5Extracts

It's been a while since my last post. The end of 2015 and the first couple of weeks of 2016 were hectic. With family matters to attend to and traveling for winter break, I had to put a pause to update this blog. Now that I'm back, I'm slowly starting to catch up on back logged pictures and actually have time to edit again. So expect more posts coming your way soon :) 

For my first post in 2016, visited 5Extracts (파이브익스트랙츠) in Hongdae (홍대) with Soo Zee for an impromptu coffee session. Have been hearing about how good the coffee selection is at this place, but never actually been here before, since I don't drink coffee and all. But since Soo Zee suggested the place, we went. The place is actually pretty cozy. Not too big, not too small, and it was pretty quite, which is kinda nice so you don't have to scream at your friends when you talk them. But then again, I came on a weekday night, so things might be different on weekends. Anyways, definitely go try this place out if you want a good cup of coffee around Hongdae.

ps: Hope everybody is having a great first month of the year! Can't believe January is almost over. 

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Welcoming Fall

When the summer heat has finally left the city and you constantly hearing the crisp sounds of those stepped on fall leaves on the pavements, you'll realize that fall is finally here (that and the time it takes you to get out of the house became longer cos you have to put on layers now :P). Seeing the leaves changing colors in Seoul is one of my favorite moments that I think I'll be always looking forward to. I've been to Olympic park (올림픽공원) in spring before and I can definitely say that coming to this place in Fall is like visiting a whole different place. The moment I arrived on this street, I was amazed by the colors of the lined ginko trees (은행 나무) that are neatly standing on both sides of the sidewalk. Maybe it's the change of scenery, or maybe I've just never lived in a city where I can enjoy as much fall foliage, but this view was quite something to me. All I wanna do was just threw a blanket, have a picnic with some friends right in the middle of this side walk, and enjoy this view. Maybe for my next visit ;)

p.s: things have been pretty crazy this past few weeks (and still are), so I'll try my best to post new posts. bear with me :) 

Boriam Temple

The last destination of our Namhae (남해) road trip was Boriam Temple in Geumsan Mountain (금산 보리암). The temple is located at the top of Geumsan Mountain so there was a little bit of hiking (and a short bus ride) involved for us to get there. The mountain is surrounded by small islands that spread across the Namhae sea which make the view from the top really beautiful. It's no mystery as to why there were lots of locals presence in this place. Most of them are older people with their full hiking attire, but I swear, I think they like come here everyday or something cos all of them looked like they're walking up the hiking trail like it was nothing and they all walked faster than me (shame on me, I know).

Ken, Noah and Hannah decided to do a little bit more hiking to the higher part of the mountain. But since we got there pretty late in the afternoon plus it looked like it's gonna rain soon, I opted to wait for them in the temple area since I was the slowest amongst all of us and didn't want to hold the group back. And I thought it'd be cool if I could get a shot of them from this side of the mountain. They made their way up in no time and back to the temple right when the rain started to fall and a couple of minutes before closing time.

Although we left the park right when the park was closed, we did miss the last bus down the mountain and had to call for a cab. But then, when we were waiting around under the drizzling rain for our taxi in the parking lot, a nice lady saw us and offered a ride down the mountain in her husband's car. We gladly took her offer, cancelled our cab, and four of us squished at the back of their sedan. And luckily we did, cos 5 minutes after we got in, the rain started to pour heavily. The husband was really nice too. He made conversations and asked us questions on our short ride down. We said our thank you when they dropped us off right at our car and scrambling to get into the car to avoid getting drenched by the rain. And with that, our adventure at Namhae came to an end. 

p.s: to the nice ahjumma and ahjussi who gave us a lift down the mountain, 감사합니다! :)

Read the previous parts of this series here:
Boseong (pt.1), Beach Break (pt.2), Damyang (pt.3), Field of Tulips (pt.4), Making Memories (pt.5), Dumo Village (pt.6).

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Special thanks to Noah who drove us around during the whole road trip, to Ken who introduced us to all these places, and to Hannah who has been a great company (and always made sure that I'm okay :P) during this two-day trip. This will forever be my favorite road trip in South Korea :) (until our next epic one at least :P)

Check out their instagram cos they take amazing photos:
@seoul_stateofmind | @noahskim | @hannahmuhh

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Dumo Village

After the two unscheduled pit stops that we had (1st pit stop & 2nd pit stop), we finally arrived at the location that is actually on our itinerary, Dumo Village (두모마을). This place was my favorite location during our road trip. Apart from being a little bit cloudy, the weather was perfect, and with a view like this, how could anybody complain, really. The canola field was really beautiful and everything was in full bloom. You can see rows and rows of this beautiful flower growing on the terraced paddy field.

Up to this point, I've had my fair share of traveling, moving around, living in different cities, and meeting lots of people from all over the world. I can say for sure that the best and most memorable experiences I've had were usually because of the people whom I shared those moments with. The people factor can really make or break an experience. It might sounds cliché, but it's true and finding the right people is something that is not easy to do. Having friends who have similar interests, passions, life principles with you AND with whom you can connect and be real with is like winning the lottery. And at that moment, I felt like I've won three. Plus, we actually got a chance to travel together and shoot together. That's just a big bonus. 

We didn't do anything particularly special at the village, but just the fact that I could share this experience with these three amazing individuals—having fun shooting together, talking and being inspired—was really something that I'm grateful for. This trip is one of my favorite moments during my stay in South Korea and I gotta say, I probably wouldn't enjoyed the view as much as I did without these guys—Hannah, Noah, and Ken. 

(Also, check out Ken's snaps and post on the trip here.)

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Cafe The Yellow

If you wanna try a not-so-classic burger, Cafe The Yellow (더엘로우) located in Yeonnam-dong (연남동) is apparently a pretty popular joint amongst the locals. Why I called their burger 'not-so-classic burger' you might ask? It's because of the runny sauce that they pour on top of the beef patty that makes the burger tastes (and looks) so much different than the American classic burger that I'm used to eating. And since it's pretty popular amongst the locals, I'm guessing that that's how they like they burgers. The portion is pretty fulfilling and they have good fries. If you are up for trying something new, this place is worth going I guess. But for me, I still prefer the classic burger over this ;)

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