South Korea Archives | Page 4 of 10

Fall in Korea Day 2: Fried Chicken Night at Gwangalli Beach, Busan

February 24, 2015

When I think back on our travel to Korea, I always fondly remember our night at Gwangalli Beach.

It was the last destination for a very tiring day. After being disappointed that we failed to arrive at our previous itinerary stop before closing time, we were desperately hoping that the beach wouldn’t disappoint. There are tons of beaches in Busan, and we decided to head to this one first.

Despite lacking sleep and energy, I can’t help but think it’s definitely one of our best nights in Korea. We didn’t really do anything in Gwangalli Beach, we just sat there and talked and ate and laughed and sang our hearts out. I guess we’re the group of friends who just can’t keep quiet when we’re together. We’re actually a bunch of introverts, but we bring out the extroverts in each other. That’s probably the sweetest thing I can say about my friends, heh.

There were no stunning scenery nor were there attractions. We couldn’t even take decent photos since it was too dark out. Yet, I only have warm and happy memories when I remember that night. This probably sounds so sappy, but it was indeed such a good memory. [Read more…]

Fall in Korea Day 2: The Cliffside Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in Busan

February 20, 2015

For two days, we left Seoul and roamed the beautiful seaside city of Busan, South Korea.

The home of Korean drama Reply 1997 was everything I dreamed of. And more, of course. Taking the trip down south is probably one of our best decisions when planning our travel. We loved every minute we spent in the province.

On our first day in Busan, we only had a half day to tour the city. After checking in Hi Korea Hostel, we scooted out quickly to try and follow our itinerary (we failed, haha).

The first on our list was Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, a cliffside temple a few minutes away from Haeundae beach if you take a cab. [Read more…]

Busan Accommodation: Hi Korea Hostel

February 12, 2015

On our second day in Korea, we went to Busan for a two-day trip. Since we’d be staying overnight, we searched for a hostel offering dorm rooms. Even just for an overnight stay, Hi Korea Hostel made me wish every hostel offered convenience the way they do.

Stepping inside the place made me believe that I had found my ideal hostel. It’s homey, quirky, and incredibly lovely. The interior is well-thought-out, and I barely have complaints about the place. We couldn’t have chosen a better accommodation in Busan.

After weighing our options, we decided to find a hostel near Haeundae Beach since we’d be staying for only two days. There were tons to choose from, but we opted for Hi Korea Hostel when we chanced upon their contest on Facebook. Luckily, we won two free beds, so of course we were ecstatic. I first talked to HaKo on Facebook, but we finalized the booking via email. They’re always online so don’t hesitate to message them on Facebook if you’re thinking of booking with them. [Read more…]

Fall in (Love With) Korea

February 1, 2015

It felt like everything warm and beautiful was sprinkled across Korea during the fall season.

Despite the cold weather, there’s a warmth in the colors of autumn—from the red and yellow trees to the drying golden fallen leaves. The tones seemed to see through every crack, and for someone experiencing autumn for the first time, it was a delight to behold.

I knew I would love this season even before I experienced it firsthand. I knew I would enjoy every bit of chill that enveloped us as we walked along the streets of Seoul and hang out under the canopy of Ginkgo trees in Nami Island.

So for the third time, I fell in love with Korea, because that’s the only sensible thing to do when you’re surrounded with so much beauty.

I can go on forever expressing my love for autumn, but I’m pretty sure these photos can explain it better than words can do. [Read more…]

Aboard KTX Express From Seoul to Busan And Back Again

January 29, 2015

(Disclaimer: Hello! Since I’ve been getting a lot of queries on this post, I want to clarify that this article was based on our travel experience. What applied to our travel situation doesn’t have to apply in every situation. I cannot answer every question, because I’m not an official representative of KTX. But from a traveler to a traveler, I will try to be as helpful as I can! So just send in your questions, and I’ll try to help and answer it as much as possible. Last update: 08/12/2018)

In the ideal world, we’re efficient travel planners that we smartly booked a plane ticket from Manila to Incheon, and another one from Busan to Manila. However, in the real world we’re just a bunch of Korea fanatics who grabbed the first chance to book a flight to Seoul. It isn’t so bad though, because no matter what we booked, we’d still be boarding the Korail Express to go to Busan.

Since we had seven days in Korea, in the middle of our planning we realized that we had enough time to go to Busan. No chance to change our ticket, though, since we got it through a promo. Hence, the long planning of how to work about our schedule commenced.

In the end, we decided to spend five days in Seoul and two full days in Busan. It may not be enough, but our time only allowed two days. Thus, our hectic planning on how to ride the train from Seoul to Busan and vice-versa began. I decided to share it with you since I know that a lot of people are planning to go on the same adventure.

You can travel from Seoul to Busan by train, bus, plane and car. But doing it via the KTX is one the easiest and fastest way to do it, and it runs from Seoul to Busan every 15 to 20 minutes everyday from 5:00AM t 11:00 PM. And that’s also our chosen method of transportation.
[Read more…]