Hokkaido Spring Day 1: Hakodate, Goryokaku Park & Mt. Hakodate

I took a red eye flight with a layover in Kuala Lumpur on my first ever trip to Hokkaido. I had bought the tickets only 3 weeks before the trip so AirAsia’s tickets were the only ones I could get that didn’t break my bank. My return tickets cost me SGD$628.50




My flight was scheduled to fly at 8:45 pm and it was a whirlwind of a busy day! Thank God I managed to get everything together in time! After finishing all my morning and afternoon appointments, I rushed home and took the MRT to the airport because what do you think? because I’m cheap! I checked myself in with AirAsia's check-in booth to avoid having my bag weighed. I hadn’t bought any baggage space for the trip over (Cheap alert!) but I think I might have accidentally crossed the 7kg limit by one of two kilos, oops=X. I had grand visions of leisurely whizzing through the departure gates with just the booth printed boarding pass but verification of travel documents was required for entry into Japan so I was sent back to the counters to have my passport checked.





Had a brief layover at KLIA. Maybe it's the fact that I'm flying a Budget airline this time but man, the boarding gate between my flights were so far away! I also had to go through the x-ray machines twice even though it was a transfer. The last time I flew with Malaysia Airline to Osaka, I didn't have to do any of that. Was it just a difference in airline or are they stepping up security after that fiasco?

From Busan to HwaGae Cherry Blossom Festival

I spent my 3rd day in Korea in the rural side of Hadong. I ventured out in seek of the HwaJae Cherry Blossoms Festival and to seek out the famous marriage road !

 

How to get there:
Start at Busan Seobu Bus Terminal. Buy a 13,300 ticket for HwaGae Bus Terminal. The journey should take you around 2hours 30 mins. Yes, it's a Long, Long ride. 

Bus timetable:  http://eng.hadong.go.kr/sub/05_01_02.asp

Official website: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_2_1.jsp?cid=700651 

 

As a tourist who speaks no Hangul and barely did her research, my adventure is no short of mistakes and hilarious antics. Continue reading to learn how a potato like me managed to reach Hwagae.

Busan: Dalmaji-gil Road & Namcheongdong Cherry Blossom Road

Day 2 of my #YoloKorea tour for the seasonal Cherry Blossoms! I returned from Jinhae very late the night before and had a 14 hours (layover included) flight to Korea. You can imagine the amount of effort it took to roll out of bed the next morning.

After Jinhae's famous Cherry Blossom Festival, the next event I wanted to attend was the Hadong Cherry Blossom Festival. Hadong was even further than Jinhae and given my risen hour, it was clearly not a good idea to proceed. So I seek my lovely hostel manager's travel advice and went to Dalmaji-gil road instead! 
 

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!