South Korea - Seoul

Seoul the capital city of South Korea was very much so so..... To see more of Seoul, one should really go when it is autum or spring, where the whole country comes alive in different colours. In winter, is pretty much dull and wet everywhere.

got a good deal and stayed at Inter-Continential. Good hotel in good location.

Bongeunsa Temple, just behind the hotel

Deoksugung Palace is one of the places to witness the traditional changing of the guards cermony. There is only one timings in a day so make sure you get there early and get a good spot right in front of the main gate. It is within walking distance from the City hall station.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is another place where you can watch the changing of the guards.They are pretty similar to the one at Deoksugung Palace. This palace had been destroy during the Japanese Occupation and is still under going restoration. It is much bigger than Deoksugung Palace and has more interesting scenes. So if you are running tight for time, I would strongly suggest Gyeongbokgung Palace instead. You can access the palace by subway(there is actually a station name after it). Enterance fee is 3000won and it's close on Tuesday(accurate at time of writing)

Main Enterance

Beautiful lake in the Palace

Pagoda in the Palace

Seoul has many interesting markets and the good thing(for shoppers) is that the markets of the same goods are located in the same spot. How convenient!! Why can't Australia be like this.

Herbs market

Night Market

Guess what animal I saw in the herbs market!!!                                   Fruits and Vege market

Now this is a very odd design. It is a men's public toliet but you can actually see through!!! Can you see the urinal?

Korea War Memorial- I'm a big fan of war museums and memorials. So this is a no-miss for me. Take subway line 4 or 6 and get off at Samgakji Station, its about 5-10mins walk. Its quite a big place so make sure you allow yourself 1-2hrs for viewing, especially if you are a huge planes and tanks lover.

Statue of Brothers. It symbolise the divide between the north and south koreans.

one of my favourite momument in the museum. It is a tower for each country who fought hard for the Korean War.

Heaps of war aircraft everywhere on display. You can get into most of the planes as well.

And to top it all up for my visit to the war museum, guess what I saw?? a Korean traditional wedding!!! of all places.........

Spot the bridge and groom!

Not to forget....we celebrated Craig's birthday!

South Korea - Yongpyong Ski Resort

Yongpyong Ski Resort is well know for the Korean drama- Winter Sonata. The koreans are proud of their this place and there's large movie posters of the lovely dovey lead (or maybe only ) couple in the drama. I can't comment much because I had never watch the drama myself.

try not to go to this resort during school holidays because there's massive number of school kids and they hold up the chair lift. Otherwise, this is a fantastic ski resort, there's entertainment and plenty of eatery around.

Very expensive room...and tiny as well!!!

Front view of the resort....and its snowing as well!

View from the Gondola

View from Gondola..look at the kids queuing for chair lifts!

no kidding.. it was -22degrees!!

Tingy blends well with the background....:))

overview of the resort


Snowboarding

South Korea - Gyeongju

Gyeongju is the capital of ancient kingdom of Silla. There are alot of historical treasures and some are designated as World Heritage. there are coaches that travel from Busan to Gyeongju.

Bulguksa Temple

Bulguksa Temple- Korean way of making a wish

Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory at night

Seokguram Grotto

South Korea 2008 - Busan

Busan is the port city located south of south korea. Its buzzing with seafood places and has a massive fish market.  We catch a train (KTX) from Seoul to Busan.

Love hotel. Not bad actually! It's called the Big Apple. Mind you, its rather difficult to find its location.                                         View from Busan Tower

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Jagalchi Fish Market. These men are bidding for the fish that just arrived from the fishing boat.

More stalls inside Jagalchi Fish market.

pig heads at fish market????

Craig found Krispy Kreme!!! YUM....

Tingy at Haeundae Beach