KPOP Dance Lessons in Seoul

Hallyu (aka Korean Wave) has grew tremendously over the WORLD within the last 5 years or so. Even if you don’t know what K=pop is, I’m sure you will know what Gangnam Style is.

Many people go “WOW” and “AHHH” & “OMG” when they see this in the itinerary but I’m like totally “…” No longer that young to be not shy to dance in front of everyone else..

(Random Joke) All along, I read “KPOP Contest” as “KPOP Concert” in the itinerary, thinking that Thursday evening = M! Countdown and that we would be given a chance to watch the famous music show. I was so excited about this activity from the moment I saw the itinerary, when I won the event, when I accepted the invitation, all until I saw the full itinerary which says “K-POP Contest: ….. now it is time to show off your k-pop song and dance skills as a team” I totally died when I read that line. D:

Anyway, despite the fear and anxiety and everything bad, I actually enjoyed the lesson and learn more about the whole K-wave culture among Korean youths.

We went to ENT Dance Studio (I can’t seem to find the address) for our lessons.

We were warmly welcomed by young and friendly wannabe-trainees. The only thing was that we had to dance in slippers because they were afraid that our shoes may be dirty or damage their flooring >_<

The first song we learned was Gangnam Style and it was taught by a 25/6 year old male dance teacher. He seriously didn’t look that old though.

Since most of us were beginners, we couldn’t learn much. I think we managed to learn like 4 to 6 sets of 8.

They were teaching us this “PK” thing which isn’t a competition but just something fun. For example, Group A will dance the first set then Group B dance the second set, then group A dance the third set.. and so on.

The second song we learned was Nobody by Wonder Girls and OH GOSH it was extremely difficult. We only learn the introduction and chorus and to be honest I can’t remember any steps except for the “Nobody but you” part =/

I have totally no sense and feel for dancing >_<

After our class, the girls prepared a dance set for us. I’m quite impressed. I think there was one girl which trained for 3 months only.

The youngest girl was only 12 or 14 (I can’t remember) and I think the oldest was 20? I believe that they are training very hard, hoping to have the chance to be talent-spotted sometime in the future~

Actually, the first thing I thought of was.. don’t they have to go to school? It was like 1-2pm on a Monday afternoon and I don’t think it was holiday period yet.. But I guess a lot of already famous celebrities started training at a very young age and I guess they will have to forsake things like studies along the way?

Despite so many new groups debuting.. I’m sure there are a lot more still training or even waiting to be a trainees.. Sometimes I really respect them for their hard work and effort all those years..

On the last day, we had the dreaded KPOP Dance Contest at Korean Air HQ Auditorium. I hardly even dance on stage and I can’t believe that I’m dedicating my first stage experience after 21 to this =/

Although my group’s performance was very short, we dedicated few hours of first night, a lot of hours on third night and few hours on the fourth day to practising our dance set which comprises of a mash up of 3 songs.

Due to shyness issue, the video will not be uploaded.

But, my group won and we got a really cute Korean Air Bear! (Yes I do have something for bears of all shapes and sizes which is vying to replace my rilakkumas’ position on my bed.)

I felt that my group really practised a lot for the dance competition and I seriously had muscle-ache the next day from all the jumping, all the hand actions. It’s really not easy to become a Kpop star or an artiste. I felt so tired but when we finally performed our piece, I felt a huge sense of relief and a TGIO feeling~ Well, it was a good experience to mark my first stage experience after 21. I really wonder if there will be a second. I hope not.

Skin Anniversary Facial Treatment

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=1273228

I’m sure everyone knows that Korean is famous for their cosmetics and skincare and in this trip, we had a chance to experience it!

This place has been quite popular with many celebrities and they have a whole wall of signatures~

We were given A Course (4o minutes/ 55,000W)

When we went up, we were greeted by a lot of beauticians, all standing in a straight line. I was kind of impressed and shocked at the VIP Treatment. All of them we ready and awaiting our arrival. They even bowed and greeted us at the same time!

First we had a skincare check where the put some machine onto your face and you can view your pores on the screen =/

After that, they will hand you a sheet mask and bring you into a room. It was kind of embarrassing because I was wearing my high cut converse shoes that day and I took like 5 mins to take off my shoes and 15 mins to wear my shoes and all of them had to wait in the room for me to put on my shoes =/

The beautician cleansed our face and there were a lot of steps and it was so comfortable that I think I fell asleep. They placed a sheet mask on your face after they are done with the cleansing, massage and all of us woke up with a “brightened” face.

Since we were in Korea, they made us look very Korean and very fair. HAHAHAHA.

Then, we were brought to this place where there were make up artistes waiting for us! Looks cool right? Totally a once in a life time experience!

It was a very light and natural make up. I think it consisted of foundation, powder, eye brow, eye liner, mascara and lip gloss and a small tint of blusher. I was looking like a korean. hahahaha. fair and i like it =p

That wasn’t it in the Skin Anniversary Beauty Town!!

There was a Hallyu Teddy Bear Museum as well~~

when i enter.. i was greeted by my favourite.. AHHHHHHHHHH

He’s the one with the headband <#

Other bears~~

This place is a heaven for paddy. Can you spot him in the photo below?

So.. is this the national costume of Singapore? I am not sure =/

Rare photo of mr camera/video man posing for us. It’s kind of funny because people who usually do the filming hates to have photos of them taken.. but he is really nice to pose for us =p

By the way, this is a make up room for the bears!! and the bears actually have mascaras on..

That’s not it!! This building has Trick Art Gallery as well~~ You can pose with the photos to be part of the image! This trick art thing seems to be really popular in Korea these days.

You can look at the other pictures at their official website here!

Last on our list of non-touristy things in Korea was.. NORAEBANGGGGGGGGG

We visited the Luxury Su Noraebang at Hongdae. It is very big and famous and pretty both on the outside and inside!

To be honest, it’s a little difficult to navigate through the system if you don’t understand Korean.. so I will only recommend this activity if you understand Korean otherwise you will just be clueless in the room~~

That’s all for the non-touristy experiences we had.. Next post will be Part 4: on our rare visit to Korean Air Headquarters!!

*All text, images, and links are from FlyHoneyStars.com
*All "WingShark's Note" are from HelloWings Journey, aims to provide readers more current information and tips assisting in FlyHoneyStars' travel itinerary.