Brunei/Korea - Day 2 (Brunei Town)/Day 1 (Myeongdong)

Our stay at The Brunei Hotel comes with buffet breakfast for 2 person. Breakfast starts from 7am to 10.30am. You can choose either Asian or Western breakfast set.

YELO set breakfast menu:
1. Asian set - Fried yellow noodles or Chinese fried rice or nasi lemak chicken curry
2. Western set - French toast or pancake with grilled sausages or baked beans

All breakfast sets are inclusive of:
1. White bread with jam and butter or eggs
2. Chilled orange or apple juice
3. Coffee or tea
4. Mixed cut fruits

I had Western breakfast set comes with French toast, baked beans, fried egg, mix cut fruits and chilled apple juice. My partner on the other hand had Asian breakfast set comes with nasi lemak chicken curry, scrambled egg, mix cut fruits and chilled orange juice. Overall breakfast here are so-so.

YELO Cafe

Cafe ambience

Apple, orange juice and fruits

Asian set - nasi lemak chicken curry with scrambled egg

Western set - French toast with baked bean and fried egg

Address:

YELO Cafe (The Brunei Hotel)
95, Jalan Pemancha,
Bandar Seri Begawan,
BS8811, Brunei

We still have another 5 hours to kill before our flight to Korea at 3.15pm. We decided to visit Royal Regalia Museum just 6 minutes (600m) walking distance from The Brunei Hotel. Bags, camera and shoes are not allowed in the Museum. You must leave your shoes at the entrance. Lockers are free and you can store your belongings there. The admission fee is $ 5 (adult) for non-resident. Cameras are not allowed however you can still use your handphone camera to take photos. We took around 1 hour to explore the museum.

Makam Raja Ayang

Memorial clock

Brunei History Centre

Royal Regalia Museum

Entrance ticket - $ 5 (adult)

Royal Regalia Museum

Address:

Royal Regalia Museum

Jalan Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddien,

Bandar Seri Begawan,

BS8611, Brunei

We checked out from The Brunei Hotel around 12.50pm and took a Dart car to Brunei International Airport (Dart fare - $ 11). The Royal Brunei Airlines ground staff is very helpful and nice. As usual I prefer window seat while my partner prefers aisle seat. The ground staff was kind enough to help us blocked the middle seat since the flight isn't full. Basically we get an entire row of seats for ourselves.

Brunei International Airport departure gate

Brunei International Airport departure hall

We had our quick lunch at Jollibee. I ordered nasi lemak set comes with regular Pepsi and one piece of chicken. My partner had two pieces of chicken with rice and drink. He upgraded his drink to milo by paying an extra $ 1. I love their fried chicken. It has a crunchy outer layer with juicy meat. My nasi lemak comes with fried anchovies and it's golden brown and crispy. This will be a perfect meal if only the coconut rice has more intense coconut fragrance.

Total bill - $ 12.30

Jollibee

2 pc chicken with rice and drink - $ 6.60 and drink upgrade to milo - extra $ 1

Nasi lemak with regular Pepsi and 1 pc chicken - $ 4.70

Address:

Jollibee Brunei International Airport

Jalan Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa,

Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei

Our flight departed on time at 3.15pm and we arrived at Incheon Airport Terminal 1 at 9.15pm (Seoul time). Seoul is one hour ahead of Malaysia. We are very fortunate to have an empty middle seat because it will get very cramped if the whole row was occupied by adults. Food was served around 4.30pm and both of us had bulgogi beef with fried rice. The rice turned out to be white rice instead of fried rice. Surprisingly my partner loves their soft bread and kimchi. Overall food is ok except for the dessert which is too sweet for our liking.

Malaysian passport holders are required to apply for K-ETA (valid for 2 years), 72 hours prior to boarding before entering Korea. Besides that, all foreign travelers are required to register for Q-Code within 3 days before arrival. Vaccination is not mandatory and travelers do not need to go for Covid-19 testing screening. On the plane, cabin crew handed out 3 forms - arrival card, customs declaration form and health questionnaire for you to fill in.

Brunei International Airport

Royal Brunei Airlines

Forms to fill in before entering South Korea

In flight meal - bulgogi beef with white rice and eggplant

Upon arrival in South Korea, we need to present our Q-Code. You can either print out the Q-Code on paper or download the Q-Code to your phone so that the immigration staff at the airport can scan the code. After that, they will check your body temperature via the wrist using an infrared thermometer before we proceed to the immigration counter. After we took our luggage at the baggage claim area, we need to submit the customs declaration form to the customs duty officer before leaving the arrival terminal.

By the time we came out from the arrival hall it's almost 10.15pm. We took the escalator down to the basement and looked for the signs that says Airport Railroad (AREX) All Stop Train. This train makes stops at all subway stations and it's the most economical way to travel between Seoul Station and Incheon International Airport. Each of us bought a Korea Tour Card (price - ₩ 4,000 per card without credits) from the vending machine. You need to top up the card prior to use. So we decided to top up ₩ 20,000 for each card.

We managed to board the 10.30pm train and ₩ 900 was deducted when we went through the turnstile. We took the All Stop Train to Seoul Station and then took a subway from Seoul Station to Myeongdong Station (exit 8) - 2 stops. Total fare paid from Incheon International Airport to Myeongdong is ₩ 4,150. The journey took approximately 1 hour from Incheon International Airport to Seoul Station and another 30 minutes from Seoul Station to Myeongdong Station. Temperature in Seoul is around 1℃. We couldn't find any escalator or elevator at Myeongdong Station exit 8 and have to climb up the stairs with our luggage.

All stop train

Korea tour card (T-money) vending machine and machine to reload your T-money upon purchase

Korea tour card (T-money)

Train

Seoul Station

Myeongdong Station

Staircase at Myeongdong Station

Nine Tree Hotel Myeongdong is just 2 minutes walking distance from Myeongdong Station exit 8. Check in is fast and efficient. We need to show our passport to the front office staff for verification purposes. Since it's after midnight the only shop that opens is convenience store. Feeling hungry we walked to GS25 convenience shop, just beside our hotel and had ramyeon. Eating ramyeon is just one of those things that happens in Kdrama and we did it on our first night in Seoul.

My partner had chicken flavour ramyeon while I had seaweed flavour. His cup noodles taste so much better than mine as the ramyeon is thinner compared to mine. Anyway both the flavours are unique and addictive. I simply grab a box of peach drink while he grab a can of grape juice. Overall it's fun eating late night snack especially ramyeon in cold weather.

Total bill - ₩ 5,600

Note: ₩ 1,000 = RM 3.40