It is morning, I am
still barely awake when I dragged myself to have breakfast and left for Nami
Island. This is where “Winter Sonata” was filmed and this series was also one
of the revolutionary films for Korea’s entertainment industry. When we arrived
at Nami Island, it was still not that busy. We were waiting for the ferry when
the other tourist arrived and then things got noisier. The air was refreshing
to my sleepy senses.
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| Ferry to Nami |
When the ferry finally
came, we stood outside to enjoy the view. Nami Island, as suggested, is really
just a small island filled with trees, mostly Pine trees and Ginko trees. There
are also some chestnut trees, in case you never saw them before. It’s pretty
small but it was picturesque. We went ahead to the middle of the island where
the actual filming took place to snap some picture before other tourist flooded
in. There are “Winter Sonata” memoirs to be found throughout the island such as
Snow mans and Bicycles used in the movie. It is actually more beautiful during
Winter than in Autumn, hence the moniker for the series. The landscape is also
spectacular, with endless rows of trees. I mean it, rows and rows of it, you
can get lost too because all of the paths look similar. So I tend to stick to a
certain path, or the way I came from. You can just walk along the path of trees
and enjoy the scent of pines and rotting ginko. Yup, you heard me. Ginko fruit
stinks when it rots and there are plenty on the ground in Nami Island. At first
I have no idea where that stench came from until I looked at the pile of rotten
ginko fruit under my foot. Anyway, don’t let that dampen your mood there. It is
a very beautiful place, just stay a distance from the Ginko trees. The trees
itself are a wonderful backdrop for photo’s. Go ahead, walk among the trees. It
might give a certain Twilight vibe, except, no vampires.
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| Pine trees |
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| Ginko Trees |
You can check out the
creatively designed tin man sculpture all over the island too, some even
hanging from the trees. For kids, they do have some ostrich to look at. The
fountains and pond are pretty nice too. I tend to look at more unique things
like the cabbage that they grow, they use those cabbages to make Kimchi. There
was also small herb garden and restaurants. I saw many squirrels and these
little critters aren’t afraid to be near humans. Unlike the one’s we had in
cities, they scurried away once you are within a 5 feet perimeter. These
squirrels are fine if you are a feet away from them but of course they’ll run
if you try to touch them. But don’t pet them, seriously, they’re biters. I saw
one busy hiding its nut. The trip to Nami island was a field trip for my
sister, she just adore nature, trees and flowers. For the allocated time, we
just walk and enjoy being among the trees.
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| Herb Garden |
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| KimChi cabbage |
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| Take the train, tour the island |
It was just 10.30am
when we were called back for lunch. Well, the journey to the restaurant will
take us some time but seriously, it’s way too early to have lunch. On the way
out, I saw this very cute sight. Look at the plant in the boots! That is what I
call creative….
The lunch menu was stir
fried chicken (a little spicy, depend on how much spicy paste you put). After
the meat and vegetables are cooked, add in some rice and voila! Mas-Issge Deuseyo!! The ajumma was kind enough to help
us stir and scoop out the meat for us. It was very delectable~
The ginseng is most
valuable and nutritious at the age of 6 years and it can grow as long as our
arms. One year old ginsengs are only the length of our fingers and very thin,
it has little value. The 100 year old ginseng was as big as our limbs. It was
said to be very hard to grow these plants. They require very fertile land and
when they are done being harvest, that land is said to be acidic for years, so
you can’t grow anything on that land. That is why not many people wants to grow
it, it’s hard to maintain and not worth the time. Those who want to grow
ginseng needs a permit from the government for land and permission. Sound like
a tedious process right? Well, at the end they do rake in thousands by the end
of the sales. The ginseng from Korea can’t be found anywhere, if someone is
suspected of smuggling it out of the country, they can be charged in court. I
don’t know how true are those info that they told us, you be your own judge.
We were sent to a room
where they launched into a series of promotional talk. We get to sample some
ginseng drink and ginseng jerky (Sorta). I would be interested to buy some if
only it weren’t so expensive! I can’t swipe a card like the others so I just
stand back and watch. There is a small souvenir shop below (when you exit the
shop), I bought some ginseng candy for my mom. Btw… I regretted buying it. It’s
double the price of what I can get in departmental store. Ah…. My poor heart
can’t take that news~~
Next up was Liverin
store where they sell liver drugs. Their products were made of berries
harvested in the high mountains of Korea. Very affective and healthy- according
to them. Drop one tablet into a glass of coke or coffee, stir and within
minutes, you can see a layer of white substance floating on top. That white
substance will take days to be processed by our liver- according to them. I do
have some unhealthy liver- what’s with sleeping late and eating unhealthily.
But again, I just don’t have the money.
SAMSUNG has such a big
influence in Korea that they used their name to guarantee the product that you
purchase (the expensive one’s) like Ginseng and Liverin. When you buy products
like these, find the Samsung sticker on the packet before buying. They are so
sure of the good effect of their product that if you don’t think you are
getting better after the eating the drug, you can send it back and lodge a complaint
and you can get your refund (Of course you have to get a medical proof from
doctors). For Liverin, you take the drugs for months and if you liver function
isn’t increasing, you send the medical report back to the store and you can get
your refund. But they are really so sure that they wouldn’t have that problem.
If I were those people taking the drugs, I would be too lazy to do all the
process of returning and claiming refund.
Last shop was the local
product shop where we go on a spree. All sorts of candies, seaweed, biscuits
and pepero (chocolate stick) are available. They also sell souvenirs like
Korea’s must have spoons/chopsticks/metal rice bowls, key chains, face products
and etc. I bought packets of seaweeds, peperos and banana milk!
After the shopping, we
had dinner before departing for our last destination- Walker Hill Casino.
Dinner was Gamjatang or Potato Stew with Pork ribs. The emphasis is on the
potatoes but the bottom was all bean sprouts! (Horror scream!!!). We didn’t
finish the bean sprouts but ate the pork ribs and potatoes. I am so going to
swear off bean sprouts for the rest of my life!
Here we are in the
casino. For those that do not fancy casino, you can visit the duty free shops
in the complex. I was told that I can see many “pretty” Korean ladies by the
tour guide, I see none. I’m not lesbian, just wanted to see how fake these
girls can be, he said (the tour guide-not me, I swear!), 90% of Korea’s pretty
ladies go under the knife. It’s a common sight to see women donning bandages on
their entire face roaming the streets. At first I thought, “poor women, she
must have got into a terrible accident”. Then I saw few others with the same
bandages on face and thought “Wait a minute, it’s impossible all these women
got into an accident!”. Then it clicked in my mind, these ladies doesn’t even
wait till they recovered from the surgery and they are already coming out and
showing off that they got plastic surgery. Plastic surgery is very common in
Korea and they are known to be the King of plastic surgery (Again, I didn’t say
that. That’s what he said). It seemed that for someone to be able to have
plastic surgery, they are pretty proud to show it off. Like trying to make a
statement “See! I’m rich enough to afford surgery”. Anyway, for the past 5
days, I haven’t really seen any pretty celebrity like ladies, all of them look
pretty natural to me. I wonder where all those so called fake Barbie dolls went
to and I hoped I will see them in the casino (because you want to attract rich
men). I didn’t see it IN the casino but rather outside, when three models came
out to show some watches. They are model, they are suppose to be pretty. One of
them looks like Ji Yeon from girl group T-Ara. No surprise there.
I couldn’t stand the
cigarette smell in the casino and escaped to the duty free shops outside. This
place was also hoarded by tourist, especially the beauty product department. I
can’t compete with these barbarians, they are brutal! I get bruises by just
trying to elbow my way out of the shop. I guess it is cheaper when you buy it
in bulks but I can’t finish all those. In the end, I was contended to just sit
and watch people.It was around 8pm when we travelled back to the hotel. My feet
always hurt by the end of the day and I really just want to scream
No-More-Walking every time. For supper, I went to Lotte mart near the hotel and
bought some cup noodles. I now understand why Korean’s like to have cup noodles
for supper, it really is good to go with the cold weather. It was really cold
that night, I was only wearing leggings so the cold bit into my skin. Actually,
I really wanted to try the Yangyeom Tongdak (Seasoned Fried Chicken). It is
fried chicken tossed in seasoned sauce and it looks absolutely delightful. It
is a must try in Korea, too bad it’s too big of a portion for me to finish it
by myself.
One thing that I noticed when I was around Seoul is a bakery named "Paris Baguette". I didn't try it so it's a shame. But there are SO many of them scattered all around Korea, I've seen it in all parts of Seoul, Jeju, Mt Sorak and others. It's everywhere, so it made me curious. I guess the business is good so they are able to have branches at so many places. If you are in Korea, maybe you can try it out?
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