Husband showed up 30 minutes later with a smile to an angry wife. He was of course startled to see me. He quickly asked me whether i'd got his texts.
"what texts?"
Then we figured it out: airport wifi didn't work (like it always do, whenever he got there he'll instantly text me) and yes he did tell me he'll be late around 30 minutes.
I apologized while he let me sit down and he took Raihanna to find portable modem to rent. Yes, that instant haha.
Travel tips from Malaysia - Incheon Airport: (derived from my own experiences and lesson learnt hard way)
a. Rent portable modem if you're staying quite a while, say a week plus. Myself and Raihanna was there for 12 days. Husband picked Olleh. Really useful because we were travelling from one state to another (5 states!!) and most of the days he's at work.
b. Keep a pen in your bag to fill in the forms
c. Download 'Subway' app for easy travelling if you're like us, always on the trains. Most Malaysians will agree when i say Korean transportation are highly reliable. Husband actually discovered new routes that wasn't ready during his last visit.
d. I used milk dispenser for Raihanna's milk time. The flight took about 6 hours, so that's one feeding. Always prepare extra.
e. Bring one extra pair of outfit. I learnt this the hard way after she peed on me. Nice one my dear.
f. Pack light for hand luggage when travelling solo with a toddler. Yes, she wants her biscuits, milk, pampers, wipes, changing mat, toy as much as you need your makeup bag, wallet, passport etc.
g. Take out all your discount cards/ Touch n go before you fly. That way you won't have to worry your kid will secretly chuck your card(s) under hotel bed.
Ok, husband then took me to Lotteria in the airport for a quick meal. We had shrimp burger, probably the only thing we could eat at that time. Raihanna had to settle with biscuits and milk. Lotteria is a fast food joint, comes under the huge Lotte brand. You can find it in major cities and malls (because i could easily spot em in all the places we went).
We then took the trains to our destination - Ansan. On the way to the first train, i saw CGV (cinema halls) and ice skating rink. Inside the airport, okay..
There were about 4 train exchanges before we reached Ansan. The weather was around 10 degrees if i'm not mistaken. Raihanna slept soundly along the way, thank goodness.
I'm not sure what are Ansan's tourist attractions (or any of the states i went) because, honestly i did not do much reading on the places. I googled a lot on Korean food, though ;) Also it's really impossible to ask husband to take off few days when he's extremely busy there. Just us coming there meant a lot to the three of us, honestly. I can't or did not ask for more :')
We stayed at Hivice Hotel, just across the train station. Oh yeah, in case anybody is wondering, nope i did not do any hotel booking. I only told husband to pick a decent hotel where we don't have to hear any amorous couples, you know?
When we got to Ansan station, i was pleasantly surprised to see there are 2 Tous Les Jours bakery in one station. I told husband what a big deal this bakery is in Malaysia, mahal and all, and he was shocked. In Korea you can find TLJ on the roadsides (!!) so yeah, i now have no desire to visit the Malaysian outlets. But as far as renowned bakery goes, there are lots of bread varieties and i'm sure it is the same for Malaysian outlets i suppose.
As soon as we checked in, i dragged my husband to find the nearest supermarket as our daughter has yet to eat. And we found Lotte Mall. An upscale version of Lotte Mart, just next door to our hotel. We bought salmon, lemons and carrot.
I think travelling in general, you just gotta make the best of what you've got.. you know? I mean you won't have everything you wanted (paying some price for comfort) and you'll always get few surprises along the way. This is just me saying cos:
a. I was not on a budget
b. My husband told me everything can be paid by card, hence i traveled to Korea without any Won. Yes. Raihanna had some cash given by my parents, though.
But although a & b applied throughout our stay, my husband knows i can be trusted not to go overboard with a card.. :)
In our case we optimized what we could, but we also made sure it's comfortable enough for our daughter. Initially i wanted a hotel apartment / studio / anything with basic kitchenette, for example. Just because it's easier for me to cook for my daughter.
But like i said, life doesn't work out that way.. so i made do with cooking in hotel rooms (not sure if it's allowed, but hey, my child is starving) whichever is closer to the supermarket and husband's work place.
I have to say, this trip strengthen our bond because there were times when it was so easy to lose our patience over the smallest things. But we both truly understand the sacrifices we both had made to get here.
At night we had dinner with his boss at one Indonesian restaurant. It was OK, good enough for starving tekak Melayu like us haha. The deco was quite creepy though.
So, that's day 1 out of 12 :) Next up: Ansan - Daegu
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