Tag Archives: muslim travel

20 things to do in Seoul, Korea

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KOREA

This is honestly a blog entry way overdue since last year. It was a week long trip together with my in laws and no, it was not terrible. In fact, it was uh-may-zing!!

We booked our flight with AirAsiaGo for 5 adults and 2 infants at the time.

We went during Autumn so the weather was just fine for the kids and our dear warga emas = elderly. I decided to just summarize the Top 20 things I  l.o.v.e.d doing in Seoul. 

  1. Eat Kimchi. Enjoy the pickled radish too. Its delicious for a side dish. Enjoy other Korean delicacies as well. Part 1-001
  2. Listen to K-Pop music or any other Korean artists. I was really into Lessang at the time since I was overly infatuated with Kang Gary through his appearances on the Korean variety show – Running Man. I bought one of his albums as a souvenir to bring back home.
  3. Immerse in Korea’s history at the war museum. It was a sad and harrowing time for them yet inspiring as the Koreans manage to build back their country and stand on its own two feet in less than a century.
  4. Lodge at a comfortable Bed & breakfast. Experience the interestingly insulated wooden floors beneath your feet as you walk in the room with your bare feet.
  5. Walk with Seoul. Or if you (more like the kids) are exhausted, use the super efficient public transports. All one needs is the Travel Card.
  6. Order your meal/ticket in Korean language. Greet someone as a start. They get super excited seeing tourists speak the language. They take pride in their language.
  7. Purchase specialised merchandise – Korean silk, brooch and accessories, their cutlery, seaweed, kimchi!!
  8. Wear a Hanbok and take a family photo. _MG_1533-001
  9. Send a postcard to yourself from Seoul Tower.
  10. Smile to an elderly – shake the hands of the young.
  11. Frequent the numerous coffee shops – consider making yourself a Coffee Pasport if you intend to stay in Seoul for a long time.
  12. And if you’re sick of coffee, have a banana milk instead
  13. Taste the spicy Korean food and be prepared to drink lots and lots of plain cold water.
  14. In Nami Island, take a picture with the breastfeeding lady and her two children. Part 2-001
  15. Get beautiful with the specially formulated BB Creams, lip tints and face maskers. I then realized that Etude House was a Korean brand.
  16. In Everland theme park – be a kid. Why so serious huh?
  17. Perform the Salah at Korea’s National Mosque at Itaewon
  18. Lock your own love padlock at Seoul Tower. Part 11
  19. Snap lots of pictures at the 3D Trick eye museum
  20. Take the cruise ship along the River Han – very relaxing with hot coffee on board.

What did you enjoy doing?

Krabi : Final Tips

Posted in Leisure & Travel by

“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open.” –

Jawaharial Nehru

IMG_9618792835288

  1. It is worth to invest in waterproof beg, camera casing, underwear… you name it. Take this from a first time traveler to a beach setting with a toddler. Despite the care a Mother takes to not drop her diaper bag in the water, baby would just tip it at every chance he gets.
  2. Drink lots of water. In fact, drink bottled water. Boil the drinking water. I tried boiling H2O from the tap but urgh.. it was payau. Limestone flavour to it, I have to say.
  3. Haggle but do not bring down the price too low for the tour packages. Even though it did not happen to me, I have read of some tourists being given packed lunch as opposed to some who had a buffet lunch and they were on the same boat!!
  4. Even if you’re on a diet, enjoy the culinary adventure. You are most likely to burn off those extra calories on the next hike up the tiger temple steps.
  5. Be prepared to give a tip. When the lady-boys grab your arm for a picture, they are not doing that for free. They want you to part with your mullah.
  6. Wear comfortable shoes or well surfaced flip flops. Mine had thin soles and I felt I was braving the lava soil. I had terrible muscle cramps at the end of the trip.
  7. If you have small kids, bring a mini life jacket. The sizes they have on board does not fit and unless your child swims like a fish, its worth getting one if you’re thinking of another beach trip to someplace else. I got mine for Baby Zeeq at ToysR Us for MYR 19.
  8. Forget Facebook. Be in the now.
  9. If ever I go to Krabi again in the future, I would love to ; rent those scooters and roam around town, get proper massage from the parlour, and eat more pancakes!
  10.  Be in the holiday/travelling spirits. In other words, be happy, nice and open to new experiences. Its a norm to come across people of different nationalities when you’re on a holiday. They too are looking forward to having a good time and although they speak or dress differently from you, or in my case am a Muslim traveler… Id rather you not say nasty things about my hijab or my religion behind our backs (literally, the seat behind me). You’d be surprised that Mr Husband actually speaks and understand your foreign language eventhough its not English!

HE IS FAKING IT...

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Krabi : Tour Packages

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Our tour agent was LetsGoKrabi.Com . It was recommended by a dear friend who went to Krabi last year and booked his tour package from this company. He said the packages offered were of a reasonable price and the lady manning the front desk, who calls herself Min definitely gave us a good price. We didnt book through the website. We went to the shop in person so we could haggle more, in a friendly manner that is.

We chose a 2 day package for 2 adults and 1 child (not paying, 2 years old)
Phi Phi Island + Jungle Treking = 3400 BHT in total.

Phi Phi Island Tour

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Being a fat muslimah and all (haha..) I purchased a burkini online. I wanted to look picture perfect during snorkeling and all those sandy beach activities. On top of complying with the shariah and all. I also packed a tab of antiemetics in anticipation of being sea sick on board.

I was a first time snorkler (gosh.. is that even a word) and I kept reminding myself to breath from the mouth. And not to panic!

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This tour took up nearly a day already starting from 9am till 4PM. Just enough time to get a shut eye back in the hotel for a while before going out again for dinner. Thankfully there were free flow drinking water and pepsi to quench the thirst on the boat. My little boy had no complaints and he gulped on the Pepsi like a pepsi-holic!

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Krabi : Food Gallery

We came mainly to try the classic Tomyam Gung and Somtam (Papaya Salad).

Soon, we discovered other simple streetfood varieties which included the famous pancakes, fresh fruits, critters, finger food like prawn tempura et cetera.

Even I had something Western on the last day of the stay. Mr Husband thought it was ridiculous to have Penne Arabiatta in Krabi. I beg to differ. I felt compelled to try Western dishes at places that carters to Western tourist. I wouldnt want my pasta to taste anywhere near to the ones served in Secret Recipe or Pizza Hut.

I shamelessly gained 4 pounds from the culinary adventure itself.

Word of caution, Thai food is spicy and not palatable to my little toddler. So he technically had bread and plain rice with clear soup to go with it. Food pricing overall, to me was reasonable. I did not feel that I had to starve for the rest of the month till payday.

Enjoy the pictures. Go on, drool!!

prawn tempura, popia, iced Thai tea
banana + nutella pancake from Pancake Popular stall
Thai green curry
Black Canyon : tomyam set meal
some jelly drink
birthday cake
halal butter
plain toast for breakfast
makcik Yaminlah herself
pancake from Yaminlah stall
browsing menu at Lemongrass
The Lemongrass Restaurat
somtam + tomyamgung
lunch after snorkelling
at Pizza western cafe

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Krabi : Ananta Burin Resort

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We took up an offer from AirAsia.Go and grabbed the best offer we managed to scour within the many days we stalked the site.

Flight ticket + accommodation for 2 adults and 1 toddler
3 nights, 2 day

MYR 838.00

I decided to pay an extra 1140BHT to throw Mr Husband a surprise birthday treat. Ananta Burin offered 3 different packages and I chose Package 2. To my dismay however, one of the staff had a slip of the tongue and had Mr Husband (the birthday man!) pay for the package instead of approaching me for the payment. I supposed the lady had a mixed up on whose birthday it was. All in all, he was still suprised and we celebrated his birthday a day earlier. The birthday room deco and the chocolate cake was delish.

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I loved the room. I loved that they had both shower and bath tub. I loved that they had a washing line to hang all those wet clothes from that swim in the sea.

We did not suffer from any subsequent miscommunications although Mr Husband had an awful internet withdrawal during those first few hours upon landing in Krabi. The hotel had a policy that all ‘surfing’ should be done in the lobby. I was honestly happy to be ‘offline’ for a couple of days there.

Things were off to a good start. Let the adventure begin!

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