South Korea Trip 2018 : Doing The Maths!
In other words, budget.
I honestly didn't think I would be writing about this first, out of everything that I could have written about my Korea trip. But since this seems to be what more of my friends wanted to read about, here you go!
So the trip was 11D 10N, accurately around 10 full days. My friend and I settled beforehand for air tickets (4 flights), accommodation (10 nights), and 2 entrance tickets (Lotte World & N Seoul Tower). And at first I only planned to change about another RM 900 (±246.58k KRW) to bring along (which later I found out that was such a naive thinking and I forgot to add in SIM card budget).
Further breakdown as follows:-
Total Spent : RM ±3600 (±986.30k KRW)
Flights x4 : RM ±1150
Accommodation x10N : RM ±700
Admission tickets x2 : RM ±150
Currency Exchanged : RM 1600 (±430k KRW, actual exchanged amount=427.14k KRW)
*note that all currency exchange rate is counted at 1000KRW = RM3.65, rounded off to approximate calculation.
The exchange rate depends on the place you exchange at (my friend managed to exchange at 1000KRW = RM3.60), and while we were there ringgit dropped and I had to exchange at around 1000KRW = RM4 in Korea.
#1. Flights
As many should know already, just look out for cheap flight tickets. And from what I observed, they are usually lower priced around 2-3 months before the flight date. BUT, it really depends, so the best is to just keep checking back (internet tip is to use incognito window while checking so you don't leave records of searching up for the same flight and that might increase the price, idk).
Our flight was booked around 2 months before our flight, which includes:
1. KL to Seoul (Air Asia) - RM±380
2. Seoul to Jeju (T'way Air) - RM±100
3. Jeju to Busan (Busan Air) - RM±100
4. Busan to KL (Air Asia) - RM±500 (shared luggage - RM±70)
Side note: Busan Air seat space was the widest out of the 3.
#2. Accommodation
Approximately RM70 per night per person. It can definitely go lower but this is about the price to get a place comfy enough and not too expensive. We booked all our accommodation on airbnb. As they have a pretty neat rating system and they really do assess the feedbacks, as long as you check a little on the comments and make sure of the location not being too far off from places you want to go to, it shouldn't be too bad (read the comments, this is quite important imo). Also, be aware that rooms AND beds may be smaller in reality compared to the photos displayed on booking sites (therefore READ THE COMMENTS).
#3. Admission tickets / etc
As mentioned we bought Lotte World (RM±110) and N Seoul Tower (RM±20) tickets beforehand, but I later learned that you can get N Seoul Tower tickets and some other places at a discounted price in Korea itself as well by using promo codes given by your Tmoney card pack or your sim card pack. Anyway, the admission for N Seoul Tower isn't that expensive originally either (as you really only go up the tower for some city view from a higher vantage point).
But I would still recommend to get Lotte World tickets (or any other famous spots) on sites such as klook or kkday beforehand at a discounted price to avoid hassles and disappointments on ticket availability (*cough*btsexhibitiontickets*cough*). We bought 1 Day Pass only as we're not really interested in the Aquarium and honestly 1 day isn't enough to try everything out (we didn't even manage to go on anything outdoor because it was raining the whole day and we were there since about 10am to 6pm).
We also spent another 22k KRW (RM±80.30) on Hanbok renting (including hairdressing 12k KRW), Camellia Hill (8k KRW) and Cheonjiyeon Falls (2k KRW) in Jeju. Unfortunately as we went at the end of Summer going intoSpring Autumn (I just noticed my mistake!), there wasn't much to see in Camellia Hill.
#4. Food & drink
We didn't really ate 3 meals a day, more like 1 proper meal per day and maybe another small meal or snacks. It wasn't on purpose, we didn't starve ourselves and we ate when we are hungry, it's more like we're too tired to feel hungry I guess. We had 1 more expensive meal which is samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly), costed 12k KRW each. And with that, I still spent in total about 130k KRW (RM±474.50).
The calculation goes like the most basic meal of a bowl of noodle or a plate of fried rice is about 5-8k KRW (which is RM±18-30). But if you really want to stay in budget, the find-me-everywhere convenient stores really has a lot of options at a cheaper price (kimbap & dosirangs besides the not-so-healthy ramen choices), ranging from 1-5k KRW.
#5. Transport
This part is another part that I didn't expect to spend this much on. I initially only allocated RM10 per day (RM100 in total), which would have been close to possible if we only took public transport to get to and fro our accommodation, but we didn't want to have sore legs throughout the trip so we avoided walking for distances that will roughly take more than 20 minutes from day 3 onwards.
Hence, I spent about 78.55k KRW (RM±285)on this. The average charge of public transports within the same city is about 1.2k per ride. And I find the railway to be more worth the money than buses because you don't have to worry about jams or sudden brakes or getting on and off the transport in a rain. And the railway covers quite a lot of places especially tourist spots, but then it is not available in Jeju.
Transport Card
Upon arriving the airport, our first target was to buy a local SIM card (which we did successfully straight out of the gate) and a public transport card (public transport rides with card is cheaper). After walking a few minutes from the gate, we first saw only a K-rail selling kiosk, and due to thinking that we didn't spot any other selling kiosk and that we would need the card as we need to take the railway to get to Seoul city centre, we bought it. And then we spotted a T-money auto-selling machine near the airport railway entrance and the card is much prettier, so we decided to buy another one to use even though their functionality is the same (p.s.: if anyone wants a K-rail card please let me know, I can give it to you). The cards itself were 4k KRW each.
#6. Others (souvenirs, merch, selfcare/makeup, etc.)
Originally allocated about RM300 for merch and souvenirs only, but I ended up spending most of my exchanged money on this part (I gave up in the middle of the trip and just bought things that I really like but still within my extended budget of course HAHAHAH). In the end, I also got myself some selfcare/makeup products besides merch and souvenirs (plus another 1 album for a friend), hence added up to ±160k KRW (RM±584).
To be honest, you really don't have to fly all the way to Korea to buy usual selfcare/makeup products especially the ones that are available in your home country like for Malaysia because the price difference isn't that much. Unless you're buying in bulks, or if you're looking for products that aren't available back at home, otherwise it's not worth all the trouble. Same goes to food products. Spend your money on getting some good local meals or experiencing Korea or something else instead.
Food & drinks: ±130k KRW (RM±474.50)
Transport: 78.55k KRW (RM286.71)
SIM card: 38.5k KRW (RM140.53/10 days)
Extra admission tickets: 22k KRW (RM80.30)
Others: ±160k KRW (RM±584)
We spent most of our money in Seoul (my spending there was about 296.6k KRW including the SIM card), as we were there for the longest (about 5-6 days) and did most of our shopping there as well (merch & products). Jeju and Busan spending are about the same, which were both mainly on food and souvenirs.
In conclusion, I saved a lot on #1:souvenirs & #2:accommodation & #3:food&drinks. Because #1: I can't afford to splurge on souvenirs yet as I just started work not too long ago so I'm on a tight budget and didn't they say souvenirs are just a modest token from the giver? *wink wink* & #2: budget accommodation nowadays are really good (but again you get what you pay for).
If I were to go to Korea again in the future, I would definitely cut down on transport and admissions and focus on food & drinks and merch, as some places don't really need a second time visit and I probably should gain back some walking stamina.
Hope this helps and isn't too lengthy for y'all. Will be writing more on the trip insights soon (I hope).
Also hoping for the day that ringgit can become stronger so the currency exchange won't be so scary so that I can plan for another trip soon, that or me becoming a millionaire overnight.
'Til next time!
I honestly didn't think I would be writing about this first, out of everything that I could have written about my Korea trip. But since this seems to be what more of my friends wanted to read about, here you go!
So the trip was 11D 10N, accurately around 10 full days. My friend and I settled beforehand for air tickets (4 flights), accommodation (10 nights), and 2 entrance tickets (Lotte World & N Seoul Tower). And at first I only planned to change about another RM 900 (±246.58k KRW) to bring along (which later I found out that was such a naive thinking and I forgot to add in SIM card budget).
Further breakdown as follows:-
Total Spent : RM ±3600 (±986.30k KRW)
Flights x4 : RM ±1150
Accommodation x10N : RM ±700
Admission tickets x2 : RM ±150
Currency Exchanged : RM 1600 (±430k KRW, actual exchanged amount=427.14k KRW)
*note that all currency exchange rate is counted at 1000KRW = RM3.65, rounded off to approximate calculation.
The exchange rate depends on the place you exchange at (my friend managed to exchange at 1000KRW = RM3.60), and while we were there ringgit dropped and I had to exchange at around 1000KRW = RM4 in Korea.
 |
| HELLO! (spot my travel partner: Ee Xuan, on the right) |
#1. Flights
As many should know already, just look out for cheap flight tickets. And from what I observed, they are usually lower priced around 2-3 months before the flight date. BUT, it really depends, so the best is to just keep checking back (internet tip is to use incognito window while checking so you don't leave records of searching up for the same flight and that might increase the price, idk).
Our flight was booked around 2 months before our flight, which includes:
1. KL to Seoul (Air Asia) - RM±380
2. Seoul to Jeju (T'way Air) - RM±100
3. Jeju to Busan (Busan Air) - RM±100
4. Busan to KL (Air Asia) - RM±500 (shared luggage - RM±70)
Side note: Busan Air seat space was the widest out of the 3.
 |
| Reasons to love evening flights, & window seats. |
#2. Accommodation
Approximately RM70 per night per person. It can definitely go lower but this is about the price to get a place comfy enough and not too expensive. We booked all our accommodation on airbnb. As they have a pretty neat rating system and they really do assess the feedbacks, as long as you check a little on the comments and make sure of the location not being too far off from places you want to go to, it shouldn't be too bad (read the comments, this is quite important imo). Also, be aware that rooms AND beds may be smaller in reality compared to the photos displayed on booking sites (therefore READ THE COMMENTS).
 |
| Taken from the rooftop of the best airbnb we had in the whole trip. |
#3. Admission tickets / etc
As mentioned we bought Lotte World (RM±110) and N Seoul Tower (RM±20) tickets beforehand, but I later learned that you can get N Seoul Tower tickets and some other places at a discounted price in Korea itself as well by using promo codes given by your Tmoney card pack or your sim card pack. Anyway, the admission for N Seoul Tower isn't that expensive originally either (as you really only go up the tower for some city view from a higher vantage point).
But I would still recommend to get Lotte World tickets (or any other famous spots) on sites such as klook or kkday beforehand at a discounted price to avoid hassles and disappointments on ticket availability (*cough*btsexhibitiontickets*cough*). We bought 1 Day Pass only as we're not really interested in the Aquarium and honestly 1 day isn't enough to try everything out (we didn't even manage to go on anything outdoor because it was raining the whole day and we were there since about 10am to 6pm).
We also spent another 22k KRW (RM±80.30) on Hanbok renting (including hairdressing 12k KRW), Camellia Hill (8k KRW) and Cheonjiyeon Falls (2k KRW) in Jeju. Unfortunately as we went at the end of Summer going into
 |
| N Seoul tower, it's nice to chill here even if you don't want to get into the tower, just stay outdoors with no need of admission fee. |
#4. Food & drink
We didn't really ate 3 meals a day, more like 1 proper meal per day and maybe another small meal or snacks. It wasn't on purpose, we didn't starve ourselves and we ate when we are hungry, it's more like we're too tired to feel hungry I guess. We had 1 more expensive meal which is samgyeopsal (grilled pork belly), costed 12k KRW each. And with that, I still spent in total about 130k KRW (RM±474.50).
The calculation goes like the most basic meal of a bowl of noodle or a plate of fried rice is about 5-8k KRW (which is RM±18-30). But if you really want to stay in budget, the find-me-everywhere convenient stores really has a lot of options at a cheaper price (kimbap & dosirangs besides the not-so-healthy ramen choices), ranging from 1-5k KRW.
 |
| Our most expensive meal, but it's worth it. |
#5. Transport
This part is another part that I didn't expect to spend this much on. I initially only allocated RM10 per day (RM100 in total), which would have been close to possible if we only took public transport to get to and fro our accommodation, but we didn't want to have sore legs throughout the trip so we avoided walking for distances that will roughly take more than 20 minutes from day 3 onwards.
Hence, I spent about 78.55k KRW (RM±285)on this. The average charge of public transports within the same city is about 1.2k per ride. And I find the railway to be more worth the money than buses because you don't have to worry about jams or sudden brakes or getting on and off the transport in a rain. And the railway covers quite a lot of places especially tourist spots, but then it is not available in Jeju.
Transport Card
Upon arriving the airport, our first target was to buy a local SIM card (which we did successfully straight out of the gate) and a public transport card (public transport rides with card is cheaper). After walking a few minutes from the gate, we first saw only a K-rail selling kiosk, and due to thinking that we didn't spot any other selling kiosk and that we would need the card as we need to take the railway to get to Seoul city centre, we bought it. And then we spotted a T-money auto-selling machine near the airport railway entrance and the card is much prettier, so we decided to buy another one to use even though their functionality is the same (p.s.: if anyone wants a K-rail card please let me know, I can give it to you). The cards itself were 4k KRW each.
 |
| Top: K-rail, bottom: T-money. |
#6. Others (souvenirs, merch, selfcare/makeup, etc.)
Originally allocated about RM300 for merch and souvenirs only, but I ended up spending most of my exchanged money on this part (I gave up in the middle of the trip and just bought things that I really like but still within my extended budget of course HAHAHAH). In the end, I also got myself some selfcare/makeup products besides merch and souvenirs (plus another 1 album for a friend), hence added up to ±160k KRW (RM±584).
To be honest, you really don't have to fly all the way to Korea to buy usual selfcare/makeup products especially the ones that are available in your home country like for Malaysia because the price difference isn't that much. Unless you're buying in bulks, or if you're looking for products that aren't available back at home, otherwise it's not worth all the trouble. Same goes to food products. Spend your money on getting some good local meals or experiencing Korea or something else instead.
 |
| The most expensive thing that I bought from Korea, hunted and got it on day 1 itself :P |
Total Currency Exchanged: ±430k KRW
Summary of Spendings in Korea itself:-Food & drinks: ±130k KRW (RM±474.50)
Transport: 78.55k KRW (RM286.71)
SIM card: 38.5k KRW (RM140.53/10 days)
Extra admission tickets: 22k KRW (RM80.30)
Others: ±160k KRW (RM±584)
We spent most of our money in Seoul (my spending there was about 296.6k KRW including the SIM card), as we were there for the longest (about 5-6 days) and did most of our shopping there as well (merch & products). Jeju and Busan spending are about the same, which were both mainly on food and souvenirs.
In conclusion, I saved a lot on #1:souvenirs & #2:accommodation & #3:food&drinks. Because #1: I can't afford to splurge on souvenirs yet as I just started work not too long ago so I'm on a tight budget and didn't they say souvenirs are just a modest token from the giver? *wink wink* & #2: budget accommodation nowadays are really good (but again you get what you pay for).
If I were to go to Korea again in the future, I would definitely cut down on transport and admissions and focus on food & drinks and merch, as some places don't really need a second time visit and I probably should gain back some walking stamina.
 |
| Yours Truly, pc to travel partner Ee Xuan :) |
Hope this helps and isn't too lengthy for y'all. Will be writing more on the trip insights soon (I hope).
Also hoping for the day that ringgit can become stronger so the currency exchange won't be so scary so that I can plan for another trip soon, that or me becoming a millionaire overnight.
'Til next time!
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