We reached South Korea's Incheon Airport early in the morning and were carted off by our tour guide Jessica. We signed up for a 8 day 6 night tour package with Chan Brothers so the itinerary was mostly arranged by the tour agency. The good thing about this tour package was that we had one day free and easy in Seoul so we could explore the place on our own. This turned out to be the perfect balance on hindsight.
Wintry Korea was beautiful. Temperatures hovered below 0 degrees most of the time, especially on days when we were up in the mountains or by the sea in Jeju. We were wrapped up in our Heat Tech thermal wear, woolen sweatshirts, jeans, down jackets, scarves, gloves, and beanies. I have to say that the Heat Tech thermal wear was incredibly effective! It is thin and light, feels almost like satin, yet it really keeps you warm.
Our first stop was Skin Anniversary Beauty Town where the beauty consultants checked our skin and provided us with a mask each. The mask was supposed to be catered for your individual skin type. We were led to a side room where we could rest and place the mask on our faces. I took the chance to have a short nap on a nice comfy bed. After the mask was removed, the beauty consultants started their hard sell tactics. Thankfully the selling was pretty short and we were allowed to roam around the place after that.
There was a mini bear exhibition beside the beauty parlor. Since we were there, we decided to explore the exhibition. There was an interesting range of teddy bears here! The bears were dressed like the popular pop groups in Korea. There was also a Park Ji Sung bear! In all honesty, I only know about Park Ji Sung because of Running Man as he previously came as a guest on the variety show. Obviously not a great fan of international football.
Once we were done with the bear exhibition, there was nothing much interesting in the Skin Anniversary Beauty Town so we left and found this beautiful white landscape across the road. Snow covered the whole area and bare trees lined the pavement. A frozen lake lay behind the bare trees and it was just so beautiful. We stopped there and snapped as many pictures as we could.
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We spent the rest of the first day in Paju Premium Outlet before heading to Gimpo Domestic Airport for our flight to Jeju. The shops in Paju Premium Outlet are heated and indoors. However the walkways were exposed to the external environment which also meant that it was really cold strolling along in the huge mall for a prolonged period of time. We tried to go into as many shops as possible but the prices were not very attractive. In fact, it was more like a regular mall than a premium outlet.
Our first stop was Skin Anniversary Beauty Town where the beauty consultants checked our skin and provided us with a mask each. The mask was supposed to be catered for your individual skin type. We were led to a side room where we could rest and place the mask on our faces. I took the chance to have a short nap on a nice comfy bed. After the mask was removed, the beauty consultants started their hard sell tactics. Thankfully the selling was pretty short and we were allowed to roam around the place after that.
There was a mini bear exhibition beside the beauty parlor. Since we were there, we decided to explore the exhibition. There was an interesting range of teddy bears here! The bears were dressed like the popular pop groups in Korea. There was also a Park Ji Sung bear! In all honesty, I only know about Park Ji Sung because of Running Man as he previously came as a guest on the variety show. Obviously not a great fan of international football.
Once we were done with the bear exhibition, there was nothing much interesting in the Skin Anniversary Beauty Town so we left and found this beautiful white landscape across the road. Snow covered the whole area and bare trees lined the pavement. A frozen lake lay behind the bare trees and it was just so beautiful. We stopped there and snapped as many pictures as we could.
We spent the rest of the first day in Paju Premium Outlet before heading to Gimpo Domestic Airport for our flight to Jeju. The shops in Paju Premium Outlet are heated and indoors. However the walkways were exposed to the external environment which also meant that it was really cold strolling along in the huge mall for a prolonged period of time. We tried to go into as many shops as possible but the prices were not very attractive. In fact, it was more like a regular mall than a premium outlet.
The best thing that happened in Paju Premium Outlet was that it started snowing! It was so wonderful experiencing snow for the very first time. Tilting my face up in the falling snow and feeling the snow melt on my warm cheeks was really exhilarating. I loved that moment.
We could not stay outside for long though so we decided to settle down in Starbucks and watch the heavy snow over a cup of hot drink. Korea's Starbucks do not serve my favourite Green Tea Latte so I ordered something new called Chai Tea Latte. Very bad idea. I would not recommend that drink to anyone ever again.
The tour group headed over to Gimpo Domestic Airport where we took a flight from Seoul to Jeju. The wind was really extremely strong in Jeju. In fact, the wind was so strong, we truly felt like we would be blown away anytime soon. We checked into the Ocean Suites Hotel in Jeju which was located along the beach. The room was quite small and we found it hard to navigate around our luggage and beds. In addition, the lighting was quite poor which made the room dark and gloomy throughout our 2 night stay.
Most hotels in Korea came with a convenience store located within the hotel which made buying snacks and water very convenient! The convenience store in Ocean Suites Hotel was located on the first level. Upon entering the hotel, turn left and walk down a narrow corridor where you will find GS 25 (the convenience store) tucked away in a corner. We bought Korean instant noodles for supper and a bottle of rice wine. The rice wine came in a large plastic bottle and was really cheap! I am surprised by how much more expensive Korean rice wine is in Singapore. Anyway, rice wine is really delicious with instant noodles at night!
Some rooms in Ocean Suites Hotel offered a clear unobstructed view of the sea beside the hotel. Our room had a slightly obstructed view of the sea but we could still watch large waves rolling towards the shore. Not too bad unless you intend to stay in the room all day and enjoy the seaside view.
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