Day 8 - LG Konjiam



so what can we do at an off-peak ski-resort?

the good thing is there are nice walking trails around the resort that we can explore.

so for our full day here at LG Konjiam, we did quite a fair bit of hiking but also got the rest our tired bodies deserved now that we were entering the 2nd phase of the trip and the boys have been doing full day itinerary excursions with us for the past 1 week!

 

so how did we do that?

 

after breakfast in the comforts of our room, we spent the morning hiking up the mountain to a botanic gardens (which was closed.. LOL).

it was a good walk up and down the mountain which took us an hour plus.

 

can you see our resorts at the back in the top left photo?

 



after the walk, delicious lunch @ Mirasia

and guess what we did after lunch? for the first time for the trip, the ng family took a nap together! LOL. naps is such a luxurious thing even back at SG.
and all of us were actually abit worn down after a week+ into the trip where we were out of the hotel/resort early in the mornings and only back in the evenings...
so it was a good nap until almost 4pm. :P

after the nap, we tried another hiking trail which was really trekking on trodden sand/mud gravel path... @_@
half the time, I was worried about snakes and wild animals..
but it was a different experience for us.

not really my cup of tea - :P

 

we had an early dinner at a jap restaurant back at the resort. again, we were the only patrons! LOL.

the food was very good though. good to know that the chef was not slacking.. or maybe for his only patrons, he put in that extra efforts.. :D

 

we had desserts and coffee at the café next to it. the boys entertained themselves running around on the rooftop while the husband and I took the rare chance to just chill and chat.

 

dinner & desserts for our last night here at LG Konjiam

 



again, we retreated to the room after some tidbits shopping at GS25 - their equivalent of our 7-11 - to nua the night away.
again, channel surfing is really the ng's family's favorite activity! tsk tsk.

and tomorrow, we will be heading back to seoul to spend the last 3 days of our trip! *wee*
my favorite city for now!

Day 7 - LG Konjiam

today, we made our way to a ski resort - LG Konjiam!

we checked out from metro hotel around 10am and deposited our luggage with the concierge. armed with only our smaller luggage, we were ready to made our way to LG Konjiam ski resort for our 2D2N getaway. lol. we feel like this is a mini getaway within our Korean trip.

 

once again, I think hubbi and I are very resourceful. as usual, with only bit of information from internet and a fair bit of asking around with the locals, we managed to make our own way to the resort!

it took us 25mins to travel by subway from myeongdong area to jamsil area (where lotte amusement park is located anyway). from there, we found the bus-stop to take a local bus which is supposed to take us to Gonjiam terminal (out of seoul anyway).

when the bus came, I was trying so hard to check with the driver if it's going to Gonjiam terminal and the way we pronounced "Gonjiam" was vastly different. lol.

 

in any case, we boarded it and for the first half of the journey, I was trying my best to look at road signs to see if we were travelling in the right direction.. but the further we moved away from seoul, the road signs with english words slowly ceased until all were in Korean. @_@

so I cant be bothered and retreated to watching show on my hp. :P

from the website, I was supposed to be a 2 hours ride but either its wrong or traffic was very smooth for a weekday, we reached the terminal in slightly over an hour time. and it was the bus driver who called out to us, he was shouting "oedi?!" repeatedly and luckily I know that is "where" in Korean so I shouted from my seat "Kon-jee-am" (the way they pronounced gonjiam...) and he indicated we have reached the stop so we quickly scrambled down.

 

and the bus stop was in the middle of nowhere in a sort of sub-urban town. we tried asking the receptionist of a nearby hotel only to be ignored for the guy seemed to understand no English. and it was way colder here than in seoul so in desperation, we seek refuge in a café. luckily, the waitress knew some English and told us that the resort shuttle bus pick-up point is right in front of the café! what luck!

 

so while waiting for the shuttle bus, we had our desserts break! :D

 

angel-is-us café with their yummy thick toast

 

the shuttle bus came and we reached the resort in 15mins time!



 

left: at the resort lobby

right: our very nice hotel room/apartment

 

and after touring the place, we noted that there was minimal snow on the slopes, definitely not enough for any skiing or sledding. so we went to check with the reception on when will the man-made snow be sprayed only to be told it will be done so on 1st of Dec. @_@

major face-palm moment. no wonder the hotel rates were so low as compared to a month later!!

it was like 150+ compared to a 300+ in Dec month and that was because the resort is operating as off-peak in nov with no snow-related activities going on! OMG.

 

still, the resort has its fair shares of activities to do in-house but I was a little disappointed for the boys' sake.

but the good thing is they enjoyed their stay here still doing other stuff. and I think that is the beauty of having no expectations! ha. for this trip, I promised them nothing and told them upfront nothing of what we will be doing. the way we positioned is more of a just come along and enjoy whatever we are doing kind of trip to them. :P

 

anyway, within the resort, there were gorgeous walking trails which we did for the first day there.

it was a good afternoon spent just walking with the boys and taking photos.

 

traces of autumn left before winter comes

much colder here than in seoul - *brrr*

 

we checked out some of the activities in the resort and the boys opted for the 4D rider which was surprisingly quite good.

in any case, i was a little scared when on it. YZ has chosen a roller coaster like ride for us. :(

 

the boys enjoyed this ride!

time flies and it was dinner time. we settled it in an Italian restaurant in the resort. and we were the only patrons! LOL. how off-peak huh...

but the food was really good. especially my roast chicken risotto! absolutely yummy!
yz got his pizza fix and the husband enjoyed his boring yummy spaghetti bolognaise so it was a good meal!

@ big-6ix restaurant

 

spent the night channel surfing! the resort tv has over 100 channels which is crazy. the boys finally get to cartoon characters sprouting english instead of Korean! and after they slept, hubbi and I were spoilt for choices for movies too.

 

so that is how they keep customers entertained during off-peak season. :P 

 

went for my annual check up before my korea trip at the new mount Elizabeth hospital at novena.

i seldom log a complaint but this time round, the experience really left a bad taste in my mouth. I've opted for a stomach ultrascan this time round but the wait was so long that eventually I decided to come in the day after to do that. I was told at the start to wait an hour for the scan so after that initial 1 hour wait i went to check in with the nurse only to find out that I've to wait ANOTHER hour for the scan. @_@ i wonder if anyone will let me know if i didn't both to go and find out more.

 

and because I forgot to fix the appointment date for the review, i waited 2 weeks in vain for no one to contact me on when to collect the results and have the review with the doctor. the best thing is when I tried to call the health screening centre, no one picks up my call. and so I tried calling the helpline, left voice messages, dropped emails to them but to no avail and that went on for another 2 weeks before 1 left for my trip!! totally ridiculous. in the end, I left a complaint on its website THEN they started trying to make contact. zzz

 

and so they said they will send the results to my house and gave me the earliest slot when im back from my trip. obviously when I was back in SG, I found NOTHING in my mailbox. called them and was told the courier cant get me at my house and the documents were delivered back to them. ok, still cool with that so I asked if my appointment was confirmed the day after and they gave the verbal confirmation.

 

but guess what, when I reached the health screening centre, they cant find any records of my appointment and my medical report as well! SIAO!

I waited another 20mins while the nurse tried to locate my report. and only when I approached the counter after 20mins wait, the nurse found the report on her desk which her colleague has obviously left there after finding it BUT NOT informing her. super zzzz!!!

 

so, no way am I ever going back there for my annual health screening!

 

the good thing is my health results is good for this year with some improvements seen from last year especially my fats % which dropped from 24% to 19+% :)

I guess all the exercising and eating healthier play a part.

glucose & cholesterol levels are better than last year too. all is good.

 

ending the note on another happy note - my elder boy made me a lego "ring" seeing how I love to wear a ring now and then. sweet!

and the design is really cool too. ha.

 

Day 6 - Seoul : garusogil, cheongdam, gangnam

since we were not heading much to the usual tourist attractions for this trip, we had more time to explore certain seoul's areas! :D

for this day, we headed to the shopping area - cheongdam & gangnam!

 

first stop was to garusogil which is a short but utterly delightful strip full of interesting cafes & shops!

we spent almost the whole morning and had our lunch here as well.

 

cake break at this café: deux amis

lovely selection of cakes - their strawberry is the best seller and we know why for the fresh cream is super good!

 

 pretty cafes and shops lined the street!

 

we walked quite a fair bit after that, slowly making our way to cheongdam area and eventually to Hyundai departmental store.

what a lovely store! :P

dinner was settled here as well at the basement food court. the food selection is good and ordering is very high-tech there. lol.

so we made the orders at the counter, given a gadget similar to those vibrating ones that we get in SG BUT when back at our table, we were actually supposed to scan the gadget on a raised tab in the middle of the table. apparently, the orders will be sent electronically to the respective vendors and food will be delivered to the right table. impressive!?

 

we were just sitting there thinking the gadget will vibrate and we were to collect the food later.. an auntie who helps to clear tables saw us and helped us do the scanning and gestured that food will come to us shortly! lol. lucky for her, if not our food will never get prepared. we really thought the orders were sent out at the counter but no, you need to do the scanning at your table...



 

as usual we over-ordered...the boys cant finish their set meal of beef bulgogi rice + udon and I can never finish my own set meal... in the end the husband over-ate again.. OOPS.

 

after dinner, we walked further down to gangnam area to explore the galleria which is really too-high end for us.

by 9pm, we were all bushed and decided on the option of taking the reliable option of subway back to hotel than wait for a cab in the cold.

 

we will be heading out to a ski resort the next day! expected to see snow for this trip but of cos what is a trip without unexpected twists!

more on that later!

matchbox twenty - inspiring me more than they/i think

was re-listening to some of my fav. matchbox 20 songs on this rainy morning when I'm reminded once again why they hold a special place in my heart alongside with U2 for the past 20 years.

while rob Thomas is nowhere in the same league as bono but some of the lyrics written and sung with so much emotions by him really struck a chord in my heart.

sharing some of the special ones here:

1) Rest Stop


"She said - while you were sleeping
I was listening to the radio
And wondering what you're dreaming when
It came to mind that I didn't care
So I thought - hell if it's over
I had better end it quick
Or I could lose my nerve
Are you listening - can you hear me
Have you forgotten"

this song taught me how fragile love is. how there is no explanation when love just cease to exist one day. out of the blue.
and sometimes it only take something as simple as a song to let one realize that.
when you cease to care about the dreams of someone, he/she just doesn't matter anymore.

2) hand me down

 
"Someday they'll find your small town world on a big town avenue
Gonna make you like the way they talk when they're talking to you
Gonna make you break out of the shell cause they tell you to
Gonna make you like the way they lie better than the truth
They'll tell you everything you wanted someone else to say
They're gonna break your heart, yeah

From what I've seen
You're just a one more hand me down
Cause no one's tried to give you what you need
So lay all your troubles down
I am with you now"

before you love someone, you need to love yourself first. and after loving yourself enough, be sure to find that someone who will give you what you need, who will let you lay your troubles on.
if not, you are just another hand me down.

3) leave


"I'm not saying there wasn't nothing wrong
I just didn't think you'd ever get tired of me
I'm nowtsaying we ever had the right to hold on
I just didn't wanna let it get away from me"
never be complacent in love. we cant even guarantee we will never get tired of someone, who are we to expect that others will never get tired of us.
and yes, we never have the natural right to hold on to any relationships. we have to work and earn that right. love is always about efforts and commitments.

4) push


"She said I don't know if I've ever been good enough
I'm a little bit rusty, and I think my head is caving in
And I don't know if I've ever been really loved
By a hand that's touched me, well I feel like something's
Gonna give
And I'm a little bit angry, well

This ain't over, no not here, not while I still need you
Around
You don't owe me, we might change
Yeah we just might feel good

I wanna push you around, well I will, I will
I wanna push you down, well I will, I will
I wanna take you for granted, I wanna take you for granted
Well I will"

and of cos, the lovely lovely "push" that allows the world, or at least me, to discover them.
the song is everything about how love should not be.
how many of us are aware of the fact that we are doing such pushing in our relationships now?
we know we should not but we continue to do it.

Day 5 - Seoul: Myeongdong

 

we woke up bright early and were in jeju airport by 8am for our 9am flight back to seoul!
reached gimpo airport at 10am - again, landing was too fast and hard for my liking...
anyway, took the subway and we were in myeongdong before 12 noon! our metro hotel is situated just 2mins walk from the sunway exit! *sweet*

and our room was ready for checking in! *double yeah*
the best room for this trip! 2 double beds - platform somemore -, extra roomy and with heater in the room! gorgeous!
we unpacked abit and freshened up before heading out for lunch and spend the rest of day in myeongdong!

top: on board shuttle bus to our plane

bottom: in our family room at metro hotel! :D

 

lunch was settled at a "juk" (congee) restaurant nearby our hotel - the beef with vegetables congee was really good!

 

lunch!

 

after lunch, we crossed the road (yes, shopping all around us!) to the lotte mall, avenue, young plaza (the whole stretch!)!

i think the boys enjoyed the departmental shopping at the basement of lotte mall, not unlike taka basement where there are lots of foodies to buy.



 

@ the sky roof of lotte young plaza

 

we bought  a fair bit of food stuff from there - fruit tart, fish cake balls (selection with cheese, potato, sweet potato etc stuffings), caramel apple etc which are all crazily yummy!

the boys adjourned back to hotel for a mid-day break feasting on the food while mummy continued venturing out to buy all the masks - face, eyes, hand, lips, you name it I got it! and shopping at the rest of myeongdong!

I came back to the boys around 6pm to head out for dinner @ myeongdong gyoza which is a short walk from our hotel. ahh, I love our hotel's location!

 

walking around myeongdong & dinner at myeongdong gyoza - cheap and absolutely yummy!

 

we spent the rest of the evening walking around myeongdong area, popping in and out of shops, tasting street food - basically just enjoying spending time as a family.

 

it was a good day, back to what we know best, spending time in a city just walking and eating. :P

Day 4 - Jeju: seongsan llchulbong peak, seopjikoji, jeju city



today, it's breakfast at paris baguette once again... an easy choice since it's the only "visible" breakfast outlet available at 9+am...

after brekkie, we moved out to one of the main attractions in jeju: seongsan llchulbong peak which is commonly known as the sunrise peak. of cos, we cant wake up early enough to catch sunrise here but it is a good place to visit after sunrise too!

it is a good 30mins drive from jeju city - really, jeju is not small at all!



yes we are hiking all the way up to the peak! the climb up took us slightly more than 30mins with "pit stop" now and then...

to be honest, im very impressed with the boys' stamina. they made their own way all the way up and it is not an easy feat at all. when we made our descent down, my calves were aching and feet trembling slightly but they were still full of energy!

top: we are at the top!

starting our descent slowly with great views on the way down!

lunch was simple at lotteria, their version of Mac. after which, we did a short drive of around 15-20m to the next destination : seopjikoji. this is the place where "all in" was filmed. I've never watched the show and definitely not here because of that.

have read wonderful thing about this place of its scenery and it is really gorgeous in real life!

left: the long descent down sunrise peak @_@

right: beautiful scenery at seopjikoji!

we saw some haenyo which means sea women who dive into the sea for freah seafood and sell them for a living. most of these women are old grannies usually in their 50-60s.

we witnessed first hand how they swim a few hundred metres out into the sea and dived into the sea with just a rope attached to them in the cold weather!

its really amazing and you have to salute them for that.

beautiful scenery @ seopjikoji!

the coastline scenery is wonderful and it was such a good stroll along it taking in the view.

after this, we were feeling tired being out the whole day so we made an early return to hotel to rest abit before venturing out to jeju city for some window-shopping and dinner.

jeju is really a place with fresh seafood - we walked past so many restaurants at jeju city with huge-ass crabs, lobsters etc in tanks outside of them.

we didn't have that since both hubbi and I are a little allergic to seafood so we settled for boring (yummy) black pig bbq again. :P

top: churros break!

bottom: crazy lots of pork - we cant finish :( and my fav. kimchi ramen!

and i think im done with doing sightseeing and hiking excursions!

time to head back to my fav. city for shopping and eating tomorrow! yeah!

Day 3: Jeju - Jeogbang Falls, Cheonjiyeon Falls, Cheonjeyeon Falls, Hello Kitty Island, O'Sulloc Tea Museum

one of the most packed day of the whole trip - we visited quite a few attractions in jeju island and we drove more than 100+km in a single day! all by me, no less.

im so proud of myself. as I said to the husband, while I have my fair share of shortcomings, he should be thankful to have a wife who have no qualms about driving a new car, in a new place, a different left-hand drive no less and doing the driving for the entire day just like that!

after a hearty breakfast @ paris baguette, we moved out to the other side of the island (jeju city is at the north while the equally popular jungmun area is at the south of the island).

along the way, we came across this nice field with lots of horses and we decided to pull over to take a few shots and let the boys see horses up close.

ahh... the joy of self-drive!



it's actually a tourist attraction where you can ride the horses/ponies for a fee.

a good break for the 45mins drive - we moved on to our supposedly first stop of the day: jeongbang falls. the falls is famous for being the only falls in jeju to flow directly into the ocean.

relatively easy access to the falls - just a walk down flights of stairs.

jeongbang falls!

2nd stop is cheonjiyeon falls which is just 10mins drive away from jeongbang falls.

cheongjiyeon is not as impressive as the other 2 falls but the scenic trail that you've to walk through before reaching the falls is great. we got to see streams and nice scenery along the landscaped trail. :)

it was a good leisure walk of 10-15mins walk before reaching the falls itself.



@cheongjiyeon falls

3rd stop: cheonjeyeon falls which is the most challenging of the 3 falls.

Cheonjeyeon falls is three tiered meaning the water falls off at 3 different points. the first fall is relatively easy to reach - down a flight of stairs but the 2nd and 3rd ones require a fair bit of hiking, ascending and descending of many many stairs....



I can only say im very impressed with the boys' stamina for both hubbi and me can feel our legs aching the next day after all the walking and climbing....
but it's worth it. the scenery at cheonjeyeon falls is really good!

we conquered all 3 parts of cheonjeyeon falls! I think we spent almost an hour here... @_@

we stopped at a random restaurant along the way for our late lunch. jeju is famous for its black pig and seafood. so we decided to order abalone porridge and a fish (I dont know what is this, just pointed to the picture in the menu..ha) for lunch.

it was not cheap but very good. yum! 

what was yz so shocked about?

anyway their small silver fish (ikan bilis?) is uber yummy!

next stop: onwards to hello kitty island! the husband was initially abit reluctant to go but it proved to be entertaining enough.

even though im never a huge kitty fan, I found myself loving the display there.

taking with our birthyear kitties!

such a sweet place LOL!

the bottom left photo was taken by YZ - not too bad

and of cos we just have to eat at the kitty café right?

though the waffles is really nothing to shout about.

and 1 last stop before heading back to jeju city for our late dinner, we made a stopover at o'sulloc tea museum. this is more for the husband who actually likes green tea/matcha stuff...

apparently the green tea harvested here is used for innisfree products! and the green tea cakes that they served at their café is really good.

when we were back in seoul subsequently, we realized there are a few o'sulloc tea cafes in town too. 

@ o'sulloc tea museum

by the time we reached our hotel after a 45mins drive, it was already 7+pm. luckily our hotel is very near the city centre so a 5-10mins walk brought us to a street full of eating places!

the boys tried zhajiangmian for the first time and love it!

not a lot of ingredients but very filling for the boys

it had been a long day for the ng family so it's no surprise that all of us fell asleep soon after bathing before 10pm. :P

we will be heading to sunrise peak and other places for our last day in jeju tomorrow!

Day 2: Jeju - Sangumburi Crater + Black pig dinner

our flight to jeju is at 1pm so we took our time to lazily check-out of lotte city hotel and had brunch @ lotte mall before making our way to gimpo domestic airport which is only just a 10-15mins walk from the hotel.

 

@ gimpo domestic airport

 

domestic flights are interesting. people carry lighter baggages, check-in process is much faster, boarding passes are just simple paper strips and no custom chops!

we took eastarjet to jeju. originally, i wanted to take jejuair simply of the fact that lee Minho is the face for it.. ha!

but after comparing prices, eastarjet offers super great discounts if you book way in advance which is the case for us (3months in advance!). the usual pricing of $120-$150 per pax to jeju was slashed to a mere $60+ for us! yes, its a crazy $240+ for our family of 4 - round trip no less! *sweet*

 

the flight was pretty smooth and under an hour though the landing was a little hard for my preference. not sure if it's due to jeju airport having a shorter runway landing strip.

in any case, we reached at 2+pm and first thing we did was to make our way to collect our rental car!

we made booking with KT Kumho for a Kia K5 rental for the 3 days we will be in jeju. the process was straightforward enough - we boarded a shuttle bus at the airport which brought us to the rental place (a mere 10mins drive from the airport). over there, information was verified, payment made and after some simple instructions on the car and GPS features, we were ready to go!

 

hubbi took the wheels for the first day since its a left-hand drive and we drove to our hotel - jeju December hotel - to check-in (a short 20mins drive from the car rental place in jeju city).

it was around 3pm when we reached so the room was ready to check-in - good!

 

after putting our stuff and freshening up abit, we were ready to hit the road for our first and only stop for the day: sangumburi crater!



 

@ sangumburi.

such stone statues are very common at jeju and are normally placed at entrance of places to symbolize protection.

the boys called them "dum-dum" after the stone statue which appeared in the movie "night at the musem".... ha

 

jeju, despite boosting warmer temperatures than seoul felt much cooler. perhaps its the wind, im not sure. the boys were complaining of the cold when we reached here and i regretted not prepping them enough with thermal wear and bringing their gloves/beanies along. :(

luckily, they didn't fall sick after this.

gorgeous place - I totally heart the place and we get the see sunset here.

 

sangumburi crater is 40mins drive from jeju city where we were based and it's totally worth the drive.

from the entrance, you have to hike up to the crater and the view is lovely.

the crater is now totally engulfed with all kind of flora and fauna - beautiful!

 

by the time we climbed back into our car, we were all shivering. it was good to turn on the heater full blast to thaw us for the trip back to jeju city! :)

 

dinner was at heukdonga restaurant which supposedly serves yummy black pig. and it is really good living up to our expectations, especially the marinated pork ribs. YUM!

yumyum!

 

@ our hotel

 

i booked jeju December hotel after seeing good reviews online. while it's nowhere as luxurious as the other hotels we stayed in korea for this trip, it is very value for money given it's location and room size. i think it costs us around $130+ per night only and we have 2 queen size beds!

hubbi and I were worried that it might get too cold for us at night after we saw that there is no heater in the room but we realized that the floor is heated and the room is well-proofed against the cold outside so we stayed warm and cosy the 3 nights we were sleeping here. :D

 

more on jeju the next 2 posts! I think jeju totally deserves the 3 days that I've planned for it - so much stuff to do and it's really huge, commuting is time consuming so you need to allocate time for that too. 



family day at POLW

in case you are wondering what is POLW, it stands for port of lost wonder... ha.

my company was holding a family day event at POLW and staff is invited to bring family members along to join in the fun - kids to play at POLW, telematches and carnival games for the adults/kids alike.

 

I was actually feeling a little tired and reluctant to go yesterday since we only touched down on Friday afternoon. I woke up yesterday feeling shitty and in need of rest still.

but im glad we made the trip. the boys had tremendous fun at the POLW.

 

even though there was a short burst of heavy downpour in the middle of it, we managed to let the boys have fun in the water playground for almost an hour before having yummy dinner catered there.

 

at POLW : there were candy floss, popcorn stalls for free and balloon man available - the boys were so thrilled!

 

 

having a blast in the water

 

and today I headed to my ex-VP house for a gathering with my ex-team. again, family members are invited and I brought YR along while hubbi and YZ went on a mini outing on their own.

it was all fun and nice to see some of my colls and the kids had fun playing at the huge-ass playroom at the basement of the house.

 

but, I was feeling a bit tired and restless the whole time to be honest. I don't think im properly rested from the trip yet.

just seems like mad rush of activities for the weekend: sat is enrichment class for YZ followed by sentosa. today is enrichment class for YR followed by in-laws house followed by this gathering.

I seriously need to chill and just stare into space and do nothing for an hour later.

I have a bad feeling that I can only get my proper rest NEXT WEEKEND. :(

im going to decline ALL dates next weekend and just chill at home!

Day 1: Gimpo

and so on Monday 2 weeks back, the ng family woke up early in the morning excited for we were heading to korea for our year-end family trip for the next 11 days! *wee*

our flight to Incheon airport is at 8am so we reached airport at 6.30am for checking in and breakfast. :) 

 

Christmas décor is up at T3 after checking in. Disney themed!

 

the flight to Incheon was very smooth and lasted slightly under 6 hours. I watched 2 movies in flight - lucy & fault in our stars.

lucy - a little let-down and less thought-provoking than i expected. perhaps the hype from all the reviews is over-rated. putting aside the central topic, the action of the show is not as thrilling as what you would expect from a luc besson show too.

fault in our stars - i should stop watching such sob story in flight. the show had me sobbing - yes sobbing not tearing - halfway into the show.

 

in any case, the landing was very good and we arrived @ Incheon airport at 3+pm Korean time. we made our way to gimpo airport via AREX and checked into our hotel for the night - gimpo lotte city hotel.

 

1st day itinerary is pretty simple - just spending time @ gimpo lotte mall. so after lazing abit after check-in, we moved out for early dinner and exploring the mall which is connected to our hotel. :) 

 

dinner was settled at their local food court - I had yummeh bibimbap!

and YR feeling tired after the flight despite catching some winks on the plane.

the mall is pretty big and we spent our time strolling in it. I love the space it has to offer, not unlike vivo but without the crowd!



 

we headed back to our hotel room to wind down and rest for the night ard 9-ish. we were to fly out to jeju the next day!

 

our family hotel room is comfy and spacious!

we are back from kimchi land!

we are back finally! it has been a wonderful albeit tiring 11D11N at korea!
we were back in sg since late afternoon and it has been a flurry of unpacking activities for the husband and me once we reached home.
now the 3rd batch of clothings is spinning in the washing machine while we unpack the last bit of stuff from the 2 luggagges - yes, im amazed at how light we can travel for a family of 4 with coldwear somemore!

my head is feeling light from waking up at 5am SGT this morning to catch our morning flight back. and not to mention that the flight back has been pretty crappy - choppy take off plus turbulences x 3-4 times during the short 6 hours flight back. @_@
but I think I have improved with my flying anxiety - while I still cant manage to find the mood to eat, I actually caught a couple of good shows for both flights to and back!

anyway, back to reality for us. im so glad that we have the weekend before plunging back to the routine of work again.. :P
I am trying my best to clear my work emails now....
and there are 2 mountains of clothings to fold from the washing this evening...

but there is one good news awaiting us in the mail when we were away! received a certification that yz is in the top25% for his school year's academic performance.
good job, my boy!

this weekend is going to be packed too - enrichment classes as usual for the boys, family event by my company at sentosa tomorrow and early xmas gathering with ex-team on sunday.
I hope I can find time to wind down and rest abit before starting the new working week.

will start to blog about the trip soon while the memories are still fresh in the mind!

ending the post with my fav. K idols of all times. while I didn't get to see them in person this trip, I derived cheap thrills sporting their ads! hahaha.