grad trip!! part 1 [11May -18May 2006]

haha..it's been a long time since i last post.. well bz with sch work and bz enjoying after exams haha.. well it has been really hectic.. finally haf a gd rest now... the next day after my last paper.. i went korea with sok, nana, ying ying (yy), angie, eng soon (es) and shaoyu (sy)... well its was fun to be with these guys in korea for 8 days.. but the trip was a total tight schedule and it was insufficient sleep and full of rushing.. one thing i sure remember is the long bus journey and our city guide keep calling " di4 liu4 zu3" as we are the 6th group.. and the youngster bunch haha.. there is only one 4yr old kid there whom nana and i keep trying to play with him haha.. but v mischievous and violent.. on the other hand.. he is actually very smart haha.. we stayed at different hotels everyday except for the first 2 nights at jeju.. moving ard is really exhausting..

well... first 2 days we were flying everywhere.. we flew from Sgp to Seoul and from Seoul to Jeju island.. tiring man.. so many flying here and there.. the 2nd day was only one sightseeing and everyone was tired so it was dinner and back to the hotel... i stayed with sok and nana, yy & angie stayed together.. of course the guys stayed in one room haha... Jeju is kinda windy.. we were told Jeju haf 6 distinctive characteristics... it has 3many and 3 don'ts... it has alot of wind, alot of women and alot of stone as it is created from volcano eruption... it don't have beggars, theives and da4 men2... instead of a main door like those pte estates' gate.. it has 3 logs outside.. when all is done.. means everyone is home.. when one is up it means only children are at home.. when 2 is up it means no one is home but will be back by tonight.. when 3 is all up it means no one is home and will be back in a few days.. when there are 4 logs.. it means inside is staying a widow.. so interesting right... haha.. if in Sgp we follow this.. there will be a lot of house-breaking haha...

Day 3 came and we went to the Songsan Sunrisk Peak.. it was tiring climbing up this peak..but we can manage haha.. it was really a breathtaking view... den we went to Moksokwon Park to see the strange formations of rocks and wood and it is up to your imaginations to determine what it looks like haha... it is pretty interesting haha..and me and nana manage to take our first picture with the little boy!! haha.. he is call junwei.. so cute... and den we went to the Mysterious Road to see a seemingly uphill having a phenomenon of a downhill... but in actual fact the slope up is actually a slope down haha.. it is juz our optical illusion in dat sense... We even went to the Songup Folk Village to look at the "da4 men2" of the few logs which i mentioned earlier and how simple is their life there and of course.. we get to buy some pure honey haha... after which we headed to the Chonjiyeon waterfall.. and after some photo-takings we went to our last stop of the Teddy Bear Museum.. it was so cute that they made bears to Mona Lisa, Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, The Last Supper and many more... they were so cute.. there is also some shopping there but well things are expensive there... den is dinner and back to the Jeju Pacific hotel.. we went night window shopping too haha... that night we taught sok how to play taiti haha... cool sia... fun night before bedtime....

Day 4 morning was back to the domestic airport from Jeju to Seoul... den we took a 2 hour super jam bus ride to Yongjin Everland to enjoy the rides there... it was fun haha.. i juz realise i haf a real high tolerance for thrill.. i love them... no matter how scared i am or watsoever..i juz love to sit them haha... it was really fun... and sok and es went MIA.. haha.. dunno wat they went to do haha... well they were not keen in taking those thrill rides dats y bah... well the price of taking these rides were the long time we hafta queue... it was scotching and i was already suffering from sunburn.. thx es for lending me your cap before i buy one haha... and we went to see the creation b/t a lion and a tiger known as liger... interesting eh... den we took a long bus journey to Yongpyong Dragon Valley to see the filming site of Winter Sonata.. too bad it was not snowing.. otherwise we could do some skiing... well we went for some night walking and it was back to the hotel... can you believe it sok and sy actually went morning jogging the next day.. super impressive...

well Day 5 morning is all photo taking.. we even to haf the scene and some clothes to pose as the main characters in Winter Sonata haha.. and es and sy get to haf the honour to be our male poser haha... it was really a fun morning and sadly we had to leave for our next destination which is the Kwon Kum Seong Fortress.. we took a cable car up half way of the mountain and we all walked up to almost the summit of it which haf a korean flag on top.. but it was too windy and our shoes are not very steady for us to climb up the last bit as it was really steep going up is okay.. but coming down is the challenge... well... we took many breathtaking pictures as we were really high up... and finally we had to head down to see the the Shinhungsa Temple which is nearby at the bottom of this fortress and we had some water from the mountains.. really refreshing.. oh and i finally got a hat.. i could not get a cap as my sunburn was really bad and a cap was insuffcient.. now we head to the Hanwah Wateria Resort... and as our dear grace says.. the spring is once a lifetime and she will go even if she hafta be there naked haha.. well all the girls took the courage to enjoy the spring water there of course we hafta follow the rules... oh but is all but one, as sok refuses she had the company of the 2 guys to go swimming... well.. we wanted to join them after our special spring "adventure" but we could not find them.. it is now den i realise.. i feel so scared and blind without my contacts or specs in an unfamiliar place.. so i decided to get a goggles with degree when i go back Sgp (i got them already!!)...and it was dinner and back to the hotel which we had no beds and get the chance to sleep on the floor with the use of a tatami... well.. it was alright and fun haha.... we even played arcade and taiti haha...

Day 6 was towards the Chuncheon Nami Island.. the famous filming site of Winter Sonata.. you noe the background of the snowy trees in the posters and cover of Winter Sonata.. too bad there was no snow... but well we had fun there taking pictures... we took a 10 minute ferry there and it was a ferry back and we headed towards the Chuncheon Myongdong (Chun1 Chuan1 Min2 Dong4) for shopping.. we diden really get anything but we did get a Korean pear.. it is really sweet and refreshing.. after which we went to Dongdaemun Market (Dong1 Da4 Men2).. the shopping centre was too ex..so we girls went to the roadside stores for some shopping haha... but i did not really buy anything.. they keep saying i spent the least.. well the price was not really as cheap as i expect so i did not really buy anything... we also got to see the palm prints of the Winter Sonata haha... next we went to the Korean Traditional Centre... it was really fun wearing Korean clothes and taking photo.. we even tried the Korean Ginseng Milk.. it was really nice and we tried making Kimchi... haha.. den it was dinner time we were soo lucky to see fireworks display nearby... haha.. so cool... i even carried junwei to see it.. haha... it was so upclose and beautiful... den we went back to the Seoul Yongdong Hotel and went night shopping.... it seems we did alot of shopping..but mostly is window shopping haha.. this hotel is really posh.. we get to haf internet access... they haf a purifier and water dispenser inside each room... and a vv long and big LCD tv.. so cool... but one thing is the toilet door is not totally covered.. so when someone is in the toilet no one dares to go near there... haha.. talk about privacy man haha.. lucky no one in our tour was bf-gf relationship.. they are all married.. so not so bad haha.. well was so wasted that other than our room.. es-sy room and a family of 3 room... everyone's bathroom had a JACUZZI!! well.. too bad for us.. we diden get tat luxury... haiz... den it was bedtime.. no one had the energy to play cards...

Day 7 came and we went to the Presidential Blue House to see the residence of the president... the police were dressed very cool man.. they were in rollar blading attire.. so interesting.. den we went to Ginseng Monopoly showroom.. none of us bought any ginseng haha...and den we went to the Amethyst factory.. it was nothing much.. me and nana ended up keeping junwei company haha.. quite fun.. he was so adorable.. we also went to the Cordyceps Monopoly showroom to see Dong1 Cong2 Xia4 Cao3... again we diden buy haha.. after which we headed to Namdaemun (Nan2 Da4 Men2) and Myongdong shopping street there was not much to buy again.. but me and nana took pics with junwei.. so cute.. he now so gam with us he say he wanna take pics with us haha.. den we headed for LotteWord Adventure Park.. it was fun sitting the rides there was one i really love which is a mini rollar coaster ride.. the thrill was its steep turns and its fast speed that was so much faster den a normal rollar coaster... woah... haha... oh and when i went there.. i realised it was the filming scene of "Stairway to Heaven"!!! (Tian1 Guo2 De4 Jie1 Ti1)...den everyone went to some pub whereas sok and me stayed at the themepark to stay until it closed... den it was bedtime at the Lotteworld Hotel... heard that we were lucky as usually the hotel fully booked and our tour guide told us they usually will stay at the Sheraton Walkerhill.. she said it has been 10yrs since she last stayed at the Lotteworld Hotel haha...

Nana, me and Junwei!!

Day 8, the last day..there was no itenary for today...so our city guide arranged us to go to the borders of North and South Korea.. known as the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) ... it was really interesting walking down the long steep tunnel... we even had to wear helmet.. me and nana took a head-lead with junwei down and when we went up... the poor father had to carry him up the long and steep slope up... nearing the top ... nana took over to carry him... and we were the first to reach back at the top.. ahah.. after that we went to the sightseeing area to use a telescope to see the borders and we saw the flags of both North and South Korea flying high.. so cool... too bad we were not allowed to take photos... and we took photo with a New Zealand officer.. he was rather good-looking hehe... and is only 21! den we made our purchase of the photos developed by our tour's photographer.. well he have been helping us out during meal times and so we all bought a few... it was so ex... i spent most of my money on the photos haha.. and quite abit on food.. throughout the trip we haf been buying food and tidbits haha... tink i gotten abit of weight.. die!! coz 7 of us is always nana, sok and me and the other side is yy, angie, es and sy.. wat happen here is that nana only wanna eat veggie.. sok only wants meat.. i eat anyting.. so i had to help both sides.. so in the end... haiz.. tink i ate the most... die.. so now i muz eat lesser le haha... well... it was back to Sgp.. oh i missed home so much!! so glad to be on my way home dat time... finally i'm back home... and my sunburn was not even healed when i reach Sgp.. my skin is resistent to anythg except strong UV rays bah.. the UV rays at Korea is really killing!!

My little warrior haha.. so cute right!!!