Seoul/Fukuoka (Day 36): Welcome to Japan!

April 5, 2016

Our flight to Fukuoka, Japan, was at 2:05pm from Incheon Airport. Instead of taking the airport bus that we had taken from Incheon into Seoul, we planned to take the airport express train (AREX) from Seoul Station. I had read about the AREX, but our hotel as well as other travel bloggers recommended taking the airport bus into the Myeongdong area because you didn’t have to transfer from the AREX to Seoul’s subway lines. But considering we were only one subway stop away from Seoul Station, the process was painless and the journey to the airport was a lot more enjoyable than the airport bus. The only issue I see with taking the subway to get to Seoul Station is that their subway stations have a lot of stairs and not many elevators or even escalators (which is probably why the hotel recommended the bus for most travellers with suitcases). Thank goodness (Tim: or thank practical packing and planning) we both have backpacks or it would have been a very painful walk through the stations.

Once we made it to Seoul Station, we went to buy our airport express tickets. Like Hong Kong Station, you can check into your flight and check in your luggage at the train station (such an awesome system). This is only available for Korean Air, Asiana and Jeju Airlines though. If you are flying on any of these three airlines you get a discount on your train ticket (6,900 KRW = $7.80 CAD instead of 8,000 KRW = $9.00 CAD). But another added perk of checking in at Seoul Station is that there’s also an immigration office which lets you bypass the regular line up when you arrive at Incheon! The other benefits of taking the AREX was that it was shorter than the bus ride by 30 minutes (40 minutes instead of 70 minutes) and there’s free wifi on the train.

Outside Seoul Sation
Outside Seoul Station
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Inside Seoul Station
On the AREX
On the AREX to Incheon International Airport

Before leaving Seoul, we had our subway cards which had a balance of 800 KRW on it. Since we had gone farther away from our hotel yesterday, it messed with our cost per ride. We weren’t able to just add 200 KRW (a short ride is 1,250 KRW and we had 1,050 KRW balance) as the minimum deposit amount to your card is 1,000 KRW (it’s silly that they don’t let you add any amount you want) (Tim: even the Seoul Subway employee thought we could add 200KRW… he went to try at the machine, as we had already done, and realized he couldn’t). So long story short we both had 800 KRW on our card and didn’t want to get a refund (because there is a 500KRW fee to get the remaining balance refunded). You can use the subway card (“T Money” card) at participating stores and restaurants though (similar to a lot of cities). We ended up going to McDonald’s and each buying a chocolate dipped vanilla cone (for “breakfast”) for 800 KRW (yay!). Tim will have a more detailed blog post about this at some point.

We got to Incheon around 12pm and headed through security and to our gate. We still had to go through customs but we were able to go into a quicker line for both security and customs which was much quicker (Tim: the same line as pilots, flight attendants, etc). Korea has tax free shopping at their stores if you make a purchase of over 30,000 KRW. Since I bought a bunch of stuff from Missha, I had one receipt that qualified (that was stamped at the store). If you ever had to deal with getting your VAT tax back in Europe, getting your tax refund back in Korea is much easier. We found a tax free kiosk, the lady took my receipt, scanned the barcode, scanned my passport and my refund in cash was dispensed. I got back 3,500 KRW for a 57,000 KRW purchase (around 6%, you can get up to 8% depending on what you buy). If you have more expensive items, you need to have the items in your carry on to show them.

One of the several Tax Free Refund counters
One of the several Tax Free Refund counters at Incheon
Incheon is a really nice airport. Full of tons of stores (a lot of luxury brands) and even had live music playing
Incheon is a really nice airport. Full of stores (a lot of luxury brands) and even had live music playing. Their wifi is fast enough to Facetime without any lag.
Curved screens
Curved screens
Last Korean meal - Bulgogi Bibimbap (8,200 KRW = $9.25 CAD)
Last Korean meal – Bulgogi Bibimbap (8,200 KRW = $9.25 CAD)
Tim's Taco Bell bulgogi beef burrito meal (6,900 KRW = $7.80 CAD)
Tim’s Taco Bell bulgogi beef burrito meal (6,900 KRW = $7.80 CAD)

When we arrived at our gate, we noticed that it seemed like the average age of passengers flying to Fukuoka from Seoul was around 50 years old.

Most people on our flight looked like them
Most people on our flight looked like them
Our small plane headed to Fukuoka
Our small plane headed to Fukuoka (Tim: with an Airbus A380 behind it making our plane look particularly small)

The flight to Fukuoka was only an hour and twenty minutes, so basically we were in the air for a bit less than an hour. I tried to write my blog post from yesterday on the plane but was only able to write a couple of paragraphs before they brought out a meal (chicken sandwich that wasn’t very appetizing, Tim thought it was tuna and said it was fine to him), cleaned up and then it was time to land.

Fukuoka is one of the closest Japanese cities to South Korea (there are ferries that go between Busan and Fukuoka), which has made it a popular destination for Koreans and Chinese tourists. To be honest, the first time I heard of Fukuoka was on our last trip to Asia, when we were at the Taipei airport and a flight just got in from Fukuoka. When I googled it, it seemed like an interesting, more laid back, Japanese city and it is the birth place of a lot of famous ramen restaurants such as Ippudo and Ichiran.

The Fukuoka airport is quite small. The international and domestic terminals are not connected, but there’s a free shuttle bus that goes between the two terminals. Once we got to the train station (which is at the domestic terminal), we bought our subway cards and loaded some Yen on to it and headed to our hotel.

Nice not having a long line up at customs
Nice not having a long line up at customs. There were two other flights that came in from Manila and Hong Kong
Fukuoka City Subway - Airport line
Fukuoka City Subway – Airport line

We’re staying at Hotel MyStays Fukuoka Tenjin, which is about a 3 minute walk from Tenjin Station. The hotel’s location is very convenient – close to the train station as well as a lot of shopping and restaurants. The room itself is small but very clean. We booked this hotel through Expedia and are paying $56 CAD/night. Fukuoka is a lot cheaper than the rest of Japan!

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MyStays is a Japanese hotel chain
Our small (Japanese sized) room with a double bed
Our small (Japanese sized) room with a double bed
Japanese sized bathroom that feels like a cruise ship washroom
Japanese sized bathroom that feels like a cruise ship washroom. The toilet seat is heated like in Seoul (Tim: I found it a lot bigger than a cruise ship washroom).
The shopping area around Tenjin. Lots of large Japanese department stores and international brands
The shopping area around Tenjin. Lots of large Japanese department stores and international brands as well as a bunch of karaoke rooms
Ichiran - a famous ramen restaurant from Fukuoka. They have locations in Hong Kong but none in North America yet. Supposedly one will open in NYC this summer
Ichiran – a famous ramen restaurant from Fukuoka. They have locations in Hong Kong but none in North America yet. Supposedly one will open in NYC this summer

Finally! It was time for our first meal in Japan. Since Fukuoka was our first stop, it was a no brainer that we were having ramen at Ippudo. Ippudo has many international locations, one being in New York City. Up until today, I had only been to the East Village location and thought the ramen was good but it was pricey – at around $16 USD (plus tax and tip) a bowl. The one in New York is a lot fancier with a lot of other menu options besides ramen. Tim’s been to Ippudo in Tokyo and has always said how it was the most amazing ramen he’s ever had (Tim: what I actually say is that I wasn’t the biggest fan of ramen until I tried Ippudo in Tokyo, but the first time I had Ippudo in Tokyo definitely put Ramen on the noodle soup map for me.).

The original Ippudo location in Fukuoka (Daimyo area)
The original Ippudo location in Fukuoka (Daimyo area)
We both ordered the same ramen (one with black garlic oil). It was 820 Y = $9.80 CAD
We both ordered the same ramen (one with black garlic oil). It was 820 Y = $9.80 CAD
Tim finished his bowl of soup as well as my leftover soup broth
Tim finished his bowl of soup as well as my leftover soup broth
This location has recently been renovated
This location has recently been renovated

The ramen was delicious and the servers were friendly and courteous. (I love Japan!) We’re not the biggest fans of Korean food in general (Tim: or I have certain body parts that aren’t the biggest fans of Korean food), so eating a bowl of ramen made us so glad we’re finally in Japan.

After dinner we walked around towards the river and canals. Fukuoka is filled with canals and open air food stalls called a “yatais”. I read that yatais were very popular in Japan historically but now they only really exist in Fukuoka. We passed by a row of them but since we had just eaten, we just looked. Most of them served either yakitori (grilled skewers), oden (boiled items), or ramen.

Cherry blossom along the canal walkway
Cherry blossom along the canal walkway
Yatai along the canal in the Nakasu area of Fukuoka
Yatai along the canal in the Nakasu area of Fukuoka

Fukuoka seems to be a very laid back and calm city and is apparently a stark comparison to Tokyo (it’s a nice change of pace from Seoul as well). It’s my first time in Japan and I’m really excited to discover more of it. I love Japanese food and can’t wait to eat my way through Japan (and prepare to starve when we go to Australia) (Tim: we’re not going to starve). While walking through the streets and looking at the different sushi places, I had to stop myself from thinking, “Is this a good place? Are they actually Japanese?” like I would in Vancouver. Looking forward to our time in Japan!

Steps today: 16,000

Taipei/Seoul (Day 30): Annyeonghaseyo, Seoul!

March 30, 2015

We woke up earlier this morning to finish packing and clean up the apartment before we left for Seoul. Uncle Albert picked us up at around 10:15am and we headed to Taoyuan for our flight to Seoul’s Incheon Airport at 1:25pm. The airport is about an hour drive from central Taipei. Hopefully when we come back in a few years they will have finished the train line connecting central Taipei to Taoyuan Airport.

It was my first time flying Korean Air and Tim’s second time (he flew with them to Brazil). The flight wasn’t full as they moved us up about ten rows when we checked in at the counter. There were a lot of Americans on our flight as it was a code share flight with Delta and it seemed like a lot of people were connecting through Seoul en route back to North America.

We had about an hour to kill at Taoyuan before our flight boarded. We decided to have lunch, unsure if we were going to get anything to eat since the flight was only 2 hours. There was only one restaurant near our gate that served Taiwanese set rice sets and noodles. We shared a pork chop rice set and I got a drink from the vending machine since it was priced the same as outside the airport at 20 NT = $0.80 CAD.

Our shared lunch at the airport. Pork chop set was 210 NT = $8.40 CAD. The Sarsparilla soda was 20 NT = $0.80 CAD from the vending machine. But I paid 30 NT since it ate one of my coins...
Our shared lunch at the airport. Pork chop set was 210 NT = $8.40 CAD. The Heysong Sarsparilla soda was 20 NT = $0.80 CAD from the vending machine. But I paid 30 NT since it ate one of my coins…
Hello Kitty store at the airport. Taiwan loves Hello Kitty!
Hello Kitty store at the airport. Taiwan loves Hello Kitty!

Our flight went by pretty quickly and we did end up getting a meal on the plane – oh well, now we know. We landed in Seoul-Incheon at 4:30pm (South Korea is an hour ahead of Taiwan). Looking out the window, it was a sunny day but it was very hazy so it was hard to even see the mountains in the distance. We haven’t seen a clear blue sky in a while.

When we got off the plane, we had to take a tram to immigration and baggage claim. Once we got off the tram, we went to the immigration area and the line up for foreign passports was crazy. It took us about an hour to get through customs (I hate line ups!). After we got through and went to the baggage area, all the bags from our flight were already taken off the carousel. We found our backpacks and headed to the bus area.

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Hour line up at immigration
Incheon Airport - pretty flower display
Incheon Airport – pretty flower display

The bus area was another gong show. We had to take bus #6015 to get close to our hotel which is in the Myeong-dong area of Seoul. We lined up to board the bus then and realized we needed to buy tickets from the ticket counter before boarding (tickets were 10,000 KRW each = $11.30 CAD). We ended up finally leaving the airport at 6:4opm. The bus ride into the city is about 70 minutes long – I fell asleep along the way and only woke up when the bus started to make stops. The bus doesn’t make any stops until you get into the city centre (which is after 50 minutes).

Waiting for our bus into Seoul
Waiting for our bus into Seoul
Hazy Incheon
Hazy Incheon

When I woke up, we were in the city and everything felt big, busy and bright. My first impression of Seoul is that it’s very modern looking and a bit overwhelming. Finally, we got to our stop, Namdaemun Market, and walked to our hotel which was about 3 minutes away. Yesterday, I watched the hotel’s instructional video on how to get from the bus stop to the hotel. It was really helpful and we didn’t even need to look at a map!

We’re staying at Hotel Shin Shin in the Myeong-dong/Namdaemun area. I found the hotel while looking on Trip Advisor as it has really good ratings and is one of the top hotels in Seoul that isn’t a branded hotel (and is very reasonable at $85 CAD a night). Our room is another two single bed set ups, which I picked because it was the cheapest room option (Tim and I are roommates again). The room is fairly small but very functional and everything in it is modern.

Entrance to the hotel
Hotel Shin Shin – boutique hotel in Seoul
Our room at Hotel Shin Shin
Our room at Hotel Shin Shin

After we settled in and rested a bit, we went out to walk around and look for dinner. It was about 8:30pm and we were starting to get hungry. When we stepped outside, it felt like we were in Vancouver because of the crisp cold air (about 12 degrees Celsius). We decided to go to the Namdaemun Market to see if they had street food, but when we went there everything was closing. I think we took for granted that not all markets are night markets like in Taiwan. We walked around the neighbouring streets and mainly found restaurants filled with Korean businessmen drinking and smoking outside. It was interesting, there weren’t many women around at all and Tim kept asking if I felt uncomfortable (I didn’t). Seoul definitely has a lot more smokers than in Taipei – just based on walking around this area. It seemed like everyone was outside smoking. We looked at the restaurants that did have menus outside and noticed that the prices were a lot more than Taipei. The prices are more similar to Vancouver pricing for food.

Bars and restaurants filled with Korean businessmen
Bars and restaurants filled with Korean businessmen
These food stalls looked interesting
These food stalls looked interesting
We found a Gong Cha (bubble tea shop), but it's North American prices... made me miss Taiwan
We found a Gong Cha (Taiwanese bubble tea shop), but it’s North American prices… made me miss Taiwan
 Sungnyemun (Southern Gate) surrounded by modern high rise office buildings
Sungnyemun (Southern Gate) surrounded by modern high rise office buildings

We walked around for about an hour and then decided to go to this noodle restaurant we passed by closer to our hotel. It looked clean and had locals eating there so we decided to give it a try. The waitress was very nice and knew we didn’t speak Korean – we pointed to the pictures and ordered spicy noodles, fried dumplings and sweet and sour pork. When the food came, we were both surprised at how large the portions were (mainly the size of the dumplings). Next time we don’t need to order that much.

Tim eating his spicy noodles - it was spicy but very tasty (5000 KRW = $5.65 CAD)
Tim eating his spicy noodles – it was spicy but very tasty (5000 KRW = $5.65 CAD)
6 dumplings were 5000 KRW = $5.65 CAD and the sweet and sour pork was 9000 KRW = $10.20 CAD
6 dumplings were 5000 KRW = $5.65 CAD and the sweet and sour pork was 9000 KRW = $10.20 CAD

Everything was very good but spicy – even the dumplings. We drank all the water they gave us and Tim was sweating like crazy. I guess we’re not used to the Korean heat.

We came back to the hotel and washed up. We’re looking forward to exploring Seoul tomorrow, it’s always exciting to explore a new city together. So far we hadn’t encountered any issues with language barriers yet. I’m practicing saying thank you in Korean, “gomabseubnida”, so at least we can be polite tourists.

Step count will be updated tomorrow, Tim is sleeping already.

Gomabseubnida (Thank you) for reading!