SEVENTEEN's Joshua got candid about his recent overseas trip to Manila last September.
On October 2, SEVENTEEN members The8, Jun, Seungkwan, and Joshua went live on Weverse following their Be The Sun concert in Bangkok, Thailand.
During the livestream, Joshua shared details of his recent overseas trip with his mother, revealing they were initially planning to go to Vietnam instead of the Philippines.
"I went on a trip with my mom recently. We were actually initially planned to go to Da Nang, Vietnam but we ended up going to Manila. Since I had never gone on a trip abroad with my mom until then, I was really excited and I did all the reservations. I booked our flight and hotel rooms."
"On the day of our trip, we headed to the airport. While we were checking in, the staff asked us if I have a visa. I didn't. When I was planning our trip, there was nothing about visa anywhere. It turned out that I searched things on a Korean site and Koreans didn't need visa to go to Vietnam but I did as I'm American," he added.
Not wanting to let their trip to the airport go to waste, Joshua booked last minute tickets to Manila.
He continued, "Since we were already at the airport, I thought we should still try to go somewhere. The closest flight with seats was a flight to Manila, so we decided to go there instead. We didn't have time to exchange our money and stuff, because our flight was taking off soon. We thought we'll be able to sort it out once we get there."
Upon arrival, the 26-year-old idol was surprised that his bank card did not work in all the ATMs at the airport. Joshua also could not use his card to pay for their taxi ride and to buy drinks at a convenience store.
"We got into a taxi thinking that they would accept cards but it was cash-only. I panicked so much. I told the taxi driver that I would buy him a meal or something if I was unable to get cash anywhere soon and asked the driver to just please take us to the hotel. At that time, I got really thirsty so I went to grab something at the convenience store. It was cash-only there too."
Thankfully, he was able to get some cash at the hotel and pay the taxi driver, only to find out later that the driver overcharged him.
"The taxi driver asked for like a thousand-something in the Philippine peso and I later found out that I had paid like three times more."
Joshua also recounted their unpleasant experience dining at a dim sum restaurant near the hotel, saying, "We ended up going to the nicest-looking restaurant. We ordered xiaolongbao but the pork smell was too strong and the shrimp siomai did not taste good. I paid over 100,000 won (P4000) for that meal."
Ending his story, Joshua clarified that Manila is not a bad place to travel and stressed the importance of planning for a trip.
"I'm not saying that Manila is a bad place to travel. I'm just sharing my own experience, and that is what sort of thing that could happen to you if you go on a trip without making any plans in advance. Always make plans first! Make sure to take cash with you, especially when you're traveling to a Southeast Asian country."
Joshua and the rest of SEVENTEEN are currently in Manila preparing for their two-day concert on October 8 and 9 at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
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