How to Rent an LTE sim in Seoul Korea

So I've decided to make a step by step blog of my last trip in Seoul. Recently, I have tried to rent an LTE sim at Incheon Airport, and boy, did it help me a lot!

So first things first! To start off, let me tell you how awesome the internet connection is in Seoul! (Once you've connected to the Incheon Airport free wifi, you would know). So anyway, since me and my family were planning to go out of town during our last trip to Seoul (it was our fourth time,btw) I've decided to rent a pocket wifi just so we would not get lost or anything. But after thoroughly searching through the Internet, I've realized that yes, it is cheaper, but the fact that I have to deposit money for the rental and then refund it afterwards was just a bit of a hassle for me. So then I've ended up buying a sim card instead.

I've found this website (Korealtrip.com) and it was where I've purchased my sim. It was really easy. I just paid for the sim card thru my credit card, and then afterwards, Korealtrip sent me my confirmation email with the attached voucher that I will use to redeem my sim.

I was instructed to go to to either of the following KT Roaming Center inside Incheon Airport:

 Photo Credit: Korealtrip.com I've chosen to go gate 6 since our private transport was waiting at gate 8 (will post about that later). I just got my queuing number, then when it was my turn, I just showed my voucher and then they already gave me the sim. Since I was using an iphone, I've brought my own sim pin just in case there isn't one in there, but turned out that it was readily available. Of course, I made sure that the sim was working first before I left the counter, and then after that, voila! All done! 
Take note though that your phone should be unlocked; meaning, it should not be locked to any of the home networks in your country.

Renting an LTE Sim was really convenient for me! Plus! I get to keep the sim card as a souvenir! My sim was good for 5 days. I arrived on the evening of Nov 28 and the sim expired on the night of Dec 3. Take note though that even if you did not open and use the sim on the day when you redeemed it, the day recorded of your pick-up will still be the starting date of your unlimited data sim. You caanot make any calls since it's a data sim, but since almost all communications are now done online, it was still convenient for me. Plus, my personal hotspot was on all the time so it's basically just the same as having a pocket wifi at hand! 

Hope this helped you guys a lot! Feel free to ask me if you have questions!

xoxo,
@thecouchpatatas

Review: Banapple Pies and Cheesecake

.I think I was still in college when I first ate here in banapple. Their only store was located in Katipunan back then, and my sister and I had to re-route (from UERM and UST, respectively hehe) just for us to eat here. My personal fave back then was their "MysteReese's Cake" (did I spell that right? Haha). Anyway, it's  a cake made of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Chocolate! Super Yummy! 

Fast forward to 2016, Banapple has many branches already, and thankfully, they now have a branch in Robinson's Galleria ( the mall where we always go to whenever we surrender from Megamall's intense traffic flow! Haha). 

This branch stayed true to that "rustic feel" which Banapple always gives. And aside from that homey feeling, you can also never go wrong with their food choices here. 

Let me share with you some of my personal favorites:

( Super Caesar Salad )

( Chicken Breast Parmigiano )

( Lasagna Roll-ups )

( Bacon Fried Chicken Steak with milk 'shroom Gravy )

( Choco nut Oreo Cheesecake )

Here's their sample menu (from their website); and as you can see, their prices are affordable and are really worth every cent!

If you haven't tried it yet, visit one of their branches now. Here's a link to their website

http://www.banapplekitchen.com/

xoxo,

@thecouchpatatas

Review: Watami Japanese Restaurant

My family and I first dined here during my birthday last 2014, and we haven't stopped coming back since then. I've brought my friends here too, and they also loved it! 

This is actually my personal favorite:

Chicken and Egg

(I actually forgot what this is called haha!)

Watami is a japanese restaurant in Shangri-la Plaza mall in Mandaluyong. The place is perfect for casual dinners and even for special ones. Their rice bowls are good: chicken and egg, pepper beef rice, beef with rice, and the list just goes on and on! 

Try visiting their branches in SM Mall of Asia, Glorietta, and of course, in Shangri-la! Have fun!

xoxo, 

@thecouchpatatas

My Review: Vikings Luxury Buffet SM Megamall

It has taken us some time before we've finally decided to try eating here in Vikings. To be honest, the only thing that I hear whenever my friends talk about vikings is that it's expensive! Haha! Actually it really is a bit pricey but compared to those in hotels, it is cheaper definitely. Anyway, here's my review of this restaurant. 

We ate here to celebrate my sister's birthday, since birthdays are perfect occasions to really PIG OUT! 

In vikings, if there is a celebrant among the guests, that person is actually free of charge. If the celebrant would celebrate on the day itself, he/she must be accompanied by at least 1 paying adult. If  he/she would dine within his/her birth months,  the celebrant should also be accompanied but with a minimum of four (4) paying adults. Here are their rates per person:

(This is in the Megamall branch only; each branch differs from each other. Each rate also differs depending if you'd dine on a weekday or a weekend)

 Edit  

Actually, me and my family are huge SAMBOKOJIN Fans; but we've decided to try vikings for a change. 

It is recommended to have a reservation ahead of time since walk-in customers don't really get to choose where they could sit. On our part, we were able to reserve ahead of time but we forgot to choose where we would sit. This brings me to my observation that the tables here in vikings are relatively small. For a group of 7 adults and 1 child, our table is noticeably narrow. 

There are a lot of choices to choose from here in vikings. And what separates this from sambokojin perhaps is the fact that the price of the food includes the drinks already. 

Here are my pics:

 

Carbs!!! 

    
Salad Station  

Dessert       

okay, this is amazing ! The make-your-own-pizza area! Awesome!

  

Nachos!

  

You can actually ask for hot and cold beverages here! 

   
 

   
 
They also have a grilling station here in vikings, with lots of choices as well. However, unlike in Sambokojin where you grill your own food, the chefs here would prepare the food for you and you can just have the grilled food delivered to your assigned table.

So basically that's it! The food here is yummy, but a bit overwhelming for there are a lot that you can choose from! So I'd say, take your time! Savor the food! And Enjoy the experience!
Xoxo,

@thecouchpatatas

Review: Dong Won Korean Restaurant

My family and I really love Korea and well, Korean Food; we like the fact that almost everything is grilled and has lots of veggies. I've always been seeing Dong Won whenever I drive home from school, so one time I've brought my friends here to try the food, and we did not get disappointed. I've then brought more friends here, then my sister, and recently my entire family. Honestly, what I like most about Dong Won is that they refill the side dishes without any additional charge and without any limit. We really love side dishes, (or banchan as they call it in Korea) and disappointingly, in some Korean restos that we've been to, they always had a certain 'limit'. Anyway, the food here is great! There is also some Korean authenticity when you dine in here; close enough as to how it would be like when you dine in Korea.
   
   

   
  
Happy Eating!

Dong Won is located at Jupiter Street Makati City Philippines

Xoxo,

@thecouchpatatas 

Manila Ocean Park

I have already been to Manila Ocean Park for three times already. The first time was in 2010 with my family, the second one was with my friends, and the third one was just lasts June 7 with my family again. My six year old nephew has been fascinated with sea creatures lately and so he decided to just go here.

If you live in a tropical country like ours here on the Philippines, going out during the summer months may not be an entirely good idea at all. The months of April, May and early days of June are just scorchingly hot! We have experienced this on that day, and it was just unbelievable! So anyway here's my post!

I, being the family's head of the "booking department" as they say, had always been in charge in arranging my family's trip every single time. It was actually my idea to go to Manila Ocean Park since i am pretty sure that my nephew would apprciate it now that he's five as compared to when he was just one year old! Haha! 

I have stumbled upon this deal of Manila Ocean Park tickets in METRODEAL ( metrodeal is a site that offers deals here in the Philippines which are almost less than half of their original price ), and have decided to avail them. I got the deal for P499 (which is valid from February 2015 to February 2016) via credit card transaction. And it is actually easy! Upon validation of payment, metrodeal would send the voucher to your metrodeal account (so I suppose you have to really make one..also for easy retrieval), and you just have to print the vouchers individually (one voucher per person), and present it upon arrival at Manila Ocean Park. 

The package that we availed of was the DEEP SEA RUSH PACKAGE. This gives you access to FIVE ATTRACTIONS inside the park:

The Sharks and Sting Ray Dry Encounter

The Jellyfish Exhibit

The Oceanarium

The Sea Lion Show

The Symphony Evening Show

Being mostly adults with the only goal of making a 5-year-old experience under water without actually going under it, this package is more suitable for us! Haha! Besides, we are not huge fans of humid places, and we easily get tired haha! But there are other packages than this one, and it includes access to more facilities inside the park! 

HERE ARE MY PICTURES:

(We had Lunch at Makan Makan Asian Food Village located at the second floor of MOP. They offer great and affordable food in here, plus it's the only restaurant that was not crowded when we were there)

I have to remind you guys also that MOP offers scheduled performances, so you have to manage your time while in there so thay you can go to each and every attractions. 

(Inside the Jellyfish Exhibit)

( Sharks and Ray Dry ecounter )

( Inside the Oceanarium ) 

( Buhay na Karagatan. This is actually a huge tube where you can sit and watch the different sea creatures swim at your back and above your head. It was so hot though, and there were so many people that day, so I wasn't able to take lots of pictures! Oh and another thing too is that you won't get to enjoy taking much photos of yourselves while inside the Oceanarium because it is too dark; and let's face it, we are all fans of GOOD LIGHTING. Haha! But if you have a high-performance camera that can take good photos with low lighting, then you're good to go! Lucky you!) 

( The Sea Lion Show. It has two scheduled performances that day: 11am and 3pm. We went to the 3pm show, and it was outside, and it was sooooo Hot! But it was entertaining though )

We did not watch the Symphony evening show because we were just to drained already and my family said that it was just "lights and sounds" haha! During the first time we were here in 2010, we did not watch it as well for it was raining, and when I was here with my friends, I had to go home early. But I believe it has to be something more. Haha! 

So that's it! Feel free to look for you own deals, and also look at their website for our promos! Get your own dose of #vitaminsea ( that's a thing now, right? Haha!) Enjoy!

Xoxo,

@thecouchpatatas

Follow me on IG: @thecouchpatatas

 

Lotte World: Seoul Korea

I have already been to Seoul Korea for three times already; and everytime we are here, we always tend to go to the same places (we're weird, I know). One of the places that we usually go to is in Lotte World. Being a kid-at-heart, theme parks have always been a part of our itinerary, more so now that I have a nephew and a niece. We travel together everytime, and we are always composed of a group of 6 adults, and one child. 

Lotte World is situated in Seoul. It can easily be accessed either through a cab or the subway. The flag rate recently (2014) has escalated as compared to when we were here in 2011 and 2012, so we've decided to just ride the train (and let's face it, it feels more "korean" taking the subway).

Lotte World is located in Sincheon-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul, South Korea. 

It is made up of two main sections, the outdoor park and the indoor park. When we were here for the first two times, we only stayed in the indoor park and I don't know the reason why haha!

 There is also a direct line through the subway going to lotte world so it is really convenient. Plus, commuting is Seoul is a Breeze because all the subways are interconnected; you just have to be careful not to enter or exit in the wrong line. If you'll ride the subway, just find:

Jamsil Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 8), Exit 4.

So anyways, is open all-year round. Its hours of operation on weekdays (Monday to Thursday) is 9:30 a.m. to 10p.m., while on weekends (Friday to Sunday)the hours of operation are from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
The  admission rates when we were here last april 2014 are the following:
ADULTS: (18 years and over) 

= 44,000Won 

TEENAGERS (13-17years), 

= 38,000 Won

CHILDREN  (3-12years), and 

= 34,000 Won

BABIES (12months to 2years)  

= 11,000 Won 

Late Admission tickets are also being offered by Lotte World starting 4pm, which is approximately 75% off. We availed this for we came in late and since only my 5 year old nephew would be riding on the attractions, it is more worth it  haha!
Here are my pics from the trip:

  Trevi Fountain inside Lotte World  
   the outside theme park: "magic island"             they also have a parade scheduled at 2:30 pm and 7:00 pm   

     For more information, visit their website:

http://global.lotteworld.com/main.asp