I am watching K-dramas since high school but it was my sister who dragged me into the K-pop world. We met SHINee first through CNBlue whom we met through He’s Beautiful. But we’ve fallen head over heels with EXO. We are one of those so-called “nakain ng sistema”, a Filipino description for those avid fans of K-dramas and K-pop. And I guess, and this is true to us, when you fell in love with their dramas and music, you’ll fell in love with the people, culture and the country too because you’ve been discovering it one by one. My sister and I took up free Korean classes at Hangeul Gyoshil (I missed going here. I should have studied harder, Moksanim) and got to see and experience more of their culture.
South Korea has been our dream destination since then. But we never thought of going there this year (2016). Maybe in the next two years? But hey, Cebu Pacific is on sale! (March 9-11 I think).
So my sister and I tried to book our tickets. At first it was my sister who is very eager to book a flight. Since this is an impromptu trip, we don’t have specific dates in mind. We just decided to pick anywhere in November or December (because it’s Winter season!) After a few failed attempts, my sister gave up. But I said “I’ll try it one more time”. I tried booking at 5:45 am while riding our company’s free shuttle. Now this is one of the many reasons why I love my work schedule. I was able to book for December 8 to 12 (I just love number 8…. And I don’t want you to expect so…Nope! We didn’t get to see snow).
After getting our tickets, we were all excited for our trip. Because we are too ambitious individuals, we want to experience each season in Seoul and we thought of coming up of a theme on each trip. For the winter, we decided to have it an EXO-themed trip (this is an EXO-themed trip but we still inserted some tourist spots that are not so related to EXO and a must-visit when you go to Seoul). So we have nine months to search and plan for our itinerary. I’ve gone crazy arranging our itinerary! There are a lot of places to visit in Seoul and there are many more places where EXO went. Moreover, my sister had to approve our itinerary! I did it in Excel (no special reason, I just find it more convenient, even my life goals are in Excel) and I had to transfer it in PowerPoint for presentation (to my sister, including photos, guides and directions). I got more than five revisions (sigh).
Come November, all else was ready except for our winter clothes. Gosh! We can’t be freezing out there or camping on our hotel. We will move and go to our destinations no matter what! So we bought thermal wears (Php 400/pair), beanies, sweaters, neck warmer, and socks at Greenhills Shopping Center. While our jackets and gloves were sponsored by my good friend Angge.
And the drama started here. A week before our flight, I woke up one morning seeing red rashes on my body. Of course I freaked out! I cannot miss my trip. This is my dream. So I didn’t go to the office and went to the hospital right away. I was very relieved that it’s just measles. I stayed at home for four days.
After that…it’s boarding time! ^_^
