Seoul Searching (Part 4)

13th Dec 05

Today is a day for shopping!

I woke up still with fever. My whole body ached probably from the skiing and tripping yesterday. I could barely climb out from my bed. My legs started to have tiny red lines and they are very itchy. I wonder what was it? I resented the urge to scratch as I won’t stop after I started and the skin will become redder.

Right after our breakfast which was “Hong Kong styled dim-sum”, we were dropped off at a street to do more shopping. The tour guide told us that today the temperature has dropped to -12°C. Thank you! That’s what I needed for the pain in my body right now.

After several drop-offs for a quick last minute shopping, I am not sure where I am anymore! It’s so hard to remember the places’ name in Korea. We were then transported to a Ginseng shop. My fever has got into me and I just would like to sit on the floor and wait for them to finish buying Ginseng. Mind you… they don’t even have a single chair for the guests to sit. Lousy. The Ginseng I think was really expensive. The cheapest cost around RM1000. Never mind, I will just sit on the floor and wait.

Next was the Topaz outlet. These customized outlets like the Ginseng shop earlier only suck tourists’ blood. They prices are way too high. However, they kept luring you to try out the jewelry. Which I think it’s a bit aunty looking.

Next stop! The fungus shop. Okay..I am not sure what exactly is the stuff called but it is definitely a fungus with high medicinal value. Chrisse told us we can just drink the small portion of fungus water served and just leave if you do not feel like buying.

Like usual, when we reached the shop, all the well dressed promoters stood up with hands on their back. We were given the usual talk on the benefits of the fungus to our health. We listened “intently” but I guess we were just waiting for the free drink. Soon, they took out the drink for us to try. We all downed the drink and just left the shop. The promoters were left in a daze as they do not even have a chance to promote their stuff to us. We were all giggling outside as we act really rude and only went in for a cup of free drink.

We had our lunch and went to our final stop-Lotte World. They said Lotte World is Korea’s version of Disneyland. There are thrilling rides and awesome shows. Our tour group went for the Sinbad Adventure ride. Lucky me, my cousins and I manage to get the front row of the boat. The boat moved its way along the dark tunnels, making several plunges. Along the way, the Sinbad’s story unfolds. As the boat moved along, the story progressed with the characters talking. Though I could not understand a word as Sinbad was talking in Korean. At last the story ended with the bad guy getting caught. I was waiting for the climax and expecting the final plunge. However, the ride ended as soon as the story reached its ending.

After the ride, we were free to roam around Lotte World. I took out the map and realized Lotte World has an indoor and outdoor theme park. The outdoor park is the happening one. It is actually an island (I think a man made island) housing all the thrilling rides. I actually could not imagine what was out there until I was back here in Penang looking through the postcards I bought from Lotte World. The rides out there are crazy! There was this dizzying roller coaster ride and a ride that looks like a human spinner. Drag me, beat me but I am not going out there! It’s freezing and I am so sick! I am basically popping in Panadols to stop the fever from frying my brains.

The indoor theme park was not that bad. There is a skating ring on the ground floor and “Hot air” balloons cruising on top of the building. The shops are so fancy and goodies are sold at every corner. Right on at 7:30pm, the parade show started.

It was like Disney’s parade coming to live. I used to watch the parade on TV when I was a kid. There were cartoon characters and celebrity sitting inside a car waving to the crowd. Well, this is a smaller version but amazingly enough, the people dressed as Cinderella, Princes, ballerinsa and clowns were all Caucasian. They waved and danced, pulling out little kids to dance with them. The bunch of gals standing beside me I think were crazy over Caucasian guys. They just kept screaming at any Caucasian guys and wave frantically as though they were some kind of celebrity. The show ended with Santa coming out and finally, Lotte World’s mascot riding on a reindeer. The show was so nice and I was like living in a fantasy at that moment!

It was time to go back. The tour guide said they save the best for last as we are going to have BBQ pork for dinner. Erm..i was not a big fan of pork. I guess I will just be a vegetarian during dinner. At dinner, I did not take much of the BBQ pork as I am really having a bad fever. Luckily they have some bean sprouts for me to eat with the rice. Talk about save the best for last! It was sad. I had to ask for another bowl of bean sprouts to finish up my rice.
I can’t believe that tomorrow I am going back to Penang. Time really flies.