Hi, as some forumers pointed out, it snowed a few days ago and it's very windy right now. wunderground.com says it's max 16 celcius and coldest at 0 degree at night while timeanddate.com hovers between -3 to 12 degrees.

Now I'm confused about what's to bring and wear when I'm there next week. Do I still need gloves, beanie cap and boots to stay warm? Initially I'm planning to just wear jeans, sandals, cardigans and normal jackets but now I wonder if they are sufficient.

Thanks tenten. Then my initial plan is ok.. Just may need to change the sandals to shoes and stocking.

khchong81, I'm departing this sunday too. Have you checked the seats they had assigned to you via web check in? My husband and I were assigned 3 rows apart. Now thinking whether to pay RM35 or not to get side by side seats.

Mine is about that price too.. still thinking to prebook or not to.

Mostly suggested Yeuido, while some said Namsan. I'm planning to check out Namsan Park first.

Talking about radiation, will it be safe to try out the seafood at Noryangjin Fish Market?

I'm wondering if they would conceal the origins of where the fish were caught is asked. But we can never know where those fish had swam before they were caught. Noryangjin fish market had been on the top of my itinerary and now this happened....

Nami Island is just for Winter Sonata fanatics? No other attraction than the 2 row pine trees?

Thanks stimix. Nami Island will then remain on my itinerary. And I would still try Noryangjin Fish Market.

I've PMed you.

PMed you.

Sien.. that's why my luggage is the heaviest of all my travelling history this time.

In Seoul now. Too bad there's no cherry blossom yet, everywhere are dried leafless and flowerless trees.
For anyone going to namsan seoul tower and if you're the type who can't stand cold (like me) please bring thick clothes. I wear singlet + tops + cardigan + jacket and still can't stand it when the wind blows. Somehow we noticed it's particularly cold at time between 7 - 9 pm. Luckily I brought gloves. Going to buy a beanie tomorrow.

If planning to go back hotel using metro, please do so early because some station close quite early. We nearly got stranded because the flight delay and by the time we reached Seoul Station at 11.30pm, we heard the metro staff telling some people that their destination's last train is over. Our destination to jongno-3-ga still operating, but by the time we reached there, the station is closed & they won't let us exit using the exit nearest to our hotel. So we spent the a long time finding our hotel.

It's really hard to find someone who can speak english or mandarin here, except myeongdong area.

Agreed! I went Dongdaemun today and it's a big dissappointment. A simple shirt's price starts at 6000 won while some ciplak jacket is around 60K and above. For that price i might as well buy jacket from Zara in Msia.

BTW, is there any VAT for stuffs purchased at Faceshop, Innisfress, Nature Republic etc? I don't understand their receipt lah..

This post has been edited by fraulein: Apr 5 2011, 11:22 PM

Fish Market? Must try their fish spicy soup that comes together with sashimi. Very delicious that we scrapped the bottom of the pot!

you can try this malay lady who stayed in korea's blog. budgettravel2korea.blogspot.

Impossible.....
We communicate using drawing and writing chinese on my notepad.
Try Lotte and Young Plaza, there are even more 'out of this world' leng lui...

It's raining in Seoul now and it's freezing cold ..

I was expecting to see a lot of leng chai too but maybe I missed the night spots and pubs so didn't manage to see much. The only leng chai I saw is one that jaga the subway station guy, I forgot which station, maybe Chungmuro station.

Jang Geun Seuk & Lee Min Ho is everywhere you turned but ONLY... on t shirts, posters, ads and even on stockings..
My poor favourite Im Ju Hwan only got his face at STCO outlet.

My hubby is the untung one, can see so many leng luis.

Ho... any radiation spotted in Seoul on that day? I was at Nami Island and got a lot of rain on me too..

When I was coming back yesterday, weather was getting better and I only need to wear my cardigan. But still, better bring a thick, wind resistant type jacket.

Anyone going back to Msia using AirasiaX, please make sure you ate dinner and bought everything you need before heading for Incheon airport. All the shops in Incheon closed at 9 pm.

Can anyone tell me what's the normal working hour for Seoulites? I can't help wondering why there's a lot of people heading to work at 10 am and by 4.30 pm all office guy and lady were all over the street. I thought Koreans are one of the nations that have the longest working hour.

This post has been edited by fraulein: Apr 9 2011, 04:52 PM

Thanks SSJBen.

No wonder the office ladies were all over the place by evening.

Been there, done that and got really bored...
That's why I wonder why the Korean girls keep shopping and shopping any day any time, like they don't have to work..

One thing I noticed, the Korean girls are not slim like models, like we always saw in Kdrama. Their S size cutting are a bit bigger while most of them buy M size. I didn't see any XS. But their makeup technics and dressings are really

Korean guys, I think most of them looks very 'original'.


Oh one more thing. The Koreans that we met are 2 extreme opposites, either very kind or very very rude. We asked an uncle how to get to Bukchon Hanok Village, and he brought us all the way there and even became our free tour guide. He talked the guard into letting us into Baek Inje's house in Gahoe Dong even though it's closed for renovation. 2 Korean ladies seeing that we only eat Samgyetang at Tosokchon, belanja us to eat seafood pancake. A few Korean girls we met at Noryangjin, spent the whole hour helping us to find a good seafood stall and restaurant & helped us to bargain with the fish monger even though they don't understand what we're saying. They even bargained until the fish monger gave us some free oysters and octopus.

On the rude side. when we need to looked at our map, we stand aside (like there's already a wall behind us) so we won't obstruct the people walking. But still some rude Koreans use their hands to push us aside because they want to walk the tiny little space between us and the wall. This happened many times by older or younger Koreans - like they're already accustomed to pushing people with their hands. When asking for way (I just want to show them the hangul name of the place), some ignore us and quickly walked away like we're some sort of smelly beggars.


This post has been edited by fraulein: Apr 10 2011, 09:50 AM

Not only subway but pedestrian walkways and shopping center too. If we pushed someone in that way in Msia, surely will start a fight already.

Stimix,
drunk men hugging each other - checked.
drunk men holding each other's hand - checked
drunk man follow and talking to us all the way in Seoul station - checked
drunk men fighting - checked
salesman on MRT - checked
salesman doing sampling on MRT- checked
homeless guys having a small compartment made out of boxes as their sleeping place outside subway station - checked

beggars begging on MRT? Now, that's something new to me.

Depends on what time you arrived back from Jeju, if you'll be in Seoul only by evening, better put Insadong and Itaewon to another day.

How about slotting in Nami Island? We enjoyed there a lot. We ta pao a lot of food and had picnic there, but there's a few restaurants if you don't wanna ta pao. Just check on whether it's going to rain or not on that day. You can take a bus from Insadong to Nami Island. The fee is 23,000 per person for return trip inclusive ferry fee. But time is only 9.30am and come back at 4pm.

Not sure if you wanna go 2 palaces or not. I highly anticipated Gyeongbokgung but when I visited, I got bored very quickly. Unlike other nation that decorates their palaces with grandeur and collections, Gyeongbokgung is very simple (Confucianism concept). Not sure about the palace museum though cause it's close on the day I visit.

Namdaemun is better to go in the early morning when there's less crowd but all shops are open. By evening, some of the shops are closed already except the food streets.

If you like skincare and cosmetic, you'll be spending a lot of time in Myeongdong. I myself went back there 3 times. BTW, don't miss out Lotte Young Plaza. They have promotions at their Ground level and I managed to get a good and cheap trench coat there.

This post has been edited by fraulein: Apr 12 2011, 01:14 AM

For anyone planning to rent iPhone there, the free 5 days rental promotion had ended. I had to pay the rental but got 50% discount la because we have coupon.