I just mentioned in my previous blog entry that one of the ways to cope with this covid community quarantine is to think about happy thoughts. So, here I am, writing down our Seoul experience as I reminisced it with a smile on my face.
Beautiful Seoul
My girlfriends and I started to plan about our Seoul, South Korea trip sometime 1st quarter of 2019. We need to plan ahead as we are all working moms so we need to ensure that our work schedules and logistics match. Our friendship started when we were working in a big IT multinational firm in the Philippines. We were members of the same team and thus, spent a great deal of our time together. And during our meetings, day to day interactions, working lunches and numerous conference calls, a beautiful friendship blossomed which I consider as one of my life's biggest blessings.
We chose Seoul as our travel destination because we are all avid fans of the Korean wave/Korean dramas. We would exchange a lot of blushy and giddy messages about the korean actors and the korean dramas!! So the Seoul trip was a perfect destination to get together, disconnect from our exhausting and very busy lifestyle and recharge.
It was a whimsical and stress-free get together! We all agreed on an itinerary but we focused on our Musts/Tops Priorities, if we were to compare it in an Agile backlog. :) We had the major korean dramas shooting destinations as part of our itinerary!
And the big day came. After an almost 22 hour flight and almost a 2 hour traffic from the Seoul Incheon airport to Myeongdong, I finally saw my girlfriends!! And I was just the happiest and most thankful! I gave them tight hugs and we all started talking and talking and talking and just talking.
Our first itinerary was the Myeongdong Food Market. It is a streetlong showcase of street food. As it is touristy, it is expected that the items are overpriced. But it was worth the experience! We enjoyed the buttered lobsters, buttered scallops, noodles and sweets!
Myeondong Night Food Market
Myeondong Night Food Market
And what is a Seoul trip without trying the traditional Hanbok (traditional Korean costume)? It was one of the first things that we did. We were able to get our best tourist packages with Klook, a travel platform that caters to tourism needs in Asia. With Klook, we were able to book our Hanbok experience, the Nami Island, Petit France day trip and the Namsan, Seoul Tower experience. We felt so giddy as we tried on our Hanboks. There was a long queue of clients waiting for their turns to try on the Hanbok and for the hairstyling. But it was worth it! We walked to the palace in the city center (and I can´t even remember the palace´s name because I did not pay attention to the culture part of the trip.. This was an absolute fan girling moment hahaha), took lots of pictures as we kept on uttering the beautiful feeling that came with the wearing of the Hanbok.
Hanbok experience
We had a day trip to go Petit France and Nami Island to have a feel of the beautiful nature and to see the shooting locations of the Kdramas, Winter Sonata and My Love from the Star. Winter Sonata was shown sometime early or mid 2000 so this will give you an idea how long have I been fangirling with these Kdramas hahahaha. Petit France was small and there´s not much to see. It was just too crowded! Nami Island is also flocked by tourists but the island is big enough to accommodate all of us!! It was autumn so it was breathtaking to see the different shades of autumn as evident in the trees and the leaves. It was chilly but super bearable. We eventually saw the spot where Winter Sonata was shot! As expected, I did not let the opportunity for a photo op pass by.
Nami Island
Winter Sonata statue in Nami Island
We also went to Namsan/Seoul Tower where many Kdramas were shot. Our Korean superstar actors shot scenes in the Namsan Tower and we were just over the moon to have stepped on the spot where they shot the scenes! Hahahahahaha But the Namsan Tower is a sure place visit because it provides a beautiful scenic panoramic view of Seoul. It was just picturesque. It has a high speed elevator that takes to you to the peak of the tower and there is an observatory where you can see the panoramic view of the city. We tried to reminisce the Boys over Flowers scene but getting the Tower in the pic was just difficult and of course, the scene in one of my all time favorites, My Love from the Star. Hahahaha
Sunset in Namsan Tower
I heart Korea sign in Namsan Tower
Seoul Panoramic view from Namsan Tower
My love from the Star photo op
Say hello Namsan Tower
Boys Over Flower Namnsan Tower Photo op
We also walked along the beautiful Han River. There´s not much to see there but it was insightful to see the river in the city center where trade and commerce was done during the earlier times. It also provided a view of the Seoul "skyline". And of course, scenes of the Legends of the Blue Sea were shot in the Han River. When I watched Legends of the Blue Sea via streaming, I was actually teary eyed as I remembered the good times that I shared with my girlfriends in the Han River!
Seoul Skyline from the perspective of the Han River
Legend of the Blue Sea photo op in the Han River
Welcome to Han River!
We also toured around the city, did a lot of shopping (actually, from day 1 we were already shopping hahaha). Best buys included our Kdrama actors calendars, photo albums hahahaha hahahaa, Sum 37, a high end Korean skin care product, my son´s Korean bus and the goodies that our families and friends enjoyed!! Seoul is a safe city and people are nice and helpful, albeit the language barrier they tried their very best to help us with directions. The Seoul metro/subway system is huge and is efficient. We, 3 girlfriends, had our responsibilities - G was our planner, our navigator and our googlemaps. :) R was our time keeper and I approached strangers to ask for directions as our last option. Hahahaha. The public transport was on time and efficient! We visited some more places such as Gangnam, Starfield, the instagrammable library and we walked a lot in the area of Myeongdong. Seoul is also a good place to enjoy an unforgettable gastronomic experience!! Food is an absolute delight! We had a lot of hits and I don´t remember having any miss on our food choices, considering that we just relied on the photos outside the restaurants. Koreans eat a lot of rice (just like the Filipinos) so it was a very familiar feeling! The Asian flavors and the heavy rice eating during breakfast brought me back home, it was just so homespun!! Several restaurants are operating on a 24*7 mode so we had so many options. There are also fruit stalls/vendors on the streets so we had our daily portions of fruits! We went to some coffee shops to experience the kdrama feels and we were lucky to have gone to the exact coffee shop and exact spot/table where a scene from the Kdrama Goblin was shot!! We also had a reservation in the Oliva Bistro, where some scenes of the Kdrama Something in the Rain was shot. And we were so fortunate as the owners made us sit on the exact table where the lead actors had their dinner! We were just over the moon!
Starfield Library
Myeongdong
Gangnam
Starfield Library
Seoul subway
Dinner in Oliva Garden
Glorious Korean food feast!!
Bimbimbap
Yellow public bus on our way to Seoul/Namsan Tower
But as always in our life, some good things must come to an end. Our weeklong get together has culminated. It has been 4 months since our beautiful Seoul trip but it continues to give me very good feels. I am almost smiling ear to ear as I reminisce on the good times spent with my girlfriends! We exchanged views and experiences as professionals PMOs, as working moms and I also gained a lot of financial literacy in our week long vacation. We had a lot of good laughs as we rekindled our previous experiences and how much or how little we have changed! I miss my girlfriends R and G. But I always have this Seoul trip experience and pictures to look at. And in the meantime, I am content with our whatspp group as we all look forward to our next trip together.
Thank you Seoul! Thank you KLM for the safe trip! Thank you to my dearest sweetie for this all-expense paid holiday!! Thank you R and G! Miss you bigtime girls. Love you! Mwuah!!
And most of all, thank you Papa Jesus for your mercy and graces!!
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