This week, I start sharing our Seoul adventures to you but before I blabber on, let me answer a few questions sent to me via FB and twitter:
Is it cheaper to fly to South Korea via Manila or Sydney? Based from our calculations, it was cheaper for us to travel from Manila to Korea. So what we did was booked our plane tickets via Cebu Pacific and fly from Manila instead of stopping over in Korea to and from Sydney. Our flights and accommodation were all booked online and were settled even before we were in Manila.
Do Filipino citizens in Australia need to apply for a Korean tourist visa? Yes. My Husband still holds a Filipino passport so he had to apply for a visa. He was asked to present a show money of AUD$5,000.00, our flight itinerary and accommodation bookings. Before you do anything, please call the South Korea Consulate General (+61-2-9210-0200 – Sydney; +61-2-627041000 – Canberra) to confirm what you need to do. Visa or denial of visa is granted after 5 working days.
Why Seoul? Part of our travel plan everytime we go overseas is to grab the chance to explore an Asian city. The last time we were in the Philippines, we went to Hongkong. When I picked up my Husband in Dubai, we had a quick stopover in Singapore. When we planned our Manila vacation, there were three cities we thought of exploring: Singapore (again), Tokyo or Seoul. The choice to go to Seoul won because (1) it was a chance to have a break from Manila’s heat–April is Springtime in Seoul and it would be lovely to see some Cherry Blossoms; (2) We love Koreanovelas!!! And one of the reasons why we love watching them is because of their lovely scenery and (3) exploring Seoul seemed cheaper compared to going to Singapore or Tokyo. All these three major reasons for choosing Seoul proved to be a good decision.
We took the red eye flight on a Monday morning. We left Manila at 1:15AM and touched down at Incheon International Airport at 5:45AM. We liked taking the red eye flight because it meant we will arrive in South Korea in the morning and we’ll have time to rest and be able to explore the city right away.
I slept soundly during the flight and only woke up because the pilot announced that we will touch down soon. When the Husband opened the window, Korea’s sunrise greeted us a good morning.
It was 6 degrees when we arrived, a chilly morning in Incheon.
We had to ride a small train which transferred us to the Arrivals area of the airport.
This escalator machine talks but I only heard Korean words. Maybe there was an English translation but I didn’t have time to listen.
Their airport is massive. They say an airport is a reflection of a country, in this case, it is true. This country is all about wide and high spaces–much like their airport. It takes a lot of walking to get from Point A to Point B, hence, the help of walkalators.
Their walkalators have these signs. If you incidentally step on the left side, the walkalator will make a loud noise, telling you that you are at the wrong side.
This writing table used by passengers for filling in their travel forms amazed us. Other than pens, they have reading glasses available for passengers to use. What’s more amazing is that there are three reading glasses with three different grades. So cool!
Lining up at the immigration took awhile. But passing by the Customs was a breeze. We had a quick side trip to their foreign exchange centre before going out of the Arrivals section.
And then we were out! And finally we saw this part of the Incheon International Airport, a place we’ve seen in numerous Koreanovelas. My Husband and I were laughing like crazy when we realized that we are finally in South Korea and we felt like we are living a koreanovela we’ve seen on TV (yes, we are lame like that haha, it doesn’t take much to make us happy). I kept on saying, “Oh my God, we are here!”.
They have gardens in the middle of the Arrivals area.
First order of the day was to find a way out of the airport. We checked out the electronic map and the Information Centre.
The electronic map seemed user-friendly enough. The ladies in the Information Centre can speak English.
As we walked towards where we’ll buy bus tickets, we passed by this counter where you can rent phones. In Korea, there are no pre-paid phones (only post-paid) so if you really need a phone, you need rent them out. My Husband and I didn’t rent a phone because we learned that most areas in Seoul have WIFI. We got in touch with our loved ones via FB or twitter while we were there.
There are three ways to get out of Incheon Airport: Bus, Taxi or Train. We decided to take the Limousine Bus which won’t involve too many stops and will drop us right infront of our hotel. There is an “ordinary” bus which is cheaper but will involve more stops. Taking the train will involve a lot of moving from one platform to another or worse, getting on a bus too.
The Limousine Bus costs 15,000 won (about U$15.00) per head.
The cost is worth it because the seats are likened to a business class seat in an airplane. The seat has reclining functions and made it comfortable to sit back and sleep.
The ride going to Seoul took more than an hour because we were on the road during morning rush hour (about 7ish in the morning). Photo below indicates the right side lane has slow moving traffic. Those vehicles stuck in slow moving traffic are on their way to Seoul.
However, seeing Cherry Blossoms outside our window made up for that. We were surprised to see the city enveloped in blooming Cherry Blossoms. We thought we were too late. We were told that Cherry Blossoms usually bloom on the 2nd week of April and only lasts for a few days. We arrived on the 3rd week of April and thank God, there were still lots of Cherry Blossoms.
Our first day in Seoul was cold and drizzly. The weather was gloomy but when we saw this sign that said….
…my Husband and I were both smiling, feeling a certain warmth. We have arrived, finally. An unexpected dream has come true.
UP NEXT: Where we stayed in Seoul.
