Korea (Thread 11)

[gorgeous_me]

^kala ko meron na, hehe, mukhang masarap mag skii, lol

[princess lorraine]

^depende sa bibilhin mo sis. Wala akong nabiling damit dun mahal kasi. Pero mga cosmetics and bags sa lotte duty free and other duty free mas mura. 

[eischied_21]

^sis anong brand ng bag ang mura sa lotte duty free and other duty free?

[princess lorraine]

^longchamp, lv , prada. 

[eischied_21]

^thanks sis, we'll check those brands. mas mura pa ba compare to HK?

[chellai_kawaii]

Pwede ba ang payroll account for bank statement? Problema ko hindi ako nagtitira ng pera dun. Wala pa kasi ako savings na sobrang tagal. Ngrant na ako ng visa last year. Bank certificate lang naman kasi last year.

[Evolet027]

Is it safe to go there kahit may MERS outbreak?

[princess lorraine]

^^^yes cheaper sis 

[katniss]

Pwede ba ang payroll account for bank statement? Problema ko hindi ako nagtitira ng pera dun. Wala pa kasi ako savings na sobrang tagal. Ngrant na ako ng visa last year. Bank certificate lang naman kasi last year.

yup. ginawa to ng officemate ko last year. at 20k lang laman ng account nya. na-grant naman though kasi matagal na sa work and marami ng previous travels

[manlavs]

hi mga sissies.. anyone in seoul right now? kamusta naman po ang MERS outbreak? scary na po ba o carry lang? thank u po sa mga magrereply

[sophistique]

^Yes sisses, kamusta kaya situation? Our trip's next week na.  Although I messaged our host na and she responded:

"I understand your concern.  But unlike your concern, Seoul is safe.
It is a story of other provinces. And the government is doing its best to protect against that virus. So I hope it will get well soon. People tend to be extremely afraid of it too."

[manlavs]

Hi sis sophistique thank u for your reply if ok sayo pakibalitaan kami about MERS pagdating mo dyan next week ha.. hehe thank u so much

^Yes sisses, kamusta kaya situation? Our trip's next week na.  Although I messaged our host na and she responded:

"I understand your concern.  But unlike your concern, Seoul is safe.
It is a story of other provinces. And the government is doing its best to protect against that virus. So I hope it will get well soon. People tend to be extremely afraid of it too."

[projectgora]

^I read in the news the number of infected persons are continuously increasing. My friend is traveling to Korea at the end of this month and I told her to pack many surgical masks. Ingat na lang mga sis, bring some hand sanitizer and always wash your hands. MERS can only be transmitted via close contact with infected persons.

[fittotravel]

While it is important to take extra precautions, there's actually no need to stress yourself over MERS-Cov... yet.  The transmission of the virus is presumed to be via respiratory droplets, hence, a close contact is necessary for a person to get infected. Pero assumption lang 'yun. Hindi pa talaga established 'yung behavior ng virus at 'yung mechanism ng spread nito. N95 masks offer more protection than surgical masks. Pero ang funny tingnan nun pag suot mo na habang nagbibiyahe ka. 

Enjoy Korea lang, sissies! YOLO! Hehe! 

[nageinna]

sharing my experience in applying korean visa for my 3 siblings in law.

i was the one who applied their visas. medyo masungit lang yung sa windows 1&2. nahiwalay kasi application ng two younger siblings sa eldest nila. two younger sibs have japan visa kasi so the guard asked me to submit their requirements at window 3 while the eldest walang jap visa so pinapunta niya ko sa window 1. their trip would be sponsored by my husband, their brother. so all docs na dala ko, under the name of my husband.

went to window 1 first. it was a short haired korean lady. she checked the reqs i submitted and asked why documents i submitted have different name sa applicant. told her it is her brother's documents and the trip would be sponsored by him. medyo masungit lang sya kasi halos itapon niya pabalik sakin yung photocopy ng business permit kasi she said "i dont like this, it's pangit" so ending, she didnt accept the application of my SIL and asked me to submit a clearer copy of the permit and some additional requirements. and by the way, very keen sa in checking the documents. she saw pa na SIL and hubby both have different mother. i said they only have the same father.

window 3, this one mas approachable yung consul and can speak tagalog well. she checked the docs and since walang work my two inlaws, she asked me a couple of times if wala ba talagang work, or if nag aaral pa ba. i answered her no work talaga and hindi rin nag study. then she told me pag no work and hindi nag aaral kasi mataas ang chance na ma deny. so i told her sige try nalang since wala naman mawawala. so she asked me again for the last time if walang work, i just said, maam they only have a family business kasi under sa name ng brother nila so dun lang sila tumutulong. and she said ok.

went back the next day sa embassy to submit the additional requirements asked by window 1. the guard gave me a number to window 2. different consul and this one mas masungit. when she saw no work si SIL and will be sponsored lang by my husband she returned the documents to me at once. without letting me explain na pinabalik lang ako for additional docs. sabi niya hindi daw pwede walang work and she called the next applicant na agad after me. so what i did i approached the guard and asked if pwede niya ko ibalik kay window 1 since siya naman nag check ng documents ko the other day. pumayag naman si guard. to cut the story short, window one accepted my application.


got the passports of my two inlaws and both were granted single entry.

while yung sa window 1 na inlaw ko by thurs pa malalaman if approved. hoping na ma grant kahit single entry.

[SOFIEMAE]

^grabe naman ang susungit

[manlavs]

meron po bang nasa korea ngayon dito? mag ask lang po about sa MERS hehe.. ok pa naman po ba magtravel papunta seoul? or better po na wag nalang muna?

[tayntayn]

We just came home from Seoul/Incheon today. We were there from June 1 to 8. We did not wear masks kahit may kids kaming kasama. Personally kasi, nahihirapan ako huminga kapag may mask so we decided not to. Basta palagi lang na wash hands or hand sanitizer. As of yesterday's news, there was one death and some 15 cases of MERS in the whole South Korea. So i think the news is just really sensationalized as of yesterday yan ha. Maraming koreans na naka-mask pero mas marami din na walang mask. Pero yesterday din pala, sa mga trains, merong mga senior citizen guys na nag-train hopping nagbebenta ng masks sa mga nakasakay tapos nage-explain ek ek about the MERS siguro. Nagiging source of livelihood pa tuloy nila ang MERS scare na yan.

[manlavs]

oh ok sis tayntayn super thanks sana magsubside na un scare para back to normal na hehe

[tayntayn]

^yes sis. Definitely it will affect their tourism kaya ang goverment nila will do all things para hindi magworsen ang MERS scenario sa kanila.

by the way, para maiba naman topic. ito yung kwento ko sa trip, paying it forward.
yung stay namin in Busan/Seoul was wonderful. For kids ang itinerary namin so eto mga pinuntahan namin:

Day 0 - Arrival in Busan at 2100H. We stayed in Toyoko Inn Busan Station 1. Highly recommended kasi katabi lang ng KTX station and yung City Tour halos sa harap lang ang Bus Starting Point nito.

Day 1 - BUSAN - Busan City Tours - highly recommended hop-on hop-off bus especially if kulang kayo sa time like us na we only allotted one day sa Busan. We just visited some spots lang like Haeundae Beach saka Busan Museum is highly recommended especially the Cultural Experience Center where hubby and I wore the traditional King and Queen costumes for free. Hindi matao dito so parang pictorial talaga naming family with the kids tapos iba-ibang pose, may close up shot meron whole body. Quota kami sa photos! Yung Korean lady pa ang nagma-mando kung ano ang pose naming whole family. Ansaya! Siguro natuwa rin kasi sa mga anak ko. Yung daughter ko malaki and bright-eyed kasi talaga so pansinin sa mga Koreans pati sa subway may mga nagbibigay pa ng mga candy sa kanila. Meron din pala silang schedule ng tea ceremony hindi na lang namin mahintay kasi nagmamadali kami. Sa afternoon naman, we rode the KTX train from Busan to Seoul which lasted for 2.5hrs. From Seoul deretso kami sa hotel namin sa Yongin. We stayed in Q Hotel and got their Junior Corner Suite and very, very recommended ang hotel na ito especially sa may mga kids and those who want na malapit lang sa Everland. Hinatid pa kami ng owner using his car sa Everland on our first day.

Day 2 - EVERLAND Day. We stayed from 10 am until closing ng 10pm. Super sulit sabi nga ng mga kids ko. Parang HongKong and Singapore combined daw (of course minus the Disney characters), may zoo, may rides for kids and adults, may very lovely garden and unique din yung moonlight parade and multimedia show + fireworks sa gabi mga 2130H. What i loved the most is hindi rip off ang price ng food and merchandise sa loob unlike sa Disneyland and Universal Studios. So hindi kami masyado nagkuripot sa food and ice cream!

Day 3 - CARRIBEAN BAY Waterpark - This is sister company ni Everland, and magkatabi lang sila. My kids are very fond of swimming so talagang isinama ko ito sa itinerary. We loved it so much especially yung wave pool and indoor pools, plus mga different water rides, pati surfing ride naka-ilang try ang 10yo daughter ko. Meron pang mga aqualoop na water slides pero hindi namin sinubukan maybe pag mas malalaki na sila. More on Koreans and foreigners dito talaga. Medyo noteworthy to mention pala na mga Koreans nakahubad talaga sila sa shower area and locker room. So medyo culture shock sa 6yo boy ko and 10yo girl ko na sobra maraming tanong pagkatapos ng experience na yun. haha.

Day 4 & 5 - SEOUL City Tour - So we toured around lang to different spots like Gyeokbokgung Palace and Seoul Tower then Myeongdong, Hongdae plus Hello Kitty Cafe  etc. What I would like to recommend lang is yung apartment where we stayed at for 3 nights - its a Hello Kitty Inspired Loft Apartment which I booked via airBnb. My daughter and I are Hello Kitty fanatics and Ive been wanting to rent out a Hello Kitty Inspired condo here in Manila eversince, hindi lang agree si hubby, haha. Kaya ito talaga ang pinili ko, masaya lang ang feeling talaga haha. Plus we visited pa the Hello Kitty Cafe in Myeongdong and Hongdae so feels like heaven talaga parang batang maliit lang. haha

Day 6 - LOTTE WORLD Adventure & Magic Island - Another themepark for the whole day. Ako medyo hilo na, pero yung mga kids ko walang kasawa-sawa! haha. We stayed din pala at Lotte World Hotel again kasi hanggang gabi na naman kami sa themepark.

Day 7 - Some personal final shopping then in the afternoon we checked out na and went to Incheon airport via KAL Limousine Bus for our flight to Manila sa gabi.

Medyo bitin ako, or sobrang bitin pala talaga sa shopping especially sa cosmetics, one night visit is not enough sa myeongdong and dahil may kasama pa akong kids, naku iba talaga ang itinerary namin. So sabi namin ni hubby we will be back soon na hindi kasama ang mga kids just for shopping lang talaga. And nakita ko ang location ng Nine Tree Hotel, super panalo! Sa susunod gusto ko doon mag-stay, pagbaba mo, super shopping haven na!

The kids wanted to go back din pala pero yung winter time naman daw para they can try yung mga ski resorts. One of our best trips talaga itong Korea trip namin. Wonderful people and wonderful country.