How I Apply a Japanese Tourist Visa

My Japan trip is just around the corner and I am so excited to visit the land of the rising sun very soon! But before I get too excited, I will share with you the process on getting a Japan tourist visa. It's actually easy breezy compared to my previous experiences in getting a Korean and Taiwanese visa... alone! as in "sariling kayod" without help from any travel agency because I want to avoid paying processing fees haha. 

Japan tourist visa is the easiest (in my opinion) because I am forced to transact with an accredited travel agency. Since July 30, 2007, Japan Embassy in the Philippines announced that application can only be made via an accredited travel agency and there are only 6 accredited companies--check it out here.

The following countries are not required to get a tourist visa: 

Andorra, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Rep., El Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macau, Macedonia, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico,Monaco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal (except when the passport was originally issued in present or former Portuguese colonies), Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, U.S.A., and Uruguay

Japan... comming soon!

We are planning a trip to Japan now, Just bought the airplane ticket, I'm so excited and doing some research, hope i can find a Japanese classmate to teach me some Japanese!!

Buddae Jjigae (Military Stew)

This a a dish that my Korean roommate  bring me to try, is a really good choice for coming winter!


Buddae Jjigae was invented in the Korean Military during the Korean war hence the name. It's basically a combination of different ingredients that were leftovers from meals of American. It contains ingredients such as mushrooms, kimchi, tofu, minced beef, sprouts, vegetables, noodles, cheese, spam, Korean sausage and a lot more. The taste is indescribable! soup is really rich plus it has a cheese/ mozzarella kick after sipping the hot and spicy stew. The cheese taste made it so yummy for me :) after my Korea trip, I immediately cooked one at home. Preparation is very very easy! It's a matter of cutting ingredients.

BTW, sorry but I forgot the name of the restaurant in Myeongdong where they serve just Buddae Jjige...you can however check out the menu or Google it! :) But don't miss trying this dish. Super yummy!

Price: Around KRW 20,000 or Php 800 good for 3-4 people. However, you can add on Ramen and Rice since they can provide additional soup for FREE!

A semester at Sungkyunkwan University2

One of the advantages of studying at SKKU is its historic central location in Seoul. Our next-door neighbour is the rear palace garden of Changdeokgung, and we’re situated near Daehangno, but if you like walking (or hiking) you can easily get to Insadong, Bukchon Hanok Village, and many of the downtown markets by foot.

“Seoul campus is very picturesque,” said Juho Valtonen, a Finnish exchange student. “I like the blend of old and modern architecture. I’d also recommend visitors to go see the old campus: it’s very nice, like a temple. Also the views from atop of the hill are very nice, but that takes a bit of climbing up the mountain. I went there quite a few times to admire the view.”

For the first day after Orientation, the ISS students were treated to a special on-campus performance of Nanta, the renowned non-verbal percussion comedy show. As well, Lim Young-hee from the KSCPP joined us to deliver a lecture on Korean culture and history and also give the students a chance to try on Hanboks. There were lots of students and not enough Hanboks, and most of the students wanted to take their time modeling traditional Korean clothes on stage.

After lunch, it was a short trip around the corner to Gyeongbokgung, the largest and most magnificent of Seoul’s five palaces. Following that, we went up the block to the traditional market Insadong, where I ended up drinking craft makgeolli with Brazilian students until curfew.

None of this would have been possible without the team of blue-shirted ISS student assistants who led the students around and took care of their needs and concerns for the rest of the semester.

“[I was surprised by] how friendly and helpful the teaching assistants were throughout the entire programme,” said Rob Dixon of the University of Sheffield. “While I expected them to be reasonably useful I was shocked by their willingness to befriend any student who needed assistance or a guide. They were great!”

One of my favorite restaurant for COLD Noodle

 Ssam Neng Myeon Restaurant's Bibim Naengmyeon (Cold Noodles) with Galbi Gui (Grilled Beef) or Bibimbap with Galbi Gui

I always eat in this particular restaurant in Myeongdong called Ssam neng Myeon Restaurant because the food there is very cheap and sulit (worth it) because it comes with FREE Galbi Gui :) The dishes there are the usual Korean food. We usually order Bibimbap, Bibim Naengmyeon, or Mandu and Noodles. Price ranges from 250 to 300 pesos only and it's actually good for 1-2 persons. 

Price: KRW 6,000 or PHP 240 for set menu which includes Naengmyeon and Galbi Gui or Bibimbap with Galbi Gui

Gamcheon Culture Village

Gamcheon Culture Village it is just like a Asia's Version of Rio de Janeiro!!

Gamcheon Culture Village or Taegeukdo Village (감천문화마을) Korea's most art-filled town is nested on top of the hills of Saha-gu in Busan. It is dubbed as the quirkiest art-filled suburb with colorful and narrow alleyways. It resembles Rio de Janeiro's Favela (meaning, Brazilian's slum area). 

I really love the walls in this village. My eyes get super excited for the next masterpiece :) I also like going up and down the narrow alleys because it gives you a sense of "suspense"--imagining that someone is running after you like the scene in Fast and the Furious 5 but in a whimsical way :) But note that it can be tiresome for the oldies so just be careful and don't wear heels plsss! 

Also, since there are real locals residing in the village, it is important to always remain respectful of their place and keep quiet while touring. Anyway, the fishes and arrows painted on walls are everywhere so no need to worry about getting lost.

More about DMZ

I learned these from our tour guide:

Things you need to know:

1) Sometimes tours are cancelled because of military activities. Such decisions are made by the military personnel and not the tour operators so don't get mad at them. 

2) Obey photo rules and generally, JUST OBEY your tour guides because they know the do's and don'ts inside DMZ. You don't want to be touching bombs and get caught having selfies with the North Koreans and be in the headline the next day right? But if your tour guides tell you you can take photos, go ahead and take lots of it! 

3) Some nationalities are prohibited inside JSA Tours.  For more details about the nationalities, check out this site for the complete list.

4) Dress properly. This is not the fashion lane and not the best place for your #OOTD. Dress neat and presentable--no ripped jeans, flip-flops, sexy/provocative clothes or text/design, no gym clothes, sleeveless shirts, tank tops, and baggy clothes. Just a side story, when I learned about this dress code, I changed my bright yellow top to black fearing I can easily be spotted by North Korean soldiers haha! I'd rather stay low key and blend with the majority ;)

5) Consider the weather because it might impact your overall tour experience. Also most of the time, it is difficult to get a glimpse of North Korea at the observatory because of the fog or clouds. Good thing when we visited, it was clear despite the rain a day before.

Tips for Visiting DMZ

Generally, there are 3 tour options:

1. Half Day DMZ Tour = 8:00am-2:30pm which costs KRW 40,000 or Php 1,700. Tour includes Infiltration Tunnel, Observatory, and Unification Village.

2. JSA Tour = 9:00am-5:00pm which costs KRW 87,000 or Php 3,700. Tour highlight is on entering the JSA or the location where the North and South Korean soldiers faces each other.

3. Whole Day DMZ+JSA Tour = 8:00am-5:00pm which costs KRW 130,000 or Php 5,500. Tour is combination of Tour #1 and #2.

Note: For JSA Tour, there are some nationalities that are restricted. Koreans are the number one on their list and Chinese citizens (so I can't go inside too because my BF is a Korean unless I go solo haha Booo!) but in order to go inside JSA these nationalities must apply a permission 10 days in advance and for South Koreans, they must undergo a background check around 2 or more months prior. Well, for Koreans, this is a waste of time because visiting JSA is like a death row so mostly, they don't care to visit at all.

Choosing the best tour options:

If you have a lot of money, then go for option 3. People say that JSA on its own is a very unique experience that is worth paying for. But due to the limited time that we have and of course the budget, we decided to take the half day tour which in itself was also worth the tour fee as we were able to have a once in a lifetime experience of having a glimpse of North Korea.

A semester at Sungkyunkwan University

As Korea’s many universities continue to globalise, international students and professors are visiting Korea for short-term semester-break programs. Pretty well any university in Korea that you can name has a summer semester program. It’s a fantastic combination of a vacation with an intensive study session, as well as an opportunity to meet people from around the world.

Since I’m most familiar with Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), here’s a closer look at this year’s International Summer Semester (ISS) program. The SKKU ISS started in 2008, making this the eighth year of the program. This year’s program had 842 foreign students and 825 Korean students. Students came from Singapore, Hong Kong, France, Indonesia, Brazil, the Netherlands, China, Mexico, Switzerland, the UK, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Croatia, the US, and many other countries.

And almost all of them showed up on Wednesday, September 25. Soon I found myself standing on stage in front of the SKKU ISS class of 2015.

Addressing over 1000 students people from all corners of the world, many of whom had just recently flown in, was quite an experience, but it was clear from the start that the students were here to get the most out of this brief stay.

To break the ice, we led the students through a “backdrumming” exercise in which everyone soothed the muscles of the people sitting to either side, and had a traditional Korean musical performance by the SKKU student music group Daedong Akhee.  And then, because nobody is immune in Korea, we played them our video of “Sungkyun Style,” SKKU’s own parody of “Gangnam Style.”

Following that, we brought the students down to the 600-year-old campus of Sungkyunkwan, where we explained the long history of the university and took group photos in front of Myeongnyundang, Korea’s oldest lecture hall.

“The campus was very beautiful and the fusion of ancient and modern buildings made it a pleasure just to walk to class,” said Rob Dixon of the University of Sheffield.

DMZ tour！

Almost all the exchange classmates want to visit DMZ, so we arranged this tour by our self and it was unforgettable.

The Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) is the buffer zone between North and South Korea, running across the peninsula roughly following the 38th parallel. It was created by agreement between North Korea, China and the United Nations in 1953. The DMZ is 250 kilometres (160 miles) long, and about 4 kilometres (2.5 miles) wide.