Day 2 in North Korea - North Korea's DMZ, Ancient University, Arch of Unification

Buffet breakfast was provided at the hotel we stayed in but all that caught my appetite at 6+am were a glass of milk (turned out to be yogurt... no likey) and 2 sunny-side-ups.... 

Then it was our first bumpy ride that lasted at least 2.5 hours from Pyongyang to Kaesong City where the DMZ is at ... =S 

The ridiculous bumpiness made it almost impossible to sleep on all the bus rides on this trip lo... =S


Spot the minder at this location where we had the much needed toilet break ... hint hint: not on the ground floor...

Since the visit to the DMZ area from the South Korea side in 2016, i had always wonder what the North side would say about the Korean War, about the DMZ, the 'coal' tunnels, the axe attack etc.... well, i was kind of disappointed cos they didn't say anything ... =S

the North Korea soldier at the briefing room just very briefly mentioned about the 38th parallel.. the 7 'monopoly' units that lie on the 38th parallel with the white belonging to the North and the blue belonging to the south... that's it.. then we were back on the bus... 

many many such huge blocks of concrete secured by wooden wedges lined along the narrow road towards the 38th parallel ...  partner said the maybe in case of attack from the South, these blocks will be dislodged to block the road to prevent invasion .... 

the building where the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953

we were informed that we were allowed to take pics but what's the use when i cant understand them (all in korean captions) so 随便随便 take a 360 degree video of the warehouse -like place nia... =S 

even the last signature of Kim Il Sung on the last document he signed on the day before he died a day later was cast in stone.... that's how much they worship everything about their leaders.... 

the monopoly units on the 38th parallel..... 

I was on the other side in 2016... hiding in the building and witnessing the 'communication' between the North Korea soldiers and the UN soldiers.... 

the one and only opportunity to take picture with a North Korean soldier....

was and still am disappointed that they din bother to justify any allegations or share their side of the story.... =S  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

greeted by glittering gold bowls for lunch... 

not a fan of ginseng so partner and I didnt opt to top up S$60 per ginseng chicken (can be shared by 4 pax) for this meal... 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



was here at the ancient university which is an Unesco site

student dormitory .. looking like the set of korean drama "Sungkyunkwan Scandal" seh... =D 

the entrance 'guarded' by two 1000+ years old ginkgo tree.... 

the university hall where the lectures used to be held... 

one of the places to get ginseng jelly as souvenir

partner and I 'gek kiang' dont wanna buy, thinking that there would be other things to buy as souvenirs at other locations... we ended up buying it at another location at a higher price cos this is indeed the only suitable souvenirs to buy back.... =S 

very sweet couple ... =) 

bought a stamp & postcard at the souvenir shop just outside this attraction and posted it at the hotel lobby to home sweet home... still waiting for its arrival 3 weeks later... =S 

i think i got ripped off lo ... the stamp's value is 155 South Korean won which should be S$0.25... but i was charge S$2 for it lo... =S

the postcard cost S$0.80... which i think was reasonable... everything was paid with reminbi  

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

objective : to climb to the tallest pavilion which was a 10 - 15 minutes climb up 

the minder at this attraction just a few flight of steps in front of our tour guide... 

day 2 's selfie in North Korea... =D 

just a random group of people gathered together to fish in the pond.... 

wrestling match was taking place behind the blue 'shield'... 

random cyclists just stopping in the middle of nowhere chit-chatting 

i was and am still confused are these staged or not... hmmm... 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arch of Unification

the car and man in the foreground is the minder of this attraction... spotting and capturing them at work became part of the fun on this trip... heee 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

dinner 

another sweet couple on our tour... =) 


view on the way back to the hotel ... really many many hdbs... 

that's it for Day 2 in North Korea... 

Day 1 in North Korea - Mass Games "The Land of the People"

The famous DPRK's Mass Games Performance first started in 2002 but was stopped in 2013 ... it returned in 2018 as part of its 70th founding anniversary and is held at May Day stadium (1989) ... one of the largest in the world with a capacity of 110000+...

This year's show, titled "The Land of the People", was opened on 3rd June 2019. It usually last for weeks and months but only lasted for a week this year because Kim Jong-un, North Korea's Supreme Leader, seriously criticized the creators for a “wrong spirit of creation and irresponsible work attitude” and ordered the show to be halted after watching it on opening night... 

We were very lucky to be able to catch the last show before the suspension on the day we arrived... nevermind that all 25 of us were super sleepy due to a lack of sleep on the night flight and long transit, 18 of us signed up for this optional event at 100 euro per pax... 

100 euro per pax only gave me a 3rd class ticket... heartache seh!!!... but to see the amazing performance by the HUMAN LEDs live was totally worth it... 

the famous HUMAN LEDs filling up their seat one by one, row by row in a super orderly manner... partner said, "benchmark for our 2 Integrity"... oopx... 





all filled up and ready to flip their colour boards

Warm up!!!


was super more interested in the HUMAN LEDs than the ground performances throughout the 1.5 hours show as shown in the pics and videos embedded in this post... hee 

really look like super huge-ass digital screen lo...  

at the 1.51 minute mark, you can see ALL the North Koreans stood up to clap & cheer when they saw the image of their supreme leader, Kim Jong-un... they did it multiple times during the 1.5 hours for the previous two supreme leaders too... the homogeneous amount of respect (and/or fear) in each and every North Korean for the 3 Kims is ridiculously scary yet impressive... =S 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Checked into Koryo Hotel

the rooms were dim and rather old-school so din bother to take any pic... we had the twin bed room... spacious enough for our 2 luggage and to walk around without bumping into each other... bed was the most comfy out of the 3 hotels we stayed at for this trip... no bottled water in room... got kettle... most irritating part - needed at least 2 toilet flush per use and the wait between the 2 flushes was freaking long... =S 

                         
~ End of Day 1 in NORTH KOREA... Woohoo~

such a coincidence that Channel U's Forbidding No More aired an episode on North Korea on 19 June ....  click for your viewing pleasure... =D 

To North Korea (DPRK) we went

it all started with holiday talks over a round of drinks @ Black Swan after last year's Affirmation dinner ... a few of us had been to South Korea's DMZ and were interested in visiting North Korea to hear their side of the story.... 

Using the excuse that she has higher standards and expectations, i pushed it to partner to do all the research and ground work and our trip into one of the world's most secretive countries and one without any network materialized this June... bucket list item checked!!!... super appreciative to have angels around me whom allow me to leech on for holidays... =P 

We took the package tour by Universal Travel Corporation (UTC) @ $2745/pax... process was hassle-free.... just pay, attend a pre-trip briefing on what to expect, buy insurance and we were ready to fly.... =) 

We flew by SQ to Beijing on a 0110 flight... Yawn!!! 
spacious, comfy... the usual... 

rejected breakfast at 5+am?!?!?!... too early and knowing the standard of SQ's food = totally no appetite to eat anything

rather pay @ Yoshinoya during the 6 hours transit from 7+am to 1+pm @ Beijing airport instead... =) 

the Beijing version of our Changi Airport Skytrain is known as Automated People Mover... wahahahaha 

MY NORTH KOREA VISA with flight ticket from Beijing to Pyongyang on Air Koryo (North Korea Airline), which had been ranked the world's worst airline before.... =S


the outside & inside of the infamous plane

  
small small 3 by 3 plane yet more spacious than all the budget planes that i had flew on 

the take - off was really really scary ... it was like 5 minutes of non-stop turbulence as the plane lifted off the ground and soared into the sky... i counted from 1 to 100+ to take my mind off my fear ... 

the meal provided on the flight 


First impression of North Korea - sibei neat seh!!! 

super agree with partner - "super satisfying to look at for the OCD in her"

blurred pic cos taken hastily on the way to the washroom... haven meet up with north korean tour guide yet so didnt know if taking pic of public places was even allowed.... =P ... found out later that it is perfectly fine to take pictures in the airport de... 

our ride for the whole trip

and on it, i took the selfie of the day with my new phone, Galaxy A50 - yup, back to bob

spotted lots of padi fields and farmers along the way from the airport to the city centre... impressed with the bicycle lanes on both side of the roads.... motorised bikes come with license plates somemore oh...   


was very surprised to see the city lined with neat rows of trees and many many blocks of flats.... and that was our korean tour guide talking in the background... =D


first place of visit in North Korea or Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which they insisted to be called, is Korea International Travel Company (KITC) restaurant #5 to have dinner at about 5+pm... 

 i love their rice but not their dishes which very often were served not hot enough (-_- !)~ .... 

this chewy chewy dont know call what dish looked super cute hor?!?!?!... like a pile of white one-eye piyo piyo