Backpacking to Seoul is the first oversea trip that I went
with my good friend, Lynn. It was a perfect arrangement; she has been dreaming about going to
South Korea for a long time and I’m just blaming Running Man for showing me pretty places in South Korea really. Staying there for five days was not enough and
I’m ready to go again in the near future.
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| Source: google |
Seoul is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea, with population of 51.44 million. Known as Asia's most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally, and the birthplace of K-Pop and Korean Wave; no wonder people all over the world is flocking Seoul to experience the wonder of the city. source: Wikipedia
We spent five days in Seoul, staying at an airbnb in Yongsan and touring using public transport. Our tour guide is the lovely Ezz who is from Singapore and her friend, Yana. During these five lovely days, there were some surprising and amazing experiences that somehow
still stuck to me till these days.
Seoul underground subway can be complicated (though not as complicated as Tokyo) and it can be quite confusing but as long as you know your exit, you will be just fine. However, I was one of the dumb one who accidentally forgot the exit number in my state of panic.
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| me before the tragedy lol |
Seriously, remember which exit that you should use. Lynn and I went to Myeondong from Yongsan and successfully made it through
just fine. The exit to Myeongdong is very easy to find anyway. But what we didn’t
expect is to get lost in the underground station when we wanted to go back to the airbnb. Somehow, we happened to get into the opposite train and didn’t know where the
exit (note that we did try to ask for help but subway officer didn’t understand a word we’re
saying so…) Ended up having to contact Ezz who was staying back in
airbnb and asked her to get us at the station. Kinda embarrassing. Now I know
to always remember the exit number and carry the subway map with me all the
time.
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| just... save a map... |
2. Musical Theater
Who would go to South Korea just to watch a musical theater?? *point finger* these nerds! Yup, we certainly did. Lynn was the one suggested it, saying said she wanted to watch it in the first
place since she’s a fan of Kim Junsu, the main actor. Of course I would tag
along; I’ve been watching musical theater since I was 15, I'm a theater nerd. It was a Dorian Gray
Musical, and since I already read the novel all those years ago, I pretty much
already know the plot so I was excited for it.
The musical took place at Seongnam Arts Center, and it
started at 8pm. Our seats was pretty far but still center enough to enjoy the
entire show. I really did enjoy it, and I loved the props and the costumes and
the mood; and suddenly I remembered why I love musical theater so much.
The scripts was entirely in Korean though, but still, you
can pick a few gist of it if you already know the story of Dorian Gray. We were not allowed to take any pictures of the show so I literally don't have any.
3. Curious ahjumma
Big cities like Seoul, with places like
Hongdae and Itaewon is multi-culture with people from all over the world, where Muslims are no exception. So of course, a lot of Korean netizens (especially the younger
generation) has taken a back seat on racism and have been more accepting towards others cultures, religions and races. However, there
are still a few, very small number of people who are still wary of people that
were so obviously different from them, mostly the older generation.
I was lucky I didn’t get call out or anything, and the
ahjumma was probably just very curious. I was sitting opposite of my friends in
a subway, checking my social media when my friends sneakily took pictures of
me. Of course, I smiled because I caught them, but then they suddenly called
out to me and asked me to sit beside them. They were acting strange, so I just
complied. And then they showed me the picture.
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| faces are hidden for privacy |
An ahjumma was staring and checking me out from head to toes
with no subtlety. My friends were worried that I might get hate comments from
her from the way she was looking at me; but I am still in my positive mind just
thinking that she was probably just very curious about my hijab. If only she
asked, and she could understand English, I would be happy to explain to her.
4. Malay speaking salesmen in Nandaemun Market.
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| Source: Visit Korea |
Don’t be surprise when you are greeted by Malay-speaking salesperson when you go shopping at Nandaemun Market. You might even think you’re not in Seoul anymore, and has been magically transported back to Chow Kit Street in Kuala Lumpur or something (haha). No, they’re not a Malaysian/Singapore Chinese; they’re pure Korean, who is just used to a flock of tourists from Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia that they learned Malay to better interact with them. They are also quite good with English, especially when they’re trying to pull you into buying their stuffs (haha).
5. Meeting Oh Ji Ho at The Street
The Street is a famous celebrity café near JYP Entertainment
at Gangnam. Standard café that offers tea and coffee and western food (we didn't eat anything because it's not halal-certified). Of
course, we didn’t expect to meet any celebrity there (I mean, besides Running
Man cast I know absolutely no one from the Kpop industry). But Ezz suddenly
whispered that the man sitting beside our table is the famous actor Oh Ji Ho,
and surprisingly I recognized him as the cast member of the Return of Superman;
and sitting very close to me was her famous daughter. (I watched it since my
mom loves it).
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| trying to be subtle and failed. |
Sneakily tried to take a glimpse of him in our pictures
because we had no idea how to approach him anyway.
At one point, his daughter, Oh Seoheun, turned around and
started staring at me since I was the closest. I couldn’t help it, I smiled and make funny faces at her for a while and
she laughed and started to turn around more just to look at me. I was never
really good with kids but I happened to interact nicely with kids in South Korea for
five days more than I has ever been my entire life in Malaysia (haha). Now I
can happily admit that I’ve played with one of the baby from the Return of
Superman.
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| Do any of you recognize him? |
My experience in Seoul is like no other; I felt like a
tourist, but at the same time I felt pretty much at home. It was a very
memorable and a good adventure and I can’t wait to go there again, because I feel
like there is still so much for me to discover. If any of you guys have been to
South Korea, share what is the most memorable thing you ever experience, and
tell me if that experience is worth it because mine certainly is! Love to hear your thoughts.
See you soon, lovelies!
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