I wanted to start off by first sharing this wonderful mural I saw walking on the streets of Seoul the other day.
What a beautiful painting and message; I’m sure it resonates with just about anyone who lays eyes on it.
For those of you who know me, you know that I am an ugly-photo-enthusiast. I don’t know what it is about standing there, smiling at cameras time and time again….. buttttt ….I DON’T LIKE IT. There’s just something so “plastic” about it. Like… what are we–mannequins? Anyways, this mural (not that I really need encouragement) basically reinforces my desire to stay young… and to stay ugly. I spent a huge amount of my youth expressing myself through my face (you can ask my parents and sister–definitely started very, very young)… and I don’t want to grow up. After all, as the old adage goes: “You don’t stop playing because you grow old, you grow old because you stop playing.” (or in this case: “make yourself look as ugly as humanly possible.”)
…. Welp, I just spent a good amount of time justifying all the bad photos to come in this post. At least this disclaimer gives me peace of mind 🙂
Okay, now to begin my EPIC HAUL OF PHOTOS FROM KOREA:
But first, we begin in SFO. Obligatory Snapchat filter photos:
… I swear, while I was at the airport, I heard on the intercom “Mr. Kim Jong Il. Mr Kim Jong Il. To a courtesy telephone please.” I had to check my boarding pass – ONE WAY TICKET TO THE WRONG KOREA?????
Thank goodness I made it. To the right Korea.
Arrived in Seoul! Take a look at my cozy Airbnb apartment! (The fisheye makes it look bigger than it actually is.)
The next morning: Up and at ’em with the Seoul Snapchat filters!
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You’re welcome for the nightmares:
So to start off my tourist adventures, I had to take the Seoul Metro. Let it be known to the world that YES INDEED Mendi is still navigationally challenged and can’t transport herself to save her life. It took me 2 hours to get to my destination, which probably should’ve taken 45 minutes tops. I have major issues with route-optimization when presented with multiple transfer options.
But let’s not dwell on the past. I GOT THERE.
First stop: Jogye Buddhist Temple (Korean Buddhism)
First GoPro selfie of the trip (I think my eyes are half-crossed… wut.)
Cute lil Buddha!
Pretty lotus flowers
Next stop: Changdeokgung Palace! (Warning: Literally every palace entrance looks exactly the same… you will most definitely get sick of seeing them in my subsequent photos, especially because the grandeur of the structures cannot be captured in photos D: Sorry in advance.)
This palace was my favorite of the two I visited… just because of how empty it was. Finally some peace and quiet for me to take my ugly photos. (But actually, I literally ran around the palace ground like a leashless dog.)
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I mentioned this palace was super empty…… This is me running around. COMMENCE PHOTO BURST:
I swear they just did “copy paste copy paste copy paste copy paste” on all the entrance structures:
Again, running through the palace:
ARE YOU SICK OF ME YET? ARE YOU SICK OF THE PALACE STRUCTURES YET?
Too bad here’s more.
Panoramic because you can’t get enough of the copy paste action:
Next, I went to the Gyeongbokgung Palace… Much like Changdeokgung, it’s a lot of “copy paste”, too. (Btw, both Palace names I can’t pronounce without sounding Cantonese…)
This palace had traditional palace guards!!! MUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF PHOTO OP. But pay attention to the next series of photos…
“HerpDerp look at me I so awkward”
“…Am I even allowed to do this?”
Notice the hand sliding in from the right side of the photo:
“PHOTO NO”
“Oh, we’re not supposed to take photos with these guards?”
Him: *Makes X with his arms” NO PHOTO
Me: Ma bad.
Him: *scornful look*
Me: “Please forgive me, sir.”
…WELL THAT WAS A FIASCO.
MORE COPY PASTE
Only way I can handle this copy paste shiet is to make more faces.
LOL I didn’t have hands so I had to flip the hair out of my face. The GoPro caught the action:
…… I got so sick of the copy paste…. THAT I EATED IT. NOM NOM NOM NOM NOM.
“Is it over yet?” you ask. “Are we done with these damn palace photos?”
YES. IT’S OVER. YOU CAN BREATHE NOW.
After the second palace, I decided to go to the National Folk Museum of Korea. Not sure if you guys know this, but I have a really bad habit of Snapchat-documenting my musings while I peruse museum exhibits… (Disclaimer: None of this is meant to offend anyone; these are just my immediate, unfiltered thoughts.)
On my way outside of the Museum/Palace grounds… I stumble upon THIS ADORABLE GROUP OF LITTLE CHILDREN. ooOooo I die I die. Hide yo kids hide yo wife (but actually just the kids)
More kids in traditional Korean dress (hanbok)!!! EEEEEEEEE
On my way back to the apartment, the subway station had this weird mirror art piece:
Let me tell you a quick, slightly sad story while I was on the Metro. I was just minding my business on the train when these two women walked in and sat down. Both women’s faces were totally bandaged up.
My immediate thought: OMG PLASTIC SURGERY.
We all know the preconception about Koreans and their obsession with plastic surgery, so imagine my giddiness as it manifested itself RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY EYES. As a tourist, I thought, “must capture for posterity”, and discreetly took a photo to send to some friends. As I sent it, I saw two other girls start to position their cameras to send a photo to their friends. When that happened, it hit me: We’re such monsters.
Why the hell did we treat these poor women like a spectacle? They’re human beings, not zoo animals. And it occurred to me how much courage it must’ve taken for them to step out into a public setting. At that moment, I was so incredibly disappointed in myself. In the end, I’m glad I was at least able to reflect and realize the pitfalls of my actions.
On a slightly less depressing and revelatory note: I ate Korean cold noodle for lunch.
Didn’t realize it would mean “COLD” (like ARCTIC TEMPERATURE) noodle:
Afterwards, I went back to the apartment to rest up (cuz jet lag is a bitch.)
Another side story: After I posted my last blog, mentioning that I was solo-traveling Korea, I was contacted by a friend from college who I hadn’t seen in four years since he graduated. He said he was traveling to Korea AT THE EXACT SAME TIME. What are the freaking odds, man?!?!
What this taught me is that no matter where you go or are in the world, chances are you’ll know someone 🙂 Like when I met up with my friend Jeff solo-traveling Cambodia, too!
The world, while BIG, is actually not that “big”.
Anywayzzz, I met up with Conrad and Ryan (Conrad’s friend who lives in Korea, WHO ALSO WENT TO COLUMBIA) for dinner.
In true Korean fashion, we started off with….. drank.
Then arrived some food. We had some weird Korean sashimi stuff…. After the entire meal, we still weren’t sure if we were eating any of it correctly -_-…
Oh yeah, the reason why we chose this random restaurant was because Conrad saw these weird “sea drumstick” looking things outside and wanted to try it even though we had no idea what it was.
Turns out, it’s called “Sea Squirt” (literally the worst name ever), also known as Sea Pineapple (Spongebobby’s house???)…….. AND IT ACTUALLY TASTED LIKE SH*T. (super bitter T_T)
As you can tell, we weren’t exactly satisfied with meal numero uno, so we went to another restaurant, this time knowing fully well what we’d be eating.
BUT FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS:
A GALLON OF BEEEEEEER
…. my favorite, BONCHON!!!! (Korean fried chicken smothered in spicy, sweet garlic soy sauce)
Naturally, the boys didn’t feel satiated on the alcohol meter… so we ended up at a “Social Club” a.k.a. Super bougie lounge with what looked like an epic gathering of Korean Yuppies.
Fancy whiskey for the fellas (I sat out because I went through trauma as a baby when my dad decided to finger-feed me whiskey and I started foaming at the mouth and passed out for a couple of hours BUT THAT’S BESIDE THE POINT)
Supa fancy light action:
YAYYYY So glad I was able to meet up with long lost classmates. Thanks for hosting, guys!!! 😀
This is going to be the most awkward segue, but do you remember in my Japan post last year when I proclaimed my love for Japanese toilets?
Well I’ve been totally spoiled by the toilet in my Seoul apartment!!!
… First of, IT HAS AUTO FLUSH SO I CLICK NO BUTTONS.
Secondly: GUYS I’VE GIVEN MYSELF 15 “ENEMAS” SINCE I GOT HERE. (But seriously wtf who labeled this -_-)
The end.
More to come from Korea!
Mendi
the wanderlust is real. 