Buy online.

On the subject of KRW, the won is expected to strengthen even more against the ringgit after the election in May.

Damn.

No it won't.

I'm going again soon.

Naw. Just going for leisure.


No of course don't cancel your ticket.

Going to S.Korea still isn't as expensive as going to Japan, so there's that.

If I compare prices of food, accomodation, products between Tokyo and Seoul, Tokyo still comes up to be more expensive. But then again, I've only ever been to Tokyo once and I've been to Seoul countless times. So the comparison there may be unfair as I'm more familiar as to where to get say; the same product but for a cheaper price. You know, like how a local would?

In your experience, why is Japan is cheaper though? Would love to know so I can pre-plan better to a trip there again.

Also I know that since Japan is going to have lots of tourism promos coming up to promote their country even more due to Tokyo 2020 Olympics, so here's hoping there are some great promos.


Haha here's hoping they have great discounts for foreigners due 2018 winter olympics. Usually the country has always had great promos during these kind of events.

Always, always self-drive in Jeju. It opens up the opportunity to just vist anywhere you want on the island without being tied down to the... let's be frank here - poor public transport on the island. It's so much less stressful too.

Some small comments;

Day 2 is freaking packed, if you're gonna go from Hongdae to Lotte Tower which I'm pretty sure would already be late evening if not night time, then there is almost no point in going to Hongdae in the first place. Hongdae comes to life at night, not in the afternoon. Suggest to just skip Lotte World all together, nothing special about the observation deck to be very frank with you.

I suggest spending your time in Hongdae instead, lots of things to eat, do, and party. If you want, you can even go to a Nanta show.

Gyeongbokgung is cool and all, but it's the more popular palace and thus it's also the one with the most generalization for foreigners. Changdeokgung on the other hand is a lot more true to itself and the secret garden at this time is just BEAUTIFUL! But since you are going to the Hanok village, I guess Gyeongbokgung is the more logical palace to visit.


As a person who resided and worked in S.Korea for a few years before, yes this is a real thing.
However, it's not as widespread as that article is trying to claim. Just like you've never encountered such thing in Taiwan, can you say that it isn't happening in Taiwan?

The foreigner menu thing, that's given to foreigners because they THINK that you won't be able to eat their spicy food or in some cases - some "ahem" meats like; horse, dog, or whatever in the more extreme cases. Sometimes they are priced differently because well... the ingredients that goes into the "foreigner" menu is different too. If not sure, just ask. If don't know how to ask, then too bad - learn how to ask.

I personally has never, ever (not even once in my 3 years at S.Korea) been given a foreigner menu though, not even in foreigner infested areas like Myeongdong.


As for transport, lol if you take subway how the heck is the subway going to cheat you? If you mean taxi drivers, they always use the meter BUT their meter is counted based on how far the distance from point A to B is.
There are obviously drivers who would take a long route, but at the same time how are they going to earn if the passenger wants to go from say Gyeongbokgung palce to Changdeokgung palace? The route is like 5 minutes tops (with moderate traffic), the petrol used to get there would cost nearly as much. So how? Charge 2000 yen and call it a day?

As for clothes, pandai pandai lah. Who ask to buy at flea markets when you know they were all imported directly from China anyways. Same thing in Malaysia what.


Finally, what makes you think tour agencies aren't scamming their customers either? I look at their itineraries and I know some of the places aren't even tourist worthy, many of them are questionable. But let ignorance be bliss right?

Your "simple question" was "I heard my friend said... blah blah blah" then I read this link "saying blah blah blah".

No, you didn't talk about buying clothes but you gave an example so I was clarifying that example:

As for the tour thing, I was clarifying the "Advised its better to take tour" sentence. But no, you didn't claim anything about tour agencies not scamming others. I said that to make a point to compare it back to you where the "advice" to take tour over free and easy is a better option.

And finally the taxi fare, I'm not justifying them. I'm simply giving you a POV form their perspective. Just like in KL, there are almost an equal amount of shitty taxi drivers in Seoul. Does that make you feel better then if I said that instead?

I didn't put a single word in your mouth, you took my words and think it's already in your mouth.

Did I sound like I had prejudice against you? I was straight forward to the point and if that's offensive, then I'm sorry you feel that way.
I meant no offense and yeah, take it how you will then.

Okay then. If you think they're invalid, then it's invalid in your view. Nothing wrong with that.
Similarly, you're the one behaving in a toxic way now. Sorry for hurting your brittle and fragile feelings.

Peace, kid.

Definitely no.2.

I mean, ask yourself this question; what's the point of a vacation? To relax right?
So if you pack your schedule and end up more busy than your workday, what's the point of travelling? To waste money and time?

Have a few planned places, but don't have anything concrete. Just go, go wherever! That's 'travelling' in its very core essence. The problem with having 30 places to go and just a 10 days stay (for example), you end up forgetting more than half the places you visit when you leave the country. You aren't experiencing anything, you were just going through it.

In addition to all the input everyone has given you;

One more thing you have to take note is that many restaurants will serve you a portion according to how many people is on your table. So if you have 2 people, you cannot order a single person meal and the other person watch you eat.
Similarly, there are also restaurants (usually kbbq) that will only allow a minimum of at least 2 patrons in order to eat. Many single-loners will not be entertained.

I know so many people got this culture shock when they go to Korea and don't understand why this is a big deal.

Most doesn't, although technically you could say - I'm ordering for 2, but one of my friends ffk mid meal or something. But you better make sure you can finish the food of course.

That said, recently there has been a few "forever-alone" kbbq restaurants that popped up in Seoul.

Example - http://www.hankookilbo.com/v/81f9099620b54...bffb52a0c69cc45

It's in Bucheon though.

Culture habit passed down from hundreds of years ago. No use questioning it now, it's never going to change. More youngsters these days are opposed to it, but at the same time when they go into their work life, they'll come back one full circle to simply accept the fact one must eat with friends/families.

But economically speaking, it's cheaper for the restaurant to sell you 2 pax of meat vs 1 pax. So there's that, they end up earning more.

Rent a wifi egg and call it a day. Don't need to bother with sim card. The price difference isn't even that big of a difference anyways, so I'm always bemused when people are fussy over this.

Free wifi is available in many parts of Seoul, but not all areas.

Jeju, only in the city you'll get free wifi coverage.

7AM - 3AM usually for Dongdaemun. Namdaemun now a days is almost like 24 hours, they don't actually have an "official" time, no one follows it.

That said, understand that there are stores that open and close at their own designated time. It's impossible to list out each store's business hours.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Jul 13 2017, 06:41 PM

Down jacket not needed generally, unless you really cannot tahan cold. It only gets harsh early Dec.

Yes, enough time provided no delay. It's not like in Seoul where you have to actually transfer to a different airport (Incheon to Gimpo) - train ride itself nearly 40 minutes.

You touch down at Gimhae airport and leave from Gimhae. No travel needed, just don't linger around and you should be fine.

You guys don't have to follow the speed limit to the dot. After going to Jeju several times, all I'm told is to just follow the Koreans instead of following the GPS. When you see people slow down, then it's a confirm 100% working camera. If you see GPS saying there is camera and no one slow down but instead speed up, then it's a fake camera. If no one in front of you, then you just slow down.

Plenty of people will honk kao you if you drive at 70 in the highway.

You save lots of time and I'm not kidding, I reached seongsan from seogwipo in 45 minutes to an hour most of the time.

If this was 2012, enough.

2017? Lol. Why bother having a vacation?