Enjoy the Free Shuttle Bus!

Aiming to attract 10 million international tourists annually, Korea designated 2010 to 2012 as Visit Korea Years. Special events and discounts will promote key tourist destinations. In celebration of the 2010-2012 Visit Korea Year, the Visit Korea Committee announced that it will be sponsoring the operation of a free shuttle bus from Seoul to Busan and Seoul to Jeongju. All international tourists and international residents are free to take advantage of this service, which will be offered until the end of 2012. 

Since Jan 1st, 2010 the Visit Korea Committee has run a similar free shuttle bus service between Seoul and Jeonju, and Busan and Gyeongju and to many other places and they have success in attracting tourist towards the Korea  their beautiful cities  and those amazing places which can neither be discovered.

The number of international visitors using the free daily shuttle bus service from Seoul to Busan has more than doubled over just two months. The ‘Free Shuttle Bus’ program, organized by the Visit Korea Committee as part of the Visit Korea Year Campaign, runs every day of the week, except Mondays, and will continue until the end of this year. The bus has a staff member on-board to provide assistance in English, Japanese and Chinese, as well as brochures about Busan tourism. Reservations are required, and can be made through the official Visit Korea Year homepage. 

REGISTRATION: To register for tickets on the shuttle buses go to the Visit Korea website and under “Benefits of Korea Year” at the top click on “Free Shuttle Bus”. Select the date and destination for the shuttle bus you want to take. Fill in the application and submit it.

You can also register online.

The number of the right side of each shuttle route indicates that how many people have been applied.

Ø    The number under each shuttle route indicates that how many tickets have been drew which is going (from Seoul)/to Seoul).

Ø  Application availability through each route: Jeonju 37, Busan 25)

Ø  Black Colour indicates: You can apply

Ø  Blue Colour indicates: (the capacity is exceeded)

Ø  Red Colour indicates: closed (the capacity is exceeded)

Ø  The rottery bus ticket will be sent 10 days before trip via provided E-mail.

·         or example, for a July 30th departure, you must apply before July 20th.

Ø  In the event that seats are available, last minute passengers without any booking are welcome.

Ø  When requests exceed allowable seating, the following priority is used for ticketing:

Ø  1st: Ticket holders ∥ 2nd: Applicants without a ticket ∥ 3rd: Non applicants without a ticket, but willing to take a bus at the last minute. (Offered on a first-come, first-served basis while vacant seats last).

SINGLE TRIP is unavailable: The main purpose of this program is apart from Seoul, introducing other fascinating cities to foreigners, not just transportation. 

CONDITIONS:
1. The program targets international visitors and residents.
2. Reservations must be made 10 days in advance to guarantee a seat. Remaining unreserved seats will be allotted as they are available. 
3. There is a limit of two tickets per applicant.
4. If there are more than 28 applicants for any given day, tickets are distributed by lottery. Notification will be sent 10 days prior to departure. Winners will be notified individually by telephone or e-mail.
5. All passengers are required to bring a valid passport to board the bus.

Offer:1 Seoul-Jeonju

Seoul Departure 08:00 (Gwanghwamun (Donghwa Duty – Free shop)

Jeonju Arrival 11:00 (Hanok Village Public Parking Lot

Jeonju Departure 17:00

Seoul Arrival 20:00

Offer2: Seoul-Busan

Seoul Departure 08:00 (Gwanghwamun (Donghwa Duty – Free shop)

Busan Arrival 14:00 (Busan[Lotte Hotel (Seomyeon)]

Busan Departure 16:00

Seoul Arrival 22:00

Period: January 1 ~ December 31, 2012 (12 Months)

Target: Overseas visitors and foreign residents

Intervals: Every day except Mondays

Inquiries

In Korea : 1577-2507
From overseas : +82-1577-2507
visitkorea@chesstours.co.kr

visitkorea_en@chesstours.co.kr

Also You can visit these websites for further information.

☞ Online Reservations: http://english.visitkoreayear.com (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
☞ Inquiries: +82-2-1577-2507 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)
☞ 1330 tt call center: +82-2-1330 (Korean, English, Japanese, Chinese)

AAPS 2012 Meeting and Exposition

AAPS 2012 in Chicago

American Association of Pharmaceutical Society breezed into Chicago, the windy city, for the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) annual conference. It is an annual meeting of Pharmacists from all over the world to disuss the challanges of the day and to share the experiences of scientists in their relative fields and also to discuss the progess of their lab works and to fined the possible solutions of the common problems.

It was an year ago when my professor said,: Keep concentration on your research work, so that we may be able to present your work in next AAPS conference". Since then we have always been told to keep working and bring some results. I thought it is a style of our professor to get work from us. But 2 months before the conference professor said us to apply for the conference registration and then US visa to attend the conference.

 
For me it was a good news. But I am not among those who just wanted to go to US and those who have something more than a craze for that. I would prefer Europe if i have a chance to go to US and Europe at the same time. Anyhow at that time it was still not obvious to get a visa for US. I am soon writing a blog about the US VISA PROCESS FOR A FORIEGNER from Seoul, South Korea.

 

 We were in a group of two, One from my University The Hanyang University ERICA Campus and the other Yeongnam University Daegu, totally 16 including 6 professors and 10 students. Beside me there were 2 students from Nepal, One from Vaithnam , 1 from India and 6 from Korea. It was a nice combination as we have already friendship and we attended many conferences together.

The journey with United Airline was good and comfortable also our stay in Dayinns hotel near Ohare airport was good except onething that the hotel was suffocative and for me it was a real trouble to stay in there.

We have 10 poster presentations in the conference totally related to many fields of Pharmacy mostly associated to the Development of novel dosage form. My work is on anti-cancer drug and I was supposed to search for some new techniques to be used for my medicine to make Solid lipid Nano particles, which is an important part of my research. Although it was difficult job but finally I found some researchers who were working on the same line of study, which I am working on. It was a nice talk to them. we exchange visiting cards and agreed to have collaborative work. Also to share some experimental techniques to persue our work together.

 One thing that was quite challanging was the early morning rise up and to go to attend the breakfast session with senior professors and discuss our results and projects. But i really like that session. The rest of unlikely in any other country, People were taking interest in the sessions and some of the sessions were over crowded. Also the exhibitions were intresting and first time i found people using the exhibiions for educative purpuses..

 

 Food was relly good in Chicago..As the people of ths city Love eating and they are fat in true meanings.. Even for me, (Vegeterian) it was easy to found anything to eat in buffet.. However my friends have lots of choices with meet and the verious dishes including meet.

Those 5 days of conference were really amazing with lots of learning and fun. Our life while all these days was busy as we have to wake early in the morning, drive for 45 min to conference place, the Mc Cormik place and then stay in conference till 4 PM ..then to go back to hotel. at 6 PM to go for dinner and then Shopping. Sometime it was just annoying.. but overall we had a real fun .

Foods at Chicago

If You are foriegner in Chicago You don't need to worry about foods.. People of USA really love foods. You will found  a number of people in restaurants waiting for their turns to come and join the buffet. The buffet of USA and Chicago are really worth mentioning. Its not that much expensive. We went to a japan's restaurant Hibachi and we were told to phone them and reserve about an hour early we go. It was really a good place to enjoy the foods.

Being  a Muslim  you need to decide about the foods and many other stuff like that. But if you are going to a buffet you may be able to find many things to eat. In my case, being the only Muslim in my group my professor was really concerned about my foods and that is why every time we found a better way.

Noodles and soups are really tasty at Chicago. where you can find a number of soups made of different materials and every soup has its own taste to make you feel at Home.. You may see the native people sitting in buffet for hours eating too much.. and that might be reason they are so heavy. If you feels you are heavy just go to Chicago and you will be happy and you may feel you are no more fatty... :)

Fruits are really tasty and you can find all kind of fruits and desserts. So if you are vegetarian and if you are unable to food something to eat still you have an option let with these fruits which can be  a temporary source for your hunger. 

My Korean friends ate too much as they have found not only meet and every kind of their choice food but also they have a  big choice of korean traditional bibimpap and also some crabs, lobster and other see foods.

Usually people in lunch time go to a fast food shop and take burger with a big bottle of soft drink and take their way.. So their lunch quite simple and light. It also is not much expensive as it may cost around 5-10 USD per burger. You can found a  number of fast foods shop at near by you.. I must say you good luck for your travel to Chicago. Dont worry about your foods you will find a way.. :) 

Skydeck.. Unforgettable

Perched 103 floors and more than 1500 ft over the city streets, the ledge is a thrill like no other. The height of any Chicago visit, the skydeck and ledge will provide memories for years to come. It was like a dream, standing on the top of 103 floors looking down the buildings, roads and streets of Chicago. They were looks like stones and the river of Chicago is like a line having several bends covering the city.

It was wonderful to look east and feast my eyes on the stunning views of one of the world’s largest freshwater, Lake Michigan. The land along this truly great lake is home to beautiful parks and cultural attractions including Millennium Park and grand parks.

Willis Tower (formerly named and still commonly referred to as Sears Tower) is a 108-story, 1,451-foot (442 m) skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973, it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York, and it held this rank for nearly 25 years. The Willis Tower is the tallest building in the United States and the seventh-tallest freestanding structure in the world. The skyscraper is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Chicago, and over one million people visit its observation deck each year.

 

I along with my friends had really fun over there. Although it has a ticket of 17 USD, which is quite expensive but the craze to have the best view of Chicago brought us to the top of Skey deck. It took like just 60 seconds to go the 103^rd floor of wilim tower. To the north you can see many of the other notable skyscrapers that help make up Chicago’s iconic skyline. You can see the Chicago River and Linchon Park.

On the west , you can see the contant air traffic of O’Hare and Midway airports.The sunset of this side ithe view of the day from skydeck.

Tourists can experience how the building sways on a windy day. They can see far over the plains of Illinois and across Lake Michigan to Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin on a clear day. Elevators take tourists to the top in about 60 seconds, and allow tourists to feel the pressure change as they rise up.

The Skydeck competes with the John Hancock Center's observation floor a mile and a half away, which is 323 feet (98 m) lower. Some 1.3 million tourists visit the Skydeck annually. A second Skydeck on the 99th floor is also used if the 103rd floor is closed. The tourist entrance can be found on the south side of the building along Jackson Boulevard.

 

 

 

In January 2009, the Willis Tower owners began a major renovation of the Skydeck, to include the installation of retractable glass balconies, extending approximately four feet over Wacker Drive from the 103rd floor. The all-glass boxes allow visitors to look through the floor to the street 1,353 feet (412 m) below. You can feel the top postion while standing at this point. Some of my friends were really scared of standing there. But I can say it was one of the best view of my life while standing in that balconies.

 

The building has appeared in numerous films and television shows set in Chicago such as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, where Ferris and company watch the streets of Chicago from the observation deck.The television show Late Night with Conan O'Brien introduced a character called The Sears Tower Dressed In Sears Clothing when the show visited Chicago in 2006.

 

Chicago River Walk

Chicago River walk... A rainy day with Chicago fast blowing wind, my Korean professor and friends still wa nt to go out and enjoy the walk, this was a surprising for me. at the same time i thought it might be an intresting place to visit. and ofcourse it was a beautiful and worth watch place to see specially a traveller like me.

 

I found it really difficult to get a place for parking in Chicago and if they offor it is quite expensive. Like we pay 28 USD for just 2 hours. Any how all expenses are to be supported by Korean Government. So no worries... :) Only few of us have the umbrella including me and it was raining heavily. So it was quite difficult to adjust. My professor also dont have an umbrella, i offoered my own but he reject my offer with a smile.

Cruise was quite big having a bar inside countinuously offering drinks and juices with snackes.. mostly the visitors preffors to stay on th etop of the cruise with is the best palce to enjoy thr tour. As you can see the buildings around and can have fun in a more reall way.
The buildings are really tall and you can see the sky touch the buldings.. :)

We were welcomed to the cruise by the caption and then the volunteer guide explain all the things in detail. He was a nice man with good experience and personal communication skills. it seemed like he has some personal interest in handling this kind of tours. He explained about the history of each and every building in detail and made this visit like a historical visit.

 

 

 

 

 

He also gave us information about the architectures, the engineers and the one who was supporting those projects.. I have no interest in how, when and who built those buildings. However It will be injustice if I didn’t appreciate the skills of the resource person. I was only interested in the weather and the clouds which made a good scene made the buildings touching the sky.

 

 

 

Every building ahs their own style,beauty and attractions.Infact every bilding has heir own story. Although it was raining heavily still I and all those crazy people like me were on the deck, the others were sitting inside the cabin can not claim they enjoy the way we did.. It was one of the reason that i get cold just after finish the tour.

 

 

 

 

 

At this pint It seemed like the Chicago city is in front of you.. and You can just imagine how attractive the scene was.. I just spread my hands and i feel i am goonna hug Chicago city. the touch of wind was so cool and icey. I was suprised how thses buildings are standing against these winds..:)

It was around 90 minutes trip around the Chicago.. Amazing and attractice visit with lots of information to know about the city, its historical background and cultural adventures. This awesome trip ended at a nice smile from the caption and the guide.. However its memories are never ending and may be in our minds till the last breath..