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
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
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 :/
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
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
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.
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
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 ;)
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