Thursday, August 31, 2023 | By: purple taste

[2023] Travelling to Jeju and Busan via Korean Air

Had an opportunity to travel to Jeju and Busan with my foodie buddies and it was cast in stone sometime in May 2023 when we bought the Korean Air flight tickets in mid-May 2023 with flight out from Singapore to Incheon, Incheon to Gimpo and Gimpo to Jeju. And then Jeju to Busan and Busan to Incheon and finally Incheon to SG. The dates were from 31 Aug to 10 Sep 2023 for our 10 nights trip.

The flight out was at 1.30am and it was around 2am when we started the journey.

in the airplane at 1.30am

nearing Incheon

There was some turbulence experienced but luckily, breakfast service was still possible after that. On the flight out, there were 2 options; eggs or noodles. I chose eggs.


omelette breakfast on Korean Air (SG to Incheon)

served with healthy dose of veggies and a baby potato

egg burger, anyone?

The omelette were rather dense but the bread was dry. So I put two together with the veggies for a complete meal. Easier to eat too. The potato was nice and the entire meal was super filling. Coffee was nice too.

Due to the delayed take-off, we landed later at Incheon. Before we land, the stewardess came round to inform affected passenger (me), that I will be scheduled to a later flight from Gimpo to Jeju as we still needed to get from Incheon to Gimpo which takes about 35 minutes by car/taxi excluding the waiting time for the land transport. Initially scheduled for the 1125am flight and now, rescheduled to the next available flight at 1pm flight to Jeju. 

Landed in Incheon at about 9.35am and was met at the gate by the Korean Air flight representative. She explained the situation and laid out our options with the assurance that there are next available flight and if we want, we could still try for the original scheduled flight if we hurry. She escorted us in the long walk towards the baggage claim area. We decided to go for the initial scheduled 1125am flight and if it fails, oh well, then to the later flight out to Jeju then. We made a mad dash once we've gotten our bags and immediately went to the taxi stand. Luckily we found a cab big enough for 4 pax with one luggage each. Unfortunately, the driver explained that he was there because there was an issue with his vehicle. However, he offered to call his counterpart to pick us up. We agreed and he made the call. The taxi arrived 10 minutes later and off we went. Reached Gimpo at about 1040am. Rushed to the check-in area and our bags made it to the plane at about 1050am. Taxi fare was 100,000 (~SGD105).

Fortunately, boarding for the flight was delayed till 11am. Phew!

And, we made it to Jeju safely after all that adventure.


arrived at Jeju


Next, we needed to get to the rental car shop from the airport. So off we went to the shuttle bus for rental car area after exiting from the Arrival Hall. The rental car company would have informed which bus bay number for the guest to wait for the shuttle to come to pick-up from the airport. Ours was at Bay 5 for Angel Car.


queuing up for the shuttle bus

Waited for about 10 minutes for the shuttle bus to arrive. Luckily it was a school bus kind of shuttle as I saw the others were using smaller vans/bus.

Angel Car

Hence and Ivan settled the paperwork for the vehicle and after 20 minutes, we got one. Proceeded to the car collection area (which looked like a big carpark), only to discover that someone else had taken the assigned car. Gosh!

Hence and Ivan went back to the office to inform them.

After 10 more minutes, the said car came back. Turned out, another family had mistakenly took our car. Faints.

After we checked the vehicle and loaded all our luggage into the SUV, we needed to pump petrol first. Little did we know, the petrol station that we came across, does not have English signages. Oops! Lucky us, the attendant there helped us and finally, we have gotten $100 worth of diesel into the car for a full tank. In reality, that was an overkill as we didn't clock that much mileage during our 7 days and 6 nights stay in Jeju. Only used up half that amount. Good for the next customer though. Hehe.

It was close to 240pm when we reached a restaurant of our choice (yes we researched prior to the trip on where to eat) and it was almost nearing their mid-day break time at 3pm. Luckily, the owner allowed us to dine-in if we could finish our meal within 45 minutes. 

Samseonghyeol Haemultang 삼성혈해물탕 본점


Read more about our late lunch here





Wednesday, September 21, 2022 | By: purple taste

[2022] Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne

 Went to explore this small park just right opposite of the Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Hotel.

a walk in the garden

that's the hotel

Lovely weather and it was rather cold too. Jacket is necessary in September. The garden was lovely to walk and plenty of sculptures to see. Liked that there are benches peppered along the gardens for tired soles to take a rest. Or, lay a mat down on the grass for a short break if you'd like.

The Court Favourite

Sundial

lots of greens

It was just nice to stop and have a look at the flowers and wild life in the park.




If you're nearby, can consider taking a stroll in the Flagstaff Gardens after feasting at Queen Victoria Market.

Saturday, September 17, 2022 | By: purple taste

[2022] To Melbourne (Australia), for the first time, Optus, UberX and Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens

I have not been outside of Asia, so it was a good opportunity to meet up with my fellow foodie + travel group in Melbourne, Australia.

My ETA (Electronic Travel Authority) application took about one month to approve and thankfully, got it a few days before my trip start date. But by then, the air ticket was soooo expensive. In fact, it is THE most expensive budget air ticket ever in all my travels. Anyway, decided to throw caution to the wind and just do it!

Ticket booked, accommodation booked and bags packed. Time to travel! 

2.30am flight



I am a short person, and my legs were almost touching the front of the seat. So, can imagine the taller persons challenge... But of course, if you have money to spend, can buy the seats with more leg space, quieter seats etc. My flight had a crying kiddo and the lady next to me, had dubious hygiene practice...For Scoot flights, passengers are to keep their mask on.

almost touching the front



Most importantly, we landed safely at Tullamarine Airport (Melbourne International Airport) around 11+am. On time, yay!

Ivan gave me a tip and said to use the Smart Gate at the airport. Indeed, it was pretty fast and convenient. Thumbs up!

Turn right after exiting the customs, and you'll find the Optus shop. Buy a prepaid sim card for just AUD25 for 60GB of data. Nice! Optus works well in city area and not so good at the mountain areas. The staff are fast and you'll be done within minutes.

Then, the transportation out of the airport to Melbourne city center, one could take the SkyBus (Melbourne Airport Buses) for just AUD19.95 for one way or AUD32 for return tickets. The bus stops at Southern Cross Station (near to some hotels). The journey from the airport to the city center is about 35 minutes, depending on traffic condition.

Or, one could get a private hire car via Uber. There is an UberX queue outside the airport. Just follow the signs. So, one will need  to download Uber app first, and then use it to get a UberX car to the airport. The app will give you a pin code so there is no designated driver at that moment. Join the queue at the designated line and there will be someone who will indicate to you which berth to await for the vehicle. Then when the UberX car arrives at your 'berth', usually they will help you with your luggage as well. After getting into the car, do share the Uber generated pin for the ride as the driver needs it before he can commence the journey. If you are lucky, you'll get a super nice vehicle but the one that I got was pretty run down. Nevertheless, the driver was friendly. It usually costs about AUD50+ for a one-way trip out of the airport via UberX but there was a 10% discount if you sign-up for the one-month free membership to Uber One.

Reached Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens an hour ahead of check-in time, and luckily, the room was ready. Standard room, no frills. One double bed, a bathroom and shower. The mini-bar was stocked with drinks, non-complimentary of course. Hahaa, but the price for a bottle of orange juice was alright at AUD4.50.

hotel lobby

HQ's on William Restaurant & Bar



Standard Room

view from room

work desk, TV


instant coffee and tea

kettle


you drink/eat, you pay


travel adaptor to use during your stay


The room was pretty spacious. The bed and pillows are a tad softer than what we are used to in Singapore hotels.

bottled water


Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens hotel entrance

Flagstaff Gardens opposite of the road

night view outside the hotel


One thing I noticed during my stay in Melbourne, is always to watch out for the cyclists or food delivery riders. There are lanes for them and they do go pretty fast.

According to my friends, the hotel is right at the edge of Melbourne. Sounds cool, doesn't it?

Radisson on Flagstaff Gardens Melbourne

Address: 380 William St, Melbourne VIC 3000, Australia
Contact: +61 3 9322 8000



Tuesday, November 6, 2018 | By: purple taste

[2018] Solo Trip - Spending A Day Exploring Kyoto - Nishiki Market, Teramachi Street, Tom's Mr Hedgie, Flippers

Morning


Was a Tuesday morning and wanted to get some breakfast from Nishiki as well as explore it abit as the previous time when I visited with Yuka back in 2016, it was rather late in the evening where most stalls were closed for the day, or the recent one, it was too crowded during the lunch time. 

It took about 13 minutes to reach there from my hotel, and the time was about 10am and thankfully, not too crowded.

Nishiki Market entrance

inside of Nishiki Market

fresh produce

green tea warabi mochi

pretty chopstick holders

sansho peppers chips!

famed soy milk croquette


Plenty of Kyoto specialties in the market. Plenty of food and kitchenware related items. The interesting one was the sansho peppers chips. Interesting peppery spicy taste. Should have bought some!

But I was too focused on getting my tummy some hot breakfast items.

famed baby octopus

had scallops instead for normalcy

cute hedgehog bun

inside was custard fillings!


Next, I was walking past a shop where they specialized in tamagoyaki. Wow, my favourite! And freshly made in-shop. One could see the chefs hard at work.

tamagoyaki specialty shop

many types to choose from

chefs at work

of course, need to try!

really yummy, served hot and balanced sweetness and savoury


After the filling breakfast, walked around somemore and spotted a shop that was selling grilled prawns.
The shopkeeper called out and yeah, bought some to try as he was really funny and friendly. Plus the seafood smells so good when grilled with lemon.

grilled ebi skewers

making my order


Haha, but the way the ebi was eaten there, it tended to be overcooked whereas I preferred it to be just cooked. Nevertheless. it was a fun experience.

Next, following the fragrance of grilled chestnut, found a chestnut specialty shop. The staff was really nice and gave out free sampling of chestnut tea.

chestnut (original form)


grilled chestnuts

sampling of chestnut tea


Afternoon


Walked around somemore and stumbled upon a shrine within the market. So cool! Found out that it is the Nishiki-Tenmangu Shrine. Divine favour in this shrine are wisdom/learning/business acumen/good luck/great purification/avoidance of bad luck.

from across

walking towards the shrine


sacred water Nishiki no Mizu



Felt peaceful at the shrine. It was more cooling at that area too. Then, continued walking outside of Nishiki and headed towards Teramachi Shopping district. Wanted to look for some pancakes to eat. Those fluffy ones!



nice to know there's vegan options

Elk Pancake was famous once

wished I had went in and eaten here

Kyoto-styled vending machine

places where money is spent faster than you say "Wow"

those baseball jackets looked nice

there's a jeep in the shop

cinema

wasted about 2000 yen in here

lovely mural

trendy shop

handwritten menu board, I like

floor map, sort of.. and my new shoes from a store in Himeji


I think I walked off all my breakfast already...Then, I saw an interesting shop. It said "Tom's Mr Hedgie". No idea who is Tom, but if this gives me a chance to get upclose with a baby hedgehog, why not? Hehe.



Hedgehog pet shop?

shy hedgehog

hello


The stairs were pretty narrow and someone was just leaving the shop and the if you're heading upstairs, will have to wait till the person exits because there wasn't any space to manouver. Shoes are to be removed and placed outside. 

The staff manning the shop were two bored looking young adult, female. Guests are required to sanitise their hands before touching the hedgehog. The interaction is only for 30 minutes and if exceeds, then need to pay another fee.

this was the view most of the time

finally managed to get a photo

as gentle as I can


Staff can help you snap a photo of you with the hedgehog using your device. Hahaa, but they didn't care about the focus though and just wanted to get it over with. Hahaa!

let's get some Flipper's pancake!

seasonal pancake

ordered with iced coffee

fluffy and not too sweet

loved the uji matcha cream and red bean

interior

making process


It was rather a filling to eat the pancake on my own. Felt super full after that!

spotted other pancake shop after having one *LOL*


Evening

Decided to get some sashimi from Daimaru as they have a price reduction after 830pm.


maguro

white fish



But the thing was... I forgot to ask for soy sauce and wasabi....*LOL* Really ate the sashimi in its original taste! Pretty unforgetable!

And that ends, my day in Kyoto.