The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps
The rain poured the moment we stepped foot on Nami Island. Light drizzle was still fine for us, but the sky had other plans. We needed a shelter soon. We were hungry too – didn’t have breakfast. Without any research, we didn’t know what to …
“You must go to Nami Island! It’s beautiful in Autumn,” my sister-in-law recommended. Snippets of memory came to mind. A pair of lovers walked down a frosty white lane, and slow music played in the background. It must be magical walking down the wintry lane …
“Should we try out the rail bike?” I asked my husband, “It’s quite near Nami Island.”
“Yes, it looks like an interesting and unique experience. Let’s do it!”
If only the decision process were that simple. What traversed between these two sentences was a myriad of reasons why we shouldn’t ride on the rail bike, mainly due to my young toddler (16-month-old).
Firstly, our schedule would become tight if we account for the transfers from Nami Island to Gangchon Rail Park. Gapyeong Rail Park would have more convenient from Nami Island, but I preferred Gangchon.
Secondly, I was unsure how safe it was to carry a 16-month-old baby during the ride, the T&Cs excluded children below three for insurance. Thirdly, I was sure Baby E could not sit still on my lap for more than 10 minutes. Lastly, I did not think I had the strength to babywear her for the whole journey in the autumn cold, while pedalling. Even though hubby was the designated main cyclist, I am not a leech.
In the end, my playful self was willing to take the risk of having a baby on board. I couldn’t give up trying this activity when we were quite near the rail park. So here comes my Gangchon Rail Bike Review!
Before that, you might want to know the logistical aspects of this trip. For that, you can refer to my other post, “About Gangchon Rail Park“:
The photo taken at the park entrance (see below) was taken at the end of the rail bike activity. We didn’t have the luxury of time in the beginning. What happened?
I looked left and right, but the taxis were not coming as quickly, and we were at the end of the queue. All those in line were on the same ferry as us, coming from Nami Island, and we were many steps slower. Nearing our turn, there were two taxis turning in, one for the family before us and another one for us. As the taxis were about to U-turn, a tourist bus got stuck and blocked their way. I was taking deep breaths by now.
When we finally hopped onto the taxi and whisked off to Gapyeong station, it was now the subway taking a long time to come. Even a mere 10-minute wait seemed so long when rushing.
I was getting nervou as we were going to be late. We had booked a two-seater for the 3:30 PM session via Klook (Btw, two-seater is apparently a more popular choice, so book early!). It was stipulated that we should arrive half an hour earlier, aka 3:00 PM. When we reached Gimyujeong Station, I looked at my watch, “3:25 PM”. Since the booking sites stated a 4-minute walk from the station to the park, we should be able to make it.
“I’ll run over first. You just quickly walk over with the pram,” my husband ordered and zoomed off.
I picked up my speed to chase after him, but after a while, I slowed down to walking in quick steps. While running with the pram and bags, the 4-minute walk didn’t seem so 4 minutes. It felt like a lengthy 1.2km instead. As I walked past the rail park entrance, I saw my hubby signalling me to slow down. I was panting furiously.
“See that long queue?” My husband said, pointing into the distance, and continued, “They’re all waiting to get on the rail bikes. The line is only starting to move. When I was asking the counter staff for directions, someone was still getting the rail bike tickets for the 3:30 PM session.” And that someone turned out to be on the bike just behind us. Phew!
Even though we joined the queue at about 3:40 PM, we still had time to take turns to go to the toilet. The queue was moving very slowly as people were getting on the bikes in an orderly fashion. I didn’t expect one session to have so many people – you can get an idea of the crowd in my photos at the end of this post.
All’s good in the end. Morale of the story, to have a relaxing trip, remember to account for enough buffer and travelling time!
“Hello!” Baby E waved. She waved before she fell into a short but deep slumber thereafter.
We squeezed our things — foldable pockit stroller, three bags, sweaters, camera, phones, etc — around and under our seats and buckled up. The staff helped me adjust the seat forward so that my short legs could reach the pedals. :P Then, our wait continued. This time, it was to wait for the four-seater bikes to move off first.
After an approximately 10-minute wait, I was glad we were finally moving, but only for about 100m when we stopped again. Understandably, it was a long line of bikes, and the bikes were setting off slowly because of the need for safety distance. In any case, it was a good pit stop to ask the staff to take a photo of us in the 2-seater bike.
Moreover, all my worries about riding with a baby were gone at this moment. Baby E was so tired, she KO-ed when our bike moved that short distance forward. She even slept through super loud noises for one of the tunnels we went through.
How about pedalling while carrying a baby?
If you are not sporty and are worried about how taxing the cycling will be, I can safely tell you that it’s quite easy peasy! Or perhaps I had a good bike partner. Both of us felt that it was a slow and relaxing cycle, and before we knew it, we had reached the point to disembark. By the way, I was baby-wearing my baby for the whole journey.
The cycling was not taxing nor intensive as we could even rest our feet and not pedal at times. This is so the bike can slow down to maintain a safe distance and not bump into the bike in front of us. Moreover, sometimes we had to hand-brake, like when we hit downward slopes that accelerated the bike.
We could also take our own sweet time to enjoy the scenery and take photos because sometimes the bike behind us lagged quite a bit. In any case, you should enjoy the journey and not be stressed by, if any, a tailgating bike. It wouldn’t matter if a bike is slightly slower because even in a bottleneck situation, most people wouldn’t know where the “weakest link” is anyway. Btw, the bike behind us was cycled by a ~60-year-old grandma and her ~9-year-old granddaughter. If they can do it, so can you! :)
In the cool air, the lalang grass waved at us, so near we could touch it from our bike. Casting my view further, sparsely scattered houses made me envious of the quiet and contemplative countryside life. I took in breaths of fresh air as we rode past mountains glimmering in an orange glow, and a quiet river rippling in between towering mountains.
It was a good choice to come during autumn, heard it’s beautiful in winter too. The other two seasons should be nice as well, but nothing to shout about. This scenery is supposedly nicer than the one at Gapyeong Rail Park.
The tunnels we go through here were supposedly more numerous than at Gapyeong Rail Park, and hence more worthwhile! Cycling through mountain tunnels is quite intriguing, but four times would have been boring. Hence, Gangchon Rail Park added a little spice for three of its four tunnels. I must applaud them for their thoughts and efforts in curating the tunnel experience.
This video gives you a glimpse of what you might experience in these three tunnels:
We enjoyed the first tunnel in its barest form, while having bubbles flying all around in the second tunnel. In the tunnel, lighted up in blue and purple, the bubbles danced around us to a bubbling sound effect and an upbeat song. Then, in the third tunnel, flashing white lights in the dark created a starry night atmosphere, coupled with a slow romantic song for the mood.
For the last tunnel, throbbing strobe lights with ear-shattering thumping disco music thundered through. Good thing Baby E was so tired that she slept through this. This is supposedly the tunnel for the VR experience, but we weren’t asked to opt in for it, so I’m not sure if it’s still available.
Our rail bike kissed the butt of the bike in front and came to a stop, concluding our time on the rail bike. We wished the ride had been longer as we basked in the magnificent view of the golden mountains. Being the last few bikes to reach, we didn’t have much time to admire the spectacular landscape, except to snap a few photos. A few others went for a quick toilet break at this stop.
We walked from the rail bike to the train, which would bring us through the second part of the journey and to the end point, the old Gangchon Station. From there, we would take a free shuttle bus back to the starting point, which is near Gimyujeong Station. More information in my post, “About Gangchon Rail Park“.
No one’s rushing us to get on the train, but I felt rushed by the people heading so quickly towards it. Moreover, most people were already on board the train, while empty bikes abounded. This reminded me of what hubby overheard a tour guide telling the first few bikes in the beginning, “There’s no point riding fast and rushing. Because you’ll still have to wait for everyone to arrive and board the train.”
As we were about to head up the first carriage we came to, someone told us it was full. So we went to the next one, and the next one, and next, and finally we went up to the last carriage, which technically was the first from the train head. It looked full, too. However, we had no choice but to head up and find pockets of seats.
Thank God for hubby’s sharp eyes, he spotted an empty row hidden among the crowd, and we squeezed in. I think this is the only carriage that is open-air, and perhaps why it still had seats. The rows are uncomfortably close to one another that you are just a whisper away from the person in front of and behind you.
Facing the front, we were on the left side of the train, which, as you can see in the photo above, doesn’t have much of a view. So if you have the choice, pick the right side (pun intended). The train journey was effortless for us as we sat there while the train chugged past scenic views at a leisurely pace.
Like I’ve said, there were lots of riders. The photo above only captured the front part of the crowd while the rest stretched all the way till the end, and couldn’t fit into the frame. Regardless, enjoy the ride! Hubby and I were glad that we didn’t skip this because we would have missed out on this lovely experience. In hindsight, my initial worries seemed so exaggerated.
So if you have time and are nearby, like in Nami Island, slot in this activity and get your tickets through Klook and Trazy today. Book early for your desired timing, yes, the sessions have specific timings.
Have fun!
You might also want to check out my other posts on Korea. Leave your comments or questions below. Love to hear from you. :)
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“Where can I feed my nursing toddler?” That was the question pressing on my heart before our trip to Seoul. Jeju is easy because I can just latch her in the car we rented for our 4D3N trip. I searched online and found very little …
![Perfume Making in Seoul, Korea [Sponsored by Trazy]](https://travel.joogostyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/travel.joogostyle.com-Custom-Perfume-Making-in-Seoul-8A-760x400.jpg)
Eat Ginseng Chicken in Korea, yummy. Ride a rail bike, fun. Visit Nami Island, it’s beautiful. Make your own perfume in Seoul, that’s exotic. Well, at least it’s not common among tourists to Seoul. I was looking through Trazy.com for things to do in Korea, and …
![Hair Salon in Seoul for Foreigners: English Speaking [Sponsored by Trazy]](https://travel.joogostyle.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/travel.joogostyle.com-Hair-and-Joy-Seoul-Hair-Salon-2.jpg)
When overseas, I like visiting hair salons to try out the local trends. Did it in Hong Kong but ended up with an epic fail boy’s cut. Also did it in Taiwan and cringed at the frizzy limp perm, and on hindsight I think the Taiwan stylist was peeping under my clothes, a story for another day. So why do I still want to venture overseas? I just couldn’t help it this time. It’s Seoul.
With K-beauty in the vogue and Korean hair salons sprouting up in Singapore, shouldn’t I be styling my hair at where all these originated from? I wanted an authentic Korean hair salon experience. And it’s a plus that Trazy.com (“Trazy”) is sponsoring this experience at a Seoul Hair Salon in Hongdae (Hair & Joy).
Trazy is a travel booking site where you can find tonnes of activities in South Korea (“Korea”) and Thailand — from day tours to concert tickets to manicure. Get inspired of what to do in Korea, especially uncommon tourist experience like cooking! :) Oh and booking through Trazy website will save you the hassle of overcoming the language barrier and making overseas calls. Almost all Korean establishments we encountered only have phone numbers listed for reservations.
I meandered through a narrow obscure shortcut to go over to the other street. Making my way from Hongik University subway stop, I had made a wrong small turn at an ambiguous crossroad. “It should be right this time,” I thought to myself, “Uniqlo is over there and the hair salon is opposite. But why can’t I spot it?”
Turned out, I was looking out for the wrong thing. I was expecting the usual wide glass paneled hair salon, but its entrance was actually obscure. The easy-to-miss indication that I had found the salon was a thin and long sign of Hair and Joy. I would have unlikely been a walk in customer.
As I carefully climbed my way up instead of taking the lift, a young Korean guy ran past me. Turned out, he was also heading to Hair & Joy for a haircut. Must be urgent, rushing to a hair salon at 10:45 AM.
There was only a guy at the reception counter to greet me–no hairstylist spotted. Oh the young guy who ran past me was the only one seated in one of the swiveling chairs. And phew, the salon does not look shabby or dubious, unlike the first impression I formed from its shady entrance.
Anyway, Jake (IG: @k.j.g.wow) was assigned to me. I supposed it’s because his command of English is better than the rest. And since his assistant was sick that day, another hairstylist (@cheonbae_lim) came to help him out. Wouldn’t have this luxury of attention if the salon was crowded. So it’s best to come during off peak. You also wouldn’t want your hair session to be prolonged with him attending to many others. Certain nights are busy, and needless to say, weekend is the super peak period.
More people started to stream in after 12:00PM. See the photo below (pardon the ahjumma me) as I referenced how Hair & Joy’s client profile is quite diverse. While I was there, a Korea Ajusshi (man between 40 to 60s), and two foreigners, one with golden locks and another with straight black hair, were all getting their hair done. The black hair lady is a German, I deduced from the overheard conversation.
According to Jake, many Singaporeans come to Hair & Joy too. He also mentioned about university students and professors who came by for hair cut. Not surprising, considering Hair & Joy is near Hongik University.
By the way, I probed and found out that Jake was born in 1992. He has 5 years of experience, 2 years at a salon in Gangnam and 3 years here at Hair & Joy. He shared that he had to learn from scratch when he came over to Hair & Joy. Reason being, there are many more foreigners (non-Asians) and the way to handle those hair is different.
Jake’s English is not perfect but good enough to communicate. I think that is why he would reiterate and explain the steps he would take – wash, cut, test perm and then perm. After understanding my needs aka my desired hairstyle of digital perm on short hair, he counter suggested doing a mixed perm, that is digital at the ends, straightener at the roots. It’s best to show him a photo of what you are looking to achieve, which I did.
I changed my hairstyle almost every semester in uni, and yet I had not attempted a perm on short hair prior to this. A “dangerous” hairstyle because one wrong turn and I could become an ahjumma. I was praying my hair would turn out awesome!
Nearing the end, he taught me how to maintain my curls — not to wear cap or tie my hair for the first week, no shampoo for next two days, and how to blow my hair. Blow if I want soft curls, leave hair to dry if I want more defined curls. And he gave me tips on how to twirl my hair while blowing hair and always blow downwards.
It’s actually quite hard to know the direction to twirl when looking from the mirror. I politely pretended to know until he thrust the hair dryer into my hands. I was stunned for a moment until he signalled me to blow my hair. He wanted to see if I was doing it right and corrected me on the spot. Although it was embarrassing for me, it was a good thing. At least now I know how to do it right.
All in all, it took about 3.5 hours for my hair to be done.
Some notable mentions include having a locker for my bag, and a drinks menu to choose from. Drink was served with biscuits too. It was a lifesaver because my perm cross over lunch time! Then as he passed me magazines to read, he placed a cushion on my lap so that I wouldn’t have to bend too low to read.
Btw, the head massage during the last wash was awesome!
Thought I show you my ‘Before’ look, taken before I headed to the hair salon. I was growing out of my short and slight bob. The hair started to curl upwards when it reached this awkward shoulder length. But note, this hair length is considered long according to guide on Trazy’s booking page.
Then the photo below was taken after the visit to the hair salon. It looks gorgeous because of the angle and lighting. I’m well pleased with the result! Finally an overseas hair styling that I did not regret.
Usually one looks gorgeous from the hairdresser’s blow out. So after a week, are the curls still wonderful?
The curls are less defined but still stand out if I let it dry out (instead of blowing). And I have to wet my hair to let the curls appear, like any other digital perms in the world. On hindsight, he did a great job, but I kinda regretted showing him a picture of soft curls. From experience I should know curls will soften in time. Hence if I requested for curls that were more well defined, I would have the bounce in me longer.
In any case, if you are a Singaporean holidaying in Seoul or a non-Asian looking for someone who understands your hair, book a session with Seoul Hair Salon in Hongdae (Hair & Joy). Easy peasy with Trazy!
For more about my travels in Seoul and Jeju, be sure to bookmark my Itinerary of South Korea.
Disclosure: This activity was sponsored by Trazy, but opinions are of my own. Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. Affiliate link means I’ll get a small commission if you make a purchase. There’s NO extra cost to you. I appreciate your support to maintain this website, so that I can share more tips with you. Thank you!
Day Trip or 2D1N to Mount Seorak (Seoraksan) We were planning a day trip from Seoul to Mount Seorak (“Seoraksan”) until we found out about the travelling time. It is about 6 hours to and fro. Accounting for Baby E’s 7:00 PM bedtime, we will only …
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in October 2018 and has been updated in December 2018 for accuracy and comprehensiveness. Running out of ideas what to do in Seoul? Hop on to a rail bike and ride on. There are two places near Seoul …
