Day 58: Seoul (We are not too old for Children's Grand Park)

Who said that this park is only for kids? We were having so much fun here. Let me tell you why. First of all, it has a great location. The park is only a few subway stops from where we stay (Insadong), and not only that, it is right in front of a subway exit. Other parks like Seoul Forest and Ilsan Lake Park, they are many many subway stops away and then we had to walk for about 15 minutes from the subway station to reach the park entrance.

Secondly, it has more varieties. How about an amusement park and zoo in one place? Isn't it fantastic?

Thirdly, the zoo is free. Not a very big zoo, but it is good enough to entertain me hehehe.. I'm sure the kids will be entertained too.

Fourthly, the size of the park is ideal for walking. We could cover everything in under three hours.

Well, here's some proof why it's my favourite park. :)




Love these tall trees, it would be awesome in autumn.


Summer is almost over... last batch of blooming flowers?






Chili padi

I have seen quite a lot of lotus pond by now.










Children's playground


The amusement park

My favourite part of the park is the zoo. I just couldn't believe that this could be free!
















Some advanced yoga moves. :P





They got penguins and polar bear too. For free? No way!! (This could only happen in Korea. :P)



Too bad we missed the polar bear, it was already closed for the day when we finally reached there. But we got to see the penguins. And check out the squirrel monkeys above, they are cute too.


The three musketeers




Anaconda

Check out the video of the anaconda vs mice. We were holding our breath...







Wow, I didn't know that a fox could be so adorable.




The ears are really huge.


This bunny was eating the grass outside the wire.


Always eating, no wonder it's fat.


This one likes to dig for a hole.

Actually the photos here are not representing all the animals, those that are not here are goats, pony horses, deer, llama, camel which we could ride for a fee, crocodiles, tortoise, and many kinds of monkeys.

After the zoo, we watched the musical fountain near the park entrance. Like I always mention, the one at Bellagio Las Vegas is the best, but this one isn't that bad too, more interesting than the one in Barcelona.

Day 64 >>

Day 52: Seoul (Kraze burgers)

I met him at Myeongdong for lunch, he told me that there's a local burger joint that is worth to try.

Kraze Burgers




Wall decoration

We ordered two sets, they only come with drinks but no fries. The price was quite expensive compared to Burger King or Lotteria. At Burger King, one set is around 5,000 won and comes with fries and drink.


17,000 won for just two burgers + two drinks!


The matiz, comes with bacon.


KB Original

Between the two, Matiz is tastier than KB Original but the size is smaller. It just made me craving for more. KB Original is just so so, I won't pay that much for this one but I'll probably would come back for the Matiz.

The pickles was nice, usually we would throw it out but this time we finished it all.

The portion here was way too small, I still felt hungry after the lunch. :P

Day 58 >>

Day 50: Seoul (New Korean foods!)

We met his colleagues on our way to lunch last weekend. So he brought us to this place for some pork dishes that we never tried before. Yay, I'm always on for something new. :D


Side dishes


The bean paste soup is nice.

Here's our main dish, shared by 4 persons. It's too much and we couldn't finish.



This is called jokbal, glazed pork legs. Hopefully the name is correct, because I got it from google.


Jokbal

The steam one is called bossam, which is eaten with leaves and kimchi.


Bossam


Here's how you eat it.

This dish is just average, and between the two, we prefer bossam.

After lunch, we went for a Korean movie at Korea Cultural Center near City Hall. I found out that they have free movie screenings a few times a week when I went there to register for the Korean Language Class. Yay, I'm going for my first class next month. I think it should be fun to learn and make some friends with people around the world. :) I registered for hangul class, which is to learn the Korean alphabet. It's once a week for a month, and if I pass the test at the end of the month, I could continue to the next level. And if I continue doing this, I could be in Advanced class in less than a year. I just hope that I could stay that long. :)

And you know what, the language class is free too. Unbelievable! The Korean Government really do a great job in promoting their culture. Two thumbs up!

Back to the movie, too bad it wasn't nice. Hubby asked me why Korean movie always show the girl bullying the guy? I told him maybe they want to portray that Korean guys are kind and sensitive hahaha...


The movie "Nowhere to Turn"

Then, we went to our favourite galbi place at Gwancheoldong for dinner. It was fully packed.




Nakji dakgalbi (pan fried octopus and chicken)


Got one big octopus!

We always see many people ordering a fried rice with galbi. This is our first time trying it.


Plain rice with seaweed, it will be cooked later on the same pan.


Bokkeumbap (fried rice) and galbi.

Wow, the fried rice is absolutely fantastic. The rice is so flavourful after mixing it with the galbi sauce, and I love the seaweed taste too. It's the best fried rice I ever had! You bet that we will always order this from now on. :)

Walked back to Insadong after dinner, I never knew that there is a Starbucks here. From what I searched from the internet, apparently it's the only Starbucks in Korea that use a Korean name so that they blend in to the community. Insadong is a historical area after all.


If not for the logo, I won't know that this is Starbucks.

Day 52 >>

Day 49: Seoul (Singapore's National Day Celebration)

I just knew recently that there are quite a number of Singaporeans stay in Fraser, is it because Fraser is a Singapore company? So after meeting some of them frequently during breakfast, I made some friends and as one thing leads to another, we get invited to the Singapore's National Day Celebration that is organised by the embassy.

It was a cocktail reception and the dress code was smart casual. At last I could wear my nicer clothes and first time wearing high heels in Seoul hahaha... Usually I only wear slippers out because there's always so much walking and stairs climbing involved. :P

The dinner was held at the Grand Ballroom of Millennium Seoul Hilton hotel. Before we went in, each of us was given a piece of paper contains the national pledge. This was handy as I have completely forgotten about it. :P

There were probably around 100 of us, not so many Singaporeans in Seoul after all. Many students though, and then the expats and some non Singaporeans, probably guests invited by the embassy.


It started with national anthem, then the national pledge and ended with a short speech by the Ambassador.


Merlion ice sculpture


Cocktail reception


Bread Talk


Floss bun made on the spot.

The buffet was pretty good and very Singaporean. Those that miss Singapore food must have feel at home here. We had hainanese chicken rice, nasi goreng, spring rolls, chili crab, satay, mee siam and even laksa. The local food were quite original, especially the laksa. It had the longest queue and they run out of noodles!


Best laksa gravy that I ever had.


The desserts were average.

Day 50 >>