cherry blossoms, shuttle bus and food.

Just read on a website that the cherry blossoms festival at Yunjungno was on 2-11 April. Have I missed the blossoms already? I%26#39;ll be in town next Tuesday.

Am wondering if there are cherry blossoms at Deoksugong also. My colleague was raving about cherry blossoms since she came back from Japan last week.

On another topic, I wonder if it%26#39;s better to walk from the KAL bus station at Lotte to Ibis or wait for their shuttle bus. I usually travel with one cabin bag only. Read some earlier postings that we need to navigate up/down some stairs from Lotte.

Lastly, I%26#39;m not a big fan of Kimchi. Sad to say, I%26#39;ve not really explored korean food. Any recommendations around Myeong Dong? Would love to try some of the local stuff. Am definitely going to try the ginseng chicken soup. (What%26#39;s it called?)

Thanks in advance for any advise :-)

cherry blossoms, shuttle bus and food.

soup is samgyetang.

To avoid gimchi, you probably need a raw fish restaurant (';hoe'; pronounced '; hway';).

Most other Korean restaurants press gimchi on you; of course you don%26#39;t have to eat it! It%26#39;s always on the side.

There is no KAL station; it%26#39;s just the hotel entrance at Lotte

I%26#39;d take Ibis bus, personally.

cherry blossoms, shuttle bus and food.

Hi,

I will be switching from Lotte hotel to ibis. I read that there is a bus from Ibis. Can i contact Ibis to pick me up from Lotte?

Also, I would like to take the KAL bus back to Incheon airport. I can take the Ibis bus to Lotte and catch the KAL bus from there? Do i need to pre-reserve my seat/purchase tickets and how do i go about doing it if it is needed?

Sorry: no idea about Ibis bus.

I am not sure that there is one, in fact. Can%26#39;t see one on their website.

Am back from Seoul. Brought back a korean flu bug as well :p *sniff...sniff....honk!!*

Was expecting nice weather as indicated in the forecasts but I arrived smack into a rainy cold front.

Anyway, I did venture to try kimchi and lots of other korean foodstuff. Didn%26#39;t manage the korean ginseng chix soup though. Had vague notion that korean ginseng could worsen sore throats.

Glad to say that I liked some of the kimchi. Some were sweet, like gherkins. I like those *yum*. Then there were the really pungent and hot ones....erm... i reserve my comments on those.

Had the big pot of pork-bone+vermicelli+rice cake+etc :-) That was good. Had kimchi pancake. That was a bit greasy for my liking. But on the whole, food wasn%26#39;t too bad. Number of food stalls all around Ibis myeong dong was amazing. Every few doors would be a food place.

Oh, before I get carried away, Ibis reception on the 19th floor kept telling my hubby that there is no shuttle bus to Lotte hotel even though it was clearly stated at the ground floor lobby. I guess the shuttle was only available in the mornings.

Had to lug my feverish self and luggage up/down the underpass to Lotte Hotel. They couldn%26#39;t even let us extend the room for 1hr cos%26#39; the hotel was full. So sad.

oh... forgot to answer another question.

No, you do not have to pre-book your seats on the KAL coach. Just grab your tickets at the airport (exit 4 or 11) and wait in the correct line outside the entrance. Lots of ushers to help you there. No worries.

On the way back, just go to the reception at Lotte Hotel. Say that you want to buy tickets for the KAL coach. The coach-stop if exactly the same one where you got off. To avoid freezing your butt, get a bus schedule from the receptionist of Ibis.

Coach takes 1hour flat to get to/fro the airport from Lotte Hotel. (Note: this is during off-peak hours!)

Just one more thing to add while I%26#39;m at it.

Was it me or were the people in seoul oblivious to others in their path?

In the few days I was in Seoul, I had numerous people banging into me. One nearly poked my husband%26#39;s eye out with her umbrella. Not a single one of them apologised or even acknowledged that they have knocked into you.

It was a case of simply bull-dozing their way through.

Perhaps that was my culture-shock moment :p I%26#39;m sure other foreigners have things to say about my hometown as well.

10 years ago when I was in seoul, I had the same experience as well. I felt ppl were walking straight towards me without really moving away so I ended up doing most of the ';moving away';! At that time i felt it was pretty rude, but after awhile I realize that everyone seems to be doing the same thing so I guess it is a cultural thing and nothing to get pissy about! :)

Can I ask if the weather is really really cold? I was supposed to go 2 weeks ago but my partner fell sick and so we have postponed the trip to this Sunday. Hopefully it is not too cold!!

Can i ask where did you try the spicy pork bone soup? Is it near ibis as I will be staying there too.

Thanks

It was 80F today.....

yar... the eatery is near to Ibis. Can%26#39;t recall where exactly it was. Went through too many of em%26#39; for lunch AND dinner during my stay :p

I know it was on the ground level though. Sorry I can%26#39;t be of more help. Don%26#39;t even know the name of the dish. We just pointed at the picture on the wall... hehehe...

It was a HUGE stone hot-plate with all the ingredients in it. Comes with the usual assortment of kimchi and soup. Liked the pickled cucumber. Nice and crunchy :p Amazingly, there was this average-sized fellow who single-handedly finished the whole meal with rice on the side! We didn%26#39;t have rice but we were stuffed to the gills.

Yar, don%26#39;t mean to criticise the koreans. Just a personal observation. All cultures have their little querks. That%26#39;s why I like travelling :p

The Koreans struck me like a cross between the main-land Chinese and the Japanese. Not surprising given their geographical location I guess.

oh dear sorry that you caught a cold on your holiday :( it%26#39;s good to know the kal coach is easy to catch from the airport. i hope i don%26#39;t get stuck in traffic jam on the way to my hotel! :)

i am already drooling over all the food i will eat in seoul. i am a kimchi lover so i am excited to try some different ones. but i read it is rude to blow your nose or sniff at the table haha. the kimchi is always delicious and not too spicy to my mouth, but usually make me have a runny nose and it%26#39;s kinda embarrassing :(

i also read in my book that it is usual for the rushing koreans to bump or knock on the pavement without acknowledging you or apologising. i will not take it personally now i have read it will happen to everyone.

glad you had such fun!!