[Travel] Itinerary for 5D4N Hong Kong-Macau Budget Trip (May 2018)

Hey all,

Since I just came back from my Hong Kong trip, decided to share my itinerary while its still fresh in my mind. Anyway, I've decided that summer is NOT A GOOD TIME to visit HK, the weather is just tooooo hot! (Even hotter than SG). Ok, so here's my itinerary for my recent trip in May 2018. I flew on SQ this time round cos it was promo price (so remember to check out SQ for any flight promo ok!! Sometimes might be even cheaper than LCCs). I will post a review on the SQ flight very soon!

Day 1: Saturday

6am                      Leave house

6.40am                Reach Airport and check-in

8.40am                Flight to HK (SQ860)

12.40pm              Arrival at Terminal 1 HK

1.30pm                Out of airport: To purchase Octopus card x2  (Cost: HKD300)

                              To purchase Cityflyer Pre-paid Return Ticket @ Customer Service Centre                                    (Airport Ground Transportation Centre)- Cost: HKD55, otherwise single                                      trip by octopus card HKD33

                            - Take A21 from outside Arrival hall (right side) Frequency: 10-20min

                            - 9^th stop: Man Ming Lane, Nathan Road

                            -  Walk Towards the cross junction, cross towards Hang Seng Bank, cross                                    again towards B1 and B2 exits.

                            - Walk straight until B2 exit turn right and walk straight down.

                            Duration: 45min - 1hour

(The instruction above is for people staying at Inn Hotel HK @ Yau Ma Tei, the cityflyer bus is alot cheaper than taking the train, with minimal walking too)

2.40pm            Check in Hotel: Inn Hotel HK

3pm                  Leave hotel for Yee shun milk company- directly opp busstop we drop at)   Must try: double milk pudding

 Take train down to Diamond Hill MTR Exit C2: Chi Lin Nunnery & Nan                   Lian Garden

 Shop at Plaza Hollywood while waiting for sun to set.

 Take MTR down to Jordan MTR for Kai Kai Dessert (Exit A Jordan- Black   sesame and Almond custard)

 Temple Street shopping (all the way down at Nathan Stn), Walk down to   explore Tsim Sha Tsui, Mammy pancake: Pancake Egglet

 Dinner: Hing Kee claypot rice,  15 Temple street (Opens 5.30pm   only) and Hui Lau Shan (Dessert), 

 After dinner + dessert, in opposite direction (Mongkok station): Langham   Shopping Place, Ladies Street Shopping (otherwise keep for Day 2)

Day 2: Sunday

8am                 Leave hotel

8.15am            11 min walk to Capital Café (Truffle Eggs Toast)

8.45am            Kam Wah Café for breakfast (Polo bun breakfast set) 16min walk from hotel

11am               On Ladies Street (Tung Choi St) try Dim Dim Sum Sum Specialty Store (Cheap: 112 Tung Choi St, +852 2309 2300 (11am onwards), Fei Jie Xiao Shi Dian (55 Dundas Street)- Intestines etc. (2pm onwards), find Bai Wei Shi Pin noodles in bag (New Town Mall Basement escalator)

12.30pm         Take MTR to Sham Shui Po MTR

                        KungWoo Beancurd/Tofu Factory (Exit B1-straight: Order Beancurd and their fried tofu platter) (There is an egg tart place somewhere there for 2HKD for 1 only!!!???), Apliu Street Market (2nd hand goods + Electronics market)

                        Try Hop Yik Tai (Michelin CCF- Exit C2); Chee Cheong Fun

                        Cheung Sha Wan Road Shopping (Cheap) (Exit D2), Real Tim Ho Wan: G/F, 9-11 Fuk Wing Street, Hong Kong, Lau Sum Kee Noodles (2 branches in SSP) Wanton noodles- straight frm D1/D2).

3.30pm            Take MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui

Kowloon Park (Avenue of Comic Stars), Clock Tower and Harbour City (to redeem the vouchers + shop + We Bare Bears), Little Korea @ Kimberly Road.

Take the Star Ferry to Wan Chai for Golden Bauhinia Square and take 7.15pm ferry back to Tsim Sha Tsui to camp for Symphony of Lights, 8pm Light Show.

Walk to Peninsula to take photo and to revisit Temple Street (and try desserts if have yet to try)

5.30pm           Settle dinner (going back to those places yet to try in Day 1)

9pm                 Rest for Macau

Day 3: Monday (Macau)

6.30am           Rise and shine

7am                 To eat breakfast at Cha Chaan Teng (next door to hotel)

8.15am            Take train down to Tsim Sha Tsui ferry terminal

9.15am            Catch ferry to Macau (Get discounted tickets from Cotai Ferry- Facebook promo)

10.30am         Reach Macau and get shuttle that gets to Venetian or Parisian.

Explore the Venetian, Lord Stow’s bakery (Macau’s best Portuguese egg tarts) and The Parisian (Eiffel Tower replica).

Take shuttle from City of Dreams to Grand Lisboa and walk to Marfaret;s Cafe E Nata (for egg tarts) and to try Tai Lei Loi Kei (Pork Chop bun)

Walk up to Senodo Square, Ruins of St. Paul’s, St. Dominic’s Church, Leal Senado Building, Monte Forte.

Chan Kong Kei Case de Pasto (Black pepper deck with noodles) for Lunch

Take a shuttle to Taipa Village (shophouses) and explore Rua do Cunha Street: Koi Kei Cookies to buy back!!, 新好利美食餅店 (milk tarts)

                        After sunset: take night scenes at Casinos exterior, Wynn (For water                                 show- if sufficient time)

Take shuttle from Parisian back to Taipa Ferry Terminal
Head back to Hong Kong!

Day 4: Tuesday

7am                 Rise and shine

Get down at Central station

Walk to Lin Heung Tea house for oldest Dim Sum Teahouse.

Purchase Jenny Bakery cookies

Go to Graham Street: murals, Yat Lok Restaurant (Conwell House, G/F, 34-38 Stanley St, Central: 10am-9pm) for lunch, Lan Fong Yuen (Dai pai dong): chicken cutlet macaroni and milk tea (2 gage street, central- Central exit D2)

Tsim Chai Kee (Super good wanton mee) 98, Wellington Street, Central, Hong Kong (near Central Mid-Levels escalators, +852 2850 6471(9am – 10pm)

Visit the Dr Sun Yat Sen Museum

If time permits can travel down to Causeway bay, Jardine’s shopping street, Can try the real Ding Tai Fung or Mak’s wanton mee (Wanton soup + braised pork knuckles)

Hong Kong Central Library (take pic) and Noon Day gun (fired at 12pm: be there before noon- entrance World Trade Centre)

Wanchai: Heritage Trail (different architecture and coloured buildings), Kam Fung- polo bun and chicken pie, Honolulu wan chai – egg tart (breakfast set avail),

Joy Hing Roast Goose 3 treasure rice (~SGD7) Wan Chai MTR, Exit A4, +852 2519 6639, 10-10, Mon-Sat)

4.30pm          Meet at Central Station Exit K: Klook guide at 4.30pm

8pm                Make way back down to Central, explore Lan Kwai Fong (night life in HK)

                        Eat dinner somewhere near hotel

                        Supper @ Cun Ye Ye (For super good and cheap seafood noodles)

                        Yau Ma Tei Fruit Market (see night scene Fruit holder restocking- very                                  lively)

Day 5: Wednesday

7.30am          Rise and Shine

                        Australian Dairy Company (Exit C2 Jordan or 17min walk from hotel)

                        Walk to Sky100 Observation deck

                        Once done, to head to Harbour City (We Bare Bears)

                        Head back to hotel to check out

12.30pm        Walk towards Pitt Street busstop to wait for A21 or A20 back (same travel time)

                        Upon arrival at airport remember to get refund for octopus card (50HKD each with remaining balance but need to pay admin fee since bought within too short a timeframe)

1.30pm           Lunch at Plaza Premium Lounge

3.40pm          SQ861 Flight back to SG

7.40pm          Arrival back in SG, If hungry to find dinner, otherwise head home

Optional Photo spots in YMT: Yau Ma Tei Theatre, (Police Station (Jackie Chan movie), Tin Hau Temple, at Mido Café (overpriced- if wanna try salty 7up & condensed milk toast))

Tips for HK-Macau:

- There are many deals on Klook worth getting!

- Especially the ferry to Macau (super cheap), I was upset that I could not use my SQ Klook promo voucher cos the ferry return tickets were very quickly sold out so I had no choice but to purchase onsite instead.

- The Peak Fast Track is worth getting, however, only if you're intending to visit at peak hours (5/5.30pm onwards) Otherwise, just get the regular tickets cos the queue isn't that long.

- I did not visit Lantau Island, nor any of the theme parks because I've been there on my other 3 trips to HK.

- Do download coupons from HK tourism webpage for discounts specially for tourists!

- In my honest opinion, HKers were not very friendly (especially the food vendors; they were in fact very rude, so please do not expect them to be patient with you)

- Try to learn some simple canto before going to HK, and if you really can't understand, communicate in ENGLISH instead of CHINESE (because the HK locals seem to hold some kind of grudge against Mainland Chinese visitors).

- If possible, google the menu of popular eateries/ cha chaan teng/ dai pai dong before your visit, and roughly decide on what you want first. If language is a barrier, then screen shot pictures and show them what you want to order (makes things faster, and makes them less pissed off...)

- In general, HKers on the streets are actually very nice people who would help you out if you ever need help (but their tone sometimes can seem pretty intimidating, and might pose off as fierce instead- pls dont be too shock)

- HK would be a perfect destination during the Jan-Mar period when its still relatively cooler (not in May... it was just terribly hot and humid)

Just a reminder, I'm not in any way sponsored by any of the companies/ agencies listed above, nor was a sponsored for my food/ accommodation. Everything is written with my very own experience. Hope this post was useful! 

Look forward to my next post alright!

[Travel] Traveling to Tokyo with a budget? Here's how you can travel to Tokyo for just $660 per pax (inclusive of air tickets and accomodation)

Dear readers,

Always have plans to visit Japan but low budget so you decide to forgo the trip?

Fret not, because that was my initial thought too, but turns out, Japan isn't as expensive as how everyone thinks it is.

So here are some tips I have for anyone traveling on a budget (like I always do).

Flight:
To work around a budget for flight, you should try not to exceed $500 for a trip to Japan. You'll be able to spend slightly below $400 if you manage to catch a good deal (and if you book earlier in advanced) Scoot constantly offers amazing offers, so be sure to catch them! (Reminder, this is not a paid/ sponsored post, I am just sharing my experience to you guys)

For my recent trip to Tokyo in June, I booked my flights really last minute, about 2 weeks in advanced so I did not manage to get such an attractive flight price. My flight with Scoot was about $515 per pax, which wasn't so bad, but if you cannot survive without entertainment and food on flight, then Scoot will not be the flight you'll want to take for a trip to Japan. Perhaps, consider Japan Airlines, which was about $650 per pax. Plus they fly direct and provides meals on board. But being such a budget person, I wanted to save that $145 per pax (so I could do more shopping and eating) so I flew with Scoot in the end although Japan Airlines' price was pretty attractive.

Price Damage: $515 per pax

Accomodation
For accomodation, when I was sourcing around, Tokyo accomodations were rather expensive as compared to the prices in Korea.

While definitely you'll want to stay at somewhere convenient, eg. Shinjuku, Shibuya, Harajuku, etc. do note that the prices are much much steeper there (About $90 to over $100)

Before I went, I asked my friends on locations they recommended to stay in Tokyo. The common response were Ueno, Tokyo station, Shinjuku, Shibuya and Harajuku. But since I was traveling on a budget, I stayed at a Flexstay accomodation which provided me everything I needed. While it might be near a small (and rather unknown) station, plus tourists hardly stay near this station, it provided me decent convenience to travel to all areas. Plus, Flexstay Inn Higashi-Jujo was just a 2 minutes walk/ 1 minute brisk-walk to the Higashi-Jujo Station, and a 5-7 minutes walk to Jujo Station. From Jujo station, there were direct trains to Shinjuku and Shibuya, which made it very convenient since it was close to 2 different train stations of different lines. To add on, the environment made it a wonderful to experience their local neighbourhood atmosphere.

In the room, amenities were more than sufficient. Ensuite bathroom, double bed with quilt, bedroom slippers, bathrobe, shampoo, shower gel, razor blades all inclusive.

I really loved the comfy feel of the room (it wasn't spacious nor was it too cramped) and the amazing price paid for the room makes it even more worth it.

Price Damage: Max $60 per night (extremely affordable for ensuite bathroom and everything you need is available in the room)

Food
Expensive food in Japan? No, not at all. It's decently priced, really!

As a pretty giam siap (aka thrifty) person, I felt that Japan was a perfect paradise for food. Quality food with amazing prices.

They have many underground shopping areas which offers affordable and a decent variety of good (some were really cheap: about SGD5)

My personal list of must-eats in Tokyo (in no specific order):
1. Tako-yaki
There's this brand, Gindako that you'll come across almost anywhere in Tokyo. It tastes yummy because it's serve when its just done so it's warm and there's generous amount of fillings. There's also a popular stall in Ueno (Ameyoko Street) with affordable and yummy tako-yaki. There's usually a queue at this stall I think because people like the idea of choosing how much bonito flakes, seaweed powder and mayo you'd like with your tako-yaki.
Price Damage: $

2. Red bean filled fish-shaped pancake
This can be found anywhere, even in the shopping malls. Some are in the shape of a fish, while some are not. All tastes about the same, but I loved this snack in general because the filling is extremely generous. Every bite of pastry always has sufficient red bean filling.
Price Damage: $

3. BBQ squid with Japanese mayo
(THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING THING I ATE IN TOKYO)
I have no idea where else can you eat this, but I had it at one of the seafood stalls in Ueno (it was a small quiet lane) but served amazing food like Chirashi Don. I paid only about 300 plus yen for this squid which I got a chance to BBQ myself. Wonderful experience, wonderful price, wonderful taste.
Price Damage: $$

4. Green tea/ Matcha ice cream cone
Everywhere and anywhere serves this. But the cheapest one I came across was in Ueno along Ameyoko Street (about 200/250 yen). The usual price for this is about 300-400 yen. Really love how the ice-cream is so smooth and milky.
Price Damage: $$

5. Ichiran Ramen
The famous Ichiran Ramen is a must-try. If you're in Tokyo for more than a day, I guarantee you'll want to go back the next day after you've first tried it. The texture of the noodle is something that any Singapore ramen store will never be able to replicate. The broth is so rich and fragrant that I wished the soup was free-flow. Their onsen egg was also really yummy and cooked just right (it tastes different from those in Singapore's ramen stores). Ichiran can be found in tourist areas like Shibuya, Asakusa, Shinjuku, etc.

Tip: Request to sit at the private counter. No one will ever see how unglam you slurp your noodles and gives you all the privacy you need to eat your noodles. Experience the local culture! (which you'll never experience in SG) (plus there's a water dispenser in each of these private counters)
Price Damage: $$$

6. Curry Rice
Their curry rice is worth a try while in Tokyo. The curry is usually really fragrant and tasty because the meat is cooked with the curry till really tender and soft .Japan's beef curry is supposedly really popular, but I didnt try due to religious beliefs. Do try and let me know how's it!
Price Damage: $$

7. Pablo Cheese Tart
Try their special items that are available only to that certain branch. I'll recommend to visit the branch at Harajuku as I love the atmosphere there and they have some branch special menu (where certain items are not available at their other outlets). There's always a queue, even on weekdays, but definitely worth the queue. I ordered the big Pablo tart, small cheese tarts and matcha cheese tarts. Those were really good, and are must-try. Even if you don't dine in, do tabao back to your hotel room!!

They serve shaved ice too but really, don't waste your money getting that. It was just coarse shaved ice with choco syrup and choco flakes drizzled and sprinkled over. (I find our Ice Kachang tastes much better)
Price Damage: $$$

8. Unagi 
(OMG THIS IS A MUST-EAT IN TOKYO, THEIR UNAGI IS A 1000 TIMES NICER THAN ANY UNAGI YOU'VE EATEN (in SG) THE PAST IDK HOW MANY YEARS IN YOUR LIFE, I GUARANTEE, SUMPA)
I tried Unagi don at Tsukiji Fish Market. It was really cheap and good. The unagi was so soft and almost melted in my mouth. Words cannot describe how amazing it tasted, you should go and try it for yourself. Total price damage should not exceed 1000yen if you choose the regular sized one.
Price Damage: $$$$ (but super worth it for the portion size and for its amazing texture and taste)

9. Chirashi Don
I had this at Ueno with the BBQ squid. The amount of fish in there is really really generous for the price I paid. I had mine for about SGD10, and the amount of fish was really overflowing I couldn't even see the rice in the bowl. Worth a try, and you should probably try it at one of the stalls at Tsukiji (I didn't as the queues were crazily long)
Price Damage: $$$

10. Sashimi
I tried the sashimi from Sushi Zanmai. Request for a counter seat, it will be great experience seeing the chefs prepare the sashimi and serve it to you directly. The seafood were really fresh and it was really yummy. What's a trip to Japan without trying their Sushi? I know there are other more popular places for sashimi in Tokyo, but I'm not a fan of sashimi so I did not do any relevant research.
Price Damage: $$$


Shopping

Fashion:
I did most of my shopping in Ginza and Takeshita Street. Most of my clothing were from GU, Uniqlo or F21. The stores there have really amazing offers that you would NEVER find in Singapore even during the GSS period. I bought several culottes at about 500yen, that's about SGD6 only. I also manage to get several dress and bottoms from F21 for below 12SGD too. It was amazing shopping in Tokyo, and totally beyond my expectations. I left for the trip thinking I'd go back with minimal shopping, but I came back to SG with more shopping than expected.

Takeshita street has this really cheap clothing store on the left side of the street (2nd level). Majority of the clothing are below SGD12 and I managed to get really good value clothing like denim vests and off-shoulder blouse from there.

Tidbits/ Souvenirs:
You must be thinking, what to get for friends/ family as souvenirs. I would personally recommend getting tidbits unique to Japan. In fact, you can get really interesting stuff in Daiso.

Do note that in Japan's Daiso, majority of the stuff are priced at 100yen (which is about SGD1.20) Though keep a lookout on the price tag as there are other items priced at 150, 200, 250 ... 550yen too.

What I got back as souvenirs from Japan were matcha flavoured Oreos, green tea, sushi-design mini erasers, matcha flavoured kit kats, matcha-flavoured everything basically... I had one whole handcarry bag filled with tidbits (cos they were really cheap and good!!)


Overview
As you guys can see from the post, Tokyo isn't really an expensive city to visit for a budget holiday. I had a wonderful time in Tokyo, and my expenditure per pax was really decent. If you guys have any budget tips to share, comment below. I'd want to learn too!

Hope you guys enjoy the blog post. Stay tuned for pictures of the Tokyo trip soon!!

Love,
Rachel

[School] Hanyang International Summer School (HISS) 2015- Accomodation

Hello readers!

Back with a post, finally! Back with a review on my 2015 Summer Exchange experience. I had a blast during my summer break in 2015, and had no regrets going for the Hanyang Summer Programme. The friends, the activities, the food, the shopping!! One word, SHIOK!!! Gonna focus on accommodation for this post, so watch out for more posts regarding other activities/queries about HISS 2015! On a side note, please do note that I am NOT sponsored to write any of my blogpost. I am just a typical blogger that wants to share my experience to all, to help those that need more info/ help.

If there's anyone from the local universities (NUS/SMU/NTU/SIM, etc) intending to head for summer school in the near future, I would definitely recommend Hanyang International Summer School (HISS). Looking for a cheap destination for Summer exchange? Checked. Looking for a location filled with loads of fun activities? Checked. Looking forward to loads of shopping and food hunting? Checked. Looking for free fieldtrips? Checked. Looking for fun profs? Checked! The list goes on and on, and really, you wouldn't regret it (EVEN IF YOU ARE INTENDING TO GO ALONE, like I did!)

I spent around SGD2.8K on accommodation and programme fees for the 1 month exchange. Roughly 800SGD on housing, which I chose off-campus dormitory and it turned out pretty well (especially the location!!!)I got Roseville in the end, out of all the other off campus dorm, which includes Hyosung, Sunny House, Vision and some other names I forgot, but there were a few others.

Amongst all the other off-campus dorm, I think mine was in the most strategic location. Thank you Lady Luck!(: The allocation was completely random so it depends on where you were allocated to. Roseville was a 15-20minutes walk to school, it is right beside the main gate of Hanyang University. However, by entering from the main entrance means that you will have to conquer the 65 degrees slope upwards every morning (which was the most tough thing I encountered in Korea for that one month). Although, halfway through the programme, my roommate shared with me a route via entry from the backgate which was significantly less steep- and yummy Kimbap en route to school! (Thankful to nice friends made there!)

Roseville was such a great place to live in, there is a busstop right in front of the dorm, a GS25 right at the lobby of my dorm, 2 minutes away from University shopping at Wangsimni station, 30seconds walk to Paris Baguette for fresh bakes, free wifi on the streets and even if you're worried about safety, the police station is right opposite the dorm!!!!

To be honest, I wanted on-campus housing so badly because it was so much cheaper, but they said there wasn't any more availability (which was a lie... the admin were just a lil lazy to do extra processing since I was allocated off-campus dorm already) If you are looking for a cheaper alternative, go for on-campus dorm. I heard from my friends that the female on-campus dorms have private bathrooms, which isn't what they indicated on the webpage, but its a good thing right!! Also, so near to school cos you can wake up late!! However, the downside is that they don't have free in-room washing machine (which I had in Roseville), no fridge for you to store your Banana milk (which I also had and managed to store Banana and yogurt milk for Breakfast in Roseville) and that they have curfew (so if you intend to go clubbing then you'll be locked out of your dorm...)

Off-campus housing is the most expensive shared room option. However, again, based on luck, it depends on which housing you get allocated to. There were 3 different housing for off-campus housing for HISS 2015: Golden Forest, Golden Forest City and Konkuk University Dorm. The best one would be GF, not the one with the 'City' word cos they are very different!! GF, as mentioned by my friend, was like a hotel. They had complimentary bottled water everyday, a housekeeper to pack their beds, it was just luxurious. However, it was quite a distance away from school which means you had to wake up earlier for school since those that stayed there had to take a subway 2-4 stations to Hanyang University station.

Any issues on dorms, do pm me, i'll try to answer! Also, do comment if you have any particular worries/ query about the programme that you wish for me to address in my next blog post!

Till then, cheers!

[Travel] Korea, Annyeong-hasaeyo

Annyeong readers,

I'm finally back with a new blog post. Just gonna briefly describe my 1.5 months journey in Korea from July to August and what to do, eat and see.

Why is Korea such a popular travel destination?

The K-pop faze has definitely contributed to that (EXO!!), and definitely good food (TTEOKBOKKI!! SAMGYETANG!! BIBIMBAP!!), desserts (BINGSOO!!), and shopping (COSMETICS!!).

Where should you visit in Korea?

Shopping:

• All the university streets especially Hongdae have great fashionable clothings at reasonable prices! (5,000-20,000 won for really good quality ones though the 5,000 won ones were quite rare)

• Fashion Shopping: All the Underground Shopping attached to the subway stations!! Definitely I feel the Express Bus Terminal Underground Shopping at Express Bus Terminal Station (brown line) is the best!! The main shopping area with 2 long lanes of fashion shops is apparently quite hard to find (even though I gave my friends pretty detailed instructions on how to get there). Will be posting more about it in later posts.

• Cosmetics and Fashion shopping: Dongdaemun. I stayed around this district for 2 weeks, and it was a great choice. There is also a wholesale shoe market which sells really cheap and fashionable shoes for 5,000-10,000 won, which I found elsewhere selling at 15,000-20,000 won! My friends were so envious cos I bought a similar designed as theirs for 1/3 the price they bought it at (hehe)

• Cosmetics Shopping: MYEONGDONG! HONGDAE! Myeongdong is definitely the best place to go for cosmetics shopping because they are really generous with free gifts and with great bargaining skills, you'll bring back an entire bag of samples. What more, act like you're not interested in going into their shops, and they will try to lure you in with FREE facial masks! (IMPORTANT TIP: Make sure you grab them before heading in, and have a bag conveniently placed at waist level to throw them in, or else the staff might take it back if you don't purchase anything- esp. The Face Shop and certain Nature Republic stores) My favourite brands: The Saem (which can't be found in Singapore), Innisfree and Missha. Regarding price range, all are definitely cheaper than Singapore! Catch them during the sale periods (best sales during Summer Sale!) to get ridiculously cheap cosmetics of great quality. I managed to get BB cushions at a wonderful price: SGD14 for 1 casing with 3 refills (woohoo!)

Food:

• University streets again, for sure! They have affordable food for the university students who are sick of their canteen food! My favourite: Alchon Flying Fish Roe Rice (IT IS A MUST TRY- tastes so good and so cheap that I want to bring a Franchise over to Singapore) Specific university street I would recommend is: Edae (aka Ewha), Kondae (aka Konkuk Uni), Hongdae and Wangsimni (Hanyang University shopping area)

• Sinchon, Hongdae, Edae area has many famous food. In this area I would recommend the 8 flavoured BBQ pork in Sinchon. More about this place in later posts!

• Everywhere has good food in Korea, I'm not kidding. But the must try food are: Bibimbap, Jjajangmyeon, Samgyetang, Jjamppong (Seafood noodles- I love the broth omg), Tonkatsu (Pork Cutlet, they even have cheese pork cutlet specially catered for cheese lovers!) There are just too many to list all! 

• Must try the Self Serve bars (aka Korean BBQ buffet). I was quite upset cos I couldn't find the 9,900 won one in Hongdae/Sinchon area cos they all closed down. But I ate the one near Hanyang University at Wangsimni Station which had a good flow of Beef, Chicken, Pork, Squid, fried food (chicken, seafood, etc.) and cup noodles (Yes, all free flow!)

• Street food! DEFINITELY SOMETHING YOU CAN'T FORGO! The fish cakes (eomuk) are my favourite street snacks, and they are so cheap and good! To be honest, you can find it for 500 won per stick at Sinchon, but other areas like Myeongdong and Dongdaemun sells it for 1,000 won. Hongdae and Edae has it for about 700 won. Egg bun (Gyeran-bang) is a unique street food which may not suit the taste of many cos it's a little sweet and has no fillings (occasionally sprinkled with nuts over it) Can be bought at 1,000- 2000 won. More on street snacks in later posts.

Places of Interests:

• All the palaces. During the period I went in, there was free admission into all the palaces in the month of July. To be honest, the palaces all look pretty alike. I find that Changdeokgong is the prettiest of them all. Gyeongbokgung was just TOO CROWDED, although it is the biggest palace.

• Gwanghwamun Square. The two statues here are famous statues of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun Shin. It is beautiful place for photo taking with the Gwanghwamun in the background. What's more, you can visit the peaceful Chonggyecheon Stream just 2 minutes walk away. At the stream, feel free to dip your legs into the clear and cool water to relieve stress and tired legs. Do not eat by the stream though, there will be security to chase you away!

• Iwha Mural Village (a lot of walking and climbing, but once you reach the peak, the view is simply amazing) Great place for those that enjoy picturesque views and for those who loves to take pictures.

• Many many other places, but due to time constraints and I don't want to bore readers with extremely long posts, I'll post it in later posts. Stay tuned!(:

Lastly,

Accommodation:

• Best areas to live in according to personal preferences (with the criteria chosen as easy convenience to shopping and tourist attractions) and in ascending order as listed: 

1. Dongdaemun 
2. Myeongdong 
3. Hongdae
4. Wangsimni
5. Sinchon
6. Ewha

• If you are on a budget trip, stay in hostels. I personally find that the cheapest prices can be found on Hotels.com and by booking through them, they actually provides a Best Price Guarantee thing that makes sure you have the cheapest price for that same dates and same room types! It really works, cos I found a cheaper price on another site, and they matched the price by refunding me the difference. 

• The areas I've mentioned are good and convenient for shopping but if you want cheaper accomodations for budget trips, I would recommend Star Hostel Dongdaemun. (Gentle reminder: I am not sponsored for any of my blog posts, and it is all voluntarily written to help netizens with their plannings.) 

• Each night cost about $45 for a twin room and comes with ensuite bathroom. Rooms are fully air-conditioned, comes with soap in a dispenser in the toilets (shampoo and shower gel), bedroom slippers and towels (which were facial towels- would recommend to pack along a usual-sized towel cos the towels they provided were way too small for me to dry myself). Free breakfast was provided too (daily till 10am and self service), although simple: toast with jam or butter and cornflakes every morning, it was a nice gesture and can save a meal's cost (:

• The downside was that the room had no windows so we tend to oversleep since the room was just completely dark: no indication of the time of the day and it was as if we slept in a shed, separated from the world. Also, room was really crammed. I had 3 big luggage and 3 smaller ones, which made it impossible for me to maneuver around the room whenever I had to pack my stuff or get my clothes out (they had no cupboard too, just a couple of hangers below the drawer which served as a dressing table for me too). I had to do broad jumps over all my luggage, sometimes resorting to climbing on the bed to get to the door. 

• All in all, pretty worth it for the price I paid. Would recommend you guys to stay there if you're visiting Seoul!(:

Interested to know more about my Korea Trip, stay tuned~