Showing posts with label Korea Adventure. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Korea Adventure. Show all posts

Saturday, May 18, 2013

Dream Concert, where dreams come true

As tacky as the title sounds, that's basically what happened. Not many people (okay, except for the thousands who were there with me) can say they saw 20+ kpop idols perform all in one night. The lineup went something like Rainbow, EXO (both K and M), B1A4, Girl's Day, U-Beat, U-KISS, INFINITE, Huh Gak, 2AM, ZE:A, BTOB, VIXX, Evol, Boyfriend, KARA, Secret, SPEED, SISTAR, 4minute, T-ara N4, B2ST, SHINee, SNSD, and a few rookie groups
Venue: Seoul World Cup Stadium
We are faceless; literally. 
Longest queue evar... of girls my sister's age
I was sad they missed B.A.P (they are in America wtf), Teen Top (they had their own concert on the same day), NU'EST (idk where they went), Ailee (also dunno), and D-Unit (too underrated). BUT WHO AM I TO COMPLAIN BECAUSE TICKETS WERE ONLY $5 WTF. Totally would have paid more even if I was a whole football (actually they don't play football here so idk an equivalent for this...) field away.
My wonderful view lololol
The MCs waving at us (SHINee's Onew, KARA's Goo Hara, B2ST's Doojoon)
Giant scaffolding blocking my entire view fml
I think 80% of the people there were at least 5 years younger than me -____-
In the pic is about 1/3 of the whole crowd 
B1A4 (conveniently standing without CNU) 
Scaffolding ft. INFINITE
I was seated in the B2ST fanseats, but I practically screamed for all the groups that came out. I never even expected the ballad singers like Huh Gak and 2AM to be so exciting. I also learned that Boyfriend have about the same amount of popularity as the unknown rookie groups. I would totally post the videos I recorded, but my screaming overpowers everything else *fail level 1000* ㅠㅠ I think I love each group even more now (except the ones that are already super popular like SNSD, B2ST, 4minute, etc).
Pearlescent sky blue sea of Shawols
Metal gold pearl sea of Inspirits & giant headblock
After this night, I lost my voice and totally sounded like a "dying whale" according to my sister... but it was totally worth it. 99% sure it's a one-time thing so I will treasure this night forever in my obsessive kpop loving heart <3

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Busan Day 2 ft. Real Aquarium, Freezing In The Cold, & Melting In The Heat

So on the second day, my friend took us to the Busan Aquarium, and no we did not eat the fish there. We were actually planning to ride a tour bus, but it was raining. And the bus was full. And we didn't want to wait 30 minutes for the next one. Sooo my friend just busted out his car out of nowhere and drove us instead.
I don't even think the nation has that many aquariums lol
Ugly catfish-esque thing that can't decide if it wants to stay in or out of water
Ugly, horn-y, thing
So ugly long neck
I think it was being bullied
Mommy and baby kinda cute (actually dunno if they're even related)
Looks like a pokemon or something
Snake? Eel?
So gross, that little fish is messed up @___@
Super big octopus that could strangle you
Lazy
Stingray
Aquarium is not complete w/o a shark
MAMBO
idk English name for it. That's just what it's called in Japanese
Dolphin? I'm not really sure
A real frozen hammerhead. Must stink so bad inside that feezer

Aquariums are just... aquariums. I don't know what else to say about it :P They are relatively similar wherever you go although each one has something others don't (but I've seen better ones in Japan, sorry Korea!). It did reinforce my desire to have a jellyfish tank in my house though... even though I've been stung at least 3 times by them -____- But they're so calming to watch!

Right outside the aquarium is the beach...
First time wearing a coat and walking on sand...
After the aquarium we went to the biggest department store in the world! Not that I could afford most of the things in there BUT there's an ice skating rink and spa inside as well *O* DO ALL THE ACTIVITIES! *fist pump* No, really. First we ate lunch, then we ice skated (it's mandatory to wear helmets and gloves wtf), then we went to the spa (sorry no pictures), then we browsed around. The spa was much, much classier than the sauna I went to 2 years ago but my roommate still received quite a culture shock. I guess I'm used to naked old ladies walking around because I've been to hot springs in Japan multiple times, but my roommate looked petrified lololol. She was so lost the whole time whether it be putting her stuff in the lockers, changing into the clothes they provide you, or going into the different sauna rooms :P
Ignore the couple, I just wanted to show you that the ice rink
is INSIDE THE FOOD COURT wtf
Reminded me of my rollerblades from when I was 8
Inside the dome is the saunas
The heat felt so nice, but we had to go back out into the freezing cold T^T Dunno why but Busan was so rainy and cold that weekend! It didn't stop us from venturing into a creepy ass "amusement park" though. This was on the way to edible aquarium round 2 (because roommate said "I'm good with sashimi" which anyone with English as a second language would take it as "Yes I want sashimi" when she actually meant she doesn't want anymore... So terrible at communicating omg D: &she wants to become a teacher... 헐)
Yeah, look how inviting this looks
Crazy flip... OF DEATH
If this isn't creepy idk what is
GUNNA EAT YOUR BRAINS
First time I had macaroni as a side dish here
It was so good I ate another plate of it...
That night, there was supposed to be a gathering with a bunch of my friends that I met last summer BUT IT WAS CANCELED. But a few of them still wanted to see me (yay they didn't forget who I am >w<) so we went to a bar (? idk what these casual drinking places are called...) to socialize. Yay met new people and it was extremely awkward!
Some weird fruit+cereal+milk mixture thing...
Spicy cheesy goodness
Aaaand that's it for this trip because the next day I felt so terrible I couldn't even get out of bed and I ate absolutely nothing and slept until it was time to catch the KTX back to Seoul on Monday morning x__x BUSAN Y U SO CRUEL TO ME

Busan; where I consume fish with more senses than I'd prefer

Wow, this post is long, long, long overdue. I have been sick for days and still not feeling quite up to par so I've been lazing around all day, every day. Anyway I'd like to write about my trip to Busan last weekend 2 weekends ago! It may get a bit lengthy since I took a lot of pictures and went to a bunch of places in the 2 days I was adventuring, so a warning in advance.

We caught the KTX train at around 1 on friday and arrived in Busan around 4. I don't like traveling so it was a bit uncomfortable, but better than taking the bus for 5+ hours. Once we arrived, we checked into our tiny little hotel room then met up with my friend. Let me just put this out there that he is awesome. He basically payed for EVERYTHING- meals, activities, train ticket, etc. for both me AND my roommate, for TWO DAYS. Like wtf most generous person ever aka "perks of having an oppa" as my roommate put it. 

Anyway, after having a cup of coffee we headed to the Nampo street market. It was just blocks and blocks of small shops all crowded together and I'm not a big fan of that so I didn't browse too much or take any pictures. Instead, we headed to the Busan tower. Pretty similar to Namsan, but the view was totally different. Again, we went around sunset so it was really nice
This clock made of flowers actually worked! 
Busan Tower~
Some traditional bell thing... sorry my explanations so meh
Hiked all the way up here! The walk through the park was nice :3
Couples' bench D:
This museum was right next to the tower
It housed all kinds of instruments from around the world
Kind of random, but cool 
120m up to the observation deck!
And then climb stairs that would be impossible
for an average American to fit through @___@
View of harbor~
They are currently building a new bridge
It looks almost done!
Zoomed view of temple below the tower.
I thought the decorations were nice
Yay! Got to capture the sunset again :D
Then, for dinner we went to Jagalchi fish market... more like "the edible aquarium" x____x Like... literally there were sooo many fish and other sea creatures I've never thought was possible to eat. The whole place was as big as a gymnasium and it smelled like I would imagine the inside of a fish tank to smell like >__< The floor was all wet with the fish water splashing over the tanks so thank goodness I wore covered shoes. My friend chose the fish and we went upstairs to wait for the ladies to cook it and serve it to us. It's one of those things you have to experience once you go to Busan.
Edible aquarium~
Sorry for the blur but this is the only shot I have of the whole area...
It's endless!!
Tank of crabs
Cannot tell, but they were pretty big
And Lobstar =w=
Octopussssss
So gross idek
Even grosser, looks like tapeworms wtf
(Idek what tapeworms look like)
If live fish weren't enough, here's tons of dried ones.
THIS...
turned into THIS! Tasted like I took a lick of the ocean...
And THIS....
Turned into THIS! It was salty and good actually.
The rest turned into sashimi
And the bones used for the stew~ Too spicy >___<

Actually, I think I will make another post for Day 2 of Busan since this post got quite long already and I have even more pictures from that day. So I hope this post was interesting enough and I apologize again for the delay T___T I will keep the posts coming to compensate so stay tuned!!