Day 38: Exploring Gangneung

Sorry for the lack of updates. It's hard to piece together things from nearly a year ago. But anyway I should still continue because things are going to get real busy for me soon and I would have even lesser time to update - I'm officially entering the workforce.

So we explored the area around Sun Cruise Resort first. Found a nice little quaint park and took many photos.

I could totally sit here forever....

The areas in Gangneung has beaches with one of the clearest waters I have ever seen. I'm not sure is it because there are less tourists and thus the water is less polluted.

Here's a shot of me at the nice beach area.

And here's a fantastic view of the "cruise" again. All along I thought it was a real cruise and they moved it up onto a hill hahahhahahah. But it turned out to be a resort built to look like a cruise. This place is really amazing.

If you're in Korea, grab this Wang Subab literally translates to Big Watermelon. It's an icecream shaped like a slice of watermelon and I guess the taste is close enough to a watermelon, though albeit artificial. I love it on a cooling day :)

After that we took a bus (I forgot the bus number) to Sodol Beach because we wanted to do the Gangneung zipline. It was also nerve-wrecking because the bus ride is about an hour away but we constantly kept a lookout and also focused on hearing the stop's name in fear of missing the stop and ending up at some unknown place 3 hours away. We reached a harbour-like place with no site of any zipline except one that looks like a 30-minute walk away. We asked the lady who was selling iced coffee in a pushcart (in our broken Korean) and she didn't know about it but she kindly took out her phone to google (or in Korea, they used Naver) for us. Her boss also came over to help us with it and it turned out that the Gangneung zipline is closed on Sundays. Bad day for us. And the place is so inaccessible. So I would highly recommend you to do the zipline down to Nami Island if you're interested in one.

We then cabbed to Charmsori Gramophone & Edison Science Museum because if we don't, we probably might not make it back in time. (Refer to previous entry about how the bus to Sun Cruise Resort only comes by every 2 hours). Museums are not my sort of thing but some stuff are pretty interesting too. Like the picture below. These are all the lightbulbs Thomas Edison has tried to make before he successfully invented the lightbulb.

We crossed opposite as we spotted this wide and spacious space for some jumpshot photos hahah.

We also took a bus to the Gajeong Beach I think. It was pretty good but we were too tired out for a day at the beach. We left after about an hour and took bus 202 back to the terminal area for dinner at 6pm or so because we didn't want to miss the 8pm bus (also the last bus) back to the resort. See how tiring it is to stay at the resort.

Dinner was at some family owned Korean restaurant. We ordered our favourite Haemul Pajeon (I always liked the ones in Korea, less batter, more seafood/chives) and their spicy kalguksu (knife-cut noodles). Both were good, but the spiciness of the kalguksu got to me after a while. I gave up at half bowl.

The helper in the restaurant, probably the son of the chef, was a cute ahjossi. Maybe an oppa, he looks like he is in his late 20s or early 30s. Cute as in not good-looking cute but his little antics are so cute hahah. He knew we weren't Koreans of course, because we were speaking in a language he couldn't understand. And then maybe due to boredom, he started chatting with us. His English was terrible though, not even basic seriously. Hahah probably only knew 100 words kind of terrible. So he talked to us in Korean. Apparently only me and Cheryl has a standard that is well enough to understand basic Korean. So but he kept bombarding us with Korean. It's the first time we had an entire conversation in Korean for a good 15 minutes with many exchanges of fluent and broken Korean respectively. We also gave up halfway because we couldn't understand him but he didn't give up and continue to use slightly simplier Korean along with a mixture of hand gestures to convey his meaning across.

Hilarious night really.

Day 37: Gangwon-do & Sun Cruise Resort

So the first trip is at Gangneung, Gangwon-do. Gangwon-do is a huge province on the north of South Korea. If you want to visit Gangwon-do, have an idea of what you want to do here because this place is too huge and the attractions are too isolated for you to hop around unlike in Seoul. That's one bad thing about travelling outside of Seoul. But otherwise, you get to experience the less bustling life - it's quite peaceful too! Usually, people go to Gangwon-do Pyeongchang in winter time for their winter ski.

We chose to start our long bus ride from Express Bus Terminal. Yes, that amazing shopping place. But there is a bus terminal at the next building. You could get your tickets there on the spot or you could reserve earlier. You can also choose the kind of bus seats you want - standard or premium. You could converse with the person in basic English, no worries about that. The main language barrier comes when you leave Seoul. It's hard to find someone who can even understand your broken Korean, let alone basic English, outside of Seoul. So be prepared for that!

Having my all-time favourite comfort food - Sundubu Jjigae. I had less of this on my second trip because these are readily available in Singapore. Just double the price and maybe half the authenticity. If you're there for a short trip, I would recommend you to try Korean food which cannot be found/are harder to be found in Singapore.

The bus stop right outside the bus terminal at Gangneung will bring you to Sun Cruise resort. There are a few buses but only take bus 109. Buses outside of Seoul do not flash words, not even Korean words. Listen out for the voiceover, but then again it's in Korean. However,  the Korean pronunciation of Sun Cruise resort is very close to the English one, so just keep hearing for it. It should go up to the top of a hill and you should only alight at the highest point.

As you can see, bus timings are horrendous. Except 7am and 8am, the buses only come by every 2 hours. And this is the only bus up to Sun Cruise resort + the bus ride takes one full hour. So do plan properly. Because if you miss the bus, your itinerary will be pushed back by 2 full hours. 

You will arrive at this entrance about 1-2 minutes walk from where the bus stops. And if you think you see a cruise behind, you are not wrong.

This is the exact reason why we stay in this place. The resort is made like a cruise on the top of a hill. It looks so spectacular and honestly staying there was one of the best choices. Minus the transportation woes. If I could, I would stay there 3d2n and not leave the place. But I probably need a much higher budget.

The view that greets us when we stepped into our room.

The room was spacious, well-lit and cosy. I love all rooms that look cosy. But of course, for the price, if it didn't, I would have never paid for it.

The resort also has a mini cafe. Nothing spectacular or amazing about the decoration but the cakes and the accompanying view sure looked lovely.

On our way down, we managed to spot a pretty sunset.

However, since the bus only comes by every two hours, we cannot afford to wait for it. We decided to walk down, wrong choice but only choice. The road winds and turns and is so deserted because the only vehicles using this road are those that goes to or leaves the resort. Going back up at 9pm is the scary thing hahah, and of course uphill too.

We settled at a random restaurant for dinner at 8pm and it seemed like the area has quietened down quite a bit. But the ahjummas still served us well. That's what I like about Koreans - if they serve you, they make sure you are served well.

I also walked by a convenience store and craved for a popsicle - the Korean style hahah.

At the Hourglass park.

And a random beach which we walked past on our trek up the hill back to our resort.

All in all, Sun Cruise resort is a lovely place, but you have to know that transportation is troublesome here. Not just here, anywhere outside Seoul and Busan. Only Seoul and Busan has the subway trains, so buses is the main form of transportation for tourists elsewhere. Don't even think about cabs in some of these rural areas, because you might be better off waiting 2 hours for the bus instead. I'd definitely recommend Sun Cruise resort, especially if you think you can stay in the resort for a relaxing stay all day long - which you should be able to. There are restaurants and parks and swimming pools and cafe and a convenience store and souvenir stores. Wish they have a noraebang/multibang there hahah, then maybe I won't even take a step out of the resort at all.

Day 34 & 36: Folk Village + Dragon Hill Spa

I should have updated this blog way earlier but I'm always too lazy to do it.

Anyway, if you're wondering what happened to day 35. The thing is that the school was supposed to bring us to Buryeong Mud Festival. Although I was scared to get real dirty, I am still excited to go! But we experienced one of the worst downpours that day. And even when we're on the bus and ready to go, the rain did not show any signs of getting smaller. That's when we were informed that the organisers of the Buryeong Mud Festival cancelled the event that day and we will be brought to Lotte World instead. Those who have already been to Lotte World could just claim your subway lunch (again) and go elsewhere yourself. I was really tempted to get off the bus 'cause I was just there 3 days ago and I spent 40,000KRW on the tickets I think. But no one else wanted to leave so fine... I can't do anything myself in this rain too. So refer to my previous post about Lotte World please.

So day 34, we were brought to a folk village in Suwon. It was pouring too but the rain stopped by the time we reached Suwon. Apparently, this is also the filming site for Sungkyunkwan scandal.

We watched how a traditional Korean wedding is carried out in the past. Pretty interesting except that there were almost no seats?!?! We were standing around feeding mosquitoes.

The school arranged us to have bibimbap for lunch at this traditional restaurant. It's pretty good, or maybe I was hungry. One of the few times I finished the entire bowl of bibimbap. Usually bibimbap is too vegetarian for me.

We also had the chance to watch Taekwondo and try it out ourselves.

Jihye Okta and I met for dinner and dessert after that. We always have two rounds on default. I think Jihye loves desserts hahah. I met her on my trip back this time and we had 2 rounds too.

On Day 36, which is the final day of the programme, we have a graduation ceremony. All the TAs have to volunteer a student from their class, preferably non-SKKU students, and Jihye volunteered me! Surprisingly, my morning class TA (who didn't know me and I didn't know too) volunteered me as well!! Urm.... so I was made to go up the stage to represent the cohort along with 19 other students because the 20 of us all got volunteered (and of course me who got volunteered twice).

I really didn't want to but I didn't have a choice. Plus my cap kept dropping everytime I bow to thank the row of professors. 

HyoEun then brought us to this restaurant which is supposedly the best in Hyehwa.

I have to talk about the pizza. I didn't know Koreans eat cheese pizza with honey. And it tastes amazingly... good!!! You should try it in Korea!!

After that. We went to Express Bus Terminal Underground for shopping. HyoEun and I bought the same shirt cause we both liked it and the shop owner asked if we were a couple?!?!?!?! She must have thought that we were lesbians or something omg.

We ended the night at the Dragon Hill spa before heading back to our homes/guesthouses on the last train. We almost thought we missed the last train and had to cab back. But turns out that we were at the wrong platform. I will update about my road trip next and some of the places I visited in Korea this time round (which I didn't last year). But it's probably gonna take a while :P

Day 32 & 33: Lotte World & Bungee-Jumping (which failed)

I am back after another 10 days in Korea (technically 8 because I arrived late on the first day, and I am leaving first thing on the last day). I will have more things to blog about I guess, since I went to Petite France and Jeonju this time round too. And a few other places. I re-visited Namsan Tower (still loving it very very much) and Myeongdong countless of times and Express Bus Terminal and Bukchon Hanok Village and I've to say that I take back all my words about Bukchon being boring.

So... Lotte World is relatively one of the easiest themeparks to get into. And also a good choice even if it rains because half of Lotte World is sheltered. But comparing Lotte World to Everland, I personally would still head to Everland despite it being farther and more troublesome to get to.

So Lotte World is accessible by Jamsil subway station, Exit 4 if I am not wrong. This makes going to Lotte World soooooooo easy. There isn't a need to change to any buses or take a taxi there or anything. Just walk a stretch of underground shops for about 15 minutes or so and you will see Exit 4. Follow the directions along the way and you will reach Lotte World. Besides, there is also Lotte Departmental Store there so you can do your duty free shopping afterwards (if it is still open of course).

So I was saying Lotte World is a great choice because it is partly sheltered. So here is the sheltered part. We were honestly quite glad to have this kind of crowd on a Saturday - I thought this was pretty reasonable already. There are quite a few rides indoors and also food places and performances at the center stage.

If you cross a bridge, it will link you to the outdoor part of Lotte World. This is where the more "exciting" rides are all at.

I took this one! It's called Bungee Drop. And it will simulate how a bungee jump is going to be? I thought it was just one drop down, but it went up and down thrice I think. I guess if you do a bungee jump there is rebound too hahah. This scared the hell out of me. I can't do anything vertical oh my goodness. I thought heights scare me already and vertical heights are the worseeeee.

This is the #1 ride in Lotte World - Gyro Drop. This ride is crazy. If Bungee Drop at 45metres scare you, Gyro Drop at its height of 70metres is sure to freak you out. And the worse - it's free fall (or so they say) comes suddenly and unexpectedly. You will go steadily upwards and the ride will rotate around so you get to see a 360 degrees view of Lotte World and its surroundings. It will stop for like 5 seconds or so and suddenly it will just droppppp!!! I was just standing below it and I can feel the strong wind when it came down. I could never pluck up my courage to do it even though people said the #1 scariest ride in Korea is T-express in Everland and #2 is Gyro Drop. I did #1 but I have no courage to even queue at Gyro Drop. Just feeling the strong wind when it drops down makes my legs go jelly already.

So I thought that Everland is a lot more fun because of the kinds of facilities it have. It has children-family rides as well and a lot of other things like a mini zoo etc. For me, Lotte World either has scary rides or boring rides - there is no middle here. Of course I opt for those boring rides hahahahahah. Everland also has the four seasons garden which you can spend an hour easily admiring the pretty flowers and snapping photos. If you have limited time on your trip, I would recommend Everland but of course that's only my opinion.

So Day 33 was the day I was half anticipating and half dreading - the bungee jump day. I decided to group it with Lotte World entry so you probably can expect that I didn't jump and thus have no experience to talk about. I can't even remember which one I attempted to do it at. I think it's Yuldong Park Bungee Jump.

Sorry I really can't help cause I forgot all the directions. Actually I was dreading rather than anticipating it because after the Bungee Drop the day before at Lotte World, I was somehow very very scared. It's about the same height as the one in Lotte World and thinking back, it will probably be done and over with before I know it. But I asked a lot of friends - it's taking the first step out that is hard, not so much of the free fall part.

I could help with a few photos though. You should see this playground just opposite the bungee jump area. 

I couldn't jump and I didn't fully understand why still. The instructors didn't speak Korean but it was drizzling and the weather looked bad and I thought that is the reason why too. I re-confirmed with him again after seeing a note saying that there is no jumps allowed that day. I could only understand him saying "no" hahahahahahha but you know how relieved I felt at that moment goshhh.

I headed back to Gangnam station to get a backpack for my last 10 days of road trip though. And I spotted Gongcha which is like my favourite bubble tea store everrrrrr. It costs nearly S$5 for a cup of pudding milk tea, which is almost twice the price of what I can get back in Singapore. But I was missing it so bad. If you ever want to try out bubble tea while in Korea, I recommend Gongcha anytime hahah.

Day 31: Last day of school + Luxury Noraebang

I think I should do another post before I head back to Korea tomorrow. I am going back for another 10 days. Don't be jealous though! You can always go there if you want. It's not that easy for me to head back too, I need to work during holidays to save up for the trip (my parents like us to be independent), and it isn't that easy to get approval from them too. I was brought up quite strictly and never have I thought that I would be heading overseas alone until last year when I decided to "fight for my right" to come to SKKU for exchange. But then again, nothing worth it ever comes easy.

So here is a strict view of Daehangno and SKKU where my school is. I am probably queueing for Isaac Toast as I snapped this photo.

This is the kind of games Korean played in class while not paying attention hahah. Because we had finished our presentation the day before, we were not required to be here to listen to the other presentations if we didn't want to. But Jihye was our class representative so she had to be there, and our group decided it is the last time we could have a proper meetup so we came over nonetheless.

Okta brought this over for us. She brought it from Netherlands, and it was really pretty good!

So the girls + HyoEun and Okta decided to go sing Noraebang at a super luxurious noraebang that day. We headed to Edae to do some shopping first, and I see a teeny weeny bit of Singapore in Edae. A Kopitiam cafe that whips out our famous Kaya toast! I've never had it before but I heard it's pretty good like ours. So somewhere you can go if you are missing home.

In Edae, you can see shoe shops like this. Rows and rows of shoes. Although not everything may be cheap, but you can always ask. You can bargain if you buy a few pairs XP

And if you complain about the MRT situation in Singapore. Do note that it is that bad everywhere else too. I have come to treasure our transport system so much especially after Korea trip. Seriously, waiting for an MRT for 5 mins is NOTHING. Our kind of crowdedness is NOTHING compared to the ones in Korea whereby you are literally squashed onto another person's back almost all the time. At least we only experience it during peak hour. That aside, I'm getting very proud that Singaporeans are starting to line up for the MRT, I see that in Taiwan and Korea and always wonder why we don't ever do that. 

HyoEun brought us to a very traditional Korean restaurant, or so it claims. The food was good at 7,000won but honestly it tastes the same to me hahah.

This is the luxury noraebang I'm talking out!!

You use this thing to control your music. You can add "applause" after the song ends hahah.

Hahah I gathered everyone for a photo. This room is kind of huge actually. And we paid a high price for it. Like 25,000won for 2 hours, with no free drinks or anything. Give me Teoheng anytime!!! Plus the room was too big for any cosy feel. It stinked of cigarette smoke too so I don't think it is really luxurious to me.

It was pretty late when we got back to Hyehwa. Like 11.30pm or something. Someone suggested a crazy idea of eating Patbingsu at this hour. And also probably because this rather famous patbingsu store was empty and still open when we walked past it. I wondered did I just experience "rounds" in Korea? Like Round 1 of dinner. Round 2 of noraebang. And round 3 of patbingsu. Is that considered a "round"? 

Blueberry patbingsu and original patbingsu. The berry one sucks hahah but at that timing, they didn't have much choices left. Also, we picked out all the berries and added the red beans because the berries were so sour. We requested for more red beans and surprisingly we got it. Hahah I think usually you have to pay for it but since they had it when they are closing soon (12am) they gave it to us. Yay!

I will update the remaining 15 days when I am back in Korea. And if there is any more interesting things to talk about, I will have 10 more days of adventure. I'm mostly doing the same things I did when I was in Korea then, but I'm heading out to explore Jeonju and Petite France which I didn't have a chance to last time. Hopefully it will be great!