Travel Guide South Korea

A few weeks back I received notification via SMS from Malaysia Airlines Korea that my flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul on 29th December was rescheduled to 28th December.

Ain't I'm going on 27th September?

Well..to cut the story short. I bought a one way ticket from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul for 27th September's flight. Later, I bought another return ticket from Seoul to Kuala Lumpur going on 26th December and return on 29th December.

After receiving the SMS, I was a bit alarmed . I could only spend one day with my family!!! No way. Yeah..if in case I decided to go back to Seoul again. If ONLY the whole thing worked out, the return ticket would be worth it.

So, I called the Malaysia Airlines call center and requested for a re-schedule. The guy, Nik was very pleasant and informed me that if the re-schedule was done by the airline, I have the right to request for another re-schedule but only either one day ahead or later than the post-re-schedule date.

Initially, mine was on 29th December, so Malaysia Airlines rescheduled to 28th December. However, I refused to accept and requested for another re-schedule. Luckily there was an available flight on 29th December having a stop over in Kota Kinabalu. The flight duration is longer which is from 2115hrs from Kuala Lumpur and reaching Seoul at 0710hrs.

I can bear with that! ^__^

The verdict?

Will be going to Seoul on 27th September, return to Kuala Lumpur on 26th December.
If I decide to go back to Seoul, it would be on 29th December.

I know, I'm crazy..hehehe

Finally, my 2 other friends have decided to join me for the Korea madness!! Hehe..One of the best way to get cheaper flight tickets would be to sign up for the carrier newsletter.

I have signed up for :
1) Malaysia Airlines
2) Air Asia
3) Cathay Pacific
4) Singapore Airlines

I recommended those because they have plenty of promotions from time to time and they never fail to inform me via e-mail. They are really fast!

Since I just received promotional newsletter from Malaysia Airlines , decided to check the price for flight from Kuala Lumpur to Seoul for return ticket dated from 30th Oct (Friday) until 8th November (Sunday) - this is the date for us to enjoy the autumn season. Arghh..I really love autumn; the yellow, red, orange, brown leaves..awaiting for winter.

Below is step by step guide from Malaysia Airlines how I managed to purchase a return ticket for MYR1,013 approximately USD290. Normal price ticket to Seoul would be around MYR2,000:

Promotional price is only for travel period between 25th June until 30th November 2009.

Please click on the picture for bigger version.

Step 1.

Step 2.

Step 3.

Finally..



Tips: Please ensure to click 'Next' button after Step 2. The lowest/cheapest airfare will only be shown after that. This is somewhat misleading because the price before clicking 'Next' is MYR 1,979 but price after is MYR 1,013. A whopping difference of MYR966 which I would rather spend it on shopping in Seoul. Hehehe..

Korean keyboard is really confusing when you are not native. I tried to configure mine today, but in the end the whole process irked me so much that I gave up.

This how my keyboard looks like. Mine is using Dubeolshik (두벌식) which is the most common Hangul keyboard layout in use in South Korea. Confusing? Hehhe..I will try again tomorrow to get familiarize. Aja..aja fighting!


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Another important sentence for me. This time would be:

I don't have
I don't have money.
I don't have time.

= Opso yo = I don't have/There isn't/ There aren't/Do you not have..

eg. Dun opso yo. = I don't have money
If you put question mark; Dun opso yo? = Don't you have money?

eg Shigan opso yo = I don't have time
If you put question mark; Shigan opso yo? = Don't you have time?

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I'm going to learn just the survival phrases before I'm going to Seoul. This would be one of them.
Some of the questions that I need to ask in Korean language would be like this:

Do you have money?
Do you have time?
Do you have ?

The sentence would be like this:

1) Informal way:
isso ?
<item>있 어?

2) Formal way:
isso yo?
<item>있 어요?

eg. Dun isso yo? = Do you have money?
Dun = money

eg. shigan isso yo? = Do you have time?
shigan = time

PS: If you realize..just by adding 'yo' at the back of the sentence, it would be changed to formal way. Warning: However it is just a general rule. Not to be adapted to all situation though.

PSS: I would say, learning the korean alphabet before going to Korea is really beneficial. This has happened to my trip to Japan which learning the hiragana and katakana has helped me a lot finding my way. *I lost my way a lot..hahaha*

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I was about to drive to work this evening when suddenly I imagine myself taking my backpack and strut myself to the airport. A rush of adrenaline hit me and my heart was beating so fast! My heart just wants to burst and shout. "I can't wait to go to Korea!!".That day will arrive..I said to myself.

Solo backpacking..going through immigration, breathing Seoul's air, walking through the throngs in Dongdaemun, meeting my couch and WWOOF hosts, KTX to Busan, taking loads of autumn pictures, trembling so bad during winter (will I catch the cold flu, I really hate winter!) and watching Big Bang perform LIVE (*this one if I'm really lucky*). My imagination just runs wild.

Do I need to bring my laptop? I thought so many times, I like to travel light. Hmmm...

Surfing? not that usual surfing..with that hunk body and delicious tanned muscles..yummy*Sorry for getting your mind strayed..hahah.*

Well, since budget traveling is my number one priority, God must have listened to my pray lately..^^
I stumbled upon this awesome website where the idea is just so marvelous! I heart this one..really. I might take this one up for weekend stay in Seoul. Got to know new people, new culture, new ideas and be humble in the process. We are staying in the same 'Earth' anyway.

Why?
Their idea is sharing a couch/mattress/futon (japanese bed) if they have in their house for a traveler with limited budget. There is no payment given to the host but a wise traveler should know the ethics and moral. Like, maybe treat a dinner to your host to appreciate them.

Neat? What do you think?
Wooo..isn't that dangerous? A perfect stranger in your house? You're meeting them for the first time and you share your bed?? That's so risky man! That was what I think before but...you better go to the site to really grasp the idea and principal of sharing.

Risk? As I said..risk is everywhere, anywhere, anytime. Go and register your couch, fast!!