Korea Trip 2014 Part II
As promised, I'll be blogging about my Korea trip now in details. I think I left quite a number stuff to talk about in my previous Korea Trip too, but don't worry, I think I'll be talking about them in this upcoming series of Korea Trip posts.
This post would mainly concentrate on day 1 because as I was writing I realised how much I had wrote for Day 1 so if I were to continue Day 2 this post would be super long. Well if you are looking forward to reviews on my way to Korea, their public transport, some of their common things and Lotte World, then continue reading. If you aren't looking forward to these reviews, then just wait for my next few posts.
Without further ado, let's start on my first day!
If you guys have read the previous post, you would very much know that, I had a transit flight over to Korea. So first, we departed from Singapore then took a 5-6 hours flight to Shanghai, Pudong International Airport, and lastly, from there, we took a 2 hours flight to Seoul, Incheon (ICN) International Airport. And if you are curious about which airline I took, I took the China Eastern Airlines. The service was okay I guess, but if compared to SIA there are still some areas of improvement. Like you can tell that the stewardess/ steward is just rushing you to finish your food, and also they don't do frequent visits to serve you drinks, they probably only visit you once or most twice to ask you what drinks you would like to have, but I think if you personally have a drink request, they would still serve you other than that once or twice when they visit.
The transit flight though kind of tiring, but at least it's cheaper than direct flights. So instead of spending a large sum of money on flights, might as well save it up and use the money in Korea. Anyway, since it's a transit flight, we had to stay in Shanghai for quite some time. So since you are gonna spend quite some time in Shanghai, it would be best to change some of your money to RMB [RenMinBi, China's currency]. Can you imagine yourself being hungry and all but you can't get food cause you don't have any RMB, but don't get stressed if you didn't change because you can use your credit card there, and also I saw a money changer in the airport.
Moving on, I've already reaching Incheon International Airport. The custom's queue was really long, but the personnels made an effort to process things faster to shorten the queue, but I don't know what's wrong with the dude handling my queue. Other queues had like 4 people going through the custom already while we only had 1. So yeah, I think he's probably having a bad day or something. Next time when you queue for custom, just make sure you are in luck and get to a person who doesn't have a bad day or something.
Oh I perhaps, forgot to add this in but, both Pudong and Incheon Airport has wifi! This is probably important for all of you.
Anyway after we got out of the airport, we took a bus to our hotel. The bus fare was a bit ex I think? I'm not really sure of the price but if you want to know, just comment or something and I'll find it out for you. The bus ride to our hotel was long, so basically I fell asleep. Erm, I must say the bus isn't like what we have in Singapore, because it doesn't have a bell or anything. So if you are getting off at a certain stop, I think you would have to tell the bus driver earlier so he will stop for you. Cause if you don't he will just zoom past your stop, and you'll have to back track to your stop with your luggage. Perhaps, this bus isn't really like a public transport? Because in the later days in Korea, we took a bus and it was somewhat similar to Singapore's bus where they have the bell for you to ring if you are alighting at the next stop and it's probably even better because they will show which stop is coming up next.
Next up, we finally arrived our hotel. It's called Ever8 and it's located between the Ewha Women's University station and Sinchon station. Erm, I think it's kind of unknown? Because if you were to take a taxi, they might not know where Ever8 is and also even if you have a map like what I've shown you in the picture, they might still not know where it is. I'm saying this because it was what happened to us when we were getting back to our hotel from Seoul Station. You guys don't really have to worry about this I guess, because after knowing how to get there, it gets really easy. So let me tell you how to get there now. Okay so firstly it would be really easy if you were to be at Ewha Women's University station.
Hopefully you can see it clearly, but even if you do, I need you to take note of this. I think this isn't a very updated one, so instead of being in between City hall station and sinchon station, Ewha Women's University station is ACTUALLY in between Ahyeon station and Sinchon staion. So yeah, please take note of this.
Anyway, once you tap out of Ewha Women's University, turn left, then you will meet with two exits, choose the left one, which is in between two shops, both selling hats, hairbands, hairties, socks and more. There will also be a manoffin there, which is quite famous. Too bad I didn't get to try it hahahha. Okay so going back, after turning left and getting up the flight of stairs, there will be two exits again. Choose the left one once again. Once you are out, keep walking straight don't attempt to cross any road. Just keep walking straight. Next, while you are walking you should be able to see shops like, watsons, gongcha, aritaum and miss sha. If you are on the right track, by the time you reach the traffic light, you will see three public phones. There, you cross over to the other side, then you turn right. Once you turn right, you'll see a convenience store, and beside it, you see a door. That is a door to ever8. If you choose to walk the main door to ever8, then walk past that door and turn right. Hopefully this is of help to you, and you won't get lost but if some of the places I've said had closed down then too bad for you.
Next moving on to the hotel reviews. Ever8 is a serviced apartment and I've lived in two types of their rooms. One is their standard double bed room and one triple beds room. The double bed room is more spacious then the triple beds room definitely. For the triple beds room, you would have to 'play' around with the room a bit. To make it a little more spacious, move the bed near the window, nearer to the window and the bed near the wall, nearer to the wall. Sounds stupid, but yes if you do it, your room would be a little more spacious. The toilet is not bad, it doesn't have a bathtub but spacious enough. For the triple beds room, your sink would be in your shower, but just close it and you'll be fine. Oh, one thing for ALL of you to take note, in Korea, you can't throw anything inside their toilet bowls, not even your used tissue paper. For some, you can throw it in, but for majority you can't. Also the reception, they do speak English probably not very fluent, but their service is still great because if you ask for anything, they will try their best to help you. So if you considering on where to live in Korea, why not consider ever8?
Since for day 1 most of our time is being taken away by the transit flight, we decided to head over to Lotte World. Before heading there, we actually filled our stomachs with Lotteria's burger. You'll see Lotteria on your way to Ewha Women's University station. Their burgers are simply delicious, especially their newest galbi burger. Oh damn, it tastes so good, it's even better than mcdonalds. I went during December 2014, so I'm not really sure when you get there whether this burger will be new anymore.
After filling our stomachs, we headed off to LOTTE WORLD. Lotte World is located in Jamsil station, the same line as Ewha Women's University, so travelling there isn't a hassle, though the ride is pretty long, but the view there is gorgeous when the sun is setting. In Korea, perhaps because it's winter or something, the sun sets pretty early, around like 5 plus. For exact locations to where Lotte World is, I suggest you look for it in google or something because, I don't really know all I know is that you have to get off at Jamsil station, I just follow my cousins blindly.
On your way to Lotte World, you'll go through the underground shopping area, and there's really a lot to shop, I didn't shop there because our main point was Lotte World, but if you did shop there, you can just share your experience with me.
We went to get the tickets for Lotte World, you can check the pricing here http://global.lotteworld.com/contents/contents.asp?cmsCd=CM0203 .
To be honest, if you were to make me spend money and go to Lotte World again, I wouldn't. Because it's something similar to Genting's indoor amusement park or maybe even worse. Perhaps, because I'm tired after the long hours of flight, but then Lotte World isn't as fun as what it sounds like. It definitely caters to kids, yes, but probably kids around the age of 3-8 or 9? They have haunted house, roller coasters (not very large scale), carousel, viking ships, mini train ride around the whole amusement park and stuff like that. Well, I would still advise you to go to Lotte World, though it's pretty boring for me, because it would be nice to go there for an experience rather than just giving it a verdict because someone said it was boring. Who knows? Perhaps, it's a completely different experience for you guys and if you guys do have a different one, share it with me too! While we were there, we went to the haunted house and a few of their rides, there was a movie? Sort of. Lastly, we ended off Lotte World with their christmas show? It's like disney world where they have those fancy costumes and they will walk along with songs playing like "Let It Snow". It's something very similar to Disney land except for the pushing part, where parents would push their kids to the front, and you would probably be pissed because it's kind of annoying.
After we end the whole Lotte World trip, we just went to grab dinner and head back to our hotel. It was around 9? So most shops are preparing to close already, most shops close around 10pm.
So that concludes my first day! Hopefully it's detailed enough for all of you, if it isn't then feel free to ask my any questions at the comment section or if you have my number or social platforms or anything. Also, if you want more pictures or anything, do say it out!
See you guys for my next Korea Trip post! :)
This post would mainly concentrate on day 1 because as I was writing I realised how much I had wrote for Day 1 so if I were to continue Day 2 this post would be super long. Well if you are looking forward to reviews on my way to Korea, their public transport, some of their common things and Lotte World, then continue reading. If you aren't looking forward to these reviews, then just wait for my next few posts.
Without further ado, let's start on my first day!
If you guys have read the previous post, you would very much know that, I had a transit flight over to Korea. So first, we departed from Singapore then took a 5-6 hours flight to Shanghai, Pudong International Airport, and lastly, from there, we took a 2 hours flight to Seoul, Incheon (ICN) International Airport. And if you are curious about which airline I took, I took the China Eastern Airlines. The service was okay I guess, but if compared to SIA there are still some areas of improvement. Like you can tell that the stewardess/ steward is just rushing you to finish your food, and also they don't do frequent visits to serve you drinks, they probably only visit you once or most twice to ask you what drinks you would like to have, but I think if you personally have a drink request, they would still serve you other than that once or twice when they visit.
The transit flight though kind of tiring, but at least it's cheaper than direct flights. So instead of spending a large sum of money on flights, might as well save it up and use the money in Korea. Anyway, since it's a transit flight, we had to stay in Shanghai for quite some time. So since you are gonna spend quite some time in Shanghai, it would be best to change some of your money to RMB [RenMinBi, China's currency]. Can you imagine yourself being hungry and all but you can't get food cause you don't have any RMB, but don't get stressed if you didn't change because you can use your credit card there, and also I saw a money changer in the airport.
Moving on, I've already reaching Incheon International Airport. The custom's queue was really long, but the personnels made an effort to process things faster to shorten the queue, but I don't know what's wrong with the dude handling my queue. Other queues had like 4 people going through the custom already while we only had 1. So yeah, I think he's probably having a bad day or something. Next time when you queue for custom, just make sure you are in luck and get to a person who doesn't have a bad day or something.
Oh I perhaps, forgot to add this in but, both Pudong and Incheon Airport has wifi! This is probably important for all of you.
Anyway after we got out of the airport, we took a bus to our hotel. The bus fare was a bit ex I think? I'm not really sure of the price but if you want to know, just comment or something and I'll find it out for you. The bus ride to our hotel was long, so basically I fell asleep. Erm, I must say the bus isn't like what we have in Singapore, because it doesn't have a bell or anything. So if you are getting off at a certain stop, I think you would have to tell the bus driver earlier so he will stop for you. Cause if you don't he will just zoom past your stop, and you'll have to back track to your stop with your luggage. Perhaps, this bus isn't really like a public transport? Because in the later days in Korea, we took a bus and it was somewhat similar to Singapore's bus where they have the bell for you to ring if you are alighting at the next stop and it's probably even better because they will show which stop is coming up next.
Next up, we finally arrived our hotel. It's called Ever8 and it's located between the Ewha Women's University station and Sinchon station. Erm, I think it's kind of unknown? Because if you were to take a taxi, they might not know where Ever8 is and also even if you have a map like what I've shown you in the picture, they might still not know where it is. I'm saying this because it was what happened to us when we were getting back to our hotel from Seoul Station. You guys don't really have to worry about this I guess, because after knowing how to get there, it gets really easy. So let me tell you how to get there now. Okay so firstly it would be really easy if you were to be at Ewha Women's University station.
Anyway, once you tap out of Ewha Women's University, turn left, then you will meet with two exits, choose the left one, which is in between two shops, both selling hats, hairbands, hairties, socks and more. There will also be a manoffin there, which is quite famous. Too bad I didn't get to try it hahahha. Okay so going back, after turning left and getting up the flight of stairs, there will be two exits again. Choose the left one once again. Once you are out, keep walking straight don't attempt to cross any road. Just keep walking straight. Next, while you are walking you should be able to see shops like, watsons, gongcha, aritaum and miss sha. If you are on the right track, by the time you reach the traffic light, you will see three public phones. There, you cross over to the other side, then you turn right. Once you turn right, you'll see a convenience store, and beside it, you see a door. That is a door to ever8. If you choose to walk the main door to ever8, then walk past that door and turn right. Hopefully this is of help to you, and you won't get lost but if some of the places I've said had closed down then too bad for you.
Next moving on to the hotel reviews. Ever8 is a serviced apartment and I've lived in two types of their rooms. One is their standard double bed room and one triple beds room. The double bed room is more spacious then the triple beds room definitely. For the triple beds room, you would have to 'play' around with the room a bit. To make it a little more spacious, move the bed near the window, nearer to the window and the bed near the wall, nearer to the wall. Sounds stupid, but yes if you do it, your room would be a little more spacious. The toilet is not bad, it doesn't have a bathtub but spacious enough. For the triple beds room, your sink would be in your shower, but just close it and you'll be fine. Oh, one thing for ALL of you to take note, in Korea, you can't throw anything inside their toilet bowls, not even your used tissue paper. For some, you can throw it in, but for majority you can't. Also the reception, they do speak English probably not very fluent, but their service is still great because if you ask for anything, they will try their best to help you. So if you considering on where to live in Korea, why not consider ever8?
Since for day 1 most of our time is being taken away by the transit flight, we decided to head over to Lotte World. Before heading there, we actually filled our stomachs with Lotteria's burger. You'll see Lotteria on your way to Ewha Women's University station. Their burgers are simply delicious, especially their newest galbi burger. Oh damn, it tastes so good, it's even better than mcdonalds. I went during December 2014, so I'm not really sure when you get there whether this burger will be new anymore.
After filling our stomachs, we headed off to LOTTE WORLD. Lotte World is located in Jamsil station, the same line as Ewha Women's University, so travelling there isn't a hassle, though the ride is pretty long, but the view there is gorgeous when the sun is setting. In Korea, perhaps because it's winter or something, the sun sets pretty early, around like 5 plus. For exact locations to where Lotte World is, I suggest you look for it in google or something because, I don't really know all I know is that you have to get off at Jamsil station, I just follow my cousins blindly.
On your way to Lotte World, you'll go through the underground shopping area, and there's really a lot to shop, I didn't shop there because our main point was Lotte World, but if you did shop there, you can just share your experience with me.
We went to get the tickets for Lotte World, you can check the pricing here http://global.lotteworld.com/contents/contents.asp?cmsCd=CM0203 .
After we end the whole Lotte World trip, we just went to grab dinner and head back to our hotel. It was around 9? So most shops are preparing to close already, most shops close around 10pm.
So that concludes my first day! Hopefully it's detailed enough for all of you, if it isn't then feel free to ask my any questions at the comment section or if you have my number or social platforms or anything. Also, if you want more pictures or anything, do say it out!
See you guys for my next Korea Trip post! :)
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