+1 to Wiyo.

Currently in Jeju, as of this post. I get around 15mbps down and up in the city, the east and the South rural areas.

Was at seoul for a day as well and got 30mbps down in the subway. Definitely faster if on a more open space with even better coverage.

Most importantly, coverage has been very good overall. Wiyo uses LG U+ btw, it's one of the big 3 companies in Korea. Not some unknown telco.

Offtopic - those planning to come to Jeju in the next few weeks be prepared to endure daily rain from dusk till night. It's not heavy but it's drizzly enough that it can and will hamper activities.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Sep 28 2016, 06:21 PM

You pay when you are there. Your reservation is secured until the day you arrive. No show with no prior notice will generally mean that you are black listed from future reservations.

I suggest to avoid Gyeongju for now because they are undergoing a lot of repair works due to the earthquake a few weeks ago. A lot of places are closed or have no entry for visits. Don't waste time there.

As for ethnic food that isn't commercialized or catered towards foreigners, basically it's available almost everywhere in Seoul. Look for small stalls (usually only 2-4 tables available) and menus with no English. But just be prepared to speak some basic Korean otherwise you end up not knowing what you order or the server gets annoyed (trust me on the latter, VERY common scene here).

Depends which stall you go to. Unlike the big chain restaurants, the small ones usually only sell 1 certain type of food.

So for example if you want kbbq, you have to know if you want pork or you want beef. Some only serve pork and no beef, or some just specializes in beef while pork is more of an after thought.

If you are not sure, you can always just ask "mwoga massitseoyo?". If you can read Korean, it'll be easier as you can just read the menu items and Google it up.

Although places like Itaewon, Insadong, Myeongdong and Hongdae are quite foreigner filled now a days, there are still restaurants that only native Koreans go to. Just follow in, worse come to worse ask politely for help from a native.

1 week in Seoul is absolutely not enough, even if you have a very concise itinerary. If want to chill and just relax, then don't try and go to places like seoraksan at the peak of fall season (November). The amount of time you have to spend going there because of so many visitors will be crazy to say the least.

Seoul is a much bigger city than what maps would suggest. If it isn't for the amazing subway stations they have, traveling time would be very long indeed.

Yeah well that's true. But I do feel that for example if people would like to visit the palaces in Seoul, rushing through them is quite a waste. Take the time to look at the structures, take pictures, understand the history, and it all becomes really mesmerizing.

I cannot imagine covering 3 different places in 9 days lol.. the rush is madness.

Good list there.
I think you have most of it covered. The only thing I'd add in regards to galbi is that I suggest you try to get grade A haneul. It's very expensive yes, but at least try it once in a lifetime.

Basically just say "chweigo hanu", which means you want the best one. Although haneul (or hanu) does mean grade A beef, there are still variations of it. Also make sure you order the specific part of the cow you want. Ribs, shoulder, sirloin, etc. etc.

You could say it's Korea's equivalent to wagyu, but personally I think they do taste different. Both are awesome of course.

Because when BBQ'd properly, the fat really seeps into the meat and make it extremely juicy and succulent.

Try heukdwaeji samgyeopsal once and you won't look back, ever again. I'm talking about the real good black pigs from Hwaeoreum or Surakan restaurant in Jeju, not the commercialized nonsense in black pork street. Yes it is fattening, not even going to deny it. But you can only have the real good ones here (and even that, only a few places). It's worth it once in a very, very long while.

If eat everyday then say hello to heart attack.

2 of my favorite places
- 양촌리 (yangchonri)
- 마포숫불갈비 (matpo sutbul galbi)

Yangchonri is in Bogeunsa-ro, Gangnam. Next to GLAD Live hotel, which I usually stay at. It's 24 hours and the nice thing about this restaurant is that they have every part of a cow you can think of.

As for matpo sutbul, it's also in Gangnam, Nonhyun area. You probably have heard or seen this restaurant before on dramas or something, but the hype is real. Freaking meat here is fantastic stuff! Problem is that it is almost always full, so if you really want to go perhaps go for a late lunch or dinner time as they are open 24 hours.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Oct 6 2016, 04:22 PM

To me, solo in Jeju is very nice. You can just go where ever you want on the island and just chill like no tomorrow. It's peaceful if you ask me, especially when you go on non-peak season.

Jeonju is very nice also. It's not very "touristy" yet, but getting more and more popular.

Go solo, then seriously rent a car man. There's no reason not to rent a car in Jeju IMO, unless one can't drive.

Used to. Not anymore.

I think should be just enough to squeeze into the locker. Honestly if cannot, just put it next to you where you sleep. I've seen people putting their huge-ass luggages next to them while they sleep too.

As long as you don't go to those jjimjilbang frequented by the local gangsters, you should be very well taken care of in terms of safety. Not that the "dodgy" looking ones are not safe, rather you just may not be allowed to enter in the first place.

Generally safety in Seoul is quite good, nearly comparable to Singapore if you ask me. There are a lot of cameras all over the place, many of which are not easily seen by the public unless they know where to look.

Honestly, you should look out for other foreigners instead of the locals there. Especially the PRC people... they take whatever that is not theirs, as if it belongs to them.

IME, the moment you speak Korean and you have an accent, they will usually reply you in Mandarin. Happened to me long ago when I first went to Korea to work, especially since I was in Busan. I couldn't understand the dialect in Busan at all, so it was very awkward for me as I studied the language with Seoul dialect.
The only way I got over it was I kept speaking in Korean despite the difference in accent and my still poor vocabulary at that time, eventually people will just be like "oh whatever.. I'll just speak in Korean". That's the only way to realistically improve in the language.

And I do agree that recently, many locals are starting to get a little more "unpolite". The youngster ones are kind of mix 50/50, many of them are like brainwashed to being "westernized" now a days. Then the middle-age ones, they're either very polite or they give zero F about who you are.
The older ones... don't need to say la. It's built into their blood to be as rude as possible because age = superiority in Korea.

But generally, it's really still not that bad. I mean compared to other Asian countries like China for example... lol, Koreans are like angels.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Oct 13 2016, 01:45 PM

Naww.. I'm back in Malaysia now. Was working in Busan MBC for 1 and a half years back in 2010-2012. The first 4-5 months was so, so difficult! I could barely understand people and people couldn't understand me. Had to rely on friends from Seoul to actually "translate" the dialect lol!

Won't say I'm very fluent la haha. Enough to go wherever and do mostly anything without much trouble. I only had issues when it comes to very official settings, but fortunately I wasn't involved in that most of the time.

Now a days just going back to S.Korea is just for leisure only. Language is no big deal.


If you ask me, Busan is more like JB in size. But people do say Busan is better is because it's somewhat less hectic there. Things are calmer in Busan, more laid back. People are also generally nicer there, you can see less stress in their faces. They're also not so worried about every single little thing about what's "right" and what's "wrong".

Going to Seoul is like going to a significantly better KL. That's how I see it and that's the general feeling. When I ask Koreans who has came to KL and stayed here for years, they always say that KL is like the older generation of Seoul, they're just a few years back on basically everything.
For them it's like traveling in time back to Seoul when they are in KL. I feel the same way when going to Seoul, it's like a KL that should already be as advanced and modernized as Seoul, but sadly isn't for whatever million reasons.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Oct 13 2016, 05:12 PM

Yeah, totally enjoyed my time in MBC even though it was difficult. Well if there's ONE thing that KL does beat Seoul in is probably the shopping malls. I mean, IMO we have Pavillion, KLCC, Paradigm, the whole Star Hill thing... yeah COEX, D-Cube, Lotte, Times Square... yeah they're there but really not as well done as our super shopping malls.

I asked Seoul-borned Koreans and they feel the same way. Not that they can't shop for anything they ever wanted though of course.


Never tried u10. But if using SK telecom, the coverage is indeed very good. 500mb should generally be enough, just don't keep loading google maps over and over.


Oh yeah! LOOOVE the way they do tax refund in Seoul now a days. Most places offers instant tax refund now, don't need to line up like a fool in the airport anymore.

Haha had many young ones try to speak konglish to me. Hilarious but at least they try.

Yeah exactly! Korean language is the polar opposite of English. Different sentence structures. I don't know mandarin either (which is the easiest language to transition from to Korean due to the many similarities).

But lately there are more and more loan words from English into Konglish. Won't be surprising in a decade or so time, the Korean language will be very rojak like our "malay" language now a days.




No offense to guesthouses, but tried once, never again. It was a regretful experience.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Oct 14 2016, 04:09 PM

I... don't know. I like more privacy and I don't like to fuss about "cleaning your own plates" and being "quiet" at night. And the beds... haha, never again.

Really, no offense to guesthouses as I'm sure there are good ones. It's just not for me. I'd rent a short-term serviced apartment or just stay in a hotel.


Cold? I wished it was colder just a couple of weeks ago.

This post has been edited by SSJBen: Oct 14 2016, 10:46 PM