{#seekingseoul2014} We crossed the river to school.

Our second day started at 10AM when we finally pulled ourselves out of the comfortable bed of the hotel room. After repacking our luggage and checking out from the hotel, we went out for breakfast at the same Kimbab Cheonkook (Kimbab Heaven) right across the street. The morning air was great, a bit chilly (23c), which is just perfect. I was told that the climate will be very humid during our stay in Seoul, but we are 2 days in, and it hasn't rained just yet. The sky was so blue, with white cotton candy clouds. Everything was just so perfect for a day out in the Capital of South Korea.

We had 2 Kimbabs (Cheese and Tonkatsu)
and a Bibimbab for Breakfast
@ Kimbab Cheon-kook

 After our breakfast, we took the cab to Hongdae because the accommodation was cheaper and there are more food during the night. Hongdae is a great place if you were planning to stay longer than three days in Seoul, it has a variety of guesthouses and all the food there are incredibly delicious. Hongdae is an area surrounding the Hong-ik University and is located in the Mapo District. It would be cheaper to go by the subway because the station is right in front of the hotel, but we had two big luggage and carrying it into the subway and out wouldn't be nice. Also, most of the landscape in Seoul were hills, and dragging our bags up and down steep hills are not what we are here for. We don't want anymore bicep muscles, thank you very much.

Departing Gangnam on a cab.

During our Taxi ride, we had another conversation with the Cabbie in broken Korean. He explained to us that Seoul is divided into two parts by the Hangang River, the Gangnam (Meaning South of the Hangang river) and the Gang-bok (the North). He also told us that the subway ride crossing the river at night is a must-see thing when people comes to Seoul, and we put that down on our list of things we had to do in the capital of S.Korea.
The drive was about one hour, due to traffic, and we passed a lot of attractions. One of them being the Hangang River, the other one was the 63 Building.
The building was the tallest building in Seoul from 1985 to 2003 when another building surpassed its height. It was built for the Summer olympic 1988 with the height of 249 metres. This gold and glittering building is located near the river, standing tall and strong.

63 Building, Seoul, South Korea.

When we reached Hongdae, we checked into the Guesthouse we've booked. The place is called '88 Hostel' and it's the most comfortable place to stay during a long vacation in Seoul. The place is located very close to the subway station (Hongdae exit 8) and the way from the station to the Hostel is filled with restaurants and shops that operate until very late at night. The host, Violet, was one of the best people we've met in Seoul city. She was very kind and helpful all throughout. The place is nice and clean with all the things you need. I would definitely recommend this place to everyone who is going to Seoul and haven't decided on a place to stay because I was super-super impressed with everything about this place. 88 Hostel made our trip a ton easier.

Here lays the information about the Hostel (with some Pictures):

- Facebook Page 

- Website 

- Agoda

- Bookings

Inside our room.
A bit small, but very cozy.

Me, and the front of the place.

After we dumped our bags in the room, we went out for a walk. Violet, the host, provided us a map of the whole district with notes on places we have to visit. The first place we went to was the stylist 'Stylenanda' Flagship store (☁︎), which was right beside the place. Very convenient for a shopaholic like me, indeed.
When we reached the place, a woman approved me, asking if she could take my picture for her fashion magazine. I was quite surprised because I wouldn't consider myself as someone who does fashion at all. I didn't put this outfit together, Yves did. She was my personal stylist during our trip in Seoul.

StyleNanda, Hongdae, Mapo-gu.

I have a confession to make:
I spent 95,300 Won, and this was just for one time going into this store. I went there for a couple of times during our stay in Hongdae. We went there nearly every day, to be quite exact, and this was just for the first day. If you are wondering how much is 95,300 won, then here you go: ฿2,990 / £56.5 / $93.5.
After an hour shopping in Stylenanda and taking photos, we got out and walk uphill, over to the Hong-ik University. It was quite a sunny day and the temperature increases to about 30c, but it wasn't as hot as walking in Thailand. I know because if we were in Thailand, I would definitely go for the cab even if it is way more expensive. It's like 7th degree of hell on the streets in Bangkok because we barely have trees.
I was quite hungry when we reached the main gate of the University. So, we went into this cute little cafe, Paris Baguette, so we can sit and watch the amazing architectural design of the famous Hong-ik University.

The main entrance of
Hong-ik University, Mapo-gu, Seoul.

Let's talk about what we ate. It was a bread cafe, and the bread was nice. I tried a lot of new things, but I don't think it was my type of food. I love breads, don't get me wrong, but all the red beans were definitely not my style. The milk-bun (Milk bread with cheese on the inside) was superb, but the red bead rice-ball was ... strange. I love Macarons, but if you had a chance to visit this cafe (they have branches all over South Korea) please don't go for their Macarons. It's way toooooooo sweet and way too expensive. The strawberry milk was great, I can taste the richness of strawberries in the milk.

Paris Baguette, Hong-ik Branch (☁︎)

We took some photos from the Stylenanda Photo Booth,
tried some of the products,
and brought a whole bunch of things
including these cute accessories. 

After our stomach was filled with bread and carbohydrates, we set off again to the Trick Eye Museum. There are branches of these in Thailand as well, one in Pattaya and one in HuaHin, I think. But we wanted to see the original place of the whole thing. It wasn't that hard to find and the entrance fee wasn't that expensive. There's also a traditional Korean set for us to take pictures wearing the Korean traditional dresses. We weren't quite sure if we wanted to wear them or not, but we ended up doing it because why not, right? We are in Korea, after all.

When Rata goes traditional.

After our little photo-shoot, we pursue into the actual museum. It was great fun, taking pictures with all the 3D paintings and stuff. There are more things to do than the ones here, but the concept of the place is the same. Some pictures are even interactive, so we had a lot of fun trying to figure out how to make it look realistic. Here are some pictures inside the Trick-eye museum.

We took a lot of pictures, but these are major ones I thought there are worth posting, and blogging about :)
Outside the entrance, there is also an Ice Museum where everything was made out of ice. I couldn't take the coldness. It was too cold for me, so I stayed there for, like, 5 minutes and took all the footage I need for the video before running out of the place. Yves, on the other hand, enjoyed it so much she didn't want to leave. I only have one picture of the place, if you want to see more of it, then please wait for the video. Thank you :)

We were hungry, again, after coming up from the museum. The nearest place we could spot was the Hello Kitty Cafe (☁︎). It was cute, yes. However, please do not let the exterior fool you. I swear to god I will not enter any Hello Kitty Cafe in Seoul ever again. Never. I really want to say how bad it was, the food the hygiene and everything, but I cannot really know any word that is harsher than the word horrendous. I can only conclude it to 'too expensive than its quality, and not worth any of your money.'

The food looks nice on camera,
but the waffle was hard as stone
and the strawberry smote tasted like rain water 

After an unimpressed meal, we decided to go back to the hostel because it was quite late. The streets were filled with people walking and performing. What I really love about Hongdae is that, every evening, there would be groups of people setting up their performances on the space provided, and those shows were not just some ordinary busking, but a well-prepared show with great productions. I've seen magic shows, DJ-ing, singing, dancing, etc. It was an atmosphere I wanted to see in Thailand. This is one of the reason that Hongdae is a great place for teenagers to stay, it's a place that was made for teenagers. Most performers students from Hong-ik University, showing what they've got after school.
I didn't take pictures of the performance, but Yves took some footage which I will put it into the video for day 02/Hongdae.

When we reached our room, we asked Violet to call for a Jajangmyeon delivery, which is a popular Korean black bean noodles. The colouring wasn't that appetising, but the taste was amazing. Yves didn't share the same opinion, she said the dish was too salty. The yellow thingy is called 'Damuji (단무지)' which are these pickled reddish, and which I do not eat. They put these in the Kimbab as well, and I had to take them out before every time I ordered Kimbab.

I love Jajangmyeon!!! 

Aaaaaaaaand that's it, guys. That's it for day two.  The video will be out either next weekend or the weekend after. I was going to do a fun video featuring my collection of bracelets this week, but I didn't have my camera with me.
Anyway, have a great week, and I'll be blogging again next weekend!

Love,
- Rata.

{T1} Day 01 on film

Hello there,
and welcome to the new -and nearly renovated- 23km-Down The Rabbit Hole !!
I'll try to post something every week, so make sure someone hit me in the head to remind me when I don't. I said I'll try, but setting rules for myself is not how I live around here. Never. Ever. Boo-ya.

Today is a special day where I, finally, will be posting the video of our first day in Seoul.
As you all know, I've written an entry about it sometimes back, stating nearly everything we've done on our first day in South Korea, where we went and such.
However, there are some parts that cannot be explained in pure wordings, so I've decided to film some footage along the way, to make them into videos.
At first, I was going to do one video for each day in Seoul, but things have changed.
I will be grouping days together because I am a lazy ass bitch.

Sorry for taking so long, and if you think my editing sucks, then you're probably right.
Love you all.

Without further ado,
here's the clip.

PS: Day 2's entry coming up real soon. Next weekend, perhaps.

xx

{005}; Life's like a chocolate teapot.

I was at a bookstore the other day, looking for A Tale of Two Cities (the collectors' edition) when an abundance of Dan Brown's Inferno caught my attention. Then came this absurd idea; why don't I read a book that is not my cup of tea, and see if I would be able to enjoy it or not. I know because it's not the genre I'd rather prefer, but that doesn't make it a bad book, is it ? And because  it's nearly my birthday, this is a great occasion to start something new, and buy a new book or five. I've been buying myself birthday presents since I was 15, most of them were things I've always wanted for quite a while. I've made this into an agenda, an annual agenda. The first present I brought was a melody box with a pink pig on top. Three years prior, I brought myself a "Me & a cup of hot chocolate" Barn owl scarf.  Two years ago, I brought 2 stuff unicorns for myself, and named them Magnus and Reina. Last year, I brought myself a VS purse and 5 VS perfumes.
It gets more and more expensive as I grew older, I can't even.
Anyway, I was going to buy the collector's edition of A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, but I think they were sold out because there aren't any of them on the shelves.

Because of that, I brought these;

1. Have a little faith
- By Mitch Albom
2. Inferno
- By Dan Brown

I've read "The Time Keeper" by Mitch Albom, and fell completely in love with it. When I saw this, I didn't think twice before picking it up. I know what to expect from this author, I didn't even read the back cover. I love his style of writing and his view towards the thing he writes about. 

I would like to start with Inferno first, and then Have a Little Faith, but, due to my courses this term, I have to finish school work first. Being an Arts student sucks sometimes, and it gets worse as you move up the years. I can see myself freaking out because of all the pressure I will be under. Jobs, Masters and so on so forth. 

To be frank with you all, I feel like a chocolate teapot right now.

I was under quite a lot of stress a couple of days back, but I'm better now.

I really do believe in Shopping Therapy because it helps, it really does. 

On the same day I brought them books, I went shopping in Paragon with my uncle while we wait for my brother. We go straight into LV because my uncle wanted to check out their latest collection of necklace. I've had some not-so-pleasant experiences with the staff here in Paragon's LV. However, they welcomed us better this time, and I was quite impressed, although they still gave me those suspicious eyes, thinking I would damage their 'oh-so-classy' leather. Excuse me, but they are made of canvas, and not even leather. 

The next shop was Fendi. I wanted to know the price of the Karlito, but they said I have to wait for at least 3 months in order to buy it because the queue is quite long. Well, there are, like, 5 leftovers in SG's Fendi store. Anyway, I wasn't that desperate to get it.

We went into Prada, and uncle brought something. I keep trying the Saffiano handbag, but no other colours are as good as my black one at home. The shoes are so mundane, but the service was better than in LV.

Then we went into Hermès because I wanted the CDC bracelet. I wore Pam's CDC and fell in love with it. There is purple as well, but all of them ran out. I was quite upset, but it's alright. Hermes was a little too formal for me, anyway.

When we went into the Balenciaga shop, all my stress faded away. The manager greeted us personally and led us to the latest collection of bags and bracelets. I tried on a few bracelet, but my wrist is too small for them to look good on. I thought I was never gonna be able to wear my favourite brand's bracelet anymore, but when I've finally found the one that suits me best, I fell in love. At the end of the day, uncle brought that Giant Gold Bleu Opaline Bracelet for me as an early birthday present, with a Moschino bag.  A BIG THANK YOU TO YOU, MY UNCLE. THANK YOU.

This is another random entry, but I'm so hyped about my upcoming 21st birthday right now. I had a lot of great themes for the party, but I wasn't that sure if it's gonna turn out that great. I really don't feel like going clubbing this year, maybe because I am getting older ? I don't even know. I am under too much stress that I couldn't imagine myself dancing around like a freshman in a 'till dawn. 

Last year, me and my friends went to Bombay Blues for a drink, and it was alright. I really want an Alice in Wonderland tea party in the garden theme, but that would be a lot of work and aint no body got time for that shit.

Maybe this is it. I should become a party organiser and organise birthday parties; providing people everything they need to get the party started.

That's a very good idea, and that just popped up while I was typing this.

Anyway, to conclude this nonsense entry, I would like to introduce you, readers, to the new renovation of 23km- !

What you will be seeing more in the future are the followings:

- Movie reviews/analysis (that will be wayyy better than the one I did on GOTG)

- Book reviews/analysis (which will mostly be something I read in the Popular Fiction class)

- My reading update of Inferno (with all the spoilers in the world. If you've read it and wanted to know my interpretation on the book, then you might enjoy these.)

- Random -and stupid- stuff, especially when I am under a lot of stress.

- #seekingseoul2014 + Videos ... ?

- Me, trying to do fashion, or make fashion, or follow fashion, or be fashion .... ? 

- New homepage (which I have no idea when will that be up)

So, this is it.

Thank you, and see you soon.

Love,

Rt's.

{M2} 12% of the Galaxy

Hello there,
and welcome to another film review by me.
I don't usually do review of films that are still in the theatres because some people might have not seen it yet. I'm still a noob at this, so I have to watch the film over and over again to write a review.
However, this movie is one of the very best ones I've seen so far.
I think there's a lot of hype leading towards this film, by Marvel itself and the fans, as well as the media. By building this kind of tension, people will automatically expect the highest from this film, even before the trailers were out. Let me tell you this, all the expectations you had when you first saw the poster, the film will meet it. As a fan of Marvel and it's cinematic universe, I'll have to say that this is the mixture we've been longing for. James Gunn has finally succeeded what Iron Man 3 failed to do, and it turned out superb.

By the way, I participated in this game by sending in questions that I would like to ask James Gunn after the special screening of the movie with James Gunn in Thailand. I said my favourite scene was when the Nova comrade calls out Rocket's name before the thing crushed him. 
The question I was going to ask him was "Why did you choose xxxxxxxxxx for the end-credit scene, and how important will this character and the guardians be in Phase 2-3 of Marvel's cinematic Universe?"
I was chosen to be one of the people to attend the screening with the director, but I was too slow to call them and confirm my place. I wanted to cry my heart out, but I can't. I can watch this movie again for the 3rd time, even without James Gunn. OH MY GOD RATA YOU SLOW AND STUPID BITCH.

Let me tell you beforehand that there will be spoilers.
The first spoiler is that LEE PACE is the hottest villain in blue skin and purple circle lenses.
Dude, just look at him man.

Credits: ☁︎

Moving on to the actual review -hot guys nearly excluded. First, let me talk about the time. It started off in 1988, right ? And then it shifted to 26 years later, which is THIS YEAR. The whole movie, from the start to the finish, gave me the impression of the now. It's not a space movie that sets tooooooooooo far in the future that it seems so unrealistic. The cinematography was done beautifully that there is always this little glimpse of the now, as in 2014, and Earth. This anchored the movie and gave it a realistic feeling, rather than a film with fighting aliens. The two, the now and the science fiction future, blended together so well that it didn't feel awkward seeing a cassette tape and mini troll dolls popping up every once in a while. I think this mixture hooked the audience into the universe of Marvel. We've seen what Tony could do with his toys, and SHIELD's gadgets, so seeing all the holographic technologies in this movie doesn't feel so out of place and/or out of time.

To emphasise on this even more, the soundtrack of the film are all from the past, and from Earth. I'm pretty sure, way before this film was made, no one could ever put these two together, let alone blend it in this well. Who would ever think that 80s/90s music would go well with a sci-fi space narrative ? Then again, it wouldn't be as blended as this if the whole concept of the movie wasn't based on the 90s. The base of this movie is what makes it blended so well with the OST, and anchored people to Earth. Since the movie started off on Earth in the 90s, with normal stuff happening with mom passing away and stuff, it gave the film some sentimental values before shooting off to space with all the explosive thingy. Sentimental values are crucial in order to hook audience in. They didn't want the audience to travel to a completely different universe, but a slightly altered version of our universe. This is what I like about Marvel, they know people. All their films, and some of their comics, are set on the now. By setting it in the present day, and linking it to Earth (New York, especially) gave the audience this sense of reality, and the suspension of disbelief. Marvel created a universe within our world, and blended it together, mixing the fiction with real places.

Moving on to the characters. Let me spoil you again that Lee Pace is the cutest Ronan anyone could imagine. Lets not talk about Lee pace, just for now, or else I wouldn't be able to stop.
We have our orphan superhero, and a group of A-holes who are only 12% a dick. A typical team of losers (and by losers, I meant people who had lost someone) combined their forces to save the Galaxy from the cutest villain ever, Ronanny. Sorry, Ronan. For god's sake, why did you cast Lee Pace for such a cruel character. He should be cast as Carina or something. Sorry, again. Please, Rata, stop blabbing about!
Right, characters. Well, it's Marvel, so you can go on and expect a group of orphans coming together as a team. This is like a smaller scale of The Avengers, with different characters blending together, forming a team. Each and every single one of them came from a different background and planet, with different purpose and hidden agendas. I won't spoil you anymore, but Lee Pace, people. And I haven't mentioned how hot Zoe was in the film, even without proper brows.

"You're Welcome"
Yeah, right. We are, and always will be,
forever thankful,
at least until A2.

Narrative, yes. The narrative of this film was great. Everything was organised in a chronological order and sequence. Very Linear and all. However, lets talk about how the screenwriter, James Gunn and Nicole Perlman, dropped a massive chunk of humour into the film, but still sustain the seriousness of the film without turning it into comedy. Lets take a look back to Iron Man number 3 (And I am assuming you, readers, have already watched it because there will be a major spoiler soon) where the "Mandarin" was just a face, played by a drug addict actor to lure people to the wrong direction. That was supposed to be the big BOOM of the whole movie, but you've ruined it by turning it into jokes. I understand that Iron Man was supposed to be filled with little humour here and there because that's how Tony Stark is, but isn't this too much of a joke? It took away all the seriousness of the film, and pulled the whole film downhill from that point onward. On the other hand, The Guardian of the Galaxy managed to sustain the seriousness of the core problem and plot, even when a big chunk of humour was thrown into the film. The humour didn't touch the core plot of the film, which is why it could contain its seriousness. I thought this was going to fail at the very end, but it turns out that the core plot remain untouched, even after the failed dance-off of Peter. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that this film is a serious film. What I'm saying is that this film should be taken seriously and not just 'another space movie', because there is so much more than just sequence after sequence of explosives. To be very honest, the review is kinda the same style of the film I'm reviewing. This is as serious as it gets, really. James Gunn, whatever you are doing, keep doing it. You are on the right track. We've had enough seriousness in Cap2, and too much humour in Iron man 3. We need a little bit of both, just like this one.

I don't really have to talk about the computer effect in this film, it's Marvel, dudes.
'Nuff said.

My favourite scene was one of the few sentimental scenes in the movie, it's the scene where Saal called out Rocket's name before the Nova ship exploded. That's all I'm going to say because saying more than this would be spoiling the film. That was my favourite scene because that's the major plot twist of Rocket's life. It's like he's asking Rocket to take over control of the Nova army and protect Xandar. Bradley Cooper voiced Rocket, man. Just saying, I just want this out there.

To conclude this pathetic and nonsense film review, I would like to rate and criticise this film. Firstly, this film is in Marvel's Phase 2 (With everything after the Avengers) and is the only film that does not lead to A2, but is leading to the third phase. I'd like to rate this film a 9.5/10, minus 0.5 solely because  of the make up effect on Nebula and Ronan. The circle lenses are too obvious that I can see the border of the lenses and the colour of it. I used to wear purple lenses like Ronan's and a black one like Nebula's. Also, the blue guard that took Peter's cassette player had red eyes from wearing lenses, and that's not healthy for his eyes. Circle lenses are too obvious and some of the actors seem to be allergic to lenses, so please use CGI instead, if possible. Like, seriously, people here wear those to make their eyes look bigger, which they believed to be cuter. Lee Pace is so cute in purple circle lenses y'all.

Look closely at their eyes.

As of my theory, I think this whole thing is leading towards the Dr. Strange movie and the 3rd Avengers, because other films before this one all led to either this, or A2. This is just my theory, though. I might be wrong. However, I cannot wait for the 2nd Avengers Film. I cannot. I can't even. I have lost the ability to even. Can we just fast forward to the premier date of A2 now, please ? I want to see my Elizabeth Olsen on screen with Aaron Johnson and the gang already. Joss Whedon, please get well soon. If you enjoyed The Avengers, then this is a film for you. It's funny, and a bit sad, with lots of action sequences and good music all throughout.

Wait, hold on. Blue Alien? Excuse me? Is the blue alien in Agents of SHIELD a Kree ?

The Galaxy's mightiest hero had proven their abilities, and formed a team. Now it's time for Earth's mightiest heroes to join force once again to protect their home from some foreign attacks.
Thanos can wait for another phase before actually doing something big because Ultron was the first in line after Loki.

Well, this has been quite a review. I wasn't planning to write this tonight, but I couldn't sleep. It's now 3am in the morning, and my brain is no longer working, so I might have missed something or there might be a whole bunch of typos. I'll add something, or change something, when I remember it.
But for now, bye.

PS: Quack-Fu for Phase 3. Oops, a spoiler.

{004}; New stuff, soon.

First of all, thank you.

Second, I'd like to announce the relaunching of my blog. At first, I named this blog "My Misconception of Spectacles" but I wasnt feeling that anymore, so I changed it to my ever-favourite sentence, 23km Down the Rabbit Hole. 

There's a reason to this, but putting it into words would make it sound a bit odd. In brief, my obsession with the number 23 and Alice in Wonderland has combined its forces and created this blog title. 

My domain, www.23km-downtherabbithole.com will be ready on Wednesday, and I might renovate this blog before then, or maybe not. 

School is just around the corner, and I still have 12 videos to edit on our seeking seoul trip and 1 more on the Pattaya trip. I might not make the Pattaya trip into a video because I'm a lazy bitch. 

This is another random blog, I'm so very sorry. I promise the content of this blog will be less random after the renovation, and I'll keep my random thoughts to the minimum. 

So, bye for now and see you soon. 

PS: Guardians of the Galaxy review coming soon, because *spoilers* Howard the Duck. 

I miss Seoul so bad :(

Lotte World, 2014

{003}; Spin the wind.

So,
My Penny board has just arrived.
It's the pastel collection in Lilac.
I love it, but I suck at riding it.
You see ...
I've never had a skateboard before, I only have rollerblades and those shoes with wheels.
I thought riding a skateboard would be easy, but I was totally wrong.

I ordered mine online from Preduce Thailand (☁︎)
and they shipped it to me a couple of days later in this box.

My First Penny Board

I was quite surprised because I was very sure there should be some bag or something for the board, and not just a plastic wrap.
However, I didn't mind since I was too excited to take this new darling for a spin.
I've watched a couple of clips that teaches people how to ride the board, and this one is one of the best ones out there. (☁︎) 
I tried standing on the grass at first, but I wasn't feeling that, so I decided to just try it on concrete.
That's me, jumping head first into things. I never read the manual, I never read those how-tos,
I just go with it.
The first few tries was alright.
I couldn't balance my body with the moving board, but I've managed to stumble back on my feet.

When I could balance myself with the board, I got cocky and started to go faster than I could control my balance. I ended up falling on my knee.
My friend nicknamed my Penny Board, Pain-Knee Board because of this incident.

I didn't give up. I splashed some water on it, and then some Betadine solution before setting off again on another round.
At the end of the day, I've managed to turn the board slightly and kinda balance myself on the speeding Penny Board. That was like, after a couple of injuries here and there.
I had fun, and this is one of the best decisions I've made.

I'm bringing my 'yet-to-be-named' Penny Board to Pattaya as well, on a trip with my friends.
I hope I get better at this before taking her aboard.
I'm enjoying this decision of mine.

PS; I brought a whole bunch of first aid kit thingy because I know I'm going to fall over a couple of times before I stop being suck at Penny Boarding.


To conclude this entry,
here's a picture of my current favourite idols;
Mark Tuan and Jackson Wang from GOT7.

Man, how adorable are these kids.

Credits goes to the photographer :)

{#seekingseoul2014} We hopped on the most expensive cab, ever.

The day started off right after midnight, when I decided it's time to switch my computer off and go to bed. It was one of the hardest things to do; going to bed early in order to wake up earlier in the morning. You see, I was used to operating in owl's time, so it's normal for me to go to bed at 6am and wake up again to welcome the dark sky. I see the hottest god riding his sun chariot every morning before I go to bed.

The flight was at 8:05am, and because it's an international flight, we have to be there two to three hours in advance. All hell breaks loose in the morning when I woke up at 5:30am, realising I only have half an hour to get dressed. Putting on my make up alone would take the whole half an hour.

This is the reason why I didn't have any picture of my face taken at the airport.

Saying goodbye was always hardest part of travelling to other countries. I feel like I am leaving them, my family and my babies, behind. However, I was too late for all the dramatic saying-byebye stuff.  

Luckily, the traffic wasn't that bad, and it took us less than an hour to reach the Don-Meung Airport. 

Let me explain: there are 2 airports in Bangkok. The old one, Don-Meung, and the new one, Suvarnabhumi. The old one is used for domestic flights and low-fare flights within Asia, and the new one is for international flights. 

We had chosen Airasia X to transport us to South Korea, and it wasn't that bad. The price was very cheap because we booked our tickets during their promotional period, and the service was better than we had expected. I was satisfied, and hope to fly with you again soon.

The view from above.
2014.07.17

After a five hour flight, we finally arrived in Seoul, the capital city of South Korea.

Because we came from a low-fare flight,

we had to take the train to the immigration counter. 

It wasn't anything we haven't done for a million times. 

Airport procedures are always the same, if not similar wherever we go.

After queuing up for the immigration process, we proceed to collect our luggage, and head out of the gates to pick up our potable wifi router.

We ordered this 'Olleh Egg wifi' thingy from Easy Korea Wifi (☁︎) to be able to use the internet everywhere we go in Seoul. It's easy and cheap, if you want to stay connected 24/7 to all your social medias. There is no tourist simcard, so this is the easiest way to use your phone.

After that, we dragged our luggage to the information centre, asking for the easiest method of transportation to our hotel, Mercure Ambassador Gangnam.

The lady at the desk recommended us the cab, and we agreed, not knowing what was waiting for us.

I think they judged us from the hotel we were staying in. If we told them we were to go to a guesthouse in Hongdae, they would have recommended the train or the bus. 

It was an hour drive from Inchon to Gangnam. The Airport was quite far from the city, and the view along the way was superb. I took some footage of this on my Canon, but I didn't feel like editing it together yet. I operate according to my feelings, y'all.

During the journey, we had quite a conversation with the cabbie. It started off with him asking us where are we from. He thought we were from a western country since we were speaking in English.

We spoke English with him at first, but then I switched to broken Korean. We asked him about places to visit during our stay in Seoul, and some other attractions along the way. He was very kind to us, even if I didn't quite understand half of what he was saying in Korean.

The view from my seat.
2014.07.17

When we reached the Gangnam area,
both sides of the road were aligned with cosmetic surgery hospitals. We asked the cabbie about his aesthetic views on Korean women,
and he said that a lot of Koreans wanted to be tan rather than very pale. 

It didn't surprise me because Thailand is the only country with the obsession with very pale skin.
As twisted as our ideologies are, most people in Thailand would rather be pale than tan.
Some of them even go as far as criticising people with darker skin.

It's funny when we, Thais, wanted to be as pale as Koreans,
while Koreans wanted to have darker skin like people in SE Asia. 

Why are pale women prettier than women with darker skin tone ?

Enough of that aesthetic nonsense, you are not here for my opinion on a debate regarding people's aesthetic values, nor feminism and plastic surgery. 

You are here, or not here, to second-hand experience my #seoulseeking2014 ! yayy.

When we reached the hotel, 

we realised we had hopped on the most expensive taxi ever.

87,300 ₩

(฿2,710, £50, $84) 

It was mental.

But we got a 300₩ discount, though. 

That makes a huge difference.

Seriously.

I shall name this piece of art,
'Paved with roses'
because I can.

The service was as expected from the Mercure hotel chain. 

The room, however, was quite small for the price we paid, but we understand the reason why.

Seoul is not a big city like Bangkok, with lots of unorganised space to build grand hotels with enormous rooms. We are two small girls, we didn't need that much space anyway.

We were starving by the time we were done with taking pictures, video calling our parents and admiring the views from our hotel room. We decided to try the chicken place right across the street. 

How can we not go to that place when it's always there every time we look outside our window.

It's like the place is luring us in, telling us to walk over and try their food.

Without thinking twice, we ended up having 치맥 for dinner, 

and for our first meal in South Korea.

kkanbu chicken, Gangnam.

In Korea, people eat chicken with beer. 

They call it 치맥 (Chi-Mek)

which is an abbreviation of

- 치킨 (Chi-kin) meaning 'chicken' 

- 맥주 (Mek-Joo) meaning 'beer.'

The place, kkanbu chicken, offers quite a variety of chicken.

They have fried, roasted, and other kinds of chicken for costumers to choose.

Also, they have their own kind of draft beer, which is a thing now in Korea.

We ordered their draft beed with a set of roasted chicken wings.

It was delicious.

윙봉 & 드래프트 맥주

Not just the food, but the waitress were nice as well.

When she saw that we were not locals, she treated us with more attention than other tables.

The place was a bit too loud, with a group of uncles talking over soju beside us.

Apart from that, the place was great.

If you had a chance to visit Seoul, don't forget to try kkanbu chicken.

You can find their branches mostly anywhere in Seoul.

Here is the link to their website, 

in case you want to pinpoint their locations (☁︎)

There is also a branch near the JYP building as well,

so if you were planning to stalk GOT7 or any other JYP/Cube bands,

you know where to keep your stomach from rumbling. 

Right after our meal,
we went back to our hotel room to take some more pictures.

It was about 7:30pm, but it wasn't dark yet. 

It gets dark at about 8:00pm in Korea, 

which means we have longer day time to walk around, and take pictures.

We decided to chill in our hotel room for a while before heading out to the nearest mall.

It wasn't like we haven't plan our trips prior the flight,

we did, but we didn't feel like using it.

According to our plans, we were supposed to go to this mall some other day,

but since we were staying quite close to the place,

we might as well go.

So, to COEX Mall we went.

Photo by: Yves Anatakul 

At 8:00pm, we headed out for the ever famous COEX Mall. 

I was told, by the guide book, that the casino here was amazing.

That's why I wanted to check it out, to prove how amazing it could be.

When I went to Singapore, they told me I should be at least 21 to enter the casino,

but the law in Korea was only 20 years old,

which means I am legal to enter the casino.

We took the subway from Yeoksam Station to Samseong Station,

which is connected directly to the mall.

When re reached the place, we encounter our first unfortunate event.

The mall was under construction, 

so everything was closed a bit earlier than the usual operation time.

We went there in vain. 

To add to this misery of ours,
we found this.
'Grand open aug 2014'
Right ....

So, we decided, again, to go back to the hotel.

On the way back, we thought we were hungry,

so we stop by at 김밥천국 

(Literary translates to Kimbab Heaven)

It was about 11pm, but it was still brightly open.

We ordered one roll of Kimbab,

and one bowl on Cheese Ra-myun as take-outs.

It was, once again, the best meal we ever had this time of the night.

This, 김밥천국, is also a franchise.

You can find them all over South Korea.

Look for a bright orange sign!

Here's their website incase you want more information,

there's also some menu on there as well,

so make sure you check it out to be prepared.

(☁︎)

Apparently, it's only available in Korean.

I took this picture the next morning,
while we were on a cab to Hongdae.

 After a nice meal in a nice hotel room,

we went to bed.

And that was the start of our #seekingseoul2014 trip,

that and some other stuff along that line.

I wanted to show you all the view from our hotel room,

but -as I went through all the pictures I've taken- non of them feels right to me.

So, this is a black and white version of it, taken at around midnight of our first day.

Midnight in Gangnam

This has been a long entry,

but if you are reading this, then thank you.

Thank you for bearing with me and this entry from the start to the end.

This trip was quite an adventure, for me.

At least, it was my kind of adventure. 

I've learnt so many new things during my 13 days in the capital of South Korea, 

which leads me to be more mature, because I was there without any of my parents.

I think this trip is their way of sending me off the nest,

giving my wings the strength to fly.

Whatever their reason was, 

I was truly grateful for giving me this opportunity, and funding the whole trip.

I would be lost in the dark without the guidance of my family.

To conclude this entry,

I would like to say this one little thing;

See you when I'm done editing pictures from the second day of our trip.

With love,

xx

PS: for more pictures, please search the tag #seekingseoul2014 on instagram, 

thank you.

{002}; The fault in our blogs

-

As you may, or may not, know, I was in South Korea for the past 13 days or so.

It was a fun experience, and I've had such a great time whilst I was there.

It was so surreal to me that I couldn't believe I was there. All my memories of the place were so vague that I second guess myself of what actually happen.

I wanted to write about the trip, but something keeps telling me that I wouldn't be able to express how surreal it was in words. I wanted to write about my trip, and I filmed quite a lot of footages during my time there to put it together as a travelogue for youtube.

However, now that I am back home, recalling my experiences during my trip, it doesn't feel right anymore. It doesn't feel as surreal as it felt in Seoul.

All we did was waking up late and eat grilled pork.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the trip. To go to another country without any adults/parents was one of the top ones on my bucket list. I went there with my friend Yves, and it was a great adventure. We seek our own ways to different places. We encountered various different unfortunate events. It was a very chill and relaxing trip. It wasn't like those tour programmes where everything was jam-packed into a number of days. We had about 9 areas to cover within 13 days, and two of them were, unfortunatly, closed for renovation.
I think all the unfortunate events were there to make it more interesting because, and I have to quote John Green on this, "the world is not a wish-granting factory" so we need a plan B for everything, just to be sure. There was no Plan B for us, but we've managed to make it a 'no-regret' trip. Even with that, I really wanted to apologise to my travelling companion, Yvesy, about waking up late and doing things without really asking your opinion. I can be a bit difficult sometimes, but thank you for putting up with me.

I am editing the pictures from my Canon right now, hoping I could post that soon. I think it would be up with my travelogues for Seoul, but I still don't know when that's going to be. I'm still doubting myself on this blogging thing. I am not a good writer, but I wanted to be. I want to write stuff that would make people feel something, and not just words on the screen. Well, that's a naive dream to have, isn't it? haha-

Anyway, as I said, I am editing pictures right now. I might post some on my photography tumblr, please visit this place to see them pictures. ♥︎ (< Click my heart, ya'll x)

Reblog it, like it, save it, fried it, mix it with cake bater, whatever. I'm still a noob at taking photos, but there is always a room for improvement. I wanted to take photography class and video editing class, but that has to be sometime later because SCHOOL.

And I ordered a Penny Board from Preduce.com, I transferred them the money, but they haven't replied my e-mail yet. So, we'll have to see about that. The one I ordered was Lilac with mint-coloured wheels. I hope it arrive on time for the BALAC trip.

This entry has been so freaking random because I am still suffering from The Fault In Our Stars movie. It would have been a much better sensation if the group sitting in front haven't talk so loud. Like, are you dumb? Please, turn your phone to silent/vibrate mode when you go into the theatres. You are sharing the theatre with other people, so please respect them, too. And please SHUT THE FUCK UP!! That group of people keep talking so fucking loud in the theatre, speaking in another language, and talking on the phone etc. 

Please leave, you ill-mannered hag.

Whatever. I hope the next time they go to watch a movie in the theatre and does the exact same thing, someone shouted 'shut the fuck up' out loud to shut them up. 

Lastly, 

I wanted to promise this blog wouldn't be so random anymore,

but I don't like making promises I cannot keep.

Kisses.