Nami Island and Petite France Trip~ Korea Trip

Bismillahirrahmanirrahim...

Alhamdulillah, after we settled and have a good rest last night, we proceed for our Day-2 trip. We woke up quite early in the morning for this trip as it is one to two hour journey from Myeondong. We had our breakfirst in the guest house. They provide western breakfirst, bread toast with jam and coffee. Though it is a simple breakfast, yet it could fill up your stomach and kick start your day! We took Jihachul or subway to go to Petite France and Nami Island. Oh btw, subway is the number 1 public transport being used by the netizen in Seoul. As a backpacker, we used to take subway numerous time compared to bus and taxi because it's much cheaper. And another thing, before you come to Seoul, please study the subway metro line as it consists 12 lines and you could just confuse by seeing its map later and you may download the "Jihachul" app for Android and IOS user. My travel partner, Kiqa really did a great job as she really understand how this subway works and I just follow her lead. I always confused which line metro to take and ended up in the wrong way. Alhamdulillah, our journey by subway has always been fine and safe, even if we lost or tranferred to wrong line(subway), we always could find the right way back as Koreans are very helpful despite the way they stare look at us(muslimah wearing hijab). 

As we arriving to the Maseok Station, I don't remember which line, all the passengers inside the subway need to empty the subway. We were really confused why we need to stop at this station, as we follow the subway route, we don't need to transfer to any line, just heading straight to our destination. The subway staff made an announcement but only in Hangul and not even given translation in english! haha We confused but we just stay as the other people did. I want to ask this young man, don't know if he's younger than us or older, but too shy or he would run away from us. Some Koreans would run away as they seen foreigner want to ask them, but some of them of course really helpful. I learnt and experienced a lot about Korean culture and the good attitude that they shown. Of course they have bad attitudes but why share the bad one when they have a lot of good attitudes. 

Inside the subway

We had no clue why need to stop at this station.

It was really cold and we had to wait for another subway for about 20 minutes.

That brownish dried plants. 

After the subway sudden confusion settled down, we headed to Gapyeong Station with ease. As soon we arrived Gapyeong Station, again, we couldn't find the Gapyeong City Tour Bus pitstop or a.k.a Ecotopia Gapyeong. Gapyeong City Tour Bus is a shuttle bus that take you to three tourist spot which are, Nami Island, Petite France and Morning Calm Park. You only need to pay 5000KRW for the whole journey and just need to show your ticket when you want to hop on. It is very convenient as a tourist though. In Petite France, I hardly seen any taxi there and luckily we took this shuttle bus. Oh I have a story at this station. As we panic that we didn't find the Gapyeong City Tour Bus, we asked the young man earlier at Manseok Station that we were too shy to ask. Surprisingly he was very helpful as I asked him "Gapyeong City Tour bus Odi yeyo?", he immediately browse through his phone to find where this stop and he even asked the ajumma who work in the mart where this shuttle bus stop is. Kamsa Hammida~~

This stop is at another side of Gapyeong Station. 

The schedule of Gapyeong City Tour bus.

Oppa!! Boleh tumpangkan kami?

 Finally sampai dekat Petite France!! Yeayyyy

Masa datang time ni tak tengok lagi cite ni konon macam tak best. Sekali dah tengok, best!! haha

Fefeeling sangat.haha

Love the background! oh why i closed my eyes?!#$%^

Ini je baki snow yang tinggal.sobs :(

Ada macam Fatin Liyana punye pose tak?!haha

Kesian kucing ni tido kat open air macam ni. boleh nampak dia menggigil and the worst thing dia lapar! Poor cat. Masa tukang bagi makan sampai, mengiau and tak tentu arah macam dah sebulan tak makan. :(

Secret Garden! The famous Italian handmade sweatshirt.hahah

Next location was Nami Island!! Woohooo! Entrance ticket costs 8000KRW. A must visit place when you are in Seoul. Let the pictures speak for themselves!(malas nak bagi caption actually.kekeke)

Le famous Nami Island dried trees.hahah

Model biskut Binch.haha

Sangat sedapppppppppp. and of course HALAL. student yang study sini cakap boleh makan. :D

Our humble lunch.hukhuk Sebenarnya cari restoran HALAL yang ada blogger war-war kan, tapi dah tutup kot time kitorang datang ni.sedihhh

That's all for the second day. Oh we had  a lil story to be share.hehe On our way  back to Seoul,we took wrong train to go back to Seoul.haha It was ITX Train. We thought all trains would be the same.haha This ITX train only stop at few stations only which right now I already forgotten.hehe We should get off  and transfer to other line at Yongsan Station, however they won't stop there as it not on the station list. It was a long journey btw. fuhh And the worst part was, when we almost arrived to our destination, the ticket personnel who check the passenger's ticket came to us and we had to pay 5500KRW for one way route which is really expensive~~ sobbing :( We weren't really lucky that day. It was a great experience though. 

May the odd be ever in your favor. kekeke

Till then..

Xoxo

Backpacking to Seoul, South Korea February 2014

Bismillahirrahmannirrahim...

Alhamdulillah..akhirnya pada 20th February 2014, diri ini dapat menjejakkan kaki ke bumi sonata. tak sonata la sangat time ni sebab dah late winter. sobs sobs..tak dapat nak experience snow falling to your face.kekeke TAPIII sejuk dia bakk angggg.hahaha around -1C to 2C in the morning. 5-8C in the noon. 1-3 in the evening. gitu la.. This is my very first time travel to four season country and without my family, only with my friend, two of us only. fuhhh memang challenging betol travel dua orang, sebab semuanya kita urus sendiri, dari tempat nak stay, public transport nak guna; mostly kami guna subway sebab efficient, murah and dekat dengan tempat kami stay Ohhh, fyi, we were staying in Seoul for 8 days!! Dekat Namsan Guest House, Myeondong. kekeke lama gila actually tau. Tapi best sangat sebab dapat cover most of the tourist spot location tapi Jeju Island is excluded because out of badget.hahaha. You know kami ni only student jeh, duit travel pon memang cari and kumpul sendiri.

We booked our flight, Air Asia, prior 9 months before the departure date. Actually, there was a deal offered by Air Asia, buy one free one ticket. It was really a good deal, and without any hesitant, we booked our flight tickets.hahaha It only cost around RM 1700++ for two people! The cheapest ticket I had ever discovered for Seoul flight.haha The flight ticket for Seoul is quite expensive lately since South Korea famous for their Kpop wave and always sold out. Maybe that is why they increase the ticket price. pffft Profittt maa.haha Actually, me and my friend, weren't really sure on travel on our own; travel budget money not even enough yet, and only two of us would be going to Seoul. After all, we already bought our tickets and we should work on the itinerary for our travel! 

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We arrived Incheon Airport around 8.30 am. I relieved we finally landed on the Korea ground safe and sound. After went out from the flight, I could feel the chilly weather and really nervous if my body can cope with this kind of weather. Alhamdullillah, the cold weather was tolerable if and only if you wear a proper winter jacket to warm up your body. Hehe I was wearing a knitted tshirt and knitted cardigan to warm up my body. Actually, this kind of clothing is not suitable for winter season. You should get a hold of winter jacket. That's all we need for winter.hee After all, we planned to buy winter jacket in Myeondong and I got it for 39000KRW at Mixxo. This is the cheapest price I ever seen in Myeondong, of course it is discounted price.teehee The normal price for decent winter jacket in Korea would be 69000KRW and above. You will see me in that jacket countless time.haha It seems like I didn't change my cloth. Oh btw,  RM1= 3200KRW , T_______T. haha Masa ni currency sangat mahal compare dengan tahun 2013. 

At Namsan Guest House, we just arrived after 1 hour journey from Incheon Airport. Spot my black luggage there.teehee 

Muka jet lag sangat. Cannot sleep in the flight, simply exhausted.

After we settled and kept our luggages at Namsan Guest House, we were heading to Myeondong for hunting winter jacket and looked for some stuffs. For me, Myeondong is a shopping place heaven! It is like an outdoor shopping mall. You could just find stuff that you want, from cosmetic product, accessories, shoes, stationaries, cloth(Forever 21, H&M, Zara, Mango and many more and a lot more!!). Could you see my eagerness and excitement??haha Seriously I love this place! I stayyed at Namsam Guest House which only 100m away from Myeondong Shooping Dictrict and almost every night we did window shopping and eventually bought some stuffs.haha

The hilly pathway to our Guest House.

Myeondong Underground Subway

Uniqlo. Besar baq hang

The entrance from exit 3 or 4?? haha couldn't remember anymore

See yaa a lot of cosmetic shops here. excited!

Every block in Myeondong is full with shops and cafes.

Inside the H&M. They have 3 or 4 floors but having a small space each.

Doodles. I just love how Korean people run their shop. Too creative.

At Teenie Weenie. Spot me! haha

Smooties shop I guess.haha

Their street food was really tempting. We can only can smell them. T_T

This is egg bread. Actually we can eat this, but were too cautious at time. My friend whom study here told us that we can eat the street food with no beef, chicken inside.  And I regretting it now.

Cottony candy/sweet? Gula kapas

Spot Siwon in Myeondong!!! haha his poster only.

We did some window shopping and surveying some stuff that we want to buy for the first night in Korea. We  were really excited as we couldn't believe that we actually in Korea now and had a thought in mind that finally after a long awaited month, we could make it here in Seoul, South Korea. Alhamdulillah for this experience Ya Allah.

Till then, please wait for another upcoming entry about my travel in Seoul, Korea.
Xoxo.