Seoul, Korea (Dec 2017)

JJ in ICN (22nd -27th Dec 2017)

Type: Private Free and Easy Tour

Aunt J decides we will go on a private tour this time as it would be our 3rd trip to Korea. in our 1st Korea (packaged tour to Seoul/Jeju Island) trip in 2015, we met our then tour guide Mr S. Park, a very nice fatherly chap whose contact we had kept… until now. Though we had been back to Seoul a year after (2014), we went on our little own Free & Easy Trip (alternating between Lotte World and frolicking around Myeongdong for food and fashion!).

I’m attaching the itinerary here for your info, please send me an email if you’d like to learn more and we will be happy to share the contact of Mr S with you.

Day -1
Daddy J comes in with the usual “LIGHTS-OUT-kids-please-sleep-since-you-have-a-long-day-ahead-tomorrow-no-story-time-tonight” yadda yadda; and we try hard to fall asleep, thinking what movies might be screening in the IFE tomorrow (hopefully no more Frozen or Peppa Pig, though Paw Patrol, PJ Masks or Ninjago would be fun) and soon dozing off with Mommy Koa and Elsa.

Day1
We wake up at 5am, get dressed pronto and make our way to the airport to catch our ride to Seoul. We ALWAYS make it a point to go early to the airport – the Holiday really does start at the airport itself! With so much to do at literally the world’s best airport, Changi continues to impress.

Soon we’re airborne on KE648 bound for Incheon!
Kids waste no time on the in flight entertainment but can only last so long and fall asleep soon after.

Arriving at our hotel for the next few days…

Day2 – Gyeongbukgung Palace, Insadong

Annyeong haseyo Uncle S!

Uncle (Mr) S meets us right after breakkie and we load up into his MPV and off we go to Gyeongbukgung Palace and National Folk Museum (oh and we pass by the Blue House* en route)

*Daddy J asks us a riddle – “If the green house is on the left, and the red on the right, where are the white and blue houses? In Washington and Seoul of course!!

We get off the MPV and make a short stroll to the outer court of the Palace where a procession takes place. It was freezing cold but Mummy J whips out some hand and feet warmers which she quickly tucks into our pockets. We didn’t quite like the racket although it was fun to see the colourful traditional hanboks. T2 and T1 lose no time taking some pix with Grandma J, Aunt J and Mummy J.

We walk through the Palace grounds which house some traditional looking cottages and were impressed at how closely these replicas might have resembled the original look and feel of the palace and living quarters.

We find some pinecones and continue walking till we come to a the stone zodiac statues. TJT pose with the dragon symbolising the chinese zodiac of their birth year. Soon it gets cold again for us so we run inside the folk museum building to escape the cold (although momentarily!) and to take some shots with Soohorang and Bandabi-nim to commemorate the upcoming 2018 Seoul Winter Olympics!

Soon we head back out to meet our guide Mr S and take some funky pix on the way before hopping into the MPV for what i recall a 5-10min ride to Insadong.

At the end of the way – The J Twins were just so beat we dozed off on the way back to the hotel…

Day3 – Everland

Was raining cats and dogs all day. Despite the ponchos Mr S prepped for us we pretty much had to stay indoors at the cafe having extended breakfast, lunch and tea, eating sweets, choc, burrowing our heads in the map, taking pix, and more pix.

Oh for the record, Aunt J actually found a lost baby and returned her to the info desk to very VERY concerned and grateful parents. WELL DONE and HIP HIP HOORAY for Gugu J!

A blessing in disguise – because of all the rain, it started to snow as we were leaving the park! OK, maybe not so much snow, just flakes… but still good enough for us equatorial dwellers.

We end the day with another one of our chicken parties – WHAT is a visit to Korea without Kyo Chon???

Day4 – Christmas @ Lotte World!

“Today is best day ever because today is (not moving day – adapted from one of our favourite movies – HOME! but)… Christmas!”

What better way than to spend this day (not with your toys! – separate section) but with your favourite people at Lotte World!

This would be our 3rd time to Lotte – the first 2 years we spent more time at Pororro Park (situated inside Lotte) but this time TJT mutually agreed in one accord (this seldom happens) that they were getting a tad too old for this ‘park’. Daddy J quickly welcomed the idea since he didn’t need to pay extra to go visit Pororro in his abode again!

The J Twins lurveee rides and meats!

At the end of the day, Mr S drives us to our Christmas Dinner reservation Texas de Brazil @ Seocho-gu. By this time, we were so hungry we could literally have eaten a horse each!

The Churrascaria was a great choice since they had a great salad bar (even though you don’t really need that in a meat bar!) and all-the-meat-you-can-eat! T2 signalling with his green chip for MORE meat! Literally, no horse run. Neither was there horse meat. Seriously.

Way to go Mutton!