Day 1: Seoul to Malaysia Airport!

My trip to Malaysia and Singapore started with a stop over in Seoul. I had planned on going to Seoul 2 days earlier to explore but when the weekend came I just didn’t feel like it. I felt the need to just sloth around my apartment and relax. And get myself mentally prepared for anything and everything I would experience on this next trip.

I headed to Seoul the day of my flight. Actually my flight departed at 12:20am on Tuesday so I left for Seoul at 1:00pm on Monday. I decided to take the KTX train from Ulsan instead of the bus since I only had a few hours to spare before heading to the airport.

• The KTX train cost 47.00won one way and takes 2.5 hours.

• The bus cost about 23.00 one way and takes about 5 hours.

This trip for me was about relaxing, shopping,trying new foods eating, meeting new people, …basically indulging all my senses BUT on a budget!

My friend gave me a photo challenge of over 25 things to capture before returning. That will be in a separate post.

Anyway, I arrived to Seoul at 3p.m. I wanted to find a cafe I read about online located in Sinsa-dong.They serve ginseng milk and I wanted to try it. Well I never found it but this just means I have to go back and try 🙂

While wondering around for some eats I saw a young guy walking down the street in hipster clothes and pulling  2 donkeys. Of course I had to take a picture…I take pictures of EVERYTHING! I actually hate when I miss photo opportunities.

I ended up on Garosu-gil and had some delicious waffles in a lovely cafe. I’ve been wanting try waffles in Korea for a while. The place I went to is called “7 gram”. Don’t these waffles make you hungry?? I want to get a waffle maker now haha.

After the waffles I walked around a bit more. This area in Seoul is really poetic and vibrant. I can’t wait to explore it more in the spring.

I decided after another hour it was time to head back to Seoul station. The airport ride is about 53 minutes on the non-express train AND you should arrive to the airport 2 hours before your flight for check-in and security lines.

The walk to the airport train once inside Seoul station was crazy long! HAHA I went down multiple escalators and felt like I was going into the center of the earth. It reminded me of a station in Madrid that I loathed because of the long escalator rides. I finally made it and the ticket was only 3,900 won. Yay!  Whereas the express train that takes 45minutes was 12, 500 won 🙂

I sat down once the train came and enjoyed the ride. I contemplated my journey ahead and smiled. I didn’t have many expectations but I knew I wanted to relax and try to gain some mindfulness (remembering what I was taught at the Buddhist temple).

 ” The type of vacation you decide to have when you travel, is your business. If  you want to eat, sleep in luxury hotels and shop, do so! If you want to visit museums and temples, do so! If you want to spend time with locals cooking in their kitchens, by ALL means, DO SO! The most important thing about the journey is that you planned it and you are there. Traveling is a personal experience so take any advice you get about what you should experience with a grain of quinoa! haha :)…Love, live, travel!”- my words and my words only! Tamara (theTravelingNatural)

Arriving at the airport after 9pm I was met with a ghost terminal. I thought so many people would be moving about and many shops would still be open…I was wrong. Incheon International airport is really clean and nice though. I stood in the check in line, even though I already had my electronic boarding card and no bags to check. I was still directed to stand there *shrugs*. The line grew massively while I waited the 45 minutes for the counter to open. After checking in I went to find some eats and everything was closed except McDonald’s and KFC.

FML! so much for trying to eat healthy. But I threw up the scapegoat line ” well, I’m on vacation” >.< then did a rock, paper, scissors game(I’ve been in Korea too long) to choose my dinner option. KFC won! I got a twister wrap set, ate quickly then headed to my gate.

I was happy to find charging docks at my gate and charged up my good old IPOD. I love this little guy. Thanks mommy

Its was after 11pm at this point and the boarding started around 11:30pm. Finally! I unplugged my Ipod and looked down at my bag. I thought, “damn I am so happy I only have  check on luggage!” My bag looked back up at me dreamily and said “hells yeah!” This was the beginning of our travel love affair.

The flight left at 12:20am. Lucky for me I was placed in the middle row of seats and the mom and baby that were next to me found another seat close to the father. I had the whole row to myself! So I lifted up the arm rests and curled up. I pulled my scarf over my head since tooooo many people on the flight were coughing and sneezing. Where is my face mask when I need it!!!!!! >_<

My family knows I am a germ a-phobe…slowly growing out of it though………..NOT! ( in a Borat voice)

6 hours from now I will be in Malaysia airport, I grinned. Good night yesterday and hello tomorrow!