A 4-Family Trip to Nami Island

Eyra and I took the bus to Cheongnyangnyi station since we got to buy the ticket first.

As for the ladies....(gee..I'm the only man who went with all of them). 

See? my wife's sisters (tante Yuni and budhe Ning) and our colleague, Ms. Park Hyun Ju--who came all the way from Daejon to join us)--and ms Belina and her Mom who happened to be in Seoul to have a visit to their relatives. 

Waiting for the ITX train that would take us to Gapyeong Station (the nearest train station to Nami Island).

It's October. Autumn. ...a good reason to go (again) to Nami island. 

On board the ITX Train.^^ 

It's so fully crowded that...some passengers were just standing or sitting on the aisle. 

After we arrived at Gapyeong, we took a queue before boarding the Gapyeong City Tour Bus..which is the CHEAPEST and EASIEST way of enjoying one-day tour along the famous sites (Nami Island, Petite France, and Garden of the Morning Calm)--which happened to be our itinerary for our 2-day trip. 

Put a smile and let's enjoy the day... 

With only 5,000 Won/adult, we enjoyed the hop-on-hop-off bus.... 

Then..a few minutes later..we're on board the ferry taking us to Nami Island.

Park ssnm.....with Eyra and Freya.

Leaving the Garden of Morning Calm (part 14)

Now it's about 3.30 pm and we got to be back to town. 

We're passing through the field and lawn and garden and park 

we went to earlier that day. 

A cool view and worth-visiting place--I suggest. 

Especially this week, when the foliage, autumn leaves turn into colors. 

Even, the week we went there was enough to make us 'tilt' 

so, the idea of going back there in the peak of autumn.... 

well, that's nice. 

there's a chapel inside the garden, too. 

Now...let's take a break.... 

and play something... 

or eat something to recharge our energy... 

before going back to Seoul by ITX.

This time: we got our seat arrangements--which meant that we'd be able to take a rest during 30-minute ride back to Seoul.

A Trip to the Garden of Morning Calm (아침고요수목원) : Part 1

It's Autumn. and just like what we did last year, we managed to go to one of our beloved provinces in Korea: Gyeonggi-do where at times...nature does spoil its visitors.:-)

we boarded the ITX train.

since it's weekend:-) we did not manage to book the seat arrangement, instead we just sat on the floors like many others.:-)

We arrived at Cheongpyeong station...at around 10 am after about 30 minute ride from Seoul (Cheongnyangni station). 

Let's take a moment to take a picture, first. girl.:) 

As the guide book told us, we should make a 10-minute walk toward the bus terminal. 

and there's this short-cut to the terminal: yes...it's a harvested paddy field. 

The station as we left it... the misty hill at the. backdrop

After a zig-zag route to find the terminal, finally we made it.

Cheongpyeong bus terminal. 

We booked the city bus that would take us straight to the Morning Calm garden.

the ride took about 30 minutes with a 1,200 Won charge..using our T-money card that we usually use in Seoul.

and this is the bus we took.(the green bus number 37??) hope I'm correct:). 

On the bus..we're having fun...too.

well, it's weekend and it's gonna be fun to spend the day with family in outdoor and out of the city. 

and...we got to make sure that would spend half-day at the garden since we got to take the 5 pm ITX train back to Seoul.

Bye Bye Chuncheon

 Finally...I got myself on the picture. Most of the time, I took the pictures of Eyra and Freya wherever we go. So, this time I asked Eyra to take a picture of me with her sister.
In front of Chuncheon station before departing back to Seoul (Jan. 23, 2013).

Since we still had 45 minutes or so, we decided to go to one of the restaurants there. Well, the kids wanted to have some ice cream.. 

Eyra was having her favorite chocolate while her sister was having a blueberry one.

I did not have any idea as to why they love ice cream even during this Winter. 

Eyra said that "we'd be warmer if we have ice cream" 

I guess she's a Korean, now. ^^

As a token of remembrance, I took some snapshots of the ticket we bought. 

so, we reserved ITX train from Cheongnyangni to Chuncheon for 12,000 Won. 

The same price applied to our way back home to Seoul.  

We were departing at 16.10 and arrived at Cheongnyangni station at exactly 17.07. 

What a punctual train ITX is. 

On the Way to Soyang Dam

 

We were on our way...to Soyang Dam taking bus no. 11 from Chuncheon Station. 

(With an additional little drama....like: taking the wrong direction...) 

Anyway...with that in mind and put aside the 'drama'..we finally made it to the Soyang Dam. This is the monument (I don't know what). Since it was raining, I did not have time to read anything about it...

Ok, the blue bus right next to it was the one that transported us up here. 

In a clear daylight and definitely not during winter, the whole Soyanggang dam would be passable easily.. 

But...the gloomy and grey sky...barely visible...were the things we encountered as we got off the bus.

Let's wrap it up: We found this unique swan statue...

The meaning? and..why would I want to find the meaning behind this? :)  

As for our stories at the Lake or Soyang Dam, please find those at other entries. 

Now, I'd like to put the picture of Eyra and Freya giggling and having fun on the back seat of the bus. 

I am happy to know that despite the chilling windy cold weather in winter...they still find fun times and a smile on their face.

A Tranquil Chuncheon...

Yes...it was so tranquil when we were thre. Well, of course not all part of Chuncheon city IS tranquil. We just need to go there at the right time, moment, and place.

As for us, we went to Soyang Dam at the eastern part of the city. a 30-minute bus drive from the Chuncheon  Station by bus number 11 or 12 would take us there. 

We were actually about to leave the Dam when I thought that...it would be a good place to take a picture since not many people were around.

Indeed, it was a rare tranquility we may find it hard to find in Seoul (except in certain places or gardens, of course). 

We'll always remember this serene and quiet lane...beside the Soyanggang Dam.

Drizzling...breezing...chilling...windy...cloudy...foggy....snowy.... 

Eyra and Freya on January 23, 2013....marked their steps in Chuncheon. 

This is the bust stop right in front of the station where we took the bus that transported us up to the Soyang Dam.  

At about 14.49 or about one hour before departing, we arrived at the station again...

so..what to do while we had the remaining one hour left at the station? Would there be something that we could do? (check out our other entry).

Soyanggang Dam @ Chuncheon (part 1)

inside the theater explaining the history of the Soyang Dam

We were visiting the Soyang Dam--dubbed the biggest rock-filled dam in Asia. I don't know for sure but this is what it says. I think it was huge, alright. 

But, first...since I brought the kids along and the weather was foggy + windy that time, so I thought that it would be a good idea to bring them inside the cultural center. 

They also found some --at least to the kids' eyes--interesting interactive displays that they could play with while learning about the water and its usage. 

Eyra and Freya also learned how rain is formed... 

They even learned how dams are built. So, they took off their gloves and started making their own dam in the interactive area. It's cold, alright. But, they seemed to be not bothered at all...whatsoever by the cold water they were playing with. They had fun. 

Water bubble making tool. I didn't quite understand what it was for...except that the kids found it amusing. 

So did I...:)