Today is Saturday over here so we decided to keep it simple and avoid the masses of humanity that are sure to be swarming the subways and streets. We had intended to have our artis & crafts day today but we couldn't find all the supplies we needed! :( We got a cute padded floor mat to work on too....we'll save it for tomorrow ^.^ We spent today doing some more sidewalk shopping and had an EPIC search for...lotion. Haha sounds silly but we didn't bring a lot of small essentials because we knew we could buy them here. However, they take cosmetics seriously here. It generally runs around 12,000 - 17,500 won for a small bottle of lotion, serum, essence, etc. A very CUTE and adorable looking gourmet bottle (e.g. lavender and goat milk, jasmine aqua capsule lotion, broccoli watery ampoule, gold caviar collagen serum) but too much for me to spend on some lotion, however deliciously tasty it sounds. I bought some at a general store instead for 2,000 won (less than $2), because I had spent so much on other stuff from SkinFood already in the past 2 days @.@

We stopped by my FAVORITE street food vendor who sells the most awesome twiggim (deep-fried kimbap rolls, vegetables, etc), but she wasn't there today! I hope she hasn't closed up shop in the 4 months since I've been here :((( I'll cry. Those mini kimbap rolls with japchae and rice inside were like little chunks of heaven FOR REAL.

Since the twiggim was unavailable to us, we decided on pizza! We went to the same pizza place I went to last time I was here, Mr. Pizza down the street. The adorable one that gives you your sauces in a gift bag and ribbon-wraps your pizza haha. I still can feel my shock the first time I was handed these when I ordered to go ^^. We also got some mini peptalks from the wrappers of my vitamin C drops, as seen above!

The pizza was DELICIOUS OMG. We got a deluxe one this time, with sweet pumpkin, potato, roasted garlic chips, broccoli, tender rib meat chunks, with BBQ sauce and a sweet potato filled crust (called Gold by Mr. Pizza). It was INSANE. I feel like everywhere else in the world but America treats pizza like a delicacy and a food to be dressed up haha. Only in the US is it eaten with beer & a sports game and/or at kids birthday parties. Today was also a bit more like the Seoul I remember, with crowded packed subway cars and lines to get through the scanning machines underground. As expected on a Saturday :) Tomorrow we will finish our arts and crafts gathering (I consulted my friend Dajeong for where else to look for materials; I was right in my guess and we are headed to Kyobo Tower!). We'll also be hitting the media poles along the street leading there so look for more silly pictures tomorrow ^.^~ Annyeong!

Candace: I had another great seat partner on my flight to Seoul! Good thing too because the flight was so long >.< He was a really nice guy who was apparently a baller. He had houses in Bangkok, Singapore, Canada, the East Coast, Vegas, London, New Zealand, lived in Hawaii, and golfed for a living. And traveled. Well geez, can I like, HAVE YOUR LIFE?! Luckily the flight went without complications and I got through immigration/customs relatively quickly to meet Jess at the baggage claim! She came in right before me so she met me at my baggage carousel. I always feel so relieved when all goes smoothly, flights on time, none of my baggage was lost, my phone works, etc. On trips like these there are so many factors and so many places where something can go wrong, that I feel blessed when they don't. We bought our bus tickets to Gangnam Yeoksam where our hotel was and checked in without any problems. Our room is really cute and the bathroom is way more massive than my single room last time! 

We watched tv and made a convenience store run for snacks and of course, banana milk!! My fetish for banana milk is only equal to Jess's fetish for banana milk :D We were both pretty tuckered out from the long plane ride and the long bus trip to our hotel. Not so tired that the excitement of being back didn't hit us though! It's SO wonderful to be back in Seoul, I can't even explain it. It's so exciting to see familiar places and to KNOW where I'm going and what to expect. Such a novel feeling haha since last time I was going by the seat of my pants, all day, every day. It was exhilarating not knowing anything or where to do/what to do, to be sure; I'm still really happy I went by alone and discovered myself along the way. But it's a completely different experience now knowing what to do and where to go for all the things I want. I'm still a clueless foreigner but I'm no longer a lost ant in an ocean. AND I'm now here with my twin, so it's a totally new trip! 

We slept around 10pm KST, which was about 5am back home. Had a blissfully uninterrupted sleep until 4am KST. I drifted in and out of sleep until about 6am, since I was TRYING to sleep more and get my sleep schedule on track ASAP. We have limited time here, so gotta make the most of it! After a quick run to my favorite Cafe Pascucci down the street for coffee & bulgogi paninis, we returned to our room to prepare for the day ahead: a raid on SkinFood, a run to Daiso for room and bathroom essentials, and (re)exploring the shopping under Gangnam Station...one of my favorite spots!! 

As you can see, we did DAMAGE :D The first day is always the most frenzied in terms of buying cool new things. We even restrained ourselves, because we were kind of limited to how much we could physically carry back T.T I miss my car already lol. So we toddled home with our arms full of bags...I think were good for today lol. After all, we have a whole 13 days more to break our banks...