Korean Job Discussion Forums

[warren pease]

After all is said and done, over Summer break, what do you think would be cheaper (and or better) going to Japan for a week or going to South East Asia. I know everything is much more expensive over break. I have already found flights to SE Asia for like 550,000 W, which right now works out to only $300-some dollars on my US credit card. What I'm really wondering is if the daily expense of Japan, basically Fukouka, would exceed the relatively cheap price of the Busan ferry?

My girlfriend and I are pretty basic people (cheap hotels, small local restaurants). I can't seem to find an actual price on cheap hotels for over break yet. How much can we expect to pay? Are reservations 100% advised?

And is the Japanese cultural experience really different enough from Korean to make going to Japan a necessity?

How bad is the rainy season (SE Asia) in late July - early August?

I'm really torn and would appreciate any advice or information no matter how directly it answers my questions.

Oh, one last question. Is this too early to try to start planning? I remember last year (not during national break) that flights actually came down in price around a month or so before they were to leave.

Thanks in advance..

[Yaya]

Dude, no contest. SE ASIA!

I've been to Japan twice and while I liked some things about it, it really wasn't all that different from Korea. While on vacation, you need to forget about Korea, and going to Japan (or Taiwan) ain't gonna do it.

[cdninkorea]

I (respectfully) disagree with Yaya; I found Japan different enough from Korea to enjoy it alot. I've been to Osaka, Kyoto, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and a small town called Yanagawa. Japan rules.

I went to Thailand in January and it was great too. Specifically, I did a month at a Muay Thai boxing camp: http://www.rawaimuaythai.com
I wouldn't want to go in summer though because the heat and humidity was enough in winter. Japan is hot too but not as bad as I imagine the Thai summer to be.

I imagine you'll spend more money in Japan though. Especially now with the strong yen.

[farrepatt]

I think viewing as Korea and Japan as being the same culturally is quite far off. It'd be like saying there's no point in visiting England if you've been to Canada.

Kyoto prefecture in Japan has 17 World Heritage sites alone. I think Korea has around 10 (and that's pretty generous). I remember flipping through a book called "1000 things to do before you die" and it had 3 or 4 pages on things to do in China, 3 pages on Japan and 0 for Korea.

Of course with that said, SE Asia is a beautiful place to visit. I've loved my trips there. Though I've only been in the winter so I can't really comment on what it's like in the summer. It's worth seeing what countries have rainy seasons though. They do vary even from region to region (I believe East Malaysia has rainy season in winter and west in the summer).

I'd guess your overall trip to SE Asia would be a bit cheaper than to Japan, but don't rule Japan out because you think it might be similar to Korea. I've been to 28 countries and tourist wise I'd place Japan in my top 3 easily, and Korea in my bottom 3.

[michim30]

Japan rules. But yeah, it's expensive.

[visitorq]

Japan is basically nicer in every way than SE Asia (and the rest of E Asia for that matter), but too damn expensive now. I don't mean in just the usual sense, but in the sense that the yen is terribly strong at present. The Korean won is pretty weak against most currencies, but especially against the yen - you're gonna get hammered like more than 30% just on the exchange rate.

Also, believe it or not much of Japan is actually much hotter in the peak of summer (mainly due to humidity and 'heat island' effect if you're in Tokyo) than even Bangkok is... August would definitely be the month to avoid Japan (on the other hand, BKK will also be hot as hell at that time so it's not a huge difference)...