Behind the Changdeokgung Palace lies the 78-acre (32 ha) Huwon (後苑, Rear garden) which was originally constructed for the use of the royal family and palace women. The garden incorporates a lotus pond, pavilions, and landscaped lawns, trees, and flowers. The surroundings and the palace itself are well matched. There are over 26,000 specimens of a hundred different species of trees in the garden and some of the trees behind the palace are now over 300 years old. the garden that was extremely private space for the king had been called 'Geumwon'(禁苑, Forbidden garden) because even high officials could not dare to come in without king's permission. Also it had been called 'Naewon'(內苑, 'Inner garden'). Today Koreans often call it 'Biwon'(秘院, Secret garden) which derived from the office of same name in the late 19C. Though the garden had many another names, the name most frequently used through Joseon dynasty period was 'Huwon'.

A variety of ceremonies host by the king were held in Huwon. In early period of Joseon dynasty, military inspections participated with king himself had been practiced many times. King Sejo had troops parade and array before him or commanded them by himself in the garden. In addition, giving feasts, playing archery games, or enjoy fireworks in Huwon.

The Ongnyucheon ("Jade Stream") area is of particular interest. It contains a U-shaped water channel carved in 1636 for floating wine cups, with a small waterfall and an inscribed poem on the boulder above it. The area also contains five small pavilions.

Here are some of the pictures of Huwon ( The Secret Garden) I took during my recent visit to the palace.

Changdeokgung Palace

This photo was taken during my recent trip to Korea. Changdeokgung is one of the beautiful palace in Seoul.

Changdeokgung was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1997. Portions of the palace were used to film the hugely popular Korean Drama Dae Jang Geum in the 2000s.

The Final Countdown Sale

In this race against the clock you will only have 48 hours to book flights to Krabi, Sibu, Jakarta, Bangalore, Clark, Singapore and many other destinations from only RM 18!

But wait there's more! Fly long-haul to fabulous destinations across Asia, Australia and even Europe that are up for grabs at an attractive fare that’s from only RM 128 during this Final Countdown Sale!

Booking period:
8-Dec-2010 12PM (GMT +8) to 10-DEC-2010 12PM (GMT +8)

Travel period:
1-Jul-2011 to 10-Nov-2011

AirAsia Flies to New Zealand

AsiaAsia has just launched new route, new destination! AirAsia now flies to New Zealand! Who want to visit Christchurch New Zealand with amazing affordable mind crazy pricing??

Hop over to the link below to find out New Zealand air tickets and AirAsia on going promotion!

New Zealand here I come! Awesome adventure awaits! Book your tickets now starting from RM199! #AANZ

Gyeongbokgung, Seoul

Built in 1395, Gyeongbokgung Palace is also commonly referred to as the “Northern Palace” because it is located more toward the north, compared to the neighboring palaces of Changdeokgung (Eastern Palace) and Gyeongheegung (Western Palace). Gyeongbokgung Palace is arguably the most beautiful and remains the grandest of all the five palaces.

The premises were destroyed by fire at the time of the Japan's occupation of Korea during 1592-1598. However, all of the palace's 7,700 rooms were later restored under the leadership of Heungseondaewongun in the years of King Gojong (1852~1919) .

Remarkably, the most representative edifices of the Joseon Dynasty, Gyeonghoe-ru Pavilion and Hyangwonjeong Pond are still relatively in tact. Woldae and the sculptures of Geunjeongjeon (The Royal Audience Chamber) represent the past sculpture art which was the trend back then.

The National Palace Museum of Korea is located south of Heungnyemun Gate, and the National Folk Museum is located east within Hyangwonjeong.

*Ticket passes for Gyeongbok Palace can also be used at the National Palace Museum and the National Folk Museum.

Directions

1. From Exit No. 5 of Gyeongbokgung Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line No.3), walk 5 minutes. It takes about 15 minutes from Myeongdong Subway Station to Gyeongbokgung.

Interpretation Services Offered

* In front of information center, Hongryemun Gate (main gate) Tours depart in front of the Information Office inside Heungnyemun Gate. Each tour takes about an hour. * English: 11:00, 13:30, 15:30 * Japanese: 10:00, 12:30, 14:30 * Chinese: 10:30, 13:00, 15:00

Check out its official website for more information here

Paris, je t’aime (Paris, I love you)

Get ready to fall in love with Paris as AirAsia X will be landing in France soon!
Paris, the city of love, or so as most movies paint them to be. But this city of over 11 million, is more than just a pretty picture Hollywood painted. Beneath that love potion like mist lays the heart of a city that has seen the suppleness of Moulin Rouge, the eccentricity of Notre Dame, the bold Arc de Triomphe, the deeply intriguing yet sometimes beguiling arts of the Lourve and of course how could anyone miss out the most memorable souvenir model, the Eiffel Tower.

Though the fun doesn’t just end there, where there is a past a present is usually lurking around the corner. Champs-Elysées is one of the most talked over places in Paris that is deemed to be the kryptonite to shopaholics worldwide. With the crème de la crème (very best) of all the Parisian, European, American, and even Asian designers and brands; from cufflinks to cars, nothing is left out. But in Paris, the shopping experience is equal for both side as everyone knows, Parisians are one of the sharpest dressers in Europe.

Though if all that is not your cup of latte, then a cruise on the river Seine would be perfect for you to just lull in the softly sweet melodic pace of Paris. Many have fallen in love with Paris’s laid back nature, where locals and tourists alike sit by al fresco cafe’s and watch the world go by.

Just don’t take our word for it, go and experience it for yourself! As AirAsia X will be flying to Orly International Airport, Paris!

Nami Island, Seoul

Nami Island was previously a deserted island but become famous after the filming of drama Winter Sonata.People started flocking to the island after watching the drama and South Korea tourism industry flourish and is one of the tourist attraction when visiting South Korea.

The half-moon shaped island is 4 kilometers in diameter and approximately 400,000 square meters in size. It boasts wide open grassy areas suitable for picnics and recreation surrounded by chestnut and popular trees. For Koreans and international visitors the island is an oasis suitable for leisurely strolls or romantic dates. The name of the island derives from the fact that it is home to the tomb of General Nami (1441-1469), who was appointed minister of the Military Board at age 25 after suppressing Lee Shi-ae’s Revolt during the reign of King Sejo of the Joseon Dynasty but was later branded a traitor and executed at the age of 28.

Nami Island opened Nami Island Seoul Center in Insa-dong to promote its tourist attractions and guide international tourists to the island.

The easiest way to get to Nami Island from Seoul is to take their direct tour bus from Insa-dong (Seoul) to Nami Island. The package fare ( includes of round trip bus and ferry fare and entrance fee ) is 23000Won. For more information, you can check it out at Nami Island website.

Free Seats by AirAsia

If you plan to go for a holiday or more for next year, do visit AirAsia. They are going to have Free seats promotion starts on 9 November 2010 to 14 November 2010.

The travel period is from 1 July 2011 to 10 November 2011.

Here are some useful information and simple guide on solutions and tips to help you grab your low fares!

Before you start

1. Sign Up for an AirAsia Account: (Click Here to Sign Up)

- This helps a lot when you encounter payment error. You can always return to "Manage my booking" to complete the payment without having to go through the hassle of Rebooking! Much easier right?

2. Make sure you use IE8.0 (Download) or Mozilla Firefox (Download)

- NO discrimination to other browsers but these two browsers are reported to be the most stable throughout the booking process.

3. Plan your trip in advance.

- Prepare a few travel plans. If Plan A doesn't work, at least you'll have back-up plans and you'll save the hassle of planning from scratch again.

- Have all passengers' details at hand. I.e: Name, Address, D.O.B, passport numbers, etc...

- If your passport is expiring soon / not registered yet, NO worries. Just fill in your current details and update your latest passport details via "Manage my Booking" at no extra cost at a later time convenient to you.

4. Warning! DO NOT attempt to open Multi-TABs (under the same browser) to search for fares as it may 'confuse' you during the booking process. You may end up with the WRONG travel date.

5.(NEW) AirAsia new system has streamlined to ease the burden when it comes to big promotion so the "Buzz Buzz Buzz" (Server slow) will be reduced. Please make sure you do not spend more than 10 minutes on every booking page as you may be timed-out by the system. If you have 8 passengers in a row to book, please consider to split it to two bookings if you think you will need more than 10minutes to key in each passenger details.

Everland

I went to Everland during my first Korea trip . This is a place for kids and adults too. Everland will be one of the place we gonna visit since other tour members are first time to Korea. More ever, they are mostly kids :)

Everland is Opened in 1976, and it is about 1,200,000yd² It is ranked as the 4th theme park in the world by offering 5 main Festivals and exciting entertainments all year around.
Experience wonderful Festivals and magnificent shows at Everland, 365 days a year.
There are five theme areas along with more than 30 kinds of attractions full of high thrilling and various fun.

The tickets are not cheap, you can refer here. However, they are having some discount for foreigners. I am going to print the discount voucher out .

One Day ticket price :

Adult	37,000won ( before discount ) 34,000won (after discount )

Teenager	31,000won ( before discount ) 29,000won (after discount )

Childl	28,000won ( before discount ) 26,000won (after discount )

How to get there :

Subway + Bus
At Exit 6 of Gangnam Subway Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), take City Express Bus (jwaseok bus) No. 5002 (50 min ride).

Korea Budget Tour - Guest House

After I have got the flight tickets, I need to look for hotel accommodation.I never think of getting any guest house until my best friend suggested to me. Initially I called her if she got any hotel list for me. My priority is I want a clean and looks new hotel, near to Myeongdong or Namdaemun , near to subway... My budget is around RM200-RM250 per night. She told me with this price range I can only get guest house. I really have no idea what is a guest house and what different is it with a hotel. In my mind, I was thinking guest house is something we need to share toilets with others? OMG, that is something I can not tolerate with it. She then emailed me some guest house and hotels websites. she also gave me the Visit Korea Official site .


I went through all the links she gave me. Ibis Hotel is something I want! Sad to say it is expensive for us and beyond my budget ( about USD130 per room per night).

Myeong Dong Guest House was one of the suggestions from her. This guest house is not what I want ( after I checked its photos in the website ) . From the photos I can see the rooms are a bit old or I should say not up to my expectation.

I was a bit worry by then... I thought all the guest house is like this. Lucky I found this blog and she has got lot of useful posts in her blog. I read all her old posts and I have got so much information that I need, included guest house lists. With this post and this one here , I have shortlisted 2 guest houses. They look good to me and the price is within my budget. Further more most of the guest houses rooms have their own toilets ^ _^. What make me excited is the guest houses I shortlisted are actually located in very strategic place near Myeongdong and subway and some sightseeing places.

Why Myeongdong and Namdaemun are my chosen place to stay and not others? Simply because they are shopping heaven ! DON'T get me wrong. This trip is not gonna be a shopping trip. But what I am planing is we will go shopping after we finish our sightseeing everyday. Staying near to Myeongdong and Namdaemun so it will be more easy for us .

Now we can save our money by staying in the guest house. The price range is from 40000 Won to 70000 Won.

We are going Korea

Ever since I got the cheaper ticket from Airasia, I have slowly go for the travel planning. Yep, going very slowly as I have plenty of time to get things ready... 2 months has passed from the day I booked the tickets. I have come up with the places we want to visit, food we want to eat and what we want to buy. Of course most important part is we have settle the place we wanna sleep in. Now I am so glad to tell myself ( to prove to myself ) : We can go Korea free and easy! It is not that hard like what you all think, we no nothing about Korean, we don;t have friends or relatives in Korea though. But with the internet access, by just sitting at home, I have all the information obtained online.

I wish to use up this space to pen down what I have search online, categorize them in this blog, for my own use and also for the other tour members' viewing and for anyone here.