Annyeonghaseyo, South Korea!

Ever since my discovery of K-pop and Korean food, I have always wanted to visit South Korea. Recently, I was able to do so. In fact, this was my first trip travelling alone with a good friend. Unsure of what is to come, I took a leap of faith and booked my flight to the land of K-pop. It was so nice to see Fabienne again, and could not wait to start our travel adventures together. Because we both live on opposite ends of the country, we first met up at Incheon Airport.

September mornings in South Korea were similar to Vancouver, cool and breezy. Temperatures were as low as 15 degrees Celsius. Apartments were more common than residential houses. They reminded me of lego blocks.



Our first day begins at the City centre. The streets were bustling with cars and pedestrians making their way to work.


이순신 (Yi Sun-sin), the warrior that led his naval army to victory against the Japanese during the Imjin War. Also famous for turtle battle ships!


And the scholar that created the Korean language.


Protesters were seen at the square, petitioning against the recent ferry tragedy.


Details of Gyeongbokgung Palace







We trekked to Busan via Korail. Thanks Fabienne for putting up with the horrible website in order to purchase our tickets.



We ate a quick lunch at the fish market.



We took a small community shuttle up to Gamcheon Culture Village. The surrounding houses were splashed with colours, and the streets filled with quirky decorations connected by narrow stairways. A map can be purchased at the entrance of the village, which encourages visitors to explore the area and obtain stamps at various stations located across the village. And just like that, we were off on a mission to collect them all!





At that time, I was not familiar with Le Petit Prince. Having recently read the book, I now have a better appreciation of this feature at the top of the village.


We stopped by Haeundae beach on our second day in Busan. The beach was super nice and clean. It was pretty humid that day as well.



After trekking Moonlit Road, we took a break at Chelsea cafe. Nothing beats iced drinks and cake on a hot day.



My last day to wander around Seoul.







We visited a dog cafe after lunch before heading back to her aunt's place.




Disclaimer: I did not realize that I only brought my 50mm until it was too late. But, having stuck with a prime lens was a blessing in disguise. I was still able to capture moments on Instagram, where I mostly posted photos of all the delicious food we ate. Check out our tag at your own risk: #fabteetrip

It has been a really fulfilling trip (we even met Tablo from Epik High randomly in Hongdae) and I had a lot of fun travelling with Fabienne. Thank you South Korea for treating us so well. I will definitely be back. Can't wait for our future trip together, sometime soon I hope!


Theresa

Serene Winter | Amity & Dave

Amity and I have been friends for a decade now. I have always known her to be a fun-loving person who never ceases to amaze me in her charm and determination as a person. Although I didn't think it was possible, along came Dave who helped take her outside of her comfort zone. To me, Amity was fearless and brave and confident, and here he was, sweeping her off her feet and taking her to epic outdoor adventures along British Columbia and teaching her how to rock climb too! I also experienced my first outdoor rock climbing with these two this summer on a camping trip. As such, when they decided to choose Lynn Canyon in North Vancouver, I thought it was such a perfect venue for their couple photoshoot since they love the outdoors. Luck was even on our side as it snowed a few nights before, so we were able to capture very serene and beautiful photographs with a white wintry backdrop.

- Marie