I went to Seoul

I went to Seoul for a holiday last week, and I must say, it's the best trip I had, ever. 

It was a good trip because:

1. I went solo. Not that I don't like traveling with family and friends. I do, just that by being a solo traveler, it's a different experience. And I can do whatever I want and go wherever I want. The thing is I am not a planner and so I don't really plan my trips. I do have a rough plan but every night before I go to bed, I would then decide what to do the next day. So being a solo traveler makes it much easier in that sense.

2. I stayed in a hostel. Which I can only do as a solo traveler. It was my first time and I really like the experience meeting other people. Except that I only managed to meet and make friends with one person from Taipei. We went for lunch once and she was very helpful in directing me to the right supermarket to shop for things home. 

3. It was a very reflective trip. Before going on the trip, I read an article about the 16-type personality and their traveling preference. Check it out here. I am an INFP, and it says that I am an imaginative traveler. When I travel, I am not just seeing new lands or meeting new people. Rather, I'm telling myself a story inside my mind--one that educates, inspires and revitalizes me, every step of the way. Travel isn't about being in the moment; it's about reflecting upon the moment and coming to understand what it has taught me. This really hit the nail in the head for me and with that, I reflected on the day every evening before I went to bed. It was very fulfilling.

4. I finally met my Korean friends. I got to know them from a language app one and a half years ago. So far, we've texted and chatted on and off, sharing about life and work, helping each other with our language learning. And now I finally got to meet them and we were really like old friends. They were also such excellent hosts and brought me around the city to so many places. 고마워 선영, 형래, 완용. 보고 싶어요. 정말!!!

5. I actually like winter! The decision to travel to Seoul was a last minute impromptu one and quite a few people were so worried for me afraid that I'd freeze in that city. The only person who was nonchalant and not worried about it at all was my husband! I should have listened to him and not stress myself up so much before the trip. When in Seoul, 형래 Heongrae and 완용 Wanyong bought me a padded coat, a pair of gloves and a cashmere scarf to keep me warm and God bless them, I felt so warmed up when dressed with enough layers and so warmed up in the heart as well. The weather was cold in the range of 0 to 5 degrees C and it even went down to -10 degrees C one bright morning. But I do like being bundled up warmly in the cold weather. 

6. And of course, Seoul is an awesome place. I was there 8 days and 8 days is not even enough to really see the city. There are so many places I have not been to. In the next trip then! Yipee!

As in my practice, I do do a daily blogging about my travel and I will do the same for this trip, though it will be back dated. 

So look out for it as I share with you my reflections as well as traveling tips in case you'd want to go to Seoul yourself. 

pearlie

Update (Sat, 11 Jan 2020)

Wow...it took me 7 days to complete writing all my 8 days of travel to Seoul. But I am glad I did it. It's like traveling all over again but this time in reflection in my memories and they are indeed beautiful memories with friends. Here you go, my 8 days in Seoul:

Seoul Day 1: SKY 하늘 haneul

Seoul Day 2: PEOPLE 사람 saram

Seoul Day 3: NAKED!

Seoul Day 4: FRIEND 친구 chingu

Seoul Day 5: SEOUL 서울

Seoul Day 6: MUSIC 음악 eumak

Seoul Day 7: SPRINGDAY 봄날 bomnal

Seoul Day 8: FOOD 음식 eumsik

I'm home

My plane touched down at KLIA 20 minutes earlier than expected and by the time I got my things cleared and luggage claimed, which took me the longest ever of all the flights I have ever taken, I headed to the taxi stand to get me home. 

The moment I got home, my hubby drove me out for a good local breakfast. Ah! Something I missed having: roti kosong, teh si kosong and rendang kambing. Hmm...I'm home...

When I got home and unpacked everything, I went to bed. I did not sleep much in the plane and I so it's nice that I had a good nap and then a good sleep.

I'm home.

pearlie

Seoul Day 8: FOOD 음식 eumsik

Oh no! Today is my final day in Seoul! I don't want to leave!

Here is Jessie and I am saying my goodbyes as I am sure I won't see her again today. Thanks Jessie for the stay in your lovely place. You are a superb and excellent host! And isn't she pretty?

My flight is at 11:50pm tonight and so I still have some time to hang around Seoul before I leave. 

Jessie advised me to take the bus to the airport from the regular bus stop just outside the main road but I wasn't too sure about that. I thought the best way would be the trains or a taxi like back at home. 

I am to spend the day with 선영 Sun Yeong today and so I got out a bit early in the morning, and as I walked out to the main road where the bus stop is, I saw some people waiting with a lot of luggage. I had some time and so I walked over and sat down at the bus stop.

My KakaoMap app tells me that the bus should be arriving in 6 minutes. Oh good, I get to take a look. The bus was slightly late and when it arrived, the driver actually got down to open the luggage door at the side and helped put all the luggages in. Wow...I never expected that and here I am worried about how I am going to lift my heavy bag up the bus. 

Turns out that this is the Airport Limousine Bus that has four or more lines running across the city arriving at each stop every 15 minutes. I am impressed. 

So with that worry settled, I continue to sit and chill at the bus stop and took a shot for memory: the place where I go back to every day for past 7 days.

There were some misunderstanding about out meet-up place but finally 선영 and I met and we went down the road to 이화 Ewha for lunch. The odd thing is that every place she wanted to bring me was closed. 

We then settled for 치맥 chimaek, chicken and beer! Finally I get to eat it in Seoul.

You must be wondering why is that I talk so much about 선영 here and in Day 4 but I don't have a single picture of her. Well, it's her request not to have her picture posted and I have to respect that. Just so you know.

After lunch, we decided to ditch 이화 Ewha which proves to be too quiet on a New Year's Day--Happy New Year!!!--and go to 명동 Myeongdong.

To save time, since time is precious for me today, we took a taxi and arrived here at the Myeongdong Cathedral. 

The Korean people are quite open to talk about their faith and they would freely approach you with some gospel tracks. They didn't today but what happened was these three people arguing very loudly at the roadside about their beliefs. 

선영 was quite aghast to see and hear it and she told me this is what she dislikes about some Koreans.

We walked up to the church and we saw many people going in and we thought we'd check it out, only to find that there might be a service that is starting soon...

...and so we left.

Doesn't the church looks so grand. Hmm, but 선영 missed the most important part of the structure, the cross! Haha.

We then walked down to the streets and here we go: my first visit the to famous Myeongdong shopping street. What's in store for me?

Candied strawberries!!! It was 선영 who wanted to try it out and so we bought a stick and shared it. It was really good but I have a feeling I'm going to have a max out on sugar today! Oh no...

But the strawberries are good. The honeyed covering is very sticky and satisfying, and when it melts in your mouth and you bite into the strawberry, it's a different softer texture but it bursts out with a lighter taste compared to the honey. It's something you have to try once in your life...if you don't already have diabetes that is. Don't...

We walked passed a few earrings shops like this with a very nice way of presenting the earrings in wooden boxed up walls. 

The streets were busy...

...and we had some egg buns...

...but just a photo of grilled squids.

Then we saw this. 

It is not stated in the limited English on the signs but 선영 said that this is 한우 Hanwoo beef as stated here in the sign: 우리소 한우 Uriso Hanwoo.

She asked me if I would like to try and I said without any hesitation, of course!

If you check it out in Wikipedia, "The Hanwoo (Korean: 한우), also Hanu, is a breed of small cattle native to Korea. This breed is raised mainly for meat and is the source of Hanwoo beef, one of the most rare and expensive meats in the world."

I had to ask if it is really 한우 beef for just ₩7,000. 선영 asked the seller and he said yes. 

Okay, I'm going to take his word for it. And it is really good. Tender and juicy to the bite. I'm happy.

Then we walked past this and 선영 said that this is 시계 sikkyae, a rice drink and the white bits in there are not maggots like what some people thought they were but rice. Eeew...I hate maggots and worms or anything wriggly at that but I didn't want to think about, bought a cup and it was delicious. 

You know I said I will max out on my sugar today? I was tempted to get the tallest ice cream cone and it eat now in winter but I didn't. Wish I did.

We then stopped by a very nice teahouse 오설록 Osulloc, which serves tea from Jeju Island. The lovely thing about this cafe is that it has a tall station of free Green Tea Latte for you to taste. And five pots of gourmet tea for you to test out, which we did, a lot! Haha.

Then we sat down and ordered a bowl of green tea 빙수 bingsu, shaved ice. 

We also have been going into several beauty products shops. I didn't think to take photos in the shops, but this is my loot.

I bought a Nature Republic lip tint, a Laneige lip sleeping mask, a Tiny Moly peach hand cream, a Tiny Moly banana hand milk, and I was given some samples from the stores we visited. Not a lot but I'm happy with it. 

Finally we have to say our goodbyes. 잘가요 선영. Thank you so much for being such a wonderful friend and host. Will miss you so, so much! 

For the word of the day, at first I picked the word shopping but then FOOD 음식 eumsik would however be a much better choice, don't you think?

I got back and gathered all my luggage and headed to the bus stop and waited. The street is quite empty today. 

 

I got on the limousine bus and arrived in no time to Incheon Airport. 

I found the right line and lined up...

...and lined up and lined up and by the time I got to sit down after all the checking in and security checks and immigration...

...it was two long hours. 

But all is in order, I boarded but I waited until almost all have got on before I got into the line. It was so much faster. I got in, put my bag in the luggage space and within 10 minutes, it's already taxiing to fly. 

안녕 서울. 또 보자! Annyeong Seoul. Ddo boja!

Goodbye Seoul. See you again!

pearlie

Seoul Day 7: SPRINGDAY 봄날 bomnal

I signed up for another Airbnb experience session just before I flew to Seoul. I received another email from Airbnb with a list of stuff that might interest me and I thought this just might be a really good experience. 

I listen to a lot of music. And I sing a lot all the time. Once a week in choral practice, once a week in church service and everyday in my car. I work out my vocal cords a lot!

And so I thought it would be interesting to experience firsthand how a song is recorded, mixed and produced. 

It is an early session at 10:00am in the morning and so I got up early and started off as early as 8:30am, but the studio is quite a distance from my hostel and quite a walk from the subway station too. While I was walking there from the station, I was worried I'd get lost.

But thankfully I didn't and here I am at King Studio, and just in time too.

I was greeted by three gentlemen. Kingsman, the owner of the studio, Wildy his intern from Indonesia who interpreted all the Korean into English for me and Lee Jae Won, the photographer. 

Not bad eh? I even get my own photographer for the session to take all the photos for me. 

Here is Wildy introducing me to the work King Studio has done. They have done quite a lot for the entertainment industry for artistes including Jang Na Ra, Jung Eun-ji, Seo In-guk and VIXX. 

Then we walk into the studio. It's a small but cozy place. Their equipment is all there where the recording and mixing are done. The recording room is on the left. 

The session has its prefixed songs featured for every different day of the week. With me signing up for a Tuesday session, it's Blackpink's As if it's Your Last.

But if you zoom into this picture below, while the lyrics provided to me on the clipboard is Blackpink's one, the song on the screen is BTS's Springday. And by the way, that's Kingsman behind all the machines. 

So I asked since I'm the only one, can I do the song by BTS instead of Blackpink as I'm more familiar with it. They agreed and I was happy.

So here I am, still in the studio, practicing and familiarising myself with the song. 

After which, I got into the recording room. I really like this room! I feel so comfortable in it.

I tested the mic listening to my own voice and Kingsman asked me how I felt listening to it. I said, it's ok. He remarked that most people would find it uneasy listening to their own voice. I told him that I hated listening to my voice that I recorded using my phone but to me this sounded okay to me. 

We began recording and here are the lyrics with my pencil marks, marking the parts I need attention on. It's a struggle to read it because it wasn't printed so clearly and I wish the font were larger! I also had some problems with pronunciation of the language and there is one line with such a complicated rhythm, at least for me, that I had to re-do it SO MANY times. But Kingsman and his team were so patient with me. Thanks guys. 

I needed to be one fist away from the pop filter and I obviously can't see the lyrics without holding it up. But I really like this photo. Haha. Just like a pro but not.

After recording, Kingsman explained and showed me how adjustments can be made where autotune is used to fix those pitchy problems. And I had so many of them. Haha. I asked if autotune is always used for all the professional recordings. Yes, he says, everyone needs it. 

And that I find interesting. I thought the professionals would already be quite perfect. 

So here is what I have recorded. During the session when I heard it, I guess my mind was all over the place drinking in all the information and experience. I didn't really notice how I sang. Now that I listened to it, I think it's not good and I need A LOT of work on it. 

But nonetheless, I find this is an accomplishment. I've recorded a song in a studio!!! And a Korean song at that! (Click on Listen in browser)

Now the studio even have a mugshot of me on the wall.

Thanks to the three cool guys: Kingsman, Wildy and Jae Won. It was a wonderful experience for me. I have really enjoyed myself. Thanks again!

And I've decided that the word of the day is SPRINGDAY, the BTS song that I recorded today. By the way, it's a sad song pining for a lost love and while it's winter, he is looking out for spring to come. I have no lost love, and I like winter but I am going back to spring. Well, not really...more like year-long summer. 

After that, I took the train to meet my new hostel room neighbor for lunch. 

I must put a note here that when I'm in the subway in Seoul, it's an excellent place for people watching. The boys and girls all look so pretty. And this guy, I wished he had looked up. Haha. I accidentally had my phone flashlight turned on and he was the one who alerted me to it. Thank you!

I met up with Xiao Wen and here we are at 수문난성수감자탕 Sumunnanseongsu gamjatang.

Here she is...

...and me...

...each with a bowl of spicy pork ribs. Yumm...

After lunch, Xiao Wen went her own way and I went to Seoul Station...

...because I needed to go to a bigger Lotte Mart to buy stuff home for family and friends. I've stopped buying useless souvenirs like magnets and pouches and keyrings. Food is what work best. 

Wee Yin wanted Korean spam and I told her that 선영 Sun Young had told me that this brand is the most popular in Korea, Spam!

But Wee Yin wanted this one, which I finally found it here in Lotte Mart. I was looking out for it the smaller supermarkets and convenient stores but couldn't find it. 

So here's my stash. I'm worried if I can fit all of these in my medium-sized luggage and 20-kg limit. 

With two big bags of food, I grabbed a taxi home this time and after depositing them all in the hostel, I walked out to the 순대국 sundaeguk restaurant again to have another bowl of blood sausage soup and rice. Yummm...

I am going to miss Seoul very much. 

pearlie