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
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~
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!
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