anyway, i went to seoul for the fourth time last week and spent eight days basking in the 10 degree celsius natural aircon. it was so good again that i wish that i have agreed to Lee Byung Hun's proposal there and stay there for good.

ok, back to reality :P

this time, i had wanted to explore different places so i die die also want to go to Jeju island and the Demilitarized Zone. It is the peak period now and tours to Jeju island is really expensive. I got my ex-colleague who is now working in korea to help me find..and those he found cost like $700+ for a 3D2N stay!!! Luckily, i managed to find a travel agent online who is 'only' charging me $470 for the Jeju trip at the last minute :D lucky me!

anyway, all in all, i think its still cheaper to take a tour package because i spent $470 for Jeju, another $254 for 2 day tours, $250 on accomodation (only 3* super small hotel). though if you ask me again, i'll prob pay more than 

1. to travel with singaporeans. 

2. to travel with singaporeans with children and they are controlled by their children rather than the other way round.

3. to travel with singaporeans who eat very slowly

4. to travel with singaporeans who are only interested in shopping and take their own sweet time to shop

5. to travel with singaporeans who have poor manners. if they are not talking very loudly, they are snoring really loudly

Anyway, if you have (like me) been to Seoul many times and would like to experience some different things not in the typical 8D/7N tour package by Chan Brothers or some sisters agency.

You may wish to:

1. Watch a musical!

I had a really good time watching this highly acclaimed Korean musical called NANTA!

http://nanta.i-pmc.co.kr/en/index.asp

Its a cooking show with a good mix of drumming, singing, comedy while cooking a banquet at the same time. Its pretty amazing how entertaining it can be without saying a single word. I had a really enjoyable time and its definitely one of the highlights of my trip! Imagine it is running 365 days a year, 3 times a day at 3 locations in korea lei!

2. Go to the DMZ Zone

According to wikipedia, the Korean demilitarized zone is a strip of land running across the Korean peninsula and act as a buffer btw north and south korea. the DMZ tour will usually consist of 3 highlights - the 3rd tunnel, the observatory and the dorasan train station.

this area is probably the most heavily armed border in the whole world.

when the tour bus drove in the area, all our passports were checked by a military personnel.

thereafter, we were driven on a straight road where both sides are all heavily fenced up and over the fence were just landmine fields. its a pity that i went to there on a heavily misty day so misty that i cant see North Korea at all!  else, you could see the highest flag pole in the world in North Korea according to the guinness book of records. i gained a lot of knowledge about north and south korea during this tour and it was really pretty sad to learnt that there are many families being separated by this zone. They speak the same language, they live in the same land and yet they cant be united. 

you could read more about DMZ here 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

Actually i booked the JSA (joint security area) tour too. but all tours there were cancelled after Obama won the elections as the area was guarded by the UN and they were afraid that there may be unstability.

All in all, it was a relaxing and meaningful trip! A special word of thanks to my gd friend, William and his family who were very good hosts. They helped me book my accomodation, brought me to Everland, helped me to buy discounted NANTA tickets, treated me to meals etc etc etc. Bye Seoul and Jeju, hope to go back again soon :D. This time, i will go for the temple tours. Every new experience is a learning opportunity right...

I'm lazy to upload pics...u can view them on my facebook:-