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Day 64 (Saturday, August 19): Inner Thoughts
OOTD: white long sleeve off the shoulder top, light wash denim shorts with cute patches, black Boy London shoes
Headed over to Cafe Footloose for the Frosh Send Off event hosted by the Stanford Alumni Korea and I must say it was pretty chill. I got to meet new people (Madde, Ben, and Jiji), catch up with an old friend (Kyle), and get to give advice as an upperclassman aka sunbae. I still can’t believe I’m going to be a junior this year. *shudders* It was endearing to seeing the frosh bbs get so excited about this new beginning. It was cool we got to congratulate them with various hand gestures before they received a medal. As for the food, the fries were on point while the salad and burger were meh.
After the event, I wandered around Apgujeong Rodeo (LOL at the name reference to Rodeo Drive in LA) with Kyle (Lindy and Dorothy was with us for a bit beforehand). The two of us got to talk and catch up as we talked about various things in our lives. We ended up chilling in front of cafe as a random girl group/busking group (I’m still unclear who they are) performed. We got bored so we walked over to JYP Entertainment where I was actually brave enough to go up and ask people if something was going on since they were just chilling outside of the JYP Entertainment building. Proud of myself for speaking! Met a few cool people from Canada and we got to talk for a bit before Kyle and I ad to head back over to meet up with Jessica. On the way back, I thought I might have ran into/walked passed Millic (producer from HIGHGRND who is part of Club Eskimo with Dean). I thought it was him from his orangey hair and face but I’m not 100% sure. I want to believe it was him but at the same time I don’t because I missed out on saying hi. He also must thought I was weird because I gave him a peculiar double take look as I tried to figure out if he was Millic or not. Hahaha. There’s me trying to stay calm, cool, and collected only to turn out all awkward and not smooth as usual. WELP. Kyle and I then talked a little bit about how I really wanted to meet these artists and really have a substantial conversation with them and not viewed as a crazy fangirl but I am at a loss of words for what I would want to say. I think it’d be so cool to be able to work with them and gain the courage to pursue music seriously.
We met up with Jess at a cafe called The Min’s where we spent another 2 hours talking about her interview with someone about podcasting, Asian American identity/issues, etc. as I sipped on my Five Berry Ade (it was yummy and super quenching since I was thirsty from walking all around Apgujeong). The cafe was pretty cool with the many autographed CDs hanging on the walls and BTS must have been here since there are pics of them in the coffee shop. That’s cool! We sat at the table they sat at before. Hahaha.
For dinner, we headed over to Hongdae for some unlimited barbecue place that Kyle went wit my other friend Dee Dee last summer. It took us awhile to find it but at least we got some steps in and it made us feel like we worked hard to get there. More reason for us to indulge. Hahaha. We had samgyupsal and various other meats as well as fried mandu (can’t forget the mandu), rice rolled up and seasoned with seaweed (whoever came up with this is a genius), the thin white mushrooms, and garlic. YUM.
Even though I kept saying we needed to walk around a bit before I could get some Sulbing, we ended up up just walking over right away since my sister was worried about catching the subway in time to go home. We ended up ordering 2 patbingsoos, the Mango Cheese one and the Green Tea with Dark Chocolate. Both were yummy and totally filled my stomach. It was super nice to be able to hang out with sis and Kyle~
After going home and briefly saying hi to Dorothy’s mom (she’ll be staying with us for the next week), I showered and proceeded to blog as I started to reflect on some of recent inner thoughts. As much as I enjoy my time here in Korea–interning and living on my own, cooking for myself, doing cool projects, I realize that I still care too much about what people think about me and that I still have many insecurities. It’s getting tiring constantly trying to prove myself to people, justifying my beliefs/thoughts/actions and seeking validation from others. It’s hard and I know growth takes time. I know I’m constantly growing but sometimes it just feels like these insecurities and constantly negative thing of “borrowing worry” and “overthinking” won’t ever end. They are the demons I continuously have to fight and I’m so scared that they won’t ever go away. I reread some of my old writings and shared them with my sis to gain some guidance. She says and I quote, “I’m so proud of you for what you’ve accomplished! Don’t forget that. You’re on your own in Korea, cooking, interning, spending time with those who matter, blogging and take photos! Doing what makes you happy. Maybe you should try and see yourself when you’re 50. That helps me and makes me do crazy things that I don’t regret doing lol. ” And she totally resonated with and loved my writing. YAY! Hahaha thanks sister for knowing the right words to say although I know that I’m lacking and that I still have much more room to grow. I will continue to strive to love myself. To advocate for myself. Even if there are days when it’s much harder to do those things. Why? Because that’s what you’ve always taught me to do. 🙂
Day 65 (Sunday, August 20): Feeling Rejuvenated
OOTD: white assorted sushi top, medium wash denim shorts, black suspenders, black Boy London shoes
Today was quite the relaxing day as my sister and I spent a good five hours at the Dragon Hill Spa Resort in Yongsan. It was raining pretty much all day so it was a good day to spend indoors at the jimjilbang. Jess was late and her current phone had no data so I was quite worried but it all worked out and we met up. We changed into the jimjilbang clothes and we spent a good amount of time trying out the different temperature rooms. We spent the most time in the low temp traditional charcoal kiln because the medium temp was too suffocating for me. We aid there for awhile to talk/rant and relax and by the end of it I was drenched in sweat all over. It was crazy how much I sweated. I probably lst a pound from all of that sweating. I mean thinking about it now, we were in a kiln so it a was like we were baking/roasting in there. Hahaha. We tried out the cold room fir a bit before just chilling out in the lobby area as we ate some roasted egg and enjoyed sikhye (traditional sweet Korean rice beverage). YUM YUM YUM. Of course my sister attempted to make the ram’s head towel thing and proceeded to force me to take photos of her posing on the throne in the spa. I felt so much second hand embarrassment but I look up to her for just doing her and not caring about what others think. I still need to work on that.
After this, we headed over to the arcade area where we played DDR (one of the songs we danced to was BEAST’s “Shock”), a shooting game (apparently a family that was next to us was staring at us since we were girls playing a shooting game hahaha), and this arcade game where out had to have fast reflexes to press this colored buttons to complete tasks like eating bingsu, fold origami, a dude putting down the toilet seat and then being able to go to the bathroom hahaha. We definitely enjoyed ourselves at the arcade and then proceeded to go to the hot and cold baths. It was super refreshing to chill in those baths both indoor and outdoor as we continued to release our inner thoughts that have been causing us stress. I forgot my earphones in a pocket of the jimjilbang pants so I was quite upset about that (still am), but my sis totally enjoyed our time at the jimjilbang so I’m so glad!
After we left the jimjilbang, we headed over to Myeongdong where we planned to get me some skincare products. We got sidetracked and stopped by the sore 6ix8ight where my sis did a mini shopping spree (she is definitely more of a shopaholic than I am). It was cool though that one of my favorite YouTubers twin duo Q2Han filmed a vlog here before. Coolio~ We then had a bit of trouble navigating over to the Innisfree shop that also had a cafe since you know Myeongdong has multiple skincare shops of the same brand within a few steps of each other. It gets super confusing. The rain also made it harder since the random droplets that would get on my phone would act up. But it;s okay, the universe was telling me it was going to be aright since we passed by a store that was playing Dean’s “Come Over.” #revitalizing Well when we finally made it to the right Innisfree, I got my skincare products (Whow! We also topped by ALand to get a toner) and we headed up to the cafe on the second floor. Oh em gee the aesthetic was so on point. Greenery everywhere and with the perfect lighting everything felt so bright and vibrant. We ordered a lemon drink that was super yummy (my fave lemon drink that I’ve had here in Korea thus far) and this Jeju fruit, yogurt, cream dessert thing that reminded me of pie (I miss pie).
After spending time at the cafe and attempting to fold this music amplifier box thing they had lying around, my sister and I headed over to Myeongdong Kyoja where I had kalguksu (fort h third time–I always order the same thing) and my sis got bibimguksu. We enjoyed our dinner and headed back to the station whee we had to part ways. I was highly amused as we made dramatic faces to each other as my sis boarded the subway that would depart before my subway came. I felt like we were in a drama/movie or we were like one of the many many many couples I have seen here in Korea who are sad to be separated from each other. Hahahaha. Now that I’m home and showered, I’m trying to quickly blog about my day so I can watch the two new episodes of Strong Deliveryman. Maybe I’ll just watch one episode today and save the other one for tomorrow. We’ll see if I have any self control. Oh btw I didn’t bring my camera around with me today (I left it at home since it felt weird bringing it with me to the jimjilbang) so I’ll try and see if I can pics from my sis or just have the not-so-great quality pics I took via Snapchat.
UPDATE: I have no self control because this drama is so dang good and I can’t wait for the next episodes to come out. I always love rooting for the underdogs even though it seems like the whole world/system is against them. #relatable #gowatchStrongDeliveryman #highlyrecommend
Day 66 (Monday, August 21): Homebody
OOTD: “We should all be feminists” double layered tank top, medium wash denim shorts, oishi shrimp socks, black Boy London shoes
We had a meeting at work at 11:30am so I quickly boiled some potatoes and covered it in butter and salt and put it in a plastic container to enjoy it at work. We heard some pretty rough news from our boss about the current situation of the company so the last week of our internship is going to be pretty weird. Uploaded the newest Reel 2 Real video for work and got reimbursed so that was awesome! When I got home, I chilled on the sofa updating my portfolio and updating myself on K-ent news as usual.
I made some kimchi fried rice with rice and seaweed for dinner and videochatted with Cali as we both eat dinner and talked about various things as we also designed MLH merch (HYPE HYPE HYPE). We chatted for quite a few hours as we touched a bunch of random things. I also finally tried some of the coconut Pocky she gave to me as a gift. For the rest of the night, I watched the new episode of “Outrageous Roommate” and kept trying to watch the newest episode of “I Live Alone” featuring Taeyang but the universe doesn’t seem to want me to watch it since the video keeps freezing and taking forever to load. Ughhh. I also realize that I’m pretty much a homebody since I recently feel s tired to go anywhere. I mean if there’s a cool event or live performance and people I really want to meet up with then I’m more down but I also realize that I don’t have to exert so much of myself to go out everyday and explore Korea to make the most of my time here. Who says it’s bad to be a homebody? Even Taeyang admits he’s a homebody hahaha. Random thought, but I started using skincare stuff this morning and my skin feels so supple. I’m happy hehehe. I do need to take care better care of my skin even if it’s gotten a lot better this year thanks to the help of Cali. Hehehe. Another random thought, so excited that VIXX LR (the VIXX subunit with Leo and Ravi) is making a comeback soon. I also dig Taeyang’s new album. Doe this mean I have no albums to be on the lookout for and possibly buy? We’ll have to see. My mom does really love Taeyang. Hmmmmm.
Day 67 (Tuesday, August 22): Late Night Talks
OOTD: “Everything will be fine” shirt, medium wash denim shorts, salmon oishi socks, black Boy London shoes–later in the evening changed into black double layered top, star dangly earrings, black baseball cap wth white text “Premium”
For lunch, I made myself some ham omelette mixed with mushrooms, onions, and garlic. Also boiled some potatoes and ate some kimchi on the side. At work today, we had another meeting to brainstorm some new company ideas and then left work early. I chilled at home, napping and watching YouTube videos. I also worked on my application to get into a d.school class this quarter on Visual Design Fundamentals. Sounds like a cool class. Also super stoked since I found this new artist named GeoNeo from watching Amber’s (from fx) YouTube videos. He’s a songwriter from SM who has worked with Henry before but he’s released some of his original stuff in Chinese which is really good. He has the R&B vibes which I dig and I really like the mash up he did with Casper (from Cross Gene) featuring Justin Bieber’s “Heartbreaker” and a Lee Wang Hom song. Which reminds me, I haven’t really heard much about Lee Wang Hom these days. I used to listen to some of his stuff back in the day.
I made plans to meet up with my friend Alex for some patbingsu at around 8:30pm so I did some laundry in the meantime. For our meetup, I headed over to Noryangjin aka the area known for a lot of cram schools and stressed out students studying for various examinations. Oooh it’s a rough life. Alex and I went to Sulbing where we ordered the cheese ddeokbokki pizza and peach bingsu. The ddeokbokki pizza definitely tasted weird with the ddeokbokki sauce tasting like barbecue sauce. 2/10 would not recommend. The peach bingsu was quite delicious and I wonder if I loved it even more because it was able to wash away the spiciness and weird taste of the ddeokbokki pizza. Besides the food and being able to go out and get a breath of fresh air, I was super happy to meet up with Alex and be able to catch up with him since it seems like we can talk forever about anything. Much needed. I was able to rant about my current frustrations and we spent a good portion of the night just sitting outside talking about the future and life. I love late night heart-to-hearts.
After I got home and showered, I tried to watch the “I Live Alone” episode with Kikwang but ended up feeling too tired so I had to stop midway.
Day 68 (Wednesday, August 23): Reunited with More Friends
OOTD: “It’s a beautiful Sunday to leave me alone” double layered crop tank top, black and white athletic shorts, salmon oishi socks, black Boy London shoes–later in the evening changed into high-waisted jeans with fun patches, star dangly earrings
Went into work today to talk to a mentor about our company ideas but tbh that wasn’t very helpful. I didn’t have much time to get ready since I underestimated how much time I need to I packed my lunch to go. I stir fried potatoes with spam, onion, and garlic and then topped that off with avocados. That was yummy. I’m kind of slacking off in the cooking department this week because I’m just trying to get rid of the food I have left (I have so many potatoes) so I’m trying my best not to be too repetitive. I also brought a banana with me. I got to talk to Da Eun for a bit today and she showed me some of her hand lettering skills by writing out my name. Hehehe I felt special~
It is another short day, at work so when I got home I tried working on more of my d.school app before napping. I woke up with a message from my friend John saying he’s in Seoul and wondering if we cold meet up before or dinner plans with our other friends. Of course I was down! We decided to explore the Banpo Hangang Park as we talked about our summers (once again I did some ranting about current frustrations about work). I haven’t really walked around the Banpo Hangang Park that much so it was nice to get some fresh air as we walked and talked. It kind of started to rain so thank goodness John had an umbrella since I forgot to transfer my umbrella from my backpack to my purse when I left the house.
Original dinner plans was dakgalbi at around 7:45 in Gangnam Area. John and I headed over to the Gangnam area pretty early so we decided we wold venture around but since it was raining we just spent time in a Kakao Friends store. We met up with everyone an ate Gosoo Dakgalbi and I must say that although I’ve eaten dakgalbi at least 3 to 4 times now, this place is probably my fave dakgalbi place. he chicken was super yummy and I greatly appreciated that the skin was still in the chicken. BONUS POINTS. We had ramen in our dakgalbi and there were two types of ddeok/rice cake ( I like the thin slices version more). We ended up eating nine servings between five people hahaha. All for about a little less than $15 USD each. Pretty good deal. Also super cute that Cindy and I decided to twin tonight! We both have shirts that say “It’s a beautiful Sunday to leave me alone.” Even if it isn’t Sunday, we’re still cute. Hahaha.
We were planning to go get Sulbing afterwards but the one we went to was super backed up and we would have had to wait for thirty to forty minutes so we left thinking there was another Sulbing down the street. Well we were wrong. The other no longer existed and we were too lazy to want to go back so we decided to head home for the night. Alex, Cindy, and I were going in the same direction while John and Kyle went in the opposite direction on the same line.
After I got home and showered, I’ve been trying to blog but it took me forever to start it since I ended u rewatching the Chinese movie “Never Gone” starring Kris Wu and Liu Yifei because I saw a clip of it on Facebook. Not sure why I did that. So now I’m trying to blog quickly so I can finish the Kikwang episode of “I Live Alone.” I am so excited for his solo comeback because I’ve heard some music clips and they sound pretty groovy. I am also excited for Hoody’s new song because her voice is amazing and AOMG never disappoints.
Day 69 (Thursday, August 24): Day at the Museum
OOTD: “Love without side effect” red and blue stripe shirt, black shorts, salmon oishi socks, black Boy London shoes, diamond shaped studs
For lunch, I stir fired some samgyupsal with potatoes, onions, and garlic and then topped that off with some avocado. After another short frustrating day of work, I met up with my friends John and Alex at Gwanghwamun. We explored the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History which was super fun since Alex knew what he was talking about (he’s a history major) and we were able to get each other’s jokes. There was this photo area where you can take pics and send it off as a lantern and also print a copy for yourself. We took 3 pics so that we could each have a copy to keep. After checking out the museum we headed over to the huge Kyobo bookstore area where I debated whether or not to get some albums. w as thinking of getting offonoff, Millic, or Crush but I ended up not getting anything. I still haven’t opened the other albums I have already bought. I might film a unboxing video hahaha. We’ll see.
For dinner we went to Insadong and got some jjajangmyeon and fired as well as boiled mandu. Yum~~~~ After dinner we headed over to the nearby Subing where we got the red bean injeolmi bingsu. It was so yummy! I had the one with just injeolmi and was too bland for me. The read beans add the perfect touch. I can see why this flavor was Alex’s favorite! Also super happy that Dean’s “Half Moon” came on as we walked into the store. I swear this song has been my summer theme song since it’s been playing at crucial moments during my time here. Taeyang’s “Eyes, Nose, Lips” was m theme song last time I was in Korea three years ago.
After Sulbing, we headed over to Dongdaemun where we checked out the LED light roses and met up with Kyle. We wandered around the Dongdaemun area doing some sightseeing and grabbing some street foods. John got some ddeokbokki while Alex got sikhye and a hot dog covered in french fries. The hot dog covered in french fired was pretty bland. Would not recommend. Alex ended up heading for home first so John, Kyle, and I wandered around Doota Mall for awhile before I decided that I should go home since I had to pack to move out of my Airbnb tomorrow. It was a good move to leave for home early because it took me quite awhile to get all of my stuff packed in my one check in and one carry on bag. Tbh took me quite awhile since I’ve bought SO MUCH since being here
Day 70 (Friday, August 25): New Home
OOTD: white sushi top, blue ripped shorts, oishi socks (not sure what ind of sushi it is), star dangly earrings
Today was my last day of work so we all went out for lunch with my boss and my fellow interns. I ended up ordering seafood ramyeon and the conversation during lunch pretty much revolved around Stanford. Not that interesting to me. I don’t really like talking about Stanford much even if I go to school there. After lunch we all went home and I had to do some last minute packing so I could move in with my friend for the next 2 weeks since my Airbnb contract was up.
After packing all my stuff and having Alex help move my stuff to his place which by the way is so nice and the view is breathtaking, and I get my own room and bathroom. Score! I chilled and attempted to do some blogging. We went to go to do some grocery shopping and ate some bread once we got home (we finished the whole bag we bought LOL). My friend left because of dinner plans so I just chilled at home watching the Filipino movie “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” I teared as I watched the movie since some of the messages really resonated although the storyline itself was a lot sometimes. The view outside of the window as the sky turned from day to night was sooooo pretty. I kept thinking to myself “Man this is the life” as I relaxed looking out at the beautiful of the city. I showered and made myself some ramen but I got hungry again so I made some mandu later in the night and my friend ad some too. I told myself that i would blog but then I just watched YouTube videos until I felt too tired. Welp hahaha. I also had some frozen banana for the first time and man was it yummmmmmmmy. Also can’t stop listening to Hoody’s “Hangang” and Crush x Wrong Addresses’s “Love is True.” So catchyyyyyyyyy. Summer jams~~~~
[Something] for the Seoul 