[Jeju-do, Korea] Guesthouse in Jeju City, Worlang House

Whenever I think of Jeju, I am reminded of this very cosy guesthouse - Worlang House - where I stayed in and it felt like home.  Fully lined with wood flooring, the guesthouse is modern and comfortable.  It is bed and breakfast guesthouse, and so you get to prepare a simple breakfast at your own time, own pace in the morning.  Mr Heung, who is in-charge of the guesthouse is conversant in English and is very prompt, responsive and helpful.

Worlang House is located just 5-mins drive away from Jeju Airport.  The guesthouse is located on the 3rd floor.  On the ground floor, there is a DIY coin-operated laundry shop equipped with a computer, wifi and coffee for guests while waiting for the laundry to be ready.  Convenient stores, restaurants and bistros can be found in the vicinity.  The walk to the main road is about 3 to 5 mins where you can take a bus to town or to the bus terminal.

A point to note is that most guesthouses in Korea have no lift!  Be prepared and manage the weight of your luggage as you dragged it up the stairs!

Right from the moment I stepped into Worlang House, I could immediate feel the comfort of a home.  The place has 3 bedrooms on the 3rd floor and 1 bedroom at the attic.  The living hall at the 3rd floor has a coffee table, books (including travel books) and a music player.  There is no in the hall as well as in the rooms.  Wi-fi is available in the guesthouse.  Music and lights at the living hall go off at 10.30pm every night.

The kitchen is also a cosy area.  It is complete with cooking utensils, water dispenser and microwave oven.  There is also a fridge for guests to keep their food there.

The bedrooms are clean, simple and functional.  The space isn't luxurious and just enough for luggage and some walking space.  Mr Heung cleans the house everyday to keep the rooms spick and span.

 (Double room)

 (Double-decker room)

 (Family room which has both a double bed and a double-decker bed)

 (Room at the attic)



(Mirror in the room)

Mr Heung gets the breakfast ingredients ready at about 8am every morning.  That includes salad, fruits, hash-brown, orange juice, bread, eggs.  Guests can then cook up their own breakfast.  Coffee and tea is available throughout the day.

Guests can choose to have their breakfast at the living hall or at the cosy corner with chairs.  Breakfast is also the best time to get to know the other residents in the guesthouse.  During my short few-day stay, I noticed that there were quite a number of solo travellers who stayed at Worlang House.  Most of them stayed for only 1 night though.

Overall, my experience at Worlang House was great except for a little encounter where we would hear the domestic fight from the neighbour downstairs.  As usual, Mr Heung was quick to come up to the guesthouse to assure us of safety.

The place is really affordable as well.  The charge for 2 persons is 50,000 won (~ USD50) per night.  Other pricing details is available through Worlang House's website.  The guesthouse was full-house on most of the days where I stayed, so it proofs to be quite a popular place amongst travellers.  Do book early to avoid disappointment!

For booking, visit BnBHero.

Website: http://www.worlang.com/

Address: 1271-5, Nohyeong-dong, Jeju-si, Jeju-do, South Korea (36 Worlong Road 6)

Check-in time: 4pm, Check-out time: 11am

Getting there: Best to catch a taxi from Jeju Airport directly since the distance is really short.  Estimated taxi fare is 3,500 won (~ USD 3.50).



View Larger Map


Related Posts:
- Minjunggak Guesthouse in Jeju (Click here)
- 10 Tips about travelling on Jeju Air (Click here)
- Tips on Tax Refund in Korea (Click here)
- Catching the Autumn Foliage (Click here)
- EG SIM Card Agent at Seoul Station (Click here)

[Jeju-do / Seoul, Korea] Tips on Tax Refund for Budget Travellers in Korea

Korea is a shopping paradise, especially to ladies.  Endless pretty shoes, gorgeous bags, cute cosmetics and delicious food seem to follow you wherever you are.  You just feel like buying the entire Korea back!  Practically, budget travellers like me cannot afford to buy anything and everything that I fancy.  Being a budget travellers mean we are interested to know money saving tips. 

One of the ways is to buy things from shops that offer Tax Refund!  The amazing thing in Korea is that MANY shops offer tax refund with a minimum spending of 30,000 won, including the regular cosmetics shops such as The Face Shop, Innisfree, pharmacies and household stores such as Olive Young, and of course, the big departmental stores!  There are 2 tax refund agents in Korea - Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free.  Keep a lookout for these logos when you go shopping.

Tips to Note:

1.  At the payment counter, inform the staff that you would like to have the Tax Refund Receipt.  The staff will ask for your passport, enter your particulars into their system, print the tax refund receipt and pass you the tax refund envelop.  Keep your original receipts and tax refund receipt in the envelop.

2.  Pack those items that you seeking tax refund separately for easy of retrieval during inspection at the airport.  The airport staff may or may not ask to see the goods.  But you should be get ready for the goods to be inspected.  (Tips: For clothes, shoes, sunshades, watches, you might want to wear them to the airport!)

3.  Before departing for airport, fill in your particulars on the Tax Refund Receipts.  Some receipts may require you to fill in your credit card number.  That is because they may refund the tax via your credit card instead of cash.  But so far, I managed to get all tax refunds through cash instead of via credit card.

4.  Put all Tax Refund receipts under the respective agents within the same envelop, so that you need not carry so many duplicate envelops around.

5.  Upon arriving at the airport, go to your airline check-in counter.  For items that cannot be hand-carried on-board, you can pack them in your check-in luggage.  Inform the check-in agent that you have items for tax-refund.  After collecting your boarding pass, you will then bring your check-in luggage to the Tax Refund desk.

6.  At the Tax Refund desk, your passport, receipts and goods to the staff.  The staff will verify the tax-refund items, stamp on the receipts but no cash will be refunded at this point.  Your luggage together with the tax-free items will be checked-in there.  But of course, you can also choose to hand-carry the tax-refund items, if you prefer to do so.  Note that you should still hold-on to the receipts for the actual cash refund.

6.  After clearing the immigration, go to the Global Blue Tax Free and/or Global Tax Free counter for the refund.


Tax Refund Counter at Jeju Airport

The Tax Refund Counter is located near Entrance 5 at the Departure Level.  There are only 2 counters serving the entire airport, so it is better to be there early to beat the queue.  Not surprisingly, the directional sign is in Chinese because of the number of Chinese tourists visiting Jeju these days.

If your next destination is to another place in Korea, you will not get the tax refund then.  The airport staff will do a verification that they had seen the goods and hence, no need for a re-inspection when you are at the next airport in Korea.  However, you must keep the tax refund receipts and seek the refund before departing Korea.

Tax Refund Counter at Incheon Airport

Upon arriving at the Incheon Airport, go to the Tax Free Inspection Counter that is located Passenger Terminal, 3rd Floor, far end behind Check-in Counter J or Counter D near the immigration area.  The area is not very conspicuous and a little hidden.

After obtaining the clearance from the counter, you may proceed to Departure Immigration.  I would recommend that you use Immigration Gate 3, which is nearest to the Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free counters.  After clearing the immigration, turn right and keep a lookout for Starbucks on the left-side.  The tax refund counters are around the corner.

There are 2 separate queues for Global Blue Tax Free and Global Tax Free.  If you are claiming for both, you will need to queue twice!  Be sure to factor in sufficient waiting time as the queue can get freaking long!  Some travellers had to give up on the wait since they have to catch the flight!  That's too bad.... Finally, the cash you receive will be in Korean won.  But of course, you can convert the money into your home country currency at the money changer.

Latest Update - Seek Tax Refunds at 6 locations in downtown Seoul!

Starting from 30 Aug, besides seeking the refund at the airports, you can now get the refunds from 6 locations in Myeongdong, Dongdaemun and Sinchon.  Here are the details.

Global Blue Tax Free
1.  Woori Bank - Myeongdong Branch (located across Myeongdong Theatre)
2.  Main Floor at Lotte Department Store (Flagship Branch at Myeongdong)
3.  10th Floor at Hyundai Department Store (Sinchon Branch)

Global Tax Free
1.  2nd Floor at Olive Young (Main Branch at Myeongdong, located next to Seoul Royal Hotel)
2.  Main floor of the luxury hall of Shinsegae Department Store (Flagship store at Myeongdong)
3.  B1 and 5th Floor of Doota (Dongdaemun)

Read more about Downtown Tax Refund here.  Happy Shopping!

[Jeju-do, Korea] 10 Tips for travelling on Jeju Air (Domestic Flight)

Travelling is exciting when things go smooth.  I hope the following tips will be useful to travellers travelling from Seoul, Gimpo Airport to Jeju Airport for the first time.

First, if you travel to Gimpo Airport by A'REX (Airport Railroad) or subway, take the direction that brings you to the Domestic Airport.  Gimpo Airport is connected domestically and internationally, unless Incheon Airport which serves only international routes.

Second, if you think that Jeju Air is the only domestic flight to Jeju, then you are in for a big surprise.  They are at least 6 domestic airlines that are connected to Jeju.  Jeju Air can easily be spotted by their bright orange logo.  Counter staff mostly are able to converse in English and are helpful too.

Third, this flimsy-looking piece of paper is your air ticket.  Do not lose it.  Key info is available in English too.

Fourth, check-in is 40mins prior to flight departure.  Unlike international flights which require you to appear 2 hours ahead for the thorough check-in process.  Checking in for domestic flights is quite straight forward.  As there flight frequency is very high, the counter may not attend to you if you show up too early. 

Fifth, observe the baggage allowance.  Maximum allowance for check-in luggage is 15kg while for hand-carry, it is 10kg.  The weighing scale is placed right before the boarding gate for passengers to check their hand-carry baggage's weight.  Nonetheless, a point to note is penalty for excess baggage charge for Jeju Air isn't that bad.... 2000 won per kg.

Sixth, Jeju is a small island and strong coastal wind may cause some difficulty during landing.  Hold tight to your seat, relax and just smile.

Seventh, the situation faced at departure from Jeju Airport is quite different from arrival to Jeju.  The queue at the departure gate starts to form quite early.  I was puzzled their enthusiasm to board the plane.  But I finally why after I passed the departure gate.  Read on...

Eighth, the flight does not take off from the departure gate itself!  The passengers need to take a shuttle bus to the flight.  The queue was formed early so as to get a seat on the shuttle bus!

Nineth, here's how you board the Jeju Air flight from Jeju!  Pray for good weather and manage your luggage load.  It is quite cumbersome to move your luggage from bus to plane if it is huge and heavy!

Finally and most importantly, book your tickets early to enjoy great discount which can be as much as 65%!

Wishing you a pleasant journey! *J^

Related Posts:
- Airfare Promotions to Seoul/Busan/Jeju (Click here)
- Flight Options to Jeju (Click here)
- Minjunggak Guesthouse in Jeju (Click here)
- Locating EG SIM Card shop at Seoul Station (Click here)
- Exploring Korean Traditional Markets on Subway Line 5 (Click here)

[Jeju-do, Korea] Guesthouse in Seogwipo City, Jeju - Minjunggak (민중각)



Jeju Island is an oval-shape volcanic island located at the southern tip of South Korea.  The island is 73km from the east to the west, and 31km from north to south.  It is approximately double the size of Singapore.  The island itself is a favourite vacation spot for many Koreans themselves.  Tourism is one of the key businesses in Jeju.  In 2010, domestic tourists accounted for almost 90% of the total tourist count of 7.5 million.  This figures is rather significant considering that the total population on the island was less than 600,000.

 

On the island, there are many mind-blowing ocean, mountain and natural scenic spots and that was why Jeju was selected to be 1 of the world's New 7 wonders of Nature.  There are 368 small mountains within Jeju and 90 islands off Jeju, which is why Jeju is the ideal place for hiking and island hopping.

 

In terms of accommodation, the key consideration would be whether to stay at the northern Jeju in Jeju-si (Jeju City), where the airport is about 10 mins drive away, or to stay at southern Jeju in Seogwipo, where you will be nearer to ferry terminals making it more accessible if you plan to island-hop. 

 

For myself, I stayed at 2 guesthouses during my recent trip to Jeju.  The name of the first guesthouse is Minjunggak and it is located at Seogwipo city. It is 5-min walk from the Seogwipo intercity bus terminal and eateries such as Paris Baguette, Dunkin Donut. It is also a stone-throw away from 2 food streets! There are also several convenient stalls such as GS25, Familymart, 7-eleven.

Those of us who had stayed in guesthouse in Korea would know that the rooms are general quite small, and expect to lug your luggages up the stairs - don't expect any lift in the guesthouse. If you are lucky, the friendly host may help you with the luggages but they aren't obliged to do that.

 

Minjunggak's room is very spacious and clean. The room came with 2 single beds complete with quilt and blanket.  There is enough luggage packing space for both occupants, which is almost rare compared to guesthouses in Seoul.  On the floor that we stayed, there were about 5 units in total. What I like is also the big LCD TV in the room... wow! There are 2 sections within the room, one of the main bedroom while the smaller section is the toilet cum shower room.  In the shower room, there is a bath-tub and a rain-shower facility. The only downside is that there isn't any wardrobe and as such clothes would have to be hung on the door or on the wall.

The guesthouse hosts were very kind. It happened that I was on vegetarian diet on one of the days. I bought some vege-dumplings from a nearby restaurant which turned out that there was meat in it. The hosts helped me called up the restaurant to check if they had mistaken my order and they even accompanied me back to the restaurant, hoping to get an exchange. Unfortunately, I didn't manage to get an exchange.  The lesson learnt here was that vegetable dumplings in Korea typically would be made with some meat.  This was the box of dumplings which I did not get to eat =(

When we returned to the guesthouse, the kind lady host offered to cooked me some vegetable pancakes.  She prepared a mugwort pancake, kimchi pancake and even gave me mugwort rice cakes (wrapped in cling wrap). It was my lucky day ^^

I have not heard of or tasted mugwort before this.  Pronounced as ssuk (쑥) in Korean, it is a seasonal vegetable and it is harvested typically in the spring season.   It is a common ingredient used for Korean rice cake, tea, soup and pancake.  Known to be a blood cleanser, the vegetable contains medicinal properties.  In Chinese, it is known as ai cao (艾草).  It is served as a form of cold dish or stir-fried with meat.  It is also used in the Chinese Acupuncture process.

(Fresh mugwort sold at traditional market in Jeju)

The overall experience with the guesthouse has been great, in terms of its location, its service and its facility.  The price is almost very reasonable!

For the guesthouse address, map and rates, you can refer to this link (http://univird.tistory.com/109) or book via BnBHero.



View Larger Map
 
For more food updates, 'like' my Facebook page.

Related Posts:
Autumn Travel Promo - Seoul / Busan (click)
Korean Air Promo - Singapore to Seoul (click)
Flight Options to Jeju (click)

Went gaga over Goguma (고구마) aka Sweet Potato

I am never a fan of food/dishes that is made of sweet potato because they look so uninteresting.  But the variety of sweet potato made into delicious breads, cakes and drinks has changed my preference towards sweet potato (only when I am in Korea).  Look at how enticing the following are:

1) Sweet Potato Cake from Paris Baguette
2) Garlic Sweet Potato Bread from Paris Baguette
3) Sweet Potato Latte
4) Sweet Potato Cream Bread from Paris Baguette
5) Apple and Sweet Potato Bread from Tous Les Jours

Do you wanna try them too?  They are all delicious!

[Jeju-do, Korea] Airlines / Flight options to Jeju

Recently, a friend asked about flights to Jeju. Jeju Airport is in fact an international airport and as such you need not necessary fly into Jeju from Gimpo (Seoul) or Busan or other domestic destinations.  And just for info, there is only 1 airport in Jeju.

 

These are the Korea-operated flights which I know that lands at the Jeju Airport.

1. Korean Air
2. Asiana Airlines
3. Jeju Air
4. Jin Air (a subsidiary of Korean Air)
5. T'way Airline
6. Air Busan

 

There are also other international flights that goes to Jeju such as:

1.  China Eastern Airlines (From China, Shanghai)

2.  Dragonair (from Hong Kong)

3.  TransAsia (from Taiwan)

 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, there is still no direct flights from Singapore to Jeju. These are the options for Singaporeans wanting to travel to Jeju:

 

1. Fly to Incheon International Airport, take the A'rex train that connects Incheon Airport to Gimpo Airport.  Take a domestic flight to Jeju from Gimpo Airport.

 

2. Transfer to Jeju from nearer countries such as Bangkok (Jeju Air, Jin Air, T'way Airline), Philippines (Air Busan, Jeju Air, Jin Air), Hong Kong (Jeju Air) or Taiwan (Air Busan, T'way Airline).  This way, you shorten the travel distance by avoiding going all the way up to Seoul, which is located at the northern part of South Korea, and then travel down to the southern tip of South Korea.  However, this option is feasible if you plan to depart from Jeju at the end of your trip.

 

3.  If you are in Busan or Cheongju, you can easily book a domestic flight via Jeju Air or Air Busan to Jeju.  If you are in the bigger cities such as Daegu, Gwangju, Jinju, Pohang, Ulsan or Yeosu, take the Asiana Airlines or Korean Air.  If you are in Gunsan or, Wonju, take the Korean Air while you are in Muan, Asiana Airline would be your only choice. 

 

There are many options available.  Have fun exploring!  Enjoy Jeju!

Related Posts:
- Korean Air Promo - Singapore to Seoul / Busan / Jeju (click here)
- Minjunggak Guesthouse in Jeju, Seogwipo City (click)

For more food updates, please visit my Facebook page!

 

Smoothie King - Jeju Green Tea Smoothie

Smoothie King debuted in Singapore last month. The first store is found at Centrepoint, right smack in front of Centrepoint's entrance. What caught my eye was this Jeju Green Tea Smoothie. We normally see fruit-filled smoothie but this is really special. While the base taste has the sweetness of fruits, you get this unique green colour plus green tea taste. What's more - I've toppoed it up with Collagen Enhancer.

To avoid having a queue build up at the counter, you're given this beeper, which alerts you when your drink is ready for collection. Cool!

Website: http://www.smoothieking.sg/

Address: 176 Orchard Road The CentrePoint Mall Singapore 238843
Tel: 6633 5051

Opening Hours: 10am to 10pm daily

Getting there:  Take MRT to Somerset Station.  Exit the station through 313 Somerset, cross the road to arrive at Centrepoint Building.


View Larger Map