Seoul - Day 3

I met Maxwell at the lobby of the hotel I stayed in just off Teherano-ro. It was beautiful, seeing him waiting for me. After many months of being separate, it really felt like we had never been separate at all. We dropped off his things in the room, giving Mum the room to herself, while we went to Starbucks to have some time together. Sitting there, it occurred to me many times how lucky I was to be sitting by the window next to my boyfriend in the beautiful city of Seoul. How I wished I could have frozen that moment and just held his hand forever. He is truly a gem to have and I am extremely lucky to have such a sweet boyfriend who went all the way to Seoul to see me and stayed with me for three days.


I'm writing this in Manila now. After the second day, I didn't have enough time to write an entry. On the third day, we went to Changdeokgung Palace. Compared to the first palace we went to, Gyeongbukgung, this one had a more intimate feel. The smaller size definitely helped give out this feeling, as well as more trees and gardens inside the palace. Although we had to pay an additional fee to enter further in to what is called the "Secret Garden", where the royal family went to stroll, meditate and learn the humanities, it was a beautiful, despite costly, addition to the tour. The garden itself was really beautiful. Because we were right smack into winter, there were no leaves. I can imagine how much more beautiful it would look if it were in autumn. But because I usually don't get the opportunity to see these kinds of gardens, it was really a beautiful scene to behold. The small, roofed spaces built just over the edge of the water to give the sense of serenity and wholeness with the water must have been a most peaceful experience for the royal family. All the lakes had frozen so this was another new sight added to my list of things I've never seen before. What made it all the more beautiful was that I was with my boyfriend. Holding his hand, walking through this beautiful garden, what more could I ask for? The walk itself was long and, although not being strenuous, it was a tiring walk. After Changbeokgung, we went to Itaewon. I was expecting a lot more from this space, but it resembled a rough neighbourhood of an Asian country that was jam-packed with international restaurants, lots of stalls on the sidewalks. We were pretty much tuckered out from the Changbeokgung palace tour and so we made our way to the nearest café (along with short detour to KFC asking if they had wicked wings available) and had a few snacks there. We were expecting to have had dinner there, but my Mum was rather displeased with the area. Instead, we tried heading to Garuso-gil. Instead, we found ourselves surrounded by plastic surgery clinics. Although all the signs were in Korean, I could see my boyfriend's expression of disbelievement and amusement from the sight. Again, we could not find a decent enough restaurant. And so, we headed back to our area in Gangnam and scavenged for some restaurant on the way back to the hotel. After a long and difficult decision-making, we decided to eat at a "hue" restaurant (or what my boyfriend calls a Korean sashimi restaurant).  We ordered a meal that was supposed to be a dish usually for the summer season, but we really enjoyed it nonetheless. It was something we never tasted before, but my Mother and I had unexpectedly really enjoyed the meal.


We headed back to our hotel feeling satisfied. My boyfriend and I then took a stroll around the neighbourhood in the cold. Again, it was one of those moments where I wanted to freeze and play it all over again. We slowly walked around and went to Tom n Toms café. Sometimes, we don't talk a lot, but I don't mind it all. It never has felt awkward or uncomfortable. Rather, it felt like just enjoying the company you were with and that no words are always necessary in a conversation.


Now that I am in Manila, a completely different environment to that of Seoul, I find myself feeling blue and terribly missing him. I should count myself lucky that after this trip in the Philippines, I will be flying my way back to him in no time. I just have to keep my patience and hopes up for one month before I see him again.

Seoul - Day 2

Today was finally the day I got to see my boyfriend after four long months of being separate. It was a bittersweet moment. When I saw him coming out the doors of Kyobo bookshop, I quickly noticed how thin he had become. But his smile was as bright as ever. It was a surreal moment. It was a moment that I had waited for so long, and it just didn't seem real enough that he was walking towards me. We hugged very briefly though. I think he was trying to look respectful in front of my Mother. But it was just a moment that I wanted to feel proud of. That he came all the way to Seoul from his hometown just to see me. He truly is wonderful. And, because our hotel is stingy not to let a third person stay in our room, I had to see him off at the elevators of our floor. We finally kissed. To be honest, it felt weird to kiss him again. I guess it really becomes uncomfortable for me to kiss, especially since I haven't kissed him for that long. I didn't really get to hug him tightly today though, more because I was just trying to think of my Mum and not make her feel awkward in seeing her daughter constantly snuggling with her boyfriend. But when I think about it, I haven't seen my boyfriend in months, and I want to be spending as much time as I can with him.

Today was our second day in Seoul. Before meeting with my boyfriend, we went to Bukchon Hanok Village. It was really an interesting and fascinating long walk, that took us quite a far distane without our realising it. The old, Joseon-period hanoks were mixed with modern, unruly, and cramped buildings. It was such an interesting and juxtaposed mix of architecture. I really enjoyed being able to see hanoks just peaking out of corners, almost blocked by other, more attractive areas. We walked through old-style alleyways, and the beautiful sun made the scene all the more dramatic. After this rather tiring walk, we went to Cheong-gye Cheon, the stream that runs in central Seoul, just near the Kyobo building. Although we stayed for a very brief time, I really liked the stream. It would really be a good place to seek some form of tranquility, despite its being located in the heart of busy, busy Seoul. We were famished by this time so we had no choice but to eat at the nearest restaurant that looked decent enough to eat at, a Vietnamese restaurant called Pho Bay. It was already getting dark, so we headed to Myeong-dong. Boy, it is such an exciting and alive area!! Once you climbed up the stairs from the station underground, you are already hit with the huge, white lights of the shop called Uniqlo. Turning left, we found ourselves at the entrance of the Myeong-dong shopping district, which comprised of small alleyways that were filled with fashionable shops and people cramming around having a look at clothes of the street venders to people who are trying to make their way to more shopping areas. The lights were so excited and made the environment so thrilling and exciting. I really, really enjoy this kind of atmosphere. There, I even bought the things I needed, such as a pair of gloves from SPAO and hand cream and face mist of Innisfree. I would love to go back there and experience it. Walking through the many, many shopping areas seriously drained us of our energy. Surely after a while, we were feeling colder and colder. We headed to Shinsegae for some warmth before heading off again back to Gangnam-gu. We had bibimbap for dinner at a Korean restaurant in COEX Mall. We were quite happy and fulfilled, and had coffee afterwards.

I feel extremely tired after today. I guess the culmination of intense-walking and touring for four days is slowly dawning on me. My knees are already feeling sore. I can only hope that my knee will feel much better tomorrow morning. I will meet my boyfriend at Starbucks tomorrow morning, an hour earlier than when my Mum will meet us. In the mean time, I look forward to day 3 in Seoul! Changdeokgung, Namsan and Itaewon, here we come!

Seoul ~ Day 1

Seoul is even more beautiful than I imagined. When I say beautiful, it's not the physical side of it. Of course, today's venturing has let us witnessed the colourful ceremony of the changing of the guards at Gyeongbukgung. Instead, what I mean by beautiful is the charm that the city exudes. Although, when we had arrived in Seoul the night before, my Mum and I were as apprehensive as any tourist in a foreign country would be. And, seeing as how it was dark, we were tired, anxious to get to our hotel, we weren't really able to keep up the most positive attitude. What was worse, some guy had to ram my heel with his trolley cart full of luggages. He apologised courteously in Korean, but I was just so annoyed and trying to find the right words to say "It's okay" in Korean, I wasn't able to muster anything except a glare at him.

Finally, when we got to our hotel after having had a chat in Korean along the way, we were so tired (and hungry) that we just fell asleep then and there. I had only energy enough to change my top before lying down and finding myself drifting off. It was funny that I kept waking up constantly and seemingly checking what time it was. Possibly, it was my apprehension at wanting to have a good look at where we were. Surely, as soon as I woke up, I took a look out the window and saw the beautiful and (then) quiet street of Teherano-ro. It was ironic, seeing as how there are up to 12 million people living in Seoul, and yet at that moment that I looked down at the streets of the main road, there was hardly a soul in sight. Oftentimes there was only one or two people walking by themselves.

Today, we weren't able to go to all the places I had initially planned to go to, but we were able to go to Gyeongbukgung palace. We transferred once to get on a train line (line 3) that would take us over the Hangang River and onto the north side of Seoul. The palace was trully a spectacle, even to the non-architecture savvy person. It's a wonder how vibrant the colours of the palaces, and how much time is spent restoring it. It was a surprisingly large complex, and I mean large! It was quite annoying as we had missed an area where maps of the palace were available. So we had walked straight on, probably due to our overwhelmed reaction to just how pretty it was. We had walked quite some time already before realising that others had acquired copies of maps. We took much longer than expected in looking around at sights with having little knowledge of what they were. This was mainly why we weren't able to go Changdeokgung and Bukchon Village. Instead, we went straight in front of the palace to, what I think is called, Seollung where the famous statues of the samurai and a golden statue of an important person seated on his chair. I had seen these sites in the famous series Iris, where some parts of the action scenes were filmed in this very area. Afterwards, we were so cold and hungry that we wandered until we found ourselves in front of Kyobo bookstore. It was one of the places I had wanted to go to purchase my Korean language textbooks. We had an early dinner there, which was very very cheap. Afterwards, we took the subway back to Samseong station and walked through COEX mall, Hotel Intercontinental Parsan, and Hyundai department store, before walking back home. Tonight, I was also able to taste Banana milk, a drink that is really popular here in Korea. It wasn't as amazing as I expected but it tasted very good nonetheless.

Now, it's time to get some good and sufficient amount rest before I embark on the second day of touring Seoul.

T-minus 8 hours and counting.

The day has finally come! In fact, I have less than eight hours before my flight to Sydney and then from Sydney to Seoul. Looking back on all those long months of waiting for this day to come, I feel proud that I have done many things so that I can look forward to coming back here in the new year. I feel like it will be a new year of fresh opportunities that await me.
Seoul, the megacity, is soon to be one footstep away from me as I take a leap forward and into a new and different culture. Having Korean friends I think will not be able to give me an entire picture of what is that is Korean culture and Korea itself. It will be a 10-11 hour flight. We arrive in Seoul at around 6:30pm. Our hotel is located in the fashionable and ritzy Gangnam-gu district. To think that in twenty-four hours that I will be in ibis Hotel is pretty incredible.

Nine more days.

Wow, it's starting to become so surreal that in almost a weeks' time, I will be in Seoul, the megalopolis of a city with a population of, what, 12 million people.
Now that I see the actual number of days passing by quicker and quicker every day, I should really make sure that I don't leave things to do till last minute. The worst I could do is forget to do something that's really important then find out that I won't be able to do much if not anything at all until I arrive back in Melbourne. My month in the Philippines will feel like a blur. I hope it will go quickly, because I just want to spend as much time as I can with my boyfriend.
Last night, I had my last korean class, elementary 1, for this year. Next year, I will be entering the second level, halfway through the class period since I will be in korea till the end if february. My teacher was nice enough to give me some advice and told me to buy my textbooks in Seoul instead of ordering them from Australia. Kyobo bookstore is the store that I am recommended to purchase my textbooks from. Kyobo bookstore is the most popular bookstore in South Korea, similar to the then-open Borders and the Australian brand Dymocks. The main branch is in Gwanghwamun and my teacher told me to go to this branch. Wow, I guess I will really be putting my Korean to the test when I am buying the books at the cashier. I must remember to exchange my money to South Korean Won as soon as I receive money.
Wowowowow, Seoul here I come (in 9 days)!

Seoul subways... '-'

Although this picture does show a quiet and relaxed subway ride in Seoul, I have been told otherwise about how I should be careful. Not only should I keep a close and tight hold of my bag, I should also be wary that during peak hours, trains can get very packed. Some unruly people usually take this as an advantage to feel someone up. As excited as I am in my trip to Seoul in less than two weeks, I feel rather nervous at the thought of someone just feeling me in these weird and even unappropriate places when situations call for everyone to be stuck together like sardines in a can.