Seoul Fun~ Day2 @ Lotte World

       After a fruitful "back to the past" tour in Korean Folk Village, we were looking forward for something modern and fun ~ the Lotte World! Lotte world is a large recreation centre in Seoul. It consists of the world largest indoor theme park, outdoor amusement park, luxury hotels, Star avenue, shopping malls, sports facilities and also a movie theatre. It is even in the World Guinness Record for its famous indoor theme park. A wonderful place for you to spend the day in Seoul especially with kids. 

       We arrived at Lotte World around 7pm that day as we were allured by the shops in the metro station. Well,  nothing we could do with the inherited uncontrollable girl's characteristic in this shopping paradise :D

Eating...

Shopping~~~ :P

Again, we bought our night time day pass ticket with our Korea Pass which enable us to get a discount of 6000KRW;) Not forget to mention, the ticket would be cheaper if you enter the park after 4pm or after 7pm.

Normal admission ticket: 25000 KRW

Admission after 4pm: 21000 KRW

Admission after 7pm:  14500 KRW

Day pass ticket : 40000KRW

Night time Day Pass Ticket: 31000KRW

* Day pass ticket is for free access to all facilities including the folk museum. So if you plan to have rides in the park, it's more convenient to just get the day pass.  

Anyway, we regretted to buy a night time day pass as we just manage to enjoy two of the rides because of the long queue. Summer is really a peak season for vacations. Thus, I recommend you to buy an admission ticket and buy the rides you prefer to take. It's more worthy. 

We were welcomed with Rio Samba Carnival parade at 7pm. The parade features a variety of entries with different costume, theme and dance.

Lotte world is divided into two theme parks - "Lotte World Adventure" for indoor and "Lotte World Magic Land" for outdoor. Lotte World Adventure is surrounded with buildings from different countries with various kind of facilities and entertainment. 

Here come our first ride in the Lotte World Adventure, Camelot Carrousel that every girl dreams of. It's definitely a romantic ride for couples!

Crowd in the Lotte World indoor theme park. 

Group photo with Lotte World mascot, Lotty and Lorry.

We were lucky enough to catch up with the performance on stage. Hip hop and B-box rocks!!!!


Besides the theme park, Lotte World Adventure has the best ice rink in South Korea. The ice rink is big and you can have the joy of skating with natural sunlight from the sky through the glass ceiling. Anyway, you have to pay the admission as it is not included in one day pass.

The day was getting dark, it's time to explore the outdoor theme park, Magic Land. I was amazed by the dazzling magic castle when we entered the Magic Land. It glows at night, like magic! This reminded me of my sweet memories in Paris Disneyland where I saw the Sleeping Beauty Castle :)

Magic Land is famous with the thrilling high altitude rides. Be prepared to taste the thrilling sensation in this amusement park.  

In the magic castle, you need to know some simple magic to enter this toilet :D Yee Pei knows the trick. Let's see how she did it!

Deng...Deng....XD The trick was "to push"

It's time for dinner! There were some food stall and restaurant in Lotte World, but we went for street food in Lotte Mart :D

Sno-kones, little ice ball in syrup. Not my cup of tea :P 

Finally, I tasted the most famous street food in Korea, Tteokbukki (Spicy ricecake stew). I am drooling for it whenever I think of this sweet, hot and a bit sour yummy chewy ricecake. Oh No! I miss it so much!

We spent more than an hour in Lotte Mart. Well, there were just too many things that I never seen before in the Mart. I was a like a kid, and learning a lot from my pretty KTO Korean expert, Yee Pei about Korea food and etc. It was a great lesson.

We did a crazy shopping in Lotte Mart with our Korea Pass too. Cool! :) After that, we headed to the Lotte World Star Avenue which is located at the Lotte World South Entrance. Star avenue is a venue to display hallyu stars' possessions, handprints and more. Too bad we missed the chance to enter as the star avenue closed at 9PM. (we shopped too long in Lotte Mart!!!). Anyway, we did able to capture some photos in the Star Showcase at least :P

Handsome Jang Keun Suo photos and his possessions.

Rain!!

When we were on our back to our Hanok, we met a very sweet and friendly Korean couple. They helped us to carry our things from Lotte Mart with their bike (4 big bags !My goodness :D). With that, we ended our delightful day two. Big thanks to them!

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Travel info: 

Lotte World

Ticket price: 
Normal admission ticket: 25000 KRW

Admission After 4pm: 21000 KRW

Admission after 7pm:  14500 KRW

Day pass ticket : 40000KRW

Night time Day Pass Ticket: 31000KRW

Operating hours: 9:30am -11:00pm (Fri-Sun)

                               9:30am- 10:00pm (Mon-Thurs)

Open All Year Round!

Star Avenue

Admission: 10000KRW
**Free admission for Lotte World Day Pass ticket holder **

Operating hours: 
10:00am - 9:00pm

Transportation: 

Jamsil Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 8), Exit 4.
**Lotte World is directly connected to the station**

Travel tips: 

1. Do remember to take a free pamphlet, It's useful for you to choose your favourite games, 
    food and facilities.

2. If you visit during peak season, do spare some time for queuing. 

3. You can buy a cheaper admission ticket after 4pm and after 7pm. 
4. You can use your Korea Pass in Lotte Mart, swipe as you like :) 
5. Remember to claim tax refund after purchase, fill in the form in tax refund counter in the mart, 
    then claim it in airport.

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Seoul Fun ~ Day 2 @ Korean Folk Village

We had a nice sleep in the comfy Hanok. We woke up a bit late than what we planned :P Well, we had to make sure we were fully recharged so that we had enough energy for the second day.

This was a great morning with a yummy home-made breakfast in a traditional courtyard. Thanks to WWOOF hanok guest house. We met a little adorable guest of the hanok house. He proudly showed us his Power Ranger which I thought it's transformer :P  

After the breakfast, we strolled down the street and we passed through many beautiful and unique hanok restaurants in the narrow alleys. 

I spotted a beautiful lamp with mandarin word on it. Love it!

Our destination for the second day were Korean Folk Village (KFV) in the city of Yongin. It is a living museum that enables visitors to experience natural atmosphere of the past with living history and culture. If you were following my post, you will know that I am kind of nostalgic person. I was really looking forward to this old ancient village. 

Not forget to mention, this was the first time we use our Korea Pass. We were entitled to the PROMOTION which save us 5000 KRW. Cool! ;) 

[Adult ticket price: 15000KRW / 10000KRW with Korea Pass]

There were some traditional performances to catch up. Remember to take the informative brochure before enter to the Korean Folk Village. The brochure consists of KFV map, performance information, restaurants, cultural experience location, historical drama filming location and more. 

The grand main gate of KFV. 

Our first mission in KFV ~~ traditional lunch! In KFV, there were lots of traditional restaurant. I was so tempted by the menu board of a hanok restaurant. The dessert looks delicious.

We chose a wooden hanok restaurant Yang Ban Jang for our lunch. For sure, we chose to eat in the traditional way by sitting on the wooden floor. We ordered two traditional Korean meals, Naengmyeon and Doenjang Jjgae. 

 Doenjang Jjgae is cooked with squash, tofu and other vegetables, and then favoured with soy bean paste. It's so tasty to eat when it is hot. Drooling for it now. 

Ever try noodle in ice before? Try Naengmyeon! It's a perfect meal in hot summer. It was made of thin and chewy buckwheat noodle in a icy broth. It's simply an amazing combination. You can add vinegar and mustard as you like. I was told that this dishes was made since the Joseon dynasty. It's really perfect to eat it during summer!

In Korea, every meal comes with side dishes. Kimchi is a must! Slurp!

You need to cut Naengmyeon with a big shear before you start eating.

After filling up our stomach, we started our day in KFV. There were numerous traditional houses reminiscent of the late Joseon Dynasty from different social classes (peasant, landowner, yangban) and region.

  

Do you know what was Yee Pei holding? It's a traditional "iron". They smoothed their clothes by pounding in the past. 

In KFV, you can enjoy special live performances such as delightful farmer's music and dance, thrilling acrobatic performance on a tightrope, equestrian feats and traditional wedding ceremony (in noble man's mansion).

Farmer's dance was so delightful as the dance was traditionally performed during planting, harvesting and agriculture event. It's stunning when I saw the dancer waving the rope on their hat while dancing. Do wait for the solo performance at the end of the show, they modified the original farmer's dance to a modern style hip hop style. Fantastic dance! 

Delightful Farmer's dance

A photo with the dancer :)

We went for the acrobatic performance on tight rope after the farmer's dance. An Korean rope clown walked on a tight rope while keeping balance with a fan on one hand. He would jump, sit, walk on the rope. An excellent stunt indeed. 

KFV is worth a visit among all the tourist spots. You can experience ancient life and culture here. I couldn't believe it when I witnessed the silk thread making process LIVE!!. The raw silk thread was reeled by setting more than 30 cocoons afloat in a boiling water tank. The tread was as thin as spider web. 

  

My dad always said travel could gain you extra knowledge that you can't get in the text book. It's so true. I learned the making of silk fabrics here.

 

I experienced straw bag making as well. The Korean uncle was so friendly and taught me patiently. He gave me a big clap after I succeeded on my first attempt. Hihi...I think I am a fast learner :P 

 

There was also craft workshop awaiting you to figure out. However the workshop was time consuming. There were straw shoes workshop, blacksmith's workshop, bamboo ware workshop, tobacco pipe workshop and more. Other than that, you can have traditional craft experience too. For example, traditional dying experience, mask making experience, short bamboo flute experience and pottery experience. 

Pottery Workshop

Traditional Flute workshop

Mask making workshop

Souvenir shop

While we were on our way, we saw some stacking stone besides the road. I was so curious about it. Yee Pei told me that South Korea has a unique practice of stacking stone to ask for good fortune. I did make a wish too *^.^* Hopefully my prayer will be answered. 

KFV is a popular historical drama filming location in Korea. Several highly popular TV dramas such as Jewel in the Palace (大长今),  Sungkyunkwan Scandal (成均馆绯闻), The Moon that Embraces the Sun (拥抱太阳的月亮) was being shoot here in KFV.

Sungkyunkwan Scandal filming location

My family's favourite drama, Jewel in the palace!

It's time for a break. See what we have?

Icy cold drink and yummy green tea ice cream! It was so perfect to have it in the scorching summer. 

To save time, we continued our KFV sight seeing. We crossed a river on a stone bridge. Nice experience. 

Finally, it's time for Korean traditional wedding ceremony. Remember to plan your time wisely as the ceremony is only available at 12 pm and 4 pm daily. 

The wedding ceremony was carried out with great solemnity. During the ceremony, the bride and bridegroom wore beautiful hanbok. How's the process? Let's the photos speak. 

After the wedding ceremony, it's time for us to leave this wonderful village. We passed through a modern village which is an amusement park. 

I spotted a cute ballon with roller on it. So cute and cool if I could bring them along :D But I know I was a bit too old for that. 

Next post:  Lottle world ~ most popular theme park in Korea

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Travel info: 

Korean Folk Village:  

Ticket price:     Adult : 15000KRW / 10000KRW (With Korea Pass)

Operating hours:  9:30 - 18.30 (Summer)

                          9:30 - 17:00 (Winter)

                     ** Extended for 30 minutes on weekend and holidays.

Website: http://www.koreanfolk.co.kr/folk/english/index.htm

Cyber map of KFV: Click here

Transportation: 

                     [Subway + Bus]

                     1) Gangnam Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 10.

                     Take bus 5001-1 to Korean Folk Village.

                     2) Yeouido Station (Seoul Subway Line 5), Exit 6.

                     Take bus 7007-1 to Korean Folk Village 3-way Junction.

                     3) Suwon Station (Seoul Subway Line 1), Exit 4.

                     Take bus 10-5 or 37 to Korean Folk Village.

                     [Shuttle Bus] 

                     - From Folk Village Office in front of Suwon Station to Korean Folk Village 

                     - Schedule: runs 5 times a day/ 11:00, 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, 15:00 (30min-ride)

                                                            Travel tips: 

                    1. Bring an umbrella if you travel in Summer. It's hot and humid and most areas are 

                       unsheltered. 

                    2. Wear a pair of comfortable shoes, no high heels please. It involves a lot of walking 

                        as the village is really big.

                    3. Do remember to take a free informative brochure which include map, performance 

                        schedule, workshop and all useful info in it. 

                    4. Not to miss the Farmer's music and dance performance. A very delightful  

                        performance. 

                    5. Do experience some workshop and life culture experience. It's Fun! 

                    6. If you are a Korean drama fan, search for your favourite drama filming location. 

                    7. A meal in Korean Traditional Restaurant is a MUST!

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