Catherine Stefanie Jordan: 09/01/2013

18 Sep

changi airport terminal 2 - scoot TZ206

the only denomination we had - 169 pieces

our 1st meal after touching down - sandwich meals from incheon airport 7 eleven

charging station - probably one of the few areas which changi is not comparable to incheon

decided to camp overnight at incheon airport to wait for the girls' arrival instead of me making a to and fro trip. it was quite a feat for me as we went without proper food for 12 hours. our last meal was early lunch at changi airport macdonald before our departure. wanted to grab a quick meal at taipei airport during the 1 hour transit but did not have enough time. ended up with 2 packets of snacks - charcoal peanuts (which we finished on the flight from taipei to incheon) and some kind of fish crackers. our 1st mission upon touching down at incheon was to find food to fill our empty stomachs. the sandwiches were cheap comparatively to singapore's 7 eleven prices - 2000 won for a big sandwich and 1300 won for an original sandwich and we got ourselves drinks to go along at 500 won per set. the arrival hall has a few of the charging stations which we rested at for the night - dear took a short nap while i was at the computer sorting out photos and surfing the net.

21 Sep

mid-autumn festival / thanksgiving day home-cooked dinner prepared by ari house

ari house

home-made lemon tea recipe

cute decorations around the guest house - can you guess where these are found? =)

home-made side dish - yums!

1st roadside snack i tried - 2000 won

韓国焼肉知牛明洞店 - original korean BBQ

seoul city pass - 3800 won

was looking forward to the stay at ari house after dear sent me photos of the awesome home-cooked dinner he had on the 1st day of arrival. the host was really nice and thoughtful to prepare a sumptuous feast for all the guests. it was a major holiday in korea - mid autumn festival / thanksgiving day and everywhere else was closed. the host made some side dishes over the weekend and were really yummy - especially the korean beef rolls.

Ari House
Website: http://www.ariguest.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/ARI-HOUSE/128923900605899
Location: ARI Guesthouse 20-6 Namsanro-3ga Chung-gu Seoul
Contact: ariguesthouse@gmail.com
Review: Our original plan was to head straight to the guesthouse after landing which would have been past their office hours (8am-9pm). Received an email from them soon after confirming our booking on agoda and clear instructions were given on the after office hours check-in procedures. Direct bus no. 6015 from Incheon Airport (charges 10000won and journey time approximately 1 hour) and alight at Sejong Hotel across the road, 8 minutes walk to Ari House. Staffs are attentive, friendly and helpful and able to converse in various languages (English, Mandarin, Korean, Japanese). Despite the small room size, it is clean, comfortable, cozy and well-equipped (air-conditioning, window, LAN line, television, phone, refrigerator, satellite broadcasting, cable TV, wireless LAN). Bathroom is of a good size and basic toiletries are provided – shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bar soap, toothpaste and towels (face and not bath towels). Mini bar / kitchen / smoking lounge is on the 2nd floor and a small computer station is on the 3rd floor. Cup noodles, confectionery (bread & spread, biscuits, cakes, cookies) and drinks (coffee, tea, juices) are available for consumption at no extra charges. Located within 2 minutes walk from Myeongdong subway exit no. 2, right opposite Myeongdong main shopping area with quiet environment.

the girls and i wanted a deserving treat for ourselves after a 3 day healthy regime. decided to go for the healthier option korean BBQ instead of army stew. i personally would not recommend the place if you are looking for a value for money meal. food quality and taste are slightly above average but portions are small and overpriced in my opinion. we had the total bill for the 4 of us came up to 210000 won.

22 Sep