Magic Bracelet

Hello everyone – it’s been a while, has it not? Perhaps you thought you’d heard the last of me by now but alas, I have made a sweet return.

Actually, this entry would have been out a lot sooner, but my dumb brain wasn’t paying attention when I proceeded to delete random ‘junk’ files from my desktop – one of which, was THIS entry. (Well, the previously written one.) Welp. Now I have to go through the treacherous action of rewriting it.

Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes rewriting something isn’t always a bad thing because it can turn out better than the original. See it as a warm up for something greater. However, sometimes it turns out worse, especially if you have no motivation left to rewrite it as you once did before. Sometimes your brain just forgets the details and that makes writing past stuff a lot harder at times. How people write memoirs of their whole lives is beyond me. I barely remember what I did yesterday these days.

So… what I can tell you is this entry may not be the greatest one you’ll read. My brain has been quite tired and preoccupied recently with adjusting to life back in South Africa. Ah yes, I am now back, and off to New Zealand tomorrow for another adventure, albeit a short one compared to Korea. Not a short journey though regretfully. cries in anguish

BUT! There are still stories to share of some of my final adventures in Korea and so the show must go on… or rather – the ‘typing.’

So again, (not that you ever saw the first one) I bring to you the final version of this entry titled; Magic Bracelet.

Alright, the story starts when earlier this year, I decided to invest in another gold bracelet. Yes, I use the word invest because I had since stopped buying sterling silver jewellery when I figured that gold jewellery suited me better, but also because any gold-plated jewellery would just tarnish within hours of wear sometimes. (Being a sweaty girl does have its downfalls). To be fair, the better quality the jewellery, the longer it does last but the thought of knowing it will eventually tarnish would keep me up at night and wearing it would be stressful rather than enjoyable - simply knowing that I’m waiting for its inevitable tarnishing. Yes, another perk of having the brain of Tayla.

Don’t come at me with that “tarnish-proof jewellery exists at affordable prices” either because unfortunately, it’s not the right colour of gold that I want. So since then, investing in some gold pieces has cost me a good small chunk of my right kidney and my unborn child. Okay, okay, I’m not walking around in chains galore. The way I painted that, it probably sounds like I have a good fortune. Not true, but I do have a small handful of gold pieces I value, some of which are necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets – most of which are pretty dainty - none of which are quite as dainty is the recent piece I acquired however… (subtly foreshadowing).

Alright, so a little over a year ago, I stumbled upon an engraving bracelet in a style that I instantly fell in love with. It was small and dainty, but the only downfall of this particular bracelet on the site that I found it, was that it was gold-plated. What was even more unfortunate was the fact that this company offered gold jewellery, but just not that specific design… ugh.

So alas, I had to talk myself out of getting it because I wanted something that would last and something that I wouldn’t have to worry about taking off and putting back on. Yes, I am also lazy when it comes to jewellery, so if I must sell my right kidney to attain some bling, then sell my right kidney I shall!

Fast-forward to a few months later, I managed to come across this bracelet design in real gold from another seller, and of course – I couldn’t resist any longer. So eventually I obtained ‘my precious’ in the mail and I immediately worried about how fragile it looked. One small tug and I’m sure it would have been a goner.

My worry was totally valid.

I put the bracelet on a little tightly, to prevent the engraving part from slipping and sliding underneath my wrist. I wanted it to stay in place and not slip down, thus the ‘putting it on a little tightly.’  This proved to be a mistake because, not that I knew it at the time, but this would enable the bracelet to sort of pop off my wrist at the tiniest of tugs – which was absolutely not a good thing.

I managed to lose it in my apartment once or twice even, but I figured if I was careful and paid attention to it, I could prevent this from happening.

Obviously, I had completely forgotten about it and paid zero attention to it.

Fast-forward to my Seoul trip with my friend. Initially, I was worried to wear it, but what’s the point of buying something and being too scared to wear it? So instead, I wore it and really REALLY reminded myself to be careful. Slinking my bag over my shoulder was the thing I worried about most. That and pulling it off, as it usually slides down my arm and tugs at my wrist on my other bracelet – which has stood the test of time and countless tugs. That thing is a force to be reckoned with.

So, I made sure to pay careful attention to doing that… up until I got off the bus on my way to the terminal and forgot about it again. lol.

I met up with my friend and we stopped for a coffee and food before our bus at around…17:45 was it? Eh, details are not important. Once we had our food and essential coffee, we stopped by the 7/11 for some last-minute snacks. Then we made our way to our gate and waited for our bus. We had about Ten. Minutes. To. spare.

Thank goodness I had to check my bag for something because the minute I looked down, I saw it. Or rather, I didn’t see it at all.

My bracelet was in fact… not there.

Oh F*** (Sorry, but when you have to, you just have to, and this was an ‘I really have to’ moment.)

I immediately went into panic mode in the remaining eight minutes we had until our bus departed. I got up in sheer haste and told my friend my bracelet was gone and that by some miracle, I needed to find it… in the maze that was the bus terminal… which is also a shopping centre… which is also always crowded and filled with heaps of hustle and bustle.

God help me. Literally.

I realised that if I didn’t find it now, I could kiss it goodbye forever because I’ll never find it otherwise if not now before we head to Seoul. I immediately got up and ran back to the coffee shop, checking underneath the table we sat at and surrounding areas. People must’ve thought I’ve gone mad. I had also asked the staff, but to my disappointment, they had not found nor been given a bracelet that was picked up.

I then ran to the 7/11 and checked there albeit frantically and quickly. Nothing.

I had about five minutes left and I realised if we miss our bus, I am also causing my friend to waste her money spent on the tickets. But my bracelet cost about six bus rides to Seoul and back so…I just really needed to find it. I then decided to turn into a blood hound, went to the entrance I came through, faced down and started walking like that, squinting at every possible glisten or abnormality on the floor. I just prayed I hadn’t lost it in the bus or as I got off because I had no time to try and find that out.

I walked and walked, losing hope that I was ever going to find that tiny thing.

One good thing about Korea though is that if you do lose something, the chances of people stealing it or picking it up are very low, almost to the point of being non-existent – which is great. However, the terminal is also full of a lot of foreigners alike and we have stronger tendencies to pick things up – whether our intentions are good or bad. Let’s be real, guys.

Anyway, continuing with this ‘time-is-of-the-essence’ tale, I eventually made it to my last stop, revisiting the 7/11 for a third time. If it was not here, then I had to kiss that small but painfully expensive bracelet goodbye. That would have made me feel sick down to the pits of my stomach to just think of throwing an amount of money like that away – and I get it - why even get something expensive in the first place because there’s always that risk of losing it, getting it stolen etc. It’s almost not worth it.

Well, then tell that to everyone else who adorns themselves in gold. I deserve nice things too. Hmf.

I walked into the 7/11 and prayed to God that I would find it. I literally had two more minutes before I had to cut my losses and run back to my gate. I walked the aisles and looked down, and just when I thought all hope was lost… there… in the middle of the frikken convenience store – was my bracelet, lying on the floor in all its tiny glory.

Oh, my goodness. Magic.

I ran and picked it up as if other people were too, trying to run and claim it. I held it so tightly in my hand, thinking I had gone insane and I was just hallucinating, but I felt it there, embedding itself into the skin of my palm. I truly couldn’t believe I found this thing, with a literal minute to spare – in this gigantic terminal.

What are the chances? There aren’t any. It really was nothing short of a miracle…or magic.

I ran to my friend screaming “I FOUND IT!” like a crazy person - the two Korean men behind us probably looking at me as if I was wearing a rooster on my head.

We grabbed our stuff and quickly bolted for the bus, bracelet still very tightly in my vice-like grip.

main character of the story on the left, the force to be reckoned with on the right

Eventually, once we were seated and I had told my friend how crazy that all was, I opened my hand, examined whether my bracelet broke off or simply popped off. Yup, it popped off again. So, what did I do?

I shoved that thing into the deepest crevices of my bag and never dared to wear it during the remainder of our weekend in Seoul. Absolutely not.

Eventually, when we got back from Seoul, I took out my bracelet and decided to risk wearing it again. This time, I put it on slightly less tightly. Since then, sure I’ve had a few mini heart-attacks when I discover it hiding behind my other bracelet (and not actually missing), but it has never again popped off. Phew.

I am a little nervous to share this story. Whilst I don’t believe I’ll jinx myself…  I may very well jinx myself.

Well, then I can assure myself that I’ll have another tale to share… well, hopefully said tale never comes to see the light of day.

Until the next stop,

Bus Blog Driver Tay