[Mobile App] Visit Korea 2.0

*This review is requested by EC21 Inc. Korea

Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has released their new version of Visit Korea mobile application. This app contains of useful information about Korea and Korea travel.

I like the interface of this app. The design is simple yet elegant. The most important thing, this app is in English. They have all information about things you need when you travel to Korea, such as attraction, food, accommodation, shopping, transportation and other useful information.

K-Pop : Oppa Gangnam Style

The latest song by Psy, a Korean rapper, called Gangnam Style recently had become viral. Not only in Korea or Asia, it has spread worldwide. The horse dance became very famous.The song was played in radios, TV stations and some events in France, USA, etc. The MV itself featuring many Korean famous public figures, such as Yoo Jae Suk, 4 Minute Hyuna, Noh Hong Chul, Jay Park and it has reached 100+ million viewers in one month.

                   cre : officialpsy @ YT

South Korea Trip Last Day

Itinerary : Lotte World - Coex Mall - Gangnam - Han River Park

Last day has arrived! Why does time always fly so fast on holidays? T____T Our flight was at midnight so we were still had 1 full day to explore Seoul. The bus and subway fair increased per that day. The minimum fare was KRW 950 at first and became KRW 1050.

Finally we could run! What so special about that? Well, our legs were in pain since day 1. It felt hurt to sit down, to stand up, to walk after couple minutes stand still and more hurt to climb up the stairs. In the last day finally our legs had adapt. Even we can ran up the stairs.

How to go to Lotte World : From Hongdae Station, take line 2 (green line) and get off at Jamsil Station.

The entrance of Lotte World is located inside Lotte Mall. When we reached there at 9.30, the queue was really long. It was Saturday, so yeah.. no wonder. We didn't have much time so we bought general ticket for sightseeing only, no rides allowed. Lotte World has both indoor and outdoor theme park. It was almost spring so the theme was Spring Flower Festival. Indoor theme park was decorate with many beautiful life flowers.

South Korea Trip Day 5

Itinerary : World Cup Stadium - Paju English Village - Gyeongbok Palace - Namdaemun

How to go to World Cup Stadium : From Hongdae station take line 2 (green line) and get off at Hapjeong Station, then transfer to line 6 (brown line) and get off at World Cup Stadium Station.

Back in 2002, South Korea and Japan were home for world cup. I'm a fan of soccer myself, not a big one, but I like to watch the match, especially world cup. So why we went to the stadium? There was no soccer match actually. We went there to visit the World Cup Museum. We knew about it from Running Man TV show and it looked quite interesting so we paid a visit. When we entered the museum, I felt that it was different from the one in Running Man. I found out later that Running Man was filming in Suwon World Cup Stadium, not Seoul -.-" But it's ok. Seoul World Cup Museum was nice too.

World Cup Station

South Korea Trip Day 4

Itinerary : Petite France - Nami Island - Hongdae

How to go to Petite France : From Hongdae Station take line 2 (green line) to Wangsimni Station, then transfer to Jungang Line and get off at Cheongnyangni Station. In Cheongnyangni Station transfer to another train (still in Jungang Line) and get off at Mangu Station, then transfer to Gyeongchun Line and get off at Cheongpyeong Station. Take Gapyeong circle tour bus from exit 2 and get off at Petite France.

Yes it was a long journey to reach Petite France from Seoul. We did some research in the internet, some said the shuttle bus service was terminated on September 2011, some said go to Gapyeong station and take taxi, etc. We did our own research and found the easiest way without ride any taxi which is expensive. If we see in the map, Jungang line connected Wangshimni to Mangu, but when we rode the train, the announcement said that Cheongnyangni was the last station. We were confused! We were supposed to reach Mangu Station. Apparently we have to transfer to another train in Cheongnyangni Station to continue the journey to Mangu Station.

Arrived at Cheongpyeong Station, we should take a bus to Petite France. The thing is we didn't know what bus and where to take. A blog said to walk 10 minutes away from subway station to reach bus terminal then catch bus from there but we didn't see any direction sign to bus terminal. Cheongpyeong Station was empty when we reached there. There was tourist information booth near exit 1 but it was closed. There was a bus timetable at the road side but we didn't know what bus was that. There was no places' name, only time.

Took picture while waiting for someone passed by :p

South Korea Trip Day 3

Itinerary : Everland - Hongdae

How to go to Everland : Take subway line 2 (green line) and get off at Jamsil station. Get out from Jamsil Station exit 6, cross the street. At the bus station that located in the middle of the street, take bus no. 5800 and get off at Everland shuttle bus station. Take shuttle bus and get off at Everland.

Everland Theme Park! I was soooo excited!! I love going to theme park. So much fun. We reached Everland at about 11.00. It was about 1.5-2 hours trip from Hongdae. Everland totally is a happy place. I could feel the happiness just before the entrance. Just by seeing the gate and hear the music, it felt like I became a 10 years old kid. LOL! It has motto "Everyday is a holiday in Everland". We already printed 10% discount for foreigner from the website. The coupon is not available all year long. The ticket is one day ticket so you can ride anything you want without addition fee. Eventhough it was quite cold that day, but Everland was packed with people and most of them are Koreans.

South Korea Trip Day 2

Itinerary : Gwanghwamun Square - Cheonggyecheon Stream - Dongdaemun - Myeongdong - Namsan Tower

Our first day to explore Seoul has begun! YAY!! But first, we had to buy Seoul City Pass Plus. It was another cold and windy day. Bbbbbbrrrr... At 08.00 we headed to Hongdae station, right to station information center.  The officer said that they don't sell transportation card and told us to go to tourist information center nearby. So we got out from Hongdae station to the cold air and walked to the tourist information center. Of course, we took many photos along the way. Haha! We finally found the place but it opened at 12.00 and it was still 08.30 at that time. So we decided to go downtown and look for the card there. Our first stop was Gwanghwamun Square.

How to go to Gwanghwamun Square : From Hongdae station, take line 2 (green line) to Chungjeongno station and transit to line 5 (purple line), then get off at Gwanghwamun station.

Gwanghwamun Square is one of the famous tourist attraction where King Sejong statue is located. Behind the statue there's a history hall entrance but we passed it.

South Korea Trip Day 1

Finally I headed to South Korea! Its been my dream destination since I knew about K-Pop. I think it's everyone's dream who like K-Pop or K-Drama related things to be able to visit South Korea one day.  At least my friends do. I managed to went there with a friend who also like K-Pop. We decided to had an independent trip instead of joined a tour. I got a really cheap plane ticket by AirAsia. It cost me 3.3 million Rupiahs (around USD 367) return include 15 and 20 kg baggage and 1 pre-booked meal.

South Korea immigration card

South Korea visa

Couple months before the trip, I requested for Korea Travel Guide Brochure and map to KTO. They actually sent it to me! It took quite a long time though, maybe it was about a month or so, but better than nothing. Thanks KTO! They helped a lot! ^^

This map was our life!

We were there from February 20th until 25th 2012. It was a late winter season in South Korea. There was no snow but it was still cold, -3 to 5 degrees C. Some rivers and lakes were still frozen. I live in equator with everyday's temperature average is 30 degrees C, so even with almost-spring season in South Korea, it was really cold for me. When the wind blew, it was like a slap in the face.

Apply South Korea Tourist Visa (for Indonesian)

*Every country has their own terms and conditions to apply South Korea tourist visa. This post is for Indonesia citizens only.

Beberapa waktu lalu saya apply visa Korea Selatan. Memang deg-deg'an kalau apply visa, takut tertolak. Saya sampai beberapa kali bermimpi tentang visa -.-" Saya ingin membagi pengalaman saya saat mengajukan visa tersebut. Biaya yang diperlukan Rp 400.000,00. Karena saya berdomisili di Malang, maka saya tidak bisa datang sendiri ke Kedubes Korsel di Jakarta. Saya mengurus visa melalui salah satu travel agent di Malang. Kelengkapan yang dipersyaratkan (update per 1 November 2011) adalah :

K-Pop : Happy Pledis 2011 Released

2011 Happy Pledis

It's December 1st, so YES! Finally the full MV is OUT!