Tips 'n Travels

One of the unplanned trips last year, was this trip to El Nido with my CouchSurfing friends. I didn't really plan it initially since I was also just coming from a trip to South Korea. However, the tripper that I am, it didn't take long for me to make a decision to say yes and join them. The flight to Puerto Prinsesa is the same day as my arrival from South Korea. So I basically had to go home after arriving, pick another set of bag, full of new set of clothes and toiletries and then jet-off once more to the paradise called El Nido. I was full of excitement for another journey.



Day 1

The flight to Puerto Prinsesa is in the afternoon but I left the house around 1pm to make sure I'm not late. I only had a back pack with me since we didn't avail of the luggage check-in option.

So off we go and arrived in Puerto Prinsesa almost 6 or 7pm. We stayed in a nice hostel in Puerto Prinsesa. We were hungry and need to get dinner so we head to Kinabuchs to get something to eat and meet with some  Couchsurfers in the area. I did try their well known exotic food, see below photo.


After dinner, we head to the baywalk that they call it to take some relaxing stroll.

We decided to head home and rest as we plan to head to the Butterfly Farm the next day and perhaps explore other sites nearby before we meet the rest of the group arriving in the afternoon.



Day 2

We head to the Butterfly Farm which is a jeepney away. We first decided to eat at Bona's for their nice tasting noodles and bread.





After Butterfly Farm, one of the locals suggested we also go to Baker's Hill, so we did. I liked this place as it has very nicely decorated houses and Christmas ornaments. We thought we wanted to go back to this place after we've been to El Nido.

There was a souvenir shop in Baker's Hill as well to get more pasalubong.

In the afternoon we met the rest of the group and we had lunch again at Bona's. They also wanted to try their tasty meal.

After that we all head to a rough ride to El Nido town. We had a time to get some rest as well.

One of my CS friend's family owns a resort in El Nido and gladly hosted us for the next few days.

We had a nice dinner at night and headed for some drinks.


Day 3

We go island hopping. I didn't take note of the islands we went to but as far as I can remember we had the Island Hopping tour A



Day 4

Another island hopping day. It's Tour B this time.




Day 5

We had a visit to our friends Grandma and in the afternoon head to the falls. And later that day is our flight back to Manila.



Whew! El Nido is such a wonderful place. I may want to go back when I get the chance. But for now, I'll happily reminisce this sweet paradise thru my photos.

I'll list the details and brief itinerary of this trip on my next post!

I am finally going to write up our itinarary during our South Korean holiday. I'm sure this will give an idea how much we spent on our stay. Because we went there almost end of November which is sort of autumn and winter season, I suppose prices could get a bit different during other seasons.

Hope this helps!



Notes:
1. Most of my shopping expenses are not included. Stuff like pasalubong and personal effects :)
2. We didn't have any expenses for accommodation because we basically did it the Couchsurfing way
3. The expenses for food, transpo and miscellaneous is just a rough approximation. These includes a min of 10000 KRW for transpo per day, 10000 KRW for every meal and 2000 KRW for Misc.

On our last day of stay in Busan, we decided to spend half of the day for shopping in Seomyeon and then meet our host for a farewell lunch. It was a lovely day and we are just so pumped up for making the most our remaining time in Korea.


I actually just plan to check out some more pasalubong I could take back home.

Seomyeon is a few stops from Millak and it quite a busy area full of shops and a nearby mall.

We first took some snacks and then went straight into finding stuff like the well known BB Cream! But time flew so fast that we realise it was time for lunch and we'll be meeting up Kath near where she works.


We had a nice lunch and chit-chat again. Until it was time to say goodbye. We really enjoyed her company and she was very warm and helpful. She had to leave us since she still got classes in the afternoon.


We continued with some more shopping and then had to go back to the apartment to pick up our things and get ready to head to the airport.

It was a very nice trip. I loved the fact that our hosts both in Busan and Seoul were very wonderful people.

There's so much more places we haven't explored and I'm sure I will have to be back. South Korea is such a lovely place and the people are really nice and amazing.

After two months, I'm now finally compiling the visa infos, itinerary and expenses during our South Korea trip. Hopefully, this should help those planning to head to South Korea anytime soon.

First off, let's get into the Visa application. After getting the promo tickets from Cebu Pacific on February 2011, we didn't care that much yet about the visa. We started preparing our docs and stuff around mid-October.

Visa Information
Being a Philippine passport holder entails some challenges for me as a traveler. We have to put up with these visa applications which also doesn't guarantee 100% approval. Anyhow, like what I always tell myself, you just got to try and try for the love of travel!

South Korea, though it required visa before entry, was good enough to have tourist visas for Filipinos given without any charge. Yes, for free. Further information should be found in their site South Korean Embassy in Manila.

But for all you out there interested to know how I went with applying my SK visa, I'll give a brief story about it!

First thing is to prepare your necessary supporting documents. Make sure you read the guidelines on their Visa information site.

What I have prepared are the following:
1. The accomplished copy of the Visa form, I have downloaded and printed my own copy
2. Your latest passport (should be at least 6 mos valid by your time of travel)
3. 1 Passport size picture (I had mine in white background but I think it doesn't matter as long as it's taken in the last 6 mos and clearly shows your face, but check their site as well for more info)
4. Old Passport - If you are a frequent traveler and have old or current visas from other OECD countries like US, Australia, etc.
5. Certificate of Employment - you could request one from your HR, state your position and how long you have been working, would also help to indicate how much you are earning
6. BIR Form 2316 or ITR for the previous year
7. Bank Certificates - this can be requested from you bank. This is to show you have enough funds to travel. Some says a rough estimate would be at least $100 USD each day you are staying in the country. But this may not always be the case.

Once I had these, I was ready to pass them to the embassy.

The embassy, in McKinley, accepts application only in the morning 9-11am. In the afternoon is the schedule for visa release.

When I got there before 9am, they already allow people to get in and get numbers and I suppose they were already starting.

It was really easy and quick. At the front gate, surrender  a valid Id and log you name before entering. No need to leave your bags or mobile phones. (This was the case when you go to US embassy)

Get inside the building and on your right, a person hands out a number. If you are traveling as a group, it would be good to get one number for all.

Window 1 serves those first time travelers. Window 3 for frequent travelers and those who has been to other OECD countries. I learned that in Window 3 the visa processing should only take 3 days unlike the one for Window 1 which takes a week.

I had to be in Window 1 since I applied with my friend who is a first time traveler.

So after being called your number you just need to give the documents and you will be given a piece of paper indicating the date and time to claim the result. Ours was scheduled a week after.

Don't lose the the paper as it will be needed on the day you claim the visa.

So we had a not so long wait...

Visa Result
We were excited and nervous on getting the result. So we waited at the lounge and when our number was called out we went on to the counter. It was my friend who got our passports.

And whola! South Korean Visa approved. We are allowed a single entry for 59 days. We are happy and excited.

After the refreshing walk around the city and C-Stream, we decided to finally get our N Seoul Tower fix.

After another challenging set of directions, we finally ended up in N Seoul Tower. Yay! We took the bus from the correct Myeongdong exit this time. It was like an accomplished task. We are finally going up the mountain and see the tower.

The tower had an amazing light show when we arrived. It changed colour once in a while and really looks wonderful!


Aside from the tower, there's also the lock of love where couples put locks, wish and throw away the keys to symbolise the locked love. There a lot of locks in different shapes and sizes.

It was almost December, so there's also Christmas trees around, made of the locks!



Perhaps, one day I'll place one for myself and the special someone!

After the half day tour of DMZ and lunch at Myeongdong, our group decided to walk around the city.

Our first stop is the Cheonggyecheon Stream of C Stream for short. According to our friend Wikipedia:

"is an 8.4 km long, modern public recreation space in downtown Seoul, South Korea. The massive urban renewal project is on the site of a stream that flowed before the rapid post-war economic development required it to be covered by transportation infrastructure. The $900 million project initially attracted much public criticism but, after opening in 2005, has become popular among city residents and tourists." 

It's a very nice sight in the middle of the bustling city. The weather is so fit for a relaxing walk along the stream. There are different things to see. There's an art exhibit, a street performer, lover, friends, children to watch and entertain you. We had fun taking photos and posing as well.

They say it's also nice to see this stream at night. I suppose there was a light show being held here as I noticed some poster about it.

The C-Stream is just a few walking distance from Myeongdong Area. You can follow thru the map if you have the Seoul Guide. At the end of the stream there is a tourist information area. They are very helpful and there wealthy of info guides you can get for free. There's also postcards! Free!

Like many others I'm one of those dreaming of getting that experience of riding a bullet train. Finally, that dream is no longer just a wish.

Going back from Seoul to Busan, we decided to take the Korail or bullet train.

We got our tickets quick and easy by booking the night before thru their website. It's very convenient you just need to check the schedules and pay thru credit card. I didn't even have to print as we didn't have a printer available, so I just took note of the confirmation number.

To book and check for the Korail train schedules, here's the website. http://www.korail.com/. More information are also available in the website.

The one way ticket from Seoul to Busan costed us 46,700 won. It was a discounted fare if you book online instead of buying right from the ticket counter.

So on our third day in Seoul, we went for a morning walk with our host in the nearby market to do some shopping and sight seeing as well. After that, we headed and took our quick lunch before leaving and going back to Busan.

Like what I have been saying, the three days in Seoul is just not enough, we all want to stay longer! It was sad to leave Seoul knowing we haven't seen everything yet.

Anyway, so our train leave at around 3pm we left around 1:30pm to give us enough time for travel. There's a bus from our host's place that stops directly at the Korail terminal.

The train seats are quite spacious. I loved it except that we are seated opposite the train's direction. It might have felt weird but we didn't notice because of the smooth ride. There are also food offered during the duration of our travel. I got coffee and bread for myself.

I also had the chance to take some nap on the way.

Overall, the bullet train was a comfortable ride. It's the quickest way to travel from Seoul to Busan unless you are not too concerned bout the price. :)

Part of the adventure in every travel experience is getting lost. While it does take an amount of wasted time, I'm sure our experience at getting lost may still be one of the most fun experiences of our Korean trip. And here's why Myeongdong Exit 2 has been etched deeply in our hearts. ;-)


After heading to the G-Palace on our first day out in Seoul, we decided we will head to the N-Seoul Tower. We have a guide book lent to us by our host. We need to find Myeongdong Exit 2. That's where we need to catch the bus to N-Seoul Tower. We had a couple of hits and miss finding the right way to Myeongdong Exit 2. When we were at the exit we then waited for the bus number to catch but we can't seem to find any of the buses we are supposed to board. We kind of lost our hope and thought to have some dinner first and just continue again with our quest.


We had a wonderful dinner at some random Korean resto. I had one of my favorite bibimbap.

After dinner, we decided to walk on further and maybe just check out other stuff around. We accidentally dropped by the Dongdaemun Market. We decided to head to N-Seoul tower the next day and walked through the market to shop for stuff to take back home.

It was a very lively market and there's all sorts of stuff to buy. We just got a bit of hard time haggling. But all is good, I got good stuff for souvenirs such as keychains, pens and chopsticks. Most of the stuff that I got sell for 10,000 won.

After getting tired of the walking we also went for night snacks at the food stalls in the area. We may have failed at finding the way to N-Seoul Tower, but hey it wasn't a bad day at all.

One of the tours we joined during our brief stay in Seoul is the DMZ tour. We toured around the DMZ area for half a day together with the rest of the CS Manila.



On our second day in Seoul, we left for the early train to the city and meet the group at their hostel near Euljiro line.

Around 7am we left their hostel, boarded the bus to DMZ. Although it seems an interesting trip for me, I was hoping we could have gone to the other tour that lets tourists into the meeting area with the DMZ security!

Anyway, the first stop in the DMZ tour is this bridge they call the Freedom Bridge.



We then went and walked down one of the tunnels. Cameras were not allowed.

By the way near the Freedom bridge there will be shops to buy snack. I got a spam kimbap and coffee since we haven't had any breakfast yet.




After that we went to the observatory where you can have a brief glimpse of the land across the DMZ border.




Last stop is the Dorasan Station. Supposedly the station that should connect South Korea to North Korea. It's a great hope to finally achieve this in the future.




The DMZ tour ended with a quick trip to the Amethyst factory. Then the shuttle dropped us near Myeongdong area to have our lunch.

Myeongdong is full of shopping areas and restaurants, that's why it wasn't hard for us to enjoy the area. We loved it!