3-22-13: I'm sorry for the huge lag in posts guys, I promise I'm still alive and kicking over here haha. In fact, I've never been more alive and busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off. I have a huge backup of photos and stories to share but it will have to wait until this weekend because my 430am - 11pm days aren't over until then. More on that later, but I'm having the time of my life! i cant believe this is all real and happening. I PROMISE I will get to all the messages and emails, I swear I'm not ignoring you >.< Til Sunday y'all~ <3

Candace: Today we tackled the Seoul Zoo!! We have been wanting to go here for awhile now, so we were especially excited to get going this morning. The zoo is located at the Seoul Grand Park subway exit, which wasn't too far from us. We were scheduled to meet Jess's cousin and her husband + kids and go around the zoo with them.  

After you come up from the subway, there was a long straight walk with food vendors and hat vendors lining both sides. Jess & I had time before we met her cousin so we wandered and looked around. I bought a cool leather patchwork cap and we both bought fun animal ears to wear around the zoo :)

The walkway led straight up to the Grand Park Info Hall or whatever, pictured above. On my return trip after we finished at the zoo, I found out the tram deposited and picked up passengers here. We headed to the right and up the long hill to the park on foot.

I was hungry (surprise surprise) so we picked up some double-dipped corn dogs from a vendor to munch on while we climbed up to the zoo. I've had them before on my last trip and they are seriously the BOMB. They are massive, first and foremost. And they are like flaky and crispy on the outside but have mounds of soft yummy bread on the inside. The actual hot dog is really thin, in keeping with the Korean's more healthy less-meat eating ideologies. America, take note. They do eat a lot of bread, but they balance that with TONS of veggies, less rice, and almost no meat. Hence, they are all skinny and beautiful. Maybe if I move here, my diet will adjust...eventually o.o

We reached the top and sat to wait for Jess's cousin + family. Since we have no wifi on our phones, we had no choice but to sit and watch for them. Jess had made contact with them earlier and found they were stuck in a bit of traffic. They had agreed to meet at the entrance to the zoo but after sitting & waiting for hours for them and the time they should've arrived being well past, we finally headed inside with our tickets. 

However, while we were waiting by the entrance I saw more babies in 2 & 1/2 hours than I've ever seen in my WHOLE LIFE PUT TOGETHER. AND OMG WERE THEY ADORABLE AND SQUISHY :3 They were everywhere, running around with parents chasing them, sitting on grandpas knees, holding hands with older siblings, squealing in delight when they saw the tiger statue (pictures later in post), jumping around, babbling nonsense as they trotted along as fast as their chubby little baby legs could take them, OMG THEY WERE SO CUTE. Their outfits were equally adorable, all brightly-colored. Some had so many layers on, they were like walking marshmallows; they waddled more than anything ^.^ One little boy was wearing the TINIEST pair of Nike Free's I've ever seen. SO CUTE. The soles couldn't have been longer than my palm. Not my hand, just my palm. And my hands are pretty damn small. 

The first thing we saw when we walked in was a long line of face cut-out animals, ranging from dinosaur to cow to monkey. Us being the little 5-year olds that we are, we immediately freaked out and ran over to take pictures :D We didn't stand out at all...we were just like 4 feet taller than anyone else having their picture taken. Okay, so people MIGHT have stared...

The animals were SO COOOOOOOOOOOL AHHHHHH. It was like we were literally little kids again. Everything was new and wonderful and amazing. Animals are awesome, however old you are. They are different and interesting in how they live in such different environments and adapt to them. We ran all over the zoo snapping pictures and jostling for arm space in front of the animals habitats, cuz man, was it CROWDED. Zoo on a Saturday, on a day with beautiful weather was maybe not the greatest idea we've ever had. 

They had these really cool all-electric buses in the park, with animal murals on them. With my interest in renewable energy, I particularly admired the electric part of them. Although the animal pictures were cool of course :D

The monkeys we saw were a CRACK-UP. One of them even had a baby with it (the black one)!!! The mama was totally jumping around and climbing the fence and everything with it on it's lap 0.o So amazing. I took a video of them too, they were so funny. Visitors had corn on the cob, so they would take off kernels and toss them to the monkeys, who were holding out their hands through the bars. And they would climb the fences and catch all the tiny kernels being tossed to them in their one hand!! ALL OF THEM. It was like a dog begging for treats but more like a mini human asking for more food; it blew my mind lol. They were so silly! Their eye to hand coordination fascinated me, especially when they would speedily go loping around their cages, jumping from thing to thing, swinging from their hands, then suddenly come back and stop to catch a kernel. They are so smart too. I remember when I was little, all I wanted was a spider monkey. Other little boys and girls wanted a puppy or a gerbil, but I wanted a spider monkey. I even went as far as looking up adoption methods onlnine (I didn't fit the criteria). Failing that, I then wanted a cow. Yes, a cow. 

MY FAVORITE ANIMALS OF THE DAY: the Lesser Panda :) SERIOUSLY HOW CUTE ARE THEY. When we saw them we immediately took as many photos of them as we had taken of the rest of the animals all put together haha. They were so tiny and energetic and playful and quick! And fuzzy :3 I have now changed my cow pet desire to a lesser panda. Prease aaaaand fank you.

We also spotted something called a raccoon dog, that neither of us had ever seen before. They were unbelievably fluffy and super cute though, so whatever they are, they have immediately gone to the top of my favorite animals list!

On the way back down from the zoo, Jess decided to walk while I waited for the tram. It was really quick, and cool cuz I got to see Seoul Land! All the kids on the tram were so excited, yelling that yay, we were off!! Adorable :) 

I got down before Jess so as I waited I did some people watching. It was a good thing we went early because as I got off the tram near the entrance to Seoul Park, the line of people queuing up for the tram UP to the park was IMMENSE. All the way down 3 sets of stairs and out onto the plaza ON BOTH SIDES of the entranceway was a horde of potential zoo-goers, armed with strollers and diapers.


Jess's cousin was getting done with the zoo as well, so now that we had wifi (by the Grand Park entrance there was working free wifi) Jess could communicate with them again. We sat and waited again for awhile at the front until they made it down and we could finally meet with them ^^. We at least got to walk back down the walkway with them and chat. We got some food to eat as well; I got a potato slice stick (don't know what they are actually called, but they are effing amazing). They are like warm, crispy, meatier potato chips that you roll in seasoning and eat off the stick. And as we all know, everything is better when eaten off a stick :)

After the zoo, we hit my favorite Gangnam Underground Shopping Center. I had been already but Jess hadn't, so we did a quick(er) circuit...more so than I did on my last spree ^^. I ended up with a cute flowy white longsleeve, a long turquoise knit sweater and a teal colored assymetrical hem long sleeve top. It falls really nicely actually so I think I'm going to go back and get another, for $8. 

I have been needing a new phone case for awhile, so I also picked up a new one. There are a zillion options for phone cases, both in the regular bumper/back case type we mainly use in America and in the "diary" form that I use while I'm here in Korea. I'm of the hating-change variety though, so I got my same type of cover as my old one, just in a different color. It's navy blue on the outside now and lime green inside; super cute! At the zoo today Jess and I had gotten these adorable Winnie the Pooh phone charms from a machine; I got two. I attached the Pooh in a rabbit costume to my old phone case on the way to the shopping center, then once I bought my new case, I attached the Pooh in a froggie costume to it :)

I also haven't updated on my growing collection of scarves I've been amassing both for myself and for gifts when I go home. I love the scarves here, mainly because they have such a huge selection to choose from and they are EVERYWHERE. In all kinds of fabrics and all sorts of patterns. Anytime I find one that catches my eye and is the right price, I tend to buy it. It's way cheaper than I'll ever find an equivalent scarf for in the States anyway. 

With the day over and us pretty exhausted from running around the zoo and shopping area all day, we decided on some low-effort (yet still gourmet, cuz it's Korea) pizza for dinner. A stop at the grocery store and the pizza place later, we were in our room for the night, happily munching on dinner while we watched tv ^^. Really though, the zoo was so awesome. I had the greatest time today! No wonder parents take their 3-month babies there, when the babies aren't even old enough to appreciate/remember it (a WTF? thought I was cultivating while I did my people-watching today); the PARENTS just want an excuse to go see the animals :D Mmm, yes, I understand now.

Candace: Remember that second ear piercing I got at Nana's the other day? Well I was really worried it was infected because it was red, swollen, and bleeding like crazy. This normally wouldn't have phased me after getting 7 other piercings and knowing this is sometimes normal afterwards, but it felt & looked like my piercing was too tight (e.g. the bar going through my ear was too small and the end cubes on either side were pressing into my skin). I went back to Nana's in Apgujeong to get it checked, since the girl who had pierced my ear had told me to come back in a few days to get both piercings checked out anyway. 

Jess was tired out from yesterday so she rested up in the room while I went out. I really do love just taking my time and meandering around the city. Everything is the same, yet so different from home! I feel like one of those stickers in the sticker books you get as a kid. You pick them up and place them on different pages as you move through the book; I feel like a sticker plopped down at a crosswalk in Korea! I look like I fit in (until I open my mouth ha) but I know that I am from somewhere else ^^.


The girl at Nana's took one look at my ear and plunked me down in a chair while she did...something. I don't know what she did, unscrewed the ends or replaced the bar (doubtful since that's bad so early in the healing process) or what but somehow after some pain, she showed me in the mirror how the bar was now like twice the length and the ends were no longer pressing into my skin. HALLELUJAH. I could physically FEEL the release of pressure as she did...whatever she did to my ear. So much better :) The girl who had helped me for both my piercings was this super cute, tiny, thing with AWESOME clothes and piercings. She also knew a tiny bit of English that she really tried to communicate to us with, was a lot nicer to us than the other workers there, and seemed to know what she was doing more than the rest as well. I recommend her if anyone ever ends up going there. 

Aaaaaand since I'm ALREADY right next door to Cofioca, I might as well go right? :D Don't answer that, it was rhetorical. And moot point, since nothing but raging howler monkeys could keep away (I know all about them now after our trip to the zoo! [zoo is next post]). The lady who runs the shop is seriously the sweetest thing on this planet. She's so cute and itty bitty and seems to recognize me at this point...I can hardly say I'm shocked given my addiction to this place, heh. I relaxed in the shop for awhile watching tv and sipping my bubble tea, before leaving. She was all "you're leaving already??" then thanked me as I said my goodbyes and bowed my way out. 

Now, since I hadn't done much clothes shopping since I got here I figured I would swing by the Gangnam Underground Shopping Center, located at the Express Bus Terminal subway stop. It was on the way home after all. 

I forgot how much I loved being in the shopping center; not even buing stuff, just being in there and cruising among all the cool stuff in the hundreds of shops :) It is undoubtedly my favorite place to be in Seoul...aside from in my room and at my twiggim lady's food stand that is. The noise and the hubbub from all the people and store owners and the colors and music playing is fun to be a part of ^^.

You knew this was coming, buuuut I did damage :3 I just can't help it. Next time I'll throw YOU all into this madness and see if you can resist the adorable clothes everywhere you turn for so cheap it's makes your head spin. I got 3 cute long sleeves, 3 chiffon button-ups, an aqua-colored cardigan, some cozy fleece PJ bottoms, 3 adorable thick knit sweaters, and the cutest blazer-trenchcoat jacket ever...all for about $100. The coat has an adorable print inner lining and it all flares out until around my knees, so I spent a good 5 minutes twirling in it when I first got home. Yes I am 5-years old, thanks for asking :)

Candace: Today was our music show day. We had to get an early start because the Korean girls here already have a jump on us by knowing the procedure for getting into them, when to line up, what the signs and people are saying, and all other general things about these shows (there are about 5 major music broadcasting stations that hold pre-recordings and live shows open to a few fans. They make it REALLY REALLY difficult for foreigners to get into these things. M!Countdown & Show Champion are the easiest to get into as they don't do a ticket lottery system like the other shows (Music Core, Music Bank, Inkigayo). They generally require you to show up and queue at the crack of dawn (sometimes the crazy ones show up the night before and spend the night O.O), and either put your name down with a list-maker for your designated group you are here to see, or to take a picture of yourself with a sign for your designated group & send it to the number on the sign (who is the list-maker and will put your name down in the order the texts are received). Then you have to wait for hours and hours and hours and basically spend your whole day in that general area T.T And I am not the world's most patient person. 

The other three broadcasting stations have a lottery system in which you register on their channel website and then sign up for a chance to win a ticket to the program that day. Unfortunately, since we are foreigners the site kept rejecting us for dumb reasons (passport photo was too small, wrong password entered, random Error messages, etc) and we finally concluded they just don't like foreigners applying for them. Whatever. I seriously do NOT care that much, we were over it. 

Back to M!Countdown. This was of the "lining up for hours" variety, which we were game for just to try it and see what it was like. Waiting in line isn't bad if you have friends with you to stay occupied with haha (and lots of coffeeshops and food places to nom at ^^). HOWEVER. We had to do the take a picture with the sign and then MMS it to the number written on it. Aaaaaand as we are foreigners, we can't do such things with our data turned off...we wandered off to a Starbucks to brainstorm and defrost (YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW EFFING COLD IT WAS THAT EARLY IN THE MORNING HERE IN SEOUL. There wasn't just a small white cloud everytime we breathed out, it was like a freaking all-body engulfing snowstorm. I was wearing like 8 layers and was still freezing my little Southern California butt off. HOW DO YOU PEOPLE LIVE LIKE THIS ITS NOT EVEN REALLY WINTER ANYMORE). 

After a good couple hours of sipping espresso, racking my brain, and trying to think of a way to send a picture message without using our data plan, I FINALLY touched on a way. I had been using Kakaotalk and Line (both messaging applications, like iMessage that rely on Wifi, but way cooler) with my Korean friends just fine since the Starbucks had Wifi. And we can send pictures with Kakao and Line...I don't know who the person with the phone number was but if you add them as a contact the messaging application will automatically search for them on the app. If they have it, they will be added to your messaging app contact list right away. Efficient eh? So I just added it and sat back to wait for them to pop up. And presto, once they did, I sent off my picture! So much pain searching on google for a way to send or email a picture to a foreign phone when the answer was sitting right in front of me... >.< This is hard.

We had been too late this morning to get in line for the live show, so our only option was to do this thing for the pre-recording. They allow quite a few people into these (those who are willing to go through all this waking up early, waiting, being bossed around by the little korean coordinators, sitting in line, etc). These things are very very very organized. I heard they had to start doing the music shows like this because of the injuries and madness that had occurred due to massive crowds of fangirls at these things. No wonder it's like the military up in here. We stood in line for awhile while they sorted everyone out, then were released around 11PM with strict instructions on when to come back (before 1 pm) and what we needed to have (our copy of their latest album with CD in it).

We had met the sweetest girls while waiting in line! One of them was standing in front of me; she was Korean and I couldn't pronounce her name (she said it too fast >.<) so she said to call her Tina. She SAID her English wasn't good but it was seriously really good! Not conversation level but she understood a ton and spoke sentences and all. I practiced a little of my Korean with her haha. Before we had even spoken and we had all JUST gotten into line, I was telling Jess how I was so cold and Tina went Oh! and turned right around. She handed me a warm fleece blanket right out of her purse!!!! I hadn't even spoken to the girl yet haha, I was a total English-speaking stranger to her! How sweet is that? :) I thanked her and snuggled with the blanket for a good hour until the sun warmed me up. Again, my SoCal upbringing is really not helping me out over here...

Once released we wandered into the Mnet building to find a restroom. And then I go off again on my Korean bathroom obsession hahaha if you all remember from my last blog. But seriously the stalls were super cool in here!! AND...THEY HAD TELEVISIONS IN THEIR PUBLIC STALLS. YEA. I SAID TVS. They were in the door right in front of you when you sat. WHAT NOW AMERICA. 

We got lunch at this chic, modern little place called SchoolFood with Liz & Mari. Now you might think this is a strange name for a food place...But contrary to America-driven expectations, school food here is really good! (see post I did on Yonsei University's cafeterias). Anyways, they had everything here from sushi (which they called Mari haha like our new friend Mari!), varieties of dokbokki (spicy Korean ricecake dish), and some crazy kinds of ramen. I got some form of tonkatsu ramen with garlic chips in a savory broth. It was DELICIOUS. The broth was slightly thick so it clung to the noodles more than a traditional ramen broth, and the flavor was heavenly. It was preceded by some kind of onion ring broth soup that was equally delicious; a nice, light opener to the meal. 

A quick coffee run to the Coffee Bean in the area and we were headed back to the meet-up spot. This Coffee Bean was seriously the biggest one I've ever seen in my life. The building was three stories tall, made entirely of glass and light wood and it was ALL Coffee Bean. Like, damn. 

When we returned to our line, we got a second number (which I have no idea what it means but apparently it made sense to the coordinators). Several times throughout the day we had to take out of albums and hold them up for inspection. We were moved inside the studio building to wait further, which was now not so bad because we could sit, play games, watch movies, and talk amongst each other more freely now. We could also hear snippets of music coming from all the studios of different artists and we saw some walking through the lobby earlier. I slept a little while we waited; waiting is so not my thing, even with people to wait with -.-

Once we were allowed into the actual pre-recording to see the artists, we were reminded to leave everything outside; phones, wallets, sweaters, etc. Only our physical bodies were allowed into the studio lol. And the recording was truly amazing! They have such amazing voices live (sounds EXACTLY like the album) and look even more perfect than on camera. How is that possible? So many American singers I used to love as a teeny-bopper broke my heart when I heard them sing live and it sounded terrible, or when I saw photos of them in a magazine and then on the street and they looked NOTHING alike. Even if they are foreign and sing in a different language, I appreciate how talented & professional they are at such a young age.

They had a fansigning event later this evening at COEX (giant shopping mall). It's right by our hotel in Gangnam so we went early to see what it was about. Fansigning events are generally limited to 100 people who get their albums signed & give presents or whatever, and that is decided by lottery (if you buy an album from a designated store, your name gets put in). So we were just going as spectators tonight. It was sheer madness once the event started. The girls here are NUTS. It's like it was WWII out here and snapping a photo of the artists with their gigantic news-reporter-status cameras was the only way to survive. The girls were like 5 feet tall and probably no more than 80 pounds and I was COMPLETELY intimidated by them haha. They meant business. They all brought giant stools to stand on to get above the crowd so I went and bought one from the Sanrio store nearby. The Korean fangirls brought like folding ladders and stuff though so they kept propping them up right in front of us and I had to keep moving. It was like one giant flashing lightbulbs moshpit @.@ I was over it in about 10 minutes and just wanted to leave.

I met a really nice Japanese girl who was all by herself and had just arrived from the airport...suitcase and all 0.0 I was amazed haha. Such dedication! Anyways, I sat and attempted to talk to her with my limited Japanese for awhile. She was so happy and excited I spoke a little Japanese, the poor thing spoke almost no English and no Korean at all. The frenzied mob never backed down for a second the entire the boys were signing CDs...that's all they were doing. SITTING THERE SIGNING CDS. They weren't singing or dancing or talking to us or answering questions. I have no idea why these girls were all so crazy/rude/pushy/mean/bitchy. Seriously, let's take it down a notch or twenty. I was exhausted by the end of it; there were so many people packed into that small space that it was unbearably hot and there was like zero oxygen in the air. I felt so yucky that even though we got back to our hotel tired out, I HAD to take a shower before I could sleep. Talk about an ordeal haha, I don't know how these Korean girls do it on a daily basis! I need like a week of recovery after this...

Candace: Today was a rainy one so we had another late start. We lazed around all morning and recovered a bit from our trekking yesterday! Finally the lure of bubble tea at Cofioca got us out of the hotel haha. Off to Apgujeong we went! Since we were in the area anyway, we stopped by Nana's to look at jewelry. I got my third lobe piercing on my right ear I had been considering for awhile too! It is my 8th ear piercing so I knew I wanted something smaller and more subdued than my other piercings...I chose a cute, tiny, matte black cube! Jess also bought a pair of really cute wing earrings. This will be it for my right ear; I've always wanted a tragus piercing but my tragus is too tiny. If it was pierced I'd be unable to wear ear phones and we all know that is simply NOT an option lol. Music is life <3

Sipping our delicious bubble teas, we next headed off for Sinchon. I am familiar with this area because this is where my friends Yeji & Jessie live around! I also know this area because it is right between Hongdae and Edae, two of my favorite trendy places to eat and shop. After touring through the U-Plex (giant shopping mall with cafe, ice cream, etc) and taking pictures at the top, we hit the streets in search of dinner.

Since we had been denied the FryPan back in Itaewon, I remembered there was one here as well! In fact, the one here in Sinchon was the one I had personally been to before, when Yeji brought me with her :) I even vaguely remembered where it was, since I recognized the streets coming from Yonsei University (where I stayed with her for a night). Nonetheless, I was taking no chances and had her give me exact directions to get to there before we set off ^.^ 

Happily we made it there without incident and enjoyed a most delicious dinner. Seriously, this stuff is so good. It comes with two dipping sauces of your choice and we chose Sweet Garlic & Thai Chili, or something along those lines lol. SO BOMB.

We dodged foot traffic and real traffic alike on our way back to the subway station- with several universities in the area, there is a veritable flood of humanity out and about at all times apparently. I recall being overwhelmed the first time I walked around here with Yeji; I was like OMGSOMANYPEOPLE o.o 

After a trek through the department store attached to the station, we took the subway for an hour until we got home. Time for some serious R & R before we go at it again tomorrow!

Candace: We had big plans for today...and we accomplished almost none of them haha. But not for lack of trying!! We must have made about 8573874 different transfers & walked up and down 3849287 more flights of stairs as we traversed Seoul but the important thing is, we made it home in one piece at the end of the day ^.^ 

We got a late start today so we headed to Itaewon for lunch at the FryPan, the most delicious beer & fried chicken place I've ever experienced in my life. They homemake their own chips too; they present your fried chicken on a bed of these. 45 minutes and 3 transfers later, we arrived! But unfortunately, I had forgotten that it's an evening place and doesn't open until 5 -.- Fail #1.

So I remembered last time I was here, there was a Kraze Burger, which we had also been wanting to try. We searched in vain all around the area I was sure I remembered it being in. Finally we realized it had closed up, and thats why it was no longer there. Double -.-... Fail #2. We ended up at the NoodleBox, which was a noodle place I had been dying to try on my last trip but it was ALWAYS completely packed to the brim with people. That's how you know it's good ^.~ The noodles were SUPER delicious but really spicy so I handled as much as I could and took the rest in a box. I have much to work at to match the Korean levels of spicy...

Next on our list was to visit a CGV theater here...and not just any CGV theater. A 4D one! (CGV is just their AMC as far as I can tell). So we made a quick half-hour and 3 transfer trip to Yongsan from Itaewon to get to the theater and went on a MISSION trying to find the theater once we arrived at the station...but sadly, only two movies were currently showing in 4D & neither looked interesting :/ Fail #3. 

We next headed back towards home to go to COEX, the giant shopping mall/event centerof Seoul. It is located in Samseong, 2 stops from Yeoksam. I knew for sure there was a Kraze Burger there, so off we went! And Jeff: I FOUND YOU TOTORO!! Sorry they didn't have any kimchi kitkats, but my trip is still young. 

Anyways, on to Kraze. I have been meaning to try Kraze Burger for FOREVER, but somehow I ran out of time on my last trip. I had heard a lot about it and how yummy the food was there. It's often featured in dramas or movies as well. Therefore, I was really excited to try it this time around! Like many other things we Americans think of as fingerfood or fastfood, the Kraze burger here is somewhat fancy. You eat it with a knife and fork. You also eat the fries with a fork. 

Lemme tell ya, it is the WEIRDEST thing trying to slice a bun and a piece of lettuce with a knife and fork to get a bite in your mouth, because the top bun keeps falling off the bottom half so you end up just cutting them seperately after awhile >.< I had to suppress so many urges to just drop the silverware and grab the burger and take a big munch out of it, cuz that thing was FRIGGIN DELICIOUS. I however maintained my decorum and daintily sliced my lettuce leaf with my knife and fork like a good tourist. 

Kraze is kind of a modern, mid-fancy, fun hangout...like where you'd want a first date to be. Nice enough to be counted as a date dinner, yet cozy and casual enough that you feel comfortable. We sat down and they handed us menus; we ordered the Matiz & the K.Bulgogi along with their Sweet Cheese Fries. Just look at those descriptions in the menu pictures and TELL ME THEY DON'T SOUND AWESOME. The fries were an experiment but like many other Asian foods I've experienced that combine ingredients that generally don't go together, they were BOMB. They sounded ridiculously weird, but it totally worked. We gobbled those things down just in time for the main course to arrive. We split the burgers in half so we could each try (an easy feat due to the fact that we already had a knife and fork handy heh). They had a ton of other delicious-sounding burgers on the menu too, so those will have to wait until next time. For now the verdict is: DEFINITELY WORTH THE HYPE.

Candace: Aaaaand it's another beautiful day in Seoul! A bit blustery but much warmer than yesterday ^.^ We stopped by my favorite Paris Baguette for breakfast and some second story people-watching- always a good time. 

But first, a word on crossing streets in Seoul. As I've said before, the drivers are crazy and if you value your life you will look left, right, leftrightleftrightleftright before you cross any side street longer than a friggin doormat because even that is fair game for a motorcyclist or delivery guy on a scooter. It hit me again how dangerous being a pedestrian is when we paused to check a side street, did our US-taught look Left, Right, then Left again, and JUST when we think were safe, WHAMMO, car swerves outta nowhere and tears up at us. Needless to say, we backed up in two shakes and stood calmly, like we had had no intention whatsoever of crossing just now. And no, you didn't just almost second-degree manslaughter us. 

We tend to make early starts on our day still, since we are jet-lagged per say...more like just sleep-messed-up. So we had time to kill in this coffee shop until our destination, Kyobo Tower was up and kicking. We still needed the rest of our arts and crafts stuff (namely gllitter :D). Luckily, once there we found all we needed and more. Am I the only one who has an obsession with cool paper?! Maybe it's the scrapbooker in me, but I LOVE cool papers, with like see through qualities, or metallics, or stuff embedded in the paper, or 3-D qualities...I WANT THEM ALL.

Next up we went to Apgujeong, where the famous Nana is located. This is where I wanted to get my conch pierced! Jess was supposed to get it with me but she decided not to at the last minute. It didn't hurt nearly as much as I thought it would; it's supposed to be the most painful ear piercing since it's going through the thickest part of your ear (pretty much the entire ear). I've found that most often my ear piercings have ADD when it comes to pain. It hurts at the moment of piercing, then absolutely nothing, then about 15 minutes later the adrenaline wears off and it hurts like a ^#&(%, then dulls, then nothing again. After that, I never feel it at all unless I bump it or hit it by accident. These are the longest-healing ear piercings as well, taking anywhere from 6 months to 2 years! Hope I can keep up with the cleaning like I need to, cuz I REALLY love this one :) It's as adorable as I thought it would be! <3 It was also ridiculously cheap at 10,000 won. THAT'S LIKE $9. I paid like $40 for my SINGLE LOBE piercing back home at Nathan's on Topanga, which is like the simplest, smallest ear piercing you can get. Seriously Korea, you keep kicking United States butt. I'm tempted to get another one now while I'm here, just cuz. 

We went to Cofioca down the street next, which is a famous bubble tea shop where a lot of celebrities go. I was fully expecting it to be just another boba shop, famous only because so many famous go there. I was, however, immediately proven wrong. That was HANDS DOWN the best boba I've ever had in my life. It was so good, we started craving it again WHILE WE STILL HAD OUR BOBAS. And the lady propietor was so so cute and sweet to us, trying to help and sending us off with napkins and stuff when we left. The shop was also tiny, much tinier than I was expecting for such a well-known place. It was no bigger than a walk-in closet in front, with a couple tables smushed next to each other and every inch of available wall covered with autographs from stars. It made for a very cozy and homey kind of feel, I really liked it :)

On the subway ride home, we had to stand, as we have had to most of the time. There is generally almost always someone older than us standing with us so I always give the seat to them. Several spots opened up but I kept offering them to others despite all the bags I was carrying. Apparently one of the adjummas (middle-aged women) I was standing in front of noticed (we were holding the hand ties than hang in front of seated people), and the next time a seat opened next to her, she caught my attention and told me to sit down! I sat. You don't say no to adjummas lol. But I immediately jumped up though and gave my seat to another woman who had just boarded, because the lady next to me had said something about a chingu, which means friend. I thought she was saying she had intended this seat for her friend who had just boarded lol, so I quickly got up. It was a misunderstanding though. The sweet adjumma who had first told me to sit down then said something and took my bags from me and held them for me on her lap! I had heard about people doing this in my research for my first trip to Korea but had never actually seen it done. It was so kind and unexpected!. Especially for me coming from America, where people are more often selfish and out for themselves than not. 

I had been heart-broken the other day when we went by my favorite twiggim street vendor and she wasn't there. I was worried she was gone, but TA-DA! she was there today! I was so happy I was jumping up and down like a 5-year old on Christmas haha. She had even upgraded, to thick outside covers with DOORS in them! Last time I was here, she had been out in the cold with no coverings, then towards the end of my stay, she had green windbreakers layered around her cart so the heat would stay in a little. Apparently she's doing well because now she can afford practically a whole metal-framed tent to herself! YAAAAAAAAAAAAY NEVER LEAVE ME TWIGGIM LADY. (it's like she's my drug dealer hahah)

After our dinner & a rest, we capped off our day with a night trip to Namsan. It took me a bit to remember my friend Dajeong's subway and bus directions to getting there but we got there in the end haha. We bought bear tags and had brought our locks we bought earlier at Daiso (I told you guys, I could seriously just live in that store forever; they have everything). I searched for where I put my lock last time but it was completely buried under several layers of other locks. I won't be finding it again in this life haha, maybe when they end up having to cut off locks when they run out of room in the future. I took a pictre of where it was buried instead. We locked our locks on a different corner this time, along with our messages!

We both bought tickets to go up to the top of the tower, where you can behold spectacular views and send postcards at the shop. We bought several postcards to send to family and friends and mailed them off, thousands of feet in the air :) The trip home was as tough as I remember it; Namsan is best viewed at night but that means we don't head home until 11pm-ish. While not a problem for me at home, this is late for me here with the jet-lag-messed-up-time-thing tenaciously hanging on to me. The bus ride and two subway transfers seemed to take forever, but once finally back and changed into bed clothes...KO'ed in about 30 seconds flat ^^.

Jess: So we have been running around all over the place for the past few days and it's definitely tiring. It's even more so since we are relaying solely on public transportation and our feet. So there is a lot of walking and the subway has a lot of stairs. And I mean a lot. The entrance we use near our hotel has us going up and down way too many stairs. Who ever invented stairs... I hate you.

We have been all over the past few days. So the first day we went to Gangnam and had breakfast there (see pic above) before heading over to Kyobo Tower again to purchase our SHINee CDs. From there we hopped on the subway and headed for Apgujeong. We had to do a couple transfers but we finally arrived and started to head to Nana's to get our conches pierced. It took a second for us to make sure we were going in the right direction. Originally I was going to get my conch pierced with Candace, but it's so hard to have earrings in at work because we're constantly on the phone. So at the end I decided not to get it. I watched and held Candace's hand while she got hers then we were off to the Everysing store. It was a little smaller than we thought it would be and the entrance is kind of tucked away as well. But we still spent a good amount of time just looking at all the SM Ent. merchandise that was inside. We made our final choices and went to pay before going to play around in the photoblooth they have. We did it twice because it was so much fun.

Once we were done at the store we went down the little side street to Cofioca. It's a really tiny shop and its plastered with idol signatures all over the walls from ceiling to floor. We weren't expecting to be as blown away by the bubbled tea as we were though. But there's a reason why all the idols go there and it's because the bubble tea is amazing! The owner was super sweet too, as we were leaving she made sure to give us sleeves and napkins for our drinks. We were back off to the subway to head back to the hotel to rest before we went to tackle Namsan Tower.

And the last thing for us to do that day was Namsan Tower. We made sure to bundle up good before heading out that night since we were sure it would be very cold. We had our locks ready forte wall since we didn't want to spend $15 on one at the Tower. The subway ride wasn't too bad, but the bus ride was horrible. If you've never been motion sick before, try standing on the bus here. I was glad when we finally got to our destination, but wasn't a fan of the super step trek up to it. We were pretty much walking at a 30 degree angle. It was well worth it because the view from up there is gorgeous. Our first thing to do after taking a few pictures was to get the tag to write our messages on for our locks. We also got a few souvenirs and postcards as well. Then we went back outside and found a bench to write our messages on. Once we were done we made our way to the wall of locks and found a good place to attach our own.

The last thing we needed to do was go up to the observation deck. So we bought our tickets and headed over to the line for the elevator. It's kind of cool because once you're inside they show a really short video on the ceiling of the elevator and then you're at the top. It's crazy fast and smooth. We admired the view from the top and took our pictures. Then we bought our postcards to write to our friends and family. It's cool because you can send them from the top of the tower. So that was pretty much how we ended our time at Namsan, writing letter to our loved ones back home and mailing them off. It was a very productive and busy day. We were definitely glad to be back at the hotel and knocked out right as we hit our beds.

Jess: So today started off like any other morning. We woke up and got ready for our day. We are our last pieces of our delicious pizza from last night, sadness. But just like any other pizza. It was just as good, if not better the next day and cold. Seriously, we need to start selling this pizza in the US. It's a party in your tummy. So yummy, so yummy.
We decided we would go out for coffee and try 'Dream something' coffee since Candace hasn't tried it. So we bundled up because it was cold and made our way out of the hotel. Too bad it was freezing with an artic wind and the coffee place was cold so naturally we booked it back to the hotel to layer up and warm up. We got a little more of our days planned out while we waited for the cafe to open before venturing out again. This time we were better prepared and were a little warmer as we walked to the cafe, but of course it was still cold so we ended up at Cafe Pasucci with our delicious tiramisu mocha and green tea latte.

Candace: While yesterday was unseasonably warm for here (highs of 66! PRACTICALLY NORMAL OMG), today has a lovely high of 30...with it feeling like 20. AND it's windy T.T Gah. We went out for coffee this morning and immediately had to go back to rub some feeling back into our feet and put some more layers on. They keep our room nice & toasty thanks to the marvelous Korean floor heating I'm so enamored with. But once in the open its like the Artic tundra up in here! With office buildings. And coffee shops...

An hour later we made it out onto the street without incurring frost bite in the first 30 seconds of exposure. Because it was so cold we chose the most yummy delicious drinks we could find, a tiramisu mocha & green tea latte. Those of you who know me, three guesses which is mine...actually make that one, you only need one ^.^ Our morning is starting to take on a pattern; warm up, defrost, warm up, defrost.

Candace: On our walk to Kyobo Tower today, where there's a giant bookstore/crafts store/music store on the first basement level, we had some fun at shops along the way. At a glasses vendor, we tried on some funny Harry Potter glasses. While we passed over the HP ones, I did pick up a cute pair for myself! (Since I left my other pair at home, like the genius that I am). Gas prices are so cheap here!!! And like I posted about before, you aren't allowed to touch the gas pumps, so this price includes them filling up your tank FOR you...sweet deal. And gas prices are skyrocketing up to $5 AND we gotta do it ourselves...clearly we suck. 

I also spotted these fun little Spam Singles that I've never seen before!! Jess said that she has seen them but apparently they aren't popular enough in SoCal cuz this is hilarious to me. It's like any other popular lunchemeat or cheese or something, but its SPAM. Only in Asia would this be everywhere hahaha. I also got some really cute bunny socks and some hand cream because with it being so bitterly cold here, my hands are already starting to chap and bleed. Good grief. 

Jess: So we were off on our search for art supplies and made our way to Kyobo Tower. We of course had to look into different shops and a street vendor on our way. We had fun looking in Artbox which had the cutest panda shirt that I may have to go back for later. We also saw really cute eating utensils with faces on them (picture below). It's just a fun little shop, kind of reminds me of Fuego back home. It just has little odds and ends that are cute and unique. We also made another stop at Daiso to get a few other things. That's three times alreay since we've been here. Haha. Maybe we'll end up hitting another one today. We still have to get locks for when we go to Namsan Tower. We also took our picture at a media pole on our walk and saw a jumbo tron playing SHINee's win on I believe M Countdown or Show Champion. ^^ 
Once we finally got to Kyobo Tower, it took a while for us to figure out where we needed to go. We were waiting for the elevator and once it came, of course a sea of people came flooding out. What made me giggle was that at the very end when you think that there is seriously no way all these people fit in an elevator, a guy with a bicycle walks out. We missed our opportunity to get inside the elevator so we made a pitstop to the bathroom while we waited for the next one. Once we finally got to where we needed to be we wandered around a little in the music section before ultimately making our way to where all the papers were. Once we picked out which ones we wanted, we made our way to pay. Unfortunately, we didn't know we were supposed to get a ticket for our papers. It's a good thing we were in the line with a helper for the cashier so she went to get the ticket for us. Once we were done, we decided to walk around a little before going to lunch since we weren't that hungry yet. We spent a little time in Etude House, which smells so good. Makes you just want to eat everything. Haha. We continued our trek down the street and saw shops we were more familar with and a few oddly named ones (see picture below). My favorite was that there was a 'Ho Bar' right next to the 'Kinky Robot'. 
And finally it was time for us to eat KBBQ! We were both excited and were so ready to eat once we got to the place. We were a little stupid and didn't realize how to work the door though. Candace tried to pull it but it would budge so we thought it was closed. We walked away and saw a few other people walking up to the restaurant and watched what they did. Apparently you have to slide the door. *face palm* Either way the food was delicious and quickly warmed us up from fridget air that we were in outside. 
After our lovely lunch of KBBQ, we got ourselves ready to brave the cold once more to head back to our hotel. We stopped by "Kona Bean' on our way to get some actual coffee to help warm us up. It was so cute inside and very warm. We sat inside to warm up a little bit and to cool down our extremely hot americanos. That was useless because they didn't cool down at all so we just decided to walk back to the subway knowing the coldness outside will cool down our drinks right away. Once we were at the subway again, we both went back to these shops we were looking at when we first arrived. Candace ended up buying a really cute shirt while I got this adorable backpack that I've been eyeing for the past couple days. I don't have much use for one back home, but I figure it will come in handy here. 
We pretty much book it back to the hotel, of course the stairs of doom was there to challenge us on our way. It is still winning by the way. We start off strong at the bottom, but are tired and breathless by the top. They are currently the bane of our existence. We were fully prepared to have our arts and craft day once we were back in the room, but since we are so easily distracted we ended up watching some shows and deciding on what kind of delivery we wanted for dinner. Too bad we were both out like a light by 8pm. >_<

Candace: It was so so cold that we bustled back to our hotel double-time! We had intended to have our arts and crafts day now that we had all the supplies (even glitter!!!) and ordering delivery for dinner, but we ended up watching a few shows and getting so tired we fell asleep by 8pm >.< I think we are regressing in our jetlag status haha we are progressively getting more and more jetlagged as we go ^.^ Therefore, we were both up by 4am and that is when I am posting this since I passed out before I could do it last night. Today we are hitting Apgujeong, karaoke, and getting our conches (middle part of ear) pierced!

Cold -> 추위 -> choo-wee
Glasses -> 안경 -> ahn-kyuhng
Coffee -> 커피 -> kuh-pee

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!