Gyeongju 2D1N Trip (:

Another short GET-OUT-OF-SEOUL trip! 😀

We were all lucky to have received tickets for the free shuttle bus coach ride from visitkorea!

The legspace on the bus was damn spacious man!

Machiam like 草原快车 liddat! Hee…

Seats are inclined and are rather comfy!

Not a bad deal I would say! ^^

Entire journey to Gyeongju took bout 5 hrs.

But in btw there’s 2 stopping areas lah.

Butt become flatter lor… >.<

First day itinerary

Can u spot the duckie frm afar? ^^

Bomuntap Pagoda

1st stop: Gyeongju World Culture EXPO Park

Entrance Fee: 6,000 won

Mm, quite expensive for me cos there’s nthin much to do at 82 meters high up the tower other than taking the surroundings.

World Cultural Expo Ticket booth & Air-hot balloon!

Our Singapore Flag!!!!

Gyeongju Tower

Gyeongju Tower is one of the three treasures of the ancient kingdom of Silla.

This 82 meters high tower is the symbol of Gyeongju EXPO Park.

Remarkable Infrastructure

In the lift gg up 82 meters high!

Maze

Surroundings of The Dome

2nd stop: Gyeongju Bulguksa Temple

The most recommended and famous temple to visit.

It houses Dabotap and Seokatap stone pagodas & other statues.

Entrance Fee: 4,000 won

3rd stop: Seokguram Grotto

Seokguram is an artificial stone temple made of granite, and is located on Mt.Tohamsan.

It is the representative stone temple of Korea.

Bus ride takes bout 15 minutes to reach the foot of the mountain? Quite far lor. The distance on the map looks so near to Bulguksa temple.

Soooo deceiving ler. -.-

Entrance Fee: 4,000 won

Walked bout 1.2km to reach Seokguram Grotto.

It's like a mini hike along the forests... Weather is chilly tho'!

Up up up we walked!

Didn’t took any photos of Seokguram Grotto cos we were advised nt to.

Only managed to capture the exterior of the temple.

Anw, here’s how Seokguram Grotto looks like (taken frm internet)

On our way down, took a few photos of the surroundings.

Down down down we go!

4th stop: Anapji Lake

Advisable to make a trip to Anapji Lake in the evening!

Cos tt’s whn the lightings will come on!

Really beautiful scenery whn the light comes on. (:

Entrance Fee: 1,000 won

Before the light goes on, this is how the lake surroundings looks like…

Looks normal right?

After the evening light comes on, here’s how the entire atmosphere & sceneries look!

SO FASCINATING RIGHT?

Blurry shot -.-

Photographer angle nt say v good ler, cannot capture the right scenery at the back hor >.<

And and and, it’s the 1st time I witnessed sucha beautiful sunset!!!!

Jst look at the intense color of the evening sky!

Makes me wanna immerse myself in sucha lovely weather, chilling arnd & savoring such moments…

Mind u! It's nt photoshop one lor! ^^

5th stop: Gyeongju famous Hwangnam bread

Gyeongju hwangnam bread is essentially a bread with red bean paste fillings.

Spotted the one & only Hwangnam bread store opp. the street!

There are continuous inflow of customers into the shop.

Even tourist bus made a special stop for Hwangnam bread!

Customers were seen placing orders for a few boxes!

OMG!

Damn popular with the tourists lor!

I wonder what’s the hype over this Hwangnam bread!

Lemme try it & I shall review (see below!)

We bought one box of 20 hwangnam bread (14,000 won)!!!

Excitedly taking out the box! Keke!

Tadahhhhhhh!!!!!!

Ooooh, it looks appetizing....

The 1st two hwangnam bread we had taste great!

From the 3rd onwards, we feel abit sick of the red bean filling liao.

The filling eat too much become very 腻 u noe.

By the 5th one, we almost vomitted! (jst kiddin’!)

But tt’s jst to say hwangnam bread is really nt tt worth gg gaga all over.

I still very much prefer my Hana Manjoo…. Hahahaha :p

Second day itinerary

We decided nt to rent a bike, since it’s rather pointless to cycle to all the places of interests & then cycle all the way back to Express Bus Terminal jst to return the bike.

End up we walked all the way frm our cui hostel to each of the attractions, and then finally took a cab to Hotel Concorde, whr the free shuttle bus will pick us up!

Even though I walked so much, I don’t feel any lighter.

Too much fats alr. Hee 😛

Anyhows, 95% of our 2nd day itinerary was entirely free!

Shioks or wad?!!! ^^

Daereungwon Royal Tombs

They are shaped like a dome, u noe like half a boob shape la. Haha! :p

Gyeongju Cheomseongdae

It is one of the oldest astronomical observatory in East Asia.

Didn’t noe this observatory tower is so small! Thought is those gigantic tall tall one lor!

Peace!!!

Gyerim Forest

Read online tt we actually we gotta pay to enter the forest, but it’s actually free??? ^^

Ya, tt’s a siao female ghost.

Wolseong Fortress (Seokbinggo Ice Storehouse)

This is an ice storage built inside Wolseong.

A peek at the ice storage…

Looks model anot? Whahaha!

Rape Flowers Complex

The name so weird one, simi rape flowers complex.

Flowers oso can get raped one meh? Haha.

Yesh, I’m acting ‘hiao’. :p

Prettaye & vivid flowers spotted!

Prettaye anot me? Looks as vivacious as the flowers? ^^

JUMP SHOT!

MODEL SHOT #1 (Jh & Me)

MODEL SHOT #2 (Jh & Me)

Eh ok. Both pose looks almost the same. Jst tt this one is a zoomed-in version! ^^

Gyeongju National Museum

Entrance fee is entirely free!

不去白不去！嘻嘻！

Inside the museum...

Bunhwangsa Temple

Entrance fee: 1,300 won

Bunhwangsa stone pagoda

The two mighty diamond men

Walked bout a few kilometers all the way from Bunhwangsa Temple to some 식

당 for late lunch.

Lovely handmade tofus!

And these are jst our side dishes!

Main dish

Damn yummy lor this fried pancake!

After lunch, we went to have some model shot agn. Haha!

Can participate in Singapore's Next Top Model anot?

Continued walking agn after yummy lunch to some stretch of road leading up to Bomun Resort.

It’s like a never ending road. >.<

Trees & mountains are wad we see most of the time…

But…….

We decided to hail for cab to bring us directly to Hotel Concorde cos we were getting lazy. Hee!

Here’s Hotel Concorde!

We damn UPZ one okays.

We acted as though we stayed in the hotel, and ordered cheese cakes, tiramisu & green tea cakes for ourselves while waiting for the bus.

Jh & My Tiramisu Cake. YUMS!!!

Jz's cheese cake!

Brandon's Green Tea cake

Some photoshoot in Hotel Concorde for keepsake! Hee!

He looks tall!!! Thanks to the photographer - ME!! :p

Prior to boarding the free shuttle bus back to Seoul, we took a photo with the bus!

Thank you visitkorea for this free bus ride to Gyeongju!!!

And pls grant us another free ride to Busan this mid-June! ^^ *crosses fingers*

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Are you guys interested in whr we stayed for one night in Gyeongju?

If so, read on!

Hanjin Hostel

This is the most recommended accommodation in Gyeongju on the Internet.

Really meh?

Let’s see why it’s the so-called #1 search for accomodation in Gyeongju, and lemme review if it’s really so good.

1. The webbie states tt Hanjin Hostel is located 3 minutes from Express Bus Terminal.

Fact: Well, the distance is nt tt far, maybe it’s abt 5 minutes walk. But anw, it’s still quite ulu to locate especially at night.

Here’s how the hostel exterior looks like in the day.

The exterior looks fine outside hor?

Kindly notice the words written by one of the guests.

It states “If you haven’t stayed at Hanjin, don’t say you’ve been to Gyeongju!”

Wah lau eh, who dare to write sucha comment liddat?

Must be kena forced by the owner?

I so wanna BUST this myth lor!

Let’s take a look at the interior of the hostel.

We prisoners meh???

Can laugh at this man!

The common area for watching tv & eating our dinner.

The sofa damn lau-kok-kok one lor. Don’t dare to lean back in case fleas got transferred over to my body. Haha! I’m too overly paranoid right?!!

And did u see the old diary on the table?

That’s the owner’s personal diary I guess. Don’t dare to open it in case ashes or what’s nt fly out. Hahahaha!

Hallway looks fine.

Shared room btw Jh & Me

2. The webbie states tt it is the cleanest hostel in Gyeongju.

Fact: They must be kidding! I have experienced a night of stay in the hostel, and can safely say the rooms are nt up to my standard, and is quite dirty. Eeewwww…

WA, I TELL YOU GUYS!

Don’t see this room looks normal and quite spacious ah.

In fact, the pillow sheet and blanket are dirty one!

There are stains (looks like blood stains??) on the blanket???

There are oso hairs on the floor!

PIECE OF LAO SAI!

Worse is the walls are nt soundproof! (okay, I don’t expect soundproof walls), but srsly, there are grps of ppl talking soooo loudly in the middle of the night tt I can’t slp!

How to slp peacefully liddat? ):

Ohhhh, and the toilet.

Looks okay, nthin much to complain abt.

At least toilet bowl is clean. That is v impt for the ladies!

But Jz & Brandon’s toilet is cui one lor.

They got no bathtub to stand and shower.

The tiles on their toilet floor can invite mouse and their families to come pay a visit liao.

Pls lah to whoever stayed in Hanjin hostel, don’t try to whip up positive reviews.

Don’t mislead those who intend to go to this hostel.

I’m sure there are better ones arnd.

In fact, if imma backpacker, I wld go to love motels straight and stay for the night, although there might be some funnaye noises gg on, but i have quite positive review for love motel as I’ve been to one before.

Hanjin Hostel price per pax: 20,000 won per night

Even though the price is rather cheap, but if I havta pay abit more for other hostels, I srsly wouldn’t mind!

Overall rating: ♥