During both our day off, I planned to take Jessica around the streets of Seoul. Jessica had expressed that she didn't know her way around South Korea and intended to know more about the culture since she's lived all her life in the United States. Since we're near the city anyway, it would be a great place to start her tour in. The day prior to, I spent some time planning out the places we should go to. I felt like I was representing South Korea for a moment. With that, I decided to show her more of the cultural side of Seoul rather than the generic tourists spots most people go to when they visit Seoul.

I did my usual routine in the morning and got ready for the whole day trip, making sure I had necessary toiletries I might need along the way. Sunny's here in my apartment so she could check on Zero throughout the day since I feel like I'm not coming back until late at night. Sunny also had the day off, which I'm thankful for with the fact that she agreed to babysit Zero for the day.

"So where are you guys planning to go?" Sunny asked. She was sitting on my couch playing with Zero's paws.

"Lots of cultural places," I answered as I put on some make up from my bathroom. The door was open so she's able to hear me, "since she wanted to know Korea, might as well show her the culture. Maybe we'll go to popular spots as well depending on the time."

"That's a good idea," Sunny replied, "are you excited?"

"More like stressed," I answered as I placed my cosmetics back in my make up bag, "I'm acting like a tour guide."

"You should have asked someone else to tag along with you guys," Sunny suggested.

"I would rather deal with one person," I replied immediately as I stepped out of the bathroom and headed out in the living room, "Jessica is already too much to deal with."

"Then why did you agree to take her around?" Sunny eyed on me in a teasing manner.

"Just out of the goodness of my heart?" I shrugged my shoulders, "she doesn't know anyone else around here. Her family is from the United States and so are her relatives."

"I see," Sunny nodded, "I wonder why she went here alone."

"Beats me."

Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. I could only assume that was Jessica letting me know that she was ready for our small trip to through the city of Seoul. I walked towards the door and opened it to see a tourist looking Jessica all dressed up in casual, simple fashion with a camera hanging low by a strap around her neck.

"Let's go!" she exclaimed. Jessica seemed to notice Sunny from the background so she waved at her, "good morning Sunny!"

Sunny waved and smiled back at the girl in front of me. I walked towards her and pulled out my spare card key from my pocket to give to her.

"Here's my spare key. Please don't lose it," I told her, "there are plenty of snacks in the kitchen cupboards and food in the fridge. Zero gets taken out at least twice a day. One in the morning and one at night but I already took him out this morning so he should be good for the rest of the day. But since you're here, it would be better to take him out at least every four hours or so. I also fed him this morning already so he's good to go and he also gets fed at night. Hopefully by then I should be back but just in any case I'm not back early, his food is next to the cabinet by the sink and so is his treats. The dog area is in the back of the complex which you can see from the balcony. Please call me if you have any further questions."

"Wow, you must love your dog so much," Sunny's mouth was agape.

"What do you expect?" I chuckled, "he's been my only companion for a while now."

"And now you have another one," Sunny teased as her eyes directed towards Jessica's direction.

"Aish," I slapped her shoulders, "anyway, please do call if you need questions about anything. I'll be heading out now."

"Have fun!" Sunny bid goodbye as I stepped out of my apartment while Jessica waited by the door for me.

Jessica and I took the bus towards the inner city of Seoul. I was guiding her on how to read the directions on the little map provided by the bus area. I paid for our fare for now as I swiped my card twice before getting seated. I explained to her how to sign up for a money card to take the bus transportation a bit faster than paying by cash which can hold up a line of passenger sometimes. Plus, signing up for the money card can grant you discounts for bus fares. The cards could also be used in subways.

"I see. If I take the taxi, I wouldn't have to worry much about where I'm going though," she mentioned.

"It can get pretty costly taking the taxi every single time. Buses are definitely a cheaper route but I understand how you can get lost if you're not familiar around the area," I nodded, "hence why you need to get out more little by little."

"At least I have you to explain everything," she giggled.

We dropped off at the subway station to take the rest of the way on our first stop, which is the Gyeongbokgung palace. I also wanted to show her how the subway station usually is as well. Similar to taking the bus but quite different, we went inside and there were different gates leading to the subways. There are stalls where you could purchase a card to your destination stop and also a help desk if you need guidance which train stops to go to or general questions on how to navigate the electronic self-service stall. There was also a map above the stalls to help guide the patron which subway to take and how many stops it takes to reach your destination.

"Seems pretty easy to navigate," Jessica commented as she used the self-service stall to purchase a card to our destination.

"Mhm," I nodded my head, "you should also keep your card until you get off the train as you'll need to swipe the card again by the time you exit the subway."

"Got it," she nodded.

After she purchasing her ticket card, we headed our way to the gate towards the subway we were supposed to take. I swiped my money card again while she swiped her temporary ticket card through the little scanner. We waited for the subway for it to arrive until it finally came. Thankfully, the subway wasn't as crowded but there were plenty of people in business suits, making their way towards their jobs.

As we reached our destination, exiting the subway station, I led her to the bus stop once again to save us the walking distance towards Gyeongbokgung palace. Soon as we arrived to the area, we just needed to walk a short distance before seeing the entrance to the palace's grounds. Jessica seemed so amazed at the sight and took photos of the entrance area before following me inside the palace grounds.

There were already a few people around sight seeing from foreigners to Koreans. There were also tour guides leading a bunch of tourists. Eitherway, the palace grounds were wide and vast so it was a bit tiring to walk around. Meanwhile, Jessica seemed full of energy as she kept taking snapshots of the whole grounds.

"Hey Taeyeon," Jessica uttered. I turned towards her and realized she had just taken a quick photo of myself with the palace in the background.

"What the hell?"

"I'm amazed by your beauty. The background compliments it," she mentioned as she reviewed her snap of me.

"You better delete that!" I screamed as I tried to grab the camera away from her.

"No! Let me keep this!" she whined as she fought me pulling the camera away.

"Fine," I sighed as I let go of the camera, "but you better not post it anywhere or else..."

"It's going to be a part of my journal," she smiled, "a photo journal."

"That photo journal better be a secret," I told her as a rubbed the temples of my head.

We walked around some more as she took more pictures around the place. Satisfied with the photos she'd taken, we left the palace grounds to head to our next destination.

Our next destination was the village of Bunok Hanchon which wasn't too far away from the Gyeongbokgung palace. We walked our way towards the area and saw men and women dressed in traditional hanbok. Again, tourists were on sight. There were also plenty of men and women who were taking their wedding or engagement photos in the area. I was leading Jessica towards the streets while she was walking behind me until I heard camera snaps once again. I immediately turned around to see Jessica taking photos of me again.

"Can you take normal pictures?" I asked her in frustration.

"I like taking photos of beautiful sights," she smiled.

This girl...

As we ventured through, she took different snapshots of the village from the streets to the different structures of the houses surrounding us. Afterwards, we stopped at different souvenier shops so we both could pick up different things to take home with us. She seemed very intrigued in some of them and decided to buy a lot of souveniers, hopping from one shop to another, until we both got hungry. So we decided to take a break and venture around for food.

We entered the small restaurant of Cityfood Noodles Myung-ga. The inside looked a bit run down compared to the surrounding restaurants around the area. But what is a cultural trip without experiencing a more traditional setting compared to ones that were rebuilt to modern looks? They had a few options for food from their menu picture situated right outside the restaurant. Getting seated inside, we were embraced by the warmer temperature contrasting from the colder temperature outside. The smell of food lingered beneath our noses.

"Welcome," a young man in an apron walked towards us, placing a sheet of menu in front of us.

There were also handwritten menus plastered around the restaurant's walls that didn't seem to be added to the laminated sheet of menu that were given to us.

After ordering, the food came within a few minutes. We were surprised that it came pretty fast but understanding that it's a small restaurant that could only house a few customers, I can see why the food needed to be prepared way ahead of time. The fact that the menu was also limited made it easier for them to prepare a bulk of the menu ahead of time.

"Enjoy," the young man smiled at us before attending to other customers.

"That was more walking than I ever did in my entire life," Jessica sighed as she mixed the broth of her hot noodle soup.

"Do you not walk around a lot when you were in the United States?" I questioned, blowing on a spoon of broth to cool it off.

"No," she shook her head, "places over there aren't this close together so we usually have to drive from one place to another in reach to different destinations."

"I see," I nodded before sipping the cooler spoonful of broth, "this is just the beginning so eat up so you can have more energy. We can also pick up some drinks to go for a refresher on the nearby cafes."

"That I'll definitely need."

We headed to another palace which was definitely a bit of a walk. There was another palace grounds nearby that had different landmarks within from the Changdeokgung palace to the Changgyeonggung palace. Again, Jessica took different pictures around the area, making sure she got every bit of the historical landmarks around the whole palace grounds. The grounds was more vast than the previous one we visited. Secret Garden within the grounds was a long walk from the landmarks but the scenery around was breathtaking. Being surrounded by such greenery within the city was definitely a refresher.

"Are you down for a hike?" I asked her.

Jessica looked at me as if I was crazy.

"How long is the hike? This is already pretty tiring walking in long distances," she whined.

"The hike is actually pretty long but the scenery is breath taking," I answered.

"That could be saved for next time then," she smugged and drank a bit of her cold drink she had in hand.

"Understood. Would you like to see more historical landmarks?" I asked her before planning for the next destination I had listed in my phone.

"I think I'm done with palaces," she commented, "maybe somewhere that's a bit more relaxing that requires less walking."

"How about some museums?" I suggested.

Jessica nodded her head in reply with a pondering face, "not a bad idea. I actually like museums."

I pulled my phone out and went through my notes to erase the other traditional palaces I had saved up in my phone. I happened to list different museums around the area and announced the list of the museums so she could choose which o