Walk with Cham in Seoul & Busan South Korea during winter for 9 Days.
After so many entries for my Winter in South Korea getaway, I will be ending it with this post- My 9 day winter itinerary and estimated expense during the whole trip. As I have said before, this was my family and I's first winter experience and it was not just any other winter wandering. We spent it on two important holiday events- Christmas and New Year. Christmas in Seoul and New Year in Busan. Another first for my family to be celebrating it outside the Philippines so this trip was quite special. We stayed for 5 1/2 days in Seoul and 3 1/2 days in Busan.
The first day of 2016 was spent visiting a temple and not just an ordinary temple. Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is the most popular among all the other buddhist temples in Busan especially during New Year.
Gamcheon Culture Village is one of the top tourist attractions in Busan. After appreciating this charming community I have to say that this village SHOULD be on every Busan travel checklist.
My brother greatly influenced us to watch foreign films back when we were in college. Being a Communication Arts major, I also had a fair share of foreign/indie films titles that we got to appreciate together as a family. This sorta became our weekly family bonding. So when my brother had learned that we will be visiting Busan, he immediately mentioned that he wanted to visit Busan International Film Festival. Although we were a few months behind the actual event, visiting any landmark of BIFF would still be meaningful.
The moment we arrived in Busan, Jagalchi Fish Market was the first place we went to. We missed out all the fish markets in Seoul but this particular fish market should not be missed. It's the biggest in Korea!
Aside from Seoul, Busan is another city in South Korea that is popular among tourists. This bustling city is known for its beaches, seafood, temples, artsy village and film festivals. For our recent winter trip in South Korea, we visited two cities- Seoul and Busan. Our first 6 days in the country was spent in Seoul and its nearby provinces to experience all sorts of winter activities while the latter part of our vacation was spent in Busan. Because it is located at the southern part of the country, the weather here is more tolerable during winter (temperature is from 12 to -5 degrees the time we visited). So yes, warmer weather means no gloves, no earmuffs and no scarf (sometimes) and of course no snow.
I listed here the places we visited during our 3 1/2 day stay in the city.
My second time at an Airbnb. First was at Seoul (Read White Bamboo Airbnb). After 6 days in Seoul my family and I went to another adventure and traveled to Busan (Read KTX from Seoul to Busan). We checked in again at an Airbnb.
After our freezing episodes in Seoul for 6 days it was time to move to a different and warmer city (new year, new city!) Busan is located in the southern part of South Korea so during winter season the weather is more tolerable in Busan. Busan was also our exit point going back to Manila so if you have the same itinerary as ours (Manila- Incheon -Busan -Manila) and want to try the same thing that we did, here is the detailed course we took from Seoul to Busan.
Kimchi Making with Cham and Luvy at Seoul Kimchi Academy Seoul.
My mama loves to cook to the extent that she enrolls in so many short course cooking classes just to add more knowledge in her already ample cooking wisdom. Before we went to Korea I asked my family for the places they wanted to visit so I could include it in our itinerary and her only wish was to learn how to make an authentic kimchi. Wish granted, Mama.
Mighty Ducks is one of the movies that made a big impact on my childhood life. I remember during summer we would roller skate at a park in Makati joining other cool skater cliques, feeling as if we were part of the famous hockey team chanting 'quack, quack, quack' #milestone. So after more than 20 years, I rekindled my love for skating in an outdoor ice skating rink in Seoul.
Dongdaemun Design Plaza is an avant-garde futuristic landmark located in the center of Dongdaemun. This UFO-shaped building hosts all design/art related events such as fashion shows, art exhibits, conferences and other gatherings.
Christmas light displays are always present during the holidays. It gives you that Yuletide ambiance perfect for the cheerful holiday and in South Korea Christmas lights can be found everywhere and one of the famous spots we went to was Cheonggyecheon Stream.
Pyeongchang Trout Festival is a famous winter festival in South Korea where ice fishing and other winter activities take place. It is located in the town of Jinbu, 2.5 hours away from Seoul via land travel. Because of its distance from Seoul, we were having second thoughts of going here but because we desperately wanted to try ice fishing we figured to take the risk for the sake of catching trouts.
Because it was our first time to experience winter, it was a must to try winter sports activities. Luckily, my family and I were able to try a few popular sports activities in South Korea, 1 hour 30 minutes away from Seoul.
Bearstown Ski Resort is one of the many ski resorts in South Korea. Because this is the closest ski resort from Seoul, this was our preferred destination. Here you can do several winter activities like skiing, snowboarding and sledding, they also offer ski lessons for those of you who want to learn the sport further. The ski resort comprises of different levels of slope depending on your skill.
Every tropical girl dreams of experiencing WINTER. I've been fantasizing about it since I was young - like walking on white snowy pavement, looking at the snowflakes dropping from the sky and wouldn't mind freezing to death because I got to wear the cutest winter outfits. So at last, that long time dream came into reality just last December. My family (parents and brother) got to tick White Christmas off our bucket list. The good thing about it was that we didn't go that far. In Asia, there are several countries that have 4 seasons - China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. And because we just went to China last year (Read Things to do in Beijing China) while Japan and Russia's airfare were way beyond our budget we opted to settle for South Korea for 10 days (yes, this was where we celebrated Christmas and New Year). To make the most out of our trip we visited 2 cities and 2 provinces, entered in Incheon (Seoul) and departed from Busan.
When my family and I decided to experience white christmas in South Korea for 10 days, we thought that it would be more convenient to rent at an Airbnb. What is an Airbnb? It is a website to list, find and rent lodging. A vacation rental from local hosts in more than 190 countries which can either be a home, condominium, apartment or hostel. Perfect for travelers who want cheaper accommodation compared to hotels and it also has amenities that standard hotels cannot provide (you'll find out later on as you read this blog)
For Filipinas like us, it's no surprise that most of us (like me) are not used to the winter season. Living in a tropical country the coldest we can get is when we travel to Tagaytay or Baguio where temperature drops to 14 degrees depending on the season you're visiting. For my year ender trip, my family decided to spend the holidays at South Korea which has four seasons including winter. Winter season in South Korea occurs from the start of December until early March and since we went there from December- January, yes it was our first winter wonderland experience it had a temperature between 5 to -7 degrees. brrr.
You know your boyfriend supports your wanderlusting when he gives you a travel buddy like a GoPro for a Christmas gift rather than designer bags or luxury jewelries. I've been dropping hints to Mike about wanting a GoPro for myself and for this Christmas season he became my Santa Claus and actually surprise me with this. hohoho.
