안녕하세요! day 1

Annyeonghaseyo 안녕하세요! 

I just recently came back from a trip to Korea. I went there with my grandmother and my aunts on a tour with Arirang Tour.

The meals, accommodation, transport, and entries to tourist attractions are inclusive in the tour so all we had to do was kick back , relax, take the occasional photos and shop

I was already in Asia anyway (booked a one way ticket to Bali) so I thought why not, plus my gran paid for everything so I couldn't refuse.

We were there for 6 days and our daily schedule is always full of activities to do and places to visit. It was Autumn in Korea, I thought the temperature was going to be at least similar to UK; before I left it was absolutely freezing in the UK, even in Autumn. So I packed all my winter clothes, hoping that it will keep me from the cold.

We left from Soekarno Hatta Airport in Jakarta and I already had my winter coat on hand, but as soon as we landed in Incheon, seoul, it was a lot warmer than I thought it would be.

So here's the breakdown of our tour :

DAY 1

Landed at Incheon Airport in Seoul with the tour group we flew with from Jakarta along with the tour leader.

We were greeted by the two local guides who were going to be with us for the whole duration of the tour.

It was raining in Seoul when we landed. Kind of reminds me of landing at Heathrow, London.

Korean snacks & mineral water~

Our first stop was Kimchi making and Hanbok wearing . Below is the photo of the ingredients for making kimchi, before I smeared the red paste all over the cabbage.



Here's the Hanbok that ahjumma selected for me to wear. Not sure if I wore it right.



For lunch we went to this restaurant that serves Mushroom Shabu Shabu, it came with side dishes - 반찬 (banchan)They kept refilling our side dishes, i think it was like this everywhere we ate. We were so full just from eating the side dishes alone. I've never had so much kimchi in my life in the span of a week



I saw this on my way in to the restaurant, they're fresh octopus, ready to be served/ eaten. Not sure if my palate is ready for something that's still alive and would wriggle in my mouth. yum.



This was the view of outside the restaurant. As it was Autumn there were lots of trees with yellowing leaves. Photortunity for our tour group!

Shortly after we had to transfer to Gimpo Airport to catch our flight to Jeju Island, we flew with Jin Air . We were free to choose our seats in the airplane, which was pretty neat. The stewardess were in jeans,  polo shirt and baseball cap which was quite new to me :o

we headed straight to Dragon Head Rock ( Yongdu-am) as soon as we landed in Jeju. Apparently you have to use your imagination to see the Dragon head in the rock formation, some people saw a bunny rabbit.  I think I could just make out the outline of the dragon head.


here's a photo of my grandma near Yongdu-am. That's one of the local tour guide sitting in the background on your right, he's Korean but speaks Indonesian quite fluently, which I find really surprising.

There was a stall near Yongdu-am that sells some kind of street food and they had dried cuttlefish outside the stall.

We went to our hotel afterwards to freshen up, leave our suitcases and get ready for dinner. The hotel we stayed in for 3 nights was Oriental Hotel in Jeju. they had a casino in the lobby. ..
For dinner we went to a place that serves Ginseng Chicken - Samgyetang 삼계탕 
The tour guide wasn't joking when he said that we will each get a whole chicken
Apparently samgyetang is to be consumed to prevent illnesses.
The dish is made by stuffing a whole young chicken with rice and boiled in a broth of Korean Ginseng
It was ok, i just find that the portion is a little too big and it's quite bland, but I enjoyed the dish nevertheless.

After dinner we went to see Nanta! It's a South Korean Musical where they use kitchen utensils to make music, the performance is almost non-verbal , i thought it was a bit like Stomp, with cabbages, cucumbers, carrots, knives flying everywhere. 

after Nanta! we went back to the hotel to rest, but I couldn't help having a snoop around the Korean convenience store right next to the hotel, bought some Nikuman and Banana milk~

Last bit of summer

I love devouring books outside under the sun. At night just before bed, in the bath. On the bus; but not on the tube ( i still haven't mastered the art of reading standing up whilst trying to keep my balance on the underground) . I find comfort in reading because it takes my mind off things.
Here are some of my favourite books that I would like to recommend

From top left-right
The Man with the dancing eyes by Sophie Dahl
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami

If you want to see what I'm currently reading or the list of books I've read, follow me on goodreads
I'm still trying to finish Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, really wanted to finish the book before I watch the film

The xx - Chained

Did I hold you too tight ?

Did I not let enough light in?

Travel changes you. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often, though, they hurt - Anthony Bourdain

Bali

free

The waves have retreated to the sea, the fishermen and their boats retires to the shore. The sun hides under the dusk blanket, only the flickering city lights from the coastline illuminates the horizon . I am completely at ease here.

全てうまくいく

I've soaked up more sun than I have in the past 3 years, and I'm slowly learning to unwind and relax. 

I've met some lovely people and caught up with old friends and relatives. 

It's nice to finally have some time for myself, and to get rid of all the worries in my head. 

There's always things to keep me occupied during the day ( everyone starts the day so early here btw) so by the time night falls i'm already exhausted and ready to tuck into bed.

It's really laid back here and it's just the break that I needed, I feel more at ease and less anxious, and I definitely felt more inspired . 

Everyone is always full of smiles, and it's ever so contagious.

Leather Forever: Hermes Exhibition

Went to the Hermes Exhibition 

took sneaky photos

stroked some leather

watched how a Hermes bag is made

then soaked up some sun

was quite a lovely day