Korea Shopping Haul !

Even though I went to Korea mainly to catch the Cherry Blossoms, I didn’t waste the chance for a good haul. So I set aside more time to go shopping during this trip hhehehe. Here is my haul video!

 

Day trip to Jinhae Gunhangje & GyeongHwa Train station

Everyone should probably know how obsessed with Cherry Blossoms I am, having flew to Japan twice in a row to catch it. This year, I decided to do something different. I decided at the very last minute to fly to South Korea for them. Yes, It was a blizzard and frivolous arrangement. 

In case you’re interested, Cherry blossoms are called beotkkot in Korean.  

I didn't feel like going to Japan again because I've been there 3 times last year and the bloom I witnessed last year left me entirely satisfied. Fuelled in part by the fact that the flights were all horrendously expensive, I ditched Japan and hopped to South Korea instead! After all , it's been 5 years since I've been there! I want to make an entry about how I plan my itineraries/trips to make it both fun and budget friendly but I don't think anyone would be interested haha. 
 
Anyway I flew into Busan via Vietnam Airline, had a longgggg layover in Noi Bai Airport and finally arrived in Busan. And after checking into my lovely hostel, sped straight to Jinhae. Check out my vlog below!
 

 

Noi Bai Airport, Terminal 1 Sleeping Pods

As I’ve mentioned in my previous posts, I had more than 17 hours of layover in Hanoi’s Noi Bai Airport. I spent 6 hours and 40 minutes lingering in the departure lounge for my first trip. And then spent another daunting 11 hours and 10 minutes in Noi Bai Airport Terminal 1 for the return trip.


I couldn’t stand the idea of lounging around the departure lounge for 11 hours in the wee of the night so I decided to try Noi Bai Airport's new Sleeping Pods. Prior to booking the pods, I considered the possibility of getting a normal hotel room outside of the airport since they were much more affordable, bigger and had all the proper facilities. But the reviews made me a little scared and I didn’t want to risk missing my flight, so I went with a sleeping Pod instead.

Photo from http://noibaiairport.vn/

I arrived at Terminal 2 but rented a pod at Terminal 1 because Terminal 2 only had Twin beds and I didn’t want to waste my money renting an extra bed hehee.

Noi Bai Airport Terminal 2, Departure Lounge

For my Spring Korea trip, I flew with Vietnam Airlines and spend more than 17 hours in Noi Bai Airport. For my first layover of 6 hours 40 minutes, I choose to stay within the Departure/transit zone because it was a little too late to venture out. Coupled with the fact that I had to rush back to the airport to check in for my connecting flight meant I only had less than 4 hours to do any sort of touring. Check out my review of Vietnam Airlines here!

Noi Bair AIrport has 2 Terminals. Terminal 1 is older and as of current, only serves domestic flights. Terminal 2 has just been opened in January 2015, is spanking new and serves international flights. If you are coming into or flying out of Hanoi, it’s likely you will be going to the newly opened Terminal 2. Which is good, because Terminal 2 is so much better!

I wanted to write this entry to share my experience at the Noi Bai Airport Terminal 2 Departure/Transit zone because when I did my own travel research, the lack of information online was so frustrating. So here’s the low down!

 

Noi Bai Airport Website: http://noibaiairport.vn/HOME/Default.aspx

 

 

 

My Vietnam Airlines Experience

For my recent blizzard Korea trip (blizzard because I was crazy enough to decide and then buy the plane tickets 2 days before flying. It was my most frivolous trip yet haha) , I flew with Vietnamese Airlines and had more than 17 hours of layover in total, in Noi Bai Airport. 

 

 

Being the Budget conscious traveller I am and having bought my tickets this late meant I had little flight choices. I went with the cheapest flight from Vietnam Airline. It cost me $496.03, tax and booking fee included. 

Vietnamese airline offers a wide range of flight timings to Seoul and Busan. However, they pretty much all have layovers in Hanoi Airport. check out my short write up of my time at the Hanoi Airport transit/departure area. 

Having layovers twice meant I took 4 different air planes. And I'm here with a short entry about my experience with Vietnam airline. 

How to dye your hair Pink with Food Dye

And so for the past month or so, I've been sporting a vibrant head of peachy pink. I bleached my hair 3 times with Gatsby's EX Hi-Bleach, giving myself a couple of days in between to rest my scalp.

10 tips to travelling Japan for Cheap!

I marvelled my friends when I told them I travelled Japan for 15 days, covered 5 cities, 1 distant village and spent a grand total of just SGD $1730, all inclusive! I kinda cheated a little by spending 6 nights at 2 friend’s place. But given my spending record, even with 6 additional days of accommodation, I doubt I would burst SGD $2000.

And take note that within those 15 days, I did not starve. There were even days that I even splurged on restaurants (Korean Barbeque and Japanese Sukiyaki, yums!) and presents for my family and friends back home. So I'm here to share a few tips on how to travel Japan for cheap.

Tips to packing light for travel!

Packing light is essential for a solo traveller. It is especially important if you need to be on-the-go a lot, chasing trains and changing destination every other day because the weight (or lack of it) will allow you to move faster and be less vulnerable in undesirable situations. In many big cities, navigating the crowded train stations and going up flights of stairs with a bulky luggage is something you will not enjoy. There’s just so many perks to travelling light and I’m here to share with you some tips on how I pack. 

 

 
Just to let you know, I went to Europe for 6 weeks and did the Trans-siberian for 7 weeks all with just a carry on baggage. The key is to prepare even before you open up your suitcase!

There is too much travel packing tips to share so this blog entry shall focus only on tips that directly decreases your travel load. 

Data sim card vending machines in Narita Airport

I onced blogged & vlogged about acquiring a Data sim card in Japan via pre-order. It’s been 2 years since that blog and Japan have finally opened up it’s telecommunication options for tourist, perhaps in a bid to win back it’s dwindling tourism. None the less, the new sim card purchasing option is far easier and cheaper. I blogged about a similar data sim card for purchase in Kansai previously, click here to check it out.

LIke the new Data sim card option in Kansai, Data sim card vending machines are available in Tokyo. I’ve been able to acquire them in both Narita Airport Terminal 1 and 2 last year without fail. When I was there, I found 2 different vending machines carrying a different brand of Data sim card.

Narita Airport , Terminal 1

Italian Alps: 3 days at the Dolomites

When I was planning my europe trip,  i found myself lost and uncertain of where to go. Everywhere seemed great and everywhere was worth a go. I soon came to the realisation that i was never going to be able to finish everything and the only thing I can do is focus on one objective. So I turned to Rick Steve's website and referenced his Alpine itinerary because enjoying the great outdoor was what I prefer. Since i have more time at my disposal,  i slotted Cologne and Prague into my itinerary and then moved to the highlands afterwards.

 

6 days in the Mongolian Gobi Desert!

Mongolia has always been a mysterious land to me. Almost always portrayed either as an enemy nation in Chinese period dramas or just shown as a land of distinct barrenness. But there is an indescribably rustic yet romantic appeal to its' vast lands and nomadic life. And that was what brought me here. In fact, my entire Trans Siberian journey was motivated by Mongolia.

After some intensive online research, I decided to stay 8 nights in Sunpath Mongolia.  Other than its tourist friendly website, the fact that they do a lot of tours was the main reason I decided to stay with them.
 

 
Mu friends were surprised when I told them I joined a tour group in Mongolia. After all, I'm known to be a free spirited DIY traveller that couldn't care less for a rigid schedule. If you are Travelling to Mongolia, here's my tip; get a guide/driver or join a travel group. Because there is NO WAY you can enjoy the Mongolian wilderness by yourself without public transport or experience in outdoor camping and navigation. Another thing to be afraid of is being robbed when you are camping alone in the vast wilderness so no, don't go alone.
 
Since I was there for only 8 nights, I settled on a 6 days tour to the Gobi Desert . This blog entry shall document my experience of those 6 days. 

Japanese Makeup Review!

I finally did this review! It was quite a bit of work and took a while for me to really test the different makeup before I reviewed them. I love travelling to Japan and I love trying out Japanese drugstore makeup. So here are some of the Japanese makeup I’ve tried and reviewed! Enjoy!

!