Finally back in my beloved sunny Pinas around 12:45 AM today. And here's our itinerary and my experience for the 10day South Korean tour we did:
Day 0 Arrival, kanda-ligaw pero thanks to the very kind ahjussi who helped us locate our hotel, he went out of his way to help us find it kahit di niya Makita maigi yung map and he can?t speak English. Many blessings for him. Red jacket, around 7P.M. sa exit 11 ng Seoul station nakasabay naming siya ulit but this time friendly batian na lang.
Day 1 DMZ tour (very interesting, I suggest you take the JSA tour and book it a few months in advanced. Actual North Korean soil ang aapakan. Yun nga lang there are risks in this tour.)
Seorae Galmaegi (Hoegi Station, turn left from exit 1, besides Paris Baguette) (3days 0nights location ng DOTS)
Day 2 Flight going to Jeju, food adventure kasi nahirapan humanap ng kainan then ang bagsak: sa katabing resto ng hotel lang haha!
Day 3 Loveland ? R18. ?Nuff said
Hyeopjae Beach (much better siguro if summer pumunta dito. Wala lang feeling ko lang haha)
Hallim Park (the black pork is?. Still like pork for me ahehe. Di ko malaman difference pero masarap rin naman. Lahat naman kinakain ko kaya walang problema. The place is very relaxing kasi mapuno at mahalaman at mabulaklak.)
Osulloc Tea Museum (ang nice ng taniman nila, I like the green tea ice cream, Innis free is from Jeju pala and they have the R&R area where you can make your own postcard with their stamps, do soap making, etc katabi ng Osulloc)
Teddy bear Museum (all kinds of Goms. Goms every wear. Appa Gom, Oemma Gom and Aegi Gom)
Jungmun Daepo Coast Jusangjeolli Cliff (Mas ok if wala kang kasabay na other beloved nation tourists kasi they are rude. They always overtake kahit maayos ang pila. Saka mas ok if walang kasabay na classmates (Korean students) kasi ang dami nila mag-field trip hahaha!)
Day 4 Sangumburi Crater (Mahangin nung pumunta kami. I died. Pero very nice. If planning to go during autumn don?t wear black, something I learned the hard way during the trip haha! nag-camouflage ako sa area hahaha! Yung talahiban nila is very nice kaloka.)
Jeju rail Bike (mejo boring. Skip this if you?re not keen on sitting while doing nothing for 20min or so.)
Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak (hiking ito, 180 m. high, hiking galore pero worth it sa taas.)
Seopjikoji Lighthouse (did not enjoy this much kasi super lamig na nung pumunta kami, malayong lakarin rin, also bought cuttle fish/squid. Mahal for 450. Buti na lang 4 kami na naghati)
Manjanggul cave (500m lang pinuntahan namin. Hinabol lang naming kasi magsasara na. Mas ok siguro if given an hour or so to appreciate the place.)
Day 5 Flight back to Seoul Namsan Tower in the evening (sayang di kami naka-akyat sa taas, kuripochi mga kasama ko)
Day 6 Everland (ang saya ng wooden roller coaster at ng safari tour! Ang saya rin ng lamig kaloka)
Day 7 Gapyeong Rail bike (pero di kami umabot sa cut-off, picture na lang besides nag-rail bike na kami sa jeju)
Nami Island adventure (ang haba kasi ng byahe haha, wala ng leaves sa metasequioa lane, pero may mga red and yellow leaves pa naman)
Dongdaemun (adventure only to go back to Namdaemun for pasalubong pero sarado na nung dumating kami ng 7:30PM, sa Namdaemun kasi parang divi lang. e dun kami naka-hotel so kabisado na naming paninda kaya di kami namili)
Day 8 Seoul City tour via bus: Deoksugung palace changing of guards (kasi maiiwan na kami ng bus, we decided to skip the palace pero napanood naming yung pag-alis nung mga pinalitang guard at nakapagpa-picture kami)
Namsangol Hanok Village (always wrong timing, resume of ticket sales is 1P.M., wedding starts at 1P.M., hanboks are all scheduled for rental :?( )
Changgyeonggung Palace (nice red, orange and yellow trees!!!, the palace, aigoooo! Kaganda.)
Changdeokgung Palace (hindi kami nakapunta sa Secret Garden kasi closed. The Palace ground and the palace itself is super big. Medyo naumay kami kakalakad. Pero as usual ang ganda lalo na ng ceiling. Pulido.)
Unfortunately, we were not able to Gwanghwamun Gate and the Gyeongbokgung Palace due to the demonstration last Saturday sa Gwanghwamun square. Police buses are lined up around the gate. Nag-subway pa man din kami from Changdeokgung para makahabol sa 5P.M. closing ng Gyeongbokgung. Anyways enjoy pa rin naman dahil unexpected adventure ang rally nila.
Myeongdong (na-overwhelm kami sa buy 1+1 nila we did not realize wala gaanong freebie pero dahil yung buy 1+1 offer ay di available sa iba, kuntento na rin kami)
Day 9 Songdo adventure:Dal.Komm (took the subway, Univ. of Incheon station exit 4 turn left towards the 3 Prugio Towers, nasa first tower siya na nasa kanto, 2nd store, of course DOTS location ulit hahaha! Kaya lang the Welchesher Red that Joong Ki was drinking in the series is bitter daw so I opted for grapefruit juice instead. Maganda ambiance and ok naman ang food. Nakasabay namin si Manay Lolit Solis so di kami naka-fan mode hahaha)
The Sharp Towers (Hana do dul do anin urin sensirane, Daehan Mingguk Manse, the Song triplets abode! Di namin sila nakita which is expected naman. Hahaha o di ba ang stalker lang? Hahaha! Ang ganda ng area nila. Locally their place is like BGC or Circuit Makati here. Kakaiba ang aura. Yung building nila ka-street lang ng Prugio Towers. Kita na agad from subway. You can alight from Central Park station alternatively if di ka fanney ng DOTS.)
Allot one day for this tour kasi 2hrs ang biyahe sa subway (From hoehyeon station with transfer and ligaw allowance. We did this yesterday so imagine kung paano namin pinag-kasya ang 2hrs to cover this area plus lakad pa more. Arrived there at 1P.M. left by 3:30P.M., we have a 9P.M. flight, we must be in the airport by 6P.M. hahaha!
Weather update: Since lamigin ako? MAGINAW ang overall assessment ko. Umabot ako sa point na 4 layers na leggings (2 heattech josko), 5 layers na pan-taas (1 heattech, 1 extra warm heattech), Plus coat. Bonggels. Hirap na hirap ako kumilos. Hahaha! Kasi you?ll never know. Kahit mag-17 degrees kapag may hangin naman malamig pa rin. Sabi ko nga you can never be overdressed dito kasi nga ang lamig. Pero yung typical na lalamigin talaga is yung paa at kamay so buy a good pair of socks and gloves for your feet and hands para in case you need it eh properly insulated ka hahaha! Kinaya ko naman so kaya niyo rin yun. Found the Ultra warm heattech din pala. Mas makapal talaga ang tela nya, parang manipis version ng knitted na mga sweatshirt. 1k+ sa conversion. Around 25k won. Cheaper ang heattech so hoard if you must. Cheaper by a hundred bucks compared dito. Extra warm is same lang ang price dito sa conversion.
For our tours in Jeju we got the service of Mr. Jang of KJ tours (
jjy25568@naver.com), 150,000 won for 8 hrs, and as advised by sis aktib request for Mr. Kim Si Nam. Kaya lang booked na siya nung ni-request namin so si Kang Chul-kyo oppa (ayaw nya ng samchon at ahjussi! Hahaha!) ang naging driver namin. May disclaimer naman sila na they only speak basic English. Nung una hirap na hirap ako kasi malay ko ba sa Korean words! Hahaha! Ako kasi pinaupo sa unahan tapos yung mga maraming alam na Korean words sa likod umupo. Talk about laglagan hahaha! Anyways? just answer ne, yeah, yes, komowoyo, komowo, chuwayo, etc hahaha! More of confirmatory lang naman ang usual questions niya. And prepare your poses kasi once he said ?pooch? time for picture na yun at di siya papayag na isa lang pose mo. Hahaha! He tries his best to answer your query in English so try your best rin to speak to him in broken English. Si Mr. Jang naman he is very straightforward. Talagang business is business which is something I liked about him. Siya yung nag-tour sa amin for the later part of the day kasi nagka-emergency si Kang-oppa (which is naging ok naman na rin after the tour, buti na lang). Overall enjoy yung tour. Kapagod lang sa mga jump shots pambihira. Hahaha! May nabasa akong bad reviews sa kanila sa trip advisor kaya lang siguro those people chose to look on the bad side of not being able to communicate well with the drivers kaya di sila nag-enjoy sa tour.
For Seoul and Gapyeong we took the city bus tour.
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_ENG_2_5_1.jsp ang link so you can check the itinerary, priority places and what to skip.
For accommodation we stayed in December Hotel in Jeju Island, may bathtub sila so 2hrs ako maligo char! Sa Seoul naman we stayed in 3 24 guesthouse: Seoul station Premier, Myeongdong Ave. and Myeongdong Center (not really sure kasi kapag chine-check ko sa website nila iba ichura e hahaha! Basta 10th flr ito sa building na malapit sa exit 6 ng Hoehyeon station). Mas bet ko yung Seoul Station Premier. 24hrs ang pantry, may choco cream pie at lasang banana ang milk hahaha! Sa Myeongdong ave naman sheets and towels are oooh so clean and the ahjussi and ahjumma are kind wag mo lang kukulitin dahil tatarayan ka nila hahaha. Hassle lang talaga ang check in kasi 3pm. Sa Myeongdong Center naman di ko bet ang towels kasi amoy kulob.
I hope this could help you on your tour and accommodation. It really pays that you plan it ahead of time hindi lang dapat a month or a week before? like we did huhubells. Pero ok sa alright pa rin naging tour namin and we found another reason to go back: Nami during the summer and early mid-autumn petite france, the palaces and hanboks and weddings and FOOOOOOD.
Pocket money: 30k. I suggest na sa Seoul station kayo magpapalit ng peso niyo. Very good rate (base on experience). Bumagsak kasi peso nung need namin magpapalit ulit so ayun. Lesson learned hahaha!
