Monday, January 12, 2015

My Trip to Korea

Annyeong Haseyo!

As a fangirl, nothing can be more happier than breathing the same air with your k-idols, am I right? Going to Korea is always in a fangirl's wish list! Same goes to me! As a person who got herself involved in the Hallyu news, I've always wanted to go to Korea. Probably because I wanted to see the country where my k-idols reside, and also places where they went for drama shooting! So my best friend or should I say, my childhood best friend, @AsmaSamsudin decided to go there at the end of 2014.


It took us a few months to do everything which includes booking flight tickets, booking for our accommodation while in Seoul, and writing our complete itinerary for our trip! As students that don't generate income, we needed to plan earlier to save up sufficient money for our trip! We started saving from September 2014.

Due to different places of study, we found it hard to have a time to sit together, and discuss about the trip. We had limited time to do this. So every time both of us were back to our hometown in Penang, we would find some time to do the planning! Coffee Bean at Queensbay Mall was always our favourite spot because we could get free internet to settle everything down.


After a few months, jeng jeng jengggg.. The time we had been waiting for had finally came.

23 December 2014

We started our journey from our hometown, Penang. Asma and her dad came to fetch me at my house, early in the morning and brought us to Kampung Melayu to have a taste of our favourite Penang food, nasi kandar! After finished breakfast, we were then driven to Penang International Airport at Bayan Lepas for our departure to Kuala Lumpur (that's where we will depart to Korea) !

Because we booked our flight ticket to Kuala lumpur differently, we didn't get to board on the same flight. My flight departed 1 hour later than Asma's. Asma arrived first at Kuala Lumpur International Airport 2 (KLIA2) so she had to wait for me for 1 hour *sorry >.<*

Upon my arrival to KLIA2, we headed to NU Sentral mall straight away to meet Kak Mujie and Tasha! Both of them are also fans of CNBLUE just like us! We met Kak Mujie to ask for advice on what to do and what to not do while in Korea because she had been there lots of times!! 



After meeting Kak Mujie and Tasha, we went back to Asma's house in KL to have some rest before departing to Seoul on the next day.

24 December 2014

We headed to KLIA2 early in the morning! The luggages we carried were no joke! It seemed like we were going to be there for a month! Hahah I think half of our bags were filled with food!



Our departure time was 8.00AM MST and the flight took us 6 hours to arrive at Incheon International Airport!

We arrived at Incheon Int'l Airport at 3.00PM KST. We went straight to the KORAIL station to board for train to Seoul city upon our landing. The weather outside was really chilly! No kidding. Being born and raised up in a tropical rainforest climate country, winter could be really unpleasantly cold to me! 

We checked in at our guesthouse and went for a walk right after that (by that time, it was already dark).












Yes, we took a stroll at the area nearby our guesthouse. And because the weather was extremely cold, we decided to stop by at a cafe where we had a piece of choc mousse cake and hot chocolate drink. After that, we decided to return to the guesthouse and give our bodies some rest.


25 December 2014

So on our second day in Korea, we planned to go to Nami Island where the shooting of the famous drama 'Winter Sonata' took place. So from our place, we went to Gapyeong Station. That's where we are supposed to board for the shuttle bus to Nami Island. The fee is just KRW 5,000 and we get to ride on the hop-on hop-off bus that will visit Jara Island > Nami Island > Petite France. 


Even from inside the train, we were already scared of the cold weather.


The weather there was dead cold! Probably because we were surrounded by the snow!

While waiting for the bus to arrive, we bought melon uyu from the vending machine. All this while we have been listening to people who said banana uyu was great. But me and Asma thought the other way! Melon uyu is definitely better than banana! We were in love with it!



 We then boarded for the shuttle bus to Nami Island.


This is the scenery of the jetty terminal where we are supposed to board for ferry to Nami Island



Too many people were there. I think it's because they wanted to be ther during winter to really get the feeling of 'Winter Sonata' lol.


The island wasn't really far from the terminal. Actually, you can already see the island from the terminal.
Even the lake was a bit frozen! you can imagine how cold it was!

Thank god there were these heaters inside the ferry. Under the heater us where people usually accumulate just to get the heat.



Here you go!! Nami Island!!












And this is where Jung Yoo Jin and Kang Jun Sang had their first kiss.


After getting back to the mainland by ferry, we went to Petite France next via the shuttle bus. The journey took us about 20-40 minutes. It is the mini France.  The buildings there were French architectured. And also, several Runningman series and dramas were shot here. E.g. Secret Garden and My Love From Another Star.










While walking, we got ourselves 2 sticks of churros sebab masa tu memang lapaq gilosss.


And right after that, we took the shuttle bus back to Gapyeong Station. And from Gapyeong station, we took the subway to Silim station! Guess this place?! Hahah only Boices know. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ


The next destination should be Sulbing Korean Dessert Café belonged by CNBLUE's guitarist, Lee Jong Hyun. Don't be mistaken by my sentence. He does not own the franchise but only that branch! Firstly, Seoul is a place where you won't walk a minute without seeing at least 2 cafés along the blocks. The were sooooo many cafes around and we were almost confused by them. But thanks to the really slow street internet, we managed to look up for the exact location of this cafe. Bukan yang TOM N TOMS COFFEE tu tau! Atas dia. Haha tengok! Atas bawah kiri kanan penuh dengan cafe kot! 


So, as expected, the cafe was full of of Lee Jong Hyun's photos, and also a few gifts from fansites noona as the decorations of the cafe! The cafe was full of people (I think all cafes in Seoul are full of people lol)





We ordered the Injeolmi Bingsu. Bingsu is Korean shaved ice dessert. Alah, ala2 ais kacang gitu. Semangkuk tu share 2 orang sebab banyak sangat!


And we forgot something! A gift for Mr. JongHyun. Haha so at that instant jugak, Asma went out to find a convenient store and got us a card and pen! Hahah so we wrote a card for him! And we later asked the cashier oppa (elder brother) to pass JongHyun the letter.


After having desserts, we went strolling down the blocks . There were some shops selling cheap clothes. But some shops were closed because it was Christmas! I got so excited because while going down the blocks, some apparel shops have K-Idols as their ambassador.


With Ok Taecyeon poster. lol

Jo In Sung!


That will be the end for our second day!

26 December 2014

Today is the day where we allocated only for Everland! FYI, Everland is largest theme park in South Korea! A few running man episodes were also filmed here! But to get there was so much tiring! Jauh namatey from the city. It took us more than 1 hour to reach there! When we got down at Everland station, we were then brought to the theme park by the shuttle bus there!



 The first thing we went upon our admission to Everland was the K-Pop hologram concert by YG Entertainment. And of course, the artists line up were YG's artists which are Big Bang, 2NE1 and Psy. We went for Big Bang! And the hologram effect was very real I felt like I was right in front of G-Dragon and Taeyang! *takyah pi concert Taeyang nanti pun takpa lol*


The surrounding was beautiful as well. We rode all of the rides there! Sorry not so much pics were taken because we kept everything in the locker to really have a blast.




27 December 2014

We both were a lil bit unfortunate that day, Asma got sick. So I had to be a solo traveller that day. Firstly, I went to Namdaemun market. Here you can find clothes with really cheap price! No kidding! All the clothes were very stylish, very korean, and cheap! They sell almost everything. From shoes, bags, lingeries, winter coat, shirts, pants, phone accessories, etc! Oh ya, there were also a few shops selling K-Pop merchandise! I got myself CNBLUE and FTISLAND calendars for myself!



Then, I really didn't know where to go. So I decided to have a coffee at a coffee shop nearby. Well the main purpose was to get the wifi. Hahah.


After doing some searching, I decided to go to a cafe belong to So Ji Sub. The man who played the role of Joo Joong Won in the drama Master's Sun.

It is supposed to look like this.


 I found the cafe but when I went in, there was not even one photo of So Ji Sub instead there were full of Lee Min Ho's pic. I thought I went to the wrong place. But then I asked the barista (who didn't even speak english pffftt). I showed her my phone which displayed So Ji Sub's cafe. She mumbled something in Hangul (Korean language) macam lah aku paham. Then I asked "Closed?" and she said yes. 

So dengan hati yang hiba, aku pun ciao dari situ. Not knowing where to head to, I decided to go to Cheongdam area where all K-Pop artists work! Hahah I mean, where their agencies are.

I walked pass the JYP building. There were some girls waiting outside the building, hoping their K-idols to come out. 
Excuse my pale lips. It was very cold.

Tapi aku bajet! Taknak tunggu. Haha I walked forward to the Cube Cafe. A cafe owned by Cube Entertainment. I bought myself a cup of hot chocolate!
The device used to call the customer when the drink is ready





Then after finishing my hot chocolate, I went out from Cube Cafe, and walked to the JYP building again. There were still lots of girls waiting. I asked a fangirl right next to me "Who are you waiting for?". I assumed she didn't really speak English, she answered "Taecyeon, happy birthday". Ohhh, so it was 2PM's Taecyeon's birthday! I asked another fangirl from China "Who was here earlier?" and she answered "Nichkhun". Masa tu frust nya, hanya tuhan yg tahu. Haha I shouldn't have had the hot choc kot?! Then I waited a bit, mana lah tau kot2 boleh jumpa Taecyeon. Tapi yang datang hanyalah a girl from 15&. Group baru kot aku tak pernah dengar pun namanya.

Fangirls waiting with presents to give to Taecyeon.
Then, I received a whatsapp msg from Asma saying that she's feeling much better and asked me to go to Myeongdong street at 5.30pm. So, I left Cheongdam area for Myeongdong at that instant. Asma and I met up at Myeongdong station and procced to the shopping street. 

Myeondong is definitely a heaven for those who like makeups!! Almost all famous Korean cosmetics brands are here! Nature Republic, Etude House, The Face Shop, Too Cool For School, Missha, Tony Moly, Banilla & Co, Innisfree, Laneige, you name it, they're all there! And also there is a big MCM store over there! Siap duit ja!!Kalau yang cosmetics tu, definitely super cheap compared to the price in Malaysia. Tambah pulak I went there masa end of the year, almost everything ada 50% sale!


 These are what I got for myself, kakak and mama. Ada lagi sebenarnya tapi tak tgkp lak gambar.




That's the end for our 4th day in Seoul!