Selesema

Now that I've gotten over the Seoul Fever, I am now down with the cold. Yippee~

It's currently the dry season. We're a hot and humid country. But now, we are hot and dry.

Urghh...my throat hurts. Just emptied a bottle of gamad cough syrup. *sneezes*

Frozen - Lenovo edition

It's happened more than thrice already and it's getting frustrating.

What is it with Lenovo freezing everytime I upload/share something on WhatsApp?? Hurry up and fix the problem guys!! I know I'm not the only one out there...see??

I just bought the vibe-X [s960] three months ago. Surely it can't be broken down that soon??

Cebok

Seriously Alamanda Putrajaya...your toilets are irritating me. A few years ago, I still remember one or two tandas cangkung having handheld bidet hoses attached. But now, you've installed all those @#$%&! built-in bidets which is soo...uggh.

Sure...the washrooms on level one are now all nice and dandy, but I bet all the Muslims users have difficulties untuk bersuci.

I suppose you wouldn't even understand my rant here, but as a shopping centre in a majority Muslim country, it's common knowledge to install handheld bidets in the washrooms. Not telling you to install in all of them, at least two stalls is enough. Not that hard you know.

Now everytime I feel like going to Alamanda, I'd think twice. Sama dengan Mid-Valley. Toilet susah nak cebok punya pasal... -_-"

Pejabat pos plak dah kena campak kat luar.

You know...even Publika is decent enough to install handheld bidets.

Management dah bertukar ke? Dengar cerita sewa melambung naik. Pasang jelah bidet hose tu balik...Tak rugi pun. Or you reaally don't care?

Seoul ke Busan ke Kuala Lumpur

I am officially suffering from Severe Acute Post-Vacation Syndrome. It's soo severe I feel like resigning.
(and to think that tomorrow, 3rd of June 2014 is my 1st anniversary of working) Wowee~

Symptoms shown
i. replying with "nehh" or "dehh" to every question asked to you.
ii. still have that last bottle of banana uyu (milk) you smuggled at the back of the fridge.
iii. you add an hour when you want to know the time so that it would be the same time as in Seoul.
iv. you have already planned your next future trip to Jeju.

How it happened?
Just got back from South Korea with 3 of my friends.

How long did we travel?
From the 23rd of May to the 30th of May 2014.

Where did we go?
Seriously I tell you, 8 days is NOT enough to go through all of Seoul..what more we added Busan into the list. So we went to several compulsory tourist destinations such as Gyeongbukgi Palace, Everland, Namsan Tower, Nami Island, Jagalchi, Gamcheon Cultural Village, and stuff.
My friends (Adilah, Haq, and Nabila) will provide their version of updates on that one as I have been given the task to story-tell you guys about our cost and travel expenses.

The rate
I started changing currency since October. So it differed from that time (3.07) till May (3.23). So, in terms of exchange rate, I'll just say it's 1000W = RM3.20
The details below are my personal expenses during the trip. However, there may be some stuff that I forgot to write down or be missed out.

In total, I changed 750,000W which equals roughly to RM2378.25

The good news is that, by the end of the day I still had several thousand Wons with me (I think around 70,000W.)

Flight Fare
We traveled with Air Asia X from KLIA2 to Incheon Airport. The flight took around 6 hours.
For the returning flight, we departed from Gimhae International Airport, Busan. So that's why you can see the payment has sen's (cents). It was payed in Won which was converted to Ringgit.
The tix were bought separately as at the time of purchase, duit tak cukup so beli asing2.

Pergi: RM975 + RM441

Balik: RM769.14 + RM982.87

Add-on: RM41 + RM126.84

Total: RM3335.85
Divide by 4.

So roughly around RM834 per person.
This includes meal for both flights, 45kg worth departing luggage and 75kg returning luggage in total for 4 people.

This could actually have been lesser, but due to our part in not sure of how much baggage we should buy and other add-ons, we paid a bit more than necessary. However, I personally feel this is an ok price since we were departing and returning from two different places.

Rate tukar duit

DAY 1 - 23052014

Transport Fare:
T-money  =  20,000W.
Airport Limo (Bus from Incheon to Sungkyukwan)  =  10,000W
Hansung Station --> Hyehwa Station (walked from our hostel to go to Naksan Seonggwak or City Walls. To go back, we took the subway from Hansung)  =  1050W

* The Naksan Seonggwak or City Walls is a must-go place as well. Make sure you guys wear flat shoes or sport shoes. If you think you want to feel like a local, then by all means...go ahead and wear your stilettos.

At night, after checking in and settling down, we just walked from our hostel to go here. Took us a while though...We noticed that many Korean couples like to stroll here (dating2 gitu). Most of them would wear office attire. Balik keje, dating dgn gf kat atas bukit. You can see the whole of Seoul from here. Basically, it's where their ancestors protected the city from incoming threats.

Food and Stay:
Banana Uyu (susu pisang yang best)  =  1,300W
Hostel (Korea Central Backpackers from 23-27 May) =   63,000W
Plain Bagel  =  3000W
Ramyun + Uyu  =  2150W
Telur  =  500W
Nasi   =  975W
Air tin  =  1000W

Dah sampaiii~

Upon one of the entrance before climbing (pheww..) the City Walls.

Pemandangan Seoul at night

DAY 2 - 24052014

Transport Fare:
Topup T-money  =  10,000W
Hyehwa Station --> Chungmuro Station --> Gyeongbukgi Palace  = 1050W
Gyeongbukgi --> Gwanghwamun (this was a major fail as we returned back to the place we wanted to leave!)  =  1050W

Gwanghwamun --> Yeouinaru (one of the stops to go to Hangang River)  =  1050W
Yeouinaru --> Dongdaemun History & Culture Park --> Dongdaemun  =  1050W

Dongdaemun --> Hyehwa (back to our hostel)   = 1050W

Food & Shopping:
Admission fee for Gyeongbukgi Palace  =  3000W
Air mineral =  800W
Souvenirs (you can see it's a bit costly coz I bought them at a tourist spot):
- magnet tradisional  =  12,000W
- magnet kecik  =  2,500W
- postcard  =  10,000W
- cardholder  =  5,000W
Stamp (we sent ourselves a postcard!!) =   700W
Banana uyu  =  1300W

For lunch, we packed our own food from the hostel. We bought ready-to-eat rice, and some side dishes from Malaysia - sambal ikan bilis, etc.

Shopped a bit at Gwanghwamun Station
- bookmark emas  =  2500W x2
- keychain x 10  =  12,000W
- korek telinga comel  =  3000W
- air epal  =   1500W x 2
- badge korea    2000W

The stop to go to Gyeongbokgi Palace

Ancient vs Modern world

Palace Guards

Inside the Palace grounds

Tempat Maharaja bersemayam

Traditional instrumental performance

There was a riot outside.. 

Saejong Dae Hwang

*Gyeongbokgung is something like Putrajaya in Malaysia.

When you go out of the palace grounds, you will notice that they have this wide strip of road with buildings on both sides of the road. These buildings are the government complexes, just like the view from PICC to the Prime Ministers office in Putrajaya.

Later at night, we went shopping at Dongdaemun. I suggest that if you are looking for cheap souvenirs, then this is the best place. Actually, we only went to Doota level 5 - they can speak Malay! Masa kat Busan, ingatkan boleh dapat murah. Hampeh, laagi mahal. Oh ye...kalau datang malam, jangan lupa diri sangat. Kalau tak tren habis. Nasib baik ktorng ingat masa tu. Kalau tak balik naik teksi lah jawabnya...
Total damage at Doota 5 =  105,000W

DAY 3 - 25052014

Transport Fare:
Hyehwa Station --> Chungmuro Stn. = 1050W
Bus 05 Chungmuro --> Namsan Tower = 100W
Myeondong -->Samgakji = 1050W

Samgakji St. --> Itaewon (to go to Seoul National Mosque) =1050W
Itaewon --> Samgakji --> Hyehwa = 1050W

Food, Fee, & Shopping:
Food = 2890W
Namsan cable car = 6000W
Snail mask = 8000W
Souvenirs at Namsan = 2000W + 9800W + 6500W + 5000W
Daiso = 8000W

*After spending more than half the day in Namsan, we went to Myeondong. Myeondong is like a heaven for beauty product lovers. You can find Nature Republic like...every ten steps along the way. It was raining when we arrived so it wasn't that much fun.
We then performed our prayers at Seoul National Mosque. This is a place for tourist and foreigners. If you get lost, just ask around. You can find more Malaysians here than at Jalan TAR (lol)...

Bus to Namsan

Dah sampaaii~

Seoul

Pay before use

Cable car to go back down

'Elevator' to go further down. =D

DAY 4 - 26052014

Fare:
Topup T-money = 10,000W            Baki terkini = 19,400W
Hyehwa --> Dongdaemun --> (tukar tren) Cheongyangi Exit 1     Baki = 18350W
(naik ITX) Cheongyangi Stn. --> Gapyeong Stn. Line 1 =  4000W            
Departed 11.15am
Arrived 12,00pm

Taxi from Gapyeong to Nami Island = 3200W
Nami Island to Gapyeong = 3000W
Ferry ride to Nami Island return = 8000W

Fee & Food:
Telur rebus x 3 = 1500W
Air tin = 700W

1 hour bicycle ride = 5000W
Pau kacang merah = 1000W
Dalgakkbi Lunch = 12000W

Return Fare:
Gapyeong Stn. --> Mangu (Line 1) Baki = 17300
Mangu --> Wangsimni (Line 1)
Wangsimni --> (transfer Bundang Line) Apgujeong Rodeo = another 900W was deducted
Apgujeong Rodeo --> Wangsimni --> Dongdaemun History Park --> Hyehwa

*due to certain unexpected turn of events, we added another day to our stay. initially we planned to spend the night at a jimjilbang, but tak jadi... =(
so tambah lagi 17,500W for one more night at Korea Central Backpackers.

The ITX

The tickets

Gapyeong Station

The welcoming

The scenery

For the lost tourist

DAY 5 - 27052014

Fare:
Hyehwa Stn. --> Dongdaemun History & Culture Park --> (transfer line 2, Sincheon) Euljiro 1(il)-ga.      
Baki = 14300W

*Arrive at President Hotel, Level 3.
Bought Everland discounted tickets for 33,000W.

Euljiro 1 (il)-ga --> Jamsil Stn.
Baki = 13150W
Cross the road from Jamsil Stn. Ride the 5700 bus to Everlaand!
Baki = 11800W

At Everland:
Entered using the 33000W ticket bought prior.
Juice = 2500W
Took pictures at cable car = 11000W

Return:
Took bus 5002. Everland --> Gangnam
Baki = 9800W
Gangnam --> sadang --> Hyehwa (-500W)
Baki =

Mart = 9200W/4 + 1400W
Cheesecake = 4800W

DAY 6 - 28052014

Off to Busan!

Taxi from Busan to Seoul Station = 6400/4 = 1600W per person
KTX to Busan = 51000W

Bought 2 Sajeons at Busan = 24000W
Wild Shrimp Burger = 6300W

Busan Inn Motel = 2 nights = 40,000W

Busan Station --> Jagalchi  Baki = 8100W

Shopping at Lotte mart:
Pantyliner (made in korea punya pasal) 1000Wx2
Seaweed 6000/4 = 1500W per person

Bas 88, Second stop = Baki 6900W
(we wanted to go to Busan tower, somehow got lost. the locals told us to get onto this bus, but dunno. wrong direction. so in the end we went back to have dinner)

Jungang Line --> Bujeon = Baki 6700W
Bujeon -->Jagalchi (-1200W) = baki 5500W

Dinner at Busan 74000/4 = 18500W

Jagalchi --> Busan = Baki 4300W

Susu banana x3 = 4300W

*Jagalchi is a seafood lovers heaven. Here, you can find all the sea creatures caught in Busan. If you go past the wet market, there will be several ahjummas calling you out and promoting you to eat at their restaurant. The fish, squids, abalones, etc are all fresh and alive.

We ordered a set of abalone, fish, rice and were stuffed!

My only regret - not ordering the sashimi as well.

DAY 7 - 29052014

Pagi2 menghirup udara Busan yang nyaman memang amat menenangkan hati kami. Subhanallah...

Untuk memudahkan perjalanan, kami beli 1 Day pass = 4500W (jimat giler!)

Since Busans' subway have a different company(?), the fare is slightly different and more expensive. So tourists are recommended to buy the one-day pass.

Naik Bas 2-2 Taesong --> Gamcheon Village = 900W

Gamcheon Village adalah sebuah perkampungan kat lereng bukit. Turun je Busan station dah nampak kampung ni yg berwarna-warni depan anda. Kawan aku panggil tempat ni kampung Smurf.

Mango ice-cream like the one Infinite and all those budak2 kpop selalu makan = 700W

Since this place is a well-known tourist spot, it's not that hard to reach here.
Warning: If you have motion-sickness it is advisable to bring along your pills coz the ride to this village is like a slow-motion roller coaster. =D

To go back down, just hop on the No.2 bus from Gamcheon to Taesong = 900W

Shrimp Burger at area BIFF = 4100W
shopping stokin and stuff kat Daiso = 6000W
Souvenirs (mahal sket compared to Doota level 5) = 9000W
T-shirt Busan = 5000W
T-shirt x3 = 10,000W
Mug x2 = 10,000W
Mask x10 (berapa banyak mask daaa...) = 3000W
t-shirt 4000x2 = 8000W
Kuih kuaci yg sedap = 1000W
Mask (lagii. heheh) = 2000W

Day 8 - 30052014

Awal2 pagi dah gerak. Sebab ada problem check-in online, so terpaksa gerak awal. =(

Teksi + tol to Gimpo Airport = 16900W/4 = 4225W
Bagel airport = 3000W
7-E airport = 2800W

Sampai Malaysia dalam 4pm lebih.. owh, sayu sungguh hati ini ~~

Baki won dalam poket = 85400W

Some stuff you need to take note while in Korea

1. Don't bother sitting on the seats for the elderly and OKU.
Tak macam kat Malaysia, dimana kita boleh selamba duduk kalau xde org tua or OKU, kat sana akan ada ahjumma2 gila kuasa yg main tarik je korang semata2 nak duduk situ. Padahal diorng bukan cacat upaya ke apa. Memang dah banyak baca dah pasal spesis ahjumma kaki sendol ni. Tak sangka boleh nampak secara live perangai diorang ni...
Ye, walaupun makcik lebih layak duduk situ daripada kami, tapi tindakan makcik main tarik je kengkawan saya tu mmg amat kuang ajar. Kalau makcik ni nama Bedah, mmg dah lama kena...

2. For travellers like us, sila bawa botol plastik masuk toilet.
Diorang 'bersuci' pakai tisu je. So disarankan bawak botol plastik untuk anda kaum muslimin muslimat di luar sana.. Advisable to bring feminine wipes.

3. Don't think too much about buying souvenirs that are not available in your country.
This is just me. Does not apply to everyone out there. This is because by the end of the day, I still had more than 50,000 won in which I regret putting back that pretty pouch, mug, and chopsticks back. oh...and them EXO merchandise! darn...

4. Send yourself a postcard!
Just a fun mission to do. Mine arrived 2 weeks later.

5. Write a list of things you want to do throughout your stay and make sure they all get crossed out!
The only thing unchecked on my list is getting Bobbkki!! =(

6. Jangan lupa untuk baca travelog Nabila! (Just click on her name)