Korea (Thread 7)

[princess lorraine]

Mga sis, malaki ba ang myeongdong? Let's say from sejong hotel to ibis myeongdong kaya ba lakarin? Para dun ba siyang tsim shantsui and orchard road na walking distance lang lahat? Thanks

[esor]

^di naman super laki, sakto lang. Yes sis keri lang lakarin yun, kami nga nakakarating pa ng Namdaemun market. Masarap naman maglakad lakad dun, kasi maganda ang view, pero syempre dapat maganda din ang weather

[katniss]

hello sis yingying! hindi ba 8:40 ang dating nyo sa Busan? CebPac ba kayo? anyway, we'll be flying in to Busan too and we are planning to take the Express Bus going to Seoul. sa may Busan Central Terminal lang yung sakayan. around 5.5-6hrs daw yung byahe. Gimhae International Airport to Busan Central Terminal is around 1 hour din so baka around 10PM nasa terminal na kayo. you can opt to take the 12 midnight bus para around 5:30-6AM nasa Seoul na kayo. comfortable naman daw sa bus/coach nila kasi parang yung SG-KL lang na malalaki yung chair at pwede ka makatulog. tapos maganda naman daw express ways nila.

dont take the mugunghwa trains kasi ito yung parang PNR natin tapos sobrang patigil tigil daw ang byahe. kung KTX namin which is their bullet train, around 3 hours lang ang byahe kaya lang alanganin naman ang dating sa Seoul around 1-2AM if ever you opted for this. tapos doble pa yung pamasahe compared to express bus fare. hth

@sis bigdadis_girl: we'll be staying at Anne's GH too! so excited kasi maganda talaga reviews dito. btw, na-try nyo ba sis sa Happy Day Spa. give me your feedback naman pls para tingnan namin kung itatry namin. magkano dito? thank you!


@sis jeia: you can still go to Garosugil, Samcheongdong, Bukchon Hanok Village, Ihwa Village, Naksan Park the first two not really touristy area yan pero isa sa pinakamagagandang neighborhoods sa Seoul (aside from Hongdae). try to research them if matypean mo pwede mo idagdag

[Cheesecak3]

Bigla kong namiss ang korea. Sana makabalik don soon.

[princess lorraine]

^^^thanks for the info sis esor! Buti kayang lakarin. Sana maapprove visa namin 

[bigdadis_girl]

sis katniss  sad to say sis hindi namin na try yung Happy day Spa, nasa 500php lang alam ko fee dun tas whole day stay na.  ang dame namin hindi nagawa nung nagpunta sobrang bitin talaga kahit 5d/4n na stay bitin talaga hehe.  pero at least may reason akong bumalik.   ang saya naman na book nyo si Ann GH, fully book sila nung time na nagpunta kame e pati si Hingdae GH fullybooked din may nag back out lang kaya kame na accommodate.  balitaan mo ako after ng vacay mo..

[katniss]

^nung Feb pa kasi ako nagpabook kay Anne. swerte nga na may bakante. nigoogle ko na nga rin yung spa, mura nga lang daw.

question sisses, tama ba ba kahit 2nd time to apply ko na for Kor visa eh 5 days pa din ang processing? thanks! ^^

[paopaoo]

Mga sis, safe pa rin kaya mag-travel sa SK? Nag-declare na kasi ng state of war yung North Korea. Plano pa naman namin pumunta sa May, may flight tickets na rin kami. Nagdadalawang isip na rin kami ng mom ko kung tutuloy  I just hope na hindi matuloy yung war. 

[nicolelaloo]

^ hello sis katniss, yes 5 days pa din processing.. it will also be my second time sa korea and when i applied, 5 days processing pa din

[greize]

we just got back home yesterday from our korea trip. we stayed at jongnowon guesthouse. it's near anguk station. for us, naging strategically ok ang location nito because 1) malapit sa limousine bus stop. 2) nalalakad lang namin yung gyeongbokgung, changdeokgung, insadong, gwanghwamun, etc. so less transpo fee na kaya di na kami bumili ng m plus card 3) near jongno 3 kaya naleless din ang pagtransfer namin ng train and since maaga ang call time ng bus papuntang nami island (0900H) di kami masyadong nagmamadali dahil nilalakad lang namin. may dala din kasi kaming stroller since kasama namin yung daughter ko kaya medyo nahahassle ako kapag nagtratransfer train kami.

below were our itineraries.
1st day (saturday)
gyeongbokgung palace/korean folk museum
cheongwadae
bukchon village
insadong

2nd day (sunday)
korean folk village
myeondong cathedral

3rd day (monday)
lotte world

4th day (tuesday)
changdeokgung palace
secret garden
cheongyecheon stream

*actually, 1 area lang ng secret garden napuntahan namin dahil naaksidente yung daughter ko kaya dumirecho kami sa national university hospital. stitches on outer and inner lips
dumirecho lang kami ng stream para kumain since di pa kami naglunch then umuwi na para makapagpahinga si baby. it's so fortunate na kasama namin yung nakilala namin sa airport na korean kaya sya ang tumulong samin sa hospital and insurance. nakapagrefund naman kami ng 70% from our total bill

5th day (wednesday)
namdaemun market
myeondong
n seoul tower

6th day (thursday)
nami island
gwanghwamun
dongdaemun

7th day (friday)
coex mall/aquarium

*we're supposed to go to everland pero ayaw nagtantrums yung anak ko kaya tanghali na kami nakaalis ng guesthouse. tower 63 din sana after aquarium pero we have to meet na our korean friend para sa refund.

tips:
1. Jihachul mobile application for korail really helped us. sa sobrang dami ng lines ng korea, kahit yung locals dun gumagamit pa ng application na yun.
2. for those who will take limousine bus, pm me nalang for the 1000kRW discount coupon. nakalimutan ko na kasi kung saan ko nakuha yun.
3. sa lotte world, may couple discount. we paid 46000krw instead of 80000krw
4. M plus card is better than T money card for those who always take transpo. you can buy it at the airport. unlimited ride na kasi yun depende sa ilang days
5. di ko pa ito natry pero sabi ng korean friend ko, if magtake ka ng train tapos magbus within 30mins, free daw yung bus fare (correct nyo nalang po ako mga sis if ever)
6. always ask for tax refund form for every minimum purchase of 30000krw. even lotte mart provides one. unlike sa singapore, di mo agad nakukuha yung refund.
7. palaces have insurance. katulad ng nangyari samin, nakakuha kami ng hospital bill refund. since marami namang cctv sa area, marereview agad nila yung mga pangyayari.
8. print discount voucher for everland tickets at their website.
9. bring flat to round converter para makapagcharge kayo.
10. i received freebies when i bought cosmetics at myeondong than at mall.
11. aside from information booths, there are many roaming info staffs who give maps and help you out in directions. kaya di kami takot mawala

our bucketlist: dmz, everland, mt seorak, jeju and busan

[lilac]

^^^kami rin sis baka hindi matuloy because of the news na magkakaron ng war. Booked naman kami for the middle of april.

[u8mypinkcookies]

^ kami mid-May... Sana di matuloy yung war. Kainis excited pa naman kami e

Apply na kami visa this week, sana wala naman prob.

[paopaoo]

Same here, mid-May din ang travel namin. Okay narin yung visas namin, guesthouse nalang kulang. Hehe. Sana talaga walang matuloy na war.

Please refrain from quoting posts, use the ^ or @ sign instead.

[princess lorraine]

Naku ano ba naman yan... kami naman booked na for april 28 to may 3. Wag naman sana matuloy yung war. My best friend and i are so excited pa naman kasi first time namin if ever our visa will be approved.

[nicolelaloo]

Kami naman ng family ko booked na for april 6-10.. Sana walang war..

[bk]

may nakapag stay na ba sa shinshin hotel myeongdong? wala kasi akong makitang review online e. based sa map, malapit sya sa hotel irene city. can anyone give an idea if this is a good hotel? sa april 12 na po ang punta namin. thanks!

[jiffy]

Booked na din kami for June! Paid na flight and hotel! Hope magkaayos pa is north and South Korea!

[j_in_tokyo]

sis @jiffy naku mukhang di pa magkakaayos ang south and north korea..matagal na yang issue nila yan..kaya meron silang demilitarized zone..
hopefully lang di matuloy ang war,,kasi kawawa naman ang mga civilian na maapektuhan..pati na rin ang mga pinoy OFWs natin dun..dami ko pa naman friends who work in seoul..

[katniss]

thanks sis nicolelaloo! i'll apply next week sana di holiday ang April 9 sa embassy.

btw, for sisses who will fly in via Busan and will go to Seoul, here's some useful link for FAQs re: express bus terminal:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/TR/korea_terminal.jsp
http://www.visitseoul.net/en/article/article.do?_method=view&art_id=40102&lang=en&m=0004007003004&p=04

Andyan lang pala mga sagot. Tagal ko na rin kasi naggoogoogle re: purchasing of tickets, location of terminals etc.

[bigdadis_girl]

comment lang sa threats, last year kasi around ganitong month din before kame umalis may threat din nokor sa sokor kaya worried si hubby and muntik din kame hindi matuloy.  pero tinuloy pa din namin.  kase book na lahat e. 
sabi naman ng mga foreigners na nagwork/nakatira sa sk, hindi naman ganon ka worried mga locals kung may threat like they we're expecting pa nga if may mga drills in case.  like saan pupunta, anung mga dapat gawin.  media lang daw nagpapalaki, kaya akala ng mga tao outside sokor e magulo at aligaga sila kapag may ganitong threat.  matagal ng issue to. normal naman daw ang buhay nila doon.  nung nandon din kame last year, ang payapa, sad to say mas napi feel ko pang magulo dito sa atin kesa doon

sis greize ang galing naman nakapag refund kayo... the best talaga mamasyal don, napaka friendly nila sa foreigners and didn't know na insured tayo doon nagre research ako dati if may tax refund pag nag shopping ka doon kaso wala ako makita e.  paano kayo naka tax refund? I mean how much na shop nyo and saan kayo nag claim?