Day 56: Revisiting Myungdong Station, Attaining Heaven and Resting at a Sauna

Today, August 16th, I was determined to find that "Heaven" garden that I failed to find last time! But before heading out of the city again, I stopped by Myungdong Station one last time. Both Kpop stores had new inventory! The not-corner Kpop store had several official clear file sets from the That Summer 2 Concert for only 18,000₩ (which I bought for 15,000₩ from waiting in line for 13 hours...). And the corner Kpop store had so much Infinite merchandise, though none from the latest concert. They had a used Over The Top album for 99,000₩! And also two clear file sets from the Infinite Fan Rally for 35,000₩ each, one type of Natuur Pop photocards for 10,000₩, one type of Natuur Pop clear files and three One Great Step desk/mouse pad sets for 23,000₩ (originally 17,000₩ at the concert venue)! With so much new and differing inventory all the time, I really do think all of these products are legit because it's hard to make fake things of everything.

Anyways, so I ended up buying the Natuur Pop photocards and desk/mouse pad set. Anything official and Infinite related, I instinctively just grab it from the shelf and must have it...this is such a bad addiction. I'm surprised I didn't buy the OTT album also.

And now, on to Heaven! It's actually called 벽초지문화수목원, or Botanical Garden BCJ (which stands for Byeokchoji), and it's located in the city of Paju. So I had to lug this big thing all the way up north. But it was nice knowing I'm bringing Infinite with me on my last full day in Korea.

This garden is in the city of Paju, north of Seoul, which is all the more reason why I call this garden "Heaven." It's complicated to get here by public transportation, and took us three and a half hours to finally reach our destination from Seoul via the subway, bus and walking. It is really in the middle of nowhere and in a less developed area. We waited quite some time for a second bus, and found a very active beehive in the bus stop.

After waiting awhile, we decided to walk to the next bus stop, and we saw the bus finally coming! But the driver trolled us and passed on by, though we were walking on the side of the road (practically in the right lane with cars and trucks going into the left lane to pass us). And not another bus came by again. We walked for about half an hour on the and the few taxis that passed by were occupied (probably going to the garden -.-). Eventually we made it!

We didn't see it until we came out, but in front of the garden is a billboard of the many dramas and commercial films that came to this garden to film!

This botanical garden is vast and is broken up into different sections that greatly differ from the next. I suggest grabbing a map (they have English ones), but grab also the Korean one as they list different dramas than the English one) at the entrance; they numbered each section of the garden, making it easier to find certain filming locations if you found out their numbers beforehand. Exactly three months after visiting here, I just find out that this is where episode 4 of variety show Mamma Mia (the episode where Dongwoo and his mom guested!) was filmed here! Finally this garden is now Infinite related hehe.

This is an overview of 7, the Queen's Garden, where some scenes from 49 Days was shot.

The scene from Boys Over Flowers where Kim Hyun Joong was playing the violin was somewhere around this area, but I couldn't find the exact spot, as benches have been removed so I had no reference.

Later on I found out that the ending scene from Heartstrings was filmed in this garden too and I definitely walked by those benches, but I didn't realize it until once I left Korea! I wish I had taken a picture there.

And here is where City Hunter was filmed! It looks pretty rundown now with all the weeds on the platform and no bench here, but this was where the two leads were talking on the bench.

Also here's a scene from B1A4's music video, "Tried to Walk."

And my most favorite part, why I dubbed this place "Heaven," is the Sculpture Garden! You're Beautiful took place here, as Park Shin Hye was descending from the sky, as well as 49 Days and Master's Sun. In the back is the Castle Gate, which can also be seen in the background of 49 Days.

And lastly, inside the Sculpture Garden is the famous European statues where the three members of ANJell angelically posed with! This was the highlight of my trip (besides my Infinite related experiences)! It was You're Beautiful that started this craze, and I am finally here^^

There are more areas of the garden besides these filming locations, showing its grandeur and vastness. Though it's difficult to reach, it's definitely worth coming to this garden! But if you're a huge drama fan, I suggest doing thorough research about all the dramas that filmed here beforehand, so you can find all the filming locations!

And to finish off the night, my friend and I decided to stay in a sauna in Sinchon, called Sinchon Rest. For this specific sauna, you walk up to the counter and make the payment (for adults, it was 11,000₩ a night; daytime is cheaper). The woman, who was super friendly, gave us a change of clothes, two small towels (the size used to wrap on your head like a lamb), and for guys, the locker room key attached to a bracelet. Guys then head to the third floor, while girls head to the ground floor. The woman showed me the way, as she could tell I'm a newbie sauna goer. We took off our shoes, then walked barefoot on a slightly raised wood floor into the locker room. She showed me to a locker with the key bracelet still attached. Now, in the locker room, you take off all your clothes, walk down one flight of stairs into the shower room, and take a shower (which has zero privacy as well). Soap bars are provided, and other necessities can be bought at the counter. Then there are three large tubs to soak in, one cold, one warm, and one scorching hot. Once done, go back to your locker, change into the sauna clothes, and head on to the second floor co-ed common room.

In the common room, there is a snack stand to buy drinks, hard boiled eggs, and more. This sauna only took cash, but others are more high tech and you would just scan your bracelet to put the food on your tab to pay at the end.

There are two large floors with mats and pillows to sleep on and two TVs. Connected are various sauna rooms, like the freezer room, and an igloo with hot rocks to lie on, and other hot rooms to sweat and relax in.

On the top floor was a communal sleeping room, with comfy mats and pillows to sleep on. We went to sleep at around 2:30AM, with not too many others sleeping, and by the time we woke up at 6:30, the room was filled!

To leave, you should take another shower, throw your sauna clothes into the hamper, grab everything from your locker, and for females, leave the locker key attached to the locker, while males bring it back to the counter.

Sadly this will be my last post on this blog, as this was my last full day in Korea. Goodbye Seoul (and with the concert), goodbye Infinite, thank you for the memories. Until I return~

Day 55: Infinite That Summer 2 Day 6 Concert Experience

Today is Friday, August 15th, or Day 6 of Infinite's That Summer Concert 2! And it's all the concert that I managed to buy directly from Interpark; I'm so happy to see my own name printed on the ticket!

Here's the gorgeous concert banner in broad daylight.

Here's the schedule for today's concert. Today starts at 6PM. Because I bought my ticket using an international a Interpark account, I had to pick up my ticket at the ticketing booth starting three hours prior. I came at 3PM and there were was no line to pick up tickets, but there was a long line for people buying cancellation tickets (I didn't really understand how that process works). 

I also passed by the merchandise tent, which closes in one hour. So many items are sold out.

Then I decided to visit fansites, though most seem to be closing soon. There are some small fansites that walk around and pass out fans, others that you line up in long lines and they mark your ticket and you can then pick up a free fan (people flock to these and the fans run out super quickly!) and others are the huge fansites where you donate to get goodies.

Here is a free fan I received while waiting in line for another item.

Here's a fan I waited in line for from Hogam (actually there was no line, but the point is I had to go up to them). On the other concert days you had to pay for this, but since it's Hoya Day, it was given for free to those with today's concert ticket. She highlighted the concert date on my ticket.

And I somehow got talked into donating to five fansites. Many of the most popular fansites sit together, so it's easier to find them.

엘의날개/L'aile (10,000₩ for fan and postcards/+5,000₩ for photobook)

Honeytree (10,000₩ for fan and photocards)

Turning Point (20,000₩ for fan, postcards and slogan)

Season & Planetarium (joint fansites to support Sungjong's upcoming birthday) (10,000₩ for fan, 10 photocards and phone sticker)

Hoya Macaron (10,000₩ for fan)

Honestly I regret this one because I only get a fan, and I like the free one I got of Hoya much more. But it's to support Infinite, so it's okay! This concert has really made me love Hoya so much more so I'm so happy to have supported his fansite!

For this concert, I settled on only bringing my L'aile fan (though I was really close to bringing Honeytree's or Hoya Macaron). Here's my ticket as well. It says I bought it on July 14 at 8:09...how lucky is that, tickets sell out on July 7 and 9 yet I manage to get one five days later! Still reliving that moment...

At 5:35PM our line finally started moving. When we passed by the merchandise tent, I saw at least 10 people already camping out for merchandise!

Standing 4 is slightly elevated from Standing 2. When I entered, there was a mass huddled at the center and it tapered to the right. I stupidly went to row 5 of the mass, which I soon regretted. Everyone was somehow ridiculously taller than me so I could hardly see several members at a time, if at all. There wasn't much pushing and everyone behind me had lots of room while in front of me was jam packed. If wasn't until later, when I got pushed forward a row or so, that I felt an incline at my feet...the first three rows get a leg up with this slight platform! So for many performances, I couldn't see until I tiptoed I'd have a chance, and for comments I could usually see a couple of members. And with Hoya being disabled, I was luckily able to see him most of the time since he was located off to the sides.

I'm thankful to have seen the previous night's concert clearly, so I have a good idea of what's going on even with an obstructed view. And I could think more clearly and realize things I recalled about yesterday's concert are a really inaccurate -.- so I've edited that post.

And onto the random ancedotes I can recall~

The audience seemed so much more lively and inspirited today! Everyone sang along with most of the songs, and the fanchants were very much alive. Just during the "Back" music video, the fanchant was very intense!

Today Sungyeol's hair seemed more natural. Yesterday he had a wavy perm look. Also during one of the last songs it seemed like he lifted up his shirt just a tad bit in order to pull it down.

Myungsoo's voice was so much more amazing and sounded much healthier today! When he sang "Diamond" and "A Person Like Me," I died.

During the second ment, Woohyun sang his first line from "Beautiful" (bringing back serious OGS feels), Infinite F sang two lines of the chorus of "Heart is Racing," and Dongwoo rapped from "Alone." Later Hoya did his "I say Ho, you say Ya" bit.

During the "To. Infinite" message board, Sungjong read one that said "CEO 정윱, 사랑해요!" This really made Sungjong burst into hysterics, and he even went on all fours and couldn't stop laughing. Another post-it question asked each member to sing a bit from their solo stages. Myungsoo sang a few lines from K.Will's "Day One!" Sungyeol did his first song, then sang a couple of lines of "My Heart is Racing" alongside Sungjong and Myungsoo! We called for Sunggyu to go, but he didn't. Hoya didn't either, since he just performed. Sungjong did a little of his Michael Jackson performance, but he was just whispering practically so he did part of "Good Morning" too. And Dongwoo did a bit of rap. I'm so glad I went to this concert date, as I could experience just a bit of each member's individual performances, and especially hear Myungsoo and Infinite F.

During the solo stage, the VCR showed a street fighter video game concept, with Hoya versus Sunggyu, and of course Hoya won! After showing Hoya's childhood photos and interview clip, the screen showed that Hoya wrote and composed this song himself! Then on the left of the stage, looking sleek in black, he played the piano to a slow and soft pop ballad-like song. Then all the lights go off, and soon he's standing center stage and starts rapping with dancers in the background. Sadly I completely missed his entire performance after he left the piano, so I don't know if he was dancing or standing or what. After his song ended (which caused so many feels for me...I never noticed Hoya so much, but he seriously shined so much tonight! Such a bias wrecker.), he left the stage and we kept calling his name. He came back out and sat down and talked to us. Then he performed another ballad with one of the band members accompanying him on the guitar. Everyone was singing along.

After Hoya's solo stage, the other members ask him to sing it again. He sang literally only two syllables, and we all laughed.

During "Back," above the stage yesterday they word "B A C K" was lit up with many bulbs, but today only the B and K showed up. Also "I N F I N I T E" lit up as well.

I was a bit lost due to the language barrier, but during the ending ment I think Hoya made all the members and audience laugh ridiculously first. Myungsoo laughed obnoxiously then abruptly stopped and said 네, and we all laughed at the silliness. Sunggyu also cut his laugh short so it was funny. The order of standing was the same as last night's, except this time with Sungjong at the far right, and the order of going first was chosen differently.

Woohyun gave his speech, then said "사랑해요...사랑해...I love you...네꺼 네꺼...네꺼하" and we repeated back to him everything and for the last one we said "자!" Then Hoya said to Woohyun, "끝났죠?" Sungyeol said in English "Thank you, I love you." Then Myungsoo whispered into his ear and Sungyeol said his "If you ever cheat on us I will chase you 'til the end of the world, I mean it." Then he finished his turn with some more sentimental-seeming Korean.

As it was Hoya's day, he introduced all the band members. During his ending speech, Hoya thanked his family members and I think his dancing teacher noona was in the audience, sitting in the first row of the second floor on the right side if facing the stage (around where Sungjong's mom sat yesterday), and they shined a light on her.

During the last song, Woohyun was hugging Dongwoo in the center while singing his first lines. Myungsoo wasn't trying to catch the confetti so much this time.

At 8:41PM, the concert ended. Right after the concert, because Standing 4 is so small, the staff member quickly swatted people away from taking photos of the venue. But I managed to get a few of my view once people cleared out.

Here is a pretty accurate tracklist of tonight's concert that I reconstructed from memory:

That Year's Summer
I Like You
She's Back
Cover Girl

Intro Ment

Julia
Memories
Diamond

Ment

Man in Love
Entrust
Amazing
Be Mine

Hoya's Solo Stage (x2)

Message VCR

소나기
Paradise
Chaser

Post-It Board Ment

A Person Like Me
Voice of My Heart

Pillow Fight/Interview VCR

Last Romeo
숨좀 쉬자
로시난테

Ment

Back

---Encore---

Come Back Again

Ending Ment

Nothing Better Than This

As my last time seeing Infinite, I'm surprised I'm not depressed. I think I'm just really thankful to have been able to see them perform so much while studying in Seoul!

Day 54: Infinite That Summer 2 Day 5 Concert Experience

Today, Thursday, August 14th, I went to Infinite's concert! This was my first concert in Seoul, so I was so nervous about what to expect in pit. But I shall endure it; anything to see Infinite perform again.

Here's the schedule for the day. Today's concert began at 8PM, lining up began at 6:30 and entering the venue began at 7.

I arrived on sight at around 5PM. Concert merchandise still had another hour until closing, with about half the items sold out.

The fansites all seemed to be on the opposite end of the block, under a freeway. Laziness led me to stay by the venue.

There are staff members with signs in Korean, Chinese and Japanese to assist people.

At 5:55PM the staff members put out the signs for each standing zone. Next to the merchandise tents were Standing 1 and Standing 2, 400-600, and the other sections are close by. 6:30 is the official line up time, but many people started lining up before that. I found my spot in line and waited, watching other groups slowly leave the area and trickle into the pit. While mostly the people around me were Koreans my age, I also saw several guys (one even with a lightstick!) and some older women and other foreigners. While waiting, a group of girls already started to line up for tomorrow's merchandise.

At 7:17, Standing 2, 400-600 finally got to go into the venue! The staff member led us through the back hallways. They told us to rip our tickets ourselves (which is good, so I can preserve it) and they checked our number once while entering the building and again entering Standing 2. Inside the pit, some people lined the back area while most people congregated the middle and then a bit on the right. I went for the middle right, around row 11, which is oddly where I was seeing Infinite in LA and at the motor festival. Looking around, the venue truly is super small! I was about 10 feet from the edge of the stage, and from the stage to the back of the venue seemed to be less than 100 feet. Also all the seated tickets seemed very clear. It makes me happy that Infinite can still perform at such small and intimate venues despite their fame. Also the workers are very strict about photos. There's a guard in front of my section checking and another staff member occasionally came into our section, maybe to call someone out? And before the show started a worker stood on a platform in the middle of the floor, peering over at people. The guard also gave people cups of water throughout the show.

Being in the pit wasn't as bad as I had thought, except the girl next to me and I headbutted twice -.- And the audience was like a stormy sea, where we all shifted in every direction about three feet or so every so often. Eventually I moved from row 11 to 7! Also a lot of times I was taller than the people in front of me, so I could see all seven members and their entire bodies (not just bobbing heads), especially during their ending comments.

Now I'll just be giving my random anecdotes~

The screen was playing Infinite's music videos in chronological order I think. Then they played an audio clip of Infinite telling us what we can and can't do played. Myungsoo said we should just enjoy the concert with our eyes and not use our phones, so I listened to him well! Then they played the "Last Romeo" and "Back" music videos, then they played the intro VCR for the concert! Then the curtains disappeared (I think they went up?) and Infinite was sitting so casually and comfortably on their chairs! Dongwoo was closest to me, and he was just slouching and looking so relaxed. It seemed like the bottom half of his head was shaved then the top was braided and tied. To follow the casual atmosphere, they never changed their hairstyles throughout the concert; it was always just natural looking.

The first song was "That Year's Summer," and after Myungsoo's long note, Sunggyu's voice cracked or something, because he was just silent for one line then sang the rest! He laughed it off though (and this shows that they don't have a backtrack playing!)

They performed "Cover Girl" early on and during Sungyeol's rap, Dongwoo was messing with him and then vis versa.

While sitting down in these round platforms (like in Second Invasion) they sang "Julia" and the audience sang along with the vowels. Then they sang "Memories."

During the members' introductions, they went from left to right. Sungjong went in the middle and said "sexy boy 성종입니다" and Hoya went next and said "Inspirit tree 호야입니다 (maybe I heard 'tree' wrong...)." From right to left it was Dongwoo then Myungsoo, and Dongwoo made Myungsoo laugh so he just squatted and started laughing while other members introduced themselves. I love how much fun they're having on stage!

Later on the were back in the chairs, this time Dongwoo on the tambourine and Sungyeol on those mini double Congo drums(?). Then they performed an acoustic version of "Man in Love." During Hoya's rap, Sungyeol pointed his mic to us and we shouted "HOYA!" Then the song right away transitioned to "Amazing!" Then Dongwoo or Sunggyu asked us to sing the chorus of "Be Mine" and then they did the acoustic version of that.

Dongwoo brought up the lightstick name conversation again! In the end they decided on 여봉 (yeobong) and Woohyun kept saying 여봉 to us, it was so cute!

I saw Woohyun's prominent arm veins so clearly! And there was a skin color bandage two inches thick around his upper middle left arm...I hope he'll heal quickly!

There was one song Woohyun was singing and twirled twice, it was so cute! He sang so well live, and all of his long notes were to die for.

When Sunggyu and Woohyun harmonized together in "Voice of My Heart," it was so breathtaking!

Dongwoo also sang really well live, I can't get over it. Myungsoo's voice seemed more dry or raw or something, so it didn't sound as nice as usual when he sang some non main track songs. But in "Last Romeo," "Back," and "A Person Like Me," his voice was amazing.

For the first half of the show, Hoya sat in a chair on the left side. Then for the next half he sat on the right, about 15 feet in front of me! And during his raps he would stand up and do his thing. He still showed his energy and he was getting into it during his raps.

Sungjong said in English, "I say Sung, you say Jong! Sung!" And we said "Jong!"

During the middle of the concert there was a message board called "To. Infinite" of post-it notes from Inspirits. Members each chose one. Sungjong got one that asked him to sing an American song, "Listen," and he sang so well! Then Woohyun ruined the moment by continuing the song. Hoya's message was from some girl, so Hoya responded by calling her name to the audience! Someone also asked Dongwoo about marriage.

For the solo stage, a VCR played announcing "Who's today's solo stage?" And then showed the remaining members, Sungjong, Hoya and Sunggyu, and the CEO, racing and Sungjong won. Then they showed his childhood photos and an interview clip of him. Then Sungjong came out in a sleek suit and black fedora and performed a Michael Jackson song. Then he did a very cutesy "Good Morning" with maids dancing alongside him and holding a mirror while he checked himself out. Sungjong also threw something to the center in my row, and later on a bouquet of flowers to the leftside in my row.

After the solo stage there was another VCR, this one similar to the previous summer concert with instant messaging to Myungsoo. Sungyeol's ID was "성열 황" and Woohyun's was "SHIN 우현."

Another VCR showed of the hyungs having a pillow fight, then Sungjong comes down and beats everyone up! Then an interview session begins with Sungjong as MC. In the video Sungjong kept cutely asking the audience this question. Then later on, on stage, Dongwoo imitated Sungjong and then Sungjong asked the audience again!

Also at times members (Dongwoo, Sungyeol and Sungjong) would go to the very right of the stage and step down so they were halfway between the stage and floor. During the last song Woohyun even stood on the floor, so we were eye level to him! Here I'd be about 10 feet away from a member, and usually I was 15 to 20 feet away from the closest member.

The performed "소나기" and the stage shot the audience with a blast of water! It felt very refreshing. Then they performed "Paradise" next with fire shooting from the stage. This time they weren't just wearing wife beaters though. Dongwoo did take off his white jacket to only wear a white wife beater during the concert, and later on Woohyun did too.

A little later Woohyun sang the backup to "소나기" and we sang the chorus.

They also performed "숨좀 쉬자" and then "로시난테." It was cool to see these dance stages live!

They performed "Last Romeo" and then "Back" and then the encore. When they performed "Back," they began with Sungyeol and Sunggyu standing up instead of sitting.

It was so cool to be surrounded by fanchants for "Back" (and a few other songs like "Paradise") and we shouted out names during "Voice of My Heart) and for the encore we shouted "다시 들어와 들어와 들어와" for awhile until finally they came back out, in these white sailor outfits. They did "Come Back Again," followed by their ending remarks.

During the ending comments, the order of standing from left to right was Sunggyu, Sungyeol, Dongwoo, Woohyun, Sungjong, Myungsoo and Hoya. They started from oldest to youngest. During Dongwoo's turn, Woohyun asked him if he's hot then Dongwoo slid down his jacket halfway. Then Woohyun pulled down Dongwoo's left tank strap and he dramatically reacted, then Woohyun poked him above his left nipple.

During Woohyun's turn, he danced like a little kid, twirling and flailing his arms. Then Dongwoo copied, then Sungyeol, then Sunggyu (but it kept getting less dramatic with each member). At the end of his turn, Woohyun finished with "안녕! Bye bye (but really cutely)! Byuing byuing!" And lastly "사랑해!" Then Hoya asked with his sassy attitude "끝났어? (Are you finished)"

During Myungsoo's he did his usual short and boring speech. Then he paused hesitantly and did a quick "사랑해" but cutely got so embarrassed that he walked to the back of the stage, but the screen kept showing his back so he used his arms to try and divert the camera to the other members. Later he came back to the front of the stage, grabbed a water bottle and squatted on the ground to drink, but lost his balance and fell backwards! He then cooly played if off by throwing and catching the bottle twice in his right hand. He did that with his mic too; he did that throughout the show.

Myungsoo literally only spoke briefly during his introduction, read off one message from the message board, and during the ending comment.

During Sungjong's he thanked his mom. Then they showed her in the audience with a spotlight! She was sitting on the second floor, first row in the middle left (if you're looking at the audience, not the stage). Sungjong also introduced the live band, asking us isn't one of the members (I forgot which one) handsome, and the vocal backups.

In one of the last songs they released long silver confetti. For the last song, "Nothing Better Than This," they released small white tissue paper, which actually a few fell throughout the show. I'm so happy they chose a happy song rather than a sad ballad like "With." During this last song, the members went to the edge of the stage and squatted to be near fans. Dongwoo was closest to me! And of course Myungsoo was in the middle back of the stage, getting distracted and trying to catch all the confetti (which I admit I was trying to do too ㅋㅋ) and Dongwoo was doing this for a little bit but quickly stopped.

After the curtains went down, an ending VCR played and then this photo was displayed while tracks from The Origin played ("Can You Smile" and "White Confession"). People started taking photos, so I jumped in, though the staff lady kept telling us not to. So this was the general area where I stood.

And here is the remainder of the venue. And the first row of the second floor in the middle left of the photo is where Sungjong's mother sat!

The concert ended at 10:37, and people started slowly trickling out. Even during the encore stage people were leaving, probably so they can catch Infinite leaving. Staff guided us out the side door we came in, and up a set of stairs outside that led directly to the subway. I walked past the ticketing office and people were already camping out in hopes of getting a cancellation ticket for tomorrow's show. Also people were still selling fan goods. Instead of entering the subway, I went to the front exit of the parking garage next to Exit 2 and waited until around 11:10, but they've definitely left by then.

And lastly, here's a lovely banner just outside of Exit 2 of the subway, which I've somehow missed until now after all my visits here. This building isn't actually where the concert is; there are multiple buildings within Blue Square, and this photo is where the musical Cats is playing. Infinite's is in the smaller building next door.

Oddly enough I'm not getting post concert depression, maybe because I still have one more concert to go! Everything feels a bit surreal, but this time because they were so close (and because Sunggyu messed up and laughed it off) it made them seem so much more human and relatable (since I view them as idols lol).

Day 53: Failing to Reach Heaven and Reaching The Kingdom

Today, August 13th, my friend and I wanted to visit some drama filming locations. The first one is what I call "Heaven," the garden where some heavenly scenes of You're Beautiful and 49 Days were filmed. It's quite a ways north of Seoul, around an hour's driving distance away from the border, and just taking a subway won't suffice. Our agenda was to take an hour subway north, then two buses thereafter. However, after the first bus ride, it was raining super hard and we were so lost, that we decided to head to the fictional mall "The Kingdom" from Master's Sun.

"The Kingdom" is really the mall Enter-6, which is located in Suwon, the city south of Seoul. This mall actually has four locations, three of which are in Seoul, but this is the Dongtan Metapolis Branch. So we traveled for over three hours from north of Seoul to south of Seoul. It's also a bit confusing to get here, but we took the subway Seodongtan Station (서동탄역) and a short bus ride from there, but the bus stop is far away...best not to get directions from me.

This mall is actually not as grand as the drama portrayed it to be (props to the drama for displaying the mall so beautifully!), but there are two buildings and a beautiful courtyard in between. There is also a futuristic sky bridge connecting Building A to Building B. Building B is where Master's Sun took place.

On the first floor, you'll find the European style fountain, a key landmark in the drama. There are four women as the centerpiece, and it lights up with various changing colors.

Also I think this is the location that Taeyang kept passing by, where the ghost garbage can guy would always sit on the bench. However, the bench was moved to the other side of the hallway, against a store instead of the railing, and the garbage can wasn't here. So this is kind of just speculation that this is the correct spot.

I forgot where this is, but it is just around the corner from this cat sculpture sitting on a nearby bench. There is also another one of these cat sculptures on another bench somewhere else in the mall.

Walking around the mall, we found several advertisements with Gong Hyo Jin for Hats On and Smoothie King! It's nice still seeing her around this mall, one way or another.

Afterwards we went to eat at a Japanese restaurant, Misoya, located on the fourth floor of Building B. Once seated, we saw all these framed autographs on the wall! Majority of them I didn't recognize, but there was one of the Running Man cast!

Walking throughout the mall, it was as if I were a customer walking around "The Kingdom." It was so cool to come to this filming site!

Day 52: Revisiting Dongwoo's Restaurant and Infinite's New Dorm, Old Dorm, Old Practice Room and Favorite Restaurant

On Tuesday, August 12th, I decided to visit Dongwoo's restaurant one last time. My Korean friend and I arrived at 12:21PM and almost every table was full, including the special room. There were not only fangirls, but also tables with older parties, families with young children and guys also eating here. Yet still the service was good and the food came out fast.

Dongwoo's Restaurant
We left at 1:38PM and paid Dongwoo's dad. I looked up at the surrounding Dongwoo photos and started smiling, then he asked my friend in Korean where we are from. She said Seoul and he looked surprised, then asked where I'm from and she said USA. Then in English he said 22,000 (for our total) and "고마워요."

Infinite's New Dorm

Infinite's current dorm is located in the apartment buildings just under the Mecenatpolis mall (I think they're all under the same name). To get here, take the subway to Hapjeong Station (합정역). If you get out of Exit 5, directly across the street is a good view of the mall and apartments, like the photo above. Exit 10 leads you directly into the mall.

The main attraction for me was finding the filming location for This Is Infinite where Sunggyu failed his mission and had to do the 24 Hours dance! I also have to rewatch the episode to see which cafés he went into. This area is on the ground floor where there's a water fountain and rainbow umbrellas hanging above.

Infinite's Old Dorm and More

Afterwards, we headed to Infinite's old dorm and favorite restaurant for an early dinner. But this time, my friend showed me the other Infinite related places in this area! So walking into that 3040 노래방 side street and then turning left is the restaurant.

But just before turning left, right next to the 노래방, is the side door of the practice room that Infinite used during Sesame Player days! And the above yellow sign is for the restaurant.

Then turn left, and you'll see this street! And then facing the restaurant, to the left is the main entrance to the practice room. And then two doors down from the restaurant on the right is the old dorm.

Here's the old dorm in daylight. Also the market from This Is Infinite when Sungjong was the leader and the members had to buy food on a budget is nearby, but I didn't have time to find it.

Infinite's Favorite Restaurant

Then we went to the restaurant! Inside there were only four other fangirls, gathered around the floor tables. The same friendly woman asked us if we were Infinite fans, and then who's are favorite member. I said Myungsoo, then she joked saying everyone's his fan, as most of the other fangirls' biases were Myungsoo also. She pointed out which member sat where, which was the table the other girls were at, and they were so friendly to let us join them! There were two from Malaysia, one from Macau, another person, and later a Japanese Inspirit came into the restaurant (also Myungsoo biased) and we offered her to sit with us, but she decided to sit alone. The two Malaysians were so friendly, and one told me how their friend went to the OGS Malaysia concert and Myungsoo took a selca from her phone twice! Eventually the cook lady (who's not very friendly compared to the other lady) kicked the two Malaysians out because they were sitting there occupying seats for too long, and the restaurant was beginning to get full. Despite this, the atmosphere is so much more friendly and welcoming during the daytime!

I sat in Myungsoo's usual spot and my friend sat in Sungyeol's. I could not stop smiling, just thinking about their debut days here. Their usual table is on the floor, the middle two tables.

 

Then the friendly lady brought out the banchan, and pointed out that Myungsoo's favorite is this bean sprout! She spoke in Korean, then asked, "you understand, right?" I assumed she said this was his favorite, but just to be sure, I shamefully asked my friend to clarify.

And soon my kimchi jjigae arrived! So delicious, I'll definitely miss this dish so much.

My friend ordered the mackerel. I wish I knew what each of the member's favorite dishes were! Supposedly the fish is Sunggyu's...?

I noticed on the wall that now there is a Season 2 autographed CD, which definitely wasn't there when I came on Friday! I wondered if Infinite stopped by over the weekend, but I was too nervous to ask the lady when was the last time Infinite came by. At 6:30 we left, and it was getting more crowded.

This area is definitely one of my favorite places that I visited. Everyone is so friendly, the food is amazing, and it's such a must for Inspirits to come!

Day 51: Kim Hyun Joong's Restaurant

At 7:30PM on Monday, August 11th, my friend and I decided to pay tribute to Kim Hyun Joong, a large contribution to the hallyu wave for many people, by visiting his restaurant! It's in the outskirts of Seoul, at Seokchon Station (석촌역), so we went for a late dinner at 9.

To get here, take Exit 7 and continue down for about one block, until you face a perpendicular street. Look to your right, and one block down at the left you should see a bright pink sign, and it's there!

Outside of the restaurant there were two large parties of businessmen and inside were locals, friends, couples, very few fangirls, if any. The restaurant itself is small and rectangular, with two rows of tables. Almost every table was full, yet service still seemed very good. 

Near the entrance is a post-it section and they provide pen and paper for you to leave a note. Throughout the walls are photos and posters of Kim Hyun Joong. Here's a pano of the wall with the photos.

There were two guy workers, both very outgoing, speak English well and really try to welcome their guests. One asked us lots of questions in English, like where we are from, if we're students here and how long we've been fans. Honestly, I felt a but uncomfortable being bombarded with questions (as I've been more cautious since meeting that pineapple guy at Woohyun's restaurant). I just let my friend do all the talking, as it was her first time at an idol restaurant and she still follows Kim Hyun Joong while I sadly felt no feels coming here.

My friend asked the guy if Kim Hyun Joong comes here often and if he's met him, and the guy said he's met him and he usually comes once a month.

This is a 치맥 restaurant (chicken and beer), and one chicken dish can serve two people. The guy recommended the original chicken and one other item (the first two on the menu) so we decided to order the original with fried rice cake and two sodas. Each dish is around 17,000₩ and up, which is comprobable to other 치맥 restaurants. 

The guy asked us (again, all of our conversation is in English) if we wanted it with bone or boneless, and we said with bone. But one third into our meal, we realized it was boneless! My friend decided to tell the guy, who felt sorry and asked if we wanted to change. Then he asked my friend if she has Kim Hyun Joong's latest album, to which she said she hadn't gotten the chance to buy it yet. He then left and came back, giving her an unopened album! (He also said he'd throw in our drinks for free, but he didn't, but I'm not complaining). 

I feel sad that I viewed this restaurant only as a place to eat and not as an idol restaurant. This one seems so commercialized, with the storefront displaying Kim Hyun Joong's face three times and the workers (who don't seem like his family) trained for tourists. I guess I just like the homely ones more.