Myla in South Korea : K-pop street + K-idol

A topic that I bet everyone is waiting to see, tadaaaaaa.... K-pop. I still remember back in the days when anything about Korea is my absolute everything. I ate, slept, studied and had fun with K-music, K-drama, K-show, and so on. Please don't take me wrong! I still love them as much as I did before but due to heavy school schedule and hectic adult life (yes, I graduated in Dec 12, 2015), I tended to not be up to bar with new boy band groups (all about flower boys lol) or new dramas. I still watch Running Man once in a while and read online newspaper about Korea entertainment though since I still at least want to know what's going on with the industry. However, my life has been quiet subtle nowadays with constant career planning and job searching. I truly miss those days so if you're still in school and have time for Korean dramas, I'm here to show you how awesome my trip was because I got to see face-to-face some of my favorite Korean idols.

After I arrived at Incheon Airport, checked in to Korea, and grabbed my two luggages, I was kinda nervous figuring out a way to get to Yonsei. As I got some instructions from an airport employee, I restlessly waited the airport limousine to Sinchon, which is where Yonsei is located at the area that that employee guided me to go to. As I was waiting, I heard some teenage girls yelling from a far. Because my vision wasn't good, I didn't quiet catch up with what was going on. Plus, I didn't know any Korean so I felt like an alien ignoring that chaotic scene. A moment later, the noise was getting louder and louder as people started running toward my spot. This time, I kinda felt weird because the closer people got, the clearer I saw. OMG, those girls were carrying those big digital cameras that online paparazzi used. I immediately realized that they definitely were chasing after some sort of Korean idols. As I was a fan girl, I had to calm down and tried to open my eyes wider just to see whom those people were that everyone was excitedly yelling to. At that very rare and special moment, Taeyang and Big Bang members were right in front of my eyes. I recognized Taeyang because he was the only one in the group who didn't wear face mask. With a gut feeling, I already had my phone in my hand and set my camera up so I could snap some pictures right away if I was fortunate enough. Since Taeyang was two big steps in front of me, taking photo of him was not difficult. As Big Bang's car was parked right behind the airport bus area, I had an opportunity to watch the whole thing without blinking (I'm being so serious here haha). This was definitely the best experience that welcomed me to the next 6 weeks in Korea because without Big Bang, my experience was just like any other Yonsei students. Mine was a bit more special, you know (wink, wink)!

Taeyang's airport style was so simple and casual. I assumed he didn't have any shows/ events that day.

An up close photo of Taeyang. Guys, trust me! He didn't have a perfect skin. He's just like anybody else. This gave me a complete picture of Korean idol vs. us. He still looks so handsome though. And look at that girl in white T-shirt...a typical K-idol fan haha.

Daesung... I recognized him thanks to his attractive eyes and sexy hair <3

On another day, I went to a store called SPAO Graphic T-Spot at Myeongdong for Exo's fan sign event. I found out about this event online without knowing specifically how everything would go. When I was at the store, there was several security guards and a huge crowd of fans in line in front of the store even though it was only 9:00am. Because I didn't know that only the first 100 people in line since morning was allowed to meet Exo later in the afternoon, I were also in line without knowing. When it was my turn to enter the store, I asked the sale associates and that was when I knew that I missed the chance. Despite the disappointment, I went ahead, took a look around the store and ended up purchasing a few T-shirts as gifts for my family members. You know so well my love for K-idols so I didn't give up my chance. Because the crowd in front of SPAO was getting bigger and bigger over time, I felt like I should not leave and decided to wait till Exo came. However after awhile, I could not stand any longer under such a terrible humidity and hotness, I went to a coffee shop right across the store and sat there instead. Finally I didn't get to stand close to Exo members but I used my spot at the coffee shop to capture the moment when Exo did a greeting to their fans in front of the store. The only two members that I saw were Kai and Baekhuyn. This trip was definitely worth the wait.

Here is the fan sign commercial banner. I saw this a couple of times elsewhere but didn't really know that Exo was seriously a part of this event. Otherwise, I would have better prepared!

A gigantic Exo banner on the side of the store! Korea really knows how to advertise its idol.

I heard those fans reserved their spot at a coffee right across SPAO the day before. I came here when it was 9:00 am and the whole floor was full of fans with huge cameras. They invested every penny for this haha. The cameras were so luxurious.

Another photo of fan girls.. If I was a Korean, I would definitely be one of these people LOL.

The waiting line that I talked about. This section was for people who waited but was not the first 100 people. Maybe another 100 people who came after? No idea :(

Star of the day (JK). He was the main MC for the event

A photo taken from the coffee shop I went to.

Look at the crowd.......A lot of them was foreigners. Who doesn't love Exo?

Exo's van was coming..

A bit closer

Completely passed by...

Kai and Beakhuyn looked so exhausted...

Heart Heart Heart.... Everyone was trying to take picture. You can see it from here.

A photo from the second floor of SPAO after Exo was there waving at their fans...

Did I tell you guys that my younger sister came to Seoul for a few days for her program trip before heading to Japan? Even though she stayed at a hotel that was very close to me, she and I didn't really hang out together because of our different schedule but on a Saturday morning, my sister, her friend and I decided to go to SM building. This wasn't planned at all but we thought what if some SM idols were to be at SM during at that time and we got to see them so despite of the outcome, we went anyway. That was seriously a long walk. SM building should have been way closer to the subway station if it hasn't moved to another place. We had to walk a long way, looked at the building from the park right across and after 45 mins, we went back home. We were still kinda satisfied with our short trip though because we got to walk on the K-pop street and took pictures with statues that were structured under the names of K-pop groups.

Honestly, seeing Korean idols in Seoul is not difficult. I ran into a couple of filming locations in Sinchon, saw a lot of i-dol banner (haha enjoyed every bit of it since I couldn't do something like this in the states anyway), and even my friends saw F(x), Shinee, and Infinite during those 6 weeks. If you're in love with K-idols and want to meet them, join their fan page website to get up to date information. Their schedules should be updated very frequently and thus, you can visit the places that they will be there. Enjoy Korea while you can and good luck!