SEOUL, KOREA

12 JAN 2020

I remember both a sense of excitement and fear grappling me on the way to Changi and boarding. Being my first ‘real’ trip, there seemed to be so much to learn and so much to do. Looking back, I might have been excessive in my preparation in the leadup to the trip as well. I painted my nails, got a new bag, a new passport cover, new boots, wore new shoes, new winter jacket and heat tech, new travel essentials etc. etc. (but at least I’m really liking this aesthetic and will definitely be using these items again in future trips!)

A note to self for future trips

• You’re pretty much cold resistant so save it with the boots/thick socks/multilayered pants. Remember the gloves thoough! (look out for gloves that can be used for touch-screen next time). On a partially related note: travel light
• Boarding procedures – self check in using passport to get boarding pass, deposit luggage, pass through security screening with hand carry, additional gate for identity verification w passport, one more check during boarding with boarding pass
• Solo travel (?) to be further explored later

My imagery of photos/videos/dramas taken with bright sunlight and blue sky were often coupled with my limited temperature knowledge of humidity and warmth, but now I can almost smell the crisp air and feel the cool breeze from it. I loved, loved, loved the cold.

A reminder to self to also leave something of beauty behind even when I’m gone

Something I would like to highlight – the low-rise nature of most buildings and uniformity of the surroundings of most living areas. Shops of both international branding and domestic names are often just around the corner from complexes, each having a building of their own. There were few ‘designed’ communities – no playgrounds, fitness corners or community centers, even though we were literally living in the middle of a neighborhood. It was a stark contrast to the carefully planned urban living spaces in Singapore, and while it would have been fantastic for local shops to have sprung up to give each neighborhood its unique flavor, the omnipresence of large brand names made me question its effects on Korea society or if it was actually a manifestation of their culture.

• Cue lots of beauty-related shopping on Hongdae street (to be further elaborated)

On a more serious note: Korea’s conglomerates. Big companies like Samsung, Lotte, CJC permeates nearly every single aspect of Koreans’ lives. For instance, Lotte dominates the way-of-life scene – Lotte world for entertainment, Lotte tower for your traditional 9 to 5 jobs, Lotteria for fast food, Lotte Mart for grocery shopping. With the dominance of such groups being so blatant (even as a passing visitor), I can only imagine the absolute power these chaebols hold in society, with their wide reach and thus Koreans’ fear.

For some reason I felt so intimately familiar with the pale blue skies and barren leaves and amazing weather despite never having traveled here. Could this be déjà vu? Or maybe its just having watched one too many k drama lelel

I was confused at first to see so many (I would say close to 80%) young Koreans in their school uniforms despite it being a. winter vacation and b. freezing cold but all queries were answered once we entered this selfie room. Fully equipped with selfie sticks, cute headwear, mini school skirts, stylish hairstyles and potential poses, they smiled wide for the camera. It just seemed like such a stark contrast from teens in Singapore (at least if we are contrasting the majority of Singaporeans vs Koreans). As much as the rooms were glamorously beautiful, it seemed like such a pity to come for these rooms instead of the entire amusement park. But then again, it could just be a local vs tourist perspective thing!

Ice was a disappointment though; it was so slippery and totally lacked the softness I had expected. Even fallen snow too, was just like shaved ice that melted at human touch – not the fluffy white cotton candy styled ice I had expected at all. So perhaps it was a blessing after all to not have seen snowfall, for it a. preserves its wondrous nature in my mind and b. saves my first snow for another experience!

One of my few successful attempts at exploring photography effects

Note to self: explore photography settings you would like to try before going on the trip, for the most beautiful moments are often short lived and have passed by the time the photography settings are fully adjusted. With that said, though, I’m beginning to fall more and more for photography and its ability to serve as memory reserves for this girl with STM right here. I may not be proficient enough yet to tell others stories, but I love how I can record and save my own. With our unreliable memories, they also serve as proof of occurrences, giving me a more solid backing to feel my place in a world where everything is so fleeting and evanescent.

On Korean strawberries: they were truly out of this world. It also made me think about this concept of people possibly having different experiences of something but think that they are experiencing the same thing and never find out because. The more I think about it the more prominent it is – almost everything can be differently experienced (on a physiological level) but we will never know. E.g. strawberries tasting different in different countries but a Singaporean may only know how Singapore’s taste like. Or feeling different on rollercoaster rides because of different wind speeds, temperature, humidity levels etc. it makes me wonder – is there truly such a thing as a universal human experience from a scientific viewpoint? Even water tastes different, and the sun can be smaller or larger or duller or brighter from different geographical locations. + because of differences in our individual organs and senses, we may smell and see and taste things differently. So many variables. Is there a name for this phenomenon? I’m rambling now but this messes with my head a little.

I sidetracked a little, but getting back to documenting my trip, the nights were my favorite. Our Airbnb was a warm, cozy haven complete with people and good food and laughter and fun. Perhaps also because my mood is often 0/10 in the morning and I hate it when people can’t stop talking in the morning but am the person who can’t stop talking at night. I feel more alive at night too, for some reason. Honestly the memories of different nights are blurring into one so let me document some here before everything goes away.

1. Avalon featuring a constantly evil Kelley, bad liar vii, and thinking but also can’t rly lie cait
2. Hair loss everywhere
3. Scrambling to find the food itinery the next day because we didn’t plan enough (more on this later)
4. Screaming and shrieking
5. Shower head that is either too hot or too cold, and always temperamental (aka changing temp even after settings have been adjusted)
6. Packing and vii having a lot of faith and Kelley 0
7. Panicking over finances; settling bills

A gross generalization but Koreans felt so cool and chic – donned in classy black and whites; with an Airpods-in-world-out kind of style.

But now I’m struggling to find contrasting instances in Singapore so it may just be a foreigner feeling foreign thing. I would say that they do seem to be comparatively mild around friends (at least in public areas) though; most would just talk softly or stare at screens vs Singapore where people woot and shout and laugh. Public places e.g. restaurants were definitely quieter here.

I also realized I have virtually no pictures of shopping districts so am going to also write thoughts of Korea + beauty here.

Am definitely sure this time – that there is much more of a uniformity in looks in Korea compared to Singapore.  A standard male would have short black hair, pale skin, slanted single eyelids or large double eyelids, sharp nose and lips, pale, on the skinnier side. A standard female will have long straight black hair, big eyes, sharp nose, red lips pale skin pink cheeks, makeup on. Stores like Etude house, Olive Young, Nature republic, Face shop, Mediheal etc where literally everywhere, and testament to how huge beauty is with regards to their lifestyle – in particular concerning the face. I’ve read that Korea was (one of??) the countries in the frontline for makeup invention so it’s interesting to see how this cultural phenomenon continued till today. However, given that the uniformity of looks is only possible due to homogeneity in inherent characteristic e.g. race, it makes me think about how those of a different race would truly stick out like a sore thumb. If they already can tell that I’m not Korean from one glance, what about those who weren’t even Asian?

Public transport in Korea was fantastic though – affordable, fast, and very convenient. The stops were much closer tone another, which makes it so much easier to transport from place to place via the metro. Singapore definitely still has a long way to go in this aspect. I also love how they even thought of minimizing both healthcare implicit cost and explicit cost of escalator building by doing away with them for stairs.

Honestly loved the experience more than the food but that’s okay

What distinguishes good and bad art/photography? Why are some pieces more celebrated than others? I never got why and I guess I probably never will, but I did love the photos I took. Hopefully I will get to go to a photography exhibition soon!

Another aspect I love about Korea – the fuss over the details. I loved how the stream was intricately designed to have both the waterfall effect and the stones to walk across.

Also, I’ve been told that photos should have a focal point but where’s the fun in that? I believe that dual focus, off center photos and blurry photos are their own brands of magic. Or maybe it’s just reflective of my state(s) of mind ahahaha

One of the only decorative elements left in the room lelel. It made me think about the lack of regulation of so many more Airbnbs and the ease to which travelers may be ‘cheated’. In our case, things were pretty minor and we had a relatively comfortable stay, but it made me think about how dangerous it could truly be.

Some features to look out for in future trips

1. Size of room – wide lens camera can make rooms and houses look much lager than they really are. Should definitely ask about the size of the house in ft etc before going
2. Amenities – owner may lie about this so read reviews
3. Distance from travelling spots – again, to look out for in reviews

Not exactly sure of what the spaces was designed to be used for but it seemed much emptier than I would have thought it to be. Or perhaps was the highlight in the design itself?

A note on this: there seem to be more and more design-oriented spaces – this being one, Orchard library in Singapore being another. However, it seems like aesthetically pleasing design continue to trump usability, which is such a pity. What if we can create a space whereby humans can a. gain convenience and utility through good design and b. add to the beauty and complexity of the design rather than ruining it?

On why these two are (IMO) examples of lackluster design

1. DDP has either elevator or these long, winding spiral hallways that takes you forever to get from one level to another, and the middle area being blocked – which is what I view to be a waste of space and material
2. Orchard library prides itself in its design but I can never find a book there besides the general fiction books + even among those some are out of reach for shorties

Jean Frigo brought back my love of cafes aaah and I loved how the iridescent colors complemented the cement wall – they seemed like two things people would hardly associate together but it still turned out so well: bravo to the team like truly.

Pricing was not the friendliest though. But then again cafes are never cheap, which brings the question – are the cost of running a café truly that high, or is this just an oligopoly sort of ploy where prices are hiked artificially? It’s all very intriguing though I doubt that I will have my first-hand café-running experience anytime soon, if at all. That being said, I really do love cafes and even more so when there are tiny quirky features that adds to its personality. E.g. the fake fruits on the table and order services via fruit-named tables, calling order service, onemoreglass and please do not stare at my butt stickers etc.

I’m starting to like this dark green and white combination more and more. It’s interesting how favorite colors and color combis change with age – I do wonder if it’s because we get sick of the color, or are influenced by its associated feelings, or both. Or neither.

This reminded me of words I read elsewhere “if you distill it I think it comes down wanting to experience life in its fullest, diversity and novelty but I feel that this exist in equal measure in small world and big worlds, in both the quotidian and the exotic. Isn’t it ironic that people go off on gap years to tiny towns and villages, in hopes of finding sweeping adventures?” idk but from my interpretation – people are getting caught up in the notion of (trying) to carpe diem all day every day and do this through venturing off their current paths to try new things, from experimenting with film photography to gap years and so much more.

Film in itself provides a sense of novelty and excitement through not knowing how a finished photo might look, and spurs us to be spontaneous and take that leap of faith to capture that shot because the next one would require a huge lag time with the scrolling system and thus stops us from just taking burst after burst.

The only picture here in black and white and I’m loving the effect. It highlights the key points whilst enough mystery to leave one wanting more.

This was probably the only part of Korea I found truly cold – for some reason places are colder near the water? Nonetheless the scenery was breathtaking and I wished I could have had ramen here.

^ I have literally 0 idea what this was supposed to mean

I noticed how much of the trip revolved around places with water bodies e.g. streams, lakes, rivers, seas and more. Why are they so much more prevalent in Korea than Singapore? Is it just because we are so used to seeing our streams that nothing stands out anymore? Makes one really think about how much we have been taken for granted (not really streams/lakes though because those back home are kinda smelly, to be completely frank)

^ Even the birds aren’t free, they’re tied to the sea (aka the emo caption on my story that day)

I remember this being the candidate weekend invite day. I felt so damn lost and afraid, and I still am. But then again, I’ve experiences so many highs in the past few years that its natural for me to be near the valleys of my journey, and I’ve just got to stay strong through it all.

Things I’ve been telling myself (which I think work better for me than other advices)

1. There is more than one path to living a fulfilling life, and honestly, your choices (or lack thereof) and your decisions don’t really matter because you can’t see what’s down the road two, five or ten years down the road anyway.
2. I’m not afraid of failure, I’m afraid of others seeing me fail – feels liberating to let it all out here.
3. It’s their lost. Honestly, because I’m a gem who have already made all their requirements and more. Maybe I didn’t sound ‘likeable’ enough but I know I am so sorry for the laughter and insights you will be missing
4. I’ve loved the stars too fondly to be afraid of the night :”)

Naminara Republic was one of my favorite parts of Seoul and the guide book in particular just got me (All about Nami Island).

I loved the gentle way it revealed each of its secrets to us, its cheekiness from all the lively animals, and the bustling yet comfortable atmosphere there.

Nami island also featured lots of snowmen (from winter sonata) donning traditional costumes that reflect different countries(?). There were flags too, to welcome visitors. I didn’t quite understand why but it was warming regardless to see the welcome extended.

For an island that used to be deemed too sandy for plants to ever grow properly, it gives amazing nature-led scenery.

I love how Nami island tells the story of human effort and perseverance in making amends of our destruction to the environment can lead to tangible differences. And also, how human-made nature can be considered natural nature too – for humanity is ultimately a part of the environment.

Apparently, there was this initiative for visitors to plant tree and seedlings had a sudden price hike after the initial amount was collected and the IC went ahead with the plan despite suffering a loss. It was due to his leadership and vision that Nami island could become what it is today and it makes me want to sign up as one of the volunteers who sweep the leaves for Nami island for the opportunity of working there.

Thankful for my window seat.