Day 4: Nami Island (남이섬) Part 2 Beautiful & Fun Island!!

The zip wire ride is so fun!! Once we touched down Nami, I was so thrilled by the trees that had yellow leaves!! I even saw some red ones!! Yeah Yeah Yeah!! I love red maples!! Aren't them beautiful and romantic?

To explore Nami Island, you can choose the many options available: walking, cycling, electric car, tram car, sky bike etc.. Wow so much fun! It is great way to explore Nami for families with kids who will love the many kinds of transport inside the island!

 electronic bike (8000 Won for 30 mins, 15,000 Won for 60 mins)

 UNICEF train (2000 Won for one-way)



The sky bike which costs 3000 Won (SGD 3.30)



The famous thing about Nami Island are the stretches of road paths that are lined with tall trees and is very romantic during autumn or winter. The famous drama, Winter Sonata, was filmed here, making this place hugely popular with both tourists and locals.



romantic pathways!

 

beautiful trees everywhere!

Lovely spot for dating





Day 4: Nami Island (남이섬) Part 1 How To Get There

Nami Island! One of my favourite part of our itinerary! Nami Island is called Namisum in korean. Although it is a small leaf-shaped island, it is actually a republic by itself and even has its own flag!

As Nami is an island, you need to get to Gapyeong Wharf first before crossing over to it:

1) By shuttle bus
- the most economical way
- reservation in advance is a must if you want to secure your tickets
- you have to take the shuttle bus from Tapgol Park, (near Insadong area) and you will arrive at Gapyeong Wharf. Take Zip wire or ferry to Nami Island.

2) By train
- cheapest way but the most complicated
- take subway train to Songbong station (line 7), transfer line to the Gyeongchun Line, take a normal rail train to Gapyeong Station and finally take a taxi to Gapyeong Wharf.

3) By taxi
- most expensive!! we spent an average of about 100,000 Won (SGD 110) PER way!!! Ridiculous? Yes but we had no choice as the shuttle bus reservation was full for the whole week!! My advice is to call at least two weeks before your trip to reserve the tickets. If you are going during peak seasons like a weekend or school holidays, you need to book few weeks in advance as the tickets are highly sought after!

T-money card can be used in cabs

 

N Seoul Tower seen on the way to Nami Island

We went there on a weekday hoping to see less crowd as it is a very popular spot for tourists. However, the crowd is still HUGE!! There is a long queue for the ferry!! Feeling adventurous, we opted to zip-wired across to Nami instead.



the queue begins from here to.....




.....here!



After we bought our  zip-wire tickets, we realised that we have to wait for almost 1 hour for our turn!! But the advantage is we do not have to queue up. We were told to be back at a specified timing. Luckily it was just the right timing for us to have lunch while we waited for our turn. There are a few restaurants that seemed to sell similar items, chicken galbi, which is the fried marinated meat in a huge pan cooked with rice, noodles and other ingredients. I picked the restaurant that is facing the sea and a bungee jump. While waiting for our food to be served, we took some shots and watched bungee jumping.

 

restaurant with a nice sea view!

 


Our "entertainment" while waiting for lunch to be served


After our meal and strolling around, it was time for our zip-wire ride! We were taken to the top of the building by the lift and I was so excited when we reached. The staff demonstrated the procedure of the ride and we waited for our turn. As both of us were wearing slipped-on shoes, we were told to remove our shoes and places them in the pocket behind our zip wire seats. You will not alone for the ride as your partner will do the ride together with you. However since the speed of it is determined by your weight, the heaviest one will enjoy a faster ride.

To be continued on the next post.....

Day 3: Lotte World ( 롯데 월드 ), The Largest Indoor Theme Park in South Korea

Many visitors have a dilemma of choosing which theme park to go in Korea, Everland or Lotte World? We too had the same problem. Lotte World is located at Jamsil station in Seoul and is easily accessed to via the subway. Everland on the other hand, is NOT inside Seoul and you have to travel at least 1 hour in order to reach there. In summary, if you LOVE theme park and rides, I felt that Everland might be a better choice. As we are not great fans of theme parks, we choose Lotte World and the best thing is that it is near Hangang River which is where we were heading to after the park.

Lotte World 롯데 월드 is the world's largest indoor theme park. There is an ice-skating rink inside the indoor park! For the indoor rides, you can find roller coaster, balloon ride, viking, horse carousel, an arcade, mirror maze, monorail etc. Lotte World also has an outdoor park called "Magic Island" which resembles DisneyLand. There are gryo drop, gyro swing, bungee drop, spinning swing and more. Kiddy rides and games are also available.

The outdoor park, Magic Island

indoor ice skating rink

indoor park

Since we went during October, there is a halloween party & parade at Lotte World. There are different themes for different seasons. Check out their website for more details.

You can choose to buy the whole day admission ticket (with or without rides) or the nighttime (after 4pm, with or without rides) ticket. They were having a promotion for that day and we used our discount coupon (found in the box when you buy T-money card) and got an extra discount. The total we paid for a nighttime ticket after the discounts was 23,000 Won (SGD 25) which includes all the rides in the park.

We also visited the Lotte Star Avenue at the South Entrance, where you get to see a gallery of your favourite korean celebrities like Bae Yong-Jun, Choi Ji-Woo, Song Seung-Heon and Rain. Since we purchased the full-day passport, we get to visit the Star Avenue free of charge. The Star Avenue admission costs 10,000 Won (SGD 11) for independent visits. Although we are not hallyu-fans, we visited the gallery to take some shots. We noticed that there is an area just outside the Star Avenue entrance where you do not have to buy tickets to pose with the stars. It is the Star Showcase where items such as video clips, costumes and photos which are related to individual stars, are displayed for viewing and photo taking.

My favourite korean actor, Song Seung Heon ,with co-star Song Hye Kyo in "Autumn In My Heart"

Many of you will shout when you see this ;p

How to get there:
by subway: Jamsil station (line 2 and 8), use exit 4, the underground plaza
other ways to get to Lotte World

Day 3: Ice Gallery Near Anguk Station

We began our day at Ice Gallery which is at Bukchon, near Insadong. The entrance fee is 7,000 Won (SGD 7.70) for viewing the sculptures which are stored in a larger freezer room. Jackets are available for free rental to be used inside the gallery. My husband and I were the only visitors there and we had the whole gallery to ourselves! There are sculptures like the Eiffel Tower, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Bukchon Hanok Village, an igloo, a piano, a television, a computer, a toilet and even a birthday cake made of ice! I wanted to try the ice slide which I saw from their website (in korean only) but I could not find it given for the size of the gallery. Or is it hidden somewhere that I had missed it?

As we had never been to a snowing country before, we could not tolerate the VERY LOW temperature (-5 degree celsius)!! We quickly posed and took some shots with the sculptures and in less than 5 mins, we were out of the gallery!




entrance of ice gallery




 

 post-it notes on the ceiling



this was my favourite!

For an additonal 5,000 Won  (SGD 5.50), we went for the ice-mug making session. The staff gave us a demostration of carving the mug from a squarish ice block. The process is quite easy by using only one tool. In about 20 minutes, our mugs are completed. We can bring our own mug home for an additional fee. If you come in as a larger group, you can even compete for the "Best Mug Award" and given a medal and flowers. Cool right?



Demo by one of the staff

  

her masterpiece

 

my masterpiece



The top left hand corner shows the past winner of the "Best Mug Award"

How to get there (see map):
Take the subway to Anguk station (line 3), exit 1. Once out of the exit, turn right and walk along the shops at the main road until you see Twosome Place (cafe) and Olive Young (a drugstore) then turn right. Walk all the way in until you see the Art Sonje Center on your left, turn right and the Ice Gallery is at your right. It is opposite the information centre

Admission:
Ice gallery: 7,000 Won  (SGD 7.70)
Ice mug making experience: 5000 Won (SGD 5.50)

Day 2: Myeongdong (명동) the Shopping Paradise for Ladies!!

Myeongdong (명동) is my favourite shopping area in Seoul! It is an all-in-one shopping district where you can find beauty & cosmetics shops, fashion brands like H&M, Forever 21, Zara, Mango, Uniqlo, street food stalls, clothing & accessories stalls, restaurants and malls like Shinsegae Department, and Lotte Department Store nearby. It resembles Ximending in Taiwan and Shibuya in Tokyo. You can find plentiful korean brands of beauty & cosmetics such as:

Skinfood
The Face Shop
Tony Moly
Nature Republic
Missha
Beauty Credit
The Saem
Holika Holika
Etude House
Innisfree
Laneige

And there are not only one outlet, but many outlets of the same brand all inside Myeongdong! What was unusual was that most of the shops are endorsed by male korean artistes!

The korean brand of beauty & cosmetics products are VERY cheap as compared to those sold in Singapore! No wonder it is common to see many female customers with baskets full of beauty items! It is time for a beauty frenzy spree when you are there.



A row of beauty shops!

 Myeongdong seems big but is not difficult (in my opinion) to find our way as I always use the huge neon signage as my direction guide. One very prominent landmark I used was the huge Nature Republic building. If you are unlucky to have lost your way, there are volunteers (i think they are only available during the day) to help you find your way. They can be identified by their red attire and cap with the letter "i" which means information. A detailed map of Myeongdong is also available for easy navigation.

 

Myeongdong Theater

Besides shopping, there are also many street food carts at Myeongdong. As we walked past them, we could not wait to try them out! There were sausages (of many varieties and flavours), snacks made of squids (smells nice!), tteoboki (spicy rice cakes), tornado potatoes, kebabs etc.. We even found a stall selling super tall 32 cm ice-cream in cone!
    

Squid snack


  

huge cream puffs that are too sweet!



How to get there:
Myeongdong Station (Seoul subway line 4), exit 5, 6, 7, or 8.
Euljiro Il-ga Station (Seoul subway line 2), exit 5








Day 2: Mario & Fashion Island Outlet Shopping Mall

It was the second day of our trip. We went outlet shopping!! There are a few options for outlet shopping in Seoul such as munjeong-dong shopping street, Newcore Outlet, Mario Outlet and Fashion Island Outlet Mall. After looking at the subway map, we decided to go to the gasan digital complex station
(line 1 & 7) where the Mario & Fashion Island are located.

Once we stepped out of the exit, we saw the Fashion Island Mall.

After all the shopping, we had lunch at one of the restaurants at the mall basement which is called the Food Island. Our first korean meal was bbq pork! We were surprised that one of the staff can speak mandarin! It made our ordering so much easier! My hubby chose the pork belly (wu hua rou) bbq set that comes with a hot soup and of course the must-serve banchan (korean side dishes). Before eating, the lady gave us a red apron to protect our clothing. Very thoughtful!





pork belly, king oyster mushroom, onions and kimchi

  
After burping (oops!), we proceeded to the Mario malls which are ahead of Fashion Island. Mario has a total of 3 buildings, namely Mario 1, 2 & 3. Many famous international brands such as Prada, Gucci, Zara, Guess, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Tommy Hilfinger, Levi's, Addidas and Nike are found here. The discounts are HUGE, 50 to 80% off!! Restocks of merchandise is done on Thursdays and Fridays.

How to get there:

Gasan Digital Complex Station (Seoul subway line 1 or 7 ), exit 4 and Fashion Island is on the left. Continue walking straight and you will find the Mario 3 building on your left.