Annyeong Ha Sayur : Seoul

So i guess its no secret anymore that i went to Korea for my Chinese New Year break. Me,Korea? Gasp. Walaupun KPop tidak sebati di jiwaku, i went there with two hardcore anything-Korean-related fan,Marsh and Thariq. Thariq dah tengok every Korean show on earth (talk shows and game shows included), Marsh on the other hand is a true Korean drama fanatic,so much that she now have this unrealistic idea of a perfect romantic man. Great,we were all set to conquer Korea.

Objektif trip:experience everything Korea. (bahan research sebelum pergi:drama korea,shallow..i know)

Pergi ikut Non muslim tour sebab tour muslim tak fardhu kifayah semua buat time date yang kitorang tak free. So bantai je lah ikut non muslim tour,akibatnya kalau makan di restauran yang takde seafood terpaksa telan sayur-sayuran tatkala meja sebelah enak memanggang babi.

For this first part of the Korean trip saga, i would like to focus on Seoul.

Touch down di Incheon airport seawal 6.30 pagi. Perjalanan yang penuh barokah dimulai dengan melawat kilang wine. T_T

-we were given grape juice while everyone else drank red wine.

Lepastu we headed to Myeongdong area. Tempat orang bershopping. Di sinilah first encounter dengan golongan muda urban korea. Them koreans were oh so stylo, and there i was wearing my outdated autumn/winter 2008 River Island winter coat. Most of the ladies are gorgeous too tapi tak tau lah original ke tidak since iklan plastic surgery terpampang besar-besar dekat belakang bas.

Its a norm to get some work done to your face in Korea. So takpayah alasan bangang coverline wudhu' kekalkan keremajaan saya.

Wajah bahagia 2 hardcore fan korea:

Wajah tak berapa excited anti korea:

There were a lot of makciks selling this jajan made out of gula dan serbuk penaik. Sebab Marsh kata dia pernah nampak orang dalam drama Korea makan,we gave it a try.

-The taste was awfully sweet. With a hint of gula hangus

Petang first day tu we flew to Jeju Island-which will be covered in the upcoming post. The last 2 days of the trip we balik ke Seoul. Check in di Grand Ambassador Hotel, a very posh hotel located in te heart of Seoul city centre.

-Complete with our own coffee maker and an automatic toilet.

Kejakunan tidak terhenti di situ. Order Korean traditional pillow dari pillow menu. Padahal bukan guna pun,saja buat kepit celah kaki.

Antara aktiviti di Seoul ialah belajar membuat kimchi. Kimchi ialah pickled veggies yang wajib ada atas meja makan orang Korea setiap kali makan. Korea tanpa kimchi ibarat Elfira Loy tanpa kening.

Di tempat membuat kimchi tu juga, we had chance to try on Korean traditional costumes. I, obviously took this photo-op very seriously. You can tell...

Hari second last sebelum balik tu,pergi tengok Nanta show. Its a musical show tapi takde dialog pun. Just orang main percussions but with jalan cerita la. Entertaining jugak,its listed as one of the Top 10 attraction in Seoul.

Actually we arrived quite early at the show. Ada sejam lebih sebelum start. Ingatkan nak jalan-jalan keliling bandar sekali baru 2 tapak keluar bangunan angin winter -10 degree menerpa ke muka. Terus masuk cafe order strawberry waffle.

Cafe dekat sini hi tech ok. Bila kita order dia bagi this funny looking gadget. So bawak pergi dekat meja. Bila order dah siap dia berkelip and vibrate. Ooooooohhhh jakun seketika.

Balik dari Nanta show we had dinner at one of the chinese restaurants. Since its Chinese New Year's eve,semua orang makan satu meja bulat. Those chinese in our tour group were so considerate, sanggup go pork free for their makan besar. :')

Lepas makan we went to Dongdaemun,tempat shopping juga. Di sini skill tawar menawar amatlah diperlukan. One thing about Korean,they get angry easily when you bargain too much. Tapi mampuslah pergi sekali je, takde kejer aku nak bayar kau 3 kali ganda harga modal.Hati mesti mau kering la bila bargain,baru melayu sejati.

The stuff they are selling here ranging from souvenirs to stylo clothing. Its considered cheap kalau pandai bargain. Ada jugak orang jual dekat luar bangunan,dekat kaki lima tu. Tapi yang tu lagi mahal compared dengan yang dekat dalam.

Hari esoknya dipenuhi dengan melawat tourists trap. Sesiapa yang pernah ikut tour mesti familiar dengan satu hari di mana tour guide bawak ke tempat-tempat khas untuk kita menghabiskan duit. Biasanya tempat begini memang tak boleh ambik gambar dan menjual barang-barang super mahal. We went to a place selling Korean ginseng. A couple from our group bought 5000ringgit worth of ginseng. Gila tak berbaloi,ive tried some of the ginseng. Rasa macam kunyah tanah kubur.

Other places that we went to ialah seaweed production centre and duty free cosmetic store. Konon duty free padahal harga lebih kurang je dengan Malaysia. Konon sebab Korean kulit lawa boleh kelentong kita nak beli produk dia. Dah lah satu kedai terpampang penuh gambar Kim Hyun Joong,kau habis 80000 ringgit beli krim muka pun tak dapek muka macam tu hoi.

The only significant tourist attraction yang dilawati ialah Gyeongbok Palace. Istana lama di tengah bandar Seoul. A lot of history behind this palace but the weather was too cold that day(-13 or something), hence my lack of attention to whatever the tour guide was saying.

-sempena Chinese New Year they have this performance on the main square

The best part of this trip was we were free to do whatever during the night. Group touring cuma sebelah siang so after dinner terpulang nak berjimba ke nak tidur. Justeru on the last night we went to their public sauna/bath house or as they call it Jimjilbang.

Marsh said she knew this kind of place exists from all the Korean drama she has watched. Menurut beliau romantik gila bila hero heroin dating dekat sini. Determine to bask in the romantic atmosphere of the sauna,we went to one of the sauna in Dongdaemun by cab (5 minutes from the hotel).

Lepas bayar 10000won we were given baju and seluar untuk salin. Masuk je men's changing room i was shocked.

There were a lot of men,most of them in their mid 40's, walking around BUTT NAKED with their shuttlecock swinging left to right. So wrong on so many level. Sambil bogel tu boleh pulak sembang-sembang dengan kawan.Ada yang tengok tv bersila dengan shuttlecock terjuntai. Ngeri. Oh Em Ji,clearly those Korean dramas left out this horrifying part.

-the ugly outfit that they provides

Kalau nak mandi bath tub dia memang kena berbogel,something im not comfortable doing in public thankyouverymuch. So we headed to the common area downstairs. At this point i was re-evaluating my friendship with Marsh since she was the one suggesting us to go to this place. Romantic my ass.

Turun bawah jumpa Marsh rupa-rupanya she encountered the same thing in the women's room. Most of the aunties were naked as well. Deswai i said,korean drama semua tipu pfft.

Dekat common area ni banyak kemudahan disediakan antaranya cafe,TV, internet,reading corner,massage service and steam room. Luckily nobody was naked here. Phewww. You are free to do whatever you want here. If we Malaysians lepak mamak,them Koreans lepak tempat begini.

Pelik ok baring-baring tengah alam dengan strangers sambil tengok TV. Apakah?

While waiting for our massage session, we put on our facemasks, baring and just blend in with the locals.

Habis massage terus bergegas tukar baju dan tinggalkan tempat aneh ini. One word to describe this whole sauna/public bathhouse experience: traumatizing.

Keluar bangunan terus mencari makanan,lapar akibat penderaan emosi dan rohani sebentar tadi. Jadi ke kedai berdekatan untuk makan seafood pancake dan bibimbap.

-the pancake is literally lempeng,but with added sotong and kucai in it

-Marsh mengacau bibimbap-a mixture of rice,seaweed,egg,special sauce and some other stuff. Those of you who watched Full House mesti tau ini mendalah yang Rain makan tu.

We went back the next day with Korean Air. Tapi sebelum balik sempat makan bibimbap sotong dekat airport. The best bibimbap we've tasted sepanjang trip ke Korea ini.

Rupa paras sebelum dikacau;

Sekian sahaja travelogue Korea part 1. Jumpa lagi di post akan datang,kalau larat nak update lagi laaaa.

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