SK 2012: Traditional Meets Modern Seoul

I woke up around 7:00 AM feeling recharged. Thanks to our hanok's ondol flooring, I slept like a baby. The heated floors were like hot compresses on my tired and hurting legs. So good~!

Complimentary traditional breakfast. Excuse our bangag faces.

Our host called us one by one for our free complimentary traditional breakfast around 8:00 AM. She told us that we should eat breakfast first before anything else (i.e. make-up). I later found out that she told Faye to wait for everyone to be seated at the table before she starts eating. Haha Low EQ kasi e! I guess they value meal times that much.

SK 2012: Hey Seoul Sisters!

Autumn in South Korea is hands-down our most-awaited trip of the year. The girls and I have been raving about it for the longest time, even our office mates can't help but get excited for us. Even though it'll be my second time there, I feel just as giddy as I was the first time simply because it was love at first sight for me and SK. It's definitely one of those places you'll never get tired of going back to.

We were lucky enough to book tickets during one of Cebu Pacific's crazy piso sale promos, so it's alright even if we ended up with red-eye flights. Not bad for Php 3,000+ yo! At least we get a breathtaking view of the city skyline during take-off and landing. Plus, we can easily sleep through the 4-hour flight. This trip was a year in the making and I spent grueling hours researching just to make the most out of our 6-day trip. All that effort was worth it though seeing them girls get excited by just looking at the itinerary and sample photos.

Waiting for airport limousine bus #6002

We arrived at Incheon International Airport (IIA) around 6 AM. After exchanging a few dollars to wons at the nearest Foreign Exchange booth for breakfast and transportation money, we bought/topped-up our Seoul City Pass Plus cards which is basically T-money with additional discounts for tourists. Tip#1: Do not exchange all your travel money at the airport. Wait until you get to Myeong-dong where you can find some of the best rates.

Lost in Translation: Google Maps Edition

I love being a tourist but I also love feeling like a local whenever I go on trips so I do tons of research beforehand. My itinerary would always end up looking something like this:

OC freak

Of course, itineraries don't always get followed but I try! They only serve as guides so I don't overstay and lose track of time in a certain place. If you noticed, I always include directions (sometimes even pictures) whenever I create an itinerary because I'm terrible at reading maps and street signs. Being the OC freak that I am, I wanted to see if I could easily follow the directions I put in so I tried finding my way to our hanok stay* guesthouse via Google Maps. After a lot of wrong turns, I finally found the right place. Yay!

Friends House

I kept on looking for the Arim Stationery store (one of the landmarks the guesthouse gave us) only to find out their sign's written in Hangul! No wonder I couldn't find it easily. Good thing, I took time to try and learn how to read and write in Hangul. See, I take my research seriously. Haha

Arim Stationery

*Hanok Stay refers to staying in a traditional Korean house. It is a good opportunity to experience traditional Korean lifestyle and culture. - Korea Tourism Organization