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Friday, December 30, 2016

The City of Wonderful People, Food, and Scenery

So finally blogging about my trip to Seoul. And as the title reads, it really is a beautiful place with yummy food and friendly people. I'll let most of the pictures do the talking aye.


Literally my first plane ride ever. Alhamdulillah it was a smooth one.

Okay I'll talk about expenditures first. But mind you, it was not a budget trip. AT ALL. So expect the expenses to be higher than your average trip (mainly bcos it was my first trip other than to Malaysia so I didn't mind splurging on having a comfortable flight and accommodation.)

So we took Singapore Airlines which was a direct flight, approximately 6 hours journey from Changi to Incheon Airport. The return ticket cost sgd800+ and my flight was during peak December period. So I'm not really sure if that was a great buy, but I'm sure you can get cheaper SQ tickets to Seoul if you buy it during promo and if you're flying during unpeak(?) periods.

Was hoping we won't be served prata for breakfast, but we were XD Alhamdulllah jelah.

It was so cold when we reached South Korea, that even the windows and the plane wing itself were covered in ice!!! Mind my jakonness. We went in early Dec so the temperature range was 12 to -3 deg cel.

As it being my first plane ride, you can imagine my excitedness as well as nervousness when we boarded the plane!! But I was really proud of myself for not being as nervous as I thought I'll be and for not having a nervous breakdown! Those close to me could probably imagine the state I was in, trying to control my breathing while clutching my SafeCare oil XD But to be honest, I quite enjoyed the turbulence experience.

Anyways, we took the midnight flight and reached Incheon Airport around 6 or 7 am? After buying our Tmoney (its like an ezlink in sg. oh and we spent lesser than 50,000 won/60 sgd for our Tmoney use for 9 days. So I would say their transportation fare is roughly similar to sg's.) we made our way to the airport railway and headed to what will be our 'neighbourhood' for 9 days! TIP: If you are in a group of 3 or 4, it is worth it to sometimes take the taxi, cos their taxi fare is quite cheap, eg for a short distance travel its only 3,000-5,000 won. So divide it among 4 people thats considered cheap. Also taxi drivers are the NICEST AND MOST PATIENT people I've met in Seoul. As they don't fair well in the English department, it was quite hard getting them to understand our destination but they didn't mind going through anything to take us there. So hat's off to the uncle2 taxi there.

Handsome oppa sitting in front //.//

It took lesser than 1.5 hours if im not wrong to go the the most center part of Seoul from the airport.
Our apartment was located nearest to Chungmuro station, which was one stop away from Myeongdong, 3 stops away from Seoul, and 5 stops away from Itaewon. I only mention these places cos you're most likely going to spend the most time here I guess. Myeongdong is a must-go place for shopping, Itaewon is like the bugis part of SG with all the halal restaurants in one stretch of road. The Seoul Central Mosque is also located here, and there are a few halal marts where you can buy halal groceries for those who plan to cook, while Seoul is where the KTX is and the ever so awesome LOTTE MART!! There's also a bus service near our apartment that goes to these places. So yeah sometimes we ride the subway and sometimes the bus. Oh and our 2-room apartment was priced at app. 100sgd per night and divided between 3 people its considered 30+ per night, so it was well worth the money alhamdulillah. But if you're opting for a cheaper stay, the cheapest airbnb can be found at maybe 60sgd? Or you can stay at those muslim-friendly dorms. Don't really recommend staying in hotels, mainly cos you can't cook in them. And cooking really saves a lot for your cost. TIP: Try to plan where you want to stay based on location. For example if you don't plan on cooking but just buy bfast/dinner, try to pick a place in Itaewon as it will be super easy to just take a short walk to your favourite halal restaurant (for my case its Makan Restaurant!!)


Okay moving on, I'll just summarise everything from here while mentioning the costs spent. Hopefully it'll help you guys who are planning a future trip to Seoul. So basically we went to almost all the tourist attractions, to name some are Everland, Seoul Tower, Lotte Mart, Han River, Nami Island, and Hanok Village and Palace. But honestly, 9 days was really not enough. I think its partly our fault cos we started the day late (we went out at 12+pm cos we wanted to pray zuhur and asar first because mind you its SUPER HARD to find a secluded praying space outside. One experience was all it took.) and we ended the day quite early cos we gud girls. lol.

A pic with Everland's mascots! hihi,

 Hahaha this animal is a cutie patootie. Exactly how i imagined them like in the show 'Zaboomafoo'.

 We kept buying their (overpriced) snacks there! Loved the vegetable fishcake and churros.

 We packed our own lunch. Homemade spaghetti, scrambled eggs with prawn, and we even have fruits to finish our meal with.

Seoul is really beautiful at night! And Everland is not an exception.

Okay for amusement park enthusiasts, it is an absolute must to at least spend a day at Everland! We spent 8 hours there and it wasn't enough to complete all the rides cos Everland is really just a humongous park with all sorts of rides for almost all ages. I will definitely make another trip here if I make my way to Seoul again. Highlights of the trip, I managed to take my dream childhood Bumper Cars ride which I've been dying to try since young, and also I tried out Dance2 Revolution for the first time and found out I rock at it! Mwihihihi. TIP: Start off with the rides that you want to try the most, followed by the rest of the rides, and lastly if you have time you can go take a look around their zoo. Cos we started off with the zoo first and that took up most of our time and so we had lesser time to enjoy the rides. Expenditure: We purchased beforehand a package online, for 60sgd which includes direct entry, and a 2-way shuttle service to and from Myeongdong station. Soooo much worth it than USS.

Train to Busan. Gong yoo oppa where you at

Busan's fishery markets are located literally beside the sea!



We also managed to take a day trip to Busan. (nope, didn't stumble upon any zombies. okay sorry.) TIP and Expenditure: ONLY make your way to Busan if you plan to spend at least a night there. Cos we purchased the ticket on the spot for 60,000 won, but when we came back to sg we realised it cost us 80sgd for a 1day KTX pass to Busan. So it wasn't really worth the money to have spent only 6 hours there, which was really short considering we only managed to walk around the seafood market, had their fresh seafood for lunch, and walked around their underground shopping centre and also their Lotte mart.

 Sunset from Seoul Park.

 The view from Love lock bridge.


 One of the bridges over Han River. It was mega cold!!!
 Hike up the observatory tower.




Gyeongbokgung Palace

So the pictures above are snippets of Seoul's tourist attractions. Most are them are FOC but some have entrance fees like Nami Island. I'll just relate each attraction to the things you can do, cos I've reached my lazy-to-type-anymore point. So basically if you're craving for a hike up a really long flight of stairs, I would recommend you to hike through Seoul Park to reach the Seoul Tower or observatory. But for the lazybums there's the alternative cable car/feeder bus method. If you want to have a taste of the King or Queen's era, you can take a walk through Bukchon Hanok Village after which you can admire the magnificent (and also crowded) palaces at Gyeongbokgung Palace. Leceh pe nama. You can also rent (at an affordable price) their hanbok for feeling2 princess gtu. At Nami Island, you can spend the day cycling around the island or go for a mandatory winter sonata photo shoot. There are cafes and makan places, oh and also a musolla so you don't have to worry how to spend the day there. For Han River, we really didn't do much besides taking in the view (and coldness) and eating dessert at one of the Sunset Cafes, but I heard you can go cycling there too. And if you want to buy souvenirs or snacks to bring back, Myeongdong and Lotte Mart are the places to go!

 Makan Restaurant

Grilled Butter Prawns at Myeongdong

Steamed and grilled octopus and clam. SUPER YUMS!

Egg muffin bread. Not really my cup of bread.

Rose-shaped gelato. Pretty, but not pretty enough to not be eaten :p

Grilled cheese lobster.

Seafood stew at Busan Go restaurant


Eid Restaurant

My most favourite part about eating in restaurants: their BANCHAN!!

2nd time at Makan Restaurant. Verdict: Favouritest restaurant is Seoul. hehe

Chicken stir fry with lettuce wrap at Nami Ok Restaurant. Double thumbs up!

Grilling lamb parts at Yang Good Restaurant. Neomu mashiseoyo(?)!

Not sorry for the spam of food pictures, cos korean food is da bommmb! Especially their street food. Okay so worthy restaurants to drop by (according to me la) are Makan restaurant (itaewon), Nami Ok restaurant (Nami Island) and Yang Good BBQ Lamb Restaurant (gangnam). Honestly if you have a chance to try every dish at Makan, pls do! InsyaaAllah you won't be disappointed. But their restaurants are quite pricey, with a range of 8,000-15,000 won. Also their average-priced street foods are to die for. But the safest ones to eat for us muslims are the ones with halal logos on their stalls or just seafood. But the seafood are quite ex, particularly the cheese lobster and scallop. TIP: Pls pls try the omeuk (fishcake)! It is super super yums and I will forever be in love with it! Yes I love it that much. Unfortunately you cannot find them in sg ): there's a halal stall in myeongdong so you don't have to worry about finding one made with veggie/anchovy broth. 

I would recommend bringing 500-700sgd for food, transportation, shopping and adhoc stuff. But ofc I spent way way more than that, mostly cos I spent alot on snacks and souvenirs to bring home. HAHA. So basically that's all I can manage to write about my trip. 
It is so worth it to make your way there if you have the means to it. I hope someday I can make my way to South Korea again insyaaAllah. The sceneries are amazing, and that will be the number one reason for me to go back to Seoul (: