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. 

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).

ITX Train Ride to Chuncheon (part 2)

I noticed that Freya was looking at something she found attractive. 

But, first....this is the major sight and scenery I was encountering along the ride....

I simply loved this. So like it that I just grabbed my phone and captured the moment through my window... 

Ok, back to Freya...this is what she found attractive. She was playing the reading lamp on the roof. Well, kids. She liked to turn it on and off....until I got to stop her from doing that....^-^ otherwise, she would just keep on doing it. 

Another sight where...the train tracks were all covered in snow. 

A frozen river....that we crossed over. A bit eerie actually. But surely, it was a perfect moment as well to keep this memorized. 

I didn't realize that we were sitting on the window aisle with 'emergency window' sign on it until I took this picture. Well, er...

The eerie, gray, bleak...pictures that kept on flashing on the windows did not dampen our spirit...to expect what Chuncheon had in store for us... 

In fact, Eyra and Freya were mot of the time...standing on their seat so as to be able to see what the outside scenery looked like.

Guess...a Daddy and his two girls' trip indeed make a memorable impression on us.

(see other entries on our journey in Chuncheon City)