After I came back from my Boston trip, I started planning for Miss Kiki's term break holiday in September. Originally I thought of going to Taipei, but Miss Kiki said that she would like to go to Korea again because when we were there last time she was ill for the most part of the trip. I wasn't quite convinced then, but when I mentioned it to my Travelling Pants buddies one of them decided to join and also requested Korea. So our destination was decided!
We started thinking about it more and discussing it more and one after another oma, opa, and my sister decided to join the party so it was great! The more the merrier after all!
It was perfect timing that Cathay Pacific had a travel fair in Jakarta in August so we bought our tickets there. Traveloka also had a good sale for the same flights about a week later. The situation in Hong Kong was a bit unsettling at that time but we decided that the airport would be just fine.
Our morning flight from Jakarta brought us to Hong Kong in the afternoon, where we found out that our connecting flight had been cancelled but we were moved to an earlier flight. Hoorayyy! That meant we arrived in Incheon Airport an hour earlier than scheduled.
From Incheon Airport we took the AREX Express Train all the way to Seoul Station. We pre-purchased our AREX tickets at Klook at a very good price. Their adult price is cheaper than AREX's normal child fare so we bought an adult ticket at Klook for Miss Kiki as well. When we booked via Klook, we received a confirmation code that we used to get the actual tickets at the AREX machines. Please keep in mind that at these machines you need to put a deposit of KRW 500 for the (ticket) card. This balance can be refunded by inserting the used cards at the card refund machines available at most train stations.
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| On the AREX |
When we arrived at Seoul Station, we purchased T Cards for each of us (except me because I brought my old one from the previous trip) at a convenience store. Miss Kiki's T Card was registered as a Child's card so every time she taps she will be charged a discounted fare. We then continued our journey on a subway train just one stop away from Seoul Station. Our hotel was the Designer Hotel Seoul Station, situated just a few steps away from Sookmyung Women's University Station's Exit #10 (with elevator!!!).
We checked in and were disappointed to find that the restaurants in the area were already closed. Luckily there was a convenience store right next door so we each got a cup noodle and had a super simple meal.
The next morning, we woke up early for breakfast. I had planned to eat at Paris Baguette somewhat across the street from the hotel. It turned out that another disappointment was waiting for us. It was Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) the day before. It being the biggest holiday in Korea, a lot of stores were closed for a few days. So were the restaurants and bakeries around our hotel! Only one rice bowl store and a Starbucks location was open that morning. Oh well...
At 10 am we were picked up by our driver that we booked via Klook (again!). Our driver was on time and we set out towards Nami Island. Our list for that day was Petite France, Nami Island, and Garden of Morning Calm. It was supposed to take an hour and a half to get to our first destination but because of the holiday a lot of cars were on the road and we all had to move slower than normal. In the end we decided to skip Petite France and headed straight to Nami Island.
In order to get to Nami Island, we had to get off the car and take a ferry across the water. Either that or you can take a very long flying fox. Before boarding the ferry, we stopped for BBQ lunch where our driver took us. Their option was pork or chicken, sauce or no sauce. They also have this cabbage on a hotplate dish but we didn't have it. Taste wise it was okay, for us Indonesians we are used to have dipping sauce for Korean BBQ and they didn't have any. Price-wise it was quite standard at KRW 12,000 per 200 gr for pork.
Our driver got the ferry tickets for us, and he got us a 5% discount for the tickets.
After a very quick ride on the ferry we alighted at Nami Island! We roamed around the island following what seemed interesting on the map that they handed out. First stop was to buy coffee at the cafe by the entrance. It was so so tasting but it was coffee.
Then we chose to go to the maple path, but we were a bit too early to see the nice fall colours for maples. They were still very green!
They had a few ostriches in a fenced field and Miss Kiki was very happy. She really wanted to touch the feathers and I hesitantly let her and reminded her to be careful. Who knew that their feathers were super soft!
If you are a K Drama fan then you would probably enjoy re-enacting the scenes from Winter Sonata.
It was getting really hot on the island and it so happened that we arrived at the centre of the island where things were happening. They had entertainment on the streets, souvenir shops, restaurants, and cafes. We stopped for a break, had ice cream, and bought drinks.
From there we walked a bit further to reach the spot for the famous picture from Winter Sonata. Except that it was still green.
We lost track of time and hurried back to catch the ferry when we realised that it was already late afternoon. That was our visit to Nami Island. Up next would be the Garden of Morning Calm...
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