Goodbye, Seoul! Goodbye, Korea!

This is honestly one of the most bittersweet Mondays I would ever have. I'm patially more sad because I'll leave South Korea today. For most of the early morning, I was packing my luggage and getting everything properly fit in. It was such a tiring struggle to pack everything, especially some of the makeup (even though it wasn't a lot). I was actually surprised that I was able to fit it all by the end. After that, I initially planned to get some take-out, but decided to have it in the morning instead.

When morning came, I had a few things to do like buy food for myself, call Mom and show her Seoul before I left, and then get ready to leave. Since I had a free tall drink voucher from yesterday, I went out and walked to a nearby Starbucks to claim it. I also got to use the new Seoul tumbler I had. I checked out some food delivery apps to see if I could use my WowPass in them, since that had around 31,000 KRW still in it, but I couldn't. So I just decided to take the bus to that Burger King I've eaten in before. The bus trip was quite quick and I thought to myself that I'll miss easy bus rides like these. I eventually got off at my stop and then took a few photos of the street and sky. It was just really surreal because this was my final day in Seoul, and in South Korea. It sunk in that I would spend my morning in Seoul and end it in Manila. I posted an IG Story of it, and took photos of some of the street signs because I was actually in Gangnam-gu, the place where the Gangnam Style song was about. I eventually got to the Burger King and, while I wanted to eat there and not at the hotel, it seemed like it was lunchtime for the Koreans here as there weren't any seats available. So I just ordered for take-out. I bought 2 burgers and some chicken because it'll be unlikely for me to eat again after this, and this might be my last meal in Korea, funny enough. I took a few pictures of the street signs in Gangnam and I posted an IG Story of how absolutely insane it is to start my morning in Korea and end the day in the Philippines. Only then did it start to sink in that I'm leaving Korea soon.

After I got on the bus, this really weird thing happened. Some lady came in and tripped, and she hit her forehead on some part of the wall. It was crazy and, while the bus driver helped her, she seemed to say she was fine. It was just honestly surprising to see. I eventually got back to my hotel and ate my food, then I went out to buy some snacks for someone and I got some watermelon and blueberry Pocky snacks for myself. I had a FaceTime call with my Mom and I showed her what Korea looked like and I eventually went back to my hotel room to clean up and pack my entire stuff. I headed for Incheon Airport and booked a taxi ride going there. I brought both of my luggage and essentially just enjoyed the car ride to the airport. It took a while since there was some traffic, and it was almost a 2-hour car ride to the airport. On the way, I passed by some blooming cherry blossoms, but I could only stare from within the car, which was kind of sad. I posted some IG Stories, especially a Gangnam Style one which I found funny.

On the way to the airport, the driver put the pedal to the metal and he was essentially speeding like a madman I saw his speedometer reach above 150+ kmph, and I have a photo of him going 147 kmph. It was easily the scariest ride I've ever been on, funny enough. But I'm glad I got to the airport in one piece and made my way to the correct gate to drop off my luggage. I legit thought about throwing away some clothes because I just had to fit it under 25kg. I dropped off the big luggage first, which was surprisingly at 18kg and I organized and threw out some stuff on the smaller luggage so that it would be at 7kg. I seriously considered throwing away some clothes at that point, but I didn't. It was also weird how Incheon was touted as this big, busy airport when it seemed pretty dead and quiet when I visited it both times, and this was on a Monday. I finished the Pocky I was eating, got my stuff scanned, and the Incheon Smart Pass came in handy a couple of times.

After screening, I was near the departures area and it started to sink in more that I was leaving Korea. I actually got to my gate right on time and I took a photo of the plane. I even cried a bit because it sunk in that I was going back to my life in the Philippines. By 6:30 p.m., I boarded the plane and I was one of the first to board because I had my Incheon Smart Pass registered, so that's cool. I got to use the restroom a couple of times and put my stuff on the overhead seat.

By 7:10 p.m. or so, the airplane was taxiing and we eventually took off. It still amazes me how planes move so fast that they fly. I just chilled and slept for most of the trip back to the Philippines. I played my Antok FM playlist and slept for some parts. We eventually made our way back to the Philippines and it was interesting to see the path that the plane took in order to land at NAIA. We eventually touched down and I took some pictures of the Manila skyline and posted it on IG as we landed. I got a couple of messages from friends asking if I was back, and I told someone that they should start driving to NAIA because I had just landed. I filled up that eTravel thing.

It was also super shocking how hot it was, even at night. It's an extremely stark contrast to how cold my hotel room in Korea was versus the temps I'm feeling now within the airport. I got my baggage and felt sad that it was the last remnant of my Korea trip. I eventually met up with someone and I brought my luggage to her car. I seriously cannot stress how HOT it was, it was SWELTERING and I was sweating like hell. After we got in someone's car, we decided on where to go and I decided on Starbucks on 32nd Street in BGC because I know we could chill there. Someone was hesitant at first, since she dislikes going to BGC, but she eventually agreed and we drove there. My night continued from that car ride to BGC.