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: 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 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: 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).

SPRING TIME: The flowers of Korea

My (dream) Korea Trip with my best friend happened like a blink of an eye. It was so fast I couldn't cope well that it still made me anxious thinking about the eight days (yes, you read it right...eight days!) of quality time with my best friend, in Seoul! It happened! I set my feet on the Land of the Morning Calm and stayed there with my best friend who happens to love kpop/kdramas, too.

It all started when my best friend phoned me telling me there's a seat sale going on and we should book! After a few more phone calls and more convincing strategies (for my parents to say yes), we finally booked the flight that will bring us to our dream country!

I had my hopes too high that the visa processing will be pretty easy until a new policy was posted about "more strict" requirements for the visa application. I am a little horrified that my visa application will be denied (aside from the fact that we filed our visas just two weeks before we fly to Korea). Fortunately, my best friend called telling me my visa was accepted and right then I knew we were heading to that beautiful country!

It was such a lucky time that our stay in Korea was the peak of the Cherry Blossoms and flowers, too! My best friend and I took a lot of pictures of the beautiful sakura and tulips and more flowers that blooms during our stay.

 *flowers at the War Memorial