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Alarm woke me up on the second day. The night before, we agreed to leave around 10am so I have to wake up at 8. When I sat on the bed to turn off the alarm, Gary told me he needs to rest the whole day. He felt worse. I was thinking what to do. It’s actually ok with me if we didn’t go anywhere. Traveling made me realize that it’s not all about tourist spots. My kids and I could just walk along the streets, eat more korean (junk) food and just observe what Koreans do. I was worried about Gary at the same time thinking about Rex and Dexter and their effort of planning for itinerary. Of course they would understand Gary’s situation but I think they also deserve to enjoy the trip.

Gary was pushing me to go with them and that he can take care of himself, he just needs more rest. After assuring me a million times that he’ll be ok, I agreed but told him we’ll be back after one tourist spot to check on him. Also I cannot bring the 3 kids with me, so I have to leave the little girl behind (good thing she slept very late the night before and was still sleeping when I left). Before we left for Seoul Tower, I made sure that Gary and Lia have food to eat in the room. I enjoyed that early morning walk to look for banana, bread and biscuit (as per request).

We left and took a train to Myeong-dong Station (all along worried about Gary’s condition). As soon as we reached the top of the stairs, my kids saw McDonalds… and I obliged because I felt bad for the kids, especially Zach, who haven’t eaten a decent meal since we arrived South Korea. We ate brunch, then waited for bus number 5 at the Bus stop. While waiting, I saw this huge Uniqlo store and was planning to take a good look at it that night (which didn’t happen).

Anyway, good thing we rode a bus than going to the station nearest Seoul Tower because it was a steep climb up.

We bought tickets to reach the top of Seoul Tower + see Teddy Bear Museum. Nasayang yata yung Teddy Bear Museum ticket namin kasi wala naman sa aming mahilig sa bear…

Wahahah!

To be continued…

Before I proceed, I forgot to mention that we exchanged our US dollars for Won at Incheon airport. They also accept Philippine Pesos. Ang sakit sa bangs ng currency nila, ang purchases namin in thousands of pesos lagi haha! Ask us how much we spent for our dinner, 70,000++… won nga lang

So in continuation of part 1, when I woke up the next day (which was already late btw), Gary was complaining of stomach and head ache. I touched his cheeks and confirmed that he has fever. I gave him paracetamol and antacid. He threw-up all the food he ate the night before and took a hot shower. He said he feels much better. Feeling ko di sya natunawan.

So past noon, we headed for our first tourist destination. Our itinerary for the day includes Gyeongbokgung palace, Changdeokgung palace and Myeong-dong night market. We ate our lunch at a restaurant beside Gyeongbokgung palace. I ordered baby back ribs (just to be safe), I ordered soup for my kids because it has noodles. Unfortunately the soup was cold. It even has crushed ice, parang halo-halo lang! We couldn’t find the Korean food that we wanted to eat. Gary ordered soup because he said he can’t eat solid food yet, but ended up with soup that tastes like grass and with rough consistency (if there’s such a thing). Anyway, we enjoyed the scenic views of Gyeongbokgung.  One side you see the city, the other side mountain.

We left Gyeongbokgung palace around 6pm. It took us so long to see the whole place because the area is really huge plus the fact that Gary was not at his best, he needs to sit and rest every now and then.

Obviously, we need to change the itinerary. So instead of going to another palace, we opted to go straight to the night market. But Gary prefers the electronic market because he wants to buy a new laptop, we headed then to Yongsan. We reached the station but we were not sure what we were looking for, a mall with different stores or just a street with stalls. We were not able to do research because it was decided out of the blue. Here’s a photo of Yongsan station/mall that I find interesting. Sorry though for the not-so-clear photo.

Gary couldn’t walk any further, so we decided to just go back to the hostel. We suggested that Rex and Dexter can still visit other places if they want to, but they opted to go with us.

Back at the hostel, we had few bottles of beer again, this time at our room’s terrace, with me, Rex and Dexter minus Gary. Oh! Btw, we ate Korean Ice Cream first before we had beer. I also bought lots of Korean junk food because I wanted to try them all. Walang basagan ng trip! Gary was lying on the bed the whole time until he was able to fall asleep. So three of us plus Marcus were discussing the next day’s itinerary, with side comments on how vain South Koreans are. For one, face surgery is very common to them. They even have ads posted on the train. Anyway, we agreed that we’re going to leave earlier the next day so that we can maximize the day hoping that Gary will be well…

What kind of shoes do you wear during travel?

Traveling with kids, plus the fact that we prefer commuting abroad, gives me no other option but to wear comfortable shoes. Number one on my list is rubber shoes. I wore my pink Nike shoes when we went to Hongkong. The same set of Nike shoes walked the streets of London, Scotland and Northern Ireland. I brought it together with a pair of Anne Klein boots (not included in the picture because my mom borrowed it during her Australia trip).

Northface was the theme of our European trip. You should see our Northface traveling bags, one even costs almost P30k! But NO we didn’t buy them. Northface is one of our clients and they offered to pay Northface items in lieu of cash. WHY NOT?! So on top of the bags, Gary got himself a pair of hiking shoes while I got another rubber shoes. Looks bulky but they’re so light and comfortable. I brought them to Europe with another comfy but “not-so-durable” boots. I left the boots in our hotel in Switzerland.

For Singapore, I enjoyed my red Toms. (Enjoyed it so much that the color faded)

In preparation for our Japan trip, I thought of buying myself a Japanese brand sneakers, Onitsuka Tiger. I’ve tried it once and it’s like walking barefoot! Chos! Di nman pero magaan talaga sya. But since South Korea came first, my Onitsuka will have to experience Seoul before (God knows when) Japan.

I decided to divide my blog about Seoul into parts so that I won’t be overwhelmed.Ang dami ko gusto ikwento and I have to start writing now before I forget them altogether. So to start, tulad nga ng kinakanta ni Gary Valenciano… “bitin na bitin ako… ooowoohow…” That’s the best way to describe our vacation. lol

We arrived at Incheon Airport past 8 in the evening. It took us another hour to transfer to the arrival/immigration area (via train within the airport) and to get our checked-in bag. We then took the Airport express train to Seoul. The usual 90 minutes Incheon-Seoul travel by bus or private car was cut to approximately 45 minutes. We transferred to another line to reach Phil House, where we are staying. Look at their website and what you see is what you get. We got the triple room with terrace for the four of us (Gary, me, Zach and Lia). For Marcus, Rex and Dexter, 3 dorm bedspace. I tried to ask if they can give them another triple room instead sincetatlo na lang sila naiwan, unfortunately wala na available. Dorm type kasi kinuha ko for all the employees sana. Btw, Rex and Dexter are Gary’s brods who happen to be consultants. Obviously, sila lang ang na-approve ang visa.  Going back, Phil House is clean, the people are nice, there’s pantry where you can cook/eat, the place is very near restaurants, convenience stores and train station. As for the dorm, it costs 500++ pesos per night, perfect for backpackers. So kung tutulugan lang ang hanap nyo, then I’ll recommend this hostel. But for families especially with kids, I would prefer a better place to stay.

Past 12am Korea time (They are 1 hour ahead) with 10 degrees temp (malamig na sa akin yan), we looked for a place to eat. May nakita kami isang restaurant na bukas. The owner-cook-cashier-woman doesn’t speak english. Hindi nya maintindihan yung ‘not spicy’ at ‘noodles.’ In short, kumain kami ng maanghang, at ang kids di nakakain. We had few bottles of beer and we went back to the hostel past 2am.

The next day, sinuka lahat ni Gary ang kinain nya. And he had stomach flu for 2 days…