Tag: south korea

Train to Busan

Train to Busan

by elainevitikainen ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

I wasn’t really keen in visiting Busan. I had this idea that it would be good to visit during the summer as it is a city by the sea. But who can resist a Train to Busan as a title! Yes, we took the KTX train to Busan which took us 2 hours and 15 minutes while the regular trains will take up to 6 hours. (The KTX trains are the Korean equivalent to the Japanese Bullet trains yet so much less expensive.) It was a smooth, uneventful train ride. Although, a question was posted on my TikTok asking if there were zombies! 🙂

Our hotel was right infront of the Haeundae Beach and across the Busan X the Sky, a 100 floors building . Our room was facing the ocean so it was so lovely! Haeundae beach is really clean and beautiful. It was fun to look at the skyscrapers coming to life at dusk. For dinner, we had a huge serving of Dumplings and Milmyeon (Wheat Noodles), a typical Busan dish, at a nearby restaurant and was blessed by a short, light rain on the way back to the hotel. The next morning was spent exploring the Busan X the Sky before heading to Jinhae.

I heard that Jinhae has around 350,000 Cherry Blossom trees which makes it a must place to visit during the Cherry Blossom season. We took a tour with Trazy on a very comfortable bus and Jinhae didn’t fail us at all. It was indeed very pretty but there were also lots of people! I really enjoyed trying out the street food and I especially like the Strawberry Milk and Strawberry Mochis. And at this point, the young seller told me that I look like Princess Raya! I also enjoyed watching how Dalgonas are made – melting sugar, pouring it gently to form a circle then stamping a character on it with a hot metal. Dinner was Kimchi potato pancakes at a very homely restaurant with only three long tables. It had a very friendly atmosphere and the people from the next table showed us their food so that we can order. There was no English at all and I really liked how everyone participated so that we can get food. It was really a fun day in Jinhae. We returned to our hotel in Busan at 23:30 and I can’t believe that I was indeed under the Cherry Blossom. At this point, I felt like I was Cherried Blossomed! 😀 And of course, while we were waiting for our ride to Jinhae, we went in a selfie booth and got a selfie for the first time ever in our entire lives. We had so much fun and laughter!

What’s next!

Check out the reels here:

A Visit to Busan

Today in Busan and Jinhae

More photos from Busan by Ari Vitikainen can be found here and photos from Jinhae here.

First Day in Seoul

First Day in Seoul

by elainevitikainen ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The plan for this day was to visit the Bukchon Hanok Village. Our hotel in Insadong was a walking distance from it. So we headed fresh for the day and ready to explore Seoul. Sadly and with much regret, we had breakfast at Starbucks just because I really wanted to have my Starbuck’s name as per tradition. But in Seoul, they don’t allow disposable cups anymore which is great!

After breakfast, we walked to the Bukchon Hanok Village. It is a pretty place but it is important to remember that it is a residential area so people actually live there. It is very necessary to be respectful and as it says in many places, Please be quiet. We found some kind of a museum on a hill with tea on offer and a great spot to see the Seoul Skyline, although, it was not much of a view during the day. The place also has a traditional house which is fully decorated just like the ones in the historical K-Dramas.

Next stop was a Tea House called Cha Teul. We didn’t just happened on this place but I googled best tea houses in Seoul beforehand. Cha Teul made me so happy and it was not pricey at all. It was packed so we waited for a while to get a table but it was so worth it. I ordered a Quince Pear tea and it was perfect!

Then we walked to the Changgyeonggung Palace and the Secret Garden. The Cherry Blossom is already in full bloom so the palace ground was full of visitors. We didn’t find the Secret Garden anything special. Maybe during a different season, for example during summer or autumn, the garden would look beautiful. After the Secret Garden tour, we tried to visit the Changgyeonggung Palace. Unfortunately, we actually bought tickets to Chandeokgung Palace. In the end, we decided to call it a day visiting palaces so we didn’t get to use the tickets we bought.

So instead, we hopped on a bus to Myeongdong. But there was a rally. Up until now, we don’t know what was the protest all about (I can’t read Korean!) but there were lots of people and lots of police too. The bus got diverted so we took another bus and eventually walked some kilometres to Myeongdong. It was late and we were hungry. We happened on a restaurant that has a wall showing photos and autographs of famous people who ate there. The food was really good and the owner was really friendly. Also, notice the cute red apron I’m wearing. These aprons are readily available at restaurants to avoid food stains. How smart! We were also full and happy!

For the next day, we are heading to Busan…

Check out the reel here:

First Day in Seoul

More photos from Seoul by Ari Vitikainen can be found here.

South Korea – my 50th country!

South Korea – my 50th country!

by elainevitikainen ♥ 2 Comments

In the Summer of 2022, I was featured in the Daebak magazine, a Korean subscription box company. I talked about how I wish to visit South Korea in 2023 to eat authentic Korean food, to stay at a Hanok and to experience the Cherry Blossom. Fast forward in December that year, I bought tickets to Seoul and started planning the trip to South Korea with my husband. The plan was to experience the Cherry Blossom season. Although I know that it could be a hit or miss, I bought the tickets anyway and booked the accommodations. There were changes along the way as two weeks would not be enough to see it all. And although I really wanted to visit Jeonju, I didn’t like the idea of being sat on the bus for more than 4 hours from Gyeongju. That road trip will be going across the country after all! By the 20th of March, the mask mandate for public transport was lifted. Although I still carried with me a few masks just in case (from the Daebak box, of course!) we didn’t have to use them. Also, I didn’t see many people wearing masks anymore. To be honest, I don’t really like wearing masks and we haven’t been wearing masks in Helsinki since last year.

The flight from Helsinki took off at 17.55 on the 23rd of March and arrived the next day at midday in Incheon International airport. It took 11 hours and 45 minutes as the flight avoided the Ukraine and Russian airspace. But it didn’t really feel that long. I just knew that when we landed, my headphone was at 40% battery. I was listening to K-Pop all through the flight.

After the checking of the Q Code, immigration and baggage reclaim, we rented a Portable Wifi for our entire stay in South Korea from the SKT booth located at the arrival area. I also bought a TMoney card for my husband from the convenience store inside the airport (I already have one from the Daebak box with Jimin’s photo!) and have them refilled with money mainly for transportation. It was important to check what was the best way to travel to our accommodation. I have heard stories of people taking the subway and changing trains (dragging along heavy suitcases) when buses stop right infront of their hotels! So for us, the bus was the best option. It stopped very close to our hotel in Insadong.

We checked in and explored the Insadong area, most especially the Ikseongdong Hanok Village where we found lots of nice restaurants and cute cafes. At the Insadong Shopping Street, I also had a Dojang made, a traditional stamp with my name in Hangul. We did a quick stop at Ssamzigil Shopping Mall for some traditional snacks sold on the ground floor. They were good!

It was a long day and we headed to bed to get ready for the next day!

Check out the reels here:

Flying to Seoul

First Evening in Seoul

More photos from Seoul by Ari Vitikainen can be found here.

Visit Jeollanamdo

Visit Jeollanamdo

by elainevitikainen ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

The world is opening! At least, Europe is! Non-essential travel to and from Finland is now possible, but with special care, of course! Interestingly, my first tour after all the lockdown happening around the world was in Jeollanamdo, South Korea.

Sat infront of my computer at 10:00 in the morning, the tour started. This tour was offered by Trazy! You can click the link on the side bar to know more about Trazy. Here are some photos from the tour!

I’m not much into adventure tour. So the Yeosu ZIP line from Odongdo island didn’t appeal much to me. Neither the U World Luge and the Sky walk at Yeosu Art World. I’m not much a market type either. But the food was really looking so good! I’ve learned that Jeollanamdo has a special type of Kimchi.

The last part of the tour was amazing! We even visited the place where Youn Stay was filmed! It was beautiful!

I asked the tour guide if it is already possible to visit South Korea. There is still a need to quarantine and there are still COVID daily cases. But they are expecting for the country to be 100% vaccinated by the end of the year. So visiting South Korea will be fully possible next year!

My first live online concert was in Seoul and my first ever live tour was in Jeollanamdo. So probably, I will get to visit South Korea someday and watch a real live K-Pop concert. Well, maybe in 2023!

Daebak! That’s awesome!

Daebak! That’s awesome!

by elainevitikainen ♥ 4 Comments

South Korea was on the plan for 2020. COVID-19 was surely not. But as the saying goes, ‘If you can’t go, let it come to you!’ Or did I just make that up…

Can you see the green men shovelling snow?

I always wanted a Daebak box, a seasonal box full of Korean products. It has now became a trend to love all things Korean. Think about all the K-Pop, K-Drama, K-Beauty, K-Food, K-Snacks… However, just as COVID-19 disrupted most of our lives, it also affected the mailing system. My Daebak box was cancelled! So I ended up just admiring each and every photo posted on Facebook about the Daebak box. Beauty products here. K-Pop and K-Drama merch there. Snacks and drinks to enjoy. All awesome, Daebak stuff. I’ve became more and more a fan of the Daebak box with each passing hour, day, week, month…

Then something happened. The Daebak staff opened a portal. A tiny portal intended only for me to order a Daebak collaboration box with Mediheal. Well, I’m not entirely new to Mediheal. I’ve been using Mediheal face sheets for a while now. They are not just for relaxation but they deeply moisturize, taking away the fear of the winter months.

The Daebak / Mediheal collaboration box is a must have. The box itself is so cute and trendy. And the content is absolutely amazing. It gives you the urge to really take care of yourself. Beauty and functionally went perfectly well together in this box. The box is packed full of face sheet masks, eye masks, a foot mask and a hand mask. A face cream, a lipstick, a face mask and sponges are also found in the box. And a plus for BTS fans out there, it also includes the BTS face sheets!

And once you empty the box, there are many creative ways to reuse it. Here is mine. My three purses fit perfectly in the box. How do you reuse yours?

If you don’t want to miss out on South Korea delivered to your home, check out this link. You won’t regret it, I promise! You can also get 5% off on code ELAINE5.

All photos by Ari Vitikainen at arivitikainenphotography.com