Korea Trip: Seoul Part 3

So.. Our next stop after DMZ was a ginseng tea house located in Hongdae. Realizing that the Nanta Theatre is only a few blocks away, we decided to walk to the theatre after the tour ended. On the way, we stopped at the Hongdae Flea Market; located in a small park, opened only during weekends. This is where local amateur artists showcase and sell their art works. Very interesting indeed.

I think he's the most famous artist because people were queuing to get their faces drawn in cartoon. The line was too long that I don't even bother though I do find that intriguing.

So as we were walking among the Koreans, suddenly a handsome Caucasian guy in red shirt approached us

Handsome guy: Hi. Do you speak English?

Us: Yes . We do.

Handsome guy: Good! We have this project called insideoutproject where we take the facial portrait of people from 22 participating countries.... bla bla bla.. So, would you like to participate??

RA: We would love to! It'll be our pleasure

\(^^)/ Yes, we were excited!!!

They are actually doing this for a good cause whereby they capture facial portraits of people from all over the participating countries and each of them will come with a special message. The website says that this is an effort to tell the world of the untold stories around the world. After strolling around a bit, we head straight to the Nanta theater. It was quite hidden so it took us some time to find it; the large crowd of shoppers was giving us a hard time too *skali lagi sign of aging.. X suka crowd..*

So what is this all about?? Ini adalah among the most heart touching moment when we were in Korea.. The story goes like this.. The show starts at 5pm and we were about an hour early and wanted to perform our prayer first. There was this very convenient area for prayer on that floor but I noticed there was a cctv there. So, I actually asked the receptionists whether we could use that space for prayer

Receptionists: Prayer???

GG: Yes prayer. *sambil buat gaya takbiratul ihram*

Receptionists: Prayer??? *masih nda faham*

GG bermonolog dalaman: Ni mesti nda pernah tengok orang solat ni

So I did some actions that I think was more familiar to them and they exclaimed excitedly as if they've just solved a tough puzzle

Receptionist: 기도!!!! (KIDO!!!)

They told us to wait for moment and we did. We waited and waited and waited and I finally went to the counter again to ask her whether we could use the area again. And she typed something in her computer and later wrote on a piece of paper and yup, that was what written on the paper. And guess what, the manager actually provide us with a very cozy room for prayer T_T BAEK KAN!!!!!???

Ohoho terharu sangat.. We did our prayer and also had our lunch inside this room :) Alhamdulillah

 Nanta show is actually a musical comedic show about four cooks preparing a wedding banquet. The best thing about the show is that they turned kitchen utensils into percussion instruments. The beat was slower in the beginning and become faster and faster throughout the show. There was one part where the cooks sang in harmony by just pronouncing the names of vegetables.. "Cucumbaaaaa..." Cabbageeeee" "Tomatoooooo" "Onioooooon~" Surprisingly sedap dorang nyanyi!

And at the end of it, all the actors and the actress performed the traditional Korean percussion so we get to experience Korean culture as well.

So this is the ticket. You can buy it online; cost us around RM 135. See bottom left, there's my name there! There are 2 other theaters in Seoul; one in Myeongdong and the other one in Gangbuk Jeong Dong. We opted here because of the Hello Kitty Cafe and because there were no seats in Myeongdong theater for that date.. I mean the front seats were full.. X mau duduk blakang bha :p

That glass building is the Nanta theater. I'm actually holding a card holder that I bought in Lotte World. Each of us have that to make it easier to carry our T money around. Hung it around our neck and just place the card holder on top of the sensor and voila! the subway gate will open \(^^)/ mudah!

The Hello Kitty Cafe is also in Hongdae so after the show we went there to have coffee. Again, it was hard to locate the cafe because it is actually hidden in this very narrow alley so you have to be very watchful of the baby pink cafe

Hurm.. Other than the cute presentation of the food and drinks and the pinky surrounding; I actually find nothing interesting. Plus, this coffee house was not as clean as the other coffee houses that we went to. But it is still worth to go here. That waffle was tasty and so was my mocha. (^^)

Next we rushed back to our guesthouse because we have to check in into another guesthouse and at the  counter I was being soooo apologetic because I'd left the key inside the room. After my effort to explain what happened in my most apologetic tone ever the guy at the counter replied me with a straight face, as if nothing happened "It's ok. I already got the key."

GG "O man.. Kalo di Malaysia kena marah suda aku ni (-_-")"

And after that we rushed to the Namsan Tower because we know it'll deny visitors after 10 pm

And the queue was snaking long!!! Like extremely snaking long!!!! The cable car station is a 3 storey building and the length of the queue extended to the outside of the entrance! As we stood outside the building, we could see the line coiled at the stairs of each level through the glass window.. 

"OMG! Panjangnya.."

And guess what, we were already inside the cable car within less than an hour! Sangat efficient! \(^^)/

Bare in mind, the cable car ticket is NOT inclusive of the Namsan Tower entrance fee. And one more thing, you'll be given a number and people holding certain number can only accesss Namsan tower at a given time. Hurm.. For instance, number 1 to 10 can enter at 8 pm and 11 to 20 enter at 9 pm. Yup, something like that..

The panoramic view of the city from Namsan Tower... 

There is one corner where you can send postcards to your loved ones..

I was the only one who didn't send any. The rest bought cute postcards at the gift shop and wrote to their family. I actually wanted to write to my mom because I think she would give a more favourable respond than my dad. But then I don't know what's her mailing address since she retire because all letters used to be addressed to her office hehe So.. I just stroll around, bought some stuffs for my family at the gift shop and I got my favourite souvenir here too! which I will show in another post, that is (^^)

This is another section at the tower where they have wooden tiles pasted on the walls. The shop selling these was closed so we didn't paste any message on the wall T_T

And yes I did leave a lock there. I bought it that evening in Hongdae. We have no marker pen, so what I did was, I tore a small piece from a price tag sticker and stick it on the lock and wrote my name hehe That is more to desperate than creative kan :P HH wrote a very long note and attached it to her lock. I don't know what she wrote, though.. 

Maybe I am a woman with less words.. haha pasti ada yang mau bantah statement ini :p

GG have dreams...

And we were among the last to leave the tower. hehe .

This was the night when I did the massive picture upload on facebook because HH and I got the VIP room and the internet wireless router was in our room haha \(^^)/

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Korea Trip: Seoul Part 2

Our second day activity should be the one that I've been waiting for \(^^)/ the DMZ tour!!!

Initially we'd wanted to go there on our own. That's by train from Seoul station to Imjingak via the Gyeongui line. But after considering that we have to be extra punctual because we have to catch the Nanta Show in Hongdae in the evening, we finally agree to go for the tour.

We saw some brochures at the receptionist counter at the guesthouse and found some very cheap half-day DMZ tour. The one that we took cost 41 000 won. It says there on the brochure that we can make a booking within 24 hours so I was in a hurry and sent an email. When they didn't reply as quick as I expect them to, I called them after our prayer in Itaewon central mosque. Surprisingly, the booking was extremely quick. They only asked for my name, how many person and our lodging address. I was out from the phone booth in less than 5 minutes.

MR: Dah ke? Kejapnye
GG: Dah. Errr.. Tu la gg pon konpius kejap sangat
MR: Confirm 41 000??
GG: Erk? Meh nak confirm balik

So.. On the 23rd June, at 7.40 am, the bus waited for us in front of the guesthouse. We were late! We were suppose to check out that morning and move to another guesthouse and and and I'd left the room key inside the room instead of the counter.. O MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Our extremely cute tour guide

The bus was full. I sat next to a very nice Swiss businessman.

GG: HH, orang sebelah aku dari pergunungan Alps!

HH: Tengok die pakai jam brand ape weyh!

GG: Eyh?? Jap jap aku x nampak brand die!!! (-_-") stress!

DMZ was not far at all! It took about 20 minutes to get there. On the highway, we can see North Korea just across this very wide river. No boat was sailing on the river; that's forbidden. There was also no aeroplane in the airspace; that's forbidden too. There were barbed wire fences along the river bank and there were watch towers  in every 200-300 meters *rough estimation*. 

Along the way, our tour guide told the history of the Korean War. The history goes back to when Japan was in power. The Soviet declared war against Japan and towards the end of the World War II, the Soviet have occupied the northern part of Korea. Then, Korea was divided into north and south by this agreement made by the victorious Allies. The US was to administer the south while the Soviet administered the north. So that's how the North becomes the Communist while the south becomes the Capitalist. So, the Korean War started when the North invaded the South on June 1950. It lasted for about 3 years and the Korean suffered a lot from the war. The tour guide repeatedly say, "We don't war anymore" as she tells us the story. Our first stop was Imjingak

Imjingak has a 3-storey observatory building but I didn't spend much time there because I wanted to see the displays that they have in the park. Met a Korean fella with his Mongolian friend on my way down. They asked me where I'm from and then the ayam-itik conversation starts again. I got used to it after 6 days in Korea hehe 

So, what else do they have in Imjingak...

This altar; Mangbaedan altar. I didn't take the whole picture of it because there were so many tourists. Anyway.. this altar is where the North Korean do their annual ancestral rites ceremony where they'll bow towards their homeland on new year. There's a plate that tells how the North Korean still hope for unification and still dream of going back to their homeland. Rasa macam mo menangis jak masa baca tuh T_T o sedihnya tu kalo aku x dapat balik pi Sabah suda~ emosi..

This rusty locomotive was derailed by bombs during the Korean war. There are 1022 bullet holes on the locomotive!

And this is the Freedom Bridge. It was originally one of the two railroad bridges on the Gyeongui line that was later destroyed during the Korean War. The west bridge was then restored to enable the return of 12 773 prisoners of war. The prisoners returned on foot and they yelled "FREEDOM!! FREEDOM!!" as they walk back towards South Korea. That's how the bridge got it's name

Next the  3rd Infiltration Tunnel

There are four infiltration tunnels dug by the North Korean. The first 3 was found in the 70's while the last one was found in 1990. We were not allowed to take pictures in it. I think there must be a good reason why they don't allow tourists to take pictures so, yeah, we didn't. This is a very interesting place! \(^^)/ (for nerds like me..)

The tunnel is actually inclining so we have to go down and then walk for about 300m until the first concrete barricade that is used to block the tunnel. The height of the tunnel is said to be 2m but I think it's lesser than that now that they have those metal pipes on the ceiling. We were given helmets so we don't knock our heads on those pipes. I'm short so I walk erect all the way. But you can hear 'thud.. thud.. thud' bunyi kepala orang terhantuk haha

The most interesting part is how they found the tunnel!!!! 

Well, the south intelligence only know that the north is digging a tunnel in DMZ area and it is located just beneath an area that has trees.. Ok smart.. How are they going to narrow that down?? You know what they did? They placed many many PVC pipes filled with water in the suspected areas and after 3 years, suddenly one of the pipe burst and the water shoot up to the sky and that was how they found the tunnel.

The north tried to cover it up by saying they were actually mining coal and even painted the walls with coal. But it was obvious that they were making the tunnel for invasion because there are no coal in that area.. Only granite. 

Next.. Dorasan Station and Dorasan Observatory

This is the Dora Observatory which is situated on top of Mount Dora. Inside the bus, the guide told us we are going to climb the mountain by foot and HH and I were so happy about it \(^^)/ "Yeay!" but later she said she was just kidding.. Memang kami suka naek gunung kan.. :P

They actually restrict photo taking beyond that yellow line. So I didn't get any nice shots of North Korea due to my non-modifiable height :p. The army stationed there are very strict. There was a guy who took some pics beyond the yellow line, an army shouted with a very stern voice, "NO PICTURES BEYOND THE YELLOW LINE PLEASE!" took the camera and I think he deleted the pictures. You can get a glimpse of the north side through the binoculars by inserting a 500 won coin. You can see the Propaganda Village and a city called Kaesong

Kejayaan MR :)

You know, as I stood there, I was actually allured by the enigmatic quality of the North Korea. Maybe someday I'll find a way to visit that country that most people know so little about.. Bole masok dalam wish list :).

 We then moved to Dorasan station, the last station in South Korea that are now left abandoned. Once upon a time, long long ago (to make it sounds epic sket), there used to be a train that carries goods from Kaesong to the South but then one day the North Korea decided to close the border. If unification ever happen and this station is reopened, we could go to Europe by train from Seoul via the trans siberian railway \(^^)/ tapi bila la tu kn....

The tour bus actually will either drop you at the city center or in Itaewon but luckily it made a stop at this ginseng shop in Hongdae so kami turun di sana jak la.. Okay.. ketara kan sy sangat excited about DMZ that I wrote this lengthy post about it though this is actually a half-day tour.

So to be continued lah! (^^) 

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Korea Trip: Seoul Part 1

So.. mari kita sambung...

We took the 2nd last flight from Jeju to Gimpo. I don't know why I bought the 2nd last one, though. Maybe if we miss it then we can buy the last flight.. Most probably that was what I was thinking at that time :P

We arrived around 22:10 and there was a Korean guy at the exit holding a signage with my wrongly spelled name written on it; NORHAZIAS. Plural di situ.. I already requested for transport from the airport to our guesthouse a week before we arrive so it was convenient. He didn't speak English but he tried to make a conversation and we were only guessing and simply answering his questions without even knowing the real meaning. And then the funny thing was HH talked about Running Man and the driver seem to be so pleased when he found out she knows many of the Korean celebrities.

When we arrived, I was surprise to find that our booking was different from the one that I made. O rase bersalah sebab we have to change to another guesthouse on the third night. I think the staff forgot to update my booking (-_-") But that night we had a feast!

In Jeju, we had macaroni and cheese, bread and instant noodles. We didn't eat rice for the whole 3 days so we've been missing our staple food very much. So on our first night in Seoul, we ate rice with Serunding and canned chicken curry and beef rendang. I didn't eat much though but I actually enjoyed it. 

The next morning we head to Itaewon first because we really need to eat something heavy. It was not hard to get there. The train system is extremely efficient. Even though all the announcements were in Korean but they have this screen that flash the name of the next station inside the train. And at the station they have this screen that shows where the train is and the time of arrival. And memang tepat!

When we got there, there was this shop selling Turkish ice cream just a few meters from the subway exit. My friends were excited so they bought 2 cones of ice cream and we shared them. I was more interested in the texture of the ice cream. It was so solid that he can take the ice cream chunk out of the container with a metal rod, spun and tossed it too!

 \(^^)/

When we were doing the studying, I was less excited about Seoul so I don't really know what is there in the town area. Being a big fan of World War II history, I was more focus about realizing my dream of going to DMZ hehe (kan confirm suda nerd..)

So these girls really know where we should eat and where the mosque is located. Impressed!

When they saw the signboard that reads Murree they exclaimed joyfully "Murree!!" It was like they've all seen it before. And I was.. "Err.. ok Murree.." :p

Camera whoring while they browse the menu :p

I also don't know anything about Korean food so I just eat what they picked and the food was excellent! Actually it is not a Korean restaurant but they serve Korean food. If I'm not mistaken the restaurant is run by a Pakistani. They ordered Bibimbap; a bowl of rice, sunny side up egg, some special sauce and vege. And two other chicken and beef sets. I don't remember the names *kan suda cakap tulis dalam buku, Haziah!*

Tempting kan?? I like the beef and chicken sets. Don't like the Bimbimbap much because I have issues with food that are mixed that way. You know, they stir everything in the bowl and it's all mixed up that the rice turned red. I have issues with food like that. I don't know why. Macam autistic jak nih

And then.. Voilla!!!

LICIN BHA!!!!!!!!! Haha we were obviously so deprived of food. Kebulur bha...

So next we head to the famous Itaewon mosque. The woman area was not that spacious but was comfortable enough. I don't remember seeing any Korean Muslims though. Most of the Muslims there were foreigners like us; most of them looks like people from the Middle East. 

Next, we went to Lotte World \(^^)/
Lotte World is located in Jamsil so we used the subway again. There were so many stations along the way and I'm very sure Itaewon to Jamsil is much further than Kelana Jaya to Terminal Putra. And the journey only took about 30 minutes. Laju gila!! And the train only stops for a very short duration in each station.

We entered after 4pm so it was cheaper. We paid 19 000 won per person. It's the cheapest theme park that we ever been to. But to be honest, I think nothing much here. None of the thrill rides were new to us. So, I think next time I'll go to Everland instead. But, as usual, we still enjoy our time there. There was a parade at 6.50 pm (kalo x silap) and we saw the most handsome guy in Korea!! Ok exaggerating.. SJ, RA and I thought he was the most handsome because we are not into sepet and slim guys. His feature was like Pan Asian. More to Asia but you can see the European feature as well. Most probably Turkish or Kazakhstan. Sampai menggigil bha masa amik gambar. He actually posed for us but I was having severe palpitation haha

Lepas tu giggle giggle macam teenagers sebab excited he posed for us hahaha

And then at night they have a laser show. It was beautiful. I loved it. And after that they have this concert. The band was from the Philippines and they really can entertain. They chose the right songs, really know how to interact with the audience and even the Koreans love them very much. Tapi paling terkejut when suddenly the lead singer called "Hello Malaysian ladies!!!" and pointed at us. We froze and didn't know how to react

"Die panggil kite ke??"

"Ye la kot.."

Tengok kiri kanan. Ok sure suda panggil kami baru hands in the air \(^^)/

They also invited us to the stage but we were shy. Everybody turned at our direction when he called bha.. Malu~ (^^*) and we just make heart shape with our fingers and sway to the song n our seats. And when the concert was about to end, once again, "Good bye Malaysian ladies

! Good bye Korean!"

"Fuiyo! Sebot kte dulu!!!!" Excited and terasa glamour sekejap haha

And we pace towards our locker after that and MR found that she'd left her camera on the bench. When we went back to the bench it was no longer there. Went to the visitor's service office, and the staff there brought us to the info counter. And volla! Within less than 5 minutes, her camera was already at the info counter. If it was here, I think the chance for it to be stolen is 89%!!! MR's camera is one of the best compact camera lo!

Jujur kan dorang.. Macam mana la kami x fall in love~ More to come in my next post (^^)

Kemanisan ukhwah~ hee (^^)

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