DAY 7-8 (Dec 17 to Dec 18)

Day 7

Oh gosh. Time flies! We were already on Day 7 of our trip. This entry will be the last part of my Korea trip.

On the way to restaurant where we had our Breakfast for that day. =)






What was the Breakfast for that day?



Oh. As you can see from the photo above, it was Oriental Breakfast that morning. Fried Dough-stick (Yu Tiao), Savoury pancakes and Soy milk (Dou jiang) were served. If you realised, other side dishes such as Stir-fried Cabbage, Beansprout, Soft Bean curd (Tofu) with tomato sauce, fried eggs and BBQ meat were served too. Of course, how can we forget about our dear Kimchi. It was part of the Breakfast too. It was a balanced and delicious breakfast. It was especially satisfying if you miss Chinese traditional breakfast after eating Korean breakfast for so many days.






A group photo! Come... Let's take a group picture. SMILE =D

After the breakfast, we started our day with shopping. Our first shopping stopover was at Ginseng Showroom. When you are at Korea, you must never miss out their Korean Ginseng. It's really famous over there. ^^

Korean ginseng is well known for their strong invigorating property. It is promoted as an adaptogen (a product that increases the body's resistance to stress), one which can to a certain extent be supported with reference to its anti-carcinogenic and antioxidant properties. It seems like they have many health benefits. :D

However, it's quite expensive. Unless you are quite well off, it can be quite taxing to your wallet. =X

Let us take a look at a young Ginseng. Generally, it takes about 7 years to cultivate ginseng to its maturity. =D



We were given a brief introduction of Ginseng and its benefits by one of the sale-lady in the Ginseng showroom. After it, the sale-lady gave us a tour around the showroom. Frankly, it was quite an eye opener. The last part was the sale of Ginseng. As expected, I was not a "participant" for the last part of the program since the price of Ginseng was simply too steep for me to afford it.

Next up was a visit to the Amethyst factory. It showcased extravagant violet stone from the stalactites in the mountains of Korea.



Ladies out there! It's time to be more attentive as I am going to write something which concerns you all.

FACE SHOP! I am sure you know that face shop was first opened in Korea. Not a big deal? Then listen to this! Do you know Products of Face Shop in Korea are at least five times cheaper than in Singapore? ( I think due to exclusive of import cost and different in currency exchange)

FACESHOP Branch in Korea


How can I leave that place without buying some of their products since it was so cheap?
=D

Alright. After the visit to the Face-shop, it was about time for our lunch. That day's lunch was a feast. It was fabulous! Imagine a table full of dishes. =D




It does not really look like a feast in this picture =S
WAIT! There's more to come! =D

1 more soup ^^


MORE to come! (1 more dish of fried sweet potatoes)


MORE! (1 more dish of BBQ duck meat)


AND MORE! (1 more dish of duck meat salad)


There were many dishes right? ^^



Oh! I managed to snap a picture of a soft drink bottle. It was those glass kind. I bet we can hardly see this kind in Singapore.

Anyway, we continued our Seoul City tour at the Presidential Blue House, Cheongwadae. Although, it was just a drive pass, I managed to take a few shots of it.


Cheongwadae is the executive office and official residence of the President of the Republic of Korea, located in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Cheongwadae consists of the main office building and its annexes. The main office building includes Presidential Office, audience room, conference room, and official Presidential residence. The annex accommodates the office of the Presidential secretariat, the office of Presidential security, Chunchugwan (press center) and Yeongbingwan (reception hall). Also, there are wide gardens, ponds, and rear gardens connected with Bukak-san in the Cheongwadae compound. The main building has a hipped-and-gabled roof, which is the most refined and beautiful style among Korean architecture, covered with Korean style blue tiles from which "Cheongwadae" takes its name. Approximately 150,000 tiles compose the roof of Cheongwadae. Each was baked individually, which makes them strong enough to be used for over one hundred years.

From an historical viewpoint, the location of Cheongwadae was the site of a royal villa in the southern capital of the Goryeo Dynasty. During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1910), Gyeongbuk-gung (Palace) was built as the main palace, and the royal villa lot became the back garden of the palace. Following Japan's annexation of Korea in 1910, the Governor-General of Korea used the Gyeongbuk Palace grounds for the government-general building. Japan built an official residence/office for the Governor-General on the site of current main building of Cheongwadae. After Korea's independence, the building was used as an official residence for the Military Governor-General under the U. S. Military Government. Later, with the establishment of the Republic of Korea in August 1948, it was used as the Presidential residence and called "Gyeongmudae." After the April 19th Revolution in 1960, the Democratic Party occupied power and President Yun Bo-seon changed the name to "Cheongwadae." In 1990, Chunchukwan, which is the press center and official Presidential residence, were newly constructed.



Administrative Building


Presidential Blue House-Residence of South Korea's President



We finally alighted from the bus and headed towards Gyeongbok Palace, the main and the largest of the last royal imperial dynasty of Korea antiquity

Gyeongbok Palace

Built at the beginning of the Chosun Dynasty when the Yi Dynasty moved the capital to Seoul, this palace remained the main seat of power for Korea kings throughout much of the time to the present. Gyeongbok means Shining Happiness. The main gate (Kwanghwa-mun) separates Gyeongbok Palace from one of the busiest areas of Seoul. Gyeongbok Palace was built as the primary palace of the Chosun Kingdom by its founder, King Taejo in 1395, the fourth year of his reign.

It was destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592 and left in ruins for over 250 years. Starting in 1865, it was rebuilt to its original grandeur. When Korea was annexed by Japan in 1910, most of the 200 building on the palace grounds were torn down by the Japanese, leaving only a dozen structures. The map near the front entrance shows the arrangement of the complex during the latter part of the reign of King Kojong. It shows the major hails, pavilions, offices, storerooms, gates and bridges of the 419,100 square meter grounds.


Alright, let me show you some pictures we took before going to the palace.

Look at the series of pictures below. Do you notice more and more people are in each subsequent picture? =P Kind of interesting.









Alright. We finally reached the Palace.

Personally, I feel that it is certainly not an easy role as a tour guide. A tour guide has to take care of every little things of their tourists. This includes comfort, special needs, medical assistance, meals, entertainment etc... It seems like a huge responsibility. On top of all these, they need to act as an educator by explaining the history and legend of various attractions.

Anyhow...

Pictures of the Palace !























After the visit to the Palace and a feel of royalty, it was time for some shopping! Once again, retail therapy time !!! Our next shopping stop was Insa-Dong shopping area.


The Insa-dong art and antique district has dozens of art galleries and shops selling art supplies, antiques, and handicrafts along one main street (Insadong-gil) and many side alleys. It also contains many traditional tea and coffee shops. The Korean Antique Association is located here and can be reached at (02) 732-2240. On weekends, the main street is blocked to vehicular traffic, allowing the throngs of people to mingle without fear of being run down by Seoul drivers taking a shortcut.







"Time passes quickly when we are having fun." This statement is really true. In the blink of eyes, we had to leave that place to our next place of interest. Our next place of interest is Lotte world.

With the Big 5 tickets, we could enjoy the theme park to our fullest. ^^v

Lotte World is a recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of a large indoor theme park, an outdoor amusement park, an island linked by monorail, shopping malls, a hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities and movie theaters in one area. The Lotte World indoor theme park is one of the largest indoor amusement parks in the world, and ranked seventh worldwide in attendance according to the 2002 census.[1] Opened on July 12, 1989, it receives about 8 million visitors each year. It can be easily accessed from Jamsil Station, on Line 2 and Line 8 of the Seoul Subway. Located near the park is Seok-Chon lake. (Adapted from Wikipedia)



















There was a Christmas Parade at Lotte World too. =D "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells"








That day's dinner was not included in our tour package. In other words, we have to pay for our own dinner. Right after the Christmas parade, we headed to Lotteria to have our dinner. Lotteria is their local fast food restaurant, similar to our Burger King. Anyway, I saw something interesting when we were at Lotteria. Let me show you...





SEE BELOW! That's the interesting stuff that I saw at Lotteria. Do you want to make a guess what's that?


This is something which is similar to a number tag, the fast food restaurant's crew give you when your food is not ready yet. It's for the same purpose. However, this thing has an enhanced function- ring and vibrate when your food is ready for collection. Cool, isn't it? =D

Our timing was just right. We managed to catch the Christmas concert at the garden stage. All these Christmas parade and concert really got us into the Christmas mood! =D Oh. Oh. They even have artificial snow.





Day 8

"Alarm Rings" It was Day 8 already, our last day at Korea. Time flies! We had our last round of shopping before going back to Singapore. The two shopping venues were Shinchon University Streets and Local Provision shop.

That morning, our breakfast buffet was taken at the hotel before we set off for the two shopping venues.


(Meal vouchers for our Breakfast)




"western-style Breakfast"

Pictures taken at Shinchon University Streets














After shopping, we headed straight to the airport for our flight back to Singapore. Of course, we did not miss the opportunity to take some beautiful pictures at the Airport before we leave South Korea.


(My twin cousins and the Korean tour guide [Centre])


Group photo!





(My boarding pass!)


(B777-300- The aeroplane which took back home)


(Airline's meal- I just love them all^^V)


(Yummy! ICE-CREAM)


(Snack- Pizza!)


(The Korean Air stewardess and I- She is pretty, isn't she? =D)

I know I have been repeating this word, "time flies" umpteen times. The real fact is its true that time really flies! My long awaited 8 Days 6 Nights Magical Korea trip+ Jeju island has ended in the blink of eyes. It certainly has been a wonderful winter experience in South Korea. Although I did not get to see snow when I was at Korea, I enjoyed myself alot. =D