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YONGPYONG SKI RESORT - WINTER SONATA SHOOTING LOCATION & 2018 WINTER OLYMPIC!

Friday, September 28, 2012

Winter Sonata was the very first Korean drama that I watched and I have been hooked ever since. It is the drama that started the Korean wave, so big that it started a huge wave in Japan, and later on around the world. It was 11 years back. I was still a teenager back then. Hehe.

Bae Yong Joon’s (the male lead) popularity has gone sky rocket high in Japan and Asia as a whole. Aside from that, it brought South Korea a staggering number of tourists every year since the places where this drama was shot were extremely visited by foreigners as well as locals.

There are so many places and sites used for casting Winter Sonata such as:

Nami Island
Nami Island, is perhaps, one of the highlights when visiting South Korea and kind of overrated in my book. But, you as a peminat tegar Korean drama, really have to go. Hehehe. Nami Island is a beautiful island of tree-lined walking paths that is especially beautiful when the snow falls in winter. I visited twice during spring 2010 and winter 2012. And I’ll be there again, for the 3rd time, this coming winter. Oh I really love winter.

NAMI ISLAND, SOUTH KOREA | April 2010

Chuncheon Myeongdong
Not as happening as the Myeongdong in Seoul, but it is famous for being the filming sight of Winter Sonata. Chuncheon Myeongdong was the place where the lead actor and actress were supposed to meet. Unfortunately, the actor met with an accident. Duh, drama. And that was the point when the sad story started. Myeongdong street has posters of Jun Sang and Yoo Jin (the main characters) in various places. So take a stroll while remembering the romantic drama and take the souvenir photos as a reminder of your visit.

CHUNCHEON MYEONGDONG, SOUTH KOREA | April 2010

Yongpyong Ski Resort
The site of the 2018 Winter Olympics, the Yongpyeong Ski Resort! And of course, one of the filming locations for Winter Sonata.

So we went to Yongpyong Ski Resort for our recent trip to South Korea in February. Yang ni yang nak cerita sebenarnya. Tadi tu mukadimah je. Sikit punya panjang intro kan. Haha.

Trip kali ni memang we went to most of the filming locations. Siapa yang buat itinerary? Hehe. Faham-faham sendiri. Layankan je semua tempat-tempat ni sebab, feeling-feeling sangat nak jadi main actress dalam cerita Korea. Hahaha. In your dream. But then, berangan adalah free, tak kena bayar pun. Hehe.

9 FEBRUARY 2012

I was so anxious to feel the snow breeze, really. Oh God, I just want to leave my footprints on the snow.

There are selections of ski resorts in South Korea, all very close to Seoul. I’ve been to two of the ski resorts.:-

Phoenix Ski Resort
It was a shooting location for the Korean drama, “Autumn In My Heart”.

PHOENIX SKI RESORT, SOUTH KOREA | April 2010

Yongpyong Ski Resort

Click HERE for other ski resorts selection.

Hmm. Penat. Restless. Mengantuk toksah cakap. Sangat. But still we woke up at 6.00am to catch the bus. And we skipped our breakfast sebab takut terlepas bas. Tak ke haru kalau terlepas bas? Feeling-feeling nak jadi Yoo Jin kan, so harus gigih bertolak seawal yang mungkin.

There are few options to go to Yongpyong Ski Resort. And we took the express bus services. Rasanya ni the most convenient and also reachable by subway.

Click HERE for other options.

So Yongpyong operates express buses back and forth from Jamsil station. Since our guesthouse dekat Myeongdong area, then we have to go to Jamsil to catch the bus.

Myeongdong - Jamsil

From Myeondong station, transfer to line #2 to Jamsil station.

Then, take exit #4. It’s about 40 minutes ride to Jamsil station.

Go straight (+/- 50mtr) until you see Lotte Mart.

Lotte World is one of the largest indoor theme parks located in Jamsil as well.

Click HERE for more details.

So where is the bus now? Takde ok. It was obviously too early, no one there. Hahaha. Rasanya we reached Lotte Mart around 7.30am or 7.45am in the morning. Kerlas! Pergi office pun tak seawal ni! Hahaha. Berjalan punya pasal, semua benda pun boleh je buat.

Risau jugak ni, sebab I yang buat research. Bus pulak nan hado. Budak-budak ni dah macam, eh sure ke sini sure ke sini. Hahaha. Sebab bayang bas pun takde uols! Tak ke pengsan kat situ kalau salah information.

Ok takpe, kita jalan dulu. Sebelah Lotte Mart ni, ada macam café so pucuk dicita ulam mendatang. Sejuk-sejuk ni, memang cepat sangat laparnya. And we haven’t had our breakfast either.

Happy semua orang, sebab dapat makan. Hehe. Tapi, I’m still worried! So bila all my friends tengah sibuk pilih apa nak makan, I pulak sibuk duk tanya cashier betul ke sini nak kena tunggu bas. Tapi macam biasa, language barrier has always been a problem. Sigh.

I know common phrases and can understand the basics because of the dramas. Hahaha. Gila. But yes, I’m pretty suck. Ala, at least I can pick up some words! Kan. Kekeke. So sekarang macam mana nak bagi kakak kedai ni faham.

Nuna (Kak), bassu (bus)? Yongpyong?

Hahahahahaha. Semua orang boleh cakap ni okeh. Sia-sia sajork tengok drama Korea. Sobs.

But then, dia angguk. My God dia faham! Hahaha. So dia angguk sambil tunjuk jam dia pukul 9.00 and suruh tunggu kat depan pukul 8.50am. Hehe mission accomplished. Lega. Jom breakfast!

Ok rambang mata dah la ni. Semua nampak sedap je. Lapar katanya kan. Tapi, tahu tak apa I beli?

Roti Gardenia! Hahahaha.

Nak buat macam mana. Roti ni jugak yang menjadi idaman hati. Hehe. Punya lah rambang mata tadi, semua nampak sedap. Tak tahu nak pilih. Hehe. So I ended up not buying anything.

Lepastu, ada macam handphone atas meja, touch screen. Mula lah jadi tak tentu hala duk tanya semua orang, kenapa cashier ni bagi handphone. Kekeke. I memang suka tanya soalan. That’s me. Kadang-kadang my friends kata, kumpul dulu semua soalan tu, nanti tanya sekali harung! Hahahaha.

Ok now I know, every order comes with a restaurant pager which vibrated once your coffee is ready to be collected. Baru-baru ni pun dekat BSC Bangsar food court, pun ada benda alah ni. A disc-shaped. Tapi walaupun dah jumpa restaurant pager ni kat Korea, masa pergi BSC haritu pun, still blur! Apa benda kah semua ini. Haha.

So dalam lebih kurang pukul 8.45am, tengok bas dah mula ada. My roti memang tak habis la. Sebab banyak sangat! And malas nak pegang punya pasal, so I decided to just leave it there. Hehehe. Ish ish ish. Tapi Azie marah. Dia kata nanti lapar kat sana! Sejuk ni. So, dia volunteer nak pegang plastic bag tu.

Jamsil - Yongpyong scheduled expresss bus services

Earliest bus (Jamsil) – 6.10am.

Second and last bus (Jamsil) – 9.00am.

Round trip ticket – 28,000 KRW; one way – 15,000 KRW and can be bought from the bus drivers.

No reservation needed.

Bas banyak, so don’t worry. Just be there sharp! Lambat kalau, kena tinggal.

Travelling time +/- 2 ½ hours.

Please reconfirm your return ticket at tour desk when you arrive Yongpyong. IMPORTANT . Kalau tak merasa lah tidur kat sana. Itu kalau ada bilik, and at your own cost, kalau takde? Sejuk ok. So, reconfirm tu maksudnya, inform pukul berapa nak balik. Ada banyak trip but kalau nama kita tak included in any of those trips, then memang tak boleh naik bas nak balik Seoul.

Last bus (Yongpyong) - 9.00pm.

Click HERE for more details.

Lotte Mart – yang kaler brown tu. Dekat sebelah GAP Kids ni ada macam lorong sikit so masuk situ and the café is on your right. Depan café tadi ada Kidzania. Building ni lebih kurang macam Berjaya Time Square kita, ada indoor theme park (Lotte World) and it was one of the filming location for “Stairway to Heaven”. Tangga ke syurga katanya. Hahaha. Semua pun nak filming location kan. So bas pergi Yongpyong memang banyak ada dekat sepanjang jalan ni.

Bila dah selamat naik bas, I was yawning around. Ngantuks. Lagi lah dah kenyang ni. Hehe. So I grabbed my mp3 player for some music. Korean music! Ambik feel. Layan lagu Winter Sonata hehehe.

Only You (Winter Sonata OST)

It is a beautiful piece by Yiruma. So sad. Always brokenhearted. And where do broken hearts go? I don’t know. It hurts, but time heals inshaAllah :). Hmm, it brings back old memories. So beautiful and painful at the same time. Terbuai je lagu ni sampai tertidur dibuatnya.

Sedar-sedar dengar driver bus buat announcement bahasa dia. Apa pun tak faham. Hehe. Takde orang turun pun. So belum sampai lagi la tu. Time ni baru la nak menghayati kawasan persekitaran. Haha. Tidur tak ingat dunia, tidur mati.

Then, second stop dia berhenti dekat kawasan macam hotel resort. Semua orang yang turun kat sini semua dengan luggage. Hahahahaha. Mana ski resort nya? Ya Allah, macam-macam hal. Nak Winter Sonata sangat kan. So apa lagi. Pandang sesama sendiri. And lagi best, only 4 of us left in the bus! So babe how. Sini ke tempat turunnya. I don’t think so. Ni macam hotel je. Tak nampak pun ski resort nya. Hahaha.

Sebab semua orang pun macam tak tau Korean (hmm macam la iols ni tahu sangat, buat-buat tahu je pandai la kot) hihi, so tugas menanya pakcik driver itu diserahkan bulat-bulat kat iols. Ligat kepala ni duk fikir, apa benda nak tanya pakcik bus ni. Sobs. Stress pulak rasanya duk cakap ayam itik ni. Hahaha.

Ahjushi (pakcik), uri nun (kami), skiiiiiiiii!

Hahahaha. Siap buat gaya ski lagi ni. Semoga pakcik tu faham. Hahaha. Apa benda ahjushi tu membebel serious tak dapat tangkap. Tapi maybe dia ckp sini bukan tempatnya! Dia suruh duduk. And dia membebel lagi. Mula-mula we all semua duduk belakang, sekarang ni semua pakat duduk depan-depan. Dengar pakcik tu membebel. Dengar kan je la. Apa nak buat lagi. Bukan faham pun. Hehehe.

So rupanya, first stop tadi tu yg ski resort.! Mana la nak tahu. Haha. So uncle tu pusing balik tau, and hantar pi sana. Baik kan uncle tu. Sebab dah sampai kan, excited la nak turun lepas dah cakap “Kamsamida ahjushi!” (thank you, uncle!). Tapi uncle tu cakap, “Chamkan!” (wait!) Haha. Dah pulak nak kena tunggu ke. Ok tunggu la kejap. Dia park bas dia, then dia ajak turun sama-sama, and we just followed him.

Rupanya, dia bawak pergi reconfirm ticket balik kat tour desk. We have not been told about this. Thank you ahjushiiiiii! Kalau tak, hazab lagi lah tu ayam itik nak balik karang. Hehehe.

So nanti kalau nampak building Tower Plaza ni sila turun. Tengok dekat bumbung dia ada pin bowling? Motif pin bowling ni ada kat ski resort? Hahaha, tak tahu. Maybe ada tempat main bowling la kot sini. But hari tu tak nampak pun rasanya. Tour desk untuk reconfirm your return ticket tu ada kat dalam ni. Masuk-masuk je pintu ni, on your left.

The sunlight was streaming inside the Tower Plaza window. So warm. After semua dah settle, we stepped out of the building. It was freezing cold outside. Ok my first thought was to escape into the Plaza Tower again! Sejuk. Sangat.

Then after we put on all our winter gear, we walked out to the Dragon Plaza. Jom ikut Cik Kiah masuk dalam! Hehehehe. Azie pegang plastic bag sandwich kat depan. Hahaha. So kiut.

Dragon Plaza

This is where you get to rent your equipment and lockers, dressing rooms, ticketing booth for the gondola (cable car) rides, eateries, shops and the medical facility. Speaking of the latter, there sure was a lot of ankle twisting going on. Hehe.

Cantik kan toilet dia. Tapi, tak de air tak guna jugak. Botol tetap kena bawak kalau nak masuk dalam. Hahahaha.

For babies. Gegirl boleh beli yang pink tu. Cantik. Boboy blue. On sale katanya, 30,000KRW.

I should mention that none of us could ski at all! Hahaha. Jauh-jauh datang, bukan nak ski ke. Hehehe. Hmm. Entahlah. Takut. Sedangkan bila berjalan saja-saja ni pun boleh terjatuh selalu, apatah lagi ski? Toksah nak berangan. Hahahaha. Ya Allah tiba-tiba teringat baru-baru ni jatuh kat Sime Darby Convention Center. Kenduri kawen orang! Malu toksah cakap la. Macam nak nyorok bawah meja. Tsk tsk. Why am I always so clumsy?

So, in 2018, Yongpyong will be one of the mountains to host the South Korean Winter Olympics. And unfortunately, my trivia knowledge pretty much stops here. Hehe.

Ralat pulak kan tak ski. After all, don’t you want to be able to say that you’ve skied on trails that will be used in 2018 Winter Olympics? Hehehe. Ceh. Ada maksud lain ni. Haha.

Though it was really, really cold outside, the scenery was so spectacular to me. I love the way snow looks. Everything seems so pure and peaceful. It was just perfect.

Ticketing booths for ski lifts.

Rates - Yongpyong Ski Resort

No tickets needed to enter Yongpyong Ski Resort.

Gondola rides – 12,000 KRW (last trip : 3.30pm).

Ski equipments rental – 28,000 KRW (afternoon + evening).

Lift passes – various types of lift passes sold. Price may vary.

Click HERE for more details.

If you’re a fan of Winter Sonata, you’ll feel right at home! Hehehe. Kan kan. Banyak sangat posters and props. Ini baru kat bawah. Wait till we go up to the mountain peak!

Ok, so the reason we were here was to ride the gondola up to the peak of Mount Balwang. Hehe. After we got our tickets from Dragon Plaza, we boarded the cable car and up we go to the mountain peak.

Bye-bye Dragon Plaza. See you again in few hours!

Sitting inside the cable car and admiring the outside scenery was a really great experience to me. I pretty much can see the top of snow capped mountain, deep green forest and the blue sky. Cantiknya.

All the people skiing, the snow covered trees, high mountains and white snow - so breathtakingly beautiful.

Though I was afraid of heights, but all the sightseeing has made me forget about the fear for a moment and fully concentrated on the surroundings. Ya Allah, cantiknya. Semoga diberi ruang dan peluang untuk tengok banyak lagi bumi Tuhan ni. There are so many things I want to see. Hopefully with my other half. Ameen.

We finally reached the top (known as the Dragon Peak) after 20 minutes gondola rides. Keluar je gondola tu, nampak poster Winter Sonata! Hahaha. Tak keruan dah ni. Excited!

Jenis tak penyabar punya orang kan, so dan-dan tu jugak nak keluar. It was freezing COLD! The wind was really really really STRONG. Hampir terjatuh tergolek kat depan pintu sebab angin kuat sangat. Hahaha. Kurus sangat ke uols sampai nak terjatuh bagai angin tolak? Over! Keke. But seriously, the wind was pushing me away. Tak tipu nih! Betapa kuatnya angin.

So our first attempt to go out, failed! Tsk tsk. Masuk dalam balik and duduk dekat café yang ada dekat atas ni dalam 15 minutes. Kejap-kejap I keluar nak rasa angin kuat lagi ke tak.

Takde orang kan kat dalam café ni? Haha. Semua orang datang sini nak ski. So mana ada sangat orang lepak kat café ni. Hanya orang-orang terpilih je yang boleh duduk sini and berangan ok. Hahaha.

Lepas dah penat duduk-duduk, we tried to go out for the second time, and again, failed! Sejuknya laaaaa. Awat ni. Tak tahan. Keluar tiga langkah, berlari-lari masuk balik kat café ni. Hahaha. Sejuk melampau-lampau. Sigh. Tapi it was so fun! Terkekek-kekek ketawa masuk dalam building. Hahaha. Angin kena muka macam best!

Two of my friends dah surrender, Azie and Maya. I pun dah macam nak surrender ni. Tapi Helwa ajak try lagi. So Helwa’s plan; since it was so cold outside, maybe we should cuddle or hug to stay warm? Hahaha. Macam-macam idea kan nak keluar punya pasal.

Akhirnya, elok je Helwa and I dekat depan pintu keluar tu, there was finally a lovely soft breeze. So soft the wind blows. Really soft tones. So, jom tengok apa ada kat luar ni. It was the most beautiful mountain which I had visited till now.

The ski lifts

My manager kata, Fida sangat menjaga aurat dekat Korea. Hahaha. Nampak dua bijik mata je okeh. Kalah orang Arab ni. Ni pun entah-entah mata pun tak nampak! Kekeke. Memang sehabis boleh nak balut muka. Sejuk! Pipi sakit.

Hmm, this is where the main actor kissed the actress. Dekat atas ni lah, Dragon Peak. Hehehe. It should be in one of the rooms inside this house. Rasanya yang paling tinggi tu. Confirmed! Hehe.

Yours truly yang fully covered. Haha.

The first kiss (let’s call it the snowman kiss) was a surprise or cheeky or somewhat innocent kiss from the main actor to the main actress. Oh my, korean drama overload!!

A fine day for skiing or boarding and even the skies are blue :)

An empty bench and heavy snow had fallen and it looks so lonely.

They will be screaming their way down the hills. Hmm, I wish I knew how to ski. Teach me please.

My only thought was to quickly get into the building to catch some heat. And I can hardly describe the feeling of having a cup of coffee in the midst of cold air. All my legs and hands are going numb. I was so cold till I jumped up and down and kept rubbing my hand! Sejuknya ya ampon. Tobat!

And I straightly went to the heater!

Hahahahahahaha. Ninjaaa!!

Tengok mana I duduk!! Atas heater ok. Hahahaha. Tak senonoh perangai kan. Dua orang hujung sana tu awal2 dah surrender! Siap pening-pening kepala bagai! Kekeke.

Hot coffee and heater are two of the best soul mates. A great place to enjoy a cup of coffee. They kept us warm.

Eh kejap, cuba tengok siapa I jumpa kat atas ni; so damn popular now.

OPPA GANGNAM STYLE!! Hahahahah. Dia pergi ski uols! Jangan jeles. Erk macam biasa ninja ni pun tak lepaskan peluang bergambar okeh. Kekeke.

Hehehe, ok ni tipu je. Tu bukan oppa gangnam style. Entah siapa-siapa je tu. Hehe.

So we left the mountain peak around 2.00pm kot. Tak ingat dah. And we took the cable car down.

I noticed how beautiful the sky was, that day. Skies were still pretty clear when we left the peak. Cantik kan. And the sun was still shining brightly. Matahari yang tak mampu menghangatkan. Indah sungguh ciptaan Tuhan ni. It was so nice to sit back and enjoy the scenery. A very quiet moment.

Last gondola trip ni rasanya pukul 4.30pm from Mount Balwang. Rasanya lah. Tak ingat. Better ask. So, kalau dah sampai Yongpyong Ski Resort ni, naik atas dulu posing-posing kat sana, then baru turun bawah sambung posing-posing kat bawah ok.

You can’t see the Dragon Peak from down here. It’s tucked away somewhere at the back of the immediate hills. So jom pusing-pusing bawah ni pulak.

Azie on my right, Helwa on my left.

One of the many hotels nearby the resort.

Auwww, Eskimo these two.

Hehehe. Cute! Mana plastic bag sandwich tadi??

Hahahaha. Bertukar tangan sudah. Membebel-bebel Azie sebab dia kata dah agak kau jugak yang lapar nanti! Kekeke. Tu la. Sombong! Malas nak bawak konon.

Hahahaha. Apa yang terkeluar tu???? KAKIIIIIIII uols! Hahahahhaa. Ganas sangat ni. Tak rasa apa-apa dah. Sejuk sangat. Ko mampu berjalan macam tu kaki terkeluar bagai?Sebelah je pulak tu. Hahahahah. Adoi tergelak-gelak pulak dah ni bila ingat balik. Fashion baru katanya. Hahahaha. Fida gile.

Bestnya kalau dapat stay sini one night!

I miss her, my ex-colleague :(.

Korean favorite pose, sarang-hae!

A snowman and I. Hehe.

We left Yongpyong at 5.30pm. Sampai Seoul pukul 8.00pm. Exhausted! But, I need to find another boots! Hahaha.

Good night!

Labels: Korea, Korea 2012, Travel

3:25 AM | 12 comments

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Fida Jacob
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