND IT DID HAPPEN!!! :D And spot that long tongue omg eeeew :D

For the safari attraction, there are 2 ride options:

Enclosed- Goes through the route which has fiercer and more aggressive animals- ie. Bears, Tigers, Lions etc.
Opened- Goes through the route which has tamer animals- ie. Giraffes, Zebras, Camels etc.

Running Man previously featured Kim Jong Kook on that same opened ride, with him having to complete a mission with the lions, Yoo Jae Suk and HaHa with the elephants and Kwang Soo with the giraffes at that same safari area. (Episode 141)

My favourite scenes from that episode :D

And yup, as expected, the guide on the safari vehicle whom spoke purely in Korean throughout the whole 10 min journey also brought that up. ;)

One thing I realized though, was that there was one part of the route where both vehicles would see the same animals. I believe it was the tigers' enclosure...

On a side note, when on the vehicle, don't opt to sit near the back as the view is obstructed when other passengers stand up in excitement~

Continued walking in the chilly weather and ventured to look for my long-awaited T-Express roller coaster (The highest wooden rollercoaster), Double Rock Spin and Let's Twist. ALL WERE CLOSED.

MAD MAD DISAPPOINTED.

I NEED ANOTHER VISIT TO EVERLAND :(

The T Express I had been looking forward to :(

The first drop is 57m high and at a steep 77 degrees angle. Madness doesn't stop there, but continue with the multiple drops throughout the ride!!

And because it was due to the bad weather, they weren't able to tell me if it would reopen before I had to leave the theme park :(

Trudged on unhappily but ended up stumbling upon this!

The Snow Buster!! This special attraction is seasonal, and basically gives the visitor a float to sit on, then slide down the icy slope!! Super fun I tell you! And best thing, we didn't have to climb up. There was this pulley system that would pull us up the slope one by one. Good for lazy people like me hehhe. Queue was long but cleared up very fast!! :D

No doubt a short visit to Everland, but we were still rather tired out by the weather. Imagine standing outdoors and walking around for 2 hours in that cold! BRRRRR..

According to Jiejie, amongst them Tour Guides, Everland is voted to be one of the coldest places during winter too (Alongside Mt Seorak's crazy winds and of cos the ski resorts).

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Next stop would be dinner followed by the Drum Cat Show!! I initially thought that it would be some random stage performance that wouldn't be any entertaining at all, so I didn't go search for any info about them online, but boy was I wrong!!

According to KTO, Drum Cat is a globally-recognized Korean performance that has been established since 2003. This all-female percussion group had actually won prizes on international platforms!!

Couldn't take pictures inside so I just hijacked and credited a few pictures from their Facebook page~

Their skills are undoubtly amazing and their energetic performance definitely had all of us moving along to their rhythm. Audiences for our session consisted of Koreans, Thais, Chinese, Taiwanese and SGreans. I tell youuuuu, simply stunning!!

Original entry ticket pricing: 40,000 - 50,000won~
80 mins, evening shows only

In my opinion, it's definitely worth watching. But if you ask me to watch it again, I wouldn't. Unless it's an entirely different set, then I'd probably consider. Come to think of it, their tickets are rather pricey eh? :P

Retired to our hotel at The Lexington Hotel. Well, the exterior of the hotel was really grand-looking and looked like some European Court place. But the rooms were significantly smaller as compared to the other hotels we have stayed at for this trip.

Found this picture online but yes, my room looks exactly like this. The table and chairs are rather redundant and just obstructs the passageway :/ I'm not sure what the pricing is like for this hotel, but IMO, it's location is also a wee bit out of the way. We had to cross the river to get to central places like Myeongdong. Nonetheless, the coach journey was also about 20 mins only, so probably ain't that bad!

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TIP: Everland- allocate one whole day to that place please! And there is alot of walking to be done, up and down slopes, so one has to be dressed in comfort albeit in 4-5 layers :)

Sun can get pretty glaring even though the temperature doesn't change much, so sunscreen for exposed skin is definitely needed!

There's this BBQ Meat shop which is near the main entrance of Yongin Everland Resort (The place where vehicles pay toll). We had lunch there- ~SGD$30/ pax and I think it's a rather decent place to have lunch before going into the theme park as food inside the theme park is pricey!

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Post-trip thoughts: I DEFINITELY NEED TO GO BACK THERE AGAIN FOR THE ROLLER COASTERS :(

DAY 4: South Korea Winter 13 -- 20 Dec 2014 (Jeju & Seoul)

Day 4 (17 Dec)--
SEOUL (16 Dec- 20 Dec 2014)

It's finally ski day!! Itinerary for today is basically in the mountainous and chilly Gangwon-do area~
1. Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm visit + Icecream-Making Workshop
2. Cable Car @ Yongpyong Resort
3. Indoor Water Theme Park @ Yongpyong Resort (So horrid I'd rather not even mention it in detail)
4. Ski @ Night [Yongpyong Resort]

Early in the morning when we stepped out of the hotel after breakfast, we were hit by some crazy strong wind! Again, I could barely open my eyes. According to Jiejie, the temperature was something along the line of -20 deg. GOODNESS!

Nevertheless, the view was breathtaking!
Just to share a few pictures out of the many I took~

Sometimes I secretly think I'm awesome cos I spotted this angle, and thus got some rather amazing shots. And after my family, Jacky started getting the other families to pose at that same angle. *secretly sibei song only* Hehehe!!

On an extremely serious sidenote, all these amazing shots were actually less than 5 mins after my legs buckled when I bent down to pick up something from the ground. I'm assuming it was due to the overwhelming cold.... Even when I was standing indoors. -.- At that same moment, I felt like I sprained my hip. It was SUPER painful, but cos there were so many others are the lobby, die also have to act like I'm okay. :'( It's was so fucking painful omg.

For lunch that day and the rest of the day, I could barely sit upright without feeling pain; neither could I lean back on my seat and feel comfortable. Either way, EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE POSTURE WAS SO PAINFUL.. Which also meant a disastrous consequence-

NO SKIING FOR HUIFANG.

Holy crap.
You know, at that moment when that painful truth dawned on me, I wanted to cry so badly :/

When my tour mates went to the attire rental place and I walked in with them, yet I could not rent an attire cos I shouldn't ski when I was already feeling so unwell :( :( :( :( :( :( :(

On a sidenote, the rental of attire was approx. SGD$30 if I did not remember wrongly, inclusive of the very cool-looking yet doesn't keep warm sufficiently outerwear, and goggles! Note to layer inside still!! But no jeans can be worn for skiing also~

Dad looking pretty neat in his gear!!

Well, my tour mates were so sweet and concerned that a couple of them actually asked me why I had changed my mind and decided not to ski when I had said that I was so enthusiastic about it........ SOBS..

Nonetheless, I still picked up the theory of skiing from Jiejie!!

1. When falling, fall to your side- not forward or backward!
2. When wanting to stop, the front part of my foot should be pointed inward like a Chinese-8 character (Back of foot should move outward)
3.  Not to use the ski poles to push forward, else one would end up going at high speed. HAHA.
4. When climbing up the hill, move sideways like how a crab walks~

Hope that comes in handy for my next trip, which I had made my darlings agree to for Dec 2015/ Jan 2016. Hehehe~

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Our first point after their ski attire rental was to head to the Daegwallyeong Sheep Farm, to feed the sheep and make handmade icecream! The sheep were kept in the shed as it's the winter period so yeaaa, no grazing sheep :(

Went into the stinky shed, and oh boy were the sheeps ROUGH!!! A hungry sheep is an angry sheep!!

Just to share a few pictures out of the many I took~

The moment you keep a loose hold of your feeding scoop, there it goes, gnawed away fiercely by them. Damnnn, they're way rougher than those at Cingjing (Taiwan)! Realized I took a picture of Ben feeding them, which also shows the sheep BITING onto the scoop!!

Ah okay, can't see his face. HAHHA. But yea, that's him. See how that sheep is biting his feed scoop!?

But my parents still managed to find an obedient baby to pose with! :)

According to KTO, this is the only farm which rears ONLY sheep, no other animals!

We then proceeded indoors to make our handmade icecream using their freshly-produced milk! Sadly, le ma has no talent in making icecream from scratch. We had a really chirpy and humorous lady teaching us how to do it, but ends up my table still needed their staff to help us with the mixing hahahahhahah *awkwarddd* But never mind, just pose with it ;) Credits to Jacky for this photo!

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Thereafter, we headed up to our ski resort- Yongpyong Resort (Greenpia Condo) to check in! Almost got our Cable Car ride hopes dashed when the staff said that the cable car was closed due to bad weather conditions... Ends up, by the time we were done with the check in, the cable car was up and running!

According to KTO, Yongpyong Resort has 28 slopes and 15 lifts, for beginners up to expert skiers. This is also where Winter Sonata was filmed.

Jiejie also shared that due to the higher amount of snowfall, coupled with its extremely good quality of snow, it is an ideal ski holiday destination :) I also managed to find out online that the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympics would be hosted there :D That's an amazing feat!

Wandered out of Greenpia's lobby as we had to wait for quite a long while, and was greeted by amazing views~

Just to share a few pictures out of the many I took~

And of course, presenting to you the slopes! This was taken while we were walking to Dragon Plaza, where most of the food places and activities take place at, which is also where the cable car ride would start off from. Greenpia Condo is so near to the Dragon Plaza, you practically just walk for 2-3 mins from the condo's lobby!

It was rather impossible to take any pictures during the cable car ride, as the windows of the cabin were really very badly scratched and had unappealing patches on...... Urgh. Reached the top in approx. 20 mins, to Dragon Peak. Look at the temperature man! D:

You're probably expecting alot of visitors to be outside taking pictures of the peak right? WRONG. Look at how empty it was!

The moment I stepped out, I understood why. The wind was so strong, you could practically feel yourself very very close to being blown away. Not only that, the wind was sooooooo cold, that my cheeks felt like they were gonna tear apart!! That's how bad it was. Nonetheless, le family persisted and took individual shots by the signage. Absolutely stunning view, but really, the wind was too rabak luh!! I had to cover my head with my hoodie cos it was WAY too cold!! And even so, I had to hold my hoodie in place to keep it on!

Quite epic a scene to see our tour mates running out for pictures and run back in within 10-15 seconds cos no one could tolerate that cold. And the next moment? Everyone standing at the heaters outside the toilet. Hahha!!

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Finally, the highlight of our whole trip, the main activity of the day- Skiing!

Jiejie had arranged for the evening ski slot for our group as the slopes would be less packed (which was absolutely true!! The crowd had significantly reduced!!). According to Jiejie, the evening slots from 6pm onwards are reserved only for visitors whom are staying at the resorts there! So our tour mates started picking out their equipment and learning how to ski from Jiejie at approx. 7pm.

Mummy, Aunt and I stepped away for a burger dinner at the 2nd level, and by the time we were done, we still heard Jiejie's voice indoors! Apparently, she released them to the slopes one by one. Hhaha! By then, Daddy was already having the time of his life~

Trudging up the slope,
Skiing down the slope;
Trudging up the slope,
Skiing down the slope~

Just to share a few pictures out of the many I took~

Forgive me for the very badly-adjusted pictures here though. The spotlights at the back weren't very helpful in helping the dark, really. Zzz!!

Sad me could only walk around the slope taking pictures of Daddy and other tour mates~ Ends up, Jacky whom was doing the same thing, also took pictures of me. HAHHA!!

I basically just look like a blue ball here though. What an unflattering picture Jacky took please!? -.-

Sumpat Daddy decided that a 'lie-in-the-snow' picture was mandatory hahah!

A shot I captured of Jiejie teaching one of our didi in our tour, but I really don't know what happened to my camera- this colour effect happened even without me adjusting anything. And this was the only picture that became like that :/

I really admire Jiejie's patience. This didi was having a tough time learning indeed, but yet she didn't give up on teaching him either. She continued drilling and repeating the instructions and guiding him through :') Amazing guide, amazing teacher!!

A picture of another tour mate, a really sweet girl whom was pretty quiet throughout the tour, but requested for me to help her take a picture at the slopes.

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TIP: The ski attire prevents wind from entering your clothes indeed, but can't keep warm! Daddy was complaining of feeling cold in the afternoon when they tried on their attire hahha. Fortunately, he layered sufficiently to last the night ski!

I, on the other hand, was just.... Walking around, in 4 layers on top, and only 1 thick lined layer below. Froze like a dodo bird :/

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Post-trip thoughts: I DEFINITELY NEED TO GO BACK THERE NEXT WINTER TO SKIIIIII!