Monday, October 16, 2017
Exploring South Korea: Day 3 Fangirl Itinerary
Monday, October 16, 2017Our third day in Seoul was gloomy and exhausting. It's been raining all day. But that did not stop us from enjoying our third...
Our third day in Seoul was gloomy and exhausting. It's been raining all day. But that did not stop us from enjoying our third day.
It was a Sunday and my first schedule was to go to our local church at Huamro. I tried to drag my boss to join me but she refused as she wanted me to experience travelling alone to explore other cities of South Korea. I was hesitant because my phone's navigation feature was unreliable. It was already drizzling as well that day and I'm wearing a dress. But I had no choice. So I commuted via bus from Angguk to Seoul Station.
I landed safely at Seoul Station. And the next mission was to get across this station and finally get to church. I only relied on my old phone's GPS and the free wifi connection around the area. Hence, I have an 80% chance of getting lost. My prediction happened. I even asked some locals for the direction. However, most of them informed me that the address I showed them is from a different area. After almost a year, I realized that it was indeed from a different city. In the end, I was not able to attend the Sunday church service. I headed to Myeongdong instead to meet my boss.
The travel time from Seoul Station to Myeondong only took me 7 minutes. That was really fast! If you are in the Philippines, I guess it will take you forever (this is me exaggerating kekekeke).
It was my first time in Myeongdong. The street was not as crowded that day because of the rain. Aside from my inaccurate GPS and poor direction skills, the drizzle is making this trip a bit agonizing. It's funny though, that I was mistaken as a local again when a group of Vietnamese travelers asked for directions. By the way, my boss and I needed to meet up at Dunkin Donut. It took me 20 minutes to realize that I was already standing in front of it while 'stealing' some free wifi connections at Zara.
When my boss arrived, we window shopped at Zara for a bit. We noticed that the price of garments here are cheaper than what is offered here in Manila. We did not purchased a thing though.
We are in Myeongdong so I asked my boss if we can check out YG Republique. She happily showed me the way to the YG Entertainment restaurant.
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| Travelling by bus alone, CHECK! |
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| Here at Seoul Station. |
I landed safely at Seoul Station. And the next mission was to get across this station and finally get to church. I only relied on my old phone's GPS and the free wifi connection around the area. Hence, I have an 80% chance of getting lost. My prediction happened. I even asked some locals for the direction. However, most of them informed me that the address I showed them is from a different area. After almost a year, I realized that it was indeed from a different city. In the end, I was not able to attend the Sunday church service. I headed to Myeongdong instead to meet my boss.
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| Strolling at Seoul Station after I got 'lost' and before heading to Myeongdong. |
The travel time from Seoul Station to Myeondong only took me 7 minutes. That was really fast! If you are in the Philippines, I guess it will take you forever (this is me exaggerating kekekeke).
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| Rainy Myeongdong |
It was my first time in Myeongdong. The street was not as crowded that day because of the rain. Aside from my inaccurate GPS and poor direction skills, the drizzle is making this trip a bit agonizing. It's funny though, that I was mistaken as a local again when a group of Vietnamese travelers asked for directions. By the way, my boss and I needed to meet up at Dunkin Donut. It took me 20 minutes to realize that I was already standing in front of it while 'stealing' some free wifi connections at Zara.
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| Iced Americano and Corn-flavored donut while waiting for my travel mate |
When my boss arrived, we window shopped at Zara for a bit. We noticed that the price of garments here are cheaper than what is offered here in Manila. We did not purchased a thing though.
We are in Myeongdong so I asked my boss if we can check out YG Republique. She happily showed me the way to the YG Entertainment restaurant.
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| Annyeong Choi Seung Hyun! |
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| Hmmm... What should I get? |
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| Don't Touch! |
The resto's menu was out of our budget. We just purchased some YG goodies (keyrings and phone holders) instead. Luckily, we were able to get free Big Bang A to Z Exhibition tickets because the shop was having a promo for foreign buyers. Yay! That saved our 12000 KRW (540 Php). Also take note that you cab only purchase this ticket online via auction website, for international fans. Ergo, we were really lucky ^_^
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| Free Big Bang A to Z exhibition tickets and the ever famous dakgalbi of Yoogane |
Before we head to Big Bang's Exhibit, we needed to fill our tummy. My boss suggested to have lunch at Yoogane, a famous restaurant that serves tasty and spicy chicken galbi. It was still raining and we kinda got lost our way to the restaurant.
We are not fond of spicy dishes, so we requested for one serving of 'mild' marinated chicken galbi. But in the end, it was still too spicy for us. It was very delicious though and we still enjoyed it.
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| Kyeopta! Queuing at Line Friends Shop |
After our lunch, we rushed to Big Bang's Exhibit at SeongSu. We did not even have enough time to stroll around Myeongdong because of the weather as well. As expected, we got lost again on our way to the venue. We had to visit the Korean Tourism office to assist us. It turned out that we went the other way.
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| Can you name them all? |
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| The ever gorgeous Jeon Ji Hyun |
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| Met Ji Yong on our way to their exhibit ;p |
Finally, we arrived at the venue. It was raining cats and dogs and the exhibit warehouse looked as if it was already closed.
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| Battled the rain and traveled to SeongSu just to see this exhibit. This is for the love of Big Bang :) |
BigBang10 The Exhibition A to Z showcases the K-Pop Royalty, Bigbang's 10 years of journey in the music industry. And as a VIP (BigBang fandom name), attending this event is such an experience.
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| A glimpse of what's inside the exhibition |
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| Royalties in abstract |
Fans and visitors can experience virtual reality, watch their concert and documentary videos, or listen to music selected by none other than BIGBANG members themselves for this exhibit. You can also drop by at the cafe with Big Bang menus and shop some goods at the pop-up shop before leaving.
For a normal citizen, this event may seem a waste of time. But for us, we enjoyed every 'destination' of the exhibit.
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| Dongdaemun at Night |
It's getting dark so we left the exhibit and headed to Dongdaemun Design Plaza. Indeed, this place is instagrammable. I love it's futuristic vibe. And what excites me the most was the field of led roses. Too bad they only lit up a small portion of the garden because of the downpour.
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| My camera can't give justice to these beautiful blooms |
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| I SEOUL U *finger heart |
To cap off the night, we headed to Gwangjang market for our late dinner. Our body was starting to give up so we did not have enough energy to stroll around the market. We just chose a stall which offers haemul pajeon (seafood pancake).
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| A bit disappointed with this pajeon. Not tasty at all. |
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| GwangJang market |
THIRD DAY IMPRESSIONS
- There is no doubt that South Koreans are really friendly, especially those elders who could not even speak in English. I somehow got lost when I was searching for our church and most of the citizens I asked at Seoul station responded to my query. Aside from that, a beautiful stall owner at GwangJang market tried her best to show us the direction we asked her, even though she's having a hard time understanding and translating in English.
- I could not believe that Seoul station was full of homeless people. I always thought that I can only see them under bridges or subway paths, like what I always see in dramas and movies.
- Kimbap and fish cake soup will always save the day.
- Their weather forecast is accurate. Unlike here in the Philippines. We should have prepared our raincoat when the weather app showed us that it is going to rain pretty bad that day. I ended up with wet shoes and tired feet.
- Myeongdong is such a haven. If only it was not raining, we would have stayed their longer. And why are the products at their Zara branch way cheaper than what we have here in Manila? Hmf
- I think I will never understand their complicated subway system. It was a good thing I was with my boss who's really good with directions.
