A week in Seoul. Part 1.

Before I start writing about my story in Seoul, I want to tell you that there is a special reason why I came to Seoul. I like K-Pop, and its been few years since i like it. So, ever since then I really wish to come to South Korea. That year in 2013, I finally had the chance and had an amazing trip.

Seoul at night (cr; google)

For someone that like K-Pop, going to South Korea is one of their dream. Its one of the best cities where modern lifestyle still influence by traditional culture.

I have never been to South Korea before and its always been my goal to come there. In 2013, I had chance to come to Seoul. Its not easy planning to go there, especially when my parents didn't come with me and I only went there with my brother. We both never been to Seoul, so its definitely a new experience for us.

At the beginning of 2013, I only think that I need to come to Seoul that year, not having any real plan or an exact date. But in March, my favorite idol group 2PM announce that on June, they are planning to have a final concert of their asia tour in Seoul. So when I know about it, I started to plan my trip to Seoul. First thing to do is definitely ask my parents and my brother. Since my parents couldn't come, I need to ask my brother to come with me. Its a good thing that he agrees to come and after that we plan everything, from booking a flight, room to stay and getting a visa to Seoul.

I booked a flight on April. Its pretty expensive because I use AirAsia but it cost me $530. But because it was 2 months away before I went to Seoul, I booked it anyway. So after I booked a flight, me and my brother try to find a good place to stay. My friend that have been to Seoul before, suggest us to stay in an area called Garosugil or Gangnam. She says that its a modern area where there are lots of shops and good place to eat. So we try to look in that area and found a very good place in Garosugil. The room cost around $78 a night. Its not to expensive, but when you come to South Korea, they have lots of good and cheap place to stay. Mostly the cheap ones are not hotel but a room in apartment that are rent by their owner, and the facilities that are offer are much better than hotel. My room have a TV, washing machine, super fast wifi and a even kitchen with a good cooking utensils. So its definitely a good place to stay.

There is a twin bed and a TV.

Kitchen and washing machine

After booking a flight and a room, my problem now is getting the concert tickets. Its not easy. Its even harder that booking a flight ticket or a room. Its because 2PM have lots of fans, not only in South Korea but other countries too, and when they announce they are having a final concert, their fans are rushing to get the tickets. So when they started to sell the tickets in an online store called Interpark, the tickets went sold out in just few minutes. When you are planning to come there to see them but didn't get the tickets, there is no other thing you could do but be panic. Luckily, I told my room owner that I'm going there to see 2PM concert and he agreed to help me to find the tickets with the original price. By the time he told me that he found the tickets, it was already few weeks before I went to Seoul, so it feels like miracle.

So on 20th June, we went to Seoul. The concert itself was on 21st, so when we got there it was already the day of the concert. We rushed from Incheon Airport to Garosugil using an airport bus. It only cost 10,000won (Korean Won is South Korea currency), its the same as $10. About 45 minutes from airport to Garosugil and it was still 10AM, so there is no traffic yet. When we arrived in our apartment, we already can get in our room because apartments in Korea uses an entry door know with keypad. So before we went to Seoul, our owner already gave us the password. We rest for few minutes and went outside to look around Garosugil and find a place to eat. But we couldn't look around too long because the concert itself starts at 6PM, so we need to get there around 4/5PM. Our owner already have the tickets and when we met he gave us the tickets. I hurriedly went to the concert place, it was in Jamsil Stadium located in Jamsil. It took us around 15 minutes to get there using a train. By the time we got there it was already packed with people looking around the stadium. It was good thing that we still have time to look around the place.

The huge banner right in front of the stadium.

The area are full of 2PM fans from around the countries, rice wraths for the members and even a line of people trying to get the free banner that are given out by other fans. It was a exciting experience seeing all of that but I'm more excited to see the concert. At 5PM, the door opens and we get in the stadium. I got a good seat because it was still in the 2nd floor, and our row are full of fans from Japan. 2PM are also famous in Japan and fans from there also flew to Seoul to see their concert. Its definitely new experience watching a concert outside my country and surrounded by people from other countries like Japan and Thailand. It was definitely an unforgettable memories.

Fans walking around Jamsil Indoor Stadium

Rice wreath that were given by the fans from around the world for congratulating them for their concert.

I got a free banner and fan.

The concert starts and it was a blast!! I had so much fun even though I'm so tired and my brother also enjoyed the concert, but not much as I do. It was one of the best 2PM concert that i've went, because it was held in their own country and it was the finale. The fans even prepared a special event for 2PM.

This was taken from my seat inside the stadium.

The concert lasted for 3 hours and finishes at 9PM. I didn't know where to go and could only think about food, so after a lot of thinking we finally decided to go to Gangnam. After we got there, we try to find a restaurant and finally found a good place. It was a fried rice restaurant that cooks in your table. The food was delicious! and cost us around $20. We were so full and the only thing we need is a good rest. From Garosugil to Gangnam isn't that far so it took us few minutes to get to our room. Finally we got to our room and ended my amazing day with a good rest.

So for this post, I will give you tips when you come to Seoul to see a concert

My tips for you:

• If you plan to come to Korea to see a concert, first thing you should definitely do is to buy the concert tickets. I have experienced panicking not getting the concert tickets and at that time I already booked my flight and room. Its not easy getting the tickets especially when your favorite K-Pop group or singer is famous. People not only in South Korea but other countries will try to buy the tickets, so you should search for infos of how to get the ticket and if you have friends in South Korea, you should better ask them for help.
• Right before coming to Korea and you already have tickets, you should ask your room owner or maybe your friends in Korea of how to get to the concert place. Its better to have a plan when you are going to the concert, so you wouldn't be late, and in some cases you still need to exchange your tickets. You also could try to find info of a free banner give out. Fans will announced (usually on Twitter) that they will give out free banner or a fan.
• Go grab a meal before the concert. When the concert last for three hours and you will cheer as hard as you can, you definitely don't want to have an empty stomach. You will need lots of strength for the cheering and just to stay fit during the concert. Especially when you have a standing area tickets, you don't want to faint and miss out the concert. 
• Get there early! Getting to the concert early is a good idea because you will want to look around the concert hall or to queue to get a good spot during the concert. There will also be free banner or fan give out that start way before the concert.
• Try to socialize with other fans. Since you will meet people with the same thing in common, you don't have to worry of not having any thing to talk about, and meeting a new friend is a good thing. You could share stories or maybe even plan to go to the next concert together. So try to be brave and talk with other people there.
• The last thing you need to do is just to go inside the concert and wait till the concert start. I assure you that you will have a blast watching it!

Last but not least, a colorful photo of the concert stage during the encore.