South Korea: Day 1

Incheon International Airport to Nakseongdae where my sister lives is 58 minutes away by subway. I repeat, I am tired due to lack of sleep but of course, my feet still kept going. I have trouble with train cards all the time and I told my sister about that. She assured me I only needed to swipe! haha! I was relieved. I really don't know but when I went to Taiwan and Hong Kong, I always have may train cards eaten! I feel like I am cursed when it comes to trains! haha!

Finally, after almost falling asleep on the train, we have reached our destination. I was praying the station is near my sister's apartment because I really wanted to rest my feet. Yeah, it is near but the slopes was killing me! 

Alley to my sister's apartment 

We rested for about an hour as my sister was also tired. We have decided to go out and go some places nearby so we can go home right away when we feel tired.  But before that, I ate another kind of ramyeon with bok choy! I so miss this vegetable! 😭

We decided to see Lotte Tower and then go to Olympic park and watch the sunset. Well, the sun goes down at around 7 pm! I was totally lost in time! 

Lotte Tower. Photo Taken across the street

It seems near since the subway is fast enough. However, it took us 11 stations with 1 transfer before we reached Lotte Tower. 

My sister loves taking photos as well as pausing for photos but I only love taking photos. LOL! She would always ask me to pause for a photo. Unfortunately, I am so bad at it. 😔

Closer Shot

After feeding my eyes with tall buildings, we decided to go to Olympic park which is another train ride. I was already loving the train at this point. haha!

A lot of people seemed to be going here to unwind as well since it was weekend. A city with lots of trees! It's like a combination of the city and the countryside. It's just a wonderful place to take a walk, play with your kids, ride a bike or just simply forget about your worries.

The view was just so amazing I took not just one photo but three! Black pink was scheduled to have a concert on that day. My in laws who are into KPOP would have loved it! 

The park has so many statues everywhere. They are just so nice to see especially most of them are under those so green trees! I wonder how they look like during the winter season. hahaha! 

We were sitting on a bench with this view during this time. Watching the sky go dark and eventually the lights from the Olympic Stadium started to illuminate. 

It was a very tiring day however, the scenery is just so spectacular I don't want to go home yet. But we still have a long day tomorrow so we decided to head home, of course, by the subway! 

South Korea: A Sprint To The Plane!

It's been a long time since my desire to visit Seoul until it finally came. Although I didn't expect my visa to be approved,  I found myself sprinting to the boarding gate as the plane is almost departing.

Sprinting? Why? I cannot write all the details as to why I needed to run as fast as I could to the boarding gate while carrying an almost 7 kilogram backpack. Simple answer: I live and I flew from a third world country where life is so slow even the immigration officer seems to be still sleepy and just don't care even if the people waiting in line are almost in tears afraid of missing their flight.

Who wouldn't sprint to catch the flight if you are going to land at the second best airport in the world? Incheon International Airport!

I was dead tired due to lack of sleep as I still needed to work the night before my flight. I was asleep the whole flight except when I had to wake up to eat my in-flight meal. When I reached Incheon, taking photos was completely forgotten; good thing I was able to get these.

Incheon International Airport: On the way to immigration counter

Arrival: While waiting for my sis to pick me up

Those flowers could have been the spirit of spring despite the fact that I already anticipated cherry blossoms is over. Anyhow, I have expected to enjoy the cool weather of spring!

The long wait which I categorize as chaos back in Ninoy Aquino International Airport almost made me give up. My mind was already thinking of re-booking for the next flight but still I made it! I was beyond happy when I get to have my passport stamped with a visa to an OECD country! 

I cannot write everything in one go, no matter how I customize it, thus the next about the whole trip will be up soon! 

Little Things

They say little things are always taken for granted in which I believe is true. I have been watching a lot of documentaries lately from murder to extreme poverty to religion etc. and with this I came to love and appreciate more of what I have. 

In the Philippines where I live, it seems so difficult for the majority to understand and use freedom in a good way. Taking for example the discipline of not littering, we can see them everywhere even if trash bins are present. I had and still have the chance to travel my country and it is saddening to witness people throwing their trash anywhere. I cannot forget the time when I was traveling by sea on a ferry and a group of family were eating peanuts and the trash was thrown directly to the sea. I called their attention and all I got was a stare and smirk. Is it a crime to show care for the environment? Was I like an alien from another planet for calling their attention? We consider this freedom yet in other countries they are not given the chance to go outside and enjoy the beauty of their country because their tradition forbids them. 

There are so many children who are exploited; it is because they choose to go down that path. I admit not many have the privilege to go to school but believe me, if you want to change your life, you can as long as you are willing to do it. Some have their parents abroad yet they are burning their parents' money with drugs, alcohol and others yet there are so many people here and abroad who dream to have a school built in their community. It breaks my heart to hear a story about those people who are forced to work overseas even though they cannot understand what is in their contract because they cannot read nor write. They only sign their contracts through a thumb mark. Yet many have the chance to tell their parents they don't like to go to school. 

We have the freedom to listen to music and we do it so loud not thinking if we are already bothering our neighbors. In other countries, they are forbidden to even listen to music in public. We have the chance to mingle with other people, attend parties and other group meetings yet many seem to enjoy gossiping about others but there are many cultures not allowing their women to step outside their homes. 

We have the chance to have a house to live in but we choose to stay outside until late at night spending time with our so called friends yet many don't have a roof on their heads to go home to or worse they have no family at all because they are unfortunate for being abandoned. Our society is slowly loosing its decency even if we deny it. Women are allowed to use whatever they wish to wear even if it means putting them in danger. Teens go on a date without telling their parents the truth and doing nasty things in public and eventually going home pregnant. This is part of our freedom to choose what we want to do yet there are many who don't have the freedom to go out their homes. Many don't have the freedom to dress up showing their skin when in public and many don't have the freedom to choose or even see the person they will be married to. 

We have so many things in life in which others only dream to have yet we don't use them in a right way. Sometimes we MUST pause for a moment and think of the things we are already taking for granted because one day it may be taken away from us and only then we realize the value of those little things are.