A land of the Korean Wave (Hallyu wave) and all things K-POP! This is the third time to Seoul for me, though. The last time I went was back in 2008, for an exchange program.
Sooooo, on to my travelogue!
***some pictures are taken by my sister's cam and my mum's! credits to them.
Information about South Korea:
Currency: 1,000 Won = RM3 (1,000 Won is like their RM1, meaning 1,000 Won can only buy sweets, ice-cream, etc.)
Weather: Summer - 30C to 20C
Time differences: 1 hour in advanced from Malaysia. (E.g: Malaysia is 5PM, Korea is 6PM)
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{ Day One - 16th June 2012 (Saturday) + 17th June 2012 (Sunday) ARRIVAL+ INKIGAYO
My flight's at 11.15PM at night, so my morning was free. Went to college to attend the Talent Show wrap-up party which started at 12PM. Had an amazing time with my friends and my two lovely lecturers! By 4pm, I went home and got ready for the journey!
8.30PM the taxi arrived and we headed to the airport!
By 11PM, we boarded the plane and had a 6hr flight to Seoul via Korean Air.
I only managed to sleep for 2 hours in the plane. I just can't fall asleep. :( Kept myself entertained with my iPad, reading Marvel comics and stuff.
in-flight breakfast. urrrm... meh.
from departure, 4AM, 4.30AM, 5AM
5.30AM in the morning, the clouds fluffed up.
Touched down at Incheon Airport (인천국제공항) at 6AM (Malaysian time) , which is actually 7AM Korean time! (KST)
Went through immigration with their really efficient system. It only took us 10 minutes+ of waiting even though with a huge crowd.
Met with our Uncle S after that! He then brought us to his car and drove us to our hotel; Hotel Samjung!
Hotel Samjung is situated in Gangnam, Seoul. It is 30 minutes away from the downtown Seoul, so it can be said that it's like the 'Selangor' of our country.
Our plan for today was -
- Arrive at Incheon Airport.
- Head to the hotel to rest till 12PM. (It was only 8AM that time!)
- Have lunch.
- Head to SBS Inkigayo (인기가요; A K-POP music show that airs every Sunday with many K-POP artistes performance.)
- Dinner
- S L E E P !
So we arrived at the hotel and then we rested till 12PM. Changed into a simple t-shirt and shorts, we were all ready and suited up to head for something every k-pop fan would die for - INKIGAYO!
The view outside our hotel!
But first, LUNCH!
Had 'Gal bi tang' (갈비탕; Which is also known as the short-rib soup). It tasted DAMN good! I would love to eat more.
NOMSSSSS
Streets
Went to Uncle S's car and he brought us to Deungcheon-dong which is where the SBS Inkigayo recording is done (SBS Open Hall), but a half an hour drive away from our hotel. Nervous and excited, our first experience of K-POP performances in Korea itself!
'Dr. Jin' drama billboard ft. the casts (Kim Jae Joong!)
Uncle S parked his car in a department store called Homeplus, which is near the SBS Open Hall building.
We still had an hour to spend before we can enter the venue.
Saw so many fans holding placards and banners for their stars that they were supporting. Most of them were BANAs (B1A4 fans) which are young middle school girls! I was pretty shocked though, didn't know know B1A4 had such young fan girls lolol.
Saw so many fans holding placards and banners for their stars that they were supporting. Most of them were BANAs (B1A4 fans) which are young middle school girls! I was pretty shocked though, didn't know know B1A4 had such young fan girls lolol.
Walked around to kill time and to find some nice clothes. They have K-POP stars endorsements everywhere, it's uncountable!
Then when it was time, we left Homeplus and walked to the building across!
Anddddddddd ..
Getting these tickets aren't easy. Actually, getting into Inkigayo ain't easy at all. You've got to be one of the lucky ones to get picked. But since we have some connections, then it's much easier. It's free, by the way! :)
After awhile, Uncle S told us to follow him. We ditched our queue line and followed him and he said something to the staff who was directing the people to enter and she immediately let us in after that. (#excited). We had special privilege! :P
We were lining outside the building then, very close to the studio. A bunch of B1A4 fans were behind us and they screamed as they caught a glimpse of a B1A4 member, Jin Young. LOLOL.
Entered the studio and they gave us a copy each of the Inkigayo magazine! (They don't sell this anywhere so it IS very valuable. Only people who can enter the venue are able to get this magazine!)
We weren't allowed to take any pictures during the recording, so I apologize for the wordy post after this part.
So it began, and the MCs for that day was Nam Woohyun (A member of INFINITE), Lee Jeongsuk (An actor from the drama SECRET GARDEN), and Sulli (A member of f(x)!). Woohyun and Jeongsuk weren't the MCs for the previous Inkigayo stages so they look really nervous!
Since we sat at the right side of the stage, we got to see them really, really clearly and they kept giving fanservice to those who sat there. (Lucky me ;D~~). But we were amongst the B1A4 fans, and they are the loudest bunch. Really.
Woohyun kept waving at all of us, and he started to direct a fanchant of Jeongsuk's name since he never really MC-ed before. It was really adorableeeeeee. Since we were sitting at the side, we can see the stars getting their makeup fixed, drinking their water and all these behind the scenes stuff since the back of the stage is visible. Great treat for us!
Then it continued to a lot of performances from many, many K-POP idols;
INFINITE, B1A4, Teentop, U-KISS, Kim Janghoon (comeback special), December, Boyfriend (comeback special!), JJ Project, A-JAX, EXO-K, Youngsaeng (SS501 member), Tritops, f(x) (comeback special), A PINK, G.Na, Wonder Girls, HELLO VENUS, Dal Shabet
18 K-POP groups here and we didn't even have to pay to watch them. #thisisdamngood
Their performances were really goooooooood. It's like a CONCERT but it's mainly for the TV recording and at least 500 fans were allowed to enter the studio and watch! They're so nice to let us fans enter to watch. :')
Some performances were pre-recorded though, meaning they've came to record it before so that they can make as much mistakes as they want and it can be edited; their performance on that time wouldn't go on air - in simple terms. Out of 18 groups, at least 5 of them were pre-recorded, but the stars still came to perform for their fans even though it has been already recorded. Though in the middle of the performance, the P.D (director) will come out on stage and tell them to stop performing, and then the stars will stop dancing/singing and thank their fans and leave.
Teen Top fans, read this!
For Teen Top's performance (even though they've already pre-recorded).. (omg this is so cute, really. If only I recorded this...), they were dancing energetically to their song 'To You' nevertheless, and then the P.D came out and stopped one member. Everyone else besides L.Joe stopped dancing and saw the P.D and they knew that it's time for them to leave the stage. But the song continued and it was L.Joe's part to rap, and he rapped with swag and then he turned around and bumped into the P.D who caught his both arms (okay, the P.D looked like he's hugging him like 'oi, stop lah.') and told him to stop. Everyone looked at him like 'LOL WE STOPPED A LONG TIME AGO.' L.Joe laughed and laughed 'cos it was pretty embarrassing, and then they bowed and left the stage. HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Boyfriend fanaccount!
They were at the side of the stage, waiting for their turn to go on stage. One of their members, Jeongmin, were looking at our direction and he kept waving, giving thumbs up signs and happy smiles and faces to us fans. He waved at us directly too, LOL! It was pretty cute though, feeling the interaction and all. If only we could be more up close!
B1A4 fanaccount!
Then it was B1A4's turn to perform. That time, a Korean fangirl beside me passed me an A4 paper printed with the words '신우 축하해!' (Congratulations, Shinwoo!) and I was pretty puzzled and she told me to carry this up when B1A4 came on stage. She told me that it was one of the member's birthday! (Shinwoo's birthday). Then I just did what I was told and put that up. B1A4 looked directly at our place because that was where all their fans sat. Shinwoo looked and pointed at our direction and smiled, Baro laughed and waved, and omg they were so cute performing 'Baby Goodnight'!
We had a LOT of fun watching the performances. The energy emitted from the fans and the stars themselves really perked me up even though we didn't have much sleep that day!
SBS Open Hall
Waited outside with a whole lot of fans. It was really packed.
Anddddddddd ..
Our Inkigayo tickets!
Getting these tickets aren't easy. Actually, getting into Inkigayo ain't easy at all. You've got to be one of the lucky ones to get picked. But since we have some connections, then it's much easier. It's free, by the way! :)
Since it's so valuable, I gotta take a picture with it too :P
Queued up for a pretty long time. Thank God it was shady and the weather was good. The wind is cooling and niiiiiiiiiceeeeeeee.
After awhile, Uncle S told us to follow him. We ditched our queue line and followed him and he said something to the staff who was directing the people to enter and she immediately let us in after that. (#excited). We had special privilege! :P
We were lining outside the building then, very close to the studio. A bunch of B1A4 fans were behind us and they screamed as they caught a glimpse of a B1A4 member, Jin Young. LOLOL.
Entered the studio and they gave us a copy each of the Inkigayo magazine! (They don't sell this anywhere so it IS very valuable. Only people who can enter the venue are able to get this magazine!)
At the hallll ! (shhh, this is supposed to be a secret shot!)
We weren't allowed to take any pictures during the recording, so I apologize for the wordy post after this part.
So it began, and the MCs for that day was Nam Woohyun (A member of INFINITE), Lee Jeongsuk (An actor from the drama SECRET GARDEN), and Sulli (A member of f(x)!). Woohyun and Jeongsuk weren't the MCs for the previous Inkigayo stages so they look really nervous!
Since we sat at the right side of the stage, we got to see them really, really clearly and they kept giving fanservice to those who sat there. (Lucky me ;D~~). But we were amongst the B1A4 fans, and they are the loudest bunch. Really.
Woohyun kept waving at all of us, and he started to direct a fanchant of Jeongsuk's name since he never really MC-ed before. It was really adorableeeeeee. Since we were sitting at the side, we can see the stars getting their makeup fixed, drinking their water and all these behind the scenes stuff since the back of the stage is visible. Great treat for us!
The three MCs! (L-R: Woohyun, Jeongsuk, Sulli)
Then it continued to a lot of performances from many, many K-POP idols;
INFINITE, B1A4, Teentop, U-KISS, Kim Janghoon (comeback special), December, Boyfriend (comeback special!), JJ Project, A-JAX, EXO-K, Youngsaeng (SS501 member), Tritops, f(x) (comeback special), A PINK, G.Na, Wonder Girls, HELLO VENUS, Dal Shabet
18 K-POP groups here and we didn't even have to pay to watch them. #thisisdamngood
Their performances were really goooooooood. It's like a CONCERT but it's mainly for the TV recording and at least 500 fans were allowed to enter the studio and watch! They're so nice to let us fans enter to watch. :')
How it looks like on TV! (INFINITE)
Some performances were pre-recorded though, meaning they've came to record it before so that they can make as much mistakes as they want and it can be edited; their performance on that time wouldn't go on air - in simple terms. Out of 18 groups, at least 5 of them were pre-recorded, but the stars still came to perform for their fans even though it has been already recorded. Though in the middle of the performance, the P.D (director) will come out on stage and tell them to stop performing, and then the stars will stop dancing/singing and thank their fans and leave.
Teen Top fans, read this!
For Teen Top's performance (even though they've already pre-recorded).. (omg this is so cute, really. If only I recorded this...), they were dancing energetically to their song 'To You' nevertheless, and then the P.D came out and stopped one member. Everyone else besides L.Joe stopped dancing and saw the P.D and they knew that it's time for them to leave the stage. But the song continued and it was L.Joe's part to rap, and he rapped with swag and then he turned around and bumped into the P.D who caught his both arms (okay, the P.D looked like he's hugging him like 'oi, stop lah.') and told him to stop. Everyone looked at him like 'LOL WE STOPPED A LONG TIME AGO.' L.Joe laughed and laughed 'cos it was pretty embarrassing, and then they bowed and left the stage. HAHAHAHAHAHA.
Boyfriend fanaccount!
They were at the side of the stage, waiting for their turn to go on stage. One of their members, Jeongmin, were looking at our direction and he kept waving, giving thumbs up signs and happy smiles and faces to us fans. He waved at us directly too, LOL! It was pretty cute though, feeling the interaction and all. If only we could be more up close!
B1A4 fanaccount!
Then it was B1A4's turn to perform. That time, a Korean fangirl beside me passed me an A4 paper printed with the words '신우 축하해!' (Congratulations, Shinwoo!) and I was pretty puzzled and she told me to carry this up when B1A4 came on stage. She told me that it was one of the member's birthday! (Shinwoo's birthday). Then I just did what I was told and put that up. B1A4 looked directly at our place because that was where all their fans sat. Shinwoo looked and pointed at our direction and smiled, Baro laughed and waved, and omg they were so cute performing 'Baby Goodnight'!
We had a LOT of fun watching the performances. The energy emitted from the fans and the stars themselves really perked me up even though we didn't have much sleep that day!
