I recently launched a facebook page called Best&Less Escapade (please 'like' if you are a thrifty traveller like me :)
Whenever I travel, I look for good deals. Before I had the privilege of accumulating miles, I only travel when the airline has good a good deal. And I will start to google for cheap accommodations (by cheap I don't mean hostels YET) the moment I got the air tickets.
My planning is always very extensive. I will plan in such a way that I know the transport costs I'll be spending. Don't get me wrong, I totally know the fun part of a self-planned trip is getting lost, but getting lost while you are walking with a map leisurely and getting lost while you are with a luggage and need to reroute all over again with extra transport costs are two entirely different things altogether. I also like to indulge in good meals while looking out for the 'simpler' ones.
I am currently planning for my Italy trip in the summer and I discovered the internal train from city to city costs only 9 euros if I purchase 120 days in advance! We say early birds always get the worms right? So very true!
With this in mind, I started this Best&Less Escapade page so everyone can benefit from it.
Likewise, everyone is welcomed to contribute actively whatever they had experienced or read on all the good deals that you think other travelers should know and won't mind sharing. I'm not asking you to share a $500 a night 5-star hotel room (well, you can too, if you want!) but a $100 a-night hotel room with a 5 star service would be most welcomed!
While this blog is a diary of my journey in detail, the facebook page is a 'bookmark' for all travelers like me, who enjoys simpler things without a crazy price tag :)
Friday, 19 April 2013
Monday, 30 July 2012
Let ANZ Take You Further...
ANZ beats all the banks in the market when they launch their Travel Visa Signature Card.
Not only did they give you more miles, they also come with complimentary airport limo services as well as SATS airport lounge access!
Look at the benefits:
UOB PRVI card is a better deal for LOCAL EXPENSES as it hits 1.6 miles per dollar BUT it is an AMEX card and we know how many places are not taking in AMEX but the ANZ card topped everyone by incorporating with VISA !!
And 2.8 miles for every S$1 spent overseas?? holy cow!!! APPLY NOW!
Not only did they give you more miles, they also come with complimentary airport limo services as well as SATS airport lounge access!
- Earn 2.8 air miles with every S$1 spent overseas
- Earn 1.4 air miles with every S$1 spent locally
- Receive 12.000 bonus air miles upon annual card renewal
- Enjoy greater flexibility with more than 46 airlines to choose from
- Gain Complementary access to over 600 airport lounge arounf the world
- Enjoy complimentary airport limousine departure transfers
UOB PRVI card is a better deal for LOCAL EXPENSES as it hits 1.6 miles per dollar BUT it is an AMEX card and we know how many places are not taking in AMEX but the ANZ card topped everyone by incorporating with VISA !!
And 2.8 miles for every S$1 spent overseas?? holy cow!!! APPLY NOW!
Saturday, 26 May 2012
Chasing For Miles - It Gets Better And Better
UOB PRVI AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD
It earns you 2.5miles for every S$1 spent overseas (better than Maybank's 2 miles!) and 1.6 miles for eery S$1 spent locally (the same as Amex Krisflyer card! and you can cancel the amex card now if you have the uob card to avoid paying the annual S$60 admin fees)!
It also earns you 20,000 miles every year if you spend more than S$50,000 per annum!
And that's not all, the BEST PART is you get complimentary limousine cab transfer (one way) as long as you charged your travel fare to the card! How wonderful is that!! And there is no minimum amount required!
This, friend, is definitely the card to apply!
*the card requires minimum 80k income per annum to qualify...
Find out more from UOB's website: http://www.uob.com.sg/personal/cards/credit/uob_prvi_miles_platinum_amex_card.html
Friday, 11 May 2012
What You Should Know For Travelling In Seoul
THE PREPARATION
The preparation for Seoul trip started officially last November when I booked my air ticket from Taipei to Seoul. For such an early job, I was being rewarded by a good promo fare at USD208 for the 2.5hours flight via Korean Air.
The next to do is to settle accomodation. As Seoul Tower Ville is a very popular guest house among the Taiwanese and Japanese, I decided to book early as I do not want to be disappointed. The owner got back to me within two days confirming the reservation.
The next step is itinerary. I only started planning the itinerary after February. What I always do when I plan for a trip is get a map of the subway first and to work around the stations. I have heard that all the sights in Seoul are around the train stations, making it easily accessible for tourists. With that in mind, I googled for one of the most user-friendly map and found this:
source: http://travel.pomosa.com/Korea2007/blog%20images%202/map_korea&eng.jpg
When looking for stations, look out for the numbers at each station. Each first digit represent the line and they have from line 1 to 9. Once you get that right, it's easier for you to find what you want in the map.
You can start planning your trip using this map. Travelling along on the same line on the same day can save you a lot of time and money.
HANGUL - KOREAN CHARACTERS
I am sure when you are doing your research, you'll chance upon some places you want to go with Korean characters in the page you are looking at. My advise is to copy those down and you might not know if you will need it. Well, it certainly saved us a few times.
When we want to go to the Jjimjimbang, we got the restaurant waitress to write it on a piece of serviette and we simply showed that to the taxi driver! That was my first time doing this and I think it's such a brilliant idea!
KOREAN WON - SO MANY ZEROS
The many many zeros behind the korean currency threw me into confusion during the first few days of my trips. It didn't help that I am very poor in my maths. On the first night when I was buying some skin care products, thinking that 100,000 won which converts to SGD10, I simply grab and pay only to realize that it costs SGD100!!
And thereafter I learnt the smart way of calculating, you just take away the last 3 zeros (for Singaporeans). The answer will be the currency for SGD.
In actual fact, SGD1 = 886 won
which means 1000 won = SGD1
WEATHER
I know that it'll be cold during our time there but I didn't expect the cold to be so bad. During the day it was bearable but at night we can hardly feel our face and it's actually only about 5 degrees. I have been to Hokkaido's sub zero temperature and Beijing's winter and my verdict is, Korea's winter is more harsh.
So, dress up as warm as possible if you are visiting during the winter.
TAXI DRIVERS
Most of them are friendly. But be warned that when you are shopping in Myeongdong after midnight, most of the taxis will not turn on their meter. You can try your luck by finding the one that is willing to turn on meter but after a while we just stopped trying and paid their asking price. For a 15mins journey it should cost you around SGD10, we were being conned on the first night and gladly paid SGD20 for it.
BLACK TAXIS
The taxis in black are generally more expensive. Most of the locals avoid them. But they are the safest as all of the drivers are properly licensed. Apparently some of the taxi drivers do not have a taxi license. They can be borrowing the cars from friends or whatsoever and just picking up passengers on the street. And because of this, sometimes it's better, cheaper and safer to take the black taxis (especially at midnight) than the ones who refused to turn on the meter.
MULTIPLUG
Korea uses 2 pin plug but it has to be on a circular plug! I brought my 2 pin plug but it couldn't be used because it didn't fit into the 'circle' on the wall...
MOBILE PHONE
Is available for rent in Incheon Airport. I have my iphone with 3G which is also usable in Seoul. What I did was I activated my data plan and use skype to make outgoing calls. It is a lot cheaper than roaming in Seoul.
That's about all you should know about travelling in Seoul. Enjoy your trip if you are heading there :)
The preparation for Seoul trip started officially last November when I booked my air ticket from Taipei to Seoul. For such an early job, I was being rewarded by a good promo fare at USD208 for the 2.5hours flight via Korean Air.
The next to do is to settle accomodation. As Seoul Tower Ville is a very popular guest house among the Taiwanese and Japanese, I decided to book early as I do not want to be disappointed. The owner got back to me within two days confirming the reservation.
The next step is itinerary. I only started planning the itinerary after February. What I always do when I plan for a trip is get a map of the subway first and to work around the stations. I have heard that all the sights in Seoul are around the train stations, making it easily accessible for tourists. With that in mind, I googled for one of the most user-friendly map and found this:
source: http://travel.pomosa.com/Korea2007/blog%20images%202/map_korea&eng.jpg
When looking for stations, look out for the numbers at each station. Each first digit represent the line and they have from line 1 to 9. Once you get that right, it's easier for you to find what you want in the map.
You can start planning your trip using this map. Travelling along on the same line on the same day can save you a lot of time and money.
HANGUL - KOREAN CHARACTERS
I am sure when you are doing your research, you'll chance upon some places you want to go with Korean characters in the page you are looking at. My advise is to copy those down and you might not know if you will need it. Well, it certainly saved us a few times.
When we want to go to the Jjimjimbang, we got the restaurant waitress to write it on a piece of serviette and we simply showed that to the taxi driver! That was my first time doing this and I think it's such a brilliant idea!
KOREAN WON - SO MANY ZEROS
The many many zeros behind the korean currency threw me into confusion during the first few days of my trips. It didn't help that I am very poor in my maths. On the first night when I was buying some skin care products, thinking that 100,000 won which converts to SGD10, I simply grab and pay only to realize that it costs SGD100!!
And thereafter I learnt the smart way of calculating, you just take away the last 3 zeros (for Singaporeans). The answer will be the currency for SGD.
In actual fact, SGD1 = 886 won
which means 1000 won = SGD1
WEATHER
I know that it'll be cold during our time there but I didn't expect the cold to be so bad. During the day it was bearable but at night we can hardly feel our face and it's actually only about 5 degrees. I have been to Hokkaido's sub zero temperature and Beijing's winter and my verdict is, Korea's winter is more harsh.
So, dress up as warm as possible if you are visiting during the winter.
TAXI DRIVERS
Most of them are friendly. But be warned that when you are shopping in Myeongdong after midnight, most of the taxis will not turn on their meter. You can try your luck by finding the one that is willing to turn on meter but after a while we just stopped trying and paid their asking price. For a 15mins journey it should cost you around SGD10, we were being conned on the first night and gladly paid SGD20 for it.
BLACK TAXIS
The taxis in black are generally more expensive. Most of the locals avoid them. But they are the safest as all of the drivers are properly licensed. Apparently some of the taxi drivers do not have a taxi license. They can be borrowing the cars from friends or whatsoever and just picking up passengers on the street. And because of this, sometimes it's better, cheaper and safer to take the black taxis (especially at midnight) than the ones who refused to turn on the meter.
MULTIPLUG
Korea uses 2 pin plug but it has to be on a circular plug! I brought my 2 pin plug but it couldn't be used because it didn't fit into the 'circle' on the wall...
MOBILE PHONE
Is available for rent in Incheon Airport. I have my iphone with 3G which is also usable in Seoul. What I did was I activated my data plan and use skype to make outgoing calls. It is a lot cheaper than roaming in Seoul.
That's about all you should know about travelling in Seoul. Enjoy your trip if you are heading there :)
Seoul For Soul - Day 6
Breakfast @ MyeongDong - MIGABON
Today, we decided to go for porridge. And this is my MOST FAVOURITE food out of the whole trip. In fact, I am missing this now. And it's the only food I've been thinking after my Seoul trip.
The porridge is not expensive. About SGD10 per set. It is so well cooked (not too soft and watery) and it's exactly the kind of texture I love!!
How to go:
45-3, 1-ga, Myeong-Dong, Chung Gu, Seoul
After breakfast, we decided to stroll in Myeongdong before the crowds arrived...
 |
| krisy kreme |
 |
| my 3 favorites side by side |
COEX MALL
Frankly, I don't fancy Coex Mall. But if you have kids in your group, they'll love the aquarium here. As for me, the most happening place in this place is Artbox, where I get my stationery fix. Other than that, we're not too keen in the usual 'mall shops' and we actually left the place pretty quickly.
STANDING BBQ IN SEOUL - SEO SEO GALBI
Lunch is traditional BBQ place @ Sinchon area. My partner saw this being recommended in Japan TV Channel and that's how we ended up here. It is full of locals and a lot of Japanese!
 |
| doing my best... |
 |
| done! |
The meat cost about 14,000won for 150gram, which is about SGD16. They only serve beef.
How to go:
MRT Line 2, Sinchon station, exit 7, walk straight to the first traffic lights and cross the traffic. It is just at the steep hills at your right. You should be there in 5 mins after exiting the station.
about 5mins
12pm to 8.30pm
*they do not serve rice but there is a minimart around the corner whereby you can buy a packet of steam rice and have it microwaved there
GWANGHWAMUN STATION - KYOBO BOOKSTORE
This was a pleasant surprise. I have been looking for bookstores/stationery shops everywhere I go (thinking that they are easily available everywhere, I didn't really put an effort in this part of research but I was wrong) but failed and when I chanced upon Kyobo Bookstore I went crazy.
I love stationery, all the cute stuffs and of course, books as well, which do not apply in this scenerio because I won't understand the lingo even.
Kyobo Bookstore is one of Korean's biggest chain of bookstores. There's a character shop, stationery store and a music store where you can listen to your favourite albums. It has tons and tons of books but the foreign books are housed in a corner with many different foreign languages available.
The stationery section is huge!! Really big!! The price is sooooo attractive! I"m sure you'll love shopping there if you are crazy over stationery :)
How to go:
Gwanghwamun station (line 5) exit #3 is directly connected to the bookstore.
CHEONGGYECHEON STREAM
An iconic sight in the middle of Seoul City is a stream which stretch 8.4m long. Forty years ago, the stream was covered underground with highway on top. In 2003, the then Seoul Mayor spent 386billion won to restore the stream. At that time, he was being criticised but now, the stream is enjoyed widely by locals and tourists.
SEOUL TOWER OR NAMSAN TOWER
Namsan Tower is very near to our guest house. If we were to walk uphill, it'll take us 10-15mins to reach the cable car station.
Ticket costs 7000won and each cable car can carry quite a number of people so even though we chose to go at night with the after-office crowds, the wait was not long.
 |
| the cable car |
Namsan Tower's visit ended my Seoul trip in a beautiful note. I love Seoul for shopping. I am quite disappointed with the food as I have higher expectations of the BBQ food but of all the meals I've eaten, they are nice but they are not impressive enough. I also need to get use to the people, while we call it 'rude' it is 'normal' to the locals. My Korean teacher was telling me that it's bec Koreans treat everyone like family members hence you tend to take family members for granted thus there was no need to say 'sorry' if they knock into you or cut into your path.
After a few days me and my travelling partner got used to the locals and even live and behave like them. We reckoned since we can't beat them, there's no point getting upset over it, we might as well join them and blend in.
Seoul is unexpectedly affordable. It is like a trip to Thailand, minus the air ticket cost. Everything is so affordable. The best time to go seoul should be April (Spring) and October (Autumn). Seoul city has nothing much to offer except shopping. If you are looking for more than that, be sure to head out to the outskirts, which I hoped to do next time :)
Seoul For Soul - Day 5
MYEONGDONG
The other side of my boots went haywire yesterday and so I need to find a cobbler AGAIN to mend it as I've 2 more days to my trip. I am prepared to throw this pair of boot away and wear out whatever I still have at home (at least another 4 pairs) so I am determined to not go home with a new pair!
It didn't take us much effort to find a cobbler in Myeongdong. By the way, mending one side of the boot cost me 5000won which is about SGD5.50. Not very expensive and they did a good job.
 |
| the cobbler mending my right boot |
 |
| @ Myeongdong |
 |
| high class departmental store @ Myeongdong |
 |
| one of the most popular hotels in Myeongdong, Hotel Ibis, location is solid!! |
SAMCHUNG-DONG
Samchung-Dong is the heart of old seoul and near to the president's office. It has an old part of Seoul and many may small little cafes everywhere.
It is also THE place to be seen during weekends.
 |
| many traditional houses still line the streets of Samchungdong |
 |
| Nescafe Cafe |
 |
| this street will be pretty during spring with the sakura blosoms |
 |
| very popular eatery |
 |
| which has appeared in tv before |
 |
| cute little boutiques appear in every corner in Samchungdong |
 |
| Spotted: A Jjimjimbang in Samchungdong |
 |
| Add caption |
 |
| the restaurant which normally has a queue like snake - we were lucky, got in immeidately as it was not meal time |
 |
 |
| and this is their specialty |
 |
| standing in front of the president's office |
 |
| cafe with people chilling at the rooftop of the cafe |
 |
 |
| these are what we ordered in Zoo Coffee |
Bukchon Hanok Village is home to hundreds of traditional Korean houses called 'Hanok' which dated back to the Joseon Dynasty. 'Bukchon' means northern village and this place is exactly at the northern side of Seoul.
Today, some of the houses here are being used as art galleries, restaurants, cafes, tea houses, cultural centres and guesthouses, allowing tourists and visitors to immerse in traditional Korean culture.
 |
| some of the houses are still occupied by families |
 |
| a motor bike at the door of a house - these are for the riders to warm their hands during winter |
 |
| our korean friend, Natalie trying to explain to us what the pictures outside the cafe meant but i was not listening... too distracted by other stuffs around me |
After the old houses, we went back to the main street and saw more cafes...
 |
| our korean friends insisted we tried this dumpling... |
 |
| many people were trying to catch a glimpse of her, we do not know who she is but decided to take a picture first, just in case...haha... |
 |
| beautiful people in a cafe... |
 |
| my friend finds her pretty but i don't think so |
 |
| our dinner that night...@ a local Korean restaurant |
 |
| eggs - wonder why it is green...hmm... |
GANGNAM
We decided to head back to Gangnam after our dinner. Our friend dropped us at Gangnam area and it's really different from the day we were there! It is definitely a weekend place! Remember to visit Gangnam and witness it's vibrance on Fri/Sat nights!
 |
| when you see room.hof.soju, it means a place where there will be hostesses entertaining you! |
 |
| one of the clubs spotted |
 |
| KTV |
 |
| we end the night with dunkin donuts |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)