Spring Break in Korea Day 14 (10 April 2015) - Part II

The bus promptly dropped us off back at Seoul Station around noon and we walked back to our flat  for lunch. We went overboard buying food the previous night and didn’t even get around to tasting beef rib soup and rice ball.  With fresh Korean strawberries, Starbucks coffee and black bean milk, they made for an appetising lunch. 

Afterwards, we headed out to Yeouido Park for Seoul cherry blossom festival.  If you are armed with a great DSLR camera, you can also go there at night to enjoy over 1000 cheery trees lighted up to create a romantic ambience. After visiting both Yeouido area and Jinhae, I prefer Jinhae cherry festival though.  Nonetheless, Seoul has many places for you to catch these lovely flowers during their fleeting blossom season. For instance, at Namsan Mountain, the view of cherry trees must be stunning with N-Seoul Tower in the backdrop.

How to get there: Yeouinaru Station, Line 5, Exit 1 OR

                      National Assembly Station, Line 9, Exit 1 or 6

Spring Break in Korea Day 14 (10 April 2015) - Part I

SO EXCITED TO BE VISITING THE FILMING SET!!! Its not just any set, its THE set used in My Love From Another Star!! Remember the mysterious alien Do Min Joon & adorable actress Cheon Song Yi? That was definitely my favorite drama in 2014.  I even shared about it to Mister, friends and colleagues and they became fans too. Can you feel my excitement? I just couldn't stand still :D

NUS Gang in Korea Day 6 (2 April 2015)

Day 6 was definitely the highlight of our entire Korea trip. Jinhae Cherry Festival (Jinhae Gunhangje Festival) was the sole reason why we timed our visit to coincide with cherry blossom season. In order to avoid the crowd, we chose to visit Jinhae on a weekday.

To get to Jinhae from Busan, take the subway to Sasang Station, walk towards Exit 5 and you will see Seobu Intercity Bus Terminal as soon as you get out.  Well, McDonald's was the huge clue for bus terminal since the terminal sign was in Korean.

Buses depart to Jinhae from Busan every 15-20 minutes and run from 6am to 9pm daily. If you don't speak Korean, no worries as some staff speak basic English. Although buses depart at scheduled times normally, today they departed as soon as there were enough people due to the high demand for bus tickets to Jinhae.

Tickets for this one-hour journey cost 5,100 Won per pax. Upon our arrival around 10am, we were greeted with breathtaking sight full of cherry blossoms.

Right outside the bus terminal! Welcome to Jinhae!

NUS Gang in Korea Day 5 (1 April 2015)

Wake up call was set at  7am.  Wanting to set aside at least 1 hour of travel time to get to Seoul Station during morning peak hour, we planned to leave our place at  8am, to catch our  9am train to Busan.  However, we left our place later than planned and reached to train platform just in the nick of time, 5 minutes before departure!!! Even then, Mister and Kyaw Kyaw still rushed to convenience store on the platform to buy breakfast.  Apparently, simple breakfast we had today wasn’t fulfilling enough for them haha :D Well, if you plan to have breakfast during train ride, buy before reaching the platform as the items at convenience stores there are quite over-priced. Supply and Demand I guess. 

Our Simple Breakfast 

Anyway, we really did enjoy our KTX ride.  The seats were comfortable and the leg space was quite roomy.  Charging points were available at every row and there was free WIFI on-board as well (although we could only connect during the first 30 minutes of the trip).  There was a space dedicated for large luggages in every cabin while there is also overhead racks to store your smaller bags. The cabins were really clean and the journey overall was a smooth one. The trains were very punctual since they depart and arrive exactly at the times printed on our tickets. So yes, please don’t be late as trains will not wait for you.

 On board KTX