Musings of MissyNandar: A Journey to the K land! Day 3

Sunday, April 7, 2013

A Journey to the K land! Day 3 - 4 Feb 2013

It snowed yesterday from 4pm till very late into the night. So when we left our place, we were greeted with a view of the winter wonderland!

The highlight of today was skiing! But we didn't want to spend hours on road travelling to a ski resort just to play for about 3-4 hours. So we chose the one nearest to Seoul - Star Hill Ski Resort.

We left our place around 8am as we thought it would only take an hour at most. Then, we planned to enjoy the morning session which starts at 9am till 12noon or 1pm.

We took subway to Cheongnyangni Station and asked people about which buses go to the ski resort and at which stop we alight. Most of them didn't understand us or their buses already arrived so by the time we boarded bus 330-1, it was already 9am. We reached our stop only around 10:15am.

There was snow everywhere! 10-12 inches thick snow!! Some of the snow has melted and there were puddles of water around the bus stop too. After alighting from the bus and crossing the road to the other side of the bus stop, our boots were wet.

There was a sign board pointing in the general direction of the ski resort without telling us how far! That sign led us to think that ski resort was within walking distance. Also, my travel buddy also didn't like taking cabs as they give her motion sickness. So we walked, in 10-12 inches thick snow.

Melted snow had resulted in puddles of water and cars drove passed us and splashed us with water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! My travel buddy's white pants were stained with muddy brown water. Lucky for me, I was wearing black. Can you imagine how upset we both were? We walked and walked and walked and finally reaching the Star Hill Ski Resort around 10:50am.

The ticket counter would start selling afternoon session tickets at 12 noon so we decided to get lunch first.

After lunch, we paid 10,000 Won each for rental of ski equipment and another 10,000 Won each for rental of ski clothes.

Do you see the red pillar behind me? That's the cable car station to bring you up to the top of the hill. BUT the hills at Star Hill Ski Resort are quite steep and they are really really not suitable for beginners. So we didn't even get cable tickets.

So we ended up playing at this more gentle slope used for ski school haha :D

Huge Huge Ski Shoes

We left around 4pm. After the horror of our not-so-pleasant morning walk, we decided to call for a cab to go back to the nearest subway station. The nice girl at the ticket counter helped us call a cab and we only had to wait for about 10 minutes.

After about a 15-min ride, we reached Maseok Subway Station on Gyeongchun Line. The fare was around 6,000 Won I think. Then we took subway back to our place and rested from 6pm to 7pm.

Jisan Ski Resort that I went to during my student exchange program in 2010

If you are a beginner but you really would like to pick up the sport and try skiing down a slope, I would really recommend you to go to this Jisan Ski Resort. They have a gentle slope which is great for beginners and there is a shuttle bus to go there!!!!! No torturous walk though thick snow, no being splashed with water, no uncomfortable feeling of having to wear wet socks and shoes for the entire day!

Around 7pm, my travel buddy's 2 Korean friends met with us in Myeong Dong and we had dinner at School Food. It was quite crowded and seems like a popular dining place for young adults!

Fish cake soup will warm you up in a chilly weather

Various types of kimbab

Fried dumpling, egg, super spicy rice cake (ddeokboki), pig blood sausage (Sundae)

Sweet Potato & Rice crackers

After dinner, we walked around Myeong Dong a bit before heading to Namsan Tower. From exit 3 of Myeong Dong Subway station, cross the road and walk straight till Pacific Hotel. Then turn right at the Pacific Hotel and continue walking till you see stairs to go up. From the top of the stairs, continue walking in the direction of Mt. Namsan and you will reach the cable car station.

Along the way, I saw some cute cafes

and cute snowman! :D

We bought round trip cable car tickets for 8,000 Won each. Our initial plan was to reach there before 5pm to enjoy the sunset view but we had to go for afternoon ski session instead of morning session so here we are. We could only enjoy the night view of Mt. Namsan.

Pretty, isn't it?

Namsan Tower / N Seoul Tower

Lovers will buy these locks, write messages for each other, leave the locks at Mt. Namsan and throw away the keys! I guess its to signify that they would never be apart since nobody can move the two locks away from each other without the thrown-away key! I gotta do it one day hahha :D