Korea Part II

After our first few days spent in the countryside, we headed back to the city to do the thing most of us were looking forward to do - shopping! One thing I will never forget about our vacation to Korea was the amount of walking we had to do while we were in the city area. (Take note that this is in the viewpoint of a Singaporean.)

There were loads of shopping centres, and they stock a lot of branded goods. Naturally, I couldn't afford those (being the poor student that I am) so instead I tried my very best to look for stores which sold actual souvenirs, which, to my surprise, were rather difficult to find. We did, however, go to a street market that had many stalls selling clothes, and there we stumbled upon a stall which sold " t-shirts for tourists" as I like to call it. You know, the "I love X COUNTRY" kind? My family and I bought a few for ourselves and other close friends.

While we were in Korea, we also managed to go to N Seoul Tower, where we got a fantastic view of the city. I have to say though, climbing up the slope which led to the tower took a lot of effort and I'm not even exaggerating! Oh well, another few kilos gone, so it's okay. At the top of the tower there was a souvenir shop and a cafe. That was where I got some of my other souvenirs.

On our second last day in Seoul, right after the visit to the National Palace Museum of Korea which was located in the Gyeongbokgung Palace, it suddenly started to snow. We were utterly thrilled, because for the most of us, it was actually our first experience with (falling) snow. Some of us even started dancing right there and then.

I miss Seoul dearly. The last memory I had of our vacation was during the plane ride on our way back home, when a Korean I was sitting beside had offered me his ice-cream which was given to passengers as a dessert. Haha, it was really nice of him and yes, I did accept it.

xx

Korea (Part I)

It has been 4 days since I came back from my week-long vacation in Korea. There's not much to say except the obvious - I had a great time. The best part about the trip had to be when I got to ski for the first time. Despite being out in the cold for a long period of time, falling into the not-so-soft snow with almost every attempt but one at skiing down an albeit gentle slope, and having a most difficult time carrying the skiing equipment back up the slope as well as just taking them off - I loved the adrenaline rush, especially since I had no idea how to stop myself before I crashed into someone (hence, the final resort of falling into the snow). Did I mention that looks can be deceiving? As much as the slope is gentle, when you ski down that damn thing you feel like you're going at a hundred miles an hour (well, that's what I felt like anyway)!

The photos above are not the ones I took at the ski resort I stayed at (where, by the way, I also got to sleep on a heated floor for the first time in my whole life, which was truthfully, an interesting experience. I didn't think sleeping on any floor would be comfortable until that day). The first photo was taken during the ride up the Sorak Mountains which is found at the Seoraksan National Park. The next two were taken at Nami Island, where a part of the filming of Winter Sonata took place.

On Korean food - let's just say that the Koreans sure do know how to make vegetables taste tasty. I admit - before the trip I seriously needed to change my diet such that it includes more vegetables but I was utterly stubborn and reluctant (I hated eating vegetables since childhood). Now eating vegetables doesn't seem like the end of the world at all (Yes, I used to think that when I was younger).  Also, Tempura - where have you been all my life? Sweet potato tempura is undoubtedly my favourite.

Yes, I realize I have been missing out on a lot of things in my life. xx