TigerDragon Family

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Our last day in Korea. We went shopping again - in Insa-Dong (like cultural streets, with small shops selling handicrafts and art pieces) & in Shinchon (popular shopping area with a university nearby, so many young people around).

So finally the day had come and it was the end of our Korea trip. Great holiday for the family. We all enjoyed the cool winter experience, skiing, great Korean food (esp. their BBQ meals), hot springs, theme parks and street shopping.

We will miss Korea. This trip was so wonderful because of the good people around us:- our entertaining guide Eddie, forever cool & calm David and always so helpful good looking Kei.

This day in Seoul city, we drove past Presidential Blue House (Korean President’s residence whose house has a blue roof-top). We just stopped by for photo shots near the area, or to be exact few kms away.

Then we visited Ginseng Showroom, Amethyst Factory and Cosmetic Shop. Of course must buy the Korean Ginseng (6 yrs old ones), even though it’s so expensive.

Next, we went to Gyeongbuk Palace, one of the 5 palaces in Seoul city. It is the largest palace of the last royal Imperial dynasty of Korea. Hmm … found that the architecture looks rather similar to Chinese palaces.

Finally in the night, it was time in Lotte World. Another theme park with both indoor and outdoor rides. We especially liked the ride in the “Hot Air Balloon”. The whole place looked lovely with the great display of lights.

This morning, we went to Chuncheon city and visited Myongdong Shopping Street (film site of Winter Sonata). There was a market place and we bought really sweet strawberries (Ginseng Strawberries), from a fat lady “Fei A Yi”.

In the afternoon, we made a trip to Nami island. Took a 5-10 mins ferry ride. Again this place became so popular…thanks to “Winter Sonata”. The classic scenery was the 2 rows of tall trees. We also saw an “ice tree”, the whole tree was covered with ice! Rather amazing. This place was rather cold. Thankfully, there were fireplaces around the park so we could get some warmth.

In the night, we went shopping at Dongdaemung. Vibrant shopping area, selling about anything the heart could ever want. But then, we walked round and round the Doota shopping mall, but bought nothing in the end .

This day, we experienced Korea therapeutic hot springs - indoor and outdoor. I like the outdoor springs better. Above water is so cold but when you body is in the hot spring (temp ~44C), the overall feeling can be rather relaxing.

Next we went to the infamous Mt Seorak National Park. It was cold here. There was a small temple with a giant Buddha in the park. We took a cable car up to the mountain top which had a great view. A pity that we did not get to stay long at the top, just only 15mins. Probably it was getting dark and our guide just wanted us to reach back safely. BTW, because it was winter time, the sun set down by 5:30pm.

Dinner was Sashimi. Fresh and good! But the boys did NOT enjoy it at all. All the raw food made ML sick. Especially the sea urchins and live octopus. Really freaked him out.

SKI TIME !!

Now, skiing looks fun..but actually can be rather tiring. You see, the ski suit is heavy and tight, esp the ski boots. The ski equipment seems to weigh a ton when you have to carry it uphill. Most of the time Daddy had to also carry ML and MX ski. 3 times the load ! You think it will be cold up in the ski resort. But actually it was rather warm, esp with all the hard work.

One takes 30sec to ski down the slope and another 8mins to climb up again. Phew : P

The good thing is that we all learnt how to ski after a short crash course by Eddie. At least, now we all can ski down slope and stop gracefully. A big achievement for the whole family : )

By the way, we stayed in Vivaldi Park Ski Resort. For the 2 nights that we stayed there, we always spent the nights watching people skiing down the slope. So COOL !

We spent the whole day in Everland (Korea Disneyland). Took unlimited rides, of course not the heart-stopping ones. The kids certainly loved this place and were not bothered by the cold.

We especially like the “Safari World” (saw the famous Liger - a cross-breed between a lion and a tiger) and “Alpine Village” (had fun with the snow sledging).

We left for our 1st winter holiday in Korea on 9 Dec 2008. We took an overnight 6 hrs flight on Korean Air, reaching Korea early morning. We were welcomed by our local guide David & Korean guide Eddie.

“Annyong Hase-yo!”

First place we went was Daejangeum filming site. Quite a large filming area was built for this epic Korean drama. In the evening, we watched the infamous Korean musical comedy “Nanta Cookin’ show. Very good and funny one. We all enjoyed it and had a good laugh.

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Today, all of us from the AMD Chartered Foundry Project gave Song Dan a farewell lunch treat. She will go back to China tomorrow. We went to Katong Five Star Chicken Rice Restaurant. Interestingly, Five Star Chicken Rice is one of the contenders of the on-going Chicken Rice competition organized by OMY.