My friends and I went to South Korea last April 12-19, 2016. We booked our tickets last September 2015, 7 months before the actual travel dates. Our roundtrip airfare tickets were around PhP 8,000/person. Not bad, right? Cebu Pacific had an ongoing 50% off discount promo for these dates that time and it was a pretty good deal, especially since it would be cherry blossom season in South Korea during those days.

Cebu Pacific almost always has promos! You wouldn't be able to get discounted prices for weekend/holiday flights but if you just want to travel once in a while, not minding sacrificing those leaves/absences, why not? Prior our trip, I would visit the Cebu Pacific website every day, hoping to score good deals!

We also availed of a pocket Wi-Fi so we would stay connected anywhere, anytime (lol). Seriously though, this came in handy when we needed directions to our destinations. Posting our adventures online immediately and surfing the Internet during long train rides were just additional perks of availing this little baby!

Pocket Wi-Fi Korea (LTE) was the product we chose and the connection was so fast even if 4 devices were connected to it (duuuh we were in South Korea, the land of high-speed Internet connection!). We claimed our pocket Wi-Fi device in the airport, when we arrived.

Accommodation

Namsan Guest House was our main choice of accommodation. Located in Myeongdong, it is near the subway station and Myeongdong shopping street. Kwik stayed here numerous times already that was why we were confident that it would be up to standards. It certainly didn't disappoint! Namsan Guest House is an affordable, accessible and comfortable place to stay in. The staff was very accommodating as well so additional points for that!

We stayed in Namsan Guest House 5, in a room good for 3 people. We actually needed a room good for 4 people but when we booked our reservation months before, there were no available rooms good for more than 3 people already (unless we book 2 rooms). Anyway, they provided us an extra bedding to make up for the lack of beds. If ever you're going to stay in Namsan Guest House, make sure to reserve room/s at least 3 months in advance, to ensure its availability. Kwik was the one who did this for us and she also confirmed our reservation twice before our actual arrival in Seoul.

Weather Check

You know me, always checking my favorite cities' weather even if I'm not there lol! Anyway, since it was Spring in Korea when we were there, the temperature ranged from 6 degrees Celcius to 20 degrees Celcius.  There were also occasional rainshowers (spring showers wee!) which further lowered the temperature. I remember there were days when we had to pile on the layers because it was really cold and there were also days where in we had to take off our coats because the sun was too high. 

From our experience, if you're going to South Korea mid-April, a not-so-heavy coat, a sweater/long-sleeved blouse, jeans, rubber shoes and socks will do! Pile on the sunscreen as well because even if the temperature is cold, the sun is also high so not only will you get a tan (I did!), you'll also be exposed to the sun's harmful rays. 

We applied for our visa around a month before our trip because the visa is valid for 59 days after date of application.

Budget

Without airfare expenses and shopping, PhP 25,000 will do for a 7-day stay in South Korea. Jj didn't exactly shop for Kpop merchandise and skincare in Korea (as opposed to what me, Kwik and Jodie did!) and he said that PhP 25,000 is more than enough. The PhP 25,000 budget includes the accommodation costs, daily food expenses, entrance fees to tourist spots (Gyeongbokgung Palace, Nami Island, Everland, etc.), DMZ tour, etc. Not bad at all!!

The exchange rate we used when we were there was this: PhP 1.00 = KRW 0.04

Itinerary

Since it was Jj and I's first time in South Korea, we had to go to the tourist spots such as the palaces, museums, Namsan Tower, Nami Island, etc. Kwik and Jodie have been to South Korea multiple times already but they still accompanied us to these tourist destinations (aww!). Also, Jodie, Kwik and I, the Korean anything fangirls that we are, HAD TO do a Kpop immersion experience/Kpop pilgrimage so we had days dedicated for entertainment agencies hopping and waiting for Kpop idols outside these agencies lololol. Jj was sweet enough to give in to our requests so he really included the whole Kpop thing in our itinerary.

Now that the basics are covered, it's time for the actual South Korea trip stories... which I will be blogging about before this new week ends! I was really planning to include Day 1 of our trip here but I'm sorry! I'm kind of anxious since GOT7 will be having a comeback on my birthday month (September!) and I think JYP will drop a teaser anytime soon. WAAAAH FLIGHT LOG:TURBULENCE I CANNOT WAIT PLEASE! /fangirling ends here... for now/

Also, blogging about this is making me miss South Korea! Anyway, see you again soon and good night!