【New Zealand - 20 days itinerary】

New Zealand is a country best visit with your friends *perhaps

If you enjoy road-trip, this is the country to be

Do it with 3 of your friends, as 4 perfectly fit in one car,

otherwise, you'll have to pay more :D

So here's a map pinpoint the cities & towns you will have to stop by,

well, you may still skip some of the town if you wish to,

just make sure to check the travelling hours from one place to another before you make your decision, as a long roadtrip is really tiring with the speed limit of 100km/h & 50km/h when you entering a town. T.T

Accommodation

You can easily book the youth hostel over the country, the one i stayed is YHA (Youth Hostel Association), sign up for their 1 year membership which can be amazingly used internationally! (I'd tried using it in China, and i did get discount)

So why sign up the membership it's simply because you get discount for all of the accommodation you booked with YHA, i think it's 10% per night? Well, calculating my stay in New Zealand is 20 days which is 18 nights plus minus, one person per night in YHA is about $35 (app. MYR100)...with 10% discount for 18 nights, i'll let you do the math :)

Car Rental
I make my car rental with Apex, well, not much of problems, my Malaysian Driving License is valid, and they've got a lot pick-up and drop-off points all over the country.

I started my journey from Auckland, drive all the way down to South Island and return my car in Christchurch Airport and take a flight back to Auckland and continue another journey up North to Bay of Islands.

Foods
I don't really think that there's a New Zealand's specialty except for pies...yes, pie and Fish & Chips (mostly you have to pay for sauces 50 cents per pack), so i wonder if that's the western eating habit, i can't really finish the fish & chips without any sauce!

Eating outside in a restaurant is really expensive, it costs about $17 - $20 per person for lunch (and those are just lunch set promotion), and it definitely cost for more dinner. Here, that's the benefits of travelling with parents, my mum cooked almost every night, did the grocery in their supermarket and the amazing YHA has a big kitchen where you can cook your dinner, everyone seems to cook their own foods there.

Sightseeing
Sightseeing spots and attractions have an entrance fees, and the fees ain't cheap!! So be prepare to pay a pile of money for tourists attractions spots.

So these are the basics i can tell,

i'll post more about which place is worth visiting and which is not on my following posts,

and to be honest, if you're planning a short trip, don't waste your time!

20 days is not even enough for me to cover the whole country,

so do it in ONE or TWO months will be good,

so what? Start saving then...*grin

【Seoul - Must Eat】

I have friends went to South Korea following tour telling me...

foods in Korea..sucks!

Therefore, I'm here writing this...to fight back! *grin

If you tell me foods in Korea sucks, i might have to tell you,

you've never really tasted Korean Foods!!

Here we go...let's start the crave...

1. Pork Stew Soup ( Must TRY!!)

First, I'd posted about a guesthouse i stayed in Seoul on my previous post, which is Seoulwise Guesthouse, so we accidentally found this restaurant during our way back to the guesthouse, we're hungry & starving after one walking day, so just walked into the restaurant and set down, if you're lucky, you met that one lady that speaks mandarin, but if you're not, i'm sorry, you'll have to order by pointing at the picture, though there's only a few choice, not too worry about it =)

Too bad, I don't know what's the name of the restaurant as it's all in Korean, but here's the map i got from Seoulwise Guesthouse & i edited a bit.

Go to Metro Station Hongik Univ. and proceed to Exit 2 as you can see on the map, follow the black dots, i'm not sure whether the construction is still there or not, but i'm pretty sure there's a petrol station on your right as you walk by, when you see a bar on your left, you're just a few step away from the restaurant, and yes, the restaurant is right at the corner!!

2. Spicy Octopus

Can't help with this one, was brought to this restaurant by a friend, it's at Ewha University Station, go to this station and maybe you'll able to find the restaurant while you're shopping around, it's somewhere next to a haircut shop on a building on second floor, well, i guess you can get this spicy octopus anywhere, just try it if you happens to spot any restaurant selling it!!

3. Gyoza (Myeong Dong)

This is another MUST-TRY foods!! Click on to this link, there's a good guide on how to go to this restaurant, if you're there during lunch or dinner hours, be prepare yourself to wait in a long queue!! :D



4. Yeolbong Jjimdak (Se7en Restaurant)

This is really good for the one who loves spicy foods!! Follow this link for a good guide to this restaurant located at Hong Dae!! There's a few branches, if you really wanna go, search for it, i believe fans will have posted a lot of guide to this restaurant! :D

Remember to look out for this CHICKEN little!! xD

4. Samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken Soup with rice)

I guess this is one of the famous food in Korea for visitors, and this is one expensive meal i've ever had! I think it's about 14,000 - 20,000 krw for one bowl, well, it's ginseng, you get what you paid for! :) I've heard alot of people writing about the queue, but the time i went in the morning, there was NO QUEUE AT ALL!

For direction, click here!

4. Smokey Saloon Burger (Itaewon)

This is a burger restaurant i read it from a magazine, a restaurant recommended by BIGBANG member - TAEYANG! So, as a super duper VIP, i'd to visit this restaurant no matter how (in a way hoping to meet any BIGBANG members there *grin), but the burger here is absolutely good!!

Try the Ambulance burger, recommended by alot of bloggers, average cost per person is 9,000 - 10,000 krw (app. MYR33).

For direction, click here!

5. Abiko Curry House

This is another restaurant recommended by BIGBANG! There's a few branches, the one i went is in Myeong Dong, i can't seems to find the branch located in Hong Dae.

Whether you believe me or not, the curry rice here is even nicer than the one i tasted in Japan!! :D Here, you get to choose the spicy level from 1 to 5, i chose level 4 and i almost burned my tongue out!! Sorry, can't seems to find a good guide to this restaurant, that's my next to do during my second visit, i'm gonna find the branch in HongDae!

Oh ya!! Just to let you all know,

look for this sign if you have no idea what to eat in Seoul,

it's a 'Good Restaurant' sign,

an award from the Korean Government for the best restaurants.

【Seoul - Where to visit?】

First of all, I've been neglecting this blog for 2 years?

Well! 2 years? Yes, I've been visiting a few countries in this 2 years,

and i think it's time for me to resume my blog

by sharing experiences of the places I'd visit.

Starts with South Korea...I'd visit South Korea in March, 2012. Places I've been to are Seoul and Busan, well I didn't make it to Jeju Island as the flight + accommodation are abit out of budget (and i heard the transportation in Jeju Island is as convenient as the main cities while only local buses available in the island).

First, we stayed at a guesthouse near HongDae, Seoulwise Guesthouse, an en-suite dorm for 4 which costs 22,000krw (app. MYR 70) per bed. Well, just to say, you can't skipped horrible staircases up to 4th floors if you decided to stay in guesthouse, but the owners are usually kind enough to helps you bring up your luggage (well, usually there's only one man, perhaps, some may have to sacrificed and carry their luggage on their own). Trust me, i'd carried my 22kg suitcases up to 5th floor, but if you're lucky, you get the lower floor room.

Oops, did i forgot to mentioned we're VIPs? And yes, BIGBANG faces are everywhere in the subway station, just remember to take a picture with them. :D

Let's go! First station - N Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower).

Directions

By Cable Car: To reach the boarding place, walk for about 10~15 minutes following the street of the right side of the Pacific Hotel, after coming out of the exit 3 of Myeong-dong Station (line 4) Operating Hours:  10:00-23:00 Fee: Adult: one way 6,000 won/ return 8,000 won Child: one way 3,500 won/ return 5,000 won By Bus:Namsan Shuttle Bus No. 02  Namsan Library/ Hanok Village/ Chungmuro Station (Exit 2, 4)/ Dongguk University Station (Exit 6)/ National Theater No. 03  Seoul Station, Seoul Square/ HoeHyeon Station/ Namsan Tunnel no. 3/  Itaewon Station (Exit 4)/ Yongsan-gu Office No. 05 Namsan Library/ Namdaemun Market/ Chungmuro Station (Exit 2, 4)/ Hanok Village/ Dongguk University Station (Exit 6)/ National Theater

Travelling in South Korea ain't easy as there's language barrier but thanks to the internet, you can easily get direction by just googling 'How to get to xxxxxx' and a list of directions will be shown.

It was March when I'm in Seoul, i thought it's Spring, but WRONG, the breezy wind is freaking killing me!! I would recommend to go South Korea in May or June, well you don't get really good cherry blossom in South Korea as compared to Japan, still, the weather is much more better during that period, perhaps.

If you're wondering whether you should enter the tower as the entrance fees are not cheap! 27,000 krw (app. MYR 82), but if you're that kind of person who loves to get a good view over the cities on bird-eye-level...here you go, just PAY for it!

The critical sightseeing spot, Locks of Love - N Seoul Tower, just to let you know, you don't have to pay to access to the Locks of Love area...just walk up the stairs on your right hand side.

Next, have to good walk around Ewha University, you can easily reached by subway to 'Ewha University' station. There's alot of students around this area, and cafes too! (But you will get more cute and unique cafes around Hong Dae area)

 I would say this is one of the shopping districts in Seoul, don't forgot the look for their socks!! Cute and cheap socks all over the places...kekeke*

Ewha University is one of the nicest university in Seoul,

visit the university, just walk in and take a few pictures! :D

If you've done with your day tour, moving on you shall visit one of the best shopping distric - Myeong Dong (I don't know about you, but I love this place)!

It's all about shopping...foods...shopping...foods!

and yes, refers to my previous blog, there's dogs & cats cafe as well!!

That's all for now!!

Annyeong! :D