Seoul & Los Angeles 2016
Going to the US for the second time couldn't excite me more. I've planned this for months! I was so prepared for this so-called ultimate vacation of my life.
The journey to the US is a very special one, as this was the first time for me flying alone. And knowing the fact that it would be a journey halfway around the globe, it makes me feel adventurous already.
From Kuala Lumpur to Incheon, Korea.
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| I took this photo with an intention to post it in Instagram just like many hipster travellers do. It just didn't make it though, and I blame my unphotogenic hand. But I'm putting it here anyway. |
So why Korean Air? It might not be the cheapest with the shortest travel time airline available but I got my own reasons for this. The 8 hours transit in Incheon airport might seem like a very long layover. But did you know that they have a free Korea transit tour? Yes you read it right, it's free! And I've never been to Korea before! So this is great, right? Of course it is!
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| Annyeonghaseyo, Korea! |
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| After the immigration clearance, register yourself here for a free korea transit tour. All you have to do is to show your flight ticket (to prove that you are in transit), and choose which tour that suits your time. |
I chose the Seoul City transit tour which will take around 4-5 hours to complete. For this tour, I had to pay 10,000 won (or USD10) for a korean lunch included in the itinerary. We went on the tour by bus, which roughly took 40 minutes to reach Seoul city from the Incheon airport.
Gyeongbokgung
First stop was Gyeongbokgung, the royal palace of Joseon dynasty. If you're lucky (which I was not), you got to see the Gyeongbokgung changing guards ceremony.
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| It's so hard to selfie without people keep appearing behind me and to look good at the same time. |
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Majestic view of the palace main hall. Here lies the iron throne of the king.
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| Looks like a colored-paper structure. |
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| Not an iron throne. |
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| The tour guide. |
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| This is the royal banquet hall where the royals partied in the 14th centuries. |
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| Thanks to the member of the tour for taking this shot. I finally had a decent photo, among all those crappy selfies. |
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| Group photo. |
Insadong
Next stop was Insadong. Here we can find many things and unique Korean souvenirs along the street. We also had our bibimbap lunch at one of the local restaurant.
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| Insadong street. |
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| Condiments to complement the taste. |
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| This is a special one. It's not only my first trip to Korea, but it is also my first ever bibimbap (not a veggie fan). |
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| We spent like an hour here, wandering around Insadong street, free and easy. Then we were taken back to the airport to resume our trip. |
Incheon to Los Angeles, California.
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| That's my first A380 flight to LAX. Another reason of why did I choose Korean Air for this trip. |
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| Crossing timezone. |
After 16 long hours, I finally arrived LAX just about the same time with other flights from mainland China. As if going through the endless line at the immigration counter with these mainland Chinese who cuts queue and all wasn't bad enough, my bag was then got randomly inspected by the security dog (it's a lovely dog by the way), and my expensive basmathi rice was confiscated because it's originated from India (I should have bought Malaysian rice instead!). Despite that my favorite ration was taken away, it was somehow a pleasing experience for me to deal with the custom officers. They're very polite, welcoming and helpful. One of the officer even greeted me nicely and went asking "Are you from Malaysia?". You don't know how much it means to me to hear something like that after being thousand miles away from home.
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| I definitely look terrible after 30 hours of no shower. Don't be fooled by all these filters I just applied on. |
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| This guy however, knows how to make me forget about my sticky armpit, by instantly buying me a delicious Thai fried rice. |
It's going to be another long day tomorrow. Stay tuned......
Next post >>
USA: Downtown Disney (US16 - Part 2)
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