My week in a nutshell

Been a pretty good week so far.

On Tuesday, my brother and I finally caught The Avengers! Way behind everyone else who were hurriedly pre-booking it/attempting to catch it on release day because we didn’t want to jostle with the crowds.

And what can I say? I absolutely love the show. Out of all the previous solo movies the individual Avengers had, my favourite was definitely Tony Stark (loved Iron Man, not so much Iron Man 2) in Iron Man. How charismatic can he get? Also, I saw an article that totalled the amount of screen time that each Avenger got, and Iron Man totally came in first. Have also found newfound love in Hawkeye – or maybe just Jeremy Renner who portrays the character. Hawkeye is to me what Katniss Everdeen is to all newfound fanboys around the world, alright!

I also finally managed to meet the journ groupmates after two months, I can’t believe we took that long just to squeeze in two hours for dinner!

And met up with Justine today before she leaves for Seoul on Friday too. The girl’s finally finished her second stint at SPH and embarking on her long-deserved trip to her land of promised, glossy-looking men! Hehe.

Strawberry Tiramisu Tart from Fruit Paradise. Whenever I have dinner there, I always want to have their tarts for dessert but end up gorging myself silly during the actual meal and feel too full afterward – so we made a special trip down today to have them. What I like about Japanese desserts is that despite how they look, they aren’t overly sweet so you can finish the entire thing without feeling like you’ve gained 5kg (although I probably will look at that cream).

And look what came in! Both the EXO-M and EXO-K mini-albums. I really love how they’re designed and how both albums are identical but make use of either black/white to differentiate themselves.

Also, it’s Cher’s birthday today and I’ll be seeing her in a couple of hours. Happy 21st dear, I can’t wait to celebrate turning 21 with you. ^^ Am really glad life has been turning out so well for you in recent months, and I can only let you know that it is only going to get better. <3

xx

✈ 서울 T R A V E L O G U E ✈ Jjimjilbang (찜질방)​ with new Korean friends!

Wordy entry ahead on one of our most interesting experiences in Seoul!

One of our plans in Seoul was to go a Jjimjilbang (찜질방), which is basically a large public bath house. The lockers and shower rooms are gender-segregated of course, but there is usually a large heated area for lounging and sleeping, complete with wide-screen televisions and everything. They also have heated rooms, ice rooms, PC bangs (a room where you can use the Internet), noraebangs (karaoke rooms!) and mats for you to sleep on.

A lot of Koreans pay about 10,000 won to go in, then spend their entire night there. They have everything from food to entertainment to shower facilities, so it’s pretty much a cheap place for people who need somewhere to sleep overnight!

The whole idea of sleeping with a bunch of people in a bath house might sound incredibly weird, but it’s really the norm in Seoul, so go with it!

Entry is cheaper at certain times, though I can’t remember which.

We actually planned to go on our last Saturday if I am not wrong, but we ended up going on a Friday instead by complete coincidence – because we randomly made new Korean friends!!!

Dinner at a street stall at Dongdaemun! It was our first time there and Chong Aik’s second (he met a friend for dinner here some other day) and so he recommended all the dishes you see here – which are super yummy! Kimchi pancakes,  ddeokbokki, udon and some soup thingy. We also had other really delish stuff which I didn’t manage to take since everyone was busy eating.

So beside us, there were four other students eating at the next table, and at first we didn’t really take notice of them at all until we saw that they were playing some sort of game. And then somehow at one point we just KNEW that someone was going to come over because we saw the others egging this one guy on.

And…he really did come over! We were a bit like ‘Err…’ but then we offered him our makgeolli (Korean rice wine, which we happened to not be able to finish) and somehow after that we had both our tables joined and we were doing our best to talk to each other in broken English/Korean.

Haha took this picture before we deduced they were coming over because I was just trying to take the insides of the tent. But those are the four students!

And somehow somehow, we ended up talking, going to a sleazy-looking place to drink together (was totally decent and safe though!!) and then making plans to go to a jjimjilbang together after we found out they were going there to stay that night!

It was also really funny because throughout the whole time we were conversing, the girl was trying her best to teach us drinking games they were playing and she kept checking her phone – that she was actually CHARGING in the tent pfft – and translating words.

So after eating, they suggested hanging out (minus the guy who came over to us in the first place cos he had to leave )and none of us really knew where to go – but we wound up at this place with plushy booth seats to continue chilling. Like I said, it looked really sleazy to us at first but it isn’t really expensive (paid about 20,000+ won in total) and it’s comfy! And it seems to be the sort of place that is open all night.

Haha check out that fringe curtain-like thing. It does look like of like a dodgy place right?

And the next day Chong Aik pointed out that the girl, the youngest out of all of us, was the one pouring us soju shots all the time, and he realised it was because that’s the culture in Korea – to have the youngest pour for the others around the table.

Some other etiquette info I got off Wiki, highlighted portions are the things we actually experienced without knowing it!

“Soju is usually consumed in group gatherings while eating, unmixed and portioned into individual shot glasses. It is against traditional custom in Korea to fill one’s own glass. Instead, it must be filled by someone else at the table.

In Korean culture, using two hands to offer and accept items is considered an act of respect. Accordingly, if one’s glass is going to be filled by a superior, one should hold the glass with both hands. Similarly, when pouring soju for an elder, one holds the bottle with both hands.

Koreans often say “one shot“, a challenge to everyone in the group to down their glass in one gulp. (!!!!!!! THIS WAS SO TRUE HAHA ALL OF THEM KEPT SAYING THIS 1000X TIMES)

A glass should not be refilled unless completely empty and should be promptly refilled once empty; it is considered rude to not fill someone else’s glass when empty.

Some special rules apply when drinking with someone of much higher status, i.e. greater age or rank. When drinking in front of elders (people older than you), the junior is expected to turn away from the elder first. Drinking the shot while directly facing the elder is considered disrespectful. However in recent years, the prevalent practice has been to drink the shot without turning away from the elder (but still using both hands to drink), as most Koreans view the practice as archaic and a detriment to camaraderie, irrespective of the age groups involved.”

So yeah!! Really interesting experience. To them it might be already a cultural norm, but it was still a first for us despite watching it on TV etc. They also told us that they usually finish a bottle each, and that they hold their alcohol well heh.

Btw, soju is seriously cheap there. Like 3,000 won a bottle. And the same goes for most of the alcohol we saw.

Verryyyy trigger happy.

And pictures from when we went to the jjimjilbang!

In the ice room hahah freezing our asses off but still happily camwhoring.

We had to change into the outfits they gave us when we got there and keep everything else in lockers, but I kept my phone and money with me since I knew I wanted to try the eggs I always watched people eat in dramas at jjimjilbangs! All photos from my iPhone since the DSLR was stuffed into the locker, and mostly of just me and the boys since our new friends and Mel went to sleep.

Our keys to our lockers. Haha I realise how ridiculously happy everyone looked that night, and I swear it was not the alcohol because I only had like three shots.

THE HORRENDOUS QUALITY OF THIS HAHA. We were sitting at the heated lounge area chatting, but got told off by an ahjusshi for being too noisy. Same thing happened in the tent when we were playing screaming games (seriously wth were we doing??).

In one of the heated rooms…we were actually dancing inside but it was too hot so we got out.

One of the noraebang booths! It’s like 100won a song I think. And those two were seriously monsters!! I left the booth to go to the washroom and I COULD HEAR THEM SINGING ADELE’S SET FIRE TO THE RAIN ALL THE WAY FROM THE TOILET.

Not even singing it, SCREECHING it like banshees. -.-

Eggs! I ate like three..but they seriously taste healthier than normal eggs ok! I’ve no idea how they do it.

They also have a gym!

I think we spent about two hours in total there before cabbing home at around 4am, exploring and hopping from room to room. It’s really somewhere I would recommend going if you are in Seoul! The experience is totally unique, and although you feel awkward at first being so ‘at home’ somewhere so far away, after awhile you just get used to it.

Everyone’s so comfortable there that people just walk around naked in the respective locker rooms (we didn’t though, since we were conservative and mildly mortified). I’m still not actually sure if I’ll be able to sleep there since I don’t even sleep well anywhere other than my own bed, so being surrounded by strangers probably wouldn’t help.

Also not sure which jjimjilbang we went to since we followed the Koreans around, but it was around Dongdaemun since that was where we started off at and we didn’t take the subway anywhere else.

And also because we left without waking our newfound companions up to say goodbye again, we were sure we would never be able to see them again…but the next day, we bumped into the girl at Hongik University Station!!! Coincidental much? She started a Kakao (the Korean equivalent to WhatsApp) group with us and so far, only one other guy and myself exist in that said convo. I wonder how long we’ll be able to communicate since the convo is filled with mostly broken Korean or broken English.

Still, I think that night was one of my favourite nights in Seoul. I think that we were really lucky to have met them, as well as the other foreign girls we met at M Countdown because they really made our experience there much more memorable. I mean, how often do you get to go someplace foreign and get to know the locals, and foreigners living there, out of the blue right?

And to Mich and Stef who are flying there in a couple of hours, have loads of fun!!

Places mentioned:

Dongdaemun (동대문)

Jjimjilbang (찜질방)

✈ 서울 T R A V E L O G U E ✈ Locks of Love at N Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower)

N Seoul Tower, also known as Namsan Tower because it is situated on Mt. Namsan, is a place filled with thousands and thousands of locks. Each belongs to a couple, accompanied with a message of their love. It is said that if a couple secures their lock on the rails of the tower and then tosses they key far down below – they will be together forever.

HOW ROMANTICCC. *______*

But alas, although we went up in pairs, neither of us were a couple so I think the experience was a completely different one for us. Still awesome! We didn’t actually go all the way up to the observatory tower because we just wanted to look at the locks. You have to purchase another ticket if you decide to head all the way up.

Going to Namsan is crazily tiring because the terrain up there is almost completely uphill. Once you get to the Namsan Tower Cable Car station, chances are you are already half dead from walking. But when I checked the directions online apparently there is a faster way. Pretty clear directions (the route we took) can be found here.

We went around 7ish at night if I remember correctly, and it was really really cold again. I heard that some people go at dusk so that they can see the sun set – so I’m sure that’s a whole other experience altogether. We paid about 8,000 won for a round cable car trip.

Our views from the top! (We weren’t at the tower yet)

The building you can see is the cable car tower to alight and descend the tower. The tiny sparkly lights behind are the city lights far below.

My blurry shot of the tower. Was having a bad day with my Nikon that night. Could barely figure out the right settings to get a decent picture and I didn’t want to use flash. Please forgive me for the ugly shots hahaha.

The place looks like a little part, with trees, benches, pavillions and water fountains – but the difference is that the air feels a lot different.

Dang, my lacklustre photography skills.

Shops around the area! You can buy tickets from the ticketing booth seen in the picture, and while Chong Aik and I got coffees from Cold Stone, Keith and Mel ate ice cream!! In that weather!!! Living life on the edge.

A tree of locks! I thought this was pretty cute.

Then we headed up to where all the main locks were!

A couple checking out locks…or fastening their own.

I’ve read a lot of travel blogs/seen shows where people would sit on this bench that looks like it has snapped in the middle and so we took a whole series of photos with it. It’s actually really sturdy btw.

K-drama worthy??

Better! Though off centre.

And this is totally off-topic but see my YakPak at the side of the picture? I bought it when I was in year 1 of poly and I’ve been using it to bits till the insides of it are completely falling apart.

Mel’s forever alone shot. As you can see we totally resigned to flash.

And Keith also claimed he found Khuntoria’s lock!!

For those who don’t know, Khuntoria is the coined name of the first foreign couple (Made out of 2PM’s Thai member Nichkhun and f(x)’s Chinese member Victoria) on Korean reality show We Got Married. It’s a really cute show (no matter how superficial and staged it sounds) since there’s no harm in pairing two good-looking celebrities together and making them do couple-y things together. A lot of fans who watch the show wholly believe their favourite couple should really get together in real life, but I think it’s fun just to see them interact and get to know someone new.

So when Khuntoria went to Namsan Tower, they used a really heavy duty lock and chain so that no one could steal it – and lot of locks have been chained to it since – but at least it’s still there!

To be honest, I don’t really remember what Khuntoria’s lock looks like and when I tried searching it up online, there weren’t a zillion locks attached to it yet. But Keith insists it’s the right one and I’m trusting him because he watched the show faithfully too.

Anyway, I personally think that although we were having a lot of fun, we were probably a nuisance to all the real couples there since we were pretty noisy running all over the place taking photos. :S

And then we started posing with this:

Bet you’re looking for that really ugly photo of me Chong Aik haha I WILL NOT POST IT.

Since we went at night, it was really nice to look down on the city and know that we were far up and away from bustling life. I loved how the air felt too – clean and fresher – or maybe it’s just in my head since I’ve always thought that if you are on a hill top or a mountain, the air can’t be tainted. But that is true, right? :/

But meh don’t expect a completely serene experience since the place will be filled with tourists and couples etc etc.

A board explaining the locks. Can you read the headline?? ‘A promise for endless love’.

Another thing we noticed – there are bins around for you to throw your keys into because apparently tossing them down might hit and potentially hurt someone (?). But obviously the idea of throwing your keys into a key bin isn’t as romantic as over the railings right?

One last picture before we went to seek shelter from the freezing weather!

One thing I quite like about most of the attractions in Seoul is that their cafes/eateries around aren’t too overpriced, so you can actually chill/eat there without burning a mini hole in your pocket. We stayed at this place beside the gift shop (which also sells pretty affordable, pretty souvenirs!) and Mel and Keith had beer at only 4,000 won!

Our cable car ticket.

And a really pretty post card that Keith bought  from the gift shop for his aunt! It’s really nice how the touristy Korean souvenirs at such attractions aren’t too conventional and plain-looking. I swear I was tempted to buy everything there but what would I do with them??

Really went way over budget on this trip, but I don’ t regret it since I had the time of my life.

Happy for cheap beer!

And an abrupt end to the post because I am gonna head off to sleep tonight cos I’m finally catching The Avengers tomorrow with my bro. It’s honestly the first time we’re watching a movie together because we have zero common interests in movies so I’m pretty excited.

Definitely think Namsan Tower is a place worth going though. It’s a beautiful place and even if you aren’t going with a significant half, I think it’s really great just hanging around the park or sitting at one of the cafes having coffee with friends/family. Plus, the view’s great and it isn’t too expensive going up either. The tower actually has a lot more places inside to explore, so be sure to check them out!

Places mentioned:

Myeondong Station (명동역)

N Seoul Tower (Namsan Tower)

Seoul-si Yongsan-gu Yongsandong
2-ga San 1-3

Where to, now?

Weather’s perfect today after a crazy amount of rain in the morning. What followed was just pure, sweet cold air. Bliss.

It’s been a good two months after my last (okay, only) paper, Media Law, and I’ve been successfully converted into a living couch potato. I sleep in the wee hours of the morning, get up in the afternoon to inhale whatever food from the day before I can find, and then sit in front of my laptop – living my life vicariously through sitcoms and dramas. Mhmm.

Recently, Chong Aik linked me to South Korean indie band 10cm’s cover of Amy Winehouse’s Rehab, and it’s such a chill, laidback version that I can’t stop listening to it. 10cm is also widely known for their song, ‘Americano’, which has been covered by a lot of celebs in the entertainment scene. What I really like about the duo is how stripped-down and simple their music is. No auto-tuning, no electric guitar riffs etc. Just really clean, smooth sound. Makes for good rainy day music, or staring-out-of-the-window-pretending-you-are-in-a-slow-moving-movie kind of music.

From their Wiki page:

• Kwon Jung Yeol (권정열), Main vocal, Percussion
• Yoon Cheol Jong (윤철종), Vocal, Guitar, Tambourine

Very gratifying day to lie in bed all day, today, while I continue to unravel the mystery behind my disappearing hair ties. Seriously, where do they all go???

✈ 서울 T R A V E L O G U E ✈ A trip to Lotte World

It’s officially been more than a month since I’ve gotten back from Seoul, and I’m still not done with my entries. But I guess I eventually will.

Passed by my kitchen noticeboard just now and saw the dates of my trip that my mum had stuck up prior to the visit. I can’t believe it all happened so fast! Someone take me back.

On the first day of our last week in Seoul, we headed to Lotte World! It has the world’s biggest indoor amusement park, and a pretty fantastic outdoor one as well!

We were deciding between Everland and Lotte World, or both, but eventually decided to just go to one since going to both would be pretty expensive.

Granted, entry to theme parks there are not as exorbitant as one trip to Resort World here.

 Making a wish at Lotte World’s very own Trevi Fountain.

The ‘Trevi Fountain’ can be found in the basement of the Lotte Mall, which is also where you can purchase tickets to Lotte World and eat at what Chong Aik calls ‘Lotte World’s macs’ – Lotteria.

They serve decent fast food but Macs in Korea is so much yummier! WE LOVE THEIR DOUBLE BULGOLGI BURGER.

An insanely pretty shop selling cute balloons, dresses, wands, hats and fuzzy animal ears that I really wanted to buy! Had to restrain myself because I knew there were more inside Lotte World.

Adult passport tickets (access on all rides) go for 40,000 won (we bought these), but you can get them at 21,000 won after 4pm. If you are just planning to go in and watch some performances/snap photos, you can buy a ticket at 21,000 won, which is about half-price.

A huge indoor ice-skating ring, surrounded by other different indoor attractions!

At first, I was wondering why the place was so small, but then I remembered that there was a whole outdoor park to explore! I’m not a huge fan of theme park rides because I don’t like roller coasters that go upside down – and all the really good ones are! Give me anything but upside down ones. I feel completely disoriented.

The stage behind had characters in costumes dancing! Some sort of performance.

Fancy-looking, probably overpriced themed restaurant!

The first ride all of us decided to go on was an indoor hot air balloon ride, which really reminds me of a similar ride in Genting I once took when I was young. It basically takes you all around the entire indoor park on an electronically-powered hot air balloon – giving you a scenic view of the entire inside of the park.

We were there on a Monday afternoon (not during the school holidays either) and the queues for rides were still generally all long. This was possibly the shortest ride we queued for. About five minutes?

Before we officially ‘take off!’

View from above! The ride isn’t shaky or anything but people who are afraid of heights might get a little intimidated since it is pretty high up.

Afterward, while Mel and Keith queued for the biggest looking indoor roller-coaster ride (The French Revolution), Chong Aik and I continued embarking on the search for more cutesy ears. There are plenty of stores selling them all around the park and most of them look similar, but if you are lucky you might find something that stands out hehe.

Brave souls queuing for a scary, upside-down ride full of twists and turns.

Was attempting to snap a shot of them when the ride went outside down, but obviously I captured nothing.

Other rides we also took inside included a really boring water raft one called The Adventures of Sindbad (cos there was no queue) – with a voiceover throughout the tunnel telling the tale, Drunken Baskets (the conventional spinning teacups ride), and another water rafting ride that is sort of like the one at Escape Theme Park in Singapore, where you sit on a raft and it goes down two water slides. It IS pretty steep, and you’ll probably get wet.

After the Drunken Baskets, I was more or less ready to puke because I was so dizzy. But I felt better after eating churros. Hahahaha.

And then we headed outside! The outdoor theme park is called Magic Land, and there are a lot of other rides out there as well. Even if you aren’t fond of rides, you can still take a lot of good pictures and soak in that magical theme park air.

We took only about two rides together, one was the Waikiki Wave, a ride that basically flips up and down, while twisting and turning. The ride is a two-row seater kind of ride, so about 10+ people fill up each side of the ride. One side faces the inside of the theme park and the other which we took faces the sea! This was pretty thrilling and SUPER COLD because the wind was blowing in every direction in our faces. I’m not a fan of rollercoasters or anything that flips upside down, but this was really fun!

The other one we took was the Crazy Bumper Car – no explanation needed there. I didn’t buckle myself in properly for this ride and ended up nursing a seriously nasty bruise on my knee. Still fun!

Mel and Keith queued for this monster of a ride, the largest in the park, called The Atlantis. It honestly doesn’t look that bad, but the thing about this ride is that it goes super, super fast. Just from looking at the ride you can already tell, but just to double confirm, I read a review over here.

And Mel was so adventurous – it being her first time on any rollercoaster!! And she tried at least three that day.

The Atlantis.

Once again, planted myself right where I could get a good view. Look how petrified Mel is! But I think they really enjoyed it. The next morning she commented on how she still saw the rollercoaster when she closed her eyes hahah.

More pictures:

And my impromptu dance outburst, as captured by Chong Aik.

Psyched Keith to join in but Mel doesn’t want to.

One last picture of my awesome friends!

Lotte World has a pretty good variety of indoor and outdoor rides, but like most amusement parks, food is overpriced/don’t look remotely appetising at all. We went back to our area to eat since Lotte Mall has nothing either. They have a food basement that looks similar to Takashimaya in town, but it’s always packed in the evening.

The bottomline for Lotte World is: Queuing also takes a lot of time, so go as early as possible if you want to try as many rides as possible! I got bored pretty fast, but I still think the place is worth a visit if you’re in Seoul. Plus, it is still a lot cheaper and bigger than any attraction we have locally, so…would definitely still recommend going!

Places mentioned:

Lotte World (잠실역)

 Jamsil Station, Line 2, Exit 4

Twinkle twinkle, you damn big stars (TaeTiSeo Twinkle review)

When I first heard of SM releasing an SNSD sub-unit, I was a little disgruntled (I mean, there’s no real need for a sub-unit is there?) – even more so when I heard that the unit was going to contain three of SNSD’s main vocalists, namely Taeyeon, Tiffany and Seohyun, and was going to be called TaeTiSeo. Okay…can.

Much as I love the three of them, these girls have definitely been edged just that little more into the limelight among the other girls in the group with their solo projects. With Tiffany being one of the SNSD members with a core MC-ing career for a long time now (From her early days as a co-host on Mnet’s Sonyeon Sonyeo Gayo Baekso to dazzling Music Core viewers alongside Yuri, as well as various ceremonies and events), Taeyeon’s various features on OSTs for her stellar voice, and Seohyun steadily garnering attention ever since her Goguma days with Yonghwa of CN Blue – it is safe to say that these girls aren’t falling short of any attention when compared to certain other members in the group.

Yet, I was curious to see what they had to deliver. The early concept pictures were definitely…mind-boggling. I wasn’t digging the Alice in Wonderland-ish concept at all, and this teaser looked like an oddly mashed Photoshopped picture of an amateur trying to show off his new skills. And are Taeyeon and Seohyun sharing a fringe dress made of…hair?

Also somewhat resembled the kind of banners that you find on top of Blogskins.

But then Taeyeon’s teaser rolled along and I was completely sold. Completely! The girl’s got some major alluring power. Replayed her teaser only about 10,000 times just to watch her perfect hands-on-hips strut and fingers-under-chin come hither teasing gesture. Loved Tiffany’s teaser too (Pretty!!!). Seohyun’s? Meh…

Cute!

And when the MV was released, I threw all initial rational and disgruntled thoughts out the window.

It also suddenly struck me how perfect TaeTiSeo (still trying to stomach the name, but then again I am still trying to stomach SHINee.) was as a sub-unit group. Taeyeon and Tiffany, having gone through rounds of their joint ‘solo’ performances of Lady Maramalade in their poofy skirts and corset-tightened waists while touring during the Girls’ Generation concerts last year, were ideal candidates for the group’s concept – which spanned a very 20th century Moulin Rouge feel. The trio also reminded me of 2006′s musical film Dreamgirls, also of three girls set against the 60′s and 70′s glitz and glamour of musicals and broadway music. It’s an era I love, and for sure a concept I wholly support for SM’s unit.

It is no secret that Taeyeon’s vocals are top-notch and a need for a song like Twinkle, or it might otherwise fall into the league of catchy, repetitive sounding jingles (Sarang is move move?).

Though I still harbour thoughts that fellow member Jessica would have fit the concept better given her doll-like looks, equally bouncy, wavy hair, and position as one of the leading vocalists in SNSD as well, Seohyun does somewhat oddly fit in. While it’s more or less a given that Seobaby is never going to be completely comfortable on stage in my eyes, it does somehow fit her image as a performer, one who is earnest and honestly just enjoys performing for what it is, not forcing herself to blend in completely with the different images her company molds her toward. If the other two girls are the natural divas of the group, she helps tone down the overall unbashedly flirty group image, coming off more saccharine than sexy.

Possibly Seohyun’s edgiest moment in the MV. Hur.

And though I still yearn for a possibly more unpredictable sub-unit in the future now that SNSD has broken out of its performing-as-nine rut, for now, am completely digging these already bright stars. Don’t just twinkle girls, dazzlingly blind us all!

Also, Michy and I covered Twinkle today after months of not doing a cover together. We had fun, tell us what you think!

✈ 서울 T R A V E L O G U E ✈ Gyeongbokgung Palace

Seoul is home to many awesome cultural places of interest, and one of those we visited was Gyeongbokgung (which I found out meant ‘Palace of Shining Happiness’) Palace. We made our way there during the “Changing of the Royal Guards” ceremony – so we got to see how the procedure was!

The ceremony takes place every day at Gwanghwamun (the main gate of the palace) and Heungnyemun (the first gate inside the palace walls at the front) from 10am – 3pm, every start of the hour.

If you are a fan of popular K-dramas like Sungkyunkwan Scandal (Yoochun!!) and currently airing Rooftop Prince (YOOCHUN!!!), you’ll be familiar with the Joseon Dynasty and their guards – they were in charge of protecting the gates of the palace and city, as well as opening and closing them. Although it is a reenactment, we get to see how it really happened back then, with the guards in their historic uniforms playing instruments. Cool stuff.

I love the colours of their uniforms – super vibrant!

Watching the ceremony itself outside the palace is free, and the entrance fee into the palace is 3,000 won. I heard that if you wear your Korean traditional garb, entrance is free.

You can also purchase an integrated ticket at 10,000 won, which will allow you to all four palaces (Changdeokgung Palaces, Changgyeonggung Palace, Deoksugung Palace and Gyeongbokgung Palace), as well as Jongmyo Shrine.

How awkward we made Mel feel. HAHA.

The architecture of the building structures are really amazingly detailed and beautiful. The above three pictures are of Geunjeongjeon Hall, the main gate to the courtyard, and also where the king made important announcements and declarations.

While exploring the rest of the place:

Keith being a guide to Korean school girls haha.

The Gyeonghoeru Pavilion – a royal banquet hall that overlooks a crazily scenic view.

Missing such beautiful scenery already.

Check out this tree! It has its root supported cos of the way it grows.

It was pretty warm inside the palace – we felt fine walking around after awhile without our coats on. A rare occasion since we were wearing literally all the clothes we had on other days. I think it was kind of a pity that we didn’t manage to read up on the history/go on a guided tour when we were there since we had no clue on the history behind the pavilions. Had to do my own research when I got back home.

We could actually rent the traditional historic costumes to wear if we wanted to, but we saw the waiting list and it was like two hours (!?!) so we passed and made do with these:

While leaving the palace I also saw the most adorable kid ever!

Guess he finally realised sand doesn’t taste very nice.

I’m thinking a lot of tourists who visit Seoul will visit at least a few cultural places of interest since the place has loads – and the palaces are a great place to start. Joining a tour would definitely be your best option unless you are a natural history buff – make the effort to read up on where you are going and note down what are interesting snippets of the place you are visiting.

Also worthy of mention! Later that day, we made our way down to Sinchon for a  really cheap, free-flow BBQ meat buffet at only 8,000 won!! That’s really cheap considering we each paid about 10,000 won when we ate at the BBQ place near our hostel. It wasn’t very difficult to find and owned by a Chinese ahjumma, but I can’t remember the exact name. Let me know if anyone reading is interested and I’ll link you to the directions I found online.

Places mentioned:

Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁)

Exit 5 from Gyeongbokgung Station, Line 3

Because photos on the go capture most

Life in Instagram/iPhone pictures:

At Popeye’s for dinner one rare evening I got to eat with both my parents.

Super cute! H&M dino tube top

My growing collection of pouches. The dark pink one at the bottom is from Fi and the one with the little head is the only Japanese souvenir to make it back because Stef left the rest in her hotel room during her holiday in Japan. LOL.

A picture outside Universal Studios Singapore – which I have yet to visit. Tried to capture the entire word but it was too sunny when I took this to see properly + I was anxious in trying to get the shot right.

My current favourite ring is another one of mum’s many creations – a Swarovski button wire-wrapped ring! Anyone interested in placing a personalised order with her? I can’t believe they aren’t more popular.

At the TP Alumni band concert this evening with friends.

Finally headed down to TP to collect my graduation robe today (at an exorbitant rental price) for graduation on the 23rd. I can’t believe we’re closing in on half of 2012 already. Looking back on the past few months and a bit of 2011…sometimes I feel a little bewildered at the decisions I made back then. The good thing is, I don’t regret the major ones because if they involved people, everyone is happier now. If they involved material things, school, direction – I’ve ultimately found another way out myself.

It feels good to be free and so liberated – but at the same time work and school still weighs itself at the back of my mind. I’m at this point of life where I can do anything I want, and it’s such an exhilarating feeling, but I know better than to abuse this freedom. I hope everything sorts itself out soon enough. And I’m thankful for my family and friends every single day of my life for keeping me grounded – every time I wonder why I can’t be doing something more, I think of possibly not having them by my side and that is enough to snap me out of delusional thoughts.

Reflections aside, back to my endless shows to accompany me through the night! ^^

✈ 서울 T R A V E L O G U E ✈ (SM, JYP and YG Entertainment)

Back to finishing up my Seoul posts! I still have quite a number of places to cover and it’s nearing a month since I’ve gotten back…so I’m hoping to finish everything by the end of this month. Eep.

So one of the days, or rather, over two different days, we went in search of Seoul’s famous entertainment companies – namely SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment and YG Entertainment. And I actually think there’s nothing much you can do when you go to these places except…take photos so I wouldn’t suggest it if you have plenty of other things on your to-do list! I think two weeks gave us a pretty good amount of time to do whatever we wanted, but we still didn’t visit every single place we wanted to, so prioritise!

I won’t be writing my own guide on how to get there since there are plenty of good ones online, but a rough guide will be at the bottom of this entry.

SM and JYP are within walking distances of each other after you get off at Cheongdam station (Some people get off at Apgujeong station if they are only planning to visit SM because it is apparently closer).

FYI, I got out at exit 9 for Cheongdam Station and headed to SM first, then backtracked and walked to JYP. There are two possible exits you can use if you only plan to go to JYP, and I’m guessing either are fine.

Exit 9 of Cheongdam Station is closer to JYP than to SM.

Cube Entertainment (Home to Beast, 4 Minute, G.NA etc) is located within walking distances of SM & JYP too, but we didn’t visit the place.

SM Entertainment

Random well-dressed guard/one of those guys waiting to open the door for you while judging your bought-in-Dongdaemun-at-half-price outfit if you decide to step in.

Oh look! Someplace we could actually afford to eat at.

Gangnam is a really expensive area – and you can tell by all the high-end luxury brands around the place. Although I can’t afford to buy anything, I LOVE how all the buildings looked! This is how a luxury street should look like, right? Tall buildings with huge signs showing off their brand name – and lots of well-dressed people.

When we first got there, it was once again…freezing. The cold was not the problem, it was the friggin wind and we desperately wanted to find somewhere to hide again. We entered this same restaurant twice because we were also looking for something to eat (the only thing that have an abudence of in the area are coffee places) but I think they needed a reservation. Grr.

We ended up at some small eatery opened by some ahjumma and ate really nice, warm cheese ramen. :’) It was our cheapest meal too, 15,000 won altogether – about S$16 ++

I followed the video instructions mentioned above for SM, and I think they were the most clear-cut instructions ever. They’re really easy to follow – just involves a lot of walking straight and looking out for the landmarks/signs mentioned. SM is also located by the side of the road so it’s very noticeable.

Not SM but I love how the trees looked! Bare because of cold weather but still pretty.

And here we are at SM’s building!

We stayed for a grand total of about three minutes before running off. Although they recently got that big, sparkly sign up, there’s seriously nothing else you can do in front of the building since it’s right beside the road and there are a ton of cars going by…and everyone knows what you are there for so…

Also, SM Academy, is a seperate building and school where people can actually sign up for music/performing arts courses and if you are good enough, take part in SM Auditions. That was how SHINee’s Onew and SNSD’s Taeyeon were discovered.  :’)

After we left, we headed in the wrong direction to look for JYP and when we turned back we actually saw other Singaporeans taking photos outside SM too haha.

JYP Entertainment

We had a bit of trouble looking for JYP, but one thing is for sure:

If you are going there from SM, face the building, turn to your right, and then walk back down to the huge cross-junction and then turn left and walk. Rest of the directions above!

We eventually found our way there after a nice lady overheard Mel and I talking about us getting lost (while seeking refuge in an office building’s toilet pfft) and told us how to get there! She also asked if we were Singaporean, because she recognised us from our accents.

“My friends from Singapore all sound like that too!” She chirped.

Sigh.

I preferred how JYP looks over SM almost immediately because you can really tell it’s an artiste-managing company just by looking at the building! Can you spot your favourite acts? And JYP has his own huge artiste spot right on top of everyone else’s hehe. There are actually still blank spaces unoccupied by posters of current artistes too. Soon to be taken up by JB and Jr.?

Keith going to work on a typical day. I’m sorry this picture looks so constipated. I think I was spamming shots.

Mel and Keith actually strolled into the carpark area where there is an office. I don’t really know what they found though. Maybe they took pictures with vans that might have potentially ferried their opparsssss/hyungsss.

There is also a pretty neat wall by the side of the carpark where fans leave their messages to JYP artistes. And just like what everyone says, there’s a Dunkin Donuts right opposite the building! It’s seriously very strategically placed, directly on the other side of the tiny road seperating them. Lots of fangirls sitting inside just waiting to see someone famous!

Think they were all eyeing us, annoyed that we were running around and taking photos.

And just had to say this, I bought a hot Starbucks mocha when we stopped at the office building previously and by the time I got to JYP (five minutes later) it was ice cold. -.-

YG Entertainment

On another day, we trekked to YG after getting our hair done – explains nice hair in this part of the entry – and this was relatively easy to find too. Just follow directions listed above! You’ll find the walk to YG a bit quiet, especially since you have to go down this alley (go in the day, it’s easier), but the building itself is impossible to miss.

Mel was crazily excited because well, she’s that little step closer to TOP right! Hehe.

YG is located in a very, very quiet area but you can see how huge and amazing the building looks. There were about 3-4 fangirls sitting by the curb when we went there – and were still there went we left. I’ve read accounts of fans actually approaching people going in/out of the building and begging them to pass their gifts to Big Bang/2NE1 and sometimes succeed if the person is nice enough.

She’s even wearing her Blackjack (Official 2NE1 fanclub) hoodie!

My friends being kungfu stars (IDK HOW THAT RELATES TO YG HAHA) – something I cannot accomplish.

I leave you with Keith looking like the next YG star himself.

xx

P/S Updated Myeongdong entry with noraebang experience!

Places mentioned:

SM Entertainment

Address:

Gangnam-gu Ahpgujung-2dong 521

Seoul, 413-830

Get off at: Cheongdam Station, Line 7, exit 9/Apgujeong, Line 3, exit 1

Directions to SM from Cheongdam Station via here

Directions to SM from Apgujeong via here

JYP Entertainment

Address:

Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Cheongdam-dong, 123-50, JYP Entertainment

Get off at: Cheongdam Station, Line 7, exit 9/13

Directions to JYP from exit 9 via here.

Directions to JYP from exit 13 via here.

YG Entertainment

Address:

Seoul, Mapo-gu, Hapjeong-dong, 397-5, YG Entertainment

Get off at: Hapjeong Station, Line 6, exit 8

Directions to YG via here.

A lot of the links are from the same page except SM and JYP, because they have two ways of getting there.

K-pop girl groups that seem Japanese

There are a crazy amount of K-pop groups that are leaning toward their Japanese market by releasing Japanese version of their Korean albums (Read: SHINee, SNSD, Super Junior, DBSK…okay almost every active SM band alive as an example) – even the somewhat newer B1A4 is currently preparing for their Japanese album to be released, close to a year after their debut.

But one thing that really amazes me is how well girl groups like KARA and T-ara pull off Japanese songs. For one thing, besides the fact that all of KARA sound really good at singing Japanese songs and speaking the language, their Korean hits already sound Japanese. Songs like Mister, Jumping and Step all have a distinct Jap sound because they are all electronic dance-y numbers. And even if Hara doesn’t look like Namie Amuro, her stick-straight long hair, tiny frame and huge eyes make her look like someone directly out of a slow-moving Japanese romance (or horror) movie.

And T-ara…I thought that the Korean lyrics of Roly Poly were incredibly catchy enough, now I’m almost completely won over by their Japanese version of the song.

What is this sorcery!