Korea Trip June 2013 Day 7-9 - Hello Kitty Cafe, Lotte World, Myeongdong

With Hong Thai 9 Day All In Korea Deluxe package

DAY 7

We checked out of our beautiful hotel at 7.45am and took the bus to a nearby restaurant. The guide was going on and on about how he had especially arranged this place and how good the owner was and how we would be the only patrons there and that it's not a tourist restaurant and how the food is good etc. Unfortunately him hyping up the place didn't help because it fell below expectations. The food was bland and not my cup of tea...but if you like that kind of stuff then hey good for you.

After that was the mandatory tourist shops. Ginseng Factory followed by the Skin Shop. Ginseng Factory was pretty boring for people like me who have no interest in Ginseng at all. If members of your group don't buy anything, be prepared for a sour face from the tour guide. He'll then start to hint for us to help them (get some commission) so they have money to feed their kids. Seriously annoying when they do that. But I get it I guess, their reputation at the company they work with is on the line. 

The skin shop is better. Most Singaporean girls (and Asian girls) would know the reputation of Korean beauty products. So here's your chance to stock up on all your face masks, etc. Before proceeding to the showroom, they bring you for a 'class' on how to cleanse your face and which products to apply. The brand that they try to sell you is called Odbo. I've never heard of it, but it seems pretty good, so I bought a few stuff. 

After that we went to lunch. Lunch consisted of a small bowl of bibimbap and pork soup. It wasn't too bad.

After lunch, we were taken to the Hello Kitty Cafe. Guide told us it was included only for the 9 Day tour group. Each person was entitled to a coffee or juice and a packet of hello kitty biscuits. The guide took our preferences and the drinks were ready by the time we got there. I think I had expected more from the Hello Kitty Cafe...I firstly didn't expect it to be so small and shabby. It was in a small alley and surprisingly quite empty. I chose juice since I don't drink coffee. The biscuits were nice. We separately ordered a cheesecake which was really nice too.

delicious cheesecake

I think this is VIP seating

We were given quite long here...maybe a bit too long...After this they sent us to Myeongdong for some shopping. We were given 2.5hours here....not enough time to shop, Myeongdong is an awesome shopping place. Totally loved it. 

By now it was dinner time, it was another optional meal the guide arranged. This one was tricky, because the guide asked us if we wanted the optional meal. But if we didn't go, the next stop was Lotte World and you'd need to either make your way there on your own or follow the rest of the group to the restaurant and wait till they finish. I'm not sure how other tour groups decide....whether they would end up the same as our group where all except one family decided not to do the optional dinner. That group changed the plans to their own liking, skipped Lotte World and went to the hotel themselves. And the hotel was very very far, so do consider this when you make your plans. 

And they arranged chinese food...the others seemed to like it...but wasn't that great.....

 

After dinner, yes after dinner you read right, we drove 40-45 minutes to Lotte World. By the time we got there it was 7-7.30pm!! So another rushed theme park to 'explore'. We were all very tired so it took all our energy to play anything. Hubby suspected that they brought us so late is because tickets are cheaper for late entry. Beside Lotte World there is a Lotte Department Store...wish we had a chance to go in there.

The parade in the indoor part of the theme park

the outdoor part of the themepark

We played till 10pm. Dead tired by then. The hotel was not too far, maybe 15-20 minute ride. We stayed at Doksan Novotel Hotel. It was quite far out of town. 

DAY 8

Today was the free day we had all been waiting for. It felt totally freeing to have the whole day to ourselves.This was shopping day. So after sleeping in and eating instant noodles in our room for brunch we went to explore the surrounding area. There's really nothing much. There was supposed to be a supermarket across the street but I guess it must've been closed for renovations or something. There's also a small daiso nearby. We tried to walk to the train station but couldn't figure out how and ended up hailing a taxi cab, which turned out to be quite cheap.

We spent the day shopping at Dongdaemun and Myeongdong. We found a pretty good food court at one of the shopping complexes in Dongdaemun, it was on the very top floor. We took the train which was easy enough and from the train station walked back to our hotel. I wasn't sure how safe it was to walk in the streets at around 9pm...

Day 9

It was back to the early wake up call again. No breakfast, so make sure you buy something the day before. They took us to the amethyst factory and this market thing to buy local products. This is the last place to get your seaweed and what nots before going home...

At the airport, if your flight is around lunch time, grab some food first at the airport. The airport has a lot of food options outside immigration and also inside after immigration. 

Then it was bye bye Korea!

Another Hello Kitty Cafe at the airport.

CONCLUSION
A group trip isn't for everyone. Group tours are taken for convenience sake I believe. And there are always good and bad points. I think it helps to do a bit of research to see what others say of the same tour you are thinking of going on. You have to remember the extra costs involved and to put aside, you need to give tips to the tour leader, the tour guide and at the end of your trip, the photographer guy who follows your group around presents you with a set of photos of your family and the tour guide will then make some kind of speech on helping the photographer as his salary isn't much etc etc, and how buying the photos would help him as he's also helped us a lot during the tour by serving us food and helping with our luggage etc. Tour groups are also very tiring and the problem with this is that all you remember of your trip is how tired you are. And when you're tired you probably won't be having the best time.

On the flip side though is, tour groups allow you to see more of a place than you would normally see on your own. You see the place but doesn't mean you have enough time to really take in the place.

Tour groups are good for families travelling with children as the kids on the tour can mingle and keep each other company.

But here's one tip: If you can choose a morning/day flight, tis better to choose it. At least you wouldn't be so tired upon landing from lack of sleep and can enjoy the tour after a good night's sleep in a hotel. Might cost you more but I think it's worth it. I shall remember that myself if in future I take anymore group tours.

DAY 1 & 2
DAY 3
DAY 4
DAY 5
DAY 6