My Second Day in Korea part 1 - Touch Korea Tour

The Schedule for 2^nd day, KTO office Seoul - Icheon – Pyeongchang – Woljeongsa

Okay, I was so excited on that day, because that was the beginning of the tour. A little bit nervous actually. Tiph, Michelle and I were promised to meet at the restaurant to have our breakfast. I met Tiphany and Dondre at the lobby, but I didn’t see Michelle. That was the first time I met Dondre. We were having breakfast together. Dondre was very friendly and energetic. We took a picture, and then got back to our room to bring our luggage. Getting ready to check out at 9 o’clock.

our first breakfast!

 Okay, gue merasa sangat bersemangat, karena hari itu merupakan hari pertama gue mengikuti tour resmi. Sebenernya rada gugup juga sih dikit. Gue, Tiph dan Michelle udah janjian mau ketemuan di resto buat sarapan bareng. Tapi gue cuma ketemu sama Dondre dan Tiph doang di lobby pada saat itu, Michelle kagak ada. Akhirnya kita memutuskan untuk langsung aja menuju ke resto, biar gak telat. Saat itu adalah pertama kalinya gue ketemu sama Dondre. Dia sangat ramah dan energik banget orangnya. Setelah poto poto bentar, kita pun balik lagi ke kamar buat ngambil koper. Siap siap buat check out jam 9.

After I finished packing my things, I went down to the lobby and I met Tim. That was my first time hearing his Australian accent…hihihi…*trying so hard to comprehend what he said…hihihi…*. That was also my first time to meet Amelie. She is one of the PR staff. She is the one who arranged our entire schedule.

Nice and Friendly Amelie, taking care of our entire schedule!

 Setelah gue beres beres dikit di kamar, gue pun langsung turun ke lobby dan disonoh gue ketemu sama Tim. Itu adalah pertama kalinya gue ngedenger aksen Australianya yang kentel bener…hihihi…*gue berusaha sekuat tenaga untuk coba ngerti apa yang dia omongin*. Saat itu juga adalah pertama kalinya gue ketemu sama Amelie. Dia adalah salah satu staf PR yang kerjaannya mengatur semua jadwal kita.

Dondre and Tiphany were already there. At first I didn’t realize that there were soooo many people in the lobby. And there were also cameras everywhere. And then Tiph told me that those people are in our team. What? Are you serious? Before I had a chance to ask more, we were told to get on the bus. Wow, it was a big bus, and Tiph was right. Those people were getting on the same bus with us!

So many people in the bus

 Dondre dan Tiphany udah nyampe duluan. Pertamanya gue gak nyadar bahwa di lobby itu banyak banget orang. Dan ada kamera juga dimana mana. Kemudian si Tiph ngebisikin gue dan bilang bahwa semua orang ituh adalah tim kita. Hah? Serius lo? Sebelum, gue sempet nanya nanya lagih, kita udah diminta untuk naik ke atas bis. Bis nya gede banget, dan keren abes. Dan Tiph ternyata bener, mereka semua masuk ke dalam bis yang sama dengan kita.

Our first destination is KTO office.

Tujuan pertama kita adalah ke kantor KTO.

The office was awesome; there are lots of hallyu star posters there. When we were entering the conference room, suddenly all the staffs were clapping for us…whoaaa…cool…

At the conference room - KTO Office

 Kantornya keren banget, dan banyak poster poster bintang hallyu disonoh. Dan ketika kita memasuki conference room, tiba tiba ajah semua orang yang ada disonoh pada tepuk tangan gituh…whoaaa…keren abes…

The Orientation that was held by Korea Tourism Organization was very informative. And then, they introduced us to our Tour Leader, Ricky Kim. That was the very first time I met him....do I really need to describe him?...He is tall, good looking, charismatic, and always smile. And then,…he sat right next to me…*Please help me God!*

Ricky sat right next to me...*please help me God!*

 Orientasi tersebut berjalan cukup baik dan sangat informative. Dan kemudian mereka memperkenalkan Tour Leader kita, Ricky Kim. Saat itu adalah pertama kalinya kita ketemu ama  Ricky. Duh, masih perlu dijelasin gak yah…hihihi…dia ituh tinggi, ganteng, kharismatik dan senyum terus. Dan kemudian, dia duduk…tepat di sebelah gue…*Duh Gusti, tolonglah hambamu inih...hihihi…

After we took some pictures, we went to the bus and get ready to go to our next destination, Icheon.

our first picture together :)

Our first pic with Ricky :)

 Setelah poto poto sebentar, kita pun segera naik ke bis dan bersiap menuju tujuan selanjutnya, Icheon.

While in the bus, Ricky was trying to break the ice by asking us some personal questions. I heard him talking to the boys, “So Tim, you’re from Newcastle...blablabla…”, “And Dondre, you take classes to learn korea, that’s great…blablabla…”

Di dalam bis, Ricky berusaha mencairkan suasana dengan cara banyak nanya nanya sama kita, biar lebih ngakrab gituh. Gue denger dia ngobrol sama cowo-cowo ituh, “eh Tim, jadi lo tuh dari Newcastle yah…balablabla…”, “Dan Dondre, lo pernah ambil kelas buat belajar Korea yah? Keren banget tuh…blablabla…”

And I will always remember my first conversation with Ricky. Ricky asked to the girls, “So, you girls, already have a boy friend?”, Tiphany and Michelle said no.

Ricky : And how about you Erry?

Me : Well, I have a husband

Ricky : Really?

Me : Yeah, actually, I have 2 kids!

Ricky: Seriously? *with surprise expression*…whoa…so sweet…

Dan gue akan selalu ingat perbincangan pertama gue ama Ricky. Ricky nanya ama para cewe, “ So girls, udah pada punya pacar belum niiiih?”. Tiphany dan Michelle jawab, belum pada punya katanya.

Ricky : Kalo lo gimana Erry?

Gue : Gue mah udah punya suami

Ricky : Masa sih?

Gue : Iya, malahan gue udah punya 2 anak!

Ricky : Serius lo! *dengan ekspresi muka kaget*…whoaaa…so sweet…

At that time, Ricky wanted us to create our original cheer with our own language. So there are : G’day from Australia, Annyeong hasseyo from Korea, Ni Hao from Malaysia, Apa Kabar from Indonesia, Hello from USA and Bonjour from France. We are 6 persons from 6 different countries! That was fun. We all just met couple hours ago, but we already had so much fun.

We just met, but we had so much fun!!

 Pada saat itu, Ricky meminta kita untuk membuat semacam yel yel dengan menyelipkan bahasa kita sendiri. Jadilah : G’day dari Australia, Annyeong hasseyo dari Korea, Ni Hao dari Malaysia, Apa Kabar dari Indonesia, Hello dari USA, dan Bonjour dari Perancis. Kita adalah 6 orang dari 6 negara yang berbeda. Seru banget lah! Padahal kita baru ketemu beberapa jam doang, tapi perasaan udah ngakrab banget.

We finally arrived at Icheon Ceramic Villages.

Akhirnya kita tiba di Icheon Ceramic Villages.

Icheon is 2012’s UNESCO creative city ‘craft sector’ as designated by officials. Showing incomparable beauty, liberalism, and drawings, is the masterwork of pottery, where life and architecture meet. In this place, we could view the ceramic making process and experience the pottery wheel.

Since Icheon’s afternoon and night’s temperatures differ so much, rice grains form well. And because the clay, sand and soil conditions are good, the rice can readily absorbs nutrients. This famous Icheon’s rice was also presented to the Royal Joseon King. Let the pictures tell all the stories okay…

Icheon inih dipilih secara resmi oleh UNESCO sebagai ‘creative city craft sector’. Karena hasil pembuatan pottery nya telah menunjukkan keindahan, liberalism dan lukisan yang sangat indah. Di tempat ini kita dapat melihat cara pembuatan keramik, dan bahkan dapat mencobanya.

Dan karena suhu/temperature di Icheon inih beda banget antara siang ama malem,  padi dapat tumbuh dengan sangat baik disini. Dan karena kondisi tanah liat, pasir dan tanahnya sangat bagus, maka padi yang ditanam pun sangat bernutrisi. Bahkan beras Icheon yang terkenal ini pun konon katanya dihidangkan kepada Raja Joseon. Baiklah, sekarang biar poto ajah yang cerita yah…

cool ceramics...and expensive...do not touch anything!!

Tiph was trying the pottery wheel!!

Prepare for the opening shoot!!

Those cameras made me very nervous!!

My first interview was a mess!All the questions were NOT scripted!!And the answers were spontaneous!!!

And…then…we had to face our first mission…drum roll please….

Dan kemudian, kita pun harus menghadapi misi pertama kita…drumroll please….

Introducing our Mapae Man AKA Mission Man

Mission Man Rocks!!!

At the bus, Amelie had already explained that every time you hear a GONG sound! It means that there gonna be a mission. And The Mission man will appear and give you further instruction…whoaaa…so dramatic!!! I love it...hihihi…

Our first mission was to guess the famous Icheon Rice. There will be 5 bowls with different kind of rice. We have to choose, which bowl is the Icheon rice.

Sebelumnya di bis, Amelie telah menjelaskan bahwa setiap kali lo mendengar bunyi GONG, itu artinya lo harus menjalankan sebuah misi. Setelah itu, The Mission Man akan muncul dan kemudian memberikan penjelasan lebih lanjut…gelaaaa…dramatis abes! Sukaaaa banget…hihihi…

Misi pertama kita adalah menebak beras Icheon yang terkenal ituh. Akan ada 5 mangkok yang berisi berbagai macam beras. Dan kita harus memilih, mangkok manakah yang berisi beras Icheon.

Okay, I am a housewife, and I eat rice everyday!! It will be very embarrassing if I lost in this mission…hihihi…5 bowls. The first one, I think its barley, and the second one was red rice. I was little bit hesitate with the third bowl. The rice looks good, but it kinda yellowish. In my mind, the good rice should be white. And the fourth bowl, that is not even rice, is it like bean or something?

Hi guys,which one is the right bowl?

 Okay, gue tuh emak emak geto lho yaaaa, dan gue makan nasi tiap hari, dan nyuci beras tiap hari pulak! Bakalan sangat memalukan kalo gue sampai kalah dalam misi inih…hihihi…5 mangkok. Mangkok pertama sih kayaknya gandum yah, trus mangkok kedua ada beras merah, apa ketan item yah? Gak jelas juga. Gue rada ragu sama mangkok ketiga. Berasnya kelihatan bagus, tapi kok warnanya rada kuning yah. Dalam pikiran gue beras bagus harusnya warna putih kan? Iya gak sih? Dan mangkok ke empat, duh itu mah bukan beras kali, biji bijian apaan lah…

So I choose the fifth bowl. The rice is pure and white, and smells good. It was almost like Indonesian rice actually. Tim and Dondre choose the same bowl with me. Tiphany and Michelle choose the yellowish rice. *actually, they did that because they saw Ricky kept eating that rice…hihihi…Ricky tricked you girls*

Listening to the mapae man carefully! *just give me the mapae..hihihi..*

Jadi akhirnya gue pun memutuskan untuk memilih mangkok ke 5. Berasnya terlihat murni dan putih banget, wangi pulak. Tim dan Dondre memilih mangkok yang sama dengan gue. Tiphany dan Michelle milih mangkok beras yang rada kuning ituh *sepertinya sih mereka milih mangkok ituh karena Ricky terus terusan makanin beras dari mangkok ituh deh…hihihi…ketipu deeeeh!*

And I was right. I won my first mapae!! Yay! I was so happy!

Dan ternyata pilihan gue bener. Gue dapat mapae pertama gue!Horeeeee…..seneng banget!!!

After the mission, we were so ready to have our lunch. We went to the restaurant, and I was amazed by the variety of the side dish. Oh my Gosh…And I met my first addict in this table. BABY OCTOPUS! Its so delicious, I couldn’t stop eating it, so addictive.

Our First lunch together as a team!

Just look at this table!!

Dan setelah menjalankan misi pertama yang menegangkan ituh, kita pun merasa bener bener lapar banget dan siap untuk makan siang! Dan ketika tiba di resto,  gue pun langsung terkaget-kaget dengan berbagai macam side dish yang tersedia. Ampun deh! Dan gue bertemu dengan makanan candu gue yang pertama yaitu BABY OCTOPUS. Gelaaaa, endang bambang sekali ini makanan yeh, gue bener bener gak bisa berhenti makan deh, mengandung zat addictive kali yeh...hihihi…

After I ate this delicious baby octopus, I think I should reconsider again my silly decision in choosing Instant noodle as the best food in the world…*okay, I have low standard…hihihi…*

The baby octopus is soooo addictive!!

Setelah gue menyantap baby octopus inih, sepertinya sih gue harus mempertimbangkan kembali keputusan gue yang menyatakan bahwa Indomie Ayam Bawang merupakan makanan paling nikmat sedunia…hihihi…*standard gue emang rendah banget bok!*

…to be continued…

PS :

KTO are planning to release the film containing this tour around September. There are 3 tours in the film, Fun Tour, Gourmet Tour and Style Tour. You can expect a Korean version of Amazing Race, but with more originality. All of you can take part in the event by participating in the voting online. You can vote the best tour in your point of view *just make sure you choose the right tour okay…hihihi…* Click here for detail information.

Jadi rencananya, KTO bakalan ngeluarin film tentang tour kita inih sekitar bulan September. Akan ada 3 Tour dalam film ituh yaitu Fun Tour, Gourmet Tour dan Style Tour. Dalam film ituh, kita dapat menyaksikan Amazing Race nya versi Korea, tapi yang jauh lebih original. Temen temen semua bisa ikut ambil bagian dalam event inih, caranya gampang kok, ntar bakalan ada voting online lo tinggal klik ajah, tourmana yang menurut lo paling menarik *gue sih cuman pengen mastiin aja, kalo bisa ntar lo pilihnya tour yang bener yah, tour yang ada gue nya getoooh…hihihi…* bisa klik sinih buat informasi lebih lanjut…