Thought I would do a brief review in case there are anyone interested in this accommodation...
I was looking forward to our stay as the pictures shown on websites were that of a spacious, modern, clean and comfy apartment. The recept was a young man who could speak a little English. He told us we were early and the official check in time was 2 pm. I was grateful that he allowed us to check in early. That would save us quite a bit of time, I thought.
We had booked a family room that comes with 2 double beds (one on the first level and the other in the loft at the second level) and 1 single, according to the pictures we saw on booking websites. When we opened the door, we were "surprised" to find ourselves in a very tiny room. The single bed was a few steps away from the main entrance. We checked the bed upstairs and realised it was a single bed.
DH went to check with the recept if he had made a mistake in room allocation and I waited with the kids. While waiting, I had to keep telling the boys not to go upstairs. DH came back with bad news: the recept told him we had booked the smaller family room for 4. He didn't charge us for 1 extra person (there were 5 of us) and even if we wanted the bigger room, it wouldn't be available that day. In the past, I would insist shifting but this time round, I was surprised that I accepted the fact that we would be cooped up in the small apartment with a tiny toilet for 6 nights. My priority was to get on with the itinerary and did not wish to waste anymore time on the accommodation issue.
Anyway, the apartment wasn't that clean. The small kitchenette next to the bed was quite dirty and except for 4 mugs, a teaspoon and an electric kettle, there was nothing else. There were no tables nor chairs. There was a big fridge which we hardly use. There was no daily housekeeping services. They only changed the towels and emptied the trash daily.
One good thing about the apartment was the washing machine. We used it almost every night to wash the dirty clothes. Sometimes, we used the timer function and when we came back at night, the laundry was done.
The location was not bad. Chungmuro is in between Myeongdong and Dongdaemen which are linked to several subway lines. The walk from Chungmuro station to the apartment is about 5 mins. It can be quite tiring to walk back in the cold at night so we usually took taxis back to the apartment if we were out late.
There were about 2 7 elevens nearby so it was easy to grab something to eat in the morning. However, breakfast items were very limited in choices.
For directions and how the apartment look like:
http://hotel.konest.com/hotel_detail.html?h_id=chungmuroresidence
Our room is the same one shown in room 404, except ours is on the 10th floor.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Arrival - Seoul (14 Dec 2011)
After a very comfortable 6 hrs ride on board Korean air, we arrived at incheon airport at 8.27am local time.
The first task on hand was to collect the rented iPhone 4 from the olleh booth. I had decided to rent a phone in case we need to call the helpline for help. The rental is 3000won per day. A fellow forum member in tripadvisor told me that the phone company offers 50% discount off the rental rate if we have the coupon. I found the coupon and therefore was able to enjoy the discount.
Next thing to do was to exchange some Singapore dollars to Korean won. To our dismay, the rate offered by the banks in the airport was lower than what we get at home. The rate was only 851 compared to the 855 we got back home. Later we found out that the rate offered outside by KE bank was 873! This rate was same as that offered by banks in Gimpo airport.
We had to get the T money card (similar to our ez link card) next. T money card was a must since we would be taking subways most of the time. We bought ours from 7 eleven near to the olleh phone booth.
With everything in place, we were ready to go to our hotel in Seoul! A man approached us near the international taxi booth. He offered to take us to our apartment at 60k won which was a discounted rate. We decided to go for it. He brought us to the carpark which was cold, good for us as we were finding the heated terminal to be unbearable with the layers of clothes we put on. It was a jumbo cab, perfect for us!
The roads were very foggy and there wasnt much scenery to look at.
It took us 1 hr to get to chungmuro residence, our accommodation for the 6 nights in Seoul. The cab driver didn't know where the place was and he used the gps to guide him.
I thought 60k was well spent as it took us right to the door step and in comfort too! It would have cost us 50k won if we took the airport limousine bus which would take 1.5 hr. It would not stop at the apartment too.
The first task on hand was to collect the rented iPhone 4 from the olleh booth. I had decided to rent a phone in case we need to call the helpline for help. The rental is 3000won per day. A fellow forum member in tripadvisor told me that the phone company offers 50% discount off the rental rate if we have the coupon. I found the coupon and therefore was able to enjoy the discount.
Next thing to do was to exchange some Singapore dollars to Korean won. To our dismay, the rate offered by the banks in the airport was lower than what we get at home. The rate was only 851 compared to the 855 we got back home. Later we found out that the rate offered outside by KE bank was 873! This rate was same as that offered by banks in Gimpo airport.
We had to get the T money card (similar to our ez link card) next. T money card was a must since we would be taking subways most of the time. We bought ours from 7 eleven near to the olleh phone booth.
With everything in place, we were ready to go to our hotel in Seoul! A man approached us near the international taxi booth. He offered to take us to our apartment at 60k won which was a discounted rate. We decided to go for it. He brought us to the carpark which was cold, good for us as we were finding the heated terminal to be unbearable with the layers of clothes we put on. It was a jumbo cab, perfect for us!
The roads were very foggy and there wasnt much scenery to look at.
It took us 1 hr to get to chungmuro residence, our accommodation for the 6 nights in Seoul. The cab driver didn't know where the place was and he used the gps to guide him.
I thought 60k was well spent as it took us right to the door step and in comfort too! It would have cost us 50k won if we took the airport limousine bus which would take 1.5 hr. It would not stop at the apartment too.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Booking of air tickets to Jeju
I realised I haven't been updating this blog for a long time cause I was so busy with the trip preparation... Even till today, I haven't finalised the itinerary yet!
But, there is one thing that has been finalised ie the internal flights to Jeju. Since air fares are usually more expensive nearing the travel date, I thought we better booked the tickets as early as possible.
Currently, there are a few airlines with English websites which we can access to get the tickets, namely Korean Air, Asiana, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet. There are a few other airlines but they are all in Korean. Though they may be cheaper, we can't book them since we don't know Korean and we do not have their local credit cards.
Of the 4, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet are comparable in terms of prices and timings. I called Korean Air (since our international flight to Korea is via Korean Air) to ask if they can quote us discounted fare to fly from Seoul to Jeju. The reply was quite favourable... they quoted adult fare of S$200 and child fare of $150 inclusive of all taxes. I was very tempted to book the tickets with them though they are more expensive cause I have heard horror stories such as problems with Jeju Air and Eastar booking websites, payments made but tickets not received etc. Moreover, unlike the budget airlines, I think bigger airlines like Korean Air and Asiana have a lower tendency to cancel flights. Unfortunately, the timings were not ideal. If we book the Korean Air flights, we have to get to the airport really early to catch the flight, which is something I tried to avoid.
To conclude, Jeju Air offered the cheapest of all at a total of KRW645000 (about S$750) for 2 adults and 3 kids. Besides, I find their timings to be just nice - flight to Jeju from Gimpo is at 8.10am and flight back to Gimpo is at 9.05 pm.
However, I did feel a little jittery during the booking process. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the process would be smooth sailing. Though the website was a little slow, the tickets were booked without much of a clinch. I didn't select the seats though on the spot as I had yet to discuss with DH. On the same night, we decided on the seats. However, there was no confirmation sent to tell us that our seat selection was successful. The next morning, I checked again and horrors of horrors, I couldn't find my reservation!
I emailed them to ask and while waiting for their reply, I went in to check a few times... Finally, at about 3pm, I could see my reservation again and in it, the seats were stated. Phew! what a reliefThe airline sent me a reply about the same time to tell me that my flight was confirmed.
Now, I just hope that the flights will take off as scheduled on the actual days of our travel.....
But, there is one thing that has been finalised ie the internal flights to Jeju. Since air fares are usually more expensive nearing the travel date, I thought we better booked the tickets as early as possible.
Currently, there are a few airlines with English websites which we can access to get the tickets, namely Korean Air, Asiana, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet. There are a few other airlines but they are all in Korean. Though they may be cheaper, we can't book them since we don't know Korean and we do not have their local credit cards.
Of the 4, Jeju Air and Eastar Jet are comparable in terms of prices and timings. I called Korean Air (since our international flight to Korea is via Korean Air) to ask if they can quote us discounted fare to fly from Seoul to Jeju. The reply was quite favourable... they quoted adult fare of S$200 and child fare of $150 inclusive of all taxes. I was very tempted to book the tickets with them though they are more expensive cause I have heard horror stories such as problems with Jeju Air and Eastar booking websites, payments made but tickets not received etc. Moreover, unlike the budget airlines, I think bigger airlines like Korean Air and Asiana have a lower tendency to cancel flights. Unfortunately, the timings were not ideal. If we book the Korean Air flights, we have to get to the airport really early to catch the flight, which is something I tried to avoid.
To conclude, Jeju Air offered the cheapest of all at a total of KRW645000 (about S$750) for 2 adults and 3 kids. Besides, I find their timings to be just nice - flight to Jeju from Gimpo is at 8.10am and flight back to Gimpo is at 9.05 pm.
However, I did feel a little jittery during the booking process. I was keeping my fingers crossed that the process would be smooth sailing. Though the website was a little slow, the tickets were booked without much of a clinch. I didn't select the seats though on the spot as I had yet to discuss with DH. On the same night, we decided on the seats. However, there was no confirmation sent to tell us that our seat selection was successful. The next morning, I checked again and horrors of horrors, I couldn't find my reservation!
I emailed them to ask and while waiting for their reply, I went in to check a few times... Finally, at about 3pm, I could see my reservation again and in it, the seats were stated. Phew! what a reliefThe airline sent me a reply about the same time to tell me that my flight was confirmed.
Now, I just hope that the flights will take off as scheduled on the actual days of our travel.....
Friday, 9 September 2011
Itinerary - Seoul
The very first thing I need to finalise has got to be the itinerary. Without knowing where to visit and what activities to go for, we won't be able to decide how many days to spend in Seoul and Jeju. This would also mean that we can't book our air tickets to Jeju.
I didn't take too long to come up with a list of attractions since I have done a little bit of "homework" to check out the places even before the NATAS travel fair. For Seoul, we will be visiting 2 palaces namely Gyeongbokgung palace (plus National Folk Village) and Changdeokgung palace, one of the theme parks (likely to be Everland), Insadong, Cheonggyecheon stream, Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Dongdaemun, Noryangjin Fish market, Namsan Park, N Seoul tower, Itaewon and Namsangol Hanok Village. Instead of hitting the ski resorts, I am also contemplating to go to Korean Children Centre Snow Sledding field. It looks like an interesting place for kids and it is within Seoul itself, accessible by subway so may go there if it is in operation while we are in Seoul.
At one point, I was thinking of going to Nami Island. But decided not to after a friend told me there was nothing much to do there. Besides, I didn't even watch Winter Sonata...
Besides planning the itinerary, I am also sourcing for accommodation at the same time...busy busy!
One main challenge we are going to face is language barrier and it can be very frustrating especially if we were lost. To "minimise" the chances of us getting lost, we spent a significant portion of time studying the maps. Unfortunately, the maps we have are not detailed enough. Thinking I could get more detailed maps from the Korea Tourism Office, I made a trip there during lunch today. Sad to say, they don't have detailed maps either. Guess we have to rely on whatever maps we have for the time being and hopefully, they do have detailed maps at the airport.......
I didn't take too long to come up with a list of attractions since I have done a little bit of "homework" to check out the places even before the NATAS travel fair. For Seoul, we will be visiting 2 palaces namely Gyeongbokgung palace (plus National Folk Village) and Changdeokgung palace, one of the theme parks (likely to be Everland), Insadong, Cheonggyecheon stream, Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Dongdaemun, Noryangjin Fish market, Namsan Park, N Seoul tower, Itaewon and Namsangol Hanok Village. Instead of hitting the ski resorts, I am also contemplating to go to Korean Children Centre Snow Sledding field. It looks like an interesting place for kids and it is within Seoul itself, accessible by subway so may go there if it is in operation while we are in Seoul.
At one point, I was thinking of going to Nami Island. But decided not to after a friend told me there was nothing much to do there. Besides, I didn't even watch Winter Sonata...
Besides planning the itinerary, I am also sourcing for accommodation at the same time...busy busy!
One main challenge we are going to face is language barrier and it can be very frustrating especially if we were lost. To "minimise" the chances of us getting lost, we spent a significant portion of time studying the maps. Unfortunately, the maps we have are not detailed enough. Thinking I could get more detailed maps from the Korea Tourism Office, I made a trip there during lunch today. Sad to say, they don't have detailed maps either. Guess we have to rely on whatever maps we have for the time being and hopefully, they do have detailed maps at the airport.......
Monday, 29 August 2011
Trip planning (Seoul/Jeju Dec 11)
After considering several options for our year end trip, we have finally decided on Seoul and Jeju. The process involved was definitely not a smooth sailing one (as always) so it is indeed a huge relief when we finally booked our air tickets from Pricebreaker at the NATAS travel fair 2 days ago.
We'll be departing for Incheon on the 1.30am flight on 14 Dec and leaving Seoul on 24 Dec 8.20am flight. The timings are not ideal but Korean Air offers the cheapest flight so we decided to grab it first. This trip is going to be an exciting one due to a number of reasons:
- we have never been to Korea before
- we can't speak Korean
- we are going there on our own
- this is the first time we are visiting a country in the winter season
There are lots of things we need to do and I thought it would be a good idea to document the planning process in this blog. Hopefully, someone who is planning a trip to Korea may find the information useful.... For a start, I have drawn up a list of "tasks" that we need to settle:
1) Plan the itinerary (I have a rough idea on the places to visit so this should be quite easy)
2) Book the domestic flight from Gimpo to Jeju
3) Look up information on car rental (for self drive in Jeju)
4) Source for food and restaurants
5) Source for accommodation
6) Prepare winter wear
7) Book tickets for performance (where necessary)
That's about all for now. So, if any readers have good experiences staying in a nice hotel in Seoul/Jeju or have tried some yummy food over there, do drop me a note! Any kind recommendations will be greatly appreciated!
We'll be departing for Incheon on the 1.30am flight on 14 Dec and leaving Seoul on 24 Dec 8.20am flight. The timings are not ideal but Korean Air offers the cheapest flight so we decided to grab it first. This trip is going to be an exciting one due to a number of reasons:
- we have never been to Korea before
- we can't speak Korean
- we are going there on our own
- this is the first time we are visiting a country in the winter season
There are lots of things we need to do and I thought it would be a good idea to document the planning process in this blog. Hopefully, someone who is planning a trip to Korea may find the information useful.... For a start, I have drawn up a list of "tasks" that we need to settle:
1) Plan the itinerary (I have a rough idea on the places to visit so this should be quite easy)
2) Book the domestic flight from Gimpo to Jeju
3) Look up information on car rental (for self drive in Jeju)
4) Source for food and restaurants
5) Source for accommodation
6) Prepare winter wear
7) Book tickets for performance (where necessary)
That's about all for now. So, if any readers have good experiences staying in a nice hotel in Seoul/Jeju or have tried some yummy food over there, do drop me a note! Any kind recommendations will be greatly appreciated!
Thursday, 21 July 2011
A sleepy town....
I thought I should write something about this tiny and sleepy little town called Sungei Lembing. Most visitors went there for the purpose of climbing Bukit Panorama to see the beautiful sunrise and for the popular tou foo and noodles.
The town is really small. While we were there, almost all the shops were closed and I think they had been closed for a long time. There were hardly any people on the streets. It is quite hard to imagine this place used to be a very busy and wealthy tin mining town in the 60s. Here are some snap shots of the old buildings:
 |
| All the shops except for one coffee shop are closed |
 |
| A very old tree |
 |
| Deserted streets |
 |
| Smallest petrol station which is still functioning |
 |
| Kolong Pahat hanging bridge |
Tuesday, 19 July 2011
The Food Chapter 6 - Melaka (part 4)
This would be the last chapter on food. I would like to highlight 2 very interesting and yummy desserts/snacks which we had in Melaka - durian puffs and mille crepe. The former is a very common snack in Singapore while the latter is quite an unknown, at least for me....
The shop that sells the durian puffs is located about 2 shops away from the famous Jonker 88 eatery. Besides durian puffs, they have durian ice cream and pineapple tarts. We tried both the ice cream and the puffs. They were fantastic! As it was too hot outside, we had both in the shop. It would be good if they could put some tables and chairs for the customers to dine in. The puffs were special, quite unlike what we normally had back home. The fillings were very creamy. It is almost like eating ice cream wrapped in the choux pastry. When no. 2 took the first bite, the fillings squirted out and some went to his shirt.
We had mille crepe at Nadeje cafe in Dataran Pahlawan Megamall. Mille crepe is actually made by layering crepes with cream. Mille is a French word and it means "thousands". We ordered 3 flavours: original, tiramisu and double chocolate. At RM8.50 per slice, they were pricey but they were all worth it! Personally, I think the original one is the best. Reason being, I could taste each layer more distinctly as compared to the other 2 flavours. How I wish we could have that in Singapore. A friend of mine sent me the recipe and I realised it is actually not very difficult to make the cake. The process is tedious though as it requires making several pieces of crepe which perhaps explain why the cake is rather expensive.
 |
| Top to bottom: Double chocolate, Tiramisu and Orginal |
I really miss all the good food we had in Melaka. Can't wait to go back again!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)