What a wonderful 10 days it has been. What is it about Korea that attracts all of us now? I guess mainly it is because it is his country- everything about Korea now is of interest to us- it’s music, food, cultural, scenery, things and its language. Even though most of the time, we do not understand what is being spoken.

It was a private holiday from the 4th to 7th Sep, the KNTO trip was from 8th Sep till 12th Sep. I shall tell you about the private trip first and of course it has to be BYJ related. Jos was our tour planner and Jules our food guide for this trip. And they are both very good with their task. Hehehe!

I went to Korea last October to catch his movie premiere. And what a difference a year made!

There are now many small carts in Myeongdong now selling BYJ related things. Note-books, letter-pads, envelopes, clock, pictures, telephone accessories, photos etc. Mostly with WLS related photos, no doubt to capture the Japanese tourists. Often, the venders would automatically speak to us in Japanese, until we give them a blank look. And every stall/cart would be blaring out the WLS song. I must admit, after a while, it can become irritating and I wished they would changed the song.

If you do buy these little items, make sure you check around for prices. Some of them are really inflated. The little memo pads were selling at 2,000 won at some places and 1,000 won at others. The clock was going at between 15,000 to 20,000 won. (To see what what are the things available, go to http://www.joonsfamily.com/index.php?name=...ewtopic&t=1845)

Of course, no visit to Myeongdong is complete without a visit to the O&N shop. You are given a poster if you buy an item from them. If you buy above a certain amount, you can get his catalogue/poster and paper bag. I do not know how much above you have to purchase in order to get the last 2 items- I only managed to get the poster as I bought only one item (it was on sale! Hehehehe!) O&N is near the Todd Cosa (cosmetic shop) at one end of Myeongdong. Across the road from Myeongdong, at Lotte Young Plaza (next to the main Lotte Dept Store), there is another O&N store. The sales girls here may be a little more generous as the customer traffic is less.

(link to see the O&N poster, catalogue and paper bag http://www.joonsfamily.com/index.php?name=...ewtopic&t=1843)

Manstar is in Lotte Dept Store. Unfortunately, BYJ no longer endorses it. But if you are going to Korea soon and you do wish to buy something from them, you can try your luck and ask for the Summer catalogue (BYJ was still the spokesperson then). The summer catalogue is divided into casual wear and formal wear. The formal wear is on the 5th floor and the casual wear is on the 6th floor.

There is also an LG shop in Myeongdong- you can get free brochures, leaflets and catalogues from there. Our advice- do not go into the shop in a big group, but rather in twos’ or threes’ at the most. Otherwise you will be stopped for getting the materials. (Some of the brochures we collected : http://www.joonsfamily.com/index.php?name=...ewtopic&t=1809)

At the Lotte Dept Store, you will see his advert for the store everywhere on all the floors. There is also a standee at the main customer service counter on the 10th floor. (there’s one at the airport too!). Obviously all of us took photos with the standee. Often you may have to queue. We saw many fans taking turns to take a photo with the standee.

If you are lucky, you may be able to get your hands on the set of Lotte Dept Store postcards. Otherwise, you will have to buy something from the Dept Store before you can get your hands on it.

For more eye feast, go to the first floor, again near the customer service counter and out the exit leading to the carpark driveway. You will see a whole row of huge posters. There are at least 8 of them prominently displayed.

One good thing about the rise in Japanese tourists and their interest in BYJ- there are lots of promotional tourism materials with the Lotte Dept store advert- maps, tourism booklets etc. All free!!!! Most of them are in Japanese but who cares as long as it has his picture in it right?

To go to Myeong Dong, alight at the Myeong Dong station. To go to Lotte Dept Store, alight at Euljiro 1-ga station.

http://dpt.lotteshopping.com/shopping/eng/...erview_001.html

One of the must visit place include a couple of shops in Doota. This is opposite Dongdaemun market. It’s a building consisting of small individual shops. Majority of the shops open till early in the morning (about 4am) but obviously each individual stalls have their own opening hours.

The shops we go to are on the same level- 5th level. One of the shop specializes in making customized keychains/ handphone accessories. When I say specialize, I mean you can select the photos you want and put in on the accessories. They also have ready-made ones- ranging from 3,000 won to 5,000 won.

To go to this shop, turn left as you step off the escalator and then head down on the aisle to the end. It’s sort of difficult to explain so I’m afraid you will have to do a little exploring.

The other shop is towards the right as you step off the escalator. It is near the lift. This shop sells stuff like photos, cds etc. However, do be careful when you purchase cds and dvds from them as we found that some of them are priced higher than usual. Haiphong was being sold here for 43,000 won. Kyobo bookstore was selling it at 29,000 won.

To go to Doota, take the subway and alight at Dongdaemon Stadium station.

In my trip last year, we had a night stay at the Sheraton Walker Hill. Unfortunately, this year, we had no budget (it’s really expensive). But we went to the hotel for a drink anyway.

This is a posh 6 star hotel. It also has a casino, so please dress appropriately when you go. Please do not go in your sandals and shorts. You may not be allowed in. Besides, having a drink at Starlight bar and Sirroco deserves some dressing up. As the bars are only open at night so you might want to make your trip there in the late afternoon/evening.

The front of the hotel is exactly as it was featured in the drama.

We headed straight for the swimming pool. (hahaha! We all remembered exactly the scene in the pool). This is an indoor swimming pool and is at the basement of the hotel. They also have an outdoor swimming pool. (Don’t ask me where coz obviously I wasn’t interested to find out). I’m not sure but I believe you may have to pay to go into the pool. The pool shuts at 9pm and opens at 6am in the morning. It is rather small and dim. (It looked so much bigger in the drama). So remember to have a good camera if you want to take photos here.

As it was already after 9pm when we reached there, there was no one at the counter already so we could take some photos and the hotel phamlets (all in Japanese!!!!).

Sirroco is on the first level of the hotel, near the reception counter. In the drama, this is called Casablanca. Of course we all took photos at the famous spiral staircase. Even though this is my second visit there, I’m still excited about it. It is indeed very romantic. When I was there last year, one of the manager/supervisor came around and spoke to us. When he found out that we were BYJ fans, he showed us a photo that BYJ had taken together with the staff whilst filming Hotelier. I should have taken down his name and look for him this time round.

In this bar, BYJ often had drinks with Leo, his partner, downstairs, at the bar counter. He went up the spiral staircase to grab hold of SYA’s hands. They also kissed here (but it was edited out in the end). So you can opt to have a drink either downstairs or upstairs. We chose upstairs because it was less noisy.

Starlight bar is on the 16th floor. This is where he waited for SYA the first day that he arrived at the hotel and also where he got drunk and she had to escort him back to his villa. The table where he was sitting now has his photo on the table. Whilst there, we saw some Japanese fans sitting at the same table, having a drink and taking photo with his picture. Of course we all took a photo with his picture too at the table and pretended that BYJ was there as Frank Shin.

BTW, you should really take a good look at the view outside from this bar. It’s a breath-taking view and you can see Han River from here.

Both bars feature live bands. Funny thing was, we were ignoring the bands at both the bars till they sang Hotelier song. At the end of the song, everyone applauded (including other guests). I guess they have to sing these songs every night. Hahaha!

Unfortunately we did not have the time to visit other places within the hotel, like the slope going to his villa, the tennis court etc.

(Photos of Sheraton : http://www.joonsfamily.com/index.php?name=...ewtopic&t=1825)

To go Sheraton Walker Hill, alight at Gwangnaru Station, exit 2. There is a free shuttle bus provided or you can take a taxi up. It will costs about 2,000 won. For more information on the free shuttle service, go to

http://www.koreatips.net/english/seoulsubw...way/012500.html

tks Tiff for the useful n detailed trip comments... looking forward for yr guide to BOF office hee... hee...

hi tiffany, i've printed it out & will keep it in my travel guide. thanks a lot

Hi tiffany, thanks for these detailed inputs... hope to be able to use them asap... awaiting more inputs from you sicne you titled this as only 'Korea Trip Part 1'

Tiffany...thanks for the informative and interesting write-up. Looking forward to your Part 2.

hi tiffany,
thanks for this update,sure you still have a hangover.anyways,i'm so happy today .coz a friend of mine gave me a present today.its a chain w/BJY pics on it ,that you can put it in your cellphone and a picture of BYJ.this is so great to see him everyday.he.he.he.