Firstly, I decided to go to Jeju last minute with my friends Ashley and Priscilla. We were up late the night before and we booked it because we really wanted to go before it got too cold in Korea. I don't recommend doing what we did. But the trip was worth!!! The weather was perfect and it was fun :) Day 1 - November 22, 2019 We flew from Gimpo International Airport with T-Way. The flight to Jeju from Seoul is 1 hour, so super short. We arrived to our airbnb around 4 PM to drop off our things and booked it to the Tangerine Picking Farm because it said on Google that it closes at 5 PM. We ended up getting in the taxi to head there but once we got to the destination, it turned out we were either at the wrong location or it didn't exist anymore. So I highly encourage you to do your research when you look up activities and sightseeing places to do. But our taxi driver was so nice and he ended up taking us to another one! We paid 7,000 for a good hour of tangerine eating, picking, picture taking and video recording. It was the highlight of the trip for me. I highly recommend going in Jeju because the island is known for tangerines! Our second destination was the Dongmun Market Place for dinner after we rested up at the airbnb for a bit. Here we were able to get street food; tangerine juice, chicken skin, and japchae "glass noodles" bread. We were also all able to buy souvenirs for really cheap! I bought 10 boxes of chocolate for 10,000 and a big box of tarts for 15,000. After the market, we headed back to the airbnb by bus. Walking home from the bus stop, we stumbled upon a bowling alley nearby (J Rock Club & Bowl) so we ended up making that our third location of the day to end our night. It was really fun to go bowling for the first time in Korea. At the bowling place, they played Korean Hip-Hop music and we got french fries so it was a fun time. Day 2 - November 23, 2019 This was our only full day, so we decided to do a tour with Trazy. For $36 we were able to go to 5 different places on the west side of Jeju. We decided to do it this way since we were in Jeju for short and we wanted to be able to get the most out of it. Jeju is the Korea "Hawaii", 3x bigger than Seoul so transportation takes awhile to get around. Since we didn't want to waste any time we opted for a tour. On the tour we also had fish (mackerel) for the first time in Korea. At the end of tour, we got back to our airbnb, rested for a bit again and headed out to dinner. We went to the black pork street in Jeju because we heard it's a MUST to try black pork in Jeju. It was surprisingly different and good somehow compared to regular pork. Finally, to end the night we went back to bowl except this time they were playing K-Pop from the 2000s so it was a throwback feeling. Link: https://www.trazy.com/experience/detail/jeju-island-tour-west-east-coast Day 3 - November 24, 2019 Our final day, we slept in till 10 AM, packed really quickly, checked out of the airbnb 30 min late and headed to the airport for our flight at 12:30 PM. November 1, 2019
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November 9-11, 2019
Escape (Oct. 25 - 26)
Another festival, I know... it's a problem. But it was the last one in Korea my friends and I purchased for ahead of time. This was a two day event, since we went to EDC it was discounted so I paid $85 USD. Which was really good because two days and vip tickets were not available. One day tickets were $128 USD. A lot of friends I knew wanted to go but didn't go because of the price. Tip: buy concert and festival tickets ahead of time It was also my 3rd time at Seoul Land but this time they used the parking lot to create a "circus" theme since it was in celebration of Halloween. Since it was the end of October the weather was cold. The event itself was in a huge tent and it was really hot because of the amount of people. So dressed appropriately by either wearing something underneath and wearing a sweater/jacket over. On the first day I got to see Slushii, Jauz, and Marshmellow. The second day I got to see Seven Lions, Galantis, and Kaskade. All the performers were really good! If you like EDM and Halloween it's a must attend event. After Escape both nights, my friends and I headed to Itaewon to eat Mcdonald's and to go out. It was a fun weekend! But definitely dress warm and don't get sick! Massacre at the Masquerade (Oct. 31) On Halloween my friends and I attended a Yonsei Mentors event. It was clubbing at Octagon in Gangnam. We all decided to go because it would be the first time going to a club in Gangnam for a discounted price of 10,000 instead of 30,000. It was overall a good time, the one downside was that it was EDM music that my friends and I didn't know. Day 1 - October 11, 2019 I departed on the 6 PM KTX train to Busan. I went with my fellow friends Michelle, Shristy, Anh, Priscilla, Alina, Jon, and Jason. We got a cute airbnb in Chinatown for two nights and three days. It was a 10 min walk from Busan station which was very convenient. The airbnb came with 4 bunk beds, 3 showers, 2 toilets, a dining room table, and a kitchen. Each person paid $45 USD since there was 8 of us. After we arrived and got settled in, we ate dinner at a 24 hour place called "Food Cafe". Where I got Kimchi Fried Rice and Fried Mandu. After dinner I got honey cotton candy dip and dots at the 7-11 near us. Day 2 - October 12, 2019 We left the airbnb at 9 AM to head to our first destination, Oryukdo Island and Skywalk. It was very windy when we got there. It was a free tourist attraction! Although the skywalk itself was short. My friends and I were able to see the ocean which we don't see in Seoul. Our second destination was Kandasoba for lunch. It was very good, I highly recommend! The noodles were very rich and creamy. The workers at the restaurant were so nice, it felt like I was in Japan almost. Third stop was Busan Tower and Yongdusan Park. The admission fee was $6.74 USD for #views and #photos which was pretty worth it. Fourth stop was Gamcheon Culture Village. Probably the #1 place to visit in Busan because of the colorful houses. Note: TAKE THE BUS! For some reason my friends and I walked up this huge hill which was exhausting. Our fifth destination was the Lotte Department Store Sky Garden. I found out about this through a blog online. You have to take the elevator to the 12th floor of the mall and then walk up to the observatory deck. It was really beautiful because we got to watch the sunset. After we made our way to BIFF Square which stands for the Busan International Film Festival. Here there were a lot of street food vendors and shops. Note: when purchasing street food make sure it's made fresh because it's not going to be as good if it isn't. Lastly, we headed to the Jalgachi Fish Market. This did not go as we planned because we somehow got baited into the vendors in the front without knowing the price, portion, and how to order. Note: pick out the seafood that you want from the stalls and then have them take you to the 7th floor to eat. If you're also afraid of getting scammed as a foreigner you can just order from the restaurant upstairs. A group of 11 of us ended up paying $81.30 USD for one small plate each of octopus, shrimp, and eel. We were all so upset so we just went to eat street food at the Bupyeong Market nearby. I ended up getting Kimbap, Fries, and a Strawberry Slushie. Day 3 - October 13, 2019 Once again we left our airbnb at 9 AM. Since it we had to check out we left our bags in the locker at Busan Station. We got two large lockers which costed $4.21 USD each until midnight. We then headed to the most famous temple in Busan, Haedong Yonggungsa. It was beautiful here. Also very windy since it was by the ocean. Being that we went on a Sunday, we were able to get free bibimbap and seaweed soup. After we were done taking pictures and using the bathroom here. Our second stop of the day was Haeundae Beach, another well known place in Busan. RIght next to the beach we ate lunch at Haeundae Gaya Milmyeon. Our third destination was 168 stairs. I was sadly too tired to climb up because the monorail line was too long so we just took pictures and viewed it from the bottom. Since we were near Busan station again, we got what we needed for the Korean spa and headed back to Haeundae area. We went to Centrum City Department Store for a bit and then headed to a Jimjibang after. Before we did so, we stopped at the Haeundae Market on the way and I got 8 pieces of fried mandu for again $4.21 USD. Day 4 - October 14, 2019 Last day in Busan, we had the #1 place in Haeundae on Mango Plate which was Haemok, a Japanese restaurant that serves really delicious unagi. After a delicious meal we went back to Haeundae beach since it was right there. Our second destination we made our way to another beach, Gwangali for a view of the Gyeongdo bridge. Our third stop was Songdo Cable Car and Sky Park where we walked along a bridge and found a suspension bridge and hidden beach. After doing the trail we walked over to the other side of the beach to watch the sunset on the skywalk. After we took our photos, we made our final stop at Bupyeong Market again to grab food than headed back to Busan station then back home to Seoul. |