Family in Korea Day 9: Cherry Blossom Festival

COEX & Yeouido Park
Saturday, April 14, 2012.


This is just another day in Seoul.  But it's quite special with Cherry Blossoms coming our way.  It will be our first time to see Cherry Blossoms.


We first went to COEX, to see the biggest underground shopping market in Asia, located in the basement of Korea World Trade Center in Gangnam, one of the shopping districts in Korea.  There are hundreds of apparels, gadgets, food and other items you might need there so you don't need to worry about anything.  Also, the signboards are in English, Korean and sometimes Japanese and Chinese so it is very foreigner friendly.  And the concierge can definitely speak English!

Inside the COEX Underground Shopping Mall

We stayed there for a while, bough some souvenirs, ate lunch and met my Korean friend who lived in the Philippines for more than 5yrs already. She went back in Korea for the summer holidays but will go back to the Philippines to finish her undergraduate studies.  Wonder how I met her? We both enrolled Spanish Class in Instituto Cervantes in the Philippines.

Christine (지현), my Korean friend (2nd from left) who lives in the Philippines 

From COEX, we went directly to Ttukseom park to board the Hangang River Cruise and at the same time have some Cherry Blossom sightseeings.  However, things went wrong for us in this place. We were not able to board the River Cruise because we are 1 minute delayed from schedule.  We saw people boarding and leaving the boat but we didn't bother to run because I thought it was not the boat we intend to ride.  When I checked their schedule in Korea's Tourism Website for Hangang River Ferry Cruise, it was not yet the schedule but they changed it due to the Cherry Blossom festivities.

Travel Tip: I suggest to contact the river cruise company to make sure the cruise schedule or else you might miss the cruise like us!

Because of this, we just end up taking pictures within the vicinity:

At Tteuksom Park

Walking towards the ferry cruise docking area

At the docking area

My parents at the port

Look at the subway trains

Instead of going to Yeouido via the ferry boat for the Cherry Blossom Festival, we end up riding the subway.  Too bad, the ferry didn't wait for us.

At Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival, there were thousands of people, both Koreans and foreigners trying to witness the peak of the Cherry Blossom.  We took hundreds of photos in the area but didn't walk much because we were already very tired since it was our last itinerary for the day.  We walked for so long already during the entire day's trip.

Here are some of the photos of the Festival:

Sitting on the streets. Dead Tired

While walking around the vicinity

Family in Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival

The Gang in Yeouido Cherry Blossom Festival

Afterwards, we decided to go back home and get some rest.  Luckily, there was a bus that would go directly to our home base.  This made our trip back home hassle-free for a 45minute bus ride because we don't need to transfer anymore.

When we arrived home, we ordered some chickens! Yes, home delivery is very common in Korea.  If you plan to travel in Korea, you can just call and ask to deliver to food to your place of stay.  The people can understand at least basic english.  You don't have to worry, as long as you can say what you want to buy and the address of your place.  It will come to your place! 

Travel Tip:  You can even pay using your debit/credit cards for home-delivery.

That's the end of the 2nd to the last day.  Technically, the last day since we didn't travel anymore the following day.