Sunday, January 1, 2017

Namdaemun Market, Cheonggyecheon Stream and Dongdaemun Street, Seoul (4 December 2016)

1. Namdaemun Market 


Continue to Day 4 of our adventure in South Korea, where the weather is sunny but the temperature is still cold. We walked to Namdaemun Market which is about 15-20 mins from our apartment. There's plenty of places to get reasonably priced souvenirs and street food. 

Interestingly, some of the Korean shopkeepers were able to speak Malay. However, I do find the older stall owners to be quite brash and unfriendly so it kinda a turn off from "window shopping" at their stall. However it is an awesome place to buy toys. There's a lot of novelty toys but the price is not as expensive as Japan. 





The twins took off their coats half way because they were feeling "hot" 

2. Cheonggyecheon Stream and Dongdaemun Street

In the evening, we decided to take a stroll and take the train to Dongdaemun. It was an adventure from making the kids carry their own stroller up and down the stairs on the subway, accidentally taking the "wheelchair lift" and almost getting squashed. Thinking back it was tiring at the time but super fun...







The Korean city council did a great job in keeping the stream clean and safe. I cant imagine taking a similar stroll next to the Klang river without the bad small river :p




Nami Island and Petite France, South Korea (3 December 2016)

Nami Island
We visited Nami Island and Petite France on our 3rd day in Korea. We booked a van to drive us around for the day. The trip from Seoul to Nami Island took us about an hour and a half drive. It was  bit pricey  (around 1k for 6 adults & 3 children) but personally it was a good call for a big group like us, due to the cold weather (-6c) and travel constraints (small kids & my aging parents). The cost for ferry & admission to Nami Island is about 8000KRW for adults.














 Halal Food and Musollah for prayers is available for Muslims


 Hot food which was very much welcome in the hot weather. The food will set you back around RM30-RM50 per meal



 The iconic Winter Sonata statute 

Yummy hot chocolate can be found in the cafe's. The kids loved it soooo much

Petite France
Since it was on the way, we visited Petite France a popular spot for Korean shows. It is a cute and quaint French Village dedicated to Saint-Exupery the author of the novel Le Petit Prince. Not much activities other than photo taking though but the kids were not bored because they enjoyed the decors and cute statutes around the village. 

Admission Fees 
Adults: 8,000 won
Teenagers (Middle & High School Students): 6,000 won 
Children (ages 3-Elementary School Students): 5,000 won