Seollal

Seollal aka Korean's New Year aka Lunar New Year is around the corner and now that I'm in Korea there are MANY things I would like to do, but still, I have no plans for this year's 4 day Holiday.

1st of all, Seolla is the Lunar New Year and is one of the most celebrated Holidays in Korea -as well as Chuseok-, this year Seollal falls on January 31st of the Gregorian Calendar, this marks the beginning of a new year, unlike December 31st, this date is not a date to go out partying with your friends; it's about Paying respect to our ancestors and gather around with your family to catch up, most Koreans travel to reunite with their family. Hanbok is used for this day and games are played when the family is together but even if you don't have plans to celebrate this important holiday, you should be ready.

Most people is getting ready, supermarkets are crowded and gift sets are everywhere, not only people is getting their gifts but groceries as most places will be closed on Jan 30-31st. According to VisitKorea's website the most popular gifts are: For parents: ginseng, honey, health products, and massage chairs. Other common gifts include toiletries such as shampoo, soap, toothpaste, etc. and gift baskets/sets composed of Spam, tuna, hangwa (traditional sweets and cookies), dried fish or fruits.

photo: www.advancedtechnologykorea.com 

Although I have no plans for these days, I know I should be ready, me, my sis and some friends wanted to go out of the city but I was told that would be a HUGE mistake as trafic will be crazy with people driving to meet their families, so, No traveling for us this time since we didn't plan things with time -lol-.

You can read more about How Koreans celebrate Seollal here, sorry I can't give you the details on how to celebrate it the Korean Way but most likely I will spend it at home eating ramen and watching TV shows or maybe just drinking at home with friends -a bad habit we've taken lately-.

I'm sorry this post is so random, I'm freezing, the ondol is not doing anything for me and my annoying computer is worse than yesterday, my SHIFT key doesn't work and it's making things far more complicated than they should be...

If anyone ha any cool plans to celebrate, do let me know hehe.

-Gisela V.

PS. I read it's a tradition to give money to your unmarried relatives and since I'm not married yet, you can send me your presents hehehe.

Selcas time!

Hi everyone!

I was wondering what have I been doing these past 2 weeks that I forgot to blog, well, not really forgto, but I didn't have the time to do it properly and I honestly don't know what I've been doing...I know we've been busy and had to run to busan for an almost 2 days trip but other than that, I'm not exactly sure what's going on, I have stories to tell but those will be left for a different day.

Today I will just talk about my latest hobby, this is something that now I do while I ride the bus, subway or just killing time while going from one place to the other: SELCAs, selca comes from Self-Camera aka selfies, my sister told me about this great app called CYMERA and this app can be linked to your Cyberworld account (like the Korean version of FB).

The app has a LOT of features, you can take 1 picture, 2 or 4 at a time, it has a Fisheye mode, etc, it allows you do edit the picture with frames, filters, change the light, make it blurry, a stickers AND do your make up, worried about taking a pic and not looking good?, this is the Koreans secret to a great selca, you can take a pic and adjust your make up with the app; need more eyebrows?, lenses?, lipgloss?, it has it!, you can also slim your face/body with it lol, make your eyes biger or cover spots... crazy isn't it? (no wonder you barely see Koreans looking less than perfect on pics)

Those are some of the camera modes
 and last pic is a map showing where did you
take the pic!

I know being 28 and taking selcas is not doing me good, but it's just a fun way to pass time while riding the bus either alone or with someone else, now I can understand why a lot of Koreans love doing it hehe.

Audrey unnie and Me at the bus^^ with a giant sticket

This was the day I started taking selcas everywhere lol

Don't touch my camera, don't touch my phone! hehe

Filters, efects and more...

Fisheye!!! -not my best pic LOL-

Anyway, this is now one of my favorites Cam Apps, do you have any cool apps?

-Gisela V.

Goodbye 2013

Here we are, saying goodbye to this 2013 and I’m not sure how to feel about it, given that my Christmas was a total fail, not that I didn’t enjoy partying with 1000 people and 30 rapers but THAT wasn’t a real Christmas party, anyway, Facebook keeps asking me if I want to see my “2013 review” and NO facebook, I do not want to do it, instead, I decided to make my own end of the year review (this should be fun, right?)

January

I started this 2013 having pizza with a couple of friends (lame!), and starting a new job weeks later, you know how some people say “If you start the year without a job, that’s how you’ll finish it”?, I believe it now!, anyway, January’s highlight was my new job,,,exciting! Not really.

February, March, April

I honestly don’t remember much other than stressing over some legal matters, working because we had to and just constantly trying to meet our friends (that didn’t work out very well).

May

May is still something I don’t feel brave enough to talk, it was the 1^st year anniversary of my mom’s passing and I just remember it as a blurry month…

June

My birthday, I remember being VERY against any kind of celebration, not because I’m old, but I felt like there was nothing to celebrate, I would even ask my sister not to mention or say anything on that day; I only remember my sis edited some pictures of my mom to congratulate me, that hurt and made me happy at the same time, also, it was the month our “plan” started taking shape, we would leave Mexico to explore the “world” (If you are a YG fan, yes, when I say WORLD I’m talking about Asia –at least for now-), we booked our tickets to Japan and were getting ready for it, also, a day after my birthday I quit my Job!

July

Was a BUSY month, packing one’s home is a bitch, I knew we were hoarders (specially my sister and my mom) so, it was a trip to pack and storage what we TREASURE, yup, those 3 year old movie tickets went to the garbage!, not only that, but deciding what to bring on our backpacks to this trip AND selling the rest of our stuff and making sure we had everything in order, PLUS figuring out what would we do in Japan and Korea, top that with us trying (again) to meet our friends to say Goodbye and them being very “busy” to do so, at the end, I felt most of them didn’t give a damn we were saying goodbye for a long time L, we finished July up in the air, we flew from Mexico to Narita on the night of the 29^th and spend my mom’s bday (30^th) closer to her^^ and arriving in Japan on the 31^st (seems like it took forever).

August

August was spent sweating our souls away in Japan’s crazy summer, volunteering, traveling around and me leaving clothes EVERYWHERE in Japan because my backpack was way too heavy and I just couldn’t deal with it anymore, despite the heat, humidity and back pain, I loved the experience of volunteering and taking such a long trip with my sister, despite the fights we had (we have plenty of them, we are used to them but still love each other to death), I feel like this trip made me grow up, gave me a new perspective and just made me feel funny about the whole leaving Mexico thing.

September

This is where the fun begins… I was OVERLY excited about Korea (obviously) and as soon as we landed @ Incheon; I felt at home (pleaaaaase, don’t ask me why), Korean language felt so familiar (no, I still can’t speak Korean lol) and just knowing how to move around made things easier, we traveled around in Seoul, went to TV shows, met awesome people and just tried to adjust to our new “Korean” life.

October

My sis’ birthday!, we celebrated with a cake by the Han River and the next day we took off to Jeju for a 3 day vacation of our vacation!, the end up our trip was somehow also the end of this “comfortable” life of us just traveling around, paperwork came, real work came and went…

November

Love/hate it, I was very happy working but also felt very pressured regarding our future in Korea, somehow things went down the wrong path and November ended up with the worst taste every, is like, when you are having an amazing cake and suddenly there’s a piece of egg shell (lol), the last days of November we were in panic because we had to leave Korea in a hurry and ended up meeting our friends to say goodbye (See?, good friends meet to say goodbye!! Haha), some were sad about it, some were pretty sure we were going to meet soon and 1 (our baby bro) was very dramatic about it, he messaged me things like “Why is this happening to me??” or “Are you kidding me?” and “I’ll be a good brother” LOL, how not to love him, right?, we spend our last week living in a friends “studio” with 1 electric heater, sharing a sofa bed and having to sleep with all of our jackets on because of the freezing cold lol, we are still VERY thankful with our Oppa (lol) for allowing us to use his place, cooking breakfast, getting us dinner, driving us around and taking us to the airport^^.

December

We AGAIN packed everything and again got rid of things we “didn’t” or wouldn’t need anymore (summer clothes, flats, etc), we were going to Japan and would spend a couple of months there, or so we thought, that’s how we ended up with 20kgs backpacks and some other things on our flight from Seoul to Tokyo. Honestly we both felt really miserable being in Japan (And you must know, my sis LOVES Japan), I was in a shitty mood and wanted to come back home to Seoul, a few days later, we were making new plans and the future seemed bright, we kept changing our minds every day as to what to do next, but at the end we decided to come back and give it another try, we don’t really have anything to loose, right?, and that’s how 8 days later we flew back to Seoul, where we were welcomed by a beautiful snowed scenery and us feeling VERY confident, I guess, at the end it was a good thing we had to leave Korea like that, we were living a “very” comfortable life and not really putting much effort to it, now, what happen is up to us and us only, we have our own apartment (that we now love!) and are working our way to a brighter future, so, wish us luck and YOLO!!!!

 

Best purikura in Japan -can't turn around the pic lol-

I also want to take this time to thank everyone who’s been with us throughout this journey, thanks for sticking by us and supporting us, thanks to those who offered us help or a word of advice, I love you all, and thank you readers, I know you are out there (I can see my stats lol), might 2014 be an AWESOME year to all of you (and us!) and… let’s do this!

Last but not least… THANK you perritow, for being here with me, ALWAYS, I love you for ever and ever!

Fighting! Damn I think I’ve been in Korea too long lol, but I love it!

Hope this 2013 was as awesome as mine ours and may this 2014 makes you HAPPY!

 -Gisela

P.s. Sorry if it was a long read

P.s.2. Here’s you have some more random pics of this 2013

Hallyu Tour – Kpop in Seoul

It’s time for a new GSL Mission, this time, to create a Tour in Seoul.

Are you a Kpop Lover?, why not book a room at the Kpop Stayin Hongdae, not only Hongdae is very trendy but you’ll get to meet other kpop fans!

The Kpop Stay is located in 6-153 Changjeon-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul 121-880, South Korea 

Or you can stay at the Kpop Residence  located in Myeong Gwang B/D 3F, 2-7,2nd st, Myeong-dong, Jung-gu, Seoul, South Korea ‎1800 687 236‎ 

Once we have the accommodation solved, why not going out for lunch?

Maybe you can start with a visit to Nodaji Restaurant and check out their INFINITE memorabilia, this restaurant is located at the Children’s Grand Park Station (Subway line 7), Exit 4, look for the Noraebang street on your right and walk down the street for a couple of minutes.

You’ll get to see INFINITE signed posters, CD’s, and pictures of the Members at this restaurant!           

After lunch, you can take a walk and wonder around the Myeongdong area, you’ll find yourself in shopping paradise and I’m sure you’ll find that Kpop merchandise you have been waiting for, or you can just window shop and might as well end up taking a picture with a life-sized image of an Idop promoting some products ;)

To finish up your night, you can go into the K-Story Kpop Cafe located in 22-6 Chungmuro 1(il)-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul, South  Find life-sized posters and fanart of your favorite kpop idols! You can purchase CDs, autographed posters, Girl’s Generation trading cards all while sipping on a latte here. This place is rumoured to be managed by Super Junior’s Heechul’s older sister.

 

Poto credit: mykoreanboyfriend.com

For Day #2, why not start with a nice breakfast at Twosome Café/Studio in Hongdae, this coffee shop is also a  studio/gallery co-owned by Teddy (YG Producer) and you can find Mina Kwon’s art there! 

www.minakwon.com

Teddy Park

Continue your day with a Visit to some of the biggest Entertainment companies in S. Korea?, pay a quick visit to YG, SM, JYP or Cube, just be respectful as some times this places are full with other fans and try not to take pictures without prior authorization ;)

 

JYP - Image: google.com

Don’t forget to drop by the EatYourKimchi studio, you might get to meet them and perhaps talk a bit more about Kpop!!

And since not everything in this tour has to be kpop related, why not going to Lotte World and have some fun at the rides?

After such a tiring day, you can finish up with a dinner at Se7en’s Chicken stew restaurant “Yeolbong Jjimdak 열봉찜닭”.

So, there you have it, a 2 day Kpop Tour around Seoul :), there are a lot of other places you can go to get your Kpop Fix, but if you only have a couple of days, this might do ;) 

-Gisela V. 

Seoul Walking Tour - App Review

Hi everyone!

I'm sort of back!!, I've been pretty busy lately, working, planning, catching up on some sleep, studying Korean and well, doing some research online, as you know I still have plans of going back to Korea but this time my sister is coming with me, yay!!!!, we traveled just the 2 of us for the first time last year when we visited Italy and it went better than expected :)

We are both very different, but so alike at the same time, the only day we spent appart in Florence we ended up doing almost the EXACT same things just in different order, I'm pretty excited to go to Korea with her and show her some of the amazing things I've seen/done and to do new things I didn't have time to do before like Jeju Island!!!, but the 1st thing is... SEOUL!

I got so excited that I didn't know where to start, until I found the App "Seoul Walking Tour", created by the KTO (Korean Tourism Organization), you know it's going to be good when is created by the KTO.

1st of all, it's totally User friendly, there are only 5 options:


Home


The Home has 2 views, Map and List, remember this is only for SEOUL and since it's a walking Tour it will only show you things within a walking distance, the map is precise, it has a drawing of the "place" to visit and the name, if you find this confusing you can see it on "list" mode, although I would totally go for the MAP version :)


Camera

I don't think I need to explain this, you basically use it just like the regular camera on your Mobile device.






Travel Info

This one contains the Korea Travel Hotline 1330, operated by the KTO, languages supported, Service hours and fee!





Attractions


This is the same as seeing "Home" on List mode, only if you click on each location it will give you a picture and a brief explanation of such place, it also gives you the "Map" option and it will display a more detailed map than the one on "Home".

Last but not least, you'll find the Settings, to change your language to Korean, English, Chinese and Japanese. It will also give you "Related Apps"



















I found this app very usefull if you are planing a short trip to Seoul only, very easy to use and to the point, it reminded me to the "GuidePal" application, I've used other Apps for Korea but some of them had way too much going on and it was confusing using them, so if you are visiting Seoul for the 1st time, I would totally recommend this App, specially if you don't have much time and want to make the most of it!

-Gisela V. 

Monkey 5

Check out the Debut album of Monkey 5 on i-Tunes, the first “Whistle Monkey Band” ever in the world. The music would fascinate every hearts. 

Follow the Link -> https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/shall-we-whistle-single/id648269972
Monkey 5 is the first "Whistle Monkey Band" ever in the world.
Check out their Facebook page here.

The Band has five mysterious members :
Whikey, Goldee, Liva, Bello and Touyo from an unknown species called ‘PINGKONGs’.

They whistle in chorus and provide unprecedented harmony with a variety of whistling techniques like scat or vibration. Their music touches and fascinates every heart who listens to them.

Monkey 5 has been preparing this first album for a long time with ‘healing’ as its main theme to provide unique healing experiences for those who are physically and mentally tired.

Shall we whistle along with Monkey 5?


                                        
-Gisela V.