It has been a year ever since I started this "My Songs Of The Month". I started this segment (?) just because I need a platform to share some of the songs that I have always listened to but now it becomes more that that. I can perfectly recall whatever happened in my life in that particular month based on the songs that I shared. I'm not sure if I'm going to keep doing it but for now, these are my songs of November 2018.

Paul Kim (폴킴) - Me After You (너를 만나)

I was out of loop about Korean music because I have been busy indulging myself with endless anime this month so it was a nice surprise to know that Paul Kim released a new song when I was browsing the YouTube. What makes more happy because his new song hit the (my) right spot! So, yeay! I mean, I have always loved his voice but his songs are always kind of hit or miss with my taste.

Ritsuko Okazaki - For Fruits Basket

Nope, I didn't rewatch Fruits Basket but oh boy, did it bring back all the memories and tears when I stumbled upon this song again on YouTube. #ohmychildhoodmemories

Rena Maeda - Beautiful Rain

Okay, I'm not sure if I got the singer name and the song title right but it is what it is. I sat through the whole anime even though I didn't like it that much just because of this song. This song is beautiful! <3 #tiapkalidengarpunrasanaknangis #sishatitisu

I think I went to Cheonggyecheon Stream (청계천) & Cheonggye Plaza (청계광장) twice (or maybe thrice?) when I went to South Korea 2 years ago. The first time was during the day and the second one during the night as I read Cheonggyecheon Stream offers different experiences during the day and night. #sistamak

The first time I went to Cheonggyecheon Stream, I actually walked from the Cheonggye Plaza to the Dongdaemun Fashion Town and back to the Cheonggye Plaza again. That was like almost 5-6 km or 5 hour-ish walk. Tak tahulah masa tu fikir apa like hello, I'm a couch potato through and through kot, but at the end of the day, kaki memang jadi jelly habis.

Tip: Bring bug spray if you intend to walk from the Cheonggye Plaza to Dongdaemun Fashion Town or Supyogyo Bridge.

I thoroughly enjoyed the walk and the view of the first hour but after that I became a grumpy ass as I didn't know the end point or how long it's going to take me to finish the whole course. #mohonjanganjadimacamsis You'll walk pass a lot of bridges, most of them having their own significance. I obviously was illiterate about the bridges so my reactions were mostly like these, "Eh, ni macam outdated sikit," or "Eh yang ni kenapa macam ni?"

You'll also see a lot of murals (?) along the way. I think some of them has a history behind it. I learned about it earlier this year while watching Battle Trip. All I can remember about it when I was there, "Agak-agaknya apalah yang nak disampaikan by this thing?" sebab lukisan dia panjang gila and there was description about the whole thing which unfortunately, written in Hangul only.

Tip: If you're short of time, just lepak dekat Cheonggye Plaza cause that's the probably the prettiest part of the whole stream.




It was a different whole story when I visited the place at night. I only lepak at the Cheonggye Plaza area cause #nobodygottimetowalkanymore It was more crowded at night with a lot of couples being lovey dovey #ohmypoorsinglesoul #justkidding I think it's due to the lower temperature at night. It was breezy when I was there so, it was a pleasant night to spent outside.

Tip: Kalau rasa hati tu cepat sendu tengok couple being lovey dovey disarankan jangan datang Cheonggyecheon Stream dan Cheonggye Plaza waktu malam. Nanti makan hati pula :p



I personally like my night visit more than the day visit because there were so much stuff happening at night due to Seoul Bamdokkaebi Night Market (서울 밤도깨비 야시장) and it was really breezy. Though I have to say that I'm not sure if I want to come visit this place, again. lol!

p.s: All the pictures in this post are of the low quality due to my phone problem T_T

Earlier summer this year, I had a chance to join a tour by Discover Banff Tours called Discover Grizzly Bear Tour. I was excited about this tour as Discover Banff Tours promotes a guaranteed grizzly bear viewing. Little did I know that the grizzly bear is a refuge bear instead of a wild bear. More on that later.

Places included in this tour are Takakkaw Falls, Emerald Lake, and Kicking Horse Mountain Resort. Unfortunately, the road to the Takakkaw Falls were still closed when I went for the tour. So, we skipped the Takakkaw Falls and went to the Emerald Lake straight.



Tip: Bow Valley Parkway and roads to Takakkaw Falls, Moraine Lake and Peyto Lake are usually open around mid/late June and close around early October depending on the amount of snow that we received in the winter. So, plan accordingly if you want to see these places.

As you may or may not remember, it was very cloudy when I went to the Emerald Lake for the first time, so I didn't get to see the pretty Emerald Lake like the ones posted on the internet. Honestly, it was cloudy everywhere we went on that day. Oh well, it was the end of May. That's the kind of weather that you'll get here in the mountains.

Tip: If you really want to come to the national parks or provincial parks located in the western Canada for sightseeing, the best season would be the summer season - mid/late June to end of August. However, do note that these months are the most expensive months as well.


It was such a short stop at the Emerald Lake. Think we were given around 20 minutes? There were not as many people as I expected but there was a group of Chinese tourists when we were there. Also, there was a couple doing their wedding photoshoot. Absolutely gorgeous! We then stopped for about 10 minutes at the Natural Bridge when we were on our way to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort.


Like I mentioned in this post, I didn't get to appreciate the beauty of Natural Bridge on my first visit. That is due to the short time given by our guide on top of the cloudy weather and muddy water. You'll understand if you see the picture above.


After the short stop, we headed straight to the Kicking Horse Mountain Resort for our lunch and grizzly bear refuge tour. Technically, it was my second time here. My first time here was when I went for the snowmobile tour last year. It was good to be back :)


We had our lunch at the Eagle's Eye Restaurant which is the highest restaurant in Canada. #cooltakcool Well, I skipped my lunch because it was Ramadan so I could only imagine that the lunch provided were delicious based on the plating and appearance. Anyway, we had to ride the Golden Eagle Express Gondola first to reach the Eagle's Eye Restaurant. It was quite a long gondola ride but not as long as Sunshine ones. The view along the way and at the top? Magnificent!


After lunch, we headed down to the base and took a chairlift ride for our Grizzly Bear Refuge Tour. This was my first time riding an open chairlift ride, so I was really nervous. There were 2 other girls with me but it was their first time as well. We requested to the lift attendants to stop the chair masa nak duduk. Kemain panjang doanya masa naik chairlift tu. Haha.




Actually, we almost didn't make it to our Grizzly Bear Refuge Tour due to miscommunication between our guide and the bear's caretaker. Thankfully, she allowed us to join the tour for a bit. Otherwise, memang rasa macam tak worth it la the tour. Once we reached the sanctuary (okay, tak sure the exact word apa but hopefully you get the gist of it?), we were greeted with the sight of Boo, the grizzly bear.


We then were bombarded with lot of details about Boo along with other information regarding grizzly bear behaviour. We also learned about the efforts they are putting to ensure Boo's survival and other bears around the world that happened to have the same fate as Boo. All this happened in about 30-45 minutes?


I found Boo really huge but the guide mentioned he's at his lightest weight when we were there. He weighed around 300 kg when we were there but the guide said he can easily reach 800 - 1000 kg, if I'm not mistaken when he's ready for the hibernation. #coolgilaokay

All in all, I had enjoyable day during the tour. I learned so much about grizzly bears that I hope other tourists will start educating themselves about bears before coming to national parks. I also managed to visit Emerald Lake for the first time and see magnificent views of the mountains in Yoho National Park and Golden.

I'm not sure if I got the place name right but this is where the MBC World (MBC 월드), and few other broadcasting companies like SBS and CJ E&M located at. This place also has been featured in countless Korean dramas and variety shows. Like I mentioned before, this place might be one of the best places for celebrity spotting if you're into this kind of thing.

I think there was a music show recording at the SBS building because there were long line of fangirls sitting outside the building. When I was done with my tour at the MBC, the lines were gone. Seriously, what a dedication, sitting outside waiting since I don't know when just to see their oppas.

Anyway, I didn't get to see a whole lot because it was hot that day and all I wanted to do that day was to sit or walk under the shade. Unfortunately, there was no or minimal shade at the area, which is why I left after about an hour.

Personal anecdote: Kena halau dari SBS Building because I accidentally went into their building and sat in the lobby #ineedairconditioner Malu gila sehh but what an experience, eh? Thankfully the guard halau baik-baik siap bagi extra 5 minutes for me to catch my breath.

We went to Lake Louise first thing in the morning. It was my umpteenth time in Lake Louise but I found this particular visit to be more special and magical? It was less crowded and it was my first time seeing this colour of Lake Louise. We were given almost 45 minutes to roam around Lake Louise. I, unfortunately, didn't make that far as I didn't get to walk along the whole shore but I was content and happy.

We then headed out to the Yoho National Park to see the rest of the places. We stopped at the Spiral Tunnels in hope of catching a sight of train passing the tunnels but too bad luck was not on our side that morning. However, we did manage to see a train passing through the tunnels later in the evening. 

Tip: Educate yourself first about the Spiral Tunnels to appreciate the sight of the train passing through the Spiral Tunnels.


Then, we stopped by at Field because we have nowhere else to go at that time. Honestly, there is nothing much at the Field. Field is such a small and secluded town that I don't think I can survive living there. Our bus driver made a big loop around the town and stopped at the Visitor Information Centre (VIC). We were given about 30 minutes to explore the area. Didn't do much here as well except visiting the VIC for washroom break and to learn some stuff about Spiral Tunnels.

After that, we went to Emerald Lake Lodge for our lunch. I skipped the lunch as I'm not a big fan of the lunch options. Also, skipping lunch means more time exploring Emerald Lake, so, yeay? By skipping lunch, I had about 3 hours to kill at the Emerald Lake. I somewhat fully utilized the hours given to us by walking around the lake, though I didn't get to finish the whole trail. Wish I got to finish the whole trail T^T

I was deeply thankful that the sky became clearer and weather became better after about an hour. When we first arrived at the Emerald Lake Lodge, it was very cloudy that you couldn't see the top of the mountains. I was kinda bummed about it because I want to see the pretty Emerald Lake, not the gloomy Emerald Lake. Thankfully, alhamdulillah, I managed to see the glimpse of pretty Emerald Lake like what I was hoping for after that. After all, Emerald Lake was one of my main reasons joining this tour.

We then stopped at the Natural Bridge on our way back to Banff. It was a short stop as we were given around 15 minutes here. This was my second time here at the Natural Bridge but it was my first time appreciating the beauty of this place. Let's just say that I was too young and too dumb to realize the beauty of this place on my first visit. 

On another note, to think that I could still get fascinated seeing this kind of view after living in the Rockies for about a year, it was a pure bliss. Alhamdulillah, I was happy :)

Our last stop on that day was this random campsite near to the road leading to the Takakkaw Falls. We stopped here for coffee break and snacks time. #bestcoffeebreakview I know it was just a random campsite, but oh boy, did I feel so small when I was there. It reminded me to my first time standing on the highway after hiking the Stanley Falls, surrounded by the mountain range. #whatafeeling

All in all, I was pretty much happy with the tour. Alhamdulillah, the weather was somewhat on our side which made everything better. The only complaint that I had was maybe they should skip Field and bring us to Marble Canyon and other places instead. Other than that, I'm pretty much a happy camper.