Good Friday, April 6, 2012.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY MOTHER!
What a night to finish her Birthday Celebration than seeing her only son in Seoul, South Korea! HAHA. Yes, I met my family and some of my relatives in Korea for their 9day spring vacation here.
Since it was a Friday, in fact Good Friday, and Holy Week is not holiday in Korea, I still have to attend classes in the morning. So my day started with a Future of Asia class at 9am 'til 12nn. Afterwards, I had my last minute preparation like changing some dollars into Korean Won, packing some clothes for a 2day stay in Seoul (since I leave in Daejeon, 1hr by KTX train from Seoul), and some jackets for my family because it was abnormally cold weather (5ºc ~ 14ºc) on a spring season.
After all the preparations, I still went to Panam-dong Catholic Church for the Good Friday services (Way of the Cross). I stayed there and prayed for a successful and safe trip for my family while waiting for the time before I go to Daejeon station.
I took the 6pm Mugunghwa (ordinary) train and arrive in Seoul around 8pm. Then, I went directly to Incheon International Airport via the Airport Railroad (AREX Train). If you go to the Gimpo/Incheon Airport with less baggage, I suggest to take the AREX train since its very convenient and very cheap. It's just 3700won using TMoney (Korean Transportation Card) vs the Limousine bus from Seoul downtown to Incheon Airport at 10,000-15,000won.
You can check the blog below for more details and comparisons of transportation between the airport and Seoul downtown: bit.ly/IG7T7G
I arrived in Incheon International Airport just in time for their arrival. And I haven't bought the Korea Pass Card (Korea Tourism Promo). It is a prepaid card that works like a debit card and can be used in almost all establishments in Korea (except shops that don't accept card like street vendors). It is very convenient because you don't have to count your money every time you shop most especially if you are not yet familiar with the Korean currency denomination and when you are paying huge amount.
Aside from convenience, it also has so many special offers for Korea Pass users. One of the best offer is a free bus card and a 10% additional transportation charge. The Korea Pass denomination are 50,000, 100,000, 300,000, and 500,000 won. This means that if you purchase 100,000 Korea Pass card, you would have a free 10,000 consumable for bus transportation. Instant 10USD saving! And if you purchase the 500,000 Korea Pass card, you would have 50,000 for bus transportation. By the way, you need to have the promo coupon to purchase the card so you should download it from the website and you can only buy the card from the Airport (both Gimpo and Incheon), some subway stations and some Hana Bank shops. Please check the link for more details: bit.ly/jRtZ8n.
Back to the blog, good thing they were very slow and was able to buy the card before they finish all the entry procedures in Korea like the immigration and baggage claim. The airplane landed at 8:51pm but they went out to the arrival hall around 9:48pm already. I gave my mom a quick birthday hug and the rest of the gang then off to the bus stop since last limousine bus going to Gimpo International Airport (where we will transfer going home) will be at 10:00pm.
Temperature? COLD! We were welcomed with a 5ºc temperature! Yes, it was really cold and since they don't have winter jackets (we don't need one in the Philippines). They were all freezing with the cold weather plus gushing winds! So I suggest please the weather forecast when you visit Korea. The weather ranges from -15ºc on winter to 33ºc on a summer season.
From Gimpo International Airport, we took the taxi going to Dongbu Centreville Apartment (동부 센터빌 아파트). It was around 10minutes by taxi. Here's funny thing: Korea has their own language and they are using Hangul in their writing so they cannot read and understanding anything. I myself is not good in Korea, I just know the basics. And since we were all 8, we have to take 2taxies going to the apartment. On the the first cab was my family (parents and 2 sisters) while the other cab were my relatives and me. So when we took the taxi, I just told the driver about the place (the driver do not know the place as well. Thanks to GPS). The place was quite scary at night with very few lighting. By the way, I'm not familiar with the place as well since it was just my 2nd time visiting there. Good thing we both arrive in the place safely!
In the apartment, we just had few conversation for the 2hr adventure from airport to the apartment, including the communication problems in the taxi and even in the airport as well as the 5º welcoming temperature!
That's it for the very long 2hour arrival 'til home!
You can check the blog below for more details and comparisons of transportation between the airport and Seoul downtown: bit.ly/IG7T7G
I arrived in Incheon International Airport just in time for their arrival. And I haven't bought the Korea Pass Card (Korea Tourism Promo). It is a prepaid card that works like a debit card and can be used in almost all establishments in Korea (except shops that don't accept card like street vendors). It is very convenient because you don't have to count your money every time you shop most especially if you are not yet familiar with the Korean currency denomination and when you are paying huge amount.
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| Korea Pass Card (W500,000) |
Back to the blog, good thing they were very slow and was able to buy the card before they finish all the entry procedures in Korea like the immigration and baggage claim. The airplane landed at 8:51pm but they went out to the arrival hall around 9:48pm already. I gave my mom a quick birthday hug and the rest of the gang then off to the bus stop since last limousine bus going to Gimpo International Airport (where we will transfer going home) will be at 10:00pm.
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| While waiting for the 10:00pm bus to Gimpo International Airport |
From Gimpo International Airport, we took the taxi going to Dongbu Centreville Apartment (동부 센터빌 아파트). It was around 10minutes by taxi. Here's funny thing: Korea has their own language and they are using Hangul in their writing so they cannot read and understanding anything. I myself is not good in Korea, I just know the basics. And since we were all 8, we have to take 2taxies going to the apartment. On the the first cab was my family (parents and 2 sisters) while the other cab were my relatives and me. So when we took the taxi, I just told the driver about the place (the driver do not know the place as well. Thanks to GPS). The place was quite scary at night with very few lighting. By the way, I'm not familiar with the place as well since it was just my 2nd time visiting there. Good thing we both arrive in the place safely!
In the apartment, we just had few conversation for the 2hr adventure from airport to the apartment, including the communication problems in the taxi and even in the airport as well as the 5º welcoming temperature!
That's it for the very long 2hour arrival 'til home!
Hi, inside the AREX, does it have any monitor which shows us the current station & next station, so that i aware when the AREX almost reach Gimpo? Thanks :)
ReplyDeleteHi Vee, sure, there are monitors in the train that will let you know which station you are in. Also, there are information in english. I'm sure you will arrive in Gimpo safely. By the way, thanks for dropping by ;]
DeleteHi there. Do i need to purchase the Arex card if i have T money card? I need to pick up my family from incheon airport. Do u mind telling me in details how to get to Incheon airport and im coming from daejeon to seoul station =)
ReplyDelete