Kimchi jars
Anybody recognize this? A similar one was used on Invincible Youth
Viewing the time capsule location
Following the visit to Namsan Hanok Village, we visited nearby Namsan Park. One of the interesting features of the park was a set of exercise machines which utilized only the user's own body weight.
Exercise machine at Namsan Park
Exercise machine at Namsan Park
Winding road out of the park
Then, we departed for one of the most exciting parts of the entire trip: a visit to MBC's studio in Ilsan for the live recording of Music Core. Once we were seated in the studio, we got to see the final rehearsals of artists such as Kim Hyun Joong, MBLAQ, Hyunah, and T-ara. We remained in our seats during the live recording and screamed our support for those artists plus others such as CSJH - Dana & Sunday, After School Blue & Red, miss A, INFINITE, and 2PM (though some of those performances were pre-recorded, so the artists just came out and lip-synced and danced for the benefit of the fans). Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed inside, so I have no pictures from Music Core to show you, however we were lucky enough to get an extremely special opportunity after the show.
We were allowed to stay after the recording ended and take two group pictures on stage, one with 2PM and one with T-ara. With nearly 100 people standing on the stage, we were told not to move, otherwise the stage might break. So when 2PM (and later T-ara) came out to greet us, we were not allowed to do anything more than stay where we were and say hello. I was kneeling in the front of the group, though, so I managed to shake hands with Chansung, Wooyoung, and Taecyeon from 2PM as well as with Hyomin of T-ara. Also, after 2PM took their picture with us and they got up to leave, I got a double-handed high five from Chansung, so I was pretty psyched about that... and I'm not even a 2PM fan.
....... I may have trolled 2PM just a little bit during rehearsals/recording by screaming out "Taecyeon-oppa saranghaeyo!!!!"
The excitement that we felt after Music Core didn't go away, however, as we traveled to Myeongdong after dinner. Myeongdong is where the SPAO and Everysing stores are located, so nearly everyone went crazy buying up all kinds of clothes and Soshi goodies. The words "I think I spent too much money" were frequently spoken by many people after we left SPAO and Everysing.
Dinner
Walking towards SPAO/Everysing in Myeongdong
Felix the Cat shirts
A large wall of Soshi inside SPAO
Inside Everysing
Soshi standees inside Everysing
Another long day in terms of the amount of time that we spent out and about, and another incredibly eventful day. Meeting 2PM and T-ara at Music Core and shopping our hearts out at SPAO/Everysing were wonderful memories, but the most memorable day is still on the horizon, because tomorrow, we will attend the Girls' Generation concert!!
Just so you all know, the official field trip schedule includes only tomorrow's second-day concert. A handful of field trip participants bought extra tickets on their own for the first-day concert which concluded earlier tonight. I was not one of those people, so I have nothing to recap about that.
Tomorrow's recap might be late (next day?) in the event that I'm dead tired from the concert.... or just dead from excessive happiness.
Day 0/1 recap here
Day 2 recap here
-fanaccount and photos by [email protected]