For the past week and a half, I wouldn’t say I’ve experienced a sudden serge in confidence, yet I’ve certainly lived by the ‘just go for it’ motto. With this attitude in mind I have been able to speak-up a bit, sitting less in silence. I still think it will take some time to coax myself into being regularly social again, however I’m satisfied enough with my effort so far.
First of all, I made a new friend whom I met through Instagram. Coincidently she lives nearby and also has an interest in skincare/beauty blogging, so we met for coffee one sunny afternoon. Usually I wouldn’t recommend meeting strangers, especially those who you have had limited conversations with via online; although as we had arranged to meet in a public place during daytime, I felt at ease. We plan to go to a beauty convention run by the TV show ‘Get it Beauty’ at the Coex shopping centre in Seoul; I’m rather looking forward to it but we are concerned that we might not be able to attend the event after all. After applying for the free admission ticket, we were each supposed to receive confirmation through text messages… Neither of us have been sent anything despite the exhibition being this week. Hopefully this issue will be overcome in time. Perhaps I’m just being anxious and impatient.
Furthermore, I’ve been staying out of home for longer amounts of time in an attempt to boost my confidence and feel what I can only describe as less “awkward”. I think I will always dislike being in my own company for days on end, its entirely different from spending a few hours alone to relax or get some work or a task completed. Nevertheless I have been doing my best to keep distracted with things other than YouTube, music or television. My weekly total time spent on social media may have increased, which most would consider as unproductive, although it has enabled me to focus on blog promotion and gather information and inspiration for writing whichever I desire: not only this, I have wandered shops to keep amused. I don’t necessarily purchase anything, possibly just something to bring back home for lunch or dinner, it’s moreso about ‘showing my face’ even if no one cares or isn’t looking. Simply being outdoors as opposed to sheltering away after completing a task/work as I mentioned, can make you feel like you aren’t wasting your life or missing out on anything (particularly if you are living abroad with limited time or uncertainty regarding the remaining period of your stay).
A small part of “just go for it”, is moving out of your comfort zone in terms of familiarity. Habits like eating the same foods or going to towns that you venture to on a regular basis can hinder us from making progress with surpassing the barriers that our unstable mental health may have imposed. Hence why recently I have been taking the train journey to Seoul, from Incheon, once a week by myself. Yes, I’m a grown adult who will be turning 24 pretty soon, so I don’t want it to seem like I’m reliant or dependent on the company of others; it’s just I haven’t done this before so I’m gradually becoming comfortable with doing so. I’m not going to apologise for feeling timid, I’ve been doing that all my life due to the comments written by my teachers on my school reports which forever reside in my subconscious mind (‘Emma is a kind, helpful young lady but needs to work on her confidence. She’s too shy and quiet’). I’ll adapt at my own pace thank you very much.
One perk of strolling around new places is trying new foods and seeing new surroundings…
Sunday 28th April – Meanwhile in Sindorim, Seoul, I came across ‘Bread & Co Bakery’. The quality of their breads and cakes seemed of much better in comparison to the common ‘Paris Baguette’ and ‘Tous Les Jours’, which are pretty good regardless, and the prices are fairly similar among all three. I decided to eat at home as I was a bit achy from standing up through the train journey. Then again close to Sindorim Station’s Hyundai shopping centre are some indoor benches to sit and eat which could have been relaxing.
Monday 29th April – A friend & I spontaneously decided to go for lunch together as neither of us had anything planned for the day. I’m pleased that I plucked up the courage to ask her if she’d like the accompany me for a meal, as we had a nice casual conversation without any serious topic arising. We don’t know each other very well, though one thing we have in common is our admiration for pasta. The pasta restaurant we found via a map application seemed further than we expected, so we settled for a similar dish as an alternative: cream Jjampong. Traditionally, Jjampong is a Korean-Chinese spicy seafood noddle soup; although due to the increasing popularity of cream Spaghetti in Korea, restaurants like ‘Bbongsin Indust’ (in Bupyeong, Incheon) have combined Jjampong and favourite cream based pasta sauces to create an all-round fusion dish. I chose cream & tomato jjampong (rose jjampong), whereas my friend selected the original cream jjampong, which is mostly preferred by those who dislike spicy food. The restaurant chain also offers pizzas: meal sets are available consisting of pizza, jjampong and beverages. The portion size was generous considering the price (8,900â‚©/£5.92/$7.66). Between the two types we selected, I personally preferred mine. The tomato and hint of chilli cancelled out the fishy taste of the prawns and mussels, but this was not the case for the standard cream type. Still, neither version resembled original jjampong; which I dislike due to its aroma and use of fish oil (or an ingredient along those lines). I couldn’t eat the entire serving as I was very full, however to be fair I wasn’t wasteful. Just excess sauce and onions remained at the base of the ‘boat shaped‘ bowl.
💬 Did you go out on the weekend just past? What did you do?
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