Sunday, January 15, 2017

Travelogue Korea 6D5N (RM2.5K): Part 1, Readiness

Cracking my head on how to start writing my travelogue...
hmm...

I've been working as an NPI (New Product Introduction) engineer for quite sometime,
9 months to be exact...
and quoted from my boss "Readiness is not a new thing for NPI.."
so.. i'll start my blog with "Readiness" or preparation.. whatever term y'all comfortable with..
it doesn't matter as long you got my point..

Ok.. kitorg beli tiket flight on November 2015..
masa tu AirAsia ada promotion..
duhh... kalo x.. mmg kitorg x beli..
masa tu promo murah gile gi korea bulan August 2016..

alkisahnye, naily cek AirAsia and ade promo, die teros roger aq n fiq..
aq n fiq on je... and esoknye naily teros beli tiket flight..
masa browse Airasia punye page tu... ada returned ticket gi busan harganye dalam RM450 mcm tu..
mula2, naily dah pilih tarikh and option tu.. tpi bila refresh website AirAsia.. tiket tu dah sold out...
kitorg lambat bbrp detik je.. hampeh kan?
tpi nasib baik ada option lain, mahal sikit la, harga bertambah RM50, so jadi dlm RM500 utk returned tiket dri busan..
Flight kitorg pukul 1 pagi (waktu malaysia) dari KLIA 2, so sampai Busan dalam pukul 7 pagi (waktu korea).
Masa nak balik pulak, dari Busan pukul 10.30 pagi (waktu korea) and kitorg sampai KLIA 2 dalam pukul 4.30 ptg mcm tu...
just fyi, waktu malaysia cepat sejam dari waktu korea.

start dari situ maka plan kami bermula...

1) Planning Places to Go (In General)

Since we will arrive at Gimhae airport and will depart from there too, we need to plan carefully our schedule to optimize the time when we are there.

Kitorg mmg nak pergi seoul, so google la cemana nak gi seoul dri busan. Option ada dua, 1st, naik bas or 2nd, naik KTX. naik bas mmg murah, tpi kene sacrifice masa la. and since we dont have much time, we all agreed to take KTX. Bila lagi nak merasa naik keretapi laju kan? duit boleh dicari, tpi experience tu x ternilai. ye dak?

Naily google, otw dri busan nak ke seoul ada tak tempat menarik nak singgah. and thanks to her, we were introduced to a place called gyeongju. X ramai yg pergi korea akan pergi sini. But I can assure u, it was worth it. tempat die sgt tenang dan cantik. x sesak and very relaxing. I will explain more about this place later. today's post will be about readiness.

so after much research yang naily je buat we decided to directly go to Gyeongju from Busan before reach Seoul. Our flow was pretty much like this:

Busan (Gimhae Airport) -- Gyeongju -- Seoul -- Busan

2) Mode of Transportation

Jadi backpackers ni mmg kene bergantung kat public transportation la. Luckily, Korea's public transportation are easy and abundance. And dalam budget kitorg, kitorg mmg dah google siap2 brp fare bus, train, taxi and lrt yg kitorg akan guna sepanjang perjalanan kat sana.

T-Money (For Bus, Taxi, and LRT)
 Kitorg dah siap2 prepare T-money card (die mcm touch n go) dari malaysia. Korg boleh dpt kad ni free dri KTO Malaysia. Ade website die yg korg boleh fill in few details and die akan pos kad ni kat korg together with booklet yg ada mcm2 diskaun kupon dalam tu.
http://www.visitkorea.com.my/discover-korea-your-way-2016.html tapi promosi ni utk tahun 2016 and kitorg bernasib baik boleh apply. But, korg boleh usha2 website tu. kot2 time korg nak pegi, die ade offer package yg lagi menarik. Tapi kalo xde pon, ade member aq ckp korg boleh dapat kad ni kat NU Sentral sebelah KL sentral. For me, better prepare Kad ni awal2, supaya xdelah menjajau nak cari kat korea bila dah sampai sana. mana yg bleh prepare kat sini, better prepare awal2. Oh ye, Kad ni boleh gak guna kat Busan and Gyeongju, Tempat lain x sure, x pernah try. Kad ni boleh guna utk taxi, LRT, and bus.

KTX ticket
Oleh sebab kitorg punye arrival kat busan and kitorg nak pegi seoul, kitorg decide utk beli tiket KTX. harga die mmg mahal. tpi kalo travel, ko nak cepat ko kene korban duit, kalo ko sayang duit, terpaksa la berkorban masa, Tpi kalo naik KTX dari Busan ke Seoul mmg cepat, dalam 2 jam je. KTX ni pon naily dah beli siap2 dri sini. Kitorg mula2 nak beli 3 day pass. 3 day pass tu mcm kalo korg nak gi mana2 naik ktx (laluan KTX sahaja) selama 3 hari boleh ( x kira brp kali korg turun naik KTX sepanjang 3 hari tu). tpi mcm mahal sangat, and kitorg pon mcm kesuntukan masa nak menyinggah byk2 tempat, naily jumpe option lain, iaitu beli satu je returned ticket dari gyeongju ke seoul, and dari seoul ke busan. But still harga die mahal gak la, 81,000 KRW which is around RM300++. Sebenarnye itu pon kire dah kurang sikit dri harga sebenar, sbb kitorg guna youth pass. Youth pass ni utk org yang umur bawah 25 tahun. Nasib masa kitorg pergi tu masing2 masih dlm kategori youth lagi. Sape yang berminat boleh la usha tiket kat website ni:
http://www.letskorail.com/ebizbf/EbizBfTicketSearch.do

Tapi best naik KTX ni, meh akak belanja gamba kat one of the station (Gyeongju)
Hampir2 nak bawak balik teddy bear tu

Cantik Gila scenery kat station ni. Tapi Fiq paling cantik sekali. hiks. muahciked fiq.



3) HOTEL
Earlier i've told you that we went to 3 places right? so kitorg kene la book 3 hotel. Sume hotel bajet je. and kitorg bajet satu malam dalam RM60-70 ringgit. mcm agak mahal kan? tpi kitorg mmg pilih hotel or guesthouse yg siap ada bilik air dalam bilik. yela, kalo bilik air share2, payah nnti nak gi mandi kene pakai baju semua. So, utk para muslimah, kalo nak pilih hotel tu, tgk die share bathroom ke x. kadang2 harga mmg murah, tpi kene share bilik air. Kalo korg x kisah nak share lantak ko la, its your choice. tpi kitorg mmg prefer bilik air kat dalam bilik. Lagi satu, kitorg pilih bilik yg ada pantry sekali dalam tu. So nk masak2 senang. I'll breakdown all the hotel and guesthouse that we stayed there as per below:

Gyeongju Guesthouse
Yang ni kitorg usha kat booking. Kitorg menginap kat sini sehari je. Guesthouse die mcm tersorak sikit belakang bangunan. Tapi ok je. selesa. Katil double decker, satu bilik 4 org, and ada bilik air dalam bilik. yang ni xde pantry dalam bilik. tpi masa ni kitorg mmg dah plan xde nak masak2 pon. kitorg plan nak mkn makanan yg kitorg bawak dri malaysia and malam tu makan megi je. Tapi makanan basic macam roti, jam, telur, coffee, sume die dah sediakan.
Kalo berminat boleh usha kat booking.com and cari Gyeongju Guesthouse. Harga utk satu malam 17,000 KRW which is around RM65.00 per person. Gueshouse ni dekat dgn bus stop, so senang nak ke mana2 kat gyeongju.
We left a note before we checked out the next day

Their Pantry

Gyeongju Guesthouse

Fiq dan payungnye



Itaewon Inn
Kat seoul kitorg stay kat area itaewon. Kat situ byk tempat makan halal senang nak cari. So kitorg decide utk stay kat situ. Berminat boleh search kat booking.com. harga die satu malam 15,000 KRW (RM57.00) seorang. Ni pon bilik air dalam bilik, and siap ada pantry dalam bilik gak. ada dapur,refrigerator sume. Masa ni kitorg mmg target nak masak makan malam, so cari jugak hotel yg dah siap ada dapur. For me it was worth it, selesa je. dekat jugak ngan station lrt itaewon (dalam 5 minit jalan kaki), so senang nak bergerak kemana2 dri hotel since our main mode of transportation kat seoul is LRT.
Since kitorg xde gamba hotel ni, akak share gamba makanan yg kitorg masak masa stay kat hotel ni je la. herher

Jin House AirBNB
Kitorg belom gile lagi nak menetap bersama jin. Tapi Jin House ni saka die lain sikit. ape aq mengarut ni? Kat Busan, kitorg stay kat apartment ni. Tuan rumah die sangat baik n friendly. naily paling gigih sekali nak communicate ngan die kene google translate. Anak die pandai english, tpi masa kitorg sampai tu kitorg kene deal dgn mak die. so gigih la naily google translate nak borak ngan ahjumma tu. haha. Nak share satu pasal airBNB ni, kitorg dapat diskaun sbb naily invite aq utk guna airBNB. byk gak la die tolak. so rezeki la kat situ. AirBNB ni mcm rumah org, tpi die buat guesthouse. mula2, mcm susah gak nak percaya, betol ke airBNB ni, tpi alhamduillah, ok je. apartment ni menghadap pantai, and sgt selesa. Kat Busan kitorg mmg target nak pegi pantai, so kitorg pilih hotel yg dekat ngan pantai. So malam tu kitorg pegi la usha2 haeundae beach. dalam 10 minit je jalan kaki nak gi pantai. and 15 minit jalan nak gi nearest LRT station. Harga die satu malam 10,440 KRW (RM40) per person.

Gamba yg kitorg wassap kat mackcik "Jin" tu sebelom keluar

cis muka aq satu tona lebih gelap dalam gambar ni. but still pretty cute


I think i've cover pretty much about our preparation before going to Korea. what else huh? sorry la, quite new to this travelogue thing. Tpi kalo korg nak details lebih lengkap, korg boleh click kat link bawah ni. Dalam Google drive ni ada segala lengkap detail itinerary kitorg siap dgn makan kat mana, harga transport, admission fee utk tempat2 yg kitorg pergi kat sana semualah. Tapi kitorg xdelah follow 100% schedule yg kitorg plan. ada je tempat yg x pegi, sbb dah penat n x larat nak berjalan lagi. Aq rasa aq dah public kan link ni, but do tell me if you cannot view the link. I'll figure something out. Oh ye, segala file dalam tu adalah hasil kerja naily, aq tolong sikit je, mungkin dlm 5%? huhu. So credit to her for the amazing details. Bangga gak dpt kawan yg dpt chancellor award UTP ni. lelz. tibe. So silalah klik link ni: google drive link: Misi Mencari Rain