If are reading this for the first time, then you have missed Part I of this amazing family trip to Korea.
FOURTH OF MAY
SEOUL-BUSAN
So, today we all slept in because it's our last day here in Busan and this amazing house! We didn't want to like rush things so that we could cover more to-do-things in Busan because it's a relaxing holiday.
Plus, we have a very active toddler and a very pregnant woman, so yeah. I will of course do most of the traveling we can before we have a baby. That's for sure. That is something I learn traveling with Sha Lynn. Heh.
We also cooked our 'Korean' breakfast at home, with more Paris Baguettes' products, banana milk (which I absolutely hate and mind you, banana is my favorite fruit), the biggest and juiciest strawberries ever, and 10 packets of Korean instant noodles with Korean long and thin bean sprouts with some pan-fried sausages and hard/half-boiled eggs. So healthy right?
We ate like champions and headed back to Busan Station to catch our train to Seoul, where we were going to spend the rest of the week there.
Same kind of train and procedure that you read
here, just at a different kind of station.
I cannot remember what time we got to Seoul but it was like in the noon or something. We got off at Seoul Station (the most strategic area to stay in Seoul seriously) and went to look for our new Airbnb place.
It's very near to MK Liberty House where we stayed on our first night and thinking that we would get a higher-level unit, we were all expecting a super amazing view but nope. We got Level 3's unit and no view whatsoever.
I blame Busan because our standards got raised so high.
This place is small.
For 7 adults and 1 child.
Really small, but comfortable if I may add. I think most of the houses in Korea are all comfortable but just really small. We got to stay at a very studio-ish unit so it was a new experience.
There is a mezzanine floor where there's 2 king-sized bed and another king-sized bed on the main floor. Only 1 small kitchen and 1 toilet to use. No balcony and no view.
I love the fact that it was so easy for all of us to talk to each other from our own beds because everything is so next to each other. Heh.
We checked in and settled down, washed up, and put on layers of fabric onto our body, and then it was time to party!
And by party, I mean shop-till-you-drop at Myeongdong!
More like eat-till-you-drop there! Hah. I love spending time at Myeongdong. So many things to eat there oh my goodness it's madness there. It's like Pasar Malam but with an air-conditioner the entire time. Syiok giler.
Feels good to be back in Seoul. We realized now that there are still so many things that we didn't do st Seoul because of limited days perhaps but like, now we have a reason to go back there.
Right, Mr. Koay? :)
We had street food for dinner. What the eyes see is what the mouth gets.
The weirdest thing that we ate that night was the deep-fried milk.
Yeah. It wasn't a typo.
DEEP-FRIED MILK!
Yuck to the max.
Taking their subway trains is so normal for us after a while. We're like pros after the first few times okay. They are usually quite fast that young people like us won't sit even when there are so many empty seats around.
I love taking subway trains in Korea. Free taxi rides would be nicer but well there is no such thing is there.
The only thing about subways in Seoul is that all the escalators have this one long metal barrier thing in the middle of the entrance and exit of the giant machine. So baby strollers and wheelchairs won't be able to go through.
They have elevators but they are usually very far at the other end of the tracks or just nowhere to be found. So, if you are traveling to Seoul or any part of Korea with a baby, do get a fold-able one because it will make your life a lot easier. That and pray that your baby won't be cranky at the time when you are in subways.
Sha Lynn is usually very cranky in subways because she was probably tired already so she would refuse to get out of the stroller, and we did not want to walk all the way to the other end to take the lift, only to have to walk all the way back to where we were when we got to the top.
So, what the guys did is to carry this princess up every staircase.
Madness.
FIFTH OF MAY
SEOUL
It was a sunny and cold kinda day so it was really perfect. I thought that a summer-ish long dress would be good so that I may enjoy the cold breeze to the fullest but nope. The wind still too cold. Still need another layer outside.
It was noontime when we got to Tosokchon (which opens and closes at ten daily), the very famous restaurant that serves the world's best chicken ginseng soup also called Samgyetang in the Korean language. So obviously this is a must-try. However, when we got there, the line was so long that we could not see the end of it that we decided we gonna make a pass on this one.
Anyways, it was really nice to walk along the area because it was cold and there were so many tourists around so I guess that makes it a lot nicer to be at as long as it does not get too crowded.
We went to Bukchon Hanok Village because it's another must-visit. It's basically a walking tour (by yourself) along the routes uphill to view those traditional houses with very Korean-ish rooftops. You must have a bit of stamina for this walk okay because it's mostly uphill.
We also walked to the Gyeongbokgung Palace at the time of their guard-changing ceremony. Actually, we went to the palace first before heading to the Bukchon Hanok Village. Show you the map later. I may be confused already at this moment. Navigation is not my cup of tea.
We didn't enter the Gyeongbokgung Palace in the inner entrance because a lot of walking power is needed and there aren't many things to see in there, except more architectural buildings and stuff. We watched the changing of guards' performance but could hardly understand anything. Heh.
At that time, I remembered it being really hot already so no jackets needed whatsoever. Perfect weather to tour the town and eat street food as you go. Heh.
But actually, after we walked to all the tourist places, we decided to go back to Tosokchon and have their famous chicken ginseng soup. Surprisingly, the long line actually moved on quite fast. The maximum wait for us at that time was like 15 minutes.
The area inside the restaurant is massive and very traditional setting up style, so that was superb.
I don't know if it's the best but the chicken ginseng soup is not the watery kind of soup. Their texture is quite thick and very aromatic, however intentionally not salty. It doesn't really suit our taste because we love our food to be strong in terms of taste and especially must be salty right. The chicken meat is super soft and tender. No need to use a fork to tear them apart. Just use a chopstick will do. Indeed a must-try. To know whether this is the best chicken ginseng soup in Korea, I think must ask the locals.
Oh and you will also find glutinous rice stuffed inside the chicken, so a bowl of this samgyetang can be shared between 2-3 people I supposed.
We ordered:
- Tosokchon Ogolgye Samgyetang (Tosokchon Ginseng Korean Black Chicken (Silky fowl) Soup) 23,000 krw = RM80
- Tosokchon Samgyetang (Tosokchon Ginseng Chicken Soup) 16,000 krw = RM56
- A Korean roasted chicken (forgot how much it was already)
I know Tosokchon is famous for their chicken ginseng soup, but you have got to try their kimchi. Oh my goodness their kimchi was the best kimchi we have ever tasted and we were so close to buying few kilograms back but we did not.
I regret to the max that we didn't get it there and then.
It was so good.
Not too sour or spicy.
IT WAS THE BEST KIMCHI I HAVE EVER TASTED IN MY LIFE.
I don't have the photos here but we had one of the most amazing churros by the street. It was super cheap considering that the churros were super long. If I'm not wrong, it was only about RM3.50 for one piece.
AND IT WAS SOOO GOOD.
Today was basically walk and eat then walk some more and eat even more.
It was such a perfect day because no need to worry about weights or whatsoever. Not until we realized that we have a wedding to attend in a few months' time.
OWN WEDDING LAGI BANYAK PRESSURE.
If my memory serves me right, we took the subway and headed home to freshen up. Believe it or not, we were actually sweating from all that walking. That's a first here on this trip to Seoul.
We rested a while and decided to visit the N Seoul Tower tonight. Enough of sweat. We wanted cold air and cold wind some more.
Do you know what the 'N' stands for?
It's actually referring to the New look that the tower has or something like that, with New lighting and stuff.
So, there are two ways to go to N Seoul Tower.
First is you can take a bus up to the Tower and walk a bit uphill which is what I did the last time I was there.
Second is you can take the Namsan Cable Car which is what we took this time. (Adult: RM30 / Child: RM20)
It was raining on and off when we got up there so it was really cold which was super nice it was so wet and it was too late, so most shops were closed and we didn't manage to do much up there. Such a bummer really.
We did however really enjoyed the night view (not too much though) and the temperature up there. It was superb.
There are only 2 cable cars and one cable car fits about 30 people). They only have few seats for senior citizens and pregnant people so the rest of us just stand okay.
It's not an issue actually cos the trip up or down is super fast. It's not like that cable car rides in Langkawi where you can sit and enjoy the view.
This one for a while nia.
