Clubbing in Hongdae

10/25~10/26 This weekend, my friend had invited me to go clubbing with her in Hongdae. I also had invited a couple of my friends to come along. I believe the more the merrier. I have to say I was a bit skeptical on how clubbing worked in South Korea. I wanted to know if it was similar or different from the States, so I went to check it out. I love going to Seoul but that requires me waking real early for the train. It is a bit dreadful waking up that early on a Saturday but  I don't mind it because I would be so excited for the day. The cheapest train ticket for Seoul would be Munghwa which is roughly aroun24,800 won ($25), the slowest train and it takes 5 hours. I usually buy the ticket for around 5:49am so I would get there around 10:49am. I get the earliest ticket because I want to get out of my town, explore Seoul more since it has so much to offer, and to catch up with my friends that live in Seoul. My little town doesn't have much to do. This Saturday morning, I had my alarm for 4:30am but the snooze button.... I snoozed my alarm until 5:10am. I stayed up late to catch up with the latest season of Grey's Anatomy. I just couldn't stop watching it because it left you off your seat at every episode like any other good drama would do. Anyhow, I quickly got ready and slab some makeup to make me look half awake...I'm a walking zombie if I don't get enough sleep...by the time I was finish getting ready it was already 5:37am. I quickly grab all my belongings and ran out the door. I thought I had enough time so I just powered walk to the Main Street. The Main Street has dozens of taxis swarming around this time of night but for some odd reason, the streets were dead, not a single taxi. I was like f@&$! So I was walking around literally looking out for a taxi to drive by and I was like I don't have enough time it was 5:40am. I quickly went into the GS25 and use the universal hand signal for a phone call and I blurted out taxiiii. I tried real hard to make it sound like how Koreans say it. Thank goodness she understood. She called the taxi and it came in 2 mins..so it's about 5:43am. I am panicking a lot inside because if I don't make this train I would get to Seoul around 1pm or so...

I quickly threw my carry on bag and said "gichayeog", (train station). I had to say it twice since he didn't understand, my pronunciation is off sometimes but I am pretty sure that I had said it correctly, because when the cashier called the taxi, I heard her say "miguk". I felt like this taxi driver was f$&@ing with me. I mad sure to watch were the meter is because taxi drivers sometimes scam you. If they press thoses buttons, there is extra surcharges up to 2000 won. Well, I was right his itchy fingers was there. I'm pretty sure I was staring real hard and he saw that I'm not stupid and slowly withdraw his itchy hands away..ugh.. I didn't have the time, way to early for that sh$&@, and there was a mere possiblity that I was missing my train. I told the taxi driver "Bali, Bali!" (Hurry, Hurry!) he didn't understand and started to break....I was like Aniyo, upeyy! (No, up!). I felt like that was the slowest taxi ride I have ever been on.Korean taxi drivers are very wreckless, speedy, ignorant and they think they own the streets. They drive super fast to get you from point A to point B really fast so usually you are holding on for dear life when your in a taxi car in Korea. The funny part is that they get offended if you put on your seatbelt and start talking in Korean or smacking the selt beat out of your hands. This happened many times wih me because I always put a seat belt on. I don't care if your a good drivers or whatever. Seat belt is a must. Things can happen!! Let me stop with this taxi rant and get back to finishing the story. I finally arrived at 5:48am. I ran as fast as could with a carry on in my hands and an oversized bag, up a flight of stairs and down a flight of stairs to catch the train. I was getting stares running but I didn't really care it's Korea. I had a train to catch. I get stares were ever I go as I mentioned I'm a standing tower in Korea. This morning was a rough start! 

Zzzzzzz....5 hours later.....I finally arrived in Seoul. My friends and I were meeting up at the Hello Kitty cafe in Hongdae. I had the most difficult time finding the cafe I was literally circling around Hongdae with a carry on luggage. I was following direction from a blogger online and she said that it is near a Watson and Ho bar. There are about 3 Ho bars in Hongdae. I was such a tourist. This was my third time in Hongdae. I love Hongdae nightlife it is pretty awesome. My friends were coming a little later because their bus arrival was alittle later than mine. By the time they got to Seoul, we ended up going together...me with directions not so good I guess...haha

 

Before heading out to go clubbing, we decided to get dinner before chugging down massive amounts alcohol..haha jk I'm not a heavy drinker, but I like to drink moderately. We went to eat at Mr. Cheese Rib, apparently it is a new popular food in Seoul. I am always up to trying new things especially when it comes to food.

When we walked into Mr. Cheese Rib's restaurant it was really busy, In my head, I was assuming it must be really good since it was packed. We had a choice of choosing how spicy we wanted our ribs, of course we choose the lowest level we can possible pick (mild). We had are Korean friend order since she knew more Korean than anyone else at the table. While waiting for our food, I was looking around and man did the food look amazingly good. While we were chatting up a storm, are food finally came to the table. We had a ghetto gas stove with a hot cast iron plate full of marinated ribs and massive amounts of cheese. Hooray for me because I love cheese. 

In Korea, cheese is super expensive and hard to come by especially were I live, unfortunately. The only time I eat cheese is when it comes with our food that we order. (pizza, cheese dakgalbi, etc) So, this year I will be cheese deprived.. TT haha really tho. We got these special gloves to use to eat our ribs with to prevent our hands from getting dirty. The first bite into my ribs, my mouth was on fire, literally!!! I couldn't help but prance my legs around as that was suppose to soothe my pain in my mouth...hahaha but that hella was spicy as #$&%*! and the sad part is that we had to champ it out and finish it. My grandma and mom always nags when throwing out food, so they make sure that we eat all our food before letting us play when we were little. It always stuck with me, therefore I don't let food go to waste. I was eating ribs after ribs because if I stopped it was much more painful but there was a point were I couldn't handle the heat anymore. I was sweating eating theses ribs; one of my friends said I looked like I was giving birth..haha.. Most of my friends had a couple and called it quits. I told my friends after eating these spicy ribs, we don't need to put lip gloss on because we would have plumped lips ready for the club..hahaha... We were probably the most obnoxious table and loudest table in the restaurant but we had the I don't care attitude like most foreigners...haha 

Yep! I also tried Nitrogen ice cream before I left Seoul treating my home sickness. Before leaving I usually like to get something sweet as I head back to my town.hahaha

That's all I have for ya'll now but I should be posting another one about my birthday weekend in Cheonan!! 

Xoxo-Chuieeadventures

Chuseok Korean Thanksgiving

The first week of September was a Korean holiday known as Chuseok. It is compared to Korean Thanksgiving. The holiday was from September 6 to the 10. From what, I experienced it wasn’t really like an American Thanksgiving. It was more like paying your respects to your family members or relatives who have passed away. That day was full of delicious food after the early morning ceremony at the Baekryeonsa Buddhist temple in Seoul. 

When I say early, I mean early for me…haha I had to get up at 5am in the morning.. I literally found out by my Korean friend when she asked me what I was going to do during that break. My co-teacher is always a bit late telling me when a Holiday or school event is happening. I would like to know ahead of time so I can plan for a exciting trip in Korea, but there is a language barrier. I understand but at the same time, it gets on my nerves…grrr….

Anyway back to my Chuseok holiday, I arrived in Seoul on Saturday morning. I stayed at my friend’s house until the very last day of the holiday break. I didn't want to leave Seoul. I ended up getting her parents some plums...you know you are a real Asian when you don’t go emptied handed to a friends house…especially her parent’s house.. Her parents were adorable, loving and very caring… Her mom even invited me to come visit them every month…Her family is very loving and warm…They even invited me to go to a jimjilbang together. Her parents are in love with jimjilbang.When I say they love it, I mean that they go every weekend...hahha<3…I love Seoul a lot. I’m a city girl. However, I was placed in a small town in S. Korea but I don’t mind it. My town is very pretty with lots of nature, rice patties, apple orchard farms, permission farms and lots of other farms. I could say I am satisfied with the place I’m placed in. I’m running off topic again….but in Seoul the first day, I got my natural eyebrows and eyeliner done. 

My eyes were a bit swollen but I wore a hat to hide my sore eyes…but I stick out like a sore thumb everywhere I go anyways…but seriously thoo…6’3 female Asian is rare…lol..After that, I did some major shopping on clothes because I didn’t bring my entire wardrobe from the states because it would be way to much. I bought pieces majority for the fall seasons…which I will do a outfit of the day…(ootd)… once I catch up with blog… Shopping was a major stress reliever for me. I had a good friend in college that showed me the best cheap places to shop in Seoul. I was a bit worried because I thought I would have a difficult time finding clothes my size. I am not a normal typical petite Asian...I'm tall, curvy and a little extra to love. hahhah but they have my size here in Korean clothing...We went to Garden 5 Plaza, Myeong-dong, Hongdae, Seoul underground shopping terminal and another large underground shopping area, which I don’t recall…. So for the couple days I in Seoul, it primarily consisted of sleeping in until 10-11 am and shopping until 6pm…My friend and I forgot to eat lunch every time when we went shopping that is how hardcore shopaholics we are….hahaha..Technically, we are not shopaholics at all, but we have those urges for a shopping binges when we don’t have enough clothes, are clothes are falling apart, or clothes are stained and etc…During my Chuseok, I had an urge for a shopping binge….After shopping for hours until almost 5, we ended up getting a light snack…and that is when I tried my first Gong Cha!!! I wished I tried this place sooner but in my small town there is not much so you have to go to the larger cities. I was in heaven....Hallelujah bubble tea heaven....I went to the king of bubble tea!!! Gong Cha is a popular bubble tea chain booming in Korea right now…  I will do a dedicated blog on Gong Cha…sooon…and link it here. 

Snacktime!!! Deliciousness!! 

 Garden 5 Plaza!!! Love this place!

I was enjoying my time in Seoul a lot… I had a friend to keep my fashion trend in check when choosing out the pieces. And we chatted a storm every day. I love the subway transportation system. It is very sufficient and easy to use. After 2 and a half day of shopping, I was exhausted…shopping is not easy…you have try out the clothes and see what you can match it with…etc…However there was not a lot of trying on clothes in Korea when you are shopping underground, it was more like estimating…(putting against your body to see if it fits..hahha) For the most part, all the clothes I picked out fits perfectly but there are 3 pieces that I want to get altered.

The last day I stayed in Seoul was relaxing and being lazy…My friend and I had lunch and than headed to the Seoul train station for coffee. We talked until it was time for me to depart back to my town… I didn’t want to leave her or Seoul…and she told me to just move to Seoul and find a position there…I was laughing…lol

Glimpse of my meal...Delicious Galbi-jim!!!

Side dishes of spicy side dishes.

Spicy salad...

Galbi-jim...delicious!!!

It was great, she was trying to encourage me...it was tempting, I have to say but I told her I didn’t want to leave a bad impression…hahah and I don't mind where I live. I had to board the train (ToT) and there we said our goodbyes until next time.. After a couple hours, I was back in my good old joly town.

until next time xoxo- chuiee <3