Oh My Janey

Day Five in Seoul (Part 1)

It has been more than 3 months since I’d been to Korea and sad to say, but I miss it already. I think I started to miss the moment I boarded the plane. But try as I might, I couldn’t stop our last day in Seoul from coming.

We wanted to make the most out of our last day so we decided to have an early start. We didn’t exactly have an early during the previous days. Heh. So while my parents were packing up, my sister and I decided to visit Sungkyunkwan University and have a last look around the neighborhood. I don’t know why we had to wait for the last minute to do it!

It was a lovely neighborhood maybe because it’s thriving with students. There are shops that sell clothes and little cafes and humble restaurants specializing in local dishes. In case anyone’s interested in visiting the neighborhood and visiting Sungkyunkwan University (especially you Sungkyunkwan Scandal fans!), the nearest subway station is Hyewa! I’m not sure which bus you can take, though, since we didn’t take the bus. For an exact instructions on how to get there, you can just ask around. Haha!

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Fangirling in Hong Kong

It’s like a whirlwind romance (with Koryan boys, of course).

I learned about the KPOP Festival: Music Bank in Hong Kong last May and in less than a week, Haszelle and I ordered our concert tickets online. But we couldn’t immediately buy plane tickets and had to wait about two weeks before we could book our flight. After about two more weeks, we made a reservation for a hostel in Tsim Sha Tsui. So on June 22, I jumped on a plane that will take me to where the love of my life for 8 years would hold a concert.

Before I say more of my weekend affair at Hong Kong, let me explain how this came to be. I just got back from Korea when I heard about the concert. A part of me was happy that I finally went to the land of the oppas, but another part was incredibly sad that I didn’t get to see any oppa. So despite being almost broke, I made an impulsive decision to watch this concert. And I’m glad that Haszelle is as impulsive and as in love with DBSK as I am. It’s also lucky that she’s YunHo biased and I’m ChangMin biased so seeing TVXQ (despite JYJ no longer in the group) felt as if it’s the right thing to do.

A lot of people were against my decision. A lot of people were telling me to think about it long and hard before I do anything rash. But it’s not a rash decision, you see. I had been waiting for that opportunity for the past 8 years and I felt as if I’d have to do it then. I don’t think I’ll ever see the 5 of them at the same stage in this lifetime, but I’d be fine to see ChangMin and YunHo perform live. Though of course, I’d love to see JaeChunSu in concert, too.

But once I explained that it’s something that I’ve wanted for a long, long time and that I promise to not grow old without savings, friends and family had been supportive. I can never thank them enough.

It was an exciting and nerve-wracking experience. It was Haszelle’s first time to leave the country so it made me feel all grown-up and responsible. But it was weird because responsible is a word that people won’t use to describe me. But I had no one older to depend on the way I used to, so I had to act a bit more independent.

It was also the first time I went out of the country without my sister. She’s often the one who holds our pocket money and keeps the passports. Her not being there made me all paranoid. Heh. I really wanted her to be there for tons of reasons, actually. First, she’s my travel buddy! But I did not (and do not) have enough resources to fund for us both. Second, she’s the first person I fangirled with over DBSK! We both wanted to see them live but she said she’d be more bitter if YooChun was there. Ha! And third, well, she’s my sister.

I’m pretty sure there’ll be a next time, though, and by that time, I’m pretty sure my sister will be rich enough to treat me. Hohoho.

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Day Four in Seoul (Part 2)

Our Myeongdong adventure continues!

After our very filling lunch, we averted our attention from the glorious store displays. My sister and I immediately wanted to start shopping but we had to look for the Myeongdong Cathedral first. We asked for directions again and learned that it was right where we though it wasn’t! That sounds confusing but the point is, we were almost there when we thought we made a wrong turn then headed back and eventually got lost. Haha.

When we reached the cathedral, we thought it was closed because all the doors were closed. Then somebody came out and we realized that a mass was going on. It was a Sunday, which was why we went there in the first place. We entered the church and the mass was in Korean so we didn’t understand anything. Heh. But we finished the service, and I realized that it was the quietest mass I have ever attended. It was the most solemn one, too, I think. And my parents couldn’t stop raving at the discipline the Koreans were showing, even in church, especially in church.

Once the mass was over, we wanted to take photos inside since it was so pretty! But we were too shy and we felt as if we’re disrupting something sacred even though the mass was already over. So we just took some photos outside but it was raining and we couldn’t really pose that much because of the cold (which is pretty obvious in the photo haha). If the church looks familiar, it’s because it was used in You’re Beautiful!

It was around 3 in the afternoon and we were already so cold, as you can obviously see in the photo above. We had to walk really fast and couldn’t even glance around the place that much. We walked back to the shopping district and the first shop we went was the one selling KPOP goodies! Of course, of course. We’re in the land of the oppas, it’s quite stupid to not enter a DVD store.

I saw so many DVDs and CDs of DBSK and I wanted to buy so many things! But we were on a budget and I opted to buy Shut Up! Flower Boyband’s OST album and CNBLUE’s Earfun. Not the special edition but they had the special edition and I so wanted to buy it! But as I’ve said, we were on a budget and I felt bad to spend too much money on CNBLUE. Huhu.

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Day Four in Seoul (Part 1)

Day 4 of our Korea trip may or may not be the most memorable one. It was still raining but we could no longer think (or research!) of a place where we could stay indoors the whole day. So we had no choice to brave the drizzle and the harsh, cold wind. I made sure to wrap up extremely well because the night before left my bones chilling. It’s a really good memory. No, that’s not sarcastic.

So, what do we have in store for day 4? The 1st Shop of Coffee Prince! We rode the subway to get there. I can no longer remember if we made a subway line transfer or if we rode directly from Hyehwa station to Hongdae (Honggik University) station.

At that point, I was getting used to riding the subway and even enjoying it. I don’t think I’d feel the same way for our beloved MRT and LRT lines. Huhuhu.

From a specific station exit (I cannot remember which! How’s that for a frustrated travel blogger. Huhu), we walked to the coffee shop! It was so cold and there’s barely anyone out and it was already 10:30 AM! The business establishments in Seoul certainly open later than I’m used to. Heh. Anyway, we were getting nervous since what if the shop was closed? We traveled so far! Well, not really that far but far enough. And that would totally ruin our itinerary.

We kept walking and walking and we thought we were lost. But when we saw the shop, there was no mistaking the tree in the front yard and the little platform outside. That’s where they held the little concert! Also, there were some tourists outside. And yes, it was closed!

But we saw someone, a staff, sweeping outside so how could it be close? We had trouble accepting the fact that we braved the difficult weather but we couldn’t even enter. So we took photos outside, so ready to cry. Then the guy sweeping outside started signaling something to us and we couldn’t understand. We thought he was saying it was closed. Then another staff, someone inside, started signaling, too, and it was so hard to understand. HAHA. Then after a few more minutes of hand signals, we finally understood that they’re about to open in 15-30 minutes.

We then kissed and hugged the Hallyu fairy.

Since we couldn’t just stand outside (it was cold, remember?), we looked for a place we could stay. I suggested that we go to to Hongdae (the school) since it’s a famous tourist spot, too. But they didn’t want to do that so we went to the nearest 7-Eleven instead.

Daddy brought this glorious instant garlic soup. It was the first time I tried garlic soup and I never thought I’d love it so much. Then we also bought some bread that has the best texture ever. I do not know what it’s called and we tried looking for it in other places but we couldn’t find it. /sobs

After brunching, we went back to the coffee shop and to our surprise, there were already a handful of people inside, mostly tourists. If you’re also planning to go to this coffee shop, then you must be prepared to shell out at least W6,000. Everyone who enters the coffee shop has to order you see. You even have to order first before looking for a seat. So if there are four of you, everyone has to order something. If you don’t want coffee or tea, they offer cakes, too! The price is definitely not cheap (not even for Korean coffee shop standards!) but you know they set the price that high since people are willing to pay. Anyway, it was quite pricey but we didn’t really have any choice since we’re there already.

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The Pico de Loro Misadventure

When my officemates asked me to join their Pico de Loro climb, I immediately agreed. I didn’t even think of my physical unfitness (???) and my inexperience in climbing mountains. I think my mountain climbing adventures back in high school do not count. I was so excited to join the Pico de Loro climb. What I didn’t know was that it would be the scariest thing I’d ever do in my life. I’m still not sure whether I want to do it again. I don’t know. Maybe once every ten years.

We did a lot of preparation for our climb. Des was the leader of the group since she has been to Pico de Loro a couple of times (and she calls it her backyard!) and she’s the most experienced. Do not ask who’s the least experienced. Anyway, we held a couple of meetings and planned everything! But the planning still didn’t prepare me from the hardship I would go through.

The day of the PIco climb (May 26!) came, and I arrived late at our meeting place. Hehehe. But I was only 15 minutes late, okay! We agreed to meet at the 7-Eleven near the bus terminal for Tanza, Cavite. The bus ride took about an hour or so. But it wasn’t boring since we talked a lot and I was talking on the phone. I actually planned to sleep since I barely got any the previous night.

We didn’t go straight to Ternatte (where Pico is), though. We had to go first to Des’s house in Cavite to eat lunch. Heh. (For some reason, it’s so hard for me to narrate everything that happened that day! This will take forever…) Once we arrived, I was forever awestruck at Ate Des’s mansion. It was BIG! It has a basketball court! It has three kitchens! Hehehe. Before eating, Des told the people who hadn’t pitched a tent before to practice. So that’s me, Jinky and Eunise. I didn’t know pitching a tent isn’t that difficult? Well, we practiced on a marble floor so maybe it was easy that time!

After eating lunch, Ate Karen and I went to the nearest Puregold to buy some more things for the climb. We waited for the rest of the gang over there since the bus to Tanza would also pass that way. We went on another bus ride that took about 45 minutes. From the bus terminal, we had to ride a tricycle to get to the DENR for registration. Apparently, it’s mandatory to register first when planning to go up a mountain.

Before starting our hike, we had some warm-up first. Hehehehe.

How to Embarrass Yourself 101

We were told that there were so many people hiking and camping that day. I panicked a little because I didn’t really want so many people to see me struggling. We hadn’t even started but I was also feeling the burden of my heave baggage.

And so one of the hardest challenges I’ll ever face began. Ate Karen, Jinky, Eunise and I were virgin climbers, and Kimpee climbed once already. We put a lot of faith and trust on our team leader, Des, and she didn’t fail us. It’s thanks to her that I’m still alive now. Haha!

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