SK 2012: Itinerary? What itinerary?

The past few days have been nothing but amazing. However, a great vacation always comes with a price. We were all exhausted come Day 6. By this time, the minty smell of pain relievers no longer bothered us. Yep, not even me and that says a lot. Salonpas, Katinko, Korean menthol strips. Name it, we have it. So for our last day, we decided to drop everything off our itinerary and just do whatever we want.

For a change, we woke up late and went to the nearby Hollys Coffee to grab some breakfast. Yay, breakfast at 10AM instead of 6AM! It was raining pretty hard so we were drenched by the time we reached the cafe. It was all good though because the cafe was toasty. I had a blueberry bagel and a cup of their Real Belgian Cafe Mocha. The bagel was okay, nothing special. The coffee was a bit too sweet for my liking but you can really taste the Belgian chocolate in it. I just prefer my coffee/hot cocoa rich and creamy, not sugary sweet.

Starbucks South Korea merchandise

Due to the rainy weather, we decided to head to Trick Eye Museum first. We passed by a Starbucks on the way there and we couldn't help but check out their merch. I have a thing for limited edition tumblers so I had to buy a Seoul Day tumbler. Too bad, the Seoul Night design was out of stock. :(

At Trick Eye Museum

We thought it was a good idea to visit the museum on a rainy day. It turns out, most people thought so too. The place was packed! We split into groups of two to make the photo ops faster but yeah, it still took us a while to get through the entire exhibit thanks to our OC-ness. Our trip to the museum was so fun, it deserves it's own post. :)

Bring out the inner child in you!

After the museum, it's time for merienda (which ended up as lunch as well). Faye and Ate Light went to look for Charlie Brown Cafe (which has been closed down unfortunately) while the rest of us went to Hello Kitty Cafe. Jona asked for directions from a petite girl while the rest of us chatted away. Jona suddenly told us, "Oh, okay na. Ihahatid daw tayo." and we all went "Yay!" when the girl (I forgot her name OMG :c) suddenly got all excited and asked if we're from the Philippines. We wondered how she knew, but we said yes. It turns out, she understood what Jona said! What's even more amazing was that she studied high school in Colegio de San Agustin and her favorite subject was Hekasi. How awesome is that? She was on her way to meet some friends when Jona approached her so we waited for them to arrive. And when they did, she was so excited to tell them that she met people from the Philippines! I love how her friends reacted the same way. She obviously had a fun time in the Philippines and I'm glad she did. Makes me even more proud of our little country. :)

Kitty-chan, we meet again!

I've been to HK Cafe before but that didn't stop me from buying more merch. :"> After our super late lunch, we went along Hongdae road (which we thought was the Ewha strip haha) to shop. Jona and I bought matching bags from a cute little store whose owner was blasting a familiar song. As if thinking what I'm thinking, Jona asked me if I was listening to the song. We couldn't contain our excitement as we asked the shop owner if she knows who the singer is. She said with a smile that it's Juris, a Filipino artist. Antaray lang ni Juris! International levelsss!!! [FYI, it was an MYMP song/CD. :)]

Did I mention how much I love Market O?

After shopping in Hongdae, Jona and I were on our way to the subway when we passed by an Olive Young store. Olive Young = Market O goodies. So we had to stop for a little while and finally finish our Market O hoarding. Yes, hoarding! WE LOVE MARKET O! I still remember the first time I saw it's beautiful packaging and the first time I tasted it after starving for so long. It was love at first bite, I tell ya! And I just couldn't forget it from then on. I just have to bring home enough Market O goodies to last me a couple of days. Or weeks. Haha


Jona and I dropped our stuff off at our guesthouse before proceeding to Myeong-dong when the rest of the girls arrived there too! I love how our minds work the same way. Who needs cellphones when you've got ESP? Haha After resting a while, we all went to Myeong-dong for our last-minute shopping. We split into two groups again and agreed on a time and place (Star Walk at Lotte Dept. Store) where we can meet up so we can go grocery shopping together. Jona and I shopped together while Ate Light, Vanie and Erin went with each other.

No matter how much time we seem to have, it's just not enough for shopping. Before we know it, Jona and I were already running late for our meeting time. I was so worried that the other girls might get lost if we were not there on time. After getting lost in the subway twice, we finally got to Lotte Department Store. I was starting to get really cranky and panicky when Jona screamed. There was a couple in front of me so I couldn't see what was happening. When I got to Jona, it turned out she tripped and accidentally squished Karen's cellphone along the way. As a true bestfriend, I would've laughed at Jona's little accident but 1) I didn't see it and 2) there was the phone to distract me. The first time we were in SK, we scratched Karen's phone. Now, we kind of smashed it. QUE HORROR! No amount of polvoron can make up for that boo-boo. [Karen was ever-forgiving jsyk.]

When we arrived at Star Walk, the girls were nowhere to be found. As we were pressed for time, I suggested we go ahead as they might have gotten tired waiting for us and just went grocery shopping without us. But guess who we bumped into as we entered the doors? Ze girlssss! Hahaha That's ESP for ya!

Korean snacks!

Now that we're all together, it's time to do some serious omiyage shopping! More like hoarding, actually. Hihi The last time I went all-out grocery shopping was on a White Day and now, it's Pepero Day so imagine the number of people at the grocery store. Still, it's nothing compared to our packed malls. Funny how whenever I take a snack off the shelf, it becomes empty (or close to empty) by the time I get back. It turns out, the girls were getting whatever I was getting! And if you look into our carts, we basically have the same items. Haha I love how these girls trust my judgment on food. I feel sorry for other tourists though. :(

Misadventure #9999999999:
By the time we finished grocery shopping, we were already late for our dinner with Karen. We wanted to have our last dinner at an authentic BBQ tent (samgyeopsal and bulgogi!!!!)  to make our last night unforgettable. It did become unforgettable - just not the way we wanted it to be.

We hurriedly went back to our guesthouse to leave our shopping bags. By this time, the temperature in Seoul has already dropped. There were even a couple of hail stones that came with the light drizzle. As we were getting ready to leave, Erin asked Vanie to press her hands as she's feeling a little numb. This usually happens to her so we didn't worry too much. When she didn't get any better, we decided to go without her while Vanie and Rona volunteered to watch over her. But as time passed, Erin started panicking and we didn't think Vanie and Rona would be able to handle it so we all decided to forget about the sampgyeopsal. We called Karen to call the dinner off as we are clearly having an emergency.

Mr. Pizzahh~♥

We still need to eat though as we were famished so Faye, Ate Light and I volunteered to buy food from the Mr. Pizza across the street. We didn't notice that the shop was already closing when we went in but they still accommodated us. Yay! Maybe because we're tourists? Or maybe because it's for take-away. I don't really know but we have food and that's what's important. Thank you Mr. Pizza - Hongdae staff for staying late for us hungry tourists!

When we got back, Karen was already in our room. Aww. She was calling up friends and hospitals trying to figure out how we're going to get Erin to the nearest hospital at this hour. Apparently, there are no ambulances during weekends. :(

We took turns assisting Erin and eating our not-samgyeopsal-but-still-delicious-nonetheless dinner. We ordered Bulgogi (duh) and Supreme pizzas, and red and white pastas. When our tummies were finally satisfied, we went back to dealing with Erin.

This is a real lifesaver! In Thailand, you'll see Thais sniffing this everywhere.

We did every remedy we could think of. Funny how our ideas seemed ridiculous but we did them anyway. Who would've thought of using a garbage can or pot and fill it with hot water to defrost Erin's feet? Haha Don't worry, we used a spare can we found inside the cabinet for that. We also made Erin remove all thermal clothing to ease her breathing, eat raisins, sniff my anti-vertigo medicine (now missing hmph), and drink lots of water. When we ran out of things to do, we remembered the little note pasted on our wall that says "If you are sick, please tell us so we can make you happy." HAHA I swear, that was really on our wall.

Ate Light went to fetch Mr. Choi but she came back not only with Mr. Choi, but with an Indonesian girl as well (I couldn't remember her name :c). She was also a guest who happened to overhear Ate Light's conversation with Mr. Choi and she volunteered to help out. How nice of her! She gave Erin some honey and Indonesian medicine to make her feel better. After a few minutes, they started to work so we made Erin lie down (not sleep!!) to rest a little. We checked up on her from time to time while packing our stuff. Funny how we continued to talk about possible scenarios on our flight home. What if Erin is too sick to fly? Or what if the airport staff puts her in quarantine? I told them I'd gladly volunteer to stay behind if that happens. Also, I haven't been to any hospitals in SK so that will be a first if ever. Haha Crazy girls are crazy, yknow!

Honestly, I didn't know how our day ended because I blacked out. I'll save that for another post though! :))


Traveling party: Erin, Faye, Jona (organizer), Light (organizer), Rona, Sera (organizer), and Vanie
Travel date: 11 November 2012 [Day 6]
Photo credits: Faye, Light, Vanie