Sunday, April 9, 2017

Travelogue: Itinerary summary of 11 Days to South Korea (Busan, Daegu & Seoul) in March 2017

HOWDY.


Yes, I've gone missing again. Was away almost the entire December last year to Japan and Taiwan. Finished up my Japan post and took a little break from this space. Work has been pretty drowning even though I haven't been flying!

So..... I just got back from South Korea with my awesome girlfriends and all ready to share my trip with you!

Before I proceed, I would like to do a shoutout to my #RACEtokorea girls for being such awesome travel partners! Photographs, memories and details in this blog are also contributed by these beautiful ladies. This post technically could never happen without them. Love you all, and thank you for the beautiful memories in Korea!

Why #RACEtokorea? Because that's the initial of our names!

R.A.C.E right in sync in this photo! (Taken after a midnight flight, onboard train to Busan)

Now, let's go to the details straight away!

*Disclaimer:  Everything is based on my own experience in my own words which may differ from yours. What's good for me, might not suit you. 

****


FLIGHT

We booked Korean Air via Zuji and got a really good deal. On top of 5% discount from OCBC, we got an additional 23KG baggage extra each! (Which was really, the life saver. I came back with 41kg by the way. Ha!) We each paid SGD 709. (after the discount)

Nothing extraordinary from a normal commercial flight with inflight service and meals etc. Probably the Bibimbap on flight was awesome. You should totally try it.

ACCOMMODATION

We booked Hotels for Busan and Daegu, Airbnb for Seoul. Allynn and Eileen did a very thorough scan through of a lot of hotels prior to making the few choices below. May not be the best but it was definitely worth the money we paid for. Basically we enjoyed all our accommodations.

Busan Hotel
My Comments: Pictures on the website was deceiving and we felt like we got cheated cause it looked so different from what we were expecting. But as the nights went, we began to like our hotel room. It was spacious, clean and really near the MRT exit. It could get a little noisy at night but it's not too bad. I just feel the toilet was a little too big, that space could well be part of our room instead.
Hotel Name: S Hotel
Nearest MRT: Seomyeon MRT, Exit 15
Price: SGD 88 per night (based on 1 room) | SGD 44 per night/pax
Total: SGD 132/pax for 3 nights
Website: https://www.agoda.com/s-hotel-seomyun/hotel/busan-kr.html?checkin=2017-03-23&los=3&adults=4&rooms=1&cid=-1&searchrequestid=dd7e2a79-9877-4037-af1a-b86d5629b199
Actual:



Daegu Hotel
My Comments: It looked really promising on the outside but actually the room was just decent. Better the one in Busan, but the pillow was tad too soft. It's like you're not lying on any pillow at all! So we had to request for harder pillows from the concierge.
Hotel Name: Daegu Prince Hotel
Nearest MRT: Namsan or Myeongdeok MRT
Price: SGD 118 per night (based on 1 room) | SGD 59 per night/pax
Total: SGD 177/pax for 3 nights
Website: https://www.agoda.com/kensington-prince-hotel-daegu/hotel/daegu-kr.html?checkin=2017-03-26&los=3&adults=2&rooms=1&cid=-1&searchrequestid=621188de-5db7-42e3-954a-6c43cf61e262
Actual:



Seoul Airbnb
My Comments: Best thing about this apartment is it looked actually like it promised hahaha. Of course it was my favourite because we got to stay together under a single roof. Though the hassle was 1 toilet but it wasn't really a hinderance. We were systematic and organised! Kind of miss that 'waking up' sequence with the girls. Just like any other Airbnb, no cleaning services until you leave, so you've got to do your own clean up. Just that the rubbish throwing part is annoying. You've got to separate out the thrash BUT no thrash bag was provided for us. Oh well.
Apartment Name: BHOME008
Nearest MRT: Hongik University Station (closer to AREX station)
Price: SGD 192 per night (entire apartment) | SGD 48 per night/pax
Total: SGD 192/pax for 4 nights
Website: https://www.airbnb.com.sg/rooms/12214508?checkin=29-03-2017&checkout=02-04-2017&guests=4&adults=4&children=0&infants=0&s=4tWWp4TG
Actual:

TRANSPORTATION

Getting around Busan, Daegu and Seoul isn't too tough with an ez-link (it's called T-money there). Just that topping up cards in Busan and Daegu can be a little tricky as you can only top up (they call it recharge) at convenience store 7-11/GS25 etc. Seoul has no problem though.

This is the APP that helped us a lot this time round which Allynn found.

You can select which state's metro to look at. Don't know where to go? You can check out their 'Hot Places' and see what's recommended.

Shows you the line to transfer, the price and time taken. 

This isn't the only APP available for metro, others would work well too just that this round this is what we tried.

Expenses
Metro: 55,000won, SGD 70 (All cities uses the same card regardless of metro or bus) 
Tour Bus: 30,000won, SGD 38 (Used in Busan)
KTX: 127,600, SGD 163
72,100won, SGD 92 (To Busan) | 12,000won, SGD 15 (To Daegu) | 43,500won, SGD 56 (To Seoul) 
Total: SGD 271~

ITINERARY

Here's the main gist! We covered bits of Busan, Daegu and Seoul. I will update separately for the individual days!

23 March 2017, Thursday, Busan
  • Gamcheon Culture Village

  • Seomyeon Underground Shopping Street



24 March 2017, Friday, Busan
  • 김밥천국 Gimbap Cheonguk (Food Cafe)

  • Brown Hands Cafe (Nearby Food Cafe)

  • Tour Bus by CityBusBusan (allows you to alight and board x times for a day pass 15,000KRW)
  • Haeundae Beach
  • Haedong Yong Gung Sa 해동 용궁사
  • Gukje Market Food Street
  • Gwangbok-dong Cultural & Fashion Street
  • 한신포차 Hansin Pocha Facebook Page

  • Busan Gwangandaegyo Bridge (부산 광안대교)


25 March 2017, Saturday, Busan
  • Choryang Milmyeon
  • Tour Bus by JumboBus (allows you to alight and board x times for a day pass 15,000KRW)
  • Youngdo Sky Observatory 
  • Taejongdae Park
  • Nampo-dong 
  • BIFF Plaza 
  • 통마루 Tong Ma Ru (BBQ Joint)

26 March 2017, Sunday, Busan > Daegu
  • Banwoldang
  • Seomun Market

  • Dongseongno
    • Tarr Tarr
  • Green Vile Jjimjilbang


27 March 2017, Monday, Daegu
  • Apsan Park
  • E World - Tower 83

  • Nine Road Pizzeria
28 March 2017, Tuesday, Daegu
  • Hill Crest

  • Kimpira
  • Elyaben 엘리바덴 (Jjimjilbang) Website

29 March 2017, Wednesday, Daegu > Seoul
  • Tosokchon Samgyetang
  • Innisfree Cafe
  • Myeongdong
  • James Cheese Back Ribs

30 March 2017, Thursday, Seoul
  • Issac Toast (Opposite Hongik University)
  • 브돈 1986 (Ewha Women's University area)

  • Switchzone (Hair pampering session for us!)

  • Song Song Noodle House


31 March 2017, Friday, Seoul
  • Pig Museum

  • Lotte Mart

1 April 2017, Saturday, Seoul
  • Yeongdeungpo Yeouido Spring Flower
  • Hangang River
  • Noryangjin Fish Market

  • Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping 
  • On The Grill
  • O'sulloc Tea House

EXPENSES

To make it easy for your reference, here's the rough estimation for 1 pax.

Air ticket: SGD 709 
Accommodation: SGD 500
Transport: SGD 271
Total: SGD 1,480~
Excludes food, shopping and travel insurance

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