My Seoul Trip, Part II

OMG, I just found out that there had been some misunderstanding over the picture with Daeju. That is NOT me! It’s PD Shin! ^^

My 2nd full day of adventure in Seoul has come and gone. And I have to say, it was quite a day!

After spending the previous day finding my way around Myeongdong, it was time to venture out to do some real sightseeing. So it was time for me to learn the Seoul subway system. The subway map seemed pretty complicated, but I’ve been told that there are English signs everywhere and it should be easy to find my way around. Wrong! After spending the entire morning getting lost in the subway stations, I’ve completely lost faith in my ability to follow directions. 😆

Fortunately, it was not a complete waste of time, because wandering around in the subway stations actually meant more SeungGi sightings. haha

The Saem stores are really everywhere, aren’t they? 😀

And then a very pleasant surprise. What I didn’t find in the bookstore the day before:

Feeling re-energized after some eye candy, I finally found my breakfast spot. But by then it was more like my lunch spot. haha

This place should be familiar to the 1n2d fans. Gwangjang market:

I was so hungry by then, all I could think about was food, food, food! So you have to excuse me for the lack of pictures here. 😛

I wandered around first, just admiring all the different food, until an ajumma motioned me to sit down at her stall. Just like everybody else, she started saying things in Japanese. And I, for some strange reasons, started ordering with the very few Japanese words I still remembered. LOL

After I was about halfway through the meal, I noticed that the ajumma still hadn’t given me the sundae I ordered. So I asked her again. She said, ok, ok. But she gave me some japchae instead, which I took. But I asked her for the sundae one more time, still she wouldn’t give it to me! Then I finally realized that she probably didn’t think tourists like me would be able to handle exotic food like sundae. So I guess I’ll have to try my luck somewhere else.

An interesting side note. While I was eating, 2 people came by asking the ajumma if it was where Kang Ho Dong had his tteokbokki and kimbap, which I highly doubt. The ajumma didn’t exactly say yes, but she convinced them to sit down and eat. haha

After the satisfying meal (despite the sundae incident), I finally went for some real sightseeing. But I was worried about finding my way to KBS for the meeting with PD Shin in the afternoon, so I decided to go back to the hotel a little early to get things ready. While I was browsing the subway map and figuring out the way back, I noticed a stop called “Wangsimni”. Those of you who follow SeungGi’s news closely might remember that the angel wing mural was recently moved to the Wangsimni Square/Plaza. So I decided to make a stop there and get my own angel pose. haha

After that, I made my way back to the hotel to get ready for the big meeting coming up. For those of you who may not know, international 1N2D fans have been preparing a gift (postcard/food) project for the 1n2d team, and 3 of us (Nikki, Jacqueline, and I) were going to personally deliver the gifts to KBS, and PD Shin was actually nice enough to arrange a personal meeting with us. So of course we were all very excited!

Don’t hate me for saying this, but for me, even though I am a fan of 1n2d, the biggest reason I love the show is SeungGi. So being involved in this gift project was still more about my fangirl passion for SeungGi. Bee was painting a rosy picture of 15 minutes of fame for us, but I was only focused on showing some support for SeungGi and of course hoping to maybe get some SeungGi goodies. 😛 I think Bee even suggested backstage passes for the Hope Concert, but I told myself that I would be extremely satisfied if I could just get something with his autograph. That’s not too much to wish for, right? 😀

Anyway, I was supposed to meet up with Nikki and Jacqueline half hour before our meeting with PD Shin to get the gifts assembled. I set out for the dreaded subway station half hour before that, and actually got to the transfer point without any incidents. But it took like forever for the train to arrive. When it finally arrived, I was so happy that I didn’t pay attention to anything unusual about it. But then when it announced its next stop, Yeouido Station, without stopping at my intended destination, National Assembly Station, I realized that I got on an express train! Now I was starting to panic. I was already running late, and I was somewhere I was not supposed to be, and the neighborhood map at the station did not show any KBS buildings at all! I did see one exit for KBS Annex Building, so I took it. But it was nowhere to be found after I came out of that exit. I started asking for all kinds of help, on twitter, from people walking by on the streets, but I was still lost. So I started flagging down taxis. After a while, a taxi finally stopped, but the driver didn’t even know where that KBS building is! But he drove to the back entrance of the main KBS building and asked the gatekeeper, and it turned out that the building I was looking for was right there!

While going up the stairs, through the glass walls, I saw someone walking over to a group of people in a corner and greeting them. I thought that must be PD Shin! And I was right. 😀 Even though the original meeting was set up for 3 of us, there were actually 7 fans who showed up: Nikki, Jacqueline, Liyieng, Lilian, Haart, and one other person (I’m so sorry I can’t remember the name!). PD Shin initially brought some Huk CDs autographed by Lee Su Geun and some 1n2d stickers. We asked to take pictures of her with the gifts, but she was worried that she looked tired from all the editing she’d been doing. But we told her she still looked beautiful, which was totally true. She’s much younger and prettier than I had imagined. 😀 She then went back upstairs to get something. And we started chatting among ourselves. I usually try very hard to keep my real life and online life separate, so it was definitely an interesting experience to meet with people I’ve only chatted with online. And everyone seemed so nice! 😀

Then PD Shin came back out, and brought someone else with her. And it was Daeju! He also looks younger and cuter in real life. 😀

He came to help getting the gifts upstairs, but we didn’t think the two of them would be able to carry everything, so he went to look for a trolley after we explained all the gifts to them. PD Shin also brought more goodies for us, autographs from all the members! She asked us if we all came for SeungGi’s concert, and said that she would be going as well. 😀

After lots of thanks from both sides, photos, and handshakes, we finally bid our goodbyes to PD Shin and Daeju.

Then it was time to divide up all the goodies. I’m sure you all know what I want, right? 😆 But unfortunately, there were only 3 autographs from SeungGi, and 3-5 autographs from the other members. I guess PD Shin was only expecting 3 of us, so that was the minimum number she prepared.

The hot commodity was of course SeungGi’s autographs. So we had to do our own bokbulbok with a round of rock-paper-scissors. And unfortunately, I lost. Can you imagine my disappointment at that moment? I came all the way here with that one wish, it was so close and yet it slipped by me just like that. 😥 I think my disappointment was pretty obvious, because Haart came up to me saying I looked really sad. Then she offered me the copy of SeungGi’s autograph she won!!! I just couldn’t believe it! I don’t think I could have done anything like that if I was in her shoes. I guess that just goes to show that I’m not as good a person as Haart is. I asked her a few times to be sure, but I did accept her offer and gave her the autographed Huk CD I got. I’m sorry for being so selfish. And I’m eternally grateful to Haart for being such an angel!

Afterward, we all went searching for the famous KBS steps where 1n2d often films its opening. It somehow seemed quite different from what we’ve seen on TV, but we decided we’d found the right place and took lots of pictures. 😀

Then we split into two groups, with one group going for some drinks and the other one going for dinner. I joined the dinner group and we went to a famous samgyetang restaurant in Myeongdong. The food was okay, but we had a lot of fun digging around the bowl and looking for that elusive ginseng root. 😆

I came back to the hotel after dinner, while the other girls went shopping. We did make plans to meet up at the concert, which was less than 2 days away!

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