Namsan Tower (New)

Finally, the yellow dust situation in Seoul has died down a little, and the weather looked really good, so us Singaporeans decided to head over to Seoul Namsan Tower, which is probably the highest point in Seoul, to view the surrounding skyline and scenery.

For drama fans, the following picture should look familiar. In Boys over Flower, Jandi and Jun Pyo came to Namsan Tower for their first date, and Jandi bought coffee for Jun Pyo from the very same coffee machine! A bit bo liao, but we kept guessing which machine was filmed in the show, and we came to conclusion that this is the one.Namsan is a damn good place for couples to hang out. The grilles of the tower, as can be seen below, are all covered with locks. Apparently, couples buy locks and lock them at Namsan Tower to symbolise for long-lasting love.

Ziyi and Sheena are so ‘close’ nowadays that Sheena keeps calling him her boyfriend. In fact they claim that they sleep together every night! Here, they are pretending to put the locks on the tower. When we were there, there was a teddy bear exhibition going on at the same time, so there were teddy bears everywhere! Here, we kept posing with the teddy bears; so cute!!

Orh, the view at the top of the tower is damn nice! We went at a really good timing, just before sunset, so we could see the transition from day to night, and the lights in the buildings lighting up. So worth the money lor! And damn cheap too, maybe $10 dollars?

Chuncheon – Nami Island

Our last destination in Chun Cheon before heading back to Seoul was Nami Island. We left the shower room at around 6am in the morning, took a cab, followed by a train, then another cab, and finally a ferry before we reached our destination.

Nami Island is most famous as the setting for popular Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I haven’t watched it before, but Yong Hui did, and she was so excited the moment she reached the island. There are a lot of information posted everywhere on the island relating to the show, like where the main leads had their first kiss, where they met, where they dated and etc. Those who have watched the drama may find some of my pictures familiar.

Although I haven’t watched the show before, I was still smitten by the beautiful scenery of the place. Nami Island has really beautiful trees and plants, and there are animals running about freely, which is so different from most parts of the city.

And I can understand why the show was filmed in winter. When we got there, spring was beginning, and there were so many insects flying around! Yong Hui was basically screaming around every few hundred metres, and kept fanning herself to shoo off the insects. Hahah, really funny!

Chuncheon (Exerpt)

Wow, I am currently surfing the Internet from a shower room in Chuncheon, a town 2 hours ride from Seoul. I know I am pretty swaku, but this place is really unlike any experience I have ever had! The moment I went into the main hall (for men), everyone is totally naked! Woah lao, Ziyi and I were so embarrassed! I know I have showered with guys before in the army, but this is a totally different league! The naked men were talking, sleeping, chatting, bathing and making lotsa noises in the main hall itself. Wah, first time kena shocked liddat!

Apparently YH had it worse. I don't think she has ever bathed in the open before, and she said there were different shapes and sizes around the hall. Hahah, Internet time is almost up; will update more when I go back to Seoul tomorrow. Meanwhile, must go and explore around this place for now :)

Our shower building. 1 floor for women, 1 floor for men, and 1 floor for mixed. Of course everyone in the mixed floor is fully clothed. Really cheap too; only $8 a night, plus bed clothes!

All dressed in the typical shower room clothes provided here. Rather ugly, but beats wearing our old clothes from the day.

What we had for dinner earlier. Chun Cheon is really famous for their dak-galbi, which is some kind of chicken cooked with a spicy sauce, alongside rice cakes, potatoes, onions and udon noodles. Really tasty, but too much for the 3 of us! We ended up stuffing ourselves like mad. Only $10 a person!

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossoms are sprouting out everywhere in Seoul, signifying (finally) the beginning of spring! Yong Hui, Ruowen and I went over to Yeouido today to attend the cherry blossom festival. It’s probably a must-see for all visiting tourists, especially since the flowers bloom only for approximately 3 weeks, before they fall and get replaced by green leaves instead.

And we did not make a wasted trip! When we got there, the entire street was lined with cherry blossom trees, resulting in a sea of pink. This was the first time I got to see cherry blossoms, and the scene was really spectacular! And probably because the viewing festival was ongoing, the street was filled with people, even though it was a Friday afternoon. I saw dating couples, women walking their dogs, families with young children, groups of students and many tourists.

Besides cherry blossoms, many other flowers are in bloom too. Around Yeouido Park, there are plenty of flowers, creating a dazzling sea of colours. At first, we even thought the flowers were fake, cause we never ever get to see such a scene in Singapore.

And of course, being a festival, performances were held everywhere along the street. To add to the buzz, there were people selling food every few hundred metres. This one is probably selling some kind of rice cake. The most disgusting ones were the vendors selling boiled silk worms and some shelled insects. Wah piang, the stench can be noticed from miles away, and it’s extremely nauseating. No idea how Koreans can find it a delicacy!

As we walked, we caught an elderly group dancing a traditional Korean dance, a footballer demonstrating his nimble soccer skills and a mime act too.

We also took pictures with some mascot of the Korean police force, who was making all kinds of cute poses. There was also a pair of weird Korean what-ever-that-thing-is for people to take pictures with.

Here’s a picture that deserves mention. This is actually a mobile toilet! Damn nice right! The mobile toilets in the Singapore pasar malams all cannot make it one lor.

And to end off the entry, here’s a typical high school couple on the streets. Notice how the girl carried her backpack? This is actually the in way to carry bags for all school girls, and there are many girls on the streets that sling their bags this way, which I have no idea why this is so. It feels damn uncomfortable even looking at it!