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Day 22 (Saturday, July 8): NBA Buzzer Beat Festival = SO LIT
OOTD: white two-layered muscle tank, light wash jeans, black Boy London shoes
I CAN’T BELIEVE TODAY HAS FINALLY COME. I AM GOING TO THE NBA BUZZER BEAT FESTIVAL 2017. I found about this event awhile back and didn’t think I would actually be able to go. Basically it’s a super long concert with hip hop and R&B acts and I knew at least 20 artists. To name a few, there would be Dean, Jay Park, X.Q, NiiHwa, Suran, Heize, and the list goes on and on. I was able to get tickets through the global Interpark website with the help of my internship boss and I was going with my friend Lindy. I’m so glad that we got to go together!
I spent the morning at Lindy’s place getting ready. We picked out our outfits, Lindy curled my hair, and i paced back and forth trying to fix myself in the mirror. I love getting ready for somewhere fun to go!We finally left the house around 12pm as we headed to the KBS Arena. The show starts at 1pm but none of the people we really cared about was going to be performing that early in the day. When we got on the train at Noryangjin it was sooooo packed. It may or may not have been because they were people also going to this festival, but regardless Iw as lucky to have Lindy help me hold me up and my heart was kind of fluttering as I was standing super close to this cute guy. Hahaha experiences that only happen because of circumstances.
We finally got the festival and we made friends with a girl named Minji as we navigated to the way to get our bracelets/tickets. Thank goodness I had my International Student ID card with me since they needed a form of ID to confirm I got the tickets. Yayyyyy for things working out. The vent was split into 2 stadiums and although you could go back and forth my friend and I decided to stay in one in hopes of getting closer to the stage as time went by. Because of this, we ended up standing for 9 hours (the concert was 1-10pm) with no food and barely any water. We were going through a lot to say the least but it was well worth it. Getting to see so many talented artists take the stage and shoer love (and water) onto the fans as well as soaking in all of our love was super rewarding to see. Of course Iw as super hyped to see DEAN perform live for the third time, I was also super happy to see familiar and new faces. Crucial Crew super great and so was Punchnello, Crucial Star, and many others. Heize was super adorable and was very interactive with the fans. Suran is an absolute goddess with her unique voice. And of courseJay Park was totally WERKING the stage. He was so charming. His dancing was amazing and I was super happy to finally get to see him. I was sad that I missed the chance to see AOMG’s concert when they came to the Bay Area since I knew Jay Park was amazing live. HE DID NOT DISAPPOINT. All of his songs were boppers and he definitely knows how to work the crowd. He even went up tot he stands to say hi and interacting with the fans. Ah, so cool! He of course took of his shirt as he always does and was totally grooving to his song “Mommae (Body),” a fan favorite. Hahaha.
Even if Jay Park was the man attractio for most people, I would have to say Samuel Seo stole my heart tonight. DEAN of course is always #1 in my heart but oh my goodness was Samuel Seo so charming. I have heard of him before and dig his music and knew he was pretty god looking, but I did no realize how handsome and charming he was in real life. I could not take my eyes off of him for one secnod while he was on stage. His hairstyle was sooooooo on point. Even if he messed up his hair, he was still so good loooking. He was also great at woring on the crowd and my heart melted every single time he smiled. I swear it as like he shot an arrow at my heart whenever he smiled. I squealed. Hahahaha. Went home to see more pics and videos of him and in his interview he seems like such a down-to-earth and chill dude. Super cool human being I would like to meet and have a conversation with one day. I do dream of having a chat/heart to heart with my favorite musicians to really get to know them as people. I want to know their story, what gets them to wake up in the morning everyday, what speaks to them when they write their music. So much to learn and appreciate. Enough of my fangirling and back to reality.
After the show, Lindy grabbed some Mountain Dew for me so I could quench my thirst. And we walked to a convenience store to grab some kimbap and any other food we wanted to have as dinner. I settled on spam and beef kimbap and it was pretty yummy. Would pick the spam kimbap over the beef one. Still on the hunt to find the salmon kimbap. Lindy wanted some rice porridge and was a little confused about whether or not she should heat it up at the store to eat. Luckily the cute convince store worker was nice and patient. We ate outside as we talked about life and it as great to be able to open up to each other. I love heart to hearts. We barely made it home on the last train and I got to talk to my mom on the phone for a bit. I was pretty pooped when I got home, but I tried to exporting as many videos and photos from my camera to relieve the awesomeness of the day. Still can’t believe it happened! I smile so much when I think about it. Honestly this is what it’s all about. Taking advantage of my summer here in Korea. I love concerts and I’m happy to say NBA Buzzer Beat 2017 was my first ever music festival. So happy for these kind of spontaneous adventures that beings me happiness and that much closer to the people that I look up to and turn to in times of many feeling (both good and band). My heart is so full and I feel so blessed for so many reasons. ❤ ❤ ❤
Day 23 (Sunday, July 9): Things Don’t Always Go As Planned
OOTD: blue off the shoulder top, black jeans, black Boy London shoes
I made some eggs and toast for brunch and man was it yummy even if it was simple. YUM YUM YUM. I was running quite late to my hair appointment at 11:30am and so Lindy and I rushed to Nokpyeongsa Station. I messed up and got lost so by the time we reached the station I realized that I probably wouldn’t t make the appointment since it took about 16 minutes to walk to the shop and my stylist had scheduled an appointment at 12pm and I was already running late. I ended up rescheduling it for Thursday and thanking my hair stylist for being so understanding. Lindy and I decided to head over to Myeongdeong where we did some shopping and wandering here and there. I got some yummy mandu to fill u my stomach after we had a major shopping haul in a store. We even went to the subway station to change into our new clothes. Hahahaha. Sadly the store had given me an in correct shirt so I will probably have to come back tomorrow to get the right one. I pray it won’t be much of a hassle.
We got caught in the rain so we talked more about life and I got to talk about how being in Korea hasn’t really helped with my restless as I still struggle with my purpose in life and whether I was being in coward in terms of wanting to pursue my passion in music and more creative fields. It’s been frustrating being in this slump for awhile now and as much as I’m trying to life myself out of it, I also need to remember to be patient with my life’s pace and appreciate and love all that I have.
We decided t head over to Garosugil next as we ventured into Juno Hair to see how much it would have been to get my hair done. It was pretty pricey so I decided to wait until I see my stylist again to see how that would go. Hopefully that also goes well and I can get my hair to be a more ash blonde color. It was raining again so we held our bags of clothes above our heads as we ran to different stores. We spent some time in the store 8 Seconds to look at the G-Dragon collaboration line. There was a teal asymmetrical skirt I thought was funky and cute. I tried it on although I wasn’t going to buy it since it was ~30,000 won. There was a G-Dragon commercial that was playing that I thought was super adorable. He was basically just playing with and caressing a cat. My heart melted.
We came back to Yongsan and went to E-mart again to get some things and chilled at Lindy’s place as she helped cook some rice for me before coming home. Yay for having great friends that are willing to cook rice for you so you don’t starve. ❤
Day 24 (Monday, July 10): Chill Day
OOTD: blue off the shoulder top, black jeans, black Boy London shoes
Another pretty chill day at work. It was cool helping our boss brainstorm show ideas. Also super cool that he oh so casually mentioned speaking with Epik High’s Tablo for work advice. Like whatttttt. I know Tablo is a Stanford alumni, but still. That’s so cool. I wonder how close they are and if that means if we could meet/talk to him someday.
After work I was super ecstatic to rush home to cook dinner since I didn’t much all day. I made some hamburger steak with eggs to go along with the rice Lindy had coked for me. Grabbed a pack of seaweed and I was good to go. The roomie Dorothy and I proceeded to squeal and fangirl as we continued to watch Weightlifting Fairy and indulge in the cuteness that is the NJH and LSK couple. ❤
Day 25 (Tuesday, July 11): Day Full of Adventure
OOTD: black short sleeve crop top, long denim skirt, black Boy London shoes
Today wasn’t the typical workday as headed to a studio in Gangnam to film a MV reaction video for the company. The space was super cool and the staff were super nice to welcome us with some iced coffee. We ended up reacting to Millic’s “Paradise” featuring FXNCY CHILD (DEAN, Zico, Crush, and Penemeco) all in one take and it was pretty fun! If you haven’t yet, go check out the amazing song/MV here. Everything about this song is greatbut Crush’s and DEAN’s especially slays. Can’t wait to see the full MV reaction video but in the meantime I squealed over the cuteness that is my girls and I just having fun together and it shows in the pics and mini clip Evelyn took of us.
After filming we headed over to L’Atelier (not sure how it’s spelled) bakery with the girls and Evelyn and Nicholas and ate some yummy onion bread, mango crepe cake, fresh cream tart, and lemonade. The place was super pretty and the everything was delicious! Even more delicious because it was all paid for by the company. Whoow hehe~
Afterwards, the girls and I wandered around Gangnam to explore the area. We stumbled upon Samsung d’light where they showcased their new technology and whatnot. It was all super cool to play around and interact with the tech. We also did this VR 4D rollercoaster ride which was superrrrrrrrr fun and realistic. Oh I hope we get to go to an amusement park soon because I miss going on rollercoasters.
We wandered Gangnam some more trying to check out the underground shopping area but we were to overwhelmed so we headed over to Myeongdong. I got to exchange my shirt for the right shirt I wanted to buy with no hassle which was super nice. I also got to buy a few shorts and another breezy top to add to my wadrobe. Score! We then headed to Myeongdong Kyoja for dinner. The place is apparently quite famous and there’s only 4 items on the menu. That’s when you know that everything on the menu is gogn to be quality. I ordered Kalguksu and man was it sooooooo good. he noodles were fluffy and melted in my mouth. As I said to Dorothy, theses noodles melt me like when I’m listening DEAN’s voice. Hahahaha. The mandu in the kalgusu was also fantabulous. What a great decision.
After dinner, we wandered around Myeongdong some more and got to check out the Stylenanda Hotel. Stylenanda is a well known Korean clothing brand and they have a hotel themed store. It was soooooooo creative and cute. I really enjoyed the laundromat and pool themed floors. They really went all out. The laundromat floor had actually washing machines and dryers and the seats to sit at were also ones you find at a laundromat. For the pool themed floor, the fitting rooms were showers you wold find at a pool shower room. I really appreciate and enjoy stores that go all out in their creative themes and aesthetic. Maybe that’s why I love VIXX aka the concept kings who always go all out for their art.
Day 26 (Wednesday, July 12): I Find Happiness in the Simplest Things
OOTD: “Love without side effect” red and blue stripe top, black shorts, black Boy London shoes
Super stoked that I wore shorts without wearing tights underneath for the first time in years! Went into work at around 11:45ish to meet up with Diana for lunch. She is the person who is translating news articles from our Korean news partners. We went to the chain restaurant 김선생 which was right across from the company. How convenient! We did a family style lunch and ordered seafood ramen, shrimp with rice, cream cheese walnut kimbap, and shrimp and mushroom mandu. Soooooo yummyyyyyy~ My faves were ramen and the mandu. Mandu always makes my tummy so happy!
At work, I ordered my first coffee drink at the company and got a hot latte. It was alright. I wish it was more creamier and sweet. Fast forward to the end of work, my roomie and I just headed home. Once again, I was excited to cook dinner and be able to watch Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo. Oh how the simple things in life can bring my joy. I have learned to appreciate the very chill and simple moments in life. While I love spontaneous adventures, I realize I don’t always have to be do thrilling things to feel happy. I’m glad to find happiness in my downtime once again. For dinner I fried some spam and ate that with rice and kimchi. Yum.
My roomie and continued to squeal as we watched the last few episodes of WFKBJ. We had to take a quick break before the finale so I cook make myself some mandu I for from E-mart. One can never have too much mandu. Hehehe. There’s actually so much mandu in the bag so I’m stoked more in the future when I’m craving some mandu. This time I did a bit of frying and steaming. Next time, I will try to just fry the mandu. Cooking mandu = great decision. My tummy was super happy once again.
The shirt I was wearing today is so fitting because I do question how I can love or feel love without the “side effects” that I don’t want to experience such as jealousy. My roomie and I had another heart to heart talking about relationships and the meaning of love and it was super nice to open up to each other and get to hear each other’s stories. I end my night feeling anxious about my hair appointment tomorrow and also dreading having to wake up early for a meeting group video call. Tomorrow is going to be a longggggg day and I hope everything works out!
Day 27 (Thursday, July 13): Bold Change
OOTD: burgundy red, sleeveless top, black shorts, black Boy London shoes
Woke up pretty early today because I had an LTS meeting for Publicity. That went well! I also got to talk to my co-chair more about music which is always fun. For brunch, I attempted to make eggs cooked in cut out toast. I thought I had an okay strategy but I wasn’t too hopeful. Trying to make Pinterest/Instagram trend-like food doesn’t usually turn out so great without much research. Hahaha oh well. I endd burning parts of the toast and the egg didn’t look too great but what matter that the egg yolk was only partially cooked (which is always perfection) and it was yummy~~~ Here’s to not judging things by appearance but for substance/what they are. That metaphor will take one far in life. Hehehe.
Work was the usual although we ended our work day with a mentoring session that was done mostly in Korean so I had to strain really hard to understand the whole business model chart although I think I understood the essentials. Dorothy, Lindy, and I stopped home for a bit to rest before heading to hair salon appointment. I was originally planning to nap for 20 minuted but I was so exhausted that I ended up sleeping through my alarm and waking up right before we had to leave.
We got to Nokpyeongsa station and walked to Casablanca where Dorothy and I got the spiced shrimp sandwich while Lindy had a carrot salad.Even though it was my second time eating this sandwich, I was still blown away by how delicious it is. It seriously is soooooooo good.
We then headed over to my hair appointment where I went to get my hair bleached for the second time in hopes for a more ash blonde. My hair is definitely blonde though and on the verge of platinum. Areas of i are kind of ash and between the black and ore blonde part of my hair there is still some brown. I’m more excited at this new bolder color although I’m not exactly 100% satisfied with the result/execution but oh well I’ll live with it for now. maybe totally cut it up and change my style later during my time here. So thankful that Dorothy and Lindy came with me and just chilled in the salon. Wouldn’t know what to do without them!
Day 28 (Friday, July 14): Taking Risks
OOTD: Alone shirt, long light wash jeans, black Boy London shoes
Had to get to the company at 8am for a work meeting and man was that dreadful. I am definitely not a morning person, but I’m glad that the meeting went well. I’m excited that we’ll be able to help more with content creation and video production starting next week! Praying that I can come up with fun and creative show ideas. After doing some work, we all went home and my roomie and Dorothy and I ended up taking a 3 hour nap to reenergize. We had to head to the Jam2go studio in Gangnam to shoot another MV reaction so we figured we better get some rest if we didn’t want to look dead on camera. Hahaha. It was fun getting to react to One’s 2 debut MVs as well as the debut MV of a girl group LimeSoda.
Dorothy and I then headed over to L’atelier to chill and wait to meet with Diana. I ended up eating a yakisoba sandwich and I would have to say it was pretty good despite the seemingly weird combination. After Dorothy and Diana and worked on some stuff for the company, Diana was kind enough to offer to take us to the Garosugil on her way to her next appointment. We talked about the differences about the US and Korea and whether or not we can imagine ourselves working in Korea someday. For me, I still feel up in the air and I will treat my 2 months here this summer as a trial run. Will keep y’all updated how I feel as time goes on.
After Diana left, Dorothy and I just walked up and down the streets of Garosugil wandering here and there to check out the shop as well as where we could eat dinner. We originally planned to eat some fried chicken at a place called Kkanbu Chicken but the wait was too long so we wandered elsewhere. The next place we went to was also packed so we just walked over to the shop in front of and decided that was where we were having dinner since they had space available and we were getting hungry. The owner tried to guess our ethnicity and tried to warn us they didn’t sell meat. We were confused at first but we realized that we were about to eat some intestines tonight. Here’s to new experiences~~~
It’s funny because earlier when we were checking out Korea’s version of Yelp, Dorothy and I pointed out this place out of curiosity since it was highly rated and Diana asked if we ever had intestine before and that it might be a bit much for us. Well we ended up here anyway. Must be fate hahaha. We were a bit overwhelmed first since we didn’t know what to order so we just ordered the 2 most popular dishes, some fried rice with cheese. It was col that the place provided us with soondubu aka tofu soup (yum yum yum). Tbh the intestines were actually very yummy! I actually didn’t mind the texture at all and the taste was great. Overall very satisfying dinner. Glad we took the risk and tried something new~
Dorothy and I decided we wanted to head over to Hongdae since we didn’t think we could shop much or have fun wandering around Garosugil. We wandered around the busking area but got bored of people doing dance covers so we wandered around and did a bit of shopping. LOLOLOL that I went shopping at Lucky Factory aka the brand that I also bought from at Myeongdong. I also spotted Brand Market, which is also in Myeongdong. I got the same crop top I got before but now in olive green. We wandered down a street I never got a chance to explore and we passed by quite a few clubs before getting some stuff on sale at a store nearby. We were defntiely not dressed up to be going out to a club. Hahaha. I ended up getting a shirt that “Everything will be fine.” Much needed reminder. Hahaha.
We then headed over to Sulbing to eat some yummy green tea with red bean mochi patbingoo and man was it superrrrrrrrrr yummmmmmmyyyyyyyy. I wish the US had more patbingsoo. Maybe that will be what my cafe serves instead of just normal coffee since I don’t drink coffee anyway. Plus I can be more creative with patbingsoo. Change in my dream plans~ After being very much satisfied with our dessert, we headed home. On the subway and at home, I had a great conversation with my roomie in regards to tasking risk, learning to love ourselves, and just about every aspect of life. I love these kind of conversations and am reminded by my love to learn about the stories of other people. That’s why I love meeting and getting to know new people. I wonder how many new people I will really get to know this summer while I’m here in Korea. I hope I will make meaningful, inspiring, and humble interactions~ I am super happy I have a roomie that shares the same thoughts and hopes as me and I pray that we will be able to make the most of our time here and grow in many ways! 🙂
Ended up staying up late waiting for laundry as I watched the Chinese movie “Youth Dinner.” Shawn Dou is so handsome and his smile melts my heart. ❤
[Something] for the Seoul 