incheon international airport

Winter (again!) in South Korea – Last Day

December 21, 2016bryologue Leave a Comment

extremely picture-heavy post

I have to admit, I never got to follow through the promised review of Namsan Guesthouse from 2012. So before it escaped my mind, let me give my quick thoughts on Star Hostel.

Star Hostel in Chungmuro at night

We got Star Hostel Myeongdong Ing from Booking.com, and it cost us KRW 220,000 for a 5-night stay. We had looked for a place very late, and spaces were running out already. We got this in November 24, and the staff usually respond within a couple of hours whenever we have a question.

Reception area

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Winter (again!) in South Korea – the arrival

December 16, 2016bryologue 3 Comments

After four years, I can’t believe that we are traveling again to South Korea! Especially after the passport and visa drama from a week ago!

Mon and I have a soft spot for Seoul. We have been twice there before (summer of 2011 and winter of 2012), and we look forward to see what changes there might be. The country is to host the 2018 Winter Olympics, and it will be interesting to note of any preparations that they have (if there is).

Before anything else, I will be traveling with a very sore throat. Just imagine my horror waking up on Thursday barely able to speak. But this has been planned already and I packed a bottle of Bactidol for extra measure.

Sore throat!

Our flight left the Philippines at around 3:00 pm. We will be arriving four hours after in Incheon International Airport. I was feeling a bit feverish during the flight, but somehow, my excitement to be back eclipsed my predicament.

It is no secret that I love winter so much. However, I was anxious that I might not even see snow when we arrive. Global warming is real. I have been monitoring the weather for days before we arrive and not a single snowfall took place in Seoul. Sure we can go to Seoraksan just to see snow, but we do not have time for that.

Night about to fall

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Winter in South Korea: Food, food and food (on the cheap)!

February 18, 2013bryologue 4 Comments

*extremely picture-heavy post

Before we visited Seoul in 2011, I was really worried over our food, as well as the amount of money we had to allocate just for it. However, we were surprised that we were able to survive that first time without having to tighten our belts and pinch the penny, and we were actually very liberal with the food we ate. So for 2012’s vacation, I did my best to take note of every food we had, as well as their prices, especially for those who might be worried about surviving in Seoul and not having to eat from convenience stores every single meal.

DAY 1

Arriving in Incheon International Airport, we had our first meal of the day from McDonald’s, right next to the heavily-decorated fountain. KFC was located on the other side BUT wow, their menu was really expensive. An average meal costs at almost KRW 10,000 for an all-chicken meal. But in McDonald’s, you can have a good breakfast in less than KRW 4,000 and that will include a cup of coffee. Yey!

Bacon McMuffin, hashbrown and coffee from McDonald’s of Incheon International Airport

Day 1 - Coffee from McDonald's Incheon International Airport

Brewed coffee from McDonald’s

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Winter in South Korea – Day 4: Lotte World and leaving Seoul

February 8, 2013bryologue 2 Comments

*extremely picture-heavy post

It has been three weeks since I last wrote a post regarding our trip to Seoul, and it did not help that this post concerned two things that made me unenthusiastic: Lotte World and leaving South Korea. From Simone Handbag Museum, we took the traingfrom Sinsa Station going to Jamsil station, which is connected directly to Lotte World.

BK Hospital plastic surgery advertisement in Sinsa Station

BK Hospital plastic surgery advertisement at Sinsa Station

BK Hospital plastic surgery advertisement in Sinsa Station 2

Another plastic surgery advertisement

Fountain with people sitting around it

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Winter in South Korea – Day 1: Testing out the winter breeze

December 16, 2012bryologue 9 Comments

*extremely picture-heavy post

So, here starts the strenuous “Winter in Seoul 2012” series. As earlier mentioned, I will not be doing the typical day by day account of our trip, rather complement it with thematic and specific posts that can’t be elaborately explained within a ‘daily’ post, and that will include the breakdown of our budget for the trip (note: like all-in-all, with the tickets, accommodation and dues we paid in the Philipine airport, I have personally shelled out less than Php 25,000 for the whole trip. =D)

Our flight to Incheon International Airport wasn’t until 1:30 AM but we were already in NAIA Terminal 3 before 10:00 PM. When the check-in counters opened by 10:30 PM, we immediately rushed to present our itinerary ticket and paid for the Php 1,620 travel tax. The staff manning the counter also weighed in our baggages to check-in and even if they were already quite heavy, we were still almost 7 kilos short of our combined 30kg limit as we have already paid for 15kg each. It was actually our first time to check-in luggages because since we started travelling together, we only have two carry-ons each and has been used to travelling light. But as we were obviously travelling to a wintery place, our usual baggage won’t cut it.

Mon and I waiting for check-in at NAIA Terminal 3 for our flight to IncheonAt around quarter to 1:00 AM, we decided to head for the boarding gate. Going there, we had to first pay for the terminal fee, which was already lowered from Php 750 to Php 550. Then next to the immigration officer who had to take a look at our passports and ask questions on how long we will be out of the country, as well as our employment record. It took me only three minutes to finish the whole thing over, but Mon took a longer time. The immigration officer even mistook him for a Korean and immediately talked to him in English. LOL One more thing, they no longer made us remove our shoes, which wasn’t the case when we travelled last year. Good thing because I was already unknotting my laces when the security personnel stopped me.

Cebu Pacific weighing our check-in baggages and we were almost 7kg short of the combined 30kg limit

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Leaving Seoul behind

December 15, 2012bryologue 2 Comments

It has been days since I last posted on my blog because I found it extremely hard to open WordPress without going into too much detail of the things we did for a particular day.

First three days in Seoul, South Korea: : Gyeongbokgung, Namsangol Hanok Village, Nami Island and Namsan Guesthouse 2

As expected, we had a blast in Seoul, notwithstanding the amount of mishaps that happened to Mon and I within four days (like leaving my earmuffs in the guesthouse before going to Nami Island, and eventually losing them in COEX Mall on our last night before heading home! I almost cried).

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One last scarf

November 17, 2012bryologue Leave a Comment

Yet again, something arrived yesterday. I only have one scarf at home that I will bring this December and I needed another one. I’ve read somewhere online that they recommend buying your winter things in Korea but as I think I’d be better off bringing most of the things on my own, I’d just risk it. LOL

When Mon and I were talking earlier about what else we’d be bringing, Mama chimed in and mentioned that she has a few winter things in our cabinet upstairs. After several minutes, she went back down with a pile of winter accessories and we were happy to see she had two pairs of thermal pants she used before when she was still working in Britain! We were already planning to buy from Greenhills at the end of the month, but as she already lent us two, then we’ll definitely save some money!

The most surprising item in the pile was these leather gloves — it was a pair of Ermenegildo Zegna! O_O How come we have these and I didn’t know of them? I had been looking for a pair of leather gloves since last month and all along we have one stashed in the bowels of our closet. But as Mon still didn’t have a pair to use (because the one store selling gloves a month ago did not have his size), he was happy to see that the pair of Zegna perfectly fits his hands.

I found out that this pair was brought home by my father back in 2007. I was highly doubtful he’d buy something like this because he works in Doha where there was no winter, then I was told that it was just given to him by his boss. The leather was still excellent with a cashmere lining. I’ve seen the same pair (albeit in brown) being sold on Ebay.com for $ 219.99!

We’re having quite a dilemma, though. Our flight back home leaves at 7:30 AM and we intend to stay in Incheon City for our last day, close to the airport. We might be staying in a guesthouse five minutes away from the airport, but their own shuttle service operates at 5:50 AM. We’d most likely hope to leave earlier at around 4:30 AM and we are not sure what time the free airport shuttle in the area will start to operate. The last thing we can do will be to take the cab from the guesthouse to the airport, but I’m worried that the taxi stop might be far from our place. We also considered staying in “Spa on Air” but reading reviews online quite discourage me from booking. Both of us are perfectly okay to sleep in the airport, but as Mon can sleep in a snap and I’m the biggest distrustful person in the world, I won’t be able to sleep and will be most likely wide awake to guard our things. I know Incheon International Airport has a good reputation for being safe but I’m not to keen to risk it. I’d rather walk from the guesthouse to the airport at 4:30 AM in the middle of winter than get hoodwinked/robbed (which the staff mentioned to be about 10 minutes —- but I highly doubt that timeframe).