And drumroll...heere comes my full coverage of my eventful and beautiful Korea trip! 
[Pictures given seperately xD] It's quite a superficial report because there are too many things to be written and certain things that are stored in your heart that need not be said. ^_^
Flight 1: Singapore --> Seoul
Flight Captain: Korean Air (woots!)
I was actually highly excited at the prospect of entering a country with their airline. I thought I could pick up some simple Korean phrases on the way because I felt the air stewardesses should be speaking Korean, haha. But hours before the trip, I felt quite badly sick [it was quite an on-off situation] and since it kind of stabilized and I wasn't going to let one small bout of illness ruin my entire holiday plans (a selfish but persistent thought), off I went to the airport and even on board the plane.
Very unfortunately, it was THE WORST FLIGHT OF MY ENTIRE LIFE (nothing to do with the airline, they did muchos to help make it better). Though I didn't have many flights. xDD But I can assure you it's the worst of the worst when you're sick - you can't sit comfortably, you feel like puking cos your posture is way out of positioning and you can enjoy the yummy in flight meal (luckily there was only one). And NO IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT! 
Haha, I think it was a cheaper flight lar, and I wouldn't have enjoyed it with my eardrums auto-popping loud and soft every few minutes anyway.
Day 1
Events: SLEEP AT HOTEL.
So halfway through the flight, I decided and insisted that I need to go the hotel to rest [we were supposed to have spa that day]. Yes, when I'm sick all my primadonna patterns emerge and my parents (very sorry, Lao Ma, Lao Pa) had to abandon their trip to the spa so they could take care of me. Makes you realise even more that they are truly the bestest parents to cherish. And the tour guides were very nice to arrange a shuttle bus to the LOTTE HOTEL. That was my first touch of warmth in Korea, and I was to receive much more warmth from the tour guides and all after that.
Despite my illness, my first impression of Lotte Hotel was quite well..striking [maybe because of the beautiful glittering Christmas deco at the door xD]? It really had the 5-star look and considering our last-minute urgent check-in and later encounters, five-star service. :D So my whole morning-afternoon was spent paying money to sleep, as my parents were saying. xD
But we weren't going to while away a day like that, and when we wanted to leave the hotel for a meal, I, by chance, found a food court and mini underground shopping mall connected to the hotel! Cool, eh? Then came more rest and nighttime, we asked to join the rest of the tour members for dinner - chicken stew at a Korean restaurant (it was basically Korean food everyday, but yummy!). I had no tastebuds then and we arrived late so we were in such a rush to eat we didn't really enjoy the food.
All in all, even though for many, my first day seemed like a disappointing disaster, but it was quite nicely arranged for me. After a 5-hour flight to seoul + my illness+ spa + returning to the hotel so late I would not have enjoyed the hotel as I did because we were quite tired we merely plopped our heads on the hotel beds for the next few dys onwards. ^_^ And we went on a journey of self-discovery to its underground facilities! Exccciting! ^_^ Mostly importantly, it made me cherish how heartwarming it was to witness the unwavering efforts of the tour guides to make my trip well, more suited for me and comfort me & my parents for standing by my side.
Day 2
Events: VISIT TO DAEJANGGEUM THEME PARK, NAMI ISLAND
Weather report alert: -10dC
Hey, and who said sick people have no fun?
Since it was my fault that my parents missed the itinerary on the 1st day, I agreed to go on the optional drama sightseeing tour the 2nd day (it was originally free-and-easy)! And what a fruitful trip it was!
DAEJANGGEUM THEME PARK
Because we were quite kanchiong not to let everyone wait for us on the bus, we left the theme park real early, but got to stop to enjoy some Korean snacks. ^_^ Hot & piping that really helped dilute the very cold weather. Though we didn't see much, I was intrigued to see that the sets were actually much more crammed and smaller than imagined. xD And without the actors and actresses the place was actually quite lifeless but nonetheless beautiful. It was actually difficult to piece the scenes to the sets (probably because of the difference in seasons) but they had interesting guides showing the parts of the show that was filmed at certain points. ^_^ On the whole, very enjoyable. ^_^ And no, I refused to take pictures with the character's cardboards. xDD Lifeless cardboards what!
NAMI ISLAND
I have never watched Winter Sonata in my life (supposed to be where they shot the first kiss of the leads, blah). xDD But I still loved Nami Island! We went on boat (yeaaa!) My dad insisted we should have gone during autumn, because well, it was rather bare. ^_^ They had a movie wax museum but we didn't visit it due to the lack of time. But the scenery was breathtaking. ^_^ Lots of photo shoots were done here and they sold intriguing items like notebooks with covers made of car tyres. ^_^ And boy, did I love the toliets in the entire Korean trip, especially here. (because of the heater) xDD
Quirky Things in Seoul
- They fold the end of their toliet paper into somewhat like a neck tie at the hotels. (Maybe it happened in China, or generally in hotels, but it came off as very striking to me so I don't think so.)
- They are very hygienic. There are free gurgle cups in toilets, tissue paper/serviettes is available at all restaurants and nearly every eatery. And thank goodness for them, because I had a cold too. xD
- Their food court ordering system is quite different from ours. They go to a special counter, pay for their food first and get the receipt and then go the respective food stalls to get their food. Pretty interesting concept, in fact it's very systematic and quite hassle-free. ^_^
Day 3
Events: VISIT TO KIMCHI SCHOOL, TOOK HANBOK PHOTOS, VISIT TO DMZ, Visit to Ginseng Shop
Out of all, personally I felt the visit to DMZ was most rewarding (because my primadonna ways sprouted out during my visit to the hanbok phototaking and kimchi school, and of course, because I'm a history student. xDD) You couldn't take photos so I could just relax and enjoy listening about Korea's history, which is something not reflected in detail in our textbooks. It was highly rewarding. So at the souvenir shop, I purchased a book on the DMZ to add to my collection. Hohos. And now I know that the Koreans are very healthy and slim because Kimchi is a healthy food (it's actually veg-based). Ehehe. The Korean's diet is actually very un-meaty, so it's very healthy and nutritous.
And hhoho, the visit to Ginseng Shop (which sold Korean food products other than ginseng, was my first mini shopping extravagensa! Bought some korean choco goodies for Miches, haha. I couldn't eat much anyway, so I didn't buy much for myself.
Day 4
Events: VISIT TO GYEONGBOK PALACE, EVERLAND
The visit to the palace was rather short but pretty interesting, we got to see if I'm not wrong, the meeting hall of the king and his officials (there wasn't really time to explain because we were busy taking a group photo, haha.)
EVERLAND ROCKS! ^_^ It's this huuge amusement park that's very much suited for no-thrills people like me. xDD We were there for only a while once again so I'm not sure if there were thrilling rides, but we went to the Safari attraction to catch glimpses of some wild species. My type of theme park adventure. xDD Once again, it was shopping mania time. ^_^ Stocked up on a few Christmas pressies and souvenirs.
Then we hopped off to catch the Christmas Fantasy Parade. ^_^ It was quite a spectacular event with very colourful props and costume designs (kind of like a more pastelled Chingay. ^_^) I enjoyed it a lot...I'm mean, we're all young at heart, right? xDD And after the parade, we first saw snow! ^_^ It went on for quite a while, but it was rather freezing cold, so we just took pictures and off to the hotel.
Day 5
Events: SKIING!
We had breakfast in Lotteria, the Korean equivalent of Macs. And it was a yummy cheesecake breakfast! The cheesecake was very tasty, with a biscuit base that blended right into it be it in terms of looks or taste (it was very light brown and not too hard). Reminds me to say, Korean cakes are really designer cakes. They have very unique and creative designs. And wow, their free toys with meals were super kawaii! ^_^
As this day was an extension, in exchange for missing the spa the tour agency kindly arranged for us to go skiing instead! ^_^
How did it feel like? Very thrilling. ^_^ A little overthrilling for me perhaps, because everytime I was too afraid because I was going down the slope too fast and plop I fell. It was a good lesson, reminding me that I still had a long way to go before I knew how to be more adventurous and enjoy life better. Shows that I'm still quite inflexible to new situations. ^_^ But it was still fun to ski in those mountains of snow! Hoho. Then we took the gondola up the mountain for more photos. And there was lovely scenery with windmills (some broken, sadly) spinning in the wind! ^_^ It was great relaxation and enjoyment. Then I had once of the nicest hotdogs I ate in my life - it's actually a circular hotdog, as in you poke the hotdog through the stick and around it there is bread in cylindrical shape. Very unique, cute and tasty.
Day 6
Events: Cable Car to Seoul Tower, Myeongdong shopping
The day didn't really go as planned, because both attractions to me at least, proved less fruitful as I thought, but we did manage to snag a few beautiful items at Myeongdong and the cable car ride to the top of Mt Namsan was worth it with all the breathtaking scenery. ^_^ Seoul tower should have been visited at night for the lightup but we went in the morning, so, oh well, it was interesting in another sense! ^_^ Oh yes, we took a family sketch photo at the tower! You know, those machines that convert photos taken to sketches? Yepps, haha. ^_^ But there were many street artists (real artists) sketching around the tower and it made me want to add (being sketched by them) as one of the things I want to do in my life. ^^ We must support genuine human art. xDD
Day 7
Events: Lotte World
We took a free shuttle bus to LW (from Lotte Hotel), where the tickets were hugely expensive. Yes, do you sense the unintentional but immediately discovered irony in my first sentence? xDD I took the most scariest ride of my life in LW [and for many it's only medium scary], Atlantis. It's scary because it looks harmless but is scary. XDD From the outside you cannot imagine the speed and the intensity and the helplessness. xDD I was leaning towards my mother the entire time. xDD I recommend Phorah's Fury [a very much less intense ride for the whole family, though kids may find it quite jerky and scary] for people who *ahem* enjoy mild adventures like me. xDD
Day 8
Events: Home Sweet Home, but before that...
On our way to the airport (we took a FREE early shuttle bus but left early due to its fixed timeslot so we can also do some last-minute shopping at the airport), the shuttle bus broke down. Huhuhu. The water tank leaked some brownish looking water which my dad at first amusingly identified the possibility of it being Kimchi sauce (no offence, but considering that it could have been more dangerous, it was actually quite a comfort) and even Coca Cola, but eventually smoke filled the bus so yepps, it was the overheating of the engine. The point is, I was actually quite more intrigued and amused then afraid (a little though) because I have never come across anything like this in my lifetime. xDD And from all my previous encounters with the buses in Korea I felt it was perfectly safe and I could trust the bus driver, so for once I was also rather annoyed. But the bus driver took it professionally, and as others on board had to rush to the airport he did his best to drive and finally when the bus couldn't go further he flagged for help. At first, I was gaping at the fact that so many cars drove past him, but it was on the highway and he was wearing black. xD So my dad, wearing red, went down to flag too and finally a kind man stopped to drive us to the airport, where we did more shopping and bought KIMCHI CHOCOLATE! And the flight back was much much better - we had icecream & the lovely pizza pie like that of SQ's.
The end.xDD
Yesh, you can see I'm trying to rush this through. xDD Cos I may be resuming work tomorrow, yeppers.
