Winter Short Trip to Seoul

Early December 2012 was my first time going to Seoul. Since me and my friends' study was in Busan, we finally set the schedule for this short three days two nights trip after finished the mid semester exams. The most memorable scene during the trip was in our second day where we decided to visit some main tourist attractions of Seoul city. There were only three of us, since the other friends were going to Everland. We did research in the first day, when we arrived at the guest house after walked around Myeongdong and Hongdae. We were browsing in the internet to find "which places that highly recommended to visit when we go to Seoul". My friend was taking the Jihachul map with her, and we started mark the place including the subway line we should took. After several minutes discussion we finally made the choice to visit  Gyeongbokgung palace, Gwanghamun Square, Hangang River area, and N Seoul Tower.

It was winter, while the morning came we need a big effort pushing away the blanket out of our body, however we have had to get ready before 8.00 AM because we had to be time keeper for ourselves in order to visit four locations in a day without the help of tour guide. Luckily the guesthouse provides drop and pick up service to the subway station, which is very efficient since we didn't need to walk and taking much time. The moment we arrived at station and waiting for the subway stopped, we still felt amazed and hectic at once while facing the crowd in the train. It way much different feeling than taking subway in Busan, since Seoul is the big city where the center of business and entertainment located.

First destination was to Gyeongbokgung Palace. We took the subway to Gyeongbokgung and arrived safely without problem. We bought the tickets and walking around the temples, took many pictures and watched the guard changing ceremony.

Gyeongbokgung Palace front view

Royal Guard Changing Ceremony

안녕하십니가..

Every sides view of Gyeongbokgung Palace area is so pretty, I found this small lake a very calming place to refresh our mind.

We were also visiting the museum there, warming up our body in a short time before continue took pictures outside.

After we were done enough walking around the palace area, we were going outside and taking pictures with the guard and every edges we found beautiful to capture. We continued to move to the opposite, around Gwanghamun Square which is located in front of the previous location.

Sejong Dae Wang

We were sight seeing around the area, took pictures with different background in Gwanghamun Square. Even have had confusing moment in result we were entering the subway underpass to reach the river in the heart of Seoul city which actually could be reached by walking from Gwanghamun Square.

So refreshing

Even though it was freezing, however I got so excited seeing the mini waterfall and river in the city. Since the day was getting darker, we decided to take subway to Chungmuro, continued the adventure to N Seoul Tower. The planning to Hangang Bridge was canceled since we have no idea where how to reach there moreover considering the time which almost evening and it was getting colder. We jumped to the main point "must visit place" which is Namsan.

We were taking the subway to Chungmuro, followed the line according to the Jihachul. Walking in the middle of winter with the stiffed foot after the whole day walking around the city, we were just hoping for the happy end by reaching the place before it might closed. We were never expected to walk uphill while the day was getting darker and colder. The moment we walked out the underpass, we just saw the N Seoul Tower, felt happy but didn't know how to reach there.

Found this tower

We just walked through the uphill street, trying to got closer to the tower. We realized there were a couple walking by near us, perhaps they would be going to Namsan as well. My friend asked them and luckily we went to the same direction and they would like to go to the cable car. Both are very kind and we just followed them walking the uphill.

We walked around 20 minutes to the cable car ticket box. The queue of people who bought ticket was quite long, thankfully it was indoor, so we could feel warmer. 

Round trip cable car tickets

We got the tickets for round trip! It was my very first time riding big cable car with full of people inside, and beautiful sparkling night view.

Around five minutes, we arrived at the location, and we should taking the stairs to Namsan Park. During the walk, we found something mesmerizing, "Snow ice!!". We haven't seen any snow yet before, moreover it was still early winter.

Welcome to Namsan Park

안녕!!

We felt so happy by seing the beautiful lights in Namsan Park and N Seoul Tower. Visiting N Seoul Tower in the evening was a great experience, since we could seeing the beautiful lights like this, where we couldn't find during the day. It was very very cold, we decided to buy tickets to enter Teddy Bear Museum and Digital Observatory.

beautiful lights in colorful padlocks

There are many Teddy Bear, the big size which hug-able, and the miniature which set according to the theme. I really love this Goong Teddy Bear that has been shown in Korean drama titled "Goong".

Welcome by Big Teddy

Rock Star Teddy

Kingdom of Korea

Goong Teddy Bear :)

Enough with the cuteness of Teddy Bear, we continued to the Digital Observatory, took the fastest elevator to reach the top part and seeing the beautiful view from the top. I could not take any picture in the elevator since I was enjoying the sensation and watched the video from the LCD on the top of the elevator. The city lights are so marvelous. We could use the digital telescope to look the further view.

Creative wall

Done exploring Namsan Area, we decided to go home. Taking the cable car, we moved down and left Namsan. We walked through the same road, but went downwards. The cold weather made us freezing and need something warm. We stopped by the small shop selling ttokpokki and fish cake, bought some and ate them during the walk. That was the comforting feeling ever, took the fish cake with the hot soup have recharged the energy before going home. We were contented after a long yet fun day exploring a little part of Seoul city. Before going home, have some window shopping to cosmetic shops was kind of great idea.

When I looked back the time when I was going to Seoul in 2012, which is four years ago, the access to information these days are much easier to find. There are a lot of information in magazines, search engine, smart phone applications, moreover many social figure and influencer, people who are sharing their experience for specific things such as living in Korea, holiday trip, which place to go and what you could do there through viral media like YouTube and Blogs. Even the last four years we didn't have mono pod yet or selfie stick as today. So we need  to ask other tourist or native people around for help to take the picture of us together. 

In the era of fast moving technology and social trends I believe that people will get an information easier. Especially about Seoul and the tourist attractions. By experiencing became tourist without a tour guide, me and my friends learnt many things. We learn about time management, planning, teamwork, tolerant, taking risk, adapt and survive in unpredictable situation. Besides, we enjoyed every seconds of journey we were going through, it was the moment we will always cherish in life time. I'll see you soon, Seoul, I guest half of my soul left there :)

Perjalanan Spiritual

Assalamualaikum..

Taqabbalallahu Minna wa Minkum, Taqabbal ya Qarim..

Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri 1436 Hijriyah, Mohon maaf lahir dan batin..

Kalau ditilik mundur, sudah banyak moment-moment berlalu, mundur deh dari bulan puasa, wisudaan, jalan-jalan ga jelas ngabisin duit dengan dalih ambil seperangkat toga, mundur lagi, masuk ke bulan April, perjalanan spiritual yang udah ketebak lah ya, Umroh..

Alhamdulillah, Allah sudah beri kesempatan. Kalau istilah orang awam, Allah sudah memanggil kita untuk jadi tamu Nya di Baitullah. Alhamdulillah sekali, setelah lebih kurang setahun berhijrah, Allah begitu Maha Kuasa, panggil saya ke Tanah Suci. Perasaannya gimana? lebih kurang awal-awal sebelum pergi, ya percis kayak mau ke Korea, yah masih antara percaya ga percaya. Maklum lah jarang ke luar negeri. :(

Kami berangkat pada tanggal 2 April 2015. Bersama mama, abah, dan nenek, dengan travel yang sudah pernah dicoba ortu, di mana rombongan yang dibawa kurang dari 20 orang saja.

Jema'ah ID Card 

Perasaannya saat mau berangkat gimana? ya seneng banget, sekaligus banyak-banyak ngucap tobat, biar selamat sampai tujuan.

Boading pada pukul 2 siang waktu Jakarta, melalui lebih kurang 9 jam perjalanan dalam pesawat tanpa transit, sampai pada pukul 7.30 malam, waktu Jeddah.

Di perjalanan sibuk foto-fotoin awan yang Masyaallah cantiknya

Langit biru nya :3

Udah senja-senja cantik, mau magrib dan sudah masuk beda rentang waktu dengan Indonesia

Penampakan Negeri Arab malam hari, Masyaallah terang benderangnya negeri minyak.

Alhamdulillah sampai, tapi berhubung pesawat yang dipakai parkirnya di terminal haji, jadi ya sepi dan jauh jalannya.

Terminal Haji, King Abdul Aziz, Jeddah

Setelah menunggu kurang lebih 3 jam, mengurus barang dan lain-lain, barulah kami bersama rombongan menuju bus kami untuk segera ke Madinah. Pengalaman pertama melihat jalanan kota Jeddah di malam hari, kalau tidak salah pukul 9 malam. Jalanannya luas, mobil yang berseliweran yah kece-kece gitu. Shocking moment adalah sempat melihat 2 mobil crash tabrakan depan mata dan nge drift dua-dua nya. Luar biasak.

Tengah malam sekitar jam 12, ternyata dibeliin makan, yaitu semacam KFC nya Arab, ayam Albaik. Superrrrrrrr. lupa difoto ayamnya, saking laparnya dan keenakan, LOL.

Isinya 1 potong ayam gedee, pake roti, sayangnya ga ada saos sambel, cuma saos tomat dan saos bawang putih. Tapi karena ayamnya udah berbumbu kuat, jadi enak aja. Ya Allah semoga bisa ngerasain lagi. 

Sampai di Madinah pas adzan subuh, dan pagi nya baru ke Nabawi.

Akhirnya melihat langsung payung-payung yang indah ini

jalanan kota, sukaaa bangettt. Langit Madinah masih biru. 

Hari Sabtu nya ke Mesjid Quba

Bersama rombongan Maknah Tour, sekitar 12 orang.

Masih Mesjid Quba. Indah ya...:')

Raudhah, sekitar taman syurga. Semoga semua umat Muslim bisa kemari. Saya juga pengen lagi kemari, ga akan puas.

pengen ini lagi loh, pizza hut nya Arab

Makanan Arab emang super banget Masyaallah deh. Meski beberapa ga cocok di lidah, seperti buah zaitun kalau dimakan langsung, beberapa sauce yang entah terbuat dari apa, tapi beberapa banyak juga yang enak (tapi tinggi lemak) semacam kebab, martabak arab, ayam al baik :(

Ini penampakan gedung di Jeddah yang sebenarnya banyak dan mewah-mewah. 

Perbedaan Jeddah dan Tanah suci kerasaa banget. Jeddah lebih metropolis dan gedung dimana-mana. Tapi ga se crowded ibukota kite. Jarak gedung ke gedung ga begitu rapat dan jalanannya lapang mulus sekaleh.

Perjalanan rasanya ga mau berakhir. Beruntunglah orang-orang yang tinggal di Mekah atau pun Madinah, dimana tempat yang sudah dijamin Allah keamanannya, diharamkan segala maksiat, dan hidup kita cuma fokus untuk ibadah. Indahnya dimana saat adzan tiba, toko-toko ditutup, orang-orang berjalan ke mesjid. Sedikit pun keinginan untuk maksiat ga ada, karena Allah akan tegur langsung.

Wanita-wanita semua menutup tubuhnya, ga ada tuh yang sok cantik pamer aurat, lah mereka aslinya jauh jauh lebih cantik. Pernah tuh waktu mau pulang di Jeddah, pemeriksaan passengers pake scan, karena bagian cewek dan cowok dipisah, jadilah yang meriksa kami adalah cewek arab dan salah satunya lepas jubah dan hijab mereka. Masyaallah, badannya kayak model, kita mah cuma kayak biji apel (re: biji apel) -___- Nah gitu. 

Untuk sifat dan karakter, ya seperti pada umumnya orang-orang di luar Asia, khususnya Indonesia. Mereka tegas, tidak bisa dibilang ramah, dan seradak-seruduk sana sini kalau jalan, sering tuh kepala lu keinjek pas lagi sujud (nah ini banget). Wajar aja sih, disono manusia berjuta-juta kalau mau jalan sopan ya bisa kejepit atau minimal kesenggol badan mereka yang lebih gede dari kita. Tapi, kalau mereka memang salah, apalagi nyenggol orang tua, mereka minta maaf benar-benar dengan menaruh tangan di dada dan membungkuk tanda hormat sambil bilang maaf. Ini kasusnya cewek loh ya,, kalo cowok ga tau gimana. Tapi bukannya mereka ga ramah, sekali lagi kendalanya adalah bahasa. Kebanyakan mereka tidak begitu fasih bahasa inggris juga. Mereka harus tegas untuk mengatur jutaan manusia setiap waktu, biar bisa dengan nyaman beribadah disana.

Meski pun begitu, semua juga bakal pengen balik lagi ke sana. Semoga seluruh umat muslim yang ingin pergi umroh atau haji bisa disegerakan dan dilancarkan perjalanannya, Aamiin...