3rd day: bukchon village, palace, insadong, cheonggyecheon stream, dongdaemun

6th August 2016, Saturday

So, we start our day quite early. Reach Bukchon Hanok Village around 8am something. 

Most of the shops were still closed. I was actually searching for the photo spots but only found a few of them, and all of us got tired to go around anymore. So we just wasting time, waiting for Changdeokgung Palace to start the first English-guided tour at 10.30am. Passed by this shop selling kpop merchandise at the village. Mates bought few things there. I wanna buy the burung hantu doll (in the Heirs) there, but it was too pricey, 40000w and converted to RM, almost rm160? And it’s not that big pun. But other things were quite cheap. 😆

At Bukchon Hanok Village, there were lot of hanbok rental shop offering 10000w for an hour. However, it was still closed when we were there and it’s scorching hot that morning, so we decided not to rent them. And yeah, wearing hanbok to the palace will allow you free entry. 

The English-guided tour last for an hour. I was not really paying attention to the guide cause I was too tired to walk further. I just go see few of places I saw in Korean drama, and just wait at each of the entrance that the guide will pass through. Semput, serius! Then, we went for tour at Secret Garden(still inside palace), booked online a month earlier but actually there was no need for that, I think. I didn’t even need to show the booking printout. Entrance fee for both was 8000w.

From the palace, we walk to Insadong area, looking for place to have lunch. Went to Insadong Sujebi Restaurant, it’s a seafood and vegetarian restaurant. And they did not add alcohol into the meal, as I asked the owner earlier. However, eat here at own discretion, it was not halal-certified. Sujebi is a claypot, traditional korean noodle soup. 

                                                      the door is a bit hidden.

They have the usual and spicy flavored one. Do not order too many bowl. Just order one sujebi, and it can be shared for 2-3 people. 6000w per pot. I also ordered haemul pajeon (9000w) and shared it with N. And yeah, the shop is quite hidden. Remember that it was not far from Samziegil.

We just pass through all the shops there, and stop for a while at Ssamziegil. 

                                          Ssamziegil.

Bought poop bread. I think it was 1000w for 2 pieces. It’s just a pastry looking like poop, with chocolate filling. I asked the seller if it had any animal origin/alcohol but he said no. So I just trust him for that. Actually, it’s not really that tasty. Maybe I was full from the lunch or it was really not that sedap. Idk.

 

After that is the starting point where I got separated with my travelmates. The story goes this way. I was actually looking around at one of the shop, and I lost track of them. So I just made my way up to the rooftop since my friend said that they’ll be going up there to buy the poop bread. There’s also a cafe up there. However, after waiting for a while, I did not see them, so I thought they left already. Because there was no place to sit there and there were too many people up there, I decided to take a stroll around Insadong. I felt like I would be wasting time waiting for them. However, I grew bored walking there so I took a sit near the street going towards subway station. Since the next place require used of subway.

                                                 They can speak Indonesian... 😉

However, after waiting for almost half an hour, they told me that they were already at the train station. I was like, “but I didn’t see you guys passing through this road?”  And the place I was waiting at was not that far from Ssamziegil. They were actually at another subway station not far from the area too, just that, it was not the one I was closer to. I ended up having solo trip around Seoul since then.

                                     somewhere near KTO. I think I saw it in kdrama.

I went to Insadong Information center. Maybe I ate too much the day before, so had a little bit problem with my bowel movement. I was looking for toilet, that have bidet or pipe(nowhere in Seoul). The center also got musolla prayer. There were quite a lot of activities there, but since I was short on time, and I also promised my travelmates to meet at Dongdaemun, I did not do much there. Haha!

From there, I walked along Cheonggyecheon Stream and saw a lot of locals dipping their feet in the stream. Some of the kids even swim around, but of course I did not join them. I was completely in tourist mode. Even went to Gwanghwamun Square and see all the monuments there. 

At that time, there was some sort of memoir or protest done in regards of Sewol tragedy, if I am not mistaken, I wrote down my (not real) name and got a cute ribbon as a token of appreciation. Then, I went straight to Dongdaemun and had my souvenir shopping there. I was quite occupied with trying to find my travelmates so I did not get to have dinner at Dongdaemun Grilled Fish Market. 

 

I think Pyeonghwa Market is a good place to buy cheap souvenir. I did not get to go to Namdaemun so I was not sure if there got much cheaper things. 10 keychain around 10000w, socks 1000w to 2000w per pair, chopstick, tshirt 5000w. However, this building closes early. I arrived there around 5pm and most of them already closed except a few souvenir shop. I managed to meet my mates and we went back together. I was hungry so I wander around Hongdae area near the studio, and had some halal lamb kebab at Istanbul Kebab. It was quite cheap, only 5000w. 

Halal Malaysia, beb!

                                     

                                       

busking/street performance.

Total : 8000w (palace) + 8000w (lunch) + 1000w (bread) + 5000w (kebab) = 22000w

p/s: Refer to my guide for anything. Or please drop comment. 

2nd day: Nami Island, Petite France, K-Star Road

5th August 2016, Friday

We went out at 6.30am in the morning as it took roughly an hour and a half to go to Gapyeong station from our stay. We took the ITX but no seat was available for the train we were boarding at that particular time. We had to stand all the way till the last station. And these ITX need to buy ticket first. I did not know that so all of us just went direct to the platform before someone there told us that we need to buy the ticket first. And also it’s preferable to buy the seat online because when we want to buy the ticket during return journey, 4 hours before the boarding time, there was no seat. ITX cost 4300w 1 way.

Outside the station, we took the shuttle bus. Usually, we need to pay for 5000w to use the bus for 1 day, but we had the coupon from KTO so we board the bus FOC. Just remember to hold on the coupon until the end of the day. The earliest shuttle was at 9.10am. We actually reach there quite early so end up waiting for half an hour. Other ways to go to Nami Island is by taxi but since we will be going to Petite France later, we decided to just take the bus. After all, it’s free, anyway.

The best part about Nami Island is we had the chance to try the zipline. It was quite pricey, 38000w  but it was really fun and cool. That includes entrance to Nami Island and return journey by ferry. It was not planned, and most of us thought that since it is once in a lifetime chance, why not spend some money for it? The usual entrance fee to Nami is 8000w, with 30mins interval for the ferry.

                                          small ferry from zipline to nami island

                                        entrance?

I wander around Nami alone, cause somehow I walked too fast. Lol. I ended up leaving them behind. Went to see the winter sonata snowman, ostrich and few other places. After that, we went for our lunch at Nami-ok restaurant and had halal dakgalbi there. It costs 12000w per person, and the taxi that we took 4400w from Nami, around 1100w each. It was nice compared to the one I had in Mr Dakgalbi, Sri Petaling. 

Maybe cause it’s local dish there, so that’s why it was tastier. Luckily, the drinks there were refillable, so we filled our bottle with it. The restaurant also have place for muslim to pray, it’s located at the attic, with no fan or aircond. But we could not really ask for more. The auntie was also nice to us as she help to call for taxi, it’s hard to do that if you cannot really speak korean. 

Then, we took the taxi back to Gapyeong station and wait for the shuttle bus. From the station, it was a bit far and took half an hour to go to Petite France. I had this apps ‘Seoul Pass’ in my N5 so I got discount and only pay for 6000w instead of 8000w. It was a place full of photo spots but other than that, not much can be done, unless you’re interested in handcraft, exhibition and performance.

                                 teringat tempat ni dalam running man episod awal2

Then, we went back to Gapyeong station using the same shuttle bus. Reach Gangnam around 7pm, I want to go see the gangnamdol at kstar road. My Infinite doll is quite far, almost the last doll, if I am not mistaken. It took more than a km from the big gangnamdol near Exit 1, Gangnam station.

                                                       Infinite 😚

My travelmates were quite tired that day so they want to go back first. However, because I was hungry and it was still early, I decided to go to Yang Good BBQ lamb alone. It was not that far from Gangnam but nevertheless still need to take the train to Yeoksam station. Had a set of lamb rack following the waiter’s recommendation, add a bowl of rice and a can of sprite, total amount was 30000w. It was quite expensive for a dinner, but worth it. The meat is so tender, no smell and I wish I could order more, but nah. I do not want to spend too much for dinner.

                               wrote my expenditure that day on the tissue. phone no battery.

                                                       the sauce

Masa nak pergi restaurant ni, N5 tinggal 10% je battery, memang dah nazak. Sempat ambil 1 gambar, yang lain pakai gp pastu terus mati. Fikir2 kalau sesat ke apa, memang naya la juga, communication is cut off. Haha! Power bank pula kosong since x charge the night before. Fuh~ Tapi alhamdulillah, berjaya juga sampai studio. Siap jalan-jalan lagi kat area Hongdae malam tu.

2nd day : 8600w (ITX) + 38000w (Nami) + 12000w (dakgalbi) + 30000w (lamb) + 2000w (taxi) + 6000w (Petite france) = 96600w

Haha! sehari je spend nak dekat rm400. Fuh. Giler lah. Lol. 

p/s: Refer to my guide for anything. Or please drop comment. 

1st day: Incheon Airport, Hongdae, Myeongdong

4th August 2016, Thursday

It’s my first time in South Korea. One of 3 country in this world, that I’d love to go to. So, my flight was supposed to be at 8am, 4th of August. Was there since 10pm night before, along and nenek dropped me off. Spent time alone there since my travelmates only come during the morning. I don’t want to go through such hassle so I went too early. Slept for 3 hours, I think, around 1am. And spent time watching dramas on my Note5. Then, around 6am, went for early breakfast at KFC. 

Well, it was actually my first time going overseas. So I thought I was supposed to check in the luggage at different place than the outside, usual one. I went inside early only to discover, at the mesin xray, that I was supposed to drop it outside. Alhamdulillah, the kind staff drove me using the kereta (kowt) so I reach outside quite fast. And luckily, not much people were queueing so I get to reach the xray place at 7 something.

                               watching japanese drama on flight while having meal.

It took roughly 6 hours flying from KLIA2 to Incheon Airport. I slept, watched drama and ate inflight meal during those 6 hours. Sampai dekat Incheon dalam 3.20pm, baru lah berkenalan dengan travelmate, kawan2 N. So far so good la. Rasa macam boleh masuk, boleh ngam. Then, imigration, wait for the luggage, rupanya luggage depan mata. Semua tak perasan beg sendiri. Lol. 

After that, went to claim the simcard at Arex Travel. I booked and paid online already, cost 30000w since I used nanosim, so it has been activated when I got it. The others had to do a few steps to activate the simcard, with the help of the person at the counter. We did not take any pocket wifi cause if travelling in a group and we got separated, internet would be a problem. And since I might need to call Abah in UAE so that’s why I prefer the simcard.

                                                       EG (Evergreen) simcard

All of us already got our T-money (FOC) from Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) KL, we did not need to buy the pass. We just recharge the card at machine outside AREX area. And it also comes with a booklet of coupons. Not sure if they still give it around right now. I did not know that we can also use the T-money to board the AREX train. We ended up buying the ticket for that. Haha!

Anyway, we took the AREX to our airbnb stay located really close from Exit 2 Hongik University Station. Actually, this exit is a bit far from AREX but closer to Line 2. It’s a studio, complete with bathroom, shower, small kitchen and refrigerator. 1210 AED for 5nights, paid using abah’s card. So, RM334 per person, which amount to rm70/night. One thing that kind of spoil our stay was the aircond, it was not working. We went during summer so imagine how hot was it . Did complaint to the owner but he said that the aircond usually works.

https://www.airbnb.com.my/rooms/4850645

                                       our room located in building next to Samsung.

                                                  tengok kat tingkap nampak joong ki.

We never meet the owner. The room used passcode lock so he just gave us the pin via airbnb. At first, we were not really sure if the room is located in the building but after calling the owner (doesn’t really help) and asking around, we finally found the place. Though there was no washing machine inside the room, there’s a self-laundry and dryer machine at basement. Quite scary to go there when I went to wash mine at 11pm. 

                                                         Namsan Orumi.

We relaxed a bit in the room before going out again around 7pm. We planned to go to Namsan tower but the crowds were too much. We do not feel like queuing so we just went to Myeongdong for shopping. From Myeongdong station, exit 3 to Namsan orumi was quite far, the next time we went, we just took taxi. Spend time there until 10pm something then we called the day off. Bought the candy, facial product, streetfood (eggbun) and some other things. 

                        Bought the egg bun, but accidentally dropped mine to the floor. 😢

                                   Honeystring candy. Uncle ni banyak cakap.. haha!

Took too much time looking for place to eat, but turns out the place was closed. It’s the only halal seafood restaurant in Myeongdong area.

Total expenditure first day : Rm334 (stay) + 30000w (simcard) + Tmoney (50000w) = rm632

that time the rate was 3.73.

p/s: Refer to my guide for anything. Or please drop comment. 

bully~

It's getting worse these days. In the past, I had my own share of being bullied. Bt nothing physical, only mentally bullied, I think?

I used to cry often while otp with my abah bt it was not because i was homesick. It was because of this. If you don't do what they want, they're going to torture you at night, everywhere, all the time, in front of everyone. It was better cause I have great friends.

But still, because of all those things that I experienced, I started to be scared of people. Even now, I always pretend that I did not see you though I actually saw you from a far. I have problem to get close to people unless they reach out to me first.

And I never say this bt one of the reason I accepted the offer to move when I was form 4 was because I'm afraid that I'll be a bully. Since they said it's a 'tradition'. At that time, that was the only way out fr me.

I never blame the school bt I blame the seniors. In fact, I used to pray that those seniors will face misfortune throughout their life. Bt that was in the past. Right now, I hope that they'll have a good life. It hurts for me to forgive them but now I'm letting it go. "The one who forgave have bigger heart" right?

P/s: i think they don't have such thing right now. Or did they still?

#FH3 caffebenemy~

Assalamualaikum.
kali ni kita pergi desert cafe la pulak.
kita caffebene yang terletak kat terminal pahlawan.

Caffebene Malaysia,
Lot G69-G70, Ground Floor,
Terminal Pahlawan,
75000 Melaka

sebenarnya da lama nak pergi tempat ni,
kat kl ada kat sunway pyramid.
nak ajak orang, orang lain x berapa minat sangat
makan desert ni.

tp kalau pergi sendiri takut x abis pula.
lagipn kalau pergi more than 1 kan boleh share,
so banyak la benda boleh dimakan,
dan dapat jimat di situ.
tapi pergi dengan si gendut ni,
xde maknanya nak share bayar.
end up bayar untuk dia sekali. hmm.

so bila si gendut ajak keluar pergi dataran pahlawan,
memang x lepaskan peluang la nak ikut.
walaupn tahu jalan jam sebab cuti am raya cina.
x kisah lah, janji dapat makan.

ni semua pengaruh drama korea la ni,
dan running man.
teringin nak makan pat bingsu.
macam sedap je tgk diorang makan.
and cafe ni sebenarnya memang dari korea.
outlet dia kat kl dulu lee kwang soo yang rasmikan.
tp i'm as someone yang kalau minat pn,
i won't go as far as meeting them.
sebab kalau dah jumpa, confirm da x minat da.

that's one of reason i never have any crush on people.
sebab takut kalau da kenal nanti,
trus da x minat. haha.

anyway, back to review kita.
i ordered cookie & cream bingsu,
sebab yg lain tu macam x minat rasanya.
lagi pn pat bingsu ni sebenarnya macam ais kacang je,
macam ABC cuma ada la tambahan dia.
it was nice, sedap. memang boleh hilang dahaga la.

and sebenarnya nak try pan desert dia.
tapi ntah macam mana masa tgh order tu,
boleh terorder caramel banana punya waffle.
kalau nak tambah order, takut kopak la pula.
so xpe la, lain kali sajalah.

anyway,
waffle dia memang best. sedap!
x taula aiskrim atau pn whipping cream atas dia,
tp bila makan sekali dengan banana dan waffle,
rasa sedap sungguh. waffle dia rangup tapi still lembut,
and manis, so memang nice la.

oh ya, cara order dia lain sket daripada coffee shop yang lain.
xde la lain mana, cuma ada tambahan sikit.
so sampai2 tu cari meja dulu,
dah duduk baru pergi kaunter and order,
kalau penuh, xde table kosong,
terpaksa la tunggu,
x boleh order awal2.

da order, nanti dia akan bagi satu cakera bulat atau saya panggil
buzzer je la. x tahu nama sebenar dia.
buzzer dia kiranya, kalau order kita da sampai,
nanti dia akan menggeletar.
sebenarnya dah banyak kali tgk alat ni dalam drama korea.
tapi kat malaysia 1st time la tgk masa kat cafe ni.
bila da vibrate, maknanya da siap.
so boleh la ambil kat kaunter.

harga dia boleh tahan mahal la juga.
sebab kalau tgk waffle dia kecik je,
tapi harga dia makaih..
kalau nak makan hari2 kat situ memang x mampu la,
mungkin sebulan sekali? haha..

menu dia nak kata banyak xde la sangat.
macam biasa, coffee shop mesti la ada jual coffee,
latte, cappucino and stuff,
but don't worry, non coffee drinks pun ada.
and desert dia,
macam waffle tu, pan desert, bing su, ala2 toast bread,
gelato aiskrim pun ada.
boleh rujuk menu la.

maaf gambar menu x berapa nampak sebab,
malas nak ambil gambar sambil berdiri,
so ambil sambil duduk je.
kena zoom la sket kalau nak tgk.

cleanliness dia ok la.
bersih.
mungkin sebab dalam bngunan kowt?
so memang xde unsur2 kekotoran nampaknya.

ambience dia sama macam mana2 coffee shop,
mungkin sama macam starbucks kowt?
bt probably starbucks lagi banyak seats?
idk. x pernah masuk starbucks. x mampu nak masuk.

so, here comes the rating...

food - 8/10
price - 7/10
menu - 6/10
cleanliness - 8/10
ambience - 7/10
overall - 8/10

#FH4 murni discovery~

Assalamualaikum.
so, here it goes.
the next review is about this restaurant,
located in cheras,
close to my college.

Murni Discovery,
Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Cheras,
56000 WP KL.

ok, tempat ni dekat ngan hukm jugak.
memang senang giler nak cari location sebab kedai dia
memang boleh nampak dari jalan besar tu.

so masa pergi tu,
memang pergi sengsorang je lah.
sebab penat ajak orang, xde yang nak pergi.
and me as a person,
kalau sekali ajak da x nak,
buat apa nak ajak lagi.
walaupn kenkadang alasan dia macam boleh pakai.
but let's just say that i can't accept rejection well.

anyway,
masa tu pun kebetulan bawa kereta si gemuk,
tu yg tercapai hajat nak makan kat situ.
tempat dia not accessible by public transport.
so dengan dysmenorrhea nya yg tetiba datang menyerang,
terpaksa gagahkan juga la bawa kereta sengsorang.
parking punyalah jauh sbb jenis beginner yg memang x
berapa pandai nak parking.

almaklumlah sebelum ada lesen,
memang ke sana sini naik public transport je kalau xde
orang drivekan.
lgpun bukan nak bangga ke apa,
tapi i'm actually quite good at public transport,
kalau x, xde la sampai pergi makan steamboat and bbq
kat gombak nun sana, naik bas, lrt dan teksi.
sengsorang tuh, alhamdulillah xde pape.

so, balik ke cerita murni ni.
sebenarnya ada sorang pblmates ni yang suggest.
katanya portion dia besar, sedap dan macam2 lagi la.
and as someone yang memang suka makan,
on top of that suka makan banyak,
of course la excited giler nak try.

so, masa pergi tu order la nasi goreng chicken chop.
sebab masa datang tu dah waktu lunch, pukul 2.
and pagi tu xmakan breakfast,
so memang agak tengah lapar la sebenarnya.
memula ingat nasi goreng sahaja tu kosong xde pape,
tu yg order special punya ada chickchop.
rupanya banyak giler ayam kat nasi goreng dia.
so memang kenyang habis makan.

sampai otw nak ke kereta balik tu,
macam x larat betul rasanya.
terlebih kenyang.
ayam dia ok la. sedap.
x keras sangat tepung dia, x lembik sangat.
just nice.

ingat nak order ribena apa tah nama dia.
tapi rupanya ada 3 layer tea.
disebabkan memang peminat tegar 3 layer tea ni,
x dapat nak minum ribena dia tu.
xkan nak order sampai 2 drinks pula kan?

an as dessert,
order la set belgium.
memula ingat satu kek tu je dah rm6,
rasanya macam membazir pula kalau ambil,
lepas tu tengok meja depan gi order.
nampak sedap pula kek dia.
pastu try tanya waiter, dia mmg satu set rm6.

kek dia ni satu kek coklat lagi satu tu kek aiskrim kowt?
sebab rasa aiskrim vanila, bawah dia macam ada rasa kek.
it was nice la. rasa macam kena sangat harga rm6 tuh.

so, food wise, memang sedap la.
nasi goreng dia ada rasa.
3 layer tea dia pun cukup susu cukup gula,
but some people maybe x suka sebab agak manis.
set belgium pun ok la. sedap. lembut.

for price,
rasanya xde la mahal sangat.
tp kalau nak banding kan lunch kat hukm,
memang la lebih mahal,
tp kalau tgk portion dia, rasanya macam berbaloi je kowt?
but u can try to look at the menu la,
and decide for yourself.

cleanliness dia boleh la.
rasanya macam x nampak apa yg kotor sangat.
tp mungkin sebab masa tu lunch kowt?
so waiter dia probably sibuk sket,
lambat sket dia datang kemas meja previous customer.

suasana dia macam makan dekat restoran biasa,
masa lunch,
tp as compared to makan nasi campur,
dia lebih tenang sket.
x hectic sangat, so a bit relaxed la.

masa saya pergi tu,
ada macam 3 girls ni bawa gitar and nyanyi sekali
kat tables macam buskers la,
tp diorang ni bergerak dari one table to another.
lagu2 dia semua boleh dikatakan lagu2 baharu la.
and they were asking for donation, i think?
was it for needy kids?
i'm not sure. can't remember.

so, here's the rating

food - 7/10
price - 5/10
menu - 7/10
cleanliness - 8/10
ambience - 7/10
overall - 7/10

so, da~
sekian, terima kasih.