How do I even start to write about the trip that I’d been dreaming of since I was 13? I’ve been thinking how I could properly record this memory and I couldn’t come up with the best plan. There’s just too many things to say about everything that happened during our 5-day trip to Korea. One thing I know for sure is that it’s definitely the best trip of my life. I want to cry just by thinking about it and I’m not even exaggerating. Heh.
It’s no secret that I love Korea. The amount of ‘congratulations’ and ‘I’m so happy for you’ I received the past week can attest to that. Heh. I guess I’m not so quiet about my Korya trip. How could I? How could I possibly contain my excitement?!?
I actually thought we wouldn’t push through with this trip. A week before our trip, we still didn’t have our tourist Visa and a day before the trip, we still didn’t have a place to stay in. We also had some problems with money matters, and we figured that this trip wouldn’t exactly be cheap. I didn’t even finish packing before going to Makati that week because I already believed that this trip was no more. I didn’t want to expect too much. But my parents agreed to go through with it and I almost cried! /sigh
Our flight was scheduled on 1:20 AM, April 19, 2012. I filed for a three-day leave since we’d be staying for 5 days. Good thing we have relatives who volunteered to take us to the airport! Whoosh. We arrived at around 10PM and gave us enough time to check in and eat dinner. We also didn’t have to wait long, and I hate waiting especially when I’m so excited. Hee.
It was also the first time my sister and I wore boots! We’re not exactly fashion forward, and dressing up in the Philippines is just too bothersome. However, we’ve heard A LOT of things about the fashion in Korea and we watch tons of Kdramas, anyway, to know that we should really dress up a little. Also, it was probably the only place we could ever wear boots! Let’s abuse that opportunity, shall we? (I’ll never understand people who wear boots here. Unless it’s raining. Or cold.) My boots are kind of childish, though. But hey, I got it on sale so I don’t care.
We waited for less than an hour before we could finally board the plane. Surprise! I saw a grade school classmate who probably no longer knows me. I kept staring at her because she’s pretty I’m waiting for her to recognize. But she gave no sigh of recognition. Oh well.
I tried so hard to sleep in the plane since we’d be landing at around 6AM, leaving no time for us to sleep at all. I do not want to spend too much time resting once we arrive. We only had five days and I want to make the most out of it! But I couldn’t sleep at all. I only had about 2 hours of sleep, and I convinced myself that I could function well without decent sleep. And I did. Ha! I was drunk on fangirl spirit.
We arrived 30 minutes ahead of schedule, or maybe I got the time confused since South Korea’s an hour ahead. It didn’t really sink in that easily. I had a hard time convincing myself that I’m in Korea. Home of KPOP and oppas and saranghe. Or maybe because I was still in the airport and besides the signs written in Korean and the staff all Koreans, I could probably still be in the Philippines.
I only fully absorbed (??) that I was in Korea when we stepped outside the airport. I had never felt so cold in my life. I think it was 6 degrees outside. And I though Spring wouldn’t be so cold! It was the coldest I had ever experienced. I love it.
We didn’t get to take that much photos in the airport because our bus would leave in 5 minutes. Our bus stop (Bus #6011 – Sungkyunkwan Station) was on the other side of the airport so we had to move quickly. Huhu. I only got one shot inside the airport where 3/4 of Kdramas film. It broke my heart a little. But still! I was in Korea, and at that point, nothing could break my spirit.
Incheon is beautiful. Though we only saw a vast space of land, I still think it’s beautiful. It’s amazing how they lined up the streets with spring flowers, and I had my first glance of cherry blossoms! Not all trees were in full bloom, though. Spring’s only starting and it was still quite cold, but it’s the type of cold that I can tolerate and definitely love.
I didn’t want to sleep because I didn’t want to miss anything. Besides, there’s a showbiz magazine in every seat. I couldn’t understand anything but I still enjoyed browsing through it. After a couple of minutes, I fell asleep! Good thing I didn’t sleep the whole way through. I was too afraid that we’d miss our stop.
The trip was quite enjoyable anyway because hey, I was in Korea! I could be faced with the sight of traffic and I’d think, “OMG, I’m stuck in traffic! In Korea!” And yes, there’s a little traffic but it was tolerable. It gave me more chance to take in everything. We passed by a lot of universities (Hongdae, Ewha, etc.) and a couple of palaces, too. I was surprised to see palaces in the middle of the city! But I notice how it’s not out of place at all. Yep, a palace in the middle of a bustling city seems so commonplace.
We stayed at Backpackers Mr. Sea in Jongno-gu, Seoul and rented a family room. It was cheaper than expected but the place was nice. The room reminds me of a Kdrama heroine’s apartment. Ha! But it was really nice and there’s this one staff who’s really cute. OMG. My sister and I were like, parang model! He arrived just after us and when he took of us his jacket with this adorable look on his face… swoon.
Once we had unpacked, we realized that we forgot a lot of things such as shampoo and conditioner! My sister and I decided to buy what we forgot to bring (it was a lot!). To our surprise, they don’t sell shampoo nor conditioner at convenience stores! And instant coffee on sachets! I remember this one thing my college instructor told me, how other countries don’t sell tingi-tingi products. Okay.
