Lovely KOrea 2008

It was quite a last min notice that i'll be gg Korea with larling and his family.. that's bcos his dad had matters to attend to, and so he couldnt make it for the trip. as a result, i went on his behalf. i had to take urgent leave and get scolding from the HR before i was allowed to go.. and i didnt prepare adequately for the bitter winter over there as well. i nearly froze to death on the first day, which was -1o degrees celsius! it's the coldest place i've ever been. the feeling of not feeling ur ears, ur toes and ur fingers is damn scary, i thought they have all numbed and dropped off! haha. It was a fun trip and i totally enjoyed the company of larling and his family.

At changi terminal 1

after 6 hrs of flight, we've arrived at Incheon Intl Airport


our first destination: Nam'i Island.. this is the filming site of "Winter Sonata"..

quite romantic la, but there's nothing much to see also

everywhere's coverd with snow but it wasnt snowing when we're there


magnificent ice structure

shopping at Dongdaemun Market.. it's one of their largest shopping district. Face Shop and Skin Food are selling at like half the price of singapore's.


one of Korea's oldest palace.. can't rem what's the name but the palace look like the Forbidden City in China.

Second day's first destination: Samsung Transportation Museum.

it's Korea's first automobile museum, with collection of many different old vintage cars.

actually Samsung cars quite chio, but it's such a pity that they dont export samsung cars out of Korea.



fresh white snow everwhere

at theme park Yongin Everland. this is the filming site of 'Red Bean Lady', which is quite an old korean drama.

while waiting for the bus tour which brings you real close to the animals

this was how close the bus was to the animals, i can take shots of them without the need of zooming.

these are the Ligers.. the offsprings of a female tiger and a male lion.

the bears are so big and furry. the birds are their best companion.

doughnut-float ride down the mini ski hill.
it was so fun that we went three times

my fav meerkat checking out larling

when can i ever be as beautiful as u, lil swan..

getting some warmth from the burning charcoal at the hotel lobby

Third day: SKIING!!

before we start skiing, we took a gondola ride to the top to enjoy the lovely winter scenery.

it was 1100m above sea level.. super freezing cold outside.

the wind was so chilly cold, i thought my face was gg to crack

after that we were all geared up for skiing!

trying to look pro

ok la, very pro

after skiing.. super shag

but i stil can do a mario jump! haha

our coach bus

another mario jump with larling's sis..

look at her face. super comical la. LOL

Fourth Day: Herbland and Doctor Fish.

Korea also hve those fish which feeds on ur dead skin.. it's damn itchy when they gently bite u. larling's leg was surrounded by alot of fishes, causing no business for my feet. haha.

Sangsoo Herb Land.. asia's largest herb garden

this is the funniest shot taken.. the siblings on a bus

back to hotel.. this style reminds me of hokkaido's hotel

Fifth Day @ Jeju:

Songsan Sunrise Peak.. climbed all the way up, took a few pics and came down hurriedly. quite tiring, but it's nothing compared to taiwan's yangmingshan. was cursing and swearing while climbing up that time. lol

halfway through..

this structure looks like a monkey

mischievious mei mei

finally reached the top..

forced larling to wear my pink beanie and took a shot! haha

Next was plucking fruits at the tangerine farm. we can pluck and eat as many as we can, and it's super sweeeeet

in the season of oranges

advance gong xi fa cai

next up was ATV ride. cant rem what it stands for, but it's some rough terrain vehicle ride..

it's damn exciting la.. i was like bobbing up and down the uneven terrain and the too-big helment nearly slipped off my head.

trying to mimick the 'tian ruo you qing' scene. LOL

then it was sightseing at jeju folk village.. this is the filming site for Da Chang Jin where that yi nu spent her exile in jeju learning medicine.

then we moved on to 'Dragon Head Rock'. u can see in the backgound is a rock formation which looks like a dragon overlooking the sea.

jeju's 'tu di gong'

ginseng chicken soup for dinner!

totally yums!

ginsengs in the restaurant for display

6-star Lotte World Hotel..

Kimchi-making.. actually the ingredients were all prepared beforehand, all we have to do is just spread the sauce evenly onto the veg and wrap it up. so we didnt really make the kimchi afterall. haha

after kimchi-making, they even allow us to change into korean costume for photo-taking.

larling's hat is damn hilarious la. he look like those corrupted official. hahaha

back at our hotel room to put our stuff and then back to Lotte World Theme Park.

Larling forced me to take this act-cool-drinking-starbucks-pose in our room. haha

Lotte World.. this the huge skating rink where the Stairway to Heaven filming took place.

at the camelot carrousel..

that's the end of korea trip..

it's great to experience smthg different - the weather, the food, the language and ppl.. it definitely was a relaxing trip before the peak starts..