Seoul Mar 2022

It's been too long~ I visited Seoul last month from 16-22 Mar 2022 - my first time there for holiday. It was also my first real break in a while and overall, I don't think I've ever been happier with a trip! So much so that it was useful to have a mask to hide behind when I started smiling randomly on the streets haha. 

Corny as it may sound, there were things I saw, heard and felt on this trip that I want to remember forever. If I had to summarise or pick a few highlights, they would have to be the musical, the palaces, the little hike and the walks by the Hangang. But really, almost everything was great, and that is why this post is 9k words long with over 100 pictures included - fair warning to anyone who might have clicked in! 

[Contents: chronology (days 0-7), covid-related bits, cost analysis, conclusion.] 

Day 0, 15 Mar Tuesday (Night)

I booked a 1.25am flight on 16 Mar. The whole idea was to get to Seoul and get the all-clear as early as possible to seize the day. So on 15 Mar, I worked as usual before heading to airport at 10.30pm (3h in advance of the flight as recommended by most guides). 

As expected, there was a queue at the check-in area (serving multiple flights) for checking of the PDT memo and vaccination cert. At the end of the check-in process, I was given the blue KR-SG VTL lanyard and told not to lose it or face quarantine in Seoul. I was a little nervous about going solo after 2 years of rusting but thankfully, everything went well and smoothly throughout the trip!

Talisman for warding off the quarantine monster. This picture was taken after the OAT PCR in Seoul, where I obtained the circular sticker proffering the ability to take public transport. Just a few weeks previously when rules were stricter, taking public transport was not allowed at all.

Day 1, 16 Mar Wednesday

Fast forward to about 8.30am when the plane touched down ahead of schedule in ICN. There, all processes went faster than expected (document checking, immigrations, OAT PCR, installing my pre-purchased Korean SIM card) and by 10.30am, I was on the Arex train to Seoul. I reached my hotel (Nine Tree Myeongdong, just 2 minutes from Myeongdong station) at 11.45am where I got a real shock from looking in the mirror. Now I know why it's called a red-eye flight - my eyes looked like Frodo and Sam's when they were crossing Mordor xD.

Sunrise at the start.

The protocol was to stay in the hotel room and wait for the PCR results (hoping that it'd be negative otherwise it would be a rather sad holiday indeed). At about 1pm, I noticed the results had silently slipped into my inbox at 11.40am (no alert thanks to battery saving) - barely 2h since the test time at 9.45am :o Their efficiency was really laudable, especially since there were quite a few people being tested that morning. So without wanting to waste any more daylight, off I went!

For a start, I wanted to get the vaccination pass conversion thingy out of the way so that it would be easier for establishments to verify my vax status. On hindsight this wasn't needed by that point, but I couldn't be sure since it was a very recent policy change. Either way, I ended up not getting the thingy because the hotel staff directed me to a public health centre in another district (구) which had very strict service boundaries and couldn't take my application. 

Thanks to this, I found myself in Itaewon. As this was an unexpected visit and I had no idea what to do, I just strolled around... and found the place rather quiet. Turns out Itaewon is famous for nightlife so I was probably there at the wrong time of day and day of week.

Noticed these colourful lanterns along a few streets in Itaewon.

By then, I was tired enough to head back to Myeongdong where I managed to get into a cafe without having to show my vax status or do any contact tracing... exactly like how things were pre-covid! Nevertheless, I kept my printed vax cert handy throughout the trip, but at no point was I asked to show it.

Myeongdong was a shell of what it was pre-covid, with many stores shuttered. I stayed there more for the centrality than any interest in shopping, but I hope it recovers soon.

I crashed very early that night.

Day 2, 17 Mar Thursday

The plan was to spend the entire day south of the Hangang since I was headed for Coex at night. First on the agenda (and first out of the many parks visited) was the Olympic Park. I didn't read up beforehand on what I'd find there, and it turned out to be a huge place packed with a few different attractions. Good thing I got an early start!

I entered the park from the southeast where the running track and sports facilities were. There, I found it quite cute to see a bunch of ahjummas cycling around in bright yellow vests and knee and elbow guards. Seems like group cycling lessons were a thing - I passed a few more of them struggling to cycle up a bridge while an instructor cheered them on.

The running track was made fancy by many sculptures by foreign artists, such as the giant thumb sticking out (sorely) right in the middle.

Seoul's convenience stores tend to come with seating areas, hot water dispensers and microwaves. Epitome of convenience especially if one is cold and hungry!

The nature areas were further inside the park, centered around the Mongchon Fortress. Looking back through my photos, the landscape was mostly brown and not very pretty compared to the pictures of cherry blossoms I've been seeing at the time of writing. Nonetheless, I remember being very happy simply by being free to walk around in the cool weather in a foreign country in the middle of the week!

Joining the locals on their morning brisk walk around the hilly terrain of Mongchon Fortress.

View from the top of the hill.

The walk and cold wind were enough to make me hungry, so I backtracked to the convenience store to grab a snack and tick off the experience of eating there like a local before heading to the other exit towards Jamsil. I passed an art museum and a reservoir (sadly dried up) before exiting through the World Peace Gate.

Flags of the nations that participated in the 1988 Olympics.

The 1988 Olympic torch flame still burns beneath the World Peace Gate.

The World Peace Gate from the outside.

I then headed to Gangnam to check out the shopping thoroughfare and find lunch. There were too many choices for food, so I let my legs walk me and ended up in a second level cafe for chocolate souffle pancake xD. On holiday = eat whatever I want! 

This gets a photo because it was the single most expensive meal of the trip (KRW 27,500 including the drink). It was nice, though I didn't eat the coffee ganache and some of the chocolate toppings since it was a little too much :x

The street I was at in Gangnam, where people walked all over the road and cars inched slowly around them.

Food out the way, there were two more attractions to cover that afternoon: Seolleung and Jongneung Royal Tombs and Bongeunsa Temple. After the mild chocolate overdose it was a good time to take a walk in some peaceful places. 

The grounds around the Seolleung Tomb where ancillary buildings such as the shrine and guard's quarters were preserved.

While wandering around the tombs, I was stopped by an ahjussi who asked me something in Korean. I guess I didn't look the least bit foreign, what with the round glasses and KF94 mask that pretty much everyone else wore haha. Since I could hardly catch what he was asking, let alone understand enough to answer, I blinked twice and said something like "sorry, 외국인 (foreigner)". This situation repeated itself a handful of times throughout the trip but for that first time, the conversation went on slightly longer with a utilitarian mix of Korean and English as the guy asked where I came from before ending with "nice to meet you!".

The Seoulleung Tomb is the mound on the right, and in front of it many statues stand guard.

The path towards Jeongneung Tomb. These paths were split between the King's road where visitors were permitted to walk along and the Spirit/Incense road (usually the larger portion on the left side) which had to be avoided. Seems like royal humans were considered humans all the same.

The Bongeunsa Temple was a short walk away from the tombs. Instead of going in by the main entrance, I followed the meditation trail and entered the temple grounds from halfway up the hill.

The dirt paths and buildings made it feel like an olden day village.

Up close, the buildings were really quite pretty. For this particular one, there were many people taking photos of the tree with pink flowers next to it.

I went in to view the Buddhist statues (there were sooo many) but didn't take any photos inside as there were people in the midst of prayers.

That put me just across the road from Coex - the day's final destination. By then, I was definitely ready to sit down and rest for a while haha. Since there was still some time, I dropped by Starfield Library in the mall and managed to snag a seat. No better thing to do than read the book I'd brought along (something I tend to do whenever I travel, whether physical or digital). 

It's really pretty, and I assume they have a system to retrieve the books at the tops of those shelves.

If anyone was wondering why the funny trip dates, it's because I was planning to watch the musical Fan Letter with Super Junior's Ryeowook performing in the lead role. I'd found out about it while following Suju updates and stuff, but the music and storyline really piqued my interest. As part of my Korean self-learning, I translated all of the musical song lyrics so that I could understand the story. It's projects like these that make learning fun, and I experienced goosebumps twice in the process, first from listening to the songs and second from finally understanding what they were talking about. 

One interesting thing about Korean musicals is that they have rotating casts. I intentionally watched Ryeowook's final 2 performances on 17 and 19 Mar and it was worthwhile to see him perform with different actors. Another fun fact is that Koreans come seriously prepared for these things. I spotted quite a few people using mini binoculars/telescopes to get a better view of the actors' expressions. Also, taking photos/videos is allowed during the curtain call so the whole theatre was filled with the sound of DSLR clicks, leading to many HD photos/videos floating around online afterwards.

Fan Letter is popular with locals and both performances I attended were very packed. I wore the Temasek mask over my KF94 mask to feel a little safer within the crowd.

17 Mar happens to be a key date in the story, so there was an extra souvenir for that day's viewers and a special curtain call where Yoon Namu (the actor in front) read his character's final letter dated 삼월 십칠일. This was also his final performance and this was taken during his closing speech with a very sad Ryeowook in the background.

I'll say a little bit more about the musical in the 19 Mar section. It was at Coex Artium which up till 2020 also held the SMTOWN Museum. I definitely would've gone there if it were still around, but no choice but to wait for it to reappear somewhere in South Korea and visit on a future trip. 

Saw the SM artists' hands display outside the Coex Artium but didn't go comparing my own hand size coz #covid.

The musical ended at about 11pm and I got swept up in the crowd rushing to the subway as though there were a zombie apocalypse xD. To my surprise, the station and train were super packed. It was a Thursday night so it seemed like people were either working or partying very hard or maybe stretching out the dine-in curfew, not sure. This was the day where South Korea's cases peaked at 620k although the locals didn't seem very concerned anymore. But I was rather unnerved since I still had to care about my PDT and it certainly didn't help that many people were talking loudly on the train. I kept my double mask on all the way back to the hotel where I thoroughly sanitised everything before finally getting to sleep past midnight.

Day 3, 18 Mar Friday

This was the designated Palace and Hanok day, with quite a few extras!

It started with brunch at Cafe Onion (Anguk branch) - one of the very few planned meals for the trip. I'd found this recommendation on Ladyironchef's page while poring over VTL guides during planning and the location gelled very well with the day's agenda. Must say it was totally worth the visit, if not for the food, then for the setting. The cafe was nested in a conserved and repurposed building - a sign in the toilet said that this was a 100-year-old Korean house (and so please don't throw things in the toilet bowl).

Clockwise (from top left): main entrance from street, inner entrance, eggplant pizza (loved it) and chai latte, courtyard just inside the inner entrance.

This place is well-known. Hence firstly it was a good thing I was there early on a weekday. Secondly, I was only a little surprised when I sat down and heard people behind me talking about "Tengah" and how it is "a car-lite town...". Didn't recognise anyone but can't miss that accent anywhere haha.

Food settled, it was time for the main stuff and I decided to start off at the palace further from the cafe - Gyeongbokgung. I entered from the side entrance and immediately felt a sense of grandeur, simply from the vast open space enclosed by looming walls. There were only a few other people around so I had a serene and somewhat surreal experience wandering from building to building, unencumbered by modern views and noises. 

Passing through the Geunjeongmun (Third Inner Gate) where the royal guards stood watch, cap feathers fluttering in the cold wind.

Approaching the imposing Geunjeongjeon (Throne Hall), I felt like I was transported to a different time.

So grand, even from the side view!

The inside of the Geunjeongjeon. Chose the side view because I find the vine motifs on the rafters really cool. 

It was a good thing I changed phone just before the trip. The new 0.5x zoom out function came in handy many times here and it was great not having to wait a few seconds to capture each picture (my old phone was getting slow). Also, the photos here are mostly unedited save for some cropping and alignment. Though it wasn't all bright and sunny when I visited Gyeongbokgung, I thought the original cloudy day lighting gave the pictures a very suitable dignified feel.

These short trees with flat tops were quite cute.

Many ins and outs to explore all over the place!

I got a little lost in back areas of the Gyeongbokgung. After going to the toilet and exploring the garden nearby it, I took the path that I thought would take me back to the entrance... but ended up back at the toilet. It took a bit more confused wandering before I orientated myself and found the way out, but this was actually an excuse to mention the toilet. Every single public toilet that I entered in Seoul/Incheon, whether in a park or subway or cafe, was impeccably clean. I found it super impressive that there weren't even any droplets or black shoeprints on the floor - a far cry to our own.

Hyangwonjeong - super pretty but I ended up walking around it three times when trying to find my way out.

At the end, I exited through the main gate of Gwanghwamun, following some of the royal guards on one of their ceremonies. It's a sign of the times (and I've been told that I was lucky) that I managed to get a full shot of Gwanghwamun in all its glory without a throng of tourists decorating the photo.

Conveniently trailing behind~

At Gwanghwamun

The next stop was the Bukchon Hanok Village and because I wasn't rushing for time, I decided to take a walk up the main road of Samcheong-ro. At that time, I didn't know that Samcheong-dong was a trendy cafe/restaurant area, I just wanted to look around and remember wondering why there were suddenly so many hip yet cozy-looking cafes everywhere. 

Oops, the tree is in the way but there were definite European vibes along this stretch.

This store selling ornamental chickens caught my eye and I went in but didn't buy anything. Still had much walking to do and didn't want to be carrying porcelain around.

The Hanok Village was on a hill so it was good that I already got to the top and could make my way down through the village. As these were real residences, there were signs everywhere requesting visitors to keep the volume down and respect the homeowners' privacy e.g. by not trying to open the doors and enter their houses.

Korean Kampung~

Was mildly tickled to see the traditional wooden doors fitted with modern digital locks.

I dropped by the Tteok Museum on a recommendation. It was a cozy place to hide from the wind for a while and appreciate the variety of colourful (wax) tteoks for every occasion and festival.

Then, it was time for the "next palace". Turns out that the large green area on the map (bigger than Gyeongbokgung) was made up of three separately ticketed sites: Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung and the Secret Garden. I entered from the main entrance to Changdeokgung. Overall, it seemed similar to Gyeongbokgung, just smaller.

Western-inspired drop-off point.

Long passageways at the courtyard peripheries. I didn't walk within those at Gyeongbokgung because it was too tiring to explore every inch of that huge place, so I made sure to do so here at Changdeokgung.

There was another ticket box at the entrance of Changgyeonggung after going past the Changdeokgung buildings. At that point I didn't realise that it was a totally different palace and assumed that it was some special inner grounds of the previous one. The walkaround within it actually reinforced that perception because the feeling was quite different from the first 2. Instead of sprawling grandeur, it felt more like a really nice park sprinkled with artifacts and special architecture.

The entrance led to the high path overlooking the main palace buildings, and I decided to explore the back areas before looping back here. Saw at least 2 couples in hanboks getting their photoshoots done!

Walked around this man-made pond with my coat buttoned up all the way coz the wind here was on full blast mode.

Garden and greenhouse with UK vibes~

Haminjeong - open pavillion great for chilling.

Couldn't resist taking pictures of the many many cats I saw on the grounds of Changgyeonggung! The cutest were the white and grey-patched family (saw 5 of them running around) and the unbothered ginger loaf napping under the shrub next to the pond. To quote le sis, I "travels all the way to Korea, takes pictures of cats" xD.

I didn't get to visit the Secret Garden because only guided tours were allowed and I missed the last English tour, so that's definitely something for a future trip. And in any case, it might have been a stretch to squeeze it in even for me.

It was close to dinnertime at the end of the main agenda, but I wanted to check out the SMTOWN&Store just a station away at Dongdaemun before calling it a day. The store mostly stocked previous seasons' merchandise and I bought some just for the fun of it. Dongdaemun seemed like a chic place (at least judging from the Dongdaemun Design Plaza), but I decided to leave the rest of it for next time.

Passed by some quirky art at the DDP. If you clap into certain sound receivers, the light trees respond with a little shimmy. It was more amusing for me to watch other people clapping at the trees though xD.

So I thought the day would end with dinner but it was hardly 7.30pm when I finished my dabao-ed tteokbokki and pork skewer from a street vendor back in hotel. During the planning phases I imagined that I could have fun days and restful evenings watching shows on my laptop but that doesn't seem to be my style after all haha (as long as the weather was bearable). So I added one more inner layer because the cold wind had become even more biting in the evening and set off for the Cheonggyecheon, about a 15-minute walk away. 

In my previous work, the Cheonggyecheon was a frequently mentioned site lol. The stream used to be covered by a road before that was demolished to recover the space for the enjoyment of the public. Perfect for an after-dinner stroll!

Unsurprisingly, I clocked the highest step count of the trip (and probably in my life so far) that day: 34k, with over 25km covered!

Day 4. 19 Mar Saturday

It snowed~ Probably can blame climate change unless this was somehow normal for spring in Seoul. The temps were consistently quite low (below 10°C in the day) during the week I was there and people were all still decked out in coats, but this day was the coldest. I'd wanted to go to Yeouido in the morning but decided it might be better to huddle indoors for a while.

There was even an emergency alert the night before, one of the many I received on the trip. All of them were marked "Extreme" (so I got a bit of a shock for the first one I received) but they were mostly just routine updates on the daily covid case count in whichever area I happened to be in. This was the odd one out:

I could understand the first sentence without Papago: "snow expected from tonight till tomorrow".

View from the hotel room that morning.

I took my time pondering what to do with the unplanned blank while chewing some bread and eggs from 7-11. In the end, I decided to hop over to Haru & One Day (Suju Donghae's cafe) in Seongsu-dong and hope for the weather to turn. 

Homely interior that I'm sure would be packed on weekends.

The weather did cooperate so Seoul Forest it was! I attempted to take a bus there, but must've gotten on the wrong loop or something because it went another way at a fork and never turned back. I had to get off and walk to take the subway back in the direction I came from -.-

Happens that the building housing the SM Entertainment office is near the Seoul Forest station, so I walked in for a look and was greeted by huge panel displays of Suju's latest single album and music video, freshly released around that time!

Seoul Forest was rather dreary and slushy. It probably would be a lot prettier around time of writing since spring has come for real and filled it with colour. I was aware that my visit was about 2 weeks too early for the cherry blossoms. It would have been a bonus to an already fulfilling trip, but seems I can't have everything and will have to go back anyways xD

It was already a few weeks into spring, but seems like the trees and the flowers still wanted to sleep in haha.

Interestingly, there was a deer corral in the Eco Park area. The stag just kept staring at the does from its side of the fence xD.

After some wandering around, I ended up on a footbridge towards the Hangang Waterside park where all gloomy feelings from the weather just melted away. 

Maybe when I come back to Seoul one day, I can see this place in either bright pink or yellow instead of Lone-lands brown.

But this made it all worth while.

There's something about open spaces near water bodies that lifts my spirits and the Hangang is MASSIVE. Like 1km wide. Our Singapore River really has nothing on it. I remember parking myself on a bench just to enjoy the view for a while before putting on some music and taking a walk eastwards to get back to the subway.

What a view! Btw, those speckles on the water were ducks, thousands of them! A grand flock for a grand river.

Feeling decidedly happy, it was time for me to head over to Coex for my second and final viewing of Fan Letter. The seats for that night's performance were completely sold out because there was another popular actor performing (Lee Kyuhyung, whose version of my second favourite song of the musical I have listened to many many times). For me, it was a superior performance to the one on 17 Mar. Firstly, my view was better even though my seat was about 10 rows further from the stage. It was the aisle seat so I had the full view of the stage and didn't have to try and view portions of it around someone's head. Secondly, it was the final performance for most of that night's cast and they really poured their hearts into it. 

The musical has very good songs (which was how I decided to watch it live in the first place), or at least they're the kind that I'd listen to in normal times, sort of like Wicked. The song that I enjoy above the others is 눈물이 나 (Tears (as in from joy)), because it's the only fully happy number in a musical that is rather intense and emotional. In that scene, the main character is bursting with joy as he meets his idol for the first time. What made it even better that night was that Ryeowook sang a different arrangement at two lines at the climax of the song:

목소리 멜로디 타자 소리 하모니

모든 풍경은 금빛으로 눈이 부셔

I think this is the real value of watching a live performance where the singer is skilled enough to change things up in a way that elevates the intent of the song. Reading some Korean reviews afterwards, it seems like this was the only time this happened. That night's performance was not recorded, so I consider myself lucky to have been able to watch it and want to remember how he sung those lines forever. 

I tested out the extent of my phone's zoom-in again and the results were not great, so I mostly sat back and enjoyed the closing song and speeches.

One final group hug/merry-go-round before leaving the stage :')

Fulfilled a key objective of this trip, and every last bit was worth it!

After the musical, I stopped by at the Seoul Station Lottemart. Another key objective of the trip was to bring back a goody bag for le sis' birthday. It's a seemingly inane thing but I didn't foresee that it would be so difficult to schedule a slot to visit a supermarket. Guess I'm that uninterested in shopping hahaha. Good thing this Lottemart was open till midnight and I managed to carefully select just enough goodies to fill a reuseable Fairprice bag. There, I encountered Singaporeans pushing a full shopping cart of stuff xD.

The goody bag courtesy of Lottemart, 7-11 and CU. Contents artfully arranged by le sis on the floor back home. I was quite pleased to see that only a handful of stuff were available in local stores when I went scouting.

Day 5, 20 Mar Sunday

The first thing to do was to clear my PDT ART at Jongro Yonsei ENT Clinic which was open on Sundays. The registration queue was about 40 people deep when I got there, but it moved fast because the receptionist brutally skipped numbers if there was no response within about 5 seconds. All-in-all, I got my negative result about 1.5h after entering the clinic.  

I'm #4 on the list here: 클라리스, which reads Keullariseu. Below me was a Ricardo (리카르도/Rikareudo). Cheap thrills from knowing how to read my own name in Hangeul hahaha.

That PDT memo was like half the ticket home so I literally breathed easier after getting it - no more worries and double-masking! And so, there was no better time for a hike.

Since I didn't prepare specifically for hiking (how to train while hiding from covid at home) I just decided to pick something extremely doable. So the Achasan-Yongmasan trail it was, as all the online guides said it was easy. The hike was also slotted on Sunday since hiking is a favourite pastime of Koreans and there would be many people around. While travelling solo there are places where I don't want to be alone alone. Normally it would do good to avoid crowds in covid but this was why I did the PDT early haha. And true enough, the trail was very lively and packed with ahjussis/ahjummas and families with small kids.

For a semi-unplanned thing, the hike went pretty well! After a few greyish days, the weather couldn't be more perfect! In fact it was probably the best weather of the entire trip. And though it was a short and easy hike, the views were nothing to scoff about. 

Easy stairs near the start. Most of the Achasan trail was as gentle, but because I hadn't been exercising much it wasn't completely effortless for me xD

Different terrains including this sort of hemp path that was also present in many of the other parks/trails I visited.

There were rocky sections too. At a particularly steep point there was a choice between the rock and stairs. I chose the stairs for that coz I was in sports shoes.

There were many points where I stopped to look at the view (and rest) and this was from the Hangang viewing point on the way up Achasan.

One funny thing was that I totally missed the peak of Achasan (must've been inconspicuous). While following the signs and the crowd in general, I found myself at Achasan Fort 4, which was already on the way to the Yongmasan peak about 800m away.

Somewhere around Achasan Fort 4 where I was being confused about where I'd find the peak. I didn't bother doubling back because the signs said I'd already passed it. 

I don't remember much of the final 800m except that there were lots of stairs. But eventually, I got to the peak and joined a line of people waiting for their proof shot.

The very obvious marker at Yongmasan peak (Yongmabong)! The group behind me kindly offered to help when they saw me trying to use the free handphone stand at the photo point. 

The peak was rather crowded with people resting and having a snack, so I moved on and came upon the main Yongmasan viewing point. I must've spent a long time there just soaking everything in :D

모든 풍경은 금빛으로 눈이 부셔
The whole landscape dazzles with gold

The viewing point faced west, so this was roughly the view towards the northwest and it made me think what a huge city Seoul was. I was later surprised to discover that Seoul is not bigger than Singapore, just denser.

View towards the southwest. The main river visible in the picture is not even the Hangang but the Jungrangcheon if I'm reading the map correctly. It's a tributary of the Hangang which is the huge patch of water that can be seen by zooming into the southwest.

Eventually it was time to descend. People who prefer more challenge can choose to hike the opposite way i.e. up Yongmasan, towards Achasan and down the gentle way. On hindsight, this might have been a slightly better option. Going up the steep side might be painful but at least it would be fun. Going down it was painful and not fun. The descent began with some stairs (if going up, they would be endless stairs) but was dominated by very steep rocky terrain with fixed ropes. I was happy with the ropes but because they were on the righthand-side, I ended up going down left leg first most of the way. 

If it looks nice and flat, it's an optical illusion. Maybe rotating about 30 degrees anti-clockwise would be more representative haha.

My left knee was rather upset by the end of it. The great thing about this trail, as with many other things in Seoul, was that it started and ended near a subway station. I made my way over gingerly to the Yongmasan station while contemplating how to survive the next 1.5 days.

It's worth mentioning here that I relied a lot on the subway for getting around. By extension, this meant putting in a lot of leg power too. Similar to my London memories, I feel that we are blessed in Singapore to have an abundance of escalators serving almost every exit of every station (even if some are only up-riding ones). I must've climbed/descended over a hundred flights of stairs in those 7 days, and walked a few km worth in those underground connections. The 300m between the 2 Tampines stations has nothing on the long passageways of the Seoul subway system, not just between lines but within stations from platform to exit. I found this similar to but even more intense than HK. All this made no small contribution to my fantastic step count haha, and which was why I had to find a solution for the knee.

I'd planned to visit one of Suju Yesung's cafes for a post-hike teatime since they were only about 2 stops away, but both were way too crowded. The entire hike took about 2.5h so it was only about mid-afternoon at that point. 

In principle, the weather was too good to waste. So, even with the sore leg, I revived the previously shelved plan to visit the Yeouido Hangang Park. Anything to do with the Hangang, especially in such good weather = no ragrets! The place was bustling but the best thing was that even though there were sooo many people around, there was enough space for everyone. 

Glad for a clear day and a great view of the cityline at the back!

More public seating, where there were probably Koreans eating their favourite ramyeon :p

I took a walk and saw many people doing all sorts of things, from BMX stunts to flying kites to sparring (like muay thai) to feeding seagulls to filming an MV (or at least I guessed it was, because the guy was dancing and lipsyncing). At a random point I stopped to sit down and reply insta messages. This took some effort because, even though the pictures don't show it, the wind was quite cold and made my fingers go numb very quickly.

Walked this way down to soak up some more sun and atmosphere!

Enough space and sunlight for everyone~

There was also a pasar malam selling the usual ramyeon, corndogs and skewers but I had a specific plan for dinner that night. Thus I headed back to Myeongdong to patronise the No Brand Burger outlet almost just downstairs from my hotel. That night I had the best appetite of the entire trip for which I credit the hike and the relief from the negative ART!

Got back around sunset which painted some life into the quiet streets! 

That night's dinner was inspired by the pre-bedtime mukbang videos le sis and I like to watch. Ordered ala carte at NBB (the drinks were bought from elsewhere) because it was a key objective to try the cheese balls hahaha. Verdict: they were well worth it for the cheese but I'd have preferred if they weren't coated in sugar :x I ate the first one as is, scraped the sugar off the second and gave up and peeled the third open just for the cheese. The burger and wings were good too, as was life :D

Day 6, 21 Mar Monday

Lazed in a bit, plainly because the downstairs pharmacy only opened at 10am and I needed to buy a knee guard before attempting to go anywhere.

I'd planned to take one day trip out of Seoul and the choices were either Suwon and Incheon. The historic fortress at Suwon caught my attention while researching but to balance out the experiences in this trip, I decided to leave that for next time and head to the port city of Incheon instead. It's conveniently connected by subway (right at the end of Line 1) and the journey felt very similar to travelling home from NTU haha. 

The attractions in Incheon were all conveniently bunched near the train station so, as usual, I walked from one to another starting from Chinatown. The main gate was just opposite the station and it was unmissable.

Yup, definitely Chinatown, 中华街.

Paint the town red! Though it was Monday blues for everyone not on holiday xD. Most of the buildings around looked like Chinese restaurants.

Encountered stairs once again but at least these were pretty stairs.

Met a line of zodiac statues partway up the stairs, looking all serious and dignified...

And then there was the rooster, clearly stunned and unable to speak. Btw, the description reads 酉鸡 although it first registered as 酒鸡 (drunken chicken) in my mind xD.

The stairs connected to the Jayu (Freedom) Park. Throughout Incheon, there were many statues and monuments paying homage to both the Korean and US Navies and their roles in the Korean War. Good thing most of them came with English descriptions so I could learn a thing or two. Hopefully the next time I visit South Korea, my Korean reading comprehension skills would have improved enough to apply to these things instead of having to rely on the presence of English.

Statue of US General Douglas MacArthur standing tall in Jayu Park.

Worth the climb - the view of the harbour.

The next attraction of Songwol-dong Fairytale Village was a short walk away. This attraction spanned quite a large area so I meandered around in a general downhill direction. I had wayyy too many photos to choose from for this place haha, and even then I think there were parts that I missed out since there were many parallel pathways.

I liked that many of the decorations were in 3D and it's like the designers basically spammed all their childhood memories of Western fairytales, Disney movies, classic cartoons and added a whole load of imagination to create so many kid-friendly designs. 

Rarely anything ordinary - the buildings were all either specially designs or had decorated facades. The one built to resemble a palace on the right was actually a One Piece cafe (spot the Straw Hat jolly roger?) though sadly it wasn't open.  

Some of the simpler and yet eye-catching displays.

The last stop at Incheon was Wolmido, an island just a little off the mainland and easily accessible by bus from the train station. I got off near the seafront and walked along the Culture Street filled with cafes and seafood stalls selling "jogae clams". Didn't get to find out what those were coz I was attracted to a snack stand selling cheese hotdogs and had one of those for lunch instead xD.

Nice seaside vibes~ The monorail tracks reminded me of Sentosa but I don't think it was in operation.

Snack stand where my basic reading skills came in handy for recognising the 치즈핫도그 (chijeuhatdogeu) prominently displayed at the front! The people at the left were enjoying the steaming eomuk soup which also looked very nice in the cold weather - shall try that next time round.

The 치즈핫도그 was big and worth the ~S$4.50 for the generous amount of cheese! Another trip objective fulfilled here haha. On this trip I got to try cheese balls and a cheese hotdog, just missing long cheese sticks which will have to wait for the next visit.

Sea view for a change! The sun was shy that day though it appeared from time to time.

Not forgetting the very cute location proofshot.

It was actually quite cold and windy at the Culture Street so I admired the sea view for as long as the cheese hotdog lasted before cutting through the Wolmi Theme Park to get inland. This little seaside theme park reminded me of the one at Brighton in the UK and the old Escape theme park in Pasir Ris. Since it was a Monday, the theme park was unsurprisingly deserted except for one particular ride.

Almost everyone present in the theme park could be found at the Disco Pang Pang, a ride I recognised from a variety show. It was controlled by an operator-commentator who would try to spin and bump people out of their seats while they clung on for dear life. The ride itself was full and there were many additional people gathered around to watch the show xD. 

The yellow banner asked for cooperation because of ongoing filming for JTBE TV. I found the channel here and aside from being quite amusing it gives a sense of how violent the bumps can be. 

Definitely not a smooth ride xD. Didn't get to see anyone flying from their seat though!

The last thing to do at Wolmido was to visit the Wolmi Park (as in the kind with trees). I wasn't in any condition to go up (or more of to come down) Wolmisan so I contented myself with exploring the sea level areas. As with Seoul Forest, it probably would've been prettier a few weeks later in the real spring. The lampposts doubled up as speakers which played music and I even recognised a few songs while walking around. 

The water features in the park were mostly dried up. Not sure if this was a factor of the season/weather or water saving but the water would have made things much prettier. 

Not quite a spring look, but still impressive.

A very early sneak peek of cherry blossoms!

There was another deer corral at the park and rabbits too! A bunch of them came dashing over when I approached the enclosure, which was really cute to see.

After Wolmi Park, I took a quick detour to view some Naval monuments before concluding the Incheon tour and returning to Seoul.

While I hadn't planned anything specific for dinner, I thought it'd be nice to have a drink since it was the last night. (I only had beer on the first and last nights btw, was too busy for alcohol throughout this trip xD.) So, the Pasir Ris girl's habit of slotting things along the way of a long journey took over and I dropped by the youthful neighbourhood of Hongdae. I'd originally planned to save Hongdae for a future trip with friends, since it's known for its pubs and nightlife, but it was well-worth the peek this time. It was probably the liveliest place I went to in the trip, and note this was on a Monday night.

Definitely more alive than Myeongdong!

Found some really nice street art along the side streets.

The pub that I was eyeing didn't seem to be open, so I decided to go for chimaek (chicken and beer) instead. I'd previously passed by a whole stretch of chimaek restaurants somewhere in Myeongdong but my appetite was never good enough. Korean food isn't always convenient for solo small eaters haha. The smallest portion on the menu was for 1-2 people so I got that along with 500cc of draft Cass beer. The chicken (original flavour) was good but of course I couldn't finish it and asked to takeaway about half of it.

On the other hand, I easily finished the beer because it was smooth and tasted really good, sort of like a fruity cereal! As always, draft>bottled>canned. So I ordered another 500cc xD. Note to future self: drinking lots of cold beer in cold weather makes one very cold. My teeth were even chattering as I brisk walked back to the subway like a frozen penguin.

The final dinner in Seoul :')

Day 7, 22 Mar Tuesday

Since the flight was at 4.30pm, I had the morning to find breakfast and do some final exploration at Namdaemun Market. Again, it was quiet though the stalls were all set up for business.

Random shot from the fresh food section of the market.

Breakfast was a honey hotteok coz it was the only flavour I could read out of the 2 options xD. It was quite good! Not as oily or sweet as I thought it might be.

I'd mostly packed the night before so after some final stops at 7-11/CU to pick up some perishables for the goody bag, I checked out and headed to the airport slightly earlier than planned. Not a bad thing though, because there was already a long queue of people at the counter by the time I got there. I still had time for a quick lunch afterwards before flying home~

I joined the queue slightly before 1.35pm (3h before the flight) when the counter opened. It moved steadily but it took me 1h to get to the counters as everyone had to have their vax certs and PDT memos checked.

Some covid-related bits

And that's a wrap for the fun stuff! Now we come to some background that can't not be talked about.

I first entertained the idea of travelling again back in Oct 2021 when things seemed to be looking up. If I made it to Seoul in Jan/Feb, I could've watched more than one musical. But that would require the stars to align and of course omicron had to appear in Nov and throw the universe into disarray. A colleague said: "there's light at the end of the tunnel, but it's a huge fire!" Hahahaha oh well. So I shelved my thoughts and excitement. Fortunately, come Jan, omicron was proving to be a kinder variant than delta and on CNY, I started planning. 

People have asked me whether the planning was tedious or complicated. I think it wasn't so for me because (1) I started early with clear intentions and (2) information was very clearly laid out online. Or maybe it's coz my occupation trains me well for logistical escapades xD. 

That said, I was genuinely nervous about the covid situation over there. Things were quite similar in SG and Seoul for some time, but SG peaked and declined earlier while the numbers in KR just kept reaching new heights. With some turns of fate, I pushed back the dates from the original plan of early Mar but the situation still wasn't improving. Rather than being scared of covid as an illness, I was way more concerned about the possibility of turning positive overseas. [At time of writing back home, I'd already gone through covid and it was indeed mild and inconsequential. Probably coz I'd already suffered in advance through my 3 moderna jabs.]

How I decided to go in the end was to ask myself how much I would regret not taking the chance sitting in front of me. The musical was ending, and if not for it I could have gone to Seoul at any other time, but it was an anchoring objective after all. And not to mention, I wanted to experience travelling in covid, just for experience's sake. So the answer was that I'd have regretted very much for a very long time. 

So I committed to the trip, which meant accepting a few potential scenarios that could happen even after taking all possible precautions:

1. Testing positive in SG (whether shortly before the trip or on the PDT itself)
2. Testing positive on the OAT in KR
3. Testing positive on the PDT in KR

#1 would be plain disappointing but postponement wouldn't be costly. KR didn't accept recovery memos btw. #2 would be a special, laughable kind of sad: fly all the way there just to be quarantined for the trip duration. #3 wouldn't be too bad, at least it would've happened after having some good fun haha. It would just require explaining to people back home, dipping more into my (plentiful) leave and then rolling with the system.

With that understanding, there was nothing left but to actually take all possible precautions. Before the trip, I left home only when needed. According to google, the best time to take vitamin C is in the morning, half an hour before eating anything else to maximise absorption. So I did that before and throughout the trip. Made sure to sanitise my hands before every meal and after touching stuff. Tightened my masks. Sanitised my clothes and bag and anything I bought back at the hotel every night in Seoul. 

The first time I could actually believe that I was going on a holiday was when I received my negative PDT results on the day before the flight. I was so so relieved. I think I used to be an optimistic person but the endless plot twists at work have had a hand in changing this. 

Thankfully none of those sorry scenarios came to pass in the end. But in truth, I had quite a poor appetite for most of the trip, even with all the delicious-looking things I came across/was recommended. I attributed this to some low level stress over the possibility of turning positive, which was proven since my appetite came back after I received my negative ART result for flying home haha. This wasn't a big issue since I prioritised sightseeing and took food as fuel, mainly settling for cafe food or snacks. Probably will get judged for this but I'm no foodie xD!

As fate would have it, my pushed-back trip dates ended up being even better than the original! Many of the covid restrictions in SG and KR, which were already progressively being lifted since I started planning, had lightened by another bound by that point. I didn't have to do any self-ART while over there and could go into restaurants/attractions freely. Almost like normal again, except for wearing masks (which I was glad that Koreans still did). And as for the few key objectives, the delay was nothing but beneficial. 

Cases went wheeeeee↗↗↗ while I was there. This chart shows the daily national total towards which the case count in Seoul contributed about 20%. I remember receiving an Emergency alert: Extreme on 17 Mar saying that there were 125k cases in Seoul.

Cost analysis

Just coz I was curious haha. 

First, the key costs. The SQ flights were ~S$670 while the 3-star hotel accommodation was about S$55/night, totaling slightly under S$400. Travel insurance was mandatory under the VTL, but I would've gotten it anyway - S$70. 

Side point about the insurance: while every agency worth its salt offered covid coverage, it was important to scrutinise and compare the policy wordings. Otherwise there would be risk of having to write creative, argumentative emails if anything happened. I had a leg-up from a friend's compilation, but it was worth thinking through and researching how things would pan out if I caught covid over there. Just a hint: quarantine/isolation in a facility and treatment in hospital are different things.

This leads me to the covid-specific spending for the PDT PCR in SG, OAT PCR in KR, Korean SIM card with data and local number (still useful but not necessary by the time I went), night 0 at hotel to ensure that I had a room to wait out for the OAT results (would've been charged for early check in anyway so better to guarantee it) and the PDT ART in KR. These totaled ~S$420 or almost 20% of the overall trip costs. The covid testing costs already seemed to have fallen over time when compared with some of the older VTL guides I read. 

Was it worth it? The extra S$420? Well, on the other hand and as many people have exclaimed to me, the flights and the hotel stay were cheap. So thanks to economics, I think things balanced out! 

This trip deserved a no-scrimp, do-whatever-I-want kind of attitude, but even then there was nothing very interesting in my personal expenses lol. The musical tickets cost KRW 99,000 each. Oh, and I spent a total of KRW 39,000 on my T-money card. That's over S$40 worth of top-ups for running all over the city haha. 

For comparison, all past trips I've taken since starting work averaged about S$600 in total, thanks to budget flights and youth hostels. I chose to stay in a hotel this time because the higher cleanliness ratings were very important for peace of mind, not coz I thought it was time for an upgrade haha. I think the usual options will be back on the table when things get back to normal, but it remains to be seen whether my choices will reverse heh. 

Anyway, the expenses can always be earned back but the past two years of youth lost to covid will never return. 

In conclusion

I fully intended this to be a solo trip and managed to do the things I wanted to do and much more! It's amazing that Seoul is about 100km² smaller than Singapore but still somehow manages to fit in 10 million people, that huge river and many mountains, parks and palaces all over the place. So actually, there's still a lot left in Seoul to fill many future trips haha. Some of these include visiting Namsan, the Secret Garden, bar hopping in Hongdae, Itaewon at night, SMTOWN Museum (whenever it comes back), Dongdaemun and other tourist activities like visiting the DMZ... And there's still the rest of the country. Next time, I'll come with company to share the fun and food!

I'll definitely be back to explore Seoul and other parts of South Korea. And the next trip will be in even better times :D

Sunset at the end.

-끝-

This year

… work took up a lot of my time. 

Well, still gotta make sure that "2021" takes its place in the sidebar. Not that this year was uneventful. In fact it's been overly exciting, but mostly thanks to <see above>. So that leaves precious few other things to cover, mish-mashed below. 

After leading a generally active lifestyle for years, I realise how much I've taken physical fitness for granted. It does take maintenance which previously was always sort of naturally built into schedule. Until this year. Few months of spending excessive time in a chair = astounding muscle atrophy. Luckily, this robust, vaccine-hating body of mine doesn't fall sick easily even from the lack of keeping in shape. But still, some things dawned on me, like how easy it would be to develop a chronic disease later in life and why one of my grandmas can't walk anymore. Scary as one gets less and less young... The thing is, discipline, energy and time all tap on shared quota and cardio hardly gets priority over whatever measly remaining amount (because unfortunately I don't enjoy it). It's an excuse but also reality. But then I really miss having springy legs and no issues opening tight jar caps so maybe I might actually make a new year's resolution this time.

I found a new way to spend money hobby. For some background, it was early 2010 when I heard an interesting song playing during JC orientation and asked a friend what language it was in. Through the years since then, I've been a more or less consistent follower of this ancient Kpop group called Super Junior. They have (hundreds of) songs for every season and are super entertaining. In Mar this year, they released their 10th album. I decided to buy it. In physical form. All 13 versions. Then, I also decided to collect their previous albums to make things more complete, including (most) subunits and solos, all versions from back then and into the future. So of course my parents were intrigued when I requested cupboard space for this "sudden interest". I told them it was actually for 10 years of things I didn't ask them to buy xD I'd always wanted to start a collection with key considerations being cost and space. This was definitely an unexpected landing point but not a bad choice I think. I know, there really is no practical use for these things since the music can be found on Spotify/Youtube, but... who says happiness can't be bought? Hahaha. As for Suju, I hope they keep going strong. 

Now coming back to real life, I learnt quite early on the sad feeling of having plans spoilt. So for convenience and practicality, I took to roaming alone much more than before. Random solo meals and climbs tend to materialise whenever weekends are weekends and leave is leave, usually decided no earlier than the day before. There's a small forest/park just 10-mins walk from home that's become a sort of favourite place all through covid. If possible to squeeze in time before the sun sets, I go strolling in there in slippers among everyone else in hiking/sports gear. Long bus rides and purposely-longer walking routes are nice too, anything to spend a bit more time outside to listen to music and stay away from the chair in front of the laptop. 

Of course I don't mind spending time before a screen for some things. When it comes to entertainment choices, sunshine and rainbows are greatly preferred. These days, "don't need to use brain" is also an important condition. So there's no better use of a Disney+ subscription than to dive into an assortment of cartoons and MCU content. Other than that, K-variety shows (especially Suju stuff) also help with covid boredom. I still don't do dramas though. Incidentally, le sis had an interesting way of recommending Squid Game: "it's sad and dark, you should watch it!!" *narrows eyes* I didn't follow up.

While I don't think I'm unsuited for lone wolf operations, it's easy to remember the happiest days of this year because of the presence of company. In other years, "overjoyed" probably wouldn't be how I'd describe going for a meal/drink/badminton session/house visit/pet playdate, but here we are. I also recently rediscovered the world of difference between climbing alone and with friends. Thankfully, there has been some breathing space this year end, mainly because of having to clear leave en-masse (in real-life terms, work part-time). So by all accounts, Dec has been a very happy month, probably the happiest of this year! 

So that's been 2021. The funny thing is that at the end it kinda feels like deja vu from 2020, right down to the +5-pax-max xmas family dinner, meeting bunches of friends and ex-/colleagues (now a lot more ex-) all over the place and tomorrow's free SMTOWN online concert LOL.

Recently while I was taking my time to get home, this song came up on shuffle. My current proficiency in Korean is rudimentary at best and I hadn't read the lyrics before, so I was surprised when one full line registered, clear as a bell: 

"이제 걱정 하지마 앞엔 좋은 날이 올 거야." 

Don't worry, good day(s) will come. 

2022, I'm counting on you! Happy New Year! 

The favourite place

short storays

Thought I'd better exercise my writing department since I've really been feeling the rust. It's been months since the last one. So here's some (nice) stuff that's happened of late especially since the bad news of 2020 just keeps one-upping each other.

+++

armbrella

The vicinity of my workplace, despite its bountiful offerings, isn't the best place to find yourself when it rains. Particularly if you find yourself in lack of an umbrella with curtains of rain covering every possible exit. Just for illustration, there was once an attempt to Grab back to office from a distance of about 400m away which unfortunately was thwarted by surge pricing. But hey, if it really came to it I could still run.

So some things really help with perspective. There are people with disabilities who regularly make their way across the area. Some of them rely on movement aids that require the use of both hands (e.g. wheelchairs, walking frames). This means that they wouldn't be able to shelter themselves and make haste out of the rain even if there was an umbrella present, without something like a third arm. The good thing is that this third arm can come from someone else. I happened to be around on two such rainy occasions (once involved, once in vicinity), and I think all parties involved got out significantly less wet than they could've been.

With everything that's happening, kindness is a particularly nice thing not just to receive, but to witness and play a part in.

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sighting

Earlier this year, I'd had the luxury of saying yes to some random jios, one of which led me to taking part in a rather special amazing race. Amazing Raise organised by the SAVH to be exact, where sighted and visually impaired participants race together. With the generous timings and unique sensory games (pretty fun actually) it felt more like a chill morning exploration albeit with a very different range of companions. My team even had the benefit of having a tour guide as one of the participants, so safe to say we got to our destinations all right (all key cultural locations) with added storyline benefits.

The thing I was most surprised by was how closely intertwined sight and intuition really are. From giving my blindfolded partner jolts of fright during training by forgetting to mention slight changes in gradient/terrain to trying to indicate the presence of obstacles by pointing them out to my visually handicapped team mates. The problem I guess wasn't a lack of understanding (in 2 different senses), but the fact that sighted people really can be so very unused to the extent of the implications of visual impairments. The thing about "sighting" for others is that, more than just "seeing", it's a package that includes touch, verbalisation, situational awareness etc. Which is why the training session was important and even after that I found myself lapsing into saying things like "over there... oh wait".

Something of a realisation that I thought was good to have. Aside from having a fun time, I now know the proper way of guiding a VH person around now (no more tugging, as I've been guilty of previously oops). One more thing that I was glad for is that I'm old enough to know the feel of First Series coins. Serious.

+++

the giant smartphone

We got a new Android TV, since the old (unsmart) one decided to go liney. Short of saying it's been life-changing, it's the first time the large screen in the living room has gotten so much attention in a while. Ok fine, lately everyone's been watching the nightly news thanks to covid and all sorts of international excitements, but that aside... Pardon the excitement, coz this was one of those things that, for me, went from dunno-what-the-fuss-it to never-knew-I-needed. Apps! Cool remote with qwerty keyboard on the back! Internet access! Coloured backlights! Simply put, in an age where channels 5 and 8 just don't cut it anymore, the TV essentially needed to become a giant tablet/smartphone of sorts to grab its share of attention.

Anyway, the whole family got bored with Netflix (yes yes I know) so the subscription got canned after one paid month. While the wait for Disney+ is on I'm trying to avoid visiting dubious streaming sites coz of a niggling concern that the TV might not be built to withstand viruses. So in the meantime, just appreciating having Youtube on an extra-large screen along with the upgraded sound system. One of the simple pleasures in life is to loop playlists of old Jay Chou MVs on the TV :)

+++

crossing paths

A cat and I once met at right angles. Thanks to a nonchalant bush, neither saw the other until toes were in nigh danger of a mutual stepping-upon. After a stunned second, in which human and cat mirrored the other's expression, we each performed a dainty sidestep and went our separate ways.

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Today's sunset, featuring some interesting blending. Not quite a silver lining but a reddish-purple one--going for a stronger look perhaps.

32h in JB

22 Jun 2019
0800 - reach kranji station (slightly late), cab to woodlands checkpoint
0815 - reach woodlands checkpoint
0845 - clear immigrations, march across causeway
0915 - reach JB checkpoint, join 0.5 speed queue
1045 - clear immigrations, grab to find food
1115 - dimsum at Restoran Tasixi, grab to Raffles Suites
1230 - laze
1330 - finish lazing, grab to Paradigm Mall
1345 - wayfind to Camp5 Climbing Gym
1415 - boulder on fresh new sandpaper surfaces and tiles, top rope, lead
1900 - finish climbing, find dinner, procure weird green milk tea from Blackball
2100 - toy story 4, grab back
2300 - shower, boil water, attempt to read
0030 - lights out
0830 - ignore alarm
0930 - grab to Taman Sutera Utama for breakfast, grab to Paradigm Mall
1030 - lead, boulder, campus
1415 - finish climbing, find lunch, be unimpressed by A&W
1545 - grab to JB checkpoint
1615 - find the queue, join the queue
1715 - clear immigrations, figure out the bus queue, be the first up an empty CW1
1800 - reach woodlands checkpoint
1830 - clear immigrations, be the last up a packed CW1
1845 - reach kranji station
23 Jun 2019

Key stats:
- party size: 6
- grabs taken: 7
- hrs in immigrations queue: 3.75
- hrs climbing: 8.5
- bloody flappers: 1
- abrasions: countless
- root beer floats: 5
- aircon temperature: 16 deg C
- total spent: S$65

Mt. Siguniang (四姑娘山) 2019

This trip was quite the adventure, even if just a short one cushioned with plenty of traveling time. We spent 11-16 Jan in the Sichuan Province with the ultimate aim of scaling Mt. Siguniang. It was a great trip all round! Especially now that I think back about it in relatively comfortable settings.

My travel buddies were HY and JY, both great friends and great photographers. As I'll be relying heavily on their shots to tell this story, I'd like to give large credit and thanks to both of them! They are the reason I actually appear in many of the photos here and also how I ended the trip with a trove of potential profile pics to choose from haha.

But really, those breathtaking views under the vast blue sky were worth the bitter cold and equally breathtaking climb. Truly the kind of experience worth having, and hiking is pretty fun after all!

Planning and Preparations

To rewind a little, Mt Siguniang, literally "four sisters mountain" has four corresponding peaks. We'd planned to summit Dafeng peak (大峰), the "eldest sister" which at about 5025m is the shortest and easiest one. [The "youngest sister" had one heck of a growth spurt to 6250m, so I guess seniority has nothing to do with height hurhur.] Base camp stands at an elevation of 4300m. But the whopper came midway through planning when we found out that temperatures would reach as low as -21 deg C on the mountain.

So of course I was slightly concerned about all this. Physical fitness wasn't a problem, but I couldn't really see how to train for the altitude and that kind of cold. The highest elevation I'd ever been before this trip was something like 500m. As for coldest... well there was that one climbing trip on exchange which included camping at -5 deg C. Even though I distinctly remember that trip being "way too cold to be fun", it at least provided some basis for extrapolation. Training-wise, there was nothing much to do other than go up and down my block with a weighted pack over Dec 2018. That period was also spent cobbling together my best protection for extreme cold and getting really hyped up for the trip. In no time, 2019 swept in and it was time for some climbing of a different sort.

Prologue

After an uneventful flight and first night in Chengdu, the adventure really began.

Ok la, not totally uneventful. We had the fortune of sitting on the right (left) side to capture a great sunset along the way.

We took a ~4h bus journey out of Chengdu and got our first taste of altitude shortly after arriving in Siguniangshan Town (aka. Rilong Town), situated at an elevation of about 3200m. That simple stair climb to our room at the hostel's 4th floor somehow managed to feel like a trip to Bukit Timah. But I guess this was to be expected, and I was glad to have been dutifully taking the AMS pills...

Nice, welcoming exterior.

Strings of Tibetan prayer flags just outside the entrance.

We stayed in Tea & Panda Hostel (茶语熊猫) except when up the mountain. Great choice! Because aside from the private bathroom, our room came with HEATED floors and HEATED blankets. Trust me, these are the loveliest things in the world after showering in a draughty bathroom in the middle of winter. The sheer helpfulness and hospitality of the hostel staff also made it really easy to get things done, including arranging for a guide to get us up the mountain. I guess, no matter how broken or strangely-accented, it helped that we could actually speak Mandarin (and help with translations for some ang mohs). But first we intended to go on an acclimatisation walk, so all it took was a phone call from the reception and a car showed up to take us to Shuangqiao Valley (双桥沟).

Not that we got much done that day as it was pretty late by the time we got out of the hostel. We ended up on a sort of bus tour around valley as it wouldn't have been possible to walk even part way (the trail is 30km long), with pit stops for taking photos and getting a taste of the climate.

My first time seeing a frozen lake, and everyone walked onto it blatantly ignoring the "湖面冰薄，禁止玩耍" sign.

With photogs around you get lots of random shots like this. With friends like mine you get lots of other photog-taking-photog shots too.

Dinner was a typical hotpot meal although we committed some drastic over-ordering. That night, the guide also  came to do a pre-hike briefing-inspection. We managed to convey our intentions to summit Dafeng peak and he proceeded to approve or disprove our individual pieces of clothing. Our tent and sleeping bags got the pass, thankfully. In case anyone is interested, since we've already taken the effort to find out through the use of Mandarin, the climbing permit is obtained at a sort of ticket hall at the foot of the mountain (CNY150 per pax) and we paid CNY500 for the guide and CNY500 for the horse.

Yes, the horse. The horse is important.

The Hike

The guide picked us up from the hostel at 9.30am the next day and helped with getting the permit. And then hike started with... stairs--a gentle but longgg stretch.

Terrain 1: Stairs. Useful for some last-minute acclimatisation.

Terrain 2: Snowy slopes. Pretty shady, and the transition to the next terrain was a bit of a surprise.

The stairs ended at a ticket barrier, beyond which lay a sort of snow globe scene which was how I imagined most of the hike would look. Nope. After a relatively short, crunchy climb we emerged onto wide open meadows worthy of LOTR orc hunting. But as much as I could imagine Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli racing past, I think we all weren't in much of a mood for running. Remember that we started at an elevation of 3200m at the town. So even though the gradient was kind for most of the approach, probably not steep enough to break a sweat if done at sea level, the gentlest of slopes were enough to get the heart working. At this point, the other two decided to let go of their packs--and here's where the horse comes in again.

The sun-soaked start of the rest of the way!

The horse (which turned out to be two horses, collectively known as 白龙 as it wasn't clear which one the guide was referring to) which cost CNY500 to rent was an essential feature of our hike. Without them I think our chances of success would've been below zero because we'd have collapsed on the starting stairs. We began the hike with only our personal packs as the tent, sleeping bags, tripods and other assorted gear had already been packed into a neat 17kg pack for one horse to take up the mountain for us. The second horse came with a saddle (hmm...) and had a bit of load added to it at the start of the meadows (I kept my pack on as I had no heavy camera gear to manage, so it was pretty ok). And thus, with a sudden surge of energy, we carried on.

白龙 #1, with me for scale. The packhorses there were all of the short but sturdy-looking kind.

I didn't actually have much hiking experience before this trip, other than day trips around some hilly areas in Malaysia and the UK. So I decided to be cautious as I didn't know where the point of no recovery was and wanted to avoid it completely. Hence I settled for slightly heavy breathing or a safe ~120 bpm heart rate as the limit, especially on sustained slopes. Flat stretches were always welcome for recovery but not so much the down slopes (all my hard-earned elevation! D:<).

Terrain 3: Meadows. Comes with a generous helping of sunlight and elevation.

The landscape changed as we went, morphing between wide open meadows and grassy dirt corridors shaded by trees. The views were always a great excuse to slow down and take a break anyway, especially on open stretches with 360 deg unobscured view of mountains and valley. It's worth mentioning that the weather was fantastic, with clear blue skies and such generous sunlight that it hardly felt like winter at all on the lower sections. It got hot as we climbed, so all my extra layers went back into the pack.

Soundtracks of the ascent: Go the Distance from Disney's Hercules and Elevate by DJ Khalil.

Terrain 4: Tree-tunnels and compacted mud. Alternates with Terrain 3.

A short note on wildlife. No orcs on these plains but yak were plentiful, and they stared if we passed by slowly enough. Also, the wild birds and this one cat at the lunch stop were legit round. Like balls/beans on legs. It's probably the climate that causes them to store a healthy amount of fat under a comfy outer layer of fur/feathers, but still pretty amusing and cute to see.

After the lunch stop, the grassy dirt slopes gave way to rocky paths with random icy patches/streams every here and there. The gradient also gradually got steeper, and conditions became windier and colder.

Terrain 5: Scrubby hillside paths. Also out in the open, but much wilder than the meadows and with harsher wind. Back on came the thick purple jacket.

Ice and snow started to reappear, and someone wanted to slide down the stream.

The final section of the approach was the hardest for me. When we caught up with our guide at the last meeting point before base camp, he told us that we were at about 3700m with 2km to go. The math wasn't very encouraging but we trudged on. By then, I had gotten very hungry twice in a very short time (which is very unusual). I don't know how long that final bit took--it was just rocky step after rocky step--but I was pretty jelly-legged when we finally sighted something that looked like a rock hut at the top of a steep hill...

Terrain 6: Rocky slopes and is... is that..?

We knew that there would be rock huts at the base camp, but it must be emphasised how determinedly we were trying to temper our expectations. I.e. MUST NOT let ourselves believe that that's the end. Thankfully, the final steep climb really led us to base camp and the end of the approach hike. It would've been much less of a disappointment than some kind of deep despair if that hadn't been the case. All in all, it took us a a decent 7h to get to base camp (10am-5pm) and by the time we took a break (stoning on a rock) and pitched the tent in rising winds, night had fallen.

Base camp at last and the view from it!

Another shot of base camp, featuring stone huts that we opted not to stay in and our very reliable tent which withstood monstrous winds at night, keeping us warm and toasty.

Now how do I explain how bloody cold -20 deg C really is. Let's start with clothing from inside out: 2 thermal tops + t-shirt + fleece + cashmere sweater + thick windproof jacket, 2 thermal leggings + waterproof pants, 2 socks + waterproof boots, thick gloves and beanie. Nothing more, nothing less than the entire wardrobe, especially for making a trip to the outhouse in the dead of the night under a sky full of stars. [Very unfortunate that we have no photos of this amazing sight--not even from the pros coz it was "warm and toasty" in the tent. It took a lot of willpower to stay out of the tent and simply look at the sky.] Another indicator was that noodles straight out of a boiling pot took about 5 seconds to go cold.

One final photo taken before the morning. While sifting through the collection, I found a couple of photos of dinner but blurred as though the photographer was shivering violently through the shot.

In the end, I didn't attempt to summit. My internal decision-making mechanism, which had been constantly re-calculating as we ascended into the cold, had put out a roughly 25% chance of a summit attempt by the time we reached base camp. From the research, I knew that we'd be covering a great deal of elevation over a much steeper incline as compared to the approach. Did I mention it was cold? And so when I got this funny, crawling feeling at the back of my throat for no apparent reason, followed shortly by a headache, that calculation went straight to 0%. I learnt two things that night. First, that the AMS medicine really works on me--after faithfully following the plan for one week, that night was the only time I'd missed a dosage (perhaps there was some overconfidence there). Second, that I'm very OK with cutting losses haha.

The back of base camp and the summit trail (the left-ish path squeezing through the rock) which was clearly a lot steeper and required some scrambling.

In fact I was already fairly satisfied with getting to the Mt. Siguniang base camp. With this, the highest elevation I've reached in my life stands at 4300m, more than 8 times any previous high point. JY and HY both attempted the summit, leaving at about 4am in the freezing darkness. They made it to about 4600m before turning back. In the meantime, I stayed warm and toasty in the tent. There were times where in hindsight (and in more comfortable conditions) I wondered with tiny regret if I should've done it anyway. But all I have to remember is -20 deg C and I think no more. Anyway, as I'd been told by multiple colleagues (along with orders to come back in one piece), the mountain will always be there if I ever decide to go back. Though probably never again in the height of winter xD

The morning after, with us in significantly more layers than before.

Later that morning, after the other two had cocooned themselves in the sleeping bags to thaw, we struck our tent and headed down. The descent, though easy on the lungs, was no good for the knees and somehow felt every bit as long as the ascent. It also became a regular occurrence for us to express disbelief upon looking down at endless slopes, that we'd gone the opposite way just the day before. Eventually it took us about 5h to make our way down (10.30am-3.30pm).

Plenty of time and opportunity for some mountain modelling. Being obedient yields great profile pictures!

Near the end of the descent, we realised that of the three phones that followed us to China, the most important one had gone missing. It couldn't be located even after the remaining guides went searching on the mountain, so the exact time and location where it got lost remains a mystery. We did have a slight hunch, though unfortunately there wasn't much chance of going all the way back to base camp to search for it. So this was how we ended up feeling the full extent of censorship and disconnectedness of having no data roaming or VPN in China. I'd downloaded some useful Chinese apps before the trip, but somehow forgot the most important one: Wechat. The thing about getting all our apps from the Google Play store is that there is no way of downloading something new on local wifi. We tried many creative ways to no effect so dammit, things were getting inconvenient. Hotmail still works btw.

Nothing else to report from our time in Siguniangshan Town other than that we over-ordered at the hotpot place for a second time, despite almost halving our order. It's like the mountain ordeal shaved off a fair bit of our appetites. Oh and alcohol was back on the menu since we were off the AMS pills by then. (HY drinks too.)

Post-hike

On the day we headed back to Chengdu, it became quite clear how lucky we'd been in terms of weather because it had started snowing. The winding roads were iced over at some areas and the scenery, green when we arrived, had turned a dusty white. I'm very thankful that we never had to contend with any form of precipitation on the mountain, which means that we really got the best views of the season.

Whiteout outside! We'd booked seats on a private-hire car which had to go slow enough on icy patches, so I'd imagine buses would take even longer to get out of the mountainous region.

Back in the city we made buying a phone (or at least attempting to) our priority, which really put our language skills to the test. Conversational Mandarin with patchy vocabulary works in SG because English words can always be substituted into blank spaces, which is about the best I can do. So props to HY for fronting the phone-buying conversation, scrutinising the specs and all in Mandarin. Eventually the phone was not bought though, as we couldn't ascertain if phones bought in China can be used normally overseas (Google Play straight out refused to open during test downloads). I learnt that app = 软件 that day, though "A-P-P" seems to work as well.

And guess where we went, after happening to spy the vaguely familiar title on Baidu maps. The SG version is called 莱佛士城 in Chinese (I googled)--literally Raffles City, with "Raffles" translated as a name. The one in Chengdu is called 来福士广场, which reveals a lot about their priorities ahaha. It was also so structurally similar that we found all the foodstuff at the basement and ended up having some 麻辣串串 (with emphasis on 麻 and even greater emphasis on 辣), soupless dumplings operating under cover as 小笼包, 炸酱面 and some good ol' Koi/Gongcha to douse the flames.

Not too clear but the Raffles City logo can be seen at the bottom.

And thus the best of the trip ended, at least for two of us. HY and I parted ways with JY at the airport [she carried on, sans phone, for another exciting leg but that's not my story to tell] and flew to klia2 for an 8h layover before heading back to Changi >.< It was a long time, but it helped slightly to be back to normal Internet accessibility.

It was nice just to disappear into nature for a few days. Also, I now see the draw of hiking trips and sometimes find myself thinking/googling what else I could climb next... I'll be looking for opportunities, for time and space in between real life in the city, just to get out there and experience something like this trip again :)

Cheers!

Krabi 2018

One fine day not too long ago, a bunch of weekly boulderers decided that it would be a good idea to go climbing in Krabi, where the primary discipline is lead. A snappy purchase of air tickets kinda locked in the plan afterwards and with no turning back, we finally got ourselves lead verified (after procrastinating for an entire year). We've now even got some nice new rope to lead some more. Ah, the impetus of sunk cost.

For me, Krabi 2018 (17-21 Nov) came at the close of yet another crazy period and was hardly any rest, but in a way it was a great break. 'Twas lovely just to spend time with sun, sea, sand and stone. And friends too! Can't ask for much more with full strength attendance of Team Cockfosters, even if just for a few short days. [Gonna rip some photos from these same friends since I didn't use my own phone much.]

The views!

The last time I set foot on Krabi I hadn't turned 20, so suffice to say things have changed. Tonsai seems to have become much more concretised, complete with a graffiti-covered walkway where (at least in my memory) there used to be a simple dirt path. Also, none of my footwear got sucked to the depths this time, thanks to well-fitting Decathlon water shoes (a good buy!).

Over and above everything else, the rock was just as I remembered. But let's first address what made the trip as shag as it was. The main culprits were the 6.30am risers for 7am breakfast. Between this time and 9+am where we'd reach the day's designated wall, there would be lots of bashing through the undergrowth, scrambling across iffy terrain, guidebook-consulting moments and many other forms of faffing. Cobra Wall was particularly hard to get to by the inland route (imagine having to be consistently wary of toppling off the trail and straight into the sea). And then of course, there was the climbing.  

Getting to Cobra Wall--would have been a lot easier to go by the coast if the water wasn't at waist-height.

I knew from as early as August that I was screwed for this trip, climbing-wise, because climbing once a month is not the best way to prep for the outdoors. True enough, I clipped no anchors this time. I can't seem to muster enough "fight" while climbing these days, prob coz the worst consequence is only my personal disappointment. But after doing my best under prevailing conditions and having a decent amount of fun, it was good enough.

6a and 6c at Cobra Wall. I'm obviously not on the 6c.

Trying the starting moves of the 6c which was pretty much a boulder problem. Would not have dared to do this on lead.

We visited 3 areas over 3 days (Cobra Wall, 1-2-3 Wall and Tonsai Roof). I climbed a handful of 6as and 6bs (some on toprope) and had great mistrust in my ability to hold anything less than jugs. There were a great deal of ledges too, which either meant standing and admiring the view and not wanting to move on, or wasting a great deal of energy trying to get up and chickening out multiple times. Interestingly, whatever else I felt, outdoor lead seemed less scary/intimidating on this trip than all previous times I've done it. At least I experienced normal, fun climbing on two-thirds of most routes before self-doubt started to bare its teeth. Much left to be desired in terms of mental game, but compared to fearing for my life from the first or second clip, it seems like there's some sort of improvement.

Such pretty rock features!

Those few short days in Tonsai ended with frisbee by the beach/in the water/nearly beheading passing beach-goers, trying to be artistic with silhouette sunset shots and the daily tom yum (to avoid disappointment, always ask for "kung"). In the nights, mandatory codenames/bridge till incomprehensible.

Sunset shot from a point-and-shoot kind of person.

I found this shot pretty funny. Guys were all squashed in the first mario kart otw to our Ao Nang accoms because, as the drivers instructed, "this one men only, this one women only".

No rest for the weary as the adventure continued even after heading back to Ao Nang on the 2nd-last day. For the girls at least. There were two very different wefies taken that evening and let's just say the guys' set was taken in a rather more comfortable setting. We, on the other hand, were busy making our way to the top of Tiger Cave Temple. I dislike stairs but the climb was actually far easier than I thought it'd be (and water shoes + socks werks). After taking my sweet time (30 mins) I reached the top where there was no sunset to be seen. Sighs... I'd actually gotten to see decent sunsets from Tonsai Bay, but where it mattered most, the sky was all but overcast with only a vague smear of pink to remind that the sun was on its way home. Behind the clouds, somewhere. Yea looks like the curse is back.

1,237 steps later. Pro-tip: remember not to wear too-short shorts.

Far overrr the Misty Mountains coldddd~

[After-note: I happily relayed to my sister that we'd successfully followed her example (of rushing up just in time for sunset and descending in the dark) and received the biggest eye-roll ever. Apparently the idea was not to repeat her experience, which instead we took as precedence. But her tale included mobs of gangland monkeys that would glare at you from the branches. Interestingly I saw none of those... I don't think I saw any monkeys there in fact.]

A pretty sight as the lights come on.

The road home (literally, as it leads to Krabi International Airport).

Fast forward to the journey to dinner afterwards (after a shower to get out of downright gross clothes by then well-seasoned with sand, salt and sweat). So we got the resort to prepare some transport for us and a party truck showed up, complete with flashing RGB lights and techno music. Probably no party truck ever ferried a deader bunch... but we revived a bit when the music player rudely signaled its retirement with a piercing blast. Afterwards there was beer --> some supermarket shenanigans --> more beer before we finally called it a night.

And next day, I was back home with limbfuls of battle scars and a wistful longing for a hypothetical next trip in Dec 2019. This trip was much too short (5 days with really only 3 days to do anything), but it was one of the best times I've had in recent memory.

Here's presenting the people who made this possible in our one and only (out of 20 or so gopro burst shots) full group photo of the trip:

Team Cockfosters at its finest.

And of course, one for the memories:

I daresay this won't be the last we hear of this song, given that this can hardly be our last climbing trip to Thailand :)

What I've been up to

Let's take it that the plan was always to write every month bi-monthly quarterly every third half-yearly.

In any case, it's been a while. It's coz I've been consistently prioritising things other than writing during the me-time that's left once I'm done with work/climbing/whatever else I do outside. First up is sleep (yes, sleeping early stems from conscious choice). Second, and the only thing to rival sleep nowadays, is to read. [Gaming's been stripped of all priority coz there's only so much one can do before bedtime.]

Feels great to be back on a hearty diet of fiction after a depressing year of half-read non-fiction books. I was beginning to think I'd somehow stopped liking to read... until I picked up His Dark Materials earlier this year. Turns out all it takes are the right books. For me, it seems that if there's no story, I'm inclined to lose interest in whatever author intends to tell me next, let alone turn pages into the night. Current read: A Song of Ice and Fire. Was initially reluctant to start when I got my hands on them e-books coz (1) things were getting busy and (2) I feared to grapple with a highly epic but slow-moving story written in a lofty, archaic style as per LOTR. But I jumped in anyway coz (1) busy was here to stay and get worse and (2) after taking a stab at the first few pages, I found (to my surprise) that it's very easy to read. Bottom line is: I'm glad I still enjoy reading and journeying along in a good story.

In other news, I've been amassing a collection of black shirts lately from jumping at all sorts of opportunities to go monkeying around. [The exercise segment of my wardrobe makes it look like I'm preparing to join the Night's Watch.] So life's been full of obstacles lately but quite a few are 自找的, namely the Spartan Race, Battle Bay Extreme, Urban Attack. Haha, it's something else that's fun to do other than climbing, and incidentally also draws upon the climber skill sets. Things like getting over walls and cargo nets aren't difficult once you're used to holding smaller stuff and using your feet. But then there's always things to pick up, and it can sometimes be surprising to find out what comes easy and what doesn't. E.g. learning to scale a rope and actually going all the way in the same setting wasn't surprising. But I found that climbing strength =/= weightlifting strength after feeling a whole new group of muscles burn in the aftermath of the Spartan Race. Basically, the only sort of weightlifting I'd ever done before that was to carry office water refills (18kg) on no more than 20m walks. This newfound awareness helped me make some wise decisions for the BBE, where I'd certainly not be able to hoist a 25kg sandbag over my head and lob it over a wall. So I went for the "most difficult" category instead, equipped more for swinging around.

[I wish I'd some nice photos to post of all these and I really should be sleeping now.]

Also don't do these things without friends, it'll be like playing at a playground alone. Post-race day Whatsapp group muscle ache complaints are all part of the fun. I'm also now convinced that I don't care for glory if it doesn't come with an attainable reward, but I do get a kick out of maximising my gain:effort ratio. So depending on situation, I can be perfectly un-competitive ;)

Welp, nothing else to report. OH WAIT, HK solo trip post still pending and I swear the time will come when I have time to write it properly. Other than that... everything else seems to revolve around food and drink which I seem to be more willing to spend on these days. Not toooo helpful when it comes to conquering obstacles but hey the stomach's part of the body too so it also deserves to be kept happy hahaha. In fact, one of the best memories I have from within these almost-6 months was when a friend emptied her entire cup of honey wine into mine, saying "you need it". I'm sure it wasn't just my stomach that was feeling warm then :)