Getting there

I think I may have tweeted or mentioned in a past post that I was going to Korea and Japan for a short trip. And I did! Back in November 2013. And now in the early hours of Sunday morning I decided to blog about it.

My flight was an AirAsia flight at 9:00pm, from memory. I bought one way to Korea on AirAsia because there was a sale and it was so cheap. $386 with check in luggage and with 2 meals. I had work that day so I had packed properly the night before and shoved everything in the back of my dad's car. The plan was to go to work, catch the train back to my normal station and then have my dad pick me up and then drive me to the airport from there. Which is the super long way for me since I would be in the city for work anyway.

We arrived at the airport and parked first instead of just doing the drop off because I worry that my dad will wander off or something because he's almost 70 and it's much better if I know where he is. I got changed from work clothes to my plane clothes in the car park toilets. This was November so it was pretty warm in Sydney already and it was cold in Korea. I was worried that I under dressed. I wore boyfriend jeans, singlet, t-shirt, jumper, socks, flats, and was holding my blue coat. I was sweating.


Having a pre-flight beer by my lonesome.
After getting through immigration and security I had so much time to kill. Or so I thought. I promised to buy a friend cigarettes from duty free. Like a certain brand and type. So I was messaging him and waiting for him to get back to me. I went to the cigarette counter and the guy there was so nice. I showed him the photo that my friend showed me of the cigarettes he wanted and he had cigarettes that were similar but I had to double check and then they were pretty expensive. My friend wasn't counting on that. He had previously bought the same cigarettes in Hong Kong and they were not as expensive as they were here. Then as my friend was messaging me back saying to get whatever brand the guy at the counter recommended over the P.A. came the final boarding call for my flight. I didn't even hear the first boarding call and I thought there was still enough time. So I ran to the gate (and I didn't even know how far it was), which I probably didn't need to do because turns out I wasn't like the last last person, and I was sweating. Sweating in line and sweating as I got into my window seat.


On ze plane.
By the time I settled into my seat before take off I was like, OMG I am actually on a plane going overseas on my own. It seemed surreal to me because I had wanted to go anywhere overseas, to travel, for a really long time and it was finally here. Somehow I felt accomplished. This is the first time really that I've gone on holiday with my money. Money I earned so, yeah, accomplished, somehow.


Night view from the plane.

Travelling on AirAsia was pretty good. Their in-flight staff was young and gorgeous. Some really nice good looking guys. Like so cute. I was trying to figure out if I could take a photo of one from my seat but I chickened out. Really good service and just generally approachable and warm. Much better than I expected. Also, how are those female flight attendants still looking so good so early in the morning?

The meals came out pretty quickly. I got the Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak. I couldn't open that little plastic packet. I tried and tried and got frustrated and just gave up, which the guy sitting next to me saw and then opened them for me. Which was nice. The Nasi Lemak was okay. I didn't finish it all. I think probably because I was full from the Oporto, which I also didn't finish.




I had brought all these books to read on the plane but I did nothing that I brought with me. I listened to my iPod and slept almost all the way to Kuala Lumpur, where I had to transfer planes. I arrived at Kuala Lumpur's Low Cost Carrier Terminal around 3 or 4 in the morning. It's one of those airports where you walk from the plane onto the tarmac to the terminal. LCCT is small but it's clean and it has WiFi. I've heard stories about people struggling to find seating in LCCT but that was not the case with me. Lots of seats, I guess because it was pretty early in the morning. I was there for about 2 hours and I just checked Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and time passed. I think I was just super tired still even though basically all I had done at that point was sleep.







Back on the plane and still a long way from Korea. I took so many photos of clouds because they're so amazing and beautiful.



Slept on the plane and had kimchi chicken for lunch.



And then I landed in Seoul at around 3:30pm!





To Be Continued!

Stage for the K-Pop Music Fest in Sydney 2011 (and a little Arashi)

Image from http://www.facebook.com/kpopmusicfest. 

My friend tweeted a link to this. I was expecting to actually see the stage all set up and not this graphic. I wonder how long it takes to put together? Wonder if it's up right now? I suppose it would be. This is not a K-Pop Music Fest post. Sorry, if you're deceived! Not really. Some K-Pop Music Fest related stuff at the end.

I saw this and my immediate thought was "Ain't got nothing on Arashi". To wit, this is sort of an Arashi post. They're my favourite thing in the whole world. They're a 5 member male Japanese group and for the past 4 years (2008 to 2011) they've had the privilege of performing at the National Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, Japan. Only one musical group or artist get to perform there a year. What made me think of Arashi was that ANZ Stadium (oh, remember when it was called Stadium Australia and not anything corporate related?) is the Australian equivalent and I just wanted to compare and contrast the stages, is all.

Image from a google image search which led me to this tumblr post.

See how full of people and pretty it is! They even have moving platforms so they move around as much as they can on the floor. They also have platforms that elevate so that people seated higher can see them. Sometimes they're on wires practically flying above the crowds. They have fireworks, water canons and balloons too!

I have VIP seats to the K-Pop concert so hopefully I'm not too far from the stage. I wonder how much you'll actually see from the seats. It's so far back. I wonder if they'll move people forward if there's still room on the floor ... hmm.

My friend linked me to the conditions of entry for the concert. Still don't know about bringing my DSLR. If anyone reading is going or know of someone going and know if they think it's okay to bring their DSLR - tell me! It doesn't explicitly state 'DSLR'. It says that 'large lens professional cameras' are prohibited and that 'still cameras (not professional) are permitted'. You know, they could have been much clearer if they used the terms 'point and shoot' and 'DSLR'. In the event they do search your bag, find the DSLR and determine it to be a prohibited item then you may be refused entry, is what I gather from the title 'conditions of entry'. And I don't want to risk that after I paid for my ticket. But what are the chances really? I remember I went to a U2 concert. It was sold out and I remember no bag checking or security ... oh, wait. That could be a lie. We had to get our tickets checked and there may have been bag checking. Memory is a bit stale.

Have some more Arashi (http://dai.ly/ru9yaf - because Dailymotion won't let me embed) and uh, Akanishi Jin's new single "Test Drive". My first reaction to this PV was "JIN TAKE OFF YOUR SUNGLASSES AND HOODIE!" Trying to make people forget he's Japanese? IDK. Not a great PV but a catchy song.


Pointless post really. I'm just procrastinating. Last day of classes for semester and I don't really want to start studying. :D