Korea

[eggie]

hi all,
I just went on a tour to Korea earlier this year. It's a very nice place and I really enjoy myself. When joining tour, definitely need to wait here and there. I guess most people will have a fair share of being late and waiting.

Just a point of caution is that they are some shops that the tour guide will purposely stop for you. Like ginseng, purple stone, grocery shop and some other shops. Beware it can be a more expensive and premium kind one.

 

[melly]

hi karyinn, hope my grp got lotsa youngsters too

hi gracian, u r back! enjoy ur trip? does urs include nanta show? i hope we ve a choice of choosing bet going for the show or shopping

my colleague's fren's got dat. wat time does the tour start & end each day?

btw, is it safe to bring sing$ to change for won? cos my fren's saying mayb the money changers dun accept sing$, wld b better to change to US$ & bring dat instead. but was thinking kinda troublesome to change some xtra sing$ to US$ & dan change it back to sing$ again if i din use them. do the money changers accept sing$?

 

[gracian]

melly

my group is 39, got 3 kids so abit noisy.... and the kids were very playful with the photographer, when guide was explaining, they were running. quite distracting.

it is true that it is better to bring US$. we were not given choice between shopping and show, but we did skip an item to spend more time shopping. guess is really what everyone wants, bcos have to travel as a group.

 

[missy]

Hi Karyinn, thanks so much for the recommendation. Yes the price is reasonable. I have made a reservation already. Have you stayed there before? just curious why they gave it ONE star only as it is quite centrally located and facilities looks great.

No I am not caryying a big bag..travelling light carrying a haversack so that i can move around easily. yeah i guess the night will be cold...will be bringing along a jacket too. thanks for your help. Ill be leaving this thursday....

 

[karyinn]

Hi SSF,

You make reservation with Biwon Hotel? I never stay there, but my melbourne friend going this December going to stay there for 2 days... not sure if it is good, but i heard from her that her Korea friend went personally to the hotel and check and find is quite ok.
Hey, go to www.tour2korea.com
Take down some goodwill guide contact number. Incase need emergency translator, you can call them for help :>..
enjoy your trip and please do share with me your experience when you are back ok ^-^
Safe Trip...

 

[missy]

sure kary. thanks!

 

[gwnn]

Has anyone gone on the Commonwealth 6K Korea Winter Wonderland package before? Will appreciate your feedback. Tks. Am deciding between this one and the SA Korea Winter Sonata package.
Difference:
CTC goes to Waterpia hotspring but no hotspring for SA.
CTC goes to Nami Island
SA goes to the Winter Sonata ski resort, CTC to another resort.
SA has one full day at the ski resort, CTC only 2 hours.

 

[gwnn]

Typo...I mean 6D as in 6 days....not 6K

 

[karyinn]

I think SA tour for Korea trip is the best.
Their meals are always different.
YOu will not get bore with it.
If you don't like the food, the Korea tour guide that SA enaged is friendly enough to help

 

[melly]

i agree wif karyinn. i juz came bk fm my korea trip wif SA a wk ago. their meals r always different & interest'g! even on days when there's no meals provided, the tour guide wil bring u 2 try interest'g stuff. we had seafood meal @ abt $50 per person but it's really worth every cent cos their raw fish's so fresh & gd! & there's over 50 varieties of seafood, sthg which we cant find here. i m stil think'g of the raw fish...yummie.

 

[karyinn]

Hi Melly,

Who is your tourguide is it Novel?? I love the pan fried chicken with the rice cake ^-^.. where we have to pan cook ourselves ^-^...

 

[melly]

hi karyinn, nope it's not novel. mine's joyce who's quite gd, she's got "gold medal" award. in korea, tour guides who got dat awards can get tax-free kinda bonus fm the govt, which means they dun nit 2 pay income tax.
do u ve ur panfried chicken @ a restaurant in shincon st? i like shincon fashion st but time was too short, there's so many shops but juz dun ve enuff time 2 roam. it's definitey a gd trip & i wld go korea again...probably go skiing the next time

 

[gwnn]

hi karyinn, melly,

juz saw your postings. anyways we went down to CTC last nite to book their package. was very attracted to the SA UIC one after so much good feedback in the forum, but the CTC itinerary appealed to us more. anyways, hope we'll have a good time in korea too. tks again for ur feedback.

 

[melly]

hi gwnn, it's fine. as long as u ve a gd trip

tik it shd b fun, nami island's beautiful, saw in winter sonata show

waterpia hotspring is great! it's a gd xperience

have fun yeah!!

 

[karyinn]

Hi Melly,

Ya, i think it's that street that the tour guide bring us to eat the pan fried chicken ...
I love Korea so much that i told my Hubby,, i want to go korea again as my honeymoon ^-^..
We are planning to go there next April for Free and Easy. I want to explore more about Korea ^-^... 6 more months to go ...
During my upcoming trip, main purposes is to see Cherry Blossom ^-^

 

[melly]

hi karyinn, F&E wld b a better choice. u can enjoy the scenery @ ur own pace

but me+hubby r the lazy kind to tik of itinerary & where & wat 2 eat. when's the last time u went? me too bk oni for a while but tikg of going bk there again

my tour guide mentioned dat alot of sporeans really love korea, they came durin autumn & bk again durin winter & dan the following yr's spring. she laughed & said we shd go xplore other countires & come bk to korea in say abt 2yrs time & not 3 seasons in a yr. ha!

 

[karyinn]

Hi Melly,

We also those kindof very poor in planning itinerary.. but i want to try to go for F&E... if really cannot make it.. i will book the local tour there ^-^...
I went there last December for winter.. Korea Winter is soooooooo nice... moreover the price is affordable ^-^...

I wanted to go again is because that Korea have many other places to explore.. ^-^.. i love the weather.. ppl and food..

 

[melly]

hi karyinn, me too wanna go korea again, love the weather & food

u like the ppl? thot a no of pp find them rude. i din ve any bad encounters xcept dat some of the salesgals @ dongdaemum weren't too friendly, they looked me up & down...mayb i wasn't dressed up & in their culture, gals are considered rude & unkempt if we dressed sloppily or in jeans. but korean gals r really pretty

wil definitely go korea for winter one of these days

 

[xue]

Hi,

I am also thinking of going to Korea also for my honeymoon next year during the end of February. Can anybody tell me is there still any snow at that time.

Can I know also which place in korea is a must for visit for honeymoon and is there any 8D scenery tour to Korea and which place in Korea is nice for its scenery.

 

[papillon]

Hi,

Me thinking of visiting korea during CNY..
Do u all suggest if its advisable to F&E in Korea?

 

[koibito]

hi papillon,

it's not easy to travel F&E in korea...as the road signs etc are all in korean language. moreover, the koreans speak little english so somehow or rather, there is some communication barrier. hence, if this is your very 1st trip to korea, i think it's still better to follow the group tour unless you have all the english travel info on hand as to where you are going, how to get there etc...enjoy your trip.

 

[kohtan]

Hi xue

Cheju (JeJu) island is a very beautiful place to visit. It is known as their honeymoon island as well

Very beautiful scenery...

 

[xue]

Hi Kohtan,

Do you have any idea what will Cheju look like during the end of February? Any nice place in korea except Cheju?

 

[elaineong5]

Hi All lover of Korea,

I just back from Korea ( include Cheju) for my Honeymoon. I quite disappointed with the tour. We book from Dynasty travel and the tour guide over there is lousy and food varity is very boring.....

 

[happy2]

hi

anyone here booked from genting holiday? any comments?

 

[kohtan]

Hi xue

I like Nami Island as well. My bro and friends told me Mt Sorak is very very beautiful, but sad to say, it was raining very heavily when I was there. So didn't see much, was very disappointed and sad. Hope to go back to Korea and visit Mt Sorak

 

[sarahtan]

Hi,

Would like to know if anyone bought any mashimaro stuff from Korea - do they have a lot of the merchandise there? Thanks!

 

[sg_oc]

Have anyone seen the CTC advertising recently? They are having a promotion on Jan'04 for 7 days 'Korea Winter Romance'. The price is $1188. $100 off if you are paying by visa. I am interested to take up the departure date on 08/01/04 and I need to find 8 more passengers to start this group. Any interested please let me know?

 

[winnierabbit]

Hiladies,

Am looking at Korean tour packages by CTC and SA.

The one by CTC does interest me more than that by SA, and I think its more value for $. However,due to the difference in itinerary, SA is cheaper in dollar terms (SA does not go to Jeju), and there are 5 meals not included.

Juz wondering how much a meal would cost in Korea, and if it is worth going to Jeju in Jan (some pple telling me that it will be all white white in Jan, and some agencies are not offering it in their packages too).

Any comments?? Thanks!

 

[winnierabbit]

Hi sg_oc,

Looking around for Korea packages as well. Din know that CTC is offering this package. What's the itinerary like? DOes it include ski, stay at ski resirt and the hot springs? How many meals are included? Don't thik this includes jeju right?

Had enquired abt the 6/7 day and was told they are not doing the package though it was featured in the brochure.

Can emal me the itinerary or do u have the package code?

 

[poshies]

Hi Anyone going on the last week of Feb04?

 

[winnierabbit]

Hi all,

Hubby and me just placed a deposit for a 7 day Korea trip on 6 Jan 04, with CTC. They are having a promotion now - package originally $1,328 now comes with a $240 discount. Only need to pay $1088, excluding taxes.

We are the first couple to place the deposit. Think they will stop the discount once they get the desired # pple. (This is wat they say lah)

Those interested can pop by CTC at Chinatown Point to check out the package. Hopefully, enuff pple confirm trip so that the group (min. of 10 pax to go) can be formed.

 

[kit_k]

Hi WinnieRabbit

$1088 per pax?... sois it full boarding (All meals and entrance fees etc)?

Where will you be visiting? I am interested to go Korea too.

 

[winnierabbit]

Hi Kit_K,

yap, all meals provided (will have 1 breakfast on plane to Korea, last day only breakfast provided).

The itinerary includes Seoul, Mt Sorak, Nami island, Chuncheon, Ski resort, Yong-In Everland, Lotte World. Does not go Jeju.

Would u wan to check CTC out? Tour code is KSSS.

 

[karyinn]

Hi SSF(Missy)

Are you back from Korea?

 

[princessjen]

Hi Happy,

I jus booked my korea tour from genting holidays..going for 6d4n depart on the 26th jan..
u can look for Agnes, she is a nice gal beri friendly..
beri excited nw cos since last yr i hv wanting to visit korea..

Those who hv just cm back from Korea,anything for me that is definitely i shouldnt miss out??

 

[naturally]

Hi gals,
I came back from korea a week ago... brrr, it's cold! Would say that the most interesting part of the tour was at the Waterpia Hot Springs... we had to go all nude! (well, they did give us a small piece of towel...) Was damned paiseh at first, but the hot spa was really good... very liberating experience, ha!

Jeju island was not bad, i love their tangerines! So nice and sweet... i shd have bought a box back for CNY, but then i forgot CNY is coming lah, besides it seemed terribly "auntie" to cart a box of tangerines home...

Scenary wise, nami island is famous for being winter sonata's film site, i bought some nice scenic postcards there too. Actually i find winter scenery bleak and gloomy, if there's a chance, may want to visit again during autumn... i believe the scenery will be even prettier.

 

[problem_kid]

Hey,
me going to korea 21st Jan come back 26th Jan. I paid abt $1288, standard places but without Cheju island. I'm so excited abt going to Nami island!!!!

 

[princessjen]

Hey Problem kid,

so u leaving on CNY eve?me leaving on the day when u are back..hmm i oso as excited as u..me going to Nami island too..u watch winter sonata tats y u wana go nami island so much?so wher did u book yr package?

Hi Naturally,

is the weather tat cold?i stil dun hv any idea hw much thick clothings to bring w me?isit a must to put on thermal wear..i m some1 cant stand too cold leh..so u go naked into the waterpia hotspring,i dun hv the courage leh..me not going to jeju island so cant buy tangerines back lah?

 

[naturally]

Hi princessjen,
For people like us from sunny isle of sgp, better equip yourself with thick clothing.

I wore thermal wear underneath, followed by sweater, and then my winter coat. I mean it's better to be prepared lor. U never know if it will rain/snow or be very windy... Dun forget your gloves, scarf and hat! And it would be good to bring a thermal flask too, u will appreciate the hot water, trust me...

Not going jeju? Actually i dun think u'll miss much... it's a island formed after a volcanic eruption, beaches are full of black rocks and no white sand, but quite a unique scenery also. Tangerines, fishing, bee-keeping & honey are some of the means of livelihood, not forgetting tourism of cos. We stayed at this casino hotel which is also one of winter sonata's film sites. Jeju is also a popular honeymoon destination for koreans. And that's abt it.

Is waterpia or other hot spring resorts on your itinery? If so, i encourage u to try, all girls wat! It was a big cultural shock when we see the korean women walking around the changing room nonchalently in the buff, but when one of the ah ma (70+ yrs old) from our group also stripped, we gals decided heck lah, just stripped and quickly run into the spa!

Problem kid,
remember to go to the souvenir shop on nami island, got free winter sonata poster for any purchase. Happy photo-taking, but take note of ostriches which may come pecking at u, heehee!

Oh, i forgot to mention the strawberries! Real sweet and juicy, supposedly grown from soil fertilised by ginseng root ends... i forgot the name of the place we went to, but there is this shopping street that is made famous by winter sonata, got posters everywhere, they kept playing the theme song somemore... u will see peddlers selling the strawberries, very nice!

Hoho, i'm such a glutton for tangerines and strawberries!

My, how many times have i mentioned winter sonata?

 

[princessjen]

Hi Naturally,

haha..i counted u mention winter sonata 3 times onyl lah..

Thanks for yr tips on the winter wear..wil definitely get thermal wear for myself n bring along a mini thermal flask..i know my package included hotspring bt nore sure isit at waterpia..

Can ask u wher u got thermal wear??sorry huh first time to korea..went to australia oso did not do as much preparation as this time.

 

[problem_kid]

hi princessjen,
i booked mine from Wingo Travel in People's Park. Me and hubby were last 2 ppl for 21 Jan. Korea during CNY is fully booked!!! Its impt to wear thermal wear, coz it can keep u warm. Remember not to buy too loose thermal wear, if not defeat the purpose. u can buy from John Little's Winter store.

Hi Naturally,
Thanks for the tip abt the winter sonata poster. Tokking abt it makes me excited again!!!

 

[naturally]

No prob... korea was my first winter experience too! i bought 2 sets of thermal wear at Winning, very ex but does keep me warm. Then i got another set at Coldwear, cotton type, which is less warm but more comfy to wear, and it was half the price of Winning's! Would suggest u get at least one wool thermal wear for your 1st day, then after 2-3 days when your body is better adjusted to the cold, can switch to the more comfy (and cheaper) cotton ones... or u can match wool thermal with thinner sweaters/long sleeves, and vice versa, cotton thermal with thicker sweaters. And just let u know, some people may not be able to take wool thermal cos makes skin itch, i'm like dat, so i took half wool.

There's this winter time shop at suntec (near harvey norman), if u haven't bought your jackets, can go and see. Some of my tour mates bought from there, their jackets look quite nice. Of cos if u are prepared to spend, the winter jackets from fashion boutiques are even nicer lah!

 

[princessjen]

Hi Problem kid,

I oso wana booked from wingo bt they do not hv the departure date i wan..so booked from genting holiday lor..

Hi naturally,

thanks again for the tip..will definitely visit the winter time shop n cold wear..bt wher is wining's ?

think i wont buy jacket cos i hv my own + borrow fr gf..is the inner wear tat i m more concerned..

 

[meijia]

Hi gals,

So envy your, can visit Korea during Winter. I planning to go Korea during may which is Spring liao. Yr 2000, I also visited Korea during Spring. Always missed their winter.

Mt Sorak must be very beautiful hor.
Enyour your trip and update me on your finding when back

 

[naturally]

Princessjen,
Good for u! Can borrow from gf, no need to buy then. Anyway Winning got a few branches, one in taka, one in queenstown.

Aiyah, speaking abt mt sorak, we didn't have a chance to go up, cos too windy so the cable car wasn't operating. Can u visit mount sorak in spring too?

 

[sg_oc]

Hi All,

Do you all know when is the winter going to end at korea?

 

[princessjen]

naturally,

okie i wil drop by taka today..
har??then i m afraid we cant go up mt sorak too cos nw its so cold n windy.when i check the weather in the net..

Hi meijia,

since u hv visited korea during spring once,y dun go during winter tis time round??

Hi sg_oc,

not beri sure when winter ends?bt when i chk the web, it says winter ends mid march..can refer to this website :

http://english.tour2korea.com/coming/about/climate.asp

 

[problem_kid]

hi all,
Came back from Korea last week. Brrrr very cold, the first day we touched down the temperature was -16 deg. We went to put on more clothing at the toilet in Everland. Didn't feel like coming out from the toilet. The scenery is very nice, but very rush and the food sucks!! Can I check with u all which hotel did u all stay in Seoul? I stayed in Olympia which claimed it was 5 star hotel, but does not even look like 5 star, also it was far from the central of Seoul. Also not very happy that have to pay tips to the Singapore tour guide, she didn't even do anything. Also she gave us very little time when going places like Dongdaemun market, nami island, coex mall. But gave us more time when seeing Duty free shops, korean ginseng shops. Obviously she wan to earn commission.

Let me know if u wan to see my online photos

 

[problem_kid]

Here's the URL

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=6q9h5xj3.99cj0tmn&x=0&y=sieih7