Graduation Trip To Seoul Day 1

i'm finally back to revive this space. a quick check and my last blog post was in january !! *gasps* 

exams are finally over and i'm officially done with school, for good. liberation smells so sweet.  

for the past four months or so, i've frequented woodlands library, republic polytechnic, holland village starbucks/wendys, west mall coffee bean , orchard central starbucks to mug. 

in fact, these are the only places that i go apart from my tuition venues. #nolife

mad hate the entire routine. wake up, mug, tuition & back home to mug.

& the anxiety on the day before the paper. having to memorise all the facts in your sleep.. insanity.

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Anyways, I've just touched down from Seoul last midnight and i'm experiencing massive withdrawal symptoms. I had SO much fun the past few nights with the girls and we wanted to stay so badly. Thinking back, I'm so glad this graduation trip happened. Thank you Lyla, Feli, Rachel, Aiai , Sabby and Tracy for the beautiful memories (and tons of yolo moments) in Seoul.  Special thanks to lyla yang for planning the itinerary and all *lovelove*

We booked our tickets via cheaptickets for about SGD600 ++ with transit at HongKong. Poor Rachel, Feli and I had to top up SGD200 ++ because our last paper postponed by a week. We went through so much trouble to seek assistance regarding this issue and managed to get part of our extra expenses waived. I really wouldn't recommend cheaptickets unless the prices are really tempting because their systems are too confusing. We were directed to and fro, before I managed to grab hold of a responsible and accountable local customer service officer who helped me out a lot when she heard my desperate pleas :( Nevertheless it was all worth it and I had a good time bonding with my friends without the notes/papers. The three of us headed straight for the airport right after our paper. Talk about #youonlyliveonce huh?

here's a picture of our room which holds 7 of us. credits to tracy's iphone :)

 that's rachel feli and i soundly asleep on the first night. we were too zonked out. 

On my previous trip with Sonia, we stayed in Ewha University area. This time round, I decided to stay in Hongik University area and everyone loved the location. I like how it's bustling with activities at night and the plethora of food restaurants. We took the AREX to hongik university station which is so convenient and so much cheaper (3850won , 45 minutes) than the taxi (Sonia and I took the 55000won the other time) and even airport limousine (10000won).

 We stayed in Ann Guesthouse , which is conveniently located just right outside Hongik University Station Exit 1 :)  We paid about SGD30/pax/night and the owner, Ann is very very helpful. I wouldn't recommend you to stay there if you're planning on a trip with a small group of girlfriends though.  Ann Guesthouse operates out of an office building which means that corridor lights are turned off once office hours are over. It was alright for me when there were seven of us but when it was down to just three of us, we felt rather scared groping through the dark to head back to our room. It didn't help at all that our room was located at the end of the corridor. Nevertheless, the room was well equipped and wifi was super fast :) Ann Guesthouse offers complimentary laundry service but some of our laundry came back badly stained. If Ann Guesthouse is not for you , you can try Boa Guesthouse or Hongdae JK house which are also located in Hongdae. 

Check out our happy/excited faces. I was too excited so i didn't sleep much on the plane. 

Did I mention that cathay pacific offers pretty good in-flight entertainment ? :) 

It was pretty cold that morning when the three of us touched down in Seoul. 

Love how the weather's chilly enough for me to snug comfortably in my parka heh. 

darsarina in her chaobin on and off mode respectively. 

outfit of the day for the day one!



first meal in Korea which was pretty disappointing :(


with sabby my little mouse at the basement food area at Jamsil Station.
If you're bored of Lotte World, you can shop in the underground mall :) 

We were supposed to go to Carribean Bay on our first day ( which was their 4th day) but it was too cold and the travelling time was too long so we switched to Lotte World instead.

Tracy, Rachel and Lyla the three daredevils took this ride.

I was too scared so I opted out but I regretted so I took the shorter version of this. 

Can you believe it ? Skinny Rachel Tan is so skinny but her guts are very fat. 

I was so worried that she will be blown off her seat while she happily beamed with excitement at the thought of taking the ride -.- 

took the shorter , milder version of the previous ride to make up for my loss. 

yenqin the sneaky little girl took a picture of my backview for keepsake *shy*

I know Lotte World looks amazing on pictures but it was pretty boring for most of us actually. We didn't get to try to the ice skating rink even though it was very tempting. We weren't even sure if our admission ticket was inclusive of the rink but i doubt so? The actual ticket price was  32000won after 20 percent discount for foreigners. The website stated 26000 won so I'm not sure why the actual price is so far off. We were assigned a counter staff who can speak basic English so communication wasn't a problem at that attraction. 

swearing our love here at Lotte World with yummy churros. 

viking time!

Left around 7 for dinner at shinchon.

 pretty church along the way to the dinner venue

first reunion dinner at shinchon's 8000won bbq buffet (approx 10SGD)

I wouldn't say it's super good but I think it's pretty worth it for the price. Bags/Jackets are placed in a plastic bag to prevent them from stinking. I went mad spamming beef and it's the only meat I like actually :( If only they offer bacon!! Our clan craves for bbq bacon all the time!  After our meal, the auntie actually febreeze on us so we wouldn't scare the pedestrians away :) 

& that marks our day 1, stay tune for day 2-7