Sunday, March 25, 2007
YAY!!
Finally one of my grad tripS is settled! Will be embarking on a 7D Korea excitement trip right after the end of my TWO papers. Although the itineray states "Seven" day, day 1 is counted the moment we get on the plane. Since we are getting on the 1125pm plane, it means that by right, we are only spending 5 days in Korea. And, because of that, it also means we have to pay more for the travel insurance, since our 7D trip falls under another different category. *SIANZ*
Anyway, me and my group of friends went NATAs on Friday, and we literally went "shopping", hopping from one booth to the other, asking about the different price plans, the date of departure, the cost of the tipping, the itinerary etc etc... Chan brothers was super expensive, it was about $1500 for the 7D trip. Maybe tt's cos they drink only Korean ginseng and eat kimchi during meal times? O well, anyway, we also checked out Dynasty travel, SA, ASA, and finally Five Stars.
Initially, we checked ASA very first. There, the auntie who only responded to "xiao jie" and nothing else, told us a lot bout korea, that lotte park was under renovation, thus if the itinerary states that we will be going there, we should think twice bout it. She also told us bout the ski resort, and advised us not to go cos it was spring and there wont be snow, or any skiing to do. Moreover, we'd have to pay more to take the cable car ride up to see the scenery from the top of the hill. Armed with these info, we went to check out other tour agencies and the itinaries that they had. Having checked out the price, itinerary etc, we decided that ASA gave the best offer and were just about to place our booking when we decided to check out the very last place, Five Stars. I was rather surprised that Five stars offered tours to other countries besides just Malaysia. Over at Five Stars, we were given like five stars treatment. The attendants attended to us enthusiastically, offering us sweets, drinks snacks. There, they showed us pictures of the places that we will be brought to, and told us in detail the places that we will be visiting, vividly describing the places that we will be brought there. Finally, we decided on travelling with Five Stars as the budget suited us fine, and the itinerary sounded almost magical, at least for the first few days.
Day One. Singapore --> Seoul via Korean Airlines Nothing much *yawn* what to do on a 5,6h long flight with not much in-flight entertainment??
Day Two. Korean Folk Village/Everland Theme Park/Cherry Blossom Trails outside Everland/Overnight at Elf Palace Resort
Now that sounds very very interesting. Many of the different tour guides told us that this is the best time to travel to Korea as it is now Spring gg on to summer, and the temperatures there is a cool 10 plus degrees celcius, not too hot, not too cold. This is also the time where cherry blossoms can be seen, and I really can't wait for that. Just hope that it is not just some shrubs along a walkway planted to cheat tourists of their money.
We were shown pictures of the resort. It really looked straight out of a fairytale book... resort-style houses, each with balcony overlooking the forest, dining under the starry night. *jen stares dreamily*
Day Three. Farm/ Cherry Blossom Viewing/ Odaesan National Park/ Woljeong-Sa Temple/ Farm Activities : Sheep shearing & Sheep feeding/ Cheese making & tasting/ Potatoes digging + Grilling? ATV Ride/ Grass Sledding
This was the part that made most of us decide going via Five Stars over ASA. We get to ride using the bike all over the farm, and since there's no snow to sled on, we'll be sledding on GRASS!!! hehe...
Day 4. Mt Seorak National Park + Scenic Cable car ride/ Gwongeumseong Fortress + Shinhungsa Temple/ Seorak Waterfall
This is a scenery day! lots of nice scenery, of the fortress, up the mountain, and finally a water theme park~ Woo hoo!!! This water theme park has wave pool (nothing new) and hot spring baths and pools! WOo hoo!!!
Day 5. Nami Island with Ferry Ride/ Seoul Land/ Yeoido Island Cherry Blossom (AGAIN!!!~~ =)/ Cheonggycheon Stream/ Dongdaemun Markets & Shopping Malls
THEME PARK NO. THREE!!! and we will be visiting the film site of Winter Sonata~ and then SHOPPING!!!
Day 6. Gyeongbokgung Palace/ Cheong Wa Dae/Ginseng Showroom/ Amethyst Gem Factor/ Tteok Traditional Rice Cake museum with rice cake tasting + Tea/ Insadong Antique street/ Myeongdong Shopping street/ Korean traditional & cultural activities: Hanbok Wearing & Kimchi making
Hmm.... although i am not very keen about this day as we will be brought to places where we might get "tokked", but i guess it's part and parcel of all tour groups... Quite excited bout the shopping part though...
YAY YAY YAY!!! now to get past the FYP report, presentation, 1 project, 1 test, 2 exams...
Countdown to graduation.... back to writing report....
flew into your heart at [8:11:00 PM]
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