When we reach South Korea after transiting in Hong Kong, we arrived early morning (around 4am) local time.After we got our check-in luggage, we change into our winter clothes in the airport. Thick jackets and boots. Gloves and Scarfs.
First step into the outdoor and we were like... shit! It's so cold! Not long after we are seated in the bus, it started to rain. RAIN! HOW CAN IT RAIN DURING THE WINTER? In my thoughts, I keep asking "isn't it supposed to be snowing instead of raining?"
Our first destination was breakfast. We had our first Korean local breakfast.
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| First meal in South Korea |
As it was raining, the tour guide has rearranged our schedules and took us indoor activities/destinations first.
We went to Teddy Bear Museum. The bus stopped at the bottom of the hill and we need to hike up a little slope to reach the museum.
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| the hike up to Teddy Bear Museum |
The slope was soooooooooooo difficult. First the road was already icy as the snow has melted over time. So it feels like skating if we step on it. To avoid falling down, we would need to look for the part of the road that is not covered with ice (which is very little spaces here and there only). With the rain pouring down on us, it was very cold! Imagine trying to wrape our bodies to avoid the rain and wind, heads bend low looking for little places on the road that is not covered with ice or water. Nothing to hold on to because the railings are all wet and our gloves are not waterproof! Torturing journey!
It was so cold, we were hanging on to our life not to fall that the moment we started to walk, we were unable to take any photos until we reach indoors. LOL
After a loooooooooong walk uphill, we finally reach indoor and entered the Teddy Bear Museum.
It's a museum consisting teddy bears of all sizes and in different costumes.
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| Teddy Bear Museum entrance |
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| Korean farmer teddies |
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| Teddy bear kingdom |
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| well, it's the current hit thing - Oppa Gangnam Style |
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| Royal highnest |
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| My favourite bear in the whole museum - Barryman Bear |
In the same building, it is also the entrance for N Seoul Tower. We took the elevator that shoots up to the Observatory deck which enable us to have a 360 degrees view of Seoul.
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| N Seoul Tower |
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| Observation Deck |
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| Malaysia is 4,596.51 km away |
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| black and white city of Seoul |
It's my first time seeing a black and white city.
Then we headed off for lunch. Steamboat ala Korean style.
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| Beef steamboat |
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| All the kimchi-s |
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| rice |
With a full belly, we headed off to Lotte World, an indoor theme park.
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| Lotte World Entrance |
We didn't go to any of the ride as the queue was too long. The shortest queue was 90 minutes (being kiddy rides like merry-go-round), and the average queue time for roller coaster is 150 minutes (2.5 hours!!!!). We just went around the theme park, taking photos and and one point, sitting pointlessly while waiting for time to pass. =S
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| Merry-go-round |
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| with the Korean tour guide - David |
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| Souvenir stalls |
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| Souvenir stall |
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| Lovely Christmas Tree |
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| Giant Loop Roller Coaster |
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| Skating Ring converted into Concert Arena |
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| Guess how long is the queue for Swinging Ship? |
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| 160 minutes!!! Crazily 2 hours 40 minutes!!! |
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| The whole place is super packed |
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| View 1 |
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| View 2 |
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| Bigggggggggg Lollipop |
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| Prison Break wannabe |
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| Any last words? |
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| Christmas Backdrop |
Oh, we tried going to the outdoor theme park but it was raining so badly that we almost freeze to death! This is as far as we go only - the entrance to outdoor theme park. LOL
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| almost froze to death taking this picture. Lol |
There's also a Christmas Parade going on while we were there. People dressed up in cute sparkly costumes sharing Christmas cheers and songs. Really made the Christmas feeling alive.
After Lotte World, we headed for Dinner. Seafood steamboat.
Then it's off to Ski Resort which I will continue my ski experience in the next blog post!
Stay tuned! :)
***to be continued......
