KOREA07 Day 1: An-yeong-haseyo!

Korea was my first ever experience of winter. The moment I stepped out of Incheon airport, I could see my own breath turn to mist. Our first top was the shooting location for the Korean drama series “Jewel in the Palace”, or in Mandarin - Ta Chang Jin. For my mom and the rest of the tour, they were really fascinated with the place as they had seen the series. For me, it was mostly a bore, except for one hut which was covered full of graffiti and words not unlike those you see in Malaysia. Eg. Kim (heart) Eun, XXX-XXXX for sex, Park was here (in Korean), etc. A Malaysian had also stamped her mark there. Man, the weather was so cold. Donno how the pretty Korean tourist guide could stand it with only an office blazer on. I was so glad when we were finally done and could go for lunch. The restaurant only had sit-on-the-floor seats, and we ate Korean steamboat which is so different from our local ones. There veggies and mushrooms are the main dish, with meat only for a little flavour. And we had a round of Korean beer called “Hite”. Mmmm….alcohol on our very first meal.

With hot lunch in my tummy, the cold weather was less erm…coldy. We then proceeded to this Korean themepark called Everland. All the staff there were dressed up in fancy costumes and they say hello by holding up their palms towards you and twisting it. In Malaysia, it would have been interpreted as “We don’t have what you want”. Anyway, it was a really great themepark. It had your thempark rides and also animals like a zoo. But due to time constraints, we were only able to go for a 3D movie which I thought was just rather average. Towards nightfall, it started getting really cold again. What really amazes me are the Korean chicks who covered themselves all nice and warm in the thick jackets, yet still show off their legs with their ever so short Japanese-schoolgirl-style miniskirts.

Whence night was upon us we were finally on our way to the Phoenix Park ski resort. Just before reaching, we stopped by a shop to get our ski outfits. Everybody had to get an outfit regardless of whether they wished to ski or not. “Just wear and take picture” they said. I loved our hotel room. Korean style raised wooden floor. But it was so stuffy! There was no ventilation at all. So ended up we had to open a window slightly to the negative Celsius temperature to let some cool in. Drat...I never learned how to say goodnight in Korean.