It felt good that this part III will be the last part of our eight-day-long holiday with the entire Khoo clan. We have never gone overseas as a unit before due to money-no-enough because the father works super hard for his wife and his three daughters who were growing up and uses money like water. Hah.
Actually, we don't simply spend one okay.
Anyways, getting to go on our first overseas family trip felt so amazing. Now that two out of his three daughters are already working and being an adult now, this dream can be fulfilled. IT FELT SO GOOD.
We have already planned for next year's out of Malaysia holiday okay. Hence, no more new handbags, shoes, or unnecessary clothes. Hah.
I bet it will be worth it.
I cannot wait for next year's adventure.
Back to this.
Enjoy.
SIXTH OF MAY
SEOUL-NAMI ISLAND
Rise and shine!
Today no need to walk so much and take subways!
This time, we decided to explore outside of Seoul City and to the other famous must-visits, such as Nami Island.
The pregnant sister found a seat-in-coach (joint tour with other strangers) tour package that is quite free & easy for us so yay to tour package, because ain't nobody got the time to plan out the itinerary no more.
The tour package includes:
- Round trip transfer from Myeongdong Station to Nami Island and Petite France.
- Entrance fee and ferry ticket to Nami Island worth 8,000 krw/adult (RM28) and 4,000 krw/child (RM14).
- Entrance fee to Petite France worth 8,000 krw/adult (RM28) and 6,000 krw/child (RM21).
The total tour package is:
Adult: 36,000 krw (About RM126 per adult)
Child: 30,000 krw (RM105 per child)
If you ask me whether that's quite pricey for the package, I would say no. I feel it's pretty cheap because the journey from Seoul City to Nami Island, is about an hour on the road and it's about two hours for a return road trip so yeah, the price is pretty okay.
Nami Island is famous for being the filming spot of Winter Sonata so you can just imagine how romantic the island is if you have watched Winter Sonata. I was never a big fan of the movie but the island is magical.
I LOVE THIS ISLAND BECAUSE IT IS JUST SO CALMING TO BE HERE.
The scenery is really different and romantic and Instagram-worthy. It could be because of the weather also that I really like, cold and super cuddly. Heh.
After spending few hours at Nami Island, we made our way to Petite France which is not that far from Nami Island.
Petite France is a small French village hidden in the suburbs of Gapyeong and its buildings are all so colorful. There is also a lot of 'fairy-tales' inspired artwork so it was quite a good tour.
We walked around for a bit and then sat down and ordered more Korean goodies. Walk 15 minutes, eat 45 minutes. Hah. The real way to roll like a tourist.
Just too bad it rained a little. Then again, we got to watch an adult couple argued in Korean, which sounded too polite to be an argument. The man at one point was like giving silent treatment towards the lady.
The place is too romantic to have arguments, please.
After the tour, we all went back to shower and rested a while, then made our way to Dongdaemun, ready to shop till we drop!
Nehh.
We didn't buy anything also. It's mostly wholesale stuff so we didn't even bother to check it out. We almost got shoes for Koay and Vanessa but did not in the end. It was quite late la when we were there.
Dinner was pretty good. We had bee-bee-kiu again so that is always good.
The Shas went home earlier by taxi because Rachel was starting to feel really tired and Sha Lynn was getting restless. The parents got home via subway after a while and the three of us stayed on because we all young people must make good use of the time.
We walked around looking for street food and ate to our heart's content. We walked some more and stopped at a 7-11 where Koay decided to take out their hidden table and chairs and then set them up along the pathway.
We bought drinks and sat in the cold at about 12:30am, talking and laughing at jokes that aren't even funny. It must be the local 'soju'.
One thing I know was that the one hour of random sitting outside of 7-11 was one of the most memorable times in Korea. It was meaningful :)
SEVENTH OF MAY
SEOUL
It was a late-night yesterday but hello, nobody goes through seven hours of flight just to sleep in the room. Nope. Not especially if it's our last day in Seoul! Nope.
We sleep for few hours and then continue walking and eating some more.
Today, we went to Ewha University for the real-shopping. If you really want to get shoes and clothes and bags, trust me Ewha University is the right place for you.
Oh! Makeup stuffs too! Everything is at least 15% cheaper here (I compared a makeup product to the one I got at Myeongdong) so please make Ewha University a must-visit in your itinerary.
I should have waited till Ewha University to get all my makeup products. Hah.
So people, learn from my mistakes okay, and save some $$ so that you can get more things.
We got handbags, shoes, socks, makeup essentials, and masks here. I think it's mainly because they want to target the students here so everything is way cheaper. Ahhh such a happy place la seriously.
The last stop of the night was I'Park Mall because the parents wanted to get a juicer that is actually half-the price cheaper than if you get it here in Malaysia.
Their electronics really damn cheap. A bidet there costs about RM300 only compared to if I get one here in Penang that will cost me at least RM1,000. I kid you not. I should have gotten the bidet for my future toilet. Ish.
We were waiting for the sister and brother-in-law while they shopped inside for some perfume or watch (I cannot remember anymore) when we heard loud cheers and noises on top in the open place. Adrian got very curious and asked a local man.
Him: Excuse me. Is someone famous here? Upstairs? Or a concert?
A nice Korean man: Yes yes. Park Ji-Sung.
Him: Huh? What? Really?! Park Ji-Sung?
A nice Korean man: Yes yes.
Him: *jumps around* OH MY GOODNESS I NEED TO GO UP! BABE LETS GO WE NEED TO GO UP NOW!
He got all jumpy and little-boy-ish goodness so cute dei.
They were showing a live Manchester United game and everyone was watching it in the open. IT WAS SUPER FUN! We did not stay long though because dinner time was up and we were all starving.
Park Ji-Sung also nowhere to be seen, but I saw how excited he got when the chance was there for him to meet the once-Man Utd footballer. The little boy in him that I have never seen before. Pretty fantastic :)
Since it was our last night in Seoul, we decided to not take the taxi and enjoy subways, which was the right decision because we got to do last-minute subway-underground shopping. We found their 'Daiso' and boy, everything was so cheap in there!
If only there were more space in my luggage! It was such a torture to walk out of the shop, letting go of so many things that I really wanted although 90% of those things are not needed. Heh. I will be back, Seoul. You just wait.
I managed to buy last-minute makeup items too at Nature Republic where Koay actually tried the range of lipstick colors on his own lips because I kept trying and wiping them off on my own lips.
He either did it because he thought it was so troublesome and tiring for me (since I wanted to try all the colors heh) or I was taking too long in the shop. Hah.
We walked slowly (although it was already really late) to our crib and bought supper.
We got back, ate and talked and snapped more photos, and packed.
The packing was the most stressful already.
Dad, mom, and Vanessa extended their trip so while the rest of us will be heading home to Penang, they will be flying to Jeju Island. WHY DON'T I HAVE LIKE 20+ DAYS OF ANNUAL LEAVE?
Obviously, they would want to travel lighter to Jeju Island so whatever that they bought or do no need, they basically just hand it over to us to carry home. One of which is a juicer that they got at I'Park Mall for half the price than if you get it in Malaysia. Win. But so heavy, please.
I consider this trip's shopping very mild for me. I didn't get to buy a lot of things I wanted because all my moolahs have to go to the wedding fund! Boo.
Some things though cannot be avoided because they are too cheap already!
Korea is indeed the right place to stock up on all your makeup essentials. SO CHEAP I CANNOT BRAIN.
We googled on the most effective blackhead remover stick-on and Holika Holika came up first. So, we decided to try it, and boy, it works. IT'S REALLY VERY EFFECTIVE.
Too bad we didn't have the chance to get more.
EIGHTH OF MAY
SEOUL-TAIPEI-HONG KONG-PENANG
Goodbye lovely city of Seoul. You have been so amazing for the past one week, with your perfect temperature. Oh goodness, how we have missed you so much since.
It's okay because for sure we will meet again. This time may be in another season okay.
It was an early farewell for us because our flight was at 10am so means by 630am, we have got to wake up already.
We decided to take AREX because it's super convenient from Seoul Station and no need to stop so many times after every 5 minutes. Heh.
Nah, I did a post on AREX so you can go read more on it.
We got home in the evening and already I was homesick because the parents and my maid still in Korea enjoying to the max. Boo.
So, that was it.
This trip has made us kinda 'need' to have at least one family trip overseas annually. I don't know la seriously. My moolahs need to start growing faster. Need more baja please.
Till next time.
Bye now.
TOTAL MONEY SPENT/person
For 8 days 7 nights at Seoul & Busan, South Korea
PEN-HKG-TPE-ICN-HKG-TPE-PEN flight tickets with Cathay Pacific Airlines (CX): RM1145
Portable internet use for 7 days: RM36
Korail train ticket SEOUL-BUSAN-SEOUL (3-days pass): RM300
7 nights of accommodation: RM550
Nami Island + Petite France tour package: RM123
N-Seoul Tower entrance fee: RM30
Food (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks in-between, supper, more snacks): RM600
Shopping: RM700
Subway and taxi rides: RM150
TOTAL SPENT: RM 3634
[Note: 1,000 Korean Won = RM3.50 (as of 29 April 2016)]