[27/12/09] Jisan Forest Ski Resort 지산 리조트

ok.. here's a v v v v backdated post! my first ever ski trip! ^^

we were supposed to go to Kongjinam instead of Jisan. tried calling Kongjinam the night before we were supposed to depart, but to no avail. sooo, we decided to take a gamble & head to Kangnam to wait for the bus. However, we were unable to find the bus stop from which we were supposed to take the bus.. >_<

thank God i spotted the shuttle bus for Jisan - 지산 리조트 and since it wasn't full, the bus driver allowed us on. :) and so, that's how my 1st ever eventful ski trip started off. it took us ard 1 hr to get to the ski resort since it was outside of seoul. however, i wasn't feeling too gd that day. i suspect it was due to the super duper oily food that i had been having for the past few days..



the rolling ski slopes of Jisan

so we decided to sign up for lessons since all of us had no experience in skiing, with the exception of LX. thank God she had the Samsung card, which gave us 50% off everything! :P hehe. and so, we proceeded to undergo 2 hrs of training, which i don't think helped that much. haha. i couldn't stop no matter how i tried & i ended up crashing into the orange barrier. screaming at the same time of course.. i couldn't think y no one came over to help me but just stood and stared.. >_<

but of course, i think esther aka KJI was the ultimate! hehe. she ski-ed (if you could call it skiing) down from the 2nd tier of the ski slopes, but couldn't control herself and ended up sliding under the orange barrier into the training area. haha. n she crashed into the 'mini ski travellator' as well.. hahahah.


the training area


LX


KJI

but i have to say, the ski outfits that were loaned to us were really like military uniforms. plus we had our number tags to boot! haah. straight out from boot camp!




JT & myself!

it started snowing halfway thru & it was really fun! hehe. skiing while the snow fell... hehe. didn't take that many pictures cause my camera decided to be temperamental and not behave... >_< i think its time to trade it in for a new model. ho ho .


falling snow


blurry photo of us taken on the way out of jisan!


snow covered bridge


since it was snowing pretty heavily, we decided to leave early cause it was likely that the roads would be congested. and true enough, instead of the 1 hour that it usually takes to get back to seoul, we took almost 3! since we missed the shuttle bus back to seoul, we had to go back via public transport. n that involved us walking in the snow for ard 30 mins out to the bus stop, taking a city bus to the inter city bus terminal, before transferring to the express bus that brought us back to Seoul. on our way back, the bus was really stuffy and hot.. plus we were all bundled up in our winter wear.. unimaginable.. pfttttt. we saw trucks sprinkling salt on the snow so as to increase friction to prevent accidents from happening. n of course, our bus driver drove v v slowly all the way back to Seoul. partly because of safety and partly because of the huge jam on the highway.

but it was a rather memorable trip all in all! but, the next time, i would like to try tobogganing instead. hahaah. i think its much much safer. the skis were rather cumbersome & jutted out in all the wrong places!

31/12/09 - North Seoul Dream Forest 복서울 꿈의 숲

decided to visit the dream forest after watching Iris (아이리스). there was a very unique observatory that appeared in the drama. since i heard that its at the dream forest, i made up my mind that i absolutely HAD to visit that place. :)

it was opened on Oct 17, 2009, so it can be considered a relatively new park. :)

alight at Seoggye Station, Line No. 1. take bus no 14. it takes abt 10mins to reach the entrance of the park.


bus stop


esther & myself


the entrance to the park


map of dream forest


the park is rather picturesque, with wooden platforms & metal sculptures forming the core structure. there was even a mini bamboo forest tucked away in a corner. i would have liked to explore the place, but due to a lack of time, i had to content with snapping pictures from a distance, albeit far away.


bamboo forest in question


the day was rather chilly, which made exploring a little problematic as snow covered the ground. my shoes weren't made for walking on snow.. they have zero grip on the snow, which meant i was slipping n sliding all over the place. it would have been fun if not for the fact that i was afraid of falling flat on my face.


see the observatory in the distance??


esther & myself


kim jong il on the bridge..




i love the tranquillity of the park. it has this ethereal quality to it. maybe it was because everything was covered in snow? i like snow. i don't know if it has something to do with my birthday being in dec, but yes. i like the cold, snow & everything that comes with it. i like being bundled up in my coat & scarf, holding a cup of hot cocoa, walking around in subzero temperatures. it just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.


observatory

**to be continued**