South Korea Trip 2016 Part 5: Nanta Show + Yeouido Park + SBS Inkigayo Building
December 29, 2016
(BELATED) MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!! I'm finally back with a South Korea trip blog entry! :) I hope you're all having an amazing holiday season! I want to blog about a lot of things (ehem GOT7 Fanmeeting in Manila ehem) but I should really finish my backlog of travel posts lol.
For previous South Korea trip blog entries, click here.
For previous South Korea trip blog entries, click here.
After the DMZ tour, we boarded our tour bus that would drop us off at City Hall Station. Around an hour later, we arrived in City Hall Station and from there we took the subway to Myeongdong Station. We decided to rest in our guesthouse first before heading to our schedule for the night, which was to watch the 8PM Nanta Show! Jj reserved our tickets weeks before and we chose the Myeongdong venue because it was more accessible for us.
It was past 7PM when we braved the cold, rainy night to go to the venue. We did not bring any umbrellas so we got drenched while walking around the busy Myeongdong shopping street. It took us a couple of minutes to realize that we would really be needing an umbrella despite the layers we were wearing because our hair were getting wetter by the second LOL. Thank you for the street stalls that were selling cute transparent umbrellas!! We got the clear transparent one with yellow polkadots... (unnecessary info I know LOL)!
Anyway... located in the UNESCO building, the Nanta Theatre is easy to find. The Nanta Show is a non-verbal comedy show about chefs preparing for a wedding banquet. Aside from how the show has hilarious antics, what makes it more entertaining is how it involves dancing, acrobatics and audience participation. The 2-hour long show is also known for incorporating Korean traditional rhythm, Samulnori, in its presentation. There really was no dull moment during the show even when no dialogues were used!
You're not allowed to take photos during the show but here's the set-up of the stage while we were waiting!
Anyway... located in the UNESCO building, the Nanta Theatre is easy to find. The Nanta Show is a non-verbal comedy show about chefs preparing for a wedding banquet. Aside from how the show has hilarious antics, what makes it more entertaining is how it involves dancing, acrobatics and audience participation. The 2-hour long show is also known for incorporating Korean traditional rhythm, Samulnori, in its presentation. There really was no dull moment during the show even when no dialogues were used!
It was already past 9pm when the show ended so my friends and I were beyond hungry. After roaming around Myeongdong shopping street for a couple of minutes, we opted to eat in a Korean restaurant. The downpour was still heavy at this time, by the way.
The restaurant in Myeongdong where we had our dinner
Bibimbap and soju perfect for the cold rainy night~
Day 5 (April 17, 2016) | Yeouido Park + SBS Inkigayo Building
After eating, Jodie, Jj and I decided to rent a bike! I was 13 years old (11 years ago!) when I last rode a bike so I was not exactly sure if I still know how to ride one. People say you can never unlearn how to ride a bike but I was still scared ok! Getting bruises on your legs as an adult isn't exactly exciting lol. Because of my hesitation, Jj and I shared a bike and Jodie got a solo one. Riding a bike around Yeouido Park made me feel like I was in a Korean drama. Cool breeze, layered clothing, beautiful trees and plants amid the big city buildings... everything was so picturesque! After the bike ride with Jj, I borrowed Jodie's bike and tried going around the area on my own. AND YES! I STILL KNOW HOW TO RIDE A BIKE! That made me feel so ecstatic! I went around the area (on my own this time) and actually got lost but I still managed to find my way back lolol. Typical. That was so fun though! I wish we have something like this in Manila as well.
Our original plan for our 5th day in Seoul was to go to Nami Island. However, we all didn't want to get out of bed so early (6am early!) after the long day we had the day before so we decided to save Nami Island for Day 6 (woo Kpop reference lol~). We also reasoned out that since it was a Sunday, more people would definitely go to Nami Island. I am actually not sure if there's some truth to that previous statement but hey~ we needed to justify our fickle minds! To sum it up, our chill itinerary for Day 6 was moved to this day -- hello Yeouido Park (cherry blossom heaven) and more Kpop fangirling!
After that impromptu change of plans, we all slept in until around 8:30-9AM then did the necessary preparations before going to the park via subway. This day was colder compared to the previous days probably because of the heavy rain that poured the night before. I was wrapped up in a thick sweater and a coat but I was still freezing!
The main reason why we wanted to go to Yeouido Park was because of the cherry blossoms. It was cherry blossom season after all and we've read that this park would be the perfect place to see cherry blossom trees. Too bad we didn't get to go to the Yeouido Spring Flower Festival, which happened just a couple of days before our trip.
Anyway, we saw some of Kwik and Jj's friends when we got to the park. What a small world! They said they didn't see any cherry blossom trees while they were strolling around and most of the trees were bare already. Sadly, they were right. The rain the night before most likely blew all the flowers away! We were so close and we missed it :( Oh well, there is definitely a next time! Good thing we saw nice cherry blossom trees in Everland else I would've felt more sad.
Yeouido Spring Festival | Photo from VisitKorea
Going to Yeouido park on a Sunday is actually a good decision. There was a show of some sort (a talent show, we suppose?), guys playing basketball, families hanging out, friends biking around and a wide variety of food choices!! Yes, we really got excited choosing what food we would be eating for our brunch!
This takoyaki stall greeted before we entered the park proper! Look at Jj eyeing his favorite food!
Ahjussi preparing what we've ordered~
Yummy takoyaki balls! My mouth is watering just by looking at this photo!!
The row of stalls selling all sorts of food and drinks | I had to check the stalls one by one before picking what I wanted to eat -- a task I didn't mind doing!
In the end, I chose this sweet and spicy Korean style friend chicken! It tasted so good and it was the perfect food to counter the colder-than-usual weather.
Jj bought this bowl of noodles which also tasted good! You can also see the cider + lemon drink I got!
Even though we didn't see cherry blossoms in Yeouido, the park didn't fail in showing off nature's beauty.
Nice, natural background ;)
I apologize for flooding this post with my face lol I just really like the background ok!
After eating, Jodie, Jj and I decided to rent a bike! I was 13 years old (11 years ago!) when I last rode a bike so I was not exactly sure if I still know how to ride one. People say you can never unlearn how to ride a bike but I was still scared ok! Getting bruises on your legs as an adult isn't exactly exciting lol. Because of my hesitation, Jj and I shared a bike and Jodie got a solo one. Riding a bike around Yeouido Park made me feel like I was in a Korean drama. Cool breeze, layered clothing, beautiful trees and plants amid the big city buildings... everything was so picturesque! After the bike ride with Jj, I borrowed Jodie's bike and tried going around the area on my own. AND YES! I STILL KNOW HOW TO RIDE A BIKE! That made me feel so ecstatic! I went around the area (on my own this time) and actually got lost but I still managed to find my way back lolol. Typical. That was so fun though! I wish we have something like this in Manila as well.
Thanks to Jj's GoPro, we got to take these photos~
It was past 2pm when we left Yeouido Park and made our way to the SBS building. The SBS building is just a walking distance away from Gayang subway station so getting there was no problem! Why did we go there on a Sunday afternoon in the first place? Because of SBS Inkigayo that's why! Inkigayo ends at around 4:30pm (old schedule) and we got there at least 2 hours in advance. We were planning to wait outside the building to wait for some Kpop idols. It was also my second attempt to see GOT7 throughout my trip because they were currently promoting at this time (Home Run promotions~).
Locating the SBS Building is easy-peasy! If the crowd of fans outside the building isn't a clear giveaway then I don't know what is. When we arrived outside the building, the crowd was not that thick yet so Kwik, Jj and I went to a nearby coffee shop (Cafe Ti Amo) to get some drinks. Jj stayed in the coffee shop because again, he is no Kpop fanboy lol. Coming back from the coffee shop, the crowd got thicker on the left side of the gate so we stayed on the right side.
The SBS building
Locating the SBS Building is easy-peasy! If the crowd of fans outside the building isn't a clear giveaway then I don't know what is. When we arrived outside the building, the crowd was not that thick yet so Kwik, Jj and I went to a nearby coffee shop (Cafe Ti Amo) to get some drinks. Jj stayed in the coffee shop because again, he is no Kpop fanboy lol. Coming back from the coffee shop, the crowd got thicker on the left side of the gate so we stayed on the right side.
Yes, I drank iced caramel macchiato on a cold Sunday afternoon
With Kwik, while waiting~
Idols started to leave the building at around 4:30PM. Staying on the right side of the gate was a decision I've regretted because the idols usually open the windows of the van that were facing the crowd on the left side of the gate :/ :/ :/ So that was why the crowd was thicker there! #notetoself To cut the story short, I DIDN'T SEE GOT7 :( Jinyoung, my ultimate bias, actually opened the van's windows but those were the windows that were not facing us :( Jodie said she saw Yugyeom before GOT7 entered the van... Oh well. I did see some idols though like UP10TION (great fan service! they sent us heart fingers!), WJSN, Oh My Girl and CNBLUE (great fanservice as well and they were the last ones who left the building!). Waiting for 2 hours to see some Kpop idols was really fun and it really is just one of the things you wouldn't understand if you are not a Kpop fan. For me, I honestly enjoyed it and it felt like the epitome of being a hardcore Kpop fangirl (which I don't mind). :) I will do this again when I go back to Korean, especially if GOT7's promoting that time!
Dedicated fans and fansite masters waiting for their faves~ Amazing how these fansite masters can take quality photos when they only have literally a minute to capture their idols! :o Seeing how they work is really admirable :)
After accepting the fact that I didn't get to see GOT7 even though they were just a few meters away from me (lolol so salty jk), we left the building at around 5:30PM and headed to Seoul Station for dinner and for some pasalubong shopping at Lotte Mall. We ate in a Japanese restaurant in Seoul Station then bought goodies (mostly food like candies, chips, coffee) to bring back home. :)
2 more posts left for my South Korea trip! Hoping to have it done before the year ends. 2017 in 2 days' time and I am honestly excited! See you later!
Hope you're all having an amazing holiday season :)
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