Hello everyone! Welcome back to my blog. I had a very exciting day full of spontaneous, but eventful memories. I woke up today and decided to get a piercing and tattoo! I did not really think much about it. I suddenly just felt like changing things up!
I woke up early because I had class. However, all of my professors canceled class for the day so I did not have other plans for the rest of the day as it was supposed to be my “busy day.” I was bored and scrolling through Instagram, when I saw a tattoo artist I have been following for a long time had one opening due to a last minute cancellation. I have heard you have to book three months in advance with this particular tattoo artist because she is so popular. I saw the opportunity and I took it! The tattoo shop was located in Hongdae, which is a pretty far commute from where I am. By subway, it takes me at least one hour and fifteen minutes to arrive. I had to leave pretty early and panicked on the subway thinking of a last minute design I wanted to get tattooed on my body. The first thing I did when I arrived in Hongdae was grab food! My friends told me that it is really important to eat something beforehand, specifically carbohydrates. I grabbed a bulgogi sandwich at a really famous fast food restaurant called “Isaac Toast.” This is one of the most popular sandwich chains in South Korea. However, I was a bit disappointed because I did not enjoy it too much. I am not used to eating sweet sandwiches as I much rather prefer savory. I ended up not finishing it because it was so sweet.
I made my way over to the tattoo shop and signed some agreements. I discussed the design with the artist and we tried a sketch on my body to see how it would look prior to actually starting the process. The discussion took roughly one hour and the tattooing took about four hours. It was quite painful, but also my pain tolerance is extremely low. I actually teared up a bit throughout the tattoo sesion. But beauty is pain, so…. Yeah.
I also did not expect it to be that long, because I had made other plans that night. I ended up having to cancel my plans with my friends because it was getting late and I had no idea what time I would finish. 
Since I was in Hongdae, I met up with my Yonsei exchange friends nearby after my tattoo session to grab dinner. We decided to go to Hongdae Dakgalbi which serves a popular Korean dish made by stir-frying marinated diced chicken in a gochujang-based sauce with sweet potatoes, cabbage, perilla leaves, scallions, tteok, and other ingredients. Super delicious by the way! After dinner, my friend went to get a piercing so I tagged along. In the end, I also ended up getting a piercing as well. I put my body through so much pain that day, but no regrets. I initially was not tempted to get a piercing, but the price here was so cheap! I think piercings are around $60 minimum back in the States, so I was extremely shocked when I saw the piercings start at $15 in Korea. I also got my piercing done at a place where a lot of celebrities go as well! I went to Nana piercing studio in Hongdae :)
Later that night, I went out for a second round of dinner since I ran into another group of friends. We ate KBQQ and had drinks neary the piercing studio. They had a really good kimchi jeon (pancake) that I really enjoyed. I am a bit sad though because I totally forgot the name of the place, so I cannot share it :(.
Anyways, thats a wrap for this blog. As always, thank you so much for tuning in and following my adventures in South Korea