Winter Wonderland 29.12.12 - Seoul [Day 3] : love motel and the epic taxi scam at DDM

29 Dec 2013: Day 3 - SEOUL

Seoul, Dong Dae Mun

today was the JOKE of the trip. i'll talk about it more in a while...

cute decorations to welcome us =)

and it's really SNOWING! (sorry i'm really excited cos it's my first time seeing falling snow).

we made our way to the hostel (Fully Guesthouse!! more about it later) on public bus - a route we were familiar with. bus 6011 to the area in Hyehwa. we lugged our luggage through the wet winter, falling snow... and finally we reached our hostel! when i went in, i was about to greet the hostel owner!! but he looked really puzzled to see me... after some explanation, I realised I booked the rooms for the wrong date!! I was due to arrive tomorrow, so there were no rooms for us T.T

-_________________-

i'm a JOKE.

what are we supposed to do?! our friendly Mr Cho then started to help us call the nearby hostels to ask if they had rooms. calls after calls... but because it was near end of year, all the hostels were fully booked T.T and we weren't very willing to pay 300 dollars for a hotel room... so in the end Mr Cho asked if we are willing to stay in a love motel... >.< just for a night..... Mr Cho would pick us up tomorrow morning. He's so nice!

And so, we ended up at Candy's. the amenities are pretty decent actually. it's about 60 dollars per room per night. it's interesting how things turn out to be.... not everyone gets to stay in a love motel in Korea, right....? hahahahahha.

at cafe bene for some hot snacks and drinks... SNOW~

parents went back to rest while my sister and I went to Dongdaemun for late night shopping. As you know, Seoul is a city that never sleeps!!

Snowing right now!!

Look at the beautiful decor at DDM!

Late night snack

and here comes the "highlight" of the night...

Taxi by meter from Candy to DDM = 7,000 won

Taxi by meter from DDM to Candy = 121,000 won

WHATTTTT? yes i can hear your exclamation. of course it's a scam!

we flagged the taxi right in front of the malls at DDM, and before we boarded the taxi, the taxi driver told us because it's late it's going to be expensive. yes uncle we know, midnight surcharge. 50% more? was what we thought. so we boarded the taxi. but my sister and I were engrossed in chatting we forgot to look if the driver started the meter....

During the ride the driver chatted with us, and we had fun speaking to him. when we reached Candy's, we were dumbfounded when he pointed to the meter with little wordings and the digits 121,000. now, we dunno much Korean but c'mon! how can the ride be 121,000 won?! it's 7,000 won for the trip there! a small argument started and i said i'll call my friend (lol i didn't even have data plan or anything on my phone)... after some talk in broken English and Korean, he gave me a "discount" - 70,000 won.

Right, uncle, right... I believe you.

I continued to argue with him and I could sense his frustration (sounded like what they say in Korean dramas)... so I just gave him 30,000 won and my sister and I left the taxi. Uncle, you are messing with the wrong girls!!!

Ladies, please beware! Use my little tricks if needed :P a better idea is to take down the details of the car plate and time etc. and call 120, press 9 to lodge a complaint. don't let yourself be bullied!

anyway still in disbelief, but we saw a blank snow patch, so we did a snow angel... hahaha..

can't wait to go back to where we are familiar with... Hyehwa!!

Winter Wonderland 28.12.12 - Jeju [Day 2]

28 Dec 2012: Day 2 - Jeju Island

Seongshan Ilchubong, Seopjikoji, Mangjanggul Cave

to the Seongshan Ilchubong! this was about 7am in the morning.

 Spotted!! :D

We jumped off the car again to get a photo

Prettyyyyy

At Ilchubong. the weather was comfortable but when we started to climb the mountain. off the layers of clothes.. lol..

Again, not our first time here =)

We don't have such mountains for us to hike in Singapore, so I really like this place! it's not too tough, but it's a challenge! my parents could do it too, without much problems.

 

our efforts rewarded with good view and weather =)

finally! it was winter so it wasn't as green. but it was breezy and nice, and a nice achievement :)

 

on the way out.

you can see some women divers at this place too!

ended our hiking session with an awesome meal at this restaurant right at the "exit" of the mountain road. the OH-MY-GOD seafood hotpot, filled with fresh goodness. 

perfect for winter! 

BEST meal of the trip - i'm not exaggerating. the freshness of the seafood (really sweet broth!!), right here in Jeju.

moving abalones

yummy :)

next stop: Seopjikoji

on the way, another pleasant surprise:

Rape Flower field!

I thought I would never see this!!! since it was supposed to be winter.

we literally jumped off the car, and ran towards it. however, we had to pay 1,000won "entrance fee" per person. the field was taken care of by a friendly ahjuuma..

we get distracted by so many random stuff :D

At Seopjikoji, the place where they filmed the drama All-In.

More information from KTO: Seopjikoji is located at the end of the eastern shore of Jeju-do Island. "Seopji" is the old name for the area, and "Koji" is Jeju dialect meaning a sudden bump on land. 

Green fields without a single tree spread beyond the cliff to where a rock called “seondol” protrudes. Also there are stonewalls along the road to block the wind on the way to the lighthouse at the end of Seopjikoji. Within the stonewalls, you may find the most brilliant rapeseed flower fields every April. 

Going up the metal steps of the lighthouse, you can view the whole seashore at a glance. On Koji hill, there stands a stone Bongsudae (4 m high, 9 m long and wide) that retains its original form.

at the Lighthouse

More photos of Seopjikoji here:

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261, Seopjikoji-ro, Seongsan-eup, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do 
제주특별자치도 서귀포시 성산읍 섭지코지로 26

 Leaving for Manjanggul Cave!

KTO: 

Manjanggul Cave (만장굴) is one of the finest lava tunnels in the world, and is a designated natural monument. A lava tunnel is formed when the lava that was deep in the ground spouts from the peak and flows to the surface. Manjanggul Cave has a variety of interesting structures inside including 70cm lava stalagmites and the lava tube tunnels.

Only 1km of the 13,422m Manjanggul Cave is open to the tourists. The inside of the tunnel sustains at a temperature of 11~21℃, creating a comfortable atmosphere. There are rare animals such as bats living in the tunnel, which makes this tunnel valuable for researchers as well. The stone pillars and stalactites are widely spread and the tunnels shows off the cave’s topographical features. The Stone Turtle is especially eye-catching because it is shaped like Jeju-do Island.

at the end you would see this amazing structure:

Warning: it is a long and wet walk so if you have elder people with you let them know it's a long walk to and fro (about 45 mins?) and ask if they wanna do it.. my folks weren't so positive about it half an ago into the walk..

Rushed to return the car before we head to the airport to catch our flight back to Seoul - weather app says it's snowing.. YAY!!! fresh snow once we touch down!! lucky =)

Winter Wonderland 27.12.12 - Jeju [Day 1]

Winter in Korea

Can't get enough of Korea.. I have gotten the whole family to travel to Korea during winter :D it will be my first winter trip to another country, and I was really thrilled!

So how was my trip?

First and foremost I need to say that winter is one of the best times to visit Korea! The snow, the scenery (Nami Island is so beautiful during winter!! Totally feeling Winter Sonata when I was there).. not to mention you can people-watch for Korean winter fashion :P

SO, Korea during winter is a must-read :D

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27 Dec 12: Day 1 - Jeju Island

Teddy Bear Museum, Jungmun Beach, Lotte Hotel, "Black Pork Street"

Day 1 –

Arrived in the morning and missed our flight to Jeju due to flight delay :(

Can’t be helped since I planned a really tight transit and I didn’t expect Asiana would have a flight delay… paid a small sum to Jeju Air to book ourselves on the next flight.

Meal on board. Bibimbap!

 

Took the airport shuttle bus to Gimpo Airport to catch the domestic flight (7,000won). 

Sight of snow! :D

 

Lunch at Lotteria 

 

 

  

Airport fashion??? HAHAHA

  

We proceeded to the airport counter to retrieve our rental car booking. Took a shuttle bus to collect our car, and off we go! The last time we went Jeju we took the bus (SEE HERE), and I can say car is a much better transport method. It’s not too expensive but it’s much more efficient, most importantly, you travel at your own pace. My sister had a little issue with driving left-side, almost got into an accident but all was well when she got used to it…

Just enter the telephone number of the destination and off we go!

Jeju, as always, giving off a relaxed atmosphere :) this is my second time to Jeju. You just can’t get enough of Jeju, can you? Jeju was a little warmer than when we were at the Incheon airport. Clear sky, beautiful weather!

We arrived at hostel but the room wasn't ready yet, so we deposited our stuff and first stop! Teddy bear museum (family friendly location)!

In the museum there are so many adorable bears! In Jeju you find the more “international” characters such as .. ….  There was even the Psy Gangnam style bear! Let the photos do the talking…

i love these huskies!! :D 

 

 

 

at the Teddy store hehe

the outdoor area

There is also another bear museum in Seoul, but the bears displayed there are more “Korean”. Check out my previous post: ( ---)

the cool Starbucks just opposite Teddy Bear museum

Next stop: Jungmun Beach!

it's quite near to the Teddy Bear museum so you can just drop by to take a look.

We hopped over to the Lotte Hotel to look at the windmills but alas, they are under renovation =(

anyway it has began to get chilly as the sky turned dark.. my first experience of the winter cold!

We drove back to the hostel and went to the “Black Pork Street”. Had one of the best meals right here =)

Cold noodles!

and here's a picture of us in front of our hostel. the location is pretty convenient!