Seoul - Day 3

Recap of my trip to Seoul Korea, on Friday, 18 March 2016.

Changdeok Palace, Insadong & Bukchon Hanok Village

Today is full of possibilities. Our itinerary for today was packed to the brim, so we got up early and had breakfast at Nescafe Cafe at Myeongdong. The food was good and my hot chocolate was nice but sweet. I notice that most of the sweet things we ate here were really sweet. There was a group of Japanese tourists eating at another table and I noticed that they cleared their table and brought their used cups and plates back to the counter. I assumed this was the Japanese being very polite. When we finished our breakfast we were about to walk out when we were called by the cafe staff. She asked us to bring our tray to the counter. I quickly did so with a little embarrassment. Back home, most people don't clear their table at restaurants/cafes and I'm afraid I've gotten to used to it.

From Myeongdong station we headed to Anguk station to reach Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace). I was so excited. The last time I went to Seoul, which was around the early 2000s, my family and I got sick and we didn't get to visit any of Seoul's palaces. We reached there by 9am and purchased our tickets. Since the tour would only start at 10am, we took a stroll at the outskirts of the palace. There was a small charming park at the right side of the main gate. We saw an energetic squirrel flying from one tree to the next, as if it was putting on a show for us.

Seoul - Day 2

Recap of my trip to Seoul, Korea, on Thursday, 17 March 2016.

Namsan, Hanbok-wearing Session, Itaewon & Pumpkin

Today may be my second day in Seoul but it would be the first day my friend starts her official sightseeing. For breakfast, we had pancake at a lovely cafe in Myeongdong. We then went to Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center at M-Plaza to book our slot for the free hanbok wearing session. We booked a slot at 2pm. We also reserved tickets for the Changdeok Palace Secret Garden tour the next day. We were planning to just buy the tickets at the palace when we go there but decided to reserve the tickets since the number of tickets for the English tour was limited. I then showed my friend all the free maps that were available in several languages at the centre. I was very thankful for the free maps; the subway map was particularly helpful.

Seoul - Day 1

A recap of my trip to Seoul, Korea, on Wednesday, 16 March 2016.

Myeongdong, Seoul Subway & K-Star Road

The flight from KLIA to Incheon was harrowing due to my fear of flying. It didn’t help that I was flying solo. My friend went first, she arrived in Seoul the week before due to her work obligations. I had planned to go last week as well but my cousin got married that weekend so I decided to go after the wedding. I thought going on a night flight would allow me to sleep and have a fresh start the next day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I kept getting nervous each time there was a slight turbulence. The flight was smooth overall but I just couldn’t fall asleep.

Game of Thrones S601

Spoiler alert! Do not read if you have not watched this episode. This is a loose recap; I've taken liberty with the chronology of the scenes.

The first episode of Game of Thrones’s Season 6 did not disappoint. It opened with the aftermath of Jon Snow being stabbed by some member's of the Night’s Watch. We see that that none of the mutinous members had disposed of Jon’s body. Davos is the one who sees the body and orders those loyal to Jon to bring the body inside. He also asked Dolorous Edd to bring Ghost who had been locked in a pen. The author of an article I read wondered why Ghost had been locked up. I agree with the writer that it could’ve been for the wildlings sake or Thorne’s party had decided to lock up the direwolf when they hatched the plan to rid of Jon. It was a touching moment when Ghost was finally by Jon’s side and started to lick his hand, as if it could wake him up.