2012 buzz KOREA Awards

On Tuesday, October 30, I was able to attend the 2012 buzz KOREA Awards, an event held by the Korea Tourism Organization.  Last month, there was a worldwide contest for foreigners to submit videos about Korea (language, culture, food, etc.) in order to win trip to South Korea and move onto the next step in the competition, which was to participate in a country wide tour alongside two celebrity groups, 2PM and Miss A.

2PM has been a favorite of mine for a few years now and I like Miss A a lot too so I was pretty excited to see them in person!  The awards show was cool and the venue was very cozy and not too many people were allowed to attend so I felt like a VIP!

Coming from Hawaii, where basically everything is about tourism, it was very interesting to see how the Korea Tourism Organization gains more and more visitors every year.  It’s a shame that we can’t have any Hawaii-pop stars to help us draw in more tourists because the Koreans are doing an unbelievable job at attracting foreign visitors via their celebrities.

See you guys soon!  I'm inspired to study more for my LSAT hehe but I'll try not to neglect this blog so much!! Sorry for the inconsistent updates ㅠㅠ

부산 [Busan]

A couple weeks ago, from Friday, October 26 to Sunday, October 28, I made a trip with some friends down to Busan, South Korea’s second largest city.  I had been wanting to get out of Seoul for quite some time and a weekend trip down south was perfect!  I had so much fun and really enjoyed my short stay there.  We went to Haeundae Beach (extremely popular but not so crowded in the middle of fall—there was even a South Korean thriller movie about a mega tsunami occurring there a few years ago), Busan aquarium, Busan Tower, Jagalchi Fish Market, and the Hae Dong Yong Gung Sa Buddhist Temple, which overlooks the ocean on a cliff.  In Busan, locals speak with a slight dialect different from the standard Seoul way of speaking and I was able to pick up a few Busan dialect words.  Busan was by far less populated than Seoul and people seemed a bit friendlier there.

Anyways, here are some pictures from our trip!

It felt great to be at the beach again after so many months!  Yes, that’s a couple doing a photoshoot with newly purchased coats at the beach.

The Busan aquarium is marketed as the largest aquarium in all of South Korea so I was expecting something very impressive but well, it wasn’t anything special.  I still had fun regardless!

Busan Tower was very cool and I got to see all of Busan from the top but the weather was making a turn for the bad so I’m glad we got up there when we did because the rain came shortly after.

LOOK AT THE SIZE OF THAT SHRIMP!  The Jagalchi Fish Market is a major attraction for tourists since Busan is a big fishing city and the array of seafood present in the city is amazing!  We ate a rather pricy, but definitely filling buffet for lunch at the top of the fish market building.  Oh, how I have missed sushi and sashimi (AND FRUITS!)!

The Hae Dong Yong Gung Sa Buddhist Temple was truly one of the most beautiful and scenic temples I have ever been to in my life!  It is located on the eastern part of Busan and overlooks the Pacific while sitting on a cliff.  It was so nice to see in the morning as the sun had just risen and the monks were just starting the day.

Our time here in South Korea is really coming to an end shortly, but I hope I can squeeze in some time between classes and studying for my LSAT coming up in just three weeks to get more travelling done!  Hopefully I will get to visit Busan again one day!!

추석 [Chuseok-Korean Mid-Autumn Harvest Festival]

This year, Chuseok was from September 29 to October 1.  Chuseok, often referred to as Korean Thanksgiving by foreigners (but it really isn't), is a three-day long holiday held in celebration of the harvest season according to the lunar calendar.  Korean natives usually return back to their hometowns, or parents' hometowns, or even grandparents' hometowns to celebrate with a large feast of traditional Korean food and also to practice ancestral rites such as cleaning the grave sites of their ancestors.

During this holiday, while millions of Koreans are travelling to other cities on over crowded trains and buses, I stayed mostly in Seoul and enjoyed a very relaxing and fun-filled weekend.  The major places I went to this weekend were Gyungbok Palace, Everland, and Lotteworld.

경복궁 [Gyungbok Palace]

Gyungbok Palace was the biggest and main palace of the Five Grand Palaces of the Joseon Dynasty.  During the 20th century, it was almost completely destroyed by the Japanese government but recently has undergone major renovations and restorations.  It was not my first time visiting the palace, but because it was a national holiday, they had some special events such as traditional music and dance performances, as well as interactive showcases like trying on a 한복 [hanbok], or traditional clothing of Korea, and eating 송편 [songpyeon], or traditional Korean mochi-like food for this holiday. 

Everland

Everland is an amusement park located about 2 hours outside of Seoul.  This weekend, there was a discount for foreigners due to the holiday because they know we don't have families to return to and well, that's pretty good business sense!  We made the trip out to Everland and I'm so glad we did because it was a great experience!  The world's steepest wooden roller coaster is located here as well as some horror mazes in the spirit of Halloween and a bunch of other attractions.  I am definitely going to come back during the winter for other winter attractions!

Lotteworld

Lotteworld is another amusement park, but this one is located in Seoul and is half indoors and half outdoors. It's a lot smaller than Everland was but definitely just as fun and had many attractions.  I first saw this place on a Korean drama called "Stairway to Heaven" back in seventh grade and I'm glad I was finally able to visit!  It was fun hanging out with new friends and very convenient since it's located within the city!  It's a very popular destination for couples, so I was glad I was with friends and didn't feel like a loner...

Both of these parks resembled Disney in many ways, like music playing and even their characters.  However, I feel like it was just enough to give the nostalgic feeling of visiting a Disney park, but not enough to cause any lawsuits.  This weekend was a good time to relax and refresh my mind for the upcoming busy weeks of midterms and presentations!

용감한기부콘서트 [Brave Guys Concert]

On Sunday, September 9th, there was a concert at the Yonsei University outdoor amphitheater.  The concert featured Brave Guys, Shin Bora, DJ Doc, IU, Dynamic Duo, Ajaxx, Fiestar, Kara, 4Minute, Sistar, Phantom, C-Clown, Ulala Session, Norazo, Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae and Beast (some of the biggest names in South Korea's music industry).  I've been a fan of Korean music for quite some time now so I was excited to go to this concert!!  It was a great experience seeing so many stars perform, so here are some pictures from that night!

The lines to get into the amphitheater were SO LONG!

Shin Bora and the Brave Guys

DJ Doc

IU [One of my favorite artists!]

Dynamic Duo

Ajaxx

Fiestar

Kara

4Minute

Sistar

Phantom

C-Clown

Ulala Session [They were amazing live]

Norazo

Tiger JK and Yoon Mirae [Great performance!]

Beast [One of the top Idol Kpop guy groups]

Shin Bora and the Brave Guys again! [They were the emcees throughout the concert]

Even though I've only been to a few concerts in my life, this was definitely the number one best concert I've ever attended!  I am looking forward to many more performances of Korean musicians throughout the rest of this year. :)