Day 6: Last Full Day in Seoul

The week went by so fast, I suddenly felt loneliness knowing that I soon have to leave this beautiful country without any plans of coming back soon. I didn't want to leave just yet but since the day has started, why not continue with my plans?

On this day, all four of us decided to do our Solo Trips in the morning and meet up in the afternoon then eat together for dinner. (Robert went to visit the National Museum, Ryan went on a Hike, while Shai and I are spending the rest of the day after Church). My bestfriend and I wanted to make the most out of this day because this is our last date before I leave for Australia. True enough, it really was. We didn't see each other after this Trip and I am looking forward to reuniting with her this December!

Our sixth day was a Sunday! First Sunday of December 2016. Dad never fails to remind me that if I happen to be somewhere else on a Sunday, I have to go find the nearest LDS Church and attend meetings there. So, I decided to find an English Ward of our Church. Looking it up online was easy, but navigating my way to it was definitely not! I totally forgot that the pocket wifi was with Ryan when I left alone for church. I wanted to be there in time for the Sacrament so I risked taking a cab! 

The cab driver couldn't understand what I was saying (even if I'm trying my hardest to speak in Korean LOL). I just told him to drop me off a train station that I know but when I check the screenshot of the map I just went on to tell the driver about the directions from it and finally, found the church. I was exactly on time! The moment I got in, the congregation has already started singing the opening hymn. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Seoul English Ward Building

A copy of the Korean Hymnbook!

Day 5: The true meaning of Hectic in South Korea (lol)

Korea has been a beautiful dream! Just by reviewing our photos from our winter visit last year, I can feel that cold winter breeze and the unexpected tourist frenzy moments. I know this post has been long overdue (which I am sincerely apologetic about!). I'm sorry, blogging has been out of my mind for ages...but the good thing is I'm back at it soooo, let's celebrate! lol. 

It's our 5th day in South Korea and we still wanted to explore more places. With this in mind, we visited four completely different locations which exhausted every ounce of energy we had for that day. We squeezed in one day to visit Gyeongbokgung Palace, Bukchon Hanok Village, Pocheon Art Valley (which is about 1 hr away from the City) and more shopping at Myeongdong. 

The visit to Gyeongbokgung Palace was my second time but I haven't tried on these palace guard costumes so Robert, Ryan and I went to try it! The best thing about it? It's FREE! My bestfriend Shai was back at the Hostel still preparing for our day. She stayed back since she's been at the palace for three times already! 

The Morning of our fifth day was spent at Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village. These places are one train station apart, and it is always a must to visit these two spots together when in Seoul! 

A selca for our palace guard costumes! Would we pass as palace guards in Joseon Era? LOL

Met a Filipino couple and had our photo taken with them because why not?!

Selfie with Ry while waiting for Memshie Rob to get dressed ;) 

The men went to have a look around the palace while I went to meet up with my bestfriend (in a secret cafe) hahaha. We didn't tell the boys about us eating here but they end up finding us! That moment crack me up. We were literally trying to hide from them so my bestfriend and I can catch up on everything we've missed out on while away from each other for months! Too bad, the boys are too keen on finding us because they happen to be hungry, too HAHAHHA! Food gets us all together <3 

Winter in Korea: Day 4

I've always wanted to visit a place where I can actually see rows of trees all lined up on the sides of a long pathway where I can take my time to walk and enjoy how those trees were perfectly planted. Isn't that pretty? On our fourth day in Korea, we finally visited one! It's NAMI ISLAND!

This day's itinerary is a Tour Package we got from onedaykorea.com. The tour included two tourist locations namely Naminara Republic/Nami Island and an afternoon Ski at Vivaldi Ski Park (gears included on the package). 

We met with the tour guide early in the morning at Hongdae so we can all travel together to the locations mentioned. Here goes our photo diary:

As we went on to the port to ride the ferry to Nami Island, a big banner welcomed us.

The view of the port from the ferry on our way to Nami Island.

The tree lane behind us really amazes me. 

More photos because...why not?

My favorite photo of myself in Nami Island! Thanks Ryan for this!

Winter in Korea: Baekje Cultural Land (Day 3)

The Entrance to the Main Hall of Sabi Palace

I must have already mentioned a thousand times that Baekje Cultural Land is one of my most favorite places that I've visited last winter in Korea. Even until now, I still can't forget how beautiful this place is. You should definitely put this location on your must-see places when you visit Korea. I promise you will adore this place. 

Baekje Cultural Land is a huge area composed of several villages. Each village has reproduced a variety of culture from how people lived in the Three Kingdoms Era (Goryeo, Silla, Baekje) influenced by the Japanese. The construction of the whole Baekje Cultural Land took 17 years to finish. This tourist spot has been a shooting location for famous TV Shows including "Running Man" and the Korean Drama called "Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo". 

Our sole reason for visiting this amazingly designed location was to recreate a scene or at least photograph a frame from a scene in the Korean Drama that my best friend and I were extremely obsessed with. Moon Lovers: Scarlet Heart Ryeo will make you feel all sorts of emotion in just one episode. So if you wish to watch this drama, be ready for a series of extreme scene transitions and mood swings, too! hahahaha

Behind me is a five-story pagoda from the Neungsa Temple on the left of the Sabi Palace.

The Life and Culture Village photographed at a Jehyangru on the hill. Credits to my Bestfriend Shai for this photo!

On our way down, my Shai and I wanted a photo together but an ahjussi who's also going downhill joined us in our photo.

Winter in Korea: Day 2 (Part 2)

Browsing our Korea travel photos, I only realized it now that we visited the most number of places on the second day of our trip. We went to five different places (Jongmyo Royal Shrine, Changdeokgung Temple, National Museum, Namsan Seoul Tower & Myeongdong Shopping District). This probably explains why we woke up late on our third day and missed eating our breakfast. 

Going back to the other half of our second day itinerary, we went to meet my bestfriend and momshie Rob so we can finally see more places as a complete group. Since we all haven't taken our lunch, we went on a Barbecue Place called "MEAT-ing" in Hongdae. For a $13 lunch buffet, it was a pretty good price. However, when we told out Korean Landlord about the place, he was insistent that the place was not the best barbecue place. He suggested other better places that serves good meat. 

(Sorry, we forgot to take a photo! We're starving so no one thought of taking a photo. Hahahaha)

Now that we have our energies back, we decided to visit the most popular tower in Seoul--Namsan Seoul Tower. I knew the tower because of the Korean Drama "Boys Over Flowers". It was the place were Geum Jandi and Goo Jun Pyo were supposed to meet but Gun Pyo got stood up and waited in vain at the tower on that cold winter night. I'll never forget that scene! (I swore to myself that I have to visit this place every time I come to Korea, I'm glad I still do. It's my second time!).

It's a sin to not have any photo taken with this love locks around the tower if you visit this place. 

Meet my bestest friend forevs Shai! Read my previous blog posts (click here) about our friendship and you'll know why she's my bff! Ooopsies the benches in Namsan Tower look bent but trust me it's just the "style" we didn't break it.

Winter in Korea: Day 2 (Part 1)

The last time I went to Korea with my bestfriend, Shai, we didn't prioritize visiting temples. We only visited Gyeongbokgung Palace. That's because we thought they all look similar so visiting one would be enough. 

However, when we visited several temples in this trip, I felt the need to correct myself and tell you that Palaces and Temples in Korea each has its own story to tell and their aesthetic structures are surprisingly diverse. I didn't want to discuss history to y'all. I just want to invite you to visit palaces and temples in Korea if you really want to have a greater perspective of their culture. 

It's our second day and our first stop was to visit Jongmyo Royal Shrine. It's very accessible to public transport (subway) and it's location is just a few minutes walk from the other tourist spots. The great thing about our second day was that we were admitted in the palaces for FREE! Yes you've read that right, Admission Fees for that day only was free. How lucky are we?! 

I know you'll ask why it was free for the day. The answer: UNESCO has conducted a survey for the temple visitors. Six temples/palaces were part of this survey which means all six temples have free entrance for the day. We were given a free tote bag after filling in the survey and of course, we can enter the palaces for free. 

It looks like it's Autumn, but trust me it's winter. It was 5°C freezing cold. I was still hoping it'll snow but it didn't. This is what will welcome you as you enter the gates of the Shrine. The colors are amazing!

Winter in Korea: Day 1 of 7 Itinerary

When traveling in groups, compromising is a key ingredient to prevent any conflicts from happening. I'm glad we (my travel buddies for this trip) have the common interests in the places we wanted to see. It wasn't difficult for us to plan and decide the places we wanted to visit. 

Another thing: photography skills!!! It  helps to have travel buddies who take great photos--the ones where people can't tell if it's an AD or you're just extremely lucky to take such a perfectly timed photo. Our group can be called a "power house" in  terms of traveling in groups because we have good navigators, photographers, creative caption-ists and fun models for ootds. We could have won JuanForFun competitions if we joined last year hahahah kidding!. 

Due to some changes in the schedule of my travel buddies, the first two days of this one week trip was spent with only half of the group. 

We arrived at Incheon International Airport in the afternoon and went straight to our Hostel which is just a five-minute walk from Hapjeong Station to unpack and settle. My body was not prepared for the 8°C weather that welcomed us as we leave the train station. I love the cold weather but trust me, it's better to enjoy the cold when you are appropriately-clothed. ;) 

First stop was to eat lunch! We were trying to find a restaurant suggested by our gwapito landlord but we got lost on the way so we decided to just eat at the tteokboki place we saw on our way. (I'm a terrible navigator specially when the person giving instructions of the place is gwapo--hahahah I tend to just nod even if I can't understand a thing he's saying HAHAHAHAHHA bad twinks! bad!)

This Tteokbokki Place serves flaming hot tteokboki. Try it only if you can handle the scorching taste of this food that Koreans can't live without on winter season. Ryan was crying half way through eating this food! 

Next stop was to see Naksan Park! If you love korean dramas, you've probably seen this place. I love how it overlooks Seoul's city lights. The walls of the park even add to the classy look of the view. We arrived there at around 6pm so we didn't get to witness the city's view on daylight but I think the night view was better.

Winter in Korea: A Mischievous Adventure (Part 1)

Behind me is the Pagoda at Baekje Cultural Land, Buyeo Province.
Shooting Location of Moon Lovers/ Scarlet Heart Ryeo
Shout out to Ryan for taking this photo and patiently dealing with my un-photogenic quality. haha 

Way back April 2015, as my bestfriend (shai) and I wait to board our plane going back to Manila from Seoul, we asked ourselves if we'll ever get to visit Korea again and  hoped that it will be sooner. Never have I ever imagine that "sooner" means 19 months!

Lo and behold, November 2016 we're back in Korea!!!

As a KDRAMA FANATIC with *slight mental* issues when seeing Korean Hotties on screen *ehem* (Gong Yoo, Song Jong Ki, Nam Joo Hyuk.... I can tell you the full list but it will take us days to do that LOL), I am blessed to have visited the only country which I don't mind going back to even for hundreds of times. This is another dream come true! To add more excitement: It's winter!!! It was my very first time experiencing winter--and I'm pretty sure I loved that season but I don't think I could let go of the fact that Spring in Korea is overwhelmingly refreshing and surprisingly chilly.

My friends and I spent a great winter week in Korea (just like the last time) last November 29 to December 5. Sad to say, we were unable to witness the first snowfall which happened three days before our arrival. However, an artificial snow made up for that disappointment when we visited a ski park!

Let me give you a glimpse of how beautiful this country is through my favorite photos of our trip two months ago:

I miss traveling :(

It feels weird for me that I have not traveled for over a year now. As a newly employed in the government, I'm still not entitled to any form of leave until I'm six months old in the job. I got one month left before turning six months! However, the process of getting a Travel Authority from our Department Secretary is very very veeerrrryyyyy tedious and tiring. I need to prepare it months before actually going out of the country. So that's the downside of being a government employee and at the same time having love for traveling. 

If ever I'm not lazy to prepare all the documents to travel, the only country that I would love to go back to would still be SOUTH KOREA. I miss the spring season! I miss the food! I miss the places and the people I met there! Korea is a place that I would never get tired of visiting. It's like a second home to me.

I'm hoping that before I leave for the "great down under", I could visit this beautiful place again.

xx,

T

Torn between Leaving or Staying

I always wondered how my life would turn in such a way that every person I love would benefit from it. Sad to say, that turning point has not yet arrived. However, as much as I would like to accomplish all the things that I wanted to do (eg. travel, staycation, bake, and just sleep in peace for one day), I can't because my plans depended on how much I time I have after work or if I still have the energy to enjoy them. 

Just recently, I have been offered a graduate degree offer overseas (the great down under) and I wanted (extremely wanted) to accept it. I feel so willing to give up my stable job to feel the thrill of living in a different culture and starting anew there despite having very limited resources to support my living. (I have parents who can help, anyway hahaha yes I still have backup but they would be my very last resort for finances). I can almost instantly be there and start the next intake for my Master's degree. However, I am so torn between pursuing it and staying for the job and my family. 

Why? The answer to that intimidating question is: I feel sad just by the thought of leaving everyone behind for who knows how long. I love my job, the people I work with, the place that I live in, my friends, and most of all my family. I have everyone here, why go somewhere far? Knowing that I am in my comfort zone, feeling safe and secured, I do not have any worries but I don't also feel my life progressing. I am in a stagnant case of living a routine without any space for a better change which leads me to the option of taking the offer and accepting it. 

Why oh why is life so difficult to understand?

It's true we can't always have everything, but at least I hope, we can have answers to every thing we needed. I'm still in the process of rethinking in accepting the offer. (I was given a year to decide if I want to accept it). Maybe, just maybe, I will have a final answer next time. 

P.s I'm sorry, I was caught up with all the paper works in my job. Mind you, this is my second job after resigning on my very first job. lol. 

P.p.s hope to hear from you, if anyone still reads this :)))

-Twinkle

Seoulid Adventures: Hellokitty Cafe

The long wait is over. After months of lost times for blogging, I am making up for it by posting one of the best places I've been to in Korea last April. It was such a rush knowing that I'll be visiting a cafe that has everything in pink. My sister was actually the real hellokitty fan and I did visit the place for her. Hopefully, we could come back there when she comes home.

To give you an idea how we survived locating the place in such a huge area, my bestfriend and I used google maps and blogs who gives direction about the place. All we had to do was ride a train to Hapjeong Station and walk ten minutes to get to Hellokitty cafe! There are too many Hellokitty Cafes in Korea and they serve the same meals but every cafe has a different interior. So, when you visit korea you really have to find one of these cafes and try the hellokitty vibe.

Of course, I couldn't just visit the place without pictures of it. Gracious goodness! My bestfriend took pictures of everything I do inside the cafe and I'm so glad she did.

*That celebratory smile when we finally found HelloKitty Cafe #noSweat

*Just by looking at this pink creation, I was in awe trying to feel my feet because it was 6 degrees and rain started pouring a few minutes when we got inside the cafe. 

*This is rather a signature

Seoulid Adventures: The War Memorial of Korea

I am the kind of person who would prefer museums over theme parks (not because I'm not the adventurous type but) because I love finding out for myself how some things in the past, actually happened. I find it amusing to know interesting facts from the past that have impacted today's generation.

So, my Korea trip with my bestfriend will not be complete without visiting museums! I wasn't able to take a lot of pictures because I was so engrossed with the museum's beauty. And before I forget, this museum do not have any entrance fees!!! (that's a good reason for you to visit!). You can definitely give donations if you want to, but they don't charge for entrance fees.

The part that I love the most was the 3D short film of F-15. It was an exchange of bombs and bullets on air between flight jets of Korea and Japan. You have to see it!

 You will know that you are already within the vicinity of the war memorial if you see this. Walk a few meters from the subway station and you'll see this monument with a gallery inside.

A vessel that was used decades ago by the Koreans to guard the coast. 

  Some of the armored vehicles and planes were located outside the museum. They don't function anymore.

Seoulid Adventures: Bukchon Hanok Village

I was not on hiatus. I just got a little busy with "review" for an upcoming board exam (which slowly kills me with anxiety). Since I have a few minutes to do stuff online, I decided why not update my little blog? The page views for the last month was good enough so I think people still check this blogspot. hihi.

Our second destination after the Gyeongbokgung Palace was the Bukchon Hanok Village. It was almost 4pm in the afternoon when we got there and I would probably recommend to visit that place at an earlier hour. Since we walked for a few hours at the Palace, our feet were throbbing in pain and walking up the village was a challenge so we only took very few photos (too lazy to take pictures, too busy looking for spots where we could sit and rest).

It was a great thing that Korea have established a lot of Tourist Information booths all over seoul, it was not difficult to navigate the places we wanted to visit because they provide maps and clear directions going to those places. They even have tourist info people who could give you help with directions or finding places you wanted to see. They love tourists!

Here are some of the pictures we took at Bukchon Hanok Village:

Seoulid Adventures: Gyeongbokgung Palace!

Since we stayed in Seoul for eight days, we were able to visit enough tourist/non-tourist destinations and it would be really pretty to feature one destination for each blog post!
Visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace on our first day in Seoul was an easy choice. I was so excited to see the place where some of my favorite korean-dramas were filmed. We were a few minutes late for the english tour of the Palace so we decided to just roam around the huge area of the palace and take pictures/videos as we stroll.

Here are some of my favorite photos (that were captured using only a phone because my camera didn't have a memory card and we were still in search of a place to buy that memory card during that time).

Side Trip: Johor Bahru, Malaysia

Of all the regrets I have in travelling, the thing I regret the most is not taking enough pictures to cherish after the memory of the place fades away. It happens every time when I am home and I want to look back at how my trip went only to find out that I have less than 100 pictures in my camera roll/photo gallery. Isn't that devastating? I felt dumb for not bothering to take more pictures even when I've brought a good camera to capture good places.
This is a tip: Please do take A LOT of pictures when you are traveling (I mean it!).

So, last March my best friends and I went to Singapore for starting summer and celebrating my birthday, and since it is a two hour bus ride from SG to Malaysia, we risked and finally visited Johor Bahru. (We were collecting passport stamps and going to Malaysia would mean another stamp for passport!)

We visited Hello Kitty Town Malaysia (instead of Lego Land Malaysia since we have no time to visit two parks in four hours) but we didn't regret it....our hearts turned back to being children and my love for Hello Kitty grew bigger. (haha)

Short Summer Fantasy: Singapore in my Eyes

I know. I know. It happened so fast, I don't even know if it actually happened but these pictures reminded me that I did visit Singapore with my friends ALONE! (no parents, no siblings, no relatives near...just us being risk-takers)

 

Cebu, I'm back

The year is almost ending and I'm still not blogging (like how I planned to). It's a little frustrating, right? I don't know if I'm too lazy to blog or I'm having writer's block. What an awkward intro...I can't even find the right words to actually start this post.

When I was young--like a few years ago, I used to think about visiting places that looked so interesting and famous. But now that I'm a little old, I don't have enough motivation to just go and freaking spend money on travels. There's something about traveling that makes me go back home and just sleep for hours. (I'm being weird today, haha)

Enough of excuses, let me just show you how warm I felt when I was in Cebu in the midst of a cold December. Yes, I was back to the Queen City of South and I am glad I did come back.

Lahug, Cebu City
Philippines Cebu Temple

Just some old friends reunited. Add up the sweet home made ice cream while we  reminisce the old times...way back when these kids were so little.  

It was one good afternoon to play with these kiddos and be little kids again (after years of forgetting that childhood was cool).





















Yes, this is a place where every baker would want everything-- I mean it (I almost wanted to stay for the day here if not for our rescheduled flights). It was actually funny how we got lost a few times just to get to this Baking Depot (Add in the fact that we don't speak the same dialect in Cebu--it was hilarious!)

I wish I could write more of the good times during our stay in Cebu...maybe next time... when I have enough words to choose from because sometimes (even when I'm not doing anything at all), I feel tired and it's not something worthy to be posted here.

'til then!
-Twinx

MYSA 2013: Batis Aramin

It's been awhile! Well, to make up with the long weeks of writer's block, I'm finally publishing a post! Last October 30-31, we had a Multi-Stake Young Adults Conference and it was really fun especially when it was held in a huge and interesting place called "Batis Aramin Hotel and Resort" at Lucban, Quezon (6 hours drive from home).

 I really like the design of the letters so I insist on having a picture with it behind me ;)

 As usual, a day like this will never be complete without a photo op.

The Chandelier that took my eyes away (hahahha). 

 Hanging, NOT Hanging bridge. This is basically a concrete bridge that is designed to look like a hanging bridge but trust me, it's a sorcery!

 Yup, that's the name of the Resort! Better have it on your bucketlist!

<<Found my King Kong! :)



An obligatory loot selfie >>

We love this bench on hill top, it's interesting to sit there and listen to the sighs of the wind while having girl talks!

 Yep, it's a view of MT. Banahaw I didn't had the chance to see.  :"(

It was one great experience to be there and the activities held there were fun...I got to meet new people and had the chance to explore the place. I would wish to be back there again!