Seoul Searching | Hello, Land of the Morning Calm!

Happy New Year, everyone! I'm ba-aaaaack!
And by that I mean I'm back to blogging, and I'm back in the Philippines with a renewed energy, lots of happy memories, and so many stories to tell.  Let me begin the series - my #SeoulSearching, as I would hashtag it on my Instagram and Facebook page - from the day we left the Philippines.

On the afternoon of December 19, 2015, despite the delay in boarding, the crazy runway traffic, and amidst the heavy rains brought by Typhoon Nona, our flight pushed through. Our airlines of choice was of course, the flag carrier - Philippine Airlines.

Fly PAL. :)

That flight, however, was the most turbulent I have ever experienced in my entire life. And I hold the bad weather entirely liable for that. I felt sick just moments after the plane took off, and the 4-hour flight to the Land of the Morning Calm felt like an eternity. If anything, I'm just glad that I was the one feeling unwell and not my son. (Yue has a bad case of motion sickness, which surprisingly disappears whenever we go abroad. Haha!)

Preparing for take-off. :)

We arrived at the Incheon International Airport around 7:40 PM KST, and took a shuttle train to get to the Immigration area. The airport was buzzing with tourists when we arrived at the Immigration, and we stood in line for about ten minutes or so for the mandatory biometric screening. After having my fingerprints scanned and my photograph taken, we headed straight to the Baggage Claim area. Then off to the Arrival Hall we go, where my cousin-in-law and his Korean wife were waiting for us - with our winter coats!

Arrived!

We then took the Limousine Bus to Jayangdong, about an hour away from the airport. Nothing much to tell from this point on, because I slept during the entire bus ride. Haha! But as soon as we alighted from the bus, Yue spotted this Smartpush Machine and insisted on playing it. It's like a claw machine with toys and stuff, and luckily, Yue got a Minion figurine after three attempts. 

Look who's having fun. :)

After that brief encounter with the prize machine, we took a cab and headed straight for my husband's place. I was still feeling unwell at this point, but as soon as I saw my husband, all that nausea just sort of washed away. Excuse the cheesiness, haha! :)

After dropping our luggage at home, we headed to the nearby restaurant for dinner - very delicious and very authentic samgyeopsal with banchan (side dishes) and all.

Side dishes...

This kind of dinner is usually best downed with soju, but we settled for cola since the husband still has to get back to work, and I was just too damn tired from the flight. 

Pork belly...

Beef, with egg on the side.

Also, we were scheduled to go to Petite France the next day, and we need to be up early to catch the first ride on the Gapyeong Tour Bus. 

Well, that pretty much sums up our first night in South Korea. Allow me to end this post with our family picture with all three of us in one frame. No more Skype screenshots, haha! :)

Finally, a family picture! :)

Up next - Petite France and Nami Island!