Holidays, a time everyone gets hyped up over, parents planning

activities for the family to spend quality time with and school
children ( as well as teachers) jumping for joy. Hello, waking up
late, celebrating, goin for tuition and best of all, vacations! In
myy case, a holiday I would never forget is a fruitful one I
expereinced five years ago, where my family I spent six days in
the land of K-Pop and ' kimchi '- Korea.

Finally, after ages of waiting, our family arrived in beautiful

Korea. Stepping out of the plane, we could feel the chilly weather
to our bones. Never experiencing that kind of weather, my
siblings and I were totally excited. Passing through immigration
and baggage claim, we were talking animatedly about our new
surroundings. Since we went with tour group, we knew we were
in good hands.

Incident number one. We were supposed to take a bus to

check in at the hotel, as instructed. I guessed I was overeager
and without thinking. I ran to a random bus and knocked on the
door. The young bus driver opened the door and looked at me
with a puzzled expression. He started asking me something in
Korean, which of course I did not understand. I tried to reply in
English, but before I could make the attempt, my father quickly
apologized to the driver and walked me back to the tour group
who was watching from afar, shaking with laughter. It turned out
that the bus I was running to was not the bus we were supposed
to take. I dismissed my burning cheeks. I was glad I could be the
butt of everyone's jokes on my first day in a foreign country.

It was a bit past lunch time when we were done checking in

our hotel. Not doubt, everybody's stomachs were grumbling.
Thank God after checking in, we were going to have our lunch
and do a bit of sightseeing. While waiting for the others outside
the hotel, we walked around nearby. There was a row of vending
machines that sold various snacks and beverages, including
Haagen Dazs ice-cream , and instant noodles. My mother had a
craving for Nescafe, so she spent her first Korrean money on
that.

At the restaurant, a delicious meal was already spread out

for us. That was the first time we all tried kimchi, a spicy and
sour vegetable side dish.I did not think it was horrible, buut I
preferred the fish kimchi much better. We all ate using
chopsticks, so that was kind or awkward for me and my siblings,
as we were not skilled at using them yet. Being Malaysians, we
were used to rice, so it was a good thing that the Korean meal
included rice and a few other side dish, eaten from a Bento box.
It was weird though, the rice was stickier compared to the
rice we eat at home, mainly to make it easier to eat using
chopsticks. There was also hot and scumptious miso soup
together with the meal. Since my sister and my brother did not
like it much, I finshed up theirs. I gulped the warm soup down
my throat- a nice connntrast from the shivering weather outside.

One of the highlights of our activities that we did in Korea

was skiling. Everybody from the tour group was looking forward
to that, even the 52-year old couple traveling with us. Since it
was'nt fully snownig yet, the hill was coverred with artificial snow.
After grobbing our ski gear, we listen to a briefing by the
instructor. He was very help ful, especially with us kids annd the
elderly couple.

Feeling jumpy and hyperactive, me and my sister made our

way to the cable car and successfully skied down a slope. I
thought, " We're natural at this," and my sister could not agree
more. When we came to see how our parents and brother were
doing, my brother started to throw a snowball towards me and
my sister. It hit me, and we started having a small snowball fight
of our own, just like in the movies! I guessed we got a bit out of
hand and my sister accidentally hit a woman's back. when she
turned around, she had this angry look on her face and started to
walk towards us.I hurried my siblings to continue skiing with our
parents,and we ran away before she cold catch us. Breathless, we
giggled innaivety as we recapped the moment.

In a way, skiing is like swimming. Why do I say so? Well,

when swimming ,you do not feel tired , but you would see the
effect when you get ravenous and eat more after a session or
when you aintend to tke a nap, but it is extended to long hours.
The same goes to skiing. When we arrived at the hotel after
skiing, we were drained out and starving. Instant noodles saved
the day! We all ate curry-flavoured Maggi together, savouring the
memontary pleasure. We also dozed off quite early that night ,
right after going for a walk to enjoy the amazing night view of th
mountains, and breathing the cool, fresh winter air.

Shopping in Korea was also different compared to Malaysia.

Its malls were packed with small shops or stalla on every floor.
Big boutiques were not seen as much as the quaint kiosks.
Nevertheless, I found shopping at their markets more enjoyable,
especially because you could haggle the price. Their
specialities were crystals, fabrics and outerwear. Apart form
that, I also liked their wet markets , mainly because they were
very clean and they did not have that fishy smell. I remembered
a shocking incident when walking through the stalls of the wet
market. A large fish jumped out its aquarium and onto the floor.
I stared at it and suddenly, I saw a huge cutting knife slicing
through the fish's neck! It was the owner of the stall's doing.
Then, the owner left the fish flapping around lifelessly without a
head.

There was also a treasure trove among the stalls of the wet
market- a tiny shoop which served grilled seafood. My family
stepped into the shop and ordered some grilled fish and cockles.

After saying our prayers, we devoured our mouth-watering

find of the day. Dripped in a type of souce, the seafood was the
best I had ever eaten, as you could taste the freshness. Or
maybe I was just hungry after a full day of activities.

If it was up to me, there were so many things to write on

my memorabe trip to Korean. Not onli we got to spend quality
time together as a family, but we also learnt countless new things
and even discovered hidden talents. My father always said we
should travel with an open mind and an open heart. This is when
you get to see your capability to adapt to changes. Just enjoy the
simple things in life and be thankful of what you have. So, do just
that. Who knows you might discover a part of yourself you never
know existed?

Source
https://goodessays.blogspot.com/2014/03/a-holiday-i-would-never-forget-spm.html