Surprise, everyone! We’ve got a special guest post today! 🥳

Our very own Princess Jasmine went on a fangirl trip to Seoul not too long ago, and has generously put lots of time, effort and heart into this post, to share her experience with us!

Thank you, Princess Jasmine, for taking us along with you, so that we can holiday in Seoul vicariously. 😁

KFG ❤️

PS: For more fangirl travel adventures, you might like to also check out MC‘s guest post, on her trip to Korea.

Stories from my South Korea Travel

First of all, many thanks to KFG (dear Jjang) for accepting to publish this writing in her blog and also being very patient with me in terms of the timeline.

As I sit down to write this, it’s been exactly 8 weeks since I returned from my crazy trip the whole of Dec 2023 to South Korea (SK), Hong Kong (HK) and Japan (travelled solo after 8 long years and my first extensive holiday post-Covid 😭).

I was actually a bit apprehensive at first about travelling to SK.

The reasons being: I had spent the last 4 years watching and enjoying K-dramas a lot and have some special memories with both Ji Chang Wook (JCW) and Kim Nam Gil (KNG) having attended their fan-meets all over SE Asia.

So, what if I visit SK and find the reality being completely different, the people not being so friendly, language issues (as I don’t speak Korean), food options as I am a vegetarian etc.

But thankfully, all my fears were unfounded and I had an amazing time in both Seoul and Jeonju (the only two places that I visited in this SK trip).

Also many thanks to MC for sharing her SK travel experience in the blog and addressing my concerns, and to KFG for encouraging my travel in general and reminding me to dress up well for the very cold winter in SK.

Day 1

I landed in Seoul Incheon airport on Dec 1 morning and my first impressions dealing with the wi-fi rental/international taxi counter was all good.

Especially the manager at the taxi counter spoke good English and assured me that the taxi driver speaks English as well and I need not be concerned. Gestures like these are re-assuring for female solo travellers visiting a new country.

I had a smooth check-in at the hotel (the staff spoke good English) which was strategically located at in Myeongdong right next to the famous street food market and opposite the Lotte Young Plaza store.

I could view the iconic Namsan tower having featured in many K-dramas including my favourite drama “Live Up to Your Name (LUTYN)” and the market area from the window of my room.

And by evening the Lotte store area was decked up in Xmas lights with “My Dearest (MD)” wish as their theme (this drama was so well-loved by many people in Patreon including myself).

It was also the same day that the “Welcome to Samdal-ri (WTS)” team comprising JCW and Shin Hye-sun were having a press conference to talk about that drama.

A dear friend of mine (Lisa the admin of JCW Global Supporters team) did share the location where the event was happening so that I could go and see JCW after the event (like those fans who wait patiently to meet their idol at the airport/hotel lobbies/streets etc).

I would have definitely done this on a different day (at least for the fun of it) but for that day I was concerned as it was my first day in Seoul ever and I didn’t want to get lost or get embarrassed.

By evening I stepped out and walked to Cheonggyecheon stream (a good 15-minute safe walk from the hotel) and sat there and enjoyed the lights/vibe of the place (thus re-living all the memories of my favourite drama “Lovestruck in the City (LSITC)” as the stream plays an important role in that drama).

Seoul is definitely very cold in Dec (compared to Tokyo given their similar weather conditions and geographical proximity) and I could really feel the chillness in the air.

Though I was outside in Seoul for the first time I felt at home with the surroundings (except for the cold weather) in the sense that I didn’t feel odd or that I was in a different country.

Maybe it was the familiarity associated with watching many K-dramas that gave me that feeling (TBH not sure actually).

Day 2

This could very well be my “K-drama Fangirl Day.”

In the morning I spent time with the Indonesia KNG fan group (comprising of 6 people who were also visiting SK) doing all things related to KNG and in the afternoon I spent time with a JCW fan friend (who was also visiting SK from Singapore).

The short back-story to our SK trip:

Both me and my Indonesian friends had connected initially at the Taipei fan-meet of KNG in Aug 2023 and decided to attend his fan-concert in Dec in Seoul (this concert happens every year same time in Dec to collect funds for his NGO Gilstory).

A dear friend Finny from that group had already attended the 2022 fan-concert and hence knew the details.

But by mid-Nov KNG changed that event to a well-meaning crowdfunding campaign (where fans can donate directly or contribute through a photo-session project) but individually we decided to go ahead with the trip.

On hindsight I think we made a good decision. (And we all managed to attend KNG fan-meet in Ho Chi Minh that happened only a few days before our SK trip and we all had a great time there 😇)

We first visited the Yakhyeon Cathedral that features extensively in the drama “The Fiery Priest (FP)”. This was my gateway drama to becoming the KNG fan that I am today and it was the case with many of them in that group as well.

The autumn leaves were still around and it was a charming little quiet place and we spent a considerable time here reliving all the drama memories.

Coincidentally “The Fiery Priest 2” is coming out in the fall of 2024 and hopefully the Cathedral still has some significance in that drama.

Lisa later pointed out that this was the same Cathedral that features in the drama “The K2” as well. I know KFG dislikes “The K2” and hence I will move on to talk about the next place 🙃.

We next visited the Gilstory office (this is the agency that KNG actually owns and works for).

It was closed for Saturday and we all had some harmless fun here taking pics.

TBH I would have never visited this place if not for the audacious Indonesian friends (these are some very empowered women and have great jobs/career but the kind of things we do as “fangirls” is sometimes super-crazy in a good harmless way).

If KNG ever gets to see the CCTV footage outside his office on that given day I am very sure he will be like “what are these girls doing outside my office” 😂.

And finally we went to have lunch at the Korean restaurant that is frequented by KNG and other notable K-actors (not sure if they all still come but I did see their pics/signatures displayed).

It was a simple neighbourhood Korean restaurant with a friendly vibe and the food tasted really good and fresh.

Two other South Korean friends (who are also KNG fans and we all know each other for some time now) joined us for lunch.

It’s strange to think how a group of Indonesians, two South Koreans and an Indian origin person are all connected just by the love we share for a K-actor that we mostly see on our screens. The “Hallyu Wave” has to be duly credited for this possibility.

After lunch, I went to Bukchon Hanok Village to meet the Singaporean friend and we walked quite a bit to locate the “butterfly house” from LSITC.

It is a lovely Hanok (traditional Korean house) where JCW lives in that drama (he actually plays an architect and this house blends in well with the vibe of that drama).

The house was not open for visitors and I am not sure how it’s being used currently. So we just peeked through the door and took some pics.

And we also managed to locate the place (very nearby) where Kim Ji-won (who played the FL in LSITC) would be waiting for the rains to stop and JCW would go to meet her there with an umbrella.

That entire sequence is very lovely and beautifully acted out by both of them. We even spotted umbrellas in the nearby shop but joked that we don’t have JCW (or someone similar) to come by.

Jokes apart, the character Park Jae-won played by JCW in LSITC is one of my favourite characters ever in any story format and hence visiting the locations of this drama is a memorable experience. And thanks to Lisa again for sharing the location details.

On our way back we stopped at the Sulwhasoo flagship store in Bukchon and did some shopping.

I really recommend this place for an afternoon high tea/ shopping for exquisite Korean tea/snacks. It is actually a Hanok-themed store with a lovely ambience.

And I stayed up late (11 pm KST) to watch the 1^st episode of WTS. Honestly watching this drama in Seoul is a highlight as JCW was one of the main reasons that helped me connect with SK and K-dramas in general.

Day 3

This could very well be “The King: Eternal Monarch (TKEM) Day” as I had lovely memories at the Gwanghwamun Square that features in TKEM. But first let me talk about my Namsan Tower visit.

By noon I took the Seoul City Bus Tour from Sejongno: the bus travels along/stops at famous tourist spots and I could get-on and get-off the bus at any of those stops for the entire day.

I spotted some nice places like Namsangol Hanok Village, Changgyeonggun Palace, Changdeokgung Palace which I hope to visit in my next trip. (And for nostalgia the night-view version of the Bus Tour gets featured in our favourite drama “Her Private Life”)

I got off at the Namsan Tower stop from where the Tower entrance can be easily reached by walk.

The Tower is located in the Namsan mountain and the short bus ride along the mountain was scenic.

I saw some people trekking along the mountain path and this is something that I would like to try in a warmer season 👍.

I didn’t get to visit the Tower per se or take the escalator to the top (as shown in the drama LUTYN). Actually I thought I will come back another day but unfortunately it didn’t happen.

But I did enjoy the wider amazing view of Seoul city from here and walked a bit along the trek path.

And the one scene that stays in my mind vividly is the afternoon sun shining brightly amidst the cold weather and the tall grasses all dried up swaying in the wind.

I remember seeing and liking this tall grass scenery from the drama “Chuno: The Slave Hunters” and more recently MD.

Hopefully my pic here will help:

I returned back by evening to visit the Gwanghwamun Square that houses the statue of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and the statue of King Sejong. The Gyeongbokgung Palace is at one end of the Square and behind that is the Blue House.

A short back-story: TKEM is one my favourite K-dramas though I got to watch this only as late as Aug 2023.

And in general I don’t have much opinion about Lee Min-ho’s (LMH) acting but he totally bowled me over in this drama as the King, a Mathematician and a long-last lover.

Maybe it was the Mathematician role that helped me connect as I love numbers and of course I have a soft spot for time-travel stories done well.

As a TKEM super-fan, I was all excited to visit the Square as this is where LMH enters dashingly on a white horse and meets Kim go-eun (the FL and she plays a cop in that drama) for the first time.

I took the customary photos but was having difficulty in taking a selfie and a cop who was patrolling the area did notice that. Of course I was too shy to approach him for help.

As I walked along and reached the statue of King Sejong, he approached me and asked politely if I would need any help in taking a selfie. I was only too glad and obliged.

He was generally amiable and had a slim built-up and was kind enough to spend a minute or so in taking pictures of me against the statue. I thanked him and walked for a few minutes only to realise that I never asked for his name.

So I walked back and introduced myself and asked for his name (his name is Lee) and chatted up a bit on my travel to SK and that I like JCW and KNG (I mentioned their names in general whenever I met any South Korean: I guess I was being that proud fangirl but thinking back now I really don’t know why 🙃).

I showed him the KNG figurine (it’s actually a keychain I hang in my handbag all the time and the figurine is from the movie “Emergency Declaration” where KNG plays a pilot). He thought it was a cop but I let him know that it was a pilot.

Of course in a different age/time I would have extended that conversation but since I was solo travelling in a new country I was cautious and had to conclude and move on.

In summary it was a lovely memory and had some similarities with that scene from TKEM.

Whilst walking back from the Square to the hotel, I stopped by at the Cheonggyecheon stream and this time around I went to the exact location along the stream where JCW used to wait out in LSITC (courtesy Lisa again 😊).

Later in the week it was pointed out to me that this stream gets featured in LUTYN as well (not sure how I missed that).

Also Korean Tourism Organisation Seoul Center is located here and a huge video was playing in the Center ground floor screen with birthday wishes for Jin (member of boyband BTS and his birthday was on 4^th Dec the next day).

Day 4

In the morning, I visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace with an English-speaking South Korean guide. The guide Mr. Alan explained a lot of details about the Palace history in those short 2 hours.

I watched the changing of guards’ ceremony and went around the Palace grounds and did some souvenir shopping.

The Palace front yards can be crowded with tourists but if you manage to walk past that then you will find some nice peaceful places to enjoy the vibe of the Palace.

I had a good look at the main throne hall and it was beautifully set-up with elaborate paintings on the walls and ceilings.

It was lovely to look at the waning half-moon from the Palace grounds even during the daytime and amidst all the tourists. And I can only imagine how gorgeous it would be on the night of a full-moon.

No wonder historical K-dramas have such epic romance stories (I now totally get the feeling that Namgoong Min (NGM) was reminiscing about whenever he looked at the full-moon in MD 🤩).

In the late afternoon, I went to Yeouido Hangang Park from where you can take the Han River cruise.

It was a riverside park and the whole area was so peaceful far away from the bustling life of Seoul.

Though the leaves from the trees had all withered away in the winter weather, it was still pleasant to walk around. I had a relaxing time watching the birds chirping away and the seagulls flying out.

I stayed back until sunset and it was beautiful to see the setting sunlight reflected upon the buildings.

It was Jin’s birthday and I saw many fans taking pics with his figurines amongst the trees that was decked up with his name/pics (saw “Astronaut” pic which is a lovely solo song by Jin and co-written with Coldplay).

Day 5 and 6

I visited Jeonju Hanok Village located in the Jeollabuk-do province along with my Indonesian friends and stayed overnight at a quiet little Hanok “Beautiful House”. Thanks to Finny for inviting me to join them for the Jeonju trip.

In the morning of day 5, I took a KTX train from Seoul to Jeonju and then reached the village by a short taxi ride from the train station. Alternatively you can take a direct bus from Seoul to the village which is what my friends did.

I chose the train option to experience the train journey in SK and I was impressed with KTX in general (train timings, ticket reservation, staff helpfulness, cleanliness all good).

Just that I had expected Seoul station to be similar to Tokyo station which is enormous and crowded and yet has a vibe of its own. Comparatively Seoul station is much smaller and train traffic much less busy.

We all met in the late afternoon at the Hanok and then took a stroll through the alleys of the village and had dinner at a restaurant named “45-year-old traditional bibimbap Jongno Hall”.

Apparently Jeonju Bibimbap is famous and the restaurant served me the vegetarian version which tasted delicious.

After dinner we took a walk around and the village was beautifully lit up for the night. I recommend anyone visiting Jeonju to stay here overnight to enjoy the quietness/beauty of the village as the sunset sets and it is a different feeling altogether to spend a night in a typical Hanok in the village in the province.

In the morning of day 6, we visited Omokdae (a hilltop overlooking the Hanok village).

On the way to the hilltop through the village, we stopped by at various locations to enjoy the autumn leaves in all it varied colours. TBH I had never expected to see autumn leaves in this trip and hence was happily surprised to see them in Jeonju.

The hilltop has a traditional banquet hall that hosted the first King Taejo of the Joseon Dynasty and hence the place is of historical significance.

We spent some time here soaking in the picturesque scenery of the place and took a lot of pictures and shot some fun videos (history be damned in the era of social media 😜).

On our way back, we found a lovely Hanok-themed café “Ireuri Café” and spent some time there.

Special mention of the delicious sweet potato latte that I had here.

And you can easily spend an entire afternoon in the café soaking in the beauty of the Hanok and the surroundings.

Note that the main village area can be touristy but if you manage to walk around, you will find by-lanes housing some lovely cafés /restaurants.

By late afternoon we wound up our Jeonju trip and headed back to Seoul.

A quick mention here about the amazing innkeeper of the Beautiful House Hanok.

She reminded me of those small-town womenfolk as in the dramas “When the Camellia Blooms” and “WTS” but minus the overt noisiness that K-dramas tend to project them as.

In other words, she was pleasant and came across as a very hard-working person taking good care of the guests with her limited English.

We both had fun chatting up on NGM as she likes him and thinks highly of him. And she finds KNG handsome. She didn’t have much opinion on JCW but was watching WTS though 😜.

Day 7

First I visited Starfield library located in the COEX Starfield Mall.

I really didn’t see anyone intently reading or buying books and TBH it’s impossible to read there peacefully amongst all those tourist crowd.

But the mall in general seemed like a good place to hang out and do window shopping and the popular 4-floor K-pop merchandise store “KTown4U” is located here.

I finally found a Korean vegetarian restaurant in the mall and had lunch over there.

I also had hot chocolate in the Godiva shop here as NGM was endorsing Godiva and the store had put up a nice picture of him for the endorsement.

Good choice by Godiva as NGM seems like a sweet person both on and off-screen (I had seen his sweetest possible version in the drama “The Undateables” in mid-Nov just before my SK trip 😊).

But the highlight of the day has to be the Moonlight Edition cruise that I finally managed to take from Yeouido Hangang Park after sunset.

It was a good 70-minute ride along the Han River and the cruise goes past a few bridges and you get to see a glittering night view of the buildings and the bridges. The whole vibe hit me pleasantly different and I made some good memories.

Day 8

In the morning, I did a photo-shoot of myself in the traditional Korean dress (Hanbok) at the Gyeongbokgung Palace.

The photographer Mr. Jun did a great job and spoke good English and the final pictures came out very well. The shop suggested by him had many colourful dresses to rent from.

You do feel very different wearing a Hanbok in the sense that I felt very prim and poised as if I was about to serve His Majesty 😊.

Note that I am used to wearing traditional dresses (in my case the South Indian silk saree of six yards) yet the feel of being in a Hanbok was lovely and I am happy I got to do this photo-shoot.

In the late afternoon, I met J (the South Korean KNG fan friend that I had met earlier on day 2) and we had early dinner together and chatted up on many things.

It’s a good memory of how we both first met in Bangkok and then Taipei and then Ho Chi Minh and finally in Seoul. I am really thankful for her friendship these past few months as I knew many things on both SK and KNG from her.

Another South Korean KNG fan friend whom I had met in Bangkok joined us later.

We all went to a photo-booth in Myeongdong to take photo with KNG’s image to contribute to his “Life4Cut” photo-session project under his broader crowdfunding campaign for senior residential safety work.

Day 9

This was definitely a very long and meaningful and equally tiring day. In the morning, I visited the historic Jingwansa Buddhist temple located in the Bukhansan Park amidst the beautiful Bukhansan mountainous range in Seoul.

Thanks to tour guide Mr. Alan who suggested this place.

From the beautiful temple entrance I walked up to the main courtyard passing through some bridges with stream running along.

The courtyard was huge and this area has many halls, each dedicated for a certain prayer purpose. I spent some time in the main shrine and the people inside this shrine were very welcoming of me and I just felt at home in front of the Buddha over here.

The whole ambience of the place was so peaceful and serene and there were no tourists except for me. I also had food (red mung bean porridge and lotus biscuit) at the eatery inside the temple premises and it tasted pleasant.

A quick backstory: I am studying Buddhism formally under a particular tradition since late 2021.

It took me decades and a lot of courage to finally leave behind my South Indian Hindu religious practices and take upon Buddhism as a way of life. Honestly this journey has not been easy so far and yet I am persisting through it all.

I wish I had spent an entire day here.

Note that many Buddhist temples in SK offer templestay program where you get to stay 2 days/1 night in the temple and participate in their prayer/meditation/other temple activities during your stay.

I had initially booked a templestay at the Baekyangsa Temple featured in the Netflix series “Chef’s Table” with the now famous Buddhist nun Jeong Kwan.

But once in Seoul, I got worried if I could stay in the mountainous region in the harsh winter weather and hence cancelled the same. I am hoping to visit SK again in the warmer season just to do a 2-week Buddhist temples tour and attend some templestay programs.

I noticed that many Buddhist nuns (Bhikkhunis) were managing the temple activities here. I deciphered the same when I watched that series on Baekyangsa temple.

In the case of Jingwansa temple, it was only when headed by a bhikkhuni Choe Jin-Gwan post-1963 that the temple was re-built to its present-day beautiful condition after being ravaged by the fire during the Korean War.

Having visited many Buddhist temples across Asia, I can safely say that this is a rarity.

Even in the deeply established Tibetan Buddhism tradition, it is only in the recent decade that female monkhood is encouraged and accepted into the mainstream.

I get the impression that SK is decades ahead in this aspect and I am definitely surprised as SK is generally known to be conservative on matters concerning its womenfolk. I must study this in detail though for better understanding purposes.

In the afternoon, I roamed around in the Shinsegae Department store in Gangnam and later in the Lotte Department store in Lotte World Tower and both these places were super-crowded as it was a Saturday.

I was actually trying to locate the Rado shop in those stores in the hope that the shop would have JCW’s ad as he is latest brand ambassador for Rado watches in Asia (so much so for me being a Buddhist really 😂).

Anyways I couldn’t find any and in fact I never saw any hoardings/ad of JCW in SK. (whereas the Rado shop in the busy Tsim Sha Tsui area in HK was decked with huge hoardings of JCW and I had a great time visiting that shop).

I visited the observation deck at the 120^th floor of the Lotte World Tower in the evening after sunset and managed to see a 360-degree view of the Seoul city all decked up in the night lights.

Later I went to meet my Indonesian friends at Hongdae for dinner as they were all leaving for Jakarta the next day.

We had a good time especially in the photo-booth getting a group photo together.

I also managed to get a lovely photo of myself with KNG’s image as part of “Life4Cut” campaign.

Hongdae is actually a hotspot for youngster and the whole area was very crowded for a Saturday night.

Day 10

On the last day, I visited Bukchon Hanok Village again.

I enjoyed my walk through the smaller alleys of the village and did some souvenir shopping and visited some nice cosy cafés.

This village is actually a very lovely place and I can easily spend an entire day here doing nothing.

For all the “Coffee Prince” drama lovers: I visited a café “ONE Bukchon House Café” in one of the alleys for lunch and the barista there reminded me so much of both the drama and Kim Jae-wook in that drama.

TBH I visited quite a few cafés in Seoul in these 10 days yet it was only in this place that I got the “Coffee Prince” feel.

On my way back, I found a small museum in the village that was hosting a free event to celebrate the 50 years of diplomatic relations between India and Republic of Korea 👍.

I checked that event for a short time and it was mainly on Indian and South Korean food history.

In the late evening, I did last minute shopping for souvenirs, beauty products and snacks in Myeongdong.

I found a good K-pop merchandise shop “All That K” and bought some BTS souvenirs as gifts (I don’t know anything on K-pop except for BTS maybe).

Moments

I vividly recall three moments in the trip that really had me.

1st Moment

First one was on day 3 when I was sitting by the Cheonggyecheon stream in the late evening and suddenly all the circumstances that had led me to watch K-dramas so intently over the last 4 years and like JCW so deeply came to mind and I teared up.

Anyways it is what it is and life goes on (as in the BTS song).

2nd Moment

The second one was on day 5 when I was in Jeonju and was about to sleep for the night.

The previous day Suga had released a video interview with KNG for “Suchwita” web series and I started watching it.

Actually Jin is a big fan of KNG and Suga did this interview to coincide with Jin’s birthday.

It dawned on me suddenly that in the beginning of the year I had no idea of who KNG or Suga was and here I am in Dec in Jeonju in SK watching an interview between these two people whom I have come to respect a lot for their talent and persona (especially my KNG adoration).

I got all emotional and I couldn’t watch any longer and had to complete the video the next day.

3rd Moment

The third one was when I was at the Buddhist temple for all the reasons that I had stated under day 9 temple trip.

Food

The street food in SK is simply amazing (I really missed this in Japan).

Since I stayed close to the Myeongdong street food market, I had most of my dinners there.

I tried these food items (all vegetarian but the batter may contain egg) and all were good: Tteokbokki, Hotteok, Hweori Gamja (tornado potato), Bungeoppang, Kimchi pancake, Coin bread with cheese, Corn on the cob.

My vote would be for Hotteok (cinnamon filling) and Tornado potato and both tasted heavenly for the cold winter.

I also had Yakgwa (traditional Korean sweet) in many places and really liked it.

Another notable mention would be the cafés in SK.

I can easily spend 10 days in Seoul just visiting the cafés and chilling out and enjoying the food/beverages. Even the cakes in Seoul Starbucks were better than the ones in Singapore Starbucks.

On a side note, I did find the famed “Alley Café” that comes in the drama TKEM in HK and liked the brown sugar deerioca fresh milk tea that I had there.

In summary, SK is a food haven and I was spoilt for food choices and didn’t have any issues as feared.

Broad Observations

The people in general in Seoul were amiable, pleasant and were going about with their life.

Also thanks to that person in one of my subway rides where he helped me voluntarily and even confirmed the number of stations that I need to pass through for my final stop.

I did see many of those “officegoers going together for dinner after work” as so commonly portrayed in K-dramas and they were all engaged in fun banter amongst themselves whilst walking.

The women were better dressed than the men and there seems to be no dearth for good-looking/well-behaved women in general (so I am not sure why K-dramas still have those secondary male characters who are madly-in-love with the main female lead for years together and refuse to move on 🤔).

The average men on the street though well put-together were nowhere near the awesomeness of the K-actors.

Now this is totally different in Japan and the average Japanese men on the street can give tough competition to these K-actors on any normal day (I talk this in detail in my Japan travel stories).

A note about the tour guide Mr. Alan here: He has done his Masters in the UK and worked for reputable companies in SK in senior management roles before taking a sabbatical from corporate work.

I didn’t know this on day 2 when I first met him but we chatted up quite a bit on day 9 during our temple trip.

He had visited many countries in his corporate life and it was in those visits that he took a liking to tour guide work and got his license and now pursues the same.

He mentioned how Westerners now recognise South Korea independently from China and Japan in Greater Asia thanks to the global reach of “Hallyu aka Korean Wave”.

I also got the sense that South Korean economy has genuinely benefitted from “Hallyu” especially the tourism, retail and entertainment sector.

I did see lots of women tourists (travelling either solo or as a group) from both Western and Asian countries in Seoul and Jeonju (which wasn’t the case in Japan).  And I am convinced that they all have some K-drama /K-pop connect that made them visit SK.

As much as I enjoyed my trip, I am aware that South Korean society, politics and entertainment sector in particular do have their fair share of problems as much as any other society in the world today.

But I hope that the new-found international recognition and access to wider worldview will help SK evolve into a more inclusive and compassionate and prosperous country thus benefitting all its citizens.

And we global K-drama lovers wish this much more than others as this positive change would then eventually get reflected in their K-dramas and how they treat their celebrities.

Sincere thanks to my Indonesian friends and Lisa for offering some valid suggestions and permission to write about them; to JJ for doing an initial draft reading and offering her comments; and to all other friends/people that I have mentioned in this writing.

Thank You and here’s to many more years of Happy K-drama watching 💐🥂❤️.

P.S – I am a reasonably travelled person in that: I had worked in the USA for 3 years, studied in the UK for 2 years and travelled a bit in Europe, travelled to a lot of countries in Greater Asia, had lived in Japan for a year and travelled quite a bit there prior to that, and currently working/living in Singapore for 10 plus years.

In other words, I am culturally well-exposed and enjoy travelling in general. And yet my first trip to South Korea will always be a special memory 🙏.

~Princess Jasmine