Final days of my (official) Winter Vacation (31. Jan. - 2. Feb.)

Now, coming towards the end of my (official) winter vacation . . .

On Saturday, I slept in and caught up with friends (a married couple) living on the 1st floor of where my guesthouse was (up on the 3rd floor).

On Sunday, I met my friend Hazel (who was my Religion class student my 1st term in Korea, back in Sept. -Oct. 2010!) at Ichon Station (not to be confused with Incheon). 

Getting my bearings.

This is where we were going to go: National Museum of Korea.

Did you notice that I haven't visited any of the really famous tourist spots in Seoul? I've been to Seoul countless times, yet I've never been to any of the palaces or anything. Even my friend was shocked. So a few friends (including Hazel) are trying to change that, seeing I'm leaving in 1 week (at the time I type this post, not when I took these pictures) . . .

Before we do anything though, we need to be ready . . .

Behold, my preparation.

This is the 1st time I've ever seen the rice on the side for bibimbap (비빔밥).

A way up to the museum.

From the outdoor foyer, you can see Namsan Tower (I finally got to go on the next day, surprisingly!).

I didn't bother trying to get a picture of the museum, because it was just waaaaaay too big.

But we did go on the tour in English (free).

Once upon a time in Korea's past . . .

King's throne.

10-story pagoda

Do you notice something very different about this model house? What's that on the ceiling? That's a door/wall! Now that's a convertible home!

Good times with Hazel at the museum.

Now, it's Monday, my last day of winter vacation, and I met another friend, Mechelle.

First, let's get energy for our day. . .

. . . at Outback Steakhouse!

It's a really good thing we ate so much, because we ended up walking up to the top of Namsan, up where Namsan Tower is located.

There's the tower, and you can see the cable car going up.

It's 6,000 Won 1-way, or 8,500 Won round-trip.

My friend had a baby-stroller and the both of us ate too much. So we hiked it.

Trees of locks and chairs for couples to get close.

On the other side of this glass is the way to get to the top. I didn't go. It didn't seem worth it to me.

And look at how N Seoul Tower compares to other towers around the world . . . it's the shortest! The only thing that makes it somewhat appealing is that it's on top of a hill.

The fence of locked locks.

Supposedly, if a couple comes and set their locks here, they'll be "locked" in love forever.

I wonder how many have come here to get their lock back after a break-up . . . 

So yeah, that's the tower.

This is the main vicinity.

Nearby watchtower.

How high are we again?

Seoul

The tower.

How to get to and from the cable car.

Seoul, but looking straight at Myeongdong.

Close-up of Myeongdong.

Gazebo.

This is like Valentines Day in a public park.

"Thanks for reminding me I'm single!"

Ugh, enough of this. I'm going back to my apartment. My winter vacation is officially over.

Jeju for 1 day (30. Jan.)

Whoa, what a delay. Last week was Lunar New Year (설날) and I was off touring Korea 1 last time. I'm also now in a hotel as I type this 'cause I had to move out of my apartment last night. Today is the last day of my contract. We'll see how it goes.

Anyway, let me tell you how Jeju was . . .

I spent the night in Gimpo Airport. I'll never do that again. I didn't know until I was there that this airport actually closes. Granted, it's the biggest domestic airport (longest flight being to Jeju: 1 hr. 10 min.), but it also has an international terminal. So imagine my surprise when I was being told to leave from the international terminal at around 23:00. Whoops.

Long story short, I stayed there til I could check-in for my 6:30 flight to Jeju.

Hooray for Jinny (former SDALI Jr. teacher) who picked me up from the airport--and later dropped me off that night! I didn't realize how much I missed her, nor how pure her heart of gold is.

I was able to see some of the teachers at the institute, a few former students and friends. It was quite rushed, since I was there for the day (arrived in Jeju @ 7:40 and left @ 21:30--same day). I didn't take a lot of pictures, but let me share the few I did:

Lunch with Jull (sorry, not really shown in the picture)

Steamed rice wrapped in a lotus leaf.

I've never had this in Korea before, but let me tell you: it was nice!

From inside the restaurant, looking out.

It was on-and-off showers that day.

The porch window (right beside my seat).

I love these hidden gems.

We later met up with Jia (another former SDALI Jr. teacher) and had bingsu.

Said (green tea) bingsu.

This was the best green tea bingsu I've ever had! It mostly consisted of green tea ice cream than crushed ice.

Thank you to all those who made the time to see me during my rushed time in Jeju. I really love all of you and will miss you all terribly. You guys are the reason why I will cry when I leave Korea. Just know, anytime you want to visit me, just let me know (and I'll let you know which country I'll be in! :-P)

Goodbye, Japan / Back in Seoul (29. Jan.)

This is it. It's the morning I fly back to Korea. It's been fun Japan, but I have to go back. I actually have people I need to say goodbye to in Korea, and I need this free time I have to go and see them before I go for good.

Yes, I walked back to the airport.

What can I say? I'm a walker.

Good morning.

What a way to start the day.

Good sign.

So I checked-in and went to get breakfast (that's right, I haven't eaten anything in the hotel--they had breakfast--because I'm always paranoid that I'll be late), so I went somewhere to indulge myself.

I can't believe the scone is bigger than the quiche.

Travel warnings, and not just for Ebola.

Bye-bye Nagasaki Airport.

and Nagasaki Airport Ferry.

So, I got back to Seoul and had to rush over to a friend's home to leave my rolling carry-on, since I was going to Jeju Island in the morning. Yes, I just arrived by plane and I was going to fly out the next morning--for a day trip. That means fly into Jeju in the morning and fly out on one of the last flights out of the day.

Hectic? Yes.

Intense? A little.

Insane? Most likely.

Worth it? Absolutely.

Besides, I've never experienced using the plane as I would a bus: go and take it to go and come back the same day. Thought I'd try it now while I had that possibility.

But it's the early afternoon and I'm starving. Let's deal with that now.

Indian curry with garlic Nan to the rescue!

Oh, I also had 2 samosas, but I had devoured them by the time I took this picture.

Honestly don't remember much else of what I did that day, but I do remember looking for Banpo Bridge (반포대교). I eventually got there, but just found out (literally now, as I'm typing out this post) that the water and lights show runs from April to October. Blast.

Oh, colors, over water . . .

Walk through the gates of the "Wi_h Bridge"

There's a restaurant up there on the 3rd or 2nd floor, if I'm not mistaken.

They have a restaurant or two, and a CNN Cafe.

This is a great place for color lights.

Oh, so many colors . . .

Uh, Christmas was over a month ago . . . but it does look nice.

Let's go inside the CNN Cafe.

Actually, this was kind of what I was expecting. There were a few monitors as well, tuned into CNN. I guess I missed the actual news. Blast.

But my Lemon and Star Anise Tea was pretty good.

The other building that didn't offer me much.

Let me make my way to Gimpo Airport (where I'll be flying out of)

This is how to get to Gimpo Airport Terminal from the underground (after getting off the subway). 

It was about 23:00. See how empty it is?! It wasn't until a little later, that I found out that Gimpo Airport actually closes--as opposed to Incheon, which doesn't.

Unpleasant adventure ahead.

Oh yeah, I remember they were fixing this back when I was in Jeju. They did a really nice job.

Getting to Omura / Last day in Japan (28. Jan.)

Well, the trip is drawing to its end. This is my last day in Japan, and my last morning in Nagasaki. Again, I had to check-out of my hostel by 11:00, but I needed to check-in to my last hotel after 15:00 or so. I had 4 hours to kill between 2 cities that were not far from each other (less than 1 hr, if I'm not mistaken).

So I decided to take a stroll in Nagasaki to the Nagasaki Seaside Park.

Self-explanatory, I believe.

a 360 degree view of the park, from the seaside dock.

I love bridges, remember?

I don't think I really needed that jacket that day, but the wind convinced me I did.

Bridges and water, 2 things I love, together.

No wonder I really like this place.

That hill/mountain up there is Mount Inasa. My night view of Nagasaki was from up there.

And that tubular building is where you go to get said night view of Nagasaki.

Can you tell this is Japan? How many different types of architecture do you see here?

Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, from behind.

I didn't go inside. Just didn't feel like it.

I crossed that bridge earlier.

This one was beside the one I was on at that moment (same place I took the previous picture).

The harbor.

Oh, what's this?

What, this menu has English? Where were you?!

Too bad I wasn't hungry. . . 

Oh, didn't expect to see this here, did ya?

Nagasaki Seaside Park (taken from a parking lot on the roof of a nearby mall).

This cannon ball has an interesting story, if you can read the plaque.

Ok, I had enough. Didn't feel like dragging my rolling carry-on with me all over the city, especially since I already saw what I wanted to see. So I decided to head off to Omura. My last night in Japan was going to be in a hotel there, which was very near the airport. So I guess I could start heading that way.

The kind of train I took to Omura. I didn't really see much of the sea, though.

In the distance, at the end of the road, you can see Omura train station.

I found this information center entertaining.

It has the "i" icon for information. I haven't really encountered the "?" for information centers before. To me, it looks like "We have information , , , I think . . . maybe?"

I liked this pedestrian bridge. As you can see, I didn't really need to use it because of the traffic, but I thought it was fun. That, and I took the picture of Omura station from there.

Just in case you were wondering about the price of fuel in Japan--and remember, these are in Yen and Liters (yes Americans, I'm talking to you).

So in case you haven't realized it, I walked from the train station to my hotel. It must've been about 5 km away or so. So a bit of a walk, but I enjoyed it. The area reminded me of Jacksonville, Florida actually! Who knew, right?

When you see this sign, you will be able to see my hotel.

Chisun Inn Nagasaki Airport

Doesn't look like much, I admit; but for a good night's rest, it was more than enough.

The entrance, with a convenience store right beside it.

So convenient, eh?

Well, I still had an hour or so before I could check-in. What could I do til then?

Ah, I know something useful I could do: walk to the airport! That way, I'd know how much time to set aside for actually getting to the airport in the morning.

Off I go!

That's nice.

Well, this (the Omura/ Nagasaki area) is where the Portuguese landed when they arrived to Japan . . .

Oh, did I forget to mention the airport is on it's own independent island? I could either take a ferry to the airport, or a bus/taxi, or walk along the sidewalk on the bridge. Since I didn't know where to get on the ferry for the airport and taxis are expensive, I decided to walk.

From half-way on the bridge, looking back to where I came from.

Coming to the shore of the airport.

Ok, the entire bridge from the airport to mainland.

Nagasaki Airport.

It looks cool to me, from this angle.

Ok, so taking my time from the hotel to the airport and stopping to take pictures, it took me about 50 minutes to walk from my hotel to the airport. What a nice and scenic walk it was!

Lantern display at the information desk.

I've heard a little about this place, but didn't think I'd have the chance to go.

What do you think? Would you go to Huis Ten Bosch if you didn't have enough time to really enjoy it or enough money to enjoy it AND the rest of the trip?

Well, this could be a good excuse to go back . . . 

Nagasaki has a strong Christian history, so I can understand why they chose this kind of architecture.

Hmm, how does this work? Do I have to deposit a coin somewhere?

Oh, this airport has an observation deck? Let's go and observe!

You will come out through those doors.

This part looks like a New Mexican Mission.

Off to (my) right,

Off to (my) left

So this is how the observation deck is like.

There goes a Japan Airlines flight, taking off.

Alright, this was all well and good, but I'm sure I can check in now. I'm going back.

Remember we already saw this statue?

From the airport parking lot, looking back to the mainland.

Guess what, I ended up walking back to the hotel! I was going  to take a taxi, but then I felt a second wind, enough energy to get back on foot. So I did.

I took another route back to the hotel.

These palm trees looked so great, I had to turn around and take a picture of them.

Now, I can check-in!

This is not an ATM; this is where you check-in and pay for your hotel room ahead of time.

It has Japanese and English. It worked very well, but I really wasn't expecting this!

A few freebies beside said machine.

I took advantage of the free hair tie and took one. I wish I could've taken more.

I think you can imagine how exhausted I was, so I took a long hot shower and climbed into bed. I think it was around 19:00 when I did so. I was really tired and I had to make it to the airport in time for my international flight back to Korea (flight left at 10:25, so I should be at the airport at 8:25).

End of Day 10.