Korea so delicious!

So finally we stepped our foot at Seoul, Korea! Anyeong haseo, Hangul!! Yippiiee...

We actually have been planning to visit this country since Feb 2007 when we were still living in HK, where the tickets and hotel booking won't be as expensive as in Jakarta, but Toni were requested back to Jakarta unexpectedly. So, there goes our plan. But, we finally made it!! Well, the actual plan was to have winter family holiday with my parents in Europe, but it was a last minute booking which have to squeeze in a very busy schedule of someone (Pawo!), and ended up with an unmatched date. So we had to cancel it. Apparently, someone's have to work at X-mas (rediculous!). Still, no Europe. The the plan changed to some several different places, but we were tired of following an uncertain plan. So, I came up with the idea to go to Korea. Not so far, not an expensive holiday compare to Europe, and there's winter. So Pawo made some checking (well, for the rest of us, free time in holiday because it is holiday season except for Pawo), and yes! That's how we finally arrived in Incheon, via Kuala Lumpur, in a breezy friday morning, Dec 21st.

Korean people are very friendly. In the highway toll booth, shoutings of greetings and thank you are heard once we opened the window. Wow, never heard such a hostile welcome anywhere before.

So we stayed at Lotte Hotel, a glam hotel with it's own department stores & cinema. Not far is the the city hall where they also put giant Xmas tree and ice skating ring, where a long lined up people waiting to get the skate shoes. It was definitely breezing there. Wina had a couple of tantrums, she didn't want to wear the jacket, coats, glove and all the warming stuff. So once, we just took her out with one piece of clothes on her body so she knew how cold it is...... it did get her attention and stopped the tantrum, hahaha....

We took the city tour, as a safe option, knowing that English is't a popular language there. We went to Gyeongnokgung - the grandest palace is Seoul, Cheouwadae - the blue house/ presidential house, Deoksugung- another beautiful palace in the heart of the city, Seoul Tower and Namsan- folk village. The weather was cool, the city was clean and fresh, the people were friendly, too bad the don't speak English.

Then we went to Muju, a ski resort. Yippiee!!! This is the first time for me and Toni skiing. We had such a blast. First we entered the ski school, learned some basics. Then it's on our own. And we loved it!!! It's a real exercise. I mean, you have to be able to lift your butt up everytime we fell down. That's really frustrating if you are overweight or not in good shape. no wonder this sport isn't popular among Indonesia. My dad told me, he went on a ski with his friends, it started with the whole group, but because it's difficult and hard, only two of 'em that can hold on till the rest of the day. yay! I was actually kinda natural in skiing, but i think it's too "show off" if I put my picture skiing down the mountain, lol....

It was fun staying in Seoul. The only downside is that English isn't a common language, and shopping here was quite expensive compared to Hong Kong. Wina really settle with Korean food, anykind anywhere. Looking forward to come back here someday!