Korea Trip: Day 6
20.04.2006
This morning, we had breakfast at Sorak Daemyung, "Bie" building which was only about 100m away from where we stay. The weather was extremely cold. On the bus, we were told by Lisa that it was snowing at Mt Sorak in the middle of the night and the cable car was not moving because the wind was blowing too heavily today. So we were actually quite lucky to have been able to go up to Mt Sorak yesterday.
We took a 5 minutes boat ride to Namiseom Island. On arriving Namiseom Island, it was raining since we reached there, so there were a lot of people waiting for the boat to go back to the main island. There was also a cosmetic promotion going on the island, so it was very crowded despite the rain. We took a walk to the place where the two rows of trees was situated and took pictures. Korean drama watchers were surley knew that this was where certain scenes from the famous "Winter Sonata" was shot.
Namiseom Island
Namiseom Island was formed when water became blocked and a lake came into being due to the construction of the Cheongpyeong Dam. It is a half moon shaped (462,809㎡) isle, and on it is the grave of General Nami, who led a great victory against the rebels in the 13th year of the 7th king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejo (reign 1455 ~ 1468). Namiseom Island is 63 km away from Seoul in the direction of Chuncheon, and is famous for its beautiful tree lined roads. The island is 30 minutes away from Chuncheon and an hour away from suburbs of Seoul. Since it is not far from Seoul, many couples and families come to visit. A special feature of Namiseom Island is that there are no telephone poles. This is because all electric wires were built underground to keep the natural feeling of the landscape. The complex is 553,560 square yards with chestnut trees and poplar trees around the isle. In the middle of the isle, there is a grass field about 316,320 square yards. It is composed of education and training facilities, camping sites, swimming pools and water-sports facilities for motorboats and water skiing. There is also a theme park with merry-go-rounds, a shooting range, roller skating rink, and there are lodging facilities such as resort villas and bungalows.
Well, after taking pictures, we were supposed to meet the rest of the group near the pier at about 1.45pm. But there were too many people in the island, so traffic was a bit slow actually. But to mention, we were slowed down because we went to the gift shop to buy "Winter Sonta" products. We reached the pier at about 1.50pm, 5 minutes late but there were still others not here yet and to our horror, there were even more people than before taking the boat ride back. So we waited for about 10 minutes, then Lisa told us to go and queue ann get onto the boat to go back to the main island and gathered in the bus. So we squeezed and squeezed and finally managed to get onto the boat after about 20 minutes. But Yinmei was left behind, so she had to wait for another boat with the rest of them. But frankly speaking, the place was quite nice but I think if there were not so many people and it was not raining, I think we will look better in the pictures.
Then we had another about 1.5 hours bus ride before we reached Seoul. The first destination we headed for in Seoul was Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Headquarters. At KTO, touristsmay found a variety of travel information from leaflets, brochures, books and audio-visual presentations. Of course, at KTO, you can also find the Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Korean Entertainment Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame is a unique place that has been created to cater to different aspects of Korean Entertainment, including movies, music, TV miniseries/dramas, and commercials. Pictures from popular Korean movies frame the outer portion of the hall of fame. Inside fans can take their picture along side life-size cutouts of their favorite Korean celebrities as well as view more pictures. A handprint collection has begun and will continue to be added to; approximately 24 handprints will complete the collection. Video screens equipped with headphones broadcast movies, TV miniseries/drama, and music video clips.
At the Korean Entertainment Hall of Fame, you can get to see "Winter Sonata" Posters, "Dae Chang Geum" Posters, Life-sized "Babyvox, An Jae Wok, Kim Hee Seon" etc. Following that we proceed to "Korea Culture Experience Center" which is about 15 minutes from KTO.
At the "Korea Culture Experience Center", we were treated to a cup of "Ginseng Milk" and we get to do "Kimchi-Making". Basically, they had already prepared the kimchi sauce and all we have to do is to spread the kimchi sauce over the cabbage slowly. And guess what, we get to bring our own "Kimchi" home. Then we also got a chance to wear "Hanbok", traditional korean costume and took pictures. It was a nice experience indeed.
Dongdaemun Fashion Town
Disignated as a special tourism district by the Korean governmet in 2002, "Dongdaemun Fashion Town" is the world's largest fashion industry hub where traditional markets operate in perfect harmony with modern shopping malls. Approximately 30,000 shops in the town distribute high-quality clothes and premier ornaments produced through an integrated one-stop production system ranging from planning to manufacturing and selling to both domestic and international markets at resonable prices.
After shopping, we went back to the hotel and our hotel for tonight was Seoul Palace. Seoul Palace Hotel can be considered a 5-star hotel, it was rated differently from the world hotel system. In Korea, it was rated as 2nd special class. Personally, I would rate it a 5-star hotel. It had very cosy & nicely done-up rooms.
This morning, we had breakfast at Sorak Daemyung, "Bie" building which was only about 100m away from where we stay. The weather was extremely cold. On the bus, we were told by Lisa that it was snowing at Mt Sorak in the middle of the night and the cable car was not moving because the wind was blowing too heavily today. So we were actually quite lucky to have been able to go up to Mt Sorak yesterday.
Before we proceeded on with our tour, we stopped by at the hospital cause one of the young girl in the group was down with food poisoning. So we waited for her for 2 hours to have a drip before we went on. She looked so much better after having the drip.Then we had about a 2 hour bus ride to Namiseom Island. We had lunch at a restaurant 10 minutes away from Namiseom Island. Today we had BBQ chicken meat and rice cake for lunch.
We took a 5 minutes boat ride to Namiseom Island. On arriving Namiseom Island, it was raining since we reached there, so there were a lot of people waiting for the boat to go back to the main island. There was also a cosmetic promotion going on the island, so it was very crowded despite the rain. We took a walk to the place where the two rows of trees was situated and took pictures. Korean drama watchers were surley knew that this was where certain scenes from the famous "Winter Sonata" was shot.
Namiseom Island
Namiseom Island was formed when water became blocked and a lake came into being due to the construction of the Cheongpyeong Dam. It is a half moon shaped (462,809㎡) isle, and on it is the grave of General Nami, who led a great victory against the rebels in the 13th year of the 7th king of the Joseon Dynasty, King Sejo (reign 1455 ~ 1468). Namiseom Island is 63 km away from Seoul in the direction of Chuncheon, and is famous for its beautiful tree lined roads. The island is 30 minutes away from Chuncheon and an hour away from suburbs of Seoul. Since it is not far from Seoul, many couples and families come to visit. A special feature of Namiseom Island is that there are no telephone poles. This is because all electric wires were built underground to keep the natural feeling of the landscape. The complex is 553,560 square yards with chestnut trees and poplar trees around the isle. In the middle of the isle, there is a grass field about 316,320 square yards. It is composed of education and training facilities, camping sites, swimming pools and water-sports facilities for motorboats and water skiing. There is also a theme park with merry-go-rounds, a shooting range, roller skating rink, and there are lodging facilities such as resort villas and bungalows.
Well, after taking pictures, we were supposed to meet the rest of the group near the pier at about 1.45pm. But there were too many people in the island, so traffic was a bit slow actually. But to mention, we were slowed down because we went to the gift shop to buy "Winter Sonta" products. We reached the pier at about 1.50pm, 5 minutes late but there were still others not here yet and to our horror, there were even more people than before taking the boat ride back. So we waited for about 10 minutes, then Lisa told us to go and queue ann get onto the boat to go back to the main island and gathered in the bus. So we squeezed and squeezed and finally managed to get onto the boat after about 20 minutes. But Yinmei was left behind, so she had to wait for another boat with the rest of them. But frankly speaking, the place was quite nice but I think if there were not so many people and it was not raining, I think we will look better in the pictures.
Then we had another about 1.5 hours bus ride before we reached Seoul. The first destination we headed for in Seoul was Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) Headquarters. At KTO, touristsmay found a variety of travel information from leaflets, brochures, books and audio-visual presentations. Of course, at KTO, you can also find the Entertainment Hall of Fame.
Korean Entertainment Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame is a unique place that has been created to cater to different aspects of Korean Entertainment, including movies, music, TV miniseries/dramas, and commercials. Pictures from popular Korean movies frame the outer portion of the hall of fame. Inside fans can take their picture along side life-size cutouts of their favorite Korean celebrities as well as view more pictures. A handprint collection has begun and will continue to be added to; approximately 24 handprints will complete the collection. Video screens equipped with headphones broadcast movies, TV miniseries/drama, and music video clips.
At the Korean Entertainment Hall of Fame, you can get to see "Winter Sonata" Posters, "Dae Chang Geum" Posters, Life-sized "Babyvox, An Jae Wok, Kim Hee Seon" etc. Following that we proceed to "Korea Culture Experience Center" which is about 15 minutes from KTO.
At the "Korea Culture Experience Center", we were treated to a cup of "Ginseng Milk" and we get to do "Kimchi-Making". Basically, they had already prepared the kimchi sauce and all we have to do is to spread the kimchi sauce over the cabbage slowly. And guess what, we get to bring our own "Kimchi" home. Then we also got a chance to wear "Hanbok", traditional korean costume and took pictures. It was a nice experience indeed.
Dongdaemun Fashion Town
Disignated as a special tourism district by the Korean governmet in 2002, "Dongdaemun Fashion Town" is the world's largest fashion industry hub where traditional markets operate in perfect harmony with modern shopping malls. Approximately 30,000 shops in the town distribute high-quality clothes and premier ornaments produced through an integrated one-stop production system ranging from planning to manufacturing and selling to both domestic and international markets at resonable prices.
After shopping, we went back to the hotel and our hotel for tonight was Seoul Palace. Seoul Palace Hotel can be considered a 5-star hotel, it was rated differently from the world hotel system. In Korea, it was rated as 2nd special class. Personally, I would rate it a 5-star hotel. It had very cosy & nicely done-up rooms.
posted by Sherry at 4/20/2006 11:30:00 PM
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