Travel Archives | Page 2 of 24

Lunch at Bok Chicken: Weightlifting Fairy Kim BokJoo’s Filming Location

October 29, 2017

No trip to South Korea will be complete without visiting a K-drama filming location. With so many dramas released every year, pretty much every tourist spot in Seoul is a shooting location. However, there are still some hole-in-the-wall spots that you really have to go out of your way just to reach. Such is the restaurant used in Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo, and it was the first spot we visited for our South Korea trip last spring.

But out of all the Weightlifting Fairy filming locations used for the drama, this was my priority! Watching the show, I could hardly believe that a chicken restaurant could look so pretty so I was surprised to learn that it’s a real restaurant in Seoul. I just had to visit it, and I was glad my sister agreed. So far, it’s my favorite 2017 K-drama, and it was the one that pulled me out of my drama slump. (You can read all about it here if you want, hehe.) I couldn’t visit all its filming sites, but I could fit in at least one. It was more than enough for me because at least a fourth of the series was filmed here!

When I said that it’s out of the way, it’s really out of the way. It’s not a tourist spot and it’s near Kookmin University. However, it’s still pretty easy to reach, and we didn’t even get lost looking for it. But I guess I just have to attribute that to my killer sense of direction, or I can just really sniff out K-drama spots. (Seriously though, every corner in Seoul is fit to be a K-drama filming spot. The city is just that photogenic.)

After quickly dropping off our bags at Hotel Maui DDM, we went straight to Bok Chicken. But of course, it wasn’t really called Bok Chicken but Jak-eun Ma-eul, which I think means Small Town. But please don’t quote me on that. [Read more…]

South Korea Itinerary: Seoul and Busan for 7 Days During Spring

September 24, 2017

After n months of dawdling and procrastinating, I finally got the time to compile my South Korea itinerary for Spring 2017. Images of falling cherry blossoms, sizzling samgyupsal, and piping hot odeng were starting to haunt me so I decided that it’s finally time to stop watching Kdramas (for a few hours) and try to get something done for once. Hey, I have a chronic case of blogging laziness, and it’s not something that can be fixed easily. But I try, and here’s a little show of trying.

Unlike my previous travels in South Korea, our trip last April was impulsive. It wasn’t in my plan to go back early this year, because I wanted to go back right when Changmin gets discharged from the army, lol. But once my sister asked me if I wanted to go, I answered a definite and resounding YAAAAAS. It had been two years and five months since my last visit, and I was itching to roam the streets of Seoul and to hear KPOP anywhere I go. My sister hadn’t been back in Korea since our first visit in 2012. I was just 22 and wore ugly ugg boots even though it was Spring.

This time, we booked a trip for seven days to explore both Seoul and Busan. I probably won’t be able to blog about each day like in my previous visits, so I’ll share our seven-day itinerary in Busan and Seoul instead. If time permits, I would love to rave about the new places I got to visit this time!

Please note that this wasn’t our first time visiting, so we avoid the usual tourist spots and focused on visiting Kdrama filming locations, hehe. This is a rather relaxed trip and we really tried to enjoy each location. We also spent too much time hanging out at Korean-style gazebos, which seem to be abundant anywhere in Seoul. Also, I didn’t bother including the travel time in the itinerary. Let’s just say that it takes us approximately an hour to get to each location, with a lot of convenience store and street food stopovers.

Enough with my rambling. Here’s our Seoul to Busan itinerary.

[Read more…]

Seoul Budget Hostel: Hotel Maui in Dongdaemun

May 16, 2017

After two long years, I was finally able to go back to Korea and fulfill my Kdrama dreams. I’m pretty you can imagine how happy I was to be back. It was my fourth time in Seoul, and instead of staying in the same hostel, I decided to try a new budget hostel in the middle of the bustling city. There are tons of affordable accommodations in Seoul, and I’m glad my sister and I ended up staying in one of the bests!

Hotel Maui in Dongdaemun is relatively new, but I have to say that they definitely set the bar when it comes to budget accommodations. It has everything I am looking for in a budget hostel and then some. Seriously though, they offer quite a lot more than the other accommodations stayed in did.

How do I even start raving about this hostel? From the location to the rooms to the host to everything–we loved every minute we spent in it. [Read more…]

Trekking to Tangadan Falls in La Union

March 19, 2017

When my sister finished her residency program in October, she was set on a mission to travel anywhere and everywhere. I got dragged along in this mission and I suddenly found myself traveling more frequently than anticipated starting November. I was exhausted and tired and broke, but it was all worth it.

I originally planned to visit La Union with Aika, but I ended up traveling with Ate, Riza and KP first. Before the trip, I had never been to La Union but I had wanted to visit for the longest time, not for the surfing but for the chic hostels and the bustling food scene. I am happy to report that La Union didn’t disappoint. We had no itinerary, no plans whatsoever but we still had fun. I enjoyed every minute of it, and the weekend trip wasn’t enough. Even before we left, we were already itching to go back.

We started our weekend getaway with a short trek through the mountains to reach Tangadan Falls in San Gabriel. They said it’s a 45-minute hike but it took us two hours! I blame it through our inexperience and the gazillion of photos we took. [Read more…]

How to Visit Taiwan Visa Free for Philippine Passport Holders

March 7, 2017

(UPDATE October 18, 2017: Taiwan will be visa free for all Philippine passport holders starting November 1, 2017. So I guess this post is now obsolete. But still, Filipinos can now visit Taiwan more easily.

Why not visit my Taiwan travel itinerary instead? :D)

Back in December, I was itching to travel somewhere cold, foreign, and East Asian, lol. I didn’t have enough funds and it was almost Christmas, so I knew applying for a South Korean or Japanese visa would be problematic. When I saw a seat sale to Taipei, I had to book immediately. The next day, I already secured a round trip flight to Taipei for the Chinese New Year weekend with my sister and Marianne.

I had three reasons for wanting to come back to Taiwan. One, I fell in love with the country the first time I visited last winter. Two, the seats are usually on sale. And lastly, I could apply for a Taiwan visa exemption! I had to apply for a visa last time I visited, but now, Taiwan is now visa free for select Filipinos.

Last year they announced that they will waive the tourist visa for Philippine Passport Holders who can meet a certain criteria, such as having a visa issued by certain countries. I was ecstatic because visa fees for Taiwan are not cheap. It also meant I had to skip the process of applying for a visa and organizing all the requirements for it.

As much as going on adventures and conquering challenges are exciting, filing for necessary travel documents is not exactly fun nor exciting. But for my last visit to Taipei, I just applied for a visa exemption online and had a smooth transaction in the immigration in the Philippines and Taiwan.

I love Taiwan and I definitely wish more people will love it as much as I do. To encourage you to give the little country the love it deserves, here’s a step-by-step guide an on how you can enter Taiwan visa free. [Read more…]