Korea Winter Itinerary 2016 / 2017 Day 10

Day 10

Stay: Holiday Inn Express Seoul Euljiro

Nearest Subway: Euljiro-3-ga Station Line 2 Exit 1

07:00 | Breakfast at Hotel

08:00 | Depart to Vivaldi Ski Resort

09:30 | Arrive at Vivalvi Ski Resort

12:00 | Start ski lesson

18:00 | Bus back to Seoul

20:30 | Dinner at Piggy Bank BBQ Hotstone Restaurant

21:30 | Hongdae

It's a SKI day! 🎿⛷⛸

Before that, we had our hearty breakfast in the hotel. I think most Holiday Inn Express Hotels comes with breakfast because the one we stayed in BKK also comes with it. We reached the café at 7am and were the first one there. Not much choices but I think it was decent enough for breakfast, but Mic would say otherwise.

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Vivaldi Ski Resort

Had this added in our itinerary at the last min because Mic suddenly said he wanted to ski after watching some K-drama (I had been asking hundred times him earlier if he wanted to ski and he insisted he did not want. Must be because of that Legend of the Blue Sea drama again...). I booked the ski package at FUNKO website which costs 90,000 won per person for option C which includes:

Option C (₩90,000)
✓ Round trip shuttle bus Seoul <-> Vivaldi Park(One day)
✓ Basic group ski Lesson for beginner (1 hour)
✓ Lift ticket (6 hours)
✓ Ski gear (rental)
✓ Ski clothes

After breakfast in the hotel, we took subway to the pickup area at Myeongdong Lotte Hotel which was actually just 1 station away from our hotel. Because the weather was so cold, we did not want to walk there (we found out on our 2nd last day in Seoul that there is actually an underground path connecting Euljiro-3-ga station to Myeongdong & Euljiro-1-ga station. Gosh.. We had been walking in the cold for 4 days on the street.)

The pickup area is right outside of Euljiro-1-ga Line 2 Exit 8 which is also in front of Myeongdong Lotte Hotel. You will see a few buses by the roadside and some people holding small flag. Just go to anyone of them and tell them which tour agency you booked Vivaldi Ski package from and they will checked on their list and direct you to the correct bus.

Itinerary Sample

08:00AM Depart from Seoul by shuttle bus
10:00AM - 10:30AM Arrive at Vivaldi Ski Resort
11:00AM Meet Staff
11:15AM- 11:50AM Collect equipment
11:50AM Meet Ski instructor
12:00PM - 13:00PM 1 Hour Group Lesson for New Skiers(non-mandatory)
13:00PM ~ Free ski time
17:00PM Return the ski equipment and clothes
18:00PM Leave from ski resort

Everyone in the bus slept all the way to Vivaldi Ski Resort until the driver announced that we will be reaching the resort soon. Apparently not everyone in our bus booked from the same tour agency. When we were about to reach the resort, our ski instructor WhatsApp us and informed us that she will be waiting for us at a waiting point in the resort. So nice of her.

We arrived at the resort at 9.30am which was way too early, so our instructor told us to grab something to eat and walk around before we meet up again at 11.30am to get our ski attire and gears. The good news was, there were only 4 people in her group today including Mic and me so she was able to provide more personalised coaching to us which she really did 👍.

The trainers in green ski attire were having briefing and warming up

Super crowded

View at the beginner's slope from Cable Car

My instructor told me I must take picture of my ski boots because mine was special type which is clipped on

The beginner slope was very crowded because a lot people were practising snowboarding.
Seems like this is the latest trend amongst the locals here 🏂

Shagged after I walked up the slope to the top

We were required to return our ski attire and gears by 5pm because the buses will leave Vivaldi Resort at 6pm sharp. When we walked to the carpark to board the bus back to Myeongdong, we were shocked because there were so many buses and each of them goes to different places but none to Myeongdong. We asked the drivers and was told to search for the bus that carries sign to Myeongdong. Many people were looking for the same bus as us but in the end we took the bus to the nearest subway station to Hongik Univ. We decided to have our dinner at Piggy Bank again because we were tired and famished from the skiing.

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Piggy Bank Hotstone BBQ RESTAURANT

Nearest Station: Hongik Univ Station Line 2 Exit 8

We had this on our 1st day in Seoul and we had been craving for it since then. We took the time to go back Hongdae again (my fav place in Seoul!!) because there is so much to eat and shop at Hongdae. You may refer to my itinerary on Day 1 for direction to Piggy Bank Hotstone BBQ Restaurant.

We reached around 8.30pm and had to queue because of limited seats in the restaurant. Luckily we did not need to wait for too long. This time, we ordered 4 portions of Grilled Salted pork meat which the lady told us, "no no, too much, for 2", pointing at us. We laughed and told her we were too hungry. This is simply the best BBQ we'd had. The thickness of the meat was just right and it was juicy even after BBQ on that hot stone, the complimentary soup was best and even the banchan was yummy..

After dinner, we continued eating the street food while walking around Hongdae and I did my shopping here because it was cheaper here than Myeongdong.

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