Seoul is Happening!

This weekend Malia, Jordan and I went to Seoul, where we were joined by Jay, for the PSY concert. It was a huge event... there was rumor of NK trying to use it as an opportunity to bomb a bunch of people at one time, which is totally ridiculous... though I think we were a little more vigilant than we would normally be... but we are all fine and dandy...

On the (extremely long) train

Friday Malia, Jordan and I rushed to the train station for our 4 hour slow train to Seoul. Lesson #1 of the weekend, take the KTX (the fast train)... 4 hours of anticipation is just too much... take the slow train back all you want, but get to Seoul Friday night early enough (and fast enough) to go out! Once we got to Seoul, we met up with Jay before heading to the hostel. After getting settled, we headed back out to Hongdae, where all the bars and clubs are, and had a few drinks and grabbed some food, before heading back in for the evening.

Saturday, we met up with a few other people that live in Seoul (or the surrounding areas) and headed to grab coffee and go to the Kyobo Bookstore in Seoul, where they have a very large English section. After going crazy on travel guides, we headed to Itaewon (a district in Seoul that is known for its foreigner friendly restaurants and bars and where a lot of the military hang out) to grab some of the most amazing Mexican food I've ever had!

Since there was a wait, a few of us grabbed seats at the bar while some went out to wander around while we were waiting for our table. We grabbed drinks (thank you Vatos for having nice IPA beer!) and some amazing queso, then were, more quickly than expected, called for our table. Though it was a little pricey, the atmosphere was great and the food was even better. I can't wait to go back!

YUMMY Carnitas!

Malia, Lauren, Jordan, Jay, myself and Heather

NUTELLA NACHOS!

After lunch, we quickly headed back to the hostel to change and grabbed a taxi to take us to the World Cup Stadium for the event of the weekend... the PSY Happening concert!!! We grabbed our tickets, picked up a few shirts, then headed inside where all of our minds were blown. Not only was this a 4 hour long concert, but it had pyrotechnics, fireworks, confetti, flying people, great songs, and guest artists Lee Hai, 2NE1 and G-Dragon! It definitely made each of our top 3 concerts. It was great to see PSY, who everyone knows from Gamnam Style, sing wonderfully composed ballads and become emotional with his fans. This is one artist that truly cares about his work, and the people that support him. You can tell that he wants to give his fans his all, thus the 4 "encores" he gave... it was great!

On our way in!

Yay for the standing section

Psy's opening number

They had great confetti

Perfect weather, and the glow sticks really made the environment 

Psy goes flying

G DRAGON!

Dancing to Single Ladies

2NE1

One of his encores 

After the concert, we were all so hungry, but also tired, so we decided to go back to the hostel and get McDelivery... a wonderful invention.

McDelivery

Sunday morning, Jay had to catch the earliest bus out, while the rest of us slept in. We then packed our bags, which we ended up leaving in lockers at the subway station while we shopped in Meyongdong (another area of Seoul). We stumbled upon this amazing Italian restaurant where we split salads, pizza and pasta bread bowls before heading out to explore. Jordan became our Guinea pig and let Malia and I be his personal stylists. He looked very handsome when we were finished though :)

Pasta in a bread bowl... how could it get better?

The best garlic bread I've had here

This pizza was on par with the pizza I had in Italy... it was THAT good

When it was time, we headed back to the subway, picked up our bags, and headed on the train home... A great weekend full of wonderful company, food and music!