Taichung: Laid-back leisure travel

Zhongxiao Road night Market

Merry Christmas and a happy new year to all. Expecting a super busy year in 2018 so in anticipation of non stop working days, me and Lyn decided to charge our batteries fully before embarking on a new year.

There are many ways of travelling in Taiwan, not limited to organized tour. The main tips on travel DIY: consider which aspect is the most important:
Budget: every cents counts.
Interest: travel at own pace, only to places that interest, skipping the rest
Coverage: maximize the time spent there to cover the most number of places
If budget is the most concern, just plan own tour with public transport. Just remember to download google map before going and we got ourselves a free map. Adding RM5 for data roaming/ day make it possible for me to use bus tracking app for our Taichung leg of tour. If interest is of utmost concern, book a driver or just Uber (Uber exist in Taiwan but less common in smaller towns). If covering the most number of places is the main focus, just go for tour, either from Malaysia or local tour.

cingjing

Getting the choices of travel right, we decided, as always to go budget. We did not want to hire our own driver, as it is rather costly for 2. Group of 3-4 would be kinder to the pocket. Parking our car in Salak Tinggi Park and Ride (new cost: RM8/day), we took KLIA transit to KLIA2. For 2 persons, driving down would not be cheaper as the toll and petrol would push the cost to the same price as bus, but we wanted the flexibility (plus, we went to Big Bad Wolf sale at 3am before flight).

We choose to land in Kaohsiung, which is cheaper compare to Taipei, even after adding the high speed rail to Taichung. Arriving in Taichung, we took the local train from Xinwuri HSR station to the main Taichung train station. Chance Hotel, where we stay, is just directly the train station. Although many would suggest staying near Fengchia night market which is in the newer part of town, I discover staying near the train station instead is more convenient for travelling around to other place.

sunrise at Hehuanshan

Night 1:
Zhongxiao Road night market: walk-able distance from train station, this night market is just about food. Situated along Zhongxiao road, one has to be careful as cars and scooters ride along the road despite busy stalls. There is less variety of food, and the few stalls we visited is comparatively pricier. Can consider skipping this is lack of time and visit Yizhong instead.
Miyahara 宮原眼科: used to be an ophthalmology clinic/ hospital, it is renovated to be dessert shop. The ice cream here is suppose to be famous, at least for the long list of choice. I agree on the varieties of choics can be amazing, especially the different chocolate ice cream, but some flavor tasted more sorbet than creamy ice cream. Good for a short visit.

Day2: cingjing 清境農場          

misty morn at sun moon lake

Base in train station made it easier to make way to Gancheng bus station, which is just a road with many bus companies shop, not a main bus station building. We took Nantou bus to Cingjing farm, and checked into Yunwu B&B. Yunwu, despite not on the main road, is rather convenient to walk to the main eateries but the path is all dark at night. Plus, Yunwu's pet dog welcome us and send us off everytime we walk out from the hotel.

Cingjing farm青青草原: : remember to take public transport up to the topmost entrance and walk down. While walking the whole journey is absolutely fine, but most would use the bus at least the uphill part. Expect huge piece of grassland with lots of sheep. The horse show was nice finale to the whole visit.
Swiss garden: looking at the garden from outside, it did not look impressive for the entrance fees. Perphaps those who visited would give a celare picture.
Mist plaza: the main visitor building with ample food choices, MOS burger and a visitor booth.

brunch at second market

Day 3:Hehuanshan to Sun Moon Lake
Hehuanshan sunrise tour: not advisable for DIY, the local tour can be arranged via all hotels, and the view was absolutely amazing. The sea of clouds are breathtaking, and worth waking up early for.

We made our way to Sun Moon Lake, despite what the taxi driver keep on insisting, the public transport is very convenient. The only bus that require planning ahead for the schedule is Cingjing-Puli bus, once reach Puli, there are ample bus to Sun Moon Lake. We stayed at Meijen house which is very homely and near the bus stop. After reaching, we bought the round the lake bus ticket to move around. We did not buy the ship as the lake or the ropeway as we decided we may not have enough time for everything.
Delight mall: a small plaza housing MOS burger and Carton King.
Wenwu temple文武廟: very colorful temple and well kept.
Ita Thao pier伊達邵: a short 2 street stall.
We did not visit the cultural village as it may require a longer time and theme park is not our cup of tea. We skip Ci-en pagoda as not all the bus would reach there, only one bus in an hour.

Day 4: Sun Moon Lake 日月潭
woke up for nice sunrise walk with our host from Meijen house, and it is free!
taking Nantou bus back to Taichung, it is time to activate our data roaming for the bus trackign app, which is a absolute necessity for own travel in Taichung. Even local use similar apps.
Checking in back in Chance Hotel, we took a leisurely approach to the rest of the day

sunset at Gaomei

Rainbow village彩虹眷村: a cluster of beautifully painted houses. worth the visit despite very, very fast visit. It is only a few houses, not a whole village.
We skip Luce Chapel as although it is not far away, there will be few bus changes to reach there, and we prefer to spend more time at the night market.
Fengjia night market: despite advertise as the main tourist attraction, this market is smaller than what I expected. And it is definitely unfair to compare to Shilin at Taipei. Mainly food, games and clothing, a visit here is very fast. Fengjia is very well organize though, even with public toilet and also plenty of rubbish dumpster. I would prefer Yizhong though.
Chun sui tang春水堂: Inventor of bubble tea, we went to the first shop in Siwei street (no harm to visit the originator shop since bus are free)

Freedom street自由路: walk along for plenty of Sun Biscuit shop. Kindly be reminded sun biscuit (taiyang bing) is not as cheap as the other dessert, it cost at least TWD150 for a small box.

sunset at Gaomei

Day 5: Taichung
We started off the day with at least a visit \to the nearby mall,
Taroko Mall大魯閣新時代: not fully occupied, it make a nice stroll
Jiguang street電子街: supposedly for electronic good shopping. Forget this, as this really pale compare to AKB.
Second market第二市場: a small complex for daily marketting and also food. Good for brunch, and just nice since the bus stop is just nearby.
Gaomei wetland高美濕地: We nearly miss this as everyone say it is far. With the new 309 bus, the whole bus ride just took us slightly more than an hour to reach. The sunset view is amazing! Very very windy though, but the walk out on planks leading out to the wetland is an amazing experience.
Yizhong street night market一中街夜市: while still small compare to bigger cousins in Taipei, the night market here is more livelier and nicer to stroll. Food choices aplenty so do come with an empty tummy.

Day 6: Kaohsiung
taking high speed rail to Kaohsiung, we checked in to Longsiang hotel, which is one of the cheapest in the whole journey. The free breakfast here is amazing, with one of the best pork and chicken dish.
Pier 2 art center: this place is much bigger than what i expected. Initially I though this would be similar to the red houses in Hakodate but there are much more art installation here and so much photo opportunity.
Lotus pond: a bit out of the way, was too tired to appreciate by the time walked here.
Ruifeng night market: so many food choices, it is surprising to see so many foreigners opening food stall here.

Day 7: fly back to home~!

Ratings: 4 poink~!
comments: easier to plan compare to other countries, Taiwan make a good choice for impromptu vacation. Beside Taipei, there are so many other places to explore.

Japanese Alps: Introduction

Had it been that long? Yes, it had been that long. Ever since changing my place of work, there is more travel and less trying new food outside. However, we still maintain our annual oversea trip getaway. After all, after days of long work, there is nothing wrong of pampering ourselves a bit.

This year, we went back to Japan. I can hear the "again?!" comments echoing back. But this round, we visited the area which we had not been to, which is the central Chubu area, with Japanese Alps as the main draw.

I had listed the approximate itinerary in the following few posts, but the actual itinerary is much more in details. I had listed in this first post some general ideas on traveling to Japan, and some general ideas to plan and save money.

1st Leg: From Tokyo to Nagano
2nd Leg: Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route, from Nagano to Toyama
3rd Leg: using Toyama and Kanazawa as base to visit Takayama and Shirakawa, ending in Osaka

Planning:
The trouble with Japan is there are so many choices from travelling from point A to point B. Some may be faster, some slower. Some much more expensive, some more gentle to the pocket. Take time to explore each option. Small savings will accumulate to a lot.
tips:do more homework and you will see the result in savings on time and money.

Cheapest flight differ from company to company, even budget airlines like Airasia would priced their ticket differently from day to day. There is no shortcut here but to click and click to find the cheapest. The general idea is to book as early as possible. Consider some other obscure airline which may be cheaper if the dates are less flexible. My friend who went to Japan a week before me use Vietnam Airline.
tips: compare. make full use of website such as tripadvisor or skyscanner

Decide where you want to go, explore options in and out of the area, because the price would be different. It is not my intention to travel from Tokyo to Osaka this round, but that is the cheapest option considering the flight ticket to Tokyo and back to Malaysia using Airasia (after adding in all the train ticket and different pass). If you check back my Hokkaido itinerary, you may find that in order to lower expenses, we used different airlines to travel reach Hakodate instead of beginning our journey in Sapporo which is more conventional.
tips: compare each combination of air/ train/ bus

Local travelling also has as many option. Train. Super express bullet train (shinkansen). Bus. overnight Bus. The fastest is definitely train (super express/ shinkansen or limited express at least), so if time is the utmost priority, shinkansen is a clear choice. To save on ticket, buy the open ticket without seat reservation, but have to be careful, not all shinkansen has open coach and on certain time, all people will be crowding towards this coaches. To save a bit, try bus. This journey me and Lyn took a few buses, and the comfort surprised us. Some budget bus company like Willer offer online booking, which is very convenient. Japan has loads of passes which may localize in each area, or generalized to nationwide (eg. JR pass). Each has its pro and cons. Not all pass suits the travel itinerary. For all my travel to Japan, I had never use JR pass before, simply because JR pass would cost the same as a cheap Airasia air ticket. I might as well come on a different trip and it would not be as rushed. This round, we opted for Takayama Hokuriku pass simply because it provided us with tonnes of savings, considering it will cover the main expenses on my last leg, namely Hokuriku Shinkansen and Thunderbird limited express train. The added bonus would be covering Takayama (using Hida express) and also Shirkawago (covers the bus)
tips: consider bus, but prepare to spend more time. Do lots of homework in comparing Pass. If used correctly, it will save a huge amount.

Going around may also be a headache. But adequate homework would lead to lots of savings. There are many options especially in big town such as Tokyo and Osaka where combination of JR train and local sub would be the most convenient. However, if we were to sacrifice a bit of time, we used the metro ticket in Tokyo (thus, not using JR train) and local HR train in Osaka (no subs, because JR covered by our Takayama Hokuriku pass). ALthough many people start to use Google map to help planning local transport, I still prefered Hyperdia website which proves to be more superior, except travel involving bus.
tips: consider local pass, espeically those tailored for foreigners.

Choosing accomodation may proved to be spoilt for choices. No matter budget, luxury, all accomodation in Japan is very clean. They are very smart in utilizing space even in a small room. Consider those nearer to public transport as you would not want to carry your luggage far. Especially for us in the first night, since we arrived at 10.30pm, we chose somewhere near Haneda and easy to find. We used to frequent Toyoko Inn since they had free shuttle from the airport but this time, we tried 328 Hostel which is really easy to find after 2 train stops from Haneda. NO worry if arrive early to any hotel, as all the hotel we went to offers to keep our luggage until the room is available typically at 3pm. Considering luggage forwarding service if do not want to carry it or store it in the hotel. TAikubin is popular there, and send as early using the normal taikubin (usually via hotel) rather than same day delivery would also save some  money.
tips: go for budget.

Food? Forget sushi and sashimi, because these are not common food in Japan. The usual would be noodle and rice bento. To reduce the expenses, just pop by their convenient store (conbini) and a usual dinner would cost around 500 yen, a simple bread breakfast would be around 200 yen. Their food is really really nice, and sometimes, we would dine at conbini by choice.
tips: convenient store is like a big restaurant when it comes to choices.

We learn a few things when we go around. Beside the usual raincoat and water that we carry around, do remember to carry plastic bags to store thrash and rubbish. There are not many rubbish around, even you do find, most bin are specially for recycling paper or plastic bottles. I would not do like some tourist who would just ignore the signs and throw everything into the same bin.

Hopefully these tips would help those who wan to travel on own to Japan. Now, for the sample itienreray this round, do visit the post with links above.

Japanese Alps: visting Chubu

Kenrokuen Garden

Day 6: Takayama
Using Toyama as a base, it is time to put our Takayama Hokuriku Pass to full use.
After checking out from Toyoko Inn Toyama, we store our luggage in the hotel and made out way to Takayama using Hida express train, covered by our pass.

Takayama is an old town with rustic charm. I had a bit of regret of not spending a night here. The town has certain character that excite and yet felt relaxed. Reminded me a bit of Brussels. Our pass also covers the Sarubobo tourist bus so traveling in town is basically free.

Kenrokuen garden

Morning market: Arriving in the morning, we manage to visit the Miyagawa morning market, which is a gem. Lots of street food, it reminded me of a small pasar malam. Come empty stomach and exit full.

Yatai Kaikan: Near the market, we visited the exhibition of floats for the famous Takayama festival, Yatai Kaikan. Although the ticket price felt steep, but that is the nearest we could get to Takayama Festival without attending the actual one.

Hida Folk Village: After that, we spend the whole afternoon in Hida Folk Village. The first impression was exciting but the buildings tend to get repetitive. It lacks the diversity of Sarawak Cultural Village. None the less, it is one of the more interesting place to visit. After visiting all the houses here, at least we do not need to enter any of the houses in Shirakawa-go later.

Eco Teddy Bear: On the way down Hida Folk Village, we made a brief stop at the Eco Teddy Bear Museum, which is a private collection of teddy bear. Some of the exhibits are rather impressive but do not expect the scale of the famous teddy bear museums of Korea.

Kanazawa castle

After returning to Toyama and collecting our luggage, we use our pass to board the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Kanazawa. Again we chose a hotel near to the station; this time, we stayed at Oka Hotel, which is also a rustic but comfortable hotel.

Day 7: Kanazawa & Shirakawago
It is a busy day ahead, attempting to covers both Kanazawa and Shirakawago. Staying near the station is beneficial as we have to arrive early to book our bus ticket to Shirakawago (covered by the pass). The initial plan would be to go in the morning but the earliest available ticket is the afternoon. Lesson learnt that tickets should be booked as early as possible.

Kenrokuen Garden & Castle: Firstly we visited Kenrokuen garden in Kanazawa. This is a must-go in Kanazawa.  After a few garden in Japan, this could easily be one of the top few. Very pretty, the size is not too huge to walk, but not too small to look tiny. Across the garden host the castle park. Comfortable to walk around the castle, there are free good will guide available

Tea district: We made our way to of the chaya (tea) district, Higashi Chaya district. We manage to visit one of the tea house which housed geisha in the past, and had relaxing walk around the area.

Shirakawago: With a leisure pace, we reach the time to board our bus to Shirakawago. For a taste of the area, we visited the popular Ogimachi village. A fully functional village with buses of tourist, the area is full of authentic gassho zukuri houses. An afternoon here is very relaxing, there is no regret coming although bit out of the way.

Day 8: on to Osaka
the last full day, we made our way to Osaka using Thunderbird limited express which is covered by our pass. The rest of the day is actually shopping, which we had a gala time visiting Den Den town. Given more time, we could have walk around Shinseikai more since we just stayed behind the area.

Day 9: Flight Home
concluding our journey this round, it had been a fruitful and wondering adventure.

Link
Introduction
Leg 1: Tokyo to Nagano
Leg 2: Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route

Japanese Alps: Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route

  Day 4: Nagano
Arrived in Nagano, we decided to take the day slow. Initially we thought of visiting the ninja temple which is  at least 1 hour away from Nagano town. After considering that we still had a few busy day ahead, we decided to just "lepak" in Nagano for the day and it turned out to be a wise decision. We manage to get lots of things done, and get adequate rest for the second leg of our journey.

Abest hotel may not score very high among certain website, but we had nothing but praise for this hotel. Just across the station, it is a stone throw away. The staff is so helpful that they help us save quite a bit using normal taikubin baggage delivery instead of the same day delivery recommended by the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine route website. We just need to send our luggage a day earlier which is fine with us. The hotel also comes with free dinner. Yes, FREE dinner. And the room is comfortable with adequate room to move around.

Zenkoji Temple: We still manage to visit Zenkoji temple., Although with lots of Buddhism significance, after numerous temple that we visited in Japan, it did not impress me as much. I would still prefer the crowded Asakusa or the ones in Kyoto.

Day 5: Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
The actual day itself excites us a lot. We bought out Tateyama Kurobe Option ticket in Tokyo, so this is the time we put it into full use. Note that the ticket covers all the transport from Nagano to Toyama. Prepare for lots of transport changing, and using the option ticket, we do not need to buy any extra ticket. We could not book any of the transport ahead though. However, fear not, as being individual visitor, there is a separate line, and most of the bottle necks are stuck with groups. Do come early though so there will be more time to appreciate the Alps.


The highlight would be Tateyama snow mountain. From April to July, the authorities manage to dig a path among the thick snow for a road for buses. Walking along the majestic path is awesome, the highest point of the snow wall during our visit was 16m. There is even a snow maze for the inner child, and there are plenty of snow photo opportunity

The route ended in Toyama, it is time for us to rest. Being a firm believer in Toyoko Inn chain, the hotel is very tourist friendly and comfortable as long as we do not expect a huge room.

Link:
Introduction
Leg 1: Tokyo to Nagano
Leg 3: Visiting Chubu

Japanese Alps: From Tokyo to Nagano

Day 1: arrival

One Piece Tower: Live Show

We arrived at Haneda at night, manage to clear the custom and got our luggage before 11pm. Thankfully the tourist counter is still open so we manage to get our Tokyo Metro pass there and then. Since we are using the pass, all our travel in Tokyo would be using Metro or Toei Subway. Note that we did not use local JR train at all (eg. Yamanote loop train).

We check in to 328 Hostel which is very near to Haneda. We did want to take the risk to book a place in Tokyo at the first night, as any unexpected delay may throw a wrench in the travel plan. At least with a accommodation near the airport, even if we arrived late, the taxi would not cost an arm or leg. 328 is a very cozy place, with only 3 rooms (2 dorm style, 1 private) which is managed by a very friendly and nice lady. She is very diligent and kept the whole place very clean and homely. Sharing toilet is never a problem given that there is not many guest and the owner clean the toilet very often.

sanja matsuri

Day 2: Tokyo proper
Checking out the next day, we first put our luggage in Asakusa Ryokan Toukaiso in Asakusa, just opposite Shin Nakamise Dori. The price is very reasonable given the average price of hotel room in Tokyo is very expensive. The place is walk-able from metro station and the room is very spacious for Japan standard.

Sanja Matsuri: celebrated every May, we managed to be part of the celebration in the second day, where local community paraded their local mikoshi (divine palanquin) in Asakusa neighborhood before ending in Asakusa temple. Very crowded but fun.

Tokyo station: We took a break after that to collect our passes (had to be bought outside Japan, and exchange in Japan with the receipt) in Tokyo station.

One Piece Tower: not cheap but for any One Piece fan, this is a pilgrimage that should not be missed. Plenty of memories and photo opportunity. However, I would not recommend the live show unless you can understand Japanese language.

Nakano Broadway: despite what some website may say that there are plenty of otaku bargain here,  this building complex reminded me of Yik Fong in Ipoh. Past its prime. Only the many Mandrake store inside worth some visit and not many other attractions. I would still go back to Akihabara or even Den Den town in Osaka.

Day 3: Fuji 5 Lake

Fuji Shibazakura

Today is meant for Fuji Shibazakura (pink moss) festival. We first took a bus (booked via Willer online) to Fuji 5 Lake and arrived to the festival site via shuttle.

Fuji Shibazakura: The pink moss is impressive, but nearing the end of the season, it may not be as pretty as some of the photograph. Expect to spend 3 hours here walking around, appreciating the flowers, with some street performance and lots of food stall available.

Kawaguchiko: Returning back to the main station in Kawaguchiko, the main station in Fuji 5 Lake, we just walk around to Kachi-Kachi rope way to ride up Mt Tenjo for a full view of Mt Fuji. Remember to eat Hoto here, which tasted pretty special for Japan standard, but for us locals, it basically resemble our local pan-mee

Being free and easy, we still manage to steal some time after returning to Tokyo to stop by Akihabara but it was bit late and all the main shop is closing.


Day 4: On to Nagano
ending our short Tokyo outing, it is time to move to our highlight of the trip, we took a bus (again, booked via Willer) to Nagano.

Link:
Introduction
Leg 2: Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route
Leg 3: Visiting Chubu

Busan: the city of art

Yongdusan Park

After our adventure in Jeju, we make our way up north into Busan. Again, we made so many adjustment last minute, and drop many destination as my initial itienarary appeared too ambitious. Luckily, we kept a day or 2 as buffer, which we manage to use to complete our venture into Busan.

food:
any seafood would be fresh here.
dong-na pajeon: pancake
bokguk: soup with pufferfish
ssiat hotteok: hotteok filled with nuts
dwaeji gukbap: rice and pork soup
milmyeon: Busan version of cold noodle
eomuk: fish cake derivatives

transport:
Metro would be the choice, but some of the tourist spots require bus transfer. there is a one day pass which is worth it if there are 3-4 trips per day. Using transport card (T money/ Cashbee), there will be discount if transfer to another transport within half hour of exiting the first one, so sometimes, using transport card is more convenient.



budget:
total budget for 5 Nights in Busan for 2:
accommodation: RM 657
food:                   150K won
transport:            79K won
admissions:        6K won
grand total:        RM 1488 (1K won to RM3.53)

Grand total for the whole South Korea trip (for 2)
Jeju:     RM 1955
Busan: RM 1488
flight:  RM 2516 (for Airasia + Air Busan)
Others RM 398 (International Driving Permit, Travel Insurance, taxi from Ipoh- Aman Jaya, Bus from Ipoh- KLIA2)
Grand total: RM6357 (cost exclude souvenirs)

stay:
there are many areas, the beach-side being the popular ones. Seomyeon, on the other hand, is central with lots of food and shopping selections. While hostel is the smart choice in Jeju, there are lack of this similar accommodation here. Love hotels, on the other hand, are abundant. Although it may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it is actually a safe place to stay. Many of the patrons here are actually tourists from other countries. For a fragment of price, we had a big hotel room, room service everyday, the usual complimentary daily coffees, a super big LCD TV with 60+ legit Korean channel, and best of all, a wifi AND personal desktop in the room (which I used to write this blog)

realxing afternoon

actual itinerary
D1: travel day
arriving in Gimhae from Jeju, we took the metro to Seomyeon, where we left our luggage in our hotel, W Motel Busan. Since it is Easter Sunday, we visited New Philadelphia Church. It is a small non denominational church, and worshiping here is very comfortable. Since we travel in the morning, we took the rest of the evening off and lepak around Seomyeon.
Busan Museum of Art: free museum with small collection of modern art. Why not visit since there are no charge?
Seomyeon area is full of eateries, we ended up here nearly every night and yet, we still find new place every time.

D2: Metro Line 1
Taejongdae Park: shore with magnificient views.
Lotte Gwangbok for the cascading muscial fountain (close on mon),
Yeongdo Bridge: draw bridge, lifted once a day.
Jagalchi Market and surrounding area, Bupyeong market, Gukje Market, BIFF square: all cluster together for great food. Jagalchi is famous for fresh sea product, which expectedly do not come cheap. There is also a night market in Bupyeong as well.
Yongdusan park: the usual park with lots of locals. Busan tower is here as well with the expected love locks. Not a must but do come since it is within the vicinity.

Beomeosa Temple

Shinsegae Mall: supposedly biggest mall in the world makes night shopping here exciting.
Busan Cinema Center: the official cinema for Busan International Film Festival. Do come if within the vicinity,  for the beautiful light display on the ceiling daily.

D3: Metro line 2
spent the morning doing some shopping in Lotte Seomyeon.
UN Memorial Cemetery: the only cemetery managed by UN, mainly for those who gave up their lives during Korean War. If walking is possible, try to visit UN Peace Memorial Hall uphill (NOT the same as memorial cemetery), a UN museum dedicated to Korean war, with lots of interesting exhibits. To further appreciate the cemetery, it will be more informative to visit the museum first prior to cemetery (though quite far) to fully appreciate the history behind.
Busan Museum: besides the cemetery, free entry but exhibits focused more on history of Busan.
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple: temple facing the sea. good photo opportunity, but may not be worth the trip for some.
Haeundae Beach: popular beach, especially during summer. Slightly more upscale, and many other attractions such as the aquarium (which we did not visit) are here as well.
Dalmaji Hill/ Moontan road: short hill trail hike with views of the seaside. One of the place to appreciate cherry blossom in Busan.
We went shopping at Shinsegae again at night, and back to Seomyeon for dinner.

Cherry Blossom in Jinhae

D4: Outskirt of Busan
Beomeosa Temple: a fully functional temple complex with a few hiking trail. Less busy than Yonnggusa temple.
Busan Gamcheon Cultural Village: will top my list of must-visit in Busan. A fully inhabited village, on a hill slope. It is a feast for the eyes, with the colorful houses, multiple art piece along the road, plenty of house rennovated into mini art museum, and plenty of picture opportunity. Buy the map, and we even went on a art scavenger hunt which made my whole afternoon here truly enjoyable.
Gangwan beach: come at night, and we were able to watch the colorful illuminated beach. However, the fun here lies more on the equally colorful beach side, a good mixture of food, restaurants and relaxing stroll along the beach.
No prize guessing that although we had our naengmyeon here, we still went back to Seomyeon for our proper dinner.

D5: daytrip to Jinhae
There are frequent bus ride to Jinhae so there is no need to get our ticket before hand. Jinhae is famous as THE place for cherry blossom, so we time out visit so it coincide with the cherry blossom festival. To appreciate fully the festival (with the activities), it is still best to come during the festival, but in order to avoid some of the crowd, it will be wiser to come earlier. The cherry blossom is blooming, the street is full of food, and the crowds is starting to build up.
Yeojwa Stream: The river is nicely decorated, the the hanging cherry blossom over the river makes it one of the top place to appreciate the flowers. However, since it is near the bus and railway station, there is a huge crowd here.
Geonghwa train station: The railway station is a better place to fully appreciate cherry blossom, although smaller in size.

Jinhae

D6: travel back to KLIA2

Southern part of South Korea, although may not be as compact as Seoul, do has its charm. Jeju, although with lots of man-made attractions, still appeals with its equal numbers of natural attractions. Busan, is a pleasant surprise, with so many food choices, and interesting visits. Definitely a destination to consider.
For the previous post on Jeju, click here

ratings: 4 poink~!
comments: for a snapshot of Korea, Seoul would be a better choice. For people with lots of time, Seoul-Jeju-Busan is doable in one half week. However, for people like me, who actually want to relax and do things my own pace, Busan-Jeju is a nice getaway for a week plus.

Jeju: truly island of man-made wonders

spring in Jeju

South Korea is indeed one of the most connected country in the world. Internet is so common, that wifi is widely available in all the budget accommodation we stayed. The most wonderful surprise is that in our Busan leg, we even had a personal PC and wifi in our room, something that we do not even get in our 5 star hotel back in Malaysia (and we stayed in budget love hotel in Busan). And to begin, we start our journey with our Jeju leg.

stay:
there are only few towns which are popular:
Jeju-si: nearest to airport, more happening, more food choice, lots of budget accommodation but far from most tourist attractions
Seogwipo: down south, smaller, although favorite with lots of people, we found that there are limited choice of food here. However, logistically, basing here makes travel much easier.
Jungmun: logistic convenient, but appears to be more expensive.

Food:
black pork, which is local delicacy to Jeju, usually by BBQ
raw seafood (okdom/ sea urchin/ hairtail fish)
omaegi tteok (black glutinous rice cake): "kuih" with red bean
abalone rice porridge
any products with tangerine (gamgyul) and hallabong (with protruding stem)


transport:
for bus, there are intercity and inner-city bus. Be careful though, the bus route to and fro may be different. In worse case scenario, which happened to us a few times, we had to go back to airport (easiest to spot in any bus schedule) to change to another bus. Bus do accept Cashbee card so there are no logistics problems in travelling with bus.
The usual question people asked: why book a car, not taxi (as recommended by lots of people) or just bus? Follow my argument:
bus: the most budget way to travel in Jeju, but given the erratic schedule, and lots of attraction is not near the bus-stop, you may need to waste lots of time going from one place to another. Viable option if budget is limited, have lots of time or not planning to cover lots of attraction.
taxi: save time as the driver would know most of the place, but with online search, the range for a taxi would cost easily 120K-150K for 8 hours, and some of the driver may not be so accommodating especially in choosing place to eat. Just compare our budget above which we use the same expenditures for 2 half days of car plus petrol instead of one day of taxi. Taxi is still a good option if you have 4 persons in a group and have very limited time in Jeju.
Driving around in Jeju may need some time to adjust to, such as they drive on the right (Malaysian drive on the left), red/ green light in the traffic light usually refers to going straight and turning right while turning left/U turn have another green light (the usual traffic light have 4 lights), and they have lots, lots of traffic camera. Fear not, as the GPS is so efficient that it also serves as a warning beacon for speed camera. Just key in the phone number in the GPS, and it will do the rest of the navigating. I had even listed down the phone number for GPS in this blog.

view from Seongsan Ichilbong

Budget:
For 4 nights in Jeju, total expenditures for 2
accommodation: RM 527
Food:                  140K won
transport:            158K won (including car rent)
admission:          106K won
grand total for Jeju leg: RM1955 (with exchange of 1K won to RM 3.53)
For total expenditures of the trip, refer to Busan post.

The actual journey:
For those who manage to get hold of my detailed itinerary, you may find that our actual journey varies much from the intended steps. I made some last minute changes and cancel lots of the destination; sometimes we spent more time in places that we like so we had to make some sacrifice in the other places. Take note also that Jeju always have at least 2 of the same attraction type, so usually we just choose one.

D1: travel day
our travelling day, with AirAsia arriving in Busan, and check in with Air Busan to fly to Jeju island. We reached at night 9 pm, but still find enough time to buy Cashbee JejuPass from 7-11 at the airport. (hindnote: forget the Jejupass and just go for any Cashbee in any convenient mart, we hardly use the Jejupass discount, luckily it is not much difference from the normal Cashbee card (3000 KRW). With accurate instruction from Hostel Lyndon, we manage to jump into bus 100 to reach our hotel. Hostel Lyndon is one of the recommended place to stay in Jeju-si, near to airport and to our Muslim country-mates as they even provide halal cooking utensil. This is a youth hostel but a very comfortable one, with free breakfast and lots of other convenience. Most of their room even have attached toilet, which is the main reason why we booked our room with them. The staff can speak English well, which proves helpful in lots of situation.

Seopikoji

D2: Jeju north to east
after a good night rest, we went to Lotte car rent (used to be KT Kumho) to take our booked Kia Morning. Of course, we booked our car online before we reach, as there are a big online discount (even more if it is your birthday month). Kia morning is a small 1L compact car, but comfortable to handle with lots of Korean technology in the dashboard (very similar to my own Elantra).
Yongdam Rock (7283918) : Rock that shapes like a dragon. Nice to look at, but do not need to spend too long here.
Manjanggul Caves (7834818): caves made from lava tubes. Wonderful nature walk in the caves, expect to spend at least 1 hour here. It may be dark and wet so be prepare. We were hungry so we ate lunch here.
Gimnyeong Maze (7829266): decent size maze just outside Manjanggul. We were told fastest to complete is 10 min, but we took a decent 15 min, and our fast exit is attributed to  a smart "ajusan" whom we tailed.
Seongsan Ichilbung sunrise peak: quite a easy climb, but still expect at least 1-2 hours here. The peak is worth the climb, and there is haenyo demo down at the bottom (not guaranteed everyday, due to weather reasons) at 1pm, 3pm.
Seopikoji (7820080): seaside park, relaxing way to spend the evening, but only if there is enough time.
Seongeup Cultural Village: this is NOT a park, but rather a modern kampung with traditional houses which can be visited for free. There are lots of restaurant here, which are favourite among lots of bloggers.
We try visit the trick art museum near Seongeup but we were too late so we were forced to visit Alive Museum in Jungmun the next day.

Glass Castle

We end our day with our check in at Minjonggak Hostel in Seogwipo. We moved our base to Seogwipo for the next 2 days as it is logistically much easier to move around in the south rather than doing day trip from Jeju-si (expect to drive approximately 60km one way from the north). Minjonggak is a nice comfortable hostel with attached toilet and futon instead of beds. Although the staff may not be able to speak English well, but he is very helpful. Parking is an issue in Seogwipo but luckily, the city car park open for free from 6am -9pm.

D3: southern Jeju: seogwipo and Jungmun
Jeongbang waterfall (7331530): the only waterfall that fall directly into the sea. Not a bad way to start the morning, average compare to the other 2 famous waterfall.
Oedolgae Rock (7328027): solitary basalt rock. go if it is on the way or a small detour, otherwise, not worth the trip.
Play Kpop (7387600): heaven for kpop fan, otherwise, may be tad expensive although there are lots of chroma blue/ green screen technology for fun inside.
Alive Museum: also within the Jungmun complex, trick art museum, good for few hours of fun.
Cheonjeyeon waterfall (7381529): the waterfall is rather disappointing, but the park is impressively big, with a nicely decorated bridge connecting the parks.
O Sulloc Museum (7945312): tea farm with comfortable cafe. Read that the green teacake is nice, but it was sold out when we were there. We manage only to try the green tea ice cream which is good. However, the farm still pale compare to Boh tea farm in Cameron Highlands.
Jeju Glass Castle (772777): lots of glass display but not focus on glass making. The enchanted forest with lots of glass is nice for a walk though.

D4: way back to Jeju-si
Mysterious road: due to optical error, cars and other objects appears to roll uphill.
Jeju Loveland (7126988): instead of art, this is more of a collection of explicit sexual sculptures. More of mature adult fun than appreciating art. Not even educational.
Return car to Lotte, with complimentary bus ride to airport.
Seogwipo Olleh Market (7621949): typical market for souvenir shopping

O Sulloc tea farm

D5: travel back to Busan.

These are some places I skipped, so I would not be able to tell whether it is worth the time or visit. Note that I totally omitted western and north west Jeju in the list as I expected there would not be adequate time:
Haenyo museum/ Jeju folk village/ Udo island/ World Eros Museum/ World Cup Stadium/ Chocolate Museum/ Hello Kitty Island/ Seogwipo Five Days Market (only open on sepcific dates)/Jusangjeolli (purely not enough time, would want to visit if there is chance)/Teddy Bear Museum (been to Seoul version, doubt there are much surprise here)/ Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum/ Yeomiji Botanical Garden/ Chocolate Land/ Mount Sanbang/ Mt Halla (initially we planned for Yeongsil path but it would take at least half a day allocation)

For the rest of the trip and our Busan leg, click for the next post.

Sekinchan: tourism done right

It was a month back when Colleen and I was invited to join our colleagues in a short trip in our bid to support cuti-cuti Malaysia. It was really a long while since I visited Sekinchan, and given so many good review of the place, I was looking forward to the revisit.




Sekinchan is located along the coastal road, in Sabak Bernam district in Selangor. We started off from Kampar, so we took the coastal road from Teluk Intan instead of taking the north south highway. The road may be bumpy, but one would see a lot of small town and palm oil estate along the way. We spent our night in A+ boutique hotel, it it deserve the grade. The room is nice, though not the cheapest. Although it is not within walking distance to the paddy field or the beach, it make up with lots of memorabilia and mural art with a roof top to hang out in. The free flow drinks in the lobby (albeit diluted) is the icing on the cake.

Now, 2 days 1 night, where shall we begin. Everyone who comes to Sekinchan would not miss the paddy field. It is the sole reason to visit this coastal town. The paddy field is accessible, even to cars. Picturesque, and if visited on the right timing, it would be all golden view. However, we were bit early, so it was still a vast green field. There is also a paddy factory, some mango orchard so the visit here would not be just for snapping selfies.

Next important to do, is the beach. It is a short but clean beach. In the afternoon, the fishing boat will return the town, near to the beach. Expect lots of stall, and a big tree filled with prayers ribbons. Again, it was developed nicely to suit visitors.

In the next morning, we went around again the town, looking for famous wall mural art. Do not expect the same as Penang/ Ipoh, the alley is rather small and unkempt. The art is average but maintenance was poor.

Things that we missed: we wanted to go to Kuala Selangor for the fireflies but it was raining heavily. Due to unsuitable timing, we did not manage to see the fisherman unload their catch of the day and distribute it. That would be a nice scene to photograph.

Food, what about the food: for a place famous for fresh seafood, it was rather disappointing. Maybe it is our luck. Our first lunch in town near the beach was good. The food was fresh, the shark even tasted good. Subsequent meals, however, were not as good. Our dinner away from Sekinchan, on the way to Kuala Selangor before turning back due to the rain, was expensive with tiny portion. Our breakfast with seafood bakuteh is equally disappointing. I can live with the no-add soup idea, but it is just normal bakuteh which still pale compare to Klang (or even Banting, which is not that far away). Finally we decided to eat normal hawker stall food for our last lunch. And surprise, surprise. They were good and reasonably priced. My advice, just limit the seafood meal to selected few restaurant, and eat in local stalls for majority of the meals. You might discover a gem.

We ended our trip with dry seafood shopping. The salted fish and dried la-la I bought was good and not every expensive. Come to think about it, Sekinchan really does not have much to do expect the paddy field and a small beach. However, even with small tourist attractions, it were manage well. Places were clean, attractions promoted well. In the end, even in a small town without much to do, we still manage to find the 2 days trip relaxing and nice.

ratings: 3 poink~!
comments: good for a day trip, for a more relaxing stop, opt for a night near the paddy field or town.

Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam itinerary: great introduction to Europe

Louvre

The main reason why I was fairly quiet for the past 2 months is my getaway with Colleen to Europe in late spring 2 months back. After coming back, it was another hurdle to edit the photos which took me weeks to do so. And since I had been away for 2 weeks, I had been craving on home cooked food. Anyway, here are the itinerary of my travel to Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam for reference.

Before the trip, it is always always prudent to do your homework first. From booking hotels to selecting food, everything need to be planned in order to prevent any wastage both in term of money or time. Comparison between airline is very important but as all will suggest, buy as early as possible, preferably during promotion period. We selected Emirates because during the promotion month, it beats all other airline (except Vietnam airline) including our own MAS. Transit, in a way is a good way to rest from flying so we did not mind stopping over in Dubai Airport. The other ticket we need to book really early is the train tickets between the countries. We took Thalys which travel between Paris- Brussels- Amsterdam route, which make up the 3 main cities that we visited. The concept of Thalys (or Eurostar in that aspect) is similar to budget airline. Book as early as you can to gain the best discount.

By the way, there is no need for visa to enter the selected countries and because of Schengen agreement, there is not even a passport/ immigration check when travel between those countries.

Montmarte

D1: Paris
We stayed in Arty Paris, bit far but in a safe neighbourhood (something that we appreciated after returning from Paris). Select the single room with private toilet for privacy but double decked room for the cheaper price. We also bought the Paris Museum Pass, which covers most of the places we wanted to visit, and also to skip certain lines (which can be really really long), except the queue for security check.

Versailles

D2: Paris centre
Notre Dame: impressive gothic cathedral, free to enter. Come early in the morning to avoid the crowds which can be suffocating. Pay extra to climb the tower for better view of Paris. The crypt has a separate entry, but not as interesting as the chapel
Sainte-Chapelle: another must-visit. The top attraction here is definitely the stained glass surrounding the upper chapel.
Conciergerie: gloomy prison cells turned into a museum. A nice breakaway from all the chapels
Ile St Louis: supposedly more quiet and great for lunch but after walking over here, I would have gave it a miss, even the recommended Berthillon Maison ice cream.
Le Centre Pompidou: walk from Ile de la Cite towards Louvre, and Pompidou is on the way. Museum of modern art is not everyone cup of tea, but the different art would be interesting after loaded with so many European art.
Louvre: the museum of Paris that everyone must come to visit. There are many celebrated art here but the most famous one would be Leornado Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. One can easily spend a whole day here and get lost in the 3 conjoining buildings. The easier way to enjoy Louvre is come during the evening where the crowd is slightly less and visit only the exhibition you wanted to see rather than seeing everything.

garden in Versailles

D3: Paris North, Centre
Montmarte: The main church here is Basilica sacre coeur, which the impressive architecture and dome attracts crowds of people everyday. To take note, there are many thugs on the way up to the chapel who actually try to extort money from tourist. It is difficult to avoid them especially couples, so it is best to travel in groups or at least stick close to some tourist groups. The other option, which I did not try, is to spend bit of money to take the funicular train up. I suspect the thugs concentrated on the staircase rather than the train.
Musee D Orsay: another must-visit museum after Louvre, just across the river. Much more manageable size, it is possible to see all exhibit here, though bit tiring. A good selection of Van Gogh and other famous paintings are exhibited here.
Place de La concorde, Champ Elysees: continue on the walk across River Seine to Jardin Des Tuilleries, to Concorde and walk along the famous expensive street to Arc De Triomphe, and impressive landmark by Napolean.

D4: Versailles
A piece of advice, do not come visit on weekend, as the queue is very very long, even with the museum pass. In case when it is unavoidable, like our case, visit the trianon palaces first, though it is a rather long walk from the main castle there. Sample the awesome luxurious royal living here.

Quater latin, Pantheon: it was closed for an event when we arrived. Just our luck.
Eiffel tower: we still manage to visit the tower after returning to Paris, though we did not want to queue up to go up the tower. There is a shorter line for those who would not mind climbing up to the 1st level, but the queue is still long enough to deter us to climb,

Belgian frites may be ordinary,
but the dips are out of this world

D5: to Brussels
A quiet morning before boarding the afternoon train to Brussels. We got the Brussels city card as well, not for the transport, but rather the admissions, because admissions fees to the museums here could be pricey. We checked into Max Hotel, which is a new hotel with DIY check in. We must say, this is the most comfortable room we had in Europe without breaking a hole in the pocket.

Grand place, Manneken Pis: spent rest of the evening in the the famous grand place, look for food as well, and manage to visit Galeries Saint Hubert, which is a really small shopping gallery. (nothing like the huge shopping complex here but a rather modest few lanes of shops instead). Do not forget to locate the pissing boy statue and the lesser known pissing girl statue

D6: Brussels centre
Belgian centre of comic strip art: worth a visit if a fan of Tintin or smurfs
MOOF: similar to comic strip art museum, but more of figurines. Still, it pales in comparison to a visit to figurine shops in Akihabara, Tokyo.
Maisson du Roi, museum of the city of Brussels: for the history of city, and to view different costume made specially for Manneken Pis.
Museum of cocoa and chocolate: short visit, especially the demonstration of chocolate making.
Museum of Belgian brewers: too small for a visit. Basically it is just watching a video in a small basement

Brussels east
Autoworld: interesting for those who like old cars, Nothing much for new cars design though.
Royal museum of art and history: quite a big museum with good selection across the cultures around the world, but allocate enough time to walk around.

Beguinage in Bruges

royal museum of armed force: good selection for free, but need to be familiar with European war history first, or else, it would be just a half an hour walk though.

D7: Ghent and Bruges
I will keep it short in this entry because we took the day tour from Brussels, greedy to cover both in the same day. It is logistically more advantageous to go with tour group if we want to cover both town, but in return, we did not manage to enjoy much as the group did not allocate adequate time to really enjoy each and every attraction. And we skipped a great deal of interesting spots as well which I would love to visit, such as the Castle of Ghent or the brewery in Bruges.

D8: to Amsterdam
took afternoon Thalys to Amsterdam, bought the Iamsterdam city card, again for the admissions and the free tram. We stayed in Inner Hostel, which is just across Stedelijk museum. Very reasonable price for such as convenient spot to visit all the main museum of Amsterdam.

Time the nights with night visit to museums, as different museums open at night on a different day of the week.
Stedelijk museum: modern art, more acceptable than Pompidou in Paris.

bridges and canals in Amsterdam

D9: Amsterdam
Diamant musem: surprisingly nice collection and exhibition, and free tour of the polishing work they do next door.
Museumplein: just some outdoor shots with the Iamsterdam words, but we did not enter Rjiks museum since it is not covered in the card (we have a good selection of places to visit with the card already)
canal cruise: good way to relax in between attraction while enjoying cruising around town.
Albert cuyp market: imagine the pasar malam but European style. Few good selection of street food, inlcuding the herring sandwich.
Heineken experience: come here for the beer experience. nice variety of things to do here.
FOAM: surprisingly not so great exhibition here.
Van Gogh museum: come at Friday night for a different experience with DJ spinning music while we admire his art piece.

D10: Amsterdam
Museum of purse and handbags: again, not modern bags but few selections on the evolution of handbags. Not very interesting for us.
Willetholthuysen House: visit to one of the canal house open to public
rembrandplein: a brief stop
bloenmenmarkt: floating flower market, ironically not for flower shopping but for cheap souvenirs.

in canal house Amsterdam

Huis Marseille Photography museum: surprisingly better exhibits than FOAM. There are few really good work, especially the photos of Marseille before he passed on.
NieuKerk church: ongoing world press photo exhibition, highly recommended for all. This, probably is the place I enjoyed the most in Amsterdam. Too bad the exhibition only last for 2 months.
Red light district: expect lots of tourist, some good budget food, and do not be surprised by the sex worker advertising themselves.
houseboat museum: very tiny indeed, but good exposure to how people actually stay in a boat compare to an actual house.
Tulip museum: really tiny space to tell the story of tulip. Forgettable unless have time to spare or on the way to Anne Frank, like us.
Anne Frank house: featured in a few movies, this is the actual house that hide Anne Frank and her family during the Nazi occupation. Very moving for some, but for the rest of us, still a good reminder of the cruel side of war.

D11: zaanse schans
Took the bus pass and off we go to the northern harbour district. First we stop in the touristy Zaanse schans. Although very artificial indeed (we encountered an Asian milkmaid), but where else would you find a functional windmill (all 3 of them) and other interesting local offering such as wood clog workshop or cheese shop?
We went to the harbour town of Marken and Volendam as well but it was raining heavily during that time, so we only manage to enjoy the boat ride in between the 2 town but fail to venture around the area.

D12: farewell
It was a fruitful 2 weeks, and we took the bus to the airport and arrived to KLIA, arriving on D13.

ratings: 3 half poink!
comments: would not go back to Paris anymore, felt it was over rated in many ways. However, ironically, it was the cheapest among the 3 cities. Brussels is nice for a serene getaway, while Amsterdam have such a variety to offer. Europe is definitely not cheap, but with careful planning, and patient waiting for cheap tickets, the cost can be brought down tremendously.