Bank balance on RED Alert
Looks like I have to work a lot harder, and go out a lot lesser, in order to make up for the money I have 'lost' because of my desires.
First, it was my new mobile phone. $538 gone. Even though I have received my tax return, for some reason the amount was halved from 2011/2012 financial year. Not even enough to cover the cost of my mobile, sadly.
Then, it was my Christmas travel plans. Everyone knows travelling during peak season would mean it is more expensive. Air ticket already cost me $2400. Considered cheap if you want to compare with other airlines. But we have 2 weeks of forced leave so I don't want to hang around Melbourne. After much delays just because I was not certain if I should go ahead with my plans, I bought the tickets.
18 December 2012 - I will start travelling again. Or quoting some friends, "wandering" again. It will be a 3 weeks duration, and I will come back to Melbourne again on 8 January 2013. I will have one more additional week of unpaid leave, but that's fine. Two more months, and I simply can't wait!
18 December 2012 I will fly from Melbourne to Osaka, Japan first with Korean Air. I have around 9 days in Japan. My tentative plan would be to stay in Osaka for 2 days, then travel an hour (by train/bus) to Kyoto, where I will spend 3 days. Then I will take the bullet train up to Tokyo, where I will spend 3.5 days.
From Tokyo I will fly to Busan, South Korea. This would be a different route for me because I have never landed in Busan before. Whenever I go to Korea I would first go to Seoul, then travel south by train to Busan. So this time round I will be starting from Busan. I have 11 days in Korea. Tentatively I would probably stay 1.5 days in Busan, take a bus up to Daejeon and stay for a day or so. Then I will take the train up to Seoul, where I will stay for the remaining days. However, I will probably take 2-3 days trip out of Seoul to go to Gangwondo, which is further north-east, closer to North Korea. Then I will come back to Seoul and travel back to Melbourne from Seoul on 7 January 2013, reaching Melbourne at 7.15am on 8 January 2013.
Honestly I do not have enough time. I haven't booked my accommodations either, which I will have to do so this weekend. My only concern is - carrying a big luggage and trudging through the different cities may be a big challenge. Especially so when I do have plans to stay in Jimjibang (Korean sauna house) for short stays, so that I can save costs. I haven't quite figured out if my big luggage can go in there though. I will have to think about how everything fits and how to go about arranging my trip. Perhaps I should just backpack or something. But I think I'd need a big luggage for my shopping, and plus, a LOT of space for winter clothing, because it will be cold in both countries, and Korea will be quite bitter (minus 0). I need to seriously wrap up.
I have contacted all my Japanese and Korean friends in both countries for gatherings as well. I still have heaps of friends especially in Japan whom I have no idea if I have time to actually meet them up. And unfortunately some of them live further away (like Nagoya etc where I am not going) so I won't be able to meet them up.
I can't wait! Still two more months but I think time is crawling by too slowly. Though I think perhaps November would pass by a lot quicker with a few events coming up:
1) I am going to Sydney for a day trip to meet up with Joanna on her business trip (YAY!!!);
2) My housemates' wedding, where I am part of the brides' 'jie mei' team;
3) Korean traditional music festival which I am so happy that our teacher invited us to go.... I had a brief stint in Korea and learnt their traditional instruments and fell so in love with them, but had no chance to actually master them...
4) Another possible marathon that I may be doing - 14 Km City to Sea Marathon. Hoping to do that with some of my colleagues, so that means I have to start training again.
5) Our company's Christmas party on the 30 November. Having missed last year's event because I was in Singapore, I am super glad that I will be around for the party...
6) A few dinner plans arranged with some friends as well. And then with half day Fridays once every two weeks, my colleagues and I usually go somewhere for a yummy lunch to waste the afternoons.
And to think shortly before I was saying that I must go out a lot less and save money!.....
I can't describe how excited I am now! But in order for me to survive through the remaining Oct and Nov, I will have to contain my excitement and just live as if I have nothing planned......
First, it was my new mobile phone. $538 gone. Even though I have received my tax return, for some reason the amount was halved from 2011/2012 financial year. Not even enough to cover the cost of my mobile, sadly.
Then, it was my Christmas travel plans. Everyone knows travelling during peak season would mean it is more expensive. Air ticket already cost me $2400. Considered cheap if you want to compare with other airlines. But we have 2 weeks of forced leave so I don't want to hang around Melbourne. After much delays just because I was not certain if I should go ahead with my plans, I bought the tickets.
18 December 2012 - I will start travelling again. Or quoting some friends, "wandering" again. It will be a 3 weeks duration, and I will come back to Melbourne again on 8 January 2013. I will have one more additional week of unpaid leave, but that's fine. Two more months, and I simply can't wait!
18 December 2012 I will fly from Melbourne to Osaka, Japan first with Korean Air. I have around 9 days in Japan. My tentative plan would be to stay in Osaka for 2 days, then travel an hour (by train/bus) to Kyoto, where I will spend 3 days. Then I will take the bullet train up to Tokyo, where I will spend 3.5 days.
From Tokyo I will fly to Busan, South Korea. This would be a different route for me because I have never landed in Busan before. Whenever I go to Korea I would first go to Seoul, then travel south by train to Busan. So this time round I will be starting from Busan. I have 11 days in Korea. Tentatively I would probably stay 1.5 days in Busan, take a bus up to Daejeon and stay for a day or so. Then I will take the train up to Seoul, where I will stay for the remaining days. However, I will probably take 2-3 days trip out of Seoul to go to Gangwondo, which is further north-east, closer to North Korea. Then I will come back to Seoul and travel back to Melbourne from Seoul on 7 January 2013, reaching Melbourne at 7.15am on 8 January 2013.
Honestly I do not have enough time. I haven't booked my accommodations either, which I will have to do so this weekend. My only concern is - carrying a big luggage and trudging through the different cities may be a big challenge. Especially so when I do have plans to stay in Jimjibang (Korean sauna house) for short stays, so that I can save costs. I haven't quite figured out if my big luggage can go in there though. I will have to think about how everything fits and how to go about arranging my trip. Perhaps I should just backpack or something. But I think I'd need a big luggage for my shopping, and plus, a LOT of space for winter clothing, because it will be cold in both countries, and Korea will be quite bitter (minus 0). I need to seriously wrap up.
I have contacted all my Japanese and Korean friends in both countries for gatherings as well. I still have heaps of friends especially in Japan whom I have no idea if I have time to actually meet them up. And unfortunately some of them live further away (like Nagoya etc where I am not going) so I won't be able to meet them up.
I can't wait! Still two more months but I think time is crawling by too slowly. Though I think perhaps November would pass by a lot quicker with a few events coming up:
1) I am going to Sydney for a day trip to meet up with Joanna on her business trip (YAY!!!);
2) My housemates' wedding, where I am part of the brides' 'jie mei' team;
3) Korean traditional music festival which I am so happy that our teacher invited us to go.... I had a brief stint in Korea and learnt their traditional instruments and fell so in love with them, but had no chance to actually master them...
4) Another possible marathon that I may be doing - 14 Km City to Sea Marathon. Hoping to do that with some of my colleagues, so that means I have to start training again.
5) Our company's Christmas party on the 30 November. Having missed last year's event because I was in Singapore, I am super glad that I will be around for the party...
6) A few dinner plans arranged with some friends as well. And then with half day Fridays once every two weeks, my colleagues and I usually go somewhere for a yummy lunch to waste the afternoons.
And to think shortly before I was saying that I must go out a lot less and save money!.....
I can't describe how excited I am now! But in order for me to survive through the remaining Oct and Nov, I will have to contain my excitement and just live as if I have nothing planned......
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