Day 4 in Korea, Seoul (Part 2)

3rd December 2010

We stayed at Residence Co-op. It's not a hotel. I called it an apartment. You won't get to see any big bathtub, nor any big room with beautiful scenery. It's quite cheap and recommendable for budget traveller. Even if you are not on a tight budget, Residence Co-op is still recommendable. Unless you are willing to pay 5 times the price, you may consider Western Co-op.

I believe, through Agoda, or Hotels.com, you might find many good quality hotels. I wanted to stay at Hyundai initially, I changed my mind after some thorough researches. Western and Residence Co-op got the best location. Whereas for the rest of the hotels, you need a bus to Dongdaemum Market. Comparing Western to Residence Co-op, I preferred Residence Co-op location even more. It's 3 min walk to Dongdaemun and 1 min walk to the entrance of Subway stn. It's freaking convenient for travellers. The staffs spoke good english too.

It's a very small apartment, but a cozy place for everyone. The toilet is clean and bright. You got a small kitchen; pots and pans are provided. To my surprise, there's even a microwave oven where you can heat up your food. You can cook if you wan to. It's a cozy environment.

It's time to head out to the buzzling street. It's our first day in Seoul, we were dead tired. Therefore we decided to make the day a short one. There were stalls everywhere and you should never missed them out. You can smell all sort of yummies(food) everywhere <3 loves.

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Let me do a summary on Dongdaemum Market.

Dongdaemum Market is different from Chatuchak in Thailand. In fact, it's much more awesome and fantastic for it's operating hours. It consist of fashion shopping malls with slightly expensive but beautiful and cool stuffs. If you walked further up, you will find streets vendors on the entire street selling cheap shoes. Further up, you will find great shopping loots at a wholesale price. As cheap as 10 bucks, it depends on your bargaining skill. These wholesale market operates from 8pm to 7am. It's perfect. It's the best location for shoppaholics like me. You can never resist the temptation.No matter how tired you are, you can never take your eyes off the merchandise, trying your best to find your likings.

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There's mouthwatering food everywhere. You can never resist the temptation of the food. You should try them because you don't see them in Singapore. Even if you did, the standard differ alot. We had red bean pancake. It's some sort of prata, but it's green in colour just like the usual waffle we had. The red bean sauce oozing out of the pancake. YUMMY!

I love the pancake.

The weather was cold. No worries, you can stand by the stall and grab sticks of food into hot pot. The hot pot would be filled with spicy or non-spicy hot soup. You can dip your food in and eat it right infront of the stall. The stall vendor will charge accordingly.

This is the hotdog stick. You might see the french fries one. It's nice as well and most importantly, it's very filling. The skin was so crispy that you can hear sound of crisp as you bite.

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If you are heading towards the subway stn from Residence Co-op, you may turn left. It's just a few metre walking distance before you can see an underground tunnel. Get in, and you will find your way.

For return trip, bf and I always stopped at Uljiro street 4, exit 21. I'm not sure if it's the shortest distance to get back to Residence Co-op, but so far, it's the shortest we've got. It took us less than 15 minutes.

You will find shops in the underground subway tunnel. They called it Dongdaemun Underground Shopping Street. It failed to catch my attention. My aim is to shop, you know, fashion, shoes, clothes. At the Underground Shopping Street, you can find shoes of different sport brands like Nike, Converse etc. They had photoframing services, engineered trophies and probably cheap and nice gloves.

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Here we are at Dongdaemun Fashion Street. You will find clothes and funky accessories everywhere. They have big shopping malls that you gonna love it. Bf nearly died at one of them. It's all 7 levels high excluding the basement. It's a paradise for girls. Since it's my first day in Dongdaemun, I briefly scanned through only.

You might be able to watch some hip hop dance performances.

What a beautiful foodcourt isn't it?

I never really like hawker because of the crowd and dirty tables. I never really like food court because of the bad ventilation. This is one of my favourite foodcourt. Look at the tables and chairs, it's just similar to those you see in restaurants.

Take a look at the device below. It's cool and it's almost everywhere in the foodcourt. We always dread of standing by the stall, waiting for your food with the crowd. It's awkward and uncomfortable. With this paging device, you can sit by your table, chat  happily till your food is ready. Once your food is ready, the paging device will vibrate or beep a few times. Cool huh?

That's not sushi (above), the one in seaweed. It's vermicelli in between.

It's shopping time.

Don't be surprised if the salesgirl turned nasty towards you. They knew we were tourist when we spoke in english. Well, they tend to suck your m-o-n-e-y. They would double the usual price. Therefore it is a must to bargain, bargain and bargain.

The wholesale market is setting up.

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I love pizza. It's EVERYWHERE. Loves.

We tried Lotteria for supper. It's just like Macdonald except different varieties of choices. It's good too. Most importantly, it's near to my apartment.

Day 5 might be more interesting after a long rest. Stay tuned.

Have a nice day.

Cheers,

Jeanne

Day 4 in Korea, Seoul (Part 1)

3rd December 2010

Hello everybody. It's time to update a little more on my Korea Trip before it turned into a forgotten history. Nothing special except spending alot of time on travelling. It's our last day in Jeju, or you can say it's time to bid a farewell to Jeju. I love the peace and serenity in Jeju. You can hear bright chirpings early in the morning with breeze brushing against your cheeks. It's so refreshing and calming.

We overslept as usual. Some asshole off my alarm and claimed that he did not. I knew I enjoyed snoozing my alarm, but not to an extend to off it. Do I look that stupid? I doubt so. Who switched off my alarm clock? You should guess it by now. We packed our luggage hurriedly. Grabbed my shampoo bottles, washed and dried before shuffing them into my luggage. Oh it's bursting. Sat on it tight, and zipped.

It's still rather early and Chris got the urge to gamble. Ahem, not me. I've been warning him not to as the weather was getting colder. I'm shuddering in cold badly that my eyes could hardly open. My fingers were in pain and I could hardly walk. He just refused to give up.

Being a nice and sweet little gf (haha, like real), I went there with him. Urghhh.....

Yeah, guess what?

The casino opens from 12pm onward.

It's only 10am plus then. Out of no choice, we took the bus to the Jeju Airport. He wore an unhappy addictive gambler face all the way. Who cares? It's wrong to gamble too much alright. But I'm fine if he wins actually. The money goes to me eventually.

No domestic air tickets available at Jeju Air and Jin Air. We took EasterJet. I mean, it's just some domestic flights. It don't matter much to me for the branding. It's just a plane. We bought the tickets for 1pm, checked in our luggages and went for lunch.

We had hotplate pork and curry rice. Drools.

Finally, it's time for boarding.

Waiting to board the flight.

This plane looked so much better than Jetstar. It's the truth. Look at these cute little pictures above the window. You can see brightly litted stars above when the light was switched off. It's so nice and comfy. It's just a 50 min flight. I advised you to visit the washroom before boarding. Nah, it's just my personal habit. I don't really like toilets on plane especially when you meet turbulence.

The chance of encountering turbulence should be rather high especially during winter period ( I guess). You gonna experienced strong wind and probably snow. The flight wasn't smooth and bf nearly wet his pant. The plane jerked terribly and our drinks nearly spilled. The jerking lasted for 20 minutes. I'm acting calm though I am a little scared. Bf has sweaty palm, and it gonna dripped any moment. Haha, so similar to Tard. Tard is my wonderwoman. She can do magic.

What kind of magic?

She can create a pool of water NATURALLY. Just like waterfall.

They had similar "medical" symptoms. Both perspire like never ending. Why are my closest people having the same problem?

Alright, out of topic. Let's get back then.

Cheers to our arrival in Seoul.

As usual, we collected our luggages and headed to the the bus stop. Everything was in Korean Language. They should have include english instruction. Anyway, we checked out what bus that goes to our hotel at the information counter. If you are clueless about transportation to your hotel, you can check at the information counter. They should be able to assist you.

The electronic signage wrote in Korean. I seriously had no idea when my bus would be coming. Luckily, a man approached us and spoke to us in english. He gave us some tips to read the signage. We appreciated his help. It's freezing cold and I'm dying to have a hot shower and have a cup of hot chocolate.

The bus ride lasted for 1 hr before reaching Residence Co-op.

Stay tuned to the next post.

Cheers,

Jeanne

Finest day for a picnic

30th December 2010

I am going for a picnic with Tard at Marina Barrage. Yes, massive pictures flood once again. We took more than 250 pictures which is so amazing for just the 2 of us. I just pick a few nice shots, else my page will lag. I'm dead tired. I woke up early in the morning, hair standing high up waving to everyone as I prepare the food. I felt so ghostly at that particular moment.

I bought sparkles and forgotten all about lighter. I nearly gone mad for a lighter. I was suppose to meet Tard at Marina stn. I took a bus to Dolby instead. I went up and down for the sake of a lighter. I paced fast towards 7-11 and realised the gate was close. I went to Carrefour and there's no lighter available. I gave up eventually hoping that I could get a lighter a Marina instead. Suddenly, the staff lifted up the gate at 7-11. Please tell me how I should not be pissed. Absolutely pissed off.

Rush to Marina and waited for Bus 400. The bus was taking it's own sweet time before arriving at the bus stop. Urghhh....

Massive crowd at Marina Barrage. I had no idea what Marina Barrage was famous about. Based on my impression, it's something to do with seawage. Amazingly, it's a famous attraction in Singapore. We found a great spot that was SUPER WINDY. Our paper bags were blown away. Our hair couldn't stay in shape. Good for Tard since she's wearing a cap or a hat.

Clever Tard bought a tiny little mat. Hahaha, it's so funny each time the size of the mat came to my mind. It's so tiny that the 2 of us could hardly fit in. Our butt always got out of the mat. In the end, I suggest tearing our paper bag apart to be an extension of the mat. Finally, it's much more spacious.

The wind was so strong that we got to close our lunchbox oftenly, else the utensils might fly off anytime. You need not be surprise to see grass in your lunchbox.

Our food was awesome. It's scrumptious. We had Bento with love ( all sort of cute designs), sandwiches and cakes. It's just so mouthwatering. We finish 98% of all the food at the end of the day.

Before we settled for that location, everything was fine and peaceful until people started playing frisbee right beside us. It's totally WTF man. Everyone was having a picnic and they played frisbee. Worst of all, they lost control of the frisbee. The frisbee landed on the ground and rolled across right infront of our eyes. *Roll eyes* We tried to act casual and normal.

Suddenly, the frisbee flew across our head/back ( I don't wish to know either). Thanks to the strong wind that changed the direction of the frisbee else we would die a terrible death. I guess I'm not facing them directly, therefore I don't get to see the seriousness. Tard got angry and scolded the guy who threw the frisbee. Worst, the fucker still dare told us that he would throw the frisbee 'softly". That fucker tried to act like some gandang ( apparently, he wasn't) spoke english all the way. He tried to put in some slang, that disgust me even further.

It should be "Throw the frisbee gently" instead. "Softly"??? Laugh my ass out.

Less than 10 minutes, another guy provoke Tard. I was about to rant at him, but Tard was one step faster than me. She yelled at the person upon warning him for a second time. That moronic guy nearly kicked her back. That explained Tard's fury.

The cloud looked so dark and heavy. We thought it's going to rain. Haha, we packed and went to the toilet. Next, we bought a new poncho. We were using it as a mat. It cost us $2. What an expensive poncho. We found a new spot, less windy, less crowd. It's perfect for peaceful meeting.

No one was around when we settled there. After sometime, small crowd entered our territory (lol, sounds like some dogs). Anyway, we continued to gamble. Basically, we behaved like some addictive gamblers, beating one another up. It's crazy.

Apparently, we gambled to kill time. Hahaha, 10 cents shall be the maximum bet. We were gambl

We were playing cards with SIA logo. It was then I caught a glimpse of a "SIA" design kite in the sky. After mocking it for a few seconds, the kite landed right beside me. Tard claimed my mouth to be jinxed. I should refrained myself from talking nonsense in future to prevent tragedies. The kite owner even told us to take care of his kite. Mmm, who would take his kite in the first place? Hahaha.

The night had fall. The scenery was great.

Yes, yes, we played SPARKLES.

The wind was so strong. I had not used a lighter in my whole life. Mmm, I did actually, but only those without the metal wheel. I'm really afraid of heat. Tard was the traditional one, she uses only matchsticks. She attempt to use the lighter. In the end, she BBQ her thumb. Anyway, she lit up the sparkles in the end.

We were playing halfway when the bloody security stopped us. He called us to stop playing "wor".

Being nice and friendly, we stopped for a moment.  Anyway, his attitude was terrible too. We just heck care about him. Who the fuck he think he was with that big beard and big tummy. Yes, he's a security. Govt paid him to rub his big fat tummy to watch show. He just stood at the booth and listened to song. Wow, he was really "RESPONSIBLE" enough to stop us.

After a few minutes, I be the watchmen while Tard became the executor busy lighting up the sparkles. Haha, since when we became so gutsy. LOL.

We went to the fountain area (whatever you called that). Tard and I need no image. We removed our shoes and walked into the pool of water. We used tissue to dry our feet at a corner. It's so unglam. Haha, but it's just so fun.

Home sweet home.

Good nights!

I'm so enthu to go picnic AGAIN!

Cheers,

Jeanne