Day 5
We had a 7am wake up call today. Breakfast was 7.45am at the basement of the Hanwha Resort. Breakfast was buffet style and was quite nice with a lot of choices.
We assembled at 8.30am to go to Waterpia hotspring waterpark. The park is actually just a short stroll away from the resort but our bus dropped us off there. By the time we reached, it was only 9am. Here's the annoying thing, nothing was opened until 10am. So we all couldn't understand why they couldn't have just brought us there later so that we could have a sleep in and rest more. Instead after we changed into our swimsuits we sat around for 45 minutes waiting for the park to open. Apparently we were there that early because they wanted people to relax and soak inside the naked hot spa which is within the inside of the locker room, or to go to the sauna. I am neither a naked swimmer nor a hot spa person, plus I had a 6 year old with me so none of these activities were suitable for her.
The hotspring facilities are impressive though. Upon arriving we had to take off our shoes and put it in a locker which had a key on it. Then you take the key and go down to the locker room to find the corresponding locker number to put all your other things in. The locker room has a water cooler, hair dryer, teeny tiny towels for showering, plastic bags to pack your wet clothingn (and all this is free!)....and.......an open shower.......The Korean ladies just like the Japanese are very comfortable walking around totally buck naked.....me.....errr...not so much. And there's nowhere to hide.....all modesty is out the window.Do not forget to bring your swimming cap (which in Singapore you can buy just from Daiso for $2). Or else you can rent the cap, or buy there, but it's not worth it. Supposedly you can even wear a shower cap or a baseball cap :p
There are various outdoor hot spas, but the water temperature was way too hot for me. Luckily there was an indoor one which had just nice warm water which was like bath water, very nice to sit in. For the kids, there is an indoor lazy river type of pool where it had a current, and also an indoor water playground as well as the wave pool. There were more stuff outside the kids could enjoy but they weren't open till around 12pm. We had to leave by 11.30....far too short to play if you have kids. The other adults in our group felt it was just adequate.
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| part of the 'lazy river'. It has a current. |
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| this is a lap pool |
After this was a lunch of Pork Ribs BBQ. Was ok only. What I do enjoy about Korean food is the wrapping up of meats in lettuce leaves. I love salad leaves, so it's really right up my alley. But then again..there is so much of meat wrapped in lettuce that I can eat in a week before I get sick of it!
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| i like how we sit on the ground and our feet goes under the table. |
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| BBQ time....not much taste and if cooked too long it was tough |
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| View from our room |
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| the back of the resort |
After we rested for a bit we had an optional Gondola Ride (cablecar) up to the peak of the mountain. I would definitely recommend it, the ride was about 20mins one way. The price for 2 Adults and 1 Child was KRW38,000 for a return trip. The scenery was quite pretty, lots of greenery, I can just imagine how much prettier it is in winter or Autumn when the leaves change colour.
The summit was pretty, there was a big poster from Winter Sonata, so I'm guessing they also did some scenes up there. If you're there during the summer, find some dandelions for the kids to blow, you wont get a chance in Singapore :) The gondola closes early, so you have to catch the last ride at 4pm.
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| lots of dandelions growing there |
After we made our way back on our own timing, we had some free time before dinner. This day was by far the most relaxing day of the trip. So we went around the resort to look and see what we could find. In the building behind the Dragon Valley Hotel there's a Lotte Burger shop, Baskin Robbins and a minimart.
Dinner was of Squid and Pork somewhere nearby and it was quite tasty. And we came back to our hotel quite early after that.
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| the usual suspects... |
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 6
DAY 7 - 9
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