Monday, June 30, 2025

Travel Log Day 2: The Tale of the Joseon Vessel

One of the stops in Day 2 of our ARMY Tour was a department store in Euljiro6-ga. Our tour guide, Jenny, brought us to Seoul’s 168. And yes, it reminded us of Divisoria, alright!

With a limited budget, my purchases were small and few. This was the part of the tour when converting won to peso became a math quiz and I had to put off buying more than what we needed or remember why we came to Seoul in the first place. But stores and marketplaces have their own kind of stories to tell. They speak of the city too, to its tourists and travelers. And this particular story is one that connected us to BTS; to its leader, Kim Namjoon, most especially.
I was quietly marveling at tea cups and ceramic bowls, ARMY daughter was just a few steps away, when one of my Tita ARMY friends pulled me aside. There, tucked in a quiet corner of a display shelf, stood the porcelain bottle or vessel that Kim Namjoon once used as his profile photo on Instagram back in December 2024.
We were stunned.
ARMY chingu and I stared at it with wide eyes: half in awe, half in disbelief. Was it the original? A reproduction? It was certainly a moment of temptation. Do we buy it or not? And standing there, weighing my options, I thought about the coming days and weeks and months; the responsibilities I am to face back in Manila.
In the end, we didn’t.
Maybe the vessel was not meant to be taken home, but simply noticed. Though a reproduction, to behold something Namjoon once beheld and leave it be was enough.
More than this, it was a full-circle moment. One that transported me back to something I wrote in December 8, 2024:
“The Joseon vase, it’s a bottle actually, as curated by the National Museum of Korea, is simple, elegant and astute. It is the rope design that makes the art piece compelling. While the porcelain stands like a Joseon nobility, the golden brown rope tethers it to the ground. It conveys being tied to something or to someone. A connection to one’s roots or heritage. An expression of loyalty. A bond. A devotion.”
At the time I wrote it, I was grieving; mourning a mother recently lost; a father slowly fading into forgetfulness. And in the same breath, I was also letting go of a role in a fan community I had once poured my heart and commitment into. Yet, there I was in a tourist’s trap, standing in front of a reproduction of a porcelain vessel that my bias favored, with my ARMY daughter and ARMY friend on either side of me. I suddenly felt the swirl of grace and the swell of gratitude envelop me all at once.
Days later, I would sketch and paint that vessel from a photo I took. And now, here I am, sharing this log, recalling that moment of serendipity and surprise with a fellow Namjoon-biased ARMY and pottery enthusiast. It was bittersweet. To stand before a similar object Namjoon quietly adored. For why else would he choose it as his profile picture if not to say something he couldn’t with words?
Vessels are not just containers of food, water, oil, wine, perfume, medicines and tonics. They hold the essential things that sustain life, stories, memories and hope.
My friend and I looked at each other, wordless for a moment before I said, “We have reason to go back.”
She smiled. “And we know where to look.”
As for ARMY daughter, I know she is proud of me for making the better choice.
Apobangpo! Purple and true!

©️zarahgeeh 💜🙏💜

Saturday, June 28, 2025

Meeting Art Exhibit: Magic Shop Cylinder Handbuilt Ceramic | Glazed and Fired at @potterynuvali

Meeting Art Exhibit: Wildflower Cyanotype Tote Bags

Friday, June 27, 2025

Meeting Art Exhibit: Bloom and Duality

Meeting Art Exhibit: Wildflower 1 Cyanotype + Digital Print

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

Heart and Seoul Travel Log Day 1: We Never Walk Alone

It was foggy when we landed at Incheon yesterday morning. The fog was thick, like Baguio fog in the cool months. And when we stepped out of Incheon Airport, we entered into a freezer. I wish I could say the cold didn’t bother me anyway.*

This apprehension dissipated as soon as we had our first meal: a generous serving of Korean bulalo with the right amount of beef, glass noodles, and green onions. The soup dish isn’t as savoury as our bulalo, but the tanginess of the beef lingers. And the side dishes, especially the cabbage kimchi, have a sweetness that stays long after the next bite. Of course, there’s white rice!
It was a simple meal. Not pompous at all. But filling.
Feeling warm and comforted, our Bangtan Pilgrimage began. It is in every ARMY’s bucket list, and the fact that 2025 is BTS’ comeback year, being in Seoul is where we should be, my ARMY daughter and me. Oh, the lengths we took to make this trip a reality is for another post. What I can assure you is the 100% possibility of making your fangirling dreams come true with commitment and a supportive community.
Our first stop was the Hybe building in Hangang-daero, Yongsan-gu, where a throng of I-ARMYs were waiting for Namjoon and Taehyung’s cars to pass by, expecting a glimpse from either. We didn’t get to see Namjoon wave out to the crowd, though. ARMY’s presence and vibe compensate all the time.
In the afternoon, we headed to Gangnam and walked the street leading to Hyuga Cafe, BTS’ old dorm, then to the old Big Hit building. Next was Hakdong Park, and we capped the day with an early dinner at Yoojung Sikdang, the restaurant where the Tannies ate regularly during their trainee days. We didn’t see the legendary ahjumma who cooked their meals. However, the place looked exactly as it was 12–15 years ago—cramped, but strangely cozy and comfortable.

Ending our day with ssambap, a meal that echoed the past, at a table once shared by seven hungry boys with tired feet and unending hope, in that tiny space, I felt something large: gratitude. For their journey. For ours. For the way music has sewn our lives together across age and generational divides, cultures and beliefs, time, distance, and space.
Yesterday wasn’t just sightseeing. It was remembering. Reconnecting. Retracing. From fog to warmth, from dorms to dreams, from their footsteps to ours, we were never alone.

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

Postcards from My S"e"oul

 

Heart and Seoul Travel Log Day 2: D2 Heart and Seoul: Shared Memories

This morning, we visited the In the Soop Mansion*. I’m too overwhelmed to even put into writing the experience of being in a place, if only for a few hours, where Bangtan carved a space to be, to create, to rest during the pandemic. It felt like visiting a memory that wasn’t ours but somehow belonged to us, too.




And to see my ARMY Daughter having a great time and kilig gives me a joy that isn’t loud, but proud.

BTS is the gift that keeps on giving.

Apobangpo! Purple and true! 

*Written on 6.11.2025

Monday, June 23, 2025

Heart and Seoul Travel Log Day 5: Light and Shadow

“I am you, you are me, now you do know | You are me, I am you, now do you know | We are one body and we are gonna clash| We are you, we are me—this, do you know?”

— SUGA, Interlude: Shadow from Map of the Soul 7

Wearing a Hanbok and strolling in the palace grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace is a staple when you’re visiting Seoul for a vacation or tour. We did just that! Thanks to Savedbythebest Travel and Tours for this chance to play and wonder. As Kdrama fans, not just ARMY, cosplaying as Jeoson women is a fantasy fulfilled.



Wearing a hanbok in summer in Seoul, can be excruciating though. But there we were, ARMY Daughter living her Joseon baddie dream and me, ramdam na ramdam ang pagiging ahjumma.
When was the last time we played or had fun together like this? What stands out are memories of battles we fought and won, as well as the ones we gloriously lost. One thing is for sure, she and I, we will be together in more fights in the future.



This is why, I left Seoul with more questions than answers. And it’s ok because life is continuous journey of wondering where introspection and reflection are part and parcel of being. I do not know when these questions will get answers, but I dare ask.
💜 What does it mean to grow beside someone you love; someone who grew inside of you and is now growing up and out unto the world? In Seoul, I saw in her a quiet becoming and the sassy way she deals with cards is impressive. I have a lot to learn.
💜Where does she end and I begin? Or do we move like a mobius strip?No end. No beginning. As I age, our roles overlap now. I see our differences and in it, our shared longing to understand the world and each other.
She has become my friend. And I, her ally. I pray to be the good friend and honest ally she truly deserves.


💜What part of myself is she walking towards and away from?
My eternal optimism? The uncanny way I put my trust in the universe? Whatever shadow of mine she carries, may she do it with grace and gratitude because, the darkness can be kind, too.
To my ARMY Daughter, my dragon child, may you walk boldly in both light and shadow knowing I will always be just a few steps behind, cheering, learning, and loving you through it all.
Apobangpo! Purple and true!
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