An Empty Seoul Station @ Night

I was going home from Ansan by subway..and later on found out that the train I was on....stopped at Sadang station which was still far away from home. So, got out of the subway station..trying to find the bus..only to find the only one bus no.502 heading towards Seoul Station transfer center. Okay..got it. Then...after about 20 minutes or so, I arrived at Seoul station...and luckily it was still opened..at about 01.20...I still had time to go inside and use the restroom^^..and boy..its' the first time ever that Seoul station was in its state of 'void' from people....^^

Yup...it's almost 01.30 am where the passengers gone..and no trains coming in or out of the station. It's a new feeling of being inside the busiest station in Seoul....with not many souls visible.

So..I took the chance to look around and take some snaps of it...while I could.^^

The people I saw were mostly the security in charge of keeping the station safe and sound.

Not a minute too soon...at about 01.30...there's an over-voice heard....asking us to exit from the station since it's going to be closed.

Yup, that's a new experience of being inside Seoul station...on Saturday, Feb.07,2016..when not many people were around.

To think that it's Seollal's holiday..!!

Xmas Tree. . .@Subway Station

The one ...and only tree....we saw at the subway...

..of course..because it's the one that Eyra made....

..she just brought it home from school.

And..deliberately I asked her to put it on the subway station floor!

..then...click click click...I took some snaps.

Eyra and her xmas tree.

Rush...Rush...to Daejeon

Managed to buy a seat for one~hour ride to Daejeon to attend Dies Natalis of our UT Korea....where I teach.

It's a must-attend event since there'd be the first graduation ceremony of our students.

SEOUL Station on Sunday morning...

Took a pic of it while I managed to do so.

KTX train at platform 4 was where I was heading to.

In time for me to take a relaxing trip to Daejeon.

Bye bye Seoul...

But...it's just one-day trip.

Crazy November - December Trip Highlight!

What a MONTH! Yup, last year's December was a crazy month.

Seoul-Daejon-Seoul: meeting+meeting!!

Seoul-Cheonan-Seoul: a friend's wedding.

Seoul-Busan-Seoul: seminar!!

and..all in the last week of November right until December 2014.

I remembered booking all of those tickets!!!

Even ..some were 입석 or NO SEATS at all...which meant only one thing: I got to stand along the way. 

Was it fun? I always enjoyed the journey to places... 

Like..taking a picture of a BUS on top of a building..on my way to the station! 

or...taking a beautiful view over Han River...recorded it on a video....

and then..started to take pictures frame by frame..

along the time I spent while crossing over the bridge. 

with 63 Building as its background. 

I would not have been able to take a picture from a moving train, had I not been on a train trip, right? 

So, basically..this is a great way to enjoy my travel. 

a bright morning over Han River in Seoul... 

all enjoyed from within a passing train.

DMZ TRAIN (part 1)

Finally, we got a chance to 'taste' the newly released tourist-train called 'DMZ Train' offered by Korail. Since it's getting more and more popular among tourists and locals alike, I got to reserve the tickets before hands. 

But..boy oh boy..the long queue @ Seoul Station started to wear me down since I was a bit hopeless as to whether I would get any seats. 

But...with finger crossed....that no matter what happened, there'd always be another day... 

Yeaaach..finally...I managed to book 8 tickets (4 adults, 4 children) to Dorasan Station. The most northern station(?)..the last station at the northern side of South Korea ..closest to North Korea. Since the morning train was fully booked, I got no option but to take the afternoon train....departing from Seoul at  13.30!!!

(Gee..what a hot summer it'd be). 

And..the characteristics of DMZ Train was that all passengers must purchase return ticket as well. So, we'd go back to Seoul at 17.30 the same day.

The price was okay...it's around 16,000 Won (return-adult)

and 8,800 Won (return-child).

Busan: Last Day in Busan, and Back to Seoul

Another shot of the Daejeongdae beach. A splendidly spectacular view of the beach. A  deliberately slanted view of the beach to give it an unusual perspective...and THAT...if it even worked...^^

On our way down the hill toward the parking lot after visiting Daejeongdae. Though it may not be that clear....far beyond ...the seaport city of Busan was visible. I just wanted to say that this so-called Daejeongdae was practically situated on a slope of the hills...

..that's why visitors were going up and down the hills should they want to enjoy the view.

But what I mostly remembered was how blue the sky on that day.

With Ms. Kim M.S. who was kind enough to take us around Busan and its vicinity. 

What would a Busan Trip without having to go to Jagalchi market where most of the fish and seafood are freshly or dried sold. ^^

In that sense in mind, we went to a market selling all kinds of fish products. Well, we just bought ojingo or dried squids and anchovies.(?).

Right before leaving Busan, we had lunch at China Town. It looked so empty, right? I did not know why. It surely says that this place was  and is...the place for foreigners..but I did not see many of them. Oh, well..maybe it was not the right time to visit? Anyhow, I managed to capture a pic. of my wife in front of one of the many gates gearing towards China Town. Oh, for anyone who might be wondering as to where it was, it is located just in front of the Busan Station. 

Now..we are on board KTX train. The fastest train on the peninsula or in the world? Its speed  boasts as fast as 300 km/hour. What? Yes, the electronic signboard inside the train indeed showed that fact. But, as soon as it reached 300 km/hour it slowed a bit into 299, 298,297..or I could say that this train runs at the average of 290 km/hour. 

That's the reason as to why it takes only 2.5 hours from Busan to Seoul. (remember my story of taking Mugunghwa train that took us almost 6 hours from Seoul to Busan?)

So, this train indeed speeds up the activities and goods & people's exchanges inside the Peninsula. 

As for us, it saved us ...some energy and valuable time, though frankly speaking.....it did not help us whatsoever in saving some money. ^^hahahahahaha.

Finally got back safely in Seoul. 

Lots of families with their children were on the same compartment as we were. Guess, weekend trip in intercity train like this speed KTX train ...to some extent.....does help boost the tourism industry in Korea. 

Bye---Bye...KTX train. Till we meet again..on our trip to other cities soon.^^