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.

friday - quiet the way i like it.

 

last day of the working week before our family trip next week! :D

though i needed to start the day with an 8AM conference call, I still started the day with zest.

for the working day will end sweet with YR popping by my office for awhile before I ended work early at 4pm. :)

 

YR had a performance this morning which I have to miss it regrettably due to work. but the husband did a great job updating me with photos and videos real-time!

while I think the costumes was abit obiang and not worth the monies collected for it, YR actually looks v cute and good in it! don't you think so?

 

his N2 class was performing oppa gangnum style dance and from the video, Im so proud and glad to see my boy dancing with abundance and really enjoying himself! thumbs up! 

 

dancer YR! LOL

 

 

we received YZ's report card for his first year in primary school and are real pleased to see that his results are pretty decent. he has band 1 for the 3 subjects and his scores are higher than the class & level average.

but I see a slight declining trend for all 3 subjects through the terms.... oops.

 

I have to admit we don't really pay him a lot of attention when it comes to his schoolwork. im guilty of just sending him to enrichment classes (berries for mandarin, kumon for English) and the most i'll do daily is just to check in on him if he has completed his homework, if any, for the day.

so for that, I very proud of my son to achieve all that mostly based on his own efforts. LOL.

 

I guess I have to start learning to step up being more involved as he progresses into the upper primary levels..

 

the husband went for SGX bull run in the late afternoon so he dropped YR at my office. the younger boy was really happy to help himself to all the "treats" he got from my colls and drinking all the milk/juices that he wanted in my office. tsk tsk.

 

I left with him at 4pm and we went to pick up the elder son from my mum's place before heading home for dinner. hubbi was away for his coy DnD now so trio is spending quiet time together. :)

 

some outfits for the week:



 

left: top from gg5, skirt from zara

middle: top from gg5, denim tights from topshop

right: dress from zara

farewells at work - never stop expecting that

 

dear kohchai is moving on to another firm in a week's time. how time flies!

has it already been 3 years!?

as ping, Brandon, kohchai and I joined the ex-team within 6 months of one another, we formed the relationship fast and strong and was really a close-knitted team with suz back then.

even though in the last 2 years, all of us rotated internally to different roles but the chats and lunch sessions never ceased and we always make time for one another to catch-up, complain or just to have a good laugh.

 

will definitely miss her lots.

she has provided lots of invaluable words of wisdom not only on work but on how to manage my marriage and family life too.

it is not easy for one to stumble upon someone who share so willingly and honestly about everything so Im thankful for that.

 

we had our farewell dinner for her at Culina @ Dempsey tonight.

good food + good company = fantabulous evening!

we must make efforts to meet for lunch still at Chinatown point which is the mid-point for our companies. heh.



 

top: dinner at culina tonight

bottom: dinner earlier this year before suz popped!

me-time & costal settlement

decided to give myself a mini-break again. :P

hubbi brought the boys to in-laws place for lunch himself and dropped me off town before that so I can do what I like best - spending time doing window/actual shopping!

I wanted to check out alexander wang x H&M but of cos by today, its wishful thinking that anything is left form Thursday's launch. @_@

 

oh well, I still managed to get myself a zara dress & superga sneakers. :P

 

the husband came to pick me up at tangs heeren in the late afternoon and we decided to head to change for a short stint of boardwalking before early dinner @ costal settlement.

 

they have the old school swing outside the restaurant. the boys enjoyed it but yz was bitten by mozzies while at it. :(

 

the food at costal settlement is actually not bad but I find them a bit too oily.. the truffle fries while yummy were glistening with oil!

and considering the standard, it's pretty pricey too.

I don't think I will revisit since there is nothing much to do around here and the food is not wow enough for me to lure me back for it alone.

dont worry, your body will remind you how old you really are.

since the my jog last Thursday at garden by the bay, I had been feeling an ache akin to bruising feeling at the back of my left knee.

when the pain subsided a bit last sunday, I thought nothing of it and went for a run at the gym and the pain came back with a vengeance!!

so I have been hobbling a bit at work for the past week. doesn't really affect when I walk but I cant stretch my left leg straight without feeling the pain.

and the pain worsened this morning so I decided to take sick leave to see the doctor..

 

so it's a pulled muscle and i need to give it another week rest before running again. :(

so it really matters to do good proper warm up before exercising which I seldom pay attention to.

argh! is this old age?!

I feel like a slug for not running for almost a week! argh!

 

and talking about getting old.. went for jas farewell dinner with the rest of the colls yesterday.

soju makes my stomach queasy the whole day today!!

at one point, I was quite certain im down with alcohol poisoning!

the body just doesn't take alcohol like how it could in the past. SAD.

 

another week before our family trip!

shall start packing the luggage this weekend then.. the thing about travelling at year-end to cold countries is the bulky coldwear that I somehow need to stuff into the luggage. the boys' clothings is no joke. need to keep them warm and ensuring ample space for my shopping back too!

packing is indeed an art!



 

some outfits for the week:

left: midi dress from gg5

middle: top from axara, cropped pants from zara

right: top from zara, jeans from 7forallmankind

my bonus pressie to myself is finally here!

jas is back from her Europe trip and she has helped me buy the ring that i wanted successfully!

yeah! been eyeing the ring for the longest time (we are talking about years here) but it was always not on the top of the list for there were always coveted bags ahead of it.

finally, its on the top of my wish list this year and with the help of jas, I finally owned it!

not much cheaper than in sg ~ 15% cheaper? but still a good buy nevertheless.

I never get tired of anything rose gold. sweet!

 

bvlgari bzero  - rose gold with black ceramic

im a happy woman. I wonder what will catch my fancy for my upcoming trip in 2 weeks time!!

YZ turns 7!

my baobei turns 7 today!
since we have sort of celebrated his birthday in advance on wed by bringing him to the zoo, it was a pretty quiet day for us.
during the day, we let yr and him unwrapped the playmobil presents from my in-laws (the hero factory from my mum shall have to wait. hehe.) and they had a blast playing their fav. (my least) activity of play-fighting. argh...

at late afternoon, we left for katong 112 where we chanced upon a sale at the newbalance branch there!
I got myself a new sports top and socks while the younger boy finally got himself a decent pair of shoes for our upcoming trip. :D
after which, the boys spent time having fun at the water playground at the roof level.

we left for dinner at al forno @ east coast road - since yz wanted pizza and spaghetti for his birthday dinner. 
I chanced upon this restaurant previously when I was around the area and wanted to try it for the longest time.
however, while the food was pretty decent, I think it's a bit pricey.

along east coast road

I wish my baobei to be healthy & happy always! and continue to find joy in learning new stuff. :)

saturday - a wedding + catching up with dow team

it was a pretty packed busy Saturday for me yesterday... sometimes, im amazed at the stuff I achieved in a day.

early in the morning, we moved out of the house to novena for I have to finish up my annual health screening at the mount E novena hospital while the boys had their breakfast and jalan-jalan abit while waiting for me.
then we moved out to send YZ to his enrichment class at tampines. while the husband caught up with his work on his lappy at the kopitiam, I drove to TM with the younger boy to run errands.
then its back to home after the class ended and the adults busied ourselves with housework chores (what's new!!?).
I managed to catch a cat-nap before hitting the gym for a short run.
THEN, its time to bath and move out of the house so the boys can have their early dinner before sending me to Shangri-La for a wedding dinner!
by the time im out of the house the 2nd time of the day at 4+pm, I was feeling a little low in energy. @_@

wanted to take photo with YZ alone and guess who photo-bombed!

he looks so cheeky here!

 

the husband wanted to head to shaw to look for something so I recommended dinner at &made burger bistro at pacific plaza for them.

im glad that the man + 2 boys love the food here though I think PS café truffle fries is still better.

I cant resist but chomped on the fries and sweet desserts even though I'm having my dinner real soon!

 

ha, we got the boys to sit by themselves opposite us and we pretended its just us dating :P

 

they dropped me at Shangri-La before heading off to look for the in-laws to spend some time.

so fun to catch up with the dow peeps! have it been 10 years!?

gosh, the conversations just flowed like we only just met last week ha!

I have the loveliest evening with them!

having fun at the candid shots booth

 

managed to ambush the groom for a we-fie!

the clumsy boy we knew 10 years back is finally married!

congrats PCY!

 

the husband and boys came to fetch me at 10+pm and I felt bad that the boys missed their usual bedtime because of me.

looking forward to spending quality time with them today for it's YZ 7YO bday!!!

 

some outfits for the week:

left: dress from ms selfridge

middle: dress from forever new

right: top and pants from gg5

advanced bday celebration for YZ's 7YO bday!

given that its public holiday today, we decided to give in to YZ's request to visit the SG zoo as part of his 7YO bday celebration (actual day is this sunday though) today!

we've tried our utmost best to reach the zoo early but after the morning hassle, we only reached at around 10am...and the place was super crowded.. @_@

i was thinking if it was a mistake to come here on a public holiday.

luckily, once we were in, the crowd dispersed and it was much more manageable from there.

 

waiting for papa to get the tickets 

 

my boy is all grown up! he read the map and basically directed us on where to go the whole time.

 

it was good to see some of the same old animals like the white tiger, Asian elephants, snakes etc.

they are my fav! though the pacing of the white tiger always fazed me out and I just cant stay for too long near its enclosure area.

 

the polar bear area has been revamped and renovated and it's the first time we are seeing it.

I like inuka's new habitat! much more spacious than before and visitors get to see him in action more clearly.

when we were there, he was very active and swimming in circles non-stop coming to the glass panels and kicking away earning happy gasps and giggles from the crowd.

we even get to see him dived in from the platform into the water a few times!

it is good to see him seemingly active and happy.

happy boys seeing almost all the animals in zoo today

 

waiting for the Asian elephant show

white rhinos - YR's fav, don't ask me why

cheetah - amazing long limbs

 

and it's always fun to refresh the general knowledge on how to differentiate between an alligator and a crocodile, or what is the difference in their furs between a cheetah, panther, leopard!

oh, and the young of a kangaroo is a joey!

it was fun learning again with the boys.

 

we left the zoo at around 3+pm and from there, we zoomed to windowsill café near jalan besar for yummy pies - more like tarts if you ask me. 

 

the lemon with strawberry one is really good!

 

and from there, I had the sudden craving for frog legs porridge so off we go to geylang for an early dinner.

the dinner was super satisfying but considering KFC for lunch, tarts for tea break and now this for dinner.... i think I need to seriously count my calories from tomorrow onwards again! :(

 

and that is it for today.

super tiring. i think the boys will snooze before 9 and the adults by 11.. haha.

weekend - pancakes and pressies for the boys

 

after yz's enrichment class in the morning yesterday, I decided to get the ng family out of the house for some activities.

it was not going to be a laze-at-home day for us!

we went to try the strictly pancakes branch at upper east coast road. it was alright for me for im never a pancake/waffles fan but the boys were more than happy to share their caramelized banana pancakes topped with chocolate ice-cream with their pappy.



 

pancakes galore!

 

after the sweet treats, we made our way to bugis junction - been eons since we last visited it.

and i remember again why it's not our fav. hangout place....

 

today, we brought my mum for dim sum lunch at paradise pavilion at MBFC - abit zzzz to be at my workplace area on a sunday....

glad that everyone enjoys dim sum and we set off to bedok mall after that.

yz's bday is next sunday so popo decided to let the boys choose a set from the lego shop!

after much "negotiation" with the husband and I, we finally relented to allow a hero factory set for each boy.

 

this weekend is undoubtedly a lovely one for YZ & YR!

the year is ending!





don't you have this feeling??

its like it's oct already! gosh, are we officially in Q4 of the year?

im hurtling towards my grand 33rd birthday.... I need to go into denial mode soon.

 

anyway the working week has been more than just busy for me especially when i came down with sore throat and super blocked nose from wednesday onwards!

but with self-medication, I managed to make most of the symptoms go away and ok enough to go for a jog this morning! it has been awhile since my last jog on Tuesday... @_@

after the org chart change announcement last fri, this week has been crazy busy for me.

apart from working on home on wed (to spend time with the elder boy as he has no school for this week due to PSLE marking), it was like back-to-back meetings on Mon, Thurs and Fri plus a full day offsite workshop on Tue.

I don't know how I survive it but I did.

I think im more ready to face next week's trials given there is a holiday break mid-week!

 

and i cant wait for our family holiday to come soon!

counting down - another 4 weeks to go!

 

some outfits for the week:

left: top and cropped pants from gg5

middle: shirt from zara, skirt from gg5

right: top from A/X jeans from Guess by Marciano

change is constant

it has been a pretty exciting time at work this week.

there is a change in the org chart and some of the changes and rotation of people are very much unexpected..

its a good/bad(?) thing that my role is still the same I guess?

opportunities may be coming up and I wonder if im in the right time/position to capitalise on them.

oh well, we shall see.

 

and yesterday, went for a fantabulous outing with my colls.

dinner at tampopo and then K-ing our lungs out at liang court partyworld! *woohoo*

nothing beats a good Rihanna/gaga song to get the crowd dancing. LOL.

 

and 8 of us polished off 2 bottles of whiskey. *burp*

and everyone remained sane when we parted our way. we are good drinkers! hehe.

 

some outfits for the week:

 

left: romper from forever new

middle: dress from MNG

right: top from uniqlo, vest from ??, cropped pants from zara