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Day Two in Seoul (Part 2)

May 14, 2012

Hello! This is the second part of our day 2! Like what I’ve said in part 1, it’s my favorite day from the trip.

After Insadong, we went to the nearest subway station, Anguk Station, and of course, my heart was racing at that point. We’re talking about THE subway. Riding the subway was on my Seoul to-do list because of a lot of reasons. 1.) The opening scene of My Sassy Girl is on the subway station. My Sassy Girl is my first Korean movie. 2.) A lot of scenes from fanfictions and South Korean internet novels happen on the subway. Internet novels used to be my life when I was in high school. 3.) JUST BECAUSE. Okay, I only had three reasons.

Anguk Station was quite lovely. I cannot remember which Exit we entered. It’s either 4 or 5, I think. Once we went down to the station, this wall full of artworks welcomed us. Obviously, it’s by different artists. They also used different materials and some even carved on the blocks. It’s amazing. I like how they seem to try and incorporate art in almost every available space.

We bought a T-Money card (W2,500) so that we could ride the subway. We bought it in a 7-Eleven store located inside the station. It’s quite easy to use T-Money, and all you have to do is reload as much as you want. The content doesn’t expire, too. You can also use the T-Money card when riding the bus! The reloading machine also has the option of having the instructions English or Korean. So we didn’t really have much trouble.

Since it’s our first time riding the subway, we had a pretty hard time making our way around the situation. Good thing we met a Filipino mother and daughter who were also going to Chumuro station. But I think even without their help, we’d manage just fine but it would definitely take us longer. Haha!

The Seoul subway system is pretty impressive. There are actually 14 subway lines that can take you anywhere in Seoul. One line even leads directly to the Incheon airport. There are also maps (in Korean and English) inside the stations so as long as you know where you’re going, you’ll definitely find your way. But we did get lost once haha. Also, the signs are in English! And they also give directions to the nearest landmarks. They made the subway system pretty easy for foreigners to navigate.

By the way, our destination was the N Seoul Tower. To get there, ride the subway and get off at Chungmuro Station (Line 3 or 4) and get out at exit 1. You’ll see the Daehan Cinema the look for the nearest bus stop. There are special buses that will take you to the top of Mt. Namsan where N Seoul Tower is located. We took bus #2 but I think you can also take bus #5. We also used the T-Money card to pay for our bus fare.

The bus was packed! But I didn’t mind standing during the whole bus ride. I think I was too happy experiencing so many things for the first that I really didn’t mind all the hardships we endured. Hehe. On our way to the top, we passed by these mesmerizing array of trees with so many beautiful flowers! I’d read about the walking trail on Namsan Mountain filled with cherry blossoms and forsythias and wanted to go there. But we could only pass by and watch in awe. It really was so beautiful. So if you have enough time, drop off from that stop. You can ride the bus again to reach N Seoul Tower but you can also walk. But it was quite far.

When we finally reached the last stop, we were welcomed by a large crowd! It was the most tourist infested place we had visited just yet. Oftentimes, we’re either the only foreigners or there weren’t much. There were still a lot of Koreans, though, especially couples who were way too cute, really.

The view was amazing! We still weren’t on top of the mountain, and had to walk uphill first. But the view was already so pretty!

[Read more…]

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Day Two in Seoul (Part 1)

May 3, 2012

Yes, I am also amazed at my blogging speed. It often takes me a week or more to update but look at me go. Ha!

Our second day in Seoul is probably my favorite. The weather was perfect! I wish everyday we spent in Seoul was like that. I wish the weather in the Philippines was like that. I’m tired of waking up every morning drowning in sweat. Haha. But we can’t always get what we want, eh?

Despite our hopes of starting the day early, we still left the hostel at around 10AM. Quite late, I know. We headed first to Bukchon Hanok Village which was only a block away from Insadong. Instead of walking, we rode the taxi  since we learned that it wasn’t that expensive anyway. Heh. And besides, we were running quite late. It would take us 20-30 minutes if we’d walk.

We had quite some troubles communicating with the taxi driver, though. He couldn’t read English so he couldn’t understand what was written on the map. We also probably couldn’t pronounce Bukchon right because he couldn’t understand us. Heh. But he did understand Insadong so he dropped us there.

Good thing tourist information centers are abundant in Seoul! There’s one in almost every tourist destination. They gave us a map around the village and learned that there are actually 8 viewing spots in Bukchon. But since we were running quite late, we decided to only go to 3 spots!

View #1 is Changdeokgung Palace, the one we passed by yesterday! It’s just amazing how you can be right in the middle of the city, then this kind of view would surprise you. It’s a welcoming site, and I sure hope that the people who see this everyday appreciate it. It’s a nice remember of your identity, of where you came from and where you can possibly go.

After View #1, we decided to skip #2 (Ha!) and went to the Bukchon Cultural Center. It’s not exactly part of the 8 views but it’s on our way so why not. And we indeed made the right decision of visiting the center.

There’s a little museum where you can learn more about Bukchon. Hanok is what you call the traditional houses thus, Bukchon Hanok Village. There are about 1,000 hanok houses in the area and only 33 are owned by the government. But still, it’s nice to know that the government even help the house owners in preserving the hanok houses. This just shows how the government are hands on when it comes to taking care of their culture. It’s amazing that you can really see all their efforts pay off.

Visiting the hanok village is actually one of the best parts of the trip. In my opinion anyway.

What I love about Seoul #19342: The brochures are amazing. By that time, we’ve already noticed how they seem to give so much importance to art everywhere! Be it architecture, design or landscaping, you can see how they give importance to art. It’s everywhere! It’s in every street corner, in every wall and store windows. It didn’t came as a surprise to see brochures looking like a work of art. We made sure to take tons of brochures everywhere we go. It’s free anyway. Heh.

[Read more…]

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Day One in Seoul (Part 2)

May 1, 2012

Hello! This is the second part of the first day of my 5-day trip. Try saying that five times really, really fast.

I’ll start with where I leave off in my story-telling. After our short and quite tiring trip to Changgyeonggung Palace, we went back near our hostel and scouted for a good place to eat. Surprisingly, our walk back Sungkyungkwan area seemed shorter. We’re either really hungry that we decided to walk fast or we’re just a bit more familiar with the place.

My mother said she couldn’t eat too much and bought donuts from Dunkin’ Donuts. There are tons, LIKE TONS, of Dunkin Donuts in Seoul and the one near our place is three stories high. I guess it’s really popular in Korea? But nothing can beat Starbucks where the line extend to the streets! There sure are a lot of coffee shops in Korea. There’s one in almost every corner.

For our first meal, we chose this one dining place where we can grill beef and pork. Yep, our first meal’s samgyeopsal, and we were surprised that we spent more in the Philippines when we ate samgyeopsal. Maybe because we’re in Korea, or maybe because we’re really hungry, that’s why I enjoyed our samgyeopsal meal in Seoul by greater lengths. It was so good! We also ordered rice and were surprised that the rice looked different.

When you come to Korea, make sure to try their rice! I don’t know what rice it is but it’s so good! And for some reason, their service water was amazingly good, too. (Yes, you can go ahead and count the number of times I’ve said ‘good.’) Even before we ordered, they were already delivering side dishes! So when you eat in Korea and you don’t eat that much, make sure not to order too much because they’ll give you heaps of side dishes anyway.

After lunch, mommy and ate went back to the dorm while my father I looked for international calling cards. Roaming isn’t available in Korea (Hindi rin uso ang SIM card!), and my parents need to check on their business everyday. We passed so many convenience stores before we came across one Family Mart that sells the precious cards. We walked quite far but it’s okay! I got some time to explore the stores near Hyewa Station! [Read more…]

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Day One in Seoul: Changgyeonggung Palace

April 29, 2012

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.

incheon airport arrival

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.

hyehwa-dong seoul
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.

 We were about to go back to our dorm when we saw our father. Together, we found an underground grocery and tried to buy everything we need. And more. It took us a while to realize that they call conditioner rinse. We also bought snacks we could bring us with us when we tour, some chocomilk, many yogurt, and three packs of Yakult. We made sure to drink the Yakult Rooftop Prince style! [Read more…]

5 Comments · Fandom, Travel

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Hello, I'm Janey. I'm a fangirl, a bookworm, a dreamer and a wannabe writer. I'm a couch potato and a traveler rolled into one.
This is my lame attempt to be a travel blogger, but honestly, this is just an archive of my daily reality.

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