seoul city, south korea part 2

[sart]

May nakapagdala na ba dito ng excess na bote ng alak? Allowed kasi ng isa db? Pano yung declaration sa customs? 1 Johnnie walker blue at 1 tanduay rhum ang dadalhin ko parehong pampasalubong. Pwde bang tanduay ang idedeclare ko? Since mas mura sya? Pano yung computation? Pano pag sinita dito pa lang sa pinas? Thanks sa sasagot ^^

[fatgrrl_slim]

SOME USEFUL LINKS FOR THE FIRST-TIME TRAVELER IN SOUTH KOREA:

South Korea Embassy in the Philippines (for your Visa concerns; or, you may visit the South Korea thread at Visas and Immigration forum)

http://embassy_philippines.mofat.go....main/index.jsp

For general information about South Korea, including sample itineraries and directions going to major tourist attractions:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/intro.html

For choosing and booking your accommodations, esp. for budget travelers:

http://www.koreahostel.org
http://innostel.visitseoul.net/main/in_default.asp

IMPORTANT NOTE: Always check for reviews before booking anything. Remember that location and price are not all there is to it when it comes to booking your temporary home in South Korea.

All about the MRT/Subway (you may download the latest maps here, or play around with the interactive map to familiarize yourself with it before leaving):

http://www.smrt.co.kr/english_smrt/index.jsp

About KTX express train (including booking your tickets)

http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.jsp

Seoul City Bus Tour:

http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_10.jsp

Bus routes around Seoul and major cities:

http://traffic.visitkorea.or.kr/lang/en/Bus/

All about T-Money card:

http://www.t-money.co.kr/jsp/newpub/.../eng_index.jsp

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/TR/TR_EN_5_4.jsp

[fatgrrl_slim]

SOME USEFUL LINKS FOR THE FIRST-TIME TRAVELER IN SOUTH KOREA:

South Korea Embassy in the Philippines (for your Visa concerns; or, you may visit the South Korea thread at Visas and Immigration forum)

http://embassy_philippines.mofat.go....main/index.jsp

For general information about South Korea, including sample itineraries and directions going to major tourist attractions:

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/intro.html

For choosing and booking your accommodations, esp. for budget travelers:

http://www.koreahostel.org
http://innostel.visitseoul.net/main/in_default.asp

IMPORTANT NOTE: Always check for reviews before booking anything. Remember that location and price are not all there is to it when it comes to booking your temporary home in South Korea.

All about the MRT/Subway (you may download the latest maps here, or play around with the interactive map to familiarize yourself with it before leaving):

http://www.smrt.co.kr/english_smrt/index.jsp

About KTX express train (including booking your tickets)

http://info.korail.com/2007/eng/eng_index.jsp

Seoul City Bus Tour:

http://visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_4_10.jsp

Bus routes around Seoul and major cities:

http://traffic.visitkorea.or.kr/lang/en/Bus/

All about T-Money card:

http://www.t-money.co.kr/jsp/newpub/.../eng_index.jsp

http://www.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/TR/TR_EN_5_4.jsp

[pit bull]

^Sana ma-update yung first post. pa-unti unti lang, pagtagal parang HK thread na rin to.

[roch_mar]

October is autumn. Malamig na yon pero di pa naman tipong kailangan na ng layers. Tipong Baguio or Tagaytay during daytime, but it could go down to as low as 8-9 degrees C sa gabi during the 1st two weeks.

halos same weather pala nung pumunta ako nung end of March dun. Malamig sa gabi.

[JhunX]

Anu pong okasyon sa Korea next week? And dami kasing nag-uuwian na mga Koreano dito sa Office.

[Mike Chester]

Anu pong okasyon sa Korea next week? And dami kasing nag-uuwian na mga Koreano dito sa Office.

It will be Chuseok or Korean Thanksgiving holiday...this is one of the biggest holiday sa kanila...usually this is the time for family reunion kaya by next week, expect a very quite Seoul kasi lahat halos ay nag-uuwian sa kani-kanilang probinsiya to meet their old ones.

[Mike Chester]

I've got some bad experience last night in Seoul...after watching the Linkin Park concert in Olympic Park stadium, we missed our Bus Trip to return to our town because of several factors:

1. We did not anticipate yung waiting time ng mga train sa subway, I have calculated the travel time of the subway train pero hindi ko na anticipate na after 10:00 PM pala, napaka dalang na ng mga dumarating na train. I think we have waited for at least 15 minutes before we can board a train, and we have to take 3 different subway lines in order for us to reach our destination.

2. When we decided to skip the last leg of the train para makahabol kami sa time of departure ng bus namin and just take a taxi, then I realized na after 11PM, Seoul taxi driver are the worst, more than the driver we have there sa Manila. Ayaw nila magsakay kasi malapit na lang yung destination namin, grabe sila kung makapamili ng pasahero. In the end we have to take the public city bus na lang to get to the provincial Bus Terminal but in effect, we came late sa terminal and we missed our bus completely.

[pjbayani]

I've got some bad experience last night in Seoul...after watching the Linkin Park concert in Olympic Park stadium, we missed our Bus Trip to return to our town because of several factors:

1. We did not anticipate yung waiting time ng mga train sa subway, I have calculated the travel time of the subway train pero hindi ko na anticipate na after 10:00 PM pala, napaka dalang na ng mga dumarating na train. I think we have waited for at least 15 minutes before we can board a train, and we have to take 3 different subway lines in order for us to reach our destination.

2. When we decided to skip the last leg of the train para makahabol kami sa time of departure ng bus namin and just take a taxi, then I realized na after 11PM, Seoul taxi driver are the worst, more than the driver we have there sa Manila. Ayaw nila magsakay kasi malapit na lang yung destination namin, grabe sila kung makapamili ng pasahero. In the end we have to take the public city bus na lang to get to the provincial Bus Terminal but in effect, we came late sa terminal and we missed our bus completely.

experienced the same thing. nasaraduhan din kami ng subway galing Hongik univ. so yun we had to walk from seoul station to myeongdong. sulit ba yung concert? sayang di na namin inabot.

[pjbayani]

Myeong dong subway


Ferry to Naminara Republic


Night life at Hongik University


Check out more photos here.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/pjbayan...7627504782959/

[vanj_ks]

2. When we decided to skip the last leg of the train para makahabol kami sa time of departure ng bus namin and just take a taxi, then I realized na after 11PM, Seoul taxi driver are the worst, more than the driver we have there sa Manila. Ayaw nila magsakay kasi malapit na lang yung destination namin, grabe sila kung makapamili ng pasahero. In the end we have to take the public city bus na lang to get to the provincial Bus Terminal but in effect, we came late sa terminal and we missed our bus completely.

ganyan din experience namin sa japan. ayaw nila magsakay pag malapit lang destination. unlike here sa pinas naman na mas gusto ng mga taxi drivers ng malapit lang hahaha

[Mike Chester]

experienced the same thing. nasaraduhan din kami ng subway galing Hongik univ. so yun we had to walk from seoul station to myeongdong. sulit ba yung concert? sayang di na namin inabot.

The LP concert ROCKS!!! he he he...kaya lang halos masuffocate kami sa sobrang dami ng tao, when we came out from the concert, basa pati pantalon at brief ko sa pawis

ang isa pa palang katangahan namin is we assumed na yung Gangnam Express Bus Terminal is located at one of the exits of the Gangnam Subway station sa Line 2! Ang layo pa pala ng Bus Terminal dun and we should have gone to another subway station (which I forgot the name) para mas malaipt dun sa Bus Terminal nila ....anyway, another lesson learned

[ruffee_cola]

...

Basta 3G-capable ang phone, it will work in Korea. Pag quadband lang hindi pwede. I have a friend na apat na klaseng phone ang dinala noon sa Korea (Blackberry, HTC, etc) walang gumana kahit isa kasi puro pala hindi 3G-enabled yung phone na dala nya. Kala nya kasi basta quadband pwede na.

My old Sony Ericsson c905 worked there, as well as Samsung Corby Pro. Samsung Omnia gumana rin pati yung Nokia N-something (N70 ata) nung friend ko.

Thank you fatgrrl_slim!

[happy_krish]

Kamusta ang food price sa Korea? Around how much per meal sa mga fastfood? Sa local food places/restaurants? and street food?

[fatgrrl_slim]

Kamusta ang food price sa Korea? Around how much per meal sa mga fastfood? Sa local food places/restaurants? and street food?

Ika nga ng friend ko, "lahat ng restaurant sa Korea, iisa lang ang presyo. Lahat mahal."

Kidding aside, it really depends on where you will eat. Definitely mas makakatipid kung grupo kayo na maghahati sa food expenses nyo. Based on our experience, our daily food budget per person is 20,000 won. Pero na-manage namin na nasa 10-15,000 won/pax/day lang kasi we share the bill. Malalaki naman kasi ang servings sa Korea eh. For example: pito kami nung kumain kami ng kal guk su sa Myeongdong Gyoja. Three servings lang ang inorder namin + rice + 1 order of dumplings. Bundat na bundat kami non, to think na mga heavy eaters kami. Ang laki ng natipid namin, as opposed to ordering individually. Wala pang nasayang.

But definitely, mas mahal kumain sa non-Korean restos and fast food. A satisfying meal at Burger King will set you back at least 5,000 won. An order of jjampong at a hole-in-the-wall resto in Dongdaemun also costs 5,000 won, pero sa sobrang laki ng serving pwedeng dalawang tao ang mag-share.

Sa street food naman, one stick of odeng (yung nakatuhog na fish cake na nakalubog sa sabaw) costs somewhere between 750 to 1000 won depende kung 1 layer o 2 layers. May libreng sabaw pa yon, so mga tatlo non busog ka na. Yung ibang food items will range from 1000 to 2500 won. Pag nakarami pa kayo ng order, minsan nagbibigay pa ng libre yung ahjummang tindera (we experienced this sa isang street stall sa Gangnam. Naka-21 sticks kami ng odeng; inilibre na ni Ahjumma yung isang stick, libre na lang yung soondae kasi patikim daw yon, tapos may discount pa dun sa iba pa naming binili. 23,000won ang binayaran namin, pito kaming naghati sa bill). A bag of walnut cake is 3000 won pero pramis, dalawang araw ata bago namin naubos.

Kimbap also costs somewhere between 1000 to 3500won per roll, depending on the filling (highly recommended ko ang tuna kimbap from Kimbap Nara ). Pero yung isang roll na yon, isang maghapon nyong kakainin yon. Or pwede paghatian ng dalawa hanggang tatlong katao depende kung gaano kayo kalakas kumain.

[fatgrrl_slim]

A caveat re: street food pala:

I was talking about the street stalls ha. Yung sa Gwangjang Market which is famous for street food, harang ang presyo dun. Para kang kumain sa restaurant gayong palengkeng-palengke ang atmosphere. Parang questionable pa ang cleanliness kasi malansa ang lasa ng pagkain. But that's just me. You may still want to try it out for the experience pero be sure to ask for the price muna before ordering. Yun kasi ang pagkakamali namin, we assumed na same price lang sya ng nasa street stalls kaya nawindang kami sa bill namin na inabot ng mahigit 60,000 won.

[planktontops]

Mahal nga yung mga restos sa Korea. Mura na yung fastfood haha. BTW ano tawag dun sa corndog with potato lagi ko yun kinakain pag nakakakita ako.

Pumunta pala ako both Lotte World and Everland. I suggest unahin niyo yung Lotte World kasi madidisappoint kayo sa Lotte World pag inuna niyo yung Everland kasi di hamak na mas maganda at mas malaki yung Everland kesa sa Lotte World kahit na same price lang sila.

For the palace naman, Gyeongbokgung lang pinuntahan namin parepareho lang naman itsura nung mga palace. May free try pa ng traditional costume.

Mas mura pala yung Souvenir sa Namdaemun kesa sa Insadong mas madami lang yung sa Insadong. Yung souvenir na nabili ko sa Insadong 12000KRW compared sa 8000 lang sa Namdaemun 10 pcs na yun

[pit bull]

Street Foods



Fave ko yung mga sausage

[kawaii_gurlash]

hello!

advisable po bang bumili ng phone sa korea? mura ba ang gadgets doon?

[fatgrrl_slim]

hello!

advisable po bang bumili ng phone sa korea? mura ba ang gadgets doon?

Iba ang telecom system sa Korea. They use CDMA, hindi GSM. Bukod pa sa naka-lock sa mga phone companies ang phones nila, kailangan may line subscription ka pagbili mo ng unit.

I wouldn't say mas mura doon ang gadgets kesa dito. More like, for the same price range, mas advanced ang specs nila. But it's not really advisable to buy gadgets there because of the warranty.