Seoul 2K15

Drafting this post (since 27th November '15) on my trip to Seoul while my memory is still fresh and while transferring the pictures (it is taking forever). All I can say is that I'm really thankful that this trip happened and I'm even more thankful for the friend that experienced Seoul/Busan with me.

It all started when both of us wanted to travel to Korea so bad and we decided that we would book our tickets 7 months before the trip and kept it a secret until a month before. Every time we met up in school, she would always remind me, "78 DAYS TO KOREA! 57 DAYS TO KOREA" etc. Funny how we were still planning our itinerary 1 day before the trip, deciding on what clothes to bring and whether it would be enough since its fall transitioning to winter. And then the trip happened and bummed that 2 weeks just flew by like that.

Since it's winter, we had really short days because the sun usually sets at 5.20pm. That sucked because it made 8pm seem like 11pm but it didn't stop us from doing what we wanted to do!

Basically this post is going to be mostly visuals because experience is something I can't exactly put in words. I wouldn't elaborate on what we did everyday but rather caption the images (I picked 77 out of the thousand-ish that we took). 

Thank god for amazing hosts, the delicious food, kind people that helped us along the way, good weather and that we are home safe and sound (and washing machines and elevators and escalators!!)

The view from one of the apartments we stayed in. 

I really love how the trees look in fall. 

Whilst on the way to Yuldong Park. 

Yuldong Park

@ Hongdam's work studio

Damn, the song on his playlist is still stuck in my head.

The 'he-was-out-eating-lunch-and-we-love-his-slippers' shot. 

We headed to Busan on the 3rd day of arrival and that's me munching away in the train station. 

I love how they have convenience stores in the train stations so we didn't even had to worry about being hungry because we're eating all the time. 

Oh, and did I mention how dope Busan was?! Love how they are so simple and our apartment and the bakery near by! 

Visited Gamcheon Cultural Village 

Made our way to Taejongdae Park aftermath.

It wasn't as pretty as I expected it to be (we might have taken the wrong route) but I had a good walk.

Songdo beach. It was nothing much really.

Our apartment was located right where the hot spots in Busan were. So we decided that we had to see and party at at least one club while we are there. 

Hence, we picked Club Grid. 

I really really really love the music they played there/that night! 

Since we only had three days in Busan, we can't afford to waste any time. So even after partying, we got up early so we can climb Jangsan.

After a long and steep climb and with a few breaks and curses in between, we made it to the top! I think we could have went higher and make a round trip but we decided to u-turn and go down the same route as we took to get up. But the view though,

So much love for this one

Thank god for good weather because it had been gloomy the day before.

After climbing, I was so tired and hungry, mostly hungry so we decided dine at any restaurant we saw. But no regrets because the jjampong there was amazeballz! 6000W well spent. 

Went to Haeundae Beach after eating and it was a lovely sight! 

(It took me forever to pronounce the name of this beach correctly)

Seeing friends, family and couples strolling/playing by the beach was heartening.

We were there until sunset, just chilling and enjoying the sea breeze 

Sad to leave Busan but there's me, sipping coffee before boarding the KTX back to Seoul. 

We have about 10 days in Seoul left after returning from Busan and one of the days I spent climbing Bukhansan. Since my dear friend had to recover from the Jangsan climb, she couldn't hike Bukhansan with me even though I wish she came along. And so, we named this day, the 'ME-DAY'. 

Arrived at Bukhansan and wanted to take the route to Baegundae but I ended up taking the wrong route. How silly, I know. So, anyway I met this Ahjusshi (uncle) whom initially I thought was nice but no, he's starting to creep me out. 

On the way up.

Before I knew I was taking the wrong route.

5km to get up there and another 5km down. Oh good lord, my poor legs.

BUT, the view was so pretty!

Remember how I said the Ahjusshi is creeping me out? He asked for my number but I gave a fake one and since he couldn't call, he added me on Kakao instead (still sending me messages even till now, tsk).

He wanted me to join him for a meal but I lied that I had to rush to Insadong to meet a friend >:D (Half of that statement is true, I did not even get to visit Insadong the entire trip but I met my friend).

Said to meet at the apartment at 5pm, had a good rest for about an hour before heading out for dinner. 

There's us, feasting after so much walking/climbing.

The real me. Actually I was dead hungry after I got back from the climb.

We had to take a picture with our aprons

We shopped at Myeongdong after our dinner and I'm amazed at how much my legs could do and withstand. Hiking plus shopping on the same day?! (I love you, legs)

I think the weather had been pretty nice to us giving us one rainy day in exchange for 2 sunny/clear days. It happened that it was a rainy day when we visited Changdeokgung and the Secret Garden. 

We stopped by a road side stall set up right outside the subway to have our breakfast. Living our lives like true Koreans. Damn I miss that.

I think the trees look pretty

(My phone's new wallpaper)

Changdeokgung is the alternative palace that the King would stay in if Gyeongbokgung caught fire or of some sort like that. But if I were the king I would definitely stay in Changdeokgung because of the garden there.

To visit the Secret Garden, we had to join the tour which is only available 3 times a day. While waiting for the tour, we decided to chill at a cafe nearby because it was a cold, wet and windy day. 

Pity we had to leave the cafe so quickly, I could totally sit in there and chill for the entire day.

At the Secret Garden, I think we were the youngest in the tour, we kept laughing and joking around, I think the tour guide couldn't even comprehend. 

The garden had many hills and slopes and we would joke about how Jangsan trained us well to climb this and that and how we were at the back of the tour to becoming the first.

For example,

Caption: HA! Losers (y'know I'm kidding,. Jk, I'm not.)

When the tour guide kept talking..

Some trees with a hint of the god damn umbrella because it was raining.

Back to the topic of the garden, we were told that no one could enter the garden without the king's permission. I really envy the King.

As mentioned, for a rainy day was an exchange of 2 clear days, we went to Gyeongbokgung on a clear day and it was... not at pretty as Changdeokgung.

But, we got to try on the military uniforms!

Bokchon Hanok Village followed after because we wanted to try on their traditional clothing (Hanbok). I really wanted to own a Hanbok after trying on because it was so pretty!

My 언니 looking real pretty!

And then there's me just fooling around

'Sherye, you damn act!' I know right >:)

We were gifted a good and clear Friday, hence the decision to take on Namsan Tower. 

After what seemed like forever, the countless flights of stairs, we made it! (almost)

We stopped by the photo zone to snap a few before continuing our climb up. 

At the photo zone

At the top where the locks are, this is such a cheesy place but the view though, sick.

Snapped this while on the way down, I hope this couple last a lifetime.

Visited the Han River and Noryangjin Market after our climb.

We were blessed with good weather on a Saturday as well. Decided that we shouldn't waste this day and got up early to visit Nami Island and Petite France. Getting there and back was such a hassle, the number of bus and train transfers we took... And Nami Island wasn't as beautiful as expected with all the leaf-less trees. We spent an hour or so walking around and taking pictures to make that 8000W worth. 

We had to take a tour bus to get to Petite France from Nami Island and it was such a torturous journey for me due to the motion sickness I had. It felt like death and we had to alight in the middle of nowhere. We ended sharing a taxi with 2 other Koreans (there's another story to that but we'll just leave it at that). 

I'm glad we made it to Petite France because I enjoyed myself a lot, we caught the puppet shows and it was so much fun! We almost u-turn and went back to Seoul because I was feeling so sick, darn it for being so weak. 

Glad to be here!

The sun was already setting at like 5pm.

We were mad hungry by the time we got back to Seoul, the journey back to Seoul took us more than 3 hours and we only had churros for snack. Arrived at Myeongdong and plopped ourselves down at the first restaurant in sight and it was the first time I saw my dear friend eating 2 bowls of rice. It was a shocker (I'm not judging though, not sure about the people at the table next to us). The food was good, thinking about it is making me hungry now.

Because it was a Saturday and we had to experience at least one club in Seoul, we went to Noise Basement. I liked the music there but the crowd was nasty. Glad we made out safe!

Our initial plan was to go to Everland on Sunday but we were too tired from the activities on Saturday, so we took Sunday off and chill and went to Everland on Monday instead.

It was definitely the wrong time to come to Everland because look at that Christmas tree. It's like half-completed and there weren't any flowers:( Everland was different from the memory I had 9 years ago when I visited but it had beautiful lights I must say. 

Something beneficial from going on a gloomy Monday was that we didn't had to wait long for any of the rides. T-Express, I was told usually had a waiting time of over an hour but that day we only waited for 20 minutes! 

I survived!!!

So happy the animals are all out despite the cold weather. Because we always happen to be seated at the wrong side of the bus, we failed to take good pictures of the bear/tiger/lion/liger, but here's 1 and a 1/2 giraffe and 1/4 zebra for you.

So much festive vibes!

Because we felt that we've been spending most of our time travelling, we decided that we would chill (doing shit like going to cafes, shopping, karaoke, jjimjilbang) on the last few days before coming home. And so, we decided to go to the jjimjilbang (sauna) near our apartment to escape the cold. It was so warm and comfortable, we even took a nap there.

Visited Dongdaemun for the last time that evening,

One shot for my 'Sheryemotive' series 

On the day of our scheduled flight, it started to snow. The first snow of the year in Seoul and I'm glad I was there to witness it. We were so excited over it even our roommate came out to see what the commotion was about. It was such a beautiful sight! 

Because this post is long as hell, if you made it till here, good for you!

Everyone, I think I'm an Angel/Original glazed doughnut from Krispy Kreme/ Caramel anything if you thought her Instagram post was sweet! Tsk! If this were to be a reflection essay I had to write, I'd score a high distinction.

(HAHA Bitch thought I needed lives for the Kakao Friends Pop game we are playing when I texted her if she was asleep but I was actually busy re/typing this whole chunk, I forgive you)

Now the trip had come to an end, I'm thankful (for the chubbier cheeks).

Ha, I was just kidding! I'm thankful for the stronger friendship/bond established during the trip and of course, in school. Because blogger failed to save my post, I'm actually typing half of this post the second time. This is fucked up as hell because I usually wouldn't bother retyping, spending an extra 2.5 hours retyping this because you are worth retyping this for. 

Firstly, I apologize for not being able to take the rides at Everland with you but I'm still glad we managed to take the T-Express. I apologize for being cranky and self-centered sometimes, not many can handle me being stubborn and fickle minded as heck (thank you for looking past my flaws and still consider me as one of the 'best-travelling mates', now I'm having doubts about that statement but you know I'd still love you even if it wasn't true). 

To the crazy embarrassing moment I had in the train to the point where even random Koreans were laughing at me, to your attempt in flagging the bus that was going the opposite direction, the door that you couldn't open because you thought that you had to press a button when in fact you could just push to open, the mosquito we killed that felt like victory, the crazy party moments where the bouncer actually saved our lives, the laughter we shared over silly and retarded shit, the strangers we'd ask for the titles of the songs we liked, the kakao friends pop game we'd play everyday (even up till now), the food we ate, the view we enjoyed at the summit of the mountains we climbed, the heavy luggage we lugged just to get to places, the places we visited, the crazy shit we did, the moment you found out that the rice crackers we bought from the old lady had spilled all over your Naraya grocery bag, the moment we checked our results and found out that we passed all our modules and are officially graduates (and surpluses, sadly), the drama we watched in the Seomyeon apartment, the songs we sang together, the way we acted when we saw snow, the amount of fried chicken we ate when we stayed at the apartment in Jongno 3-ga, that we have to be the first in liking each other's post on Instagram, to everything we did together, all these will be fond memories to me for a lifetime and will be smiling to myself when recalled. 

For making this trip happen, for holding my hand the entire T-Express roller coaster ride, for taking care of me, for accepting the countless flaws I have, for laughing with and at me, for vacuuming the floor so that we have a clean room to sleep in, for alighting the bus in the middle of nowhere so I could deal with my motion sickness, for being the elder sister I never had, thank you. I'm proud of you for not cursing so much during the climb up Jangsan and Namsan. This is one of the best overseas trip ever (Korea cannot be compared to Canada) but you made it fun! The best thing about this trip is experiencing everything with you. (this is so fucking cheesy but I mean everything from the bottom of my heart). There wouldn't be a day that I won't be missing all of these and Korea.

I hope there would be another overseas trip with you that I can look forward to eagerly like this one.

I'll be ending this post with my favourite picture, 

I've been very blessed for a friend like you and I sincerely thank you, Dora. 

I'll be right back, it's time to ask the palace maids to sweep the floor. 

Till floors have been swept, 

xx