Rainy/monsoon season is no joke. Imagine my shock/surprise/horror when I left the house at 7 AM on a Sunday and it was just absolutely *dumping* rain. There was just no avoiding getting soaked. I was so annoyed!
But the test went well… I hope. I don’t have the results yet. I ended up shopping a bit after the test, and exercising in the evening. I have to work out in my apartment because I only belong to a taekwondo gym right now. I’d like to eventually join a real gym so I have access to equipment. My room must suffice though.
I also enjoy running outside, but the random rain makes it difficult. Turns out that heavy rain from that morning just flooded the stream and river in Jochiwon. I only got about 1 km into my run before I was forced to stop because the path was flooded. Squishy mud made it annoying and maybe a little dangerous to run in because it was slick.
I think the rain is tapering off these days, but we’re still stuck with ridiculous humidity. Must persevere so I can make it to vacation! For now, gotta make it through summer English camp for the coming 2 weeks. 화이팅!
I was lucky enough to be picked to attend Jo Kwon’s (singer of 2AM, musical actor) fan meeting at his cereal cafe – Midnight in Seoul – a couple weeks ago. The meeting was to celebrate the 9th anniversary of his debut.
I applied on the 2AM Daum cafe. I was a bit apprehensive because I’m not 100% confident about my Korean skills, but also meeting someone I admire was intimidating too. Nonetheless I applied and I went.
It was a pretty chill affair, although the weather itself was far from chilly. It’s summer which means heat, humidity, and the rainy season. Luckily the rain wasn’t a problem… until I had to go home anyway.
It was held just outside Midnight In Seoul which is the cereal cafe Jo Kwon runs (co-runs? co-owns? The place was originally run by other people, I believe). About 30-35 fans total sat outside in the outdoor seating area while we waited. Actually, Jo Kwon came in rather nonchalantly. His parents and aunts were waiting inside, so he sat with them for a bit.
The whole event took about 30-40 minutes. He greeted us and answered questions we wrote on memo notes. My question was what’s his favorite musical, but he answered all the ones he has been in and one or two others lol. So actually I don’t know if it was interpreted as “What’s your favorite” or “What’s your favorite that you’ve done”. By the way, he said he’s working on a new solo album. No word yet on when it’ll be released since he’s currently acting in the musical “Evil Dead” in Seoul.
He then showed us how to make one of the cereal specials that’s on the menu in the cafe. We also each got a chance to go up and say hi/get a signature. I was pretty nervous, but it turned out okay.
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That was pretty much the end of the event. A few people got selfies with him, but he looked kinda busy so not many did it. I thought he’d pack up and leave, but he actually stuck around and worked at the cafe! Granted, there were other staff members, but he helped here and there. I ended up buying one the menu items which ended up being pure sugar.
See? Tasty, but holy cow that’s just all sugar right there.
Now quite a bit after the event, maybe 30 minutes or so, I ended up getting a selfie with Jo Kwon. I had stayed to snack and also because the rain got kinda heavy. I didn’t really feel like walking in the rain (I ended up having to anyway). I felt bad about asking for a photo because he looked pretty tired, and I think he was packing up to leave. He was very kind, though, and obliged to take a photo.
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Poster for his current musical, Evil Dead
Quick note: The cafe itself is nice. It’s actually split into 2 sections which are on either side of the building entrance, but share the outdoor seating area. I didn’t partake in any other food, so I’m curious about the privately labeled cereal. You can actually order it on their website, so I may give that a go one of these days.
You can check out Midnight in Seoul on Instagram and their website. If you’re in Seoul it may be fun to head on over. You may see Jo Kwon or other celebs!
I spend a lot of my days of from work in coffee shops studying and writing my master’s thesis. I wanted to just give a quick peek at my favorite coffee shop, Fiddleheads. They’re a really chill local coffee business with several locations in the Milwaukee area. If you happen to live around there definitely check it out (and try one of their seasonal drinks!).
I’m just chipping away slowly at my master’s thesis for now. It seems like it’ll never finish at this point, but I’ll get there! 🙂
If you didn’t see from one of my previous posts, I had the chance to take a nice long vacation in fall. So I decided to spend a few weeks in Japan and Korea. I still had to do my course work while I was away, but it was worth it!
I didn’t plan much for the part of the trip in Tokyo. I had things in mind, but nothing set. So while talking with some other hostel guests, I found at that Tokyo Game Show was happening while I was in town. Lucky me!
I’m not a huge gamer – casual, you might say – but I like to play. Plus getting a chance to see new stuff in person was definitely a plus.
It was a really long day with people, people, people everywhere. Also, we didn’t get to demo lots of games because of the long wait times. We got to try a handful of games in the hall with the indie developers. The only game I tried in the main event hall was Disney Infinity Star Wars (really cool!). But we also got to see some neat stuff.
Take a peek at the photo gallery:
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“Hormone” curry?
This one throw you for a loop? Certainly had me confused and amused. Luckily, the good folks at RocketNews24 have an explanation. “Hormone” is a portmanteau (words that combine their sounds and meanings)– “the word actually means “stuff you’d throw away” (horu, to discard, mono, stuff). If you haven’t guessed yet, we’re talking about offal, guts, entrails, icky animal innard bits grilled up yakiniku-style.” Ahhhh, now I get it. I probably would have tried it had I known.
And here are some of the cosplayers and promotional models at the show:
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*Whew!* Long day, lots to see, but plenty of fun and a unique experience for my trip. If I’m ever back in Tokyo for TGS again I think I’ll be a bit more prepared for the experience.
Oh Happy Dae! 