If you are on my twitter list, you will know by now that Husband had won a trip to Korea, thanks to Shell & UOB.

*takes a minute to jump around in utter excitement - for the gazillionth time*

Have a Soul to Seoul Experience.

1 September to 2 October 2011: Holiday in Korea – Jeju Island & Seoul City.

A self drive exploration of Jeju Island’s striking scenery and beautiful islands, cliffs and beaches. After an informative safety briefing and introduction, immerse yourself in the vibrant culture of the island, explore breathtaking lava caves, trek up rocky peaks and be fascinated by Asia’s one and only seaside waterfalls. A quick flight will take you back to mainland where your experience will be combined with a private driven tour of ancient palaces with ample time for shopping and gastronomy pursuits in the heart of Seoul. Experience the top tier of accommodations with the famous 5* Jeju Lotte World and Fraser Place in Seoul.

from here

We spent $66.52 at Shell Simpang Bedok, I think it was only our 3rd time entering the contest, and on Tuesday about 2 weeks ago, Husband got a call from SPH asking him to send in a picture of his NRIC back and front, and also a picture of the winning receipt, which luckily he kept. Guess being anal has its uses afterall, HAHA.

At that time I was on MC, and he was at the clinic with me, and as usual the doctor was taking a loooong time, so we were discussing what are the odds that this is actually just a scam. So we thought, nothing to lose, let's just send whatever they need to them, and we'll find out soon enough if we really won.

On the Thursday, his name was up on the site!



Soooo exciting lah. They contacted him again and told him to come down for a prize-giving ceremony on 7th Oct, which was last week, and yes we both attended. It was quite cool, ada photographers and all, and we got a goodie bag with Shell & Ferrari stuff inside, we got more info about the trip, and Husband had to do an interview and a soundbite which will / might be aired on Class 95, hahah.

So, it'll be a 5D4N trip, airfare and accomodation all paid for, and we have the option of either driving ourselves (they will provide the car etc of course) and have the tour guide meet us at the destination itself, or we can have a driver. We are opting for the driver option, haha. The travel agency will provide us with an itinerary, but we can change stuff if we want to once we are there.

The only thing that we are really unsure about now is when is the travel period. They mentioned that there will be some blackout dates etc etc, and it will be a 6 months travel period, but the Shell people weren't sure when we can travel exactly, and we have to wait for a phonecall from the travel agency this week.

Here comes the problem. The latest we can travel this year is by mid Nov, and the earliest we can go is next year is maybe after mid March. However March will be terribly cold I think, based on weather reports found online, and we want to avoid winter if possible because Hyder didn't really adapt well to the cold when we were at Kashmir (O deg and below)

Winter is from Nov to March. So if the travel period is til April, then Husband suggested that we will go in April, Insha'Allah. If it's only til March, then we will go end of this month (!!) which is terribly rushing! I mean, end of this month is like 2 weeks away!

I am really hoping we can go in April - it will be spring then (not that I mind autumn, actually, haha) and according to this site, temp will be around 11 deg, sooo nice. And best of all, Husband said if bonus is good and everything goes well, Insha'Allah, we can extend the trip to 7 or 9 days! Now u can see why I am reallyreallyREALLY hoping we will go in April, haha.

So at the moment we are really not sure when we are going. We've bought the LonelyPlanet Korea book, as we do for all our trips we've done so far, just for keepsakes, haha. Husband's reading it though, because I'm getting confused - all the places in it has -dong in it. Insadong, Dongdaemon, etc etc.

Hyder's vehyee vehyee excited, he keeps saying he wants to go Korea. After the prize-giving last Friday, we told him ok let's go Vivo for dinner, and he was all, "No! I nak go home, I nak pack bag, and I nak go Korea!"

Haha. Had to explain to him that Korea is in a few weeks (or months!!) time, so don't get TOO excited now. Haha.

But really, Alhamdulillah, this is really unexpected rezeki, and it's really cool. I was just telling Husband a few nights before we found out that we won that I want to go travel FAR, but I think it’s such a waste to spend money on airfares. Hotel is a different issue, coz u pay for the level of luxury you want, but airfare is such a boring thing to pay for, esp when you have a car, and like damn I should just drive to that place, u know? Haha.

So Alhamdulillah, I'm so glad we won this so we don't have to think about paying for airfare or whatever. If only we can change the destination though, from Korea to Marrakesh, or Maldives, or Istanbul again, it'll be even more cool, but hey beggars can't be choosers, so Korea pon jadi lah! Haha.

Hopefully the travel agent will call soon, and then we can start planning, or if the trip is in April, I can let the excitement die down for a while, and be excited about other stuff now. Haha.

So, til the next update, ghamsa hamnida for reading this! (sorry, couldn't resist injecting some korean phrases! Heheh)