Ah, Korea! Such a popular 'thing' in the Philippines, isn't it? K-pop, Korean drama, the hairstyle, and of course, make-up. However, despite it's popularity, my dear husband and I have never really joined the bandwagon yet, and continued to be... let's say, oblivious to this trend.
We booked the trip to explore the country and I immediately became overwhelmed with the options for the tourist. It was such a blessing that an officemate is headed to Korea too, and she was kind enough to share her itinerary to us. The only concern left was that her trip is for 5 days, while ours was only booked for four days so I had to trim it down.
Airline
We booked our tickets through Cebu Pacific. Just a fair warning that this is a budget airline, and despite the 4 hour flight, there's no food that will be served unless you are willing to pay for the rice meal. We ate some early dinner at the airport and got some chips from the convenience store which we brought on-board. We still had to buy the drinks, but we are ok with the 50 pesos per can. We just really can't bear to pay the 350 pesos for such a small serving of rice and viand.
We entered Korea via Incheon -- which was great, this has been awarded the best airport for some years now.
Transfers and Transportation
If you are traveling as a group of 4, best option I was told is to go ahead and take the cab since it will cost almost the same, and you don't have to worry about preparing change when transferring from one subway line to the next. It saves you the hassle. For us though, we took the train. They do have a transportation card system, T-Money, that you can take advantage of to save you the trouble of dealing with the ticketing machines. You can purchase this from the conveniency stores, you'll need to buy the card and add in some money. We added Kw10,000 value for our initial purchase, it's easy to add credit or re-charge the T-money card, you can do it through the convenience stores (you'll see the logo or tarp from outside), so just try to get the hang of it and don't worry about it.
TIP: Android users, To check the remaining credit in your T-Money you can download this app
T-Money Balance Check - download it to your phone and tap your card
We took the Aiport Express to the city and transferred to another line for us to get to our apartment.
TIP: To help you with the subway lines (there's A LOT) and fares, you can download this app
Subway - download to your phone, it's very helpful ...no I take that back, it's a LIFESAVER in figuring out the travel time and which train stops to take. Korean subway is like a web, a very intricate web for tourists :)
Tip: For Filipinos, it can be quite difficult to have your money changed from pesos to Kw once your in the city or shopping districts. Most money changers limit exchanges to US$ or JPY. There is a money exchange facility at the airport, and the rates are fair.
We were happy that we were able to get a very nice flat through AirBnB and the itinerary worked out. Hit the links below if you want to try them out too :)
Lodging: CieLJ Weekend: Arriving in Korea and our AirBnB
Where to go: CieLJ Weekend: Moving Around Seoul
We booked the trip to explore the country and I immediately became overwhelmed with the options for the tourist. It was such a blessing that an officemate is headed to Korea too, and she was kind enough to share her itinerary to us. The only concern left was that her trip is for 5 days, while ours was only booked for four days so I had to trim it down.
Airline
We booked our tickets through Cebu Pacific. Just a fair warning that this is a budget airline, and despite the 4 hour flight, there's no food that will be served unless you are willing to pay for the rice meal. We ate some early dinner at the airport and got some chips from the convenience store which we brought on-board. We still had to buy the drinks, but we are ok with the 50 pesos per can. We just really can't bear to pay the 350 pesos for such a small serving of rice and viand.
We entered Korea via Incheon -- which was great, this has been awarded the best airport for some years now.
Transfers and Transportation
If you are traveling as a group of 4, best option I was told is to go ahead and take the cab since it will cost almost the same, and you don't have to worry about preparing change when transferring from one subway line to the next. It saves you the hassle. For us though, we took the train. They do have a transportation card system, T-Money, that you can take advantage of to save you the trouble of dealing with the ticketing machines. You can purchase this from the conveniency stores, you'll need to buy the card and add in some money. We added Kw10,000 value for our initial purchase, it's easy to add credit or re-charge the T-money card, you can do it through the convenience stores (you'll see the logo or tarp from outside), so just try to get the hang of it and don't worry about it.
TIP: Android users, To check the remaining credit in your T-Money you can download this app
T-Money Balance Check - download it to your phone and tap your card
We took the Aiport Express to the city and transferred to another line for us to get to our apartment.
TIP: To help you with the subway lines (there's A LOT) and fares, you can download this app
Subway - download to your phone, it's very helpful ...no I take that back, it's a LIFESAVER in figuring out the travel time and which train stops to take. Korean subway is like a web, a very intricate web for tourists :)
Tip: For Filipinos, it can be quite difficult to have your money changed from pesos to Kw once your in the city or shopping districts. Most money changers limit exchanges to US$ or JPY. There is a money exchange facility at the airport, and the rates are fair.
We were happy that we were able to get a very nice flat through AirBnB and the itinerary worked out. Hit the links below if you want to try them out too :)
Lodging: CieLJ Weekend: Arriving in Korea and our AirBnB
Where to go: CieLJ Weekend: Moving Around Seoul
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