...continued from Part 1...
2. A magical white Christmas
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
All the main hotels in Seoul were fully booked on Christmas Eve for the festivities. So, I was searching online for a hotel a little further from Seoul to spend a nice Christmas Eve. I chanced upon this small, 2-star hotel of only 37 rooms and minimal facilities. But the photos of the rooms looked good and homely online, so I booked it.
The hotel is Q Hotel in Yongin, a city about 45 minutes' drive from the heart of Seoul, and home to Everland, the biggest, dreamiest theme park in South Korea. It is located in Cheoin-Gu, which is the rural district of Yongin - and I would like to spend a quiet Christmas away from the madding crowds, so this looked promising.
Besides, Q Hotel is just about 1.3 km from Everland, which was highly convenient as we planned to visit Everland yet again, this time with Little Bee.
We had a nice long breakfast in Seoul, admiring the moderate layer of snow on barren tree branches and sidewalk pavements from the previous night's snowfall. We then took a taxi to Q Hotel with sparing luggage for one night, and it was truly therapeutic to observe the gradua, subtle transformation of the landscape from that of an overcrowded, typical urban jungle to one of peace, serenity and isolation, filled with expansive hilly vistas, little villages and white, voluminous meadows.
I loved how the sides of the roads were piled up with uneven dunes of snow, with no one in the rural district shovelling this fairy dust away, unlike the efficient overnight workers in the capital city. I revelled in the boundless expanse of pure white fields and lucid azure skies, unblighted and immaculate. And as the taxi drove higher up the mountains, the exquisite frosted valleys nestled in the cradle of infinite hills was a resplendent visual feast for our deprived urban eyes.
I am not sure if the Bees derived as much pleasure of being in the countryside as me, but I was busy pointing out interesting landmarks and sights to them. After all, this was a snowy landscape that was unfamiliar to them, and I hope their city-bred eyes would open up to another dimension.
Hubby and I were filled with excitement as the taxi drove past smaller and smaller towns, whilst the kids were zealously looking at Everland as we drove past it.
Soon, the taxi stopped at a small, dingy-looking hotel with no signboard and no grand entrance, just a nondescript glass door that was dark and opaque, so we could not even peer into the lobby.
As we emerged from the taxi, the first feeling that hit us was the cold. It was much much colder than in Seoul, probably because we were higher up in altitude plus we were in a rural area. Christmas Eve was forecasted as one of the coldest days in the week in Seoul - with highest temperatures at -2 degrees and lowest temperatures at -12 degrees, so Cheoin-Gu would be even colder.
The arctic cold hit us like a slap in the chest and took our breaths away. I just had enough time to quickly bunch up the kids' hoods on their heads before huddling them straight into the hotel (or motel, haha).
What greeted us was a very small space that was used for a reception or lobby. There was a female innkeeper who didn't know English at all. Fortunately, her son, who just arrived to help her in this family-run inn, was able to communicate with us in slightly American-accented English.
We were given a good old-fashioned key instead of those awful, insipid card keys in swanky 5-star hotels. And we rolled our small luggage into a tiny lift - without a concierge.
The interior decor of the room was quaint - it resembled a log cabin with a traditional heated ondol floor which was truly blissful in this wintry weather! I booked a junior suite, so the room was rather spacious, with a cosy sitting area and a snuggly bed.
The Bees were ecstatically peeling off their many layers of clothes and exploring the nicely heated room. Before long, Hubby was excitedly telling us to layer up (again!) so we could head towards South Korea's biggest theme park, Everland.
Hours later, after a terribly freezing day in an open theme park, we returned to the hotel, loving the much welcomed warmth of the ondol floor. We snuggled together on the small queen-sized bed, in the chilly darkness, and listened to neighbouring rooms celebrate the onset of Christmas as we slowly drifted off to Neverland...
Christmas Day
We woke up to a dazzling landscape of white beauty and a blanket of clear cerulean sky. Merry Christmas! It was truly challenging to get out of bed on a cold winter's morning, so we were only at the breakfast cafe around 9.30am, and we were the last ones to eat breakfast - all the guests were out!
Breakfast was in a small, quaint underground den, with beautiful fusion decor from the African safari theme to a famous sonnet "How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The girls (mainly Big Bee) was fascinated by the poem, and I was wondering when would be the best time to introduce these much-loved poems to the Bees. It was truly ironical that we would be learning about a 19th century English poem deep in the suburbs of South Korea!
One of the younger inn owners cooked breakfast for us on the spot. Hubby and I had the yummiest mashed pumpkin toast with scrambled eggs, while the girls had muffins and milk. We had such a cosy time being the only family in the cafe, enjoying our breakfast and yakking loads.
After breakfast, we took a little walk around a quiet, halcyon small suburban neighbourhood. The Bees played with piles of snow in the backyards of peaceful, unassuming low blocks of apartments.
The colours of winter are resplendent. Everything - a maple leaf, an orange peel, the gravel road - looked vivid against the background of pure, white, powdery snow.
The entire neighbourhood was hushed though. Not a sound from neighbours. Not a vehicle moving. And the only people ambling past were old, elderly folks. I couldn't help but think that this is one of the neighbourhoods experiencing brain drain - or youth drain - in South Korea, where the young and able ventured out to nearby Seoul in search of more glamorous riches and glory.
We would have loved to stay out longer, but the temperature was utterly freezing (it felt like -10 degrees Celsius!), so we all scooted into the welcoming warmth of the hotel. All of us were breathless from the cold. I finally understood how frostbite could occur because my ears were absolutely painful from being in the cold for too long - despite warm ear mufflers. My ears truly felt that they were about to drop off anytime!
We packed up and headed back to Seoul in time for a late lunch, with me silently bidding farewell to the agrarian beauty of the countryside for yet another dip in the crowded urban sprawl of Seoul...
The Bees were ecstatically peeling off their many layers of clothes and exploring the nicely heated room. Before long, Hubby was excitedly telling us to layer up (again!) so we could head towards South Korea's biggest theme park, Everland.
Hours later, after a terribly freezing day in an open theme park, we returned to the hotel, loving the much welcomed warmth of the ondol floor. We snuggled together on the small queen-sized bed, in the chilly darkness, and listened to neighbouring rooms celebrate the onset of Christmas as we slowly drifted off to Neverland...
Christmas Day
We woke up to a dazzling landscape of white beauty and a blanket of clear cerulean sky. Merry Christmas! It was truly challenging to get out of bed on a cold winter's morning, so we were only at the breakfast cafe around 9.30am, and we were the last ones to eat breakfast - all the guests were out!
Breakfast was in a small, quaint underground den, with beautiful fusion decor from the African safari theme to a famous sonnet "How Do I Love Thee?" by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. The girls (mainly Big Bee) was fascinated by the poem, and I was wondering when would be the best time to introduce these much-loved poems to the Bees. It was truly ironical that we would be learning about a 19th century English poem deep in the suburbs of South Korea!
One of the younger inn owners cooked breakfast for us on the spot. Hubby and I had the yummiest mashed pumpkin toast with scrambled eggs, while the girls had muffins and milk. We had such a cosy time being the only family in the cafe, enjoying our breakfast and yakking loads.
After breakfast, we took a little walk around a quiet, halcyon small suburban neighbourhood. The Bees played with piles of snow in the backyards of peaceful, unassuming low blocks of apartments.
The colours of winter are resplendent. Everything - a maple leaf, an orange peel, the gravel road - looked vivid against the background of pure, white, powdery snow.
The entire neighbourhood was hushed though. Not a sound from neighbours. Not a vehicle moving. And the only people ambling past were old, elderly folks. I couldn't help but think that this is one of the neighbourhoods experiencing brain drain - or youth drain - in South Korea, where the young and able ventured out to nearby Seoul in search of more glamorous riches and glory.
We would have loved to stay out longer, but the temperature was utterly freezing (it felt like -10 degrees Celsius!), so we all scooted into the welcoming warmth of the hotel. All of us were breathless from the cold. I finally understood how frostbite could occur because my ears were absolutely painful from being in the cold for too long - despite warm ear mufflers. My ears truly felt that they were about to drop off anytime!
We packed up and headed back to Seoul in time for a late lunch, with me silently bidding farewell to the agrarian beauty of the countryside for yet another dip in the crowded urban sprawl of Seoul...
No comments:
Post a Comment