Day 1: South Korea Travelogue

7D/6N South Korea Travel Series - Seoul + Jeju Island
( Singapore to Incheon via Korean Air >> Doulos Hotel - Jongno 3-ga, Seoul >> Lotte World >> Dinner at Lotteria )

The much awaited vacation that was postponed for a year was finally happening. Although we know that we are late for spring, me and hubby still decided to go for it since baby Ish might start her school already in the coming months. We might not find a flexible time to travel after that.

Off we go to Seoul via Korean Air on the early morning of May 18. Seoul is 1 hour ahead of Singapore and the flight was 6 hours long. We arrived at Incheon Airport at around 8AM. We headed straight to the Bus Ticketing Counter to check the price of bus fare to our hotel. If I remember correctly, it is around 10,000KRW each. Since our hotel was one block away from the bus stop, we decided to take a cab instead. The price of the cab was 3X more of the bus but carrying 2 big bags, a stroller and a toddler, we opt for the cab.

After booking the cab, daddy K went to 7-11 located just outside the Arrival area at the airport to buy our T-money and loaded it with 10000KRW each. The ride from Incheon airport to Seoul was about 1.5 hours.

 

My Food Finds in South Korea

Korean Food is love love... Aside from sight seeing, I wanted to eat the "must-try" Korean food. Although this cuisine is all over Singapore I wanted to eat the authentic ones thus we ate mostly Korean food for the whole 7 days of our stay. Before this trip I already researched on the recommended food from reviews and forums. Mostly are street food.

Transportation - How to Get Around Seoul and Jeju

7D/6N South Korea Travel Series - Seoul + Jeju Island

Travelling in Seoul was very easy. The MRT system was much like of Singapore. Be sure to get a copy of the MRT map at the airport. When we arrived at Incheon airport the first thing that we did after claiming our luggages was to buy a T-money at 7-11. It is a preloaded card that you can use for bus, train and taxi.  You can also use it to pay at several fast food chains and convenience stores. Just like our Ezlink in Singapore or Octopus card in Hongkong.

One card cost  KRW2500. You can top up or reload the card using the machines available at each station. We charge our cards with 10,000KRW each.

They also have an M-pass or multiple pass which is a T-money card preloaded with fare credits that you can use for a certain number of days. You just get in and out of the MRT tapping your card many times as you need to. No reloading necessary.  This card and the remaining balance is refundable at the airport. You can buy the M-pass at the Airport Information Booth. 

M-Passes come in five different types: 1-day, 2-day, 3-day, 5-day and 7-day passes. They are valid for the designated time period, and expire at midnight on the last day of validity. (e.g. 3-day M-Pass  Activation: January 1, 2014 / Expiration: 11:59 p.m., January 3, 2014)

 

7Days South Korea ITINERARY - Seoul + Jeju Island

7D/6N South Korea Travel Series - Seoul + Jeju Island

I want to share our 7 days itinerary for Seoul and Jeju. I hope that this can help others who are planning to visit Korea. This isn't the original order of the places that I wanted to visit. As we go on our day by day tour, I switched some of the places according to how tired we are and how much time was left before one destination closes. Bringing along a 2-year old isn't that easy especially when my baby wants to ride one attraction for many times (Lotte World & Everland Resort). We tried to cover as much places as we can but at the end of each day we are too tired and need to cancel some in our itinerary.  With so much things to see and do, 4 days in Seoul and 2 days in Jeju isn't enough for us.. hehehe..

Click on each link to see the individual post for more details and photos.

Lotte World, Fantasy Mask Parade

5 Types of Accommodation in Seoul, South Korea

7D/6N South Korea Travel Series - Seoul + Jeju Island

Before we finalize our accommodation in Seoul, I had a few sleepless nights reading hotel reviews and researching for a family friendly place to stay. There are 5 different types of accommodation which I've considered before we finally found the best one suitable for us. Rate and location is very important. I wanted a place where we can visit an attraction by foot or within 1 hour travel by subway and at the same time affordable. 

Photo credit: Airbnb, Choi's Insadong

1. Private Apartments. Initially we are already decided to book a whole apartment through Airbnb. We've used this site before and it is actually cheaper than hotels. The price ranges from as low as S$50 per night. The good thing about having the whole apartment to yourself is you feel right at home with all the privacy you need. The ones we saw has a fully equipped kitchen, just what we need to wash our baby's bottles and do some light cooking if necessary. Washing machine and iron is also available. We can pack light and wash the laundry as needed. These private apartments are all over the city. You just need to choose the perfect location.

The downside is, we will be reaching Seoul at around 11am, the check-in time is only at 3PM and there is NO place for you to leave your luggage if you want to grab some lunch or start your sight seeing. One owner told me that I can check-in early if the previous day was not booked. Unfortunately, May is a peak month so almost all dates are blocked. The image below is one of the apartments that we've listed as one of our choices. Another owner told us that we can leave the luggage at 11AM while they clean the flat from a previous occupancy and then come back at 3PM(for the key maybe). I am not really keen on coming back that early because I wanted to utilize the rest of the day visiting the attractions already.  The rate of the flats vary depending on the day, date and time when you are booking. There is one flat that costs S$57/night and when I checked back 2 days after, the price became S$74 per night. So book immediately before the price goes up.

5 Reasons Why We Did Not Avail a SKorea Tour Package

7D/6N South Korea Travel Series - Seoul + Jeju Island

Before you start booking your flight and hotel, do check first if you need an entry visa to South Korea. Singaporeans don't need a visa to go to Seoul but other nationalities like us are required. Please take note that application and collection of VISA is only from 9AM-11.30AM. There are no online applications and they are closed on weekends. For more details, visit the embassy's web site here.

The processing of our visa took 4 days. To avoid any hassle and delay, you better complete the requirements. From our experience the reason why it took a bit long for us to submit the application was getting a copy of our bank statement.  I am a decluttering freak and I always throw the hardcopy of our bank statement. It took us time to get a copy from the bank. Lesson learned. Hubby made sure that we are enrolled for an e-statement this time.