Korea Day 2 (Part 1): DMZ Tour - Panmunjom (in the morning)

Initially started off Day 2 as one entry of its own, but as I wrote, found the content of the DMZ tour too interesting and intriguing, very very worthwhile and educational to share, so am dedicating more space to it by splitting up Day 2 into 2 entries =)

Our first official Korea activity started in Day 2! We woke up early in the morning and set off from the hotel to Lotte Hotel in Seoul, where the meeting point for our first itinerary activity is - the DMZ Tour! 

DMZ stands for De-Militarised Zone, which is the peace out area between North and South Korea, at the 38th parallel. It is now manned by both North Korea, South Korea, and United Nations Peacekeeping Forces. 

A pictorial from the brochure that was given to me when on the tour

The orange area marks the DMZ, and the white dotted line is the Military Demarcation Line (MDL). Extracted from the brochure (not sure if you can read the paragraphs clearly from the photo above), it is an invisible line formed at when the Ceasefire Agreement was signed on 27 Jul'15, 1953. The DMZ is a buffer zone where all military and hostile actions is to be ceased. Somehow, overtime, it has become a symbol of sorts signifying and reminding people of the one country in the world that remains divided till today. 

Tours are only conducted by selected few agencies who have been certified. I was highly interested in the tour as I find it to be a rather unique activity that is very different from the usual shopping / theme parks activity (generally all man-made or city activity) when one is travelling overseas. Did quite a bit of research on the tours before hand, and in the end, decided to go for both the Panmunjom Tour and the Joint Security Area (JSA) Tour. The tours are split into half days, so if you have only half a day to spare, you have to choose one. Luckily, an option for both was available, which is the Combined Tour that will then occupy one full day from morning to evening. 

We were brought to this area for gathering before the tour commenced proper. 

A stone memorial documenting the pains of families who are separated. 

A steam locomotive that got derailed by bombs during the Korean War. 

It is now a registered cultural heritage. 

Colourful tags with the wishes of families

Morning: Dorasan Station, Dora Observatory, The 3rd Tunnel 

Dorasan Station

We were first brought to this train station, which used to be operational but services has now ceased. It is the closest station situated to North Korea, and contain hopes of the locals of a day where train services will be operational again, and the day where their country is unified. Very well maintained station despite it not being in use. 

The legendary sign - to Pyongyang

To give tourists a simulated experience, the station sells tickets that allows you access to the platform

The railway track that leads to Pyongyang

A board listing out all the names of donors and sponsors who contributed to the construction efforts of the station

After visiting, I feel that Dorasan Station is a tangible reminder of the helplessness of the locals, especially for families who have been separated, and a reminder of the hostile situation between North and South Korea. Having a solid structure around, which stands and exists over time, is a very good self-explanatory of the country's history. It shows the intention and wishes of the people back then and now. Building the railway track showcases connectivity, and cessation of the train services displays separation. I wonder how the family members feel, as they know that just down the road is their relatives, but yet they cannot cross the border. Truly a case of so near, yet so far. 

Dora Observatory

The next location we went was Dora Observatory, which enabled us to have a view of North Korea. 

If you can read the words on the building, it says 

'End of separation, Beginning of Unification' 

According to the guide, it is a reminder of the wishes of the country. 

We were brought to this area where there is a line of binoculars, which enables you to have a close up view of North Korea. North Korea's Gaesung City and Propaganda Village is very near the 38th parallel, so by using the binoculars, you can actually zoom in enough to see the people and buildings of the country comfortably. I actually managed to see people walking on the streets, cars, bicycles, buildings and their compound! It just felt like a silent movie, all action but no sound. 

The binoculars are chargeable, ie. you need pay for them, but it is a very small fee (think only 500 KRW). A rare opportunity, everyone did not mind paying for it. How many times in your life do you get a chance to sneak peek into the daily lives of North Korea? I took so long to slowly absorb all the scenes that I can see, that I actually went for 2 rounds of viewing (ie. pay 2 times). 

What I managed to capture with my camera, of the divide between North and South Korea. 

If you look closely, you can spot the blue flagpole heisting South Korea's flag (on the right of the picture), and opposite it, to the left of the picture, another flagpole flying North Korea's flag. According to the guide, North Korea's flagpole is one of the highest in the world, and is important to them to be higher than that of the South, as they feel being higher signifies their supremacy over the South. One of the saddest image in my opinion. 

The 3rd Tunnel

The last visiting location in the morning is the 3rd Tunnel, called 3rd tunnel because it is the third one discovered by the South. The tunnel links up the North with the South, and is capable of moving a full division with their weapons, in an hour. Judging by the direction of the tunnel, it seems to be heading towards Seoul, capital of South Korea. Therefore, South Korea feels that this tunnel was created with the intention to launch a surprise attack on the South, and targeting their capital. 

The tunnel is about 73 metres below ground, and due to its depth, ,you can actually feel the air getting chilly as you go downwards. The tunnel walls are black; according to the guide, the North actually covered the tunnel with soot in order to disguise it as a coal mine. Can see that they put in a lot of effort for this. The story of how it was discovered goes like this: 

A defector from the North reported to the South that the North actually dug many tunnels that enables them to access the South undetected. He used to be an engineer who contributed to the tunnel creation. However, as the entire land was too big, the exact location of the tunnel could not be pinpointed. Afterall, it is underground and this person do not know how it looks like from the South side. So the South Korean government planted many many tubes in the ground, filled them with water, and covered them up. If there are any activity done underground, the water will help to detect and inform them accordingly. True enough, one day, one of the tubes exploded suddenly. It is believed that the burst of water was due to the increase in pressure from underground, where the North is expanding the tunnel via the use of dynamites. To find out more, more tubes were planted around that area in a similar way. One day, they struck gold as one of the tubes penetrated the ceiling of the tunnel, thereby giving away the tunnel location. The South then started excavating and digging downwards, and to their horror, found that the rumoured tunnel, does exist. 

When the North was confronted about this, they denied any knowledge and accused the South of crying foul. However, from traces of the dynamite explosions and angle of incline of the ground, which all points towards Seoul, it is believed that the North were indeed the ones who created this tunnel. Why else would you make a dynamite explode towards yourself, and make the path to your destination more challenging by creating an uphill? 

This is actually quite sad, because if all are true, then it not only shows the animosity and hostility, but also that you can't trust your own neighbour, who is actually your own fellow countrymen. No photos of the tunnel itself to share, because we are required to lock up all our belongings in a locker before heading down to take a look at the tunnel. 

Some photos of the area instead: 

This is a rather solemn topic, shall end off here for the first half of the day, and continue with the other half in another entry. The second half of the day brings us to the Joint Security Area, which covers Camp Bonifas, Joint Security Area, Conference Room, Bridge of No Return. 

Korea Day 1: Gyeongbokgung Palace and Cheonggyecheon Stream

Day 1 was a simple day with not much activities packed, as we had just arrived and were pretty tired from the overnight flight. Places visited were near the hotel, which also serve its purpose of familiarising us with the nearby area. 

1. Gyeongbokgung Palace 

Gyeongbokgung is one of the remaining 5 palaces in Seoul, and is the largest out of them all. Korea seems to name its palaces by their location, such as Eastern Palace (Changdeokgung), Western Palace (Gyeongheegung), and the Northern Palace (Gyeongbokgung). Gyeongbokgung is also said to be the largest and most beautiful and grandest out of all the palaces that remain. 

Based on Wikipedia, it was built in 1935 and was the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty. Not only did it serve as the home of the Kings of the Joseon dynasty, it also housed the Kings' households and the government of Joseon. I believe the government back then was split into 2 arms, the legislative and executive, for we saw 2 buildings next to each other named as such. 

The throne hall, where the King 'granted audiences to his officials, gave declarations of national importance, and greeted foreign envoys and ambassadors' 

[Quoted from Wikipedia]

Glimpses of the interior of the 勤政殿, very intricate and detailed designs. 

The design somehow reminds one of traditional Chinese palaces too, doesn't it? Not that I am a loyal supporter of the Chinese or anything, but I do believe that throughout history, Chinese did wield a considerable influence over Asia and its neighbouring countries, such as Japan and Korea. One, the language. Both languages somehow have some characters based on Chinese characters; for Japanese you have the Kanji, for Korean, using this as an example, names of buildings. Both languages also have pronunciation that are very similar to the words' Chinese pronunciation. Two, the colours and design. The colours red and gold is very striking, both of which are the usual colours for Chinese palaces. Or perhaps it is just an Asian thing to incline towards these colours? 

A peek into the study room of the royals in the past; it looks exactly like what you see in Korean dramas featuring past dynasties. 

The palace compound is very, very huge indeed... 

And oddly, vegetation and flora and fauna are practically non-existent in the areas that we covered. The lack of a shade was exacerbated by the good weather - the sun was beating down mercilessly that day. We deduced the reason for the ground to be sand could possibly be due to the usage of horses during that time. 

We managed to visit the Gangnyeongjeon (King's Quarters), Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall), Gwanghwamun (main gate), Gyotaejeon (Queen's Quarters), Jagyeongjeon (Quarters of King's mother), and Sajeongjeon Hall. Pity that we did not manage to visit the Gyeonghoeru (Royal Banquet Hall), Hyangwonjeong Pavilion, and the Jibokjae (Private Royal Library). As all the structures in the buildings looked the same, we figured our way around by reading the information stands available and by eavesdropping on tour groups whose guide was speaking loud enough in a language that we understand (mainly Mandarin). The information stands were very brief, so if one really wants to understand and appreciate the history of the palace, it will be better to go for a guided tour. 

The palace still conducts the changing of guards today, a programme that is worth catching. 

2. Cheonggyecheon Stream

The Cheonggyecheon Stream is a man-made project by the government, transformed into the perfect respite in the midst of the city with flora, fauna, and a flowing stream. It was undertaken as one of the efforts for urban renewal, reintroduce nature into the city, and restore history and culture of the region. It starts at the Cheonggye Plaza and runs past 'Deoksugung Palace, Seoul Plaza, the Sejong Center, Insa-dong Street, Changdeokgung Palace, and Changgyeonggung Palace, allowing visitors to easily visit major tourist sites after a leisurely stroll along the stream'. [Extracted from VisitKorea']. 

The stream seems to be a popular place for both tourists and locals. As we walked along the stream, we can see many locals sitting down in groups, chatting away while eating take-away dinners. The walls lining the path also has many historical paintings on it, explaining some of the Korean culture back in the past. A good effort by the government, but it is not very eye-catching, so one may easily just take it as some decorative artwork. 

This waterfall marks the beginning of the stream

We enjoyed walking down the stream, because it provided a cooling respite from the hot weather in the day, and it gives a breather from the bustling city from above. A must-visit, if you ever visit Korea! 

Korea Day 0: Setting off!

Finally starting on posts regarding Korea trip. Had been trying to figure out how to make the posts more interesting instead of just a blabber of the timeline of events; and had been reading up a lot on the blogs that I normally frequent to see how it is being documented. Hopefully the pictures will help!

Had been looking forward to this Korea trip for the past 2 weeks, all the fidgeting and counting down was much of an agony. I even packed my luggage a week prior, amidst the excitement and knowing that I would be caught up with work the few days before I leave. And true enough, the work day on the day I flew was absolutely hectic. Most people seem to have the same idea of taking Friday off for a long weekend, and so tried to finish most of their work by Wednesday, which then landed in my lap. Grrrr.

In the end, I left office late and was rather panicky to say the least, reaching home at 8pm and having to take dinner, shower, and finish the last of my packing by 10pm.

Nonetheless, managed to reach the airport in time, and checked in!

My very first Singapore Airlines boarding pass that's white in colour, 

unlike the beautiful green that was used previously. 

Feeling a little sad to see the white boarding pass. SIA changed the boarding pass colour in lieu with its launch of Premium Economy (PEY), where the old Economy green was used for PEY, leaving the Economy class to be indeed, the most economical, of having no colour at all for the boarding pass. Somehow, this action makes me feel that they do not really value their Economy passengers and Economy passengers are somewhat a low class citizen on the flight. In the past, just holding an SIA boarding pass is something of pride, even if it is just economy. But now, it does not feel that way anymore. Boo. Hopefully I will have the chance to experience Business and First class one day. 

So back to the airport experience - Changi Airport was having an exhibit to commemorate Singapore's 50th birthday! Kudos to them for this exhibit, can see some thought was given to it as special / specific spots or buildings that are significant to the nation's history were singled out. 

I like this merlion =) 

An attempted panorama, to showcase the various Singapore tourist attractions made out of luggages. 

One of my favourite exhibits 

Another mandatory aircraft shot of mine before take-off, unfortunately the window pane was rather dirty and the haze didn't help =( 

I have a penchant for window seats, despite their inconvenience. This is because the windows give me a glimpse of what is happening outside, and I get aerial views of both the departing country and arriving country during take-off and landing respectively. Another perk is that when the plane is flying low and the sky is clear, you can even spot land mass along the flight path! Here's one: 

I have edited the photo so as to brighten it up and make the land that the plane is flying past more apparent, somehow it did not show up as well in the photo as what can be seen by the naked eye. It is rather dark, but you can see the shimmer of lights at the bottom left of the picture. 

This land mass, is Taiwan. 

You can even learn interesting things about the country's geography here. From an aerial view, it is apparent that settlement in Taiwan dots around its coast, whereas the centre or backbone of the island is not occupied. Why? Because the centre of Taiwan is mountain ranges, where nature is the dominant party. And in the middle of the picture, you can see some light glow, across the island of Taiwan. That's China. 

Not usual of me to take photo of the inflight meals served, but for the purpose of this post, I did so anyway. Chose the Korean dish of beef with rice and noodles, to prepare for Korea! Hahaha

Another aerial photo as we approach Korea! 

And finally, here we are! In Korea! 

(though sleep was not very comfortable) 

There are a few ways to get from Incheon Airport to the city - (i) airport bus, (ii) train, (iii) cab. Option (iii) is obviously out due to the distance the airport is from the city, and we opted for the train due to its speed and comfort. We took the AREX airport express train, where the train bypasses all stops and heads straight for the main Seoul Station in the city. There is also the All-stop train, where it stops at all train stations en-route from Incheon to Seoul. Tickets for the express and All-stop are sold separately, so just be mindful when making your purchase. 

How the train look like

Next mission - to check in to the hotel! Wrote a post about my opinions on the hotel, will be posting it soon. Shall continue to describe Korea Day 1 next! 

Deal Review: Victoria FaceLift Singapore

So, a couple of weeks back, I utilised one of the facial treatment vouchers found in the NDP voucher booklet at BIOSKIN, and wrote about it on my Dayre account here.

That was not the only voucher available in the booklet, so I decided to go for another, for one more try. This time round, I picked one that was complimentary - Victoria FaceLift.

Crumpled Voucher

The voucher entitles me to a free 90 minutes Victoria Power Lift and a 3 piece product set. What the Victoria Power Lift does, is to:

Photo Credits: Victoria Facelift Singapore website

I will be talking about the whole experience by breaking it down into the various stages - Pre, During, Post. 

1. Pre Visit: Making an Appointment [Rated 8/10] 

As stipulated by the voucher, one needs to make an appointment before heading down. And that's what I did. They were fast to reply, prompt in fixing appointment, and proactive in following up from the day the appointment is made, to the actual day of visit. Why do I say so? 

Fast to reply - they were not the only facial company offering complimentary facials in that NDP booklet. I sms-ed to the number indicated as per instructions, and they responded within a few hours. Compared to the others (I shall not name, as they seem to be pretty big local brands), I have yet to be contacted as of today. One may say, maybe they are too busy to respond to every single SMS. Fine, but I thought of that too. I actually made a couple of calls on top of the SMS, but no one answered. A case of not being sincere enough maybe? 

Prompt in fixing appointment - they had timeslots available that suited my schedule. Again, it could be because they do not have much clientele yet. But I find it good that they are able to manage their schedule to be well spaced, and not tell me things like 'we are fully booked for the month, so you wouldn't be able to use the voucher', which can be rather irritating. If you already have such a solid customer base, why bother having this promotion, where you end up having to turn everyone away? 

Proactive in follow-up - they dropped me reminders as the day of the appointment approached. This is something that I am VERY used to, as I had been pampered with this with my usual facialist. So for me, instead of a value added service, this is a basic to me. Not only did they remind me, they also called me on the day itself, 30 minutes prior to the appointment, to check on my status and if I am on my way. 

Photo Credits: Victoria Facelift Singapore website

2. Actual Visit and Treatment [Rated 7/10] 

Being familiar with these sort of deals, I already knew that I would be getting myself into a sales pitch after the treatment is done. But I shouldn't be too skeptical, I know. So I decided to reserve my comments till after the treatment. 

First Impression - the receptionist and consultant lady (mine was called Denise) was quite friendly and smiley. They addressed me by my name the moment I walked in (must not have been hard to guess), and processing of me as a customer was very fast. But I did not have a good first impression because 1. I was kept waiting for quite awhile for the consultant to attend to me, and 2. I actually could overhear what one consultant was saying to her customer, IN the consultation room. That consultant was very aggressive, a little rude in my opinion, and SUPER pushy. In my mind, I already decided that if I am going to hear things like that, I will say NO and walk out. 

Before Treatment - lucky for me, my consultant turned out to be a sweet young lady who is very gentle and friendly. What she did was to use the machine to analyse the condition of my skin, before the treatment. And informed me that she will be taking 'before' and 'after' photos to show the effect of the treatment. Which then seemed all so familiar... then I realised, few years back when I went to New York Skin Solutions, they had the exact same procedure. [This is a story for another day, but I had an utterly bad experience with them and never went back again.] 

I was a little horrified to see from the analysis that my skin had became very dry. Not sure if its due to the BIOSKIN treatment I did previously, but I am pretty sure it played a part. Seems like I should have gone more paranoid in my application of moisturisers after that visit... *sighs* After finishing explaining, off we go for the facial! 

Treatment Room

Treatment - I was brought to the treatment room shown above, which is EXACTLY how New York Skin organises its room too. It's not a room of its own, its just a room with many treatment beds, each separated by a curtain. Pros for the company - space saving, since they are renting the commercial space from a mall. Cons? All to the customer. I can hear other consultants going about doing their work, conversing with their customer, people going in and out (which is very frequent as they do not have a sink with water supply for each room). Again, I am comparing with my usual facial place, who have their own room, an ACTUAL room, with walls and doors, where each customer have their own privacy and consultants have their own sink with water supply. 

Photo Credits: www.dreamstime.com

Treatment itself was alright and as per usual. First double cleanse the face, then softening, followed by extraction and soothing mask. Next, the machine was used to give better penetration of the materials applied and to provide massage to both the face and neck. The experience was peppered with massages here and there, and Denise never fail to inform me what she will be doing next, the purpose of each step and its advantages. Basic criteria all checked =) 

What I like: 

1. They got their basics right, with all the massages and strength of application etc. 

2. Customer is informed at every step of the way, which is definitely the way to a customer's heart. I'm sure every girl, or guy, will want to know what is happening to their face, no? 

What I did not like: 

1. A paper mask was used for the softening. I am rather conservative and always believed that the traditional method of mixing and creating the mask on the spot is much better. Anything instant have the impression of being too chemical for me. 

2. Soothing mask was left on for way too long. This got me irritated, because I was sure that the time limit for a mask, which is 20-25 mins, was up and yet Denise was nowhere to be seen. And even more so after realising that she was attending to another customer. Not very good multi-tasking if you ask me. Especially for pampered me who have gotten used to having a 1:1 customer consultant ratio during time of visit. 

After Treatment - I was brought to the consultation room once again, where the sales pitch was done and I was taught how to use the free kit. Although I would say that everything above was just okay to me and they 'met expectations' but definitely not 'exceed expectations', I have to be fair. I DO feel that my face had become lighter and more glowy in some sense. Can feel that it is cleaner and tighter. 

3. Post Visit [Rated 6/10] 

Sad to say, I succumbed to their offer and purchased a 6 times package, only to regret it after. So why regret? Here are my considerations:

But I guess in the end, I did. Because I wanted to give it a chance, and to TRY. The good thing is, there is no expiry date to the package, but a word of caution - the consultants will try to squeeze the next appointment as soon as possible, which is NOT good. The best resting period in between facials is 3-4 weeks. My habit is to do it monthly, especially after having period. Because that's when your skin is at its most natural condition without any hormonal interference from a girl's period =) 

Based on my overall scoring for the above factors, Victoria FaceLift scored an average of 7/10 overall. Will write again after I return for another visit, and see how it goes. Till then, all the best to myself, and I hope I made the right choice! *fingers crossed*