The Scoben Takes South Korea - Day 4
I'm continuing the South Korea recap, 5 months after the trip..sigh...
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If day 3 was a rush, wait till you hear about day 4.
Our original itinerary once we reached Seoul was to visit the Namsan Park and even the Nami Island as well. This means, it was meant to be visited on the day before. But looked at what happened to us. We took the whole day just for travel alone. Everyone was tired, grumpy from the overdue sitting and not able to continue our Seoul visit. This made us to look forward for the day 4 even more. Not wanting to drag the day as much as well, we made it very clear that we need to leave ASAP. Hubs however was still contemplating whether he should drive or not. Based on the feedback from Tom, it will take such a long journey with the train transit and all. And considering that we had a big group with us, elderly and young ones which are a definite handicap, I think car is a much better option. So car it was.
Despite how early we planned to leave, we still got stucked in traffic. And the slight construction at our rented apartment that caused a detour, was not helping at all. It took us a while before we managed to leave the city. And of course it did finally. The traffic was getting lesser, the view started to get less dense, with building. Your way of knowing that you are entering into the suburb area. Nami island is around 1 hour by driving from Seoul. With the traffic, it was almost 2 hour. When things started to get well and rosy, we finally realised that we didn't have our passport. Hubs coincidentally, suddenly didn't plan on bringing his pouch and most of our things are actually there. Passport for everyone and money. It was a big bummer. But of course we couldn't proceed without any of those and had to make a very tough decision of turning back...to the city. I kept quiet, as it was the rightmost thing to do. Lucky the kids were quite a dear. Considering our travel duration and being cramped in the car and haven't gotten to do anything much, they didn't seem to pose that much trouble. Alhamdulillah.
So we drove back, got into the city and almost near our rented apartment actually. Then, suddenly, another mishap happen. A big one. Hub got into an accident. A very silly accident really. But it was a very wrong circumstances to be in. And we cannot blame him so much anyway. No one even tried to blame of course. The situation was bad enough, the least we could do was not to make it any worse. It was a very silly accident actually. And it was also not fully my hubs fault. He was totally on his lane. I think both side were partly to blame as well. There was no accusations involved, at least we cannot understand it. But it was definitely such a wrong situation to be in. Left hand drive. Rented car. In a totally foreign country. With very few English speaking peeps, Cold. Hubs had to be outside most of the time and he was shivering in the cold, under the drizzle.
We spent almost 2 hours there. The guy from the other car, seems to be an important guy. He had a driver and was wearing a suit. Still, he had waited for our matters to finish. We hoped that we didn't even have to, like how we always have in Malaysia. We normally go right to the police station, make our own report, and wait for the investigation to be over. But that was not the case in that accident. Not sure whether that was really the procedure, or he was worried since we are not the locals. In the end, the matters did settle when the insurance guy of our rented car came over, took a look at what happened, maybe signed off some papers, and it was done. It was quite simple, in a way that, that was all required from us. Rather than having to go to police station and what nots. So that was good enough, come to think of it. But we did lose our excitement and 2 hours there.
So we had to change our itinerary. Instead of Nami island, we had our Seoul visit that day. With only half day to spend, we only managed to go to Itaewon and Namdaemun with our parents. Then the day started to get dark and late and cold and tiring for the rest. We sent the rest back, settled the kids and the parents and made our way out again just the 3 of us; me, hubs and Naela, to the more our kind of place: Myeongdong.
So back to the car accident. Since it was not a major accident, just some minor dent and scratch, we still got to hold on to the car. Thank God for that. We sent the car back home, and opted for train. Just when we thought all our troubles were over, we had to go through quite some distance to get to the nearest station. Our Airbnb abode is very strategic indeed. It is right in the city centre and very close to Seoul Station. Problem was, it was not exactly adjacent. We had to walk a bit under the drizzle, pass through the Lotte Mall then only reached the Seoul Station. Again, my parents were a tough lot. They had not complain even once.
After some train and platform exchanges, we finally reached the destination. The feeling and excitement started to creep in. The kids were really anticipating for some snow. But of course there was none, but the air was cold enough that it turned foggy when we breathe out. And that was good enough for them. It's so amazing and how simple creature they are, that they are so easily pleased just with that. And my parents were excited of course cause along the way, there was a lot of familiar Malaysian faces, halal food etc. We had our hearty meal at Muree, which turned out almost like our peak of the day and rejuvenate ourselves there. Such a stressful day, in cold and hunger and finally to be rewarded with warm, delicious food, how can that not be a peak? And my father was surprisingly very good in experimenting Korean food. He straight away looked for something he's not familiar with. Of course with some recommendation of what is good and not. So everyone was happy and so did Naela of course. She was the least trouble of all. She just sits snuggly in the carrier and never did she pose a problem. 4 months old. small and light enough to be carried without any pain, small enough not to be throwing tantrum, didn't require food, I could easily switch the carrier position in order to nurse her. Such a bless.
After that we headed to the famous Itaewon mosque. It was such a beautiful mosque but it was quite a climb up as it's situated right at the top. The thing with Korea is, they will preserve their natural land as much as possible. So right at the top the mosque were. We didn't get to solat there, as it was quite cold to be having wudhu', and time was not exactly on our side.
We then headed to Namdaemun. Now it's my mom happy place. The kind of night market that many Malaysian, specifically Malay would prefer. The price seems to be cheaper than the market in Busan, so it was quite a good deal. And a lot of them actually talks Malay. Yes, they don't speak to us in English, but in Malay itself. Imagine how many Malays have actually frequented that area then. Our highlight was of course this guy. However, shops were closing and the day got darker and cooler. We had to make our way home. Kids were surprisingly still doing quite ok. Qaisar only started to become a bit more restless in Namdaemun, but that was already a big feat for him, being just 2 years old and all and minimum carrying. We took the cab, me, the parents and the 2 babies. My mom was so excited to be finally commuting in a cab instead of the train. See how much she refrained herself from complaining. It was not that easy to find cab, so hubs and my 2 elders still used the train. We settled them at home, everyone was in dire need for some rest instead of us, and we used that opportunity to go back out. to Myeongdong.
We took the bus this time. At least it saved us the long walk to the train station. And once in Myeongdong, it's like we finally meet our match. Our comfort zone. It was already quite late, about past 10. But there were still a lot of people. Christmas decoration were already there. H&M and Uniqlo was the first most visible ones. Multi storey ones. Street food was everywhere but arranged in a very decent, hygienic way. Korean style. I had also turned into a street food fan once in Korea. Of course you cannot try them all. But few tips given such as, Korea only consume vege oil, that was already a big enough information. Anything that avoid meat can definitely be tried. And I was in the coffee tasting mode there. No Starbucks, only Korean coffee. And no Cafe Bene, cos we have that in Malaysia. We tried a different one while in Busan, now we want to try something else. Searched high and low, and then, there was Holly's. And it tasted super. But the thing is, despite the various coffee houses in Korea, Starbucks still seems to be the most popular, more frequented. It was a short visit, given the time, as we didn't want to be missing the bus, else we'll end up walking home. Again, cab rides is not that popular in Korea. People either take other modes of public transportation or walk.
So that was how our day 4 looks like. It certainly had it's high and low. But such is life. And these are what colors it. We learn and survive from it. What's more important was how we manage it. And it doesn't take too long for me to appreciate it. I am already appreciating it just 5 months after, like right now. I especially have an utmost respect for my parents and this is the least I can do for them. Hope I will have more chance to do the same. Next up will be day 4.
******************************************************************8
If day 3 was a rush, wait till you hear about day 4.
Our original itinerary once we reached Seoul was to visit the Namsan Park and even the Nami Island as well. This means, it was meant to be visited on the day before. But looked at what happened to us. We took the whole day just for travel alone. Everyone was tired, grumpy from the overdue sitting and not able to continue our Seoul visit. This made us to look forward for the day 4 even more. Not wanting to drag the day as much as well, we made it very clear that we need to leave ASAP. Hubs however was still contemplating whether he should drive or not. Based on the feedback from Tom, it will take such a long journey with the train transit and all. And considering that we had a big group with us, elderly and young ones which are a definite handicap, I think car is a much better option. So car it was.
Despite how early we planned to leave, we still got stucked in traffic. And the slight construction at our rented apartment that caused a detour, was not helping at all. It took us a while before we managed to leave the city. And of course it did finally. The traffic was getting lesser, the view started to get less dense, with building. Your way of knowing that you are entering into the suburb area. Nami island is around 1 hour by driving from Seoul. With the traffic, it was almost 2 hour. When things started to get well and rosy, we finally realised that we didn't have our passport. Hubs coincidentally, suddenly didn't plan on bringing his pouch and most of our things are actually there. Passport for everyone and money. It was a big bummer. But of course we couldn't proceed without any of those and had to make a very tough decision of turning back...to the city. I kept quiet, as it was the rightmost thing to do. Lucky the kids were quite a dear. Considering our travel duration and being cramped in the car and haven't gotten to do anything much, they didn't seem to pose that much trouble. Alhamdulillah.
We spent almost 2 hours there. The guy from the other car, seems to be an important guy. He had a driver and was wearing a suit. Still, he had waited for our matters to finish. We hoped that we didn't even have to, like how we always have in Malaysia. We normally go right to the police station, make our own report, and wait for the investigation to be over. But that was not the case in that accident. Not sure whether that was really the procedure, or he was worried since we are not the locals. In the end, the matters did settle when the insurance guy of our rented car came over, took a look at what happened, maybe signed off some papers, and it was done. It was quite simple, in a way that, that was all required from us. Rather than having to go to police station and what nots. So that was good enough, come to think of it. But we did lose our excitement and 2 hours there.
So we had to change our itinerary. Instead of Nami island, we had our Seoul visit that day. With only half day to spend, we only managed to go to Itaewon and Namdaemun with our parents. Then the day started to get dark and late and cold and tiring for the rest. We sent the rest back, settled the kids and the parents and made our way out again just the 3 of us; me, hubs and Naela, to the more our kind of place: Myeongdong.
So back to the car accident. Since it was not a major accident, just some minor dent and scratch, we still got to hold on to the car. Thank God for that. We sent the car back home, and opted for train. Just when we thought all our troubles were over, we had to go through quite some distance to get to the nearest station. Our Airbnb abode is very strategic indeed. It is right in the city centre and very close to Seoul Station. Problem was, it was not exactly adjacent. We had to walk a bit under the drizzle, pass through the Lotte Mall then only reached the Seoul Station. Again, my parents were a tough lot. They had not complain even once.
After some train and platform exchanges, we finally reached the destination. The feeling and excitement started to creep in. The kids were really anticipating for some snow. But of course there was none, but the air was cold enough that it turned foggy when we breathe out. And that was good enough for them. It's so amazing and how simple creature they are, that they are so easily pleased just with that. And my parents were excited of course cause along the way, there was a lot of familiar Malaysian faces, halal food etc. We had our hearty meal at Muree, which turned out almost like our peak of the day and rejuvenate ourselves there. Such a stressful day, in cold and hunger and finally to be rewarded with warm, delicious food, how can that not be a peak? And my father was surprisingly very good in experimenting Korean food. He straight away looked for something he's not familiar with. Of course with some recommendation of what is good and not. So everyone was happy and so did Naela of course. She was the least trouble of all. She just sits snuggly in the carrier and never did she pose a problem. 4 months old. small and light enough to be carried without any pain, small enough not to be throwing tantrum, didn't require food, I could easily switch the carrier position in order to nurse her. Such a bless.
After that we headed to the famous Itaewon mosque. It was such a beautiful mosque but it was quite a climb up as it's situated right at the top. The thing with Korea is, they will preserve their natural land as much as possible. So right at the top the mosque were. We didn't get to solat there, as it was quite cold to be having wudhu', and time was not exactly on our side.
We took the bus this time. At least it saved us the long walk to the train station. And once in Myeongdong, it's like we finally meet our match. Our comfort zone. It was already quite late, about past 10. But there were still a lot of people. Christmas decoration were already there. H&M and Uniqlo was the first most visible ones. Multi storey ones. Street food was everywhere but arranged in a very decent, hygienic way. Korean style. I had also turned into a street food fan once in Korea. Of course you cannot try them all. But few tips given such as, Korea only consume vege oil, that was already a big enough information. Anything that avoid meat can definitely be tried. And I was in the coffee tasting mode there. No Starbucks, only Korean coffee. And no Cafe Bene, cos we have that in Malaysia. We tried a different one while in Busan, now we want to try something else. Searched high and low, and then, there was Holly's. And it tasted super. But the thing is, despite the various coffee houses in Korea, Starbucks still seems to be the most popular, more frequented. It was a short visit, given the time, as we didn't want to be missing the bus, else we'll end up walking home. Again, cab rides is not that popular in Korea. People either take other modes of public transportation or walk.
So that was how our day 4 looks like. It certainly had it's high and low. But such is life. And these are what colors it. We learn and survive from it. What's more important was how we manage it. And it doesn't take too long for me to appreciate it. I am already appreciating it just 5 months after, like right now. I especially have an utmost respect for my parents and this is the least I can do for them. Hope I will have more chance to do the same. Next up will be day 4.
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