Summary of #316inKorea

I am actually contemplating if I should start writing the journey/travel guide to Korea this time round... And, I have decided that I should especially so that this shall serve me well in the future if I happen to revisit Korea :) Just like how my previous entries did, when I am preparing for the travel this year.

Buying stage.

I have been pestering my friends to travel to Korea together ever since 2014, probably due to the good experience I had in 2013 Summer exchange lol

And so, the trip has not been fulfilled until 3 weeks ago.

It happened that, SIA was having a super good deal flight promotions, and Korea is one of the included destination. Woots!!!!

So, I got pengpeng to ride on this super-good-must-buy deal, ends up we only paid SGD710 for a premium flight to Korea, economy class of course. :D But, that would also mean, the travel time and day is really bad... We flew on a Monday afternoon, arrived in Korea on Monday near midnight.

Preparation stage

As the travel date draws closer, pohpoh has decided to join us in this trip too! But, the deal has ended. Nonetheless, that didn't stop her from joining the jiemeis ^^ She purchased the flight from Koreanair I think for about SGD800+ which was pretty ok too

And so, we met up a few times to tie down the places where we want to go in Korea (Seoul, Busan, Jeju and... Ulsan - Try somewhere different!), the method of traveling, the accommodation.

Accommodation

For all our accoms, except for Jeju, we purchased from Airbnb! And the apartments are really amazing :) and cheap, and near the station! We got ourselves duplex apartment (double floors)

Our accommodation goes like this:
Seoul Part 1 - Seoul Station
Ulsan 1 day trip (self drive)
Busan - Busan station
Jeju - Good Inn Hotel (booked via booking.com)
Seoul Part 2 (Shopping spree) - Hong Dae station (easier to return to the airport)

SIM Card/Free Wifi

Given that we have 3 people, and its shorter than a month stay. I originally wanted to get the pocket wifi, so that the cost can be divided into 3.

SIM Card - I suggest perhaps you can get EG SIM Card. It's still the best option in my opinion...

Pocket wifi - mobilepop! It's quite cheap I feel! Compared it to most of the providers in Korea, Olleh, KT etc... 70,000won in total for 14 days, 3 pax.

However, on the day of collection in the airport (they do delivery to the apartment too! So, you don't have to collect at the airport if your flight timing is as strewed as mine), we decided to call off the booking. Because it is highly wired in Korea, especially Seoul, there are wifi available in most cafes. (No wifi in the subway, unless you are using SIM Card that allows you to tap on either Olleh or KT wifi)

Mode of Transportation

Traveling in Seoul is easy peasy, just take Subway train! If the distance is short, and you have 3 to 4 people, take a cab might be an easier and cheaper option! For example, a few days we were so exhausted by the walking, shopping, carrying heavy things and its raining, we took cab from Hong Dae shopping district, to our apartment in Hong Dae near the subway station. That's like about 15mins walk. It costs us 3,000won in total.

The starting rate is usually 2,800won or 3,000won. The cab rate will increase exponentially. Hence, not recommended to take cab for long distance... it can be quite expensive.

To travel from Seoul to Busan or Ulsan, as foreigners, we bought the Korail One Day Pass for I think about 53,000won per person! We traveled to 2 places for that price. Damn cheap ok...

Traveling in Ulsan was a little problem, but thank goodness for pohpoh knows how to drive lol and teohteoh (which is myself lol) knows a tiny bit of Korean.

We booked the car for a day from Hertz Lotte car rental. Collect at a small store about 300m away from the Ulsan KTX Station. We lugged our luggage over... and return the car at the stipulated time opted by us at night, at the same place. We were looking for car rentals that allows us to collect car in Ulsan, and return in Busan... But, to our dismay, no such service available...

GPS was provided by default, however in Korean... It was easy to understand by just looking at the directions illustration given. We wont be able to understand the Korean audio though... which is a pity... So, I assisted on translating the audio to Pohpoh (who's driving) in English. Ulsan, or rather Korea as a whole, has a lot of small roads/alleys... So, got to be careful of where the GPS is pointing towards.

We have been cabbing around in Busan lol... We are taitai like that. FYI you can use Tmoney in Busan subway :) however, you cant use that for Busan internal city bus rides

Then, we took Jejuair to Jeju from Busan! The flight is damn cheap... 1/3 the price in Summer.

We flew from Busan to Jeju. And, Jeju to Seoul. Costs us about 75,000won in total.

We self-drive in Jeju, cos 1 couple joined us and that makes 5 people sharing a rented car! the costs isn't too expensive in fact. Probably cheaper than renting a cab driver for 8 hours, and having to pay for the petrol and his meals.

FYI, Jeju car rental GPS goes by telephone number of the places of interest. Usually, we will key in the postal code, but for Jeju, please key in the telephone number!

Rough itinerary which we didn't really abide to

Day 1 - Seoul - Arrival (sleep in airport T.T we later figured out that we should just take the last airport limousine at midnight to the city, and sleep in Jimjilbang instead... no lounge once you exit the custom in ICN)

Day 2 - Rest, Hangang, Gangnam, Garosugil, SM Town, COEX Mall

Day 3 - Nami Island, Gangchon Rail Park

Day 4 - DMZ, JimJilBang

Day 5 - Ulsan - Ganjeolgot, Seonam Lake Park, Tae Hwa Gang Grand Park

Day 6 - Busan - Jalgachi Fish Market, Gam Chon, Da Dae Po (fountain of dream)

Day 7 - Haeundae, Taejongdae, Gwangalli Beach

Day 8 - Lotte Premium Outlet

Day 9 - Jeju - Sunrise peak, Seopjikoji, Maze Park, Manjanggul Cave, Miniland, Stone Park, Black Sand Beach, Dongmun Traditional Market, Yongduam Rock, Mysterious Road, Love land

Day 10 - Junbang waterfall, Cheonjiyeon falls, Oedolgae rock, Daepo Jusangjeolli Cliff, Chocolate Museum and Osulloc Green Tea Museum

Day 11 - Seoul - KSGI, Dong Dae Mun

Day 12 - Hong Dae, Edae

Day 13 - Lotte Mart, Ice Rink, Ssamziegil

Day 14 - Singapore

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So I guess that's about it for now. At a later part, I shall start throwing in photos, and specific guides for the 14 days journey in Korea!