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KOREA TRIP DAY 1: HOTEL AVENTREE JONGNO, INSADONG, MYEONGDONG

March 20, 2017 by Little Miss Honey 332 Comments

Insadong

There was an article that stated that it is best to spend on travel for our kids rather than material possessions because it is creates memories and fosters bonding. I couldn’t agree more. I grew up in a family that values travel. We try to save to travel and those travel memories are forever kept fondly in my heart. This is something I want to carry over in my own little family and I am happy my hubby is so on board with it too.

 

For 2017, we planned to a Seoul, Korea Trip to coincide with my hubby’s birthday. We wanted to see snow!!! It was quite adventurous of us to be taking two little ones (a 2-year-old and a 10-months old) on a winter trip without a helper. I believe my hubby and I got a great teamwork so we know we can handle it.

 

We got our airline tickets from www.cheapflights.com. We were deliberating if we should got a cheaper tickets with connecting flights (longer but cheaper) or a direct flight (shorter but more pricey). But we realized we don’t want to gamble in taking the cheaper flight with two young kids in tow. So we got the Korean  Air direct flight tickets to Seoul.

 

For our accommodations, I initially planned to book a hotel at Myeongdong but hubby saw a better deal, much cheaper at Insadong. So I went ahead and booked a 7-nights stay in Hotel Aventree Jongno via Agoda.com.

 

We bought our winter wears. I did extensive research and made our itinerary for our trip. I have made a little notebook with our daily trip schedules with name of the places in English and Korean as well as the exits in MRT in every places. Hubby also contacted Changi Recommends so we can have a portable wifi when we are in Seoul.

 

Changi Recommends

We strategically booked after midnight flight so the kids would sleep in the plane until we reached Korea. We did make them play and run in the playround in Changi Airport so they will get so tired and happy to sleep throughout the flight.

I must say, we didn’t regret taking Korean Air. The flight attendants were so attentive and nice. Even the pilot came over to say Hi before the trip. It was a relaxing trip with the two young boys sleeping while mommy & daddy enjoyed the in-flight movies in our own media screens. We are well-fed with meals and snacks. When I need to use the ladies room, one of the pretty flight attendant watched Fynn for me. Overall, I must say it was worth it choosing Korean Air.

 

We arrived in Incheon Airport at around 8AM. It was a breeze going through immigration line and checking out our 3 luggage. Incheon Airport is a beautiful airport, a close second to Changi Airport.

 

We got outside to wait for our limousine airbus that will take us to our hotel. It was freaking cold! Oh my goodness! I have experienced winter in Sydney, Australia but Korean winter is something else. Naj, my 2 year old, started crying from the cold. A nice Korean elder gentlemen who is in charge of arriving limousine airbuses gave a wool hat with ear covers to Naj to use. Even if he was having a hard time speaking in English, he singled to us that the bus will take some time to come so we can wait inside first.

 

When the bus arrived, we gave back the hat to him and he said no, please keep it. We noticed these genuine kind and generous manner from Korean throughout our trip particularly to our kids. We were so amazed and very appreciative of their hospitality.

 

Bus 6005 will stop directly in front of our hotel. It is the last stop. It cost 15,000 KRW for adults and 11,000 KRW for child. It took 70-75 minutes to get to our hotel. We enjoyed the beautiful wintery white scenery from our bus windows. I love how the city looks, the atmosphere of winter season, the sophisticated fashion of Koreans and the cute shops & intricate architectures.

 

We checked in at Hotel Aventree Jongno. It is a small business hotel with Insadong just a few minutes walk from the back of the hotel. Our room was quite small but clean and modern. If you have a lot of luggages you will step on them. There is a long wooden table and wooden ledge by the window. There is no closed hanging cabinet, just a rail for you to hang your clothes and drawers for some of your clothes. The toilet has no bathtub but has this cool highly advanced toilet. Too bad I dont have a picture to show. It has several functions and the toilet seat feels warm when you sit on it, hehe. The bed is comfortable and big enough for us four.

 

Hotel Aventree Jongno

 

Hotel Aventree Jongno

 

Hotel Aventree Jongno

 

It was almost lunchtime when we reached the hotel so we decided to roam around Insadong to look for a place for lunch.

 

Insadong is known to be a district where you get to experience the feel of traditional Korean culture in the modern city. They call it, “the culture of the past and present”. So it is good mix of historical and modern atmosphere. You find tourist wearing hanbok       rental roaming around the streets. You can find traditional Korean trinkets and lots of wonderful souvenir gifts. There are art stuff, porcelain wares and hand pressed papers. I love the vibe of Insadong. I enjoyed the colorful sidewalks, the mix of the locals & tourists and the variety of street foods. We bought some gloves for me and our two kids. My hubby was brave enough to go glove-less.

Insadong

 

Insadong

Insadong

Talking about streetfoods, we haven’t decided on a place to eat lunch so opted to try the many streetfoods we saw. It was so yummy and filling. Maybe if they have rice on hand, we are good to go. We particularly like this Chicken Gangjang, which is a sweet & spicy chicken popcorn. It was getting cold and we were sleepy. So we headed back to the hotel to rest.

Insadong

 

Insadong

Insadong

Invading

Sunsets quite early during winter in Korea at 5PM. We headed out to Myeongdong to roam around for a bit and have a proper dinner there. Myeongdong is very near from Insadong. It was just a few MRT stops. Again, the nice Korean people would give us seats in trains, give our kids candies, smile & play with our kids even they have a hard time communicating with us.

Myeondong is a tourist and shopping district. It has very busy streets filled with lot of people. There are a lot of shops selling all types of Korean makeup products every corner you turn. There are more streetfoods and very interesting foods everywhere. You can see lots of cafe, clothes & shoe stores and hotels surrounding the area.

Ok, on our first day, we realized that it is quite challenging for my husband and I because we have two young kids who has never experienced winter cold weather. Both were very irritable. Our toddler was crying because his hands were so cold. Our 10months old was still okay because I was carrying him, snuggled in his Tula carrier in front of me. So my hubby devised some wraps & scarf to wrap around our eldest’s chest to his legs with his arms inside while sitting on his stroller. Hubby also placed a heat pack behind his back. Naj felt warmer and his tantrums stopped.

We wanted to try several street foods but it was already too cold and we wanted a proper meal. Most of the restaurants are found in the 2nd floor with a narrow stairs. I found a chicken and beer restaurant at the 2nd floor with a tiny elevator and we decided to try it. It is the Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory. We got a plate of original crispy chicken and fries. I love Korean chicken! We enjoyed our meal a lot and a great place to shelter from the cold.

Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory

Chir Chir Fusion Chicken Factory

Here is a list of our  7 Days itinerary in Korea:

Day 1: Hotel Aventree, Insadong, Myeondong

Day 2: Lotte World

Day 3: Petite France, Nami Island, Strawberry Picking, Cat Cafe

Day 4: Tosokchon, Gyeongbokgung Palace

Day 5: Itaewon, N Seoul Tower

Day 6: Gangnam, Hongdae

Day 7: supposedly Children Grand Park but we decided instead to do grocery shopping at Lotte Mall and bought souvenirs at Insadong

For the next several days, I will be blogging about our Korean Trip. Stay tuned.

Filed Under: Travel Tagged With: agoda, changi recommends, chir chir fusion chicken factory, hotel aventree jongno, insadong, korea, korean air, myeongdong, seoul

VALENTINES STAYCATION AT WANDERLUST HOTEL

February 24, 2015 by Little Miss Honey 31 Comments

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Valentines was slightly postponed because of my eye infection and  because Naj got sick. But my hubby and I manage to still have our mini Valentines celebration. We opted out on the dinner, wine, dance and flowers but instead we decided to have a mini- staycation in one of the quirky boutique hotels here in Singapore. It was a much needed time to be alone, just the two of us,  which we don’t get much these days. But I realized the importance of going back to the essence of that twosome that you were before you were a threesome. You get what I mean? Married couples tend to neglect each other as they bury themselves with domestic necessities of   a growing family. It’s essential that you and your partners should have a strong foundation to withstand life’s obstacles and challenges. It is helpful to keep the romance still alive in our marriages.

I heard of WANDERLUST HOTEL in Little India and we picked it for our Valentines  staycation.

Wanderlust Hotel

We had a late checked-in because we still got work. The place is a bit hard to find if you are coming from Bugis MRT. It is in a slightly hidden alley in Dickson Road.

Wanderlust Hotel

We got the Pantone Room. They are capsule-like rooms that comes different colors: red, white, orange, pink, purple, red, grey, green, blue and black. They gave us the BLUE room.

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

But I asked for another room because it reminds me of the room taken by Ryan Gosling’s character and Michelle Williams’ character in Blue Valentines. I don’t want to jinx our marriage but staying in that room and making our marriage resemble their depressing marriage. ( I know I am being silly but I don’t to take any chances, hehe)

So we transferred to the PURPLE room.

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

 

Wanderlust Hotel

The colors are very vibrant in all the rooms and there is a neon light in each room. We need to climbed to two tiled steps to our bed. The bed, pillows and linens were super-duper soft. There were more space for the toilet and bath that is divided separately by frosted class.

Wanderlust Hotel

The cabinet is small and not ideal for those travellers who wants to stay longer and have bigger luggages. They have small refrigerators with free water, soad drinks and juices. They have available hairdryer also. They have nespresso for us to use.

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

 

The second level where our room is located has the outside jacuzzi. I love their outdoor space.

Wanderlust Hotel

by night

Wanderlust Hotel

by night

Wanderlust Hotel

by night

Wanderlust Hotel

by day

Wanderlust Hotel

by day

I like that the hotel is walking distance to Bugis+, Bugis Junction, Mustafa and City Square Mall. My hubby and I had steak dinner at a nearby restaurant.

The next morning, being a morning person (and my hubby is the opposite, prefers to sleep in), I got to enjoy the much needed me-time in the outdoor space. I got to do some journal-ing and planning. I tried the Nespresso machine too. I love the coffee! Two creamer please!

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

When my hubby woke up, we had our breakfast at their restaurant, THE COCOTTE. Cocotte is a French word which means a small fireproof dish in which individual portions are cooked and served. It also mean a prostitute or a promiscuous woman. Hmmm… Interesting.

Wanderlust Hotel

The restaurant was colorfully decorated which  fit the vibe of the hotel. I love the light coming in the restaurant.

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

The bread basket, the cereals and juice are served buffet-style. And we have a check list of what we want for our breakfast. My hubby got the cranberry pancakes while I got the bacon, omelette and mashed potato. (This comes with the hotel accommodation package we got).

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

 

The hotel lobby is just as quirky as the restaurant and room with a lot of eclectic designs. You can also play foosball or just hang out in the colourful sofas and barber chairs.

 

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Wanderlust Hotel

Or like us, we just lounge in our room watching TV.

Wanderlust Hotel

It was wonderful to have little pseudovacation in Singapore and get to go home to our baby boy the next day. I would to try staying in other rooms Wanderlust has to offer like the Pantone Deluxe, Mono or Whimsical. Maybe on our second wedding anniversary perhaps…

Wanderlust Hotel

2 Dickson Road
Singapore 209494

*Recommended Parking: Open air car park across the road from Jalan Besar, next to Sim Lim Tower, and Weld Road – one street behind Dickson Road.

Tel: +65 6396 3322
Fax: +65 6298 2211
Email: WLH-Res@unlistedcollection.com

Filed Under: Inspirations, Travel Tagged With: agoda, boutique hotels, Bugis, French, Little India, Love, marriage, Singapore, Unlisted Collection, Valentines, Wanderlust Hotel


Hi I'm Honey! I am a Filipina who has studied & lived in Saudi Arabia for a few years, worked in Singapore and is currently based in Oman with my husband & our three little boys. I am a medical doctor, a lifestyle blogger, travel junkie, a foodie and a bookworm. I hope I can drizzle a bit of sunshine and inspirations whenever you drop by my blog. Thanks for dropping by! See ya soon.. :)
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