Seoul 4.

Day four consisted a lot of things... particularly shopping. It did however include a stop at one of the old emperor's palace/temple where we took a couple of pictures. It had a similar design as those from China, but then again Korea has been influenced by China, Japan, and America.

Next was a stop at the popular spot of Myeong-dong...there were literally at least 100 make up stores in that one area. I did also find the Forever 21 in Seoul, which was pretty big like 3 floors and a larger male section. Too bad I couldn't find anything I liked...

At night, I tried going to see the fountain bridge at night, too bad the guide didn't provide much information and I couldn't see anything..I managed to take a couple of night shots though, but wasn't too happy I couldn't see the bridge. Dinner was nice, had authentic Korean barbecue...simply delicious.

Seoul 3.

On day 3, we moved from the Dart resort and drove back to Seoul. But we made a pit stop at this gorgeous herb city where there were vast flowers and beautiful scenery for all. I made a candle with colourful wax and all at their DIY place, and we had a very weird lunch, which I didn't really eat... It was literally flowers and grass plucked from the ground... so I just ate my bowl of rice and kimchi...

From there we drove for another hour to the closest South/North Korean border... it was surreal to visit a place where there was once war and is now a DMZ- demilitarized zone. To see the other side of Korea, it just felt good to be on the South side of it. There were barbed-wire throughout the whole perimeter and armed soldiers on patrol. The memorial picture depicts where South Koreans pray and pay their respects to their loved ones who died in North Korea during the war and was not brought back to South Korea for proper burial.

For dinner that night, we had a hot pot style dinner with pork and chicken with some veggies and tofu... and some more sitting on the floor. My legs were sore after...

Seoul 2:

On day two, we started off with some ramen at this shop. Let me tell you, it was delicious!!! The noodles here wasn't like the Japanese type but it was Korean which was much more thinner... It started with its appetizer dishes... The rice balls were really good too and I usually don't like to eat them, but these ones were special, it had bits of see-weed and other random things.

We then went to the "green house" similar to the United State's "White House". It's where the Korean president lives and works from... got to take a couple of pictures here, and when we were leaving, there was a barricade of escorts, I wonder who it was for...

For lunch, it was pork and chicken on our own barbecue. The Pepsi bottle looked pretty flashy too.

After lunch we went to Everland theme park... it was a Sunday so there were unusually a large amount of families there... we lined up for nearly an hour for the water ride with the whole tour group. The park itself was beautiful and as we were going down the chair lift, a parade was going on.

Again, I love animals and aquatic life, if I wasn't any interested or good with science, I would have considered being a zoologist or something to do with animals. I was surprised at the quality of the park's animal exhibits.. the lions and tigers were awake for once... It must be one of the rare times I have seen them awake cause they're usually just sleeping...The sea-lion show was really entertaining as well (although it was narrated in Korean) they did tricks like jumping of dive boards, dribbling and scoring a basketball into the net with its nose, and standing upright. I was impressed.

We spent the night and next morning and Dart resort... it wasn't the greatest, but the nature was beautiful. Why is Korea such a beautiful country? I really could see myself living there one day in the near future...

Seoul 1:

Seoul was an amazing experience altogether... I was really excited to visit South Korea finally, to see the country, its people, its environment and most importantly whether or not I could see myself spending a few years living there.

So day one, after taking a red-eye flight from HKG to ICN, I arrived at Incheon Airport at around 5am. The airport is impressively well architectural structure. I was in no mood having only arrived back by train from China in the early afternoon and having the flight to Seoul at midnight, having to get to the airport round 10. 

After a quick drive, we reached Namsan Park with the Seoul radio/television tower. The park itself was exceptionally beautiful, with green lush trees and bright coloured flowers. The hard part: climbing the slope of the hill to the top, and unfortunately the tower was not opened that early in the morning.

Here is a picture of myself in front of one of its gazebos. It was a prime spot for locals who were out for a jog to rest. Luckily during the whole trip, the weather stayed nice, although cool during the mornings, it heated up in the afternoon.

 Here is the Seoul tower, as mentioned it wasn't opened at the time we were there but Im sure it has exceptional views from its observation deck.

Next stop was an old Korean village set up, where it depicted the traditional homes in Korea in the past. These houses featured underfloor heating which was an interesting fact learned. And again, it was very beautiful and warm.

I don't remember this street but it features some of Seoul's prominent art displays and creative inspirations. Unfortunately, there wasn't much too pleasing so I made my way to a small garden which featured this 9storey temple monument being preserved.

And most importantly, I loved Korea so much because of its food. For our first meal, we had pork and chicken being steamed and boiled. And ofcourse, there were the appetizer dishes, and kimchi that I might have become a little sick of, from eating it at every meal. I'm not complaining, I loved its dishes and its main courses although it lacked veggies (can't believe I'm saying I missed veggies) but it consisted primarily of pork. For dinner that night, I went to a small family owned restaraunt where I had to take off my shoes and sit on the hard wooden floor. It was something I was looking forward to experiencing so I had enjoyed it. Unfortunately everything was in Korean, but luckily from my Korean experiences in Toronto, I knew how to order the pork bone soup. It was delicious and only 6000Korean Wons.

Ended the first day with some night walking around the streets and their department stores. Time for some much needed sleep to prepare for the second day.