DAY 6 in SEOUL: Autumn in Nami!

Day 6:
• Take ITX to Nami Island
• Autumn colours at Nami Island
• Go to Gangnam

Today is the day we head to Nami Island!! Need to wake up early though! >.< We traveled down to Cheongnyangni station and while waiting for our ITX, we had a quick breakfast at Beans & Berries. I had reserved our ITX tickets online before going to Korea. You can read more about my reservation process >>here<< You can book the ITX tickets online from korail Japanese site / English site.

Even though we were the only customers when we ate there, we waited quite some time for the food. Might be due to the fact that there was only 1 staff on duty. The sandwich was ok and since we were sharing the sandwich, we quickly ate finished and went on our way to wait for our train at the platform.

It was cold on the platform as it is in the open! I think the temperature was 2°C when we went out... brrr.. The ITX came and we were on our way to Gapyeong! When you exit from Gapyeong station, you will see a taxi stand. Just queue up and tell the taxi driver that you want to go to Nami Island / Nami Dock once you board. Since there were 6 of us, we need to take 2 taxis.

A short ride later, we are at the dock! Buy the tickets for the ferry and entrance fees and we are ready to board the ferry!

Leaving the dock soon!

Nami Island ahead!

Nami Island!

Some photos from Nami Island below!~

Pretty red leaves!

Cute toilet deco

There were books displayed in the toilet >.<

Ginkgo trees~ 

Pretty yellow leaves!

Blowing kisses ;P

There were ostriches in Nami Island~

We found Merlion in Nami Island! 

We had lunch in one of the restaurants in Nami Island. Time for Korean BBQ!~

Using charcoal to cook!

FOOOOD

Rice wine

Some of the meat marinated are rather spicy >.< But it was still good! Especially when you wrap the meat in the lettuce! It also makes it less spicy! But of course after the meal, the bbq smell stays on us though..

Soon, we left Nami Island but we reached Gapyeong station a bit too early for our ITX. And there is nothing much at Gapyeong station... Anddd it is also rather chilly outside..  When we can finally get the ITX, I think we were all ready to hide from the cold :/

When we reached Cheongnyangni station, we head to Gangnam. Tonight, we will be staying at our Gangnam airbnb! You can read more about the apartment's review >>here<<

After putting our thiings, we went to walk and shop around Gangnam station before having our dinner. Time for some Korean army stew at Nolboo Budae Jjigae (놀부부대찌개). For detailed directions & review, read >>here<<

Store front

Pasta for non-spicy eaters

korean army stew

There wasn't any other non-spicy option other than their pasta. So we just ordered that! It's not bad but I am not a bit fan of creamy things, so I can't stand eating too much pasta. I think the korean army stew is quite nice though! But my friends who can take spicy food feel that it is not spicy enough to their liking.. 

Oh! We saw this Gangnam style along one of the exits of Gangnam station!

oppa gangnam style!~

And... that's the end of Day 6!

*Continue to Day 7!~

pre-KOREA [PART 2]: Other reservations & Itinerary

-continued from previous post-

Other reservations made in advance
Airport transfer
Early September, I booked an International Taxi to head to Incheon airport from our apartment. I booked a large taxi since there are 6 of us. We will be using this taxi to go to our apartment from the airport; without booking. No reservation is needed if you want to ride the international taxi from the airport. The rates seems reasonable since the cost will be shared among 6 of us and we do not need to drag our luggage to and fro the airport!

Changdeokgung Palace Guided Secret Garden Tour
I have booked the guided secret garden tour >>here<< The only way to visit secret garden is by guided tour. No payment is made online; you pay when you are at Changdeokgung Palace. They have specific time frame for different languages, so it would be good to know and plan the timings you want to visit the palace.

ITX to Gapyeong (To Nami Island)
You can booked your ITX tickets in advance from korail Japanese site / English site to reserve seats! ITX trains departs from Yongsan station and Cheongnyangni station to Gapyeong station. Reservation can be made up to one month in advance. You need to key in your credit card number to confirm the reservation. It costs 4,000 won per person for departure from Cheongnyangni station.

Steps for online reservation
1. From the English site, click on "Korail Pass Reservation"

2. You will be guided to their booking site. Go to "Rail Tickets" and click on "Booking Online".

3. You will be at the booking page. Select your dates and station; whether  departing from Yongsan or Cheongnyangni station. Alighting station will be at Gapyeong. From Cheongnyangni station, it takes 40 minutes to reach Gapyeong.

4. Select your preferred timing and complete your details and credit card number. A confirmation page will appear and we need to print out this confirmation page as well as bring your passport to any Korail station to collect the ITX tickets 

Additional portable wifi from WiFi-Korea
I reserved for an additional portable wifi from wifi-korea. We will have 1 portable wifi provided by our airbnb host in Seoul. However, since there are 6 of us and we will split our groups into 2 occasionally, we figured out it will be better to have wifi for each group to stay connected to one another.

A deposit of USD100 is charged to the credit card on top of the daily rental rate. The deposit will be returned once the wifi is returned to them in proper condition and no data is exceeded. You can choose to collect and/or return the wifi from Incheon airport or your hotel at an additional charged on 5 USD each.

Wifi-korea has 2 types of portable wifi. A comparison between them available from their site below.
1.  Everywhere Speed Pack (ESP)

Price: USD $3.99 & 700MB per day
Connectivity: Everywhere in South Korea including Jeju & DMZ
Speed: up to 100 Mbps
Battery: 8 to 10 hours

2. Urban Data Pack (UDP)

Price: USD $2.99 per day & Unlimited data
Connectivity: Seoul, Busan and Metropolitan Cities. No coverage in Jeju, Sokcho, Gyeongju, Nami island and ski resorts. UDP signal gets weak in buildings, and very poor in COEX and Lotte World. Network speed gets slower after 1 GB per day
Speed: up to 10 Mbps
Battery: 5 to 7 hrs

Since we will be going to Nami island and Lotte World, we decided to go for the former; i.e. Everywhere Speed Pack (ESP). We should have enough data usage per day since we have another portable wifi and when we are in the apartment, there is internet as well. Will do a review on this once I'm back from Korea :)

Cecica Hair Salon
This was a rather last minute plan to do our hair in Korea. After some research, we decided to make a reservation with Cecica(Korean site). The price seems reasonable and the reviews seem quite good. Basically, you fill in your request under 'Reservation' and  wait for their response.

Moving on.... This is a sample on my planned itinerary. As usual, it's quite packed, so the actual trip will most likely vary from this plan slightly.

Planned Itinerary
Day 1: 
• Take International Taxi to apartment
• Visit Cecica Hair Salon @ Edae
• Watch Banpodaegyo Bridge Moonlight rainbow fountain
• Go to Lotte Mart

Day 2:
• Visit Changgyeonggung Palace
• Guided Secret Garden Tour at Changdeokgung Palace
• Walk around Bukchon Hanok Village
• Check in Bukchon Maru (Hanok)

Day 3:
• Eat home-made traditional korean breakfast in hanok
• Explore Samcheongdong
• Visit Gyeongbokgung Palace
• Eat Ginseng Chicken at Tosokchon
• Head to Bangsan Market
• Shop at Insadong & take hanbok neoprints at Ssamzie-gil complex

Day 4:
• Visit Lotte World
• Shop at Lotte Duty Free Department Store

Day 5:
• Shop at Ehwa Women’s University
• Visit Trickeye museum
• More shopping at Hongdae

Day 6:
• Take ITX to Nami Island
• Go to Gangnam

Day 7:
• Visit Everland

Day 8:
• Explore Sinsa-dong Garosu-gil Road
• Head to N Seoul Tower
• Shop at Myeongdong

Day 9:
• Relax at Siloam Spa
• Visit Lotte Mart
• Free time

Day 10:
• Head to Incheon Airport
• Last minute shopping in airport

And now~ all that's left is to go to Korea!! WE ARE 17 DAYS AWAY!!! CAN'T WAIT!!
Then it will be time for me to slowly update my blog about my trip! :D