FAQ

Who is Zarina Jani?
She is a Malaysian, female in her mid-30's (if you're curious about her age^^), blissfully married to her husband and living in Madrid, Spain now until further notice. 

She is not a scholarship sponsored student ie. JPA, KGS. (Please don't ask her about how to and the procedure to study in Korea.)

She is not interested in taking up a degree,master or Phd because she's too lazy now. She came to Korea only to study Korean language and using her own hard earned money.

When and how BudgetTravel2Korea existed?
Zarina is interested in Oriental culture; Japanese culture initially but the high cost of living in Japan forced her to choose South Korea instead. Why not China, Taiwan or Hong Kong? She fell in love with Korea at first sight? That must be it she guessed. 

Back in early 2009, Zarina started to learn Hangul, learned Korean survival phrases through KoreanClass101 and then kept her saving for 3-months Korea trip on September 2009. 

Initially http://budgettravel2korea.blogspot.com/ was just a journal for her trip and it blew out of proportion after that.

How Zarina survived in South Korea with little budget?
She wwoofed, couchsurfed, language exchange, works as tour guide, sells Korean merchandise and obviously blogging.

How did she have the courage to travel alone?
She has backpacked alone in Japan so she had no problem doing it the second time in South Korea. Her motto: If it doesn't kill her then it's fine. 

What is her plan?
Zarina was asked this question so many times but honestly, she is not entirely sure of herself. It's just that she wanna quit 9-5 job, no more office job and to keep her white hair from growing at a ridiculous speed. Haha!

How did Zarina get her parents' consent?
Zarina is a big girl and she comes from a big family. She is the third among her siblings who mostly are married and the parents are okay with her craziness. This is the kinda luxury that she gets but not $$$. She's literally penniless.

Why Zarina studied Korean Language?
Zarina has loads of curiousity and if only she understands Korean media from its original source, the better she thought.

How Zarina studied Korean Language?
Initially online, through KoreanClass101 and then TalkToMeIn Korean.

However, she felt that online classes were not enough and she flew to South Korea for immersion, the fastest to catch on the language but the most challenging and hardest. 

She attended Sogang University from November 2011 and in order to survive living in South Korea had to quit her classes, became a tour guide during the day and attended FREE Korean classes in Seoul Global Center and Korean Foundation.

What level of Korean proficiency is needed for holiday in Korea?
Honestly, if you want to explore the place, shopping, trying Korean food with minimal contacts; not knowing Korean language at all is definitely possible. But if you memorize Hangul and Korean survival phrases your trip would be more pleasant.

Looking for tourist guide?
Please check out the list of available Malaysian student tourist guides under this link and liaise with them personally here. 

How to go to places in Korea?
Please check out the posts under label "Transportation" or under label "How To”
For public transportation in Seoul, please check here.

How to find Halal food?
Please check out the posts under label “Halal” or under label “Korean Food” or Halal Food page.

How much is the budget for a week trip?
For 7 days, you can make do with RM1,800 – RM2,000 (excluding flight ticket).
Set aside some miscellaneous budget for shopping. 
Refer to question 5 for further details. One of the readers has vouched for this as well here.

Please help me to make the itinerary?
Please check the "Itinerary" page or the posts 7-days itinerary, 1-day itinerary, 3-months itinerary, 7-days itinerary part 2.

How to go to Nami Island?
There are many ways to go to Nami Island. Please refer to either Nami Island Part 1 or Part 2.
I would prefer by bus if you are with family although you have to be at Tapgol Park at 9.10am and only reach Seoul at 5pm and restricted by the bus schedule. Plus you get to sleep for a good one hour and a half per one way journey. 
Please refer to KNTO or Nami Island center for latest information. 

How to go to Jeju and budget planning?
Please refer to posts under label “Jeju”

How to apply for university in Korea? 
Please refer to each university’s official website for further information here.
For scholarship information, please refer to here.

How to apply for Sogang University? (Only for learning Korean)
If you are interested to study in Sogang University, please refer here.

Do Malaysian need visa to enter South Korea?
No, if your stay is less than 90 days. Just bring your passport and enter as tourist. 
Yes, if your stay is more than 90 days. For visa application, please refer to here (only for Malaysian).

How to buy cheap flight ticket to Korea?
Register for airlines membership to get the latest promotion to Korea.
Fly on weekdays and during off-season. 
For Malaysian, Air Asia is a cheaper option.

When is the best time or season to visit Korea?
I personally love autumn (end of September until mid November) and followed by spring (end of March until early May). 

Where can I find budget accommodation or hotel or guesthouse?
Please refer to the list:
Myeongdong, Namdaemun and Chungmuro area. 
Insadong, gwanghwamun and Jongno area.
Ewha, Sinchon and Hongdae area.

For Hanok (Traditional Korean House), check the link here.

Where can I ski/snowboard/snow sledding/ice skating?
Please refer to:
Gangwondo area.
Gyeonggido area.

For rough estimation of ski resort rates although it may differ with time, click here.

Should I go to Lotte World or Everland?
Please refer to the comparison post that I have written here.

How to Wwoof (Willing Worker of Organic Farm) in Korea?
Please refer to my wwoof experience's post here.
Or read all about my Wwoofing experience in Korea from the posts with label “WWOOF”.

How to Couchsurf for free accommodation?
Please refer to my Couchsurf post here.

Korean Embassy in Malaysia?
http://mys.mofat.go.kr/english/as/mys/mission/location/index.jsp 

Address : No. 9 & 11, Jalan Nipah, Off Jalan Ampang, 55000 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Tel : (603) 4251-2336
    Fax : (603) 4252-1425
    E-mail : korem-my@mofat.go.kr
    Hours of Operation : Monday to Friday, 08:30~12:00, 13:00~16:30

Malaysian Embassy in South Korea?
www.malaysia.or.kr

Address
    129, Dokseodang-ro 
    (4-1, Hannam-Dong), 
    Yongsan-Ku, Seoul. 
    Republic of Korea, 
    140-884 

Location: Nearest subway Station: Oksu Station, Line 1 or 3, Exit 4 OR Hannam Station, Line 1, Exit 4 - after that take taxi or bus to the embassy

Bus stop name ; Hannam Sibeom A.P.T , Seoul City bus stop #03210, #03211 

Telephone : 82-2-2077-8600
Fax : 82-2-794-5480
E-mail : malseoul@kln.gov.my

Is it safe for women/ girls to travel alone in South Korea? 
As I have done that and been here since 2009, I have no issues of travelling in South Korea, alone. Touch wood. Just be aware of the surrounding and always trust your instinct. Keep your risk low ie. Don’t travel after midnight and walk through god forsaken route, alone. That will only endanger yourself.

Check out these sites for tips on traveling solo:

http://www.transitionsabroad.com/listings/travel/women/index.shtml
http://www.womentraveltips.com/tips7.shtml
http://www.journeywoman.com/traveltales/solotravel.html

Should I stay in hostel or guesthouse or Korean traditional house or leased apartment or hotel?
It all depends on your main resources of $$$, travel tolerance or whether you travel alone, with like minded companion or with family.

If you have tight budget – hostel or guesthouse is the best.

If you’re coming for a holiday to relieve your stress – stay in hotel where you will be pampered and take your time to let the steam off. 

If you’re coming with family – by all means stay in hotel or leased apartment, guesthouse has thin walls and when the kids make noise, the other guests will be disturbed.

For better rates on hotels, please check out Agoda link from the blog.

Are Muslims allowed to stay over in the mosque?
This is something that I have not done personally but an Indonesian friend of mine has done so at Busan Mosque. She asked the permission from the imam there and due to financial problem she was allowed to stay for 3 days. However, my personal thought – a mosque is for praying, so don’t abuse the idea. 

How to apply for Youth Hostel Membership (for Malaysian)?
http://myha.my/wp/

Flight restriction to and fro Korea
Avoid bringing any expensive jewelry or metal, sharp items as metal detectors in Korea are sensitive.
DO NOT bring any meat, poultry, fruits or fresh products into South Korea.

How to buy fabric in Dongdaemun?
Please refer to my post here.


Where can I buy Hanbok (Korean traditional clothes)?
Either Namdaemun or you can go to Dongdaemun ie. Dongdaemun Station, Line 1 or 4, basement shopping center. Don't go to Dongdaemun History and Culture Park Station.