Today was our very last day in Seoul – technically half a day as our flight leaves at 7+pm and we aim to head off to the airport after lunch. We booked online the Hanbok fittings… More
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 09 & 10 Pyeongchang]
Lots of photos of all of us in the wintry landscapes so here’s some of the highlights:
Such beautiful landscapes and it’s a good half an hour (slow and slippery) walk to the shops / cafes, so that was a good activity we did everyday. We also had really good Hanwoo Beef and an amazing brunch with freshly made bread on our last full day – and lots of homemade food in the chalet.
I also did quite a lot of quiet knitting in the chalet and there was freshly ground coffee available by the really nice host!
It was a really nice break at the tail end of the trip, days with nothing to do except go out for an invigorating walk in the most beautiful of landscapes, afternoons with lots of indoor time. Our only regret was that there wasn’t a large enough / pretty enough indoor space. Really miss the Gangwon-do region and highly recommend a visit for all that go to Korea.
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 08 Pyeongchang]
We started the day nice and early with a super polite and very sweet lady driver – who will bring us from Chun Cheon, across the mountain range to our next location – Pyeong Chang. On the last trip to Korea, we also spent a good 3 – 4 days at Pyeongchang – learning to ski and staying at the ski resort. This trip, we did not plan for any ski activities, so the search was more. towards something that was nestled in the mountains, similar to our trip to Mori No Ie in the Nagoya mountains in Japan that was the highlight of our last trip to Japan in Winter.
The cab ride was pretty uneventful, but when we arrived at the chalet / pension, the host had bad news about our accomodation – as the temperatures were consistently below minus 15 degrees in the days prior to our arrival – the pipes were all frozen and there was no hot water available!
The host for the pension was incredibly apologetic about the pipes being frozen, she offered to chauffeur us to and fro the ski-town, where there was a sauna (like onsen) facility for us to freshen up. Unfortunately, on the 1st day, we were too late and it was only available for the hotel guests. We did have a really good dinner of fried chicken and beer!!
Despite all the inconveniences (travel to this location, no shower facilities etc), the dreamy wintryscapes more than made up for it!
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 07 Nami Island]
Just past the halfway mark of our trip, we woke up bright and early to catch the ferry over to the mythical Nami Island. Unfortunately, it didn’t snow the days prior, so it wasn’t quite the Winter Sonata scapes that we were looking forward to, but the island was still replete with nature and very scenic (if one can look past the hordes of tourists!)
While the girls went around taking lots of photos outdoors in the biting cold, we huddled up in a very nice cafe, and I picked up a good guidebook on Nami Island – it’s origin story is really interesting! (Literally a Rags to Riches playbook) Read about it here!
The girls also had a lot of fun attempting to roast giant marshmallows over the fire pits dotted around the island, and bunny chasing / hopping with the few wild bunnies that were also chanced upon.
After a short cab ride back to the hotel, we were happy and relieved to hear that our transportation to our next destination was confirmed. (initially we wanted to take a train back to Seoul, then towards the next destination Pyeongchang. Unfortunately all the train tickets were sold out from Seoul to Pyeongchang, so we were frantically trying to look for alternatives. Thankfully, the hotel at Chun cheon persisted and we eventually managed to engage a private hire car to drive us from Chun Cheon to Pyeong Chang – about a 1.5 – 2 hr drive) It’s during stressful moments like these (when we have to scramble to look for transportation etc) that we often wonder if it might be less hectic and stressful if we do package tours. We’ve only done so few (once when we were first married to Hongkong, and we joined a local tour once in Hobart, Tasmania) and really didn’t like the punishing schedules, the forced interactions with the other tour group people and the often un-interesting touristy sites we were brought to (often with horrible commercial attachments to them!) So I guess we just have to take the uncertainty and unpredictability in our strides as world travellers and not lose too much sleep over the small things!
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 05, 06 : Chun Cheon, Gangchon Rail Bike & Garden of the Morning Calm]
Influenced by the many K-drama friends out there, we really wanted to visit Nami Island for the Winter Sonata settings. Whilst it was an easy day-trip to be taken from Seoul (only 1.5hr train ride away), we felt it was an opportunity to visit another precinct / town. Research online indicated that Chun Cheon was a decent city that offered easy reach to the places that we wanted to visit – namely, Nami Island, Garden of Morning Calm, Gangchon Rail Bike and the Eobi Waterfall.
From Seoul, we took the ITX train that took us directly to Chun cheon in under 2 hours. It’s very inexpensive as well – and luckily for us, there were tickets with seats relatively near each other. When we arrived, unfortunately the TADA cab app doesn’t work here, and the taxis were all much smaller – we had to split into 2 cabs for the harrowing (as the cabs couldn’t speak english!) 5min cab ride to the hotel.
We were recommended the most amazing bone broth meal (probably one of my fav meals of the trip) by the hotel reception. It was super flavorful, with tender chunks of “fall off the bone” pork. With lots of banchan and unlimited instant ramen! After that super heavy meal, we walked around the little city of Chun Cheon to explore – and K finally bought a pair of UGG-inspired boots.
On our 1st full day in Chun Cheon, we pre-booked the Gangchon Rail Bike, which from research sounded really fun! The bike ride itself was quite invigorating – but it was really cold (minus 12 degrees) and it was totally out in the open! It was a fun experience nonetheless and the girls really enjoyed it!
After the Rail Bike – we took the subway again back towards Nami Island – this time to catch a taxi to Garden of Morning Calm. As the cab winded up the mountain roads, the surroundings got more and snowy and we entered the Gardens in the late afternoon – just in time for a leisurely walk around before the sunset and the illuminations started.
Finally we ended the day with the signature dish that Chun Cheon is known for ‘dakgalbi’ – or red chilli chicken. It was really flavorful and very yummy. V was especially concerned about our clothes smelling like the restaurant (which it truly did!) but some foods are worth the sacrifice!!
Bought fresh strawberries and very plump shine muscat grapes to have a dessert back in the hotel. I found this blog post after our trip – but Chun Cheon really does have many hidden gems!
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 04 Gangnam]
Our most “glamorous” day and also our last full day in Seoul for the 1st leg of the trip, we planned to seek out all the Korean brand perfumeries and flagship stores in the Gangnam area. Initially we also thought we could head towards Seoul Forest and Seongsu areas to explore as it was also across the Han River.
We bought the girls Isaac Toasts for breakfast on our morning walk out, and proceeded to take the train down to Gangnam and surrounds. I was also on a mission to get a replacement pair of boots as my trusty UGG boots from 2012 (!) finally gave way. It had lasted so well for the 10+ years I’ve used it, so it was with great regret I can’t wear it anymore.
We ended the day after lots of shopping at COEX mall, where G did her “oppa gangnam style” pose in front of the giant hands, we shopped till we literally dropped, and thankfully had a good & luxurious ride back on the TADA cab that picked us from the doorstep of the mall.
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 03 Inseokdong, Hyundai Mall]
The days were starting to get colder and today was the coldest day by far! That didn’t stop the girls from taking massive amount of photos though (sometimes without their puffers!). We planned to spend the day at Inseokdong and Insadong, as they were very close to each other geographically. However, due to the cold weather, after it got dark (at about 4pm), we headed to the newly opened Hyundai Mall for some indoor (warm!) shopping instead.
As always, the girls need time to transition from waking up to going out, so what we have done these last few trips was to seek out a nice coffee place to walk to, while they take their time getting ready. We found a wonderful place just 15min walk from the hotel- their pastries were so exquisite!
Started the day with a trip to dongmeo flea market – it was another researched place of interest, but there wasn’t anything really interesting or nice (think Sungei thieves market), so it was on towards Inseokdong right after. We did have a nice experience riding the local bus!
One of the most talked about cafes on social media has to be this salt pond cafe. Luckily for us there wasn’t much of a queue when we got there, so we managed to get our place indoors after waiting in line for approx 20min. Here are some photos of the delicious pastries – my fav was the simple salt bun, and the hot chocolates!
Travelling with teenagers, there were many moments of waiting with coats (theirs), shopping bags (theirs) and patience (ours) while they took photos of each other. We have come to embrace this as our new way of travelling and try not to hurry them or shoo them along.
Amidst all the shopping, we also did many photo booths with the girls, which was a really fun and novel experience (for us). Yummiest lunch was had at Changhwadang, a Mandu shop famous for it’s dumplings, but we loved the kimchi fried rice as well that came with it!
Too cold to be out for too long so we visited Hyundai Mall (which was ok.. not terribly exciting) and had BHC chicken for dinner – which V and I walked out to ‘tapow’ back for the girls in the hotel.
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 02 Hongdae Day]
Started the day to light snowfall, which is always magical – our first since Covid!
The girls booked their Colour Matching appointment at Hongdae in advanced so we planned to head towards there right after breakfast. We visited most of the retail shops that the girls had researched, very helpfully categorised by district (thanks G!) in their google sheets, so we hit most of them around the honggik university station.
Whilst the girls were doing their colour test, I walked with V to a knitting cafe (which I’ve been following on insta for the longest time!) and indulged in some good retail therapy of the woolly variety. Highly recommend it for my crafty friends – it’s such a nicely done up cafe / knitting shop, with relatively inexpensive yarn, needles, accessories, and also you can make up your own craft kits (inclusive of free patterns and youtube video links – albeit in Korean). I had a lovely time browsing, and making my own kits!
After our yummy dinner at Growers Cafe (another TikTok / Insta researched destination), we unlocked our best discovery on the trip – booking cabs via the TADA app. It was so wonderful to be able to book a cab on the phone – especially in the subzero temperatures!
[2023 WINTER KOREA: Day 01 Myeongdong, Seoul]
As soon as G came home from her Grad trip with her girlfriends, we were off again on a family trip to Korea. It was a fun few weeks before the trip planning shopping places, where to eat, what to do, different places to visit (there were lots of TikTok hints from the girls). The trip was to be split into 3 locations – Seoul (for the shopping), Chuncheon (for Nami Island and other activities), and Pyeongchang (the mountains and countryside – not for skiing this time but mostly to enjoy snowscapes and nature).
Unfortunately my 1st day there was marred by a bad tummy, which even retail therapy at Olive Young (our 1st and most expensive stop by far!) could not alleviate. Fortunately it was only for the 1st day, and by the 2nd day I was well enough by lunch time to partake in the hearty Korean meals that we had!
We came straight into a cold snap – the week we arrived the temperatures dipped to record lows of Minus 15 degrees! It was crazy cold and luckily we had lots of warm inner layers (Heattech Extra Warm really works) and daily packets of heat packs does help to combat the cold.
We took it easy for the 1st day as we took the red-eye flight over (& cos of my upset tummy), so after checking into the hotel, we had a quick lunch at Myeongdong and did some very quick and very strategic shopping at Olive Young.
[2023 JAPAN SPRING – Nara Day 07, 08, 09]
We left our beautiful and serene temple at Koyasan to make our way down to Nara for our last leg of the trip. We had our last temple breakfast and took a train from Koyasan back to Osaka for our train connections to Nara.
We had no expectations of Nara at all, except hearing about the Nara deers from countless youtube videos and trip adviser pages. I was looking forward to the hotel that we booked with nice rooms and very nice breakfasts! Plus they had a very nice terrace that looked out right into the deer parks and always had a group of deers contentedly chomping away.
Nara as a city was surprisingly really walkable and very interesting! There was a very hip and happening craft and arts scene, coupled with the sort of historical architecture one would encounter in Kyoto. It was like “kyoto-lite’, without the formality and hoity toity-ness and ‘theme-like’ nature of Kyoto.
The breakfasts were as stated on the hotel website, we chose a japanese set for our 1st breakfast and the western set for our next day. We visited the Nara Craft Museum, the old Edo-period streets of Naramachi, of course the Deer Park – where I was foolishly too complacent with the deer biscuits and was promptly “attacked” by ravenous deers.
We also had the most amazing soba at a very traditional soba restaurant in Naramichi. Unfortunately I did not take down the name of it, but it was in the most idyllic old townhouse. The only ‘problem’ is that most of these traditional shophouses – whilst picturesque’ – almost always had tatami seating. Which presents a problem of a different kind!
One of Japan’s oldest temple complex – Horyuji Temple – was within the Nara Prefecture, about a 20min train ride away. When we were there, there was a rare opening up of one of the restoration projects. Luckily for us (and the immediacy of online bookings) we were able to join that tour – conducted in Japanese but with a translator – that took us up and down a 7th century building.
Whilst in Nara, we also chanced upon a few night market events which were really lively and very local.
Another unforgettable experience was also attending the NOH theatre on the temple grounds, something which we stumbled upon, after the night market visits.
All too soon it was time to leave Nara, journey back to Osaka and onwards to SG.
Bye Bye Japan – hopefully we get to make another trip next year to catch the cherry blossoms with G – who is planning a grad trip with her friends.
[2023 JAPAN SPRING – Koyasan Day 05, 06]
We left Osaka to Koyasan after leaving our luggages to be takyubin-ed (one of the best things about travelling in Japan IMO!) to their next destination in Nara. Only with a bag pack with overnight clothing for each of us, we were originally going to ascend the mountain by foot, but considering the recent wet weather, we decided to take the more scenic way up and go there via the cable car. 🙂
We arrived at Koyasan just about lunch time, where we managed to check into the loveliest temple accomodation that had it’s own private courtyard! (read the reviews and hilarious replied by the monks) Koyasan is home to about 1000+ working monks and most of the temples are working temples. Surprisingly, many of the monks we encountered in our temple stay were really young – most of them look like they were in their late teens and early 20s!
One of the best features of the temple stay has to be it’s proximity to one of my favorite attractions in Koyasan. Koyasan was and is one of the holiest and most religious places in Japan. As such, many notable past leaders from the Edo period all the way to Japan were buried in this location. The beautiful forests of Koyasan surrounds the most majestic and atmospheric cemetary full of interesting tombs laid out amongst the pine and cedar trees.
Our temple stay includes dinner and breakfast, so after our first walk through the cemetary, we went back to a very hearty (but vegetarian) dinner that was beautifully presented. Surprisingly, it was also very tasty – the significance of the food served was explained in that there has to always be broken down into the 5 different ways of preparation – also known as the Go-Ho. Read more about it HERE.
The next day – our only full day in Koyasan, we woke up at 6am for morning meditations followed by breakfast. After that, we started our hikes through the forests, whilst also visiting the more notable temples at Koyasan.
We started by checking out the available hikes at the Tourist Information centre. The nice lady there said it’s a really nice day for a hike! And proceeded to show us the different routes – we were convinced that we only needed 2-3 hours to do the “easy” hike circumventing the town in the historic “nyonin-do” – loosely translated as the woman’s pilgrimage route – at a time when women were not allowed to set foot into the sacred grounds of Koyasan.
Lulled by a false sense that this should be an “easy” hike – first by the nice lady at the tourist information centre, and also that it was termed “womans’ trek” – we were promptly made aware of our city legs!
Our morning hike involved climbing up (steeply!) Mount Beten-dake, and finishing up at the great Daimon Gate. We had a really good lunch of hearty butadon, and wanted to walk through the forests again back to our lodgings at the temple.
We then “accidentally” embarked on a 4 hour long hike as we assumed there would be ways to exit the pilgrimage route at the parts which were near our temple lodgings. Unfortunately, we didn’t meet a single soul along our hike, and on top of that our phone batteries were depleting very fast. Luckily, the weather was nice and kind, and it was still relatively early in the day. The guide book indicated a 1hr 45 min hike, but it actually took us a lot longer than that!
We were so very relieved to emerge into civilisation at the end of the trek – and on hindsight, the views and surroundings were very meditative. If only we were more prepared!
Go HERE to download the map of hiking trails in Koyasan. It’s an amazing visit and I will definitely recommend it – and for friends our age – go before our knees totally give out on us!
Fortherecord_Travels 