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.

Day 1 Seoul

From Hong Kong, I booked a flight to Incheon Airport, South Korea.

We took the Hong Kong Express flight, which is a budget flight. We only paid S$835 for all 5 of us. This is inclusive of 40kg check-in baggage. Hong Kong Express does not offer online seat selection so we made sure that we reached the counter at least 2 hours before departure (we arrived 2hrs 30mins before departure) as we wanted to ensure that we got to sit together (since we were travelling with small children). We saw 2 other couples before us. Thankfully we were early as shortly after, the queue started to get really long with other passengers checking-in.

We got our preferred seats. It was a small plane. During check-in, the staff asked us whether we had a return ticket back to our home country as it is their policy to ensure that we have that. So we showed them the itinerary for our AirAsiaX flight back to Singapore from Seoul. The staff then took down the details.

Although checking-in was at Terminal 2, our departure gate was at Terminal 1. So we took the shuttle to Terminal 1. You can only do so at 7 a.m. as it is closed before that.

Our flight with Hong Kong Express went on without delay and we reached our destination on time. The travel time was around 3h 20min. It was overall a pleasant flight.

At the departure gate

We reached Incheon Airport around 0935. At Incheon Airport, once you arrive, you have to take a series of escalators followed by shuttle train to reach the immigration counter. 

Upon arrival at Incheon, we spotted the snow covered ground as it was snowing the day before our arrival.

After collecting our baggage, we went to Dunkin Donuts to get some doughnuts as we were starving.

There are many modes of transportation from Incheon Airport to Seoul. Since we were with kids  and had quite a number of luggages with us, we opted for the Airport Call Van Service. It is located between Exit 12 and 13 (near Dunkin Donuts). We checked with the person at the counter and agreed on the fare of KRW78 000 to Pacific Hotel, Seoul.

Welcome to Seoul

Our hotel of choice was Pacific Hotel and it is conveniently located at Myeongdong area, extremely near Myeongdong subway station. We did contemplate on getting an apartment but the apartments near Myeongdong station were mostly fully booked. We did not want to get one further as it was winter and we were not sure if the kids could take long hours out bracing the winter cold. 

Once we reached the hotel, we checked into the hotel. Since we came from the high-end luxuries of The Mira (Hong Kong), the minute we stepped into the room in Pacific Hotel, our mood was slightly dampened. It looked a little run-down. We had them replace a chair as it was rather wobbly. But soon, we settled in just fine. We booked the deluxe twin room with breakfast. Our room had one double and one single bed. The room was also big enough to accommodate all five of us. I am really glad that we booked Pacific Hotel as it was very very near the Myeongdong Station and the shopping area of Myeongdong itself.

We took a short nap as I was rather dizzy from my travel sickness (yes, I have travel sickness). I did not take any medication as I was travelling with my kids and I needed to be fully awake to attend to their needs. When you are a parent, your child's needs come before yours.

When I woke up, we got our down jackets on and explored Myeongdong. My kids were immediately excited over the fact that there were mists formed when we spoke. 

We were soon dazzled by Seoul. Myeongdong at night was filled with lights. It was a shopping heaven. Hubby bought 2 pairs of Adidas shoes as they were rather cheap. We ate some street food. We had Hotteok, somewhat like a fried pancake with cinnamon, brown sugar and nuts as filling. My girls also ate this crepe where they spread nutella on and put banana and strawberry and cornflakes and then folded it. We also had some grilled octopus.

The streets of Myeongdong

Crepe with Nutella, banana, strawberry and cornflakes

grilled octopus

On the way back to our hotel, we grabbed the must-try-if-in-korea banana milk. 

Banana Milk

In our hotel room, we had the heater on when it was too cold. At night, we slept with the windows slightly opened to allow the cold winter air in to cool the room.

We were already loving our first night in Seoul.

Trip to Hong Kong & Seoul

I had originally booked a trip to Hong Kong for the family (Hubby, me and the 3 girls) for the year-end school holidays. I was not really interested in going to Hong Kong but I thought that it would be nice to let the kids experience Hong Kong Disneyland since it is the nearest Disneyland to Singapore. 

So the flight was with Scoot since we got the flight at a good deal (or so I thought) during one of the promos. The hotel we booked for our stay there was The Mira as it was situated in Tsim Sha Tsui, along Nathan Road, one of the shopping districts. Our stay in Hong Kong was to be for 6 days.

Thereafter, I started to get the itch to go to South Korea (must be due to all the Korean drama series). I managed to convince Mr Hubby to continue our holiday to South Korea after Hong Kong ( the kids helped with the convincing too). Furthermore, Hong Kong and South Korea are not that far apart. Our flight to Seoul was with Hong Kong Express and our flight will be from Hong Kong Airport. Our stay in Seoul will be with Pacific Hotel as it is located in Myeongdong, one of the shopping areas in Seoul. 

Singapore to Hong Kong via Scoot Airlines. Stay in The Mira hotel in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong to Seoul via Hong Kong Express. Stay in Pacific Hotel in Seoul.

Seoul to Singapore via AirAsia. Transit in KL for 1h 40 min

I normally choose the hotels that have rooms big enough to accommodate the family. I will also tend to select hotels that are in the shopping districts. Travelling with 3 young children with no other helpers can be quite challenging (as most parents would know). Therefore, when the location of the hotel is within the shopping area, we can always go back to the hotel to leave our purchases and continue with the shopping again later on. My girls are now 2, 4 and 7 years old. Nuha and Ulfa are still very young and would definitely not be able to take long hours of shopping (but shopping must still be done... Hehe). Hubby and I agreed that this holiday trip will be a relaxing one and we will not rush. As such we had our itinerary carefully planned out. 

In the next few blog posts, I will share on our trip to Hong Kong and South Korea. Watch out for them! In the meantime, check out below for some tips on getting a cheaper airline fare.

Tips On Getting a Cheaper Fare

When booking for flights, I noticed that there were times when taking a return flight with the same airline can actually cost much more. 

1) I would normally use websites such as Skyscanner and Kayak to compare prices. 

2) I would also sometimes type in one-way to my destination and one-way back as it can be cheaper that way. 

3) Get alerts from the different airlines for promos.

4) Book your flight way in advance as it is cheaper than most last minute bookings.