Day 1 : Seoul landing

For almost 6 months, I've been holding onto the excitement of my 2 week South Korea / 1 week Taiwan trip to mark the end of 2014 and the end of my long and endearing degree. After all the planning, researching and finalizing (with an itinerary to prove it all), the week of Christmas arrived and I was to finally embark on my journey to Asia's most hip and stylish country. No I did not pick South Korea just because of their popular (and sometimes over-dramatic) dramas, or their huge kpop scene, but because I wanted to see what the country has to offer besides their recent rise in the entertainment industry. Last time I came to this country with my family we only centered around Seoul, specifically Myeondong. The major thing I remembered from that trip was the shopping. My god I never bought so many clothes and cosmetics in my life within that one week, particularly since the Aussie dollar back then was our excuse to spend spend spend! South Korea is the place to stock up on cosmetics, in particular their ever cheap and numerous facemasks. This time we couldn't help but return to Myeondong, although instead of sticking to the city center, my friends and I ventured out of Seoul to get a taste of what else we can discover (I do believe there is more to Korea than kpop, dramas, and facemasks).

December was the start of the winter season, and coming from the southern hemisphere it was exciting to finally spend a winter Christmas - maybe even a snowy one! We landed at Incheon Airport in the evening which was still busy with arrivals, mainly tourists from Hong Kong, China, Japan, and of course local Koreans. Still tired from the lack of sleep on the plane, our first task before leaving the airport was to purchase 1. a SIM card, 2. a T money card, and 3. switch our Korail vouchers for tickets at the Korail booth. Both 1. and 2. can be purchased at a nearby convenience store 'GS25' after coming out from the arrivals gate.

 Below was the sign that indicated that the store sales SIM cards and T-money cards.

 I purchased a 30 000W Dual SIM (3G) card from 'Evergreen (EG) SIM', which included 30 000W worth of calls and 1G data. There was also a 70 000W + 2G data pack if you require more calls and data. The packet included the SIM card and info on how to set it up. It was pretty straight forward, the process was done mainly online (using the airport WIFI) and eventually it did work even though I was pretty skeptical and somewhat confused for the first few minutes with their text messages until I could successfully make calls back home. (You may think that asking the workers in the convenient store for help would've avoided such confusion, but I was pretty put off by the rudeness of the youngster who serviced me so I didn't want to step into the store again.)
If need be, you can recharge your SIM card at various convenience stores such as GS25, 7/11, Mini stop and CU. There is also an internet wifi roaming 'egg' you can purchase if you only need the net.

 The T money card is very convenient for travel, and it can also be used for purchases in some selected stores. It costs 3000W for an adults card, and my initial 10000W deposit lasted about 3 days worth of train travel. The T money also comes with some discount coupons.

The Korail on the other hand needed everyone's passports in order to get the actual tickets, so since we didn't have the full group we had to plan to get to the tickets at Seoul station the next day. What we did find out was that we could get a youth discount on top of the group one, so the tickets cost 74 500W for 3 days [info link].

Finally time to step out of the airport. Outside in the chilly air, we faced directly at the various bus limousine stations such as the one below. They tend to stop at major hotel stops and fortunately, the place we stayed at was near one. For us it costed 8000W for the trip. With our bags loaded into the bus, the trip took about 40 minutes to Dongdaemun.

 

The bus inside was clean with wide, comfy seats.

Number given when you store your luggage in the bus.

 The apartment we stayed at comes from Airbnb [apartment link], and the number of positive reviews did do justice on the quality of the place. It was clean, warm (dearly loved the heated wooden floors), and the owner provided ample and clear information on how to get around and how to work the appliances. By the time we got to the apartment it was very late, and fortunately the owner had provided us with instant cup noodles each. So with food and a warm, comfy apartment, it was a very nice welcome to Korea for the first day.