APEC House and Seoul

I shall continue on from where FB left off. So, after visiting the Busan Aquarium, we walked the sands of Hyaundae (My Korean spelling is terrible) Beach to reach the APEC House, which is where the APEC held a conference in 2005, I think.

This is the meeting room.

It is based on traditional Korean architecture.

Chin Sin and me outside the APEC House.

Chin Sin, me and Jeong San

And then after Friday's field trip, Grace, Yew Leong, Charissa and me went to Seoul. We took the KTX - which is a train ride.

On board the KTX - which is really rather narrow.

After we reached Seoul, we took their complicating subway to our guesthouse. I think the route to our guesthouse was filled with anxiety and scares cuz we got lost and had to ask for directions (from nice young Korean couples who could speak English). We even got chased by a dog. And we arrived at the guesthouse - where we realised that the girls had to share a room with 3 other people. 6 people in one room. 6 people sharing one bathroom, which thankfully had hot water. And there was internet access, aircon and breakfast every morning, so I shouldn't complain too much. I guess we are just not used to backpacker style - makes me think about grad trip and how I am going to survive in Japan. But well, I have lived beggar style (cue blog post on Shanghai Airport transit). I have to complain though that living cramped up with other people is not fun. And it's also not fun when you get 5 mozzie bites on your face. =(We planned to go shopping after checking in - but we were just too tired and a tad traumatised. Everybody missed PNU.

We went to Lotte World the next day. It's an amusement park with indoor and outdoor rides and shops.

Charissa and me in the dark 3D theatre.

I tried a lot of rides. There was one I totally didn't dare to. But most of the time I tried - if I was too scared, I closed my eyes. I'm that lousy.

We went to Lotteria for dinner - that's like the Korean version of Macs.

This is my waiting card. When my order is ready, they will send a signal to my calling card - which will vibrate till I return the card.

And then it was shopping time. We went DongDaeMun. Hardly bought anything - because everything in Seoul is rather overpriced. Though the things were prettier. =( Did not walk a huge part of DongDaeMun because we were too tired. Lazy to take pix of what I bought. Heehee. 1 tee for bf from UNIQLO. One striped polo from UNIQLO for myself. 1 necklace for Haeli, 1 dress for myself and that's about it. The living standard in Seoul is seriously high and travelling by Subway ain't that cheap either. Missed life in Busan. Ate supper near a mini mart, squatting in one corner. =(

The next day, Hae Won picked us up from our guesthouse. =) She's one of the Korean buddies and she brought us to this Korean traditional village.

This is supposed to be a courtesan's costume. =(

This is some tower. Haha. Forgot the name.

Kimchi pots and kimchi house.

Grace.

I think the mascots were really cute. A little scary, but cute.

With Yew Leong.

And then Hae Won brought us to Insadong, which is where one can find many traditional Korean handicrafts and artifects to bring home.

And then it was back home by bus - to Busan. =) When the bus went into Busan, I had that feeling when the plane touches down in Singapore. Haha.

FB is not a good place for me to upload photos. Blogger is still much faster for me. Thankfully, Hae Won came and picked us up on our third day. Things became smoother and we didn't get lost. Wished I could have gotten more good deals. But spend a helluva money in Seoul and am just glad to be back. It's funny but the best meals in Korea - are usually cup noodles. I really hope to brush up my Korean though - it would make things a whole lot easier.