Alcoholic Beverages from Korea

One thing I can tell, Korean beer is superb! Not only it is cheap, the taste and the feel is so smooth that you can easily drink few cans without knowing it. I tried various beer every night while I was in Korea, yes, I mean EVERY NIGHT! It is easily accessible via any 24 hour convenient store. On top of that, it was winter time during my trip, so imagine hiding yourself in the blanket with your television on, and you lie down, enjoying sips of a cold Korea beer. 

IT IS JUST UNFORGETTABLE! 

This is my favourite beer. Cass Beer with Lemon flavour. 

    

Max Beer, can't really remember the taste, but having said that, it is a good beer. 

Cass Beer, Fresh and Original taste. 

This is the classic 'ShioJiu' that we commonly see in the Korean Drama series. The taste is ... quite horrible, alcohol content of about 21%. 

All the beer I mentioned above cost about 1500won(couldn't recall the exact price, but its roughly there), or about RM3-5 per can. As for 'ShioJiu', it cost only 1150 won, which is about RM3.00+. 

Marina Hotel, Jeju Island, Korea

Upon arrival at Incheon Airport, we were sent to Gimbo Airport by our tour bus, and then board another flight, Jeju Air to Jeju Island. After approximate 55 minutes flight, we were then in Jeju. For another 10 minutes in the bus, we reached our hotel, Marina Hotel. 

Relatively a small room for 2 person. 

Small room, with small television too, probably a 32 inch LED television. 

Stayed here for 2 nights, though the room was small, however, it was quite comfortable and clean. Breakfast provided, however with limited choices. Two desktop with Internet connection available at lobby. High speed WiFi also available, however only at hotel lobby. It would be good if the management can upgrade the WiFi. 

This hotel is in fact at a very good location, with multiple convenient store around(less than 2 minutes walk). For about 10 minutes walk, one can reach the busy street(not too sure the name), with all kinds of shops, such as restaurants, hotel, clothing shop, massage, spa etc. 

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Oak Valley Resort, Korea

Below are photos of a hotel in Korea, Oak Valley Hotel, which I stayed for a night for the skiing session.

One king size bed. 

Excellent dining room condition, spent my cool winter night by drinking cold beer while watching Korean movie. 

40 inch LED television. 

This hotel comes with 2 toilets, thus allowing 2 different person to do their 'business' at the same time. 

One drawback of this hotel is no WiFi service provided. even at the hotel lobby. This resort provides huge breakfast variety selection. Overall, it was a pleasant and wonderful hotel to stay in. 

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HANWHA Resorts, Korea

This is a great resort! Though I had only a night at HANWHA Resorts, it truly impressed us with their astonishing room, high speed WiFi, wide variety of breakfast selection etc. The hotel has a mini supermarket right at the basement, Fresco, selling stuff like fresh vegetables, drinks, instant noodles, junk food and many more. 

Awaiting check in at the lobby of HANWHA Resorts.

(Empty room, this is ideal for those who likes to experience sleeping on the floor, 'tatami' style, bed, pillows are stored in the cupboard. 

Instead of calling it a hotel room, it acts more like an apartment. It has 2 rooms, a dining room, a kitchen, a toilet and a bathroom. Thus, this room can in fact accommodate at least 4 adults. 

Another room with king size bed. 

Small television with satellite channels.

A small kitchen, which allows the users to cook. 

This is the speed of the WiFi. Download speed of 10Mbs/s and upload speed of 9.17Mbs/s. 

This is a very nice hotel, if you have the chance, I strongly recommend you to stay in for a night to experience it yourself. 

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Nilai Spring resort, Kuala Lumpur

Before my trip to Korea, the agent arranged for us to stay in Kuala Lumpur for a night in order to catch the early morning flight the next day. (We are from East Malaysia)

Designated hotel was Nilai Spring Resort, which is around 30 minutes from LCCT/KLIA. 

 Room for 2 person. 

Overall, hotel is clean. However, no bath tub provided, and the breakfast provided were of limited choices. No WiFi provided. Due to its location, transport for non-locals is an issue. 

The hotel in fact provide shuttle van to nearest KTM station at the rate of RM70 per round trip(Hotel - KTM, KTM - Hotel), which is about 25 minutes away. From KTM then one can decide to explore Kuala Lumpur using other means of public transport, such as monorail, LRT, bus etc through KL Sentral. 

Due to its inconvenient location, I will not stay there in the future for my vacation unless it is included in the tour package. 

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S Hotel, Seoul, Korea

During my last 2 days in Korea, we were arranged to stay at S Hotel by out tour guide. For the last few days, we stayed at HANWHA Resort, Oak Valley Resort, which was relatively good hotel. Before we checked in to S Hotel, our tour guide told us not to hold big hope for this hotel as it is no match for Hanhwa Resort and Oak Valley resort. 

However, this hotel also impressed us with the cleanness, service, and room facilities. 

 This is 3 bedded room, with one king size bed and a single bed. Sufficient for 3 adult and family. Desktop with high speed Internet connection available. 

 Leather seat sofa available, which can be used as extra 'bed' if more than 3 people. 

This LED television is probably 52 inch, it is huge! In addition, it comes with satellite channel, up to 72 local Korea channel for selection. 

This is the first hotel with bath tub after a week of stay in Korea. Not only it has bath tub, you can press on the button beside to turn on the jacuzzi   

 Toilet bowl with automatic functions, fairly common in Korea. 

Overall, this is a nice hotel. However, they can probably improve it by providing WiFi support  A good hotel to stay if you are going to Seoul, Korea. 

(Don't ask me the cost, as it is included in the tour package, but according to my tour guide, it is roughly Rm2XX/night)

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BMW Z3 at Teddy Bear Museum, Jeju Island, Korea

During my visit to Korea, December 2012, while touring around Jeju Island, I spotted a red, glossy BMW Z3 at their Teddy Bear Museum. 

As I said, this is a Teddy Bear Museum, and you can see there are hundreds of Teddy Bear sitting in the car, from small bear to huge bear. 

 Korea Car Plate

 Colourful Teddy Bear

Multiple huge Teddy Bear squeezing inside this 2 seater BMW Z3...

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Fake Pivot Mega Raizin Car Voltage Stabiliser

This issue is not new, and replica of this popular Pivot products has been there for many many years, probably since 2005 or 2006. The production of this fake Japanese voltage stabiliser is so rampant that it in fact penetrates the whole world voltage stabiliser market, and causes some fears in the consumers while trying to buy genuine Pivot products. (Especially true in South-east Asia, such as Singapore and Malaysia)

This link provide some basic information on how to differentiate between a genuine and a replica Pivot Mega Raizin. 

Original Pivot Mega Raizin vs Fake Pivot Mega Raizin

Please take note that using replica and unlicensed products may cause:
1. Harm to your overall car electrical system, don't risk your life by saving that few bucks
2. No warranty, no return, no exchange by the vendors.

Use at your own risks. 

Meritz Hotel, Miri, Sarawak.

Had a wonderful stay at Meritz Hotel, Miri last week for my official meeting. It was my first visit to Miri, and yes I am in love with Miri, and will definitely pay a second visit in the near future. 

This is the outside view of Meritz Hotel(Name of hotel in Chinese) 

Sharing with my colleague. Beautifully designed and comfortable. The room was odour-free :).  

The corridor to our room, abit dark and creepy under the neon blue light.

Probably a 32 inch flat screen television, equipped with some popular channel, such as HBO, XingKong etc. 

Room entrance door. 

Large bath tub, it is about 1.5x the size of the normal bath tub. 

Yes, if you look at the glass, it is semi transparent, and you can see the 'shadow' or the silhouette of the people who is bathing. 

Notice the semi-transparent glass? Yes you can enjoy seeing your room-mate taking shower. (Just kidding, you can't really see through, so feel safe to bath)

As this was my first time in Miri, little did I know that Miri is full with people from all around the world. This is so because of the oil and gas industry. In addition, Miri has fairly rich night life. People can truly enjoy themselves sitting in the lounge/cafe, sipping cold beer and enjoying music. 

One of the popular spot for drinking is Ming Cafe, which is just 10 minutes walk from my hotel. Served with beer, liquor and dinner. 

If you have not visited Miri before, then, plan a trip in the future. Do pay Miri a visit and you can also visit Niah Cave, Mulu Cave, or even drive to Brunei. :)