Seoul Grand Park: In Detail

Many tourists have visited Korea without including Seoul Grand Park in their itinerary.  Maybe because it's not their taste, it's far, it's expensive (not at all), it's not recommended, or they haven't heard of it at all and they don't know about it.


In my opinion, it's a must-see if you have kids with you and you want your kids to see what they only see on books. And they can find it in Seoul Grand Park's Zoo -- "home to thousands of animals and plants from all over the world." 


Seoul Grand Park is a of the biggest park in the world that includes a Zoo (being the highlight), a Theme Park (Seoul Land), a Lake, a Rose Garden and a Museum of Contemporary Art.  The zoo, within the park is the 10th largest zoo in the world.  Think about it? Just the zoo itself is very big, how much more the entire park including the other 4sections. It has more than 3000 animals and 350 different kinds of species.

Seoul Zoo Entrance

Family in Korea Day 8: Separate Ways

Papa&Sisters to Seoul Grand Park; Mama,Aunt&I to Shopping
Friday, April 13, 2012.


Just like what I mentioned in my previous blogs, each person has different interests in traveling.  And we are not an exception to this.  My mother and aunt wants to go shopping, or shall I say, get to see the department stores and other shopping areas of Korea, while my sisters just want to play around and see new things.  If there is a luxury of time, you can accommodate both interests but how about if you don't have enough time?


And this happened to us, so we decided to go on separate ways. My group just went around the city shopping area while my sisters and my heroic father whose interest is the interests of my sisters joined them to Seoul Grand Park. I just taught them on how to go to the park.


How to get there? How much? What is it? Just like my post on Family in Korea Day 7: Everland, I will get into the details of Seoul Grand Park in my next blog.

Everland: In Detail

Everland is the Disneyland version of Korea. It is located in Yongin, Gyeonggi-do Province, South Korea and the largest theme park in the country.  It has so many attractions with T Expess as the biggest ride, the steepest roller coaster in the world. It also has a stunning 4Seasons Garden that shows a beautiful scenery of different kinds of flowers (exceptionally nice on Spring and not available on Winter) Safari World with different kinds of wild animals inside (perfect on Summer because some animals need to hibernate on Winter).

Everland

Everland Ticket Prices:

Family in Korea Day 7: Everland

Everland Resort
Thursday, April 12, 2012


Here comes the Big Day!


When you talk about roller coasters, extreme rides, other thrillers or just theme park, my family (especially my sisters and I) won't let this kind of place just pass away without visiting.  And thanks to our beloved father who would never let a vacation pass without visiting a theme park.

Welcoming Tulips at Everland Entrance

Everland is like the Disneyland of Korea.  But of course, without the "dream come true" experience and the "magic" that Mickey Mouse and the rest of his friends are giving us.  Count of me, a person would never get tired of coming back to Disneyland even if he has visited the place thousand times.

Family in Korea Day 6: Seoul Downtown & Namsan Tower

Myeongdong, Namdaemun & Seoul Tower
Wednesday, April 11, 2012.


Back to Seoul. Another day in Seoul.  But this day is just light because we are preparing for a big day the following day at Everland theme park.  And from the apartment we stayed, it is almost 3hours by subway and bus. Yes, it is even farther than by traveling from Seoul to Daejeon via KTX or even just the ordinary Mugunghwa train. ahaha!


So what did we do on this day?  We left house, like I said in my previous post, late. ahaha!  We can't just leave the house early because we are a gang of 8 with kids that we cannot really control.  When tantrums start at the middle of the day, it's more difficult.  So better fully charged than battery empty in the middle of the day!

Myeongdong

Our first stop was in Myeongdong (명동), a very famous shopping area for foreigners.  Some would even say, in terms of places to visit, "you haven't been to Korea if you haven't bump yourself in Myeongdong."  You would see all kinds of boutiques in that place, from apparels to cosmetics to accessories (both cellphone and hair), to food to cultural centers to grocery areas to movie houses, name it! And it's just a walk away.


By the way, I'm quite familiar with Myeongdong because it was my home for 2months. I worked as an intern in Korean National Commission for UNESCO and their office is in the heart of Myeongdong. Literally, in the middle of the shopping area!

Family in Korea Day 5: EXPO Bridge

EXPO Bridge
Tuesday, April 10, 2012.


It's Tuesday. Still a school day but I only have 1 class for the day at 3:30pm 'til 6:00pm.  So, we are scheduled to see more of my lovely city.  Next question: Where will we go? What are we going to see?


EXPO Bridge! Before I went to Korea, I researched about the places to visit in Korea and especially in Daejeon and one of the famous places here in EXPO Bridge.  Hence, I immediately visited the place when I arrived here (barely 5days after I arrived. maybe?).  And honestly, I haven't returned to this place until today! 

Government Complex Daejeon

Here we go.  We went to EXPO Bridge via bus 605 (the only bus in my place. good thing it passes near the bridge).  It was around 40minutes by bus going to Government Complex bus stop.  My family has recharged from a very good rest the day before. So up for another long walk.  When we arrive the station, we walked going to the bridge for about 30minutes (considering our very slow pacing).  But they enjoyed a lot because of the beautiful scenery.  However, it was drizzling while going around the place so we were quite paralyzed due to umbrella sharing.  Not to mention the weather! It was also cold. 

Rested at the EXPO grounds after the long walk

My family enjoyed so much in the beautiful scenery and took a lot of photos.  By the way, we were all hungry because we didn't have breakfast before going here. But they didn't feel it until we were going back for another 30min walk in the rain and 20min subway ride going to Daejeon station. Thanks to the perfect landscape around EXPO. Travel Tip: When traveling, please don't forget to have a sumptuous breakfast for a very long day. 

Family in Korea Day 4: Daejeon University / King's Meal

Campus Tour / Hanjeongsik
Monday, April 9, 2012.


Back in Daejeon. Back to my home. This is where I lived for most of my stay and one of the five big cities in Korea.  Now why are we here? I had class the entire day of Monday and my family wants to visit my school as well.  After all, the reason why they went to Korea is to see me and my life here rather than go around the country.  Sightseeing just comes to the second spot.


As I mentioned, I have 3 classes for the day: 
Korean Class: 9am -11:30am
Comparative Analysis of ASEAN Economics: 12:30pm - 3:00pm
Research Class: 3:30pm - 6:00pm

At Student Union's Cafeteria

I had full monday schedule so I cannot tour them around the city during the day.  What did we do? In the morning, they just rested and charged themselves after 3days of walking and walking and walking. haha. Then we ate lunch together at our cafeteria (at least the best cafeteria in school).  I ordered all of our meals, Bibimbap (비빔밥), Fried Rice (뽁음밥), Kimchi Stew (김치 찌개) and Ramyeon (라면). Why Ramyeon? It's for my sisters. haha!  They liked the food with one old and the same complain. "It's very spicy" What else can I do? I can't do anything but for them to eat it. Anyway, it's just during this trip! haha. When they go back to the Philippines, they will eat our delicious filipino food again :)

Family in Korea Day 3: Gastronomic Lunch and Strenuous Walk

Self Bar, Cheonggyecheon, Go to Daejeon
Easter Sunday, April 8, 2012.


And since we arrive home very late, we started another day late (actually we almost started everyday late, maybe except the Everland trip?) haha.

Christmas Day Filipino Lunch with friends
L-R: ME, Valerie (Filipino), Jie Qu (Chinese),
Susie (Chinese), Toshiki (Japanese)

So we are scheduled to have lunch with my mom's friend, Ate Joan, and "my home" in Korea where I visited them 3times (Christmas Day, January and February) to have a Filipino meal! Some of the filipino meals I had were pancit, lechon manok, dinuguan, pato, chicken curry, nilagang baka, daing na bangus, fruit salad, cake, and many more (if you want to know more about those foods, just google it).  I just realized I visited them every month. And now, they are not here in Korea anymore :( Since her husband is a US Military official, they don't have permanent address. And right now, her husband is back in USA already after 2years of working in Korea.

We will eat in Self Bar (쎌빠), a very famous unlimited Samgyeopsal (삼셥살)  restaurant (Korean food famous for foreigners) and very famous for students because it has reasonable price.  To know more about the restaurant, check the link, though it will be in Korean: http://www.selfbar.kr/

Family in Korea Day 2: Seoul City Tour / Easter Mass

Seoul City Tour / Easter Mass at Myeongdong Cathedral

Black Saturday, April 7, 2012.

Since we were very the day before (arrived in the apartment around 11:40pm and slept almost 2am), we started the day around 8:30am.  This means we get up, snooze, wash up, eat breakfast, and all the early morning rituals and innate laziness we all have every morning. HAHA!


We are scheduled for just the City Tour taking the Seoul City Tour Bus from Gwanghamun Station Line 5 (Purple Line).  And attend the 8:00pm Easter Sunday Vigil Mass at Myengdong Cathedral celebrated by His Excellency Bishop Lazaro, Archdiocese of Seoul.


But before I will rant about the City Tour, I will talk about our daily trip from Gocheon Area to Seoul Downtown.  Everyday, we travel for around 1hr and 30minutes from home going to downtown area (not considering the specific places) since we live near the Gimpo Airport and as we all know international airports are usually far from the center (except maybe for the Philippines? HAHA).  But thanks for the efficient Airport Railroad (AREX Line), it made our trip easier than you think!


Okay. Back to Seoul City Tour. So we went to Gwanghamun Station, where the famous statue of King Sejong and Admiral Yi is located.  We had sightseeing in the vicinity and took some photos around.  We didn't let the common saying "let's go around first and take photos later" because it usually don't happen anymore.  Just grab all the chances! We also got the opportunity to wear the King's robe for free and took photo together.

King and Queen's robe at Gwanghamun

Family in Korea Day 1: Arrival in Korea

Arrival at Incheon International Airport.
Good Friday, April  6, 2012.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER!

What a night to finish her Birthday Celebration than seeing her only son in Seoul, South Korea! HAHA. Yes, I met my family and some of my relatives in Korea for their 9day spring vacation here.

Since it was a Friday, in fact Good Friday, and Holy Week is not holiday in Korea, I still have to attend classes in the morning. So my day started with a Future of Asia class at 9am 'til 12nn.  Afterwards, I had my last minute preparation like changing some dollars into Korean Won, packing some clothes for a 2day stay in Seoul (since I leave in Daejeon, 1hr by KTX train from Seoul), and some jackets for my family because it was abnormally cold weather (5ºc ~ 14ºc) on a spring season. 

After all the preparations, I still went to Panam-dong Catholic Church for the Good Friday services (Way of the Cross).  I stayed there and prayed for a successful and safe trip for my family while waiting for the time before I go to Daejeon station.

I took the 6pm Mugunghwa (ordinary) train and arrive in Seoul around 8pm.  Then, I went directly to Incheon International Airport via the Airport Railroad (AREX Train).  If you go to the Gimpo/Incheon Airport with less baggage, I suggest to take the AREX train since its very convenient and very cheap.  It's just 3700won using TMoney (Korean Transportation Card) vs the Limousine bus from Seoul downtown to Incheon Airport at 10,000-15,000won.


You can check the blog below for more details and comparisons of transportation between the airport and Seoul downtown: bit.ly/IG7T7G

Unexpected Vacation: Japan&Korea

This vacation had mixed feelings for me. Winter vacation in Korea is Christmas vacation in the Philippines. And when you talked about Christmas in the Philippines, it's a very special season of the year because it's the time when families would gather and spend time together. This is the first Christmas without my family. Back in the Philippines, even though I lived away from my family due to university studies, I always make it to the point to go home on this very special season. However, for this Christmas vacation, or shall I say winter vacation, I cannot make it. It’s quite sad but I have to accept this reality. Nevertheless, I spend time with them online through video calls. Thanks to technology and the fast internet in Korea and Japan.

And my winter vacation does not end there!

At Gyeongbokgung Palance

I was not able to be with my family physically but I was able to meet and spend time together again with my Japanese host family back in 2009. I participated a cultural exchange program in Japan and met my lovely host family. When they learned that I’m currently studying in Korea, they immediately made a plan to spend their winter vacation in this neighboring country. A perfect consolation for not spending my Christmas with my family.

At Seoul Tower with Snowy background

They went to Korea for 4days and 3nights. I was literally with them the whole time, from airport to airport. First, we went around the city – Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁), Insadong (인사동), Myeongdong (명동), Seoul Tower (서울 타워), Teddy Bear Museum (테디베어뮤지엄) and Nami Island (남이섬) to name a few. I could remember when I asked my foster mom what she wants to do in Korea; she cheerfully told me that she wants to go shopping. Indeed, we spend several hours shopping in Myeongdong and Insadong. We also had random shopping in other places of our city sightseeing. Aside from the tour, we didn’t miss to try different Korean dishes and street foods such as Bibimbap (비빔밥), Samgyetang (삼계탕), Samgyeopsal (삼겹살), Steam Chicken (찜닭) Toppokki (떡볶이), Odeng (오뎅) and many more. However, we had one problem. Spicy foods. My foster mom, sister (11 years old) and brother (8 years old) cannot eat spicy foods. Even if we tell the waiter not to make it spicy, the restaurant’s “not spicy” is still spicy for my foster family. Nevertheless, they liked the food even if they cannot bear just a little bit of spicy foods. I just told them that even I myself don’t like spicy foods before. I just learned to eat it here and like it because it will be my meal everyday for the next few months.

“I was literally with them the whole time, from airport to airport.” Yes, because my vacation didn’t end when they went back to Japan. They gave me a trip to Japan. I joined them going back home. I stayed with them for a week. I spend time with them like my real family. I showed them the pictures we had during our first meeting, pictures of my family, pictures of my stay in Korea. I also told them stories that happened to me. They also told me their stories at the same time showed pictures of our meeting and their family. We reminisced together. On my last day in Japan, my mom and I didn’t even sleep just to maximize the remaining time left before I went back to Korea.

In Japan, we went to the places we visited before like the Zenkoji Temple. We also went to Tokyo Disneyland and Iizuna Ski Resort, where the 1998 Winter Olympics was held. It was one of my wishes to visit Tokyo Disneyland and it happened when I least expect it. In addition, the skiing experience was very fun. I didn’t believe it to be that difficult until I wore the skiing equipment. I stumble 5x but continued to play with the enthusiasm to learn how to do it because my foster mom was there to assist me. Like what Disney Parks would always say, “Where Dreams Come True.” Indeed, Tokyo Disneyland and Skii Ride were dreams come true for me!

At Tokyo Disneyland

At Iizuna Kogen Ski Resort

Aside from those ‘dreams come true’ activities, I also met a childhood friend of mine whom I didn’t meet for almost 5years already because their family migrated to Japan in 2007. We spend time and talked about the things that happened to us. In addition, we also prepared a very special Filipino meal for my host family as a gratitude for everything that they gave me. We cooked Filipino food, “Chicken Adobo” and “Nilagang Baka” for viands and “Fruit Salad” for dessert. We ate it with Filipino style and etiquette. This means that we get rid of rice bowls, individual viand bowls and chopsticks for big plates, spoon and fork. We also put the viands on the table just like what we do in the Philippines. My foster family was very grateful for what we did. But if we come to look at it, it is nothing compared to what they have given me.

They were very happy for me! Such a very kind and sweet family of them. I would say that they are not just any ordinary Japanese family. I am very grateful and forever be grateful to meet a family like theirs, Kawamura Family.

To summarize my winter vacation, I could only say a word: MEMORABLE!

I haven't started writing my first formal blog and more activities are coming my way. The best way to do this is to START! Though, I'm wondering what to write first and how to write my first blog. Should I start from my first travel experiences or go straight to my latest trips? :]

I shall START soon..