DieHardX's Territory

대한민국, THE LAND OF THE MORNING CALM TRIP OVERVIEW

My second trip to South Korea was a blast. I visited Jeju Island, Mount. Sorak, Nami Island, YongPyong Ski Resort, Hanwah Waterpia Hotspring, Everland, Lotte World, experienced kimchi making, shopping and watched JUMP comic martial arts performance. The trip was interesting because we get to experience the seasons of spring (as high as 18 degree Celcius in Seoul) and winter from the different places of the country. We also managed to enjoy some early flower blossoming and experienced snow with the temperature at -5 degrees Celcius. I also ate life octopus arms which were still moving around after they cut it off for me to chew! The arms have suction cups on the underside which can still suck my face when I bite it!

The timing of the trip was quite wrong in terms of safety. Tension had been rising for the past few weeks with the military exercises between South Korea and United States starting on 9th March 2009. We were actually at the borderline at Mount Sorak between South Korea and North Korea on the 20th March 2009, the last day of the exercise. If there is any war to take place, we would be the first to witness it! Our bus had to put a sign in front of it to identify us as foreign tourists. The tour guide assured us that if North Korea is to invade South Korea, it would take them just 6 hours to conquer the whole south. I am not sure how true is that statement but his reasoning is that North Korea is fully prepared all the time for war as they train full time everyday, their soldiers do not fear death and they invested heavily in defence. North Korea has been giving warnings to South Korea regarding the joint military exercise with the United States. North Korea is planning a launch of a communications satellite early next month but South Korea and United States said it is a ballistic missile test.

The best experiences are to ski for the second time and the crazy T-Express ride at Everland. This time I can ski at higher slopes with better stability and speed. The T-Express is the steepest wooden roller coaster in the world at 77 degrees inclination - making it the greatest vertical inclination in the world, the fastest and longest roller coaster in Korea. I really enjoyed the unbelievable thrill of a near-sheer drop! It is the world's ninth fastest, third tallest, and sixth longest wooden coaster.

Ride T-Express and I assure you that you will know how it feels like dropping down so damn fast at such a steep inclination. You will be breathless and you feel like your entire body is being thrown at full speed all the way down. The only flaw in the roller coaster design in my humble opinion is to have the greatest highlight of the 77 degrees drop at the very front of the ride. I suggest that it should be pushed till the very end so you have a grand finale finishing. This is because after experiencing the most steepest drop at the very front of the ride, the rest of the ride is not as crazy anymore so you are no longer that thrilled. I already stopped screaming after that because nothing is more scarier anymore than that. More in depth reviews when I have the time this week or next week.