So, it has been my dream for couple of years to actually be in their Big Show Concert. I missed it last year because the schedule crashed with my work and so I determined to make it work in 2011...and it did!!! But, before that, myself and many more people had to pass so many ordeals.
When we first plan this trip, the center of everything is the concert. So, my friend and I were looking for a few options to get the tickets. I tried to book via one of the fan club site in Thailand which I have ordered some Big Bang merchandises with them before and they had tickets for sale last year. My friend was asking her friend in South Korea to buy tickets for us. When plans didn't work out well (my source only got limited tickets), we looked for an alternative which was a group tour. There were quite a few tour which included the Big Show concert. However, most of their itineraries were a very typical South Korean tour which we weren't that interested. We were even thinking about buying the tour but, not going on sightseeing and only going to concert with them. But, after some searching, one tour stood out. It was organized by a group of fan club and hired a travel agent to execute. The reason for its appealing was, other than concert, it offered to take us to YG HQ (FYI, YG is Big Bang's agency) and we would be going to Music Bank (which is a weekly music show by KBS channel). Also, we would get to see the concert twice and received free Big Bang light torch (cannot go to Big Bang concert without that!). The total price for this 4 days tour was 31,000 Baht. For us, at that time, was quite worth it considering what we would get to do and see. As so, we agreed to go with them. My friend even went to a meeting between the group of fan club and the travel agent to witness the contract signing to make sure that we were not cheated... Well, we were all deceived.
I just want to get this out of my chest and give some warning for anyone who might encounter this agency in the future. Let me make this as short as possible because I don't want to bored everyone from my complaining.
Basically, everyone of us including agency staff and local guides were all deceived! It started with last minute change of our flight (and I mean LAST MINUTE like the morning of our flight). All of us were supposed to fly together on a direct flight but, it turn out, we were split into two groups, flying different airlines and my group had to travel via Hong Kong...for what!. Once we were there, we learn that we wouldn't be able to go to Music Bank for whatever reason we didn't get any pre-notification. It was so annoying because besides the concert, this was what we were looking forward to. The next day, we were informed that we weren't allowed inside YG HQ as promised. All we got was a picture opportunity at a distance. Then, we started to hear rumor about a problem with concert ticket. It turned out that we didn't have concert tickets nor the light torch!!! What the Hxxx!!! The agency promised us and they even told their staff that everything was ready. At the end, it was the staff and a group of fan club who sacrificed their time and effort to queue up for hours to get tickets for us. They had to queue up at around 9am but, the ticket booth opened at 3pm...that was a long time for standing in line. We are so thankful and truly appreciate everything that they have done for us and for this tour to work. Even worse, when buying tickets and light torches, we were supposed to use agency credit card (because we already paid in full for all these messes) but, it turned out that the card was already max out. One of our tour mate basically had to pay for our tickets. So glad that at the end, she got her money back from the tour agency but, after we have arrived in Thailand. There were also other things like the strange hotel reservation and very confusing return ticket but, that would be too much. So, here was our ordeal.
The name of the agency was "STONE SERVICE CO.,LTD" or บริษัท สโตนเซอร์วิส จำกัด 99/275 หมู่บ้านชลลดา แขวง-เขต ศรีษะจรเข้น้อย สมุทรปราการ เบอร์โทร 084-147-7442. When we were deciding about the tour, I did a bit of searching on the Internet but found nothing on this agency. I just wish I had a warning. So, if you are considering this agency, please beware that you might become a victim of this liar.
Well, enough of the depressing stuff. Our trip wasn't that gloomy all the time. We had a good time as well. One thing that kept us sane from all that madness was our tour-mate. I guess, because all of us had the same goal so, nobody complaint or made a scene. Everyone tried to help out so that we can all go to see the concert together. Also, I want to thank all the staff both from the agency and fan club staff who endured the headache and worked so hard for us to see this concert.
So, here are pictures from our trip; where we went, what we did and most of them, what we ate...which was a lot. My apologize if I didn't have enough info...all of the places we went, we went with tour bus or my friend's friend took us. So, most of the time, I didn't know how to get to the place.
Our first destination after leaving Seoul Incheon airport was our breakfast/lunch. It was around 11am, I think. Though it was early, we were getting hungry and there was no way we could do any sightseeing right away. Our first meal in Seoul was Samgyetang or Ginseng Chicken Soup. I have never had it in Korea, maybe because it's not one of my favorite Korean dish. Basically, it's a whole small chicken stuff with rice and Ginseng then, boil till tender (like falling off the bone tender). Each person got one chicken, that sounds like a lot right. In fact, this chicken didn't have lots of meat but, it was the rice inside that filled our stomach. We could also had it with rice noodle. And as all Korean meal, there were a few side dish including Kimchi.
When it was served, it was super hot as you can see from the picture. It kind of suited our condition at the time. To come in from the freezing weather (it was around 1 or 2 degree outside) and sipped a hot soup, it felt so good. The soup and chicken was kind of bland for me though. The seasoning they offered were salt, pepper, soy sauce and Korean pepper which as I was told, wasn't hot at all. I don't think anyone finished it. On the table, if you could see, there were small shot glasses. At first, we thought they were tea. Actually, it was some kind of liqueur...a Ginseng liqueur, tasted so strange...very earthy.
After finished our chicken soup, we went to N Seoul Tower. I have already been there last time so, I wasn't so excited. The good thing was that we didn't have to walk much. The bus took us to almost the base of the tower.
I would say that the atmosphere wasn't so different from when I went last time. I would thought that there might be some different decoration but, there wasn't. The only thing was the bench that was covered in New Year stickers.
That afternoon, the tour went to Myeongdong. However, I had to run an errand with my friend so, didn't have time for shopping. Then, there came our dinner. We had pork bulgogi (I think) which is pork cook with vegetable and noodle in a pan with some sauce.
The taste was rather light despite some Korean chili sauce on top (the red paste). In a way, it kind of resemblance Thai or Chinese suki (if you know it). It was 'All you can eat' kind of service but, for our table, just one serving was enough...that was already a lot of pork, vegetable and noodles. Plus, my friend and I had another plan waiting tonight.
After dinner, we finally got to our hotel; Hotel Kobos in the area of Yeouido. They said that it was 3-4 stars hotel but, from what I experience, 3 stars was what they deserved. The room, despite its spaciousness, wasn't well kept. It looked really old compared to the picture on its website. The bathroom was not bad, as big as our bedroom. Once we washed and rest a bit, my friend's friend took us out for our 2nd dinner. We told them that we really wanted to have beef...this is what they are famous for. We knew that we would never get to have it with tour because of the cost and because many Thai people do not eat beef.
Honestly, I have no idea where they took us. I didn't remember the area. I only noticed that it was like a grilled beef district.
The restaurant we went was very local. I didn't see any menu around and when we arrived, my friend's friends just ordered from his experience. The restaurant only got small round tables with a grill in the middle. I so wanted to try this kind of restaurant. The owner brought us beef with many side dishes; fresh lettuce, kimchi and pickle onion to be eaten with beef. It was totally YUMMY!! The beef was so tender especially when cooked at medium rare. Our friends cooked for us. We two girls just sat there and enjoy. I think we ate more than the boys hahaha. We also ordered soju which is a Korean rice wine...how could we miss it, right? I have to say that grilled beef and soju are really good companion.
Our night hasn't finished yet. Once we have our full, our friends took us to a very cute cafe for a little sweet. I think its name was Mui Mui. It has a relax atmosphere and the feel of library + study area + hip cafe...just what I felt at the time. We had tea and our friends ordered shave ice dessert with green tea ice cream and red beam paste.
To think of it, it was kind of strange to order this kind of dessert when it was freezing cold outside but, it was good. We kind of chatted away about many things...mostly about KPOP, tried to explain why we like KPOP so much when we don't even understand words. I guess music is universal. When we checked the time, it was well after midnight, like 1 am. We haven't slept for over a day and we had to get up early tomorrow for the tour. So, they took us back to our hotel.
The next morning, it was a typical tour schedule of 7 - 8 - 9 but, as it become our tour's custom, we left hotel about half an hour late. Our first stop was YG but, as I mentioned earlier, we didn't get to go inside and we weren't allowed to take any picture in front of the building. So, some of us (including me), just took some pictures at a street corner.
I think it has very cool design. It looks really good. I know it was still kind of early but, I just couldn't stop thinking...who was in there at that moment...Big Bang, 2NE1, Se7en, Gummy, Teddy?
Nothing else to do, we headed to our next stop. The tour took us to the area around Hongik university to see Coffee Prince cafe. It was a location for a very famous Korean drama. It was so famous that Big Bang actually made parody for their 'The Great' concert a few years back. I have never been to that area during the day time. It was very quiet when we got there, not many shops were opened at the time. We went straight to Coffee Prince cafe.
Actually, there was a rule that people cannot go inside to take picture without buying coffee. Lucky us, when we were there, they barely had any customer so, our guide talked the staff to letting us look around. Well, I did buy a drink anyway, just couldn't help. The idea of having hot drink in a cold weather sounded very tempting. I ordered our drinks then, started to look around and taking picture (now that we had the right to be there). I have to admit, the place was very cute. The decoration was kind of simple but, it had its own gimmick.
At some corner, there were pictures of the cast of Coffee Prince to please any drama fanatic. I kind of like the place. I could see myself hanging out, sipping coffee, reading magazine and chatting with my friends here. Even the entrance to toilet looked cute.
We finished exploring and taking picture just in time for our drinks (which I thought it was quite a long time, she really took her time). I ordered black tea latte and my friend had hot white chocolate. The way she decorated our drinks was very nice, played with the color of tea/chocolate and milk.
We sat there, enjoyed our hot drinks (it actually was a little too sweet though) and chatted away. We kind of forgot that we only had an hour to explore the area and so, with little time left, we went out to look around. On the way back, we passed Kitty cafe. Just couldn't believe that anyone would think of setting up this cafe. It was...well, cute but, I just don't think that I could have coffee and snacks surrounded by Hello Kitty.
We only had little time left for some shopping before we had to return to our meeting point. I just wished we had more time, the shops were just opened.
We headed to our lunch and our menu was Dakgalbi Bokkeumbap or Korean spicy chicken fried rice. Another smelly menu for us but it was good. When we got to our table, we honestly didn't know what to do.
There was chicken and vegetable in the pan already. They even had tteok (rice cake) in the mix. We just figured that we had to stir them together with some spicy sauce.Then, when it started to cook, we were asking for rice.
Well, they did bring rice alright but, it was to be cooked with chicken. Once the rice was incorporated with the sauce and was a little bit drier, it was ready to eat.
We could eat it as it was or wrapped rice and chicken in lettuce. As usual, there were some side dish of kimchi and some other vegetable. It was very tasty. I think everyone liked it. After meal, we had a little opportunity to walk around and of course, did a bit more shopping. After this, we were heading to Olympic park for our reason for being in Seoul, Big Show Concert!!!
When we got to the Olympic park, only seen Big Bang poster got me excited. I must say that we arrived kind of confusing. At that point, we didn't have tickets and we didn't know where which gate or which entrance we should be. There were so many people around the gymnasium and I was a little afraid that we would get lost from our group.
But then we saw Big Bang bus!! We have been looking out for this bus since we arrived in Seoul with no luck. They just parked it right in front of the gymnasium for every fans to basically go crazy. Everyone was taking pictures of this bus and with this bus as if it was the real Big Bang...well, I was one of them hehehe.
At that moment, everyone in our group just forgot that...we haven't gotten our tickets yet. It was quite sometimes before we could tear ourselves away from our boys. We met up with our guides and fan club staff. Gotto salute them for sacrifice their time to queue for tickets for us. They got both stand up and sitting tickets for us to choose. For that day, my friend and I choose stand up tickets so that we could have a close encounter with the boys. After decided who were going to sit and who were going stand, we separated into two groups (there had different entrances and different procedures). It was a bit chaotic actually because we didn't know where to go, which entrance. At least, we heard that, for standing ticket, we need to get a wrist ban before going in. Then, it was that matter of finding the right line to queue up. They actually got signs for each block and the range of number for example, my ticket was block 006 and no.765.
Basically, the smaller number you got, the better chance you had to pick a good location. Then again, it would be up to individual ability to squeeze in. We didn't really care to get really really close to the stage because we thought we would get better view if we backed off a bit and we didn't like to be sandwiched between many people.
Well, what can I say...the concert was AWESOME!!! Big Bang was great and hot and cute. I just loved every minutes of the show. I just took away all the pain, annoyance and disappointment that I got from this trip. Noona was so very happy ^ ^
After the show, we went back to the hotel. The ride from Olympic park to our hotel was around an hour (got stuck in a traffic jam on the way out from Olympic park a bit) but, nobody cared. People just chatted away about the show and their favorite Big Bang member. That night, we spent at the hotel, eating take away food provided by our tour.
It's kind of crazy but, it made me think of some Korean variety shows that I watched before where the stars or singers were having lunchbox. The food was ok, I think. We got fried pork (similar to tonkatsu) with some Korean side dish, rice and soup. It was enough for the night.
The next morning, some of us (including my friend and I) decided to skip the tour and went straight to Olympic park because we wanted to get some concert merchandises. Seem like everything about this concert had to involve queuing. To buy the merchandise, we started queuing since 10.30am. Even then, the line was already long. The merchandise booth opened at 1pm! Even worse, we had to stand in a cold weather (almost 0c) and it rained!! It rained all day that day as if to test our will. But, we determined to get the merchandises and so, we endured. My shoes were soaking wet...my new Converse became a sponge. I think YG saw what the fans had to go through so, that day, they opened the booth early. Once they started selling, the line moved very quickly because they actually got a lot of counters. We got our precious goods by 1.30pm. Actually, I wanted so many things...all of their goods looked very cute... collector's items. But, we were limited by what we could carried. For your information, YG did not provide any bags (not for free at least). Lucky that my friend told me about it and so I brought a shopping bag with me but, still I had to think carefully so that they all fitted in my bag...keep in mind that it was raining.
By the time we accomplished our mission, it was in the afternoon. We quickly grabbed something to eat, lucky they had ttoekbokki (rice cake in spicy sauce) which is one of my favorite food. It was hot, spicy, tasty and very filling. Well, I thought my time out in the rain was over and I was just going to find some shade to wait for the tour bus to come. No, not quite yet. One of the staff asked me to help out with the tickets. Because there was a limit of one person could only buy 4 tickets, we need 8 people to buy the tickets. As much as I hated getting even more soaking, I couldn't refuse. So, I spent about another hour out in the rain and we finally got tickets for everyone.
When the bus arrived, I just couldn't wait to get in and dry ourselves a bit. I even changed my socks (bought from mini mart). My friend and I got sitting tickets so that we could have an overview of the show. In the back of my mind, I had a bit of a doubt whether we would have fun like we had the day before because this time we would be very far away (3rd floor!). Look a how far...
Well, it did give a different feel to it. When we were in front of stage, we were able to get close to our boys but, when they were performing in different area, we could only watch from the screen. However, from our seat, we could see where they were and their dance all at one, not only what screen showed. We had fun honestly, even from that distance. I just luv them ^ ^ So, I would say, going to concert twice was definitely a very good and right idea and I will do this again for sure. Oh, forgot...also, we did have the Big Bang light torch this time so, it was even better. I was a bit sad when everything was over...
Well, life has to move on...and back to our hotel. But, wait...this was our last night, it wasn't going to end so easily. Of course, we had a plan. Our Korean friend was going to take us out and around again. We decided to meet up at Dongdaemun because I gotto shop (I barely did any shopping at that point). For those who might not know, Dongdaemun area got several retail/wholesale malls which opened till 4am. So, when we got their (around midnight), that area was still very lively. We had very limited time cuz, we still haven't eaten and we could not leave Korea without another round of beef. We chose to shop at Migilore that night (actually, we wanted to go to Doota but it was closed already).
We only walked around only 2 floors but, we were quite productive. I would say that we got very good deal too. Then, we went for dinner. For tonight, we had a special request for our friend, we want to have Yukhwae (Korean raw beef). I had it in the States but, haven't had much chance to eat it in Thailand because of concern about the freshness. Again, he took us to some area unknown to us and very local. The restaurant we went was very small (don't know the name). Actually, I was a bit concern because there were no customer at all compared to other restaurants close by. This restaurant was specialized in raw beef...from the pictures in front of restaurant. Our friend just ordered for us. Actually, even if we wanted to, we couldn't order because the menu was in Korean only. The food was really quick. The side dishes came first. Most of them were familiar like kimchi and other pickle vegetable except ONE. From the first look, definitely not vegetable...some kind of bugs, or pupa of some insects. It looked very unappetizing.
I have never seen this in Korean cuisine and never heard that Korean people eat bugs. Our friend encourage us to follow his example and tried it. I had to shove it into my mouth very quickly and without thinking about it too much. It tasted like...very mushy dried shrimp. Well, just one and it was enough for me. Let's move on to something more appealing.
Our Yukhwae arrived and it looked great! Though I was a bit surprised that there was no egg yolk on it (usually they would put raw egg yolk on beef and mix it before eating). Well, I think the owner saw our face so she explained that they used very good quality beef and so, she wanted us to try the beef without the yolk first.
The raw beef was lightly season and sprinkle with a bit of green and radish. It was absolutely gooood. The seasoning was just right and the beef was fresh. It actually was refreshing to eat. Then, the owner brought us the yolk so we could mix some of the beef with it, just for comparison. She was right, it was better without egg yolk. She also gave us a sauce to dip in. It was very simple sauce of sesame oil, salt and pepper (I think). The sauce added some more flavor to the meat but, it was already very good on its own. We were very happy about it. Then, our friend ordered some kind of nigiri and I thought, Japanese food?? It was actually piece of seasoned raw beef on top of rice, looked very similar to sushi. OMG, it was unbelievable. The meat was season a bit differently from Yukhwae with more spice.
I just love it so much that I think it showed from my facial expression. I could shamelessly say that it was apparent for others that he actually gave up his share for me hehehe. And I gladly accepted. Other than these two highlights, we also had a homemade beef soup which was just as good. One thing that I was surprised with the hospitality of the owner was, because we were talking a lot, our soup was getting cold so, the owner took the soup and reseated for us. How nice! Here was our complete meal...
We also had soju, again, even though we knew that we had to be able to stay up all night and all day tomorrow...well, it was a little celebration of our trip. We were eating, drinking and chatting till 2am, I think. If you think that we were heading back to hotel after this, you are wrong. We had one last thing to do which was getting some gifts for our family and friends. For this, our friend took us to a supermarket...at 2!! I thought that the supermarket would be deserted but No. There were many people shopping at 2 on Sunday night. I wouldn't be too surprised if it was Friday or Saturday night since they would not have to work tomorrow but, Sunday night! This country really doesn't sleep. Well, we got quite a few things for our folks back home; some snacks, kimchi, sweets and alcoholic drink. One more surprise for me at the supermarket, there was a packing area where they provided empty box and tapes for you for DIY packing which was great for us. We could just check it in at the airport.
By the time, we got back to hotel was 4am and we were scheduled to leave hotel at 5am. So, we were scrambling to pack and wash. My friend and I were so exhausted that when our tour took us to shopping place, close to airport, for souvenir shopping and breakfast, we just slept on the bus.
Well, that basically concluded our trip. There actually was some hiccups about our plane tickets again but, let's not dig it up. This trip honestly gave me a mix emotion; joy and annoy with ups and downs throughout the tour. At least, we accomplished our most important goal which was Big Bang concert. It was so awesome that it almost made everything we endured alright. I will definitely come to see it again but, with different tour of course. I just want to thank everyone in our tour including the staff for making this impossible trip possible and am grateful for all their efforts. Anyway...see you again Seoul...and soon too.
Basically, everyone of us including agency staff and local guides were all deceived! It started with last minute change of our flight (and I mean LAST MINUTE like the morning of our flight). All of us were supposed to fly together on a direct flight but, it turn out, we were split into two groups, flying different airlines and my group had to travel via Hong Kong...for what!. Once we were there, we learn that we wouldn't be able to go to Music Bank for whatever reason we didn't get any pre-notification. It was so annoying because besides the concert, this was what we were looking forward to. The next day, we were informed that we weren't allowed inside YG HQ as promised. All we got was a picture opportunity at a distance. Then, we started to hear rumor about a problem with concert ticket. It turned out that we didn't have concert tickets nor the light torch!!! What the Hxxx!!! The agency promised us and they even told their staff that everything was ready. At the end, it was the staff and a group of fan club who sacrificed their time and effort to queue up for hours to get tickets for us. They had to queue up at around 9am but, the ticket booth opened at 3pm...that was a long time for standing in line. We are so thankful and truly appreciate everything that they have done for us and for this tour to work. Even worse, when buying tickets and light torches, we were supposed to use agency credit card (because we already paid in full for all these messes) but, it turned out that the card was already max out. One of our tour mate basically had to pay for our tickets. So glad that at the end, she got her money back from the tour agency but, after we have arrived in Thailand. There were also other things like the strange hotel reservation and very confusing return ticket but, that would be too much. So, here was our ordeal.
The name of the agency was "STONE SERVICE CO.,LTD" or บริษัท สโตนเซอร์วิส จำกัด 99/275 หมู่บ้านชลลดา แขวง-เขต ศรีษะจรเข้น้อย สมุทรปราการ เบอร์โทร 084-147-7442. When we were deciding about the tour, I did a bit of searching on the Internet but found nothing on this agency. I just wish I had a warning. So, if you are considering this agency, please beware that you might become a victim of this liar.
Well, enough of the depressing stuff. Our trip wasn't that gloomy all the time. We had a good time as well. One thing that kept us sane from all that madness was our tour-mate. I guess, because all of us had the same goal so, nobody complaint or made a scene. Everyone tried to help out so that we can all go to see the concert together. Also, I want to thank all the staff both from the agency and fan club staff who endured the headache and worked so hard for us to see this concert.
So, here are pictures from our trip; where we went, what we did and most of them, what we ate...which was a lot. My apologize if I didn't have enough info...all of the places we went, we went with tour bus or my friend's friend took us. So, most of the time, I didn't know how to get to the place.
Our first destination after leaving Seoul Incheon airport was our breakfast/lunch. It was around 11am, I think. Though it was early, we were getting hungry and there was no way we could do any sightseeing right away. Our first meal in Seoul was Samgyetang or Ginseng Chicken Soup. I have never had it in Korea, maybe because it's not one of my favorite Korean dish. Basically, it's a whole small chicken stuff with rice and Ginseng then, boil till tender (like falling off the bone tender). Each person got one chicken, that sounds like a lot right. In fact, this chicken didn't have lots of meat but, it was the rice inside that filled our stomach. We could also had it with rice noodle. And as all Korean meal, there were a few side dish including Kimchi.
After finished our chicken soup, we went to N Seoul Tower. I have already been there last time so, I wasn't so excited. The good thing was that we didn't have to walk much. The bus took us to almost the base of the tower.
That afternoon, the tour went to Myeongdong. However, I had to run an errand with my friend so, didn't have time for shopping. Then, there came our dinner. We had pork bulgogi (I think) which is pork cook with vegetable and noodle in a pan with some sauce.
After dinner, we finally got to our hotel; Hotel Kobos in the area of Yeouido. They said that it was 3-4 stars hotel but, from what I experience, 3 stars was what they deserved. The room, despite its spaciousness, wasn't well kept. It looked really old compared to the picture on its website. The bathroom was not bad, as big as our bedroom. Once we washed and rest a bit, my friend's friend took us out for our 2nd dinner. We told them that we really wanted to have beef...this is what they are famous for. We knew that we would never get to have it with tour because of the cost and because many Thai people do not eat beef.
Honestly, I have no idea where they took us. I didn't remember the area. I only noticed that it was like a grilled beef district.
Our night hasn't finished yet. Once we have our full, our friends took us to a very cute cafe for a little sweet. I think its name was Mui Mui. It has a relax atmosphere and the feel of library + study area + hip cafe...just what I felt at the time. We had tea and our friends ordered shave ice dessert with green tea ice cream and red beam paste.
The next morning, it was a typical tour schedule of 7 - 8 - 9 but, as it become our tour's custom, we left hotel about half an hour late. Our first stop was YG but, as I mentioned earlier, we didn't get to go inside and we weren't allowed to take any picture in front of the building. So, some of us (including me), just took some pictures at a street corner.
Nothing else to do, we headed to our next stop. The tour took us to the area around Hongik university to see Coffee Prince cafe. It was a location for a very famous Korean drama. It was so famous that Big Bang actually made parody for their 'The Great' concert a few years back. I have never been to that area during the day time. It was very quiet when we got there, not many shops were opened at the time. We went straight to Coffee Prince cafe.
We headed to our lunch and our menu was Dakgalbi Bokkeumbap or Korean spicy chicken fried rice. Another smelly menu for us but it was good. When we got to our table, we honestly didn't know what to do.
When we got to the Olympic park, only seen Big Bang poster got me excited. I must say that we arrived kind of confusing. At that point, we didn't have tickets and we didn't know where which gate or which entrance we should be. There were so many people around the gymnasium and I was a little afraid that we would get lost from our group.
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| Hello GD!! ^^ |
Well, what can I say...the concert was AWESOME!!! Big Bang was great and hot and cute. I just loved every minutes of the show. I just took away all the pain, annoyance and disappointment that I got from this trip. Noona was so very happy ^ ^
After the show, we went back to the hotel. The ride from Olympic park to our hotel was around an hour (got stuck in a traffic jam on the way out from Olympic park a bit) but, nobody cared. People just chatted away about the show and their favorite Big Bang member. That night, we spent at the hotel, eating take away food provided by our tour.
The next morning, some of us (including my friend and I) decided to skip the tour and went straight to Olympic park because we wanted to get some concert merchandises. Seem like everything about this concert had to involve queuing. To buy the merchandise, we started queuing since 10.30am. Even then, the line was already long. The merchandise booth opened at 1pm! Even worse, we had to stand in a cold weather (almost 0c) and it rained!! It rained all day that day as if to test our will. But, we determined to get the merchandises and so, we endured. My shoes were soaking wet...my new Converse became a sponge. I think YG saw what the fans had to go through so, that day, they opened the booth early. Once they started selling, the line moved very quickly because they actually got a lot of counters. We got our precious goods by 1.30pm. Actually, I wanted so many things...all of their goods looked very cute... collector's items. But, we were limited by what we could carried. For your information, YG did not provide any bags (not for free at least). Lucky that my friend told me about it and so I brought a shopping bag with me but, still I had to think carefully so that they all fitted in my bag...keep in mind that it was raining.  |
| Here are what I got, minus what I already gave to my friends |
When the bus arrived, I just couldn't wait to get in and dry ourselves a bit. I even changed my socks (bought from mini mart). My friend and I got sitting tickets so that we could have an overview of the show. In the back of my mind, I had a bit of a doubt whether we would have fun like we had the day before because this time we would be very far away (3rd floor!). Look a how far...
Well, life has to move on...and back to our hotel. But, wait...this was our last night, it wasn't going to end so easily. Of course, we had a plan. Our Korean friend was going to take us out and around again. We decided to meet up at Dongdaemun because I gotto shop (I barely did any shopping at that point). For those who might not know, Dongdaemun area got several retail/wholesale malls which opened till 4am. So, when we got their (around midnight), that area was still very lively. We had very limited time cuz, we still haven't eaten and we could not leave Korea without another round of beef. We chose to shop at Migilore that night (actually, we wanted to go to Doota but it was closed already).
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| Ref: http://www.visitkorea.or.kr |
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| Day time picture |
Our Yukhwae arrived and it looked great! Though I was a bit surprised that there was no egg yolk on it (usually they would put raw egg yolk on beef and mix it before eating). Well, I think the owner saw our face so she explained that they used very good quality beef and so, she wanted us to try the beef without the yolk first.
By the time, we got back to hotel was 4am and we were scheduled to leave hotel at 5am. So, we were scrambling to pack and wash. My friend and I were so exhausted that when our tour took us to shopping place, close to airport, for souvenir shopping and breakfast, we just slept on the bus.
Well, that basically concluded our trip. There actually was some hiccups about our plane tickets again but, let's not dig it up. This trip honestly gave me a mix emotion; joy and annoy with ups and downs throughout the tour. At least, we accomplished our most important goal which was Big Bang concert. It was so awesome that it almost made everything we endured alright. I will definitely come to see it again but, with different tour of course. I just want to thank everyone in our tour including the staff for making this impossible trip possible and am grateful for all their efforts. Anyway...see you again Seoul...and soon too.
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