stephiime

[stephiime]

humanness

Right now I can still say ... I will never be able to believe that you are not worth the wait. Even since you said you no longer loved me, even before than, even now, maybe even into the future. No red flags, just humanness. This kind of love embraces humanness and waywardness over and over again. Are you wayward? Do you know that I am waiting?

I still have a linger hope. I wonder if it is wrong. I wonder if it is dangerous for me. I wonder if telling myself those things is grounding myself in a deluded hope. And if or when - hopefully not ‘when’ - that hope is shattered, back to being hopeless.

I know that if I hold on too tightly, it creates problems. It feels like it makes the light at the end of the tunnel that much further away. It even makes healing seem impossible.

But I also know that when I give myself the permission to hold this hope gently in my hands, I can daily hand it to God and say, “I know this is what I want. Whether you give this to me or not, I know it is in your hands now, and I can wait expectantly for how my life unfolds because it will always be good”.

That kind of daily surrender a challenge so easily I overstep and see it just as permission to hold onto the relationship I don’t want to let go

I am human too.

I am sorry that two years later this is still me. Who am I sorry to?  Maybe I’m not.

[stephiime]

A good and perfect God faithful and trustworthy loving beyond comprehension

He has already painted a picture more beautiful than I could have ever imagined for myself

He does not waste a single tear He affirms me Child of mine, don’t you see? there is no way that I don’t love you don’t know you don’t care for you

This perfect picture of yours shattered Heart of yours broken

that you would see this good and perfect picture of Mine this heart of Mine that is after yours

[stephiime]

to look back

August 11, 2021 

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged for #faithwalk, but hopefully I’ve made records of my ebenezers at least somewhere so I can look back on them. Looking back at my own posts has been helpful for me to remember how God has been faithful to make Himself known to me. I can trust that whatever I’m going through right now, whatever hardness of heart, whatever sorrow that causes me to say ‘where are you, God?’, God says He knows me and has never and will not forsake me. 

I’ve been in emotional turmoil since February this year. For several months, I don’t think I could count a day where I didn’t cry, didn’t ask why, didn’t think I’d have the courage or will to live through another day. All the while, it’s hard not to compare, not to think of suffering in small or large doses, not to think of transformation as something that’s supposed to be proportional to the pain. Being reminded that other people suffer also (and I try not to say suffer to a greater degree) is temporarily comforting, but not validating of my own pain. Pain is pain, and Jesus knows this (Heb 4:15). He knows when the journey is too much for us (Elijah, 1 Kings 19). He will wipe away every tear and pain and suffering will be no more (Rev 21); he is our present hope in a world full of brokenness.  

I won’t dive into details, but this year I’ve found myself in the darkest valley I’ve been in so far. I phoned my now therapist with an introduction of “I’m at my lowest point” - maybe dramatic? But not untrue.

Grief, loss, sin - I’m not a fan, however, leading up to my loss, I recall that God has been my Immanuel - God with us. He has been faithful, tender, and gracious to reveal Himself to me through Joseph’s story in the Old Testament, through my mentor, through godly friendships formed in the past year, through unlikely friends, through old friends I’ve lost contact with for some time, through family, through God’s word. 

The decision was made in obedience to a conviction from God. I wrestled with the conviction. It grieved me. It grieved me that we had the freedom to do as we pleased, and yet it would still be within God’s sovereignty. Because then what? Is there right or wrong? It grieved me that there is no right or wrong, but that there was a godly one that the Holy Spirit himself gives me. It grieved me that I had to be the one to decide. It grieved me that the godly choice would be excruciating for me. I was reminded that his sheep know his voice, and I knew I had to make room for God in my life and in his life. 

In my wrestle with the conviction, the prayer changed from “God do you want me to end this or stay in this?” to “but who will protect me, love me, and care for me?”. In my heart, I knew God’s answer was “that has always been me, and he has not been those things for you”. Arguably, no one should be the only source of those things for us … and no one is capable. 

It was not the conflict, the hurtful words, the hurtful actions, the hurtful inaction, the unloving that caused me to come to this decision (as I’m so tempted always now by the devil to believe); it was the conviction.  

It’s just a little difficult to recall those good things I learned about God now because my mind is clouded by grief. My desire to obey and please God was the morality in me that cast a shadow over what true freedom in the gospel might look like, I think, so my desire was to obey, but I’m really sad about it. I feel like a shell of the person I used to be … and at the same time unsure of who I was before ... so finding the shell that I am a very foreign one.

In many ways, I think I can describe this loss as losing the life I thought I would have: the children, the house, the future dog, the future adventures, the picture perfect family. Most of all, I feel that I’ve lost my best friend, my confidant, my life partner. I’ve lost someone who’s known me most intimately. I admit, I feel really lonely despite my community coming together to help me, especially as time goes on. I lost things God never promised I would have. 

But maybe ‘losing’ helps me to gain Who I’ve needed most. I have never been brought to God’s feet the way I have been this year. I need His grace and mercy for me each day and I’m growing in awareness of my need.

So right now I’m just trying to reconcile the grief to the truths without growing bitter or frustrated with the whole process. A good friend reminded me that sanctification is as much a grace as justification is - and this isn’t to say I should just sit around in defeat, but it’s comforting and validating because although I’m struggling, I haven’t been running away in the midst of all the emotional turmoil. I understand intellectually that there is a hope, grace, mercy, joy to be experienced in the now because of the gospel. I understand that it’s okay to be in pain because Jesus empathizes with our weaknesses. 

It just takes time for my heart to understand it. If you read this, please pray for me.

I still love him very much. I have great compassion for him and my prayer remains the same that freely he would come to God. All of this reminds me of the concern I should have for my own relationship with God. But I also know that God is sovereign and good and jealous. The glory will only be to God. I just don’t know what I can do now ... what is allowed and what isn’t allowed. 

Til next blog. Sorry that this blog probably doesn’t make much sense without context.

[stephiime]

what is it like, sitting in that cage with the door wide open? the cage is where faith and emotions battle relentlessly for your heart It’s full of doubt, accusations, questions what kinds of truths do you devote yourself to that convince you you’d rather stay put where you are ... I wonder? Would that I understood who You were, so I might be able to set you free what a pity that you would rather protection from doubts than from the Creator Himself He died for you that you would have freedom, did you not know?

where did these chains come from and what are they made of?

could I just be simple? could I just be as He created me? could I just be made worriless? 

Make Me Simple

O Ingenious God, I rejoice in your creation and pray that your Spirit touch me so deeply, that I will find a sense of self …..which makes me glad to be who I am ……….and yet restless ……………at being anything less ………………..than I can become. Make me simple enough …..not to be confused by disappointments, clear enough …..not to mistake busyness for freedom, honest enough …..not to expect truth to be painless, brave enough …..not to sing all my songs in private, compassionate enough …..to get in trouble, humble enough …..to admit trouble and seek help, joyful enough …..to celebrate all of it, ……….myself and others and you through Jesus Christ our Lord.

-Ted Loder

[stephiime]

I’ve become a gatherer of things I gather emotions, thoughts that I want, and thoughts that I don’t want I gather broken pieces - of me - and I think to myself, “should I throw a pity party?” I do. Over and over. God sends me people, I collect them. I collect their comfort, I collect words, their facial expressions that whisper ‘I’m so sorry this happened to you’ I cry because I know they love me I cry because God loves me and knows I need them - He knows I need Him even when I refuse to believe I am in His thoughts But I cry also because I didn’t want to be a collector of such things, not these ones, not answers to prayers I didn’t think I had prayed I wanted to be a collector of hopes and dreams Of laughter and honesty A collector of adventures, sweet nothings, lazy days, tough days - but tough days spent with you Instead, I’ve been told I don’t need to collect any of these things I’m free to collect simple things from Him Like sunsets 

[stephiime]

Melbun pt 2: Foods, MelbunUni, Chill day

Went to City on a Hill for service; so cool. It was in a movie theater and their kids program was in a separate theater/rooms. Thanks for the recommendation Aimee and Damo!

We walked around forever (google maps was kinda horrible downtown/city area) to find this place called Hash Specialty Coffee (we went by reviews and pictures hahahaha)

Their most popular drink is a hot chocolate that you pour into a cup filled with ‘fairy floss’, or what we like to call in the west, cotton candy. It was absolutely my favourite and not too sweet at all; the chocolate is v rich with the perfect amount of bitterness

I got a smoked sammy toast ... comes with a poached egg on the side so is it a bennys?

Iris got a chicken, comes with son in law eggs. The restaurant also had a truffle toast or something? It smelled so good; one of the 2 ladies next to us ordered one. 

very cute, hipster aesthetic

Went to melbun uni and took some photos at iconic places; just walked around and explored the campus even though many doors remained closed for their summer break. There were lots of campuses we wanted to explore, there’s a huge map of different unis all clustered together ... but unfortunately we didn’t have access to majority of these places

what are these tho

dungeon

Everything is so beautiful and intentional and captivating. It’s got like that European touch ... I wonder what people think if they visit my university LOL. 

We were in the free fare zone, so we headed back to cbd. This guy was pretty funny but his act took a really long time so we kinda just had to bounce

“chinatown”

We were walking around and thinking we’d find some dinner; but I saw this banner and then I heard faintly what sounded like preaching so we asked the security guard outside “hey, is this a private event”. And he said “no, but it’s like, church. You’re welcome to come in if you like”. So of course we went in. Cool. God bringing church to us for a second time! WILD that we totally did NOT have Hillsong on our minds at all, but knew after seeing this like, oh yea! Hillsong is in Australia haha and WE’RE IN AUSTRALIA. Pretty cool stuff.

We went to a restaurant called Metro Burgers on Degraves. It’s on Degraves street ... loollo; lots of cute little polaroids on the wall.  “Eating my way into a chronic disease” #same

It was $$$$ about $25 for this Kangaroo burger. They do also have emu and crocodile. It also seems as though the meat isn’t ground, it’s some cut of the actual animal and like a steak. Idk what we expected from the kangaroo, but the meat is a little bit dry (it definitely is a lean, muscular animal) and a little bit gamey. I didn’t mind it too much; but kinda like having a ground turkey patty 

There was an apparently super popular gelato place, Pidapipo, just a couple stores down. Ppl were lined up and it seemed quite busy but the line moved quickly 

It looks so sofffttt

I think I got a peach/apricot creamy thingy

I really like this photo. I’m a creeper extraordinaire. I hope to acquire a super cool zoom zoom camera one day so I don’t have to walk right up to a person to take a candid shot

They didn’t look more than high schoolers; this seems fun hahahahaha

We love our little place in Hawthorn. It was so convenient. and such good places around us as well. 

[stephiime]

Melbun pt 1: DAMO & AIMEE’S WEDDING!!!!

February 4-12, 2020

Hey, it’s me. I’ve skipped a whole 2018/2019′s worth of photos and blogging because I have felt that this is TOO IMPORTANT, SO MUCH OF A BLESSING to not blog about. 

I wanted to come to Damo’s wedding. And it’s been a long time since I knew it was happening, but I didn’t really have anyone to go with (and wasn’t sure what I’d do alone in Australia). Thankfully, when I was sharing this at church, Iris was like can I come and I was like heck. yes.

We were shocked by this siiiick library.

Queen Victoria Market in Melbun!

Meat pie :) as per Damo & Aimee’s recommendations.  Iris and I were thinking ... if people came to our city, what food would we say about “you have to try this”?

half a dozen for $9 AUD

They were not bad at all :) pretty freshhhh

St. Paul’s Cathedral. it was reaally cool. Entry is free but you do have to pay $5 to take photos with a “small” camera and $10 for larger cameras

Then hopped over to Hosier lane. According to a local guide I overheard, Hosier Lane is one of the several places in Melbourne where street art has been made legal. The art here changes every couple of days, and really no hard feelings I think, they just paint right over each other!

We stumbled upon an artist doing some touch ups on her work while waiting for our CHINCHIN table to open up

Waited for 1.5 hours for a table at this place we found online. We sat FOREVER at this Top Tea bubbletea place trying to decide where to eat and even asked the staff there for recommendations. HAHA google reviews is what we ended up deciding on tho.

We ordered the “Feed Me #1″ which is supposed to be - in random - 3 appetizers + soups/noodle/rice + salad + BBQ/Rotisserie + dessert. To my surprise, all the recommended and most expensive dishes were arriving at our table and the waiter asked “how’s the food?”, I was like “amazing” and he said “I just gave you the best of the best” ... which we then saw was actually the name of another set menu costing about $20 more P/P. SO NICE!!!

KINGFISH SASHIMI LIME, CHILLI, COCONUT & THAI BASIL

CORN FRITTERS W. LETTUCE CUPS SHISO & SWEET & SOUR CHILLI SAUCE

STICKY TAMARIND CHILLI DUCK, W. SON IN LAW EGGS

PAD SEUW - BRAISED WAGYU BEEF GAI LAAN, RICE NOODLES & SHALLOTS

CRISPY BARRAMUNDI & GREEN APPLE SALAD  CARAMELISED PORK, PEANUTS CHILLI & LEMONGRASS

TWICE COOKED BEEF SHORT RIB SHAVED COCONUT SALAD & PRIK NAHM PLA

The food was so good we had to buy the cookbook LOL. Here’s the menu (.pdf) btw, I think it changes every so often. We would 12/10 recommend. It’s a touch expensive but it was totally worth the experience and SO MUCH AMAZING food. Our leftovers didn’t even taste like leftovers the next day. 

We took advantage to explore a lot of cafes in the AM since we heard of a huge coffee culture. This place is called FI:KA; signature drinks containing 24k gold. The manager (I think?) was very friendly and outgoing

They make these pretty swans heh. I got the Wellness Breakfast which was I think mini lattes? There was red velvet, lilac, mermaid, and matcha 

Pink and floral vibes in this cafe

WEDDDDDINNNG!!!

Apparently it’s pretty common to have a fog machine for the first dance I had no idea HAHAHAHHAA 

SIBLING DANCE <3 <3 <3 <3 I’m dead, this is the most adorable, blessed dance I’ve ever seen

WOW LIKE DO DREAMS COME TRUE LIKE THIS EVEN??? Thank you for approaching me and saying hi! actually felt kinda lost in this social setting so it was nice to kind of know someone haha

if y’all didn’t know, I started blogging ‘cause good ol’ Damo is so darned excited about his friends and what they do, he couldn’t help but share Eddy’s blog with me and I was madly inspired. 

And because of Damo & Aimee I finally got to meet my friends from 🦋Irresistable (I think was the guild); JUSTIN & SUSAN <33

And I’m so thankful that Damo & Aimee accepted my photobooth submissions. I’m so bad at coming up with things, but I managed to find a maplestory screenshot and thought it was the perfect photo op

It was a green screen and reversed ... so we had mad difficulties trying to position ourselves and point in the correct direction. JUSTIN, WHERE ARE YOU IN THAT LAST ONE????

And bread was there too I guess lol.

Things I thank God for:

MapleStory friends are real

So thankful that through this wedding, I got to meet in person all these wonderful people

SO thankful to witness to such a God-honoring couple be united in marriage. My heart is so full hearing all the speeches of how these two touched the lives of those around them. Damo, this girl is such a catch <3

That Damo is so excited about the people he meets, no matter how brief, he can see their talent, their friendship, whatever it is, and stays so invested in their lives. Through Damo I also got to meet Hannah and do a collaboration with her. I never would have guessed that I’d have an opportunity as an artist to collaborate with someone who makes AMAZING cakes/confectioneries

Australia’s Iced Coffees/Chocolates have ice cream in them (otherwise they’re actually not ‘standard’ and subpar)

God’s grace and love spans this entire universe

[stephiime]

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION: Grounded

October 15, 2019 

I find that the more God reveals Himself to me, the more I see my own shortcomings, disappointments, lack, whatever else it may be. As time goes, I focus so much on these things, my desire for these iniquities to change (or even the desire to be perfect) becomes the source of my anger. 

I’m always thinking of things; I’m a thinker. I become stressed, overwhelmed, anxious, and self-critical just by my own nature and habit that I make it that much harder for myself to be in God’s presence. I love God, and moments like this remind me that He is merciful, He loves me, His sacrifice has made me righteous and perfect forever whilst I am being made holy. 

She asked me, “Can we just be a witness to what is happening?”

She then guided me through something a little more up my alley in psychiatry haha - mindfulness. I guess we did what I usually call “guided imagery”:

Pretend you are in the sky and your thoughts are as clouds in front of you. You are in the sky, watching the clouds passing by.

We sat, meditating like this for a while. I saw different thoughts go by, and different feelings/emotions accompanying them. I noticed myself acknowledging these thoughts and emotions, and surrendering them in prayer to God. 

She asked me where God was among all of this and how I would describe the sky that I was in. I described feeling that God was everywhere and because of this, the sky was a space where I felt grounded.

When she asked where all my thoughts came from, I sat for a bit in silence. I think it comes from making lists knowing that I never complete my list or complete my tasks to how I expect myself to complete them - so there is a pattern of thinking that there is always something I can be doing, something I can be doing better.

She asked where this comes from and I sat in silence for longer. Perhaps it’s a fear of being unproductive, fear of disappointing, fear of being put up for scrutiny by myself and others for not being a better version of myself.

She told me that our thoughts are just thoughts, not who we are. Our opinions of ourselves do not truly define who we are because only who God says we are truly, eternally matters. 

It’s not that we will not get the things done that we need to get done; but that we trust we have done our best. 

This reminds me that I put my trust in a higher power, who is God, creator of Heaven and earth, who will transform us into the likeness of His Son - righteous, holy, wholly human, and wholly perfect. I can stop forcing my timeline onto God’s timeline because I know His is better in every way that I can and can’t understand. I can stop being fed up with myself and others because I know God is at work in me. 

[stephiime]

DDP Night Market

May 25(26), 2018

I am posting about Korea again! But first, I have to apologize. I have been doing a significant amount of reflecting lately, and during that process, I have lost that desire to post the day-to-day like I used to. 

Although I still have entries from my diary, my desire to catch you all up on things reaches beyond copying down verbatim what I had written and I hope you can enjoy these photos as I did while editing them :) 

This is a visit to DDP, again. Please go inside. There is a lovely set of stairs that are perfect for your #aesthetic photos for example this one. I don’t know if I still have the originals of those photos since Haley took them on her camera. Photo ops (if that’s what you’re really into):

The terrace outside the top floor that has a wide view of DDM

Staircase

Hallways 

Projector screens

There’s also little models of what DDP could have looked like! Multiple submissions of architects from all over the world for the DDP design contest!

I used to want really badly to be an architect, but that was a different me I think!

I was photobombing her but we look pretty cool

This is a night market that DDP had. I’m unsure if it a routine one or if it was for some occasion, but I really liked this donut 

We shared this one that was called “love bar” or something similar HAHA 

[stephiime]

Come w Me to DDP! D 4/35

５月２5日

Blogging is becoming very difficult for me these days. I am finding myself so immersed in my passion (yet also my fear) for work that I have little time or focus to sit down and hammer anything out, sometimes not even my own thoughts. Sorry to start on that note, LOL.

I got up at about 7:30 and thought it’d be nice to hop downstairs to make breakfast!! Made scramble on toast and had 2-in-1 / 3-in-1 coffee(?) It felt really nice to have time alone to reflect on God’s Word.

This is a very cozy place and I have already made myself at home :) 

Anyway, we said hi to HyeongSeob today again haha!

Had some lunch in Hongdae ... maybe just order one thing to share :)

Then we went to Carin Hongdae Lounge. It’s a pink themed café and it’s kind of like a café/showroom for Carin sunglasses.

I really liked the raspberry drink I got. Probably one of my favourite drinks I had in Korea! If I could name a top 3, this would be #2! 

Haley got this interesting coffee

Went to DDP :) 

Took a buuuuunnnch of panos

They had some really lovely postcards! Inspired me to also make postcards ... which I have not done at this point but would love to ...

After a while, we noticed they had already set up for the night market. We got the strawberry one called “Loving You”

We also got the cheon chun dog (left)

[stephiime]

Insadong D 4/35

５月２4日

Itinerary for the day:

Mangwondong Tiramisu ( 망원동티라미수 )

Cafe Bora (보라 )

Insadong ( 인사동 )

Of course, it’s breakfast time in the guesthouse and I’m up extra early as always to claim ownership on all the things in the kitchen. Time for devotions and postcard-writing!

We started our day off at  망원동티라미수 [ Mangwondong Tiramisu ] @ Hondae exit 3 along the main street. I had the 인절미 [ injeolmi/soy dust ] tiramisu and Haley had the earl grey one. She also got a latte (?) sorry, I don’t recall what she got woops.

I really like 인절미 :) it is also my favourite sulbing flavor. They also had flavors like strawberry, matcha, oreo, blueberry, regular 

To me, the mascarpone is the sell point of the tiramisu, but I don’t think that mascarpone was used in the cream here, although it was still somewhat savory. The taste was less creamy, but texture was more airy / frothy (?). It was refreshing and charming in it’s own way, so I totally recommend coming!

Me as an extreme try-hard

Then we hustled to the Bukcheon area for Café Bora! Can any of my friends out there enlighten me as to why Jongno has all these yellow fire hydrants or as I like to call them, half-bananas? 

Bora apparently means ‘purple’, and it is fitting as their desserts are made from purple sweet potatoes. We tried the shaved ice and ice cream.

It also came with sweet potato chips

I accidentally got a mouthful of flower. 

It was a cozy, charming place hidden on an inner street just off the main street. The desserts were really unique, but I can’t imagine it’s the taste for everyone. Similar to how soy dust has a very particular earthy and subtly elegant flavor/texture, so were the options here. 

We hadn’t planned on visiting all these art galleries, but on our walk from Café Bora to Insadong, we noticed there were a ton of them and most had free admission.

It’s great when you don’t plan your days to a T because you may find yourselves immersed into different experiences that you didn’t expect to encounter!

Some really cool stuff like this tin man by a pool, same 

I really liked these pieces

Signing guestbooks and leaving my mark like the obnoxious traveler I am 

I should have written my Chinese name just to be a lil pretentious perhaps

“He is going out with her” “I hate her”

Some beautiful inner streets

Stopped by the post!

Bumped into the Insa Art Space and found this wonderful artist who’s theme reveals her relationship with God! Amazing! Her name is Park In-Ok. I was so inspired by her art and how she used her art to share with the world her relationship with Jesus :) Here is the awkwardest photo of us ever to exist.

She only allowed us to take photos of our favourites, and this one was one of mine because it depicts Jesus washing feet. We did this as one of our fellowship programs, but it also reminds me of how we need to humbly serve one another.

There was also a painting depicting Matthew 5. It was so cool because I had been reading Matthew 5 as my devotions.

We also saw an exhibition by Park Yong-Jin. He is such a cool guy! He is a designer who also teaches courses at university. His exhibition had a theme of questioning patterns in society. This one depicts expressions that people use in repetition that almost mimic an onomatopoeia(?) For example:  빨리 빨리 [bballi bballi / quickly quickly ]. Artfully tessellated :) 

These are the asterisks on receipts that represent hidden numbers or characters. He was explaining to us that depending on the individual, a person may see this as a measure to protect identity or as a symbol of mistrust. 

He explained that these are manually written receipts. A cashier may scribble this symbol on top of a receipt to void a receipt or indicate the items have been paid for, but where did this symbol come from? He did a little research and asked students, friends, anyone, and even cashiers where they thought this symbol came from, and no one could give him an answer. “It simply is what it is” was the general perception of the symbol and not many question its meaning or conception.

This is his signature. I don’t quite remember his explanation for this, but I can imagine it is something along the lines of mindlessly scribbling your identity over purchases without questioning its significance. It was so amazing to have these conversations with the solo artists and to see their passion for their work and for the messages they wanted to bring out to the public.

After struggling to leave for a very long time, we ended up back on the main street of Insadong.

Green tea store. Wat

Some pretty cool desserts that we didn’t have the stomach or $$$ for

The black on one the end looked bomb, but I didn’t get it because refer to above reasons

Had some  국수 [ guksu / soup noodles ] for dinner before heading back to Hongdae!

It was still kind of early so we watched Dead Pool 2 LOL! This is an insurance ad they played before the movie hahaha. ART.

[stephiime]

KU + Hongdae Exit 3・Ｄ３／３５

５月２3日

Wow, editing and uploading gets pretty crazy when you get a new camera and decide you want to go shutter-happy. Also, I forgot to change the time zone on my DSLR, so it’s made the files on Lightroom harder to distinguish 😓😓 

Starting my day off early doing morning devotions in the guesthouse ( LINK: Hi Jun Guesthouse )! I’ve been reading Matthew chapter 5! 

The Beatitudes

He said:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 4 Blessed are those who mourn,    for they will be comforted. 5 Blessed are the meek,    for they will inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,    for they will be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful,    for they will be shown mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart,    for they will see God. 9 Blessed are the peacemakers,    for they will be called children of God. 10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,    for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.12 Rejoice and be glad,because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Salt and Light

13 “You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.14 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

Started the day off at 7-11. We were planning on visiting a café and we had a premonition that it would be costly, so we ate first haha. We met HyeongSeob today but I had yet to find out his name at this point. 

Went to ARRIATE café ( LINK: get out Hongik Univ station on Line 2, turn left once you leave Exit 9 and walk straight down the road for about 2 mintues until you see it on your left ). Supposedly filled with flowers.

Filled with flowers indeed! Little dried bouquets, boxes, ...

And these are quite beautiful. Possibly my favourite color (but I did put a filter on this pic haha, pre-filter* it’s my favourite color), possibly also my favourite flower.

Dried flowers dangling from the ceiling yo!

Cotton balls!

So we said we weren’t going to eat, but we didn’t want to drink anything either, so we actually just shared this cake because it would be cheaper to get cake.

We went out to 명동 [ Myeong Dong ] and I got this :). It’s just inside the station. I saw it in 2016 but didn’t get it and I was still curious so 😅

You have to smash it wish this mallet. It’s just chocolate covered biscuits haha, but nonetheless a fun experience. It melts very quickly, so watch out if you get this! 

We found the Stylenanda Pink Hotel so we spent mega hours inside.

There’s this cool pool-themed area but no actual pool? Haha. 

They also had coffee there. Maybe I’m already a little jaded from all the videos I’ve seen, or I’m just not much of a Stylenanda person so it wasn’t really too exciting for me. However if you like the style, like taking aesthetic photos, and you can afford the things (def not me), I think you’d really enjoy it! 😉😉😉

Roamed the streets for some foods 

I ended up getting this box of mini kimbaps 😛

LINE store! 

Hustled over to Dongdaemun Design Plaza/DDP ( LINK ). Just wanted some shots (not the alcoholic kind)

LED rose garden

:) 

It is a big place, v aesthetic indeed!

Haaan River!

Haley ordered first and I convinced her to order the cocktail, but I got the non-alcoholic one and she had not known. She said to me ‘yo, you look fine’. 

‘Course I look fine :) kkkkkk 😝😝😝

I was hungry because we haven’t actually been eating meals. We’ve been exploring and picking up snacks or street foods whenever we got hungry ... :) mini chapaghetti! Sorry, Jun! I ate in your room. 

[stephiime]

KU + Hongdae Exit 3・Ｄ２／３５

５月２2日

I was very jet lagged, although I had been working night shifts for a little while. Woke up at about 5am and waited til 8am to go downstairs for breakfast. Here it is!    

I enjoyed writing for a long, long time, greeting all the other guests and saying hi to Jun when he walked in. He comes in and out of the house, but typically is in weekdays from 9am - 3pm (I’m not creepy, I’m just awake early and asked what time he leaves in case we needed something)

Went to 고대 in the AM for morning glory! I bought muchos pens and a lovely onion ring notebook. Also bought the keychain from KU + some postcards 

Took a stroll by pi-ville :) it hadn’t been built when I was here last. 

Pano!

OF COURSE I had to come back here for 물냉 [ mul naeng/mul naengmyeon; cold noodles ]! The Jincook makMiss you Julie!  

The 물냉 always comes with 고기 [ gogi; meat ]

We went to Moon d’Ann and sipped on overpriced beverages while doing devotions. We had some time to share testimonies with one another and I thought it was cool that we have these chances to talk. I liked the reminder/devotion today about hearing God’s voice over all others. The voices of others may be easy to avoid depending on who you are, but our own voices always seem to take precedence over His voice. 

They have these like loft bed/studying areas with cozy pillows and tables

Shopped at Express Bus Terminal and did a little bit of damage before returning to Hongdae exit 3 for HandSteak! 

He bombed our photo hahaha and then asked me to pay him and I gave him a high-five lol hahaha. Korean people are so friendly and down to earth

I always recommend anyone travelling to Korea that if they stop by Hongdae (typically Exit 9), they should definitely try to make some time for Exit 3! Less shopping, more food and chill vibes, a perfect place for picnics day or night. 

[stephiime]

出発、ソウルへ・Ｄ１／３５

５月２０日

Brother dropped me off at the airport and now I’m Seoul-bound! 

YVR has some pretty interesting art!

It’s also quite pretty and spacious

I am always impressed by the planes that have the color gradations on their passenger windows heh. 

I spent most of the time reading and reflecting; praying to God that He would use this time of rest to reveal more to me

Met up with Haley and thus begins our 5-week journey together as foreigners in Korea and Japan! We cabbed to our agoda in Hongdae. It’s called << Hi Jun Guesthouse >>. We stayed in a twin bedroom with a private bathroom (splurged on the private bathroom because we knew we’d be staying for 3 weeks). 

It was cozy, but perfect for us!

It is a charming place :) 

We dropped off our things and explored Hongdae for some din :) I had 어묵 [ eomuk; fishcakes ] and Haley had fried chicken heh. We piled up on the side dishes of course

Didn’t get a chance to sample this super long ice cream last time and I remember thinking “where did people get that?”; NOW I KNOW! It was delicious :) 

Bumped into an A Land so we went in, but then realized it wasn’t within our budget so we just took pictures of the stairwell. 

Saw some street performances :) This guy was my favourite. He was singing indie folk songs and he sang 벚꽃 엔딩 so beautifully! He wasn’t able to hit the notes at times but it was really cute heh

[stephiime]

reunion

may 2, 2018

Even though we’re missing my madre, it was still so lovely to have a home cooked meal with my Guat team! 

I really missed them tbh

You never really forget an experience like that; it’s the way God unites His people - through spirit, by His divine plans, and not by coincident or chance. 

[stephiime]

chicken + exciting games

april 29, 2018

I don’t remember the occasion; perhaps the boys were done their engg exams or something, but don’t matta! There doesn’t need to be a reason for good friends to gather again :) 

He reminds me of Hades from the Hercules animated movie. Asking for a friend.

Chicken dinner!

Shallot chicken is the best chicken!

Then we went to Tim’s house and played from thrilling time-sensitive games. Escape: The Curse of the Temple. Rough game haha. I decided to sit out since I wasn’t ready for 5 billion black masks.

Poor Willis, just piling up on those black masks

Then we played a real time battleship of sorts called Captain Sonar

WEST, WEST, WEST, EAST, WEAST, WAIT STOP STOP STOP STOP. Very stressful game. 

Look at how stressed they are because their ship is taking HITS

Jk we were taking hits

[stephiime]

grad recital

march 18, 2018

My good, good friend, Rachel is having her graduation recital in her combined degree in education and music! She was generous enough to have invited some of us to attend and stay the night :)

Also treating us all to dinner!

Whispers from the nephew. Actually, he wanted to sniff the flower. 

Kind of surreal to see my friend’s face pinned up on all these boards among others

While Alex and I waited for the recital hall to open, we walked around and I spotted this at a vending machine. I could not pass off this opportunity to relive my childhood memories (we shared it, haha)!

This is supposedly a statue of Moses, so I had to snap a picture.

Despite the spit valve, everything else was amazing! You never really know how hard a person has worked when they’re so far away, but I could see that she really loves what she does and she put in a lot of work!

This is the greatest kind of bouquets 

We met at the bar across our hotel to ‘grab drinks’ with her seniors, juniors, and relatives; I offered to be DD :) 

We were also hungry so we made a stop at the place we always seem to go to when it’s the three of us. They gave us one pack of ketchup, and apparently that was all they had left haha!

Only one of those is mine :)

It was fun having just the 3 of us hanging out in this room, staying up mega late talking about things I can no longer remember details to! Alex also decided to show me a scary Japanese dating sim thing at 5 in the morning, thanks man.  

Thanks, friend! That was so cool. Thanks for inviting us to celebrate in your victory and in your life! I’m excited to see where you’ll take yourself next!