Korea Winter Trip - Itinerary part 1

Travel August 08, 2020

Hi everyone, aloha :)

first of all i hope you all safe and healthy, i know this pandemic makes everyone sad and stressed.

please be happy guys and stay safe :)

Finally, one of my travel bucket list, checked.

so here i'm gonna show you all, me & my friends itinerary when we went to south korea last january.

this trip is based on our preference, if you looking for a chill and relax trip itineray in south korea, you may read our itinerary as your reference.

oh iya btw trip kita jauuh banget dari luxury trip, it was more like budget trip, we only spent around 11 million rupiah for a whole trip include accommodation, transport, internet, flight ticket, and food as well. but still, comfortable is one of our top priority.

jadi sebelum trip tentu kita research dulu, kita cukup banyak research sih dan kita udah planning trip ini dari april 2019. aku sama sahabat-sahabatku belom ada yang pernah ke korea jadi emang our first time ever dan trip bareng kita pertama kali juga, tiba-tiba aja overseas pula dan kita gamau yang namanya pake travel agent.

luckily we are a fan of south korea, as for me i grow up with korean drama and korean variety show and my other two friends basically a fan of kpop and korean kdrama as well. so we know a lot about south korea and i think i should named this trip "living like hanguk saram" (hanguk saram means : korean people).

we spent 7 night 8 days there and that was during winter. trust me if you want going to south korea during winter specially around a middle of january to february, please invest to buy heatech legging and top in uniqlo (it's not a promotion, but i like uniqlo product), it's better if you buy the "ultra warm" or at least "extra warm" type. i know it quite expensive, but those will save you from the cold and wind as well. seriously for me who living in indonesia especially in jakarta, as a very hot and humid country, the wind in korea it's very cold, the cold can go into your bone, and the air very dry, so please prepare a lipbalm as well otherwise your lips will be cracked and bleeding.

okay, here we go our itinerary should be. (thanks for my friend mody who help me to make this ~~bus stop looks like~~ )

but life doesn't always turn out the way you planned right ? so do we too. the biggest problems for us is we're too chill and not thinking we're in different country. pardon us. so..

DAY 1 - 19/1/20 SUNDAY
incheon - airbnb, CU, 711 - myeongdong- busan jib/ yoogane restaurant - airbnb.


our trip start from here. our flight on 11 pm jakarta time.

i went to korea with them yeay!, don't ask me why i'm not in the picture, you can see they doll up with their fashion airport style, meanwhile i'm only wearing sweater + legging + sandals, my fashion airport style is as comfortable as i can.

our flight took around 7 hours if i'm not mistaken. none of us can really sleep that time. 7 hours without sleep it was really boring.

and finally the sun is up, i think this around busan (busan is one of city in korea)

sesampainya di incheon airport dan selesai per-imigrasi-an kita bertiga langsung menuju toilet buat ganti baju ke baju winter, abis itu pasang kartu internet yang udah kita beli dari jakarta dan beli T-money di 7-11 buat transport card.

sebelumnya kita tanya ke host airbnb kita apa boleh check in lebih awal sekitar 1 pm, dan dia bilang bisa diusahakan. karena kita semua ga tidur dengan proper jadi beneran kita udah kaya zombie pertama kali kedinginan ngerasain winter plus harus ngangkat-ngakat koper mana tangga di subway banyaknya bukan main

our airbnb located in jegi-dong and it's really near subway station as well bus stop. but we went to our airbnb by train, it's airport train with all stop, it's only took around 4.000 won. it's the cheapest transport that you can find if you want to go downtown from incheon airport. to go to jegi-dong we need to transit in few station (please use naver map/kakao map as a direction, google maps can't works very well in korea)

it's our airbnb neighbour area. i really like this place! jegi-dong, it's quiet area, but you can find convience store or coffee shop easily and very near from subway station and also bus stop. it's perfect for rest after a long day. source : google maps.

sampe di sekitar airbnb sayangnya kita belum bisa check in karena masih di bersihin, dan kita disuruh nunggu sampe jam 2. akhirnya karena kita kelaperan kita langsung mampir ke convenience store sekitar situ. sadly, jam 2 kita belum bisa check in tapi kita bisa titip koper, jadi yaudah kita nitip koper dulu, abis itu jalan-jalan sekitar situ aja. tapi karena kedinginan akhirnya kita ke convenience store lagi buat beli hotpack dan nunggu airbnb ready. sekitar jam 3 akhirnya kita bisa check in, terus kita langsung tidur tanpa basa basi ~

source : airbnb website

Airbnb (Sara's House)

View On Airbnb Dongdaemun area. clean and safe.

Location : 86, Wangsan-ro, 푸르지오시티 오피스텔동 709호, Dongdaemun-gu,, Seoul 02585, South Korea

Reviews : from a to z is all good. although it's a little bit small for 3 person with big luggage staying there but everything was perfect. it has all the essentials, tv, heating, aircond, hot water, microwave, refrigerator, stove, washing machine, and of course private bathroom. the location of this listing also good, it's near everything and it's safe place for traveler. nothing to complain just perfect!.

anyway if you looking for discount in airbnb you can sign up with my link and you will get up to Rp632,500 off your first trip. CLICK HERE :)

kita bangun jam 7an, dan siap-siap buat cari makan. tujuan pertama kita ke myeong dong! apalagi kalo ga kesitu kan. it's a shopping district, dimana-mana discount, persiapkan dompet mu, mentalmu juga biar ga boros ya:). tapi sebelum itu kita cari makan dulu buat dinner.

we ordered dakgalbi, the portion quite big, we ordered without rice.

YOOGANE MYEONGDONG 1ST STORE

location: 13, Myeongdong 10-gil, Jung-gu, Seoul 04537 South Korea

price: 9.000 - 13.000 won per person.

and after dinner of course we went to shopping, nothing much to say. but if you're a fan korean makeup and skincare product you definitely would be love myeongdong. a tips for you, please don't get too excited when you see a crazy discount like buy 10 pcs sheet mask get 10 pcs too, check out other place too maybe you'll get a cheaper one. but if you're a "YOLO" person like me, if you think it's worth it just buy it without regret.

Best Things to do in Myeong dong :

1. if you're fan of sheet mask, please buy! it's really really cheap compare in indonesia an it's original

(tips: please buy on original outlet or mask outlet like "A Mask Story" but you need to beware fake product also, i got tips please avoid thailand store, they said better to avoid)

2. food street. definetely you need to try.

3. buy souvenir, if you're looking for a souvenir like keychain/magnet you can find easily in myeongdong.

(my tips: you need to check out their daiso, in myeongdong got daiso with 5 floor if i'm not mistaken, and in daiso everything very cheap with only price range 1.000 - 5.000 won, and they accept card)

*for skincare/makeup myeongdong it's a good place to shop, tapi dikorea bukan tempat shopping bukan cuma di myeongdong, kalo kalian lama mending cek harga dulu aja bandingin dimana yang lebih murah sebelum beli. tapi kalo buat belanja baju, mending jangan di myeongdong (kecuali emang storenya ada nya di myeongdong) soalnya aku tau tempat belanja baju yang beneran bagus-bagus banget with affordable price, i'll let you know later .

myeongdong street - shopping district

ini satu-satunya foto yang terbagus saat di myeongdong waktu itu. kita sempet foto-foto pas udah selesai belanja tapi karena emang dingin banget tangan kaku dong fotonya ga ada yang bener hahaha. pertama kalinya ngerasain udara minus 2 derajat, tapi sebenernya feels likenya -8 derajat! gokil. tangan udah bener-bener kaku. (jangan lupa bawa sarung tangan kalo mau ke korea pas winter)

DAY 2 - 20/1/20 MONDAY
Namsan Tower - lee min ho house (legend of blue sea filming location) - myeongdong - duty free star avenue - department store/kakao store/line store - hongdae - nippon restaurant - hongdae.

next day kita bertiga pergi ke namsan tower, a famous tourist spot. sebenernya kita engga pengen-pengen banget buat pergi ke namsan tower tapi kita gajadi planning buat ke nami island so we're decided to visit namsan tower at least. untuk masuk ke area namsan tower ini free tapi kalo kalian mau masuk observatory nya kalian harus bayar 11.000 won (+ Rp 143.000). di observatory kalian bisa liat view kota seoul 360 derajat tapi karena kita kesana pas winter, berkabut dan ga begitu interest banget ngeliat 360 derajat jadi kita engga ke dalem towernya. honestly as for me i think, it's just wasting money because i'm not so interested but if the skies are clear and bright i think it's worth the money. also many people say it's very pretty for a night view.

the popular namsan tower

from bus stop to tower area we need hiking...

lunch time, but we weren't hungry (since we ate brunch at airbnb)

the famous photo zone in namsan, it was very windy and freezing,

abis dari namsan tower kita naik bus (ini lupa banget bis ke arah mana, cuma yang jelas di papan bus stop ada directionnya, kalau ga salah kita naik bis ke arah myeongdong) tapi kita turun ditempat masuk namsan tower pake cable car. jadi kalau mau ke namsan tower dari bawah itu ada 3 pilihan, naik cable car, naik bus (tetep sedikit hiking), sama bener2 hiking. dari cable car kita ke filming location the legend of blue sea. adakah yang nonton disini ? kalo kalian tau rumahnya lee minho, nah itu filming location yang aku maksud.

this beautiful house what i'm talking about. actually we didn't go inside since the door closed and we're not sure if it open for public or not. anway this is it. i don't have good picture there so i put picture from google pardon me.

i know it's backlight but it just very pretty

for kdrama lover, this typical house often came on drama isn't it ?

right after that, kita menuju star avenue untuk memenuhi kebucinan kedua temanku. kita naik subway dari myeongdong, dan ke myeondongnya kita jalan kaki dari filming location sekitar 10 menitan, gajauh kok. jadi tetep kalo di myeongdong mata tuh bawannya lirik kanan kiri mulu :'))) beneran godaan terberat buatku. ok skip~~

jadi star avenue itu, kaya ceplakan (?) tangan halyu star mostly boyband/girlband. cara buat ke star avenue kita nemu di blog orang (disini), dia jelasin step by step buat ke star avenue dengan lengkap banget, thank you so much, 정말 감사합니다.

pas sampe star avenue tentu dong kedua temanku sebagai bucin-bucin bts sangat excited while i'm just laughing and freezing at the same time. jadi bagian tangan-tangan ini ada di koridor mau masuk ke mall gitu. btw yang aku inget ada tangannya BTS, EXO, Twice, dan lain-lain.

ini tangan gheo :'))

akhirnyaa ku menemukan cetakan tangan yang bisa membuat ku bucin, ji chang wook!

karena bener-bener dingin banget anginnya (?) (liat aja tangaku udah kurus kering mengkeriput -_-) akhirnya kita ke mall, yaudahlah ya. abis dari mall kita jalan-jalan di sekitar daerah situ, jujur udah ga ada tujuan saat itu jadi yaudah cuma jalan-jalan aja, ada kakao friends store masuk (sampe sekarang masih inget betapa lucu nya phone case di kakao dan rada nyesel kenapa ga beli(?)), ada line friends masuk, ada store ini itu masuk gitu aja sih kerjaan kita bertiga. sampe akhirnya agak laper dan pengen nyemil.

food stall! ini murah banget harganya dan porsinya ngenyangin buat cemilan. fishcake satu tusuknya 2000 won (Rp.26.000), toppoki satu porsinya 2000 won juga dan dapet gratis kuah omuk (fishcake) gratis bisa nambah, dingin-dingin nyeruput kuah omuk tuh, the best. btw tapi hati-hati ya yang muslim kalo ga sure mending gausah beli sosis, karena dikorea rata-rata sosis itu daging babi.

abis kenyang, harus nya kalo sesuai plan kita ke seokchon lake, cuma berhubung dingin banget dan berangin jadi males buat ke danau kaya ngebayanginnya aja udah bikin kedinginan, akhirnya kita langsung menuju hongdae.

hongdae itu semacam daerah para muda-mudi berkumpul selain shopping district di hongdae banyak street perfomer, again liat-liat orang-orang pada unjuk bakat dan belanja hehehehe

hongdae street, young vibes everywhere~~

dinner time ! fushion jjampong @ nippon restaurant

abis kita makan, kita masih tetep jalan-jalan di sekitar hongdae, dan terakhir ke supermarket buat beli oleh-oleh makanan. hari ke dua pun selesai dari hongdae balik ke airbnb naik bus dengan tangan penuh plastik belanjaan, sambil kedinginan & muka kaku.

DAY 3 - 21/1/20 TUESDAY
Yongma land - ediya coffee - dongdaemun design plaza - myeongdong - JYP ent/ soul cafe.

di hari ketiga ini sebenernya, jadwal kita over chill, dari awal kita berangkat udah agak siang sekitar jam 11an gitu. dari jegi dong ke yongma land kita naik bis sekitar 30menitan, aku lupa nama halte nya apa pokoknya kita turun di perempatan gitu depan ediya coffee. nah abis itu kita jalan ke yongma landnya. pas dijalan kita udah sempet buntu karena dari naver map kita udah sampe tapi kita engga ngeliat plang atau tulisan bahkan wahana-wahananya, cuma ada kaya bukit-bukit dan pergudangan. dan kebetulan ada ahjumma (old lady) mau hiking dari pakaiannya, akhirnya kita nanya dan baik banget dia nunjukin jalan ke kita karena pas banget juga jalannya sesuai dia mau hiking. jadi kita perlu masuk ke bukit-bukit gitu lewat jalan kecil buat sampe ke yongma land, selama jalan ahjumma nya cerita kalo banyak orang-orang yang sepantaran kita kita juga nyari yongma land.

btw yongma land itu semacam amusement park cuma udah ga berfungsi, jadi dialihkan tempat foto/video atau apapun itu. fee masuk yongma land itu 10.000 won (Rp 130.000) bebas sampe tutup. dan di yongma land ini kita cuma foto-foto aja walaupun ga bagus-bagus amat ya, tapi lama anehnya lama banget kaya happy aja disini berasa satu tempat cuma punya kita bertiga.

some side of yongma land

iya. mereka lagi dance cover :)

photo time~

it was a happy day ~

abis dari yongma land, harusnya kita ada ke dua tempat cuma pas itu kita capek and we were craving for a coffee so we decided buat ke ediya coffee dulu. di ediya sambil ngangetin badan tapi minumnya kopi dingin dan nyemil (tapi kaya bukan nyemil karena bikin kenyang banget), yah sebagai orang-orang yang gampang mageran kita pw banget disana dan tau-tau udah sore aja :').

i really miss ediya's latte :(

akhirnya kita memutuskan buat ga ke hwarang dae rail road park & line forest, harusnya ke DMC cuma karena kita liat di map cukup jauh jadi kita mutusin buat ke dongdaemun design plaza aja. serandom itu memang kita bertiga~

the famous Dongdaemun Design Plaza

randomly captured by me.

hot photo spot, take a picture first hehe

abis dari DDP kita ke myeongdong (lagi) buat belanja titipan, dan tiba-tiba jadi belanja juga aja. abis itu kita ke JYP entertaiment dan mampir ke cafe nya (berharap barang kali aja ketemu member GOT7), udah deh kita disitu sampe agak malem dan cafe nya mau tutup. day 3 selesai ~~