Trip to Busan and Seoul - Planning Edition!

It is almost a month two months (this post was in my draft for a month haha) since the RMO started but I finally got the inspiration and drive to sit down and write about my South Korea trip! I need to be quick before I start forgetting any important details.

So, March last year I decided that I wanted to go to South Korea. I whatsapped some friends who had told me in passing that they wanna go on a trip together but apparently no one wants to travel with me :( Just kidding, it was an out of the blue decision and the people I asked did not really have any money to spend on tickets right there and then. And it was a short window too. I was in a rush because I wanted to get the MATTA fair price.

I told my mother about my plan and said maybe this is going to be a solo trip but she said, "you don't want to go with me?". We had a very short discussion and then it was decided that I will be going to Korea with my parents. Now, I gotta plan a trip for three people.

1. Buying tickets

I saw a tweet saying that you should buy flight tickets during MATTA fair, but not at the MATTA fair. And it is true! We checked the price with the vendor there and it turned out to be RM100 more expensive than the price on the website. So we went home and bought the tickets.

Apparently, AirAsia used to have intercity flights which means I can arrive in a city and depart from another city. So I bought tickets from KL to Busan and Seoul to KL. Now you can do it too but you have to make two separate bookings. Please make separate bookings if you're going to Seoul and Busan because the train tickets are pretty expensive.

2. Accommodation
I love hotels but in a foreign country where everything is pricier, it is better to book an Airbnb. This is the house I booked in Busan.

Total cost: RM573.63 (4 days 3 nights)

It is a double-storey studio house which can fit about 6 people. My parents slept downstairs (on the bed in the picture) and I slept upstairs where there were two queen mattresses. All for me haha! The location of this house is perfect. We only have to walk 200 m to get to the bus and train station. There is also a market and a mall nearby so it was pretty easy for us to get food.

In Seoul, we stayed in Itaewon.

Total cost: RM1297.97 (5 days 4 nights)

While this house is bigger, it has less place to sleep than the house in Busan. But there were only 3 of us so this house was perfect for us. It is also a very Muslim friendly location. The mosque is within walking distance, there is a lot of Halal food restaurants nearby which was a lifesaver because the stove in the house was bad haha. We ate fried chicken 2 days in a row hahaha #dreamlife

If you can see, the price in Busan is way cheaper than Seoul so if you want to go to Korea and save more, spend more time in Busan!

3. Internet
While I have read stories about how South Korea is the land of WiFi, the thought of not having a stable internet is pretty scary. Since there are three of us, I don't think a SIM card is a great idea so we booked a pocket WiFi from Roaming Man.

Total cost: RM116 (8 days)

This pocket WiFi is amazing. There were three of us and the speed of the WiFi remained the same the whole day. You do need to charge after 8 hours of continuous use but we usually weren't outside for that long. You just need to book it online and pick it up at KLIA or KLIA2 and just drop it off at the counter when you are done.

4. Moving around
During our trip, the Covid-19 outbreak was just beginning. But we were still on high alert and for some reason, I just think that the subway is more dangerous than a bus. So we did not take the train at all haha. Except to go to the airport. The buses are frequent and will get you closer to your destination compared to a train so it is very practical. All you need is a transportation card. We used T-Money

When you get to the airport, go to the nearest convenience store and buy them for 4000KRW and top them up at the nearest machine. If you arrive at Gimhae airport, the machine is located in the train station outside of the airport. We credited 30000KRW in our card each and we still have some money left at the end of our trip.

We also rode a lot of taxies. Since there were 3 of us (sometimes 4 because Nanad joined us!), taking a taxi was pretty cheap if you split the price. But we did check the Naver Map for an estimated cost before taking them. If possible, prepare the address that you want to go to in Korean. If not, just say the name of the place slowly and hope for the best hahaha. We only met nice taxi drivers so it was pretty easy.

5. Useful Application
a. Naver Map
You can't use Google map in Korea so download Naver Map. It is very easy to use and very convenient too. You can check the estimated travel duration and cost, also different routes to get to the place.

B. Calculator

If you can't speak Korean, whip out your calculator app to haggle haha. Also to convert money so you know how much you are spending.

6. Precaution/Cautionary Tale

a. I read that South Korean Customs are very strict and will be super anal especially towards Malaysians because there were too many people trying to be illegal fruit pickers. It is best if you have all your travel details on paper so that they can see it if they want to. We didn't get stopped but we did get scolded because we spent too much time in the toilet hahaha.

b. Many people were telling us that Koreans are cold and hate people but we found it to be quite the opposite. Alhamdullilah we only met super nice people. A random uncle saw that we were frantically searching for a taxi and he stopped one for us. A random couple saw us getting lost and they stopped to show us the way. I also needed to translate something and the cashier went out of her way to find someone who can speak English. Overall, it was a very lovely time.

I'll write more lengthy posts about our trip later. I hope if you stumble upon this post when researching for your trip, this will be a great help for you.

Till then, bye bye!