South Korea Trip 2015

One year ago in November 2014, I booked an 8 day trip to Seoul via AirAsia as a birthday gift for my wife. After that, we kept it in the back burner for the most part of the year. We had really a lot of other stuff to occupy our minds – moving and renovating our new house, buying furniture, and both kids having major examinations this year. It was only around August that we started looking at hotels earnestly, as that was the time we got our internet connection setup at the new place.

Planning intensified about a month ago when the 2 exams were over, and we finally told the kids. Imagine all this while my wife and I have to speak in coded languages when referring to things related to Seoul and Korea.

Anyway, we were staying actually staying 9D/8N, but the final day we were flying back mid morning, so in effect we had 8 full days of itinerary to fill. We decided to do 3 days Seoul, take a local flight for 2D/2N in Jeju, and then return for 3 days in Seoul. So by early November we got all our hotels booked, but my itinerary was finally confirmed just a few days prior to leaving. Even on day we were suppose to fly off (1.15am in the morning) I was still doing some last minute researching deciding which market to visit and which one to drop off the list.

I suppose South Korea is tremendously popular with Malaysians since the last decade or so. I think it started with shows like Jewel in the Palace and Winter Sonata, followed by the Hallyu K-pop and the newer TV shows of recent years. Some time back I watched a lot of Running Man and Family Outing, and had always been impressed how rich their food and culture is, plus their cities seem to neat and full of interesting things to see.

So over the next few weeks I will post my itinerary and photos we took. It was indeed a highly enjoyable trip.

Posts in the series:
South Korea 2015 – Transportation & Getting Around
South Korea 2015 – Internet Access
South Korea 2015 Part 1 – Arrival & Myeongdong GyojaSouth Korea 2015 Part 2 – Nanta, Insadong & Ssamszegil
South Korea Part 3 – Noryangjin Fish Market
South Korea 2015 Part 4 – Namdaemun and Gwangjang Market
South Korea 2015 Part 5 – Namsan Park and N Seoul Tower
South Korea 2015 Part 6 – Shopping Around Ewha Womans University
South Korea 2015 Part 7 – Cheonggyecheon Stream & Seoul Lantern Festival
South Korea Part 8 – Shopping in Myeongdong & Andong Jjimdak
South Korea 2015 Part 9 – Jeju!
South Korea 2015 Part 10 – Jeju Lotte Hotel & Dinner
South Korea 2015 Part 11 – Jeju Island Tour
South Korea 2015 Part 12 – Seongeup Folk Village and Seongsan Ilchulbong
South Korea 2015 Part 13 – Lotte Department Store
South Korea 2015 Part 14 – Changdeokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok
South Korea 2015 Part 15 – Gyeongbokgung Palace and Samcheong-dong
South Korea 2015 Part 16 – Agujeong Rodeo Street
South Korea 2015 Part 17 – SMTown & COEX Mall
South Korea 2015 Part 18 – Gangnam Station Food Street
South Korea 2015 – Wrap Up!