Featured in Groupon

Almost everyday I will check and clear my e-mail and at the same time, I will check out what were the great deals and offers by this everybody's favourite online deal's website, Groupon.my. Then, I came across this getaways deals that offer accommodation in Bali and so coincidentally, I happened to stay in this hotel last month during my trip to Bali.

So, I decided to scroll down to read the reviews and to my huge surprised, I saw my name and my review.

I know that this might not a big deal to you but to me, it was totally something which I never thought of that my review will being featured in Groupon.my's website. The feelings that I had at that moment is totally hard to explain, it's somekind like hit the jackpot. 

I did submitted my review to Agoda in order to earn more points and also Tripadvisor but seriously, never thought of this at all. Imagine, almost 200 people submitted their review but my review was out of the three who being featured. 

A small little thing can make me happy to the max. Won't you feel the same thing too? Another thing that make me happy is non other than travelling. Just back from Hong Kong & Macau less than 6 days, I am flying to another country which I never been before. Or, I can said, another new continent to explore and this mark my 7th international trip for this year. Will be back Malaysia a week later!

Oh ya, before I forget, wishing you all especially the Chinese a Happy Mooncake Festival! Enjoy playing the lantern and be careful!

It's My Haul From South Korea

Done with almost 30 posts of my travel adventures and experiences around Seoul & Jeju Island, South Korea, now it's the time to share out what I brought back from South Korea. I was asked by few blog readers regarding how much I spent when comes to shopping and bought souvenirs for my family and friends. Well, I don't have the exact budget for that, as long as I keen within the amount of money I brought. Except in London and for my Hong Kong trip recently, I never ever swipe my credit cards eventhough I brought them along with me. The only reason why I used credit card in London and Hong Kong was to buy branded bag for my lovely queen of my heart. I didn't even buy any branded bags for myself cause I'm not fancy any of those.

So, check out my haul from the Soul of Asia!

#1: My shopping & foods haul that cost me more than RM1,500.

#2: Fridge magnets and keychains are always must-buy items when I travel.

#3: The two handbags on the left-hand side are for my mom & sister - bought from Insadong Street which cost 10,000 won each whereas the blue one is for myself - bought from Gangnam Station Underground Shopping Station Center.

#4: T-shirts for the guys; for daddy, brothers and boyfie. The three Korea theme t-shirts bought from Insadong Street which cost 5,000 won.

#5: Snacks and foods - The chocolate on the right side is a must-buy when visit Jeju Island. Taste simply delicious!

#6: Seoul is famous for beauty products especially for Laneige brand. Not forgeting, the facial masks too from Innisfree, Tony Moly and Missha where you might get 1,000 won for each piece. All of these beauty products I bought from MyeongDong, where is clustered with countless of fashion beauty and cosmetic outlet.

#7: Love printed photo album and 3 passport covers. The cover with white tiger and bear bought from Everland Resort. Cuteness overload.

#8: Vibrant and colourful pouch and pencil box bought from Insadong Street.

#9: Minibag holders which either can use to put coins or key from Nami Island which cost 6,000 won each. Actually, these can be bought in Singapore which I spotted in Vivo City and it is much cheaper than the one in South Korea.

#10: All of these accessories in Seoul are freaking dirt cheap. The price range in between 1,000 won to 3,000 won. Mostly I bought from Insadong Street and MyeongDong.

#11: Fridge magnets from Seoul and Jeju Island. If you plan to buy cheap and assorted of fridge magnets like the one written "Magnetic Souvenir", I recommended Namdaemun - mostly cost around 1,000 won to 2,000 won. If you buy a lot, you can bargain with the seller.

#12: Keychains are also part of my travel collection.

#13: Clockwise from right:

1. Socks for boyfie (black) and myself (pink) which bought from Family Mart in Jeju Island.
2. Love printed photo album and small mirror bought from art & gift shop in MyeongDong.
3. Pouch from Teddy Bear Museum, Jeju Island.
4. Burberry Weekend Fragrance - This is my most favourite fragrance. I did buy this too from Japan but I found out, it is more cheaper to buy from Seoul Incheon International Airport cause it got 10% discount. 

Overall, I satisfied with all the shopping and foods haul I brought back but one and only thing that I regret the most was I didn't manage to buy the Korea theme t-shirt cause my size was out of stock. Sad to the max!

Hong Kong & Macau 2012 (Sneak Peek)

For those who follow me in Twitter or Instagram, you might know that I went to Hong Kong & Macau with my boyfie for a week. Well, I went Hong Kong & Macau exactly 2 years ago (click here) and now once again, here I am at this vibrant and bustle little big city.

This is my 4th trip to Hong Kong and wondering why I choose to go back there again?

It's all because Hong Kong is distributing HK$6,000 to all the Hong Kong Citizen and my boyfie is partly of Hongkie. So, he decided to tag me along and sponsored this trip as the treat of my birthday gift for this year.

During this trip we had save a lot especially in terms of accommodation. We stayed at boyfie's relative place which located just less than half an hour from the city. It was indeed a small room but we're eternally grateful for all the kind hospitality given by boyfie's relatives.

And also during our stayed with boyfie's relatives, almost every morning we're brought to have dim sum, the delicacies that you shouldn't miss out when visiting Hong Kong.

Since I went Hong Kong for 4th times and boyfie has been went Hong Kong like don't know how many times, some of the places we skipped like Ocean Park but for some I did repeated again. Some I went exactly for the first time - which I totally missed out from my previous trips.

Went Stanley New Street for the first time but I felt like being fooled to come what a long way and bought things that in slightly higher price. Therefore, this place is totally not recommended.

Took Peak Tram to visit The Peak for 3rd time. Went here just to kill some time by sat down in some random restaurant and having high tea. And also at the same time, to write 20 postcards which I bought from Stanley Market.

Finally, got to experience Star Ferry for the fist time after listened to boyfie's story of his experience of taking this ferry ride to across from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. Only cost HK$2.50 for almost 10 minutes ride.

Macau for 2nd time to meet up with my BFF who was coincidentally in Hong Kong & Macau too for 10 days with her boyfriend.

 

There's so many varieties and assorted of snow skin mooncake in Hong Kong.

The Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery in Lautau Island was actually inside my itinerary last 2 years but I cancelled this cause my friends were so tired and exhausted. Plus, at that period, the weather was freaking hot.

We even did a lil bit shopping at CityGate Outlets which was being told by my friends that the stuffs especially the high end are super duper cheap.

Walked like more than 20 minutes from MTR station just to take photo with Golden Bauhinia Square at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Strolled along Avenue of Stars, Tsim Tsa Tsui for second time and the first time I went was at night time.

Ladies' Street, Mongkok is the place that I went over and over again. Never get bored of here and this place is highly recommended than Stanley Street. So, whoever wanna visit Hong Kong, stay nearby Mongkok.

Last but not least, Disneyland Hong Kong one more time again! The first time I went it was rain heavily but this time around the weather was so fine and the sky is so blue.

My dream to stay in Disney's Hollywood Hotel finally came true.

Ok! That's all for my Hong Kong Style. I should do the Oppa Hong Kong style but I was too shy. 

Whether will I go back Hong Kong again for the 5th time? Well, I have this love and hate relationship towards Hong Kong but probably I will, just not within this nearer period.

Last Day in South Korea & See You Someday!

Finally, my South Korea travelogue comes to its end. I guess everyone has the same feelings as mine when the vacation comes to the end, it's hard to accept that cause we have to go back to the reality. Until now, while blogging about this South Korea travelogue, I am freaking miss South Korean so much and plan to re-visit there again. But wondering when will I have this chance? Waiting for the cheap airfare if possible!

Well, on the final day in South Korea, we had to take flight back to Seoul from Jeju Island in order to catch our flight back to Malaysia at night.

Yummy breakfast that I bought from Family Mart - Corn Mayo Sandwich and Starbucks Chocolate Mocha. 

We took the earliest flight at 8.45am so that we could spend few hours in Seoul for our last minute shopping and also to have final gathering with our Korean friend, Kyung Hee before bidding goodbye to South Korea.

For the flight back to Seoul from Jeju Island, I had booked Eastar Jet that cost 40,100 won per person (approx. RM115). Wanna book air ticket return ticket from Jeju Island to Seoul by yourself, you can do so and here is my sharing on the list of airlines flying in and out between Seoul and Jeju Island (click here).

With RM115, I got to get my favourite seat - the window seat and we were given a refreshment drink for an hour flight. Eastar Jet's cabin is so colourful with the blue sky poster on the top which looks so real.

Once we reached upon Gimpo International Airport, we planned to go N Seoul Tower for final visit but unfortunately when we arrived there, we found a bit confusing regarding the direction to there. Therefore, we changed our destination to Insadong Street cause two of my friend guys would like to buy handbags for their mother and sisters. Oh! Don't you think both of them so lovely?

I missed out this Ssamziegel building during my maiden visit which tucked in the middle of Insadong Street. Ssamziegel is a four-storey complex clustered with boutiques, art shops and restaurants. At here, I noticed that almost the whole building is filled with unique sculptures, murals and creative arts.

Our final pitstop will be non other than MyeongDong to have our final shopping. The other reason we went back were also to take our huge and heavy luggage bags which we left inside the guest house that we stayed previously in Seoul - Namsan Guest House.

After bought lots of accessories which are so dirt cheap, killed my time by having sweet time with ice-cream in Cold Stone Creamery while the rest of my friends keep shopping and shopping for the remaining few hours left.

Before officially saying goodbye to South Korea, we met up with Kyung Hee and she brought us to this local restaurant that serve this awesomely delicious Budae Jjigae. It is a thick soup that mixed with modern ingredients such as instant ramen noodles, sliced sausages, canned ham, spam, sliced of American cheese, garlic, onion, kimchi together with traditional spicy soup flavoured with red chilli paste.

It my first time having this and for your information, I'm not really into Korean foods but this one is really taste good! It's ramen and it's spicy. It also mixed with most of my favourite ingredients. That's why I love this meal so much but I spotted this meal in KK lately, it is so damn expensive. Kyung Hee brought us to two local restaurants and all the foods she introduced are simply delicious. The first meal she introduced was Seoung Kee was taste so good too - click here for more.

The ladies!

4 years ago, we met Kyung Hee (middle one) for first time during our Europe trip and travelled around Europe together for 20 days and 3 years later, we met in South Korea. Recently, I received a good news from my friend told me that Kyung Hee is pregnant. Might going to South Korea again to visit her and also to see her baby soon.

After spending 8 days in South Korea, my friends and I didn't feel wanna go back home but like I said before, we have to face the reality. Goodbye South Korea and I pray hardly that I will see you soon! One thing that I proud of myself was I brought only 1 luggage bag to South Korea, and also only 1 luggage bag back to Malaysia. Wanna see my travel haul from there? Stay tune for the upcoming post.

So, that's the end of my travel adventures and experiences across Seoul and Jeju Island for 8 days together with my perfect travelmates. I really having a great time with them. Hopefully we could travel together again next year, my friend!

NOTE: Another scheduled post I prepared earlier cause I on vacation for a week.

Jeju Hiking Inn

NOTE: Another scheduled post again cause I am tripping again. My 6th international trip for this year.

When comes to accommodation, the main concern will mostly relating to the price. Since we had paid RM285 for return flight from Seoul to Jeju Island, my friends suggested to search for cheap accommodation in order to keen within the budget. After doing extensive research, I came across this Jeju Hiking Inn which only surcharged less than RM20 per night for a person. Plus, it only required 10% down payment and we paid the rest upon check-in. 

Situated in Seogwipo City that overlooks the Seogwipo harbour and it is just few distance away from the beautiful Cheonjiyeon Falls (click here).

We booked Deluxe 3 Bed Private Ensuite that comes with a queen bed and a double decker bed. The room is quite small but since we didn't brought along our huge and heavy luggage bags with us, so we didn't bother with that. The only thing that annoying me was since the room was located on 5th floor, therefore the WiFi connection was not strong enough. I can't live without Internet!

Although Jeju Hiking Inn is somehow alike backpackers' hostel, but it enclosed with private bathroom for every room. It's looks old but it's quite clean. They even provided us with basis toiletries such as bath gel, shampoo, towels and hot shower.

The front-desk with good English speaking owner. I read lots of negative review relating to the owner but when myself personally asked the owner few questions, he replied me with friendly tone. He even helped us to find taxi driver for us. I guess depends on his mood.

The living room and this is the place where I got strong WiFi connection.

Facilities included a well-equipped self-catering kitchen

Free computer with Internet for the customers

And even do some workout at their mini gym.

If you wanna wander around Jeju Island using bicycle, you can rent from this inn for 10,000 won per day.

Recommended by Lonely Planet but if you are travel with high-moderate maintenance, this inn is probably not your best choice.

Less than RM20 per night for an air-conditioner room enclosed with private bathroom would be perfect choice for the backpackers and for those who wanna stay in Jeju Island for short period like us, but frankly speaking, I personally will not stay here for second time. Maybe should try Yeha Guesthouse next time (click here).

How To Get To Jeju Hiking Inn:
Take limousine bus from Jeju International Airport (Line 600) and get off at Seogwipo Bus Stop which located opposite of Sunbeach Hotel. Walk ahead in the direction of Cheonjiyeon Falls and it's on the right hand-side. The journey from airport by bus took 1 hour and 10 minutes and the fare is 5,000 won.

Source

For more information, please check out Jeju Hiking Inn official website:  

http://www.hikinginn.com/e_i.html