"안녕하세요 - Annyeonghasaeyo". Seoul, South Korea - Planning

Alright,

So, my wife and I decided to head over to Seoul for our honeymoon in mid January 2014, right in the middle of winter where temperature promised to be lower than zero.

We booked our flight in Early Nov when we chance upon a very attractive Business Class deal to Seoul on Malaysia Airlines (MAS). As we are staying in Singapore, it's just a short 1 hour hop from Singapore (SIN) to Kuala Lumpur(KUL) and then a 6 hour flight from KUL to Seoul (ICN).

We could've booked Economy class Singapore Airlines (SQ) or Asiana Airlines (OZ) - with both being in Star Aliance, we can earn Elite Miles on SQ - which means direct flight from SIN to ICN, without the need to transit at KUL. But the 35% difference in price between MAS Business Class and SQ Economy Class is too tempting, we decided to bite and proceed with the business class booking.

So it's decided, we'll be flying SIN-KUL-ICN-KUL-SIN. Looking forward to wearing thick clothings.

Next up is planning the itinerary, we have always wanted to visit the border between the 2 Koreas, especially the Panmunjeom peace village where the 2 sides have their various meetings, and we will have an opportunity to physically cross around 10m over the border into North Korea. 

Since it's right smack in the winter season, so skiing is also a must-do item. Also, as a history buff, visiting the various palaces and museums is also on the agenda. And finally, having a shopaholic wife means that there is no avoiding of visiting the various shopping areas in Seoul.


And so, with the general outline of the itinerary planned out, we booked our accommodation at Seoul Ibis Hotel, right smack in the middle of Myeongdong shopping areas where my wife will guarantee to go crazy with the rows and rows of cosmetic and skincare products on sale.

Our general itinerary is thus as follow:

Day 0: SIN-KUL-ICN
Day 1: Arrival at ICN. Check in hotel and explore the surrounding area
Day 2: Hongdae Weekly Sunday Bazaar and Ehwa women's university area
Day 3: 2D1N Ski at Yong Pyong
Day 4: Back to Seoul from Yong Pyong
Day 5: COEX Aquarium & Namsan Tower
Day 6: Panmunjeom JSA and DMZ Tour
Day 7: Changdeokgung Secret Garden Tour
Day 8: Gyeongbokgung
Day 9: ICN-KUL-SIN

To stay connected, we did a quick Google search and found out about EG Sim Card. This particular pre-paid service is only available for foreign tourists. For upfront cost of KRW 20,000 (about USD20), you get a SIM card preloaded with KRW 20,000 value stored inside (meaning the cost of the SIM card is free). 

You can use the KRW 20,000 for both voice calls, SMS and 3G data. Though for data, it's better to buy the data package, which costs KRW16,500 for 1GB, KRW10,000 for 500mb and KRW5,500 for 100mb. Having a data connection in Korea is important because we don't read or speak Korean, so having the ability to search information on our phones is very useful.

And so, with everything set, we are ready for the trip. 

Next up, setting foot in Seoul.