KOREA 2014: DAY 1 ~ SEOUL: Arrival at Incheon Airport, Lotte World, KTX

17 OCT 2014

I stepped foot into South Korea for the very first time at 6am one fine Friday morning on the 17th October 2014 =)

So what's the first thing you need to do when you land at Incheon?

Note that Incheon Aiport is nicely segregated into two parts; the arrival and departure halls and the passenger terminal. The latter is full of relaxation places; basically where you hang out when you have a lot of time to kill at the airport and it's where the train station is located. Navigating around the former is all you need to equip yourself with three essentials for the rest of your stay in Korea.

1) A SIM Card

If you have pre-ordered an EG SIM Card online, you just have to head to the K Books outlet and pick it up. (Link: http://www.egsimcard.co.kr/)

I did not do the above but it was easy to get one off the shelf at the GS 25 (sort of like a 7-eleven; convenient store). You can choose between the various data service options; 500MB-2GB with a korean number. I paid 30,000KRW for a Nano SIM with 1GB worth of data.

I advise you to do the activation immediately while leeching off the airport Wifi because it requires you to get online. Follow the instructions attached and your card will be activated (after 9am) after the headquarters receive your online application. I had troubles connecting to my data so do remember to read the last page of the manual where it teaches you how to configure your APN.

2) T-Money Card

This is basically the equivalent of your EZLINK card in Singapore; this one card will get you on any train and any bus in Korea.

The empty card can be obtained from the same GS 25 store and it will cost you 3000KRW (no value)

3) Download the Jihachul App

If you haven't already done so before you left your hometown, do it now. It is by-far one of the best transport apps and I relied on it heavily throughout my trip. (within Seoul)

Now, you're ready to drag your luggage over to the train station and visit the city! =)


(after we grabbed breakfast from Paris Baguette)


Upon reaching the train station, you will realize that they are two sides; normal lines and express lines. Being the cheapo that I am, we turned towards the longer line. (they basically travel the same route but the express trains are pricier because they skips stops and hence getting you to Seoul station in about half the time).

First thing to do, top-up your T-money card using the machines there; you may choose the language you're comfortable with so it's very user-friendly.

The gantry on the AREX (airport line) are luggage friendly so tap your card and drag your luggage with you through the gates decorated with EXO's faces. (Yes I made an effort to pick members I thought were cuter)



Without a hotel for the night, first destination for us was Seoul Station. To deposit our luggage for the rest of the day, we headed towards the Premium Travel Centre (http://www.premiumtravelcenter.com/en/service_baggage.asp)

The girls there were extremely helpful and friendly and the office contains several maps as well. If you have any questions, ask them because they speak English. The nice girl there helped me connect to my data because I was having troubles with the APN connection.

After depositing our heavy baggage, we were ready to explore Seoul! And our first stop had to be the most exciting Lotte World! The well-known theme park is located at Jamsil Station and signs towards Lotte World can be found the moment you step out of the gantry.

Alighting at the station gives you a slightly long walk (about 10minutes) towards the park entrance, leading you through several shops and an atrium where there was a fountain and when I was there; the booth for the ducks at the river for some charity event.




Upon arrival at the ticket booth, you turn around to have a not very grand entrance greet you. I was personally surprised as I had expected an open-air park where you are able to have a view of the big rides of the park (ie Disneyland Tokyo). This is what you see:




And that is the main entrance of Lotte World Adventure. Not much isn't it?

Walking through the gantry, you will arrive at a circular shaped corridor with some shops, lockers and restaurants. Ignoring all of them, we took the upward escalator located on the right-side since it seemed like the right way to go; people were heading in that direction.

Upon arriving at the top of the escalator, you will be greeted with this sight:






An indoor theme park...still not too much aye? Honestly I was a tad bit disappointed considering I paid quite a substantial amount for entry. (46000KRW) Internally, I was convincing myself that this was how theme parks worked; not very interesting rides but nicely constructed to fit the theme.

As very organized adults, our first stop was the information counter where we picked up a map of the entire park and analyzed which rides to take taking into consideration queue length, interest and our time limit. (Yes gone are the days where you charge into the theme park and sprint towards the first ride that catches your eye) Upon examining the map, I was glad to find that we were merely in one part of the entire theme park and there was another section. So the three ahjummas went in search of the Magic Island...

The signboards were messy and unclear and we had quite a bit of trouble navigating our way around but we finally found the doorway leading towards the other half of the park and wham! there was a beautiful bridge leading towards a gigantic castle; now it was more like it!

Of course, we couldn't resist getting someone to help us take a group picture against the lovely background for commemoration sake (yes ahjummas do not know the existence of a selfie stick)



So the three ahjummas marched on inwards and arrived at the front of the castle where there was a map; and we had a discussion on which ride we wanted to try first. Due to my rather nauseous state and lack of balls from mostly me and KH, we decided to settle on the Tree Swing as our first ride of the day. A rather childish ride with several school kids in queue but we shameless joined them anyway.



To be honest, even this small ride gave me butterflies in my tummy during the ups and downs but one complain was unanimous; the wind against our bodies were freaking cold and we were extremely dizzy with all the spinning (sigh the pains of an old lady). Anyway, I was still puking and my head was still in the midst of splitting down the middle so we decided to try out another kiddy short-queued ride before finding ourselves a lunch place.

Ride number two went to Fantasy Dream and I must say; it is by-far the most freaky ride I have ever taken. It was meant to be cute? I think? since it was for kids but every piece of animal, insect, etc looked sick and demented and wrong in every sense. Also, the weird music drove us mad halfway into the ride and HM simply fell asleep. I think a picture speaks a thousand words so enjoy your view: (wtf is wrong with kids nowadays?!)








But really, there was even this elongated tube looking thing with goo apparently flowing out from its top and the imagery formed was just too perverse and painful for me to even pen it down.

So anyway, despite the obscene and disgusting train ride, we were still ready for lunch and we settled on a Korean restaurant; hey hey first proper meal in Korea =) I ordered the tteokbokki because it was of a smaller serving. (sorry no pictures) The rice cake was nice and chewy and the sauce was rather spicy. Some fishcake accompanied the dish and it was rather fulfilling; I mean we are talking about rice cakes here so.

Anyway, one thing I liked about this restaurant (and every other Korean restaurants subsequently) is that water is always free-flow and self-service. You basically grab your cup and get water from the dispenser (or retrieve a water tumbler from the shelf) so drinks essentially become free; something I am not used to in Singapore. They had cold and hot water so KH being the sweetheart even made the effort to conjure some warm water for me to soothe my churning tummy.

Following the fulfilling lunch, I was indeed feeling better and was prepared to take on more Lotte rides. However the number one known rule is; no thrilling rides after lunch and so...we went on a nice boat ride! But really, it was well worth-it, it was relaxing and pleasant and hell yeah we were on the Han River (I think? haha)

And guess who we saw?!



Tada! Duckie! And between you and me, Leeteuk and I tweeted the picture of the duck 2minutes apart from two different angles. I don't even wanna think about it.




After the romantic water ride, we decided to try out the least thrilling of the Gyro series; the Gyro Spin. The queue was rather long and we spent the time just gossiping about the looks of the Korean people haha. Really, all of their plastic surgeries were rather obvious amongst the older group and they were not pretty. I mean, they look average after going under the knife but I wouldn't praise them for their non-existent beauty. And no they do not have nice skin contrary to popular beliefs (my own included), they just use a lot of make-up to cover up the flaws you are able to notice at close proximity. One more thing, I do not understand why the girls like to cake their face in white, like literally just a circle on the front of their face and not blend it into their neck etc making their face 3 shades lighter than the rest of their body. Is that a...trend? Ok enough bitching back to blogging...

It was a rather exhilarating ride (for the ahjumma) but my breasts were squashed so boobs were spilling up and I was praying the boy beside me didn't choose to turn and look. And...I screamed so much (it's all part of the fun) that I lost my voice =( On day 1. Gosh.



Following the exciting ride, we decided we didn't want to stay on Magic Island anymore and decided to head indoors where we figured there would be some more interesting rides which were less scary.

Stepping back into the indoors area, there was an escalator leading to several floors containing multiple rides. Scanning through our guide, we decided to check out the 4D simulator ride (my favourite!) and it seems we came at the right time as the next show was due at 2pm which was a mere 10mins away, giving us an appropriate amount of time to relax in the queue. However, there was a continuous screening of the video at the queue area and by the time it was time to go in; we were feeling sick of the short movie. And yes, that was the exact same clip played for the ride =S why oh why.

It was about a boy being chased by a vampire. That's the gist. But anyway's the ride itself was mildly interesting but the extreme vibration made us have a pretty painful back and headache...age is catching up...

Anyway we decided to take things slow and just wander around the area a bit more...

There's a small exhibition room where they brought some exhibits from the trickart museum



Also, the famous carousel ride from some show..





We also wanted to visit the haunted house but it was apparently some Halloween special which required a special admission ticket we weren't willing to spend on.

Deciding that we were dead tired, we settled for one last ride; the hot air balloon. The queue was painfully long and we had some rather unpleasant people queuing up behind us and our luck was so bad we had to share the ride with them. Talk about being suay...But anyway the ride gave us a nice view of the entire park and there was this part of the ride which went behind the rocks and going into the mummy theme of another rollercoaster which made things pretty interesting.





We took a short rest after this final ride before making our way back to Seoul because we were due to catch our train to Busan later that evening.

Dropping by Myeongdong on the way to Seoul station, we checked out the SM Stardium store at the Young Lotte Plaza (nearest station being Euljiro-3-ga) where everything was overpriced. I ended up not getting a single thing except pictures




KH also managed to grab some stuff at the Line Pop-Up Store there.



We got lost trying to find Myeongdong station and accidentally went past this shop:



Nope I did not enter it and took the snapshot hurriedly before sprinting away in fear that somebody inside might come out. =P (Yes this shop is set up by Yesung of Super Junior; Whystyle)

Heading back to Seoul station, we had to pick up our luggage before the closing time of the centre which was 7.50pm. We reached the station at about 6.00pm and collected our train tickets to Busan on the way as well.

Exhausted and with a time clashing with the peak period; we settled for dinner at the restaurant next to the centre itself (on the basement Seoul station)

Our first dinner in Korea was in a typical Korean restaurant where they served a generous serving of a variety of condiments/kimchi/side dishes. I had an abalone porridge because I needed something gentle on my churning stomach. KH had seafood stew:




Despite relaxing and recuperating at the quiet restaurant for close to an hour, the crowd still had not dissipated on the Friday night. Hence, instead of waiting for the elevator we decided to just lug our luggage up the escalator. After much efforts, we arrived at the departure area of the train with a couple of hours to kill.

HM decided to take a seat at Burger King while we took a short look around, equipping ourselves with water and food for the train ride. We also wandered slightly into the Lotte Outlet there; which I will insist is a must-go for shopping in Seoul. We revisited this place before we left Korea towards the end of our trip (Day 11) so I will elaborate about this place later.

As it went later into the night, the temperature started dropping quite rapidly to an all-low of close to 10degrees so we had to start pulling out more jackets from our luggage. Waiting indoors at the departure area, we waited till the train before ours arrived at the platform before making our way down.

The signboards are honestly a tad bit confusing and the train before ours was delayed so the board displayed our train number despite it not being the right one. Therefore to be safe, look out for the conductors and show them your ticket; they will be able to at least give a nod or a shake of the head. He signaled that our train was up next so we waited.

In the meantime, I had a rather amusing encounter. There were two other Singaporeans on the platform waiting for the same train (I heard them speaking and yes we can tell the look of one no matter where we are) and this girl came over to me and asked me if this was the train to Busan in broken English. I was shocked; I initially thought she could tell I was a fellow English-speaking tourist and hence decided to talk to me but I realised she thought I was local....hello do I freaking look like a Busan girl to you? But anyway I replied her in English that it was the next train and she thanked me.

Our train schedule was slightly delayed due to the previous one and we quickly got on the moment the train stopped. Okay, basically there wasn't a good place you could place your bigger luggage so HM who had a cabin sized bag could place it on the overhead compartment. Mine and KH were placed along the sidewalk and KH had to hold onto the both of them while sleeping because she sat on the outside. We also slotted our tickets onto the back of the seat in front in case the conductor did his check midway and we didn't fancy being woken up. (this is a tip for those doing a long train ride and would like a snooze; the best is to hold the ticket in your hand while sleeping)

The seats are averagely comfortable and can be reclined to a rather low angle but HM was sitting behind me and I didn't fancy allowing her to suffer and grumble so I reclined it slightly, making it comfortable enough for me to get some much needed rest.

The train cabins are not air-conditioned, making it pretty hot and stuff when we boarded. However, as the journey continued into the night, the temperature dropped significantly with air from the outside coming in every time we had a stop.

Being cheapos, we took the longer train ride. Here is some tip for people travelling via the KTX in Korea =)

1) Most people prefer the multi-day passes because they make a few trips or a return trip. If so, getting the KR pass is most cost effective and they even entitle to discounts at certain attractions. (http://www.letskorail.com/ebizbf/EbizBfIndex_eng.do)

2) However, in my case, we were flying to Jeju from Busan and hence this was a one-way trip, making the single trip the most worth.

Using the Seoul to Busan trip as an example, here is the fare and time comparison between the different types of train for a single adult. (thank me later) (http://www.letskorail.com/ebizbf/EbizBfTicketSearch.do)

Type of train / Duration / Price of First Class / Standard / Standing (Not Assigned)

KTX / 2h50mins / 80,200 / 57,300 / 54,400
ITX-Saemaeul / 4h40mins / NIL / 42,600 / 40,500
Mugunghwa / 5hr10mins / NIL / 28,600 / 24,300

The train also has a cabin selling food and drinks so if you need a snack it is available throughout the night. I never got the chance to check the pricing and variety though. Also, I guess since it was night train no one came to check our tickets as well. But that said, I am in no way insinuating that you try and catch a free ride.

I woke up quite a few times throughout the night and shifted into a 101 different sleeping positions but this is definitely one of the cheapest and time-saving way to travel. However, if you have a lot of money to spare I've heard that the KTX is a lot more comfortable. (review: cheaper and faster than flying to Busan)