More of the SAME view!!!

..of which we never got bored of. Had we been, we'd stopped pressing the button of the camera and stopped taking pictures of this same (yet, perfect) evening....from within the comfort of our junior suite. 

hmm..what a good view out there. Looked gloomy, yes...., YET...it's just simply...chillingly cool. 

the same picture..over and over again.

but..then...the moon's shining.... 

The night's crawling in....with a moon over the hills...@ Jeongdongjin.. 

It's the same view...indeed, but with a twist.

Gangneung Trip (part 7)

Actually, the waves were so strong ..not to mention the underwater currents that could easily swap any inexperience swimmers when they're off their alertness(?). Or, was it because it's late in the afternoon that the current became suddenly strong enough to pull someone onto the roaring water?  

Intermezzo: me selfie-ing.  

again with the parasols over the sandy beaches..stretched along the 60-km long beach that we had no time to see as to whether it was indeed that long:) 

We moved to another section of the stretching seashore where more people were (still) swimming. I know..the waves seemed to be tame enough for a swim, but..it's not, actually. 

Freya & her Mom, clad in red Bali beach sarong, gazing onto the sea... 

Far beyond: Eyra and her auntie, mbak Ulfa, were also staring/gazing at the sea...

we're simply doing nothing but 'enjoying' our time being there at that moment. 

One of the activities that we could enjoy @ the Gyeongpo beach was flyfish. well, as the name suggests, we'd be brought onto the open sea ..strapped on the yellow boat that would literally 'flying' like a fish out of the water.^^

Yup, enough to imagine what it'd be like.^^

fun as it may sound..but the thought of being flown away ...was just too-much for me.

Well, not for the thrill-seeker, of course.

at the back: Hyundai Hotel under construction.

Gangneung Trip (part 6)

These are pictures I took when the kids were 'meditating' @ the shore. 

ㅋㅋㅋ again..I didn't know exactly what Freya was looking at, thinking about, pondering about...when she was gazing onto the sea....^^ 

But, I just couldn't help myself....pointing my phone to take the pics while she's just standing still.... 

and what a view. I mean...with a seashell protruding out of the sand right in front of the lenses, I was trying to capture the moment...

Yes... it was meant to be one of those picture-perfect moment^^ 

then..along came her sister, Eyra, who seemed to be so actively distracted by the endless possibilities of playing with the water... 

again....when her sister left...Freya stood still (AGAIN)...gazing onto the sea.^^

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ 

wait...she's like making a wish? ㅋㅋㅋ 

and that's when I approached her and...hey...snap out of it, Freya.

let's just play with the sand.^

Gangneung Trip (part 4)

The reason "we sort of being so demanding (to ourselves) that we got to go to Gangneung" was to SEE the beach! Yes, we got to see the east coast beach this summer. And after a long overdue, we finally made it. 

From so many choices of the stretches of the beaches at the eastern coast of Korean peninsula, we decided to go to Gyeongpo Beach. 

This is the nearest Gyeongpo beach entrance from our pension. I walked up to the bridge first so as to be able to take the whole picture of what it looked like.

*Eyra, Freya, Mama, Om Wawan, and tante Ulfa were still at the jetty. 

Then...we're on the 'bridge' @ Gyeongpo jetty. 

I think this is one of the landmarks of Gyeongpo beach.--so to speak. 

Eyra, come on, girl.

Yes, the kids were enjoying the breeze of the fresh air(?) from sea. 

not to mention..the excitement they had as they touched the sand with their bare feet!

Yes..the real trip began.

Gangneung Trip (part 3)

As soon as we arrived at the terminal and....thinking that it'd be better off to take a taxi than a bus....we finally did what we thought best. And thankfully, it was. We could see the outskirt of Gangneung ..leading up to the beach where our pension was located.

*I remembered having this spectacle when we had our last summer trip in Gyeongju. The trees lining up on each side of the roads...and we're lucky to have a kind-spirited taxi ajeossi who all of a sudden 'becoming' a guide during the 30-minute ride. 

*the flowers: nice touch, gisanim. * regardless of them..being the fake ones.

But, it reminded me of our trip in Bali or Thailand.  

Ok..first thing first...we safely arrived at the pension.

It's a 3-story house. As for us, we stayed at the Mangosteen family room. 

This is the attic main bedroom where the kids loved to play. 

It's cute, alright. But, I can't imagine having to sleep in a honey-moon like bedroom and atmosphere on a daily basis^^  

One of the reasons as to why we chose this pension was the fact that it's relatively close to Gyeongpo beach. Yes, it was...we could see the beach from our window. 

Ok...going back up to the 2nd attic room where Eyra and Freya were ready to have fun. 

Oh, yes...we split the bill with Om Wawan's family. Yes, we wouldn't have booked this pension (260,000 Won/night) if we hadn't shared the cost.^^that'd be outrageous and irrational. 

But, we finally made a good decision of staying at this Santa Beach pension. Each room had its own veranda overlooking the (not yet developed) barren land stretching onto the beach. 

Yes...this is the front facade of the Santa Beach pension we stayed in. 

*Again...I was hardly ever on the picture.:( 

Anyway..just to show what the Santa Beach pension looked like: this is it.

It indeed gave us a different feel ..somewhat different nuance from what we usually had in our routines in Seoul.

*Welcome to Gangneung, everyone. Let's start the fun.

Gangneung Trip (part 2)

We were trapped on the bus for about 4 hours. It was supposed to be 2 hour 40 minute trip..but since it was a loooong weekend, highway did not seem to help us speed the travel up. We barely move 1 km for 20 minutes! Gee....  we're practically 'standing still' on the road.^^Luckily we could always do something to entertain ourselves. 

As for me, taking pictures is a must. Although it's summer with all of the greenery dotted the landscape...nothing special, compared to Autumn or winter^^, yet it's a great way to spend the trip on the bus. 

As for the kids, they behaved well enough...and not to be cranky with the fact that we're somewhat 'trapped' in the middle of highway.  

Finally, at about 1 pm..gee..4 hour trip from Seoul to Gangneung...we made it. 

We arrived safely at the bus terminal...and then... 

looking at the map of where we were to decide how to get to the pension we reserved--> which turned out to be quite far away from the city center.

Gangneung Trip ( part 1 )

 This is a story about our summer trip to Gangneung. It's all about fun. Okay..not all was fun, though. But, let me start how we ended up deciding going on a trip to Gangneung.

First, it was during the long weekend of Korea's Independence Day Holiday on August 15.

So...long weekend meant that not many pensions (펜션) were available. Even if they were...the prices were soaring. ^^ INDEED.

Finally, I managed to book a pension ( a good one ) with relatively higher price compared to normal days.

It's a family-type that could accommodate up to 6 people.  

The Santa Beach Pension was the one we booked. And after paying an amount of 260,000 Won only for one night!!!  

Then...as soon as we got the place to stay, we rushed to the terminal to reserve the bus ticket that would take us straight to Gangneung. We went to Dong Seoul Terminal (동서울터미널) @ Gangbyeon station, Subway line 2 to reserve the ticket to Gangneung. 

After that, we went straight to the train station (청량리역-Cheongnyangni Station) 

to reserve the ticket home. ^^

Yes..it's a great ride from Seoul-Gangneung-Seoul. 

But..it didn't turn out to be quite what we planned it to be.

(to be continued on part 2).