Why should I be selected as a TOUCH KOREA TOUR winner???

Special thanks to Korea Plaza KL and Korea Tourism Organization for creating such a great TOUCH KOREA TOUR contest because from this contest has made my interest to discover more about Korea growth deeper and I would never stop my interest towards Korea forever.  Every day I learned a new Korean word either from drama, movie, variety show and songs. I’m practiced it a lot and practical it with my roommate (even thought my friend not the k-pop lover but I just let her heard it hehehehe…).

Korea is the country that I really want to go. Every day I pray to god that one day I would make sure that I would fly to Korea (hope that god will heard my wish).  From this contest hopefully my wish will come true. The most important thing that 2PM and Miss A are my favourite idol group. From this contest not only we gone win trip to Korea, but also got the opportunity to get accompany by 2PM and Miss A along this trip. Yeahhh!!!… (only hearing that  makes me crazy).

I had done my best efforts for this contest. I tried to get the best and interesting information about Korea for the readers. I learned a new experience from creating this blog (because before this my knowledge about blog is zero) and I’m honoured to be one of the participants for this contest.

If I’m the lucky winner for this contest it would be the biggest present for me and it's gone a made my dreams has come true. Thanks again to Korea Plaza KL and Korea Tourism Organization.

BUSAN

Busan, a bustling city of approximately 3.6 million residents, is located on the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula. The natural environment of Busan is a perfect example of harmony between mountains, rivers and sea. Its geography includes a coastline with superb beaches and scenic cliffs, mountains which provide excellent hiking and extraordinary views, and hot springs scattered throughout the city. Busan enjoys four distinct seasons and a temperate climate that never gets too hot or too cold.

Busan is the second largest city in Korea. Its deep harbor and gentle tides have allowed it to grow into the largest container handling port in the country and the fifth largest in the world. The city's natural endowments and rich history have resulted in Busan's increasing reputation as a world class city of tourism and culture, and it is also becoming renowned as an international convention destination.

Top 20 interesting places must to visits in Busan;-

           1. Shinsegae Centum City Spaland

2. Busan Tower

3. Haeundae Beach

4. Gwanganli Beach

5. Night view of Gwangan Bridge

6. U.N. Memorial Park

7. Hurshimchung (hot spring)

8. Taejongdae Natural Park

9. Marine City

10. Shinsegae Centum City

11. Busan Aquarium

12. Jagalchi Fish Market

13. Seomyeon

14. Texas Street

15. Semyun Meokjagolmok Food Alley

16. Busan Museum

17. Jump! Comic Martial Arts Performance

18. Kyuongsung Univ. & Pukyong Univ. Station

19. Haedong Yonggung Temple

20. Busan Museum of Art

INSADONG

Insadong is one of the largest markets for antiques, artworks, and Korean products and souvenirs in South Korea's capital, Seoul. The traditional street within the Insadong area is one of the most popular places to check out for both locals and foreigners. It combines the past and the present day Korea with its fine mix of cultural items and services. 

It offers that interesting mix of the historical past and the rapidly changing present acknowledged being distinctively Korean.The main street called the Insadong-gil is connected to a multitude of alleys leading deeper into many local and tourist destinations.

A Tourist's Haven

The long stretch of the Insadong marketplace is home to traditional structures, antique items, souvenir articles for tourists, and even high tech gadgets that modern day Korea is known for. Insadong is also near many key institutions foreigners need to visit during their stay in Korea. For instance, the marketplace is near the immigration office; thus, making it easy for foreign visitors to arrange their alien documentation requirements, then they can go shopping, take photos and videos, or just merely explore the nearby Insadong, once done with their immigration tasks. Insadong is also often visited by foreign dignitaries, from ambassadors to queens, when they are in town.

Sights and Attractions Around Insadong

There are many traditional buildings around Insadong, originally owned by the merchants and wealthy people living in the area from centuries ago. There are a number of large residences originally built as homes for retired government officials during the Joseon Dynasty. Most of these structures are now used as restaurants and shops.

Other popular tourist sites around the area include the Unhyeon Palace, the Bosingak Bell Pavilion, and the Jongno Tower. Art lovers often visit Samcheongdong, a nearby area known for its rich art scene. One of the more recent attractions in Insadong is the Asia Eros Museum, the country's first sex museum. Tourists can also visit palaces, Korean Buddhist temples, and Presbyterian churches around Insadong.

Shopping in Insadong

Insadong contains almost half of Korea's antique shops and art galleries. It is also a top destination to almost all traditional stationery shops in Korea. It is home to the Tongmungwan, the oldest bookstore in Seoul, and the Kyung-in Art Gallery, the oldest tea house in Seoul.

Insadong also features a very long stretch filled with Korean commercial establishments and products. It also houses the Insadong Gallery Street.

Some of the popular buys in many Insadong shops include antique statues and weapons, Buddhist sculptures, traditional Korean porcelains, ceramics, masks, hand pressed papers, home decors, Hanbok (Korean traditional clothes), traditional Korean food, Korean souvenirs, and various flea market products.

Insadong also hosts a number of performances around the area, including daily calligraphy demonstrations and pansori (a genre of Korean traditional music) performances.

Top 20 delicious drinks in Korea~~

1. Bokbunja ju

is a Korean fruit wine made from wild or cultivated Korean black raspberries called bokbunja. It is produced inGochang County, Jeollabuk-do, in Damyang, Jeollanam-do, and in Jeju Island, South Korea. It is made by fermenting berries with water. Some varieties also contain rice and jicho herb. The wine is deep red in color and moderately sweet. It ranges between 15% and 19% alcohol by volume, depending on the brand. It is believed to be healthful and to promote male sexual stamina. It is often drunk on special occasions.  

2. Banana uyu (Banana milk)

Banana uyu or Banana milk is a Korean drink made from fusion of banana and milk. Can easily found at convenience stores. There’s also a “light” version of it for those who are on a diet.

3. Soju

Soju is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to sugars added in the manufacturing process. It is usually consumed neat.Most brands of soju are made in South Korea. Though it is traditionally made from rice, most modern producers of soju use supplements or even replace rice with other starches, such as potatoes, wheat, barley, sweet potatoes, or tapioca. Soju is clear and colorless. 

4. Omija cha (Omija tea)

This tea gets its name because it contains the five flavors of sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and pungent . The berry is called Schisandra Chinensis and is used in herbal medicine. It is supposed to help with chronic coughing and also help kidney function.

5. Makgeolli

is an alcoholic beverage native to Korea. It is made from a mixture of wheat and rice, which gives it a milky, off-white color, and sweetness. It is made by fermenting a mixture of boiled rice, wheat and water, and is about 6–8% alcohol by volume. Most makgeolli contains rice these days. However, a few brands contain wheat instead of rice.

6. Cheounju

Cheounju is a clear Korean rice wine. The most popular brand of cheongju is Chung Ha There are various local variations, including beopju, which is brewed in the ancient city of Gyeongju.

7. Baekseju

Baekseju is a Korean glutinous rice-based fermented alcoholic beverageflavored with a variety of herbs, ginseng most prominent among them. According to some, the name comes from the legend that the healthful herbs in baekseju will help you live to be 100 years old. The drink is infused with ginseng and eleven other herbs, including licorice, omija (Schisandra chinensis), gugija (Chinese wolfberry), Astragalus propinquusroot, ginger, and cinnamon.

8. Yuja cha (Lemon tea)

Yuja cha is a traditional Korean tea (herbal tea) made from citron. Yuja fruit is thinly sliced with its peel and combined with honey or sugar, prepared as fruit preserves. The fruit is so prepared because of its otherwise sour and somewhat bitter taste. To prepare as a beverage, a tablespoon of yucheong ( thick and yellow syrupy yuja) is stirred into a cup of (usually) hot water. Yujacha can either be made at home or purchased in glass jars. Yujacha is used as a herbal remedy for the common cold and similar winter illnesses.

9. Gughwa cha ( Chrysanthemum tea)

The white and yellow flowers of the chrysanthemum plant are dried and then steeped in honey for about a month, and then brewed as a tea. The tea is a visual stunner, with the chrysanthemum flowers expanding like bright balloons in the water. As you might expect from a tea made from flower petals, the tea has a delicate, flowery taste with a sweetness that can be brought out with a spoonful of sugar. It is said that chrysanthemum tea can help you fight a cold during the winter months, and also ease high blood pressure. 

10. Daechu cha (Dried jejube tea)

Daechucha is a traditional Korean tea made with dried jujubes, which are called daechu in Korean. There are two ways of making daechucha: boiling dried jujubes or diluting the juice of fresh or preserved jujubes into boiling water.Daechucha is known to be abundant in iron, potassium, vitamins B and C. A pre-prepared daechucha syrup containing jujube pieces is also commercially available in Korean grocery stores.

11. Maesil cha (Green plum tea)

round early summer, you can start to see large netting bags filled with little green plums, known as maesil. This plum tree (also known by its Japanese name, ume) is popular throughout East Asia for both its flower and for its fruit. Koreans will often ferment the plums with sugar and make a batch of maesil syrup, essentially a plum concentrate, that they can store and use as a refreshing beverage in the summer or a tea in the winter. Of course, the longer you ferment it, the syrup can become alcoholic, known as maesil-ju. 

12. Ogsususuyeom cha (Corn tea)

Hyun Bin, the Hallyu star of "Secret Garden" became the face for Kwang Dong corn silk tea right before he went off to do his military stint with the Marines. The drink promises to give you a V-line, meaning a slim and sharp jawline that ends in a “V” at your chin. The tea can be made with the dried corn silk or with dried and roasted corn kernels or a combination thereof. The former has a light roasted flavor unlike the latter, which tastes more like, well, corn.

13. Boli cha (Barley tea)

This is a pan-Asian drink, as you can find variations of roasted barley tea in China and Japan. Koreans tend to drink this year round, as both a cool, rejuvenating tonic, and a warm, soothing tea. Sometimes, as is the case with Sky Barley, the mass-produced version of this tea, the roasted barley seed is mixed with corn, toasted brown rice, and chicory as a way of lightening the flavor. 

14. Sungnyung

Sungnyung is a traditional Korean beverage made from boiled scorched rice. This drink is typically made from nurungji, the roasted (but not charred) crust of rice that forms on the bottom of a pot after cooking rice. Water is poured on this brown crust and the contents are put to a simmer until the water gains enough flavor of the scorched rice.

15. Yulmu

Known as “Job’s tears” in English, this grain is contained within a hard, tear-shaped shell about the size of a pea. The shells were the size of beads and were good for making jewelry and bracelets, including rosary beads. It was in the monasteries of southern Europe where the rosary beads made from this plant came to be known as “Job’s tears.” In Korea, however, the grain usually comes in powdered form along with walnuts, almonds, or other nuts. Less like a traditional tea, yulmu can be eaten more like a savory cereal. With a high protein content, this might be a healthier alternative to a cup of coffee in the morning. 

16. Bacchus

When you feel like coffee and soda isn’t doing the trick, turn to Bacchus for help. This was the energy drink of choice before Red Bull reared its head. Started in 1963 by Dong-A, a pharmaceutical company, Bacchus was originally touted as a hangover remedy. Now, it is marketed as an energy booster for all of those overworked salarymen and women. The bulk of the drink is actually just water, sugar, and high fructose corn syrup, but it also has taurine (the magic ingredient in Red Bull) and a mix of other chemical ingredients. Sold at your local pharmacy or convenience store. 

17. Sikhye

Sikhye is a traditional sweet Korean rice beverage, usually served as a dessert. In addition to its liquid ingredients, sikhye also contains grains of cooked rice, and in some cases pine nuts.You can usually get a sweet, icy glass of sikye at a restaurant or café. The best time to get it though is after hitting the saunas or jjimjjilbang. It will quench your thirst and wake you up from the languor of the hot tubs.  

18. Misutgaru

Misutgaru is a shake made from roasted grain powder and sweetened with some honey or sugar. The number of different grains, beans, and nuts depends on the brand, but more often than not, you’ll see some mixture of healthful ingredients like barley, rice (glutinous and non-glutinous, black, brown, and white), millet, soybeans, and sesame seeds. Unsurprisingly, this shake is good diet food because it is high in protein, while still giving you a nutritious variety of whole grains. If you’re drinking at home (you can buy a package at the grocery store), blend it with some ice, milk, and honey for a healthy and delicious protein shake.

19. Sujeonggwa

Sujeonggwa is a Korean traditional fruit punch. Dark reddish brown in color, it is made from dried persimmons, cinnamon, ginger, peppercorn and is often garnished with pine nuts. The punch is made by brewing first the cinnamon, ginger and peppercorn at a slow boil. The solids are then removed for clarification and the remaining liquid is boiled again after adding either honey or brown sugar. The dried persimmons are cut into portions and are added to soak and soften after the brew has completely cooled. This is usually done several hours before serving, as extensive soaking of the fruit may thicken the clear liquid to a murky appearance. Sujeonggwa is served cold and commonly as a dessert, much like sikhye, due to its sweet taste. It is also widely available in canned form.

20. Dawn 808

Also sometimes known as ahjussi juice for the portrait of the kind grandfatherly figure beaming from the can, Dawn 808 is the ultimate hangover elixir. Made from traditional herbs and roots, the taste is reminiscent of hanyak , or traditional Korean medicine. Knock back a can of this after one of those drinking bouts that has lasted until the subways start up again in the morning and it will ensure that you won’t be completely useless when you wake up for work the next day. Can be bought in any convenience store.