[BLOGGER POST] D-7 in Seoul, Korea

YAY! 26th! It's my mom's birthday, but too bad, I'm still in Korea. This would be the first time I'm gonna miss her birthday and I felt really bad. Anyways, I thought of visit Pledis Entertainment today, it has artistes like NU'EST, After School, Son Dam-bi and Seventeen (not yet debut). Woke up around 11AM today and left hostel at around 1PM. There are 13 stations away from my hostel to Pledis Entertainment so by the time I reach the station and find Pledis, it is already 2PM. I was all excited when I finally saw the label at the front porch because I've saw it in one of the episode of NU'EST LOVE STORY where NU'EST was having barbeque at the parking area and Baekho soaked himself wet when washing the cars. Pledis Entertainment company's building is not like SM or JYP or Cube. It is more like a house than a company which I find it very interesting. Maybe they want their artistes to feel like home even when they are actually working. There is a basement door to the basement and also a front glass door where only staffs can enter. 

The big signboard of Pledis Entertainment

Remember the porch?

Before this, After School's poster was pasted at the front but now, it is NU'EST poster. It felt awesome! I had a peek inside the glass door where the poster was pasted. It is actually the room where tables and chairs are placed and you can see the big flat screen tv on the left. It is like a meeting room. If you have seen all the episodes of NU'EST LOVE STORY or have watched their live streaming, you would definitely recognize it immediately. NU'EST even filmed a parody CF of their official goods and fanclub items in that room! (Not sure if I am allowed to upload the photo of it so I'm not going to) 

Gifts and fan letters

Selca at Pledis Entertainment

I've tried to ring the bell in front but nobody came out. I have some gifts and fan letters for NU'EST and I've waited in front the company for 2 hours. Then, a car came in. Out walked two individuals, one male one female, they went in through the front door. I thought Aron might be stopping by since his Music Access live radio ends at 4PM and he might arrive here around 4:30PM but I was wrong, he didn't show up at all. After 30 minutes, the two individuals came out, holding a baby, and drove off. I regretted. Why didn't I approach them and at least hand them the gifts so that they could help me pass it to NU'EST.

Beautiful garden

Since I have time, I've decided to wait for them. My sister went to Hoya's restaurant because it was supposed to be their new restaurant's grand opening day but they postponed it because the restaurant is not fully operating yet. She came to Pledis after visiting Hoya's family to meet me. It was around 5:30PM at that time. I was so hungry and tired and cold. Luckily the company is located at a housing area, not many are walking by so I feel less awkward, sitting alone across the street. Around 6PM, my sister arrived. She brought me some bread from Paris Baguette. 

Baekho, where are you?

The Stairway to heaven? :D

One last picture before leaving Pledis

While I was waiting, I took another walk into the parking area of Pledis Entertainment, took more photos and videos since god knows when I'm gonna be back. I was so tired and decided to leave for dinner. Then, the minute I step out from the parking area, a black car came in. My heart pounded so fast, the windows were so tinted and the car was huge. I thought NU'EST might be inside. I was all excited and then, a male staff came out. He saw me standing behind the car after he parked so he asked whether am I waiting for NU'EST
*Idk why he guessed NU'EST instead of other artistes haha maybe I love them so much it is all over my face*, and of course, I said yes. Then he said "AHH, NU'EST is not coming today (in Korean)!" then I was like "HARR? Not coming?" "NU'EST is not coming today (in Korean)" then he crossed his arms and gave me an "x" sign, saying they are not coming today. Sadly, I asked him whether can he pass the gifts for me. He said yes and asked whether which is for whom. After I told him, he said okay. I said thank you and then he went into the basement. I assumed that the basement is NU'EST's practice room, that GREEN practice room! :) Since I am going to Arirang Tower on 28th, I shall try to meet Aron there!

After leaving Pledis, I went to Namdaemun for some more shopping. My aunt asked me to buy her stuffs she didn't manage to buy before she left Korea. I've went around Namdaemun with my sored legs, trying to find it and negotiating with the sellers. Luckily, I've managed to buy it in the end. There are a lot of food stalls at Namdaemun too but I was too tired to continue walking. On the way back to hostel, I've stopped by at a cafe just a few shops away from my hostel to buy a piece of cake. Since today is my mom's birthday, I bought a cake, a flavour that she would like so much - Chocolate Almond Cake and it costed 4,500\ for a piece, to celebrate with my sister here in Korea. We recorded a video of us, wishing my mom a Happy Birthday and showed her the cake we bought.

After "celebrating" her birthday, I finally went back to my hostel. I've asked the hostel staff to order Jjambong for me for dinnner! I had jjajangmyeon yesterday so today, it is jjambong's turn. Otehr than jjambong, I've also ordered fried dumplings. One jjambong costed 5,000\ while one portion of fried dumplings costed 5,500\. The jjambong was spicy but really really nice. The portion was big like the jjajangmyeon I had. Well, yeah, we didn't manage to finish the dumplings but I shoved the jjambong into my stomach. The delivery was within 15 minutes, or like 10 minutes? It was really efficient. 

JjamBong, with octopus, mussels, onions, vegetables, clams and noodle *a little spicy*

Mandu

Oh yeah! there was also a "mourning walk" going on outside my hostel's main road. Many monks and prayers were holding lanterns, walking on the road while chanting. There were also many volunteers, distributing lit latterns to form big Korean letters on the road. It looked so beautiful. Many visitors and travellers wrote wishes and blessings on a yellow ribbon for the Sewol ferry incident victims and family. It was sad and beautiful at the same time. Roads are blocked everywhere, i have no idea how the delivery man came in.

Lots of people walking with the monks and volunteers

Lanterns were lit up to form big hangul words on the road

No comments

Posted at 11:00 PM |  by Colene Hyori

AlphaBAT showcase and audition in search of the 10th member

AlphaBAT, a nine-members rookie kpop group were here in Malaysia mainly to hold their showcase and to find their 10th member through audition. The members' named themselves using the alphabets from B to J. They are B:eta, C:ode,D:elta, E:psilon, F:ie, G:amma, H:eta, I:ota and J:eta.

On 27th, before AlphaBAT showcase at The Summit USJ started, there was an audition in search of AlphaBAT's 10th member. There were 10 qualified contestants that were chosen from the video submissions sent to New Pro Star through email. Contestants showed their talents to the judges, representatives of SimTong Korea management. The contestants tried to follow all requests given by the judges. There were some contestants that were nervous while some made the crowd cheered.

After the audition ended, there was an opening dance performance by the local kids dance team ‘Bubblecandy’. It was interesting.

The first song that was brought by AlphaBAT on the stage was TVXQ's Love In The Ice. AlphaBAT's leader B:eta said that they didn’t know they were that famous and so many people at showed up at the showcase. He kindly thanked everybody for the support. He further mentioned that Malaysia is a beautiful country and the girls are beautiful too (Well, that is what most of the groups say when they were asked). 

The second song was "Always", the lyrics were written by all of the members while the song was composed by AlphaBAT's leader B:eta, dedicating it to their fans.

During the break, fans were chosen on stage by AlphaBAT for some game sessions. The winners will be getting handmade soap made by AlphaBAT. It was a White Day present to their fans. How sweet. They resumed their performance after the game session.

They sang their debut song called "AB City" and their latest song "Ddanddara". It was very catchy and they have powerful choreography to go with the song. They were stunningly in sync. Other than that, AlphaBAT performed songs sang by other kpop groups such as Beast's Fiction and Infinite's Nothing's Over.

Leader, B:eta said that they feel very happy to be here. Malaysia is their first overseas schedule and it is very special to them. 

Before the fansign session started, Alpha (referring to AlphaBAT's fans) had a surprise birthday party for members H:eta, D:elta, and B:eta as their birthday falls on May.

AlphaBAT has definitely captured the hearts of their Malaysian fans. We wish them all the best and hope that they can make it big in the future and come back to Malaysia again.

No comments

Posted at 6:17 PM |  by Colene Hyori

[BLOGGER POST] D-6 in Seoul, Korea

Dirty clothes are compiling and I had to wash them today. Woke up early today at around 8AM because I had to wash the clothes and dry them before going out. It is free to use the washing machine but I have to pay for the dryer and it costed 2,000\. I've waited for the laundry for an hour and the dryer for another 40 minutes. After getting everything ready, it was around 12PM. I've planned to visit Nami Island and Petite France today since the weather forecast for today is sunny. The distance of the station that I should exit to reach Petite France to the station nearest to my hostel took around 1 and a half hour, not including waiting time. I took a lot of time, waiting for the train and transfered line to line. 

A cute old Korean couple on the train, mesmerized by the views

By the time I reach Cheongpyeong, it was already around 2:30PM. After reaching Cheongpyeong station, I had to wait for the shuttle bus that will stop me at Petite France first and then Nami Island. I've waited the shuttle bus for ages. Finally, the bus came. I paid 5,000\ for a one day pass so I can hop on the bus to different location that are listed in the brochure without further paying.

A boring selca at the bus station

A view that you won't see in the middle of Seoul

Bus ticket

Petite France was crowded with K-drama fans as a few hit drama have chose Petite France as one of their filming location. The most popular drama now would be My Love From The Star. You can see lots of posters and banners of the drama hanging around the building in Petite France. The main actor and actress of the drama (Kim Soo Hyun as Do Min Joonand Jeon Ji Hyun as Cheon Song Yi) shared a kiss right at the garden near the entrance of Petite France. Many people were standing there, taking pictures of the sceneries and themselves. Other than My Love From The Star, Secret Garden and Running Man also came here for filming before, and that explains why Petite France is a place that you HAVE to visit when you come to Korea. Other than the most famous spot where Do Min Joon and Cheon Song Yi kissed, there are also many places to explore in Petite France. 

A familiar scene ;)

Petite France

There were puppet shows, souvenir shops, live performance, cafes and many other location for you to take nice pictures. Since I only had kimbap for breakfast, I was hungry at the moment and I've bought an ice cream and a hot dog at a cafe in Petite France. Of couse, it was pricey. The ice cream costed 3,000\ each and the hot dog costed 2,000\. You can see different travellers from all over the country, gathering together with their tour guides.

 Ice cream!

A selca with the ice cream, see how tall it is

In order to catch the bus to Nami Island, I have to leave Petite France after stopping there and taking pictures for around one and a half hour. The entrance fee for Petite France is 10,000\. Fortunately, I manage to catch the puppet show right before the bus to Nami Island arrive. So, the bus to Nami Island took around 20 minutes from Petite France. If you want to visit Nami Island only and do not want to stop by at Petite France, it would be better for you to exit at Gapyeong station instead of Cheongpyeong station because Gapyeong station is just 5 mins away from Nami Island. I had to take a ferry to reach Nami Island, so the bus stopped at the bus station where I have to walk down to the immigration center to buy the entrance ticket (8,000\) to Nami Island and wait for the ferry at the dock. The ferry ride took around 5 mins. 

On the ferry to Nami Island

Nami Island was very beautiful! You can spot a lot of couples spending their time, strolling around the stretch of roads. As you know, Winter Sonata, the iconic K-drama was filmed there at the very stretch of lane with trees covering the road like a shelter. It is a good location to take pictures during noon or before the sun set. While I was there, taking my pictures, I saw a newly wed couple, taking their wedding photos at the exact location where Bae Yong Jun and Choi Ji Woo filmed for Winter Sonata. Since it is spring now, all I see is tall green trees and sandy roads. If I were to visit here during the winter, I bet it would be covered in snow and it would look really beautiful too.

Selca at Nami Island

Selca with my sister

I've decided to take the taxi to Gapyeong station from Nami Island so I would have more time walking around, taking more pictures, rather than rushing myself to catch the last bus back to Gapyeong station. I've spent more than 2 hours at Nami Island. I left around 8PM and I couldn't see any taxi or buses anymore. There were a few travellers, waiting at the bus stop, hoping to catch a taxi. Then, a lady stopped in front of the station and told us that there will not be any buses or taxis stopping by at the hour and all of us freaked out. The lady offered to bring some of the travellers to the station since she was heading that way too. 4 of them hopped on and we were still left behind. 3 Koreans standing beside me asked where I was going and they wanted to share a taxi with my sister and I if there is a taxi later on. Of course we agreed to. But it is not allowed for taxi drivers to load 5 passengers in a taxi so we had to ask permission from the driver. Not long later, a taxi stopped at the station and my sister and I hopped on. The 3 other girls asked whether if the driver could bring all 5 of us to the station. The driver refused to and said there will be more taxis stopping by later so the 3 Korean girls decided to wait for the next taxi. The taxi costed 3,100\ from Nami Island to Gapyeong station. I was relieved that I arrived safely at a station instead of being isolated at a desert-like place in the middle of the night. It was tiring, having to take the subway for around 1 and a half hour to reach Jonggak. I nearly fell asleep in the subway on the way back.

I've actualy planned to visit Namdaemun and have dinner at the area but it will be late by the time we reach there. So I headed back to my hostel. Since I hadn't have dinner yet, I've asked the staff working at the information counter of my hostel to order 2 jjajangmyeon for me(I haven't tried any delivery food in Korea yet). It costed 9,000\ for two. It was quite delicious but tasted a little bit sweeter than the one I had in Malaysia. The jjajangmyeon wasn't really big but if you weren't that hungry, you won't be able to finish the whole thing up. I actually stuffed all of it into my stomach because I don't want to waste any of it tho I was really full at the time. 

Jjajangmyeon with sides (pickles and raw onions)

After stirring the noodle with the sauce...yumyum

Well, that pretty much sums up my day. The pictures taken at Nami Island are so beautiful, I'm so happy.

No comments

Posted at 11:00 PM |  by Colene Hyori

[BLOGGER POST] D-5 in Seoul, Korea

I woke up late today because I slept late yesterday, stayed up to write my blog with a laggy computer at the hostel. I've decided to visit INFINITE Sungyeol and Dongwoo's restaurant today. I went to Sungyeol's BBQ Chicken shop for lunch and Dongwoo's octopus restaurant for dinner. I woke up at around 11AM today. After some tossing and turning and finally getting to leave the hostel, it was 12:30PM. I had some triangular kimbap and melon milk for breakfast today. It is addicting to have kimbap and milk for breakfast lately and I don't know how am I going to survive when I am back in Malaysia.

Sungyeol's restaurant was easy to find because it was located right outside the exit of Hapjeong station. Sungyeol's dad opened the automatic glass door for me to enter while his mom showed me to the table. Both of them are very good looking! Sungyeol's mom took my order after recommending me what to order and I, of course, ordered what she have recommended. It was Olive Chicken where it comes with in a set with a plate of salad with some noodles and sprinkled cheese. The portion was just right for two but you might not able to finish up all the fries and chips. The fries are totally made out from whole potatoes as you still can see the potato skins. The chicken was so crispy and tender. I was planning to take a selca with Sungyeol's mom after I finish eating but by the time I finish eating, she left.

Healthy salad with sprinkled cheese

Golden Olive chicken recommended by Sungyeol's mom

My sister asked the waitress whether is she coming back later and she said Sungyeol's mom will be back in 2 hours' time. She was so kind and polite, she even asked us to take photo with Sungyeol's dad while waiting for his mom! So I did, obviously. His dad was so cute, he posed a peace sign when I did a selca with him without me asking him to do that. His dad was not very tall but very good looking for men at his age.

Selca with Sungyeol's dad

After waiting for 2 hours, Sungyeol's mom came back right on time as estimated by the waitress. I then took a selca with his mom. His mom was so warm and welcoming. She gave my sister and I each a ballpen of their restaurant. Although it wasnt something related to INFINITE or Sungyeol, it was still nice of her to give out some gifts for Sungyeol's fans or Infinite's fans who visited the restaurant.

Before heading to Dongwoo's restaurant for dinner, I went to Ewha Women's University for some shopping at a street nearby. There were lots of Korean college girls shopping there because their university is just right beside the shopping area. Their university is HUGE! There were lots of shops and stores at the shopping street. From what I've heard, they sells stuffs at a cheaper price compared to other shopping areas. But from my experience, they are mostly the same. But yes, you still can find some really cheap stuffs with good quality by exploring more of the shops.

I've bought  a cap for myself at 5,000 and 2 snapbacks for NU'EST at 10,000 each. It was really nice :) Then, I spotted a phone accessories shop, selling phone cases at a cheaper price compared to other shops I have stopped by. After some bargaining, I've got the case at 33,000 for two (around 16,000 each)! I also found a bag shop after seeing crowds in the shop, selling 10,000 for each bag, regardless the size and the pattern, it was so cheap and the quality was so good! The bags comes in a variety of shapes and colours! It was heavenly! And of course, I bought a bag that I have been dying to buy. It was worth it!

Before leaving for dinner, I saw a shop selling clothes at 5,000 and it was pretty. I have no self-control so I stopped by, looking around some more and end up buying one. It was in a very good quality. I liked it a lot.

Ouside Dongwoo's family restaurant

Finally, dinner time! I arrived at Dongwoo's restaurant at around 7:30PM. His dad was the first person I saw and he asked me whether if I am Japanese. I said no, I am from Malaysia. It was nice to know that the knew where Malaysia is :) A waitress then took my order after recommending what I should order. She recommended octopus with samgyupsal. It was really really nice! Although it was little bit spicy but overall, I'll give 2 thumbs up. Infinite fans, Kpop fans or any other people who are currently planning to visit Korea, Seoul, please do come and try it out, you won't regret it :)

Full of messages to Dongwoo and Dongwoo's pictures poster on the wall

Samgyupsal at the side and octopus in the middle. After eating all, they will pour more rice and vegetables on the sauce and make fried rice.

Selca at Dongwoo's family restaurant. Was so tired, you can see it in my eyes.

After having my dinner, my sister went to pay for the bill and I was standing in front of the counter. An aunty came up and asked whether who is the guy in the poster at the counter, Dongwoo's mom proudly say it is my youngest son. He is in the group called Infinite. His mom then looked at me and started to sing their song! She sang "내거하...자!" in a very cute way and then laughed at herself. Dongwoo's dad was standing right beside of me and he saw me looking at his mom, he laughed at her too! Then he started singing too "내거하자! 남자가 사랑할대..." and then he laughed at himself. Both of them are so cute I swear the cuteness runs in the blood too.

Selca with Dongwoo's mom

Selca with Dongwoo's dad

No comments

Posted at 11:00 PM |  by Colene Hyori