05 Mar 2007

Getting just a few hours of sleep after packing, we woke up to a much colder day but something about it was different. I looked out the window and thought it was still raining until I realised that it was actually snowing. SNOWING!!! YAY!!! So we headed down for our last buffet breakfast with the gang and it was time to head out to experience our first snowfall.

Amy, however, had to go up and change after breakfast and probably put some make up on. so while waiting for her, I got a few pics and checked out some loo she didn't know how to flush. I was pressing a few buttons wondering if I'd get a blast of water suddenly from the bowl, but nothing seem to happen and I think the buttons were there for show. But I did manage to find out how to flush it and it didn't even involve the 101 buttons.

Hi-Tech Loo... Don't Know What The Buttons Do.




Snow-Covered Me!

Finally Amy is photo-ready and we get one of the gang to help us take some photos. Honestly he did a rather good job, especially for picking the whole choice of scenery for the pic below.

Awww... Our Own Winter Sonata

And with snow comes snowball fights... or rather fights with chunks of snow. After dragging our bags to the bus waiting point, I was busy recovering while Amy went around the ski resort for one last time taking photos of the snow-covered place. When she came in to warm up, I took the opportunity to get the one pic showing how cold it was.

Snow Ball Fight!






Snow CHUNK Fight!


Dragging Almost All Our Bags To The Bus Waiting Point.


Tired Out.


Was The Car White To Start With?


Lovely Temperature.... Minus 5.0 Celcius!

The bus is finally ready and we drag all our crap out in the cold again to load it on the bus. After getting comfy on the bus, we were on our way to Seoul, only stopping once at YeoJu Service Station for everyone to stretch their legs. Problem with the place was that everything was in Korean and it didn't look like the place served many foreigners. I was considering getting a drink, or just a snack that looked like something on an episode of Japan Hour but everyone seemed to be getting on the bus and we didn't even have time to look at all the stalls. Well.... if I ever come back...

Bus Back To Seoul.


Rest Stop Where I Regret Not Trying Anything.

Once we got off the bus in Seoul, it felt colder than it was up in the mountains and my fingers were frozen. Almost dead... they were burning from the cold, but the rest of me felt like I was in the nicest air-conditioned place. The next step was to find our accommodation. Amy wanted to take the subway so that she could say we took it, but after looking at the stairs down, I decided to take a cab instead as I would just DIE carrying the load up a flight of stairs. So we got in a cab and showed the driver the name of the hotel and it's address. Well that driver was useless! He nodded that he knew where it was, but I think he called someone for directions and in the end was given the wrong address and we ended up at the President Hotel instead of Hyundai Residence. Residence - President... guess it sounds the same to any non-English native and those with too much wax in their ears.

The staff at the President Hotel were much better... I guess they deal with non-Korean speaking people more often. So they got a cab and made sure that he knew where he was bringing us and helped us with our bags into the cab. After a few minutes, we were finally checking out our apartment, which had really high-tech stuff installed. The view from the room was a little disappointing though. All the tiredness from the late night before and the bus ride finally enveloped all the excitement of getting to Seoul, but we were too hungry to just fall asleep and went out to explore around the hotel for some food.

The cold hit us the very moment we opened the doors out of the hotel and decisions had to be made in split seconds. Spying a market just across the road from the hotel, we quickly headed in that direction, trying not to kill ourselves while crossing the road, and kept our eyes open for anything that looked hot and comforting. In the end, with the major road-block in communications, we managed to get some kuehs, some sort of pancake, a roll of sushi and some kind of fish cake soup. The other stalls seemed to sell every part or a pig and it turned amy off from trying anything. So happy with our purchases, we hurried back to the hotel, getting lost for a few minutes, as well as stopping at a convenience store for some more food and some essentials.

Somehow the apartment lacked a microwave, and since everything was cold, we warmed up some kuehs using the soup and kept the rest for folks back home. Dinner was a simple bowl of instant noodles, sushi, vege pancake and fish cake soup. Somehow that satisfied us both that we dozed off, tucked up in bed, while watching weird Korean tv shows.

Colourful Stuff.








Looks Bleh... Tastes YUM!

04 Mar 2007

Competition In The Background.


All Wet Again.

The next morning started out wet again, making it a rather gloomy vacation thus far. We managed to join the groups for breakfast and was greeted with almost the same dishes we had for breakfast the day before. After breakfast, we were bugging Lim again, this time to get our free tickets to go on the ski lifts and gondola (cable car). After the shock of the ski lift scene from monday, we were still not up to taking the ski lift and since we didn't have skis, we didn't really see a point to it. After checking out the others enjoying the competition, we headed up to to top of the mountain in a rather spacious gondola. Joining us had to be the bear dressed for winter, posing at every corner. Bad thing was the weather had fogged the windows and all we get with each shot was a blurred vision of the scenery, which wasn't much as the trees and plants were rather dead-looking, but when it came to people skiing or snowboarding, all we got was fogged up windows. Well what else can we do but take 101 photos of us in teh gondola till we got a good shot.

Xiao Pui Taking The Cable Car Ride.


Scolding Xiao Pui For Getting Too Close To The Window


Best One Of All

We finally reach teh top and was greeted by nice warm air followed by the sounds of strong winds every time the sliding doors opened. Deciding that the environment up here might be different from the bottom, I stepped out to get a feel and was greeted by a refreshing blast of cold air and rain. The wind was really strong and the visibility was about 20 meters. I could see the people getting ready to ski and after their first push, they disappear from sight. We checked out the whole place, hoping to get a location where there would be a good photo opportunity but everything from indoors was blocked by fogged up windows. So we went out into the rain again, got some nice pictures and headed back in to defrost. Walking around the place, we finally saw the Winter Sonata location and at the same time, I spotted the Starbucks which was a big relief after the crappy tea I got the day before.

Amy's Winter Sonata Location Shot 4.








View From The Top

Once we were back to the bottom, Amy spotted the special gondola and was in it withing seconds asking me to take pictures. Without fail, she had to include at least one with the bear and I wondered what the other people were thinking when they saw that.

Amy's Winter Sonata Location Shot 5.

We went back to the hotel to change for dinner and headed down to the ballroom to be greeted again by the 3 musketeers. Amy wanted to take a pic with them but then some Mosquito had to try to interfere. He grabbed for my camera and my automatic reaction was to hold on tight and yank it back, giving the dumb-arse the stare that could've murdered him. Who the hell are you to take my camera from me? Well he got the hint and scurried off to his perverted hiding place and we both went into the ballroom to get as far away from him as possible. Tonight's entertainment was the prize-giving ceremony and the highlights of the whole ski trip for the tour groups. It was then concluded with a lucky draw session, where Amy and I were both lucky enough to get a prize each. However, I was made to do all the embarrassing work of going up to stage twice because someone didn't want to, and then having to explain that I was up there twice to take a prize for my friend. Good thing about it? The prize was something I wanted to get, the pair of chopsticks, while the other prize was fit right for Amy and her vanity.

With it being the last night and the possibility of meeting Lim being slim, we took the opportunity to take a pic with him when we cornered him to ask about the bus trip for tomorrow.

Playing With My Food - Rice With Red & Black Caviar.


The Flower Looks Familiar...


Oh!


Embarrassing Myself For Amy.

Mr Lim & Us.


Prizes We Won.

It was back to the Winter Sonata location for yet another shoot after dinner. This time, Amy even put on the uniform they hung there. I'm not sure if people were allowed to try it on but it seemed like it was, yet it didn't seem right. The place was just odd. Anyway, just as Amy took the clothes off, the hotel staff came in and told us it was closed for the day. I guess it was just pure luck we got everything done in the nick of time.

Later that night, with the excitement of going to Seoul, as well as the bother with packing, we stayed up a little late and got a bit hungry, finally ripping our instant noodles open and trying them. They're seriously much tastier than some of the ones we have, and much bigger too! The spiciness, however, was a let down. I'd take Koka's spicy rice noodles over any other instant noodles, anytime.

Amy's Winter Sonata Location Shot 6.

03 Mar 2007

We ended up sleeping in and weren't able to make it on time for the buffet breakfast and had to have ours at the cafe, where it happened to have one of the scenes filmed in. So during breakfast, we were actually taking pictures of the cafe and even pictures of photos in the cafe! But other than that, the strangest part was taking pictures of the bear... seriously.... people taking photos of the Winter Sonata-related stuff is normal to the staff, but a bear? I don't think so.

Amy's Winter Sonata Location Shot 2.

After breakfast, we were looking for Lim, who was supposed to give us our itinerary but didn't even leave his proper name card with us. In the end, we had to contact him through some tour guides as the hotel staff didn't know who we were talking about. The staff directed us to this one particular tour guide, whom we shall call Mosquito. He was nice enough to help us call his boss who liaises with Mr Lim regarding all the tour stuff and somehow managed to get Lim. Now a little more about Mosquito... while Amy was on the phone with his boss, I noticed that he was actually checking Amy out. He was actually doing it right before my eyes, looking at her all the way from head to toe and even had the cheek to check out the front and back. Then when he realised that I was watching him, he got a bit embarrassed and covered it up by offering me a stick of gum. So I told Amy what he just did, and we were already on the lookout for this pervert.

Well Lim eventually meets us and after some sign language and broken English, he introduced us to Mr Pak, our ski instructor who didn't speak English. Well since most parts about skiing is action anyway, who needs words? Honestly, we ended up learning though imitation and didn't even need him to speak much throughout our session. Pei fu... Pei fu... must be a master at his trade to be able to do that with 2 lost sheep. Before that, Lim brought us around to get our ski equipment as well as to where we could rent our ski clothes. Unfortunately, they didn't have pants big enough for my butt and I had to ski in my jeans. Well during this whole time, we had the Mosquito kinda hovering around and we would see him at almost every turn. I'm not sure if he was following us or he just happened to be doing almost the same thing we are. So Pak helps us get into our ski equipment, and even dusts off the bottom of my feet before letting me chuck them into my boots, which felt kinda weird and like a kid again.

Wearing and walking in ski boots are a pain... from my calves, right up to my head. first you had to think of how to walk in them without falling over, then you have to have them tight and so they're cutting off the circulation in your legs as they're clamping down on your calves. Then with them being heavy, you need so much energy just to walk a few steps, and worst of all up a slope. Somehow, Pak walks with them with some style, like his doing some 'stylised walk' ala Ludacris in the video "Stand Up". Well after getting the first problem of walking out of the way, we got onto the next step which was to put our skis on. I didn't have much problem getting them on, but I did have a problem staying still, and after struggling to not fall, I was actually sliding backwards and ended up falling as I tried in vain to stop myself. Then after getting my legs out from under me, Pak was able to free me from my skis, and at the same time teaching me how to do it. Well I eventually got used to getting in and out of my skis, seeing the many times I fell. Amy on the other hand, had problems getting in as she didn't have enough weight to push hard enough for the ski to clamp down her boot. Pak had to come over every time she needed to put her skis on but the good thing was that she was light and could be carried up with the skis on. After being taught the basics, we were made to climb up a gentle slope and ski down a few time, without any aid to help us stop and only the skills Pak taught us. After the third time, Amy and I were so tired that Pak was laughing at us trudging our way up, and gave us a break. That's where we took the opportunity to take a few pictures withe Pak and then some Mosquito had to spoil the mood by showing up. He not only showed up, he even waited for both of us to acknowledge him like we owed it to him. Bleh!!

Master Pak & Me.


Amy & I During Our Much Needed Break From The Ski Lesson.

After a the break, we went down the slope once more before we learnt to turn on our skis. We were about to wrap up when Pak wanted us try once more time turning with our skis and that's when we ended up with the dramatic finish to our fun lesson. I was trying to turn and was doing alright until I hit a little bump and ended up heading directly towards Amy. I tried like mad to stop but I couldn't and then my skis got locked with hers and we were just heading towards the wooden platform where we would be hurt. However, there was a little boy right in our path and his mom, who had time to drag him away, decided to just go hug him tight instead and stood there like an idiot. Good thing for us she did or we would end up really hurt and good thing for them was I was pushing myself away from everything just as Amy hit her. I felt Amy stop as I went down towards my right while I pushed her down towards her left. I think Amy took it really hard as she had a knock from the front and then had to take another on the left. Pak was too shocked to know what to do immediately and stood there looking at what we got ourselves into. I was laughing away seeing that no one was hurt while Amy was apologising to the "deaf" mom that didn't even seem to acknowledge her apologies, but it's her stupidity for standing there anyway. We got our skis off, got up and proceeded to get our rental stuff back and head back to our room for a warm shower. After all the falls I took in my jeans, my butt and legs were itching from the cold, and my legs were stinging possibly from the lack of blood cut off by the boots. After changing into dry clothes, I realised that my face and ears were also red and itchy from the cold and Amy took pictures to prove it.

Results Of Not Covering My Head While Skiing.

Finally, we made it to the buffet dinner and found out that we've been missing out on being greeted by the poor staff who had to wear these costumes. During dinner, we got to enjoy some b-boy performances before we were told that tomorrow will be competition day and to sign up for events that we would like to participate in. Seeing that we had our own drama earlier today, we decided that we didn't need to show off any more of our skills tomorrow and headed out for a walk after dinner. The place looked very different from the first night as they opened the slopes for some night skiing, as well as to prepare the slopes for tomorrow's competition. The amount of lighting used made the sky look as though the sun had just set and it made for some nice pictures.

Dinner Time.

Being bored and a little bolder, we ventured out towards the condominium looking for the one of the Winter Sonata locations. The place was rather dimly lighted and there was a parking area with a train next to the condominiums. We decided to check it out but the information given was all in Korean and didn't even have a name for it in English. Well Amy decided to take a pic with it and somehow we got more than we bargained for with that pic. Here I thought I was seeing things until Amy told me she felt that the train had a creepy vibe. Later when we checked the picture of her next to the train, we noticed something additional to one particular photo. Strangest part was that it kept morphing. I would have gladly put the picture up but due to the medium's advise to Amy, it was better if we dump that particular picture. The pic of the train, however, can still be put up so that anyone who goes there can either check it out or avoid it.

Well since we were both a little creeped out by the incident, we decided not to pursue the location in the condo area as it looked just as creepy. We headed back to our hotel and into familiar territory, taking pics just across the entrance to the hotel. This time we had company and didn't get as much as she wanted, nor could she try to make weird poses. But the group sure had fun imitating the life-size cut-outs of the Winter Sonata stars. We headed back to our room and watched the stupid things on tv till we fell asleep again. Good thing since tomorrow, we had planned to go up to the mountain top to check out the little ski lodge there, which happened to be another location. Well of course.... why else would she bother taking the cable car up to someplace when she gets so nervous even when the plane is taking off?

Finally Got It In A Pic.


Creepy Train.


Amy's Winter Sonata Location Shot 3.




Defrosting Next To A Log Fire.


Sleepy Time.