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Many of us would have been introduced to the Korean Wave by the drama Winter Sonata. My mum herself was mesmerized by the drama. I remember some of my classmates from Kebangsaan school going mad when the Malay version of the soothing theme song was released. However, I only succumbed to it when Love Story in Harvard came to our Malaysian shores.  And so in 2010, my mum put away her work and booked a 5-day trip in November for the entire family.
If my memory serves me correctly, we took a night flight, completely oblivious to the fact that we had a stopover at Kota Kinabalu when a group of cleaners came into the flight and cleaned the seats of those who got off the flight. It was really awkward, trust me.

From Seoul’s Incheon International Airport, we took a bus to our tiny hotel.
Shucks, it’s 4 degrees!  My mum went on with her ‘Aiya, we should have changed into our thicker clothes while we were on the plane’. In my heart, I was thinking ‘I don’t get you, South Korea… If this is what it’s like at the end of autumn, what is winter?’

Okay, for now, our mission was to get into our hotel. So, I used whatever energy I had and hurried into the entrance of the hotel.

I’m sure you’re itching to know what we did after all the scrambling. Well, here you go!

Our Seoul adventure began right after we sought advice from the hotel staff on the available tours. We went on tour with a small group of people from all over the world. I remember there was this American couple. Our first stop was Changdeuk Palace.

Inside Changdeuk Palace

The outside of the palace

No, I don’t understand the characters

I almost fainted at the sight of this (because it’s so lovely!)

Of course, there are many other stunning palaces like the Gyeongbokgung Palace and Namdaemun Palace. But, who has the time for all that? We don’t have forever!

Our next stop was none other than the Namdaemun Market. We bought some fabric bags, nail clippers and keychains.