台灣 Day 4 Part 1: 花香之旅 ~ 阿里山

在阿里山的第二天，淩晨4am懶洋洋的起身，是瘋了嗎？沒有啦。。。是爲了看日出，但老天不作美，雨仍還在下。。我們便失望的回到房裏倒頭大睡。。。


吃早餐時，遇到了昨天的熱心伯伯。。決定向他打招呼，在談話中，赫然發現原來伯伯是一閒venture capital的老闆。志芳遇到貴人咯，這可是potential customer 因爲志芳是在private banking sector工作的。。。向伯伯道別后，我們以步行的方式游阿里山。。

雖還在下雨，步行的人還蠻多的。。。早上散步真得很舒服，空氣非常的清新。。。整個人覺得很清爽，健康了。。。 阿里山有几个步道让旅客选择，经由好心伯伯的介紹，我们选择了塔步道山。。

塔山為阿里山原住民鄒族神話中的聖山，早期國防部曾於塔山頂設置通訊電台，並派軍駐防，為設施維護及糧食補給所施設之步道，亦為阿里山當地居民採集玉山箭竹筍（又名雲筍）之步道。塔山步道入口位於阿里山森林遊樂區內著名景點姊妹潭之妹潭旁，步道以枕木棧道及碎石舖面為主，全程約3.5公里，海拔由2325公尺爬升至塔山頂2663公尺，步道徑寬約1.5m，全程來回約4小時。

到了木蘭院，虽然木蘭花经过绵绵细雨的蹂躏后都快要凋谢了，我們還是停下腳步與木蘭花拍拍照。。。再這里也看到不少的粉红色樱花。沿著步道我們看到了姊妹潭之妹潭，阿里山人工林。

走著走著，我們來到了受鎮宮。既然來到這裡，當然要拜拜，希望我們的台灣之旅會平安。讓我意外的是在這森林園裏有所學校喲。。。

在回返饭店的途中，我们遇到了一只狗狗，我们的Ms 芳 很怕狗，但是狗狗挡住了我们的去路，Ms 芳便开始想赶走狗狗，想不到她的赶狗术真不赖，狗狗被她吓得掉头跑路！

对此一幕，我这旁观者大笑起来。。。走不到几步，我无意间看到了“养眼”的一幕，从我和Ms 芳所站的地方，可以看到在上厕所的男男女女。。。OH MY ＧＯＤ！

就这样我们结束了阿里山两天一夜游。。。

台灣 Day 3: 花香之旅 ~ 阿里山

吸收了花蓮挨餓的經驗，今早搭火車到嘉義，絕對要買早餐!!!昨晚以recce好了，火車站有麥儅勞！


到了麥儅勞，志芳不知要買什麽應為菜單跟新加坡不同而且都是華文字。。。我便跟她說買我們常吃的Sausage Egg Mc Muffin meal 咯，可是她回答她沒吃過。。。我的天啊!!! 我是不是聼錯了啊! 我便說你就試看看吧，滿好吃的。。

向服務生點了后，時間真得不多了。。我便說我會提兩個行李箱到月臺現，在月臺等她。到了月臺，志芳說我是大力士啊！竟然能提兩個行李箱爬上了這麽長的樓梯。。。哈哈！在海軍訓練不是蓋的喲！！

在火車上，我还向志芳確認她真得沒吃過Sausage Egg Mc Muffin ， 沒跟我和Kester一起吃過嗎？她說沒有。。。认识她12年了，都没跟她一起吃过麥儅勞早餐，真不可思议。。。

享受了丰富的早餐，我们也抵达嘉义车站。可是天不作美，仅下起细雨。。。真希望这雨快点停。等了15分钟，我们终于搭上阿里山小火车开始了我们的阿里山之旅。。。右图：就是阿里山小火车了，这也是台湾历史最悠久的火车了。。可爱吧！

四個小時的小火車旅程雖長但很愉快，應為在小火車上遇到了一群正在學習小火車新的操作系統的實習生。。。我想托我旁邊的美女志芳的福，才有機會能和他們閒聊，感受到了台灣人的熱心與親切。。。

在談話中，也知道不少台灣的lingo，比方說：星巴克 = Starbucks。也意外的發現我們本土電影有這麽大的宣傳效果。。從沒去過新加坡卻知道新加坡的美食肉骨茶也知道新加坡的4D - 12打，24打。。。

在愉快的談話中，我們也抵達阿里山。。向他們道別后，我們與另一對好心的台灣伯伯和他太太進入了阿里山園區，他們跟我們同住一個酒店，所以我們跟著他們就可以了。。。真幸運不必擔心找不到接我們的巴士。。。

但是阿里山好冷啊！！！細雨也還在下著，我和志芳都在打冷戰。到了阿里山閣大飯店已是中午了，幸好在奮起湖車站向阿婆賣了一個鐵路便當。賣相不錯，一盒賣80NT。。

Check-in 后，我們便到了飯店外與櫻花拍照。。好高興喔，第一次看到櫻花，儘管下著雨這並沒有影響我們賞花的興致，兩個女生撐著傘在一片的雲霧中，走著，欣賞著美景。。。在這一刻，不知志芳有沒有和我一樣的想法，多麽希望在身傍的人是自己喜歡的人，那會有多麼浪漫啊！ 儘管不是。。。能跟自己的好友欣賞著美景也是很愉快的。。。

到了沼平站，我們決定塔火車遊覽阿里山。。在火車上,吹著冷風，一路看著風景，拍著照片享受著久違的平靜，暫時忘記了所有的生活抱負。。

到了神木火車站，我們便下車，到了神木火車站就是要拍神木了。。。神木是一顆老樹，經過兩次被雷劈到后，阿里山園區決定不再重新栽種神木，就讓剩下的神木長眠于此。。

在這裡我們也看到了另一品種的櫻花。。

另一火車到來了，這次的火車是舊時代的蒸汽火車。。。加上周邊的雲霧，好像到了哈利波特電 影裏耶！

乘上了這火車我們往返了阿里山園區裏，這時不知道爲什麽我的右眼腫了一個大包。。可能是花粉吧。。。真掃心不能拍照了。。

回到園區，已是傍晚，肚子也開始鬧革命了。。應為實在是太冷了，我建議去吃火鍋來暖暖身。。。

我們決定再這具有歐式ｃｏｔｔａｇｅ風格的火鍋店用餐。。。裏頭還有很多大大小小的太迪熊。。好可愛喔！到了裏面，那溫馨的感覺與外頭的冷風截然不同。。。仿佛回到自己的家。

吃了豐富的晚餐，是時候回酒店，就在這時候才發現我們忘了什麽時間飯店的小巴接送時間。。。糟糕的是我們也忘了帶飯店的電話號碼。。。友善的Seven店員還到車場傍我們詢問幸好有一位噢巴嗓知道巴士的時間表所以我們能安全抵達飯店。

阿里山閣大飯店位于沼平站的附近也非常接近阿里山園區著名景點例如姐妹潭， 三兄弟。。。飯店的後面就是美麗的櫻花，所以非常方便。但是飯店有點陳舊，睡房滿乾淨但唯一不好的是房間的廁所，應為陳舊，廁所墻邊都發黴了。。所以我還是會推薦這飯店。。

今天也是在台灣我們最早睡覺的喲。。。

台灣 Day 2 : 幽美之旅 ~ 太魯閣國家

台北的第二天，两只熊猫回到台北車站乘達655am莒光號75車次的火車到花蓮。火車行程約2小時30分。。。

這要拜志芳所賜，她把冷氣完全関掉害的我以爲床褥不乾淨，全身發癢无法入眠 !当我发现时已是清晨4am.天啊！。

在月臺等待火車時， 覺得無聊就開始自拍來消磨時間。。。

右圖就是莒光號了

約9時30分，終于抵達花蓮！終于見到陳廣發伯伯。。他就是我們在花蓮的導遊兼司機。。。首先，他說先帶我們去舔飽肚子，去吃花蓮美食便帶我們到一品香扁食店。什麽美食咧？就是水餃了！！

一路上，處處可在看板上看到＂油抄手＂　陳伯伯叫我們猜猜油抄手是什麽？原來是新加坡人的最愛。。。辣油！！陳伯伯說不要被騙喲！應為要order油抄手可是要多付費的耶。。。

舔飽肚子后， 我們便起程到太魯閣國家公園。。。好期待喔，應為聽説太魯閣是個很美的地方。。。果然像大家說的太魯閣好美喔。。。

陳伯伯就以十大景點來介紹太魯閣。。。哪十大景點嘞，請看右圖吧。 這是我們費了九牛二虎之力所拍的耶！應為陳伯伯不是很聼的懂我們的華語。。。不管我們問什麽，陳伯伯都是答非所問。。。

我們只是想拍十大景點的卡片但是陳伯伯都以爲我們在問別的問題！！！所以我們趁陳伯伯下車不知幹什麽的時候伸手從司機座位傍的pocket拿出十大景點的卡片拍下照片且迅速的放囘原位。。。搞得我覺得我們很像是小偷。

志芳再這旅程總是帶給我很多的歡笑。。。比如說華蓮之旅吧，她與陳伯伯的互動真是絕。

我總在一旁笑，因爲每當陳伯伯沒回答志芳的問題滔滔不絕的講這他的故事的時候志芳哪一頭霧水，哭笑不得的表情超爆笑的。。。

終的來説陳伯伯是個不錯的向導，他一路上不只介紹了太魯閣國家公園的美也製造了一些娛樂節目像比賽推小石子和紙風車讓我們丟入峽谷中觀賞紙風車在風中自由的翺翔，這讓太魯閣之旅變得非常的enjoyed。

太魯閣的空氣真清新讓整個人都輕鬆了許多。。。我個人最喜歡太魯閣的水壩好藍的水也很喜歡看河流在高山之間川流不息的景象。。。

好久沒能像現在一樣，輕輕松松，放慢腳步的欣賞周邊的環境。

時間到了。。該離開太魯閣了。。玩的非常愉快，帶著輕鬆的心情向太魯閣道別。。。

同時也覺我們 的肚子又開始鬧革命了。。。陳伯伯很貼心，他又帶我們去吃好吃的華蓮食物喔，這囘是小籠包，應太餓了所以沒拍照但是這花蓮的小籠包太棒了耶。。

是個很有名的店。店前排了一個很長的人龍。。要謝謝陳伯伯，應為他認識店的老闆，他是從店的廚房裏，更店老闆直接買的。

如果像其他人一樣排隊，我想起碼要排上一個鐘頭喲！這小籠包的size剛剛好，能一口放進口裏，但要小心湯到舌頭喔。小籠包的皮很軟帶點甜味，小籠包的湯汁不會很濃肉餡新鮮(我是不吃豬肉的）以下，就把5個小籠包吃個淨光！而且這小籠包是陳伯伯請我們吃的，因該是拖志芳這大美女致富吧。。。

回到了花蓮車站，華蓮之旅也結束了。陳伯伯服務真是好，他不但在前一晚幫我買到最後兩張票到高雄還幫我們領行李到火車月臺才向我們道別。。真得要謝謝他喔！

在往高雄旅途中，終于見識到志芳有多麽的沒創意。她喲在玩pokemon的時候，幫她的pokemon名子好俗氣耶！比如小鳥吧，她取名為birdy。 蝴蝶叫butterfly。更爆笑的是她為一個根本都不像狗的pokemon取名為doggy。我在一傍真是看傻眼了。。。

終于抵達高雄，志芳的媽媽托她買烏魚卵，在不知烏魚卵長什麽樣子下，這麽買嗎？我們便詢問飯店的櫃檯職員。。2位大叔很熱心。。指出哪裏可以買到烏魚卵，還劃出烏魚卵的形狀和顔色，他們還打電話問市價是多少這樣我們才不會被騙啊！

高雄的住宿是高雄金馬大飯店。飯店距離高雄火車站非常近約10分鐘步行，從飯店步行到高雄著名的六合夜市也十分近大概15分鐘。飯店十分乾淨，房間雖小但滿舒適。。

加上飯店職員非常熱心和親切所以會推薦這飯店。

要是肚子餓了，附近有Mos Burger,Mac Donald和85C喲！

到了六合夜市找吃的。。。終的來説，吃的選擇不是很多來來去去就是那幾樣了。嘗試了棺材板和胡椒餅。。。

棺材板蠻不錯外脆内軟但吃多很膩。。。 胡椒餅很硬所以口感不好，牙齒很痛，裏面不知道是什麽肉餡不是很喜歡它的味道。。。

雖是星期天接近淩晨時分，但人潮還蠻多的。。難道高雄人都不用上班的嗎？可能是他們的生活習慣就是這樣的吧！換作在新加坡，這個時間早就空無一人了！！！這才叫做不夜城。。。逛夜市嗎就是要人多才熱鬧喔。六合夜市營業至淩晨5am。所以夜貓子們想找吃的時候可以到六合夜市。

淩晨1am。。。該打道回府休息了。。這結束了我們在台灣第二天的旅程。。

台北的初夜！

三月二十九日终于到了！！！

带着愉快及兴奋的心情抵达樟宜机场与我的好友志芳，Kester 汇合。 這個台灣之旅有許多的第一次：

第一次與志芳出遊。。。
第一次收集質料安排旅遊行程。。。
第一次遊覽及閲讀許多的繁體華文網站。。。
第一次乘達廉價航空捷星（Jetstar) 。。。

在Terminal 3的Popeye一起吃午餐后，我與志芳便登機踏上了我們的九日台灣自由遊。。。 對於捷星的第一印象嗎。。座位狹窄吧！可是因爲我不是很大塊頭所以我並不在意。。。幸運的是。。。我們身旁的座位沒人和座椅的armrest可以推上所以活動空閒較大。。。志芳甚至能倒臥著睡。。

下午1740pm，我們終于抵達中正機場。。。第一印象非常陳舊的機場。。。一領到行李便匆忙的到出境出口右手邊的顧客詢問櫃檯獲取了Youth Travel Pass.這是個優惠卡，只要在30嵗以下便能取得。

以下是Youth Travel Pass的網址：
http://www.youthtravel.tw/youthtravel/

出境出口左手邊，就是客運巴士站了。我們乘達了國光客運在大約45分鐘便抵達台北車站。車票蠻便宜的125NT(5.70SGD)。

以下是國光客運的網址：
http://www.kingbus.com.tw/

國光客運不只有台北以内的路綫，國光客運也有到達台灣許多其它的地區。對於那些budget的朋友們應該是多了一個不錯的選擇吧！

到了台北車站，我們便去領取了我事先在網上預定的阿里山配套的火車票竟赫然發現旅行社的職員擺了一個大烏龍 。。。車票買錯了！

幸好旅行社的職員態度很好，立即陪同我們到售票出換票。心臟快跳出來了呀！我忘了那女職員的名字是什麽但真的要誇獎她。。。從頭到尾都面帶微笑，一直向我們道歉，搞到我都覺得不好意思了。。我也有錯應啦，應為我並沒發現她ｅｍａｉｌ我的行程表的錯誤。。。

志芳在排隊買火車票時，遇到了一個怪伯伯，弄得我和旅行社的職員啼笑皆非。。。長話短説志芳是要讓位給我和旅行社的職員辦理換票但是那個怪伯伯卻誤以爲志芳不要排隊了而排到她前面去。。。志芳被怪伯伯的舉動弄的不知所錯，一頭霧水。

哎呀。。不知是不是志芳烏鴉嘴，在我們還沒出發前就說我們很衰，這次旅程一定沒那麽順 利！！！

在解決了車票的錯誤后，又一波浪即將到來。但在這之前，我們購買了捷運儲值卡，我好高興喔應為是維尼熊系列的儲值卡耶！可愛吧！

儅我們走到中山站的出口時，志芳快要昏倒了。。應為迎接我們的是一道很長很長的梯堦。。。真的是給志芳唱衰了耶！

但後來發現其實不管是捷運或火車臺灣大部分都是樓梯沒有電動扶梯的。。。
我們的台北飯店是台北儂美大飯店，房間雖寬暢乾淨但是距離捷運站需步行15分鐘又位于小巷裏所以我不會推薦這酒店。

我們終于到了西門町！肚子好餓好渴喲。。。我們在台灣喝的第一飲料是奶茶。還是台灣的泡泡茶好喝。。雖然等待的時間較久但是是值得的喔！另一不同之処是這傢泡泡茶很貼心喲，爲了迎合顧客不同的口味會問顧客甜度要幾分，無知的我們被問到甜度的時候愣住了。。

後來看了甜度表才恍然大悟。。我們便選著了7分甜和少冰。。。誤打誤撞這樣的combination真好喝！不會太甜能喝到奶茶的香濃，珍珠也不同。。50嵐的珍珠比較小但很Q很有嚼經。真是夠讚！

接著我們嘗試了臭豆腐，阿宗麺缐 和 峨眉冰果。。。臭豆腐其實很好吃雖然聞起來像壟溝 水。。。
阿宗麺缐名不虛傳真的很好吃但是吃多會膩所以兩人共試一小碗就夠了！

往下走兩閒店然後走進小巷裏的峨眉冰果也是不錯，水果非常新鮮。

添飽肚子后，我們就在西門町購物！價格跟新加坡差不多，有很多售賣可愛飾物的店。一個值得一提的是老闆們多數都是年輕人。另一個景象是台灣人真的很愛狗。。。處處可見狗狗們。。。好高興喔，應為我是狗狗歷險記的擁護者所以能在街上看見不同的狗狗們都能一一的說出狗狗的種類。。。志芳就跟我不同了，她啊非常怕狗，連小狗chihuahua她也怕。我快昏倒了！！

再囘飯店之前，我們在85C買了兩塊蛋糕囘飯店品嘗。
起士蛋糕像網友說的真的很好吃。。。巧克力蛋糕也蠻不錯的。。。
後來才發現85C是個連鎖店在台灣個城市都有店喔！
這結束了我們第一天在台灣的旅程！

KoRea Day 7/8 - 8th/9th November 2007

Into the last 2 days of our Korea trip, we visited places within Seoul city.1st stop was the Blue House (Cheong Wa Dae ). At present, Cheong Wa Dae consists of the main office building, the official Presidential residence, Yeongbin-gwan (영빈관) or the guest house, the Chunchugwan (춘추관) press hall, and the secretariat buildings. The entire complex covers about 250,000m²).

To the north of Cheong Wa Dae is the mountain Bukhansan, flanked by two mountains, Naksan, symbolizing the Blue Dragon, on the left and Inwangsan, symbolizing the White Tiger, on the right. To the south is Namsan, the protective mountain of the capital. In front flow the Cheonggyecheon stream and Han River.

Next, we visited the Ginseng shop. From here, understand that to buy ginseng, we should at least buy a 6 year old ginseng as the beneficial components of ginseng to the human body are at its optimum when the roots are 6 year old.

After a wait of 2 hrs stuck at the ginseng shop, we finally moved on to Namdaemum Myeongdong for some serious shopping.

Me and Fang finally gotten ourselves each a pair of nice boots in one of the shops along the underpass leading to Myeongdong. I enjoyed the shopping experience @ Myeongdong.

Too bad, was not given more time to look around. Only manage to cover part of Myeongdong, no time for Namdaemum...

We ended our day watching the JUMP show. It was a must watch show, I must say. It was entertaining, and there's no need for one to speak Korean to enjoy this show as the actors and actresses in this show does not speak a single dialogue.

The story was told through their spectacular martial arts and acrobatics.Their comical elements were also good. Want to know more about JUMP show, here the official website -http://www.jumpjump.jp/en/.

Our last night hotel stay was at the 6 star Sheraton Walker Hill Casino Hotel. Though 6 stars but it wasnt comparable to Koreana Hotel a 5 star hotel. The room was cramped, not much of room space to walk.

The best part, I could climb through our window and walked over to our tour mates room. Never tried that before.

We spend our nite at the 6th floor bar that have the view of hangang river. It was beautiful. We sat at one of the table and chit chatted with 4 tour mates till around 2am before going back to our room to pack and rest.

Last day at Korea, we visited the Amethyst factory/shop, there we found replica of the necklace that was featured in the K-drama Winter Sonata. Fang was excited cause we had earlier saw this necklace at Yongpyong Resort, and she was wondering whether replica of this necklace is being sold.

Next, we were whisked to the supermarket to do last minute shopping before going to the airport. Before leaving, we took a picture with the hardworking photographer - Billy whom had helped to carry our baggages for each changed hotel as well as serving us at all meals.

Definitely enjoyed myself @ Korea, with 2 of my good friends. The only part I do not like was that I felt the whole trip was pretty rush. Everyday was like rushing to meet the timeline. Hope the next trip will be a free and easy one instead of tour package.

Definitely will want to revisit Korea , as there are several other cities worth visiting.

KoRea Day 6 - 7th November 2007

Day 6 is Theme Park Day!!! First half of the day we went to Everland. We had lotsa of fun here, and taking lotsa of photos.



We were first entertained by the safari world guide, she wore a bunny hat and sings as the guests board the bus. We managed to have a pic with her before boarding the bus.


Next up, we were entertained by the lions, tigers and bears upclosed. They look really huge and you could see all the scars all over their body resulting in the fights they have over territories.

The bears were really かわいい, playing with the bus driver. We were left to roam on our own for 4 hrs, fang suggested to take the Amazon Express, after much persuasion and reassurance from her that we would not get wet, me and Kester decide to take her suggestion.

Argh to our dismay, the ride gotten both Kester and me wet. We were trying to take cover under the plastic shield to reduce the damage. However, Kester was not as lucky, her back was pretty wet after the ride ended and only Fang was not wet.

Next up, we went to see the animal show though we dun understand wat was being said but the sight of the small animals doing stunts and cute acts was simply entertaining.



We went crazy at the Fable garden in Aesop's village. Taking photos with the cute characters from the various fables.






We were lucky to catch the theme park mascot just before we left Everland. Of course, must take picture with them wor.




Next up, we went to the kimchi school to learn how to make kimchi. Kimchi. Kimchi was picked as one of the world's five healthiest foods by Health Magazine of the United States. It was said that healthy bacteria in kimchi can prevent yeast infections, help with digestion and may also help prevent cancer.

The other 4 healthiest foods voted were Spanish olive oil for heart disease prevention and Japanese soy sauce for prevention of cancer and osteoporosis. Greek yogurt was enhanced immunity, improved lactose intolerance and stronger bones. Lentils from India were recommended for their high content of protein, cholesterol-lowering soluble fiber and iron.
We were also given a opportunity to dress in korea traditional costume - Hanbok.

Last destination of the day, Lotte world, another popular tourist attraction made popular by k-drama also - Stairway to heaven. The Lotte World indoor theme park is the largest indoor amusement park in the world.


We were lucky, the parade was about to start when we reach Lotte World. Catching a glimpse of the mascots of Lotte World.

Kester was really happy to see the Merry-go-round, and we took a ride on it and taking pictures as well.


The castle at the outdoors of Lotte World look pretty at night. We took a few shots w the castle in the background. That about it for outdoors, we all felt that there's nothing much to see for outdoors.

With that we proceed back to the Indoors, going shopping at Lotte Market as well as looking for a good spot for watching the laser show.

With that we ended day 6 with us heading back to our hotel - Koreana. The best among all hotels we stayed throughout our Korea trip, very cosy and comfortable.

KoRea Day 4/5 - 5th/6th November 2007

After 2 days @ Jeju, we flew back to Seoul, our first destination for the day is Nami Island, it was called Nami as it is the home to the tomb of General Nami (1441-1469), who was appointed minister of the Military Board at age 25 after suppressing Lee Shi-ae's Revolt during the reign of King Sejo of the Joseon Dynasty but was later branded a traitor and executed at the age of 26. It had since been developed into a recreational park.



The whole island was painted in red yellow and green. It was really beautiful, but again, have little time to explore the island. We have to ran to the meeting point as we were gonna to be late. Definitely hope to revisit the place again ..





We headed to Chuncheon's Mydeong street for our dinner. We were given an hour to explore the streets on our own before heading for our dinner.





This street is made famous by the popular drama Winter sonata. Below is the pic of the stars hand print.

Our tour guide told us that Bae Yong Joon was so popular that his handprint was stolen once. And the one we seen now is a replacement made after the original one was stolen.



That ended our day 4 @ Korea, we headed for our lodging @ Hanwah Resort.



Day 5 we continued our tour to Mt Sorak.The park spread among 4 cities and counties, in Sokcho, Inje, Goseong and Yangyang. Featuring the highest peak Daecheongbong, the east side is called OeSeorak and the west is called NaeSeorak, which is divided again into North NaeSeorak and South NaeSeorak.


North NaeSeorak is composed of Bukcheon stream, which flows to Ingyecheon stream and Baekdamcheon stream. It was designated as park preservation area, and in August 1982, as a Biosphere Preservation District by UNESCO.


Here, you will see Tongil Daebul," the Great Unification Buddha Statue, standing at 14.6-meter, this gilt-bronze Buddha statue sits on a 4.3-meter high pedestal made of the same metallic substance and weighs 108 tons.

The giant structure represents one important wish of Korean people -- the reunification of the country divided for over half a century.



Next we headed for Waterpia. Me and Fang got ourselves each a set of pretty bikini @ quite a cheap price accord to Fang, we decide to try the hotspring, but Fang almost chicken out at the last minute cause we cannot wear swimsuit for this hotspring. After much hassle, we finally gotten ourselves into the hotspring trying both indoor and outdoor. It was pretty relaxing I must say. Our tour mates asked us how was our hotspring experience, to my amusement, Fang reply in this very words "Horrifying experience!!!" referring to all the naked women she saw @ the hotspring.




Next stop, another popular tourist spot made popular by the K-drama Winter Sonata - Yongpyong resort and Dragon Peak.





Ending the day with a game of bowling with the tour mates and taking photos with the fake snow being laid @ the resort.

KoRea Day 3 - 4th November 2007

Wakey Wakey... After a good nite rest, we continued our tour @ Jeju. We had abalone porridge for breakfast but cannot find abalone one leh, can only find clam in the porridge.

After breakfast, our first stop was Dragon Head Rock(Yongduam). Accord to legend, Dragon King's messenger was sent to Halla Mountain to gather bulloch'o (an herb reputed to give eternal life).

The messenger was killed by an arrow from an angry mountain god. Part of the messenger's body sank into the water while the head remained above the water, trying to return to the sky.



Next stop, was deemed one of our fav spot - Seongsan Ilchubong (Sunrise Peak). Located at the easternmost tip of Jeju Island, it gotten its name as this area is the first to greet each day's new sun. It was really windy, our hair are in a total mess. The view was spectacular.



Our 3rd stop @ Jeju was Song-up Folk Village(Woman's village). This is a folk village that is still resided by people in this fast developing country.

It offer us a glimpse of how the traditional koreans life are. We were brought to the village head's home and the local tour guide provide us an insightful view of villagers' life and culture.

Left pic show what used to be toilet cum pig pen. The black pigs are fed on villagers' faeces. These black pigs will be our lunch later on.

After a delicious lunch, we moved on to the next destination - Chonjiyon Waterfall, the legend behind this waterfall is that 7 nymphs came down at midnight to bathe in the pool under the waterfall.

Our last destination of the day is the one I'm looking forward to for the whole day..Teddy Museum. Me and Kester went crazy taking photos in the museum. The teddy bears that excite us most of course will be the Goong bears.

Too bad, we were only given 40min to see the bears.. too little time still got outdoor garden w bears. Me and Kester split up to take photos so that we can capture all the bears. All in all, we taken over 100 plus photos @ the teddy museum. ;p

Ended the day with shopping at Taidong street. Finallie get to taste 炒年糕，おいしいです. It was spicy and chewy. とてもだいすきです。Definitely recommend all to try this local specialty when in Korea.

KoRea Day 2 - 3rd November 2007

In the early morning, 540am we arrived at Incheon Airport, World's Best airport for 2007. It was really big, measuring at 3.55 million sq meter, 2 main runways, 1 passenger terminal building (15,000 sq meter), cargo terminal (40,000k sq meter). International business complex (50,000 sq meter), Airport Town Square (600,000 sq meter.

We were greeted by a not so friendly Korean custom. Boredom was written all over his face, slowly flipping through our passport and scanning us from head to toe before slowly picking up his stamp and stamped our passport. GOSH. Both me and Fang was simply amused by his behaviour. We finally met up with our local tour guide at the airport, his name was Paul. The weird thing was he is a true chinese but spoke with a Hongkie mandarin accent.His mandarin is even worse than mine. Haha.

After an hour of waiting, we finally boarded the tour bus and on our way to the first tourist attraction - Namsangol Hanok Village. This village has restored five traditional Korean houses. You will see five traditional houses. These houses model traditional houses of Joseon dynasty. The houses belong to various social ranks of the society from the common peasant to the king.

2 traditional games were being introduced at Namsongol Hanok village :

1. Yunnori (Yut Game)

This is the game of throwing wooden sticks, The sticks are thrown to determine how far a token can advanced. The number of steps to advance is determined by counting the sticks which are over, and those which are up. Each combination has its own name. If one stick is over (flat side up) and three sticks are up (round side up) this is called do (pig). Two sticks up and two sticks over is called gae (dog). One stick up and three sticks over is called geol (sheep). All sticks over is called yut (cow), whereas all sticks up is called mo (horse). A do is worth one point, a gae is worth two points, a geol is worth 3 points, yut is worth 4 points, and mo is worth 5 points.

2. Tohu

This is a game of throwing sticks into jars. Sound simple, but not easy when put to action, me and Fang tried at it, but not a single time when in. =P

After visited Namsangol hanok village, we were being whisked off for our lunch. What's more appropriate to start our journey in Korea with the Bibimbap, yummy. It was really nice. After a delicious lunch, it finally time for us to catch our flight to Jeju.

We were whisked off to our next destination @ Jeju - Moksukwon Park. Mokseokwon is a small park where these tales are being told through stones and trees. Around 1,000 roots of old trees and about 500 stones of human-like shapes are displayed within the natural woods.The most famous exhibition at Mokseokwon is "The Life of Gapdol". It is designated as Jeju Island Treasure No.25 for protection.

Next up, Mysterious Road(or Bugaboo Road), our bus driver turned off the bus engine at the foot of the slope, a mirculous thing happen, our bus moved upslope. It was later explained by our tour guide that this is a result of an optical illusion in which the lower part looks higher because of its surrounding environment. Chey!!! But the sunset view was beautiful, picture taken at sunset.

That wrapped up our Day 2 of our korea trip, we were then brought to our hotel in Jeju - Oriental Hotel for a good rest. Dead tired at the end of day 2 due to lack of sleep on our night flight to Korea.