Sunday 30 June 2013

Cruising the River Han

Hi All! Kita sambung lagi cerita ya... So, the hext day was a Sunday. Malas nk p jalan jauh2..so, we went for Han River Cruise at Hangang River.River Cruise ni lokasinya di Yeouido Park. Yeouido ni pulak sangatlah besar x larat nak habis pusing jalan kaki. Actually, there are 3 venues to hop on or off the ferries: at the Yeouido, Jamsil, and Ttukseom docks. We went to Yeouido Dock, by the way. Since it was summer and the weather was super fine, we could see many Koreans picnicking and bicycling. Ramai yg siap bawa tent. Bawa gitar, food, etc. Seronok betol mereka berjemur. Ada yg dh tua baru nk blajar cycling pon ada...
Jom pusing2 naik river cruise
You have to go through this resto in order
to get to the cruise.
Ready to board... schedule can be found at
the ticket counter. 
That's the ticket counter. Before u board, u need to purchase
the ticket. 

Ticket counter.  There are various prices. Ours were 14k won
 per pax. 1/2 price for kids. Pricey!

Ini Harga Feri: X boleh pilih2... Apa yg nak jalan time tu, kenalah byr harga tu... Mcm kami naik yg magic show cruise, tp x ada plak magic show....cuma ada bagik belon2 yg mcm clown kasik tu aja...

Regular: Adults 11,000 won / Children 5,500 won
Magic show cruise: Adults 14,000 won / Children 7,000 won
Live concert cruise: Adults 15,000 won / Children 7,500 won
Dinner buffet cruise:
Weekends: Adults 65,000 won / Children 33,000 won
Weekdays: Adults 60,000 won / Children 30,000 won


Jom... jln2 dlm feri...
Mcm dlm airline plak...ada safety precaution. 

Top: some of the food sold on board. Prices are ok... not
too expensive.  
You can choose to sit in the cruise (air-conditioned) or enjoy the smooth sailing fresh air outside the cruise. Plenty of chairs provided, so worry not.
This way to the outside deck.
Top: The toilets. Bottom: Faris n Farah on the deck. Teropong tu
kena bayar 500 won. Tp, dpt tngk sekejap aja... Free balloons for the kids.
Pemandangan sgt cantik...lebih2 lg cuaca pon cntik..tp panas la sikit. Suhu hari tu dlm 23 degree celcius.




Lepas naik River Cruise, budak2 ni nak naik basikal plak..so, sewalah basikal..Harga basikal di sini lebih murah dr di Nami. Nami mahal! Lepas naik basikal, main kat playground..aiii sabar yo lah...

Bnyak basikal untk di sewa... Pilih sahaja yg mana suka

Counter to pay for the rental. U need to leave your passport here. 
The price.
Ada bnyk cara nak sampai ke park ni...since the park is very long..so, ada bnyk stesyen yg blh turun. But for the route that we had followed, the nearest stop was Yeouinaru station exit 3. Turun2 aja, sampai dkt area River Cruise. Kalau ada yag keluar di exit 4 pon x apa, just cross the road to get to the park. If u're based @ Hongik, take the Airport Railroad to Gongdeok, then transfer to line 5 for Yeouinaru. Journey time is about 15 minutes.

Yeouinaru station exit 3. Terus smpai. ..
K...that's about it....Happy Cruising everyone!

* Expenses for this journey:

Subway: KRW2100  (return)
Cruise  : KRW 14000
Bicycle: KRW 6000 (2 bicycles for the kids)
Total : 22100 @ RM62


PREVIOUS POST                                                                                                                NEXT POST

Saturday 22 June 2013

N SEOUL TOWER

After settling down at Boa Guesthouse, (lunch, prayer, etc), we headed to our first destination in Seoul, the N Seoul Tower. We took the green line (from Hongik University; exit 4) to Seoul Station and change to Myeongdong (blue line). Seoul Station ni besar, penat nak jln for transfer to other line. Kalau nak senang, lajak aja ke Dongdaemun History n Cultural Park dan baru tukar ke Myeongdong (1050 won and 450 won for children). 

Just like KL Central, only bigger!
I'd read in many blogs and articles about climbing up the hill to reach N Seoul Tower. So, basically, i had prepared physically and mentally for the climb..he..he.. My kids had no problems at all as their adrenalin rush was at its maximum level.
this way to Namsan Park
Start our journey from the
Pacific Hotel. Tngk tu, ramai dah
ready nak memanjat.

Melalui lorong2 kedai. Still landai lagik...

Stopped by at this kiosk to buy some drinks
before climbing the steps.

Bila nampak kedai tayar Hankook ni, dah dekat dah dngn cable car
That's the station
8000 won for a return ticket. The pink tickets were for children;
half the price of the adults' tickets
Sempat lagik berposing
ngan atok mana ntah...

While waiting for the cable car






















The Q for the cable car was not very long. We had to wait for about 5 minutes for the cable car to arrive.

View captured from the cable car. 
At last, we arrived at the peak!
Teddy bear muzeum yg to me, not very interesting. If the one at Sokcho tu,
ok lah kalau nak masuk. Yg ni, nk skip pon x pa.

Ada nyanyian lagu2 traditional Korea.
Ramai jugak yg tengok including us. Even though we didn't understand
the lyrics but we tried to enjoy the music. Nice! And the girl
could really sing well.

One of the attractions here; Padlock trees aka love padlocks
Anyway, if u wanna read about the origin of love padlocks, feel free to click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_padlocks

More padlocks...Hai, untungla peniaga padlock kat sini...
View from N Terrace. Mcm jerebu pon ada...
N Terrace

Spotted the mascot 
Padlocks for sale
The Tower


Time to get down...
Masa lepas turun dari Namsan Tower tu, suddenly we spotted this elevator/trolley which could bring us down without walking. Alamak, kalau tahu dari awal, x payah susah payah buang lemak menapak panjat bukit... Adoii...So, in a few seconds, we were already downhill.


Ni dia rupa trolley tu. Mula2 takut nak naik, manalah
tahu hanya untuk pekerja ajaka...tp lepas kami siasat2 dan perhati2,
semua umat naik aja....so, kami pon naik jugakla...
It was nearly 8 at that time. We just decided to look around at the hoehyeon underground shopping centre. sama mcm yg kat Namdaemon cuma yg ni bwh tanah.
hoehyeon underground shopping centre
The sight @ myeongdong during twilight
Myengdong cultural market
Oh ya... another info. at the airport, we bought t-money cards for our stay here in Seoul. Besides some discounts, it's more convenient than having to Q all the time when u wanna buy subway tickets.

Top: T-money cards . children's fare is charged half the price of adults.
Below: This is where I bought the t-money at the airport.  But beware, masa kami
 pulangkan kad ni waktu nk balik, ada sign mengatakan yg T-Money cards were
Sold out... 
Location 7e ni dkt je dngn arrival terminal. Keluar aja dr pintu ketibaan tu, jln ke kiri. Leps tu, ikot ja sign airport railroad (AREX). U'll be anywhere in seoul in no time.  Easy weesy...!

K, guys. Time to pen off. To be cont. Byee!

*Expenses for this journey:

Subway: KRW 2100 (return)
Cable Car: KRW 8000 (return)
Total: KRW 10100 @ RM 30

PREVIOUS POST                                                                                                             NEXT POST

Sunday 16 June 2013

BOA GUESTHOUSE @ HONGDAE

Anneohaseyo! He..he..just got back from Seoul everyone. Seoul was fantastic but panas la...Silap sendiri, sapa suruh p time summer...he..he..ingatkan summer di Seoul ala2 manja mcm di Amsterdam, London tu sumer, rupanya, agak panas ya tuan2 dan puan2...he..he..

During our whole stay in Seoul, we had stayed at Boa Guesthouse and we had no regrets selecting this wonderful guesthouse. Bnyk rintangannya nak sewa accommodation alkisahnya. Previously, I had booked Namsan2 for 2 people very far ahead in advanced. Later, a few days before leaving for Seoul, my kids decided to tag along. Contacted Namsan for a room change but to no avail, no room available for 4 pax. In a rush, i had to find a place to stay for us 4. Got a lovely apartment near Dandaemon through Flipkey tp boleh duduk 2 hari ja. Even guesthouse yg sebelah Namsan tu, ala yg pakcik garang tu, Mr Lee tu..apa ntah nama guesthouse die..pon penoh...Mula2 ada availability tp bincang punya bincang x sampai seminit dah ada org lain book... (mcm tiket sale AA plak rasa...) So, ntah mcm mana, i read in Trip Advisor about Boa and tried my luck here. Luckily they still had rooms for 4 pax, itupon dah nyawa2 ikan, hampir full. Still contemplating coz i didn't really do any research about Hongdae area tp book ajalah...daripada tido kat tepi jalan nanti..he..he..

So, i booked everything online. Gave my cc number for verification and stuff... Tiba harinya, kami pon sampai....he..he...

Sangat senang nak carik as the direction from their website is very crystal clear. Click here for the direction. Memang tak ada naik turun bukit. One thing worried me was the climbing of hills to the guesthouse. Alhmadulillah, this guesthouse hadn't encountered that problem.

Ini main entrance. 5-storey building
Sampai2, nampak nama dah terpampang..he..he..

We arrived early in the morning, around 10 am. Luckily we could check in at 11 as the room was apparently ready...Seronoknyaa...After breakfast kat kitchen, kami naik bilik...
This is the reception. The receptionists spoke good English and very
helpful too.  You can ask almost everything from them...:)
Our 1st room. 2 double deckers with ensuite bathroom.
After a few days we moved to the sweet room (ala2 suite la)... bigger room for my family. I wanted to book the sweet room for all the days but sweet rooms were only available after a few days. Itulah, booking lambatkan... terima ajalah... One thing i like about the room is the cleanliness. Both rooms were very clean. I couldn't spot any stain on my blanket or pillow. Memang putih bersih, rasanya mcm barulah... Toilet pon sangatlah bersihnya. Ubat gigi pon ada.  Cuma, one drawback is the towel. Kecik yarabbi, sebesar towel lap rambut tu... Adoii, terima ajalah.. Boleh ambik sebanyak mana yg diperlukan...X tau la guesthouse lain pon mcm tu jugak ke keciknya towel?

More comfortable and spacious
Let's look at some of the facilities here. Kalau nak tau, di kitchen ni, mereka asingkan utensil, pots and pans serta spices for muslim guests. Pinggan mangkuk n cutlery pon asing. Bestkan! They put them in one locked cupboard. Besides, ada bnyk makanan tinggalan guests sebelum ni yg boleh kita gunakan. Rasanya mika pon dari Msia coz ada maggi, milo dan sebagainya. Beras pon ada. Breakfast is at 7-10 every morning. Biasala cereal, milk, bread, jam and eggs. Tp hari nak balik tu, kami b'fast awal, dlm pukul 6 mcm tu...Free flow of tea n coffee...

Top: The Kitchen is very clean. Every day, after breakfast, the staff
will wash the utensil with boiled water.  Pinggan
mangkok pon mika cuci balik. 
Top: Ruang kat dinding dipenuhi dngn pelbagai info.
Bottom: Reading n drawing corner.
Some of the activities to kill your time. Darts, uno, board games,
etc pon ada... Free usage of Internet. Also, free international calls
to land-line. 

Laundry  kat tingkat atas. Free use of washing machine and
powder. However, u need to pay 3000w for the dryer. Boleh sidai
kat atas tu...Ada tempat sidai, tp kalau hujan, tanggung sendiri.

Surau pon ada di tingkat 6. (Photo courtesy of Boa Guesthouse).
Lupa nak snap surau coz bila naik atas ja, hari dah malam...

Ini rooftop. (pon courtesy of Boa Guesthouse). Lupa jugak
ambik gambar.
From the airport (Incheon), take the airport railroad and stop at
Hongik University (exit 4). Journey is about 47 minutes. -3750w.
Dari tren nak ke guesthouse dlm 5 minutes walk.
This way to Boa Guesthouse
Handmade by Farah...:)
Overall, I'm very satisfied with my stay here. Hongdae arra is a fine area to stay. Not too crowded like Myeongdong,  laid back. Liked it here! Sangat oklah untuk yg beranak pinak mcm kami ni..he..he.. Tp ada area Hongik yg happening, exit 2 rasanya... Yg exit 4 ni, bnyk cafe2 roti...he...he..

TQ BOA GUESTHOUSE. We'll be back here if we ever come to Seoul in the future... For more info: pls click here.

NEXT POST

OVERNIGHT AT THE BERBER DESERT CAMP

Selepas lunch, kami teruskan lagi perjalanan yang panjang sampai lah petang.  Look at the view.. Magnificent!  We crossed the High Atlas Mou...

You may also like to read these...