My Travel Experience to South Korea

It has been almost 1 year since I left South Korea. Although I traveled in South Korea for only 10 days, but there are so many memories and exciting stories that I can not forget.

If I’m being asked, “what made you miss Korea so much“? I definitely answered, “The food!” Yes, because I love spicy food, so I match the majority of Korean food which is spicy. As a result I also gained a few pounds after returning to Indonesia. As soon as I arrived in Jakarta, the first thing the mom said was, “Jeane, why did you more chubby?” Understandably, when I was in Korea there were 2-3 days we ate 4 times a day, in the morning, afternoon, night, and midnight. It so happened that my travel companion was also fond of eating at that time. So when we were in Korea, we must be satisfied with eating Korean food 😀

At that time we were staying in the Hongdae area, aka the area of ​​young people in Seoul. In our airbnb is also stored a lot of exciting stories. For the first time I stayed in mixed dorms, girls and boys mixed it up. One of my roommates at that time was a Hong Kong guy. At that time we ate Kimbap and drank Makgeolli in the room, while sharing about many things too. So exciting! We still contact often until now. This is one of the things I like about traveling: finding new friends. Friendship can be found anywhere and with anyone, right? 😉

When I was in Korea, I interacted a lot with local people. To ask the way, or just to chit chat with them. Most of them don’t speak English. If I want to ask a question, I usually only asked young people. Young people usually speak English a little, and some even speak Mandarin. Because I speak Mandarin too, sometimes I communicate with them using Mandarin.

There are many exciting stories when I interact with those local people. One of them was during my first day in Korea. At that time my friends and I asked the way to Korean oppa who sat next to us. After asking about the road, we also talked about other things, such as whose name, where he was going, etc. When he mentioned his name, I heard it like “Jjajangmyeon” or “Korean Black Bean Sauce Noddles”. That’s one of the typical Korean food in the form of noodles with black sauce. I blurted out saying, “Jjajangmyeon?” Instantly the look on his face immediately changed. “Sorry, my friend is starving now. We haven’t had lunch.” That’s about what my friend said to the oppa. Luckily he was not angry. But to be honest, indeed at that time I was very hungry and wanted to eat Jjajangmyeon 😛

Not just silly stories, but there are also stories that make me very shocked, which is on my fourth day in Korea. Imagine a Korean old man who suddenly asked me to be his son’s wife. He said his son was a doctor, never drank alcoholic drinks, and was a good person. Either this is true or deception. Unfortunately the one who asked me was his father, if it’s his child who asked me, maybe I can still consider 😛

There is a friend of mine who says that Korea is like heaven. Security guards, cleaners, sweepers are really handsome, like Korean actors. Every day we “wash our eyes”, whether on the bus, on the subway or on the streets. The women are also pretty and have very smooth skin. Plastic surgery in Korea is truly amazing! The cosmetics are also amazing, really cheap. Korea is a paradise for cosmetics lovers, especially in Myeongdong, an area in Seoul that contains mostly Korean cosmetics and skin care shops.

Actually, all of the above would not be fun if the “level of madness” of our traveling companions is not the same. Luckily, their “level of madness” was the same as mine. So everything feels exciting and memorable.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Jeane Rooseline (@jeanerooseline)

In Korea I also met my old friend who was originally a Korean. At first we met in Beijing when we were studying language there. When I visited their countries, I didn’t forget to contact all of my Korean friends. But because of their busy schedule too, so only a few people could be invited to meet and that too was only a few hours. Even so, I was very happy to see them again on my eighth and ninth day in Korea. They also promised to come to Indonesia, and until the time we will meet again.

After the reunion with my Korean friend, I became even more excited to travel around other countries to have a reunion with my friends in various countries. There is one Chinese quote that reads, “有缘的人总是再见面” which means “A person who is destined will surely meet again.”

I felt in every country and every city I visited there must be memories of its own. I want to make as many beautiful memories as possible in various countries. I also want to continue to maintain my friendship with friends from various countries.

After writing about this exciting experience in Korea, I miss Korea. I want to go there again. There are still many places that I haven’t visited in Korea. There are still old friends who haven’t met in Korea yet. At that time I went in October to enjoy Autumn there. If later there is a chance to go to Korea again, I want to go in March / April to enjoy Spring in Korea. People said if you go to Korea, it’s nice to go during Autumn or Spring.

Now when I plan my trip, I always look for cheap tickets. The reason, so that the money was used more for other things such as culinary or shopping 😛 You can check my itinerary and budgeting to Korea here. At that time I got an Airasia Jakarta-Seoul return ticket for only 3.8 million. This is one of the ways I press the budget when I travel.

When I look for cheap tickets, I usually always track prices at Skyscanner.com. So every time there is a price change, we always send the information via Email by Skyscanner. Track prices through Google Flights can work, but usually the prices at Skyscanner are cheaper. Because if Skyscanner compares the prices from all websites that sell plane tickets. And what I like about Skyscanner is that there are many features, like Multicity options, Nearby Flights, what flight you want to use, etc. I can even check the price per month. So it’s easier to check for cheap tickets.

Thank you Korea for all the good memories and exciting stories! Saranghae <3

“PLEASE BE A TRAVELER, NOT A TOURIST. TRY NEW THINGS, MEET NEW PEOPLE, AND LOOK WHAT’S RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. THOSE ARE THE KEYS TO UNDERSTANDING THIS AMAZING WORLD WE LIVE IN.”

Related posts:

(Indonesia) Pengalaman Membuat Visa Korea Selatan Itinerary and Budgeting 10 Days in South Korea Autumn in South Korea My Not Pleasant Experience Travel to Japan