To be honest... it was like a dream come true! *insert hearts here*
I booked my flight October 2015 when Air Asia had a seat sale and I got my flight for 6,300 php roundtrip with 20kg baggage back and forth. Pretty cheap huh? It was actually a very impulsive purchase, since I remember myself just browsing through the internet, seeing the ad, pseudo-booking and canceling stuff (like I usually do) and then seeing the flight on my preferred date to be THAT cheap. So theeen I booked for it, paid for it the day after, and the rest was history.
I applied for my visa September 2016, roughly a month before my trip (details about my application HERE) and got my visa 3 days after. I also bought some other stuff (read: OOTD, madame hats, shoes, sunglasses) 3 weeks prior to my departure.
The pre-flight emotions were really a mix of nervousness and excitement as it is the first out of the country trip that I will be doing alone. Of course, I will be meeting a good friend for the first 2 days of my trip but the 5 days after that will be completely me. There were lots of thoughts coming into my head: what if I get lost? what if the things there are very madame that I cannot madame my way through them anymore? what if my passport gets lost? what if my Korean language is not enough and they don't understand me?
Due to panic, I suddenly looked through my Korean language book and crammed some helpful phrases for survival. I also studied the different sentence structures and other stuff because I was afraid that they would laugh at my barok Korean. :))
ANYWAY! (Since I had been too off topic already!) Here is my experience for the whole trip. I will also provide a breakdown of expenses (sans the pasalubong and skin care productsssss that I bought) so you will also be guided.
Day 1: Arrival
My Air Asia flight was moved from 7:20 am to 1:20 pm because of a typhoon that hit the metro that same day. The flight was also delayed by another hour so instead of arriving there around 12:20pm, I arrived at Incheon International Airport around 7:45 pm. Since it was already late and I had one medium luggage and 1 backpack with me to carry around, my first priority was to find my guesthouse and rest for the night.
I rode the KTX Express which I booked prior to the trip through Klook.com. If some of you are wondering, Klook is a website that provides discounts on famous attractions and activities. They are based in Hong Kong but they have branches in SG, ICN etc. and they are completely legit. :)) I actually booked all of my Seoul activities there and I did not have a problem every time.
I also picked up my internet sim card from Yassgo which I rented for $0.99 a day for 7 days. Again, I paid for it prior to my departure and it costed me around $ 17.00 including the deposit (don't worry, the deposit will be returned 3 days after you gave the sim card back!). Since the guy who gave me the sim card was
The KTX Express took around 40 mins from ICN airport to Seoul Station. The earliest scheduled time of arrival when I arrived at the platform was 8:20 (I arrived 8:11pm) so I waited for a few minutes. I was surprised when the train arrived 8:14pm though. I mean... how come it is earlier by 6 mins?? So yeah, basically, the train left the platform at exactly 8:20 pm. By that time, everyone was settled down and all bags were in the luggage area and I was already enjoying my free hi-speed wifi. The train arrived at Seoul Station around 8:53pm, 7 minutes earlier than its scheduled 9:00 pm arrival.
I had to take the city train for me to go to my guesthouse. I stayed at a room I rented in AirBnB which was also paid beforehand. It was a quaint apartment near Bomun Station (Line 6) with its own bathroom, kitchen, and essentials and the best part of it was I got it for only ~960 php (19,000 won) per night. I am very picky in terms of accommodation since I don't want a shared bathroom and I wanted as much privacy as possible with the littlest cost, so finding this room was definitely a steal for me. The only downside of this apartment is that it requires you to transfer trains at least once every time you want to go somewhere.
Example:
House to Myeongdong: Line 6 (alight at Dongmyo station) --> Line 1 (alight at Dongdaemun station) --> Line 4 (alight at Myeongdong station)
House to Gyeongbokgung Palace: Line 6 (alight at Yaksu station) --> Line 3 (alight at Gyeongbokgung station)
Tip: Most of the tourist attractions are accessible via Line 1 (dark blue line) so if you don't want to transfer trains a lot during your stay there, I suggest you book accommodations near Line 1. (I think they are more expensive though.)
Me and my winning smile after finally being able to go through the gate (which had a touchscreen passcode lock that I wasn't too madame for)
KOREAN LANGUAGE 101:
이것이 얼마예요? /i-go-shi eol-ma-ye-yo/? (how much is this?) make sure you are holding something to show the person!
BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES (Day 1):
T-money: 4,000 won
Charge (T-money): 20,000 won
Grocery (1 kl of rice, 2 mini spams, 3 cups of ramen): 14,000 won
TOTAL: 38,000 won
Day 2: Naminara Republic + Garden of the Morning Calm
Many Koreanovela junkies will be familiar with Nami Island as it was the shooting place for Endless Love 2: Winter Sonata. I was able to watch it when I was in high school so it was really one of the places I wanted to go to when I planned my Korea trip.
To go to Nami Island, there are three ways:
1. Shuttle bus from Insadong (Tapgol Park) or Jamsil Station Exit (costs 23,000 won)
- Departs at 09.30am
from Pagoda Park / Tapgol
Park at Insadong
- Departs at 04.00pm from Nami Island (parking lot at ticket office)
- book this if you wanted to go to Nami Island ONLY, otherwise don't because this will only take you to and from Nami Island
2. Take the ITX Cheongchun from Yongsan, Cheongnyangni, or Chuncheon to Gapyeong Station (cost depends on where you will arrive from, but from Yongsan to Gapyeong, it is around 4,800 won)
- earliest train is at 7:00am (I think?)
- you can book in advance at the Korail website
3. Take the Kyungchun line from Sangbong station to Gapyeong station (costs 2,050won)Since I am a cheapskate, I told my friend that we should just take the normal train. The advantage of it is that it was waaaay cheaper than the other options, however, it is the longest in terms of travel time. We agreed to just meet up at Sangbong station and take the train to Gapyeong station. If you are like me who mostly travel by train, I would suggest that you download Korea Subway apps. They're really helpful, especially the offline ones.
When we arrived at Gapyeong station, we waited in line for the Gapyeong Tour Bus. The Gapyeong Tour Bus is a hop-on-hop-off (HOHO) bus which goes to Nami Island, Petite France (shooting place for My Love from the Star), and Garden of the Morning Calm. It costs 6,000 won per person and is valid for a whole day.
Right before I exit Gapyeong station. to the right is the line where we would wait for the Gapyeong Tour Bus.
We waited around 15 to 20 minutes before we were able to ride the bus. The travel time from Gapyeong Station to Gapyeong Wharf (where you will ride a ferry going to Nami Island) is around 15 minutes. After which, you will buy your tickets to Nami Island. The admission fee (with the ferry) is 10,000 won, but they have a foreigner discount of 20% so it will only cost you 8,000 won.
Ticket to Naminara Republic! :)
Entrance to the ferry :)
Off we go!! The total travel time was 10-15minutes from Gapyeong Wharf to Nami Island.
Welcome to Nami Island!!!
Couldn't resist and had my picture taken with the 2 snowmen. :)) Reference to Winter Sonata, of course! <3
They have this pile of wood that visitors can write into that speaks of their wishes for 2017. I did write in hangul of course, but it is private so I am not going to put it here XDDD
Was shocked and became excited when I saw a squirrel! :o It's my first time seeing one so I was amazed lol. XD
Look at those pretty leavesssss. <33333333 Autumn is my season forevssss!!!
Remember that Winter Sonata scene when Joseph and Janice (yes, their names when the show was dubbed in Tagalog) made snowmen, and then Joseph suddenly put their snowmen closer so that it would kiss? Uggggh memories. :))
Different tree lines~ :3
The bicycles that the casts used during the taping of Winter Sonata.
Aaand of course, their statues!
Around 12:30pm, we decided to have our lunch at a restaurant inside Nami Island. I forgot the name of the place (gasps!) but a least I have a picture of the food!! XD
Seeing as it was my first legit Korean food, I ordered spicy chicken stew (10,000 won) to be on the safe side. Chrissy ordered the same thing, but the mild non-spicy version. IT WAS SO GOOD!! One thing with Korean food though, is that when they tell you that it is spicy, it IS spicy. :)) Since the pot was also hot when it was served (and it stayed like that for a long time), I felt my tongue melting and dying midway through eating. However, I would still rate it 9.0/10.0 because it has a legit Korean taste and it was so flavorful without being overwhelming~ Even with the price too, I felt like it is sulit mainly because it had so much meat in it. And the kimchi was also to die for, since it was very flavorful but not spicy. <3 So we spent around 30-45 minutes in that restaurant and then we went on to our journey.
Aside from the usual tourist photo spots, Chrissy and I ventured into the quieter spots in Nami Island. They were actually better in terms of taking pictures (since no one will be photobombing you!) and since it was quieter, you get to feel the place more (the ambience, the weather, the nature itself)
After walking and taking pictures for another 2 hours (~3pm), we then fell in line for the ferry that will take us back to Gapyeong Wharf.
Look at that amount of people! :o
And then, we're off!
We then waited for the Gapyeong Tour Bus that would take us to Garden of the Morning Calm. We skipped Petite France because we wanted a more nature vibe to our trip (aaand it will give us a reason to come back!). The bus ride from Gapyeong Wharf to Garden of the Morning Calm was around 50 minutes. We arrived at the garden around 4:30pm, just when the sun was starting to set.
One thing with the garden is that it was better when viewed in the morning. :)) I felt like the flowers and all the plants there have the spotlight when the sun is shining right above them. Nevertheless, it didn't make it less pretty. It actually made it more serene, as the sun (or the lack thereof) combined with the fog cast a calming atmosphere to the place.
Entrance to the garden of the morning calm. :)
First flower patch that welcomed us! :)
Bonsai Garden
The last picture I had of the garden, since the light conditions were unfavorable and we had to just appreciate the beauty of nature by itself.
After more than an hour of walking and appreciating flowers and stuff, the garden closed on us. Like literally, we were inside the indoor flower garden and then the lights suddenly went off and the place became dark. XD Good thing there were 3 middle aged ladies who were with us who accompanied us to the exit of the garden. They also kept on talking to us in Korean in which I only understood like 10 of the gazillion things they were saying. :))
So the bus said it will start around 7:15pm and it did! We rode the bus and got off at Cheongpyeong terminal where we rode the train back to Sangbong. We arrived at Sangbong around 8:20pm; feeling tired from all the walking and exploration, we decided to call it a day. Chrissy rode Line 1 going to her hostel and I rode Line 6 going to my apartment, where I ate spam and rice for dinner. :))
BREAKDOWN OF EXPENSES (Day 2):
Train to Gapyeong Station: (covered by the T-money) 1,250won + 2,050won
Gapyeong Tour Bus: 6,000 won
Admission fee to Nami Island: 8,000 won
Lunch: 10,000 won
Admission fee to Garden of the Morning Calm: 8,000 won
Train to hostel: (covered by the T-money) 1,250 won + 2,050 won
TOTAL: 32,000 won + 6,600 won (covered by the T-money)
SO THAT'S IT FOR PART 1! Part 2 will cover day 3 and day 4 of my Seoul trip when I went to the Demilitarized Zone/Joint Security Area (the border of North and South Korea where I met real North Korean soldiers!), Myeongdong (for the first time), Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, Cheonggyecheon stream, and ate at Tosokchon Samgyetang and Gwangjang Market.
If you have questions with regard to the post, or if you wanted an advice re: your upcoming Seoul trip, put it in the comments below. I will gladly answer. :)
Love,
B.
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