Seoul Day 1

Here are some photos of our first day in Seoul. Please excuse my vanity.  Haha! Enjoy!

After our breakfast/lunch in McDonald’s. Taken around 4-5 PM. Crazy right? Crazy for us at least.

Escape To Seoul – Day 1 (Part 2 of 2)

Read part 1 here…

FIRST MEAL IN SEOUL

When we woke up, we remembered that we haven’t eaten anything since we got there, so we walked around and remembered that our hotel is near a McDonald’s place. And guess what our first meal in Seoul was?

Bulgogi Burger!

I also learned (and assumed) that all fast-food places and the people there practice Claygo (Clean as You Go). They clean up their tables after eating. It is SO COOL. They’re all disciplined. I love it.

I love the semi-glass cup of drink we had. I should have kept it. Kidding.

As I mentioned in Day 1 Part 1, we didn’t really have anything planned that day so we walked around Jonggak and we intentionally got lost somehow.

Photo by Kizia. Taken at around 5 PM. Craaazy right?

TOURIST INFORMATION CENTERS.

I don’t have a picture, but in Seoul, you will find several Information Centers scattered everywhere to help tourists like us! We got several brochures but we kept the map, HOPING to get LOST because we want to explore the area on our own.

ARTBOX = HEAVEN.

We stumbled upon an Artbox branch and spent an hour or so browsing through cute stuff! We bought stickers and stickers and notebooks and stuff.

Artbox in Jonggak

CHEONGGYECHEON STREAM.

After Artbox, we started walking again, hoping to find a good place for dinner. All the while, we were just walking along Cheonggyecheon stream! It was a very pretty sight. We wanted to go down to see it up close but we got scared because there are only a few people down there. Back here in the Philippines, we were so used to avoiding places where there are less/no people, afraid that something might happen to you.

Cheonggyecheon Stream

We later learned that it is safer in Seoul: you can leave your bags on the table and order food and you can expect it to be there safe and sound when you get back.

SEMI-DINNER and AFTER-DINNER.

So we took some more pictures and decided to grab something to eat. Where?:) Along Jonggak street of course!

Fried Kimchi (Kimchi Jeon) for me

Odeng for Kizia

Ajhumma was really nice to us. Even though she couldn’t speak English well, and we couldn’t talk to her in Korean also, she was nice enough to entertain our questions (about the other food she is selling). I also bought Mandu so we can feast on it when we get back to the Hotel (but the feast didn’t happen).

We decided to look for a coffee shop to ‘gather’ our thoughts and ‘make plans’ for the following day. But we had another pitstop at DAISO, and found this:

Eatyourkimchi did a review on this and it was really funny. When we saw this we were like “Oh this is eatyourkimchi’s WTF of the day!” Watch Simon and Martina’s video/review on this.

We also bought other items such as: facial masks (we’ll get into that later) and some socks for my friend’s….. hands. Because it’s really really really cold and her hands are getting numb. )

After Daiso, we finally found our coffee shop! It’s along Jonggak (near 70 Jonggak if I’m not mistaken, hehe obviously because of the sign at the back of the above photo). Welcome to Cafe Mare/Mare Coffee.

Mare Coffee/ Cafe Mare

The café is at the second floor so you have to go up the stairs. You will also see these cool drawings:

Aren’t they pretty? Especially the second photo.

The café is really nice and cozy. It’s got smoking and non-smoking areas too. During our stay there, sometimes it feels like I’m in a gypsy/hippie place because of the beads and lights.

inside Mare Coffee

the bar area

I love it. We were supposed to plan for the following day:

Some brochures and maps you can get from Tourist Information Centers

But instead browsed through our newly bought stickers and pencil-case and and and..

We finished our nice warm cup of coffee and headed to Dongdaemun to have a look and experience the night shopping there. We bought our T-Money Card at the Jonggak station!

T-Money Card

We had to ask the nice person at the station’s office how we can get one of these. No matter how hard we try to blend in and avoid looking like a tourist, we keep failing. Haha!

Dongdaemun.

It’s sorta like the Rustan’s here in the Philippines. The malls are HUGE and OMG, they’re huge. We didn’t buy anything. ) YET.

Since it was already around 12mn or 1 (I think), while looking for a cab (we assumed the subway will be closed when we get there) we took the moment to have our TOURIST SHOT in front of the Dongdaemun East Gate or Heunginjimun.

Dongdaemun

We were supposed to take the bus on our way home but we didn’t know how. Teehee.

When we got back to the hotel, we were so dead tired we thought of a beauty regimen to make us feel better: OUR FACIAL MASKS FROM DAISO.

Facial Masks from Daiso

We ended the night really good with these facial masks. Haha! OH what a girly thing to do in Korea. Please don’t blame us.

Day 2 coming up!

Escape To Seoul – Day 1 (Part 1 of 2)

Like what I mentioned in my earlier post, I’ll soon be updating you guys with our Seoul experience last year. I’ve put this blog entry off for a while because, to badly put it, I was kind of depressed about not being able to stay longeeeerrrr in Korea. And to think we were there for seven days. I was missing S.Korea so bad that instead of editing photos, I just went on with my life, blabbing about how I miss Korea so much. Haha! Pathetic, I know. But that is what you will feel if you went on a trip and you fell in love with the place, right? 

It’s already March so what’s the best way to celebrate the anniversary of our trip other than to reminisce and tell the whole world about how WE fell in love with the Land of the Morning Calm? You’ve seen the video, now here are photos and a blow by blow account of happened. The entries are mostly based (aka copied) from my tumblr site. You can also check these out there if you are following me.

————————

Almost 6 months ago, Seoul was just a dream. It was a plan that was out of reach. Impossible. It’s only on TV, on YouTube, in my mind. But who would have thought that OUR Seoul experience will happen???

My dear friend , driventolive told her mom about how we truly oh-so-want to go to Korea. And lo and behold, plane tickets were booked, the hotel was booked, and all we have to do is to plan our itinerary, our outfits and lust for more Seoul videos/Kdramas/music videos before we actually step on the Land of Morning Calm. We instantly became two girls who will explore a new city, who will soon escape reality, hoping to find answers, creating new dreams, who will soon have fun in a far away land, divulging in the culture, the people, the Korean way of life.

THE BIG DAY. March 22, 2011.

Nothing really happened during the check-in (well except for the 12KG, 15KG and 13.5 KG bags that we have) and before boarding, except for the “I still can’t believe we’re going to Korea” phrases that we exchange and the “OMG, we’re boarding the plane, are we really going there???” questions we ask each other.

Korean Air offers Bibimbap onboard. Of course we had to try it out!

Me with my Bibimbap!

Kizia with ze long spoon!

I slept through the flight (I got sick too because I lack sleep for almost a week before the trip. Barf. And well, I went to the office that morning of our flight).

 

TOUCHDOWN! March 23, 2011.

Incheon Airport was breathtaking. No wonder it was one of the most awesome airports in the world. (We don’t have any photo of our arrival. We were so amazed we forgot to take one. Or did we delete it by accident??)

Anyway, we were picked up by our friendly driver Mr. Yoon who speaks little English, but even so, we were able to understand him. His van’s got GPS (and we later learned that almost every car/vehicle especially the cabs got one too) and he even showed us the Hangang River as we pass by it.

Mr. Yoon's GPS

 

GOOD MORNING SEOUL.

At around 5-6 AM, we arrived in Seoul and saw how it was early in the morning. It was peaceful. It was spectacular.

 

When we got to the hotel, we actually planned on looking around Jonggak area since we didn’t have any plans for that day. But we were so groggy and so sleepy we decided to check in early to get some sleep.

Hotel Sunbee

We stayed in Hotel The Sun Bee. I’m not sure what room we got but as far as I can remember their deluxe room is as low as 99,000 Won (around Php 4,500) per night. NOT BAD BECAUSE I SUPER DUPER LOVE OUR ROOM.

Our beds

Deluxe room has one single bed and one queen-sized bed. The room also has a big LCD TV with DVD and VHS players.

I’m not sure if other hotel rooms have a desktop PC included but Hotel Sunbee does. AND THE INTERNET CONNECTION’S FREAKING FAST. IT’S FAST, I TELL YOU MY FRIEND.

The place is heavenly.

It’s got a big bathroom with shower and tub, and the ‘powder room’ makes us look even prettier. Haha! It’s also complete with shampoos, conditioners, body wash, hair sprays, shaving cream, lotions, toner and even a comb!

Hotel Stuff

After kind of settling down, we slept from 7 AM until 2 PM. And it was lovely. The sleep. The sleep time  was lovely.

You can check out Hotel Sunbee’s website here:

http://hotelsunbee.com/en/main/main.php

Apparently, they already increased rates since we stayed there: http://hotelsunbee.com/en/accommodation/accom2.php

But I promise you, you will love their rooms!

———————

Part 2 coming up next!

Escape To Korea!

Since this blog is also about travelling, expect posts even way back in 200-something. I won’t post a lengthy entry about my 2006 travel in someplace, but at least you’ll see pictures. Some pictures, that is. And videos. So let me add an international trip I had last year (2011) with my friend in one of our most favorite cities in the world – Seoul, South Korea.

Please enjoy this short video I made last year about our trip. I’ll post a detailed entry soon!

Montemar Beach Club (Feb 2012)

I just got back from a business conference in Montemar Beach Club in Bataan.

My roommates

Our room

We left Manila at exactly 6 AM, stopped by Genesis bus station in Cubao (driver forgot the bus’ DVD player remote), and we watched The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. We reached Montemar, and the movie was still not finished (apparently, it was the extended version WTF bitin)

Anyway, after the Buscon proper and the commitment sharing, we all shared this activity that is popular in Montemar: the releasing of the turtles!

Me and my turtle!

They’re so many! And Montemar management made sure that every turtle’s released to the sea safely.

We freshened up after, had dinner and some of us tried their stakes at the videoke machine/Magic Sing. I asked Ate Jovy to hang out with me near the shoreline. The skies are clear and you can see an amazing view of the stars and moon. You can tell, and I am sure by now that you know I am a beach person. And the sound of the waves at nighttime is so relaxing, you want to sleep right there and then. Ate Lynette brought us each a can of beer and we started chatting and kidding around. After a while, I couldn’t resist the temptation to lie down and put my head back and stare at the skies (the difficult part is the getting the sand out of my hair).

People started to go to our small group and we ended up playing Pinoy Henyo with a new app I downloaded (for free) in my iPod Touch called iHenyo. What followed are a series of misguided clues, loud laughs, a crazy ’round-about’ and just a good old bonding time with work peeps.

Beer + iHenyo

The next morning, some of us went swimming at the pool, played beach volleyball and rode a banana boat. I even heard some went jet skiing. But me? I slept. But I still woke up earlier than usual. At 9:30, already dressed, I grabbed breakfast, hung out with the bosses, freshened up, packed my stuff, and ate lunch. Talk about hungriness.

After our early lunch, I grabbed my book and walked towards the beach. We stayed in a cabana (which is apparently for rent) but nobody stopped us, so I’m guessing that’s okay hehe. Read a few pages of Storm of Swords, talked with my roommates/office-mates and next thing we know, it was already 12:30- time to check out and leave.

Beach side

It was another memorable experience that I will definitely look back to.

Because

1. I got to relax for a bit,
2. read a book by the beach
3. felt the sand (again)

I haven’t written anything about my last trip to Canyon Cove + Tagaytay (because there are a lot to tell) so this one would suffice.

P.S. Can’t wait for my next beach weekend!

Photos taken with Canon S100

How short is short?

I am a coward when it comes to change. Physical change.

To date, I only colored my hair twice. I changed my hair’s length just once (since the beginning of puberty). I was in second year high school and my hair was so short back then (above shoulder).

I always thought about cutting my hair short but I never actually did. Until January 31 happened.

I had a shoot for a client AVP and my production manager hired this make up artist (he’s really good, by the way and he works fast). He knows how to cut hair too. First, he trimmed down the wig that we’re using for the shoot. Then, he did my PM’s hair. Then, they both asked me to cut mine too.

I was hesitant at first because:

1. We were not in a salon

2. We were in a school

3. We were in a shoot

4. I was not ready to cut my hair

But I my feet dragged me to the chair and MUA started snipping my hair. So from this:

to this:

I’m planning to color my hair this weekend. Talk about change.

I remembered one of my resolutions for 2012: ENJOY LIFE. So I’ll try to enjoy this short hair and look at the positive thing this brings me.

But first, sleep.