Reminiscing Winter Sonata

This year is the 10th anniversary of Winter Sonata and the 10th anniversary since the birth of Hallyu fever. Since then, people from all across the globe are scratching their foot to visit the place where it all began, Nami Island. As mentioned in my first post, Winter Sonata started viewing at Malaysia's TV in 2002 and I was in the midst of preparing my SPM at that time. I still remember I would run out of my tuition centre as soon as it ends at 7pm and my mom would drive us home as quickly as possible because Winter Sonata starts at 7pm. And this drama makes me cried for the first time over a

drama. At that time, I thought Bae Yong Jun was the  most handsome guy ever. Kekeke... And most of us watched Winter Sonata must be mesmerized by the scenery and background of the shooting venue. And the most popular spot is Namiseom or also known as Nami Island in English. So, if you happen to be in Korea, and you are a Korean drama die-hard fan, Namiseom must be in your itinerary. It's a must!! The best time to go to Namiseom is during winter or spring. In winter, the trees will be all covered with white snow and in spring the trees and flowers will be blooming beautifully.

I don't know weather I visited Namiseom at the right time or not. The scenery is still beautiful but I think during winter or spring is much more beautiful. I went to Namiseom during the transition between winter to spring. So, no more snow but not yet blooming. I think around mid-April is the best time in spring. Since I stayed in Myeongdong, I need to take the subway to Cheongnyangri subway station and then take the intercity train from Cheongnyangri to Gapyeong. The journey to Gapyeong is about 40-45 minutes since Namiseom is in Gangwon-do district. The train ticket from Cheongnyangri to Gapyeong is 4,000 Won one trip. Since it was a Saturday, there were a lot of group of senior citizens going for their hiking or walking I guess. As soon as arrived at Gapyeong train station, we took a cab to Namiseom jetty. The cab fare was about 2,300 Won one trip. It wasn't that far but you definitely wouldn't wanna walk in the cold whether.

The cab ride to jetty was about 10-15 minutes. Ehem...this was my first time riding a left-handside car =P Don't mind me please... As arrived at the jetty, we straight away go to the ticket counter. The admission fare plus the ferry ride (round trip) was 8,000 Won. Since it was weekend, there were a lot of visitors, families, couples and senior citizens. As soon as we boarded the ferry, we quickly find a good spot to view the scenery. Nami Island could be seen as soon as you board the ferry. It's a small island. And the distance between the jetty and the island is not that far. Around 5-8 minutes journey only. The whether was so cold in that morning until I couldn't feel my face while we were on the open air ferry. There was still some leftover ice from winter season.

As soon as we set foot on the island, there were man-made snowman (Namiseom trademark) welcoming the visitors. Then there were some plates of notes wishing 10 years of Nami Island since Winter Sonata worldwide debut. I'm not sure why Namiseom has a lot of naked woman statue all over the place. I'm not sure what does it symbolizes. It must be something. If you happen to know why, please do tell/comment me ya ~ 

I like the feeling I had when I first saw the the scenery of Namiseom. The tall trees in spring time plus the cold weather, it was just Winter Sonata-like. We started strolling  and relaxing while enjoying the view. There were a lot of couples strolling together spending time during the weekends. Then, we reached the place where Jun Sang and Yoo Jin had their first kiss during the winter when they were building their snowman on the picnic table. They even put two picnic table with snowman on it so that people won't have to wait for their turn to take pictures at the first kiss place. Luckily, when we arrived at the picnic table there wasn't anyone and we were clicking and snapping a lot of pictures with the snowman. Unfortunately, some of the snowmen were vandalized by irresponsible visitors. So if you look closeup, not so nice view of the snowmen. 

Then we went down a bit to the river side. Not many people went to that side. Don't know why. So we again clicking and snapping pictures as if like the Winter Sonata version of us. Hehehe... We also saw some couples strolling holding hands and we watched them as they passed by us. Even they looked like having a Winter Sonata time. Kekeke.. There's a couple riding the tricycle even waving towards me while I was snapping their picture. What a sporting couple =) I saw some were strolling using the bicycle. Didn't know there were bicycles. If not probably would rent one and cycle around the island. We explored the rest of the island until the south end. There were houses, small and big ones. Probably it's the owner of the island's house. The small one not sure whose. As we were walking around the island, we came across with many sculptures, small Korean-like "pondok", wood bridge, etc. Then we came to the statue of Jun Sang and Yoo Jin. It was located near by a pond and near the statue also was the display of the bicycle used by Jun Sang and Yoo Jin when the were in love during school time. There were also a memorial picture of the second hero of Winter Sonata, Sang Hyeok or his real name was Park Yong Ha. Park Yong Ha committed suicide in June 2010. Cause of death not sure why but usually they commit suicide because of the stress due to unemployed or no acting/singing job. Okay...don't wanna talk about sad sad things. There's also collections of Winter Sonata still scene framed on the wall for display purpose. This side of the island is displaying everything about Winter Sonata in Namiseom.

I think we finally made one big round of island tour and it was already lunch time and our tummy were making noises like something was clubbing in there. So we searched for meals that we could eat. I remembered back in Malaysia I watched a show with Mawi and Heliza touring around Korea. They showed that there was a halal shop in Namiseom, with the halal sign. But I didn't know

what was the name of the restaurant. They sell rice with red paste and egg inside a lunchbox and we couldn't find any restaurant with the halal sign. So I decided to ask the information booth. I asked for vegetarian meals and the showed us the Winter Sonata restaurant (not the real name of the restaurant). This was the restaurant the crews from Winter Sonata went during their stay in Namiseom. The only thing we can eat there was bibimbap. We ate barley rice bibimbap and onion pancake. Although it was cold outside, we still decided to eat outside to while enjoying the beautiful view (inside were stuffy though). 

As we were enjoying our meal, we saw an amount of Malaysian visitors there too. After feeding our tummy with energy, it was souvenir shopping time!! While we were on the way to the souvenir shop, we came across a site where Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore flags were displayed. I think someone made a sculpture that symbolizes these 3 countries. Felt a bit kind of proud to see Malaysia's Jalur Gemilang in Korea. Although just a small spot on the island, it was worth to be proud of. Okay back to the souvenir shop, there were so many snowman souvenirs (keychains, fridge magnets, postcards, note books, etc). The price there I think were a bit slightly a bit average. I just bought the one thing I think cute and worth buying; Winter Sonata ball pen. It cost 3,000 Won each and I bought 3. Should have bought more since it was cute. But have to budget myself. But in the end all of the 3 pens I gave to my friends and my sister as souvenir. So'kay, that shows I have to go there again. Kekeke.. My friend bought the pen too and a small Nami Island note book.

So after the tiring tour (by ourselves) around the island, it's time to hop off the island. By the time we were going back to the jetty to wait for the ferry, there were many people already. Even on the ferry coming towards the island were packed with people. Again, it was weekend. So that's why got so many people. We boarded the ferry with few people only and headed back to the mainland. The duration taken touring the whole island was about 2 to 3 hours (depending on your rate of relaxing). It was really awesome experiencing Winter Sonata feeling there. Would I go there again if I go to Korea again? DEFINITELY!!!! I want to experience the real Winter Sonata in winter!!!

Okay, till next post ~

Anyeong yeoreobun ~