Before I start writing about the 5th and 6th day of my Korea Trip, I would like to bring up something first
On 23rd March 2015, Singapore lost a great leader, Mr Lee Kuan Yew due to pneumonia
Honestly, I'm not exactly sure of each and every contribution he made towards Singapore but I know, he did many significant things to bring Singapore from a third world country to a first world country
Neither did I personally experience the impact of changes due to the decisions he made because I wasn't born that early
But from education, from words of mouth, from internet, from the papers, from news, we all can learn at least a little of the things he did
Being able to enjoy the luxuries we have in Singapore, was probably more or less due to him
There are people that do not agree but you can't really strip him off the credits of what he had done
On Thursday morning 2am, I went down to Parliament House to pay my last respect to Mr Lee
The queue was only about 2 hours, wasn't as bad as the 8 hours queue in the afternoon
The whole process of entering, bowing, and leaving the Parliament House probably didn't even last for 1 minute because the security was rushing us
All I did was giving him a 90 degrees bow at the side of his coffin and said "Thank You for All That You've Done" in my heart
It was too quick for me to get emotional but I did walked out with heavy steps and a heavy heart
I thought paying him a respect is the least I could do to show my gratitude towards him, so I went
Although I don't know that much about him but I'm sure thankful
I hope you're at a better place now, please rest in peace
Once again, thank you for everything
Moving on..
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DAY 5 (150313): K-pop
On day 5, we woke up later than usual because we were really tired last night
We decided to just have brunch at a cafe
CAN YOU GUESS WHAT CAFE :>>>>>>>>>> HAHAHAH
It's Cafe The Med, opened by Junhyung from BEAST :>
Cafe The Med
서울특별시 강남구 신사동 595-11
Gangnam-gu, Sinsa-dong 595-11
Subway: Apgujeong Station (Line 3), Exit 3
There are many wall frames of Junhyung at the different corner of the cafe
It's nice to see especially if you're a BEAST fan, B2UTY (wooohoooo)
Anyway, those are given by fansite masters I believe
They shot the photos so prettily
I ordered ordered Kumpir which costs 8,800 KRW (~ 11 SGD) and a Cafe Mocha for 4,500 KRW (~ 5.66 SGD)
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| Kumpir |
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| Cafe Mocha (I kept the cup sleeve hehehehe) |
So while I was eating, a guy stepped into the cafe
Nope, not Junhyung. Someone in his 50s
I actually found him quite familiar
Then he begin fixing the frames on the wall and adjusting the tables, I questioned myself if he's actually Junhyung's dad T_______T
I remembered seeing him on one of the TV shows so I googled for him and omg YESSS IT'S HIM!?!?!?!
While we were eating through halfway, we sat at the table behind us drinking a cup of coffee
I guess he knows that we're fans and came from abroad T______________T
Being my idol's cafe, I was really trying to keep the place neat and you know.... leave a good impression of myself for his dad??????
hahahaha I got the two of them to clean up the tables and return the plates (although I do it even in the fast food restaurants but this with a little bit of motives la)
When we were going to return the plates back, he was standing right in front of the counter
I really really wanted to greet him but I just couldn't bring myself to.. So I was going to give up until.....
HE APPROACHED US OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD
OH MY GOD
BREATHE LINHUI
LOL
kk here's a rough transcript of our really really short conversation ;-;
(italicised words = Junhyung's Dad)
"Where are you from?"
"Singapore"
"Are you BEAST's fan?"
"Yes, 준형오빠의 아버님 맞아요? (is it right that you're Junhyung oppa's dad?)"
"네 맞아요.. (Yes, that's right..)"
"안녕하세요 (Hello) / I said it with a full 90 degree bow omg / "
"멀리에서 왔는데요 (You've came from a far distance)"
"아... 네! (Ah.. Yes!) / I didn't know how to continue the convo because like I'm T_____T / "
"아 잠깐만요 (Ah give me a moment)"
He then went into a room, like a staff room
And after a few seconds he came out with presents T________T
"넥 필로 (Neck Pillow) / does hand movement on how to wear it LOL so cute :( / "
"아 감사합니다 (Ah thank you)"
So we kinda ended the first part of the conversation there
And he kinda walked us back to our seats with his hands on our shoulder
SUCH FATHERLY FEELS T________T
After a few minutes, we decided to leave since we finished our food and we planned many places ahead to visit anyway
But when we decided to leave, he was talking to one of the lady of his age, probably his friend if not, Junhyung's mom (but doesn't look like it :/)
So we stood there for a few seconds until he finished talking because we thought we should at least give our last greeting before we leave, out of respect
When he turned to us..
"우리 먼져 갈게요 (We'll be leaving first)"
"갈게요? 아 네.. (You're leaving? Ah okay..)"
"늘 견강하게요! (Please stay healthy as always!)"
"고맙습니다! (Thank you!)"
"감사합니다~ (Thank you~)"
Right until we reached the door, his hands were at our shoulder T_____T omg how nice of a father must he had been to Junhyung???? The feels
The conversation were really short yet sweet
I didn't say much because I didn't want to look like some maniac fan going out of her mind and I was a little shy to talk to him ;_;
I didn't ask for a photo either because I thought he might want to have some privacy and I thought it might be kinda rude since he's not a celebrity at all
Although it's a little bit regretful that we didn't talk much, but I'm really really contented already T____T
(even though I didn't see Junhyung.. It's okay ;-;)
Okay enough of me fantasising
Next we took train down to Cheongdam station, to find the SM Entertainment building
After walking awhile, we finally found the place!
SM Entertainment
서울특별시 강남구 압구정2동 521
Gangnam-gu Apgujeong-2dong 521
Subway: Cheongdam Station (Line 7), Exit 9
Nope, we did not see any artist
We only saw some foreigners entering the building with very hip hop vibes kinda walking style, which I believe is SM's choreographers & dancers
I wasn't that excited about SM because I know the chances of seeing artist is / really / low
But it's cool to visit the building anyway, since we're already in Seoul
Next, we walked to Cube Cafe (they are quite near to each other)
It's my second time coming to Cube Cafe! Woooohoooo
Cube Cafe
서울특별시 강남구 청담동 125-6
Gangnam-gu, Cheongdam-dong 125-6
Subway: Cheongdam Station (Line 7), Exit 13*
*From research, it was stated it's Exit 13
But I went through exit 9 instead since we decided to visit SM building first
So I'm not sure if Exit 13 will be nearer or smth
I forgot what I ordered but I think it was Green Tea Latte? It costs 4,000 KRW (~ 5 SGD)
I'm usually not a fan of Green Tea (those matcha kind) but nothing else there really interest me or they had drinks that I've drank in past days already
The last time I went Cube Cafe was 2012 and there weren't as much fancy stuffs there as compared to now in 2015
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| I touched Kikwang's hand / SCREAMS / |
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| Cube Artistes |
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| The "set" where G.NA filmed for Cube TV (on Youtube) |
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| Outdoor seatings with new pop arts that didn't exist in 2012 |
On a side note, the freaking cashier at Cube Cafe was super handsome?
He's good enough to be an idol I wonder if he's a trainee there LOL OMG hahaha :( I wanna see Lee Kikwang tho
As we were trying to find our way back to the Subway, we walked past JYP Building and it's really really really near to Cube Cafe. Like just right in front, after walking maybe not more than 2 minutes
Previously at Cube Cafe, there were books (provided by the tourism board I think) that are provided for foreigners that are into K-pop and Kdramas
They state some of the filming places, cafes opened by celebrities, etc
And Karishma saw the page on the Mango Six outlet filming location of "The Heirs"
Since she wanted to visit it so much, we added that to our next place to visit
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| The place where Kim Tan and Cha Eunsang kissed / hugged T_T |
I didn't order the drinks because I already had two cups of coffee previously
And I thought I would get diabetes drinking more
I tried a mouth from Karishma and it taste really.... Mango. LOL
Next we headed to Kamong Cafe after seating inside Mango Six for awhile
For those of you that doesn't know, Kamong Cafe is opened by Kai's (from EXO) sister
And recently, Karishma turned into some crazy exo fan.... so...... .-.
Kamong Cafe
서울특별시 서초구 서초동 1678-4
Seocho-gu, Seocho-dong 1678-4 Jewel Tower 103, 104
Subway: Gyodae Station (Line 2), Exit 1)
When we walked in, the girls seated at the lower level were staring at us lmao
They're / obviously / exo fans?
Idk why but rly, I generally have bad impression of exo fans kk but whatever LOL
Again, I didn't order any drinks because diabetes
I think Karishma will get it soon
Headed for YG Entertainment right after they finished their drinks because we were running short of time
Look at the gradient of the sky *^*
We had quite a hard time finding YG Entertainment because of the small roads and the turns, etc
But we eventually got there after walking a distance
YG Entertainment
서울특별시 마포구 합정동 397-5
397-5 Hapjeong-dong, Mapo-gu
Subway: Hapjeong Station (Line 6), Exit 8
YG Entertainment was probably the coolest entertainment building I've visited because of it's cool outer appearance of the building
It just looks amazing and suits the image of YG very well
When we reached there, there were handful of YG fans across the road of this building, staring and waiting
I don't know if they had some informations that an artiste is gonna drive in / out, or they just religiously waits at the same spot all day everyday at night LOL
But since we were already there, we kinda waited for about 15 minutes to see if anyone appeared
Unfortunately, no :/
We left since we haven't eat dinner and we couldn't afford to waste more time there
Took subway back to Hongdae because Karishma wanted to visit Style Nanda again, to get her bag
Just to let you guys know.. Going to Hongdae on a friday night was / insane /
We had the hardest time trying to get out of the station because the stairs were so packed with people going up and down
And you can see a lot of those kind of hooligan students smoking in really short skirts at the corner of the streets LOL and also couples.. hmm..
Anyway, had Bulgogi (Beef) Aglio Olio for dinner at Han's Deli. Price was 5,900 KRW (~ 7.50 SGD)
It was one of the spiciest meal I've eaten.. I was literally perspiring and my tongue feels kinda numbed
But it's really delicious and you just crave for more despite the fact that you're obviously dying LOL
When we got out of the place after eating, we saw this street performer singing "Heaven" by Ailee
It'll be nice if Singapore had more of this
Like you're performing because you want people to recognise your talents, you wish to show case your talents.. ;_;
Singapore / needs / more of this
I got another Tinted Lip Balm for 18,900 KRW (~ 23.80 SGD) from 3CE, a Clutch for 19,000 KRW (~ 24 SGD) and lastly a Basic Cropped Long Sleeve Top for 21,000 KRW (~ 26 SGD)
Went back hotel about 10++ that night
The next day, we decided to have brunch at Gwangjang Market
Gwangjang Market
서울특별시 종로구 창경궁로 88 (예진동)
88, Changgyeonggung-ro, Jongno-gu
Subway: Jongno 5-ga Station (Line 1), Exit 8
Went into a store that sells blanket and cushion covers because Annabel wanted to buy some back for her mom
Ended up, I bought two back (even though my family don't use cushion .-.)
One cushion cover was for 8,000 KRW (~ 10 SGD) and the auntie gave me 1,000 KRW discount when I got two
Annabel got another type of cover that was of Korean Traditional that costs 15,000 KRW (~ 19 SGD) and it comes in 4 colours. So Annabel was asking me if I can ask her to charge her just 50,000 KRW (~ 63 SGD) for all 4 instead of 60,000 KRW
And the auntie agreed!! Woooohooo
So this means that when you're there to get such stuffs, do not be afraid trying to cut down the prices
Initially I thought giving discount of 10,000 KRW was too much and the auntie probably won't allow, but she kinda agreed it quite cooly and fast / throw confetti on behalf of Annabel /
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| Before Edit |
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| After Edit |
Went into some stall to try some local breakfast we usually see Koreans eating
Anyway, if one person must at least order one dish. You can't have three person sharing two dishes :/
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| Tteobokki (Rice Cake) |
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| Red Bean Porridge |
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| Green Tea Pan Cake |
I ordered the Red Bean Porridge because I see on TV shows before and I wanted to try how it tasted
It taste kinda bland.. :/
As for the Rice Cake, it wasn't chewy :/
Overall, it was about 13,000 KRW (~ 16 SGD)
Got some traditional Korean souvenirs and also two packets of Seaweed (one for 4,000 KRW, about 5 SGD) before we left the place
We decided to leave our things at the hotel first before we carry on visiting the places we've planned to since hotel was just two stations away anyway
After putting our things down and rested for a while, we headed out for Gyeongbok Palace that we failed to visit on the second day as it was closed
Gyeongbok Palace
서울특별시 종로구 사직로 161 (세종로)
161, Sajik-ro, Jongnogu (Sejongno)
Subway: Gwanghwamun Station (Line 5), Exit 2
Because it's inside the window and the window hole is really small
The doors of the houses aren't open so you can't enter so all you can do is to peep in :/
Inside looks really cool though. Exactly like the ones I saw from historical dramas like Iljimae
FEEELSSSS
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| Museum |
Gyeongbok Palace is really big so if you wish to explore every part of it, I recommend you go early
We only managed to walk parts of it and the museum :/ Such a waste
We didn't even walked into the main hall where most people entered because we thought that there'll be time for us to visit later when the crowd lessen
But nope, the palace closes at 6pm and we ran out of time :/
Hopefully I'll have a chance to return the next time again
Outside the palace while we were walking towards the subway, we saw this uncle selling BBQ Chicken stick for 3,000 KRW (~ 3.80 SGD)
It's quite pricey imo :/ but it tasted really good T_______T
After leaving the palace, we went to Dongdaemun
Had dinner at a simple stall and ordered Spicy Rice Cake Ramyeon (another really spicy meal) but I forgot the price & I didn't jot it down :/
I don't know why but there weren't any crowd at all in Dongdaemun
The streets were in fact, quite quiet, very different from 2012 when I was last there
I don't know if we went there too early for their 'night life' but I don't remember visiting Dongdaemun that late in 2012 either :/ So I'm not sure what happened...???
We only went into Doota Mall where the things are quite pricey so we didn't get anything EXCEPT
Earrings
The earrings there are probably the only affordable things we could get and the best thing is that they have the Batman logo ones!!!! It's not very cheap though but I still got it anyway
I got a pair of Batman and a pair of Stars
Total was 30,000 KRW (~ $38 SGD)
Anyway, the lady that was mending the stall / section asked us if we were Singaporeans after hearing Karishma saying "walao" LOL
Apparently she worked in Singapore for 2 years in the hotel industry
She asked me in Korean if I was a Korean and I replied no. She then said I'm similar to a Korean in Korean. I wanted to reply in Korean back but I was so ldjfbalrfjbalrjb so I just said "wow that's a compliment thanks" in English LOLOLOL I was obviously really happy with that lmao okay relax
hahahahah
But she's so easy to talk to ;-;
I saw a bracelet that I really wanted by was like about 50 SGD so I decided to resist my temptations ;-; sigh why are nice things all so expensive
We went back to hotel at 10 ++ again that night
:( Korea trip is gonna come to an end
Will probably end and sum up everything in the next post
Bye