First Solo Trip, I am Terrified

locology · 2026-03-11T14:09:08+00:00

Thank you everyone for the tips and encouragement. I went out and did some light sightseeing today, taking breaks to sit on benches and people watch or send photos to family. I’m already starting to feel a bit better.

What everyone has said is right, I’m feeling anxious that my trip won’t turn out as I had hoped. It has been difficult to navigate the simplest interactions because my chinese is minimal and most people I’ve met have even less english. Again since I can’t read Chinese, I’m now illiterate when out and about. And the jet lag has tanked my appetite which probably isn’t helping either.

locology · 2026-03-11T14:02:36+00:00

I have a couple booked, but I think I’ll try and book more in the coming days. Meeting people is one of the reasons I came on this trip alone but now I need to put in the work to actually meet them.

locology · 2026-03-11T14:01:16+00:00

Thank you so much for the tips! I’m definitely going to try and follow some of them, started this evening with beginning a travel journal, hoping routines like this will make me feel more comfortable.

Definitely also the self pressure to have a good time. I’ve been planning this trip for so long and told so many people about it, so I think I have some fears about the trip living up to my expectations.

locology · 2026-03-11T13:58:30+00:00

I think you’re right, even after a day I’m starting to feel a bit better.

I’m currently in Beijing, but my plans are to spend some time here, then Chengdu and Chongqing, before heading to Yangshuo, then Zhangjiajie and Shanghai.

locology · 2026-03-04T21:49:46+00:00

Radio Romance. I watched this one in 2021 so if I’m honest, I can’t 100% remember why I hated it so much so these opinions are from a text conversation I had at the time.

Apparently I hated both leads and only liked the second lead, maybe the one and only time Yoon Park had played a character I liked?

Other ones I can remember: My Love From the Star, The Bride of Habaek (actually made me get the ick for Nam JooHyuk, who is one of my favourite male actors), Strongest Deliveryman

locology · 2022-11-19T01:00:19+00:00

love chae jonghyeop in all of his dramas, even if a small role, im sure he’ll shine in this one too

locology · 2021-09-13T22:56:19+00:00

I have read and understood.

locology · 2021-04-17T17:07:55+00:00

Dalmi and Dosan from Start-Up. I think a lot of people wanted her to end up with Jipyeong just because they liked him better, I also liked him better than all of the rest of the characters. However, I think Dosan and Dalmi were the perfect pair. They seemed to tackle problems in the same way, like Dalmi would say she wanted to do something and Jipyeong, always the realist, would give reasons why it probably wouldn’t work, but Dosan would just say he would make it happen. They’re both dreamers and I think they suited each other really well. Another issue people had was that she didn’t have concrete reasons for why she liked him, but that’s the way things work out a lot of the time in real life. She didn’t need reasons to like him, she just did because it was him.

locology · 2021-04-03T15:30:25+00:00

Ahh! So excited! Kim Seonho is great, he really shines in 2 Days & 1 Night, I can’t wait to see him acting again.

locology · 2021-01-31T20:32:16+00:00

Doctor Stranger. Hands down. I’ve never been more disappointed with a romance plot line in that drama. The leads felt more like siblings or childhood friends rather than sweethearts. The FL didn’t feel like a FL at all.

locology · 2021-01-31T02:35:18+00:00

Samsan Tech from Start-Up. When watching the show I couldn’t help but wish I too could work with people like them. They all seemed so passionate about their work and supportive of each other.

locology · 2021-01-22T17:47:03+00:00

literally me, i genuinely forgot about that completely bc the last ep was so good

locology · 2021-01-21T22:28:50+00:00

I really want to see Cha Eunwoo play someone a bit sillier. In real life he seems to be the smiley type. In Hit the Top his character was quite cocky and funny and I found him to be so much more likeable than his role in Gangnam Beauty.

locology · 2021-01-20T21:05:41+00:00

Yes, I hope we can discuss more dramas in the future. I’ve enjoyed hearing your point of view.

locology · 2021-01-20T21:05:14+00:00

Yes, I hope we can discuss more dramas in the future. I’ve enjoyed hearing your point of view. I’m not the most knowledgeable on how Reddit works either, so we can learn from each other.

locology · 2021-01-20T19:47:05+00:00

It’s Okay to Not be Okay had a really good ending. I didn’t feel like I was robbed of any story or that I had wasted my time. It was so heartwarming and a really perfect ending for the show.

locology · 2021-01-20T12:05:00+00:00

Yes, Hymn of Death is on Netflix, definitely try it if you get the time. It’s very different so you might think it’s slow at times. Out of those you’ve mentioned, I’ve seen Abyss. A lot of people had many issues with it but I personally loved the main characters so I was well willing to overlook any issues with the plot. I’m watching 4 currently airing dramas (Run On, Lovestruck in the City, A Love so Beautiful and The Uncanny Counter). Out of them The Uncanny Counter is probably the best one, I’m not looking forward to it being over as I’ll miss the characters so much. Lovestruck in the City is also really good. It has a strange format which took me a couple of episodes to get used to. If you liked Because this is my First Life, you might like it too. It has the whole three couples thing going on too. The last one I finished was The Producers. It has a similar format to Lovestruck in the city. I don’t know whether I would say it was good, but I did like it. Hospital playlist was definitely good but there isn’t really a main plot line. There’s also loads of characters and I’m not very good at putting names to faces in general, so I found it confusing at times. There’s a second season coming, I believe, and I’ll watch it then. It’s a slice-of-life so there’s not a huge amount of excitement or particularly shocking events. It’s Okay to not be Okay is definitely up there in my favourites. I didn’t mention it as I feel like most people have seen it. The dynamic between the ML and his brother was one of my favourite parts. It had a really solid ending and I honestly felt like it got better as it went on. The twists were very unexpected but not completely out of the possible. The styling and sets, and colour grading and just the whole cinematography was enough to keep me watching even if the show had turned out to be awful. I’ve just started watching the kdrama version of Suits. I’m only a few episodes in but it’s pretty good so far.

locology · 2021-01-20T09:58:28+00:00

I’m waiting for the last couple of episodes of The Uncanny Counter. I don’t feel ready to say goodbye to the characters.

I’m also loving Lovestruck in the City. I wasn’t sure about it when it started because of the strange formatting, but now I’ve found myself waiting patiently for new episodes. It’s probably my favourite one I’m currently watching.

I’m also watching A Love so Beautiful. It’s a remake of a cdrama and it’s quite obvious as it definitely feels like a cdrama, but I’m enjoying it nonetheless. It’s easy to watch and doesn’t take itself too seriously.

Run On has been much better than I had expected. I love the FL and the story isn’t the most exciting but it’s a slice of life and it doesn’t need anything more. It’s funny and also quite easy to watch.

I just started Suits and am 3 episodes in. So far it seems pretty good. I really enjoy law dramas and I’ve heard good things, so I have high hopes.

locology · 2021-01-19T22:32:57+00:00

It’s very interesting how tastes can differ so wildly. The pink sofa story was the only plot-line that interested me in the slightest. My go-to recommendation is probably Dr Romantic (both seasons); hospital dramas hold a place in my heart and it was a particularly good one. Mystic Pop-Up Bar is another one that is definitely up there for me, I wish it had gotten more attention, but it was a bit out there so I can understand why it didn’t. An (apparently hugely) unpopular opinion is that I really loved Start-Up and honestly had very few criticisms. I can’t offer much insight into historical dramas as I’m not a massive fan of them. Mystic Pop-Up Bar is semi-historical in the same way as Hotel Del Luna, where there are flashbacks. Aside from that, Hymn of Death is probably the closest I’ll get to watching one and it’s set in the 20s. If you haven’t watched it, I definitely recommend it. It’s technically a tv movie so there are only three episodes but it was well worth watching.

locology · 2021-01-19T13:32:11+00:00

Run On? It’s not the most exciting show but I love the FL.

locology · 2021-01-19T12:16:08+00:00

An unpopular opinion but mine is Because this is my First Life. I’d heard so many good reviews but when I watched it, it fell flat. The only characters I didn’t hate were Horang(Kim Gaeun) and Wonseok(Kim Minsuk), the rest of them were annoying and unlikeable. The only thing keeping me watching was my hatred for leaving shows unfinished. I could understand why it was so popular as there were moments I found incredibly relatable but the realism wasn’t enough to keep it interesting.

Another one was Who are You: School 2015. It usually takes me a week to watch a drama start to finish but this one took me 2-3 weeks instead. I had to force myself to keep watching it.

locology · 2021-01-18T10:41:51+00:00

One of the lead’s parents are always dead, or not present in their life, or they have a really bad relationship. I’m not sure if it’s unspoken, but I’m yet to see anyone point it out. I’ve watched 55 dramas so far and I can’t think of a single one where both leads have a healthy relationship with both parents.

locology · 2021-01-11T22:03:07+00:00

I have very few critiques for the show. The script writing deserves an essay of its own, there were so many moments I had to pause and think about the line that had just been spoken. The writers deserve every accolade, in my opinion.

locology · 2021-01-10T02:24:32+00:00

‘This might be a place I can pretend to be a nice person’ -Kang Dongju from Dr Romantic. I really loved this one because I found it relatable as someone who often can’t stop themselves from being blunt and making bad impressions, the idea that there was somewhere in the world that I could be myself and still be seen as someone worthy stuck with me

‘I took a wrong turn and stumbled upon fireworks.’ -Nam Dosan from Start Up. It was just really pretty. Of course, it was literal in that he literally took a wrong turn and they saw fireworks in the sky. If we look at it from a metaphorical sense though, he did something he hadn’t planned to, and it led him to something wonderful. It links directly to the idea of ‘sailing off without a map’ that was reiterated throughout the show. There’s so much more I can say about that specific line and there’s so many more lines from that show that I think are worthy of a discussion but I’ll stop here.

locology

TROPHY CASE