Monday,
28 December 2014
Today
was our penultimate day in Korea and boy, did we have a lot of places to still
visit! We left at 7 and headed across the city for breakfast. After breakfast,
we headed to Gyeongbukgung Palace, passing the Blue House on our walk. We
walked around the grounds of the palace, noting the king’s library and
Hyangwonjeong Pavilion before dropping by the National Folk Museum which
showcases the history of the Koreans and their way of life. We spent about 40
minutes in the museum before resuming our exploration of the palace grounds. We
passed Gangnyeongjeon (King’s Quarters), Gyotaejeon (Queen’s Quarters),
Jagyeongjeon (King’s Mother’s Quarters), concubine quarters and servant quarters
before coming upon Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall) and Sajeongjeon (Executive
Office).
We
went on a whirlwind tour of a ginseng factory and herbs shop after that. Lunch
was seafood hotpot and after lunch, we went to a cosmetic shop (I’m sure you
all notice the proliferation of Korean cosmetic shops even in KL). One word of
advice though: DO NOT buy any of the products at the shops you stop at because
you will always get them at a lower price elsewhere. The tub of aloe vera gel
that el niño and I bought cost more than the one at the
airport and we all know that despite being duty-free, items always cost more at
airports so that’s really saying something.
We then drove to board a cruise ferry. We arrived
half an hour early and had to wait to board it. On board the first static boat,
we were given a lively bread-making demonstration and then we all had the
chance and raw materials to make our own bread. We had to label the baking tray
accordingly so that the bread could be packed and returned to us. While waiting
for the bread to be cooked, we boarded another boat and went on a cruise along
the Han River. The Pang Pang cruise with the Pang Show lasted about 40 minutes
and we collected our packed bread on our way out.
Dinner was next and tonight, we had it at Todai Restaurant in Myeongdong. It’s a restaurant serving seafood buffet plus a few
others so we ate quite a lot. After dinner, we had two hours to spend
window-shopping. I finally bought a pair of sport shoes at ABC Mart while my
nieces went crazy with stuff with EXO on them. Yup, they were shopping all
right.
We
met up at 10 pm and drove back to the hotel. The four of us had an early start
the following morning.
Tuesday,
29 December 2014
Our
transfer to the airport would pick us at 06:30 so this morning we woke up
early. Mr Piao was already waiting at the lobby when we went down with bags of
shrimp burgers, fries and soft drink from KFC for our breakfast. There was
still some time to run over to 7-11 to buy some titbits and that was what we
did. We finally left at 06:35 after saying goodbye and thanking Mr Piao and Yen
(Yen would only depart Seoul with the rest of the group in the afternoon). We
reached the airport 50 minutes later and immediately checked in. After checking
in our bags, we ate the burgers before going in to clear security check and
immigration.
There
are many boutiques inside the terminal including Hermes, Chanel, Louis Vuitton,
Tiffany & Co., Gucci...unfortunately, LV items cost more over there as they
are quoted in USD (and MYR is very weak against the greenback now). So I left
Seoul without doing much shopping (not many things appealed to me and I didn’t
have the luxury of time to shop for those that do like ginseng, pomegranate tea
etc).
We
landed safely at KLIA at 16:50 and I rushed off to perform prayers. Our bags
took a while to appear so it was a good thing I decided to perform prayers
first. Akak was already waiting for us and the kids were super excited to see
their parents again.
Will
there be another trip with them? We’ll see.
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