Am supposed to be rushing work this weekend since I will be away from next Sat onwards but body is clearly not functioning well 🫠 I guess laptop will be following on the next trip again..

Aiks and mood hasn't been the best.. you know what it means when Debs goes for run(s) at the risk of destroying her ankle. Hais but long story short, I guess sometimes it's better to just let things burn if people don't wanna heed the advice. Not commenting much without full context but based on what I heard it is just... odd. Ohwell I don't want to be ranting too much and lose a friend so I shall not. 

Ok and to add some context it was not just a one off event that triggered my mood hais. Debs really hate to be left alone (reference tw exchange post) but i think it is worse when ppl ask already, only to ps cause of someone else.. might as well don't ask. Seems like I am losing another OT dinner kaki wow.

And about giving away gifts to others... I can't. Hais I am not exactly angry but more disappointed I guess. Just felt that maybe I have unnecessarily stepped in too much and had expectations. And feels like this upcoming tw trip will be similar to my grad trip with Lynn but no one has the context howwwwww. I honestly thought would be able to get rid of all these thoughts and stuff after Korea haha but guess not 😅

Side note, am trying to upload Korea trip details periodically... HAHA i am not sure about Taiwan, havent plan but flying next week. And havent change money.. does not help that there was an earthquake earlier this week 🫠  

Finally here to update for Korea!! Going to summarise the trip a bit cause I forgot to bring back the Jeju map and technically we don't have a fixed itinerary for the trip.. which I think it's fine for both of us so all is good! I will try to add more context when I have some time but leaving some memories here 😊  here is for Part 1!! I think we covered a lot for a chill trip haha.

PS blogging from mobile so pictures are not properly cropped :( and periodic updates means my tone will be so inconsistent haha~

SEOUL (14 MARCH TO 19 MARCH)

Heh first half of the trip was in Seoul! First day was pretty much burnt out cause our flight was in the afternoon (and I was still rushing work till it was time to leave the airport).. so we touched down around 9-10pm KST and immigration clearance was long. And we missed the last express train that we bought tickets for!! But ok all's good we managed to get the sim card / tmoney card and a taxi out from Incheon to Seoul (though the trip was close to SGD 100). Can't complain since we had difficulty moving the luggages around and random cabs were trying to pick us, only to get caught by the airport officers who kept asking if we reserved or called for them. But the uncle who eventually picked and drove us was nice, he even explained that it is better to touch down in the day cause we had a cray surcharge for night rides.

Here is a picture of our pika-scoot flight!!

Oh yes, we went to the convenience stall near our place at.. 1am ish??? Haha too hungry and we were still trying to settle down after everything. But with limited Korean speaking capabilities we managed to ask the employee to help us heat up the food oops.. And soju is so cheap in Korea, can't help but to compare the prices in SG halpsss.

Haha was quite fun to dress up though I think I am too short cause I kept stepping on my own skirt.. but ok lesson learnt, never wear round neck heattech.. for this day all my pictures have the extra black cloth captured 🫠

Some pics for memories sake~

We went closer to Anguk / Insadong area after that since that is along the way. Managed to try Fritz Coffee thanks to LI's reccomendation!! Really good but we don't dare to overorder haha in case later cannot eat further.. 

We let ourselves randomly walk along the alleys (since it was also v v v cold) and there were so many nice shops selling handmade soaps, jewellery, stickers and stuff!!! Me likey all these artsy stuff haha sorry some things never change over time. Got a couple of cute sticker sets (though I doubt I can gift it anymore). Oh yes we entered a thrift shop 5 mins before they closed and I managed to bag a cardigan and turtle plush keychain at KRW 7,000.. And that keychain became my travel buddy throughout HAHA.

Made a random last minute decision that we will visit Myeongdong (which was near our accoms - 1 stop away haha) for late dinner and some shopping. Ate at Myeongdong Kyoja for its noodles!!! Was bummed that the dumplings were sold out by then cause we were the last few orders already at 8.30pm KST, else it would be awesome... next time next time!!!

I think that pretty much summed up Day 2.. Can I just say I think I controlled well already haha I did not buy too many toys / skincare!! Ok we had soju again that evening with supper again oooops. 

DAY 3 - SHOPPING AND MEETING MICH

Less pictures on this day!! The plan was to do some shopping at the Express Bus Terminal station haha so the loots were more important.

We got some food first this time around!! HAHA we had our first meal at 4pm on Day 2 so we figured maybe eating first would be better. Had brunch at Ediya Coffee and to grab some drinks~

Left pretty late (since we usually leave our apt at around noon so we had brunch) but managed to shop for about 3h before heading back! Didn't cover all shops but this time I chose to get clothes that are more SG weather friendly, i.e., short sleeved ones and not so thick knits!! Ok i bought pants thinking I may be able to wear but GUESS WHAT.. Sis here did not lose that much weight so can't fit them 😂

Headed back with some snacks while we unpacked - intended to meet Mich for coffee in the evening cause we don't have much time here.. were planning to go some cafes near our area but ended up deciding to go Namsam area with HJ driving us!! No regrets tho, place is really pretty and apparently at 8pm they will shut out all lights for us to enjoy the view!!! Leaving some pics here hehe:

They managed to drop us off at Ewha before calling it a day for them, so we changed our plans and visited Hongdae instead for v late dinner at around 10pm KST? HAHA. First and last kbbq this trip, since Tze doesn't really like pork and it's also a good chance to try other foods!

Walked around the area and did some shopping! Also a bit cray at night cause Fridays mean there will be people going to clubs and for drinks!! But all's good, only issue we had was trying to get back because there is no train left for us to take. We almost cabbed, but the cab uncle insisted on a KRW 30,000 surcharge (when the actual ride was about KRW 15,000?!?!). So in the end we decided to just take public buses that run till quite late + some time to slowly walk back. Quite an interesting ride though, bus was v v v packed (thank goodness we were near the alighting area) and cause the bus driver cannot really see who is alighting and there were times when the door were closing in when people were still alighting. There were a couple of Singaporeans who were on the ride and experienced that at.. 1am haha. But yup we managed to walk back safely! 

^ We took this along our way back HAHA has no specific meaning to it.

DAY 4: LOTTE MART / RICE CAKE MAKING

One of our craziest shopping day in Seoul. Visited one of the cafes (Sector Cafe Roasters) that Mich initially recommended at our area and I think we were fairly early cause we were the first few customers! Lighting was great and so were the desserts and drinks, we ended up taking quite a lot of nice photos hehe:

But ok relatively packed day because we booked a workshop at 4pm KST so will be rushed for time if we start late 😅 But yes I think we went a little too cray at Seoul Lotte Mart, I mean from IGS can tell that we overbought for 2 pax and the bill was close to KRW 250,000,000 after tax refund. But the downside was.. we did not bring luggage cause we initially thought we would not overbuy but guess what 1x big green Lotte Mart bag was not sufficient haha. We had two other reusable bags to fill up the stuff... 

And we kinda lost our way to the right train station (basically walked in big circles with extra heavy bags) so we can only head straight to the place oops. Think it was the only day when we felt frustrated hahahaha

That said we made in time for the session! Was ok, quite expensive though and in the end we did not manage to finish the tteoks even up till the end of our trip HAHA.. Lucky we did not sign up for the soy cream piping one, cannot imagine having two full cakes to finish before Jeju... but the end products were really nice :)

Took a break at our apartment after cabbing back and unpacking - new skill unlocked where we open the snack packaging to avoid wasting the empty spaces haha. But super tiring woah lucky we had some food and snack, but bigger problem was whether we could even bring them to Jeju HAHAHA. I mean.. I had 20kg when headed to Seoul how can it be 20kg before leaving for Jeju?!?!? So yes I added more baggage weight for Jeju heh.

That aside, after packing and chilling, we decided that we can walk to Myeongdong (must have been cray) since it was only a stop away and we were not heading for too long! But woah the winds no joke ah, I did not have down jacket so whenever the winds struck in Korea I just daiii. And my ankles already started having cold rashes then haha.

Along the was we found quite a few cafes including Caffe On The Plan, which became our breakfast spot for next day! But ok thankfully we went late and shops were mostly closing 1h later, if not Debs would have gone cray with shopping for cute stuff.. managed to buy one sticker set at least haha it is too cute I cannot don't get though not much use.. and yeap headed back safe! 

DAY 5: COEX STARFIELD LIBRARY, TERAROSA, PHOTO PRINTS

Last full day in Seoul! Visited the cafe as planned, and vibes are great omooo~

The main plan was initially to explore Starfield library and random food places (since Tze wanted to try marinated soft shell crab or knife cut noodles) and head to Myeongdong/Hongdae one more time, but as usual our plans change by the hour haha.

Went to COEX mall which have the Starfield Library - wanted to see since this was on most people's to go places haha. Place is nice and I think just not the right day cause we do see a lot of people studying.. but ok some pictures taken for memories! 

We also toured around the mall and did some shopping.. and decided that we can try Tera Rosa (tried this with Mich in 2023 and it was sooo good!!). And yes I managed to convert Tze to a fan with just the iced choco, we ended up finding if there are outlets in Jeju as well to try the coffee someday HAHA.

(Hehe rare photos posted for this day cause I think no one will wanna see all the selfies we took 😂)

Decided to go Hongdae cause I wanted hot soup that I usually get when I visit!! But ok it was a bit disappointing, did not taste as nice as compared to the last time.. and oops cause Tze was not a fan of pork so really thankful she was ok to try though!! 

Went shopping around the area, including PopMart since the last time we went most shops were closed.. hehe and bought 1 Detective Conan blindbox cause it looks quite cute leh!! 

We also went a bit cray at the photobooths and Daiso... haha 3 machines but all of the photos turned out nice!!!

Ordered Kyochon Chicken back, and we got soju x yakult as well since it is the last day we got slightly more than usual cause Tze can't really drink in Jeju.. and the rest shall remain history haha. 

Chaotic cause we opened our blindbox as well, and not going to reveal which ones I got! Haha omg which reminds me I need to find them somewhere..

Very long night cause we were trying to pack our luggage and clear our drinks, and I guess part of me was worried that I cannot bring my luggage to Jeju based on the current weight haha (even after added baggage). Here's one v random selfie haha I think our accoms was great though! Beds were comfy and there dining area / toilet was separated by a sliding door to block out noise!! 

(Pardon the mess haha it was our make up area lolol)

DAY 6: CHILLAX BEFORE JEJU

(Ok gotta stop here - will update periodically!!)