Well, it can't be in SEA because South Korea is not in SEA

How very nice of him/her


Can you please share more information on this ? I've compared the exchange rate on Woori Bank website and i can save about RM50 for every RM1,100 i exchange with them rather than doing it here with the local money exchanger. And may i know which bank did you do it ? I am flying Asiana Airlines from Kota Kinabalu and their boarding pass can get me 30%-60% preferential rate at Shinhan Bank and 50% preferential rate at Hana Bank. Please advise. Thanks.


KBS Music Bank and SBS Ingigayo... must give it a try


Thanks for the link

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Aug 27 2011, 01:02 AM

Because you can't book their KK flight through their website. You can either buy the ticket directly from the Asiana Airlines Kota Kinabalu office in Menara MAA in Api-api Centre or via any travel agencies in Kota Kinabalu. Alternatively, you may also buy their ticket via third party website such as www.pyotravel.com, Expedia or Orbitz etc.

You. You don't if you do not clear immigration in China.


But it wasn't really cold up till i left Seoul just 4 days ago. I was there for one week and it was mostly 18°C most of the time and there wasn't much wind which explained why it wasn't very cold. The best about cold weather ? You won't get all sweaty when taking the subway unlike here in Malaysia. I always sweat like a pig in KL (mind you i'm not fat at all)


Yeah, especially in the afternoon when there is sun...


The temperature continues to drop now and it will be very cold already in Mid-November. The daytime temperature will also be colder than staying in an air-con room with the temperature set around 21°C.


That's a good rate

Anyway, i did not buy KRW here in Malaysia and neither did i bring any USD with me to Seoul. I brought just our own money and exchanged it at a very good rate at Hana Bank in South Korea


Still hot lah and i'm 100% Malaysian (again, i am not fat at all)

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 16 2011, 06:53 PM

It usually starts to snow in Seoul in early December, that's about a month earlier than New York and it will be cold. Like -x°C cold. My friend was there in December last year and there wasn't many people on the street. They did not really feel like going out either because it was too cold.

Beijing and Seoul are so close together, so it should be like Beijing too.


There are plenty of Hana Bank branches in Seoul but as i said earlier, you need the Asiana Airlines boarding pass in order to get a better exchange rate. Anyway, the rate is already tiny bit lower than the exchange rate offered by local money changers even without the Asiana Airlines boarding pass. Besides Hana Bank, Shinhan Bank and Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) also buy MYR cash

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Oct 17 2011, 10:25 PM

That's because they don't fly into Busan. AK only flies to Seoul.

Maybank VISA debit card can be used there. Make sure you have activated your card for overseas use over any Maybank ATM. However, do note that some people have experienced some difficulties in using their Maybank VISA debit card. There is no complaint about VISA debit card or debit MasterCard from Public Bank though.

0.5% for Maybank and 1.25% for Public Bank. You can't see this separately in your account and this is calculated by your card issuer bank. Using cash is still the cheapest and most economical way.

There is. It is factored into the final exchange rate and the admin fee imposed by HSBC Malaysia for any other currency other than MYR is 1.25%. This 1.25% is not shown separately in your credit card bill.


I took A'REX (commuter line) to Seoul Station when i went there last month. I paid just KRW3,600


What's your budget ? If you are looking to pamper yourself, i'd recommend you Sheraton Seoul D Cube. It opened just about 6 weeks ago and this hotel is just awesome! This hotel has a subway station right beneath it.

Actually, i bought the A'REX Express ticket, a non-stop train service from Incheon Airport to Seoul Station. However, i took the wrong train. My Express ticket came with assigned seating and was supposed to leave at 8am. I knew something was wrong when i saw the seat arrangement is just like the usual subway train and the door suddenly closed seconds after i boarded the train. It was just 7.50am then. Anyway, they refunded me the fare difference when i reached Seoul Station

By the way, it was my first time to Seoul too last month and i really liked it. I did check the KAL Deluxe Bus and a few other bus companies that provide shuttle service to downtown Seoul but none makes a stop in Sheraton Seoul D Cube Hotel, the hotel i stayed in and A'REX was the cheapest and most convenient way to get to my hotel. Luckily the subway station is located just outside my hotel, so it wasn't hard for me to find the hotel at all Oh yeah, i had only 1 trolley luggage with me and a laptop bag. It was a 6 days 5 nights trip. Can't wait to go back again as there are many places i have not been to


Just a jacket will do.


You can bring the small umbrella which you can put into your luggage.

I did Everything was DIY and i relied solely on internet and a map of Seoul that i got from my hotel.


Not exactly don't understand. Just that their knowledge in English is limited but if you have any problem and need to ask for direction, they will try their best to help you, even if they can't speak much English. It's better if you try to learn some basic Korean language such as the numbers. Koreans have two kinds of number pronunciation.

1. Chinese-Korean numbers (also known as Sino-Korean numbers)
2. Native Korean numbers

Chinese-Korean numbers are the most important ones. This is used when calculating money.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Nov 4 2011, 06:13 PM

Yeah, Hangul is the Korean's version of ABCDEFGH... actually. It's a bit like the Chinese Han Yu Pin Yin too but without the tone in each word.

One may notice that many Koreans have the same name (written in Hangul) but the name written in Hanja may actually be different.


Those are Hanja actually, but otherwise also known as Chinese characters

Taking A'REX Commuter Line would be the cheapest option to get to downtown Seoul from Incheon Airport.

Seoul Station has it. Similar to the one at KL Sentral.

Check here.

Cheap leh ? Haha. Good to know you found it. Shop 1 has more people but Shop 2 is actually bigger (there have two shops located opposite to each other). Some albums are cheaper in Shop 1 and some are cheaper in Shop 2. I basically going back and forth between the two shops just to compare their prices

By the way, i see that you only got one free poster ? No free poster for SNSD ?

You can find many very good looking Korean in pubs in Hongdae, Gangnam etc.

That's not true. It's way higher especially if you are talking about those working in Seoul. US$2,000 - US$2,500 is more like the monthly paycheck for those high school graduates who are just starting out. Even part-timer can earn the said amount in USD.


Yes. This is more like it. However, for university graduates who are just starting out, the monthly pay is around 5 - 7 Million Won only. Know this through a friend who graduated from Seoul National University last year


You can buy KRW here in Kota Kinabalu for just RM2.85 today

Anyway, you can get an unbeatable rate at Hana Bank if you can show them an Asiana Airlines boarding pass. Bring MYR to Seoul and you can sell them the MYR directly. There is absolutely no need to change into USD here in Malaysia. I bought my KRW from Hana Bank using MYR for just KRW1000 = RM2.76


Not surprising at all. House there is super expensive.

This post has been edited by MilesAndMore: Nov 21 2011, 02:36 PM

It's one of the privileges for flying with Asiana Airlines. All you need is to show them your Asiana Airlines boarding pass and you'll get 50% preferential rate. Besides Hana Bank, you will get similar perk when you buy KRW at Shinhan Bank too but Hana Bank tends to offer better rate especially for MYR.

Below is my receipt from Hana Bank when i sold my MYR for KRW last month. I kept saying i got my KRW for RM2.76 all this while but the actual rate was only around KRW1,000 = RM2.753.



And below is my boarding pass from Asiana Airlines which entitled me for the preferential exchange rate at Hana Bank and Shinhan Bank. Unfortunately, Asiana Airlines only flies to Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia.




I couldn't agree more!