1) The toilets are impressive!! Clean, ordourless, nicely maintained and some even nicely landscaped. For example, whereas we always had that impression that highway toilets were filthy and smelly, this particular highway toilet which we stopped along the way to Sangsoo Herbland to use left us in awe. It was a busy highway kiosk, yet it was sparkling clean, large with many cubicles, had a nice water feature in the middle of the toilet, and even had doors with lighted up "occupied" signs whenever someone used a cubicle.

Apart from the "occupied" signs, other technological features are things such as a rotating toilet seat cover which rotated for a fresh sheet just by pressing a button.

Even toilets in the wilderness like Seokguram were clean, although not as "technologically" advanced.

2) People there are quite friendly - at least to tourists I know they are. Despite many things getting lost in translation, all the Korean people I tried to speak to were very patient and always made an effort to try to understand what you were saying. Pleasant experience.

3) Which comes to my next point. Most Koreans do not speak English so be prepared to use gestures in getting your point across. The situation is slightly better in Seoul but don't expect to easily find someone conversing fully in English with you. Maybe apart from hotel staff in Seoul. Nevertheless, this is my advice if you want to be a 'responsible' traveller - get a Korean language phrase book and at least familiarize yourself with some common sentences like "how much is this" or even "I don't understand. Can you speak English?" I regretted not doing this before the trip.

4) There are only about 150 English-speaking tour guides available in Korea so check with your tour agent if they are able to find one for you. Most bilingual tour guides in Korea speak Korean and Mandarin.

5) Things in Seoul are expensive. So if you want to buy any souvenirs, just get them if you find them in the other towns and cities. So far it seems like stuff in Jeju are cheapest.

6) However, if there's one thing that's worth buying, it's local cosmetics. I had a whale of a time shopping for cosmetics especially at my regular brand shop The Face Shop. Whereas a foundation in Singapore can cost up to S$40, that same foundation in Korea can cost just S$15. The prices of these local brands in Korea are really really much much lower, mostly by half the price. Hence, if you are there, you might want to stock up on these brands such as The Face Shop, Missha and Skin Food, if you have been a user of these brands, that is.

7) Still, do note that goods are generally quite expensive in Korea.

8) Korean children are so well-disciplined! I mean, not in a millitary sense, but in the sense that although they still play around like all children should be, they are clearly respectful of the adults, and are not at all rowdy in puclic places. Conformity? In this case, not bad at all if such pleasant children are produced out of such a system. Stifling? All the children look so happy, don't look stifled at all. In fact, I couldn't help but comment that while in countries like Singapore you'll definitely get to hear screaming, tantruming children as long as you are in a place with kids, in Korea the kids I saw are actually happy, independent and well-mannered.

9) Only one thing though - the airport staff seem to like 'taking' locks. Upon arrival in Seoul airport Mum and I realized that the one lock from each of our bags had gone missing when we claimed our baggage, with no sign of damage to the zipper or anywhere else. I also found my travel tag with my particulars missing. Later after taking an internal flight, another group member's lock was stolen from her bag.

Not that the lock was expensive but in fact the reason why we installed locks was so that people could not stuff dubious stuff into our bags, implicating us in the course of it. So when the lock was removed in such seemingly clean fashion it was hard not to get scared. Thankfully we made it there and back safely, but this whole thing still seems very dubious, like some conspiricy going on.

We wondered why they only targetted my bag and my mum's. Later I realized that my mum's bag had actually been tagged under my name. So was this person targetting me??? Evil...

Otherwise it's a dubious, sick, mysterious fascination for locks by Korean airport staff.


Until the next trip!!

Day 6:

Not many pictures taken cos the day went like this...

1st stop:

Ginseng showroom, where photos weren't allowed. Anyway, was having some bad stomach cramps so didn't even think about the photos.

Authorized by the tourism board as selling authentic white ginseng. To the Koreans, ginseng is a perfect balance of 'yin and yang', as it is neither heaty nor cooling. Like our tour guide, Korean believe deeply in the effects of the Korean ginseng, which is considered one of the highest quality in the world.

Our tour guide related a personal experience whereby she felt that her health, which suffered during high school where she found herself spending only 3 hours a day on sleep and the rest of the day in school, was restored because of the effects of ginseng. Hence, she highly recommended ginseng as one of the best health supplements.

The ginseng products that we were introduced to at the showroom are mostly cultivated. It is said that the ginsent plant dies after it turns 6 years old, as indicated by 6 leaves on a single stalk on the plant. Hence, the high quality ginseng roots are 6 years of age, and are believed to have the most medicinal value.

However, the most highly prized ginseng is the wild ginseng, which can live to 1000s of years and it is believed that only special people bestowed by the mountain gods have the gift of spotting and harvesting a wild ginseng. People pay millions just for one singly wild ginseng root.

2nd stop:

Amethyst showroom. Again, no photos taken there.

I used to think that amethyst is a semi-precious stone so was shocked to see that one single pandent could cost at least US$100. And those would be stones that are of a lower grade. I didn't buy anything there cos wasn't keen on forking out so much for designs that to me were just normal. Anyway, stomach cramps were affecting my mood.

But of course, I only realized that amethyst was not a semi-precious stone but a precious stone after I spoke to my colleagues about the 'exhorbitant' prices. Hence the price. Still, wasn't keen on buying any.

Anyway, background on amethyst in Korea. It appears that Korea is a large producer of the natural quartz, though not as big as countries such as the States. Click here for more about the gemstone.

3rd stop:

Shopping at Namdaemun, though I think we only walked part of the whole stretch. It's mainly a shopping area well-known for trendy items and clothing. There is also an underground shopping mall but not as big as the one in Jeju.

I didn't bother to browse the clothing cos I know I probably don't fit into most of it (the Koreans are soooo slim and petite!!). However, it's nice to see all the quirky accessories and other items like souvenirs (lots of mugs, key chains, magnets, T-shirts, socks etc, with faces of popular Korean celebrities!), cosmetics etc.





We later went to Dongdaemun which unfortunately fell short of my expectations of an exotic shopping place in the line of Ladies Street Night Market in Hong Kong but bigger. Whatever we saw were shops selling dated clothing and poor imitations of shoes and bags. Then again, it could be because we were early. By the time we left, more shops had sprung up along the streets and it appeared that a crowd was gathering.

But Dongdaemun has a few shopping malls and we went into one with floors and floors of shop selling trendy fashion items which are priced from the mid to high range. Again, I didn't bother with the apparel, but I bought a necklace from one of the shops which to me was of unique design and is not easily found in Singapore. Basically, it was a long necklace with a pendent the shape of a pony made of wood but painted in silver, speckled with stars, and with another tiny sphere with stars hanging from the bottom of the pony. Cost me around S$20.

The day ended with some free and easy time where we wandered around the COEX Intercontinental Hotel's underground shopping mall. Now, this COEX, I must talk a little about this impressive hotel.

Basically, this is my first time in such a luxurious hotel! Huge beds, huge space, huge TV, huge executive desk, huge executive chair, huge toilet, complimentary premium coffee, earl grey, green tea with beautiful bone china mugs and a coffee grinder.







Ooooo....

Day 7:

Our last day in Korea before setting off for the airport to return to Singapore. However, before that, we made a trip to the Kyongbok Palace which belonged to the Joseon Dynasty, the last dynasty before the beginning of the Japan's colonization, which also marked the end of the monarchy system in Korea.

To know more about the Joseon Dynasty, see here.

We were in time for the guard-changing ceremony, a re-enactment of the ceremony during the height of the Joseon Dynasty.



Musicians standing in line to usher in the guards who would take over the posts.



In the middle of the ceremonial exchange of places.



We managed to stand beside a few guards (actors, actually) for some Kodak moments. Goodness! They were all very tall!!!



Just the chaotic scene when after the ceremony, everyone rushed to pose beside the guards who needed to remain expressionless and motionless. Poor things got mugged by all the tourists. I admit I did have that shameless urge to tug at one of the guards' clothing and maybe even tickle him a little.

Interesting history to be discovered from the palace. However, again, the history's not for me to relate. See here for the history of the Kyongbok Palace. Meanwhile, here are some interesting facts about the palace (not all though)...

First thing, if you think that the Palace looks suspiciously like a certain placed called the Forbidden City in Beijing, you are right. The Palace was actually modelled after the Forbidden City, after one of the kings got inspired by its architecture after a visit to the Chinese capital. Hence, the Kyongbok Palace was born.

Kyongbok Palace is actually much smaller and less impressive than China's one, since Korea had been a vessel state of China. Nevertheless, it is always exciting to experience a piece of history personally.



When greeting the king, officials had to stand according to their rank, as indicated by the stone-heads. Nearest to the main hall is of course are the first-ranked officials.



The path towards the main hall is very uneven and extremely unfit for a king. However, there was an explanation for such a design. For one, the king didn't have to walk. All he had to do was to be carried by sedan chair into the hall. More importantly, as the ground was so uneven, people who walked the path had to bow their heads to watch their step, hence indirectly bowing to the royal throne and the king. As demonstrated in the picture above.



The main hall, with the king's throne in the centre. Behind the throne is an embroidered cloth with images of the sun (representing the king), the moon (representing the queen), 5 mountains (representing north, south, east, wast and centre) and many other symbolic things. It is said that when the king went on outings, he had special personnel to carry the cloth around with him, so that when the king took a rest, this person could open the cloth behind him as he rested.



Just an interesting architectural feature. One shape represents male, the other represents female. Guess which is which.



The king's bed chamber.

After visiting the palace, it was time to leave for the airport. We stopped by at a restaurant for lunch, and visited the supermarket below the restaurant to do some last minute grocery shopping. This supermarket was clearly catered for tourist on the way back to their home country as the prices were really quite expensive.

With that, we ended our trip in Korea. It was a good experience, and I am certainly looking at Korea in a different angle from now.

We spent all but one night in Daegu before we set off for Korea's capital Seoul. It would be a 2 hour journey but we stopped by 2 places along the way.

First stop was Herbland which had been featured prominantly at 2006's Ms HK Peagant when the contestants made a trip to South Korea to visit the place and try their speciality - flower rice. Basically a rice dish with flowers as the side dish. A very unsual combination but we didn't try it cos it probably is not something everyone is used to. Nevertheless, we took a short trip into the place which was like a botanical garden that focused on all things edible and usable, such as herbs, flowers, shrubs etc.



A facilitator from Sangsoo Herbland giving us an introduction of the place. He also gave us each a complimentary bottle of herb-infused mineral water. How did it taste? Imagine stuffing lavender potpourri into your mouth with a mouthful of water. Not a taste I am used to. The Camomile one tasted better but would still rather have a cup of camomile tea instead.



Some of the many herb plants in the garden.



Some sights, including the thousand-year pine tree (I didn't catch if it was really 1000 years old, but even if it's not, this kind of pine reportedly has the ability to live that long).



Some flowers in Herbland.

I bought my souvenirs to give away from Herbland, including a handphone charm which has a tube that contains rose essense. Quite nice. We also bought a small bottle of mint essense which was supposed to be good in reliefing headache, nausea, and basically keeping you refreshed, much like how those medicated oil works but much nicer fragrance. We can't attest to those qualities but what made us buy the essense is because a salesgirl had ambushed us from behind by dapping little drops of mint essense on the back of our necks and the fresh fragrance lingered on for a very long time.

Again, trust the Koreans to come up with such ideas for tourist attractions.

Next we moved on to another tourist attraction called Everland. When talking about Everland, I have to talk about the Big 5.

Basically, the whole of the Korean economy is governed by 5 empires - Samsung, LG, Hyundae, Daewoo and one last one which name I can't remember. All empires and kingdoms in every sense of the words, with kings (CEOs), queens (CEOs' wives), princes (CEO's sons) and princesses (CEOs' daughters), with the princes and princesses groomed to take over the empires. Case in point - with construction, eletronics, IT, hospitals, schools etc. under their name, Samsung alone feeds 20% of the whole of South Korea's population.

It's no wonder Samsung employees managed to accomplish such an amazing feat...

Anyway, Everland, almost the equivalent of Disneyland, was built and is owned entirely by Samsung. And it's an extrordinary themepark with really beautiful set-ups, creative themes and hyper-energetic staff dressed in elaborate costumes greeting you with their signature hand-wave which may be perfected by raising both hands to shoulder level and waving only your palms while you flash a big smile and greet loudly "Annyeong haseyo!"



The entrance to Everland.



It's all about Halloween this October at Everland!




Welcome to Everland!



A peek at one of the costumes the staff wear. We noted that even the road-sweepers in the themepark are also elaborately decked out in costumes like this.



We took a cable ride across the park to reach the Safari segment of the park.



Smiley staff ushering guests as they moved onto the Safari bus. Unfortunately I couldn't understand a word she was saying...



So in the Safari section, we were led into huge buses that took us right into the animal enclosures, where we saw lions, tigers, bears, owls, giraffes etc. up close. Exciting!! Again, the driver was the commentator and he made some jokes which again we couldn't understand cos there was no translation. But we know it was a joke cos the Koreans were laughing.

After that we went to this 3D animation place, much like the space ride at Universal Studios where audiences were treated to a 3D show with the seats moving to the momentum of the action-packed show. The show itself was tad childish with cartoon characters trying to save the world after all the "adults" were captured. Nevertheless, it was a fun experience with wind blowing at your face while you flew with the characters, and water splashing on you while you dived into the water with the characters.

We then made our last stop in Everland at the Four Seasons Garden which housed numerous flowers from all around the world in a beautifully-landscaped park.



As it was the Halloween theme, pumpkins were all over the park. Those in the picture above are all real pumpkins (except for that huge one and those that are being stacked into columns in the background).

Another view of the park.

Everland is a wonderful place to be in, and Korea's answer to Disneyland. May not be as grand as Disneyland, but the rides and the themes and the whole layout just turns you into a child once more. Wished we had more time there...

We set off to Seoul after visiting Everland, and reached the COEX Intercontinental at night in time for dinner at the underground shopping mall assessible from the hotel lobby. Our first true glimpse of Korean merchandise and it's pricey-ness. But the quality is good and the designs are unique, no doubt about that. Hence, shopping in Korea is good provided you go there with a goal of what you want to buy and be prepared to fork out just a little bit more for the quality of the products.

More about that when I talk about day 6 :).

To be continued, day 6 and 7 (last day) together in one post, and some interesting facts about Korea you must know...

The morning was spent on more sightseeing and yet more historical monuments. The first place we visited was the Seokguram Grotto, an ancient Buddhist temple which was constructed in 742 A.D.. The story behind this temple is a very interesting one and not hard to understand if you are already familiar with Chinese culture. Basically, this was how the story went...


There was a farmer who was struggling to make ends meet. Because he was so poor, he hoped that he could reincarnate into a rich man's family once he died. So before he died, this farmer was a deout Buddhist and donated to the temple whenever he could.

On the day he died, a rich man's son was born with a clenched fist. When the clenched fist opened on the 7th day of his birth, the rich man spotted a name on his palm - Kim Daeseon, the same name belonging to the farmer who had died on the same day. Henceforth began Kim's 2nd life.

Kim was playful as a teenager and spent his days idling. One day he went bear-hunting, caught a bear and was prepared to make his way back to his residence happily. However, there was a thunderstorm and Kim had to spend the night in the mountain.


While he slept in the mountain, he had a dream of the bear who approached him and demanded to know why he had killed it, when it never did anything to harm Kim.

Kim was shaken, and started to believe in Buddhism. Hence, he built the Seokguram temple to honor his parents in his past life.

Photography wasn't allow in the temple for its delicate conditions. Apparently, after reconstruction was completed, they realized that the interior became was too himid which was slowly eroding the 1000-year old stone Buddha statue. Hence, the Buddha is now encased in a glass enclosure with special machines to remove the humidity. Nevertheless, you can see the picture here. When you see the statue in person, you can really feel its serenity and compassion. Very well crafted.



We also drank some of the holy water below the temple grounds, and took some back to keep.

Apart from Seokguram Grotto, Kim apparently built another temple known as the Bulguksa Temple. This was meant to honor Kim's parents in his present life. It's a huge temple compared to the Seokguram Grotto, with many different halls with different Buddhas inside. Also an ancient temple and a national monument.



Do see this to find out more about the temple. Both temples are considered national monuments.



Of course, there were some interesting sights along the way. The way into Seokguram was a long 1/2 hour walk but it was all worth it. It was a nice, leisurely walk in the midst of the forest so I didn't mind it. We also saw some roadside stalls selling local fruits and nuts such as tiny gingko nuts which they sold by the cup, roasted to perfection. There was also roasted chestnuts and some yellow-grained rice.

After visiting the temple we took a ride down to Daegu city, famous for its fashion and textile industry. However, along the way we stopped by at the apple plantation to pick some fresh apples :D

What was interesting was that we were taken deep into the farms by a tractor which trudged along a bumpy and narrow road along rice padi fields and chlli plantations.



We were greeted by an elderly couple who tends to the apple plantations. Apples are in season at this time so the tress around were filled with huge Fuji apples. I thought apple trees were quite tall and that you needed a ladder to get the apples, like in The Cider House Rules. Turned out the apple trees are really quite short! As you can see from the photo below.



Each of us were allowed to pick 3 apples. They didn't look too good actually, cos most of them were quite green but huge nevertheless. But when we finally ate them in the night... Mmmmm.... Juicy, sweet, crunchy, crisp!!!

We also stopped by at SpaValley which had something special called "Dr Fish". What is it? Hmmm... the pictures speak for themselves...



You gotta believe it... After the fish had their fill, our feet felt soft and supple. Go Dr Fish!!

To be continued... some more...

First sightseeing spot of the day was a trip down to the Halla Arboretum. Abor...what?? According to Dictionary.com - "a plot of land on which many different trees or shrubs are grown for study or display." Nice place to start the day, with lots of fresh air, greenery and a nice weather. Only problem is that the sun tended to be scorching, though once you get into a shade it becomes quite cold.

Lots of Chinese pine trees, lots of fruit trees also including the perssimon tree which is in season right now. Lots of interesting shrubs also, but not many flowers perhaps due to the fact that it is autumn now.



We later took a flight from Jeju Interational Airport to Pusan, though we didn't stay in the city but instead immediately set off for Kyongju city. Kyongju is actually a place where one can find numerous historical sites. This was afterall the capital of the Silla Kingdom, one of the 3 kingdoms which ruled Korea since 57 B.C. Click here for more about Silla, and here for more about the Three Kingdoms of Korea.

Thanks to Seo Dong Yo the terms Silla, Baekje and Gogureoyo were not too unfamiliar for me.

Anyway, we visited a national park (Tumuli Park) first which was really made up of numerous tombs shaped as little hills which belonged to the royalty of Silla. According to our tour guide, the reason for the tomb's appearance is because the Koreans believe that when one dies, he/she returns to the mother's womb.



Beautiful place and perfect picnic spot.


Only one tomb was excavated and the rest were left untouched simply because the government found these undertakings much too expensive. What a pity. This particular tomb was the only in the area that was excavated and has been converted into a tiny exhibition hall housing replicas of the relics that were found in the tomb. The real stuff are all in the national museums in Seoul and Kyongju now, unfortunately these places were not in the itinery... Annyway, this one is called the Flying Horse Tomb because of a mural of a flying horse found in the tomb.

We then took a 10 minutes walk towards the Cheomseongdae Observatory which was built by Queen Seondeok (632-647). Apparently many believed that it was built as a showcase of the Queen's power and had no practical use, because realistically speaking, an observatory should be built on top of a mountain for it to have any practical use. This one was built in the town centre. Nevertheless, if this was of real practical use, then it would have been the oldest, surviving observatory in the world.

We then set off for Daegu to stay at a hotel which was just beside an artifical lake built by, if I didn't remember wrongly, another king. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful lake. We happened to chance upon a festival by the lake on the day we were there so there was a carnival or sorts with a stage with magic shows, rock bands and singers. Obviously I didn't know who they are...



So that was that, the 3rd day in Korea. Beginning to appreicate the rich history of Korea. If you want to know more about the places and names I mentioned, just look up Wikipedia.org.

To be continued...

Day 2 started out with much more rest and we covered lots on the day. The first stop was the scenic spot of a natural lava tube called Manjanggul. What the lava tube means is that in Mt Halla's (the volcano on Jeju) many volcanic eruptions in the past, the lava has pushed its way through the ground to create a 2 km long lava cave.



We weren't able to go through the whol length cos only 300m worth of cave was open to public while the rest were flooded and another part was closed for research. Nevertheless, it didn't really matter cos it was really dark inside apart from a few floor lights and the scenery inside really didn't vary much.



Next stop was Songsan Sunrise Peak, which is neither a hill or a mountain, as in it's higher than a hill but not as tall as a mountain. Nevertheless, still quite a climb towards the peak and only 2 men in the group made it to the peak. I did not go the last leg which was probably a few meters high so didn't get to see the scenery from the peak. According to the 2 who made it up there it was really windy. Nevertheless, from my own highest vantage point, this was the scenery...



After the morning exercise, we went to another scenic site called Seopjikoji Coast just for some photos. There was a little chapel which was used in the filming of All In, and one of the spots on the coast was used in probably a few scenes in Dae Jang Geum.





Then we visited a folk village which showcases the life of native Jeju people. There are still residents in this particular village so we were told specifically not to knock on any doors or barge into a home. Interesting culture in which women work harder than the men and women basically holds the authority in a household, although boys are still more treasured than girls.

Some interesting things about the village includes a gate in front of the village which looks like this...



The gate isn't damaged. One pole up means that there are people in the village and that it welcomes visitors with open arms. Two poles up indicates that the owner is home but they aren't free to entertain guests so please come back later. Three poles up means that there is no one in the village, and that if you enter it is treated as trespassing.

Other interesting sight of the folk village is this pig-sty-cum-toilet for the people (right). Not a pleasant smell for sure but I wonder why do your business with a curious pig lurking below? Poor pig...


First photo shows the village from an angle, second photo shows a faciliator explaining the various customs and culture of the people. What she is showing is a basket where make babies are places in to sleep. Female babies apparently do not have that luxury and only sleep in an ordinary basket without cushion (in the form of the ropes)

We visited Cheongjiyeon Waterfall which claim to fame was not only the waterfall but also a species of eels specific to the area. Pity we didn't see any eels...



After the waterfall we went to yet another scenic spot with some really amazing lava rock formation in the form of hexagonal columns shooting out from the sea. The wonders of nature...



I also tried some Jeju speciality which really are braised silkworms. Tried one and it tasted... well... only ok. Crunchy on the outside and mushy on the inside. Not too much of the earthy taste you would expect but I really didn't like the seasoning which makes it hard to eat more... This photo shows of one of the group members feeding our tour guide who apparently liked it.



Next up was the famed Teddy Bear Museum! Fancy the Koreans creating a museum for something which didn't originate from there! A very creative take on the teddy bear though, really enjoyed! Some of the highlights included...



Some very old teddy bears dating back to the 1900s.



A Marilyn Monroe bear whose skirt would fly up occassionally.



The tinest teddy bear in the world today, as seen through a magnifying glass from this photo.



An outdoor exhibition of teddy bears. Here's me eyeing some of Mama Bear's delicacies.

Our last stop was the short stretch of road called simply "The Mysterious Road". Basically, every tour bus which stops at the road would turn off the engine, and some mysterious force would the pull the bus uphill very quickly. Scientists are stil puzzled at how this occurs. After getting down the bus the food stalls at the side of the road prepared bottles for us to try for ourselves the pull of the uphill road. Very interesting.



To be continued...