I found my soul in Seoul

The Ramadhan month is just like Christmas for Indonesians. It's a time of holiday, fun and travel! Since my family is in the travel business, we never travel during Ramadhan just because we know how crowded it can be. However, this year I went to Korea.

Yes Indonesia is currently having a major Korean fever. From K-POP, cosmetics, and fashion. Even I was a little shocked at how K-crazy they can get. Anyways, this was my second time going to Korea. I had forgotten most of how it looked in Korea, but I was armed with 1 information: shop as much cosmetics and makeup when I am there =)

First impression when I arrived in Incheon: this place is well organized. Oh yeah, I forgot 1 more major thing. EVERYTHING IS KOREAN! European, American, Chinese and most of all Japanese brands are  very unappealing here. I have never seen so many Lotte, Daewoo, Hyundai, Kia and Samsung in my entire life before. Almost everything (including the ginseng packages) are backed by either Lotte or Samsung! My tour guide and friend named Richard very quickly took my new Samsung S3 and installed a bunch of apps only Koreans know. Needless to say, I was extremely impressed by how strong the Korean patriotism is.

So the touristy spots are places that I have seen before. They are not as impressive or overbearing as the palaces in China (but again China goes overboard for their emperor).

Jeju Island

I was excited to check out the Jeju island after I was told that the Seoul-Jeju air route is the busiest in the world. I mean, what can this little island contain that it attracts thousands of flights weekly? This is even more than the Beijing Shanghai route, LAX-SFO route and Jakarta-Singapore route!! Apparently, after I visited the island, I understand the charm. The Korean Tourist Organization promotes Korea as an entire package. Almost all tourists that visited Korea will fly to the Jeju Island. After the K-POP wave hit the world, flocks of tourists from all over the world come to see Seoul and makes their stop in Jeju as well. There is just something about this island charm that even I still fail to see. I thought that Bali was at least 3 times more beautiful than Jeju.

Still, even though that there are no magnificent historical buildings or majestic natural sceneries, I was very impressed with Korea. I went back home to Jakarta slight Korea-fied (I still am!) I bought a bunch of cosmetics which I still swear by its beautification power. I came back as a Samsung advocate. Korea, I will be back. And I will be back for many more times =)

Nami Island