DAY 1

I prepared early, not being able to sleep the night before. By 10 am I was fully dressed, accessorized to kill, ready for my flight at 4 pm. I couldn't contain my excitement, so much so that I went out of the house in my house slippers. 

So we get to the airport and while checking in our luggage, some guy approaches my mom asking us to keep an eye on this Korean kid who was in the same flight as ours and seated along our row. It was said kid's first time traveling alone since he and his family relocated here in the Philippines. He was going to travel back to Busan (yes mom and her friends made a mistake of booking a flight to Gimhae airport instead of Gimpo airport) to study. Mom asked me to talk to the boy and I had to flick her since I didn't think I was well versed in Korean language. Then we were informed that the kid knew how to speak in Filipino then I realized he was the cutest kid ever. Like I mean idol material. Super adorable. All day long, my mom's friends were teasing me about how they never thought I had a baby brother and that I may actually be Korean.

So anyway, we land  in Busan and tried to get my luggage from the moving belt, to which I failed miserably. The next thing I see, my luggage was being pulled by this guy who I later found out to be someone from the Korean baseball team. And me and my companions aimlessly walked out, not knowing we were walking in the middle of the baseball players who were having their pictures taken. 

Then when we get to the hotel, we just checked in and put our bags down and went out to meet my mom's high school friend who now lives in Korea. We had dinner at a local restaurant and had samgyupsal. We were a group of 13 so we practically occupied the whole place. All throughout dinner, the owner kept coming back to us serving us and what not. My mom's friends were clueless about how to eat the food infront of us so ahjussi had to demonstrate it to them. Dinner was so good, I had to ask him for a second serving of kimchi. My mom's friend was surprised that I busted out a full Korean sentence at one point. It was funny though coz I had no idea what the man told me in reply until my mom's friend translated it for me. 

For some reason, it felt natural for me to eat that way. Chopsticks and a spoon, seated on the floor, watching the meat cooking in front of me, it felt like an everyday thing to me. We had eaten so much that we didn't realize it was past 12 am already. The mother-in-law of the owner even came out to see if we were done and that sparked a photoshoot with the two Korean natives. My mom's friend asked where the bus station to Seoul was and I was surprised to see the 72 year old lady operating her son-in-law's Samsung tab to search for it. It was cold that night but I got through it despite only wearing shorts and a simple shirt.

DAY 2

Got up at 5 am KST (4 am here in the Philippines). I'm not even sure I slept much. I was watching this show in MBC that featured B1A4. We traveled to Seoul and much to my disappointment, mom insisted on her friend going back home instead of touring us around Seoul like we planned originally. Well she did that out of consideration since said friend lived in Daegu. I get that but how the heck are we supposed to get around? (I thought, forgetting I could read and write Hangeul and even understand bits and pieces)

So I had no choice and I took in the role of a tour guide. I succeeded getting us around. Getting us to Seoul and our hotel in Gangnam-gu, getting us to a restaurant for a late lunch and getting us to Hongdae. Everyone wanted to go to Hello Kitty Cafe so I looked for it. After asking a bunch of peple for directions and 3 hours of walking around Hongdae, looking for it, I finally found it in a little alley. Found out the reason why it was difficult to find it was because there are actually 2 Hello Kitty cafes there. One in Shinchon and the other near Hongik University. 

After that, we walked around looking for a money changer because the one at the airport was closed when we got there and we only had a few bills left. Not enough for shopping. We however, found out that their malls didn't have those and we were forced to go back to the hotel early. We decided we'd wake up early for that and then continue with our tour.

DAY 3

I was spazzing at the lobby. I was too excited about getting to go shopping and finally, the day  that we go to Apgujeong came and I get to see the SM building and maybe, just maybe, I get to catch a glimpse of SHINee or Kai of EXO. Then it was like in the movies when a ray of light shined from up above and I heard of our receptionist's angelic voice. In his broken English and Korean accent he told me that SHINee's dorm was near our hotel and I almost fainted. I don't know how he knew and I didn't bother to ask. Because from the things he told me the other day, everything he said has been true so far and he was a local so yeah, I trusted him. It also didn't hurt that he looked so cute that our whole group asked to have pictures taken with him one by one. Yes we were all crushing on him, me just a bit because I was too caught up with scenarios rushing through my head on how I'd react if I ran into Minho or Key or Jonghyun or Taemin or Onew or ALL five of them. That would seriously be the end of me.

So we looked around and found out that the only place we could have our money changed into won was at the bank and that was a real problem since it was a Sunday and banks are closed. We decided to try Myeongdong since it was the shopping district so it's safe to say there'd be money changers there and we were right. I was disappointed however that it was too early on a Sunday so most shops are closed. So the group had decided (with the exception of me) to go site seeing first. I had no choice but to go along since mom won't let me stay in Myeongdong and I was the only one who knew where and how to get to places. I had Seoul's subvway system down in my head so our day went on well and we got to a bunch of places. We went to Deoksugung and as the opening rights were going on I was taking pictures of the busy street of Seoul. I had the perfect view of an intersection and it was picture perfect. I didn't realize my hands went numb already and for the first time in my life, my skin was red from frostbites. It dawned on me that my clothes weren't thick enough for Seoul specially when the cold breeze blew. I don't get cold easily so that's saying something. Though I wouldn't be surprised because that morning, we found the hoods and windshields of the cars near our hotel covered in snow. 

We accomplished a lot at day 3. Went to a bunch of places, took lots of pictures, got to see MBC building in Mapo and to top of the day, I ran into Gongchan. I was walking aimlessly at this building that night, waiting for my companions who were off somewhere, bummed about not being able to go back to Myeongdong and Apgujeong do my shopping when I ran into this guy. I bumped into him and another cute guy wearing a cute, light blue sweatshirt with a duck design in the middle casually apologized and walked off with the rest of the group. I thought, "Oh your friend's definitely forgiven since you are too hot." Then moments later I had to look towards the direction they went to and saw them again halfway to the parking lot and thought to myself, "No , that was Gongchan! Holy freaking crap, I'm about to piss my pants, I've never heard a sweeter apology in my life." I don't know who the rest of the people are, one being a girl and I know it's not B1A4 otherwise I would've died on the spot since I sooooo love CNU and Sandeul. I ran back to my group and the face of Gongchan was enough to keep my mind off of the fact that the one thing I asked for, after having done so much for my mom's group, was not fulfilled. Shopping for a few stuff.

When we got back to the hotel, I couldn't help it anymore and tears just started to pour down from my eyes. I have never cried in front of my mom before, not since I was a kid that is. While they were busy asking me to take them here and there, no one bothered to ask me where I wanted to go or what I wanted to do. I settled for the promise that we would all go shopping later since they had to buy stuff to bring home. It wasn't that I was asking for something in return but the fact remains, it wasn't exactly easy having to list down all the places they wanna go to, figure out how to get us there, ask for directions from people in foreign language I might add and ask 3 cab drivers at a time to take us to places from time to time when we really can't find the places to go. It's not like I was fluent in Korean and can understand what they are telling me clearly. Like I said, I can only understand bits and pieces, very fiew words and sentences. I wasn't asking for a big thank you gesture either, I just wanted my efforts acknowledged and the fact that it wasn't even my job to be they're tour guide made me feel more upset. The only thought that got me through the day was the thought that I'll be able to do something I want later on but evenb that got taken away from me because they were too chicken to overcome the weather. 

DAY 4

Our final day. I woke up with puffy eyes from my sleep, got ready to go back to Busan because our flight back was still booked in Gimhae. Got down to the lobby dressed in mere sweater and leggings coz I know that it's hella warm in the bus. However, it was -8 degrees in Seoul so I knew, walking out at the streets of Gangnam on our way to the bus station would be a challenge for me. So I was there walking, a bag of dirty laundry in one hand, eating my strawberries,taking my sweet time walkingeven though it was ing cold, looking up at the tall buildings in Gangnam, hoping that one of those windows belonged to SHINee and that Minho or anyone of them could see me through it. I don't know why I wished they would see me but I sure hope they did. I was walking as slow as I can. I didn't want to leave. At least not yet. Not till I've met or seen SHINee or even just one of them or Kai. That's totally impossible for some people but I like to think positively and think that I have no limits so the word impossible isn't even in my dictionary. I swear that place felt more like home to me.

So I look out my window from the cab as I bid the town goodbye. Dramatic, I know. But seriously, it felt like I was moving some place and leaving my home. I promised myself I'd be coming back there no matter what. Then my mom recieves this call from her friend. She told me that if I could, I should go back to Korea soon because an English teaching job opened up in her work place. She said I could stay with her while I'm working so lodging and food wouldn't be a problem. But I'm not so sure I wanna take it. It's based in Daegu, and is quite a long way from Seoul, and I'm a total city girl. 

So at Gimhae, while waiting to be called for boarding, we all shopped and decided that we might as well spend all our won there since they'd be off lesser value if we changed them back to peso or dollar. We pretty much bought all the ppeppero and banana milk in the airport's Duty Free store and 7/11 convinient store. Seriously, I got everyone addicted to them since I ate them on the bus to Seoul in our second day.

Our flight landed here in Manila at exactly 12:06 am, a few minutes ahead of schedule and I was disappointed inside. Tried not to show it. Not only did I not get to shop, but I was back here, stuck in this boring place back to feeling like nothing around me is right. My house doesn't feel like home anymore and to top that off, the weather . It's too hot here. One thing is for sure though, that wouldn't be my last time there. I'll go back and stay longer next time.