#MyTravelokaEscapade Wish To South Korea

Assalamualaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. 

First of all, you guys must have been wondering, what is Traveloka? Traveloka is actually a company or a platform from where you can book flights and hotels at a cheapest rate every day! Anytime anywhere, you just go to their website traveloka.com, then just directly book for flights and hotels, voila!

What are you waiting for? Just go to traveloka.com and book for your flight tickets and hotels. They even have discounts and promotions!

Anyway, I have been wishing to go to South Korea ever since the kpop dramas and music videos started to become a hype a few years ago. That time I was a really big fan of Super Junior and Girls' Generation. I still haven't gotten the chance to go there due to time constraint and not enough budget, plus being a student, you don't have much time to go here and there as you'll be having lots of assignments and examinations.

Currently I'm having a 3-month holiday and this will be the last and longest holiday I'll ever get and when I saw Traveloka contest: 'You Need A Holiday Lah!' ,  I instantly smiled and told myself, yes I really need a holiday. And if Traveloka approves my leave and I got the chance to go to one of my dream places, South Korea, these are where I'm gonna go and what I'm gonna do! 

1. View the entire city of Seoul at night from the Namsan Tower aka N Seoul Tower

The N Seoul Tower located in Namsan Mountain is part of the protection of the ecosystem of the Namsan Park. It is commonly known as Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower. It's not only a communication tower, but it's also an observation tower.

Still remember Gu Jun Pyo and Gum Jan Di in Boys Over Flowers? Yes, this is where Jun Pyo waited for Jan Di! I always wanted to go here; to see the city from above at night, to see how the street lamps lighten the road, to spend some time up there looking downwards is one of the things I wanna do in my travel bucket list.

2. Walk on Olle trails on Jeju Island and view the sunset from the beach there

Jeju province encompasses the South Korean island of Jeju in the Korea Strait. It's known for its beach resorts and volcanic landscape of craters and cavelike lava tubes.

It must be soooo nice to explore the rural area of Jeju Island on foot, looking at the house one by one, on the unique Olle trails that connecting the ground and the people, and to see the picturesque surrounding there. And of course to view the sunset either from the trail itself or the beach in is a must-thing-to-do when in Jeju Island!

3. Wear the traditional attire Hanbok and take photos in front of the beautiful Gyeongbokgung Palace and experience the guard changing ceremony there.

Gyeongbokgun Palace is also referred as the Northern Palace because of its location farthest north if compared to other palaces. It's one of the must-go places if one goes to South Korea, especially for those antique and history lovers.

Another bucket list to be ticked if I got the chance to go to South Korea. Can't go home without a picture of me wearing Hanbok in front of the palace! And it must be really interesting to see how they change the guards there. I never thought changing guards has its own ceremony and process. And if possible, I would like to try the gatekeeper costume.

4. Shopping at the primary and famous shopping place in Seoul, Myeongdong

I heard they have a wide range of cosmetic brands from Etude House and Face Shop to Laneige, everything is there. I plan to buy a complete set of Laneige brand if I went there. And maybe I can try the varieties of street food they offer there.

5. Explore the traditional hanok village at Bukchon Hanok Village 

This village has the largest community of privately owned traditional houses, which is also called as hanok in Seoul. I really wanna see how the houses look from outside and inside in real life! There are people living there and that's what makes the village stays lively.

To meet the people and know one's culture are always my favourite part when travelling. It not only broadens our mind, but also helps us in knowing and accepting the difference and uniqueness in each one of us.

6. Hunt for a bowl of bingsu while go for cafe hopping in Garosu-Gil

There are a lot of cafes in Garosu-Gil and a variety of choices to be chosen from. Korea is famous with their different kinds of the shaved iced dessert called bingsu and for me who really really love ice cream and anything icy and cold, I would love to try the bingsu, that's for sure!

I also wanna try the most famous tart they have there and drink the original Korean green tea that everyone goes for. Or maybe just wander around and hop into any kind of cafes there.

Don't they look reallyyyy tempting? Ikr! 

7. Learn to make kimchi from the locals

I bet most of them are experts in making kimchi. If Traveloka approves my leave, I would love to spend a few nights at any homestay and ask them to teach me how to make the real kimchi. If not possible then I would join making kimchi class, so that later on I don't have to go to Korean restaurant just to eat the kimchi dishes such as kimchi fried rice hehe.

8. Eat the tall Korean ice cream and the wafer tube ice cream many times

In Seoul, I can eat those ice creams at any time and any day. I would try all the flavours and eat all kinds of ice cream there, especially the ones they sell on the street.

9. Find and eat the spiciest food I can find in Seoul 

Dylla and spiciness are like siblings acehh. I really love spicy food. Being born in Melaka, and people said if you are really a Malaccan, you gotta make sure your tongue loves spicy haha but then, my younger sister can't eat spicy at all. Anyway, yes, if I got the chance to go to Korea, I'd definitely find the spicy food there to see how spicy is their spiciness.

Suddenly this reminds me of Samyang haha.

10. Buy chocolates and snacks at Lotte Mart

Lotte Mart is one of the leading supermarkets in Korea where you can buy Korean products, from biscuits and chocolates to shampoos and body gels. They have a few branches in Korea. The best thing about buying here is you can get Korean products much cheaper compared to in Malaysia as the price is excluded the packaging, transportation, cargo, etc.

The first section that I'll immediately go once entering the mart is of course, food section. I wanna buy the famous banana milk, some for me and some for my family at home. I will also buy chocolates, seaweed, and yes not to forget, the spicy samyang noodles. I bet they are cheaper there!

11. Ride on a cable car up to Mount Namsan

The Namsan cable car starts from the base of Namsan Mountain up to Namsan Tower. I know that people can also choose to go on foot, but I'm not that fit to hike and as I have history of asthma in the past, I think it's more safe for me to choose to just ride on the cable car. The view is still mesmerising, that's for sure. From the stop point, I will go further up via the Namsan Seoul Tower observatory area to look at the whole city of Seoul.

12. Be creative at the Trick Eye Museum 

The Trick Eye Museum is an art gallery, which has a lot of painting where we can be creative. They are 2D art pieces which become illusions of being in 3D. I wanna pose and try to make the captured photo looks like a real one.

Creds to https://karvers101.wordpress.com/ for this photo

Not to forget, there's an Ice Museum in the Trick Eye Museum as well! 

13. Visit SMTOWN Coexartium 

Where should a K-pop fan go? Of course to the SMTOWN Coexartium where they have a lot of things related to K-pop world. I wanna buy some merchandises for my friends, and if possible I wanna attend any live performances. Surely it will be super exciting to go there!

Alright so till here. I really hope Traveloka will approve my leave and make my wish to South Korea comes true. Thank you again Traveloka for giving us the chance to try! And again, this is #MyTravelokaEscapade wish.