[Lifestyle - Travelling With Triba-East] Day 5 - 6: Vivaldi Park Ski World And Back To Kuching

How time flies when you're having fun. However, by the fifth day of the trip, I was starting to feel a little exhausted. At first I thought it was just my period being annoying, but it turns out I ate something that gave me stomach flu. :( That means the last two days for the trip was both exhausting and a total blur. 

As luck would have it, TribaEast, which had arranged majority of the trip for me, had planned for the skiing trip to be on the last full day in Korea. The trip was RM300 per person paid to TribaEast, so I paid a total of RM600 for the both of us prior to the trip. It was only when we were on the resort that we were told that the amount did not cover for the skii lifts, which cost and addiitonal 55,000won, adding a whooping 110,000won to our skiing expenses. That's an additional RM400+, so the skiing was actually RM500 per person and more than RM1000 for two of us. If I had known in advance how fucking expensive this was going to be, I would've gladly chosen to opt for the Seoul Everland park instead, which is RM138 per person. 

Honestly, I'm still quite pissed about this additional payment, since I was under the impression that payment to Tribaeast would cover the whole day. Evidently, they did not see the need for skii lifts since we could just play with skiing... on a small slope? For a whole day? Jesus. As you can tell, it really soured the experience, expecially since we were down to our last 150,000won and thankfully, had just enough to cover our trip back to the airport.

The rest of my experience had been good though, as you can see here: 

How To Plan a 6-Day Personalized, Budget-Friendly Tour To Seoul, Korea

Day 1: From Kuching, Malaysia To Myeong-Dong, Korea With Public Transportations

Day 2: Christmas Village, Snow Sled, & Strawberry Farm, Seoul, Korea

Day 3: Petite France & Nami Islance 

Day 4: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, Noryangjin Fish Market, Dongdaemun Design Plaza

As you can probably guess based on the track record we had so far, the day started really bright and early! The tour bus that TribaEast had arranged for us picked us up at the meeting point before the sun had even risen and we were both understandably groggy. Add that to the fact that the people leading the tour spoke almost exclusively in Cantonese makes for two very lost tourists (me & my bf).

Still, we were determined to make the most of the trip! First, they drove us to a skii-rental station where we were all geared up with the appropriate, and super fancy outfits!

Vivaldi Park Ski World is an hour away from Seoul. It has a total of 12 slopes and 10 lifts, including gondola, with a maximum occupancy of 20,000 people.

Different slopes are available for visitors for different levels, with beginner's incline with only 5 degrees and 9*, to a maximum of 28* for experts!

Since we weren't allowed to bring our belongings with us while we were skiing, we had to rent a locker as well. I would defintiely suggest paying for the locker, since losing your stuff is never worth saving that extra bit of money. :) The whole place is quite packed, and its easy to lose sight of your items when you're up the slope.

The tour that we joined included a mini introduction to not fall on your ass butt immediately as you step on the skiing boards. I swear, this is one of those things that's a lot harder than it looks, but it certainly has a steep learning curve. By the end of thirty minutes of painstakingly hiking uphill in too-heavy skiing equipments, we decided to ditch the beginner's class and make our ways up the skii lift.

It's a long, long, long queue up, and a short trip down. The queue is simply ridiculous, since we were there during the weekend. That means we spent half an hour to an hour lining up to get on the lift, and then ski down in all of five minutes. Rinse. Repeat.  When we were there, there were students who could bypass the queueing altogether, which made the lines even slower! I hated that.

By day 5, I wasn't feeling at all fine already. Everything was sore. This is compounded by the fact that in the middle of showering the previous day, the hot water disappeared. That means I was showering with cold water. In winter. Fuck that. 

My wonderful bf and waited with me in between each downward skii so I could rest a little, then resume skiing. It's a long, long, long queue up, and a short trip down. The queue is simply ridiculous, since we were there during the weekend. That means we spent half an hour to an hour lining up to get on the lift, and then ski down in all of five minutes. Rinse. Repeat.  When we were there, there were students who could bypass the queueing altogether, which made the lines even slower! I hated that.

We had fun though! It was just exhausting since I wasn't feeling my best. Thankfully, the horrible symptoms of stomach flu only started presenting itself after we returned from the trip, which was to say I spent the night in the bathroom. T.T  We managed to see this adorable mascot on the walk back though! ^^

My bf decided to have a Mc.Donalds dinner since they serve bacon with their meals! ^^ He loved it. The buns were more fresh than we're used to back hom, and bacon is delicious. We also ran across this silly thing on the way back. Hehe.

Unfortunately, the night was spent vomitting and basically just getting rid of everything in my stomach, which was awful. My bf was perfectly fine, but I was pretty much dying. Lol. We made our way back exactly the way we arrived, via train, since there was a toilet in the train that I knew I could use, and I didn't want to subject the poor bus to that.

We managed to get our hands on some pills to help with my stomach cramps and problems, which I took on the flight back and tried my best not puke my lungs out. :(

Nothing I took made me feel better, and I was sick and vomiting for an entire week after I returned from the trip, occasionally getting up to drink some water. 

What a way to end a holiday. It wasn't the best resolution, but that's the way life is. Messy, imperfect, and occasionally well, shit happens.

I had a good experience though, and it gave me this amazing picture that I'm really in love with. 

Most of the trip was planned with the help of Triba-East Travels, which I really appreciate. I'd love to plan my next trip wtih them as well. :) They have deals locally, in Malaysia, as well as in other countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Macao, and China.

Book Your Tour With Triba-East Travels Here

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[Lifestyle - Travelling With Triba-East] Day 4: Gyeongbokgung Palace, Insadong, Noryangjin Fish Market, Dongdaemun Design Plaza

James picked us up bright an early on Day 4 to bring us on a tour around the city. I had the ceral and soya that the airbnb place provided while my bf opted for noodles. We were debating whether we wanted to go to a theme park, since Triba-East had tickets for those on their site as well, or experience more of Seoul. Ultimately, we decided that if we wanted theme parks, we could've bought a ticket to Singapore and have a go at Universal Studios there. The rest of my trip is here if you haven't read them yet:

How To Plan a 6-Day Personalized, Budget-Friendly Tour To Seoul, Korea

Day 1: From Kuching, Malaysia To Myeong-Dong, Korea With Public Transportations

Day 2: Christmas Village, Snow Sled, & Strawberry Farm, Seoul, Korea

Day 3: Petite France & Nami Islance 

James collected us from the airbnb early, and then we were on our way.We turned down the road, away from the hustle and bustle of touristy Myeong-Dong and further down to where the locals were, at Cheong Gye Cheon, to tall skycrapers with glass windows and steel supports. The roads were empty, but James brought us down the stairs to a wall of history.

James told us that the scenery would've been much more breathtaking if we had chosen to go during any other season. As luck (and poor planning on my part) would have it, we went during winter, where the leaves have all dropped and the branches were bare, still, the murals on one side of the path provided us with rich history.

"In the second lunar month of 1795, King Jeongjo, the 22nd monarch of the Joseon Dynasty, accompanied by his mother, Queen hyegyeonggung Hong, visited the tomb of his father, Prince Sado, at Hwaseong to commemorate his father's 60th birthday. Upon returning to Seoul, the king ordered the compilation of Wonhaeng Eulmyeo Jeongni Eugawae, a column of sketches commemorating King Jeongjo's royal progress to Suwon."

"This book includes paintings showing the royal processsion departing from Changdeokgung Palace and crossing Gwangtonggyo Bridge to Hwaseon with an entourage of 1,779 people and 779 horses. The most talented court painters, including Kim Hong-do, were commissioned to produce this piece. It fully expresses the dignity and authority of the royal court and the free-spirited and joyful mood of the people."

"This piece is of great historical value as it is both a genre painting and a documentary painting on the royal court. It provides insight into the formalities, customers, and composition of a royal procession of the times."

The end of the journey brought us to a nice view and a way out.

We weren't quite sure where we were at this point, but it was very pretty, and James knew the way to the palace, so we just let him lead the way.

Unbeknownst to us, we were a mere hour's walk away from one of the ongoing demonstrations that called for the resignation of President Park. It was interesting, seeing people set up props for the peaceful demonstration. There were even camps along the path, for those willing to stay the night. Police were stationed as well, but they were a distance away. 

But first, we managed to find our way to the Sejong Center, where there's a mini underground museum where we could read the story of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sunshin.

There was also an assortment of historical recreations that was accompanied by english translations!

We spent a little while here, since both of us were more excited to be going to the palace. The palace was named Gyeongbokgung Palace, the "Palace Greatly Blessed by Heaven" with mount Bugaksan to its rear and Mount Namsan in the foreground. The site of the palace was in the heart of seoul. The main royal Palace was completed in 1395, 3 years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded by King Taejo.

You can have a virtual tour of the Palace on their official website here: Royal Palace. If you only have time for one Palace visit in Korea, make it this one. It's the oldest , largest, and grandest of the Palaces. 

James revealed that the reason he wanted us there early was in order for us to experience the guard-changing ceremony. The guard's bright colored costumes and reenactment of the original ceremony is worth experiencing. The performance times are as follows:

Sumunjang (Royal Guard) Changing Ceremony 

10:00, 14:00 / 20 minutes per ceremony 

Gwanghwamun Gate Guard-on-Duty Performance 

11:00, 13:00 / 10 minutes per ceremony 

Sumungun (Gatekeeper) Military Training (outside Hyeopsaengmun Gate)

09:30, 13:30 / 15 minutes per ceremony

We entered the palace shortly after the guard change, and then waited for James to get our tickets. ^^ Have I mentioned James is the best? In the meantime, we took a few selfies! ^^

The first gate of the palace can be entered without tickets, but the second required purchasing tickets, which were pretty cheap at 3,000 won per person 19 and above, and 1,500won for ages 7-18. It's free for those ages 6 and under. 

The palace was brimming with tourists, and there were more than a few tour groups that spoke english and brought along with them a parade of tourists like us.

I always found it a little easier to travel away from big tour groups and take our time looking and what the palace has to offer and just enjoy the experience.  After all, views like these is best experienced without the chatter of the crowd and a million other people in your picture. :)

However, if you're curious about the history of the palace and want to learn more, there are free guided tour that's available in 3 languages, English, Chinese, and Japanese at different times. Tours last for an hour to and hour and thirty minutes with a limit of 30. Individuals of less than 10 people can just join the tour on a walk-in basis, or you'd need to make a reservation. 

Tour in foreign languages English : 11:00, 13:30, 15:30 Japanese : 10:00, 12:30, 14:30 Chinese : 10:30, 12:30, 14:00, 16:00

We exited through the back, where James pointed out we could see the residence of the now-former president of South Korea, President Park as well as Mount Bugaksan. This is the Cheongwadae Presidential Blue House, so named because of the blue roof (probably?). There were security guards around us to make sure we didn't try to trespass, but they were fine with pictures. :)

Instead of heading back, James brought us further down the road, where we noticed that there were more and more armed police as well as their busses. James duly informed us that the trial was taking place at the courthouse, but we should just keep going our way.

Look at James, walking behind the police force as if he's one of them. They were very aloof about us being in their way and walking together with them, which is really nice. ^^ We enjoyed walking alongside South Korea's police force. Made us feel important. XD

James brought us to the traditional, less-travelled part of Seoul, where we could see the ways of living, away from the city area. The houses were all distinct and wonderfully designed, created with their own peculiarities. Afterwards, he treated us to a wonderfully spicy seafood platter.   

The meal was interesting and nothing like what we're used to, and way too much for three. I wish we could tapao this back home, but alas, it was too much.

James had a bottle of soju in the midst of the meal while we opted for plain water alongside the savory dish. As usual, it was accompanied by several side dishes that were part sour and part spicy.

Afterwards, we continued our journey to Insadong Free Market, where we enjoyed cheaper street food and several sounvenir shops.

Away from the touristy areas, the items are significantly cheaper. Insadong has everything you could dream of buying, from the wide choices of food, to galleries of art, tea, traditional clothing, more food, and souvenirs. There's also the occasional event taking place, which in our case, was a traditional music show! ^^

We weren't looking to buy more things, so James asked if we were interested in seeing the local fishmarket. We were curious enough that we agreed. Noryangjin fish market was a short train ride away.

Kuching, Sarawak, where I'm from, is quite well known for our seafood but Noryangjin's fish market took it to another level altogether. The seafood here must've grown in the land of giants. Fish were so fresh they were still moving (except for the obviously dead one in the picture above) and they were gigantic! 

We enjoyed looking at all the seafood available, but I would recommend this place not for the exotic fish, but for the fact that you can choose the fish here, pay for said fish, and then request for them to be cooked in the stalls they have either attatched to the fish vendors, or upstairs, where there were restaurants ready to cook the seafood you've just purchased for a fair price!

Seeing as we arrived freshly having eaten lunch, we skipped on the meal option. But honestly, I'd recommend this place for a nice lunch or dinner. The trip by train is easy enough, since the Noryangjin stop is directly opposite the fish market.

Afterwards, James brought us to Dongdaemun so we could have a view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, the newest and most iconic landmark of the Korean design industry. The peculiar building is designed by world renowned architect, Zaha Hadid and the plaza is th eworld's largest atypical architecture. There's five halls in the plaza, Art Hall, Museum, Design Lab, Design Market, and Dongaemun History and Culture Park.

The Design Market is the one that we wandered into, and that offered cultural experiences as well as some shopping. ^^ The Art hall, as the name suggests, is where trade shows, exhibitions, fashion shows, concerts and performances take place. James told us that it's worth staying till the sun sets and enjoy the night view of the Dongdaemun Design Plaza, while he had to head back to the office. 

It was an absolute pleasure visiting so many places alongside James. And it's also quite miraculous how much walking we did in one day. XD We literally walked to Gyeongbokgung Palace. How awesome is that? We wouldn't have been able to visit most of these places if not for James. We had so much travelling done and it was really worth the experience.

Since we were in Dongdaemun, my better half and I decided to take James's advice and stay the night instead of heading back to our room. Even with James's numerous intstructions on how to get back to our stop from the train, he didn't anticipate our lack of sense of direction, because once we exited the station, we completely forgot how to get back. Lol.

No matter. We needed to get food anyways! Street food in Dongdaemun is literally half the price of food in Myeong dong! We had a ridiculous amount of food. We had a custard red bean bun for 2000won, bacon bun microwaved 3500won (this tasted pretty bad. :( ), and 3 Cabbage buns for 6000won. We originally bought one, and liked it so much we came back for more, We also stood had a fish cake and fish roll for 1000won each. 

I also got a strawberry crepe with nutella for 3500won, which is stupidly delicious. We walked past a fruit stall, where I bought a pack of ~10 pessimons for 5000won. They were delicious af. 

After a few wrong twists and turns, we managed to get our way back to the Design Center, which really is beautiful at night. A magnificently designed marvel that gives you the best opportunity for camwhoring sessions like this one! 

Unfortunately, by this time I was starting to feel a bit under the weather, so we called it a day and headed back to the hotel... after spending a little while looking for the train. Lol. The train ride back to Myeong Dong was 1250won per person. 

I purchased 13,900won's worth of masks as souvenirs for friends and family. ^^ I had already started to lose my apetite by the end of the long day, but my better half had a better immune system and continued eating! He wanted to have McDonalds of all things! So we ordered a burger with bacon strips!

This cost 8,900won and is worth every won! It was delicious! Well, what little I tasted anyways. Someone (not me) ate most of it while I wasn't paying attention. Lol. 

Total Expenses: 47,000 won / RM183

Majority of today's tour was curtesy of James and Triba-East Travels. 

Book Your Tour With Triba-East Travels Here

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/ And Like my Facebook page? :D https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianBeautyHaul/

[Lifestyle - Travelling With Triba-East] Day 3: Petite-France & Nami Island

Day 3 is another day of exploration! However, we only had 2 things on the agenda for the day, which is Petite-France, and Nami Island, two picturique destinations that promised a lot of beautiful pictures. If you haven't read already, here's the rest of my trip that was planned in conjunction with Triba-East Travels.:

How To Plan a 6-Day Personalized, Budget-Friendly Tour To Seoul, Korea

Day 1: From Kuching, Malaysia To Myeong-Dong, Korea With Public Transportations

Day 2: Christmas Village, Snow Sled, & Strawberry Farm, Seoul, Korea

Today's trip was sponsored by James, who was certain we would enjoy the trip with a tour group that they're affiliated with! 

Even though neither of us was fans of taking a billion pictures of ourselves with different backgrounds, we got into the mood and explored everywhere in Petite-France, which had so many quaint buildings and beautiful trinkets and historical furniture setting that we couldn't help but be swept up by it as well.

Every single place in the tourist attraction is worth a picture.

There's statues and armored guards. There's even a giant puppet that made me wonder if it'll come alive with the right motivation.

And fake wings for you to try on (though not literally)

At the end of it all is a quick presenation by puppeteers, who gave us an entertaining show that only needed music to tell their story. 

It left everyone entertained, but also ready to move on to the next destination: Nami Island.

Nami Island is one of those places where people would insist you go to, if only for the sake of saying you've gone. I'm glad I went, but it's not one of those places I would bother revisiting. Unfortunately, I'm not a big enough fan of Korean Dramas to want to experience their shooting destinations as much. Perhaps we went during the wrong season, but the scenery was a dull brown and barren land that bored me just a tad. Would I suggest you go? Maybe not during the dead of winter, when all the trees are dead and it's too cold to enjoy the scenic views.

The journey was interesting though! We had to go on a boat in order to get there, which required us to go through an 'immigration' check. There's no actual checkpoint though. XD I suppose you'd only get stopped if you looked super suspicious!

The island itself was one picture-worthy area after another, with plenty of opportunities for romantic memories. This would be the perfect setting for your wedding pictures!

If you're keen, you can actually rent one of their houses here on Nami Island.

Prices are a little steep though. If I remember correctly, it can go to more than 200,000won per night.

We searched high and low for something to eat, and then finally settled on Bento meals, which costs 11,500won for the both of us. 

It was barely enough to fill us though, so we looked for more things to eat. I decided I needed more vegetables in my life, and erm... corn is a type of vegetable right? He opted for a hotdog bun. The corn was 3000 won and the hotdog bun was 2500won. Neither tasted any good. If you're planning a trip to Nami Island, I would suggest packing some snacks along with you. There's a disapproving aunty sitting behind me while my bf fed me his hotdog bun. Lol.

Reenergized by the food, we continued our journey around Nami Island.

Fans of Winter Sonata would be able to recognize this route. Imagine snow and leaves and when things weren't so barren. XD

It was cold enough that there were ice sculpturs that didn't quite melt completely, but not so cold that it wasn't melting at all. Most of the sculptures were unrecognizisable, but erm... it's the thought that counds I suppose?

I wish this igloo was big enough to climb into. 

The decorations were adorable though~ ^^ 

We returned to the tour bus early, since we ran out of pictures to take at Nami Island. There's actually a SkyLine Zip Wire that you could try out that's within walking distance of the tour bus! 

If I'm not mistaken, this takes you directly into Nami Island. Lol. What an entrance that would be!

We managed to return back to Myeong-Dong way before the sun had set, which gave us plenty of time to do whatever we want (And eat whatever we want).

We decided to try and find our way to the Myeong=Dong Cathedral since guidebooks said it's worth a visit. After a million wrong turns, we managed to find our way! And the sun hasn't even set yet! Yay~ 

The view of the church at night is even more beautiful than it is in the sunlight. The flowers are set aglow. I imagine it's even prettier late at night, but we were already feeling quite exhausted from all the walking we've done.

By day 3, we had started to grow tired of the street food, so we decided to stop by the quiant eatery near our place that James and Jonathan had brought us to the first night. We ordered bimbimbap and a noodle pork stew that cost 12,000. These ridiculously huge bowls! Honestly, everything' s cheaper once you've wandered out of the hustle and bustle of the touristy part of Myeong-Dong. 

We also got some souvenirs (samyang noodles) from a stationary store (Alpha) of all places. Lol.

For dessert, we opened up the pack of strawberries we picked earlier, accompanied by a glass of soju. ^^

Afterwards I slapped on a sheetmask and called it a day. ^^

Total purchases: 59,350won - RM231

Tour was curtesy of James and Triba-East Travels. 

Book Your Tour With Triba-East Travels Here

I also do quick, short reviews on my instagram so if you're up for it, do follow me here too! :D https://www.instagram.com/peachy_amy/ And Like my Facebook page? :D https://www.facebook.com/MalaysianBeautyHaul/