Papermoon

When was the last time  wrote something about a series that I'm so hooked up, I stayed up all night,endured only two hours of decent sleep, trying everything to conceal the black bags that are forming below my eyes, and yet I wouldn't change anything because yes, I'm a fan.. like SUPER FAN.

So there is this Korean series Scarlet Heart Ryeo that I am so obsessed about these days. Its a story about a girl from 21st century who got transpored to Goryeo-era Korea whose life got tangled with all the gorgeous Princes you'll ever meet in your lie.. Like ever.

CHARACTERS Well, I will not be so detailed about who's who, but the following characters I will introduce will be as how I wold like to describe them. So please don't expect a wiki-ish sort of description here ^^v..

Hae Soo - She's the girl I'm talking about. Transported frpm 21st century to the Imperial era Korea. The envy of each girl whose watching the show. Whose hair is longer than Rapunzel's. Whose love interest alone wll have every girl trade her soul for a chance to be in her place instead.

ROYALS The Princes according to birth. Wang Moo -  the Crown Prince who is not a flower boy (I'm so mean, sorry not sorry).

Wang Yo -  the 3rd Prince aka the male bitch. Played by Hong Jong Hyun whom I have a hard time associating with this evil character as I have so many memories of him playing the goody goody guy. Anyway back to Yo, he is just pure evil+greed+dark ambitions and intentions, basically the typical bad guy. Well every show needs a bad guy and he's slayin it. With that eyeliner and always drinking tea (I'm assuming its tea) swag, well you have your ultimate villain here.

Wang So - the 4th Prince aka the love of Hae Soo's life (not until she realized it on episode 14 which goodness gracious took her that long) and my life too. So is played by the King of sageuk dramas Lee Jun Ki. So is the epitome of bad guy but good guy. Wth his clothes mostly in dark colors, mask to conceal his facial scar, always ready to kill attitude (well he really kills, bad guys only), I initially didn't like him, but when he moved to the palace and started to act like the Prince charming we all dreamt him to be, that changed the game. He is a what you see what you get guy. He's just good through and through. I loved how he didn't gave up on Hae Soo despite her constant pushing away from him (that's how you get the girl). And those stolen kisses he's giving Hae Soo, ugh where can I sold my soul so I can be her?

Wang Wook - the 8th Prince played by my love Kang Ha Nel. I actually would like to hunt the writer of this series for making my Ha Neul (at least his character Wook) hatable overnight on episode 12. Why made him a coward?!!! To be honest,I'm initially Team Wook, despite knowing from the start that he's the 2nd lead (hello second lead syndrome!!!) and he will no get the girl. But you see, Wook has everything a girl is looking for a guy. Epitomr of perfection. He's handsome,intelligent,gentleman,a good brother,a good family man,educated,responsible, well read, writes well, hugs well, he's a Prince for crying out loud. I compare him to Hotohori as to So's Tamahome (Fushigi Yuugi anyone?). But he's so brainy that all the things he do is calculated. Plus he have a bitchy manipulative ambitious sister. I know his love for Hae Soo is genuine but she is just not enough for him to leave everything behind (his family, the power, and a chance to the throne), which is sad because its his only chance to happiness and I love them together (ps as of this writing I'm already Team Wang So). I don't know bt I  have this feeling that his jealousy towards Hae Soo and Wang So' relationship will eat him and thus his turning to the dark side. At least he's not as annoying as Wang Yo.

Wang Won -  the 9th Prince. Lets ship him, he's a leech.

Wang Eun - the 10th Prince played by Baekhyun. Eun is so childish and playful I thought he's the youngest Prince.

Baek Ah - our 13th Prince played by the very handsome Nam Joo Hyuk, he's described by as the most handsome in the entire empire. And also talented, he draws well, he played musical instruments well, he's as good as Wook sans the dark side. His love line with Woo Hee though doesn't work for me. I think is Lee Sung Kyung played her I could have been happier. But I like that he's loyal for those whom he knows are on the good side. For keeps.

Wang Jung - the 14th Prince played by Ji Soo (Ji Soo is everywhere right now, so in demand). Brash and aggressive, he's an okay character. I just don't like how he treats So though.

Princess Yeon Hwa - Yo's female counterpart. Master manipulator. Every single thing you expect from a female antagonist is threaded to this character.

I turned 30 years old today, and my sister asked me if I already feel like 30. I haven't put so much thought on my age. I'm just going on  my usual stuff everyday. But that question made me think, do I feel like 30?

It was just something that suddenly came up to my hyperactive mind while on my usual daydreaming episode. Since the state owned weather bureau already declared that its officially ‘Rainy Season’, it realized that I need at least one more beach fix as I feel that despite going to multiple ocean escapade this summer, I haven’t had enough.

I don’t want to go too far as I still have work and since everything happened very suddenly, I didn’t even get to file a leave. And most of the beaches nearby are something that I frequent to, so it won’t satisfy that final beach fix feeling that I want to feel before the rainy days take over.

So with some research (thru the hippie people I follow on Instagram), I found out about La Union. Particularly San Juan and Luna La Union And I fell in love with them.

Now playing: 8Ball - Underworld

The first thing to do is find an accommodation. I don’t want to book a hotel as on this trip I’m aiming a “backpacker” vibe. And the glorious wonder that is Instagram brought me to the most preferred hostel of backpackers who are going to San Juan La Union, the very hippie Flotsam and Jetsam Hostel.

You have to book before going there. The place is so popular and always fully booked that you don’t want to take chances of going there praying to the gods that you can get a room or you’ll end up sleeping somewhere expensive or you don’t like. There are three types of dorm type rooms you can choose from (which I will not elaborate on this post anymore, please check their website on the link I highlighted above ^^v), but because of the backpacker vibe I’m aiming, I ended up booking their Kubo Dorm. The dorm has 8 beds, each bed occupant get to have his/her own locker, privacy curtain, fan, personal lighting unit, and embedded power outlets. They’ll also provide you your own towel during your duration of stay. Booking also came with free WiFi and tadaaa breakfast! I’m so happy of their breakfast which mainly consist of cereal, bread, coffee, juice, and milk. They also have different kinds of bread spreads (fruit jams, peanut butter,butter) and fruits.Staffs are friendly and accommodating. Very clean restrooms and shower rooms. They really lived up to their rank of being the preferred hostel of backpackers visiting San Juan.

We're a bit early to our check in time at Flotsam when we arrived in San Juan. And since it's almost lunch, we decided to eat first. We dined at the equally popular Tagpuan sa San Juan. They serve breakfast, lunch and dinner at a surprisingly affordable price. I said 'surprisingly' because the food is so good, so tasty with such Instagrammable presentation and the price is very cheap.

San Juan La Union is known to be the 'Surf Capital of the North'. Its popularity came from  the boom of the surfing industry in the area. Its June, and based on what I read,May and June are usually considered 'transition' months,where the waves are not that surfable (meaning flat waves only) as the ocean enters the Habagat period. As expected, when we got there we didn't get to witnessed really awesome big waves,but surfers still flock the beaches.

Sunrise and sunset are the best part. It's simply amazing.

The next day, after breakfast, we decided to go a bit north of San Juan. We went to Luna La Union to visit it's main tourist attractions, the Pebble Beach and the Bahay na Bato. Its 45mins to an hour away from San Juan. Arriving there, you have to pay 20 pesos as an entrance fee. We're lucky as its Monday when we came there to visit, no flocks of tourists, we have the place on our own.

Bahay na Bato is a masterpiece. The old lady who runs the mini store there told us that the house is owned by husband and wife Doctors who were commissioned by the local government to lend their beach stone house and be open for public. A Korean national was also commissioned to create stone masterpieces. The Pebble Beach where the house stands is also a wonder. The pebbles are so smooth you can walk on it on barefoot. Unfortunately, the beach is not open for swimming. The old lady said that aside from being deep, the waters surrounding the beach is home to many fishes who created caves in the shallow waters, so possibility of being swallowed by the water is, well, high.

We also visited Sta.Catalina Church in Luna.

And lastly, before going home, we didn't forgot to drop by El Union Coffee. No one goes home without trying their very popular Smores and Horchata.