Korea in Spring - Cherry Blossoms


hi irene i m goin with my hubby
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honeymoon. i will be extending for 3 days for shpg.
Departing on 15th n returning on 25th nite.

Tks for ur tips! looking forward to the trip
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irene_lim

New Member
hi sushi,

wow... so u manage to extend 3 more days in Seoul. which hotel will u be putting up at? ve u start packing?

ya, i'm excited for u too!

sushi, if u've any personal question u can private e-mail me too. i look forward to ur question as long as i can help.

cheers
 

whiteveil

New Member
Hi Sushi

which tour group r u with? mi departing on the 15th too!

hw much per person per nite for extension? is it too late for me to extend?
 
hi whiteveil i m with CTC u ley?? me goin jeju..
extension u hv to check with ur agency le..

hi irene yeah cos 24th flight is full so i hv no choice but to extend 3 days instead of 2 ..
i hvnt pack yet..busy bussy...gotta work tomorrow . hvnt book my hotel but most prob will settle with ROYAL highly rec., by my coll who went there twice
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let me think of que to ask u..heee..
whiteveil let me check my receipt..i changed currency yday..didnt change alot but i hope its enuff for my shpg! extension per pax is add $100 for airline admin charge.
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi Sushi,

e exchange has drop quite a bit.

tomorrow is a holiday and u still got to work! but pls remember to pack some clothings that can keep you warm and a good jacket too.

u take care and hear from you again when u come back, oki.

enjoy ur trip and please relax & drink lots of water, remember is your honeymoon!

cheers
 
hi irene, tried pte msg u cant le.

hmm do u know HOW to get to NAMI island? is it difficult to go? wonder besides shpg wat can we do to make full use of our time during the extension..my hubby keen on nami island. think we hv to take a boat or sthing..

Have u heard of a restn called SABOTEN? think its a jap restn , they hv diff branches..my gf was raving abt the food!
 

irene_lim

New Member
hi sushi,

i've just e-mail u w my e-mail add.

i took a boat to nami island, it was included in the tour package. I understand from my tour guide is quite easy to travel around in seoul as their mrt ve 4 language.
 

irene_lim

New Member
hi sushi,

re u still on line? i found out the way to go to nami island in e web.

1 go to tour2korea
2 under search key nami island
3 click on e first search result

from there u can read how u can go to nami island.

hope it does help you.

Cheers
 

whiteveil

New Member
Hi all

i just changed my korean won today at change alley...got it at 1SGD=594 won. aldy the best for today cos korea won is getting stronger recently
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i only changed 1500sgd for mi and husband. is it enough? dun think i will buy any fake goods there. maybe just buy some food, sovenior, skincare and clothes.

Sushi, i am with SA tours.....tour leader is Joey.

departing on sat nite....so excited!! :p
 
hi whiteveil tink we will meet at airport on sat? :p u travelling by asiana? i need to be airport row 8 at 8.30pm ...

aiya i tot got kaki liao..but u with SA ..
i only change $800 sgd of korean won & $300 of USD..cos worried if nthing to buy (possible? hehe) i will come back with so many won mah..so i change USD too.
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi sushi & whiteveil,

so excited for both of u! dun forget to come back to share ur trip, oki!

Whiteveil,

yes, i think won become stronger i changed 1SGD - 603won. wow... u change so much! my last trip, got a couple change 2000SGD, it e end they ve to change back & also change to others who need.

Hi sushi,

what made u change USD? but i think is a very wise choice, USD is still better than any other money. DFS in hotel price in USD & so is ginseng shop.

Cheers
 

whiteveil

New Member
oh....u changed USD? aiya....now i regretted abit liao...cos scare have too much korean won left
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should have changed some in USD too.....

i changed all won cos my tour guide said 1k might not be enough for two of us
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thanks for all the tips....will update u all when im back on the 22nd!

Cheers!
 
hi irene & whiteveil, yeah..afrad too much won n i cant finish using it..so change abit of this n that ..now i worry WON not enuff haha..but my USD is stand by la..if not enuff hv to resort to the ATM liao..

hi irene, tks for ur email..i will figure out (maybe from tour guide) how to get a shuttle back to airport...cabs there really ex le.. no time to do my research liao..i hvnt pack yet! n leaving tonite! hehe..

Whiteveil enjoy ur trip too!
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truffle

New Member
Hi, i just came back from Korea. Went Yeouido Park and was a bit disappointed. I find that the sight of cherry blossoms trees not so spectacular. The park is not fully lined with cherry Blossom trees. It's like 1 or 2 full bloom trees at this corner, 3 or 4 trees at that corner, another 2 trees at this end.

I think those in Tokyo much nicer...even some roads in Seoul or Jeju look better than the park. Some roads are fully lined with cherry blossom trees.

Here are some of my other feedbacks

Myeongdong:
Personally, I lurve this place. I like the clothes there. But things are not cheap. I did manage to get a few pieces of clothes at 10,000 won or less (about S$16). It's a very vibrant place and there are lot of restaurants/eateries here. Even if you are not into their kind of fashion, i think it's worth a look here just to soak into their atmostphere.

If you pass by Hotel Savoy in the heart of Myeongdong itself, there is this restuarant selling Ginseng chicken and roasted chicken. Can't recall the name of the rest. but they have this window displaying all the roasted chicken. Ginseng chicken costs 10,000 won (abt S$16) and the roasted chicken set (not whole chicken) costs 6900 won. Not bad.

If you pass by this shop with two large teddy bears sitting on a bench near their entrance, you can buy the teddy bears from them if you're into it. The bears are from the Teddy bear musuem in Jeju. Been to the musuem in jeju and whatever the musuem have, this shop also sells. I haven had a chance to try their ice cream, but looks yummy.

Another point, Myeong dong may appear a bit messy and maze like. But if you have a strong sense of direction or have spent a whole day there, it's not difficult to navigate.

Dongdaemun
Basically 3 or 4 big shopping malls are the main attraction here. Migliore, Doota (at Doosan Tower), Freya Town etc.

Inside these malls are made up of little stalls. Not our typical shopping centre with different departments. Do note that most stalls sells repetitive merchandise. So you can ask for the price then look around to compare. Must remember your way back though. And you can bargain. It's worth comparing prices as the price difference can be quite a fair bit.

There are no fitting rooms. So either you try to slip it on under your skirt/over your pants or guage the size. My advise is that, once you've gone back to the hotel to check that the skirt fits you. The next few days when you go shopping, bring that skirt with the perfect fit. Then you use that skirt as a bench mark.

I find that the things here are all exp. At least in Myeongdong, there are a lot of pushcarts/stalls with cheaper priced clothes/shoes.

Migliore and Doota open till 5am in the morn. But Migliore is closed on Mon or Tue. Not sure of Doota. Nev been to Freya..so no comments. There's another Migliore at Myeongdong but the operating hour is different.

Namdaemun
It's a mix of clothes (mostly tees and not that much fashion wear), fake bags, snacks, food, dried goods, accessories etc. This is an open air huge market. Some of my friends prefer this place to Dongdaemun. But personally I feel otherwise.

Itaewon
I hate this place. Hamilton Shopping centre is downright boring. The whole area mostly selling leather jackets, fur coats, clothes with leopard prints etc..a handful of pubs but don't look very safe to me. A lot of foreigners...to me, this place absolutely sucks.

Sinchon/Ewha Women Univeristy area
It's like a small town on it's own. Cafes, little shops selling clothes and accessories in the area. Very nice ambience. I think it's worth coming here for a look see.

Gangnam area
A little out of the way. But if you do pass by here (if you're going to take a bus from here to Everland or Mt Seorak), it's quite a crowded place..with shops and restuarnts etc.

Do try their streetside snacks. Their version of pizza not bad. They have this deepfried hotdog pastry which my fren adores but i don't. I do not like their rice cake (you will see a lot of vendors selling at the subway). Do try Lotteria, korean fastfood. Not bad. Their shrimp burger is nice.

Overall, very enjoyable trip. I like Korea! But it's quite costly. If you like their fashion, you're going to shop till you drop there. Right now, they wear a lot of high heels. With jeans/pants/short skirts (it's cold but yes, they wear short skirts).

I feel that travelling F&E in Seoul city is pretty easy. Their metro system is quite easy. Not as difficult as Tokyo. However, out of seoul, transportation not so accessible. Mostly have to take buses with long journey hours, if not gotta take domestic flights which is so exp.

But i agree that package tour is so much cheaper then F&E. Ultimately, it depends on individual budget and travelling style. I have this adventurous streak in me and i hate rigidity so package tours are out for me. Cost wise, it's better to take package or take basic package and extend on your own.

Hope the above is informative
 

woof

New Member
hi gals,
i intend to travel to korea in June but den cant decide which agency to go wif? however, i m attracted to CTC KTX train (bullet train).....oso it will bring me to Mt Maisan...as compared to Mt Maisan to Mt Sorak, which one is more worth watching? pls advise...
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi d woof,

I travel w hong thai, u can check out w them. during my tour, both e guide & leader were excellent but it all still depend on you.

Re u talking abt mt hallsan? e last time when i was in Korea, i went to mt sorak but did not really went all e way up so i think u better check w e agent whether e guide going bring u guys up e mountain! But I enjoyed Songan Sunrise Peaks in Jeju. re u going to Jeju too?

cheers
 

woof

New Member
hello irene lim,
thanx for ur info...oh yes, the package tat i m keen in has jeju too...how much did u pay for ur package? oso did u spend a lot?
 
hey guys! i m in korea now! another 3 more days then i will be back in sg!

3 days back i was at yong pyong resort..it was SNOWING! haha! its really rare during SPRING & the temp was -2.2 degrees. Had fun playing snow war with my tour members..we went crazy! will pop in here again when i m back..now to myong dong for shpg...urrr things here are quite EX fyi...

Have a great wkend ladies!
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi d woof,

I paid $1440 including taxes. did not really spend a lot. but the most is e mask, keychain & Korean pouch & seaweed. and the most expensive is Korean ginseng powder.

So... for e ctc package, where re e places u'll be going? how much does it cost? where do intend to go?

Cheers
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi sushi,

so good spending another 3 days there. remember to share with me when u come back. ya things re not cheap but their local products re cheap. things like mask from face shop & seaweed!

oh.. by e way, how is ur tour guide & leader??? re they nice people & helpful?

Cheers
 
hi irene, yeah i think i burst my budget :p me & hubby went to ATM to cash more $$ for food & trpt..just got back from NAMI ISLAND today , nice place but it rained
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happy we came back safe & sound haha..i m a worry freak, worry i will get lost :p

My sg guide is a nice guy..korean tour guide is a lady she is 'ok' no complains except our itenery changed on our very first day! dunno if it's common for them to do this..but i guess nthing much we can do.

Come back n chat with u further...now goin to dongdaemun to work some calories...hee. hv a good week ahead!
 

woof

New Member
hey irene lim,
finally i signed up wif SA...i compared the price wif HOng tHai n after calculating, SA is cheaper by a little...moreover the itinery is almost the same...i paid $1527 in all n will be gng on a 8D+ jeju...

any other advise...wat r the things tat muz go or muz buy n things that can forgo...
 

whiteveil

New Member
hi all

im back from korea! really enjoyed myself kekeke.....

weather there is really cold with strong winds! prepare to bring more warm clothing there!

feel free to ask me anything abt korea
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magic_alz

Active Member
hello everyone!
i've been to korea 4 years back in winter n LOVED it!
planning to go korea in 1st week of june for honeymoon..have asked my korean friend there how the weather is like in summer n he said 23-27 C n its quite hot..
supposing he doesnt know what singaporean 'hot' weather is, can i just ask if the weather in early june is really 'hot'? i kinda like the cold weather...cool enough to wear my nice trench coat which i bought in HK last dec..? heheh.. or is a simple cardigan enough?
 

irene_lim

New Member
Hi d woof,

Can i know how much did hong thai offer u? what happened to ctc tt u mention earlier?

when re u leaving? i heard from a friend there, e weather is still pretty cold so if u're someone who's afraid of cold then u better get prepare. when there's no wind still not so bad but when e wind blow.... u must bring ur own shopping bag as e shop there some will charge u for a plastic bag. in fact e staff there're not cheap, u can buy their local products like seaweed, mask from face shop, a pc of mask cost 1000won which is abt S$1.60 is much cheaper then s'pore. their korean ginseng is not cheap but they famous for it. if u're keen to buy, u can prepare some US dollar as they price it @ US but it all depend on u. if u're a strawberry lover is e season now. is huge & sweet, can buy some back home. of course is cheaper then S'pore too. remember their local product.

did u read e message tt i posted earlier? u can read them as i do mention where to buy what & is cheaper.

u still can ask me if u ve any more question, oki.

Cheers
 

woof

New Member
hello irene lim,
hong thai offers me $1349 + $241 (tax).....CTC din go MT Sorak so i heard tat this place is beautiful so i opt out lor...as i mentioned b4...the thing tat attracts me is onli the bullet train included.....
i m leaving in June..itz summer so i dun tink itz cold rite.....

i read ur previous thread....tks...
 

my_rock_baby

New Member
Hi,
Just went to Korea tour (8 days with Jeju) with SA tour from 14/04 to 21/04, paid $1547 inclusive of taxes. Overall enjoyed the trip, especially the weather. I just love coldddd weather. I love Mt Sorak and Sunrise Peak the best :D .
Have bought a lot of their local product and love every bit of them (in fact, still think did not buy enough). I bought their seaweed, chocolate (the one with the purple cartus fruit in between), orange concentrate puree (for mixing with water to drink), ginseng / green tea / black sesame sweet, ginseng powder, face mask (they are darm cheap, a big pack of 10 for $16.50 only, however find the shape of the face mask not really suitable for asian face, theirs is more board and shorter, maybe because the people there are of mongolian "genes" and their face are squarish), plenty of nail polish (from THE FACE SHOP/SKIN FOOD/MISSHA, each one only $1.65 wowhaaaa :D), etc etc.
 

my_rock_baby

New Member
have photo, but I got no time to upload yet ... I took 1000+ photo and delete till left with 700+ and I printed out 300 nia haa. I will try to do the uploading this long weekend, hopefully :D
My tour leader is Ronald (quite nice chap, always making sure that we get out keys immediately once we reach hotel to checkin, no hassle) Our tour guide is James, he is a "San tong ren" (father from China and he born in Korea). He is able to speak perfect Mandarin without much Chinese ascent. And he has very good knowledge of Korea. He so good, when we request him to bring us to buy imitation he also ok with it, even bring us to the shop to buy haaaa. And he always ask the tour bus to stop along the way to our destination, just because certain part is nice for taking picture. We even stop at Hard Rock Cafe to do 15 minutes shopping haa.
However, the only
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thing is the tour guide assistant, u know, the person who follow us to take picture and help out and end of the day we need to buy picture from him .. .hai, I had some argument with that fellow (his name is Rambo) because I did not purchase enough photo to cover the effort he puts in during our 8 days tour
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So I learnt something from package tour, never never allow them to take extra picture of u (except for group photo). These photo not cheap leh, each one cost SGD 9.

I also hate the tipping part, because find that it cost sooo much. Imagine each adult needs to opay US$2 for tour leader, US$2 for tour guide and US$1.50 for driver PER DAY. And kids is 50% discount. So end of the day my family of 3 adults and 1 kid pay US$140 in tips!!! haiz.. no choice, package tour is like that loh...

It was snowing in Mt Sorak for few days during mid April but we miss that one because we were at Pusan when it snow in Mt Sorak .. hai so old liao haven seen snow before... but we manage to see nice cherry blossom on our way up to Mt Sorak :D
 

maple_leaves

New Member
Hi beautiful,

I m new to this thread...

My mum,sis & I went to korea in Oct which was their autumn season... actuali veri much depends on wat u like.. For us, we wanted to see scenery esp maple leaves so we choose to go during Oct last yr... The weather was reali cooling abt 19-22 degree.. but colder at nite.. Its jus like a mega aircon ard u wherever u go.. hehehe... If u were to ask me i would say autumn is the best timing..
But if u r going for shopping then autumn will nt be a gd idea liao... coz they r selling winter & thicker clothings liao... Hence, spring will be a better idea then...

But actuali i also hv intention to go to their spring to see their nice flowers & scenery.. I have a tour member,she been to korea for 4 times.. (which tat time is the 4th time) to experience the 4 diff season n she stil enjoys it... Hope this helps..
 

kkjc0517

New Member
hi,

any 1 going to korea soon?
I just came back from Korea, have some currency left, 107000 won. thinking of exchanging back to S$ at the same rate I changed at, the rate is not bad at 605. so that will make 107000 won = S$176.85.but $176 will do :>

if interested, kindly PM me. Thanks so much!
 

lazybride08

New Member
hihi, i m planning to go Koera early march. anyone know the weather during that period? it is on time to see cherry blossoms trees?
 

nelle

New Member
Plan to go Korea too, to see the chery blossoms.
I guess late March to early April will be a good time?
 
hi i think early march is too early..when i went for my HM in 2006..date was 12 Apr...just in time for cherry blossoms! n...it was snowing on one of the nites! beautiful!
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buttonsjackr

New Member
Thinking of going to Korea in early March too. Was looking at the package offered by HongTai- Cultural one (not the All in Delux). Has any one taken that package before? It seems the All in Deluxe seems more popular here.
 

tingshen

New Member
We are going 2 weeks later. Free & Easy, will be staying at Incheon and probably go down to Seoul. Any nice place you would recommend? Mind sharing your experience and the places of interest? We will be there for 1 full week.
 

cheekybee

New Member
I had my honeymoon at Korea too last Dec! We went FREE & EASY 11 days...although quite tiring but very fun!! We spent more time in Seoul though. Went up Yong Pyong to ski and Mount Seorak ourselves. Also went Daejjangum Theme Park and Suwon Fortress. Weather was freezing cos' around 0 degrees and we saw falling snow! Think March is a nice time to go too...probably not so cold already...
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(Will be sharing more at my blog http://myfortunekitty.com)
 


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