We started our morning early and made our way to Seoul Station for a one day trip to Nami Island. En route, we bought some pastries at the nearby bakery at Ichon Station (Gyeongui-Jungang Line) for breakfast as we were transferring to the Gyeongchun Line to get from Sangbong to Gapyeong Station. Although it was a longer route if compared to the ITX train, it goes to Gapyeong Station nonetheless and definitely cheaper using our T-money card taking the normal train.
The ITX is basically a high speed train that travels from Yongsan Station in Seoul to Chuncheon, Gangwon-do province in 73 minutes. However, it is a rather tedious process as you need to book seats on the train in advance and tickets costs ₩4,800 which departs from Yongsan Station, ain't nobody got time for that shit.
As soon as we arrived at Sangbong, the train was minutes from departing so instinctively we all ran after it and.. Shahril got left behind hahaha. Despite gesturing to him to take the next train, when we arrived at Gapyeong an hour later and waited a while more, he was nowhere to be seen. He did managed to contact us after searching for a Wi-fi connection and apparently, he misunderstood our gestures and stopped at the next stop after Sangbong thinking we would be there. We ended up waiting for him at Gapyeong close to 2 hours and the cold was.. unforgiving.
ARRIVAL AT GAPYEONG STATION
So Kai and I tapped out to find out more on how to get to Nami Island while his parents and Kak Nadia stayed behind at the platform waiting for Shahril in the indoor seating booth. And in the meantime..
SHUTTLE BUS ROUTE
How to get there: There is a shuttle bus service from Gapyeong Terminal which is right outside Gapyeong Station and a round-trip fare would cost ₩5,000. You can alight at any stop and board the bus again to the next destination in the shuttle bus route so do ensure to keep your bus ticket carefully.
Here's the time table for the shuttle bus route. The intervals at each stop is approximately one hour so plan your time strategically and be at the bus stop at least 10mins before the estimated time.
There's a convenience store right outside of Gapyeong Station so we just had to buy ourselves some snacks and a can of hot coffee. We are still getting accustomed seeing a heater instead of a fridge to keep the canned coffee hot for consumers. I'm not a fan of coffee so instead, I wrap my hands around the can to keep myself warm feeling ala ala K-Drama. Definitely useful.
Alternatively, you can take a bus at the opposite busstop that goes directly to Gapyeong Wharf/Namiseon parking lot although I can't quite remember what bus no. we took. There is a Tourist Information centre nearby so you can approach the staff for any enquiries.
Another way to get there is to take a taxi at the nearby taxi stand. Getting from Gapyeong Station to Namiseom parking lot costs approx. ₩4,000.
LUNCH AT CHUNCHEON DAKGALBI
By the time we reached Gapyeong Wharf/Namiseom parking lot, it was already getting late and we were very, very hungry and cold from all that waiting so going to Nami-ok for lunch was out of question.
However, there are many dakgalbi restaurants in the area for you to choose from but only Chuncheon Dakgali was certified Halal friendly and they only use Halal certified chicken so we settled for that instead. (Source of reference http://www.ongofood.com/)
The servers don't speak much English so it was rather challenging trying to communicate and put in an order. Thankfully though we were seated next to a group of possibly Korean university students who helped us out with the order and did a little bit of translating for us.
The food here at Chuncheon Dakgalbi wasn't so bad. Something you'd eat when you're hungry but very filling. Kai hates vegetables so he goes around picking them out and only eating the rice, chicken and rice-cake. How will he ever survive the next few days here in Korea is beyond me..
(Photo courtesy of http://wanderlustdj.blogspot.sg)
Opening Hours: 09:00 AM to 08:00 PM
Address: 786-2 Eupnae-ri, Gapyeong-eup, Gapyeong-gun, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (경기도 가평군 가평읍 읍내리 786-2)
I've heard lots of good reviews about Nami-ok and it's pretty much a go-to place for Muslim travellers when visiting Nami Island. It was truly unfortunate that we didn't get to try the food here, though! Getting to Nami-ok is a 10-15 minutes drive from Nami Island's Ferry Dock so it's highly recommended to take a taxi there and show the address in Korean.
GETTING TO NAMI ISLAND
After our late lunch, we were all contemplating if we should zipline to Nami Island or take the ferry instead but let's be honest, a ferry ride to Nami Island is nothing out of the ordinary. We did not come all the way to Korea, travelled 4,730km on a plane, dreaded close to an hour on the train ride to Gapyeong, to be taking a ferry ride to Nami Island.
Rather obvious huh. I'd say it's a good way avoiding the huge crowd of tourists and the long queue at the ferry wharf. As the elevator lifted us higher into the sky, I couldn't help but to feel the butterflies. I don't do very well with heights but the view was well worth it once we arrived at the top.
I thought it was cold then, but now that we're all the way up here, it was ridiculously windy. If it weren't for the heater they set up at the waiting area tent, we would probably be frozen by the time it was our turn.
So this was the ₩38,000 worth view from the top. It lasted for about a minute or two and I must say, it was indeed thrilling although mostly cold. I could literally feel my face freezing from the cold wind but it was no doubt the fastest and most convenient way to get there.
NAMISEOM ISLAND
Bahahahaha I freaking cannot with this one.
Our taik gigi attempt at trying to recreate that iconic poster from Winter Sonata lollll.
There's really nothing much here except the abundance of scenic spots to take pictures. Although I did wished we could have gotten here earlier when the weather was nice and the sun was out.
(Photo courtesy of http://thehoppingtraveller.blogspot.sg/)
We left Nami Island rather late and by nightfall, the entire island was dark with a couple of dim lights to guide you back to the ferry boarding point. As the temperature continued to plummet, we know we could no longer take the cold so we hopped in the queue to take the ferry back to Gapyeong Wharf.
SEOUL STATION - LOTTE MART
On our way back, we finally managed to drop by Lotte Mart - one of Korea's leading supermarkets which was located right outside Seoul Station and literally a 10 minutes walk from our apartment. We came here the first time and couldn't get enough of it since! Lotte Mart sells groceries, daily essentials, fashion items, skincare products and much more. It's opened from 09:00 to 24:00 and closed every 2nd and 4th Sunday. We literally borong like there was no tomorrow and it's only the second day huahhhhhh.
Eversince Jude (a child at the centre I'm working at) bought korean seaweed for the teachers, we couldn't get enough of these. They were so good and goes well with just about anything but I particularly like pairing these with plain rice! So, so good and highly addictive. Korean seaweed tastes nothing like the ones we ate growing up.
Based on #hhwt, there is a little complication regarding these Honey Butter Chips if they are safe to consume or not. I was told that while the chips themselves do not contain any ‘haram’ ingredients, the factory or company line sells products that contain pork such as the Honey Tong Tong, so it is definitely up to the consumer to decide if they would be comfortable consuming these chips.
We haven't had our dinner yet so we bought some groceries such as eggs and pre-cooked microwaveable rice to make fried rice back at our apartment. Kai's Mum actually bought a set of pots from the kitchenware section and brought along instant fried rice paste so we wouldn't need to use the ones at the apartment.
Now that dinner was settled, carrying these were a piece of cake as our apartment was nearby so thank god. Imagine having to carry these while taking the train lol. And that's a wrap for day two!
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