By Honorary Reporter Sok Wei Neo from Malaysia
Photos = Sok Wei Neo

The Singapore office of the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) from May 12-14 hosted its annual Korea Travel Fair at Our Tampines Hub, a community and lifestyle building in the city's eastern region of Tampines.

Exhibitors from Singaporean and Korean travel agencies took part in the event. As a frequent traveler to Korea, I attended this event on May 13 to get more information on new places to visit there. 

I began my visit to the Korea Travel Fair with this nicely printed boarding pass.

Seo Young-choong, executive vice president of the KTO's International Tourism Division, gave the welcoming speech at the opening ceremony. He was followed by celebratory performances by the performing team Black Dot, which wowed the audience with its combination of traditional Korean calligraphy and taekwondo. 

Thousands of Hallyu fans also gathered for the first appearance in Singapore of actor Lee Do-hyun from the hit Netflix drama "The Glory." In a talk event, he gave his recommended spots to visit in Korea including several filming locations, saying he often brings his Welsh corgi Gaeul to the Hangang River for a walk.

Actor Lee Do-hyun on May 13 smiles while leaving a talk event at the fair.

I also signed up for the Korean beauty workshop to learn more about makeup. The makeup artist taught techniques for a more natural look and introduced beauty products that perform better in Singapore's humid weather. She also engaged the audience through a quiz on points she mentioned during her workshop, with those answering them correctly getting prizes like facial masks and skin cushions.

A Korean makeup artist demonstrates her craft at the fair.

Next to the beauty booth was the favorite Korean friends booth, where newly registered members got free gifts. The Muslim-friendly travel booth had the exhibitor offer private tours of Korea customized for Muslim travelers. And a booth for Korean food was run by a popular Korean barbecue restaurant in Singapore. 

The latter's friendly exhibitor invited me to enter the lucky draw. I won second prize, a coupon for a box of delicious deep-fried chicken in gochujang (spicy red pepper sauce).

I also completed my mission of collecting six booth stamps and received as a reward a "Squid Game" dalgona (honeycomb candy) cookie cutter set at the KTO redemption booth.

My visit to the Korea Travel Fair ended with me getting this "Squid Game" dalgona cookie cutter set as a gift.

Other interactive activities included a master class in Korean cooking and dinner hosted by the Korean friends booth. Given how fun this year's fair was, I eagerly await next year's in anticipation of even more surprises from the KTO. 

msjeon22@korea.kr

*This article is written by a Korea.net Honorary Reporter. Our group of Honorary Reporters are from all around the world, and they share with Korea.net their love and passion for all things.