Sunday, 20 October 2013

Seoul Trip Part 2 Day 3 to 6

Continuing from the previous post.

It's been a pleasure to continue my post. So from day 3 to 6 i visited the magnificent island of Jeju-do.

Day 3(6 October): GIMPO- JEJU

Traffic light near BoA Guesthouse
Gimpo Internation Airport

The trip began in the morning as our flight to Jeju is around 12pm. After breakfast at BoA Guesthouse, we make our way slowly to the metro line with our small luggage. We took the AREX line to Gimpo Airport station. Once there, we checked in and went opposite to Gimpo Lotte Mall. The Shopping Mall is quite huge and there's a department store located since its a Lotte Mall.

The shopping Malls provide a rooftop garden where one can see the whole view of Gimpo International Airport. It was really sunny on that day but the view was fantastic. We had lunch by snacking along the way then we board the plane. It was quite a wait and we finally got on board the plane. We took Easter Jet to Jeju. There's a lot of Airline to Jeju but most of them are full so we took Easter Jet. It was my first time at Gimpo Airport and I can say, it's quite nice and the buildings is mostly made up of glass so there's view everywhere you turn to. The moment the plane got off the runaway I started to take photos of beautiful Seoul City below. I really love to look at landscape so i took quite a bit of photos. The journey took around 55 minutes after take off. The plane is quite spacious and the stewardess is quite pretty i can say.

Seoul from bird eye view
Jeju-do

Arrived in Jeju at 5 minutes past 1pm. It was a smooth landing and i praise the pilot who brought us to safety. The day i arrived it was raining quite heavily so we thought, it's going to be a wet trip nevertheless that didn't make us lose hope on the next two days of our stay in Jeju.

Checked in at Yeha Guesthouse a co-guesthouse to BoA Guesthouse in Jeju. They provide similar services which includes the Halal utensils etc. After unpacking our stuff we went for a walk at the youth street which is nearby. After about 6pm we return back to our guesthouse for dinner. One unique thing about Yeha Guesthouse is that they have community room where all the guesthouse can dine together and share travel experience with each other. One thing that you need to aware of is that in Jeju after 6pm there's no activity, usually the community is full. At 7pm they have happy hour where each guest is provided with a drink of their choice all the way till 11pm. It's quite a social-able area and comfy as we share and create new memories together.

Day 4 (7 October): YehaTour Day 1

The next day my Yeha Bus tour begins.[West Course] The itinerary is as follows. Hallim Park- Suweolbbong trekking-Lunch/Spirited Garden-Althr Airfield- Mount Sanbang- END

I shall let the picture do all the talking shall we? Anyway I met an Indonesian friend from this tour. Her name is Catherine. Initially i noticed her looking at me as the seat beside me is empty. From Suweolbbong trekking she sit beside me all the way and we talk to each other.She told me about herself and about her first time in South Korea. At first i thought she was from Thailand but after talking everything she told me she's from Medan, Indonesia. We exchange email address and bid farewell since she's not joining the tour on the next day.

Hallim Park
Suweolbbong trekking
Lunch/Spirited Garden
Althr Airfield
Mount Sanbang

Cheonjeyeon Waterfall

Day 5 (8 October): YehaTour Day 2

The following day Yeha Bus tour continues. Today is really an unlucky day for everyone to visit Jeju because the Typhoon is passing through this area. It was raining really bad and the visibility is bad. It is dangerous if you are driving and without much experience driving in Korea.

[East Course]The second day bus tour itinerary is as follows. Trick eye museum-Sangumburi Crater-Seonguep Folk village- Lunch-Woman Diver Show/Haenyo Museum-Seongsan Ilchulbong Peak-Manjang Cave- END.

Trick eye museum

Senguep folk village/Lunch
Haenyo Museum
Manjang Cave


That night after dinner, we went out for a walk to an underground shopping mall. It was quite a walk and the things there is a lot cheaper than Seoul. But Fashion wise the clothes available here is not of many choices compare to Seoul.

Day 6 (9 October): JEJU-GIMPO

The end of 4 days 3 nights visit to Jeju and stay at Yeha Guesthouse. It was really a good experience despite the Typhoon which cancel our woman diver show and Ilchulbong sunrise peak. Disappointed but satisfied with the overall experience.

We board the plane at around 12pm also back to Gimpo. We took the bus 95 to Airport opposite Yeha Guesthouse City Hall. The bus ride took about 20 minutes and the bus is not crowded at all thankfully. Arrived at Gimpo and back to BoA guesthouse where we stay the rest of our stay in Seoul. I have make a separate blogpost about Boa Guesthouse for Muslim. It's also available on their website. Please take a look and if you have any questions I'm always here to answer any questions you have.



Saturday, 19 October 2013

BoA Guesthouse for Muslims

Asalamualaikum everyone,

Muslim Tour Guide Review


I would like to give a detailed review of my last stay at BoA Guesthouse Seoul. For Muslim Guest who is
thinking of visiting Seoul in near future look no further!
BoA Guesthouse offers the service from a

  • separate cooking utensils,
  • Kiblat Directions,
  • praying rooms,
  • Halal Foods,
  • lots more.

You will be warmly welcome by their receptionist on duty and you will feel homely. Make sure to ask them about the password code to open the HALAL utensils cabinet.

Cooking Utensils

Inside the HALAL cabinet, there are various cooking utensils like pots, pans ,plate, fork spoon. What's 
more there are some herbs and spices and packet food left by other Muslim
guest. Please Feel Free to use them.

* If you feel like eating rice, you can get it from the nearest convenience store or from the fridge that is
located at the reception. Price from W1,000.

Kiblat Directions

If you look through "Muslim Click Here" there's a section where they show Kiblat Directions. Kiblat Directions is available in each room and I have personally used my compass and the directions are accurate.

Praying Rooms

Masya Allah, There's even a praying room if you prefer to pray inside the Surau. In the Praying rooms, 
there's Sajadah, Al-Quran and many more. It is located at 5F (Floor).
Take a staircase up and you can see it there. The view is remarkable and make sure to bring along a jacket as it can get really cold especially in autumn and winter.

Halal Foods

At BoA Guesthouse there's this section where they provide you Halal Restaurant Nearby. I visited one of
the restaurants.

Shop Name: 털보고ᄃ되니( Teolbo godoeni)




Final Verdict: The fish is fresh and delicious. MUST TRY!

Lots more

Honggik University Metro is accessible to Itaewon station. Itaewon is where the Seoul Grand Mosque is 
located at. Journey takes about 20 to 30
Minutes by Metro.


Food can be expensive and a luxury for Muslim visiting South Korea. You can find many Middle-Eastern 
Restaurant at Itaewon and the price of food is quite expensive. I recommend bring food rations like canned
foods and cup noodle and if you still have balance, you can donate it to BoA
Guesthouse for future and other Muslim guest to use as well.

Friday, 18 October 2013

Seoul Trip Part 2 Day 1 to 3

Anneyonghaseyo,

To all my dear readers how have you all been? Its been a long journey for myself and my family members for this trip. This long post will be separated into 4 to 5 different post as i would like to give an in-depth review of my stay at both BoA Guesthouse Seoul and Yeha Guesthouse Jeju-do.

Day 1 (4th October): SIN- SGN

The day begin on a fantastic Friday the 4th of October 2013 exactly two weeks back. We board the airplane on Vietnam Airlines VN0658 bound for Ho Chin Minh City,Vietnam. Upon getting on board, the first impression of Vietnam Airlines is really good. Even though it is Airbus A321, the seating layout is separated by threes. There's plenty of knee room and headroom compared to most of the budget flight I've taken so far. The flight journey is 1 hour and 35 minutes after taking off. Distance approximately 1097km or 681 Miles. Arrived in Tan Son Nhat International Airport at around 930pm local time. Vietnam timing is -1 hour behind Singapore time. We took the aerobus bus to the main terminal and we waited nearly two hours before hopping on the next flight to Seoul, South Korea.

Two hours later we board the plane VN0408 bound for Seoul,South Korea. Journey took around 4 hours and 35 minutes after taking off. Distance approximately 3582km or 2225miles. After dinner is served, we get a good night sleep till South Korea the next morning.

Day 2 (5th October): SGN-ICN

Good morning everyone, we are 30 minutes from landing. That's what the captain said as the cabin interior light is switched on."Ladies and Gentlemen, On behalf of Vietnam airlines Captain and its crews as well as co partner of SkyTeam, we would like to wish everyone had a pleasant flight so far. We will make a descend very soon and please put your chair upright, your tray table back to its original position and seat belt fastened at all times". After that, we landed at Incheon International Airport and for me, my fourth Landing at Incheon and second for this year alone. I'm proud to say, I'm home!

After immigration clearance and collection of bags, we waited for an hour for the second flight consist of my neighbours from Kuala Lumpur. As they arrived, we welcome them to Korea with open hearts. The trip happened because of them since they want to visit South Korea with us. We greeted each other and then we bought EG prepaid Sim card from GS25. There we bought the W30,000 Data Sim card and we get it to configured before leaving for Seoul. Journey to Seoul took around 45 minutes by AREX(Airport Railway Express Train) from Incheon Internation Airport to Honggik University Station. Anyone can purchase a single trip ticket from the machine available or use T-Money card.  It was really good to be back, the weather is quite cooling and the flowers is going to turn red real soon. Since its their first time to South Korea, they focused most of the time on looking outside the window.

Arrived in Honggik University at around 12pm and we are ready to check in. Greeted warmly by the receptionist on duty, her name is Gayoung. She is very bubbly,cheerful and kind. Everyone would say the same thing if you meet Gayoung in person. Check in and firstly we prepared lunch as we brought cans of food from back home. One hour later, we walk around Hongdae University Area. Hongdae University is a youth shopping street where there's a lot of shops caters the need for the students there. Weekend is especially famous for street performance and night life is quite amusing. From my stay at BoA guesthouse to the street took around 10 minutes by walking. It's really very near. We walked around and towards the evening i went for a haircut at Hair by A.T.O.M located at the vicinity of Hongdae. It was my second time there and i still remember the lady who cut my hair, well it's too bad she don't remember. I was served a cold green tea before waiting for my turn. It was my turn and i kept my handphone near me. I use Google Translate and told her, It was my second time and she was shocked. It'll be more shocking if she know she was the one who cut my hair in February. We use Google Translate most of the time and she kept laughing and giving me a wide smile. She's really cute, i don't mind coming again just to get my haircut. It cost me around W25,000 for a good haircut plus a little head massage. Satisfied and definitely coming back again.

After that we had dinner at a nearby Fish restaurant. We ordered 4 tuna fishes. It is served along with rice, the side dishes and the lettuce. Next we went to Just SoPark to have a frozen yogurt. It's a homemade yogurt and it's really nice to have it in Autumn.


 I had a really sumptuous dinner and when we about to get back home, I saw there's an International Fireworks festival. I asked Gayoung where is the best place to view the fireworks. She told me it was Yeouinaru station. We took the train to gangbyeon station and oh my goodness. The crowd has started to build up from here. Four trains passed and we starting to lose hope. I was determined to see the fireworks so i managed to squeeze into the train leaving behind the other four people. Upon reaching the train stopped at the other train station which is Yeouido Station where KBS,MBC, 63 Building is located at. The crowd is really huge and I was alone, my first night in Seoul with millions of others braving through the crowd just to get a glimpse of the fireworks festival.