Thursday, November 3, 2016

Our South Korea Experience: DIY Tour 6D/5N

L-R: Mariel, Me, Abie (my eldest sister) at Hyangwonjeong Pavilion 
It was a dream come true for me and my sister to visit South Korea for the first time even for just a short period of time. We decided to tour Korea and started preparing the visa requirements on September 2016 and finally explore Korea from October 14 to October 20, 2016. It was a quick decision because we want to experience autumn since we've read that it is the best season in Korea (not too cold and not too hot).

Together with my high school buddy and currently my closest friend, Mariel, we've been very hands on for the trip - from booking and matching the flights (since came from Philippines, and we came from Qatar), planning the itinerary, studying how to go to places, researching the best spots to eat up to getting the best value for our money - budgeting!

One of the common questions we received after the trip is.. "How to get the visa?" One of the reasons why I decided to blog about our travel to Korea is because I hardly found any information about visa requirements for Filipinos residing in Qatar. It's my way of helping kabayans in Qatar wanting to visit Korea also. Click this link to know more about visa application. 😉

Another common question we got after the trip is.. 'How much did you spend?'. I've read one travel blog that says, you shoudn't go broke just to travel, which I undoubtedly agree! Be sure to have your savings first before deciding on travelling. When you know that you have saved enough, and have some money to spare, you can now set a travel budget. Since my sister and I were coming from Qatar, our budget for airfare was a bit high compared if you're coming from Philippines, however, it is within our budget so there's nothing to worry about. We spent around QAR5,200 or USD1,400(USD1=3.65) or PHP65,000-70,000(QR1=Php12-13) each (my sister and I) - it includes airfare, accommodation, tourist spots' admission fees, daily transportation, food allowance, and souvenir items. Here's the overview of our expenses 😊


How about the tour??? We planned ahead of time the places we wanted to go. We made a careful research also how to get there, how much it would cost us, and some ways we can get discounts. You can have a birds eyeview of Korea's most beautiful places through their site, this has been our guide in planning the trip. There are discount coupons also that you can print from their site.

For now, let me share the places we've been to for 6 Days and 5 Nights. Click the link to know more about the place. Who knows? You  might become interested and include it also in your itinerary.. 😉

Day 1: Paldalmun Gate/ Hyowon's BellHwaseong Fortress/ Hwaseong Haenggung Palace/ and Everland
Day 2: Changdeokgung Palace and Huwon (Secret Garden)/ Insadong/ Gwanghwamun Square/ Cheonggyecheon Stream & Cheonggye Plaza
Day 5: Danyang/ Gosu Cave

We had a lot more in our itinerary, however, due to lack of time, we we're not able to go to a lot of places. We have high hopes on coming back. So, Korea, no good byes, just see you later! 😎

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Guide: South Korean Visa Application for Filipinos Employed in Qatar

My single entry visa to Korea 😄
Two ways you can get visa to South Korea:

1) Through travel agencies. It is usually included if you avail of their tour packages, you can also ask them to arrange your visa if you'll not avail their tour package. I think if you're coming from Philippines, and you're not confident that they will approve your visa, better inquire to travel agencies to make sure. As per my friend, Mariel, processing fee of visa from travel agency is around Php2,000.

2) Through Korean Embassy in your place of residence. It's very rare to find travel agencies here in Qatar offering tour packages to South Korea, I tried my best looking up online but I did not find any so this was our first and last option since we're coming from Qatar.

Processing of visa is 5 working days (take note of South Korean holidays.. there were 2 days of holiday when we applied for visa, then 2 days are weekends, so the processing of our visa took almost 10 days including holidays and weekends). Validity of visa is 3 months only. I recommend applying 3-4 weeks before your flight.

These are the visa requirements in case you decided to leave your boss, pack your bags and enjoy what South Korea has to offer. (Note that this is for Filipinos residing in Qatar). Note also that these are the requirements as of the time of writing, you can call their office for any updates regarding requirements.

1) Employment Certification indicating your Position and Salary
2) Company Registration Copy
3) 3 months Salary bank statement with Bank Stamp
4) Air ticket Copy*
5) Picture with white background (passport size)
6) Qatar ID Copy
7) Passport Copy
8) Accomplished Visa Application Form (downloadable from site)
9) Hotel/ Accommodation Booking (name should be included as guest)**

*As for the air ticket copy, we decided to book the ticket even though we don't have the visa yet. We have so much faith in Jesus that He will grant our request. So by faith, we booked the tickets. :)

**For the accommodation booking, we made it through booking.com. We did not make any payments online, because the policy is pay when you stay. However, they will require you to enter your credit/debit card details for assurance purposes only.

Hope this helps.. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I'll reply as soon as I can. :)