Korea Trip Day 1 (04/06/2014) - Seoul

I've been wanting to visit Korea for quite some time and finally my dreams have come true. On 4th June 2014, I realized my dream to visit Korea with two great buddies Quan Yen and Shi Keat. We departed from KLIA2 because the Air Asia flight from KL is much cheaper. I arrived at Tunes Hotel one day earlier and stayed overnight as our flight was an early morning flight. KLIA2 is really huge for a low cost terminal and the interior design is world class.

After checking in our baggage, it's time to fly. There are a couple of Korean air stewardess on board and they are so gorgeous! Anyway, we arrived at Incheon International Airport after 6 hours of flight. After alighting, we took a direct subway train to the arrival hall to clear immigration. They actually have a camera to take a head-sized photo of you at the immigration. I mistakenly thought that it was for some sort of eye scanning verification. If there is an excuse, it would be my inexperience in flying. It is my first time flying to another country besides Singapore. Ok, it was a lame excuse. I was stupid LOL.

Our guesthouse was at Itaewon, known as the foreigner's hub. It is located at the centre of Seoul, just about Han River. We took the Airport Railroad Express Train (AREX) from Incheon and transferred to Line 6 to get to Itaewon. The subway was similar to Singapore's MRT so it wasn't a big problem for us especially with the help of Jihachul App. We commuted using T-money, an all-in card similar to Ezlink. One thing we noticed was that on the subway there are so many gorgeous Korean girls. All well dressed and had decent make-up. We literally had our eyes open (大开眼界). Up until the point that we alight at Itaewon station, we were all the while indoors. It was when we took the stairs out of Itaewon station that we finally had a feel of Korea air. It was so chilly. So different from Singapore/Malaysia. The feeling of cool air caressing your face is fantastic, even cooler than indoors air-cond!

We then proceeded to Hamilton Hotel to meet our host, Mely and her husband Keegan. We will be staying over at their house for 4 nights in Seoul before moving to Jeju and Busan. We managed to recognize each other at the hotel and they greeted us very well. They also had a 10-month new born baby girl. She was so so cute with big sparkling eyes! Their house is located at the top of the hill, very steep. The landscape was unique and the air is even cooler up there. Mely showed us the way to get around their house including the password to unlock the gate and door. It was something new to us as we don't lock our doors using password. The room was cozy and clean with three beds. We were surprised that there was no air condition or even fan in the room. But later that night we found out the reason. It was so cool that a fan was not required. The whole room feel like air-conditioned, so comfortable to sleep in. After unloading our luggage, we set off for our first destination - dinner at Haha's BBQ Restaurant.

It is located at one of the corners of Hongdae area. Took us quite a while to find it, with Keegan lending a hand using google map before we set off. The waiter greeted us in Korean and speak more Korean to us. We've expected this sort of language barrier so we were cool. Fortunately, the other staffs can understand and speak some basic English. We ordered two meat and a soup. As for drinks, we order Makgeolli and Soju. We didn't expected the Makgeolli to come in a huge bottle, probably around 700ml. And then the soju. We then decided that we will just have the makgeolli and returned the soju. It was a little embarrassing. Makgeolli is Korean rice wine, milky. For me, it doesn't taste as good but Quan Yen loved it. The BBQ and soup were awesome. After the meal, we stroll around the streets of Hongdae. The variety was great - street foods, clothings, bags etc. and people roaming around. I like the street culture here. It has 人情味, and it's clean. We also spotted a transparent Noraebang (Karaoke) where you can see people singing their hearts out from the outside.

Transparent Noraebang

We continued our exploration arond Hongdae until 10+ at night before heading back to Itaewon. Itaewon is relatively quiet at night. But they have quite a number of bars at the back alley. We can see people including many angmohs going to and coming out from that alley. The shops were all closed and you can easily spot many graffiti on the shop doors.

Grafiti on shop houses at Itaewon

 It felt so free here compared to Singapore's rather strict culture. We didn't go to the bars but headed back to our guesthouse instead. We also got to know a couple of Hong Kong girls who stayed in the other room of Mely's. They were Cadens and Irisa. We spoke a mixture of Cantonese and English with them. They have been in Seoul for quite some time already and it was their 4th day at Mely's. Their trip was much more relaxed than us as they have much more time so they were kinda chill. They have visited both Everland and Lotte World and we asked their opinion on the theme park. They recommended Lotte World and so we took their advice and changed our itinerary from Everland to Lotte World. We will have our busiest schedule on day 2, exploring palaces and Insadong. Stay tuned!