Korean celebrations - Pepero (빼빼로) day

11th November every year is designated pepero day. Supermarkets will have full shelves of exclusive and regular pepero sticks, convenience stores will make grand stands outside their shop with gift baskets and special sales.

So what is pepero? Pepero is a breadstick-looking cookie-stick usually covered in different flavors of chocolate. The cookie is more commonly known in the west by it's japanese name of Pocky-stick.

Why pepero-day? 11.11 - a date which in itself looks like a pack of pepero sticks. The original intention was that you would give eachother pepero sticks as a symbol of the hopes of growing tsll as a stick. These days it is mostly a commercial holiday, and the custom is to give a box to friends or coworkers. 

People appreciate to get one, bt your are not considered rude if you don't give them out to everyone. 

Last year i got one box from one of our contractors, this year one of my co-workers bought a box each for the girls, i myself bought for my girls at work as well. By all means, you can even buy one for yourself.

Enjoy this relaxed "holiday" and who knows, eat enough pepero sticks and maybe you will get taller...?

How to book bus tickets in Korea

If you want to travel intercity in Korea, bus is a great way to do it. It is fast and the buses usually have very comfortable seating arrangements. Usually the buses run so often there is no need to book in advance. However, for weekends and holidays, it is best to be sure. You can therefore book your ticket online.

Note! To buy bustickets online you need a creditcard issued in Korea (korean bank) and a korean phone number.

The wesites are, as of today,in korean only.

For the kobus.co.kr website, please check this link: How to book a ticket on kobus.co.kr

For my hometown i cannot use this website. So if you, like me, live in Geoje island or cannot find your city on Kobus, please go to this webpage.

I will book a ticket from Geoje island (Goheyon city) to Seoul. The terminal in Seoul for Geoje buses is called Nambu (southern Seoul).

Note! If you use google chrome browser, it will automatically translate to english large parts of the webpage, which is very helpful. below i will show you the image from chrome browser to help you understand the different options you are given in korean if you use explorer.

 Enter you destination to and from and desired date for travel. If you are booking a one way ticket you only need to fill inn the upper part, called 가는일시 (day of departure). If you are booking round trip you also need to fill inn  the lower part with dates, called 오는일시 (day of return).

Finally press the big blue button below the dates.

This will pop up. It is information about cancelling fee. It says you can change your ticket up to one hour before departure and that you can book up to five tickets.

Press the bottom left button to continue.

Now to choose your departure time.
1. departure time
2. travel type, you want the bus that says 우등. It is the most comfortable of the faster buses. 일반 is regular bus seats.
3. Travel time
4. price for regular adult
5. youth price
6. Example, press to seethe bus route. Most buses to Seoul will have a stop for 15 min resting period about midway.
7. reservation. If the button is red, the seats are sold out..
8. earlier times
9. later times

If you booked a one way ticket, you will now see this message. If you are booking round trip ticket, this step will come after you have selected the time for your return trip. To the left is Korean, to the right translated version. Check the box on the lower section and press the blue button at the bottom of the page.






Next part is easy, choose the amount of tickets. Once that is done, an overview of the bus seats will show up and you may choose your seating. When done, press the blue button at the bottom.

If you have booked round trip you will now repeat the steps of choosing time and seating for your return trip.

Next is entering your credit card details. birthday (yymmdd), skip the password section, enter birthday again and phone number. Press the blue button at the bottom and you should now get a confirmation that you have bought the ticket.


Please remember to bring you korean credit card to the bus terminal. You will need it to retrieve the ticket.

PS i will add some photos of how to retrieve your ticket at the bus station soon.