4th House Resurrection

It's been years since an update on this blog. I am now back in ROK and will try to resurrect this site. :D

We arrived last week amidst the cold winter after the stressful packing and flying out. It's been almost a week and we have been slowly familiarizing ourselves with our new city.

One of the main part of it is getting used to the food available, and getting around as well.

Warning: This will be very looong entry since it will be the very detailed recount of our experience so far.

Day 1: Very early morning flight through Air Asia. It was an after midnight schedule when we booked a few months ago but they moved it for tow hours later. We had to check in around after midnight, go through immigration,  do forex, and almost immediately boarded the plane with the cabin crew greeting us "Good Morning." I was quite taken aback.

The three hour flight just flew by as almost everyone fell asleep only to be awakened by the stewards handing out the pre-ordered meals. Mine was a Beef Afritada which I didn't eat at that time because my stomach was feeling a bit queasy and also sleepy. I fell asleep again for an hour before the plane made a final approach at Incheon. It was a calming view looking at the streetlight covered towns, and the slow coming out of the sun.

We landed in the cold winter morning at Incheon. I had my winter clothes on halfway through the flight since I didn't get the chance to change before boarding. I can really feel that you're almost at the wintry Korea that I had to put on my coat and endure the cold. It seems that my winter pants, with leggings underneath are not enough to keep me warm.

Restroom stop at the first chance to freshen up and finally take a leak. (Wait, that doesn't sound very feminine, come to think of it. I had to hold my bladder since checking in before flying and did not get the chance to use the lavatory on the plane coz they sat me on a window seat. The down side of getting it. :C I usually get the window seat specially if I'm flying solo 'coz I think they size me up as light and thin and easily squeeze in. :D ) Anyway, aside from that little inconvenience for my bladder and to the rest of my urinary system, I am quite happy with the window seat. :D

So everyone had their turn at the rest room. Brushing, freshening and suiting up.  We were almost to be the last ones on that very isolated part of the terminal.

We seem to take a long time getting to the the Immigration counters that most people lining up there were already from another flight, a Vietnam one it seems. And of course, we missed to fill out the little yellow card somewhere, and I had to do the thumb printing and photo too. By the time we got down to claim our luggages, they were nowhere to be found that we had to ask assistance to locate them. Somebody had already piled them up in two trolleys when I finally spotted them. I first saw the bike box and was grateful for one second that we lugged that bike after all. That only lasted for a sec coz we had to navigate with that huge box around as we look for food, warmth and transportation at the "arrival hall."

Upon getting out to the arrival hall, we turned right until we saw the Transportation counter where the bus tickets are sold. We got ours, then went on to find some grubs. I was actually looking for a convenience store, Mini stop, GS25 or Family Mart for my samggap kimbap. :D Son and I had ours, while Hubby opted for the traditional rolled gimbap and a cup of coffee. The samggap costs 800W while the rolled one a bit more than 1000W, I think.

There were a few benches in front, with charging stations and TV broadcasting the current Winter Olympics. We had our bellies filled up a bit, just to keep going since it turned out that none of us ate any of our airline meal.

Off to the windy cold outdoor bus stop to wait for the bus. The schedule was 9:50 and we left right on the dot after loading up all our stuff in the luggage compartment. The seats were very comfortable that we were able to catch a bit of sleep in between. There were only a few people in the bus heading to 3 stations. First stop was at the Gimpo airport barely after thirty minutes, then Cheonan and Asan. The bus had it's wash up at Cheonan and a quick bathroom break for the passengers.

When we got to our destination terminal, the bus driver was also kind enough to help us find our next transportation. We got off at the Lotte, which is beside the terminal. There is a rest room inside the Lotte building and wifi too.

When we finally got to the apartment, we had the quick-cooking Ramyeon for lunch and got our badly-needed sleep. We just stayed indoor for the rest of the day except for the quick trip to the supermarket for more ramyeon late at night.

Day 2 Thu

Our morning was spent getting a bit of our stuff set up and recharging. P and me went out to explore the neighborhood later that day.

We found outdoor playgrounds here and there, and an indoor "jumpin jang" (which I later found out as Bangbang for the locals.) I actually prefer the jumping jang as it has a little alliteration. I heard the music, kids' voices and peeked to see them jumping on giant trampoline inside. We went in, inquired and paid choon won (W1000) for 30 minutes playtime for kid. I sat and warmed myself on some ceramic eater while waiting for the 30 minutes. The kid sure had fun even though there weren't a lot of kids around to play with at that time.


Day 3 Fri

Places covered were the target apartment complex real estate office (we went there on foot and passed by what looked like apple orchards) and the bank, KB later part of the day.

The Apartment Complex-- a quick view of the available place which turned out to be not that good/clean although very near a school, and my fave Gimbap Nara. It wasn't a big like the place I used to hang out before in our previous city but the Gimbap that comes with the soup was just enough for me. And what's more, the Mexicana Chicken, another old-time favorite of mine, was also just beside it.

We hope to finally find a place around that area but it wasn't to be this time. At the end of the day, we had decided to stay in our current area for now in order for my son to get settled in a school soon.

Our next destination was the Kookmin Bank which was located downtown so we had to take a bus ride, cross a main street and walk a few more meters to and from a corner. We passed by a couple of stalls that sells hotteok on the way and vowed to get some on our way home. My son is now a happy boy as we fill him up with the authentic Korean street food hotteok. (He a first one yesterday at the apartment complex store which is not really on the street technically, :D) One piece for each of us and another two to take home since it was quite cold to eat more out on the street. Each hotteok cost W500, cheaper from the W700 he got yesterday.

Our last stop for the day is the Bangbang as promised to the little boy who patiently waited for the grown ups to finish their tasks. Father and son stayed over there while I went to the supermarket to buy what we need for dinner. (leeks, garlic and rice)

I had a bit of trouble for the rice delivery since it was our first time and we are still not very familiar with the address. I had to check the facebook photo of our address that my bro took in order to make sure of the number. Good thing we managed fine and got our 10 kg rice to our door with enough time for dinner.

To be continued...