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My Sokcho Adventures + Traveling Outside of Seoul

Tuesday, March 31, 2020


I have a friend who collects Funko Pops, and one who is really into dolls. We are all in our 30s age range now, but I encourage and enable my chingus whenever I find out they are into this and that.

Meanwhile, I'd like to say that I'm trying to "collect" South Korea cities.

I realized that traveling outside of Seoul makes me really excited and fulfilled. I look into my #Koreanagon Instagram hashtag with genuine happiness--like my friend looking at his shelf of Funko. So every time I go to Korea, I try my best to include a trip outside of Seoul in my itinerary.  What is your favorite South Korea city?



Alternative Hongdae Itinerary

Wednesday, March 25, 2020


On my next Korea trip, I'll probably stay in Hongdae. I tried it twice palang, one was just for a night, and the other was for work so I had no time to really go around. On my recent trip, I realized that there's still so much to see in this youthful neighborhood of Seoul (university area).

When all these finally come to an end, I will make sure to book my next guesthouse in Hongdae.


It's a Sweet Day in Itaewon | Snippets from Itaewon Class

Sunday, March 22, 2020


On my last few days in Korea, I decided to just explore different parts of Seoul per day. Something I've always wanted to do, yung hindi paguran na parang marathon. I wanted to take my time and try the food, the shops, and just aimlessly walk around the streets of just one area of Seoul to get to know it better. 

In one particular day when I can't think of anything to do, I decided to focus on Itaewon. I've been here I think one time palang before, and the only thing that I know about this place is that it has a lot of foreigners and it's a party district. I went there last time for the BT21 Line Cafe.

Travel Blogging in the Time of Corona Virus

Friday, March 13, 2020


I usually open a small talk with “saan na next trip mo?”.

 Listening to someone's new or next adventure excites me coz I can really see authentic sparkle in a person’s eyes whenever they talk about their trip. 

Traveling has been my life for the past years. It’s the “highlight” of my blog year-enders, what I look forward to, and a big chunk of my motivation why I work so hard.


I Joined a BTS Locations Tour

Thursday, March 12, 2020


Sometimes I find myself curating "creative tours" that I may offer to fan girls like me whenever they travel to Japan or Korea. Nothing like the standard tourist locations line-up, I thought that it should be unique and interest-based like a Hallyu tour, a specific Korean drama tour, maybe a cute cafe and stationery hopping tour, etc. Then I saw that hindi na pala papahuli our travel booking sites.

While looking for more things to do to fill up my 20-day itinerary in Korea, I chanced upon a Seoul BTS Fan Day Tour. Since I have so much time for this trip, and would want days where I don't have to think too much and navigate, AND of course anything BTS we say YES... I booked this tour in a heartbeat!





BTS Tour Schedule:

8am - Meetup in Myeongdong Station Exit 2


9am - Iryeong Station - Shooting location for Spring Day

Dito palang feel ko sulit na the rate. It's not near Seoul (around an hour of travel time by private vehicle), and since it's an abandoned railway, it's also hard to take pictures here when you're alone.


I can hear the intro of Spring Day playing in my head while we were here.




10:20am - Hwarangdae Station and Gong-tral Park

When ordinary places turned into tourist spots because of Kim Namjoon. Namjooning in Hwarangdae Station and Gong-tral Park:







11:30am - Seoul Forest Park

Love Yourself shooting location, RM benches (donated by fans), and Jungkook's apartment.







1pm - Yoojung Sikdang

Restaurant where BTS constantly went to during their rookie years (near old Big Hit Building)





2pm - Big Hit Entertainment (Old Building)

Where it all started.







2:30pm - Laundry Pizza

Love Yourself: Her shooting location.





You have the option to stay here to eat! Worth it sya, the Potato Pizza is delicious!


Price and menu for your reference:






FAQs:

1) Tour operates every Wednesday and Sunday
2) Maximum number of participants is 43, it's also nice that they will push through even if you're alone!
3) We rode a mini-bus, but transpo depends on number of participants
4) Group is a fun mix of different nationalities, young and old, baby and long-time ARMYs!
5) Price of the tour is at Php 1700+ per head, food not inclusive, available via Klook.



If I Were To Offer This Tour:

Just for fun, here's my version of a BTS tour!

1) Shortest travel time from one place to another will take around 30 minutes, so I will maximize this with several BTS related activities like playing BTS songs while on the road, give BTS trivia to my guests like how the tour guides do it for other tours, play games ala Run! BTS, or maybe even play Spring Day before arriving to Iryeong Station since there's a TV naman in our van--just to hype my guests!

2) Make the tour really personal by asking my guests for their bias prior the trip, so I can handout photo cards or plastic IDs with a photo of their bias as souvenir.

3) It's nice that we had lunch in a BTS associated restaurant (Yoojung Sikdang or Laundry Pizza), but since tours usually end in souvenir shops... Why not drop by in either Myeongdong Underground or a Line Friends store?

4) Tour guides usually lift a stick with a flag or stuffed toy so the group will not get lost in a crowd. If I were to create my own BTS tour I will bring an ARMY Bomb as my tour guide flag!

5) My seatmate did her research of our tour and had photos saved in her phone so we can easily copy the poses of the boys per location that we're going to. But I think it would have been more interactive if as a tour guide I'll make sure to have an iPad or a big photo printout showing the places we're going to, and how they are related to the boys.


I can go on and on, haha! But I am limiting my lists to just 5 so you can share to me your wild ideas!
Will you also join this tour (or maybe my tour) if you're in Seoul? 😁

Snippets From My Templestay Experience in Seoul

Tuesday, March 10, 2020


When I started planning for my itinerary, I realized that Seolal will fall during my 20-day travel duration in Korea.



But first...

One Mount Snowpark: Winter Activity Within Seoul | Challenges Of Solo Traveling in Korea

Tuesday, March 03, 2020


When I got home from my long trip, dad's first question to me was if I ever felt lonely. 

"Nainip ka ba?" 

Okay to be honest, this is one of the easiest questions I always receive when it comes to solo traveling. Nothing compares to the feeling I get whenever I am in Korea for my solo adventures. Anti-anxieties pill ko siya.

I get up sooo excited for a new day! I end the day tired but accomplished. I never run out of new things to do or cities to explore. Actually, I think the bigger challenge to me is my country of choice. 

I realized that Korea is not the most solo traveler friendly country. Yes, it is a generally safe place for women that's why I have little worries whenever I commute intercity, or go home late. But there are other things that I observed: First is when it comes to dining