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!

Korea: Seoul Subway App and Hotel Accommodation App

singleluxurytravel.com

New in town (Seoul)? Worrying about how to go around in Seoul? No worries. Technology is here to help you out, not just with map or going around town with Subway but also helping you find a good decent accommodation for your stay in Seoul that might be better than staying in hotel or motel.

1. Seoul Subway Map by Malang Studio Co,LTD

I noticed that even some Korean that I encounter used this app when they wanted to find out the route to go to their destination or the schedule for the train. It is very useful for tourist as it is available in English language too.

 All you need to do is install this app on your Android Phone or iPhone and then download the data. So, it can be used offline. Yes, you heard me right. It is offline application. Making it easier for tourist who doesn't have Korean cellphone number.

Open the app, pick the origin station, click depart from, pick the destination and click arrive at. Voila. There you go. There will be list of station you need and the route you have to take.

These are the links to download it;
Android: Play Store
iPhone: iTunes

2. Hotel Accommodation App: Airbnb

Have you heard of AirBnB? Yes, it is a kinda cool app to search for cheap and comfy accommodation during your trip. You just have to type in the name of your destination and all the list of apartments, hostels, rooms, houses, villas, etc will pop out on the app.

The idea of Airbnb is to help those who has more spaces in their house or has extra accommodation and use it as a way to make income by putting it on a list here. Also to help tourists or visitors to find cheap and better accommodation than hotel. 

This is how it looks on the website homepage

Like I said earlier, you just need to type in the city of your destination and the date of check in and check out, also how many people will go with you. 

This is the search look for Seoul, every time you move the map, there will be more list pops out.

If you joined now and click Airbnb website from the one I gave you down here. You will get $25 Airbnb credit that you can use for your first trip.

Website: Airbnb <- Click Here for $25 off for your first time using Airbnb
Android: Play Store

My Experience with the Apps: Seoul Subway and Airbnb

1. Seoul Subway app or Subway Korea app has been a great help through out our trip in Korea this early June. I get to pick the shortest route or the slightly longer one with less transit stops. I get to modified our trip on the subway based on what I prefer. As we all know in Korea, subway is the cheapest and fast way of transportation. I absolutely love this app. I recommended this for everyone wanting to visit Seoul. Nope, They didn't paid me for this recommendation or reviews.

2. Airbnb has landed us in a very cute place in Dongmyo area. It was so comfy and close to all the tourist destination. The place where I booked for our holiday was a cute studio apartment in Dongmyo. In front of the apartment, there is flea market and on Sunday, they will have more sellers there. Truly a gem to find something for cheaper price. GS25 (kinda like 711) is so close. Only 5 minutes from the place to subway station. Super convenient. We love that place.

Pictures of the place we stayed in

We paid only 5 million rupiah for the whole week there. It is definitely cheaper than staying in a 2 million/night hotel or more comfortable than shared bedroom in hostel.

What are you waiting for? Start saving some money for your next trip or book the ticket already. Go now! ♡♡♡ ^_^

Korea: Tips for Transportation Around Seoul

Dearest friends,

Korea has become such a hype place for tourist destination nowadays. It attracts mostly girls, thanks to their infamous Myeongdong Cosmetic Heaven...lol

But it is such a shame if you guys are not interested in Korea. They have so many things to offer. One biggest reason to visit Korea is their rich culture and culinary. Seriously Korean food might be one of the best in the world. Korean has always been known as detail oriented community. You can see their precise detail on their culinary and architecture.

For a newcomer to Korea, especially Seoul. I would like to share our experience how to save money for transportation in Seoul based on what you guys need and how long you will be spending fun holiday in Seoul.

1. Seoul City Pass

 Can be used for Seoul City Tour Bus, Seoul Bus and Metro Subway.
Price:

Source: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=261307

2. T-Money

 This is my favorite one. Because it is flexible as to how many trips I want to go to and cheaper for my needs. I will explain more later on this page.

It can look different from this one. They sell different variation of T-Money. It could be card or key chain form. I love the key chain form. I could hang it on my phone.

No worries, you can just buy one of this and you don't have to put your information contact. It used to be like that. But nowadays, tourist can just used it once they bought it.

Recharge your T-Money here. Can be found on every subway stations.

3. Single Trip Subway Ticket

This is the most expensive one. Not only you have to pay for the deposit, but it is also a waste of time. You need to keep getting this ticket every time you want to use subway. So, my suggestion is to find nearest GS25 or 711 in airport and but T-Money or find tourist information and asked them where to get T-Money or Seoul City Pass in airport.

Comparison between Seoul City Pass and T-Money

According to our experience, it was cheaper using T-Money instead of Seoul City Pass. Since we stayed for a week and not using the Seoul City Tour Bus.

This is our itinerary;

The red blocked part was delayed caused by Japan Airlines. Sigh.
Assuming we did 8 trips a day by Subway (which we did almost every day and even more than 8 trips sometimes) including the long trip to airport, it only cost us 35.000 KRW with remaining 8.000 KRW left on my T-Money.
We did 8 trips a day because in the middle of the day we always go back to the apartment to nap. All the walking and sightseeing drained our energy...lol

We went there on summer. So 6pm were still bright and night started at 8pm. We usually stayed out till 11pm. Remember that subway stopped working from around 11pm. So, don't stay out too late.

I will post about subway information app that will be useful to use even when you don't have internet on the next post.

Have fun in Korea ^_^