Fly to Seoul : Day 2 (Seoul Residence and COEX Aquarium)

annyeong haseyo...sorry couldn't update my blog as soon as possible due to the busy situation & the recent weekend went to Segamat, Johor to attend the wedding of a friend of mine...will post that later after done with my korea trip updates... :)

so, 2nd day was the day to head to Seoul, the heart of South Korea!...from Incheon Guest House, the hotel van sent us back to the airport and then we took the shuttle bus number 6103 heading to Gangnam, Seoul...the bus fare was 15,000 won which was far more cheaper than getting a cab...the shuttle bus was super comfortable...it has an lcd tv inside but no point to us cause the channels were in Korean...plus, there's a wifi connection in the bus as there is an access point in there...no wonder it was 15,000 won :P ...

the journey took an hour...the bus then stopped & dropped us in front of the Intercontinental Hotel near the Seoul City Air Terminal...as we reached, we approached a taxi to take a ride to the hotel...but then the taxi driver said the hotel is not that far from there...so we walked while pulling our heavy luggages together...hell it wasn't far...from the point where the bus dropped us, it was at least 1 kilometre to the hotel...luckily it wasn't too hard to find the hotel (yeahhh, after exploring & asking people around with limited language communications), we managed to reach the hotel alas...Seoul Residence...

luckily the reception guy could speak fluent english...really no problem at all communicating to him...the hotel reception area was just like a 2 or 3 star hotel at here...but the location wise was strategic as it was very near to the Seolleung line 2 exit 4 station...also, there is a convenience store located exactly next to the entrance to the hotel...plus, the hotel area there wasn't that busy & hectic...only thing is that there are no halal food restaurants around there...otherwise, would be the perfect hotel....

after checking-in at the reception, we then headed to our room...our room had a queen sized bed & a single bed...just nice for the 3 of us...best of all, all the hotel rooms there had a gas stove, an oven and a washing machine...was a huge plus to us...we can cook ourselves & wash our clothes...was an advantage to us muslims especially as we can cook our own food there...it's considered as more of a residence actually....that's why it is called Seoul Residence :) ...we surveyed that hotel at www.booking.com and chose that hotel due to it can occupy 3 of us, plus we can bring our own food to cook as halal food is far from our hotel, and we can wash our clothes while we are there...plus, there is also a free high speed (i mean really high speed, 23mbps!) internet connection via cable...

after settled our luggages and ourselves, my mother-in-law then prepared lunch for all of us...after lunch & prayers, we then made a move to the COEX Aquarium inside COEX Mall...it was almost similar to the Aquaria KLCC...from our hotel, we took the subway line 2 at Seolleung station to Samseong station, then exit at exit 6 to go to the COEX Mall...Samseong station is actually located to where the airport shuttle bus dropped us...but because of our heavy luggages, it was quite not possible to get to our hotel from there...

the COEX Mall was really big & long...from the COEX Mall entrance, it took us almost 15 minutes to walk to the COEX Aquarium entrance...while during the journey to COEX Mall and in the COEX Mall itself, we saw the life style of the people in Seoul...how organized and efficient they were...how trendy & up-to-date their fashion was...how excel their electronic gadgets & technology were compared to most country in Asia and even in the world...and mind you that was only a fraction of tiny bit of people that we saw in Korea...

so then we arrived at the COEX Aquarium entrance...the entrance fee was 17,500 won per person...looked like RM17.50 but try multiplying it by 3...hehehe~...i've never been to KLCC Aquaria, so can't compared which was better...overall it was quite okay...but the set up was really nice & unique...would give it 3 out of 5...the aquarium at Ocean Park HK was better though...after spending over an hour in the COEX Aquarium, we then went out and before heading back to the hotel, had some desserts at the Baskin Robins outside the COEX Mall...after that, head back to hotel via subway from Samseong station line 2 to Seolleung station line 2, then exit 4...had diner at our hotel room...after diner, went to bed to call off for the day to re-energize for the next day's city tour booked via airasiago.com...

stay tuned for our 3rd day update post...

Fly to Seoul : Day 1 (Arrival Day)

annyeong haseyo...sorry for the late post update as i caught a bad flu and now still having a cough after back from korea...had to work from home on monday & tuesday...only yesterday managed to get back into office...it has been almost 2 weeks haven't set foot into office...but as promised, here comes the 1st post of our korea trip...

on saturday morning, pushed off from home at about 10.30am...my parents sent us to the airport as they are still around at my home & the fact that their car was much bigger...so was the best option to carry together our 2 big luggage while my mother-in-law was sent by my sister-in-law...arrived LCCT at about 11.30am...checked-in our luggage and while our bag was being weigh, total weight for 3 luggage was 54kg!....our luggage was supposed to be only 45kg...the extra weight was almost 9kg...an extra kg will cost RM40...so 40X8=320...crap!...so we had to divert some of the weight to our hand luggage...but then, it was still excess of 4kg...no choice but to pay for it...so RM160 for the extra weight...sighhh...lesson here would be, it's always better to have some room for extra weight...bare in mind that while booking or modifying booking in our airasia ticket itinerary, extra 5kg would only cost RM40 instead of extra 1kg for RM40 if u are already at the airport to check-in the luggage...lesson learnt here....

after luggage check-in, off we went to the boarding gate...this was our 1st time to fly with AirAsiaX...our flight number was D7 2682...we can see that AirAsiaX was much more efficient in terms of punctuality...boarding was earlier than mentioned and flight took off was earlier than scheduled...it was supposed to take off at 1.55pm but was earlier by about 10 minutes...we booked for in flight meal and each of us ordered the International Meal which i think was BBQ chicken blackpepper or something like that...was quite delicious but wasn't enough to make us full...so we made a separate purchase of sandwich and some bun...during the flight, played my sister's PSP that i borrowed while my wife & mother-in-law took a nap...i couldn't sleep...either i was too excited or i wasn't sleepy :P ....

after around 6 hours, we then landed at Incheon International Airport...local time was about 9.30 pm at that time...South Korea is GMT+9, so 1 hour ahead of Malaysia...as expected, their airport was as good as HK International Airport...was systematic and efficient...after collecting our luggage, we headed to the information counter and showed our hotel voucher slip...the information counter helped us to call the hotel and we just have to sit and wait for the pickup van come to pick us up...it was really convenient...after about 15 minutes, 1 guy came and approach us and told that he is the person that will send us to the Incheon Guest House...the journey from the airport to the Incheon Guest House was about 10 minutes only...was quite near...

we did not have to check-in...the guy brought us to the hotel and straight away gave us the key to our room...so we headed straight to our room without needing to check-in...was really fast and convenient...our room was really not bad...was spacious, had 3 single beds for the 3 of us, even had a hot plate to cook...the room was more than enough for a 1 night stay...couldn't have asked for more...the only downside was there were only 2 towels which were small towels & the mattress was a bit hard and u could feel the spring...other than that, it was perfect...oh, and also we managed to get a wifi connection from somewhere around there :P ....after a dinner cum supper where we had bread and some dried sambal ikan bilis, we went to bed to call off for the day...

next will be the post for our 1st day at Seoul...stay tuned...

Officially a Master Jedi

annyeong haseyo...juz back from South Korea this morning...wanted to publish this post before going off to Seoul, but was too rushed to do so...will post our Korea trip shortly after this...give me some time to compile it first :P...hehehe....

many significant events happened last year in my life...got married last year...went for 1st honeymoon last year...resigned from HP & joined AT&T last year...and, completed my Masters Degree last year!....hahahaha~...by right should have completed it 2 years ago but dragged it too long due to no time & laziness to complete my thesis :P....and on thursday, 2 days ago, i was officially a Masters Degree holder in Master of Science in Computer Networking during the UiTM 74th Convocation Ceremony...

my little sister couldn't join us due to she is having practical, so it's only the 4 of us....pushed off from home on thursday morning at about 7am...had to be there at 7.30 am!....hahaha~....reached the UiTM padang kawad at almost 8am...took the bus and straight headed to the convocation hall....luckily there were others who were also late...my wife & parents headed to the visitors seating while i headed to the graduates line up...as soon as i was there, put on my convocation robe, the line then moved and marched into the graduation hall...phew~....just in the nick of time...

my queue number was 407, so had to wait quite long before my turn to go up stage and face Agong :P....but luckily it was the 1st sidang...so it didn't took too long for the 1st day convocation to be over...then it was my turn to receive the scroll from his majesty, the Yang Dipertuan Agong, Tuanku Chancellor..."Menjujung kasih, Tuanku Chancellor"...went down from the stage, waited for the rest to complete, and the 1st day convocation was over...took several camera snaps with my wife & parents outside the graduation hall and returned the graduation robe to receive the official scroll & transcript...then off to have lunch and went back home...

am now officially a Masters Degree holder, finally!....Alhamdulillah, thank God...

stay tuned for my Seoul vacation trip post coming up next...