My second trip to Korea.a longer trip

안녕하세요 여로분. Hi all.
It has been awhile since my last post. I want you all to know that i am currently in Seoul for a loonggg vacation trip to relax my mind and all from work and stuff and also to relive my experince in Korea..
I love korea.everything about it,the people,the culture, the food, the music, the language...just everyhing.. That is why i decided to go and visit korea again and this time i am going all out. For 10 days i will try my best to go to every places that i can and hopefully i will be able to share everything with all the readers.

The flight journey
My friends and i take off from kuala lumpur to seoul via air asia x flight. It was a pleasant flight. At first i was seating at the 40ish row in the flight but the girl passanger next to me asked if i could change seats with her mother who was alone at 30ish row. I said sure.I was glad to help, i could imagine her concern towards her mother who was probably around 50 of age. So i agreed to change. My new seat was nice too considering it was an isle seat and it was near to the wash room. We toom off at 9am malaysia time and arrive at incheon around 4pm malaysian time.the temperature in Incheon was around 12 degree celcius according to flight captain.

Our transportation?
Like last year we decided to go with the cheapest mode of public transportation we could find. Seoul has probably the best subway sistem in the whole world in my opinion. Owh well ive only have seen london and malaysia's subway system. And based on my observations seoul subway beats both! I love it. Its easy to find your way around seoul because of the excellent subway system. No need to worry im sure once you've tried you will learn everythinv very quickly.
From Incheon we decided to stop at Gimpo airport to double check and confirm our flight to Jeju island. Once we've checked we went to check into our hotel at Myeongdong. We stayed at Kimchee Myeongdon Guesthouse which was situated very near to Euljiro-3-ga subway station. We had trouble finding the guesthouse at first but luckly I asked a lady who seemed to be going back from her workplace. She was nice enough to help take her time to view the map and finding the location of the hotel for us. The hotel was actually straight from the subway exit but we had crossed the wrong road.huhu..once im able to use my laptop i will upload a detail map for all you readers out there.

Kimchee Myeogdong Guesthouse
The guesthouse is on the 2nd floor of the building so once we got there we had to carry our luggage upstairs. But it was all ok for me. Before i went for this trip i already prepared myself physically and mentally..at the guesthouse door, the staff named Derek greeted us. He was so nice and pleasant. I book the hostel via Agoda.com so i got discounts and point from agoda..yippie!..Derek check us in and he helped us carry our luggage to the 3rd flr where our rooms were. We stayed in a few hours to perform our solat/prayers and then we were off again for dinner...

Dinner...
The place were very alive at nights because there were many bars for korean to drink soju(local alcohol) to warm up their body. The tempreture were pretty cold too because it was raining when we got out. I think it was probably about 6-8 deg celcius.. We were looking for a local  식당 (restaurant) that serves seafood or fish but we were in no luck. It was hard to find a seafood restaurant there. But there was this restaurant that serves kimchee jigae (kimchee stew) and dwanjangjigae (soy stew) so we decided to go and try it our. The restaurant owner was very welcoming. They cant speak english but they try their best to accomodate us. I ordered us a kimchee jigae, dwanjangjigae, noodles, and rice. I told the restaurant owner to exclude meat in all our dishes and she seemed to know that we were muslims and we didnt eat meat. I asked the owner again if they had fish, the owner said to me that they do have it in their menu but it was all out of stock. It was understanable since it was like 10pm already.huhu.. After dinner we went for a walk arond the neighbourhood just to see around the place. Its really the 'downtown' of seoul. A really nice place to stay. You can find 24hrs store  at almost every corner of the street and coffee shops are everywhere.
We stayed at kimchee myeongdong for 3 days and 2 nights before we take a flight to jeju island. I will write about that next time when i feel like it :).
I will upload more photos once i got my laptop. Bye...
If you are planning on a trip to korea and looking for a place to tay i suggest kimchee guesthouse. They have many branch across seoul. Here is a link to their website http://www.kimcheeguesthouse.com

From Seoul to Jeju by Plane... Which Airlines?

When planing to go to Jeju Island from Seoul you basically have 2 choices. either you...

1. FLY to Jeju Island....quick, fast & less time consuming... or you go
2. By Train & Ferry... which can take up to 5-6 hours long journey...

After some research and consideration, I opt for the 1st choice.. because in terms of money/budget both method are not much different..both cost almost equal... but in terms of time, it makes a huge difference... if you fly to Jeju, it will only takes about 1 hour... And for me, Time Is Money sooo.. I opt for the 1st choice.. but if you would rather like to enjoy your journey just chill out and enjoy the ride then you probably want to opt for by train & ferry...


So if you want to fly from Seoul to Jeju Island, what should you know about??? which airlines is the best??? and which airport to take off??.. well look no further, I hope that what Im about to share will help you plan your journey to Jeju in advance....


Which airlines is the best??..cost less??
Well there are many airlines to choose from but what I will focus in this entry is from a backpackers' point of view (since Im a backpacker traveler my self). So when you're traveling backpacking, what you want to consider the most is you budget. You would want to take the most cost effective airlines.

Unlike malaysia, which only have like airasia & maswing, In Korea there are a few low-cost airlines you can choose from.

  There's Jeju Air, the very famous among backpackers! not because its the most low-cost among them all but because its easier to purchase flight tickets from the airlines if you plan to purchase them via online in advance. Also its easy to purchase the ticket online because it has an english website for foreigners to book their flights. And also another advantage is that you can purchase the tickets using your ATM Electronics VISA card or any debit card!!! yess!!!... Ive tried it and it works but I have to warn you make sure you use IE browser to purchase and when you key in your handphone number make sure its the correct format (with area code and everything!) for you to be able to get the safety code via your phone.

In case you were wondering what is an electronics visa debit card.

And then there's the Eastar Jet . Just like the Jeju air, eastar also provide an english translated website for its foreign customers. Compare to Jeju Air, I think this one is cheaper in price. but then again the price varies from time to time. And if you're lucky you can get up to RM100/pax to and fro!!!.. The only downside for eastar jet compare to Jeju air is that you can only purchase the tickets using your credit card.. no debit card allowed.

Other options include Jin Air & Air Busan.
I dont know much about Jin Air except that its a subsidiary of Korean Air also it doesn't comes with English language in its official website. Ive never try to book a flight from Jin Air so Im not sure if they accept Electronics Visa Debit card.
Air Busan is a subsidiary of Asiana Airlines, you may try to book air ticket to Jeju Island from this airline as well. Just like Eastar Jet, no worries of the language barrier and also the credit card payment. You can also choose your own preferred seat for free. Depart either from Seoul - Gimpo International Airport or Busan - Gimhae International Airport. But compare to Jeju Air and Eastar Jet, Air Busan ticket price cost abit more than the previous two.

 Soo, which one did I pick???... none of the above!!!.. yesss, i repeat.. none of the above because I decided to go with the cheapest of them alllll....

I book my flights a month in advance, so before I purchase it i checked from all the airlines and I found that T'way Air has the cheapest fee so I book with T'way. Unlike Jeju Air, T'way has no english translated website. So in order to purchase the ticket you should atleast know a few hangul words to get thru the purchasing process. T'way Air accept only credit cards and no debit card. Dont bother trying, ive tried unsuccessfully.


Tips:

1. Before booking online, some of the above airlines require to register as a member first. (With Jeju Air, you will only be able to enjoy the discount rate by registering yourself first). Registration is quite easy.
2. Flight to Jeju Island from Seoul city is depart from Gimpo International Airport, not Incheon International Airport. So, remember to inform your taxi driver which airport are you heading to if you want to fly to Jeju Island.
3. You can also check with bigger/more famous airlines like Korean Air & Asiana Airlines but the ticket fee is a bit pricey.

See, it is actually so easy to plan a trip to a country eventhough our language is different from them and it's definitely not a big deal as long as you got the heart and soul and also not forgetting to spend a lil bit of your time to plan a trip. Seriously, I managed to book a return ticket for my friends and I from Seoul to Jeju Island without any help from travel agent or even from my Korean friend.

In my next entry, Ill show you how to purchase the flight ticket online thru T'way Air website. :)

A Million Movie Download With English Sub

Eight people enter a reality TV show to win 10 billion won (=US$ 1 million) if they survive 7 days in the Australian Outback. But they don't know the game is murderous trap by an insane TV director who wishes to avenge his wife's death.

[DOWNLOAD A Million Korean Movie]

English Subtitle Download

My Wife Got Married Movie Download (Eng Sub)

Deok-hoon meets In-ah (Son Ye Jin), a former work colleague, on the subway; the two turn out to be big soccer fans, and soon begin a passionate relationship. To quell his doubts about In-ah's fidelity, Deok-hoon proposes to her, and they get married. But their honeymoon period doesn't last long, as In-ah declares that she will marry another man.

DOWNLOAD K-MOVIE MY WIFE GOT MARRIED 

download eng sub  - make sure to rename the file the same name as the movie file.tq. enjoy

You are my Pet (Eng Sub)

You are my Pet (Eng Sub) Download - Part 1
You Are My Pet (Eng Sub) - Part 2
 You are my Pet (Eng Sub) - Part 3
 You Are My Pet Eng Sub File
The files are split so you can join them using http://www.hjsplit.org/

Penny Pinchers (Eng Sub) Torrent

Among many ways to learn hangul is to watch k-movies.

This is my first time creating a torrent and seeding. I hope this works. Please leave a comment if it doesnt... and if it does please leave a comment too :) thank you

Kindly please be a seeder aswell once you've finish downloading so that other people can enjoy the torrent also. thank you

[DOWNLOAD TORRENT-Penny Pinchers w eng sub]

Korean Verb with Consonant Base..

Sometimes its confusing when you tried to look for a certain word in the Korean dictionary to find the meaning because the word in the dictionary isn’t exactly the same with what you’re looking for. I for one had troubles understanding why most of the words are a bit different in dictionary compare to the ones I’ve used in sentences. (the spelling was different).

For example.

앉아  means ‘sleep’ when used in a sentence. (sentence form/infinitive form is ‘앉아’).

But when you try to find the word in the dictionary, you find ‘앉다’ instead of ’앉아’.

Another example.

입어(infinitive form) means ‘wears/put on’. In dictionary form  its ‘입다’.

This is because Korean dictionary list verbs in a special ‘dictionary form’ or citation form with one shape ending  ‘–다’.

So, what does this have to do with the entry title? ‘Korean Verb with Consonant Base’????

Well it is crucial to have the clear understanding of whether the Korean verb that you’re looking in the dictionary is a consonant base or a vowel base in order to change it from dictionary form into infinitive form and use it in a sentence later on.

We’re just going to look into Verb with consonant Base first.. I’ll explain the Vowel base in our next entry.

So lets begin!!

First you have to know.

-          Consonant-base verb is Korean verb with a ‘consonant’ (ㅂ,ㅈ,ㄷ,ㄱ,ㅅ,ㄴ,ㅁ etc.) ending.

-          Consonant-base verb typically have infinitive ending ‘-어’.

-        However if the last vowel of the consonant base is ‘오’ or ‘아’ then the infinitive ending is ‘-아’ instead of ‘-어’.

Confusing? Well, of course! Let’s look at the examples.

Hope that is clear. Well, next time well look at vowel base infinitives. Its more confusing than this one : ). Have fun with Hangul!!!

You can download here for more exercise on this topic DOWNLOAD

Korean Comics! Fun way to practice hangul

Oppa: My younger sister is drinking soju!!

Spadoid: Bottoms up!

CULTURAL NOTE: In Korea, the national alcohol is Soju (소주)! Soju is a rice-based alcohol with a taste similar to vodka. The alcohol content varies from 15% to 20%, and one bottle is typically cheaper than a bottle of beer! People typically say "one shot" (원샷) when drinking, meaning "bottoms up" or "chug"!

fun way to learn hangul (korean language). hangul comics. with english translation. Read the rest of the comics HERE.....
 

My Trip to Seoul Part 1

안녕하세유 여러분!! 오랜만이다. Hi everyone..it has been awhile since my last post. Im soo soo very sorry for not being able to update this blog for you all…정말 죄송합니다.

Im not gonna say its because im busy with work (although its true) excuse, ive used that excuse too much lately huhu. But anyway, Ive got sooo much to tell…내가 서울왔어요!!.. 언제가? You asked.. 5월 29일.  3일 4밤…

I bought the flight ticket around November last year. I didn’t plan to actually, I just did it!.. after I bought the ticket then I plan the whole visit haha.. typical me. 

INCHEON AIRPORT..

So how was Seoul? You asked.. 대박!!!!.. awesome… incredible…. Sweet…. Just cant describe it with a word.  If you plan on backpacking to seoul, not going with tour package or anything, I encourage you to DO IT!!!!... not to worry you wont get lost… me and my friends did it without getting lost, so can you.. the transportation there is sooo much easy… especially subways… I love the subways… it is much more easier than the lrt/subways in Kuala Lumpur I can tell you that!.. all you need is just a T-money card 7 a Seoul city/subway map and you can travel anywhere everywhere..

Me & my friends fly to Incheon via Airasia flight.. the to & fro ticket cost me about RM1300 .  We took off from KL around 2.40pm (Malaysian time) and arrived at incheon around 8 pm (Seoul time, +1hour for Malaysian time). It was a nice 6 hours flight journey. I sat next to an Indonesian couple whom were on their honeymoon trip. I spent most of the time during the flight journey just studying the Seoul map that my friend brought along with us. I went with 2 friends of mine. 

When we arrived at Incheon, we plan on to stay at the airport for the night since we thought it would be best that we’d get some rest there rather than going to our hotel at Sinchon. ( I booked us a room at Sinchon, Backpackers Hotel. Great hospitality there I must say). Considering we still didn’t know anything on how to use the subway/bus/any other transportation at the time, so we thought it was best for us just to spend the night at the airport. The airport is actually a nice place to spend the night. Many long seats without the armrest where you can just sleep comfortably. Don’t forget to bring along a travel blanket. There is also a찜질방(sauna room) where you can spend the night. We went there on out 4^th night and I tell you, it will be the last night I spent at a sauna room (or a bath house they call it there) .

But I like the shirt that they lend it to you there, like in the k-dramas, it was actually really comfortable, if only they would let me buy it haha. There are many 24hours  (7eleven like) store at the airport, so don’t worry about getting hungry. For muslim, you can find something like tuna kimbap. Remember this word ‘참치김밥’… almost all the 24/7 stores in seoul have em’. It only cost around 700원 (triangle kimbap). And if you swallow 2 of those you wont be hungry for another 5 hours (if you have an appetite of a fish..like me… I eat less and drink a lot of plane water). There is also a prayer room at the airport. Just find the airport map and you’ll be able to locate the place. But anyway, so we slept there for the night and at 7am we took off to Sinchon via railway/subway. Don’t worry about where to stop or exchange trains, you can check it on any touch screen map kiosk. You can find the kiosk at almost all the subway/railways station in Seoul. If you have t-money (you can buy it ant those 24/7 store) you just have to swipe it at the subway entrance, no need to bother buying tickets.

tuna kimbap & coffee for breakfast

T-money card. You can ride any public transport (subways/railways/bus etc) using this card.

From Incheon to sinchon via railway/subway cost us only around 2,000원 (이천원… or maybe less I don’t remember) per person. That’s quite cheap considering the alternatives (bus 10,000 원 per person, taxi 60,000 원).

 
You can find many side stall selling toast in Seoul. Dont worry about starving.

We arrived at our hotel at around 8.45 am. Our hotel was quite near to the sinchon subway station, 5-10 minutes walk. I booked us a double room with 1 extra bed. Cost us about 70,000원 per night. We didn’t get to rest in the hotel yet as the checkin time was on 2pm sharp but Eric (the hotel owner) let us put our belongings there so that we can explore some more of seoul until the checkin time.  So without wasting anymore of our precious time there, we decided to go to our 1^st destination tour, the 63 BUILDING!!!. Remember?? If you’re a k-drama fan like me, u must’ve seen/known this place. Remember, My Girl??? Rings a bell???... well hehe I’ll tell you more about it in my next entry… till then : )

at incheon airport

Happy Eid-Mubarak to all the muslims…

Tips for traveling to korea : for malaysian who's planning on travelling to korea. If you want to convert malaysian ringgit to korean won, i suggest not to convert at the airport. You'll get less. If you want to get the best exchange rate, stop by at KL Sentral and you can convert your money there at any currency exchange booth (cimb/maybank etc). You'll get more!

When it comes to currency/money?

안녕하세요 여러분..


The last time I talked about numbers was here . If you can still recall there are two types of korean numbers, one is native korean numbers another is sino-korean numbers. So which one do we us when it comes to counting our money or when paying the shopkeeper in Korean?

We use Sino-Korean numbers!!!

Well let us refresh our brain with Sino-Korean numbers first before we go detail..

1 - 일
2 - 이
3 - 삼
4 - 사
5 - 오
6 - 육
7 - 칠
8 - 팔
9 - 구
10 - 십
11 - 십일 <10 (십) + 1 (일) = sib il>
12 - 십이
13 - 십삼
14 - 십사
20 - 이십 <2 (이) + 10 (십) = 20 (이십)> You get the idea..
21 - 이십일 <2 (이) + 10 (십) + 1 (일) = 21 (이십일)>
22 - 이십이
23 - 이십삼
24 - 이십사
30 - 삼십 <3(삼) + 10(십) = 30 (삼십) >
40 - 사십
100 - 백
101 - 백일 < 100(백) + 1(일) = 101 (백일)>
102 - 백이
103 - 백삼
104 - 백사
1000 - 천
1001 - 천일
1002 - 천이
1003 - 천삼
2000 - 이천
3000 -삼천
10,000 - 만
10,001 - 만일
10,002 - 만이
20,000 - 이만
30,000 - 삼만
100,000 - 십만 <10(십) + 10,000(만) = 100,000(십만)>
200,000 - 이십만
1 million - 백만

got it??... if theres some part that confuses use, dont hesitate to ask away in the comment box : )

so when you want to say..... maybe 10,490 won.. it would be 만사백구십원..
만(10,000)사백(400)구십(90)원(won)..

So what about 11,500 won???

it would be, 만천오백원... 만천(11,000)오백(500)원


hope that helps... happy new year 2012 : ) 새해 복 많이 받으세요