Kamza Hamida! (Seoul-Day 7 & 8)

10 December 2009: The hotel was located near Seolleung, the tomb of King Seongjong , King Jeongneung and Queen Jeonghyeon. It was rather strange having to walk past a king's tomb each time we headed for the subway right smack in the middle of busy city?! We spent most of the day walking around Lotte World and shopping for Korean tea and local delicacies. During lunch at a food court, we were amused by the ingenious electronic Q-number device which beeps andvibrates when your order is ready for collection at the counter! Initially, we were 'sua-kus' and had no idea what it was for.. but thankfully, one of the waiters managed to explain to us in comprehensible English.. or we would be waiting a long time and left wondering.. PHEW!!!


Unfortunately, there wasn't much space left in our bags for clothes.. so we had to reluctantly by-passed some pretty good bargains on winter-wear. But we still managed to purchase a down-jacket, fleece sweater and warm tights.. which meant we HAVE to visit cold countries again next year to make the money spent worthwhile! Hmmm... I'm thinking maybe Italy or London or Paris? Switzerland? Beijing or Shanghai?

11 December 2009: We spent out final hours at the Coex Mall in Seoul before catching the bus to the airport. Although we arrived 4 hours before the flight.. we were allocated seats in the last row.. and ALMOST had to leave the Vulcan behind.. which had Justin in tears.. a rather unpleasant ending to an otherwise enjoyable and fun-filled holiday...

IMPORTANT lesson learnt: NEVER try to bring any toys resembling guns, swords or sharp weapons on board a plane! That would save you a whole lot of trouble!

Lotte World (Seoul-Day 6)

9 December 2009: We wanted to try out the Toboggan or sleigh (as the Koreans call it) but after purchasing the tickets.. we were given huge round tyres instead! Then we hoisted the tubes up this specially ploughed slope via a travel belt.. jumped into the crevice.. held on tight to the reins.. and pushed off... WEEEEeeeee! The boys spent almost 2 hours going down the giant winding slide without tiring! Finally, after wolfing down some cheesy hot dogs, churos (Spanish donut), typical Korean 'fish sticks' and kimchi rice cakes for lunch, we checked out and caught the 1:00pm bus headed for Seoul.

We stayed at Ramada Hotel for the next 2 nights.. a far cry from the earlier spacious service apartment which had 3 bedrooms with separate kitchen and laundry areas. After settling our luggage, we took the train down to Lotte World (the Korean version of Disneyland). A group of Singaporeans (or Malaysians) approached Jimmy and asked him for directions in broken English?!! Maybe he does look Korean? Hmmm.. single eye lid.. broad face.. fair skin..

Justin enjoyed the adventurous water rafting and hot air balloon ride.. Jared went on the flying merry-go-round twice.. we all got on the horse carousel (yup, the same one as depicted in the drama Stairway to Heaven.. see the painting behind me?). But we missed the opening hours of The Folk Museum which was such a shame since we already paid for the entrance fee! Later on, we found ourselves indulging in some local pumpkin sweet, large round rice crackers, Krispe Kreme donuts, Face Shop products (which were apparently cheaper in Korea especially the facial and eye masks) and a HUGE Nerf gun (Vulcan).. which resulted in even BIGGER problems the next day at the airport!!!

Dragon Valley (Yongpyong-Day 5)

8 December 2009: We woke up rather late despite sleeping on the hard floor. After a healthful breakfast of sausages and eggs fried with water, bread, milk for the boys and for coffee Jimmy and me, we made our way up to Dragon Peak via cable car. The view was picturesque and breathtakingly beautiful.. and now I understand why mountains are usually depicted like this in Chinese paintings.. Although Jared and Justin are not particularly fond of heights...

We had a second attempt at making a snowman but unfortunately, it didn't turn out any taller than the little one we made yesterday. So we had a snow fight instead.. which turned out to be great fun and exercise for the whole family!

After lunching on bulgogi and chicken burgers, cheese sticks, shrimp croquettes and deep fried calamari rings at Lotteria (the Korean equivalent of McDonald's or Burger King).. we decided to have a go at skiing. We took FOREVER to get correct-sized rental boots and skis.. strap them on.. and get on the slopes. If my memory serves me correctly, this was only very slightly better than the last time I skied at Lake Mountain in Australia.. with fewer falls??! Then again, maybe I didn't move all that much either.. ha ha ha! But Justin and Jared did rather well as first-time skiers and certainly had fun! Jared even said he was ready for the 'advance' slope the next time around?!! He is really pushing the limits...


And check out Justin's finally flattened hair! Ha ha.. we call it the 'beanie' look. We took a pleasant stroll around the resort in the evening and took in the surreal sight of snow-covered grass, trees and roof tops, before heading back for dinner and some ZZZzzzz...