South Korea Day 5: Back to Seoul and Lotte Mart

Everyone woke up early that day so we decided to head down to Busan station early. Our tickets were purchased for the 8.30am departure but we got to the station at 7.40am. The next train bound for Seoul was at 8am and so we decided to take an earlier train back to Seoul, and were able to change our tickets because of the purchased three day KR passes which allowed us unlimited amount of travel during the 3 days period. 

Ticketing counter

Our KR passes 

Daddy taking a shot from the train platform

We bought some donuts at one of the cafes at Busan station before heading to our train. As usual, the kids dozed off after a while, making the journey back to Seoul a quiet and peaceful one.

Daddy enjoying his snack alone.

Refreshment cart that came by frequently (between every station).

Rustic rural scenery

When we got to Seoul station, everyone was recharged and ready for the next segment - Shopping!! We headed to Lotte Mart just opposite Seoul Station ( Exit 1 from Seoul Station Subway Line. Go up the escalator. Turn left for Seoul Station, turn right for Lotte Mart) Lotte Mart at Seoul Station is known for cheap local products and lots of tourists and locals frequent the place to stock up their groceries. And we sure did our own version of stocking up! We tried a handful of the food on our first day in Seoul so we knew exactly what we needed to target. Our full shopping trolley became a wow factor within the supermaket itself. Funny but tourists would follow suit and get the stuff we got after seeing our trolley. I hope they like what they have gotten.



Choosing for classmates

A top favourite - Brownie

Kids love this. Always eat it with their dinner

Another of the girls' favourite

One of my favourite snacks

Our loot

One thing to note - you need to pay for plastic bags in Korea. It usually ranges from 100won to 500won. We usually carry along our grocery bags when we go to Korea. At Lotte Mart, boxes are provided so you just need to choose one of your preferred size and pack the products in. Tape and ribbon are provided too. All you need to do is select a box of appropriate size, fix it up using tape, pack your items into the box, and seal it up using the tape or ribbon.



An ice-cream to cool off the shopping

Happy face to show for it

Now that we had two big boxes to bring back to the hotel, and it sure made the journey on the subway rather tedious, especially weaving through the lunch crowd. We left the boxes in Ibis Myeongdong Hotel and headed off for lunch at a restaurant nearby. Mummy frequents this restaurant which specializes in Ginseng Chicken whenever she is in Korea so she couldn't wait to visit it again, this time, with her family.



Hot Ginseng Chicken Soup to warm the cold

Chicken Porridge

Korean Seafood Pancake

A heart-warming (literally) family lunch

Go visit!

We ordered 2 Ginseng Chicken, 1 Chicken Porridge and 1 Seafood Pancake and all that came up to 54000won, about S$54. A great deal considering we had more than enough and more importantly, we left the restaurant healthier (or so we believed) and ready to take on the next destination.