Korea Winter Itinerary 2016 / 2017 Day 1

Day 1
Stay: AirBnB Hongdae, Seoul
Nearest Subway: Hongik Univ. Line 2, Hongdae

20:00 | Reached ICN

01:00 | Reached AirBnB
01:30 | Dinner at Piggy Bank Hotstone BBQ Restaurant

This is a much awaited holidays for Mic & I as we had very few trip this year. It's our second time to Korea, our first was in 2011 which I went with my friends following a tour, and he went for his military course. Hence, both of us had vague idea on Korea actually (too dependent on tour guide and his was a really short day trip).

So let's get started with our 13D12N Korea holidays!

This is a simple guide on what to pack for holidays for your reference.

FLIGHT

Took SQ this time, though I would very much prefer to fly with KE again, but SQ is always his top (and only) choice when travel requires > 4 hours flight. We took afternoon flight and reached at night so that we can have a good rest for the adventure on the day after.

Flight duration 6.5 hours, Korea is 1 hour ahead of SIN.

Pokemon deco @ T3

T3 Butterfly Garden

T3 Butterfly Garden
Oh, didn't know they like pineapple too

Both of us had pan seared chicken. Nice!

Night view of Incheon at 9.30pm

DATA PLAN

Booked our WIFI device from ChangiRecommends at their promotional rate ($5/day, 1st day FOC). This is the cheapest option compared to WIFI egg in Korea due to it's promotional rate. Plus, it's easy to collect and return it at Changi Airport which operates 24/7.

The procedure is easy:
- make your reservation via call/email/Whatsapp/SMS
- select your preferred pickup booth (located at public area in all terminals)
- on the day of departure, show your reservation confirmation at the booth
- collect your device and depart
- upon returning, drop-off the device at any ChangiRecommends booth
- make your payment via cash/credit card

Do check their website for ongoing promo code & rate as they have it pretty often.
Tried & Tested (on 2 users) - connection is good, battery able to last day long if you don't surf/play online game too often.

TRANSPORTATION from ICN to Hongdae

1. Express Train (AREX)

Incheon Int.l Airport Station → Seoul Station
05:20 (first train) - 21:45 (last train)

Duration 43 mins
Adults 14,800 won (Standard fare)

* Current discount: Adults 8,000 won
Tips: discount applicable for group > 3, KTX-linked, KORAIL-linked, Airline Alliance (Korean Air, Asiana Airlines, China Southern Airlines, T'way Air). Pls refer to AREX website for updated info.

2. All Stop Train (AREX) - stops at 11 stations, last at Seoul Station

Incheon Int’l Airport Station → Seoul Station
05:23 (first train) - 23:42 (last train)
Duration 58 mins
Adults 4,250 won

Incheon Int’l Airport Station → Hongik Station
Adults 4,050 won

(10.21pm, 10.36pm, 10.54pm, 11.08pm, 11.25pm, 11.42pm - last train)

Due to our late arrival, I specially jot down the last few timings of this train so I'll know which timing to catch.

Alternatively, there are also airport buses which travels to certain areas in the city and costs 10,000 won per trip. If your accommodation is situated nearby the bus stop instead of subway, this will be a better choice.

(source: AREX)

STAY

I chose Hongdae for our first 2 nights simply because...

1. easily accessible via AREX (as we are going to arrive late, after immi & collect luggages probably about 11pm?)

2. most eateries in Hongdae open till past midnight, so no prob in finding food

3. many eateries are within walking distance from AirBnb, no worries on subway

4. short distance to our meet up place for our Day 2 local tour

As Day 1 is a pretty short post, I'll include some preps that I did prior to this trip.

1. Learn a few street food name in Korean language. Most street food stalls and some restaurants does not have an English menu.
tteokbokki - rice cake
mandu - dumpling
hotteok - pancake
bindaetteok - mung bean pancake
ssiat-hotteok - pancake stuffed with seeds (Busan)
bukjuk - porridge
eomuk/odeng - fishcake (odeng is borrowed from Japanese word Oden which refers to fishcake in Korea)
jjamphong - seafood stew noodle
japchae - glass noodle

2. Check websites for discount vouchers including airline alliance

http://vkc.or.kr/en/

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/
https://seoultravelpass.com/

3. Install subway apps on your phone

ARRIVAL AT INCHEON AIRPORT

Arrived at Incheon at 10pm plus, I was surprised there were long queues at the immigration counters at the hour, however the queue moved very fast though. While moving along the queue, my eyes caught this banner placed along the queue on how to fill in this particular info on the Arrival Card and Customs Declaration Form - address in Korea (to write full address) and Tel (the phone number of your accommodation). I specifically stress this because... em... I wrote my own mobile number... Ended up I had to complete a new form. Rushed out from the queue while Mic continued queuing, searched for a new ENGLISH form on that messy table as most forms are in Mandarin and Japanese, then rejoined the queue in front of Mic. But I guess a lot of people wrote their own phone number, right? Otherwise they won't specifically put that banner there. So, please prepare the contact number of your accommodation in Korea.

(source: Incheon Airport website)

Only pass your Arrival Card to the Immigration Officer. The Customs Declaration Card to be given to 1 of the airport staffs before you exit the luggage collection area to the public hall. There is no proper queue and everyone just cramped at that exit with their luggages, that's the place where we wasted most of our time.

T-MONEY

Got ourselves these T-money card at CU store at the airport. Cute max! The normal T-money card cost 2,500 won but because this has LINE design, it costs 4,000 won. But we are happy to get this 😃. We reloaded 30,000 won for our 13days usage but at the end of the trip, we topped up another 20,000 won. This card can also be used in Busan buses and trains (excludes KTX).
Tips: there are a few discount coupons that comes together with T-money packaging

Other T-money cards with Pokemon and Kakao Friends designs

Coupons from T money card

We took 11.25pm All Stop Train (AREX) to our AirBnb located at Hongik Univ Station Line 2. Hongdae is the station for Subway Line 2 and Airport Railroad, however it's a long walk between these 2 stations especially with luggages and the stairs.

AIRBNB

Cost: $270 for 2 nights
Tada!!~ Our nice super cosy service apartment for the next 2 nights and my most fav one for this entire trip.
It is just next to the subway exit. View from the window is directly opposite the lively Hongdae area.

Most of the furniture and items are from IKEA.
The host also provides Wifi egg for our outdoor use. So nice!

Thanks Host for providing this portable heater even though you have heated flooring and heater in the apartment. It's our saviour!

Shower equipped with washing machine

The cosy corner which we didn't have the time to enjoy. Next time then!

It was about 1.30am when we settled down at our Airbnb. We quickly grabbed our down jacket and rushed down to have our late dinner (and we regretted later for not wearing proper winter clothes).

💟💟💟

DINNER @ PIGGY BANK HOTSTONE BBQ (수정옥돌 생소금구이)

Not sure what is the exact english name of this place as some blogs stated it as PIGGY BANK (there are red piggy banks displays on the wall) and some called it Grilled Salted Pork Hotstone BBQ. Since there are a lot of BBQ places at Hongdae, I will just call it as Piggy Bank since it's deco best described this place. Their signboard bears a Chinese character 生 in a red circle in the middle which I specifically jotted down in order to recognise this restaurant.

It's easy to locate, right at a roundabout. The interior looks like any other Korean BBQ place but limited seats. Funny that they do not have extraction chute inside the restaurant. In fact, a lot of BBQ place in Korea that we went does not have this installed.

Tips: most BBQ place provides plastic bag for your jacket/bag upon request. Just ask for it.

Their signature is grilled salted pork which we ordered 2 portions (12,000 won/portion), 1 marinated pork (12,000 won), 1 portion of mushrooms (6,000 won) and steamed brown rice (2,000 won). The grilled salted pork is superb!! Mushrooms were very juicy and their banchan which includes a bowl of soup (I think it's a bean paste soup) is the best soup we've had in Korea so far. We were craving of their food since that night and so we came back on day 10 and ordered 4 portions of grilled salted pork!

Tips: once the meat is cooked, shift them to the side of the hotplate to prevent them from burnt.

Yup, we cooked on top of these Hotstone!

Piggy banks on the wall!

(source: google map)

Piggy Bank Hotstone BBQ
Direction from Hongik Univ Line 2 Exit 8
Walk pass a cross junction, then turn left at a roundabout.
Walk straight until another roundabout, piggy bank is on your right.
Lookout for signboard with Chinese character 生 in a red circle in the middle.
Operating Hours: 15:00 - 02:00 daily (unconfirmed)

By the time we finished our dinner, the weather had dropped to -11⁰C and it was no joke as it was freaking cold! We left BBQ hot stone place and walked 3 doors down the street and immediately ran inside a 24H convenience store to take shelter (from the cold). Lol. Then I realised both of us did not wear our heat tech which was probably why we could not stand the cold. Lesson learnt.