KOREA: Day 15: Music Core (ish)

Harrro!

OK, so today I shall explain our fail attempt in getting into Music Core and my own personal epic fail :)

So we've obviously  researched far ahead of time on how early we should arrive there and if the artist that we are lining up for has a prerecording or not. The artist we chose was BAP for three reasons: 

1) We freaking love BAP !

2) We've seen Exo-K twice already and we've seen most of the other groups as well

3) Because they're still pretty new considerably, we'd thought that maybe the line for them wouldn't be as long (and since they've been promoting for quite a while already, maybe there wouldn't be as many people lining up for them)

But no. We have underestimated the power that is BAP.

HAHAHA see wut I did thar? power? AHAHAH

Ok, so people said to take the first subway out, but we ended up leaving our guesthouse at 6:30am. We had THOUGHT that that was still pretty early but...

NO.

It takes an hour to get to the MBC Dream Centre (Music Core is the farthest located out of the 4 major music programs), so we ended up getting there at 7:30.

(Oh and this is after I pulled an allnighter so I was obviously still in this mindless haze)

Once we got there....fangirls were already running to get in line =___=

The line from afar

 

 ^ This is the side entrance, not the main one

So basically the first step you have to do is to find the right line for the artist that you are supporting. 

After walking around sorta confused, we ended up asking people and it turns out...the WHOLE ENTIRE LINE that we were walking up and down was BAP.

We turned the corner and we saw A WHOLE 'NOTHER LINE that stretched until...like forever (xD) for Exo-K. These two were the two major prerecording groups that we've found.

So of course we ran to the end of the line and waited there.

Luckily we had bought three rolls of kimbap this morning so we were not waiting on an empty stomach. 

 Ok, here's some tips

1) BRING FOOD WITH YOU. You WILL starve. If you came with your friends then you can tell them to stay in line while you go to a nearby convenience store and buy snacks. But make sure you leave your bag there though so the other fangirls know that you were there before but you just left to get food BECAUSE Korean fangirls are freaking...strict. They WILL chew you out.

2) Dress appropriately. Because it had been burning hot for the past few days, I wore shorts. Oh boy....did I regret....It was FREEZING. Keep in mind that it's the early morning and remember that you will be waiting OUTSIDE. I basically froze my butt off.

3) Do not expect to be able to have a friend arrive there first to save spots in the line and then you come later and just budge. It doesn't work that way. These two girls arrived pretty late and they had wanted to get in line with their friend who was already in line BUT the girls behind them basically told them to F*ck off xD It was quite scary actually. These girls are no joke. Do not....do that. Basically, just try your best not to upset anyone and you're good to go.

4) Be prepared to WAIT AND WAIT.

As we were waiting, all these black vans were passing by us and entering the parkade. It was somewhat a good distraction from the cold xD But unfortunately nobody really rolled down their windows to wave and whatnot and since the windows are tinted extremely black, no one knows who's in what van. Well...except BAP 'cuz they had 'BAP' written in the front of the van xD

But yeah.

So we lined up and WAITED

It was 7:30 when we started...and it was 9:00 that we waited until. =___=

Basically I was freezing for 1.5 hours.

And then the line finally started moving. Do NOT wander around while you're waiting because people WILL NOT wait for you to return once the line starts moving. You lose your spot? Too bad.

So we basically followed the line and turned the corner and now we were all lining up outside of the front entrance of MBC.

 

 There were signs that pointed out where the line for each group should be.

^ This is the line for Exo-K. Oh gosh....it was just as long as the one for BAP. The line actually stretched way way wayyyyy more than the picture shows. Maybe about 4-5 buses length? Maybe more? 

You might see that the other signs like Taetiseo, Sistar, 4minute, etc may have no people lined up. That's because their prerecording starts at a different time and thus the queue starts later or earlier, OR they do not have prerecording and only the live. DO YOUR RESEARCH and see what your group is doing!

Ok, so now...we begin the wait again...just in a different spot =___=

So we waited for ANOTHER HOUR in the FREEZING COLD.

And then finally the numbering starts. There are TWO things you are required to bring (well at least for BAP, it might be different for other groups):

1) Their latest album (so "Power")

2) Identification (so if you're a foreigner, your best bet will be your passport)

If you lack any of these, you're done. There is no sympathy or loopholes.

Once the fanclub leaders check your album and ID, they will give you a number (ours was on a sticker that you can stick into this booklet thingy and once you collect them all, you get special stuff like signed albums or photo cards or etc). For Exo-K, they had the number written on their hand instead and had no such sticker album. It's different for every group.

Once you get your number, you are allowed to sit somewhere nearby. They will tell you the time to start getting back in line again. Make sure you don't wander off. It's not worth the risk!

 

While you're waiting, you can buy merchandise. For us, we bought a BAP whistle (for the fanchant) and a BAP towel (to wave). Not cheap. 10,000 won for both. 

It's a good idea to try to memorize the fanchant while you're waiting.

Once it was time to line up again, we got back into our position (this time you don't have to worry about budging the line because you have your number). 

They told us to sit down and after they checked our number (if you're missing, they will simply skip over your number. You lose your spot. IF you're late, too bad.), we waited ANOTHER HOUR. IN THE COLD.

My butt really hurt from sitting on the hard floor T^T

At this point, they handed on photo cards to everyone. I guess it's a free little gift I guess. This time it was a Himchan one~ Oh and if your photo card has a sticker on the back, you get a SIGNED photocard~ There were only about 4-5 of those so it was all LUCK.

Unfortunately both Lillian and I didn't have such luck =\

Then they also handed out SIGNED BAP ALBUMS to people who had collected special stickers on their sticker album.

SIGH LUCKY PEOPLES.

Moral of the story is, go often and endure all the hardship of waiting and your hard work may be paid off ;p

Afterwards, we were finally allowed to go in. We went to the second floor and queued up there. WE WAITED ALMOST ANOTHER HOUR. But hey, at least this time it wasn't in the freezing cold.

Although it was still sorta chilly inside.

The MBC building is VERY large, much larger than SBS.

After waiting for what seemed like eternity WE FINALLY WENT IN AND OMGSH BAP WAS THERE ON STAGE ALREADY AND WE WERE SO CLOSE TO THEM!

For the prerecording, you all stand in the front area so it's very close to the artists. Only for the live do you sit down in the seats I think.

BAP performed three times and Himchan did the most fanservice XD

Sometimes they'll interact a little with you, but for the most part, they might be too tired.

Unfortunately....

I tried taking pictures halfway and got caught =___= No more ninja power.

But at least I was ushered out near the end of the prerecording so I still got to see them perform :P

I guess I'm just a natural troublemaker ;P

I did it for science, guys, I did xD

And then afterwards, it turns out that only numbers 1-50 for BAP were able to see the live recording. Lillian and I were 115 and 116 respectively sooooo.....

NOPE.

The live starts at 4:30 pm so if you're eligible to see the live they will queue you up after the prerecording, make sure you guys are all present, and then give you another time you have to queue up to check in by. You'd have to wait outside for another few hours though =\

SOOOO, yeah.

We basically just went back to our guesthouses and passed out. We both woke up at around 10:30pm and walked out and ate a late dinner at McD's and then came back xD

BUT OMGSH, YESH I got to see my Youngjae :')

And Daehyun is EXTREMELY good-looking.....ARGHASJKDNA:JSKF

EVERYONE WAS AMAZING T^T

At this point, I'm too tired to even really spaz. I just know that both Lillian and I were completely wiped out and we have no idea how people do this every week....

=\

But anyways

TOMORROW or...I guess I should say "today" (May 13th in Korea, but May 12th in North America) WE WILL BE HAVING A BLOGTV AT 11am KST, WHICH IS 7pm PST.

There, we will be talking about what we have done so far and answer any questions regarding music shows, life in Korea, places to go in Korea, food, transportation, etc!!

We will be staying on for about two hours so please, if you can make it, do try to come :D

I might not be the most entertaining person but Lillian...oh gosh...she's hilarious :)

The link is : http://www.blogtv.com/people/SJlover4ever

Just click on the link when it's around time. That's all you gotta do :D

Hope to c you guys there!

KOREA: Day 14: Dragon Hill Jimjilbang/ Han River at Night + Cafe

Hai :D

Okkkk so todayyy we went to Dragon Hill Jimjilbang (which is probably one of the most famous jimjilbangs too~ Lots of famous people go here and many shows get filmed here~ I think Happy Together might also be filmed here, or so I hear).

It's 7 floors and it was amazinggggg @.@ There are SOOOO many things you can do and I literally could have stayed in there the whole day and not have been bored o.o

 

 The place was VERY well decorated and it felt really nice, clean, and relaxing inside ^^

 

 Admission was 10,000 won and we were each given a number bracelet that had a key attached to the bottom, two towels, and a set of clothing~

Immediately after you obtain your bracelet, you beep through this entrance (which activates your bracelet) and get to the show locker area~

We had to take off our shoes and socks and walk through the maze of shoe lockers until we found the locker number that's on our bracelets~ Using the key that's attached to our bracelets, we open our lockers and stuff our shoes and socks in, nothing else. Well, the shoe lockers are pretty small so I don't really think you can really stuff anything else in there anyways :p

^ this is just ONE area of the shoe lockers~ It really stretches longer

I was number 739~~

After we locked our shoes and socks, we turn the corner and enter the arcade area :D

Every purchase we make inside (including playing the arcade games, buying snacks, food, services like doing nails, facials, etc) are all going to be kept tracked of by our bracelets. We just have to beep the bracelet next to whatever it is that we're purchasing and it'll be recorded. Later when we return our bracelets, we'll see the total price that we've spent and pay for it at the front counter.

The arcade is HUGEEEEE @.@ There are also small noraebang (karaoke) rooms that you can use (I forgot the rate, but it wasn't that cheap :\ But hey, we weren't expecting things in here to be cheap anyways xD)

We took the elevator up to the 3rd floor which is where the showers, saunas, and the lockers are kept.

We found our locker (the larger one), and we changed into the clothes that they provided.

NOTE: Ok, so we actually skipped a step. Originally you're supposed to strip completely first and go shower. Then, you can go into the saunas and hot tubs and lounge around there, again, fully naked. When you're done showering and relaxing and stuff, THEN you change into the clothes they gave you and go to the co-ed area.

BUTTTTT, because we both are not...comfortable with being fully naked, we actually just immediately changed into our clothing sets. Do not worry, we showered first at our guesthouse before we came out xD

Oh, and do not expect to be able to go into the saunas and hot tubs without showering first. The older ajusshis and ajummas WILL look at you disapprovingly and might even tell you to get out.

That being said, yeah, we basically skipped the hot tubs.

So we locked our stuff into our lockers and headed to the co-ed floor.

 

^ a glance at one of the saunas that we skipped out on~

Once we got to the co-ed floor, we immediately craved something to drink/eat, and so we each bought a shikhye and some eggs~

SOOOO refreshing @.@

Everyone was either lounging around on the floor, using one of the massage chairs, or in one of the heated/chilled rooms. 

We basically sat there and rested for a while. There was wifi so we happily abused our privileges :D

^ those pyramids are heated rooms (that we later went into)

Prior to coming to the co-ed floor, we actually inquired about the face threading (massages, facials, other services are located down in the 1st floor where the arcade, restaurants, etc are also located). Face threading is basically the removal of all facial hairs with the use of ...I forgot what it's called...I'm not sure if it has an official name...but they look like strings...strong strings xD...err threads? LOL

The ajumma told us to come back at 5.

Soooo....with about an hour to kill, we headed to one of the restaurants inside the building, clad in our jimjilbang clothing and barefoot (xD hey, it's normal). It was SO comfortable though. Who knew walking everywhere barefoot was so comfy?!

I ordered Cheese Deok Ramyun and Lillian got Jajangmyun~

It was 5,000 won each :D not bad, not bad

The ramyun was DELICIOUS @.@

After we relaxingly finished our meals (LOL? but hey it was REALLY relaxing, I was about to fall asleep in my ramyun...in a good way...xDD), we went back to the threading area.

Face threading cost 20,000 won~

It took about 20 minutes each. There were only two ajummas working but one was busy so the other ajumma had to do our threading separately, Lillian first, me second.

Yes, the threading hurt and stung (equivalent to having multiple rubber bands flicking at your face), but it wasn't THAT bad. We just kept our eyes closed and tried to relax (which was pretty easy..xD). The radio was on really softly in the background too and it was just so relaxing T^T

After the threading, they smeared some sort of aloe (?), lotion (?), onto our entire faces, patted a cold wet towel on top, and dried it off. 

We felt REFRESHED!

After we beeped in our bracelets into the machine thing, we went back to the co-ed level and tried out some of the various rooms.

Because the signs told us that phones, mp3 players, laptops, etc should not be brought into the rooms (due to the temperature), we left our stuff back in our lockers~ Thereforeeeeeeeeeeee

no pictures xD

But, take my word, the rooms are AMAZING :)

There were about 8 different rooms (I think there were more, not really sure) and they all had special unique features to them~

We only went to three of them due to time constraints: 

1) Meditative Exercise Room of Yellow Soil Pyramid (hot)

2) Pyramid Spirit Experience Room of Natural Bijou (hotter)

3) Ice Room (freezing xD)

There were even hotter rooms but we didn't dare xD

After the rooms, we had a ten minute massage on the massage chairs (10 minutes for 2,000 won) which hurt like crazy but eventually the pain sorta...felt good.

LOL, well you get used to it and it begins to feel good :p

There's a TV in the area too and Music Bank was playing :D

After our massage, we ordered a patbingsu and ate that as we sat on the floor watching Music Bank. Then we went to the nail place and got our nails done (15,000 won).

After that, we chilled in the Ice Room for a bit, and then left!

It was 8:00pm when we (reluctantly) left. People do sleep over there but since we already paid for our guesthouse, we didn't.

Sigh....

It was just so relaxing T^T

And it just makes me wonder...why don't I ever do these facials, threading, massages, getting nails done, etc etc back in Canada? It makes me feel so much cleaner and refreshed...

oh right...

I'm broke.

>.>

And well these services are much more expensive over there so...

SIGH

Sad life.

But after experiencing it, I think I will try to do it at least once a month when I get back. Why? Because it just makes you feel better! 

I've been abusing my body too much and I guess it's nice to pamper once in a while.

Lol, Lillian said we should be pamper buddies when we get back to Canada xD

Maybe we will :P

After we left, we decided to go grab some street food before we head out to one of the cafes by Han River (because we know cafes are incredibly expensive..and moreover, Han river cafes are going to be ridiculously over-priced).

So we walked down this small street FILLED with street food booths.

And we settled for a random one. Because we didn't really have anything in particular we wanted to order, Lillian just got the "special". I didn't even know so I just let her order and WHOA

We sat down and...

^ WE GOT Odeng + soup, soondae + pig liver, twigim (the fried stuffs), kimbap, AND deokbokki + odeng+ egg

ALL of this was 12,000 won

THAT'S ONLY 6,000 won EACH!

And needless to say, we over-ordered...ONCE AGAIN

Dude, seriously...this is one of our biggest problems...over-ordering due to irresistible cheap prices =____=

And so we forced ourselves to eat it all, but we ended up wasting so much T^T

We barely touched our soondae + liver plate though so we asked for that one to take out.

(But really we were planning to throw it away. Both of us are not huge soondae fans and ESP. not when we are both bursting at the seams. Since we aren't allowed to eat back at our guesthouse anyways, and if we leave it until tomorrow, it'll go bad, we had to throw it out later). 

We felt SOOO bad though because as the ajumma was packing up our soondae plate, she was like, "That's right, this will be good to eat at home. Enjoy it ^^"

T^T

I'M SAO SORRY, KIND AJUMMA T^T

We then subway-ed 'til we got to the area with the cafe that we wanted to go to. There's MANY MANY good cafes by Han river, but the one we chose was the closest. It was called Gureum cafe~

^ OMGSH...COUPLES ERRYWHERE

>.>

Ok, there were lotsa couples at the jimjilbang too...but holy crap...at the cafe..it was ALL couples. WE WERE THE ONLY NON-COUPLES.

Oh gosh.

Awkward.

We looked at the menu and indeed, overpriced.

The food was about 15,000 -16,000 and you don't get that much. Compare that to what we got from the street food booth >.>

We just both ordered some ice cream and drinks.

I got pineapple sherbet and apple juice and Lillian got mango sherbet and iced green tea~

Total was 20,500 won :\ 

Almost double the cost of our meal at the booth.

After having a semi-deep talk about relationships, the future, school, etc again (I realize we do that everytime we come to Han river...LOL), we left.

And may I just say...the view is AMAZING.

SO AMAZING <3

KOREA I LUV U AGAIN

EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE COUPLES ERRYWHERE

I STILL LUB YOU

LOL

ANDDDD, that's our day~

Tmw, we will try our chance at Music Core (this time actually lining up to try and see the prerecording AND live). 

Thus, we are not sleeping tonight! Planning on taking the first or second subway in the morning!

Wish us luck!!!

ARGH!

KOREA: Day 13: Lotte World!!!

HAII :D

Ok due to me being super super SUPER DUPER tired atm, I will just post a bunch of pictures and add in some notes here and there~~

Oh btw...don't come here if you are bitter about being single 'cuz....LMAO

the place is FILLED with couples o.o

And although Korea in general is filled with couples....Lotte World is...O.O

For most of the rides, Lillian and I were the awkward two amongst all the other couples~~

The most awkward ones were Pharaoh's Fury which was an 8-seater thing and we were seated with THREE OTHER COUPLES, and the hot air balloon thing in which we were restrained in this tiny area with this other couple...>.>

It was...not pleasant LOL

But anyways, for breakfast we just went across the street for our cheap cheap kimbap etc~~

 

 

 ^ sogogi kimbap + regular kimbap + omurice (rooftop prince anyone? :D)

All in all, it came to 9,000 won (STILL UNDER 10 BUCKS!!), so it was 4,500 won each~~

And tbh, I was only going to get one kimbap roll, but Lillian (ahem >.>) made me order another one...and I felt like bursting....(she barely helped me eat it too T^T LILLIAN IF YOU'RE READING THIS....I HOPE YOU FEEL GUILTY)

It was a less-than-30 minute subway ride from our place (thank goodness no transfers~)

 

 ^ we bought the special adult day passes (40,000 won each) T^T

 ^ "family festival"? more like couple festival :PPP

The moment we stepped inside, it just felt so magical :')

I AM A LEETLEE KIDDD AGAINNNN :D

 

 

 

 ^ I gotta say, I LOVE how most of Lotte World (excluding Magic Island) is indoors <3 Don't need to use sunscreen, no getting sweaty, no bees/bugs, shielded from any precipitation, etc etc <3

 We basically went on nearly all of the rides that we were allowed to (meaning excluding the kiddy rides LOL)~~

We were so tired, we nearly passed out after it all @.@

 

 

 

 

 

 

^ those were just SOME of the rides we went on in the indoors portion~~

 

 ^ candy break!!! ^-^ 5,000 won

 

 ^ heheheh mushroom marshmallow :3

 ^ MEAL BREAK~~ I ordered shrimp burger set~~ 6,700 won

(the shrimp patty tasted gross though :\ and they didn't make it fresh either, it was just there...oh and the girl that served me had this total bishface on....>.> it was like she wasn't even listening to me...and she just grabbed my money...da hell?)

 

^on our way outside to explore Magic Island~

 

 

 

 

 ^ we took a boat ride ^^ (mainly to camwhore)

 

 ^ Lillian tried this game...but...to no avail ~~

The stuffed sushis are SAO CUTE THO~~ costs 500won a try~

 ^ I bought a waffle on our way back indoors~ 3000 won

(Korea has hotdogs and waffles EVERYWHERE @.@)

 And we decided to take the hot air balloon ride!!! (albeit, a very awkward ride with that couple...)

 

hehe

the view <3

^ andddd I bought dipp'n dots ~~ 2800 won~~

After that, we went out, did some shopping in the Lotte mart, and went homeeeee~

OOH, I must say

the staffs (all the ones standing by the entrances and exits of places, the ones operating the rides, the ones supervising, ETC ETC) were SAOOO CUTE

Like, a majority of them were guys but like they were wearing these cute clip-on tail thingies and like cute hairband thingies and shirts and ajkfnkasjdfn

LMAO

And then they were SO enthusiastic and their greetings were soooooo

GOOD

LOL...

I would've been in a slumpy tired mood, but their greetings were just so...smiley xD

So I started smiling again after every time xD

Gj, gj :)

Tomorrow we shall tackle our first jimjilbang! And then Namsan Tower!!!!!