Traveling Thirst or Wanderlust

source: 99traveltips.com

Have you ever have this urge? What is your life focus and aim? What is it that you want to do and what is it that you want from life?

Is it stable income, a nice properties, nice car, secure job, security, comfort zone? If that's what you want, traveling hobby might not be for you or even if it is, you have to have the time, big income to spend, secure job with flexible time and so on.

For some people or most people, those are not easy to have or get. 

source: Pinterest

Currently I am facing the same dilemma. I have a secure comfortable job with a good income (for Indonesian who lives in Jakarta), currently saving to move to US and get a house there. But somehow, I was unhappy. Despite the fact that I am working in possibly in one of the best company ever. There is that jittery feeling that keeps wanting to be recognized. It was Traveling Thirst or many people called it Wanderlust.

On the other side, I am in super comfort position right now. Job is fun, boss is great (also my friend), teammates are the best (they are my adorable sisters), salary is pretty good, office is great (free food and stuffs), I have friends over here, family too. But again, I want to experience more. I don't want to live in a cocoon. I wanna see more of the world.

What would I do if I quit the job?

source: Pinterest

I might learn or join a language course of the country that we will visit. Also I want to focus learning programming language as I want to shift my career from Linguist to Computational Linguist.

But, Where to go?

source: 99traveltips.com

I would love to travel around Europe. But budget wise, Asia is a better option for now. Since I will have to quit my job. Also, husband will need to be sure of the internet in places where we are going because he has to work remotely. This is one of the advantage of traveling with him because he can work while travel as long as we are sure the internet connection is good.

We have been back and forth on our decision to pick a place to stay or travel (if we are gonna do it). At first we were so firm on our decision to travel to Seoul, Korea. Since I know the language, i have some friends there, and we both love the foods. But these days, my decision has been shaken by the fact that I have been there 3 times already. I want to try to go to other places. I was thinking Europe before finding out the budget was sky rocket price. Recently today, I was thinking Australia or New Zealand, but then again stuck in budget. India? We were too scared to go there despite India has always been in my heart. Plus I heard internet is not great there and we kinda need fast internet for my husband's work.

Just today, I told my boss that I would quit working to travel. I gave the office one month notice starting from today. I haven't told my teammates nor my friends. They might find out if they read my blogpost soon.

Here is my Pinterest Tab on Travel related stuffs: Wanderlust

Up till now, I still haven't reach my decision on where to go. If you have any suggestion please leave a comment bellow. We are planning to rent a room or cheap studio apartment in places that we visit since we are planning to stay 2-3 months there. A place with good internet and great foods.

Korea: Itinerary in Seoul

Honeymoon in Seoul

I have been posting a lot about our last trip to Korea. But, I have never posted the entire trip story or our itinerary.

In case any of you are planning to visit Seoul and wondering what to do or where to visit, you can use my itinerary as a start or just to give you a general ideas for your trip.

Here is our itinerary

The red color represented our time on the flight or the delay that happened to us.

The blue one was the non-flexible schedule. Mostly because we really wanted to do it on that day for some reason which now I already forgot. hehe

We usually started our day around 8am and started going out around 9-10am. We were such a lazy tourist. I also put the budget or the money that we spent on those places. This will give you guys general ideas on your budget plan. We were pretty lucky because my friend and my boss paid for some of our meal and I got present from another friend. Definitely a nice saving to our budget hihihi

Oh, I would suggest you to create a sheet of addresses you would like to visit. It will be too much problem to keep googling for place's addresses. Better have it ready for you. This is an example for ours.

We always took subway for all our trips to those places on our list. It is cheaper to have T-Money Card handy with you instead of buying ticket for each trip which could cost you more. Or you could get Seoul City Pass instead if you want to visit major tourist attraction because it has advantages for that and also with it you can try to ride on Seoul Tour Bus.

Here is comparison that I made between Seoul City Pass and T-Money, I prefer T-Money tho. Mostly because I know we will be back to Korea again someday soon and it is rechargeable as for Seoul City Pass, once you used up all the credit, you need to get another card. Since we stayed for more than 3 days, it is better to get T-Money instead.

Korean Temple Food

Korean cuisine is starting to take over the world. They take pride on their cuisine as they always put on meticulous details on their foods. I have been a big fan of Korean cuisine for a long time now. However, I never tried Korean Temple Food.

On my last visit to Seoul for honeymoon, we decided to try on Temple Food. My husband is vegetarian and he was so eager to try it. For me, I was just excited to try something new, especially Korean temple food has been known as a good cleanse and detox foods.

Originally we wanted to eat in Gam Lo Dang Restaurant. Unfortunately it was close and change into Mara Restaurant. So we decided to go to Balwoo Restaurant near the Jogyesa Temple.

Posing in front of Mara Restaurant

Jogyesa Temple

We picked the one with 12 dishes meal

It was slightly expensive. The same price with hotel buffet in Jakarta. But it was all worth it.
There are 3 highlight of Temple foods;
1. Natural: The food will use only organic and natural ingredients and seasoning.
2. Healthy: Thanks to all the natural ingredients and seasonings, this food is healthy too.
3. Balance: Temple food is a good detoxifying food and a good balance to our bad eating habit.

1. Juk or Porridge

Juk or porridge

We started the meal with Juk or Porridge. The flavor was more on a bland side as expected from temple food and their lack of use of salt.

The white marshmallow looking thing is actually hand towel

Kimchi Radish, side dishes/banchan

2. Juksunaengchae, Bambu Shoot Chilled Salad

Juksunaengchae, Bambu Shoot Chilled Salad

This salad has a very strong flavor of ground mustard. It gives me brain shock, the kinda feeling you got similar to brain freeze or when you ate wasabi. The ground mustard has similar taste to wasabi. It was a good feeling tho. It woke me up immediately. It was like all my senses were finally open.

3. Japanese Anglea and Soybean Pancake

Japanese Anglea and Soybean Pancake

Still kinda blan taste, but thanks to the opening of all my senses including the awakening of my tastebud, I could enjoy this pancake with it's delicate flavoring. It was enjoyable for both of me and my husband.

4. Vegetable Round Mandu and Tofu

Vegetable round Mandu and Tofu

I really enjoy this one too. Dip it to a sweet sauce in the middle (not sure what it was), but it has a sweet tangy flavor to it. 

5. Burdock Root

Burdock Root

This was probably my favorite part of the whole meal. It was my first time eating burdock root. Turned out, it has a sweet flavor that taste similar to sweet potato, except that it also has a more fiber texture to it.

6. Lotus Root and Ginsaeng

Lotus Root and Ginsaeng

Probably the most expensive part of the meal. This dish is not available on the 10 course meal option. Definitely the reason why the 12 course meal is more expensive. Definitely feel healthier after eating the ginsaeng. I didn't eat the leaves tho. I am not sure if I should.

7. Fried Mushroom in Sweet and Sour Apple Sauce

Fried Mushroom in a sweet and sour apple sauce

A salty crunchy mushroom with a sweet yet soury apple sauce was a good balance to the tastebud.

8. Tofu and Wild Aster Soup

Tofu Soup

9. Lotus Leaf Rice

Lotus Leaf Rice 

Contain pine nuts, chestnut, etc.

The rice was a good combination to the soybean soup and banchan. Even to it alone is already flavorful. I ate it bibimbbap style, putting all the banchan together with the rice and mix it all.

 10. Chan / Banchan/ Side Dishes

Banchan/Side Dishes

11. Guk or Soybean Paste Tofu Soup

 It taste similar to the usual Dwenjang Jigae. The only thing different is the seasoning taste a bit weaker. Temple food didn't use the dwenjang or soybean paste that was packed with msg. They usually use their own seasoning. I still like it tho.

12. Dessert and Baverage

dried kelps, lotus root, sweet potato, and orange

The dessert was crispy and yummy. My favorite would be the dried kelp and lotus root.

We went home with a full stomach but it was nothing closer to the uncomfortable bloating feeling after a full course of less healthy food. I feel more energized and healthier. I could imagine if I get to eat this kind of food everyday I could live longer and It might also makes a different on my skin, hair, etc.

If you happens to run into this post and planning to go to Seoul anytime soon or you are already there. I highly suggest to try temple food. It might not for everyone's taste. But the benefit is good for everyone.

The place that I visited is Balwoo Temple Food.
Telp. (02) 2031-2081
Hours: 11am—2:30pm, 5:30pm—9pm
Prices: 25,000—50,000 won
Getting there: Exit 2, Jonggak Station, Line 1. Walk 70m to Jogyesa Temple. The Temple Stay Information Center is across the street. On the fifth floor of the Temple Stay Information Center. Serves Buddhist temple cuisine.

Culinary Trip: 8 Best Foods to Eat in Seoul, Korea

Korea, the land of a morning calm, offers a huge variety of culinary from the cheap street food to a decadent Korean cuisine. Believe me, if you visit Korea, this trip is the one that you don't wanna miss out the most.

Korea has always been a country that has a great awareness toward healthy delicious food and it is always down to perfection thanks to their love of beautiful plating. The combination of colors on the plate, the arrangement of the food, the decoration of the restaurant, the unique gimmick they are selling, are the main reasons why you don't wanna miss out on their cuisines.

These are our list of places to go and foods to eat;

1. Bindaetteok at Gwangjang Market

This might not be that famous around tourists and visitors, but I am certain that everyone should at least try to come to Gwangjang market once. There are so many food stalls in this market. Lots of these stalls sell sundae (blood sausage), bindaetteok (mung bean pancake), tteokpokki, odeng, sausages, varieties of jeon (pancake) from small to big one, etc.
We ordered bindaetteok and tteokpokki. It was the best decision ever for the bindaetteok. The tteokpokki was nice, but the one in Hongdae was probably better. However the bindaetteok was super duper yummy. Dip it to the onion dip and yummmm!!!!

Tteokpokki

Bindaetteok

the wall was full of hand writings

 2. Korean Temple Food

 I don't wanna say too much for this one as I am planning to write another post just for this one. Yes it is that good!!!

Menu in Balwoo Temple Restaurant

 3. Shamcheongdong Heotteok

This is one of the best street food in Korea or in anywhere really. Best for cold days, because you will eat it when it is still hot or warm. There are 2 types of heotteok these days; the sweet one filled with brown sugar and nuts and the vegetarian one filled with japchae (buckwheat/rice vermicelli) and vegetables brush it with the apple sauce like shown on the picture.

Yache Heotteok or Veg.Heotteok

This particular one we got from Samcheongdong Heotteok in Insa-dong. It is kinda hidden from plain eyes. So you need to follow direction to go there.

Follow this map; Samcheongdong Heotteok

4. Beverages

Korea has a lot of varieties of beverages. Most of them are healthy beverages. Of course I wasn't just talking about makgeoli (rice wine) or soju. There are actually more than 10 healthy beverages you need to try, especially on summer. Bellow on the picture is my favorite one, Omija Cha.

Here is the list of 20 Korean best drinks; Korean Drinks

5. Tteokpoki and Odeng in Hongdae

I forgot the name of this place. It was a cute cafe in Hongdae area. We were kinda confused on how to order food because you need to order from a machine and give the ticket to the chef. After a while, a guy helped us out.  We ordered 2 cheese tteokpokki for my husband and my friend and I ordered Odeng soup. It was really good, spicy but yummy. The rest of the banchan (side dishes) and drinks are free. Definitely cheap and delicious.

6. Home food at PARC

 PARC has a really cute concept. The exterior looks like a house but don't let it fool you. The interior looks like a greek house with waitress wearing navy uniform. Almost feel like we are in Greece near the doc. This restaurant was famous for its home cooked meal. They have different menu each time. If you are coming to this place and by any chance you got the same menu like we did, I recommended the Grilled Salted dry Mackerel plate. 

Aussie Beef Bulgogi Plate, my plate

Grilled Salted dry Mackerel plate, husband's plate. I could not get enough of this.

Here is their review and address on Trip Advisor: Parc

7. Ramyeon and Fried Rice

We went to this restaurant on accident. We barely remember the name of the place. But you can find it in Myeongdong, they are located in 2nd floor near the chicken restaurant. I thought I was going to regret this choice. We were going to go to the chicken restaurant on the 2nd floor but we went to the wrong restaurant opposite the chicken restaurant. Turned out it was the best decision. This was such a guilty pleasure meal, comfort meal, especially on cold nights.

8. Pizza from Pizzeria D'Buzza

We found this place while walking around near my friend's office looking for a place to eat. We decided to eat in PARC then. But we came back the next day to try this restaurant. This place is close to Ittaewon and you can take the subway till Hangangjin Station. It has a glowing review on Trip Advisor too.

Fried Shrimp, my plate

However, I was not happy with my order. I prefer a clean fried shrimp without the head and feet. It was annoying to try to separate the shrimp for its head and feet.

Buffalo Cheese Pizza, husband's plate

Husband claimed that this was one of the best pizza he has ever eaten (including the one in New York). He is a hardcore pizza lover. So I trust his judgement despite of me not being able to consume cheese or any dairy products. He said this pizza has authentic Italian taste. He has been bragging about this pizza a lot to anyone whose not fortunate enough talking about pizza with him ;-p

I would recommend these places to anyone visiting Seoul. Most of these places are not easily found. You have to follow the map and direction to go there. But rest assure, it is all worth the effort.

Enjoy your vacation in Seoul and Stay Awesome!!!

Korea: Portable Wifi

Most of Wifi in Korean public areas are not free. You need to buy the package before using it. Of course you can always go to a cafe and use their wifi. But you can't always go to a cafe every time you need to connect to internet.

There were cases where I find it difficult to meet my friends without wifi to contact them on Kakaotalk or Line. So, I decided to get Egg Wifi on the 2nd day of staying in Seoul.

There are 2 famous companies that rent out portable wifi. I will show you the differents and benefits from different companies.

1. Wifi-Korea

You can get it in the airport or in Insa-dong. But you need to book it first. Either book it before your flight to Korea or when you already in their Insa-dong's office.

Decide which packet do you need. If you are going to stay only in Seoul area, it is best to get the UDP package. $2.99/day
Where and how do you want to return it? 

• If you want to return it in the airport or to the hotel front desk, you have to pay deposit of $100 with credit card which they are gonna return it back once you return their device in the airport/hotel. Make sure, you come to the airport really early to return the device. 
• If you want to return it to Insa-dong's office, there will be cash deposit which will be returned the same day you returned their device to the office.

2. Pocket Korea Wifi

Similar to ESP Package above

Similar to UDP package above

Similar procedure to Wifi-Korea but their deposit is slightly smaller $50 compare to Wifi-Korea, which should not be a problem since it will be returned to your account once they got their device back. Pocket Wifi Korea also delivers to the house, AirBnB house, apartment, or hotel where you stay.

These are the comparisons between 2 companies;

Value	Wifi-Korea		Pocket Wifi Korea
	Plus	Minus	Plus	Minus
Price	Cheaper Package	-	-	More Expensive
Booking Process	Easier	-	-	-
Deposit	-	$100	$50	-
Delivery	-	-	-	Easier
Return	Easier	-	-	-

Now, you have to decide which service do you want to use, whether Wifi-Korea or Pocket Wifi Korea. Then enjoy your fast internet in Seoul.
Personally, I prefer using Wifi-Korea's service, because their package is a lot cheaper. Sure, the deposit is more expensive. But eventually I will get it back. I checked my Credit Card and I got the deposit back within a week after returning the device in the airport.

Enjoy!