CutiCuti: South Korea Day 5 - Yangpyeong English Village

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

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Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

So Chiqa; my youngest anak did the update yesterday. Pandai espeaking pula budak kecik tu ah.

Anyways, I was supposed to be at a friend's house for luncheon today. Unfortunately, she realized she forgot to bring her kunci rumah only after she's back from the pasar. To add the already drama, her parents & siblings are in Kolumpor. And they will only be back later tonight. Makan² session with friends therefore has yet to be carried out on another day. 

Jadinya, lets continue with my super tertangguh entry. Another two days of the trip to update. Baru boleh start update trip with Bunda. Shoot!

On our fifth there in South Korea, the next destination is to my favourite Kdrama; Boys Over Flower's filming location. Print screen below is the direction to English Village (Yangpyeong Camp) from Anguk Station (Line 3). I am loving this app. Sangat accurate, sangat helpful & sangat berbaloi²!

We departed a bit late that day. Memang plan untuk keluar lambat since we did our laundry first. Laundry (FOC) at Banana hostel can only be done during the day, afraid that we will be back late that evening...we decided to run the errand in the morning. Nasiblah ada dryer (cost 2,000 KRW) jadi ndaklah pening fikir mana mau jemur baju bajan kami.

Keluar masuk train for transit; twice. Sungguh bertabah. Demi semata untuk merealisasikan impian si Err. At the train station, jauh sikit dari Seoul...memang view biasa kalau elderly secara jemaah begini. Ntah pegi mana jak Ahjussi & Ahjumma ni semua, kan. Obviously view macam ni memang sangat² rare or maybe memang ndak da di Malaysia. Few were seen holding climbing sticks in which I reckoned they're going hiking. Sungguh sihat cara diorang berekreasi. 

Habit! Nampak benda pelik or mengundang wow sikit...harus snap gambar. Walau dalam washroom sekalipun! Ms G was the one who lured me into the washroom only to showed me this. 

"Saya ingat tempat sangkut apa. When I touched...licin. Turned out, sabun!!" 

Fine, I admit. We're excited like that. Even over simple thing.

Nearly two hours on the train we arrived Yongmun station. Exited the station through Exit 1. We hop on a cab parked just in front of this station. 

Ndah payah berdrama komunikasi. Macam tau² jak, he straightaway nodded when I mentioned English...belum habis nama destinasi tau. From the train station to the English Village, the taxi fare cost us 3,000 KRW. Murahlah bila sharing is caring. Harus ndak larat superwalkertapaki ok. Padahal bila dalam teksi, ndaklah jauh sangat pun. 

Less than ten minutes, we're already in front of the entrance. 

Got most of the information about this place from Cik Fida's blog. She mentioned the two essential things to ask from the guard at the Information Center. It's park guard in her case but Eonni 'guard' during our visit. 

I remembered paying an entrance fee but sorry I forgot how much it cost per person. The only thing I am sure was we got the essentials things; map & the F4's classroom key from the Eonni. 

Additional info. To date, the key to the classroom is ONLY handed to group of ten people or more. I don't know why but the Eonni told us that's the new regulation at the village now. We've came that far & tujuan utama to go the camp pun memang untuk masuk the classroom; so I told her whilst showing my most pathetic face & softest voice. Padahal garau gaban! And she gave up. She handed us the key & reminded us many times not to enter the classroom when there were personnel near the area. Nanti dia yang kena sebab rules kan ndak bole bagi kunci to less than 10 visitor at a time. After berjanji setia; we entered the camp. Gomawoyo Eonni.

This painting is at the other side of the Information Center building. Facing the parking lots in front of the Virginia Beach Water Park building.

First to greet us upon entering from the gate. Belum sampai USA, tapi sudah dapat jejak Washington airport. Fuiyoo!

The moment of truth! I am standing in front of this building. Selama ni cuma mampu cuci mata tengok gambar di blogs orang...and alhamdulillah, my turn has come. Ndak sangka berpeluang jejak kaki di sini. That round building with English Village sign on its wall is the gymnasium, by the way.

Walking further up towards the studio or the accommodation. I never thought South Korea would be this beautiful during the summer. Flowers blooming everywhere. Just like in Petite France. Ingatkan kering kontang.

Red bricks building. Haritu di UK, sikit meroyan bila nampak kiri kanan building begini. Dapat buat rumah ala English style ni memang happy habis meter lah aku! 

Entrance to the studio area. 

Ms G was walking towards the path leading to the studio when she saw a man looking all excited from afar, widely smiling while walking towards us. We wondered at first who he might be. 

Turned out it truly was our lucky day! The highlight of our visit! None of us four would ever imagined that we will be meeting the President of this camp! We had quite a conversation with him about the camp before he invited us to his office.

Introduced himself as Mr Lee but he preferred to go with the name of Mr Jacob; he enthusiastically explained us about the camp in details. Siap pusing skrin monitor just to show us the camp's map. He looked delighted when I told him few of the many reasons on why I fell in love with his country.

Ms G told him about me learning Hangul to understand the language more. Hampas kan?! And as seen in the picture above, Mr Jacob is testing my Hangul. Practice makes perfect! I was able to impressed him with my level of reading Hangul knowing that I just began learning the language early this year; through online notes. I told him as well I watched Kdramas to improved my understanding. 

Yup, I don't just watch Kdramas or K-variety shows for fun. *flipped hair* Poyo!

We left his office after being in there for nearly half an hour. Paling magik when he suddenly said "The building where the classroom used for the Boys over Flower's filming is just across this building. Let me know if it's locked, I will ask someone to open the classroom for u." before we exited the City Hall building.

Senyum seringai sampai telinga hoii bila dengar pesanan itu! It's like we've just won a jackpot! Eh? Padahal main pun ndak pernah kan. Oh yeah, ndak payahlah main sorok² kunci given by the Eonni. She was literally save from being scolded; by the President himself. Siapa boleh lawan? 

Mr Jacob prefer addressing himself as the Mayor of the English camp. He personally went to Virginia, USA to study about the buildings there. In which later inspired the camp to be built in the style of the city. All the buildings in this camp are named before the famous buildings in Virginia as well.

Very American-oriented mural. But wait! Is that Big Ben behind those women in masks? Hmmm...

Proudly standing before the Monticello Global Leadership Center. The building where the famous classroom is located! Dup dap jantung sudah bermula. Main reason coming all the way to this place is to set foot upon the classroom, and duduk atas kerusi Ji-Hoo sunbae! And I must say, meeting the President is totally a bonus!

Studying the map kunun padahal sudah tau apa niat di hati! Walked straight, Bie...entered the building & climbed the stairs already! 

Whoaaaa!!! I pushed the bar...and the door opened, and I entered! The very view the Gorgeous F4 will be looking upon entering their school entrance; the prestigious Shinhwa High School. Many scenes in the drama were filmed in this building. 

Intro drama tu was about the boys entering the school entrance. Every time diorang buat apperance at this area, there will be girls & boys (???) screaming from all over the place. Semua bertenggek ala burung. Excited lah kunun bila orang terkaya & terkacak di sekolah made their entrance. Tapi kenapa bila kami datang, ndak dah orang bersorak gumbira? Ok, abaikan soalan!

Image to Melaidoodles.

Hati sudah berdebar mau masuk classrom budak² F4 tu...tapi sengaja corner sana corner sini dulu kan. Walhal sebenarnya, ndak sure which one is the classroom. Sebab depan class tu ndak da signboard for the F4 classroom. 

Once again, another lucky moment. Dalam melilau mencari sebab lupa the classroom is numbered 206, one of the teacher approached me "Are u looking for the F4 classroom? It's here...enjoyed urself, just make sure to lock the door later." sambil bukakan pintu untuk aku! Mampu? Sorok kunci, masuk only bila tiada personel around? Ouh sila abaikan! Apa barang semua itu! Tiba² riak kan. 

Ehem...sudah mencemar kaki dalam classroom ini! Oh yeah! Only four set of chair-table in a classroom. Tutor pun private, hanya mengajar mereka². One the F4 member; Gu Jun Pyo (Lee Min Ho) si rambut kerinting nenas tu owner this elite school. His family owns an empire; Shinhwa that make almost everything in South Korea. Alkisahnya lah mau kestau yang dia tu memang super kaya paling gaban. And among them four, he is practically the most known in the entire country. Nama pun drama! 

Despite all that, I stick loyally to my favourite sunbae; Yun Ji Hoo sunbae-nim! Who literally save the heroin; Gum Jan Di from every trouble...and yet, kena dumped in the end. Kesian tau. Kenapakah ndak da watak tambahan untuk 'sambut' Ji Hoo sunbae whenever he was depressed. 

Minah ni memang langsung tiada keminatan towards Kdrama. But since sudah sampai sini, haruslah tripping mau bergambar di atas kerusi that was once used by a famous actor there. Walau sudah berjuta bontot berlabuh atas that chair! Just for the sake of 'alang²'! Bukan semua yang into this drama got the chance to go here. Kira dia mewakilkan lah ni.

Memang feeling ala² I was there with them while they're shooting the drama. Biarlah, ambil feeling sendiri² won't harm anyone. 

Motif? Jan Di ada posing macam ni, at this very spot. Looking confused as she always is. Tapi kenapakah bila si Err buat nampak macam clown tunggu orang suruh tiup belon? Ugh.

Yang ni of course of one the most famous prop in the drama. Hatta kau hanyalah locker! F4 tu pembuli hakiki at that school. Bilang sekolah bapa-ku, perlukah action terlebih gaya kan. Whoever opens their locker & saw a red card hanging, maka nasib adalah malang. And Jan Di got hers due to her ignorance towards Jun Pyo. Dijadikan cerita...starting from that scene onwards, kisah diorang bermusuhan bermula.

Sampailah both pun fell in love. As usual, kisah cinta orang berbeza darjat ni harus dapat tentangan from the side yang lebih berduit. Pang pung pang pun; happy ending juga. Drama bilang, kan!

Out from the school building, kami jalan ikut suka hati sudah. Map simpan dalam beg. Confident sudah tau hala tuju after the school. And I know we're at the right path when I saw those posters & Jan Di's bicycle. The bike is locked to the ground jadinya operasi untuk ulang kisah berbasikal di Nami terpaksa cancel! 

I saw so many pictures of people who get on & pretended as if they are pedaling the bike...during winter. Siap snow on the ground ok! Jealous gaban. Pegi time winter, the ground defo covered with snow lah kan. Memang paling blend sama poster² on the wall! Ok cousins terchenta, sila bertabah untuk ikut Kakak return to this camp nanti ah. Ezza is a fan of Boys over Flower; in fact it was her who introduced this drama to me. Hence I take it as an honor to bring her here; kunun as a token of appreciation from me. Fuh perangai! Over dari tukang intro!

Why lah why?! Perlukah datang shooting sini time aku belum tau wujudnya anda² semua? Oh Annyeong, Ji Hoo sunbae-nim! Jal jinneseoyo? 

Area paling banyak masuk in the drama juga ni. Jan Di was once bullied here...and Jun Pyo came to rescue her. And this was also the place where Jan Di were ignored by the F4 boys when she betrayed Jun Pyo. Sunbae kesayangan yang selalu on her side pun chose to walk passed her.  

Then suddenly muncul Ms G making fun of the ever-befuddled Jan Di. Silakan verangan Bie!

Sungguh tidak sabar untuk datang lagi. Mesti beku air ni nanti...kuasa Allah. 

Lady of Liberty. Kan Korean ni ala² mini States juga. Lisa told me, the people there look highly at American. 'If u're a American, then u're the greatest among the great'. Ouh begitu.

Next to the mini-liberty is where the bridge-shelter area is located. The very place where the F4 boys (except my favourite sunbae) walked handsomely in their school uniform; while unwrapping & eating lollipop. Kenapa perlu lollipop eh? 

Perlu!! Hasil pose depan poster sunbae terchenta semua hancur berderai. Its either perut berbonjolan or the smile ndak kena gaya. Next trip Bie, sila berusaha keras untuk sorok segala yang bakal terbonjol.

Hmm...comment unwelcome. Walau apa cara kami sekalipun to copy what Jan Di did in the drama or at the poster...hasil tetap epic failure!

I don't remember they have this particular spot in the drama. I guess this is new; else mesti jadi props juga sangkar hati tu.

Leaving the bridge behind...and the camp too.

Final stop was the swimming pool located just opposite the Information Center at the main entrance. 

Before entering here, we returned the classroom key to the Eonni  And asked for her help to call a taxi for us. To kill time while waiting for the taxi to arrived, we went inside to see the pool. Kalau ada wide lens, sumpah view pool ni adalah cantik gila! Unfortunately, scene Jan Di berenang ala pro weren't shot here. Jan Di swims di pool orang ada². Tertutup & private.

Masa nampak bird view of this pool at Mr Jacob's office, memang kami semua ternganga. Wah wah wah non stop. The building was undergoing some renovation works when we were there. Therefore I didn't take any picture of the building from its front. Lorry here & there. Belum campur barang² renovations lagi.

Taxi arrived five minutes later. "Gomawoyo Eonni...annyeonghigyeseoyo" I said to her before hopping in the taxi. 

We didn't wait long for the train to Seoul to arrive. Muka orang terlebih puas hati harus paling depan kan. Alhamdulillah, wish granted! 

Macam biasa, after such long journey we will go back to the hostel first. To refreshed & isi perut. Plan malam untuk superwalkertapaki area Insadong jak. Cuci mata & dinner gitu.

p/s Sambil taip entry, sambil cuci telinga dengar suara Ji Hoo sunbae nyanyi. Because I'm Stupid; ost Boys over Flower. Hati cawir!

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