New Travel Blog

Hi guys!

I know it's been a while since I blogged here. I really want to start blogging again. One of my other passion is travelling and I've had the privilege of doing a few travels in the past few years. So I wanted to share my experiences. I've started an instagram feed called @travelwithwan as well as in the midst of starting a travel blog. Hope you check it out travelwithwan.com.

Best of Korea: Busan Cinema Center, Busan

The day we arrived in Busan, I thought of heading straight to the nearest place I could go from Haeundae. So we hit up Centum City to try to go to Shinsegae. The largest department store in the world. Unfortunately we came too late so we only could take pictures of it from outside. Nearby, we headed to Busan Cinema Center. This facility is used to host the Busan International Film Festival as well as other big performing arts events.

Best of Korea: Gwangan Bridge and Gwanggali Beach, Busan

I'm live from Busan writing my first post on my trip this time. It's over 2am here but I decided I have to start writing soonest possible so that I captured every moment I can remember of the places I'll be talking about. First up, is Gwangan Bridge and Gwanggali Beach.

The day is almost here...

Wow! In less than a month, I'm going back to my hometown...Korea! Haha. Can't wait. Although it seems like I've exhausted every possible places I can go but actually not. This time I'm fitting some new places I've always wanted to go as well as familiar places for my friends who've never been there. I've even started on my itinerary...very detailed itinerary. Seriously, I could become a tour guide/travel agent to Korea. Any offers?

A snippet of my trip itinerary...can't wait!

Best of Korea: 2AM Concert Experience

It so happens that when I planned my 2nd trip to Korea, 2AM was to perform on the weekend. So I told myself that this would be the perfect K-Pop related activity to do in Korea. It was even the last thing we did on the trip so it's like a "Save the best for last" moment. Eventhough the concert had been announced for a while, I did manage to snatch seats. Excited!

Perhentian Island, Terengganu, Malaysia

It has been a while since I took a vacation so when I had the opportunity I planned out a short trip over the weekend in May with some friends. We decided to go to Perhentian Islands. A well deserved retreat after months of my leaves being frozen because of work. Time to chill out and soak up the sun.

Best of Korea: Glass Museum, Jeju Island

If you're in Jeju, the next best thing to go visit besides the nature are the abundance of different museums there is around the island. I've been to their Teddy Bear Museum and Trick Art Museum on my first Korea visit. In this post, I'll take you through the Glass Museum that I visited in June of last year.

Best of Korea: KTX

I've heard of the bullet trains in Japan so I figured Koreans must have something similar. It might not be as fast as bullet trains but KTX is definitely an alternative for transport if you're thinking of going from one big city to another. On my trip in June last year, I decided to try out the KTX from Busan back to Seoul instead of taking a domestic flight which can be quite pricey.

Best of Korea: Ski Resorts in Gangwon

I absolutely love winter in Korea! Can't wait to go there again during this time. Cold weather beats hot weather anytime for me. My first trip to Korea, I experienced temperatures down to -20 degrees yet I love the experience. So far on my trips, I've only managed to go to 2 ski resorts. Lots of things you can do there like skiing, snowboarding and just plain old snow ball fight.

Best of Korea - Jeju Olle Trail

Korea is not just about fast paced city and high tech technology. There's also beauty in its nature that can be enjoyed. On my trip last June, I went to Jeju again to experience the beauty of the island. Jeju offers this unique experience called the Jeju Olle trail for nature lovers to enjoy as well as get a little bit of exercise.

Best of Korea: Cafes

This is a bit less of a specific landmark. I just wanted to write something about the abundance of coffee shops around Korea itself. I'm not really a fan of coffee besides Nescafe but my sister was excited at the fact that there's so many coffee shops around Korea. We went on a hunt to the various cafes, tried out their drinks and cookies as well as get some free souvenirs out of them.

My sister's collection of coffee cup holders from the cafes we visited.

Best of Korea - N Seoul Tower

One of the most significant landmarks when you visit Seoul is of course the N Seoul Tower. I was frustrated that my first visit to Korea didn't include that. It focused too much on the shopping aspect and neglected this beautiful landmark. 

The tower at night

The tower in the day

Best of Korea: Changdeokgung Palace, Seoul

In Seoul itself, there are 5 grand palaces that you can visit. I visited Changdeokgung Palace on my 2nd visit to Seoul in 2012. I've also previously visited Geongbokgung Palace, which is the most famous one, and Deoksugung Palace, a smaller palace located in the middle of the city, but I have to say Changdeokgung is the one that impresses me the most. I was influenced by the drama Rooftop Prince in which the palace it apparently took place in was Changdeokgung (although it was actually filmed elsewhere). If you're reading this at buzz KOREA, click on the original URL to see more pictures.

Best of Korea: Namiseom Island (Naminara Republic), Chuncheon

I went to Nami Island for the 3rd time on my last visit to Korea a few weeks ago. It's not because I love it so much that I wanted to go again and again. It's just because every time I go there, I was with different people and they always want to go Nami Island. I guess it's a must visit for at least once if you ever go to Korea.

Best of Korea: Haeundae Beach, Busan

On my trip to Korea in June, I dropped by Busan simply because of this. I wanted to see for myself the beautiful Haeundae Beach. As it is a beach, I would say it's more appropriate to be visiting it around Summer. From pictures online, I expect this place to be packed with people during the peak of the season.

Best of Korea: Bukchon Hanok Village, Seoul

I've been to Korea for like 4 times in just 2 years and every time I'm there I never get bored. I just love the country especially the big cities. I thought instead of sharing my travel itinerary, I'd share things by the places I went. So I'm gonna start with Bukchon Hanok Village. I've seen and read about this place being a recommended visit when I'm in Seoul. However, only the 4th time I went that I finally get to go there. While my mum was working at a convention at COEX, I set out on my own in search of the village.

"Aku Ada, Kau Ada???" Blog Contest

Ok so I'm writing this post as my entry for the contest organized by Korea Plaza Malaysia. After failing to win the Touch Korea Tour, I thought I'd try my luck with this contest. Hopefully I'll be able to score a flight ticket to Korea! 2 things I needed to write about..

Trip to South Korea - Day 7 & 8

Previous Posts: Day 1&2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6

I'm finally at my last post on my travel to South Korea which happened earlier this year. How fast time flies by. The next days were spent around Seoul checking out places to shop and the historic sites around town. Check my full post after the break.

Spring rolls for breakfast? Meh..

The host at the Amethyst shop explains what Amethyst is all about

My Touch Korea Tour Entry

I've been setting out to do this ever since finding out about the Touch Korea Tour contest last 2 weeks. Arrgghh.. feels like it's too late now. Entry closes in 2 days and I need to gather views. It's a compilation of clips from my trip to Korea earlier this year featuring me and my cousins. Anyway, I hope, by some miracle, I could win the contest. Thanks for watching!

Trip to South Korea - Day 6

Previous Posts: Day 1&2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5

We were informed by our tour guide that the day will be very cold. In fact, at -17°C, it was the coldest day in Seoul in 34 years. Our day started with breakfast at a restaurant in Itaewon called Evergreen. It was a sort of Arab style breakfast with Naan bread and curry among the food offered. That was unexpected as I was ready to be content with hotel breakfast. That would've been better though after last night's Indian flavored dinner (Reminds me of New Zealand when I had a lot of Indian food cuz they were halal). The day's activities planned was a trip to Lotte World and downtown Dongdaemun for some shopping.

Waiting for Lotte World to open