Sophistication

Ah... what a productive day.

After waking up at 7:45 and working out (go me!), I got ready and headed out to meet with my aunt.

I walked down Anam to ride the subway. That's the hill I have to walk up and down to get around.

On the way, I stopped by the dry cleaners to get a pair of shorts cleaned (grease is a pain!) and also stopped by the watch store to get my watch fixed.

After changing subway lines twice, I finally arrived at our meeting point. Since my aunt was a little late, I got bored and took pictures.

She came, and off we went to In-Sa-dong! It's a street full of jewelry stores, Korean souvenir stores, and trinket stores. I got a couple gifts for some people and a scarf for me! My aunt got me these adorable ceramic earrings with a heart on it.

After a delicious lunch of Kar-guksu (noodles), we headed off to Sam-Chong-dong, a street by the Royal Palace full of little boutiques, art galleries, and coffee shops. We got iced Americanos at this adorable cafe.

We went to a couple of art galleries, but unluckily, half of them were closed. Apparently, a lot of places are closed on Mondays. Huh. It was still fun to view the open ones, although I didn't understand the artistic idea behind some paintings (blurry paintings of someone's legs with their jeans pulled up around their knees, really?). Oh well. I felt very sophisticated though!





We stopped and looked at numerous boutiques. Their clothes were a little too classy and expensive for me, but the jewelry and hair accessories were so cute! I didn't get anything, despite my aunt's insistence that she buy me something. I didn't feel the need to get a cute gold ribbon $70 headband really.

We ate some Pat-juk (read bean porridge) that was AMAZING! It had chestnuts, beans, and dduk. Heavenly.

We called it a day and went back to the subway station. Back at Anam, I met with my mom to get a checkup at the hospital. So tired! So much walking!

Only 9 days left! Woohoo!
~Monica

Freebies

After the usual morning routine of wake up, press snooze, wake up for real, work out, shower, Facebook, and breakfast, my mom, Katie, and I decided to go to Myung-Dong on a whim. Myung-Dong is a place that's been famous for a long time for its shopping and food. Of course, now-a-days, it's full of tourists (mostly Japanese and Chinese), but it was still fun!


We went first to the largest Catholic church in Korea. We went inside and prayed for awhile, since we haven't been able to go to Mass every weekend lately.






We then hit the streets to explore.





Since alot of the people there are tourists, the alot of the shop workers are fluent somewhat in Japanese and Chinese.


We found a yummy looking Japanese noodle restaurant. I ordered this spicy ramen, and it was delicious! (Although I like the Japanese noodles I had in Hawaii better)





Here's a view of the downtown. Look! There's me!






Afterwards, my mom went home earlier because she had to pick up Austin from kindergarten. Katie and I stayed out a bit more. We hit the make-up stores (mostly due to all the freebies they were giving out). I tried on eye-shadow, and it actually looked good! Lip-stain worked like a charm too =]





Katie and I stopped by a Pineapple Express smoothie from the Smoothie King. Mmhmm, good!





All in all, a great day to end Katie's summer vacation. Since online school starts for her now! Muahahahaha!

Night!
Monica

Screaming fans

Yes, I was a complete fan girl, complete with glowstick waving, singing along, and "'I love you Taec-yeon!" screaming.

Yesterday, we went to the 2PM Don't Stop Can't Stop Encore concert as part of Katie's birthday present. We were such dedicated fans that we braved through pouring rain and thunder in our rain ponchos and umbrella (nah, the tickets were non-refundable! lol)

We got off the subway to find tons of girls chattering excitedly, buying rain ponchos, souvenirs, etc. We bought glowsticks and a Nich-khun mousepad for Katie. We took a deep breath and plunged outside in the storm to walk over to the stadium. Along the way, we got our tickets, and Katie managed to get a 2PM promotional fan. There were tons of lines for the people (aka crazy fangirls) who had gotten tickets to be in the standing area in front of the stage. Alot of them were carrying water guns. Strange....

We finally got in the stadium and into our seats.

The lights finally dimmed past 5. And now, glowsticks!

The 2PM members came in roaring on motorcycles. Then, the concert started!

So for all my American friends, 2PM is the hottest (both in looks and popularity) boy group of Korea at the moment. All the members are handsome/cute, tall, muscular, and good at dancing. Some have good vocals, the others rap. One is a Korean boy from the US (which is why Taec-yeon is perfect for me!), one is half Thai, and the other 4 are from Korea.

Our seats were in the second row in the front, right by the walkway where the members would walk around. All of them at some point came right by us! And TAEC-YEON ACTUALLY CAME UP PAST THE RAILING TO WHERE WE WERE! Of course, all the staff people jumped up to keep all the screaming girls (including us lol) in their seats. He was literally a foot away from us! We couldn't touch his hand because he didn't stick it out as he walked back down by us... but then, think how weird it is to get touched by random screaming strangers!

The concert finally ended... or so we thought! As the crowd kept chanting "2PM! 2PM!", the members and back-up dancers came out! And so, a water fight started! Those water guns were put to good use by the fans, and the 2PM members began to fight back with water bottles placed all over the walk ways. The seated people (including us) jumped up to the railing to join in. Half the members came up to us to spray us with water. Fans in the standing area threw stuff at the members for them to have, and Katie managed to get a fan sign from the fray!

Then it was finally over (for real). We walked out (it wasn't raining anymore, thankfully), got free posters from the concert, and bought souvenirs on the way to the subway station. Katie got another 2PM poster, a 2PM calender, name tags, etc. Yes, she's a huge fan and has an uncanny ability to pick up souvenirs. Did you notice? =P

We came home on the subway. Here's the view of the Olympic Bridge from the train!





And that was the end of our 2PM adventure! What a great success for my first concert!

Muah! (not for you silly. It's for Taec-yeon!)

Monica

Jumpin Around

Wow. What a busy day today.

I woke up, worked out, came back to our home to be told that we were leaving in the next hour for my grandparents. (aka no facebook time for me, boohoo) We went over to have a birthday lunch party for my sister with my dad's side of the family. The Japanese restauarant had pretty good stuff, but no udon. Ah well, next time! My sister loved her presents, which included CD's (with posters of course), cell phone holder, necklace, and money to buy an iTouch.

After hanging out at my grandparents' tiny-yet-bigger-than-our-home apartment, we came back home at 4:30. After relaxing for 30 minutes, we were off again, this time for a dinner and a show.

We ate at a Korean bean-paste restaurant with family friends, from whom I recieved graduation money (woohoo!) We shopped around for a bit at the stalls next to the restauarant where I bought legit headphones. I can't wait until I wear them around college! After ice cream at Coldstone, we went off to see the show.

Jump is a comic martial arts show about this crazy martial-arts family. The perpetually drunk uncle is chastised for being, well drunk: the daughter is won over by a shy boy with more than meets the eye; and burglers break into the house, not knowing what they are getting into. While the plots are simple, the comic action was hilarious, and the fighting awesome. I wish I could jump as high as them! After an hour and a half of laughter, we got to meet the cast and get signatures.

We came out, and us kids (as I still consider myself) went to a sticker-photo place. I seem to be drawn towards afros....

We walked along a prettily lit creek, ate some dduk-bok-gi, bought some shoes (my mom anyways), and finally said goodbye. I'll miss that family, who we've been friends with since back in the good ol days of College Station, TX. After riding the subway, we finally got home past 11 PM.

Whew. Busy day, huh? And now... 2PM, here we come!

Night!

Back Again

Hello again!

As you can see, I've decided to blog again! But not everyday... I'm afraid my life is not exciting enough to talk about everyday =P

For those that are confused to why I am in Korea right now and posting this... err early in the morning, here's why: My dad, who is a professor, is currently doing his sabbatical at Korea University. This means that he will be teaching/researching here for a semester. So, my whole family came here, starting from July, so that we can meet family, friends, go on vacation, etc. Therefore, I'm stuck here until September 22nd, the day before I move in to UW (woot woot!)

I should have started blogging again before about my fantasic adventures here but oops! Well, better late then never!

Today, we went to a little reunion for my dad and his cousins (on his mom's side). I thought it would be very droll, but it was actually quite fun! We went to a pension (kind of like a vacation home/room you can rent out) in the mountains next to a creek. It was quite pretty... minus all the rain and brown murky creek water that came with it. We had a barbeque lunch, korean-style. Most of my dad's cousins are great, all very social and outgoing. My sister and I got along with them pretty well, considering that the youngest cousin is 36 or so. There were also 2 kids and one toddler that we played with. Good thing we brought the Wii! They really liked the barbequed shrimp we had, and I swear I shelled at least 50 of them for them. Ah well, totally worth it for the kids. I got to experience the "Where are you going to college/what are you majoring in/your mom told us about your scholarship, congrats!" talk I missed back in the US. Downside of having most of your family half way around the world, I guess. After much food, laughter, alcohol (that I got to drink since in Korea, adults give it to you once you graduate high school ;) , lots of Wii, and more food, we came back home to our crowded college apartment.



So now, good night. Mucho love to you all! I miss you!
~Monica

To be who I want to be

Good news!

My sister and I get to go to the Inland Invite at Spokane for tennis! Woohoo! It's the weekend before AP, so I think its a great way to let out my stress (of course, last year I couldn't go because I had to study. Now that I'm a senior... who cares!) We won the challenge match easily, so that was a great confidence booster.

Today, I was thinking about the future, aka college. I'm super excited to go to UW, because it is affordable, close but not too close to home, and it is in SEATTLE. Gotta love that place with good food, lots of korean guys, good shopping, korean guys, cooler weather, boys.... ;)

I was more excited about the fact that it is a new beginning for me. There will be a couple of Kamiakin kids I will see there, but UW is pretty big. I love my friends, acquaintances, school (ok some parts), but I just want to get away from it all and start myself anew. All these people here know so much about me, how awkward I looked in middle school, my non-existant love life, my smarts (which might contribute to non-existant love life), etc. I want to go somewhere new where people only know what I tell them about myself, where people don't have any expectations or doubts about you.

I want to be free to be ME without worrying what others think of me. I want to be able to DO what I want to do, SAY what I want to do, BE who I want to be. I don't want to be tied down to someone I'm expected to be.

Well, time to start on AP review. I swear, after AP tests, I'm gonna do the bare minimum to keep my GPA and party! Hooray for senioritis!

Night yo.

New Starts

It's been awhile. (Said in a sexy Britney Spears voice.... bahahahaha!)

Sorry I haven't blogged lately, I've been busy with family drama, school, tennis, and a stomach flu. But here I am now!

I feel like this week will be filled with beginnings and new things. Or maybe the end of things. Who knows?

I will offically step down from President in Key Club. While it was great and a learning experience to be in charge of Key Club, I also feel glad that my time is done. I've worried about planning events and lazy officers enough for now. There are less than two months of high school left for me, I think I deserve a break. But it will be hard for me to truly let go: I'll always be worried and willing to help out the new officers.

I will begin my AP studying anew. Last week was just a horrible week for me, so I was unable to follow my schedule. I will not stress about that and just keep going and trying my best to stay focused.

I will go out on my first "date" (kinda not really). Well, it is my first time to be asked to go out and eat by a boy... so I guess? I know it is for prom reasons (he better not ask me in an embarrassing way!) but it's still something new for me! One of the biggest things I look foward to in college is the boys and dating and hanging out... =]

... which leads to updates on college! So the choice is down to Northwestern and UW Honors. It depends on the financial stuff really. If Northwestern gives me enough financial aid so that the price to attend will be similar to UW, I would go there. If I get picked to be a WA Scholar (provided that Congress passes the budget for it), I would most likely go to UW since that would cover most of my tuition. I don't find out for both until later this week/next week, so I need to stop thinking about it. It's making me nervous!

To do list for tonight: FRQ, sleep
For tomorrow: jog, shower, study AP, then school at 10:30! Booyah!

Night y'all!