Seoul Day 6 - 8

For Day 6, we wanted to let the kids experience snow. Well, the only snow play Auni experienced was when we went to Dubai and she got to play with the artificial snow. At the same time, I really wanted to visit the famous Nami Island made famous by the drama series Winter Sonata (which aired pretty long ago).

So we decided to book with a tour company as we did not really want to travel on our own with 3 kids as the distance is quite far. Plus, we were not really sure of the way. So we called up one of the tour groups (from the brochures we got at the airport) the day before we went. We managed to secure a deal with the tour group for a trip to Nami Island and Gangchon Elysian Ski Resort. Adults had to pay KRW 125000 each while children are charged at KRW 95000 each. Nuha was considered as infant as she was only 2 years old then. As such she gets to enjoy everything for free :)

The van came early the next morning to pick us up from our hotel. They was only one other Singaporean family while the others were mostly young adults travelling with friends or their partners.  We made payment using credit card. They had a wireless credit card machine with them.

The van took us to the ferry terminal where we boarded a ferry to Nami Island. It was a very short ferry ride, about 5 - 10 minutes. We noticed that many of the elderly (of different nationalities) were fascinated with my girls. Maybe because they seldom see 3 very young kids travelling in the winter cold.

Nami Island was cold. Colder than Seoul. We had to make several stops at the fire pits to warm ourselves up. The island is beautiful but I was pretty sure it would look even spectacular if it snowed. Sadly we did not experience snow in Nami Island while we were there. We rented the family bicycle so that it would be faster for us to travel around the island with the kids. The island is not huge but we had limited time as we were with a tour group. I would definitely love to visit Nami Island again and enjoy it at my own time.

Thereafter, we took the ferry back to mainland and had Dakgalbi for lunch. The restaurant was very near the ferry terminal. It is a halal restaurant. If you want to know the location of the restaurant and tantalise your tastebuds, you can refer to this website: http://www.havehalalwilltravel.com/blog/top-3-halal-korean-food-in-korea/ .We actually requested for halal meal when we booked with the tour company. Sorry, we did not take any photos here as we were busy eating :) But really, you should try the Dakgalbi, it is amazing!

Thereafter we proceeded to the ski resort. It is not far from Nami Island Ferry Terminal. Maybe about  30 - 40 minutes of travel time. We stopped by the ski shop to rent the ski suit which costs about KRW 15000 per person. Nuha had to pay too as we rented a suit for her. Thankfully they had one that fit her just right and she looked like a cute little teddy bear :) The girls all had waterproof shoes so we did not rent any boots for them. However, hubby and I had to rent heavy ski boots as we had no waterproof boots.

Now, we were travelling with 3 small kids, therefore there was no way we could ski. So we opted for the snow slide. Snow sledge and ski gloves were included in the package so we need not pay extra for those. As we were the only family that wanted to do the snow sliding, they sent us to the slopes first. The ski resort for the snow sliding was not yet opened to public as they had not completed setting the other slope (there were two slopes for snow sliding). So we basically had the area to ourselves! Well except for a few professional skiers who were testing out the slopes.

We went snow sliding, built miniature snowmen, rolled around the snow... The girls (and the parents) had so much fun.

Thereafter we returned to Seoul. We went back to our hotel to rest for a short while then we went down to Myeondong area in search of dinner. We went to Myeongdong Eomoni Jib. It is a seafood restaurant that is recommended by KTO for muslims. It is not halal-certified just that it serves seafood only. It is good to let them know that you cannot take alcohol. It is located in a small alleyway. For its exact location, you can refer to this website: http://www.muslimbackpackerseoul.com/2012/06/myeongdong-eomoni-jib.html .

Thereafter we returned to the hotel.

Day 7 was spent mostly in Myeongdong to finish up our shopping and buy goodies back for home and we took a flight back to Singapore early on Day 8.

Seoul Day 4 and Day 5

On Day 4, we decided to visit the famous Namdaemun Market. Mind you, we were bracing the winter cold with 3 kids and no stroller at all.

Myeongdong is very near Namdaemun. However we did not want to walk so we took the train from Myeongdong to Hoehyon, which is only one stop away.

We went there in the morning so there were plenty of ahjummas doing their morning marketing. At first I was not very impressed as they sold pretty much the usual souvenirs for tourists. So we shopped for souvenirs to bring back for our family and friends.

Then... I saw all the cute kids' stuff - from the boots to the cool skirts! That definitely unleashed the ahjumma in me. We bought cute boots for the kids. They cost about S$18 - S$20. Not extremely cheap but totally worth it for me! They are Made in Korea afterall (as the shopowners would tell you when you quote an extremely obscene price to them).

Where I bought some of the clothes for the kids.

Walking with kids in an open area in the winter cold without stroller is not easy. We had to cross over to the other side to rest at the cafe and have some hot chocolate. Well, partly because my younger 2 kids fell asleep. So hubby had to carry one while I had to hold the other. So we took our time. Had hot chocolate and doughnut. This became our daily snack every single day. (This is something the kids and I miss about Korea - having doughnut and hot chocolate in winter.) We took quite some time at the cafe. After that we continued to shop at Namdaemun.

The thing about Namdaemun is that when the sun sets, the area is converted into mini eateries. You see tables and stools being set as the people get ready to enjoy their night snack and soju. So we headed back to Myeongdong, bought some snacks and went back to the hotel.

Pretty uneventful day, but well, we did love Namdaemun.

So for the next day, we decided to return to Namdaemun again to finish our shopping. We bought plenty of kids clothes. They really have beautiful clothes for kids. Sadly, as it is winter, most are winter wear and  not appropriate for Singapore's weather. Nonetheless, we still managed to get what we need and plenty of nice shoes for the kids.

Thereafter we proceeded to Itaewon for our dinner. This time round we went to Kervan, a Turkish Restaurant. Expensive but worth it.