Hello children! I believe I have to document my trip to Seoul before my memories get wiped out, as usual. I will do a separate entry on general information and this post will basically be about my personal experience.
Travel period: 20/3/2016-29/3/2016 (Excluding the 20th and 29th for travelling days, I had 8D 8N)
P/s: I was alone for two days and my friends arrived on Day 3.
Day 0 - 20/3/2016:
#matesah got engaged! I was one of Aishah's dulang girls that day and it was a lovely ceremony witnessed by close family and friends. My baby looked suuuuuuuper beautiful and Izzat/Mat looked very handsome. I was fangirling the whole time okay, especially when they had this small talk on the pelamin and exchanged 'omg awkwardnya but hey this is it!' looks. Anyway, the ceremony didn't take long and I was basically done by 1.30pm. Was supposed to head home for last minute packing but somehow rather..... I ended up at Paradigm Mall to lepak.
Fun fact: My 3G wasn't working the whole day but to get to Putrajaya, I managed thanks to the signboards. Now, to get to Paradigm Mall was very challenging. I used SKVE and it was all too familiar since I've used the route during UNITEN days but here's the plot twist: the road to Banting wasn't open then. So.....yes, I missed the exit and ended up on a spooky path to Teluk Panglima Garang. From there, I had to U-turn -> Shah Alam -> LDP -> Paradigm. I believe the journey took an extra 20 minutes. (I didn't tell my friends about this hahaha looooooool)
Fast forward to night time: My brother in law had a 10pm flight to Bangalore while my flight was at 11pm so my mom, dad and sister sent us off at KLIA. By the time I boarded the plane, I was dead tired. It was a really long day.
Day 1 - 21/3/2016:
Arrived at Incheon International Airport at 7am and sat near a coffee shop for 20 minutes just to slowly digest the fact that I was in a foreign country. To be honest, I didn't do a detailed research for the trip as I was so consumed with stuff so from this point on, I had to depend on my survival skills (lol). Thankfully there was an information booth for tourists near the arrivals area so I got some very holy brochures with recommended places of interest (including operating hours, admission fees, and how to get there), maps and a complete subway map (both metro and other lines).
Right after that, I made my way to the subway station and wa-lah, I was welcomed with ticketing machines that were in Korean! I kept calm (big deal :p) and woohoo, I realised that there was an English option! Proceeded to load my T-money card with 50,000won as per instructions as it was fairly straightforward. When I was about to leave though, other tourists saw me and asked for help so I did huehue~
Took the all stop train to Itaewon station with one exchange and that took me a little over one hour. There were attractive 2-3 soldiers standing near me so sempat lah berangan descendants of the sun kejap but that didn't last long and I fell asleep soon after. At Itaewon station, one can find a shitty set of stairs aka a lot of steps. I guess the station was very...underground so from outside, one has to go through stairs - escalator - more stairs, which is quite similar with other stations. Now, to carry my heavy luggage up the stairs was hell #1. I was particularly worried about carrying heavy stuff due to my back condition but I have to la kan. C'est la vie.
When it comes to subway stations, exit numbers are important since they lead to different places and exits might be far apart from each other so take note of this! Right. I said this because I took the wrong exit for Itaewon station since my accommodation was on the other side of the road/exit buuuut the exits were close k tadehal. For the first 2 days, I stayed at a single bedroom with shared bathroom at SP Itaewon Guesthouse and to get to the place was an uphill battle, literally so this is hell #2. To get there, I got lost kejap so I had to ask a stranger. Managed to say street 23 (i ship sam) in korean and something else I can't remember. The guy showed the route on his GPS and at this moment, rasa bongkak sikit dapat cakap korean so likeee I can rule the world gittew hahahahahaha.
The guesthouse was really on a hill and I was welcomed with a friendly guy named Victor, I think. I have really crappy memory so I'm sorry... Anyway, I was also welcomed with an asthma attack too so I sat down, took deep breaths and drank water kejap. Settled the payment and he said "hey the world is on your side today - your room is ready and it's downhill" so yasssss. My room was at the end of the corridor thus it was spacious and the bed was suuuuper comfortable justeru I ended up sleeping for 2 hours upon arrival. #foreversleeping #forevertakingnaps
Later on, I got up and decided to check the Antique street down the road. There wasn't much to see, just some shops selling vintage items- that's all. When I pusing balik to get to Itaewon station, I saw Itaewon Inn and a mart!! Soooo the next time you want to stay in Itaewon, maybe opt for accessible, downhill Itaewon Inn instead? The mart was just a stone's throw away, too. Not only that, Itaewon is like a mini Bukit Bintang. The whole street was filled with shops and most employees can converse in English. It's filled with muslims as well since the mosque is nearby (and UPHILL LOL) and halal shops are everywhere. Love how everything is in Itaewon but the obvious cons were: subway stairs and hills.
After that, I decided to go to Olympic Park in Jamsil, which was sort of off-radar. Nearby was the Lotte Dept store but I didn't go there. The park was basically a park for the public with statues and exhibitions. It was nice but I don't recommend visiting this place as a priority. Make it your last priority or just forget it and go visit Yeouido Hangang Park instead. As I was a foreigner (+ with a hijab on + alone), I got looks from almost everyone and that was kind of uncomfortable. I suspect the place/area was not frequented by foreigners but I could be wrong. Buuuut nevermind, I still enjoyed the experience, despite the cold weather which was around 6-10 degrees.
Next, I wanted to visit the Hangang Park (Jamsil) and well tbh this was where everything went downwards. To get there, there was no train available and I had limited knowledge about buses so I walked for a very very long time. I even crossed the expressway. Nasib baik tak pergi malam. Anyway, I finally reached the place and I walked along the river. Walked, walked and walked. The scenery was breathtaking and weehoo fresh air! I went there in hopes to catch baby cherry blossoms but too bad, as the trees were so bald hnnnnng. Still a cool place to chill.
[missing memory] I walked for 2-3 hours maybe and got back home by 9/10pm I think. By the time I reached the guesthouse, I was unable to enter the house although I keyed in the code correctly. So I had to go uphill again to the office to get help.
V: You can't enter the house? Tell me what you did.
Me: Slide up, enter code, slide down.
V: Then what about the door?
Me: I pushed it.
V: Why?
Me: Because that seemed logical?
V: Yeah but nothing is logical in Korea. Here, you pull the door hahahahaha
Then
V: Ok do what you have to do.
Me: *slide up, enter code, slide down and pulls door* It opened!!!!!!!
V: It did!!!!!!!!!!
Me: Thanks !!!!!!!!
V: You're welcome!!!!!! Have a good night
Btw, normally people would opt for Yeouido Park but why did I go to the other end? Thought I'd get to visit Yeouido with my friends but just a heads up: we didn't have the time lol. So yeah, plan well!!
**Due to all that walking, it screwed up my right knee and on day 4, I ended up with a knee guard. It was really serious but I didn't feel it until day 3. Hence, yall don't abuse your walking abilities aiiite.
Day 2 - 22/3/2016:
Slept in. Still so tired since I had a pretty long week and that extra walking the day before sort of worsened things. OH YEAH. GUYS. I forgot to mention this: The shared bathroom had separate shower and toilet rooms in it and the glass doors had maybe...70% opacity? I suppose it's okay to assume privacy but it's also possible for others to walk in since the shower and toilet were separate after all. So, I woke up really early to get ready and pray, aaaaaaaand went back to sleep lol. By 11am I was ready to leave the room but I was already hungry so I had my mom's nasi impit and rendang. Fyi, my meals for the first two days included nasi impit, ikan bilis kering, serunding, honey stars, oreos, biscuits and maggi :p Yasss tis the bujang life.
My stop was at Samgakji station and I bumped into a Malaysian family (Mom with 3 kids). We had a chat and they were heading to Namsan tower. She invited me to come along but that would be awkward for her children and me. Plus, I had the leg condition so bila fikir balik, nasib baik tak ikut huhu.
First stop was the War Memorial. This place was comprehensive and informational as exhibitions started from the Paleolitic etc. Spent around 3 hours here because I wanted to take it easy and not push myself since I'll be walking a lot the next day (read: change of accommodation and visiting places). Thus, I just pusing pusing endlessly but the exhibitions were interesting. Outside, there's an extensive range of battle tanks and aircrafts. Truth be told, it was sort of overwhelming since the North have been doing some tests lately and the war memorial visit really intensified my wish for peace, between the North-South and also, the world. After that, I got thirsty so I ordered a cup of Earl grey tea (which was Ahmad Tea btw) and had a blueberry muffin. Hot drink on a chilly day + on point cafe playlist = me spending another 30 minutes there.
Next stop: National Museum. I regretted this since I was uninterested in the exhibitions (Paintings etc) and I completed a majority of the Korean history show-and-tell at the War Memorial previously. Along the way, my leg started to feel painful so I sat at a lounge for an hour or so and played Candy Crush and yep, free wifi. Despite the meh exhibitions, from the museum, I could see the N Seoul tower from a distance and I also found some cherry blossoms while taking a walk outside the building! So yeah, ok la tu.
Went back home, packed my stuff, had dinner and slept like a baby despite the noise. Itaewon's night life scene is real, brothers and sisters. Banyak kedai halal, yes, tapi banyak bars juga. I didn't mind the noise. In fact, I sang along to the songs played. I lived above the main tram stop when I was in Melbourne so this was nothing to me but it might be a nuisance to some.
*It was my dad's birthday by the way so hepi besday dedi.
