When In Seoul. Conclusion.

hold up! you think I am done?

You thought wrong. I need to share to you my thoughts on about going to Seoul.

Hi.

Yes, I am not done yet! but really this will be the last of this series.

So, my self Q&A for Seoul Trip.

1. How was it?

It was a good experience. for first-timer, I think I did well with the planning. 👍🏻


2. What I don't like about Seoul?

• Obviously I don't mean the entire city. but from where I've been, I'm gonna say, I don't like riding the train during rush hour. not gonna even try to compare it to Japan rush hour. like, no.
• For some reason, I came across a lot of snobbish young adults, or even older. Like, apakan? Tinggi sangat kah darjat mu that you have to look down on me?
• THOSE. FUCKIN. CULT. DUO. I'm serious about that mini anxiety attack I got every time I remembered it.

3. What I like about Seoul?

• Kind ahjummas. During my research, I read a lot about angry ahjummas and prepared myself for it. But surprisingly, they were the most kind and sweet people I met in the entire trip.
• Korean Skin Care products so accessible! and those Free Gifts upon purchase are real.
• Being approached by fellow Muslim who are Korean. one time, in subways, an ahjussi bagi Salam to us and we without hesitation jawab and he calmly introduced himself "I'm Korean Muslim". I just bowed my head and smiled. Sometimes those little gesture from strangers calm me.

4. Will I'll be planning to go back?

Maybe. but as mentioned in previous post, I have mini anxiety attack when I think about the CULT and heavy traffic on the train during rush hour. COZ ONE TIME! I LITERALLY BOUNCED OF AN AHJUSSI TUMMY OUT OF THE TRAIN! not a good memory! I ACTUALLY STOPPED AT A TIANG AND HUGGED IT! I WAS THAT TERRIFIED! 

I don't know man. Maybe its just me with my anxiety around crowded area. BUT IT WASN'T THIS BAD WHEN I WAS IN JAPAN. AND I WAS ALONE!

I don't know. Maybe if I went there with a guy friend or with a bigger group, maybe I will consider it.

and with that, I'll end this series here with a videoclip that was released in the beginning of my Kpop craze; 

Super Junior & Girls' Generation - SEOUL.

hmmm.. I might come back. there are places in this MV I didn't get to visit.

Where Shindong and Sunny met

That Han River Bridge thing.

. . .

When In Seoul part 2.1

thank you for coming back!

Hi guys.

I'm guessing you came back to follow up on previous story. So, let's get crackin'!

So, by 8pm of Day 2 in Seoul, I thought of going to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. 
It was actually set for visit on our final full day in Seoul but I thought, "we could squeeze it in tonight" and that was what we do.

This is when the first incident happened.

We exited the stairs from the station. Stopped for a moment, wondering which way to go next coz even with my 'thorough' planning, I missed out the part on how to get to the stream. 

Lesson no. 1: No matter how well you think you prepared, things can still go wrong.

So, we went to the right first. coz, you know, the 'right' way. but it doesn't seem right, so we go back to where we started and began Googling the place. and from where we stood, the Stream was on the left side. Thus, trust in Google, we went to the left.

As we were stopping at a pedestrian red light, a couple approached us. Being friendly. I thought, maybe they just wanted to help. They said they were college students and were studying Korean Culture. Our responses to these two were pretty limited, like, Yeah? Ok. Right. The guy's English was better than the girl. So, when she couldn't speak, the guy would assist. Which made me think, "oh, maybe they're practicing English".
and then, the guy began talking about, Korean Culture and wondered if we were interested in wearing hanbok. I excitedly answered, "Yes! we're going to wear them tomorrow" and I don't remember what else the guy said but the girl continue with this talk about 'tea ceremony' and even showing me traditional style picture of a lady in front of a 'shrine' pouring tea. She was explaining how that ceremony works and the moment she said "you know bow? like sholat?" I froze. Like, I froze.
I quickly said, "oh. no thank you" and quickly linked arm with my friend. The guys asked "where you guys going? maybe we can help you"
but I insisted, "Oh its okay"
AS IF LISTENING TO MY SILENT PRAYERS the pedestrian light turned green and I literally dragged my friend with me and crossed the road. Like, literally!

When we get to the other side, I STARTED FREAKIN OUT. AND LITERALLY KEEP TRYING TO DRAG MY FRIEND TO MOVE FASTER. 
I was so scared!
You wanna know why?
Becoz it took me a while to CLICK in my head but the moment she said "like sholat?" I was like, "this is that viral cult members targeting tourist"
I actually watched videos of these incidents to prepare myself!

Lesson no.2: No matter how you prepared yourself, sometimes, you forget.

OMG! what scared the fuck out of me is the fact that kami bedua yoh! bukan aku sorang2. KAMI BEDUA! they still approached you even though you're not alone. They probably thought we weren't aware of their 'projects'. Well, I was aware but my friend wasn't.

Lesson no. 3: Share important information like this one with your travel buddies. Don't assume they know. Even after you share the information with them prior to the trip, remind them again before you arrived at destination.

As my heart raced, we still continue on towards the Stream which we somewhat found easily after that. and enjoyed our strolled. The stroll was partly to calm my nerve and figured out an alternative route to go back to our hostel so that we don't have to go back to where we came from.

Lain lagi story nya time kami jalan2 di bawah atu. The Stream area is like in the middle of the city and is like, a dent. Refer picture to understand my meaning. LOL

not my picture

as mentioned in the previous post, down there, it was quiet coz when we arrived we were the only ones. After a few miles, I suggested we go up. At least up there, there would be people.
But bad move. When we walked a mile up there, it felt far less save? if that even make sense. So, we went back down. and when we went back down, we see more and more people strolling like us. some even do their jogging. we felt a lot better. Me mostly. coz I was still shaken.
We were not sure how long the stream go but we decided to turned back around.

There were a lot of mural on the walls. One part was dedicated to the ancient story about a King's procession. again. no picture for this one.

We climbed back up where we came down from and I decided to take picture of this siput coz I don't think they knew what siput is.

and this was when second incident happened. 

As I took out my phone to take picture, I already noticed this 'uncle' holding a paper cup. He was cheery and I think I smiled his way. COZ THATS JUST WHO I AM! I AM SO GENEROUS WITH MY SMILE! FUCK! and after taking the picture of the siput, the 'uncle' was speaking full on Korean to us. I only understand the word 'picture' and I assumed he wanted to take picture of us as he gestured to my phone. Again, I freaked out and quickly said 'No thank you' and dragged my friend away.
The uncle actually insisted to take our picture but when he saw another group of females he went their way and I dragged my friend even more.
Yes, the uncle was drunk.

Lesson no. 4: DON'T BE SO GENEROUS WITH YOUR SMILE AZNUUR!?! ARE YOU NOT LEARNING ANYTHING?!

We went to the same station we came from and got to our hostel in peace. EXCEPT FOR MY INNER TURMOIL!

ARGH! 

I even continuously mimic the girl 'you know like sholat' with "No bitch. that is not like sholat" LOL

Have you ever feel like that? Takut jua, marah jua, frustrated jua, embarass jua, kan nangis jua. all of that at once. 

AND IT WAS ONLY OUR DAY 2 IN SEOUL!

MY GOAT!

WHY CAN WE FEMALE TRAVEL IN PEACE!?

Ok.

Obviously the next day we were ok. Even I was at ease. but from then on, I was super paranoid whenever we were around a quiet area but at that point, we avoid quiet area completely.

. . .

Please tell me this doesn't only happened to me? coz before Seoul, there was one more incident like this when I went to KL. that time pun I wasn't on my own! I was with my cousin! argh

Every time I think about going back to KL or planning to visit Seoul again, I'm having mini anxiety attack. Like I'm not even joking guys.


. . . 

Anyway, that is the end of Part 2.1

Tomorrow I'll be posting Part 3 of When in Seoul. a far more vibrant post than this one, I promised.

See you on tomorrow's post.

. . .

Monkey day

haiya everyone...

ahaha

erm. i REALLY have nothing interesting to post except for this thing that shock the shit out of me this afternoon. and I mean, like, seriously.

there was a monkey. on the window seal of our kitchen. like, it was sitting there picking on whatnot.

i was panicking. there was a gap on the window and I was wondering whether I should close it or run. but what if it got into the house?

and then I saw in his (i assume it's a male monkey) hands an egg. 0_O i guessed he already did get into the house. I mean, he sneaky or what?

So, I braved myself and try and shut the window. that was when the monkey sense my present and quickly (like REALLY fast) jumped onto the mango tree near our kitchen window.

I was super scared and ran for my life into my mom's room screaming, 'ada ambuk! ada ambuk!' poor mom, she was sleeping. and when she heard my scream she sat up right, shocked. i quickly told her it was gone though. (am sorry. i was laughing as am recalling and writing this down. sorry mom..). WHAT? i was panicking, ok? i was like, I don't know what to do.

my mom went out with me and into the kitchen. she was looking out of the window and try looked for the monkey on the tree. i was standing just outside the kitchen, too scared to go near the window. my mom said, the monkey was looking back at her. (kabal ambuknya ani..)

So, mom told me to shut the window and i went back to watching the TV while mom got back into her room to get ready for work.

After awhile i was passing by the kitchen again when I wanted to go to my room. the monkey was picking his kutu, relaxing on our on the kitchen window seal. I ran again. this time, to tell my mom to quickly come out and see for herself just how big the monkey was.

i took out my phone and ready to take pictures.



caught in actions. (sorry pictures are not so clear...)

we actually managed to get so near. the monkey had no idea we were watching him. but when he did, he jumped on to the tree again. like, when i made eye contact with the monkey, it scares the shit out of me, it's like, he was holding a grudge on me or something.

mom said he was trying to snatch that Pineapple 'top' that my mom put on the window seal.

I was traumatized. i was paranoid even. he didnt come back for the third time but i kept checking the kitchen in case it find it's way around and got into the house.

i have never been so scared.

what puzzled me is that, where the hell did that monkey came from? I live in a urban area full of concrete buildings, even if it did came from the near by jungle/forest, jauh jua jalan nya ambuk atu...

. . .