Types of accommodation in Korea

May 31, 2016October 24, 2016Leave a comment

Recently we’ve been travelling a lot through Korea and we’ve had the opportunity to look at the variety of accommodations available.

Today I will be discussing my own experiences and preferences. I know that a lot of people like to go to jimjibangs for 2 main reasons… Number one, its very Korean, and if you’re looking for a truly Korean experience then go for it. Secondly, its very cheap, for around 15,000 Korean Won you can use their sauna’s hot tubs and even sleep there. This is obviously a very cheap choice if you’re looking for somewhere to spend the night.

Last year on New Years Eve, we decided to go to Seoul for the day. We planned to do some shopping in Myong-dong and then go for a late lunch at Braai republic in Itaewon, We would then go back to the bus terminal and go home. BUT… we sort of forgot that is was New Years Eve and that people like to travel on holidays like these in Korea. Therefore the earliest that we could go home was 10 am the next morning. So now we had to find a place to stay for the night. We’re not really that familiar with Seoul or Gangnam for that matter. The closest hotel was inside the Gangnam Express terminal complex. This hotel is JW Marriots. So a small outing cost us much more than we expected. There’s not much I can say about Marriott that you don’t know already. It is a 5 star hotel with a gym and dining area. You can have dinner for 95,000 Korean won per person and breakfast for around 45,000. Everything was clean and we had a lovely view of the city. Although the room was kind of small for a Hotel room we had a bath and big screen TV, which is pretty much standard for hotels. This room cost us 358,000 Korean won for the night.

JW Marriott

About a month ago we had to go to the South African embassy in Seoul. this meant that we had to sleep over in Seoul on a Sunday night to be able to go to the embassy and catch a 2 hour bus ride in order to be at work at 1 o’clock on Monday. We didn’t want to spend too much money because this was not a pleasure trip but rather ‘business’. We booked into a place that said Hotel. It even had breakfast included. When we got there it wasn’t really a Hotel, it was more like a hostel with separate rooms. It occupied the 16th floor of one of the buildings next to a Hotel. Not really what we expected I might add. The room was quite small which was OK but my biggest problem was that the walls were dirty, the toilet didn’t work and the pillow cases and sheets had dirty brown spots… and this wasn’t part of the décor I can assure you. This to me meant that they didn’t replace the sheets. The price for this hotel was 65,000 Korean won

Ekonomy Hotel

Then a few weeks ago we went to Busan to see what it looks like there, unfortunately we had to change our travel plans and go a few weeks earlier than expected which means that most of the nice hotels and motels were already fully booked. We had to opt for a Love Motel. My biggest problem here was the location, and the fact that we had to witness another couple doing their business in the building across from us. Otherwise the price was low, we received clean towels and robes everyday. There was a huge bathtub which, if you live in Korea, you know that this is not to be taken for granted. Everything was clean and we had a very nice time there. This love motel cost us around 100,000 Korean won/ night.

ForU Hotel

Although the Love Motels aren’t really my scene we’ve booked into another one this coming weekend when we are visiting my brother in Busan.

Additionally to these 2 experiences I have learned that booking early is key and that there are very nice options if you book in advance. Places like Busan and Seoul have a lot of hotels. there is also the airbnb option. With this option you can stay in a fully furnished apartment with a kitchen for your holiday or weekend. The prices are really reasonable and you can look at what the apartments have to offer by doing the virtual tour. These apartments range anything from 50,000- 300,000 Korean won

Game of Thrones collectables

May 27, 2016May 27, 2016Leave a comment

In honour of Season six of Game of Thrones being in full swing here are some of the best Game of Thrones merchandise to own.
For the first time, all five novels in the epic fantasy series that inspired HBO’s Game of Thrones are together in one boxed set. An immersive entertainment experience unlike any other, A Song of Ice and Fire has earned George R. R. Martin—dubbed “the American Tolkien” by Time magazine—international acclaim and millions of loyal readers. Now here is the entire monumental cycle:
A GAME OF THRONES
A CLASH OF KINGS
A STORM OF SWORDS
A FEAST FOR CROWS
A DANCE WITH DRAGON

The Starks

The Lanisters

Daenerys

Conan the Barbarian collectables

May 27, 2016Leave a comment

My dad is a huge fan of Conan the barbarian. He also has huge collection of action figures. Unfortunately he doesn’t have any Conan action figures so I’ve decided to start to get him some action figures to start his collection.

The featured picture below is from Chronicle Collectables

McFarlane Toys Conan the Barbarian Series 1 Conan The Barbarian Action Figure

McFarlane Toys Conan the Barbarian Series 1 Action Figure Skifell Vanir Warrior

McFarlane Toys Conan the Barbarian Series 1 Svadun Action Figure

McFarlane Toys Conan the Barbarian Fire Dragon Action Figure

Mcfarlane Conan Series 1 Action Figure – Conan The Indomitable

Mcfarlane Conan Series 1 Action Figure – Belit Action Figure

Korea will change you

May 26, 2016May 27, 2016Leave a comment

Coming to Korea, we didn’t quite know what to expect. Luckily my younger brother has been living here on and off for around 6 years. He gave me some tips on what to expect but it didn’t nearly prepare me for Korea.

Before I came to Korea I lived a completely different life. Our whole lives revolved around our jobs. We travelled 2 hours a day to and from work. We had to wake up at 4 am just to miss most of the traffic so that we could be at work by 8 am. At night we would get home eat and sleep. Tomorrow the whole thing would start all over again.

So how did Korea change me?

Firstly, travelling. Korea has an amazing public transport system. We live in a small city in the middle of nowhere but within an hour and a half I could be in Seoul or Dajeon. I can even be in Busan in 3 hours. Furthermore I don’t have to travel hours and hours to get to work. It takes us only 7 minutes (walking) to get to work. Therefore having a car is an expense that one can live without.

Busses

You can travel all over Korea in a matter of minutes on the KTX express trains

From meat eater to weed-eater

In South Africa we ate meat at almost every meal. Firstly because meat is so inexpensive and secondly because we lived on a high protein low carb diet. Here in Korea, meat is extremely expensive. If you eat meat the way we ate it back home we would not be able to save money at all. We will then just live to eat instead of eating to live. In addition its just easier to eat Korean food. Most of the foods staple is rice and veggies. Even eating out is much cheaper

Home made food in Korea

Traditional South African Braai

Some comparison on prices

Beef – South Africa; $8/Kg South Korea; $25/Kg

Chicken – South Africa; $3 – $6/Kg South Korea; $12/Kg

Clothing

Clothing standards are completely different in Korea than in western countries. In western countries we would rather wear longer dresses and skirts and show a bit of boob whereas in Korea, showing your back, boobs or shoulders is considered sexy and is therefore off limits, but short skirts and shorts are a complete go. I have to admit that recently I’ve seen more and more people baring bare shoulders and even some midriff but this is mostly in Seoul and not in the smaller towns. It does seem that people are experimenting more and more with western fashion styles.

Another issue in Korea related to clothing is that if you are either tall, big boned or big breasted you will find it difficult to find clothes your size. I have been told that you can find clothes that fit in Myeong-dong, but when it comes to pants I haven’t found pants long enough to fit me. T-shirts and tops are mostly OK, as long as you buy them in Seoul, smaller cities will not have clothes that fit everyone. I have also taken up shopping for underwear on-line. I mostly buy Victoria’s Secret because I know that the sizes that fit me. I have recently also bought some Agent Provocateur undies from Nasty Gal and they fit perfectly. I am always scared to buy on-line because I’ve bought some dresses on-line here in Korea and the one was to big and the other fitted like a shirt instead of a dress. Therefore buying clothes from the US and other western countries would be the best bet.

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Korea has changed me in more ways than one, clothing style, diet and even some beliefs about life but as far as I know it has made me a happier person to experience life here in Korea.

Some humour about Fashion in Korea

First time camping in Korea

May 24, 2016May 23, 2016Leave a comment

I’ve never been much of a camper. The last time that I can actually remember camping was when I was 14 years old.

We’ve been planning to go on a camping trip for about 4 months now so we slowly started buying everything we needed for our summer trip. My husband bought a “one touch tent”, some sleeping bags and a small grill. I packed some “braai” meat (in South Africa we call BBQ-ing… braai), potato and avocado salad, bread dough and some no bake cheese cake.

So on Saturday morning we packed all our camping gear and hopped on a bus to Boryoeng beach near Daecheon. When we got to Daecheon we had to take a 10 minute bus to Boryeong Beach.

There is no laws against camping on the beach in Korea except if there are camping grounds nearby. Boryeong has camping grounds near the beach so that’s where we went. When we arrived at the camping grounds we couldn’t find any ticket offices. Luckily after walking around looking dumbfounded for a few minutes another foreigner explained to us that we can just set up our camp and that the management will walk around later and charge us for the amount of days we are staying.

We set up our little “one touch” tent and started the barbecue. We had a lovely weekend. The atmosphere was great and the beach was right across from our camping grounds. We walked around on the beach, ate ice cream and some coffee when we weren’t sitting around our camp-fire. There are a lot of restaurants, coffee shops and street vendors on the Beach strip. Although we only stayed one night I will easily do it again. it was also great to have a small break from technology and the internet.