Itinerary for Seven Days and Six Nights in South Korea

First things first, Filipinos need a visa to visit South Korea. Below are the requirements to get a tourist visa:

1. Application form
2. Passport (should be valid for not less than 6 months)
3. Photocopy of the 1st page of the passport
4. Passport size photo
5. Photocopy of ITR
6. Certificate of Employment
7. Bank Certificate (you should have at least Php 50,000 in your bank account)
 
Note: 
- Visa processing is free.
- Visa will be released 7 days after the requirements were completed and submitted.
- Make sure that the email address on your certificate of employment from the company you work for will not be changed soon because the Korean embassy will do a background check and will require them to reply. In my case, it took me almost a month to get my tourist visa because the HR personnel put in a soon to be phased out email address on my certificate of employment. PFT.
-South Koreans DON'T NEED a visa to visit the Philippines. UNFAIR!!

We booked our flight to Korea last June via Zest Air/Air Asia, fare is Php 5,000. As compared to the promo fares in Cebu Pacific, this is more expensive but at least I only have to wait 3 months and the best part is that there is free food during the flight. :)

My Favorite Place in South Korea

“Don't you think it's better to be extremely happy for a short while, even if you lose it, than to be just okay for your whole life?”

― Audrey Niffenegger, The Time Traveler's Wife

Aside from Girls Generation, there was nothing about South Korea that I liked. I am not fond of watching Korean dramas and I think Koreans in the Philippines are rude, loud, and annoying. I actually can't remember the reason why I agreed to book a flight to Incheon last June, probably just out of pure fandom of Chyng Reyes. 

Then a month after, a fateful day came and I met the most amazing guy in El Nido who happened to be Korean. I fell in love with him but he eventually broke my heart so it just made things worst between me and the land of BB creams.

Mt. Cristobal: In Limbo at the Devil's Mountain

WARNING: This is a very Dashboard Confessional post. If you are looking for hike tips to Mt. Cristobal please stop reading and click HERE.

This is probably the first time I ever traveled without doing much research. I just followed the itinerary that Kirk of Kirk Anatomy laid out. Maybe it is the travel fatigue and therefore I thought a mountain, just like it always does, could change my current mindset. After all, Mt. Cristobal is also called the Devil's mountain being that it is beside the holy mountain, Mt. Banahaw, so I expected a faith-changing experience.
 
As compared to Mt. Maculot and Pico de Loro, this is the most exhausting. The ascent is a constant assault but even so, I tried to keep up with our veteran guide, Tatay Jaime (the uncle of the Mt. Cristobal guide kuya Lucio - 09993903350). I distanced myself from the other 3 people I am with and opted to stay closer to him and talk to him instead. Partly because I wanted to get to know a local and to challenge my endurance to keep up with his pace, and mostly because my antisocial juices are overflowing that day.

With Tatay Jaime

Urbiztondo: On Wiping Out, Riding In and Running Away

 

I want something else, something more. I want to go and never go back. Because bite size travels don't suffice my hunger anymore. Because I know I should be somewhere else but here.