This journey brought me a myriad of emotions- anxiousness, annoyance, anger, desperation, helplessness, relief, gratefulness, happiness, proudness, etc. The exposure to all that unfamiliar, the embarrassment, and the fun in the challenge; it was all worth it.
After almost half a year of preparation, it's d-day of our trip. So bumpyyyy, we almost canceled because our mother was brought to the hospital the previous day but since she's regained consciousness family members encouraged us to push thru.
I arrived at NAIA T3 before 3PM, with more than 2 hours of buffer time before boarding. It was drizzling when I left my apartment. The rain scared me so I also asked my brother to come early at the airport.
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| I prayed, "Rain, rain go away!" |
It was easy, I say breezy passing through the gates and the immigration. The PH male Immigration Officer asked for the purpose of travel, checked my employee ID and flight tickets. As for my brother, his IO asked only a few questions (No ID was asked of him that for a moment I felt the modern curse of women. I'm just a gurl and life is a nightmeeeehre!).
At the passenger waiting area, the windows revealed the strong rain has started. Then came strong thunderstorms that delayed flights, announced one after the other. We missed a proper dinner since we kept waiting for a sudden announcement of our flights. My fear of missing the changing boarding gates kept me on my seat. When we moved gates, the waiting area then got crowded and meal stalls are no longer nearby. We ate the emergency biscuits and chocolates I brought with me. Finally, we left around 9PM (after 2 hours of delay).
On board, we filled-out flight declaration forms, then changed our sim cards. I borrowed my brother's phone as my main phone and mine as a spare. My Huawei phone was unreliable due to app compatibility. I meant to buy a new phone but with the looming pecuniary needs back home I put it off. It turned out fine in the end but not very convenient.
We arrived before 1AM at Incheon Airport T1. The first thing we did upon arrival at the empty halls was fill-out the Bureau of Quarantine form. Someone left a phone on the table so we gave it to the BQ officer. The immigration queue was long with only a few IOs on duty. The SK female IO only checked for my return ticket and its date.
A large airport can be so overwhelming. We took a quick train transfer within the airport then I don't know where we went to. We just kept on following the flow of the arrival passengers. There weren't many visible signs, so I asked our fellow puzzled tourists where the exit was and they couldn't find it either. Eventually, we found it and then at the hallway was the agglomeration of CU marts, ATMs and the signage for the night bus.
We withdrew a one-time 750K won at Woori Bank ATM, after a few failed attempts. At first, we couldn’t figure out why the transaction was getting canceled. After some thinking, my brother checked his online banking settings and adjusted his withdrawal limit.
At the CU convenience store, we bought T-Money cards (which we later learned was actually not T-Money but Cashbee. Hide it in plain sight!). Using the card, we tapped to pay for the night bus. On our way to exit the bus, I asked if we need to tap-out (embarrassment #1 flushed before me) because the driver looked puzzled at my question. So we just scurry away laughing at how I looked ignorant like the other Filipino tourists who were not even aware of the existence of the night bus. (They also paid in won in a messy unfamiliarity with their banknotes).
The streets were so empty at Seoul Train Station bus drop-off with just a few cars and a police car patrolling the area. Our accommodation was not too far but not too close. We wanted to take a taxi since the city bus is not yet in operation but registration on both Uber and Kakao-T mobile apps didn’t work for us (we spent the whole bus ride trying to figure it out). The authentication code was either not sent nor accepted. Eventually, we learned this option was not yet available for foreigners.
The fellow Filipino tourists who dropped off with us tried to negotiate with a taxi on standby. They were turned away by the driver after communication failed regarding their destination. I was pulling out our printed copy of hotel accommodation when the taxi left (we couldn't even try miscommunicating). We felt we didn't need to embarrass ourselves and decided to walk to our accommodation. Before we left, the other tourists said they’d contact their local friend to ask for help (we don't have friends here! sad life).
It was already past 3AM, the red light at the pedestrian crossing wasn't changing yet there were no cars passing. We felt like we were waiting for forever. Then, there's that Pedxing button which is used differently in the Philippines (and in other countries too). Thinking that button also serves as a request for crossing, I pressed it in two intervals! Coincidentally, I also noticed a police car drove twice near us and then left upon seeing us. (A few months later, I learned that the button was meant for PWDs, and it calls for police assistance!) Anyway, the light never changed, so when other tourists crossed at red light, we just did too. (So what if the red light was broken, then we would have waited till sunrise!)
It was almost 4AM when we found an open Bibimbap store. We dined with only ourselves around. The couple operating the store was really friendly and kind. After our dinner-breakfast (Is there a portmanteau for late dinner that's also breakfast?), the bus was then in operation.
At the bus stop, a heavily intoxicated drunk man kept falling from the bench. On our exit from the bus, I tried asking the driver (again?!) if we needed to tap out our cards (sleepy impulse embarrassment!) We got shooed out by the rude driver, as we exited on the wrong door! I googled then what it meant to tap out at the bus payment system. And so, we found out about the comprehensive "Bus Etiquette" and other bus riding guidelines and rules. I'm still a firm believer that there are no stupid questions (maybe, just wrong person to ask). I can't seem to know everything, right? (Cheers to embarrassing and cringy progress!)
We made it to our accommodation and slept for less than 5 hours. Then we headed out to our first destinations (Gyeongbokgung Palace and Bukchon Hanok Village). After a short deliberation, we decided not to leave our bags at the hotel lobby/kitchen since it's out of our way to the next lodging. We planned to try using T-Locker to store our backpacks but we couldn't find how to pay for the locker using cash. The card payment in the app is not user friendly and took a toll to our debugging-programmer-tester patience. We made a pass on it and went with our bags that eventually stalled our touring.
We were unable to really enjoy going around with our heavy backpacks. Bukchon Hanok Village was especially hilly so we stopped walking further down the long streets. We ate our lunch at 7- Eleven. We really liked the food like we’ve never been to a 7-Eleven. As we enjoyed our food, we observed that the male cashier was actually rude to all tourist customers (like when we ordered and asked for assistance. When I worked as a cashier, the customers protected me from a rude one... Shhh, let's not talk about that here).
Bukchon Hanok Village was so beautiful. I wish I could come again with my artist friend to appreciate the artistic corners of the village.
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| Bukchon Hanok Village, right my alley! |
We then headed to Itaewon. Moving accommodations wasn't part of our original plan, it just happened that when our mother was brought to the ER, I canceled the booking that was due payment. When everyone agreed that we should go since she's stable, the rebooking was no longer available. The rebooking got messy.
Itaewon's not my vibe. The holidays made the streets piling with trash as early as the first afternoon we walked to the guest house we are staying. At night, we went to Daiso to buy a charger adapter. Then, we walked along Hamilton street, where the deadly crowd crush once happened. We looked for a decent restaurant to have our dinner but there's liquor everywhere, so we ended up buying food at CU. After dinner, we just rested.
The next day we head out for our DMZ tour package. We thankfully made it just 5 minutes earlier than the scheduled bus pick-up at Itaewon Station. We ran fast to make it. (There was a change on schedule and bro got overwhelmed with the extra hour adjustment. I got annoyed of course, waiting anxiously is not my forte.)
The DMZ tour was really worth booking. The guide was excellent with all the historical stuff he talked about, informative but not boring. On the other hand, watching the video at the AV room about the DMZ/JSA made me sleepy (Microsleep mode on like 5 seconds!) .
At Imjingak Pyeonghwa Nuri Park, it drizzled a bit. We wanted to buy an umbrella but it was really expensive at the DMZ stalls (around 24,000won). The best part of the tour was going to The Third Tunnel. No phones were allowed when entering the tunnel so there were lockers. The storage lockers were really organized.
At Dora Observatory, it rained harder on our way back. We then made a stop at the Unification Village and ate soybean ice cream that tasted okay. We bought ginseng that our guide promoted. We missed having a proper lunch again because there were so many corners to go around. We ate the snacks I bought from Daiso the other day. My brother made everyone wait on the bus because he misheard the return time (1:15 with 1:50) (ah jinjja!).
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| The rails to Pyeongyang and cable cars at Imjingak, The Third Tunnel, Peeping North Korea at Dora Observatory |
After DMZ tour drop off, we went to Starfield Coex Mall. It was around 2PM, we tried looking for a restaurant to eat lunch, but most store were on break. We tried using cashbee to pay at KFC (which is so finger licking embarrassing cause a little knowledge is dangerous). Other open restaurants don't accept cash. We were so hungry, and stupidly got preoccupied with whatnots that we thought "Credit Card" signages meant only credit card are allowed (which is cruelly absurd, right?). We then decided to eat at EMart24 which accepts Cashbee. Then, we quickly stopped by Coex Starfield Library, which was just okay but extremely overcrowded.
On our return trip to the guest house, we got confused with our cardinal directions, just because we dropped off at another line and the station was a bit far from our guesthouse. It turned out to be a great detour since we got a good view of Namsan Tower (so much to do, so much to see, so what's wrong with taking the back streets?*). Along the way, the full moon marks the essence of Chuseok. We then rested instantly after arriving at the guesthouse. Later, I asked my brother to buy food at 7-Eleven for dinner since we gave up looking for a restaurant nearby. The guesthouse has a kitchen with water dispenser. The next day, two young Western looking ladies were also preparing to eat their ramen (because ramen is life).
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you'll never know if you don't go, you'll never shine if you don't glow - Smash mouth* |
The worst was yet to come and also, the best was yet to come. Next day, before heading for our KTX ride, we stopped by Lotte Mart. After observing people, I finally ignored the "credit card signage" trauma, and handed my Visa debit card. The handmade Udon noodles was tasty and I believed grammar nazis might not survive well here (debit is debit and credit is credit, buzzword?). We also bought snacks at Lotte which we ate inside the bullet train. The grocery self check-out was fun (of course, it’s my first time).
At the KTX station, we arrived a bit early. While loitering outside stairs with other passengers, a Korean lady came to us for street evangelism and handed us Christian leaflets. I listened to her and asked questions. Our conversion got more personal (about her doing evangelism). I felt a sense of loneliness on her stories that I allowed her to speak as much as she want. But I was on my toes, and vigilant because SK has a bad record of scamming. When she left, we decided to stay inside the station.
While we were at the KTX waiting area, a bag fell as the owner ran in hurry. For some time, everyone looked at the bag obstructing the station hallway (with 3D eyeglasses and popcorn for dramatic effect). People passed and went on their own way. I wanted to at least move it away from the walking area, but for security reasons (or bystander effect), I didn't do anything. Eventually, someone stowed it away, leaned it on the bench. Finally, a middle-aged Korean lady picked it up. Brother said it really looked like a social experiment.
We really loved our accommodation in Busan. After settling in, we headed out to buy groceries. On our way back, we found a Tonkatsu food stall at Seomyeon Underground. When we were about to order, the store attendant gave us an English menu. But when the lady cashier arrived, and took over with the order taking, spoke in Korean. “Yeogiseo meogeo (eat here?)?” (I was so slowww at figuring it despite her hand gestures.) Anyway, she looked annoyed because they were closing in 15 minutes. We agreed to eat in 15 minutes. After us, two ladies also ordered food. Our order was yet to be prepared in that 15-minute window. When it was served, we ate the meal in 5 minutes! What a food battle. It was the best meal we had then.
Next day, we headed out for Gamcheon Culture Village. Busan was actually friendly to tourists. I wish we went there first before Seoul. The bus drivers were kind and there were even tourists who carried drinks inside the bus but were not reprimanded. The bus driver waited for us when they saw us walking near the bus stop.
We wanted to eat at Jagalchi Fish Market but it was so crowded at the food hall and the servers only looked at us when we arrived, never approached us. It looked weird (we looked weird) so we headed out to go look for another place for our lunch.
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| Colored mountain village by the sea @ Gamcheon Culture Village Moored fishing vessels @ Jagalchi |
It was overwhelming again with lack of translations everywhere. We found Goraesa Fishcake Shop near BIFF Square (yummy but I want a rice meal). We continued looking for food at BIFF square, the cheesedog was so-so. That day, I found out that Tanghulu was actually candied cherry tomatoes (I kept ignoring my curiosity every time I saw it on a drama). Some food stalls have menus translated in Japanese and Chinese, but no English. When I was about to buy a drink, it was out-of-stock (my fate is so depraved). On our return to the hotel, we rested, did our laundry, and ate ramen and bread for dinner.
The next day, we went to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. Since I washed my usual jacket, I brought my puffer jacket. It rained. I used my jacket as a rain shield and some people find it weird. The temple by the sea was smaller than I imagined. It's not that small but the pictures gave a vastness with the sea added in the background. We wrote and tied a golden Bodhi leaf for mom's wellness.
On our way back, we stopped by Haeundae Beach. We tried to look again for a restaurant but we couldn’t find one that we liked to try. We were Pavlov trained to dislike something unwelcoming. We also didn't like the street food alley that looked like the same in BIFF and we already ate fish cake at the temple. It was raining again so we decided to buy umbrellas.
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| Temple by the sea @ Haedong Yonggungsa, Skyscrapers by the beach @ Haeundae |
We returned to our hotel and found a Bibimbap restaurant that has no translations on their menu. We had a good meal there, and it was just outside our hotel. Using Papago was not enough, I really wished I did a thorough research on food and food locations (Watching Kdramas is not enough! Research does...). Probably because I got rained on, I got sick and was having chills on our return to the hotel. Thankfully, I brought Biogesic. Past midnight, I took another Paracetamol, then took Ibuprofen since the chill keeps coming back.
My chill was gone the next day. When we arrived at Gyeongju, I realized I left my original HydroFlask tumbler on the bus. At that time, the bus was probably still there, but I was out of energy to make a run for it. The buses lined up at the station gate and looked all the same. We ate ramen for lunch at CU. My brother couldn't take over to helping as simple as asking/looking for chopsticks. (We should have brought our own chopsticks if asking is impossible).
The hanok houses next to each other were delightful to look at. The tiny hanok village ambiance was Kdrama-esque yet we only stayed indoors. It was cold, it's a rest day (we came here to rest!) There were a few instructions from the hanok owner: where to put the shoes, how to open and lock the windows and doors, etc. She was the most hospitable, and actually the only person we met at our accommodations. The room was cozy. By nighttime, my chills returned again. My brother couldn't find us food on his own. He went out and returned empty handed. We ate our leftover nuts and biscuits for dinner. I drank 2 Ibuprofen in a 6 hour interval, and wrapped myself well. I also drank some ginseng tea we bought from DMZ.
My chills disappeared again in the morning. We headed out for Bulguksa Temple. We ate at a café near the temple. The croissant sandwich was really pretty, and tasty. I ate with gusto like I was never sick the other day (chill, it was just a chill, and I didn't even have a headache). Inside the temple, there were children having tours, and mostly families walking together. The area was splendid with the Ginkgo trees having changed to yellow color, while different kinds of maple trees were changing red. The prayer tags hanging on the hallways were so pretty to look at. We tried to look for Filipino prayers but got nada. We also didn’t leave one. Next, we took a bus to Seokguram Grotto which is quite a detour but was more about historical value than the view.
On our return we stopped at the Gyeongju National Museum and Silla Art Exhibition Hall because some tourists dropped off at that stop, and since it was close to Cheomseongdae Observatory, we decided to check it out as well. It was not on our itinerary. We took a breeze walk to the museum halls. It was tempting to fully immerse in the Silla kingdom artifacts (since I’m a Queen Seondeok fan) but we left early for the observatory.
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| Pond and prayer tags @ Bulguksa Temple The crown @ Silla Art Exhibition Hall Grasses, flowers, vegetables @ Cheomseongdae Observatory |
At Cheomseongdae Observatory, the pink muhly and pampas grass gardens welcomed the frenzied autumn travelers. It was so lovely with the backdrop of verdant tombs neatly cared by park managers. The persimmon trees were prolific with ripened fruits. There were vegetable arc trellis and other kinds of gardens and forest parks. The complex was so huge that our legs were so tired (our soul left us). We forgot to have our dinner before returning to the hanok.
When we returned, we took a short rest. Then, we went to the village mini-store that my brother gave up on last time. From the outside, it looked like it’s not open because of the closed sliding door (I braved to peek and open that door so we could eat!). The owner was hiding at the corner of the counter because it was really cold, 18 degrees is really cold for us folks. I was wearing my puffer jacket then, and thankfully, my chill did not return that night.
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| Birds, sunset and tombs |
Gyeongju has a lot more beautiful tourist spots. The lady hanok owner was really nice to us. She told us that his brother has a golf course in Cebu. She gave us snacks every time we met her when we’re heading out. She also drove us to the bus stop on our last day. She recommended that we stop-by Gyeongju proper, but unfortunately we didn't want to miss our KTX ride so we skipped it. We ate Kimbap for lunch at the station. The ambiance was really great there as well. So neat!
At Seoul Bus Station, we learned that the latest available bus for Sokcho was 11PM. It was only past 3PM that time we booked seats. I thought the wait would be long and wasteful. But there were lots of stores at the station. We ate at Burger King for merienda. Then, I went to buy a sweater and a jean jacket. I actually enjoyed the whole window shopping experience. Then around 7PM, we had a proper meat dinner at a restaurant inside the station. The large serving was like some consolation because our trip was yet to be long and about to go wrong.
We arrived in Sokcho past 3AM. And to make it worse, the pension I booked was not self check-in. The owner did not leave the key at the front desk as promised. We stayed at the stairs waiting for the owner to pick-up my messages in the Agoda app. Then, still no luck finding a way to contact the owner, we decided to buy ramen at CU because it was getting cold. We wanted to hang out at CU instead, but the branch has no dine-in tables (inside me, all hell broke loose). So we returned to the pension, and ate the noodles back at the stairs again. The best thing that happened at that moment was the water dispenser being there! Then, as we couldn't take it anymore, we decided that we would knock and wake up the staff/owner. The key was then (already) at the box outside the counter.
Around 11AM the next day, we went to Seoraksan National Park after a quick hand laundry for a set of clothes. I hung my clothes on the balcony chairs. At the park, I wore the jean jacket I bought the other day straight from the plastic bag. There was a heavy traffic going in so we walked a bit. We stopped by the food stalls near the main gate. I ate gukbap (황태해장국밥), which I ate correctly by guesswork. The warmth of the soup reminds me of it till today, so tasty! (All's well that ends well, after all) We then rode the cable car. After some hiking we got to the mountaintop. Some Koreans asked me to take their pictures (I dunno why? I prolly looked like a vlogger with my DJI selfie stick).
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| One day @ Seoraksan National Park |
At night, we walked at Sokcho Beach. I wore my puffer jacket against the cold breeze. We then watched the beachgoers vacuumed sand off their shoes and feet. We didn't try it ourselves. I wanted to go near the water to check how cold it was, but I'm afraid I might get sick again. Then we scoured nearby for food and we failed yet again because most restaurants are crowded and overwhelming. We tried the seafood restaurant next to the pension, and watched the people eat well but it was so disgusting for our palate (raw sushi noobs!). We put most of our food in a plastic bag because we were so embarrassed about ordering food we couldn't eat. It was really annoying (What would Cato do?). We ate ramen on our return to the pension.
At 9AM, we left Sokcho for Seoul on a premium bus that we had booked the previous day (I actually asked help from a Korean guy to book for us since there were no booking kiosks in the station, the mobile app was not user friendly and the cashier doesn’t speak English). The legroom was spacious and the ride was so comfortable which makes the 10K won difference on a regular ride worth the price. This ride allowed us to see SK’s current longest tunnel road (the Inje-Yangyang Tunnel) which is along Seoul–Yangyang Expressway. Because I had no expectations for the view, I was more amazed.
O public road, I say back I am not afraid to leave you, yet I love you,
You express me better than I can express myself,
You shall be more to me than my poem.
-Walt Whitman
In Seoul, we finally used the T-Locker, and were able to roam freely around Seoul. We made a quick stop at Dongdaemun Market, passed by the famous Cheonggyecheon stream near DDP, and then headed out for Namdaemun Market.
On pick up of our bags, the locker was locked-out. I’m guessing the issue was because the first time I tried to enter code, it did not open. The second time, I asked my brother to try, it was then considered as a release for the bag. So clumsy, I almost lost my backpack since the locker was actually compromised free for the next user (good thing, we’re in South Korea!). We asked for help from the Korean lady queuing next to us. We were so lucky she was savvy in English and we were able to communicate clearly. She called the hotline and explained the situation and I got my bag back (she’s savvier than me).
The trip was really tiring that it almost felt so long yet we barely covered the many other great places to visit. We finally headed out for Incheon to return to Manila on a really early flight. At the hotel in Incheon, we found an Eat-All-You-Can Samgyupsal restaurant. The staff asked if we’re “Vietnamese?”. There’s not much samgyup but the menu was really the best for the fair price. Our hotel room was roomy but quite old. Our biggest misadventure is yet to happen the next day.
Before dawn breaks, we left the hotel. We mindlessly took the wrong free shuttle bus (stupid is what stupid does). I could list down the reasons why I made a mistake taking that bus but my grave error was not pushing the idea that we should have really taken a taxi since it's likely easy to hail one, the hotel was really near that it’s almost walking distance, the fare would be really cheap. When we figured out our error, we were so far from the airport. My brother initiated a drop-off anywhere in a good lighted bus stop. We asked a lady to help us get a taxi but she said there would be none in the area. It looked so remote with only factories around. Long anxiety short, morning has broken, we made it to the airport. Thanks to the lady who assured us that we will make it just in time for our flight, I was able to put my mind at ease and instead planned out what to do in case we really missed our flight.
With our streak of half lucks, the queue was short at the check-in counter. We then ran to the long winding hallways leading to the immigration and departure gates. We were sweating when we arrived at the waiting area. The flight was delayed anyway.
When we disembarked at NAIA T3, most of the airplane seats were thrashed as if the passengers were disciplined kids who were finally allowed to breathe and play.
When I arrived at my apartment, I realized that my mishaps weren't over. I ignorantly put my Anker power bank on my checked-in luggage, only my empty power bank bag was there.
This journey brought me a myriad of emotions- anxiousness, annoyance, anger, desperation, helplessness, relief, gratefulness, happiness, proudness, etc. The exposure to all that unfamiliar, the embarrassment, and the fun in the challenge; it was all worth it.
I traveled back home after a week and brought my pasalubong, which my sister says is a must when you travel overseas since it's the only way to share the experience for those who couldn’t go.
“What a beautiful country” was the usual comment I saw before traveling to South Korea. Now, I say the same, “Indeed!” (to see is to undoubtedly believe). South Korea is South Korea by its people (the Hanguk-saram). This comes with pros and cons as we have seen in their ever changing society. Unlike their really long history that includes the Haan ("beauty of sorrow"), my own country is still young. With this trip, I really got the sentimental feeling of hope that one day we could be as great as this country, maybe one day (when I turn to dust).
Ah, this autumn maybe once but forever in my heart. My next life project is to travel solo overseas for winter/spring. Yay!
Travel Date: September 28 to October 9, 2023
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