Seoul Sunday

What's a Catholic girl supposed to do when it's Palm Sunday and a cathedral is just up the street from her hotel? Why go to mass, of course. I actually brought a dress with me specifically for this occasion. Hindi naman prepared, no? HaHa!

While walking there, a group of Filipino men were behind me chatting away about the prices of shoes at ABC Mart and once inside the Myeongdong Cathedral, I spotted more Filipinos; even a couple of the readers were pinoys. Cathy had asked me if I made chika, but I kept to myself. I think I started putting away my PR self after my Macau experience; I just don't feel comfy telling people that I'm a tourist while they're working hard for their money in that very city to provide bare necessities to their families back in the Philippines. Parang hindi tama. Also, I don't want Friendster requests from their single male siblings a few weeks later. LoL. True story yan after my Macau experience. HaHa!

Anyway, after taking pictures of the Cathedral after the mass (apparently, I wasn't the only tourist around), I proceeded to Dunkin' Donuts to finally have breakfast. Who was sitting next to me? LeeMinHo...uhh, in poster form, you fangirls out there. LoL. I find it amusing that there are soooo many DDs in Seoul while there isn't a single one that I know of in Seattle. The brand is totally extinct in Seattle while it seems to be thriving in Asia (DD next to SM Supermarket in Megamall always provided me with my Bavarian donut fix). I grabbed a window seat on the second floor and watched people pass by while I stuffed myself with a chocolate mocha donut or whatever the heck that yummy flavor was called.

With all the caffeine and sugar power, I started heading over to the Namsan Cable Car station. Dammit, it was another hike and a half. If I had known about all these uphill battles in Seoul, I would've brought my cross-trainers and workout clothes instead.

It was way too hazy to see a clear view of Seoul, but I can now add Seoul Tower to my list of towers I've visited in Asia: Macau and Kuala Lumpur. All around the base of the tower are chain-linked fences with padlocks, a ritual that couples do to show that their love will last foreverrrrrr. Being the maldita girl that I am, I was going to buy a padlock and dedicate it to my future husband, but it was too sawi that I eventually decided against it. LoL. Saka na lang kapag together forever na kami ni LeeDongWook.

While walking down Namsan, I found out another kdrama spot. You know in the end of My Lovely Sam-Soon, there's that long flight of stairs where they kiss? I always wondered where the hell that was shot and voila, I found it at the bottom of Namsan where you take the winding road back to the cable car station.

Since I was in the area already, I walked over to the Seoul Animation Center. Supposedly, this was the location for the rooftop house in Coffee Prince. After going up the flight of stairs to the rooftop, the doors were closed so I went back down to talk to someone before I got arrested for trespassing.

Me: Yongo haseyo?
Girl: No. (And then she asked me if I spoke Japanese.)
Me: No. Uhhh, can...I...go...upstairs...and...see...Coffee...Prince...house?
Girl: (She asks someone else and says something "Coffee Prince"). Yes. Uhh...door...might...lock. Maybe.
Me: Okay. Thank you!

With a smile on my face, I hurried back up to the semi-locked door, opened it, and...what the ef?! It looked nothing like it did in the drama! I'm like, "Are my eyes deceiving me?!" I propped the outside bench to keep the door from locking me out, and even went up these steep, steel ladder, thinking that maybe, the house is up there. But nothing. Ugh! Didn't I say "Coffee Prince" and didn't the girl say "Coffee Prince"? If I was in the wrong place, I would think the girl would've said something. Boo. Remind me to watch Coffee Prince as soon as I get back to Seattle!

After making my way down to Myeongdong Station, I spotted the Delimanjoo stand that I kept telling Cathy that I couldn't find. A whole bag is only W2,000. I bit into one and almost burnt my tongue from the very hot custard inside. My eyes were watering heavily as I waited for my train to arrive. Realizing that I wasn't exactly sure which stop I was going to, I asked a guy, "Yongo haseyo?" and miraculously, he said yes. I asked him if COEX Mall is at the Samseong Station and he said yes. Woot! Unfortunately, he wasn't cute so I just went back to stuffing my mouth with Delimanjoos. HaHa!

Ahh, COEX Mall. Its sign reminded me of Suria KLCC's in Kuala Lumpur, but KLCC is a much posher mall. When I went to McDonalds yesterday, I saw that they had a Shrimp Burger and I was curious what that tasted like so I made another trip to McDonalds and tried it. Gross. I prefer the Bulgogi Burger over this one. I spotted a couple of cute guys, but I later found them smoking outside so I had to put my cougar self away.

Across from the COEX Aquarium was a souvenir shop so I finally bought a few little things to bring back. I thought the prices there were much cheaper than those in Insadong, but same goods. After stopping by Bandi & Luni's Bookstore to buy a couple of cutesy cards (one of which depicted a cartoonish image of a KoreanVirgin. I'm not kidding, that's what it says!), I headed back to the subway station to meet up with Cathy in Apgujeong.

So really, I have no business to be at Apgujeong since I don't have the money nor the interest in buying luxury items, but since they named this place the "Rodeo Drive of Seoul", I was curious to see if it actually lived up to its name. Uhhh, the place looked like any other friggen street in Seoul, complete with uneven sidewalks; I must've rolled my ankle at least twice every day since I've been here from all the uneven pavement in this city. I kept thinking, "If this was America, someone would've sued the city already."

Further down the street, more high-end stores abound. And you can tell because there's barely anyone walking along this end. While Cathy was taking pictures of all the artsy things on the street, I was just looking forward, making muni-muni and that's where I saw (drumroll please!) LeeDongGun coming out of a store. I was so taken aback that it took me a couple of seconds to say to Cathy in a whisper, "Cathy, hindi ba si...si...LeeDongGun yun?!" I had my camera in my hand, but I swear, hindi ako makagalaw. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Grabe talaga ang showbiz radar ko. Kahit saan gumagana!

LeeDongGun eventually left our sight without us taking a single picture. So let me just say my piece about celebrities: I actually do feel sorry for them. Imagine not being able to walk down the street in peace or eating somewhere and people are taking pictures of you. I'd hate that. So, I do make it a point to not harass any of them for pictures whenever I run into them randomly. Imagine all those missed picture opportunities at Shangri-La Mall with Piolo and John Lloyd! HeHe.

All that excitement burned enough calories to warrant another kalbi dinner, but this time at Itaewon. Yum, yum, yum. I swear, I can live off of kalbi, bulgogi, and dolsot bibimbap everyday. I really don't know how Koreans can stay so thin with all these foods around!

With some time left before stores closed, Cathy brought me to Kyobo bookstore in Gwanghamun to browse. I had no intention of buying anything since my kpop stash at home is quite up to date, but I eventually gave in and bought legit copies of Big Bang's first and second concert DVDs. They're so much cheaper than at YesAsia! Grabe! I had wanted to buy a copy of My Mighty Princess, but it was too expensive and coded Region 3. Tsk!

Cathy and I ended the night at Twosome Place for coffee and cake, and very many "How can I find work here?" whinings from me. The former is such a Filipino thing to do; the latter is so me. HaHa!