Summary of my trip to Seoul, Korea...

Am just back from my trip in beautiful never ending story that was Seoul... and yes, I left a small piece of my soul there... It was a great trip which was too short in my opinion despite the fact that it was a 5 nights and almost 6 day trip there...It was supposed to be a 5 day , 4 night trip, but because of a little problem with the return flight booking.. so we spent one night in at the Incheon airport guesthouse there...not that I am complaining... not at all.. it is a blessing...

There were a great many places we saw and a great many more which we did not get to see because of out hectic schedule...

This was what we did/ and covered during this trip in Seoul....Just running this through and sharing it.. for more details of each place, I will be taking my time to blog about the individual places in my travel / food blog : www.livelifelah.com so check it out there ok....

Day 1

Arrived in the evening and check into guesthouse.. 

Made our way to Myeong dong which was a beauty lover's paradise... and then somehow found our way to Lotte Fitin and K-Live place on the 9th floor where we indulged in some K-Pop experience...

Then headed back to the guesthouse and rested...

Day 2

Headed to the Danghaeno University Street to check out some of the murals there though we did not quite find all.. 

Then we went to Changdeokgung Palace and somehow into the Secret Garden as well... but huhuhu... Secret Garden? 

It seem to me more like a Secret Forest... it was humongous...and my legs were not that strong.. hahaha... Initially I thought I could cover 2 or 3 palaces in one go.. but after going around Changdeokgung Palace twice and the Secret Garden... we surrendered.. but if you ask me if it was worth it, it definitely was... so much natural greenery and beauty in one place...just love all those gingko trees and maple trees etc..etc..

Then we went to the Thanks Nature cafe near Hongik University to indulge my daughter's love of animals .. well..there was two fat sheep there that made us smile....although we had to pay somewhat a hefty price for the desserts there... but I guess in some ways it was worth it...

my youngest daughter was tired and so was I.. so we headed back to the guest house after some food and rested....

Day 3

Got up and headed to Apgujeong Rodeo Street which is somewhat like Hollywood Walk of Fame on a smaller and different scale in search of Gangnamdol bears and K Star entertainment buildings with the very faint hope of somehow getting lucky and bumping into some popular K Star.... hahaha... fat hope....

Then we decided to go to the Korean Folk Village after debating on whether to go there or to Nami Island.. 

it might seem silly to some of you but well, I am a medieval history and romantic person and I love historical places with a vengeance and well, the Korean Folk Village was also famous for being the place Korean dramas were shot there such as Sunghkyunkwan Scandal, Dongyi, The Moon that Embraces the Sun, My Love From the Star and Six Flying Dragons.....so it suited me fine as for me Nami was all about just Winter Sonata and those lovely line of trees, and perhaps the statues of those Winter Sonata cast and a trip to Petite France probably...(which was in my initial plan but then now scraped in place for my trip to the Korean Folk Village...)

We spent a good portion of the day there before heading back to the guest house since my younger daughter was all tired out after that, and left her there before my elder girl and I made our way to Namsan Mountain and Myeong dong... 

Day 4

Headed to Gyeongbokgung Palace... 

and before the Palace open at 9.00am, we headed to the Gwanghwamun Square to take some pictures of the majestic King Sejong seated on his throne overlooking the square there and in front of him, the Admiral Yi... 

We had a great time watching the very vibrant and colourful Gate Guard Change ceremony there at the palace before going into the palace compound...

Then later we headed to the National Palace Museum of Korea which was just at the side of the palace and next to the Subway...

and then made our way to the Jongmyo Royal Shrine ...

From Jongmyo, we found ourself at Namsangol Hanok Village where we learn even more about the houses there ranging from a carpenter's home to the home of a father in law of one of the kings...

We even got to try on the Hanbok and had pictures taken there...then we stopped by the Dongdaemun Design Plaza for a little look see before heading back Myeong dong as my daughter wanted to buy some lip stain 

....and stopped by the cat cafe there to indulge my daughter's whims... sighh.... more money yaa... hahaha...8000 won/RM28 per adult and 6000 won / RM21 per child... and if you are there and need cat food to feed the cats it is 2000 won / RM7 , but the price of visit per person comes with a drink of your choice...

Day 5

We had some problems dealing with our flight back to Malaysia and was in a slight state of panic.. however we decided not to waste time and still found some time to head to get out...LOL

And so we headed to the Namdaemun market for a bit but since it was early Sunday morning, not many places were open.... Malaysians can feel at home here as there are some shopkeepers here who can speak some Malay!!! We then headed to our last destination in Seoul... 

The War Museum of Korea...a magnificent place... I think.... 

Then we headed back to our Guesthouse in Seoul, and packed our bags and checked out... We then made our way to the airport and stopped for a meal there at the K Pop food area.. before getting a taxi to the Incheon Airport NumberOne Guesthouse a short distance away...

After we have checked in, and washed some of our clothes in the washing machine in our apartment/room, we headed out to the Eurwangni beach..but oh gosh... 

I think this must be the most busiest beach I have ever come to... LOL... there was sooo many people and tents all over and not much space to move around... but the place was I guess somewhat scenic and there were seagulls flying around....headed back to the hotel and had our dinner in the room...

Day 6

Checked out and took the free airport shuttle to the airport.... 

And well, that was the summary of my trip to lovely Seoul Korea..I am back in Malaysia now and I miss the culture there, the people and the weather...and of course, sighting K celebrities on posters and everywhere.... huhu... I think the only think I did not like about Korea is that the food is costly, average per meal, per person in a restaurant or even at the road side stall is about anywhere about 4000 won /RM14.05 (for a banana nutella pancake), 4500 won / RM15.80 (for a kebab) to 10000 won /RM35.10 and above...  hahahahah....  so that is "heavy" for me....

And in case you are wondering, I was very much well connected in Seoul with the help of a pocket wifi in places that did not have good connection or free wifi... you will definitely need it if you are a heavy internet user like I am and like to update statuses/ check in wherever you are.. hehehe

...will write more on the places I visited in www.livelifelah.com, so stay tuned...