Travel: Korea - General

[mathsparks]

hi insider,

we solve our plugs frustration by paying a deposit of 1k won at the hotel. Phew!!

Our guide said that there's shortage of guide during xmas season. will pm his email address to you.

I've got a brochure from seoul city tour; they do arrange private guides. email [email protected] http://www.seoulcitytour.net tel: 019-607-7451 (eng speaking)

You can try also http://www.mclubtravel.com

quite frustrating today; was drizzling so we skipped the ice-skating, then tried to book jump, which needed 1 day advance, and was also full for tomorrow. thenafter much walking and difficulty in getting to the ice-bar, we found it has been closed for a while. And to think that we had picked up the icebar brochure from the korea tourism office in church street. I'm so :rant:

Anyway, just to remind anyone else coming to seoul and looking for icebar, forget it!

So insider, I'm looking foward to the dragon hill spa tomorrow, plus ice skating. Wish me luck with looking for the place and the weather. :xedfingers:

[mathsparks]

insider:

mathsparks, maybe you should go to the wall and shoot a pix of that strange round hole powerpoint/plug to share with all (difficult to imagine actually about a 'sunken' rounded power point when what we have been using is a flat power point).

ok. will take a pic shortly. upload when i'm back, k? actually, hubby is nagging at me for not leaving the forum even when i'm away.

[mathsparks]

titank:

Does most of the hotel provide free wifi internet access? Don't know should i bring a laptop a not.

not sure abt free wifi access. but there're 3 pcs here on the 8th floor and 1 on the ground fl of hotel pj.

This hotel is fantastic, the best we stayed so far this trip! All for the price of SGD120. Comes with a single bed plus a double bed. Near the chungmoro station; shabby surroundings but the interior more than makes up for it. Comes with free shuttle bus to myeong dong, namdeamun etc. Will upload pics when back.

[ChiefKiasu]

mathsparks:

hi way2go, insider,

thanks much. our phones and sim cards are all 3g ones. never encounter prob in other countries we visited except tokyo...cdma network too??

so anyidea is cdma phone dependent? as in only motorola phones or somethg? :?

i actually called singtel b4 leaving and they didnt remind me. And they didnt reply my email which i sent from seoul :rant: :frustrated:

3G coverage is pretty much global now, but each operator in each country operates in different frequencies (or bands). The ability to use a specific band depends on the handset, so unless you have a quad band phone, there is a chance your phone may NOT work in a specific area where the operators use a band not supported by your phone.

Or it could be simply that you did not activate roaming for your post-paid mobile account before you left the country

[mathsparks]

hi chief. I did call singtel before leaving. there’s no need to activate for auto-roaming; only need to activate for pay-as-you-roam.


perhaps a thread for roaming and adaptors?

[Way2GO]

mathsparks:

hi way2go, insider,

thanks much. our phones and sim cards are all 3g ones. never encounter prob in other countries we visited except tokyo...cdma network too??

so anyidea is cdma phone dependent? as in only motorola phones or somethg? :?

:

GSM and CDMA are two competing technologies for mobile phones and are not compatible with each other - but that's for another discussion.

I haven't gone back to S. Korea and Japan for many years now and my bad, GSM is more pervasive worldwide and a check shows S. Korea and Japan also have GSM besides CDMA networks.

So a quick check on your situation:

1. Roaming agreements between SINGTEL and Korean carrier(s)? check

2. International roaming service activated? check

3. Correct phone?
Your phones should at least have triband or better yet quadband to enhance using your GSM phones globally since the GSM frequencies used in different countries may differ. A quadband phone will cover all four GSM frequencies used worldwide.

Try turning your phone off and then turn it on. Your phone should capture a selection of available networks. Or if you know which Korean network carries your GSM band, you can also lock onto that network manually. If it still doesn't work, the problem is likely your phone - time to change phones the next time before you go to Korea, Japan or USA. :lol:

[mathsparks]

thanx way2go. my old phone so lau pok, dual band nia…umts and gsm only. it was able to detect 2 sk telecom networks automatically as well as manual. But after i selected either telcos, it refuses to grant me access. anyway, i only travel once a year, so no hurry to change phone yet. And, as expected, singtel has not responded to my feedback.

Hi insider, dragon hill spa is really a wonderful place! Thanx for sharing. We spent almost 4 hours there. Kids and hb swam at the outdoor pool then we tried all the diff saunas; son only went for the ice one plus the hinoki forest room. Lunch there. Then continued with the various baths. Left son in the internet room. Absolutely fantastic place.

[mathsparks]

actually it was rather easy. Train to yongsan station, leave by exit gate no. 1 (we asked at the ktx tourist info counter), down a long flight of steps, turn right walk till you come to a small road. The spa is just across. From train station to spa, about 15mins walk.


And girl and i went ice skating at gwanghwamun square. Our first outdoor experience! Marred by lousy skates.. Can't expect much since we only paid 1k won for an hour. Cheap skates, indeed! :lol: Son was sick so rest in hotel.

[CMF]

On our recent Korea trip, we engaged the services of an English speaking guide. (David Chun ([email protected]). Speaks good English, pleasant and patient. He customises site visits with or without transport included, and is able to also arrange for a Mandarin speaking guide if so required.

[mathsparks]

Pictures of the adaptor that we brought to seoul:

http://www.postimage.org/

http://www.postimage.org/

Electrical outlet found in most hotel:
http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=gxPx0d0

Heard of the saying a square peg in a round hole? Describes precisely what's happened.