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.

Patong Beach, Patong Seafood Restaurant and Bangla Road

4D/3N Phuket Getaway Series

We reach the Patong Beach at around 8PM and it was already dark. We just stayed there for a while and headed straight out across the street to check on the array of restaurants for dinner.

Still not over  with the Sampan dinner that we had in Indonesia, I wanted to eat seafood. We decided to try Patong Seafood as it looks like good and inviting based on the number of customers inside the resto at that time.

 

Marriott Vacation Club - Mai Khao Beach, Phuket Thailand

4D/3N Phuket Getaway Series

Last May, I won a 4 days and 3 nights stay at Marriott Mai Khao Beach from a Mother's Day contest. We were so excited but decided to travel only in July as we are busy with the preparations of baby Isha's 1st birthday party for June.

We flew to Phuket via SilkAir and reached at the resort at around 12PM.  It was summer time so the resort was quite packed and since we cannot do an early check-in, we stayed for sometime at the lobby and my baby fell asleep right on the couch at the reception area.

 

Staying overnight at Mandarin Oriental Hotel Singapore

We had our ROM at Mandarin Oriental Hotel. The venue of our ROM rites was at Dolce Vita, an Italian Restaurant at the hotel near the pool. I booked 2D/1N Deluxe room with King size bed and I thought that it is the perfect place to prep, do the makeup and dress up so that we don't need to travel far to go to the venue.

I posted this so that my readers can have a look of what's inside the room and to help you guys decide if you also want to book in this hotel.  Sometimes, we don't want to rely on professional photos from the hotel's website as it may not look the same as in pictures. It is better to see it from the guest's perspective.  

We checked-in at around 2PM but to our disappointment, we were given a room with a twin bed. Errrr.. how am  I suppose to sleep in a separate bed from my hubby after the ROM. We asked the front desk to give us a room with a King bed which what we initially booked and they gladly obliged. To our delight we were upgraded to a Club Harbour Room with a magnificent view of the bay. Wow that was $200 more than what we paid for. 

 I love everything in the room, modern and posh and clean. All the amenities are up to date. What interest me the most is the see through bathroom where one side is a glass wall. I didn't dare use it without closing the blinds though.. hehehe..

Been there , done that....

I am a travel bug as my friends would say. So true and as far as my feet can drag me and as much as I can afford the air fare, I would want to see the beauty of all God's creation hidden all over the world. Mr.K bought me a book "1,000 Places to See Before You Die". Hope I can make it before.... hmmm I ran out of cash? harharhar...

Let's start my journey ....

This is for my personal reference only, but if you want to ask me something about my travel, just drop me a mail... I've been to so many places and yet I've documented only a few.

Seoul, South Korea

2005 Bangkok, Thailand

2006 Singapore (became my 2nd home)

2007 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

2008 Bintan, Indonesia

2009 HongKong & Macau

2009 Melaka, Malaysia

2009 Bali, Indonesia

 

2010 Batam, Indonesia
2010 Boracay, Philippines
2010 Bintan, Indonesia (again)
2010 Zambales, Philippines



2010 Coron, Palawan Philippines
2011 Caramoan /CamSur, Philippines
2011 Bangalore & Mysore, India

2011 Mumbai, India
2012 New Delhi & Agra India ( Taj Mahal)

 

2012 back to Singapore
2013 Phuket, Thailand
2013 Villa Escudero, Philippines
2014 Seoul & Jeju, South Korea
2016 Udupi, India

preggy traveller

Bintan Lagoon Resort, Indonesia

Just wanted to share this nice weekend getaway... Need I say more, just look at the pictures.. And maybe this resort will be your next destination to unwind.... I went there last September. Very peaceful and not too crowded... Off peak maybe.. Still worth visiting... All pics were original snaps by me using just my P&S, except the last one where I am included... ;)