My Seoul Trip, Part III

It was the day before the concert, and I could already feel all the excitement in the air! 😀

At first, I was rather tempted to just relax in the hotel and rest up for the big day. But that was just the hungry me talking. I went downstairs and got tons of food from one of those street stalls (I finally got my taste of sundae!). After stuffing myself, I was definitely ready to attack another day. 😆

I first went to the Bukchon Village, where 1n2d had filmed before. Again, the maps and directions I had were pretty useless. All it said was “walk 10 minutes from exit 3 of Anguk Station.” So I just started wandering around the area aimlessly. The path I took was probably the least productive one, because after an hour or so, I only came across one of the 8 photo spots!

But I had quite a pleasant surprise while wandering around. I actually ran into some of the international fans! It was right after I found that one photo spot, I saw Liyieng walking up the hill. She was with Lilian, and then I also met Natt(!) and Lisa. There was another girl with them, but I didn’t catch her name (sorry!). What a small world, right? 😀 I think they had more success finding the photo spots.

I also passed by the high school where Winter Sonata was filmed (this was shown on 1n2d as well). But I was told the school was only open to visitors on Sundays. There were some stores by the school selling all kinds of Hallyu star souvenirs. I looked around and actually saw a SeungGi calendar! I was so excited and the store owner asked me if I liked Lee Seung Gi. I was like, of course! Haha He told me to go inside the store and had his wife showing me a huge box of SeungGi goodies! It was like anything you could imagine, they had SeungGi’s pictures printed on them. There was even a SeungGi umbrella! So I guess SeungGi is definitely considered a big Hallyu star now. 😀

While I was browsing through the goodies box, 2 groups of ladies came in asking for “Lee Seung Gi”! I think they were from Japan. After they left, the store ajumma told me that they also came for SeungGi’s concert. Isn’t it just amazing?! There were definitely a lot of SeungGi fans roaming the streets of Seoul today. 😀

Pretty soon, I got tired of walking, and decided to give up on the rest of the photo spots. I then headed toward Insadong. But on my way there, I saw a tourist information office. They had a much more detailed map of the Bukchon Village, with all the photo spots marked. So if anyone plans to visit, make sure you stop by the local TI office first! 😆

Then while I was wandering around Insadong, I came across another pleasant surprise. BL fans, does this look familiar to you? 😀

Yes, it’s where Hwan and EunSung met for their date, and where Hwan had his caricature drawn.

After Insadong, I was getting even more tired. My feet were really killing me! But I decided to make another stop since I remembered another place that I had wanted to visit. I thought it would be a quick stop before I headed back to the hotel, but it turned out to be a big adventure. And it was definitely my biggest accomplishment for the day!

The place was the YakHyeon (Jungnim) Cathedral, where DaeWoong confessed to Miho. I posted an article on this earlier in the month, and I think the headline was “Where on earth is it?” That was definitely the question of the day. 😆 The direction in my guidebook was “10 minutes walk from Exit 1 of Seoul Station.” Again, not very helpful. So I decided to make things easy and just go by taxi. But very surprisingly, none of the taxi drivers knew where it was! I showed them the picture, and also the address! But they kept shaking their heads. I totally don’t understand why they couldn’t find a place with the address given to them. 😦 I was almost ready to give up, when a light bulb went off in my head. Google map! I use it all the time back home, so why not try it in Korea? Thankfully, it worked! I’m pretty sure I looked silly walking around holding a phone in front of me as my guide, but I was too happy to care.

The cathedral was just as beautiful as it looked on TV, but the surroundings somehow looked different from what I remembered. I definitely hope this was the right place! 😆 There was a wedding ceremony going on at the time, so I didn’t get to go inside.

Afterward, I went back to the hotel and rested for a while. But since this would be my last free night in Seoul, I decided to go visit the Namsan Tower for the recommended Seoul night view. I was going to take the cable car, but there was a huge line waiting, and I didn’t have the patience anymore, so I took a taxi instead. The taxi driver was a guy, but very chatty. He asked me if I liked Korean dramas, like Dae Jang Geum. So I said, “I like Korean dramas, but I like MGIG.” He was surprised, and said, “That’s a brand new drama!” Well, it’s not really new to me anymore! Haha I told him that I watched it because of SeungGi. He was like, “Oh, Lee Seung Gi! He can sing, and he can host. He can do everything!” OMG, I felt so proud hearing that! 😀

It was then time for dinner, and I decided to go for some pizzas. Even though I don’t really eat at Pizza Hut back home, but SeungGi always made the pizzas look so delicious, I just had to give them a try. But it was such a disappointment when I walked into the store and didn’t see any SeungGi life-size cutouts greeting me. 😛 But I did see one small poster after I sat down. AND 1n2d was showing on a small TV screen close to my table. I think my expectation for the food was a little too high, but overall it was a good experience eating dinner while watching SeungGi on TV. 😀

When I went to pay the bill, I saw them giving out 2011 calendars. I got so excited. I mean, SeungGi just renewed his contract with Pizza Hut, wouldn’t they put SOME pictures of him on their new calendar? So I asked for a calendar. When I opened it up, it was a total disappointment! There was not a single picture of SeungGi in there!

But I comforted myself with the fact that I would be seeing him in person soon enough! 😀

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