CutiCuti: South Korea Day 1 - Arrival & Namsan Gueshouse 2

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Selamat Menyambut bulan Ramadhan yang mulia kepada semua umat Islam! 

I'm back from the not so long hiatus. Erk? I literally miss my blog. Poyo!

Alhamdulillah. My recent trip to South Korea went superbly well. Some plans were cancelled due to time constraint yet I truly enjoyed the holiday. Thanks to the ladies for the trust they gave me. And of course for making the trip so unforgettable to me! 

We departed from LCCT at midnight; on the 22^nd of June. Arrived Incheon International Airport six hours later; at approximately half past 8. Fyi, South Korea is one hour early than our local time. 

Because I had the window seat, I managed to watched the sunrise. Really, that was such a great thing to start the day. Yes?

The arrival & departure gates are connected with the main terminal building by shuttle train. Before arriving at the immigration & baggage claim; we have to take the less than five minutes train ride.

In pink signage...I like!

Out from the luggage claim area, I straightaway headed to the kT Roaming Center Information counter to pick up the mobile modem I have reserved weeks before our departure. It's not hard to find the counter as it is located right in front of the arrival hall. 

To stay connected with family & friends back home while we're vacationing in South Korea, I purposely chose the olleh 4G (EGGwifi). One of the great side about this device is it could connect up to five devices at one time. And the usage of data is unlimited!! With only 8,000KRW of daily rent which is paid upon returning the device, that definitely was a deal we wouldn't resist.

Yeah right, talk about staying connected lah sangat? Sounded like it was more to having hard-time disconnecting ourselves from technology. For more information about this service, please read here. 

For the first three nights, I dictator-ly opted to stay at Namsan Guesthouse 2 situated in Myeongdong. Location-wise, price-wise; enough said. 

To get to Namsan Guesthouse (Myeongdong branches) from the airport, we boarded the bus #6015 & alighted at the last stop; Sejong Hotel.

View along the way from the airport to the city I missed most; Seoul. A lot has changed since my last trip Feb last year. And yes, quietly I forced myself to calm down a bit although I can feel the adrenaline rushing over the entire system. I made a promise to come back...and I have fulfilled it. Imagine the excitement I tried to hold.

Nearly an hour in the bus, we finally arrived Myeongdong. I followed exactly the map I had stored in my memory...thanks to map.naver I had 'walked' on the path even before we were there. Told u, I love playing with the online map. Imagining myself walking on streets/cities I dream of. Tripping guna search engine for Korean, kunun boleh baca Hangul sudah, kan.

Ms Z (far back) dragging the luggage that contains our bekalan makanan. 

The nearest subway station to Namsan Gueshouse 1, 2 & 3 is Myeongdong Line 4 (Exit 2 or 3). 

Reservation was made through booking.com. And confirmation done with the hostel through emails. Easy peasy. I only need to pay the rental fee upon check in. Regardless arriving a bit early from the check-in time; we were told that our room is ready. Alhamdulillah boleh refresh sikit before we continue our journey that evening. 

Our room is located on the first floor. It was a four-people bedroom. Everything was just like in their website (here). We have our own bathroom. Air-conditioned room. I missed the ondol room I stayed during my last visit; hence I deliberately chose this style of room for this trip. Although the other ladies couldn't experience the Korean traditional floor heating system for we were there NOT during the winter; I picked the room still. 

We had our brunch in the room; cancelling the plan for luncheon at Murray in Itaewon. We decided to "jalan satu kali". Took our shower; get ready...and off we went to Namsangol Hanok Village. Which is located only a subway station away from our hostel. 

But before naik subway, kena beli T-Money card dulu. Since I still kept mine, I only need to reload my card to activate it. This time beli sendiri without any help from anyone. Last time semua urusan depends on Lisa; our guide. A bit proud with my very little understanding & ability to speak Korean. Walawei!

Taken from Ms G's camera. Surprise not; she has loads of my pictures taken from behind. Like this one! Nampak sangat aku kebulur jalan ke depan, kan. 

Anyways, entry about our next destination will be up in the next entry. Risau muntah darah orang meninguk too many pictures in an entry. Motif sangat.

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea: Arrival at Incheon International Airport

Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah. 

I can't thank Allah enough for granting my wish. It really is a dream came true. Never thought I could step upon the South Korea's land. It was only 3 years ago I started to go gaga over their dramaS & movieS. And surprise surprise! I was there last week exploring the capital city; Seoul.

Many thanks to Lisa for coming up with the trip plan...and of course for being such a darling tour guide to us. I super love the trip; all ladies gitu. Although it's been nearly a week after the trip, yet I could still hear the song of excitement & joyful moments in my head. 

Countdown to my All Ladies Trip has officially ended as I was back to home sweet home yesterday. Landed safely in the evening after being away for a week. Or shall I say, after being in fantasy land for a week. Setting the mind back to work life is kinda tricky right now...hence I decided to skip work today. Will resume to my daily activity tomorrow. Aja-aja hwaiting Bie. 

Cafe will be back operating next Mon; inhale exhale. Sila lah sila berambus mood malas. Anyways, lets move to pictures. Hold up ur vomit ok.

Before getting on the plane! Embracing the tourist moods. 

 On board; super cold! I got super cool seat; senang keluar masuk lavatory ok.

6 hours later, landed South Korea land in one piece. Syukur. By the way, despite the happy-peace pose; I was actually freezing. The temperature was -8'C when we landed. Mau sangat winter kan, hambik lah!

 I understand only the Eng signs. Gamsahabnida.

 Happy faces after the long hours flight. No jet-lag, chop! 

 Just like in the drama. Nafas berasap.

 The 2 ladies ndak puas hati...dorang pun mau juga.

 Yours truly too! Please ignore the pose. Mau tunjuk sangat nafas berasap, gila poyo gaya. Fuh!

Incheon International Airport, South Korea. 9 Feb 2012. 0630hour. 

 We took the airport bus to reach Dongdaemun Best Western Hotel. Down from the bus...we have to walked our way to the hotel. Sangat best travel cara gini.

The hotel situated only a spit away from the Dongdaemun subway station (Line 1 & Line 4). Keluar main entrance, turn left or right...terus jak tangga to the subway. Convenient enough!.

Charging up in the hotel room before another long journey. Anyway, we went for the ondol room type. Mau trip local memang perlu.

My first pic at the subway! Heading to Jamsil station where we took the bus to Everland Resort. 

Ok, this is all for now. Will update about my unforgettable moment at the resort later on. I have more than thousand pictures to go through & filter *puke*. And a final holiday album to be uploaded in my fb account. Fuh tu dia vain habis! 

Till then...have a nice day (joh-eun halu doeseyo).

eryantierdabdulkarim