I was supposed to meet Tae Kyu for lunch but something cropped up for him last minute and I couldn’t contact him too so I thought we weren’t meeting at all. 어머님 had to attend a meeting and initially thought that if I was meeting Tae Kyu at 2pm, she wouldn’t have time to attend the meeting (모임) and would just bring me to the phone shop in the morning so that I could reach Seoul in time. But since I couldn’t contact him, I told 어머님 to attend her meeting and that we could settle my Korean phone issue when she came back in the afternoon at around 1pm. So off she went, and 15 minutes later, Tae Kyu contacted me and said that Jeonghwan could still meet me at 2pm -.- By the time Youngjin’s mum reached the phone shop at Sopoong where I was waiting with Youngjin, it was 1.30pm.
I got a Galaxy S3 and selected SK Telcome’s LTE62 plan for a total cost of 83,550원/month (price inclusive of the phone). The price difference between LTE52 (2GB) and LTE62 (5GB) was only about 8,000원 so I chose the LTE62 plan instead. But now I’m regretting my decision because wifi is quite easily available here in Silla University and I think I only need a LTE42 (1GB) plan for now because I’m only studying Korean and don’t have to check my emails constantly, settle group project meetings, read news, do my work on my phone, etc like when I’m in business School. I didn’t know too that in Korea, you can upgrade/downgrade your data plan after the initial 1 or 2 months. I thought it was fixed for the contract period of 2 years and that’s why I chose the 5GB plan, with my expected usage when I’m doing my MBA in mind. Youngjin got the S3 in white too!
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| Breakfast |
Youngjing washing the dishes because his mum said she was going to buy him a new phone haha
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| LG’s camera is better but the phone is just too big! |
After settling all the paperwork for the phone contract, Youngjin’s mum dropped me off at the subway station and it was already 2.30pm -.- I rushed down to Myeongdong and only reached there at 4pm. Sorry Jeonghwan!!!! But I guess our timing was just right too because when we went to Myeongdong Gyoza 명동교자 for lunch, there wasn’t any queue. After we were done with a very late lunch at around 5pm, there was a very long queue (of tourists).
Thanks for lunch!
At 5.30pm, I met Jeehyun in Edae and we went to an Italian restaurant for dinner before going for a manicure at Oriental Princess and doing some shopping.
I quite like my manicure! It’s my 2nd time getting one done, the last time was for prom in Sec 4! Anyway, the manicurist was quite stunned when she saw my nails. I mean I didn’t know that I was going to do a manicure today and had cut my nails last week so my nails were really SHORT. I can’t stand long nails and I wasn’t allowed to have long nails in the past too because of my piano lessons. I need to be able to feel the keys when I play the piano. So anyway, my manicurist had very little “room” to work with and had to push back my cuticles a lot. Jeehyun had a package with the nail salon and she gave me 1 session. A package of 10 sessions costs between 130,000-140,000원. I might go there often next time when I’m back in Seoul!
We went for tea and dessert at a pretty cafe after that before I did some shopping :P
I reached Bucheon before 10pm and Youngjin’s mum came to pick me up from the station. So nice of her! She felt that it’s not safe for me to go back to her place on my own at night because of the recent reportings of rape cases and all in the country :(
Anyway, here are my purchases!
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| Same one as Mel’s :) |
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| Bought the purifying mask, BB Snow Cushion and toner |
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| Hope this shade suits me! Singapore doesn’t have this shade |
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| So cute! |
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| It’s so difficult to take a selca with a dog that kept fidgeting |
Sunday
I woke up to a sumptuous breakfast prepared by Youngjin’s mum before leaving Bucheon at around 9.30am for Seoul. My “farewell” with his mum wasn’t as bad as the previous time because we’ll be seeing each other soon…in end January/February? Since Youngjin’s dad sent me to the station, I reached Seoul earlier and had some extra time before meeting Jimmy at Myeongdong so I decided to go to Seoul Station first to store my stuff in a locker. I love it that Seoul has lots of lockers in subway stations for the convenience of passengers! I paid 1,500원 for the locker and was free from having to lug my sleepover bag around Seoul.
Even though I went to Myeongdong yesterday, I didn’t have much time to shop around because all I did was to have lunch there with Jeonghwan and then rush off to Edae to meet Jeehyun. Since Jimmy and I didn’t know where to go for lunch, we went to Myeongdong Gyoza (again) and I had the same thing for lunch. But one thing for sure is that my appetite has shrunk, compared to 2 years ago. Then, I could finish a whole bowl of galkuksu, but now, I can’t. After lunch, I wanted to have ice cream and waffles at my favourite cafe in Myeongdong, Tea’Us cafe, owned by Kwon Sang Woon but the building had undergone some renovations since the last time I visited it and the cafe couldn’t be found :(
We went to Ediya Coffee instead for drinks and it was really nice talking to Jimmy. He’s as funny as before and I felt as though I was back in 2010 on exchange. Things haven’t changed much :)
And I guess, of all my Korean friends, I’m the only one who knows Myeongdong the best. They don’t really go to Myeongdong because it has become more of a tourist destination and it’s so crowded that most Koreans hang out at other parts of Seoul instead.
Even though it has been 2 years since I was in Myeongdong, I can still navigate my way around the area. It’s as though I never really left the place. Every part of Myeongdong is so familiar to me and filled with memories. The alley where the Italian restaurant is- where Jeannie, Yuya, Kenneth, Yuhong, Raushan and I had dinner together and then saw a drunk man puking, the shops where I shopped at, who I was with when I walked the streets of Myeongdong, etc. I miss Seoul.
After showing Jimmy the way to Euljiro-1-ga Station (haha), I did some window shopping at F21 and Artbox before rushing down to Anguk to meet Hyunju unni and her bf. I guess it’s a good thing that I’m in Busan and that I stay on/near a mountain. If I were in Seoul, I’ll be broke from all the shopping!
There are many nice cafes in Samcheongdong and shops that sell handmade items too. I bought a pair of earrings and 2 bracelets for a total of 39,000원. OMG I have so many accessories, especially after my Europe trip, and I can’t stop buying. I HAVE TO STOP.
From Samcheongdong, we walked to Insadong before going to Jonggak Station which is on Line 1 so I didn’t have to transfer trains at all to get to Seoul Station. Till we meet again, unni!
Initially, I was excited about doing some shopping at Seoul Station before taking my train at 6.40pm. But there was nothing much other than Zara and I had nothing to buy in Zara :( I was pretty much done with window shopping by 5.20pm and my train was only at 6.40pm. I should have taken the 5.20pm KTX train back instead! Actually, there are many KTX trains back to Busan Station but for the late afternoon train timings back to Gupo (nearer to Sasang than Busan Station), there were only the 5.20pm and 6.40pm timings. Since I was really bored and had nothing to do, I decided to take the 6pm train back to Busan Station instead. Thank goodness for my pass which allows me to take unlimited rides on the KTX so I wasn’t charged for a change in train timing either. But the lady at the counter took so long to issue me a new ticket that I thought I would miss my train. However, there’s actually enough time…you can buy a ticket at 5.50pm and still make it for a 6pm train like me :)
I was so tired that I fell asleep after settling into my seat and only woke up at the next station when a guy poked me to wake me up so that he could get to his seat beside me.I reached Busan Station by 8.45pm and made it back to my dormitory at about 9.30pm. What a packed weekend!
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