Lair of Flying Green Song Rabbits

A continuation...

Arrived in Incheon at about 7pm and found out our tour group only had 5 people! My parents and I, and a girl with her mother. I wished it was a slightly bigger group because I thought it was a bit awkward, but it has some advantages like faster toilet breaks and more shopping hours!



A double and a single bed this time, not that I'm complaining. The king size bed was so nice but too squishy.








Several boxes of Godiva chocolates from HK airport and wife cake (YUM). I love wife cake.






Early in the morning we drove an hour out of Seoul to go to EVERLAND!

One of the many many bridges over the Han River.




The decorations were so pretty. They were having the Snow Festival, oh and it was bloody freezing at 0C.








We walked around for a bit before the tour guide Tommy took us on the Safari to see Ligers. YEAH LIGERS!

Normal tigers and lions.






THE LIGER!






I know it's just animals, and you're looking at them through glass and stuff, but...



ISN'T HE SO CUTE?!??



HE'S ADORABLE ISN'T HE?!?!






I went on a few sissy rides because nobody would go on the massive rollercoasters with me and I didn't want to go alone while everyone waits. We went to the circus though and they did some mediocre tricks (I've been to too many good circuses to be impressed anymore). It was pretty entertaining at least, but it would be so much better if I had friends coming and not my daggy parents.

The night views are so bright and colourful during Christmas. The trees were so intricately decorated with lights!




We went back to the resort with some gigantic Korean apples, sweet and crisp and COLD.




The next morning we went to:




AND I MADE KIMCHI!






Afterwards we dressed up in hanboks and took photos but I was given this absolutely hideous abomination so I'm not showing them to you T_T




Then it was some touristy sightseeing at the parliament house thing, and saw some fighter planes and bombers used in the Korean war.






Then we went to Namsangol Hanok Village to look at heritage sites of the reconstructed palaces.

The lake there was frozen so I took a picture! It was pretty cool and scary :)




Then right after me and the other girl Stephanie were taking pictures on the ice and playing around, all these kids began running on it and jumping and stamping their feet on the ice and I'm like shit, I'm a bad influence. One kid actually did drop into the water and was hauled out laughing and soaking wet in sub-zero temperatures.

Serves you right T_T

That right here they were cooking a popular Korean drink; burnt rice water.

CAN I SAY EW, EW AND EW. It is seriously the water taken from boiling the burnt rice from dinner, and them drinking that runoff! It was the worst taste ever. It was cold and I needed a hot drink, but no thanks.






These pots actually had real food inside, like fermented soy sauce. I saw mould in it...apparently you just wipe off the mould and the wine/soysauce/condiments underneath is the best o_o




This was my first big shopping experience. We went to the most trendy and popular place to shop, Myeongdong.




This was some sort of sparkling rose drink. I actually wanted the forget-me-not one, but they didn't really understand English. Check out that colour!






The Myeongdong shopping mall thing at night, with all the pretyt lights.




For dinner Tommy took us to a popular ginseng chicken place that was 5 storeys! It was really really popular and packed. We were supposed to have the ordinary ginseng with chicken broth, but everyone decided to pay an extra 20,000 won for the Samsung ginseng, black chicken broth. That's almost $20 extra!

Every meal came with a plate of kimchi.








It was one of the best meals.

The enxt morning we went to Gyeongbokgung Palace, which was the main palace during imperial Korea. Many of the palaces were destroyed by the Japs, so a lot are reconstructed, therefore not as fancy or expensive as it would've been. The original wood structures were made of very high quality, lacquered wood.










You can't tell from the photo, but this pagoda-like building on the lake is...truly...enormous...






Taking a picture with my Chinese zodiac animal, the wily snake.




It was too cold so we quickly went into the cafe and ordered coffee. Unlike coffee in China, people in Korea KNOW HOW TO DRINK COFFEE. The coffee beans in China tasted so shit it was like drinking bitter milk T_T






We really didn't want to go back outside. The sun was out, it was warmer. This pic makes me looks glowy.




Parents, Stephanie, Stephanie's mum and Tommy.


The palace had gate guards, not unlike the ones in England where you can shake your ass and they won't even flinch.






Then went to visit a highly restricted government area. It was very beautiful, picturesque and peaceful.












Oh yeah, I wore my new black plush jacket I got from Myeongdong, on sale so it was only $35!! We also bought $4000 worth of Korean ginseng...




By then we were all pretty damn hungry so we had a different kind of Korean hotpot. This was the best meal out of all of them, but I couldn't enjoy it as I was still recovering from food poisoning. It was cabbage (and can I just say Korean cabbage is the crunchiest, juiciest, sweetest cabbage I have ever eaten!) with pork marinated in the most delectable red sauce that wasn't spicy but sweet. Oh, it was sooo good.




By afternoon we reached another shopping district, Dongdaemun (Great East Gate) where all the high class stuff was. There was a Louis Vuitton and Hermes boutique on practically every block!! It is also popular for their street vendors and market (similar to Mouse Road/Ladies' Market in Hong Kong but way bigger) but it was so cold and I was getting cramps I never got to shop -_- Instead we hung out in the heated Shinsegae mall and I went through all the floors browsing at LV, Chloe, Marc Jacobs, Balenciaga (THEY ALSO DIDN'T HAVE THE BAG I WANTED!! Plus it was $2000+ and father cheaped out on me), Bottega Venetta, Valentino, Prada, you name the brand and it's here.

I was glad to get into the car. Damn stomach ache. We went to the N Seoul Tower next.




I believe this was the place where they made that episode in Goong where the girl goes with the grandmother to the teddy bear museum, because I saw a teddy bear museum but didn't go in!




Up, up and away...






This is the direction I should travel if I were to go home :(




This was the last night for the girls since they were leaving for Taiwan in the morning, while we were leaving for Hong Kong-Sydney in the arvo. With all that extra time, Tommy decided to take us to experience more of Seoul by taking us to see the "daily changing of the palace guards" ceremony! It was a long procession.









Look at the guy's skirts swoosh!

Some more last minute shopping in a small, touristy street. These piping hot cakes filled with red bean paste were so adorable and so toasty I just had to have one T_T




The last thing we did on our way to Incheon was to go via the old route - taking the boat. We all filed into the car and drove into the ship, but not before getting a packet of prawn crisps to feed the seagulls!






It was really fun but my fingers felt like dropping off after. We were aiming to throw the crackers so the gulls could catch it in the air. Some were sharp as they swooped to my cleverly aimed throws.

And then it was airport time and we had to go.



Last minute buy, my lovely blue pashmina >W<

Xiaxue had the same picture I had at Incheon airport, BUT I TOOK IT FIRST SINCE I WENT FIRST. Showing you the menu of the multilevel beef burgers they have.






I love Sydney more.