Lost in Korea

Yes, this is the post that gave me the idea for the blog's name, but Did I actually get lost in Korea??

Here is the story...

Lets see... it was a paid trip to South Korea, I was already there for almost ten days, and I was going to leave like that? After crossing half of American continent and the entire Pacific Ocean?  No Way!

I asked for the ticket 4 days after the original date, that was unfortunately what my budged would allow me...

But there I was, September first, some of the participants of the Quiz were leaving and some of us staying. Now was time to look for a place to stay, where to eat and visit, so exciting!!

I enjoyed my last full breakfast at the hotel (I didn't know if I would be even having breakfast the next days), my luggage was ready, I accompanied the girls to do some last minute shopping, come back at mid day to say bye to some of the girls, then it was time to be by my own. In the hotel they kept my luggage while I went to find a place to stay. I did actually planned my stay before taking the plane to Korea, but my luggage lost one of its  tires and I was helpless, I could not go like that to Hongdae were the guest house was. So now I needed something in Seoul.

I was with Isabel (she had been in Korea before), I went with her to meet her friends, later went to Namdaemun to continue shopping and finally we ate Ttopokki in Myeondong. It was already dark outside and we didn't have a place to stay yet. Isabel knew of a place she had stayed before, we went there and even though the owner just allow Japanese people to stay there, he let us rent a room, after that we went back  walking to the previous hotel to pick up our luggage. It was a beautiful night, full of people in the street, in our way we stopped by Cheonggyecheon river and rested a little bit. Past twelve we were done by the day, tired and ready to sleep.

Next day Isabel left to Daegu to meet her friends. The owner of the place let me stay in the same room the other two days, so I lived in downtown Seoul some for days haha

Now, what to do, where to go?

I was afraid to take the subway by myself but I got courage, took the subway and the city map and  got on the subway. Destiny: Gangnam or so I thought... I got off on the Gangnam-gu Office station, when I got to see what was over the subway I couldn't do anything but stare open mouthed... Buildings and buildings in line everywhere!! I didn't even know if I was going to the right direction but I started to walk, and that was what I did for hours. My idea was to visit some Entertaiment Companies (SM, Keyeast, Cjes, etc) and I had them marked in my map, but what I didn't know is that one square in the map was like 3 o more kilometers real distance. So I kept walking, and walking, and walking and walking until I got tired and at the first sign of a subway station I took the subway back to Seoul. The next day I would go again but more prepared.

That same day I took advantage and went to the Han river in Ttukseom Resort, a really nice place to walk and ride a bike, but it was so humid and hot that I decided to move on the next stop: Children's Grand Park, first thing I did: buy some kimbab from the ajumas, it tasted really delicious!! mostly the hunger I had after walking like crazy!. The park was huge, full of animals and green places, there was an amusement park I didn't get to know. Next stop Myeongdong straight to the hostel.

At night Myeongdong was pretty, I liked to spend walking by the stores, something I would miss...

Next day (and my last one), I went to meet some Costa Rican friends that were studying in Korea by the time, but it was raining like crazy!, went for a coffee, then we walked through Bukchon and take some picture in from of the house where "Personal taste" was recorded, then we went to Changgyugung Palace. After they left for classes I decided to go again to Gangnam, this time I wrote down the address so I was decided to find at least that one place: Cjes.

Got off in a different station, followed very carefully the map, walked for more than an hour, and again rain was pouring down! but I continued, until I felt lost (again). So I took courage and enter a little store, looked for something to buy, there was a guy, I paid por the ice cream (yes an Ice cream! with that rain outside!) and I was going to leave when I asked him CAN YOU HELP ME! hahaha

He very nicely look for the address in his notebook and guided me a little bit, actually I was pretty lost were I was. To say it in other words, the place I was looking for was less than a kilometer away from the station I got off. I thanked the guy several times, and went back to the rain eating my ice cream half tired, completely wet and happy.

It was exactly where the guy told me, it wasn't in a principal street, not in a high class town, and it wasn't a big building, but there is was CJES (JYJ's agency), and outside, in the mini parking lot was a car I knew was Jaejoong's, I coudn't hide my  바보 face.

Luckily just in from of the building there was a coffee shop, I went in, asked for a Capuccino and sat down by the window staring.. (you know where). That Cappuccino was the most expensive I have paid for, but I didn't care, I took my time to finished it.

Someone from the building were peeking outside several times just exactly to where I was, I didn't know who it was, but I loved to think it was JJ, haha. The cappuccino was gone as also the day light. Time to go back. As a Cassiopeia fan.. that was incredible!

Have you being in a subway full of people? -In my country there aren't subways - Gosh! at that time everyone was out of work, so imagine me between a lot of ajumas, I felt like a sandwich xD  I just wanted to get out of there and there wasn't even space to go through, solution: Go after an ajuma, she kicked everyone out of the way and I just followed her. After 2 days traveling by subway I felt I was an expert!, really easy and nice.. my map was completely destroy I had to buy some tape and fix it. There was just one Korean girl who spoke to me offering her help, it was very nice of her ^.^

After changing clothes, I went to have dinner in Myeongdong, it was my last night in Korea, I wanted to try Naengmyun, so I look for the best place, enter and burned my mouth with that spicy plate, after diner a went to waste the money a have left. Everysing and Spao are in the same building.. Now with a sad feeling went back to the hostel and finished to get ready the luggage.

Next day I woke up very early to go to the airport, I hadn't decided by the time which was the best option Limousine (airport bus) or the subway. I chose the first one but the bus didn't appear, took a taki to the Seoul Station (btw don't expect the taxi driver to get down and help you with the luggage), and the hell started.

Where do I have to buy the ticket for the subway to the airport!!? oh yes.. from the machines. Now where the hell do I have to take the subway? I went up and down the elevator several times (don't ask why.. I'm still figuring out) ...and finally got to the right place, took the subway and I wasn't even sure it was goin to the right place. The trip took almost an hour, in other words I just had like hour and a half to take the plane. The subway finally arrived to the airport and once again  went up and down the elevator, why???? I end up going up by the electric stairs. Almost ran some hallways, looked for the right counter and make the line that took me the little time I had. (Remember my luggage lost a tire, what made all this double stressful and difficult)

I got to the door when people started to get on the plane, no time to take a breath, no even look back to see  how Incheon Airport was, not even say good bye.. I was going back to my country.

I just wished my suitcase was with me in that same airplane, I really hate the feeling you get when thinking of your things being lost :S

So, yes... I got lost even in the elevator, I couldn't manage it xD

And with my heart full of hapiness and sadness at the same time I arrive to Costa Rica, my parents picked me up and I almost cry.

Just arriving I had a goal... go back to South Korea in a year... and here I am writing this post a just 20 days for my second and longer visit in that country :D

I'll try to keep you update with my adventures there... some concert tickets are already booked ;)


감사합니다... 다음에 보자!

CJes

And the video.. you can watch it here: http://www.dailymotion.com/user/Ka_Arburola/1#video=xuh88m

Quiz on Korea Final Seoul 2012

August 21st, 2012 The day I have waited for so long!. I got into the airplane to Atlanta, then Atlanta- South Korea, 24 hrs later I was landing in Incheon Airport at 4:00am. The Latinas had arrived almost at the same time Verónica (Dominican Republic), Isabel (Colombia), MaJo (El Salvador) and me. Staff from the Quiz were waiting for us with a camera >.<

We got on the bus to our hotel in Seoul, that small trip was full of girlish things and a mix of emotions, everything spoken in Spanish, our language, we were so exited!.

We had some free time while waiting for the rest to arrive, we went to Myeondong, Insadong, and they take us to lunch, at night we met the newcomers, so many different countries that in my life I had never heard about, really nice people.

They took care of us very well, nice hotels, nice buses, expensive restaurants, snacks ans beverages all the time. Korean students were with us as translators, really nice people and the guide that never let us alone in the seven days we were under her care.

In Seoul we visited Gyeonbukgung, Nansam Tower and KBS Music Bank, we got to see BOA performing "Only you" and Teen Top, what a shame we have to leave very soon.

Time to visit the country side and record for the program! Because of the recording schedule, we have to be ready very early. We took the KTX train and started to visit historical places like Bulguksa, Seokguram Grotto, we did a temple stay, visited Anapji and Hahoe folk village.

Since we got on the KTX lots of cameras were with us all the time, it was weird, but after a time you didn't even notice them. They made us do some games, like guessing the word your team mates are trying to mimic, and find the place where a picture was taken and guess the word it was related to.

I think they were like 4 days non stopping visiting all those places and more, running, playing, doing some Buddhist martial art for hours, waking up at 4 and climbing a mountain to pray, sleeping on the floor in some cases and fighting against a Typhoon, hahaha very busy but fantastic days!

Time to go back to Seoul, I remember my bed felt so nice I could have been sleeping there for weeks, but not time for that, we had some lunch with important people, and starting to get ready for the Final Quiz.

We went out at night, visited Dongdaemun, some idol's cafe and stores... Time Out Gelato was so cute!

Final, we had ready our traditional clothes, went to KBS to do a rehearsal and then the real thing would begin. We knew EXO-K and Kara were performing that night in from of us. One of the MCs was Sooyoung from Girls Generation. So after all, we finally got to meet some famous idols :D

EXO K

Yeah, that's me representing my country

The Final Quiz had three rounds, the first 3 questions were related to the places we visited, the rest were about Korean traditions and culture, some of then very difficult. From every round there would be just one person who will pass to the final round, in which they have to choose a question and answer it. 

And, here is the winner!! Congratulations! Hulkar from Uzbekistan.

Thank you very much Korean Foundation and KBS for the opportunity!!, It was amazing, I learned a lot and made new friends from all around the world. I hope you have success in the future editions and more people get to visit and love Korea as we did, Thank You.

And to all the special people that were part of this, thank you! I will never forget you!

And here is the full program, hope you like it!

And this is not the end of my first trip to South Korea... wait for the next post... Lost in Korea ;)

My pass to Korea- the contest

How I won a trip to South Korea...

 

2013 Quiz on Korea, Costa Rica Final 

Yeah, I won a trip to South Korea everything paid, I have never imagined that could happen to me!

Opportunities come and go and sometimes we don't even notice them, or we know about it but FEAR won't let you try.

Quiz on Korea is a contest organized by several Korean organizations like Korea Fundation and Korean Broadcast System (KBS). I knew about it thanks to the Korean Embassy's Facebook page that posted the announcement.

First step was easy: enroll, download the book "Facts about Korea" and study.

Round number one: they gave us a small quiz we had to answer and send it by email, the best scores would pass to the next round.

Round number two: This one was held at the Korean Embassy. Multiple choice, they asked the question, you choose one option, people who had the answer wrong 3 times left the competition.

Round number three: Five finalists would compete between them, the questions have points, depending on the dificulty the points might vary, if you get the wrong answer you loose points. The one with more points at the end will be the winner.

So, I followed all the steps, printed the book, read it over and over, highlighted important things, names, dates, places... make resumes, questions, and repeat over and over the information.

I had told my mom I was going to participate in a competition but I didn't make it a big deal.

NERVOUS, since I woke up the final day until they told me I was the winner. First thing: I could not believe it! I was going to Korea!

Called my mom, -Mom, guess what? I'm going to Korea on August!

                          Mom: I. CAN. NOT. BELIEVE. IT.

                          -Yeah, I won the contest!

So, this is how I won the trip and got to learn a lot more things about Korea: Culture, history, Food, Economics, Political issues, people... and you know what? At this point you start to see Korea as a whole, not just the Kpop and drama things, but the rest. You get to love more the substantial things, the essence of the country.

I remember the impact I felt when reading about the war with the Japanese people and how the Korean peninsula divided into two and what that brought along, I felt sad.

Also, how South Korea being a very pour country fought against everything and in 40 years it's now the country it is, I felt proud.

Quiz on Korea is an international contest, so winners from several countries would meet in Seoul, get along for some days, visit historical places and participate in the final Quiz, and KBS would make a TV show about it, final prize: a car.

Winners started to contact each other, we made a group on Facebook, and actually got to know each other before meeting in person in Seoul, we were already friends.

This year the contest will be held again, some countries' winners had already been chosen waiting for the time to pass and take the plane to Korea, this time would be 30 countries participating.

Every year the rounds and the questions would change, this year in Costa Rica was better organized and gave the participants more chances to win. I want to congratulate my friend Minor Quesada 2013 winner in Costa Rica :)

Please ask the Korean Embassy or Consulate in your country to see any other opportunity like this one.

The book "Facts about Korea" can be downloaded for free at korea.net in different languages

http://www.korea.net/Resources/Publications/About-Korea/view

And... what about the trip to Korea? ... that's another post ;)

See you then...

JYJ Perú- First Kpop Concert

                                *Picture from Chile's concert

BEST EXPERIENCE EVER!

Not only because it was JYJ, but also was my first time I decided to take a plane by my own and with my money (actually with my credit cards), and just leave to another country in a 5 days trip to be part of a concert.

Lots of people said I was crazy, the same asked me who they were that make me cross 4 countries to be with them. Well here is the full story:

First I have to confess that when I heard about the concerts in Latin America, at that time I did knew about JYJ, I did like Jaejoong, I did have their music and I did like it, but I wasn't Cassiopeia ... yet.

I just knew, I wanted to be part of the first Kpop concert in South America and if I did like them, so why not going? I didn't even have to think about it, the same second I saw the news it was decided, I was going to Perú on March, 2012.

I "liked" the producer's Facebook page to be aware of any information, while I downloaded other JYJ's and TVXQ's albums and started to memorize lyrics (not a difficult thing 4 me haha), read biographies, watched TV programs... Then, I was completely sure I was doing the right thing.. I really really love JYJ, and I was 100% sure I wanted to be part of the Red Ocean FOREVER.

The concert tickets!!! What a experience!! I remember by the time the sale will start, I would be in class. I needed to be ready in front of the computer refreshing the web every 3 seconds with the credit card in my hand. So I didn't go to the University that day. And the challenge began!! The web page had and error and didn't let me complete the purchase, some minutes later the Super VIP tickets I wanted were SOLD OUT! but I didn't knew it since I rushed to downtown, went to the bank, took cash from the credit card, went to another bank made the line and spend 30 minutes for the personal to wire 500 soles ($180USD) to a bank in Perú. Then went to a Cafe Internet scanned the confirmation and emailed it to the company. By the time they read it, My Super VIP ticket worth $180 were not mine, instead they reserved me the VIP one ($125), I was so sad! not to mention they didn't refund me the difference. Either way, what matters was that I had a ticket!! I was going to Peru to see JYJ!

Looked for the cheapest way to get to Peru, bought tickets from Panama to Peru and planned my trip by bus from Costa Rica to Panama. Make some Cassiopeias friends from Peru that helped me a lot!. I love them all.

March 8th, 2012 was there. I got on the bus and 16 hrs later, luckily not being retained by some indigenous in the way, I got to my cousin's house in Panama, spend more than a day with them.
Next day I was in Tocumen Airport waiting for the flight to Colombia, which was very delayed and that worried me a lot since the layover in Colombia were only hour and a half. And yes I was right to be worried... after getting off the airplane waited for a funny bus to take us to the building, almost run several halls and not being able to find gate 5 between 4 and 6 (there was not number 5!) I finally got into the airplane to Peru with a crazy face and breathless. I almost didn't make it.

Arrived well to Peru, finally! There was someone waiting for me at the airport, and later on appeared another Cassiopeia friend. Carmen and Vielka I love you both! They took me to some cassiopeia reunion, make some posters with other girls. I slept over in Carmen's house excited and watching some videos and photos from Chile's concert.

Next day wake up very early and went to the Airport and wait for JYJ to arrive, we were not alone!, the airport was full of Cassiopeias, hundreds I might say, chanting their names and songs. I was indeed tired, 5 hrs later they arrive but went out from another gate. Since I didn't want to loose my guide tour I chased after her half kilometer, we could see the dancers' bus, but JYJ were already gone, in the place some lucky girls were almost crying because they could see them *envy*

Lots of fans took cabs and went to the "possible" hotel they would be checking in. I try very hard to convince my friend to help me find my hotel, I needed to check in, we took some funny buses, some cabs and after more than an hour I was at my hotel, Oh my gosh! Lima is HUGE!

My hotel were 300m from the place the concert was going to be held :)

We went back to Lima downtown ? to pick up my ticket in a store located in a small mall full of Anime and KPOP stuff, it was like heaven for any Kpoper. The girl from the store told me she couldn't give me the ticket!! that I should pick it up at the concert  TT.TT

So, there were not time, we went to buy some food and straight to Monumental Stadium to start making the line which was huge since they had been camping like a week before. It was one line for all the sections, later on, they divided the line by sections and my friends let me alone since they have other tickets. So I met other girls and stay with them the whole time.

Never in my live I had made a line for more than 24 hours before the concert, I must be really crazy about JYJ, we slept in a tent, but since it was hot, I just slept in the sidewalk, but at dawn it was really cold, I can not say I rested at all, tired for the long trip, long waiting, the fast pace we walked, sleeping in the ground and almost not eating beside the high temperature in the day... but I WAS HAPPY.

In the morning I went to my hotel, took a shower, changed clothes, rested for 2 hrs and went back to the line. The line was like a really long read sneak, everyone was wearing the club's tshirt, it was really nice mostly when the JYJ's bus passed by and everyone forgot about the line and started to chase the automobile. Yes I also did it, but I was really far away, we could heard them making the rehearsal, but it was so %$#ing HOT, that I felt I was going to faint. I watched them for some minutes then they left, I really couldn't see them LOL

It didn't matter how many bottles I drank I was thirsty, ate some food and kept waiting, at 5:00pm the line started moving, when that happened!!

The green JYJ's bus just turned letf and passed just right in front of us!! in that moment Jaejoong did a quick look to the fans, I could see his face and he was so near, that was my moment, now I could die in peace xD

Then the crisis began, I was burned by the sun, I really felt bad >.< I had to wash my face several times and my hair, I was having a heatstroke, I thought I was not going to make it to the concert. I look for a Red Bull or something similar and went back to life and to the line.

After some trouble, we entered the place, turned on the red lightsticks and yelled like crazy during the concert. It lasted 2 hrs but It felt it was like 15 minutes! so unfair, time passed quickly, but I enjoyed the concert every second.

I lost contact with my Peruvian friends during the concert, went back to the hotel and started fighting the horrible headache and the happy emotions the concert left.

Next day took the flight straight back to Costa Rica, really hoping to see them in the airport but I was not lucky. I still have the ticket, the lightstick and some posters I bought there.

So, that was my adventure in Peru, I did not visit any famous place, I just went to make real one of my dreams.

One year and 4 months later I finally paid off my credit cards and if you ask me if I would do it again, guess what would I say? ----> ABSOLUTELY!!

And of course a Vídeo, no English subs, Mianhe!