I am finally back to blog about my short Korea trip I had in October (22~26). If you have been reading my blog, you would have realise that this trip is unlike my other adventures because it is fully sponsored (air tickets (Korean Air) , lodging (Korean Tourism Organization) , food ), short (5D4N only) and it is on tour.
Usually, I don’t choose to go on tours (unless I”m with my parents), as I like the liberty and freedom of doing things that I want and like and also because I’m still young and that I have the energy for adventures. But I didn’t really have a choice this time round but nevertheless, I had an enjoyable time and I realized that there are things that you can never do when you’re travelling on free & easy. It’s always a give and take.
Well, but as far as possible, I will try to the best of my ability, to provide travel directions to these attractions as I do believe that people do come to my blog when planning their free & easy trips =p
So.. what is this ASIAN ON AIR program all about?
It is a Korean Air initiative, started a few years back where it was called Koreans on Air and they fly Koreans out of Korea. Last year (if i am not wrong) they flew Russians into Korea and this year they team up with Korean Tourism Organization (KTO), organized the event on a much larger scale and fly Asians to Korean.
I had to write a blog post on “What I want to do in Korea” and I was really lucky to be selected as 1 of the 10 “top bloggers”, representing Singapore with another Singaporean who did a video entry. Joining us were 18 other v/bloggers from all over Asia (2 Malaysians, 1 Filipino, 1 Vietnamese, 2 Thais, 2 Japanese, 5 Indonesians, 1 Taiwanese, 4 Chinese) and 5 media crew. Majority of the participants were still students, with the youngest being only 17, and we were well taken care by 2 tour guides, 1-5 Korean Air/KTO representatives daily and also our very own camera/video man. Not forgetting to mention, the cameras+ phones of each individual.
The itinerary of our trip is very different from the typical tour groups. In our fully-packed 4 days itinerary, we had KPOP dance classes, farming experience, facial, our very own k-pop dance contest, and an opportunity to visit Korean Air Headquarters and training facilities.
For someone who stayed 7 weeks in Korea last year, this was a brand-new experience and definitely worth my re-visit.
Now that more and more people have already visited Korea once, mainly covering Seoul and Jeju. KTO’s future direction might be to open up the more rural areas, attracting people to re-vist korea. This is similar to what Japan has already done. They have stepped up on their publicity on Okinawa, Hokkaido, Kyushu.. moving the focus out of Tokyo. I’m glad to be part of the publicity process and to share my experience with everyone 🙂
So.. unlike my usual blogging style which is on a day-by-day basis, I’ve decided to try something new.
The itinerary of Asian on Air program can be divided into 3 parts.
(1) Beauty of Korea (aka Sightseeing + Photo spam): Yangpyeong Rail Bike + Greentopia’s Farming experience + Paju (Heyri) + Han River Cruise
(2) Eat like a Korean: Korean Street Snacks + Samgyeopsal (Grilled Pork Belly) + Pak Bing Su (Icy Dessert) + Sundubu Jjigae (Soft Tofu Stew) + Makgeolli (Traditional Rice Wine) + Grilled Beef
(3) Live like a Korean (do things that Koreans do but tourists don’t usually do): K-pop Dance Experience + Contest + SkinAnniversary skincare treatment & Make Up + Noraebang (Karaoke)
(SPECIAL) Korean Air Headquarters + Training facilities vist
Stay tuned for my updates~