Part 1
On 12th January 2016, we went to Seoul - South Korea, for the first time ever. It was winter and memandangkan ini pertama kali kita akan visit Korea, jakunnya kita luar biasa. We were so excited that we had planned everyyything beforehand. We were more excited about the trip than the wedding.
Sebelum pergi, kita buat banyak research online. On halal food and on how to get to places. Hafiz also downloaded the Subway Korea app to help us with our ways through the train rides. We learnt that Myeongdong was a great shopping area, so we booked through booking.com for a hotel located there. Sampai Incheon Airport, semuanya mudah dan teratur. Really. Everything was super organized. They even have workers walking around just to assist the tourists. So sampai aje, kita beli sim card and some snacks for us to bring on our bus ride. At Incheon Airport tu pun ada banyak airport buses available. Salah satunya - bus 6015 at Exit 5B - will bring us straight to Myeongdong with no stops.
Bus tickets boleh beli at the counters available near exit 4. Journey from the airport to Myeongdong was about 70 to 80 minutes and the fares were - Adults : w10,000 | Children : w8,000.
The distance between the bus stop / train station dengan Savoy Hotel tu pun tak jauh at all. And to book a hotel at Myeongdong was really the best decision, EVER. Great location, clean, and the staffs were friendly too. Apart from being surrounded by AMAZING shops, this Hotel has a 24hours convenience store (GS 25) which made our stay even more convenient!
Kita sampai pun dah petang sangat, so we had self-made dinner that night. We brought our own rice cooker, a cooker, a pack of rice, a few canned food (sotong / chicken curry / tuna / rendang) and 2 packets of instant noodles - in hopes that it will last us 8 days, just in case we couldn't find halal food even after all the research we've done! After washing up and having dinner, we explored Myeongdong!
We also booked and ordered food from BoA Guesthouse via Facebook so that we can have our lunch there the next day.
So esoknya, we started our adventure with a train ride. Nak beli T-Money (something like our EZlink) was easy. Mulanya, ada orang Malaysia tunjuk kita caranya while we were queueing behind him. Dari situ, kita dah pandai beli and top up sendiri. Kemain. We took a train to Jongno 3(sam)-ga and took exit 1 to Tapgol Park. From there, we walked to Insadong where the Nami Island Seoul Centre is, to get our bus + ferry + entrance tickets to Nami Island, which we will be going on our third day.
Shuttle Bus Price : w15,000 (two-way) / w7,500 (one-way)
Entry & Ferry fees to Nami Island : w8,000
Shuttle Bus
Pick-Up : Tapgol Park, 930 am
Journey : 1.5 hours
Return : Nami Island, 4 pm
Part 2
We then took a train to BoA Guesthouse : a muslim-friendly travelhouse, located near Hongik University Station. Apart from the superrr delicious halal Korean food, there's also a cute musollah at the rooftop! It was worth the walk, really, and the owner was kind too! You may visit their website at BoA - to learn more about their services and exact location.
Right after lunch, the snow started to fall. So we decided to walk aimlessly, just to spend more time with the snow. Maklumlah, jakun. Takut kalau kita naik train, snownya pun hilang. Haaa. Tapi alhamdulillah, jalan jalan jalan, tiba-tiba sampan Hongdae. Tempat yang memang dah ada dalam itenerary kita. And wherever there's cheap and pretty clothings, we love it. It was youthly ala ala Bugis Street gitu. And everyone was SO fashionable that we felt so obit.
Lepas tu, kita pergi Ewha Women's University. Tempat ni kita pergi TIGA kali. Semua wajib singgah kalau pergi ke Korea. Baju-baju, seluar-seluar, semuanya cantik dan murah. Boleh jadi gila. It's a mussssssst go k. We also went inside the university and it was really so so so beautiful. Kita tak tau lah sebenarnya boleh masuk ke tidak. Tapi bila kita masuk, memang tak ada siapa yang halang / halau.
Part 3
Nami Island - for lovers and fans of Korean Drama "Winter Sonata". Kita tak pernah tengok cerita tu, tapi bila dah sampai barulah kita tau, rupanya dekat situlah diorang shoot cerita Winter Sonata tu. Tempatnya ya Allah, cantikkkkk. I think it's beautiful in every season. But it was really really cold when we were there. We spent alot of time warming ourselves at the fireplaces available all around the island, so it's great to bring heatpacks with you if you're planning a winter trip to Korea. They will be your faithful companion, and they're very very very useful.
The journey to Nami Island took about 1.5 hours and we took the shuttle bus from Tapgol Park. Nami Island was named after General Nami and is a UNICEF Child-Friendly Park. Makanan halal dan musollah ada di Asian Cuisine Restaurant. Kalau tak sure, boleh tanya pekerja dekat situ. We ate Korean food dan makanannya .. SEDAP GILA. Kalau tak salah, Nami Island ni bentuknya macam half-moon. MashaAllah, kannnnn?
Part 4
Memandangkan makanan Korea sedap yang teramat sangat, we made our way to Itaewon to have lunch. You can find alot of halal food there, but we decided on EID. Dan seperti yang telah disangkakan, makanan dekat Eid pun seeedap dan memuaskan. The people who served us that day were young Malaysian girls. They said they were having their school winter-break. Kemain budak budak ni, ambil order siap cakap Korea segala. Hati pun tetiba rasa bangga pulak bila tengok diorang. Tak tau kenapa.
If you want to just have a bite or buy something for later, Halal Bakeries and Groceries pun ada banyak along the streets. Kalau nak cuci mata atau shopping, dekat Itaewon pun ok. The road is lined with alot of shops.
After Itaewon, we actually visited Gwangjang Fabric Market untuk tengok tengok kain. Malangnya, most of the shops tutup because it was winter. Katanya, during Spring yang ada banyak kain-kain. But we managed to buy a few sets of kain cotton for our mothers sebab geram! Semua cantik, sweet, dan lembut. Harganya pun murah untuk kain sebagus tu - 4 metres for about 20,000 won which is about SGD 20.
We also visited Dongdaemun Design Plaza and the shopping wholesale places around the area. But again, since it was winter, the clothing were not like the type that we're looking for.
Part 5
Alhamdulillah, we saved the best for last. EVERLAND - tempat paaaling best in Korea. Tempat ni memang complete. Satu pulau Sentosa tu pun kalah. Dalam Everland ni ada themepark and a zoo! Zoo dia pulak Safari style dan binatang-binatangnya pun dekat dengan kita. The bears were trained and they were SO cute. The themepark was also amazing but since it was very cold, we didn't do any of the outdoor rides. Heh.
We booked the shuttle bus and ticket at once for 45,000 / 50,000 won per person. The shuttle bus fetched and dropped us at Myeongdong which was super accessible as we were staying there. You can make your bookings and reservations at their website.
Dekat sini tak ada makanan halal. So we made and brought our self-made lunch and some additional snacks. But near the ticketing area ada EVERMART. Boleh lah beli air / snacks there juga. And since it was Winter, they had a winter wonderland thing going on, and it was there where we had our first snow-sledding experience. They also had a lot of huts around for you to keep yourself warm.
Everland was SO amazing that you really shouldn't miss out on it when visiting Seoul. Sigh. We miss this place, and we'd love to come back. Thank you for being so clean, and kind, and friendly, and safe.
Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah.