Korea - Skiing, Driving in Jeju Island, and Exposing In Public

End of Nov 2024, me and my wife went to South Korea as some of my Enrich Points are expiring. It’s from credit card sign-up bonus during MCO. And by topping up a little bit, I’m able to redeem 2x return flights with Malaysia Airlines (MAS).

On top of that, Klook had a 10 year anniversary promo in Oct 2024 where you can get buy 1 free 1 return ticket for KLIA Express. If you have not signed up for Klook, you can use my promo code – A92TE to get a RM15 promo code 🙂

It’s been a long time since I last used KLIA Express cause Grab is cheaper per person for us and more convenient. However, there are 2 good things about using KLIA Express.

if you are flying MAS, you can check-in your luggage at KL Sentral
you can skip the jam if you are going/ returning from airport during rush hours

The train comes every 20 mins and the journey time is 28 mins to KLIA and 33 mins to KLIA 2.

Free BMW ride experience

We visited Plaza Premium First (PPF) before taking the bus to visit Golden Lounge at the satellite terminal. As there is a premium shuttle for PPF users, I asked the receptionist about it. After the lady whispered something to the receptionist, she escorted us to the Gate G1 and handed us over to another personnel. The new person then brought us to the shuttle without checking our documents.

There was this BMW that parked in front of the shuttle and opened the door as soon as we walked towards it. I jokingly tell my wife that maybe the driver thought we are in business/first class. However, the staff stops at the side of the BMW and signaled us to the car itself. Me and my wife looked at each other for a few seconds before going into the car. I think the receptionist heard ‘first’ and thought we were in first class when I asked about the premium shuttle for Plaza Premium ‘First’ users lol.

Golden Lounge

Thanks to the AmBank Enrich Visa Infinite, me and my wife are able to visit the Golden Lounge even though we are taking MAS economy class.

Besides the buffet food, you can also order ala carte sandwich, pasta, and noodles.

Day 1 – DDP and Gwangjang Market

Before going to Korea, we bought 2 transportation cards:

Korea Tour Card (T-Money)
Namane Card via Klook

The reason I bought these cards is because of the convenience. You can top up with credit card via your phone’s NFC. However, you can only use Android phone to top up the Korea Tour Card. Do take note that the fee is quite high for the convenience lol. It’s 3.2% and 6% accordingly for both cards. The train tickets in Korea start from 1400 KRW in Seoul and 1600 KRW in Busan. But for long distance ride, there may be additional surcharge.

At Incheon airport, you can find Namane kiosks at CU. You can pre-install the Namane app and design your card. Then just use the kiosk and follow the instructions to print the card.

To reach Seoul, you can take AREX Express Train. I bought the tickets from both Trip.com and Klook. Both have similar pricing but Trip.com is slightly better because you will get a QR code to scan for the actual tickets.

To take the train from the airport, just follow the ‘Airport Railroad’ signs.

You will then find these kiosks before the entrance. For Trip.com, you can easily scan the QR code for the tickets. However, for Klook, you will need to key in the voucher numbers for the ticket.

The time of the last train:

Please take note that you can only enter 30 mins before the departure time as the machine won’t be able to recognize the tickets.

An interesting thing in Korea that I’ve never seen in other places before – a conveyor belt to bring your luggage up the stairs.

Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

Our itinerary for the 1st day is free and easy. After getting into the city and putting our luggage at the accommodation, we went to see DDP. It’s starting to go into winter season in Korea but there are still some vibrant autumn colors at DDP.

Gwangjang Market (광장시장)

There are a lot of stalls at Gwangjang Market but they sell almost the same thing. We picked one that has crowd but is not full which is Kyungtaene.

We ordered fish cake soup (어묵), spicy Korean rice cakes (떡볶이), stir fry Korean glass noodle (잡채), and dumplings (만두). The food is good and we ordered just nice that we do not overeat. Do take note that in Korea, each person will need to order at least 1 food so you can’t order 1 food and share between 2 people. Besides that, at markets, they don’t usually take cards so make sure to have some cash.

After dinner, we tried twisted Korean doughnuts (꽈배기) at Gwangjang Market Chapssal Kkwabaegi. There is a long queue but the wait is not too long.

In front of the shop, there is an old lady that is selling the same thing. As there’s hardly anyone buying from her, we bought 1 to support her.

Accommodation – Seoul N Hotel Dongdaemun – Recommended

We booked the hotel via Agoda. There are a lot of room choices but we picked the Presidential Suite. Yes, the name is all glam but don’t expect too much out of it, haha. However, the room is very big and the price is reasonable. We stayed for 3 nights with average of RM340 per night for 2 pax with breakfast.

There’s a mini washing machine in the room and there is also a water dispenser near the elevator.

You will be given a breakfast coupon during check-in if the package comes with breakfast. You will need to bring the coupon to the breakfast area. There are not much choices for breakfast and the food is so-so. However, we booked this place is for the room so we treat this as value added so no complains lol.

Day 2 – Bukchon Hanok Village, Gyeongbokgong, N Seoul Tower

The 2nd day starts off with Bukchon Hanok Village (북촌한옥마을). Just a day before we reached Korea, it was snowing heavily. There were news that it’s the heaviest November snow in 100 years. Luckily, the day we depart to Korea is the day the snow stopped. However, there are still snow that are not yet melted.

This place is a residential area and you will see people walking around with signs asking people to keep their voices down.

Lunch – Baeknyeon Tojong Samgyetang (백년토종삼계탕)

After walking around the village, we stumbled upon this shop which has a Michelin sign. This shop was a Michelin gourmand restaurant until 2019.

Me and my wife ordered a century ginseng chicken soup (front) and a Korean ginseng chicken soup (back). Soon after we started eating, a lady employee came over and teach us the proper way of eating. You have to cut open the chicken to eat together with the rice inside. You can also eat with some of the condiments to enhance the flavor. Overall the food is good but the portion is really big. Being an Asian where we are brought up not to waste food, I downed 1 whole chicken + 1/2 portion from my wife. We were so full to the max that we are scared of Samgyetang lol. In fact, this is the only Samgyetang we had in Korea.

Gyeongbokgung (경복궁)

After a heavy meal, we walk to Hanboknam to get our hanbok before going to Gyeongbokgung. We got the rental voucher from Klook. You can easily find the shop as it has bright yellow paint.

There are a lot of choices for the ladies but not so much for the men. For ladies, there are different hairstyles that you can do. A few are free but others will have additional charges.

After getting dressed in our hanbok, we went to Gyeongbokgung. With hanbok, you get to enter the palace for free. Every day (except Tuesdays as the palace is closed) there will be changing of guards at 10am and 2pm. We are just in time for the ceremony when we arrived the palace. For frontal view, you want to choose a spot at the side or facing the entrance of Gyeongbokgung.

You can watch the full video below:

After that, we tour around the palace for some photos.

N Seoul Tower (남산서울타워)

After returning the hanbok, we head over to N Seoul Tower. To reach the cable car ticketing counter, you can either walk up the hill or use the free elevator at the area as per the photo below. You can read more on the exact location here.

From mid-Nov onwards, you can’t buy the cable car tickets from OTA such as Klook or Trip.com but I’m not sure if it’s just temporary. We bought the tickets at the ticketing counter for 15,000 KRW per pax for round trip. However, cable car is not the only way to go to N Seoul Tower. You can also take the bus or even hike up to N Seoul Tower itself. This website has a very comprehensive guide on all the methods to reach N Seoul Tower.

We bought the entrance tickets for N Seoul Tower via Klook. However you will need to convert it to a physical ticket. Firstly, you will need to find the observation deck entrance as below:

Inside you will find the ticketing counter and some kiosks at the side.

By easily following the on-screen instructions at the kiosk, you will get a printed ticket as below:

Wait for your boarding number to appear on screen then you can proceed accordingly.

You will go through an animated virtual world before reaching the top via the fast elevator.

Some shots taken at the observatory deck:

Yukjeon Sikdang (육전식당) – Highly Recommended

After coming down from N Seoul Tower, we went to Yukjeon Sikdang nearby our accommodation. The first branch was full when we arrived so they asked us to go to another branch which is nearby. When we reached there, it was also full. There is a kiosk at the entrance where you will need to get into the waitlist via Catchtable.

The food here is really good. It’s no surprise that both branches are full house although it is already quite late for dinner when we arrived. However, please take note that even for 2 pax like us, you will need to order at least 3 meat dishes with 2x for one of the meat orders. For example, you will need to order 2x pork shoulder + 1x pork loin.

Day 3 – Seongsu (성수) and Starfield Coex Mall (스타필드 코엑스몰)

The next day, we visit Seongsu and shopping at Olive Young in Starfield Coex Mall.

The first place that we went to was Cafe Onion. There are a lot of interesting pastries for selection as per the photos below. If you want to dine in, there are plenty of spaces both indoor and outdoor (rooftop).

After that, we explore the area and take some photos:

We stumbled upon this cafe (as per the photo above) and they have a lot of visually appealing drinks and dessert. It’s called The ISLE which is the Innisfree Seongsu flagship store. As a dessert person, I ordered 2 which you can see from the photo below.

After that, we went to Starfield Coex Mall for their Starfield Library. As Christmas is just around the corner, the library is decorated with Christmas tree which makes the place even more photo-worthy. However, there are a lot of people so it’s very hard to take a perfect shot lol.

Day 4 – skiing at Yongpyong

The next day, we wake up early to catch our bus to Yongpyong. We selected the pickup point to be at Doota Mall which is nearby our accommodation.

Not the smoothest ski trip but all ends well

Allow me to digress. I initially booked for Vivaldi Park Ski Resort through Trazy for 1st Dec. However, a week before that, Trazy contacted me to move to 2nd Dec as they are afraid that the park won’t open on time. But few days before the ski trip, they contacted me that Vivaldi will only be opened on 5th Dec. I told them I can’t make it on 5th and the only option with the same date will be Yongpyong Ski Resort. On my end, I can’t book Yongpyong on 2nd Dec but Trazy team helped me to arrange and sorted everything swiftly. In addition, Yongpyong is more expensive but they proceed to waive the differences. Kudos Trazy team, I would highly recommend them! They offer a lot of activities in Korea especially for ski/ snowboard.

While we are anxiously waiting for the bus to arrive, there is another family waiting at the same spot so we briefly talked to them to make sure we are waiting at the correct spot. I think the bus was late for about 5-10 mins but you will know with its distinctive purple color. If you booked the shuttle via Trazy to Phoenix/Alpensia/Yongpyong, you might meet this very rude uncle driver. He can’t understand simple English (or maybe just refuse to) and he forced us to carry our luggage up the bus without offering any help. He doesn’t just do this to us but even to his own people.

1st skiing experience in Korea

Ok, enough stories and fast forward when we reached after 3.30 hours. You will reach the bus stop (photo below) and walk some distance to the right hand side until you can see Mona Yongpyong sign. The slopes are just in front of it.

The room is big and comfy with clean bathroom:

As the room is a bit stuffy, I called the front desk on how to use the aircon. However, they say that in winter season we can only use the heating function. So apparently in Korea, besides summer, you can’t use the cooling function in most of the hotels. Therefore, you either use the heating function or off it entirely. Luckily there’s a window that can be opened although it didn’t help much lol.

In the hotel, there is a GS25 convenience store so there’s no worry if you are hungry in the middle of the night. You can just swipe your credit card to get access into the store even though there’s no staff.

Ski/board/helmet/wear rentals

After getting dressed up, we get our lift tickets at the ticket office.

We also rented helmets although it’s not mandatory but good for safety. We rented the ones that have goggles together with it which is more trendy and cool. Plus, we don’t have our own goggles so 2 birds with 1 stone. However, the price is very steep for the rental (for those good looking ones). Ours was 30k KRW for 1 pax which is almost RM100.

To rent the ski/snowboard which is included in the package, just head to the entrance below and it will be on your left.

On the 2nd floor of the same building, you can also rent ski/board wear.

Yongpyong has night ski but during our time there, it’s not opened yet. So we had a quick dinner at the building before heading back.

Everything at the cafeteria is self service – from ordering, collecting meal, and cleaning up after eating.

There’s a water station at the cafeteria where we brought our water bottles to fill up water at night.

If you want more options, you can head to another building (near bus stop) for more choices. There’s also a very big GS25 over there.

If your package is with overnight, you will only return all your rentals on the check-out day itself. Therefore, you can store the ski/board at the hotel bell desk:

Here’s a video of us skiing:

As it’s just the start of the winter season in Korea, only a few slopes are opened. For us beginners, there’s only 1 slope available. However, it’s not really beginner friendly as the slope is quite steep. The first time we went down the slope we just pizza/wedge all the way down lol.

Day 5 – Myeongdong

The next day, we left Yongpyong at 5pm and reached Myeongdong at around 8.30pm. We visited the Myeongdong night market and had chimaek (치맥) – fried chicken and beer at BHC Chicken.

As we couldn’t finish all the chicken, I Googled to see if it’s something that people do in Korea to takeaway unfinished food. So apparently it’s not a straightforward yes or no answer but you can read here. However, this place allow takeaway but with charges for the box which is fine cause in Malaysia also like that.

Accommodation – Namsan Hill Hotel – Recommended

There’s some uphill walk to the hotel but overall the room is cozy and clean. The price is less than RM300 per night which we booked via Agoda.

Day 6 – Train to Busan

The next morning, we take the train to Busan. We bought the tickets via Klook. You will receive the e-ticket via email. In the ticket you have the train name and number, route and time, and also your car number and seats. You just need to cross check the details with the departure board at the station to find the platform to board the train.

Dohee-nae (도희네) – Recommended

You can enjoy the juicy seafood, cooling sea breeze, and nice sea view at this restaurant:

After our lunch, we took an Uber to Haeundae Blueline Park (해운대블루라인파크) to ride the sky capsule. The Uber dropped us directly in front of Jayeondo Salt Bread (자연도소금빵). It is exactly opposite the walkway to the entrance of the Haeundae Blueline Park. The bread is really fluffy and it’s recommended to try albeit pricey.

Sky capsule – Mipo to Cheongsapo

We bought the sky capsule ticket via Klook. However, you will need to convert it to the official ticket. The page has step-by-step instructions which you can follow easily. We booked the Mipo to Cheongsapo route instead of the other way round because this route is slightly nearer to the sea.

The track on the left is Cheongsapo to Mipo; on the right is Mipo to Cheongsapo:

The journey takes about 30 mins from Mipo to Cheongsapo. After reaching the destination, we took some photos at the 2 lighthouses.

Spa Land Centum City (스파랜드 센텀시티) – Highly recommended

We took the bus + train from Cheongsapo to Spa Land Centum City. We bought the tickets via Klook as well.

After going past the entrance above, you will be given a locker key to keep your shoes.

After this is the fun part. You will go to another locker area where you will strip naked to take a bath. At first I was very shy. I kept my clothes on and only take off when I’m at the open shower area. I find a corner and a seated shower so I’m hidden from the others. However, after showering, I need to walk naked to the hot spring pools which is just beside the shower area. There are multiple hot spring pools with different temperatures. Being shy, I chose the nearest pool. But after a while, I get used that people just walk around naked and change pools so I follow suit without feeling shy.

After a while, I meet my wife at the gathering area and explore the different sauna rooms.

The coolest room at 10.9°C. I like this room the most.

The hottest room at 75°C. I can’t stand this room as it’s so hard to breathe inside.

Relaxation rooms:

We had a simple but satisfying dinner:

There are various spa treatments with additional fees:

And there’s also a restaurant at 2F if you want proper food instead of instant noodles:

Accommodation – Urbanstay Seomyeon – Recommended

We booked this place via Agoda. If you did not receive the check-in information, you can scan this QR code at the lobby. The price is less than RM200 for 1 night.

There is a luggage room on the 2nd floor:

The room is narrow in width but long.

You can even cook and wash clothes here.

Day 7 – Flight to Jeju Island

After train to Busan, we are flying to Jeju Island the next day.

At the domestic airports, after checking in your luggage, the staff will ask you to go a counter to see if your bag has passed the scan. Once you see your bag on the TV screen, you can proceed to pass the security.

At Busan Domestic Airport, there are 4 shops after passing security:

After 1 hour flight, we reached Jeju Airport:

We booked a rental car with Socar via Klook. Once you exit the airport, follow the rental car shuttle bus sign (right below).

Then you can find the Socar shuttle bus. Socar will have someone contact you a day before to share you the instructions.

When we arrived, we were given a Kia Ray although we booked for a Kia Morning. I checked the Klook site again and Ray is slightly cheaper than Morning lol. It’s a slightly taller car so I’m ok with it. Most importantly it is considered a new car as it has just clocked 40k+ kms.

Here’s the timetable for the free shuttle to and fro the airport. It will depart sharp every 20 mins. And it’s really sharp because we were bringing our luggage down from the car the day we return the car and the shuttle left without waiting for us lol.

Driving in Jeju Island

Here are some info and for driving in Jeju Island:

Driving in Jeju Island/ Korea is on the left hand side (reversed from Malaysia)
It’s quite relaxing to drive in Jeju Island as the drivers don’t honk as much compared to in the cities.
There are a lot of traffic cameras. Almost every other traffic light will have a traffic camera
Be vigilant on the speed limit. Speed limiter is the most useful function of the car
You can turn right even on red, but you need to be careful of oncoming traffic and pedestrians
There are 2 ways to turn left
1. if there are only 3 lights at the traffic light, you can turn left when it’s green, but you need to be careful of oncoming traffic
2. if there are 4 lights at the traffic light, wait for the turn left sign to turn green. It usually goes green together with the go straight sign. Although with this light you have the right of way, do be careful of possible traffic
With 6.2 above, sometimes you will see a yellow and green lights lit together. It means ready to stop for those turning left, but going straight is not affected
If you see this 비보호 sign, you can turn left like a combined situation of 6.1 and 6.2. You can refer to this video at min 1.35
There is no RON 95/97 in Jeju, only diesel (경유) in green and petrol (휘발유) in yellow. You will put your credit card in the machine until you finish pumping. Here’s a good guide which I used.

Samseonghyeol Haemultang (삼성혈해물탕) – Recommended

Before starting our trip in Jeju Island, we went to Samseonghyeol Haemultang for a quick meal.

We ordered the seafood stew. The scene can be gruesome as you can see the octopus legs moving while the stew is being heated up.

We suggest taking out portion of the seafood while you are eating the others to prevent overcook as the stew will keep boiling. Or you can also off the stove.

Odeung Gamgyul Orange Farm (오등 감귤농장) – Recommended

After lunch we went to Odeung Gamgyul Orange Farm to pluck Jeju tangerines. There are a lot of different types of tangerines in Jeju. Hallabong and Gamgyul are sweet while Hagyul is sour. You can read more about it here.

With 8k KRW per pax (around RM25), you will be given a pair of pruning shears and a plastic bag. After a brief and quick lesson on how to pluck the tangerines, we have the whole farm to our own. We plucked one and eat it immediately and man, those are really juicy and sweet tangerines.

After filling up the plastic bags full with tangerines, we went back to the staff as I thought the price we paid were just entrance fee and the tangerines are charged separately by weight. But she give us a hand gesture that we can leave. With the reasonable price and fun experience, I would recommend this place if you want to do this in Jeju city.

Accommodation – Hotel RegentMarine The Blue – Recommended

We booked this hotel via Agoda for RM235 per night.

You will be given some coupons as below to use:

There is a chimaek place beside the hotel:

You can walk to the Black Pork Street nearby.

Or you can go further a bit to the Jeju Dongmun Market (제주 동문시장) for more food options.

There is this stall – Dancing Lobster (랍스터마농구이) that have staffs dancing while cooking which is the main attraction at the market. Here’s a video of them dancing to the music while cooking:

We take away some food back to the hotel but it’s not recommended as the food doesn’t taste good after cooling down especially the seafood where there might be smell. However, the black pork is really good as the meat still burst with sweet juicy taste when you bite into it.

Day 8 – Hamdeok (함덕 서우봉 해변) and Woljeongri Beach (월정리해변)

The next day, we chill by the Hamdeok Beach before having our lunch at Haenyeo Gimbap.

Haenyeo Gimbap (해녀김밥) – Recommended

You can enjoy the meal with a nice scenery:

We ordered the ddaksaewoo gimbap (딱새우김밥) and seafood ramen. The ramen is quite spicy for us so I can’t imagine how spicy is the haenyeo gimbap.

After that, we head over to Woljeongri Beach.

Cafe Mou Moon is really popular but we just took photos and left because there were too many people.

Instead, we walked to Mongle and get some of their famous cookies.

We then head south to our hotel for the night.

Accommodation – Shinshin Hotel Cheonjiyeon – Recommended

We booked this hotel via Agoda for RM155 per night. Room is small but clean. There’s also a water dispenser at the lobby.

Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market (서귀포매일올레시장) – Recommended

We walked to Seogwipo Maeil Olle Market from the hotel.

There are a lot of food stalls and there is a public place where you can eat the food that you have bought without buying from the stalls at the area. However, we did bought beer and enjoy it with our food from the market.

Day 9 – Final Day in Jeju Island

We start off the day by visiting Camellia Hill. There are a lot of flowers for you to take beautiful shots for the gram. The place is separated by different sections and it’s planned like Ikea where you will pass through each of it. A great place to take a stroll and to get some Vitamin D.

Gamttanam (감따남) – Recommended

This cafe has an area for you to pick the Jeju tangerines. It’s one of those famous tangerine cafe in South Jeju to take those beautiful shots. The hazelnut cheesecake is good but it’s really filling, not good if you want to cafe hop since each person will need to order at least a drink.

Cafe Gyulkkot Darak (제주카페 귤꽃다락) – Highly Recommended

This is the 2nd cafe that we went to and also the last because after this, we just can’t take anymore drinks/ desserts lol. Comparing this and the previous cafe, I personally like this more because the whole vibe and deco is really on point. It gives the at-home atmosphere with touch of classic retro deco which makes you feel at ease and calm. In addition, those large 1-piece window makes each of your photo looks picturesque.

Cheonjiyeon Waterfall (천제연폭포) – not really recommended

We then head over to see Cheonjiyeon Waterfall. You would need to buy the ticket using the kiosks at the ticket office.

Do keep the ticket with you as there is a booth to check your tickets.

I feel that this place can be skipped because the waterfall is quite some distance away from the photo spot. You can’t feel the gush of air from the waterfall thus making it less spectacular.

Accommodation – Harakeke – Recommended

We booked this place via Airbnb for almost RM400 per night. It is a Bali-themed accommodation which you can see from the photos below.

The room is really big and you can prepare your own meal.

Breakfast is inclusive and served at their cafe.

The photo below is not the breakfast but we ordered a pizza for our tea time.

I would like to give it a highly recommended but there are a few things that pulls it down:

the jacuzzi is not functioning
it’s the most expensive accommodation in our trip in Korea
you need to drive out if you want to go to the convenience store

Day 10 – Back to Seoul, Korea

To the left (international) and to the right (domestic) at Jeju Airport.

Same like in Gimhae Airport (Busan), you will need to see if your bag passed the scan after checking in your luggage.

Accommodation – Novotel Ambassador Seoul Dongdaemun – Recommended

There was a Maybank Mercedes-Benz card promo previously and if you sign up you will get a free Accor Plus Explorer membership. With this membership, you get 1 free night in hotel in some of the countries and Korea is one of it. Therefore I used it for this trip as it’s expiring soon.