Drafting this in a cafe (again), deja vu. It feels good to be
back in Korea, some six months later. And this time, I will attempt to
complete blogging about my entire trip. (Apologising for the unfinished
KOREA TRIP'14 #1 blog posts :/) This is going to be a 28-day trip, hence
the pacing for our schedule will be a lot more relaxed as compared to
the previous trip.Another stark difference that can be felt upon stepping out into the open air is the cold, minus-degree temperature- something I'm experiencing for the first time.
141212-DAY 0
Had my brunch and bid my grandma goodbye. Traveled to Changi Airport in my dad's car, with JJ. En route to another independent journey and hopefully, a fun and fruitful one.
Transited at Taipei, and as we boarded the plane for Seoul, it was announced that the flight will be delayed for ~1h 40min due to some runway issue at Taoyuan Airport. Spent the time reading, and writing. It's gonna be a long, long night.
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| I was obviously bored |
I was pleasantly surprised by the comfy legroom provided by Scoot Airlines, so that helped a bit in making the flight enjoyable. The time came, and we finally landed in Incheon. We are here. Staring out the window, the scene just felt surreal; I felt as if I was magically transported to The Land of the Morning Calm.
After collecting our luggage, we had to deal with one of the complications of a flight delay: getting to our place of accommodation. Due to the flight delay, we could not catch the last train from Incheon and had to spend the remaining of the night at the airport. There is a bus service at 3:50AM but we preferred arriving in Seoul at a less odd timing, via the subway. Though this appeared to be a mood-spoiler, it proved to be more of a blessing in disguise! We observed another pair of travelers who seemed to be Singaporeans arriving in Korea on the same flight, and approached them. Like this, a friendship was forged and we spent the night together. Purchased t-money from the convenience store, and a must-drink when in Korea:
Boarded the train at around 6AM after having our breakfast, and arrived in Hongdae. Said goodbye to our new friends, as we began to embark on different journeys in this foreign country.
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| The empty train at 6AM-ish |
And the cold hit us the moment we stepped foot outside the train station.
141213- DAY 1
As someone who prefers familiarity (though I will be exploring more this time round!), we are staying at Kimchee Guesthouse (Hongdae) again for this trip. Refer to this post for a map and review.
We deposited our luggage ('cause check-in time is 3PM) and went to one of the nearest cafes (w cafe）to chill and haha, observe people.
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| One of my favorite picture-subject- kids |
Traveled
to Edae after recharging enough heat, and started our (or rather, my)
shopping spree! I need to do something about this lol shopping's my
guilty pleasure. Bought a 10,000won bag, envelopes and tops at artbox, 2
tops at 10,000won each, 2 pairs of lens for 40,000won, and we had our
lunch at a Japanese place!Came back to Hongdae to meet Minyoung oppa for a short while, and he said in his fluent English, "I have a confession to make. I broke your phone. Well, just a little bit."
I spotted a pack of cigarettes in his backpack as he fiddles around it for my phone, and pointed to it, to which he gave me a sheepish look dismissively. Decided to let it slide- I wouldn't want to start another quarrel with him in Seoul haha
Went back and moved our luggage up to our room, which is on the 3rd floor this time, and a lot more spacious. We have our own toilet in our room, too.
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| Room at Kimchee Guesthouse (Hongdae) |
Met our Korean roommate who returned while we were resting, practised my Korean as we had a little conversation. It started well with an annyeonghaseyo, which led her into thinking that I was Korean, but it all fell out thereafter. She said she has heard lots of good things about Singapore from people she know :)
We continued with our long-awaited rest and only walked out a couple of hours later for the ddeokbokki. The ahjumma was really nice and welcomed us, with a free cup of soup, and we headed back, with warmed hands and hearts.
141214 DAY 2
We left the house early as we were heading to meet my jiejie, Khim, who is here for an exchange. Bid our Korean roommate goodbye. Though we've only had brief exchanges, I'm really happy to have met you!
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| On our way to the station |
Met Khim jie and she brought us to STYLENANDA's flagship store at Hongdae! We had our breakfast at a bakery nearby, and then I proceeded to check off my 3CE shopping list. We snapped lots of photos at the photobooth too! (It's free!)
Jiejie wanted to bring us to some rice burger shop but it closes on Sundays henceforth we went to the udon shop, which I discovered during my previous trip, for lunch, and we shopped at the h&m store that was just a block away thereafter. Guys, the sales at h&m in Korea is not to be missed! Shoes can be discounted from USD175 to just USD50! I bought a pair of pants for 15,000won.
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| :D |
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| Taken with pretty Khim jie! |
Stopped by innisfree to buy some glitter nail polish and the peel off base coat, and we headed back to the guesthouse with khim jiejie to rest. Left our place for the airport, and we discovered that eatyourkimchi's youarehere cafe is really near our place.
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| youarehere cafe |
Parted ways at the station. It snowed on the way!
Oh, some of you might have questions regarding layering for the winter in Korea. I wore two layers of heattech (from Uniqlo), a top, and a coat. Sometimes you can wear an additional top if you want, but it gets really hot indoors or onboard train, even with the coat off. Wearing just a pair of tights for the legs is okay, but I would recommend wearing pants over it especially when it gets real cold. The problem is actually with the face (and maybe the ears), hands and feet. Get beanies (or even a mask if you think you need it) and a good pair of gloves. Wear thick socks or even double layer it if needed. Note that it's gonna be kinda tight on your shoes. Prepare heatpacks! Put them in your pockets, so it warms your body and hands when you stick 'em in.
One thing though, is how I don't understand why people around me always make heattech sound like a must-have because I find its bodywarming effects below expectations and not as magical as people have made it out to be.
And yup, me and Amelia went to Incheon and waited for EXO's arrival from Shenzhen. It was a rather long wait, as usual, and you have people coming up to you/other fangirls, asking who are we waiting for, which are often met with reluctant replies.
It was quite heartwarming to see (some) fangirls give up their seats to the elderly who came to wait for their (I presume) loved ones. Well, just a passing observation.
Anyway, the cue, again, is always the security guards and the group of fangirls (identifiable from their hugeass lens) who are coming from the gates. The sign for you to prepare for the next 10+ seconds of your life. Shoot, and that's the end.
They came in two batches this time, 4-4. It's funny when you don't know exactly who are the members who came out and who are the ones who have not. A rather funny detail when it comes to big groups like this. The photos I had wasn't as good as the previous time round, but it's not as if I am expecting good pics either, with the camera that I have. All for memories' sake. :)
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| Lol random. Apparently they sell a dumpling for 5,000, according to this pic |
Brought Amelia to the everysing store in the airport (level 4) and we then left the place to have our dinner back at Hongdae. Randomly dropped in a restaurant and got sundubu jjigae, marking the end of our day.
141215 DAY 3
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| Haul after 2 days in Seoul |
We woke up late today, at 12+PM KST. Sat at w cafe while I tried activating the E.G. sim card that I bought yesterday (from the gs25 at the airport). The weather wasn't good so we decided to stay in Hongdae. After two busy days. The data sim activated when we were heading back to the guesthouse to get my laptop (so that I can start working on my blogpost at the cafe later).
So, regarding renting wifi egg (which I did for my previous trip in May) vs purchasing an e.g. sim card for Internet access in Korea:
Where to buy: You can buy e.g. sim card at any convenience store (but note that some may run out of the cards like the gs25 near my place, while the one at the airport had a whole box of it), & the wifi egg has a counter at the arrival hall and I'm not so sure if you can rent it at telecomm outlets
Who to buy: People who need immediate, on-the-go Internet access, and are traveling alone/in small groups for a long period of time should get the card, whereas huge groups who are traveling together all the time will find the wifi egg more worth it as one egg can be shared among 4 people hence splitting the cost of rental
Cost: It costs 30,000won for a 1gb sim card, and 50,000 for 2gb. For the egg, you can refer to them here, and you can get coupons here for cheaper deals. You have to leave deposit as well for the wifi eggs. Also, note that you have to charge the eggs.
Reception: e.g.simcard connection gave me H+ so far, while connection given by the eggs are usually good but it doesn't work 100% of the time.
Other factors: Duration of stay- calculate the total price for the options and opt for the cheaper one. Need for connection- wifi is available in almost all shops so unless you need internet connection on-the-go, you don't have to rent or purchase these. A random thing that I discovered though, is that you can connect for a short period of time of about 5min to some olleh wifi services, after which they will disconnect you for not signing in.
Note: For the eg sim card, the steps for activation are rather easy to follow, but keep in mind that they only activate the card during working hours. Do not worry when you don't receive the confirmation sms after 30min, just switch off your phone and switch it on again an hour after application, and the text notification should arrive and your data is good to go.
We had our dinner at 2lson rice and it was the best decision ever. The food is nice and the staff were friendly. One of the ahjummas speak chinese (not a surprise), and the meals vary between 6,000 to 7,000won, relative cheap for the fair amount of food they provide. They offer free refills of rice and banchan (side dishes) and the banchan combinations differ everyday! Definitely returing for more, especially when it is just a stonethrow away from Kimchee Guesthouse.
Oh, and a random thing that we discovered is that you can't opt to disable the shutter sound for the phone's basic camera app in Korea, as there is a certain law related to this apparently?
Returned to our room to discover three girls partying in it, and one of them spoke fluent English. She explained to us that she paid to escape from her parents for a few hours, and to devise a plan for her getaway with her boyfriend lol. Another good thing about living in guesthouses, is the people you meet and the stories you encounter.
Looking back, I realised day 1 and 2 were really packed and uhh.. productive, compared to day 3. All in all, I am glad I managed to involve so many people in my trip so far (AND THE DATA THAT GOT ACTIVATED TODAY OMGOOSE U HAVE NO IDEA HOW IT MADE ME SMILE ALL DAY).
Nights here over in Seoul are long and cold, and even colder without your loved ones.
(NOTE: SPAM LOTS OF MOISTURIZER, and layer your clothes.)
UPCOMING POST: DAY 4 (Seodaemun Prison History Museum, Insadong, Lotte Mart, eatyourkimchi-youarehere cafe)
