{#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.