Trip to Korea - Winter Day 1

So you've finish your requirements, congratulations! Aside from showing you around our day 1, I'm sharing you some tipid tips, what to pack, and good to have when going to Korea on a winter season.

What to pack : 

1. As much as possible, I always try to pack light when travelling as I don't want to pay the excess baggage on boarding. I only packed 6 tops, 3 pants, 1 pajama, 14 underwear, 4 sports bras and 5 long socks for our 7-day trip. Most of the space in my bag was taken over by my 2 additional jacket aside from the one I wore the day of our flight. (Ang tapang ko, I actually brought a see through and a sleeveless blouse of the 6 tops I packed)

2. It's nice to have a solid winter boots that will protect you from the weather. I've only realized this when we were already there. Because I'm frugal and I don't want spending on things that I don't use often, I bought my winter boots in Baguio ukay last December. It costs me Php700 but it only survived until we reached our place in Myeongdong. Luckily I brought another pair of rubber shoes so we were able to wander Myeongdong the day we arrived. It wasn't enough to cushion and insulate my feet from the weather though. It felt numb few hours after walking, so I had to buy a new pair of boots again. Boo hoo! There goes my KRW15,000. Bye.

3. Bring a WINTER JACKET. I know I wouldn't be able to parade my OOTD's that's why I didn't bother mix and matching my clothes. I took 3 jackets with me but guess what, IT WASN'T ENOUGH. During our first day, I was wearing this ---

It was thermal, I thought. Wearing this while in NAIA feels unpleasant. I know it's suited for Korea but upon arrival at the airport it didn't pull through. I had to wear another jacket before the coat so I could get moving towards the immigration. (The immigration area  is warm though, so I had to remove my coat again)

4. A leg warmer is a must, or long socks (up to your knee) will do. Don't forget your hand warmer too. I had to wear 2 long socks when we got to Myeongdong. I couldn't feel my legs and thighs, I was literally freezing! My face, lips and both of my hands were numb. 

5. Travel adapter - Korea has a different socket from ours. So bring a travel adapter. 

Good to have: 

1. Seoul Card/ T-Money - you can use this card in paying for airport buses, city tour buses, convenience stores, some make-up boutiques and subway stations. It cost us KRW50000 for the card, it has KRW46000 credits you can use. You can also exchange this card to convenience stores or at the airport for a refund (if you don't want to keep it.)

2. Korean Won - Exchange your USD to Korean Won at the airport as they have the best exchange rate for your money. For every USD100 you get KRW1065000 (the highest rate I saw was KRW1170000, but that was when we were going home already.Too bad we didn't walk around the airport. Hehe) There are also money exchange around Myeongdong that ranges from KRW104000-1065000, you just have to be patient to look around so you'll get the best rate. You'll get a lower exchange rate though if you have lower dollar bills, so it's best that you have USD100 with you.

3. Bring some snacks. We were at NAIA by 4AM already, or a little earlier I think. So we have to wait few hours before checking in. It's good to have some snacks with you if you're on a budget trip.  I suggest to pack a sandwich or light lunch. I only had peanut bars with me and it wasn't enough. Hehe! I bought breakfast sandwiches from Mcdonald's inside NAIA for our waiting time and the 5-hour trip. 

4. Lip balm. Trust me. Even for men. If you don't want to get wind burn or lip cracks, you'll need a lip balm. I hope I emphasized this enough. 

Tipid tips: 

Watch out for airline seat sales or purchase your tickets at travel expos. We only paid roughly Php7500 for a return trip tickets. Regular price of one way ticket to Korea can spike up to Php15000. Yey to piso fares! Thank you, AirAsia.

Day 1 

We departed from Manila at 7AM and we arrived at 12NN. There is only an hour difference between Seoul and Philippines so don't worry about the jet lag as it's not much of an adjustment. It will take you around 1-2 hours from Incheon Airport to Seoul (depends on the traffic). The airport bus has a wifi, and it was fast - record-click-upload-voila. 

Our first day was spent around Myeongdong for shopping and eating street food. I'm sorry I'm not gonna be able to show you photos of the food we ate. But some are saved in my instagram on "Korea Highlights", so follow me @kayemangabat 

Below are the names of the food we ate and their prices : 

Chicken BBQ with grilled veggies on stick (KRW3000) - the name sums up what it is.

Grilled Squid in Korean sauce (KRW3000) - *must try

Fish cake (KRW3000) - (it's their version of our fishball, not a fan. I only tried it because of Kim Book Joo)

Egg Pancake (KRW2000) - I don't know how they call it in Korea but it taste like pancake with boiled egg inside. You can buy this at KRW1000-KRW1500 at the outskirts of Myeongdong)

Hotteok (KRW2000) - It's like maruya without the banana. They have 3 different flavors ; brown sugar, red bean and mozarella. The only thing I don't like about this is it's very oily. I wouldn't suggest this food for the diet conscious. But for the heck of experience, go indulge yourself. 

After shopping, (ehem Nanay Daph) we went home and rest for about 2-3 hours. N Soul tower is near our place so we decided to walk and ride the cable car to N Seoul tower. We experienced a 360 view of the city at night time. I wouldn't be able to ride the cable car peacefully at day time as I'm afraid of heights but if you're in for the view, I suggest you do it in the morning. The round trip ticket for the cable car to N Seoul tower is KRW18000, if I remember it right. The entrance ticket to N Seoul tower (if you want to go at the tower's peak) is KRW10000. 

Myeongdong photo dump (Most of these are taken from Daphne's phone S7, except for the first one. All post processed in Adobe PS)

(XT20, 35mm meike lens)

N Seoul Tower photo dump (These photos were taken from my phone, Huawei Y7 Prime and post processed in Adobe PS)