Joshua of K-pop boy group SEVENTEEN took Pinoy fans by surprise when he was spotted vacationing in the Philippines last September, which happened to be an unplanned trip.
During an October 2 live stream on Weverse, Joshua revealed to fans that he and his mom initially booked a trip to Danang, Vietnam for Chuseok (Korea’s Thanksgiving holiday), but didn’t go as planned after encountering visa problems.
“I planned everything ahead. I booked our flight and hotel rooms. I also looked into places where we could go together and stuff,” Joshua was quoted as saying as translated to English by an SBS News report, on what was supposed to be his first overseas trip with his mom.
Upon checking in at the airport, Joshua said he and his mom were asked if they have a visa going to Vietnam.
The US-born Seventeen sub-vocalist said he had not secured a visa since he had no idea it was required for Americans to go to Vietnam.
He also confessed forgetting about having a US citizenship.
“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. I had totally forgotten that I wasn’t Korean,” stated Joshua.
Joshua shared he lost 3.5 million won (about P146,000) for the Vietnam travel mishap.
As he didn’t want to miss going on a trip abroad with his mom, Joshua hastily booked a flight to Manila instead.
“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,” said Joshua.
When they arrived in Manila, Joshua revealed experiencing a series of unfortunate events including being unable to withdraw money from ATMs, could not pay using his cards for a taxi ride and convenience store.
Joshua also shared getting ripped off by about 20,000 won (about P1,000) for the taxi ride and paying 100,000 won (about P4,174) in a dimsum restaurant for a meal that “tasted horrible”.
Joshua furthered, “We went to this five-star hotel, and I asked the hotel staff to overcharge my card and give me some cash with the amount that they overcharged my card.
“Thankfully, they did that for me. 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. Gosh…”
They later discovered a nearby mall with a lot of “great restaurants” and decided to eat there the following day.
Joshua trended on Twitter last month after fans belatedly shared photos and encounters with the K-pop idol being spotted at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig and coffee shops.
Nevertheless, Joshua said he was glad to have spent time with his mom, stressing that things could not go as planned if you’re not fully prepared for the 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,” he said.
He also left advice and reminders to those who are going on a trip abroad.
“Always make plans first! Make sure to take cash with you, especially when you’re traveling to a South East Asian country as well,” he said.
Joshua, alongside fellow Seventeen members S.Coups, Jeonghan, Woozi, Hoshi, Jun, The8, DK, Vernon, Mingyu, Wonwoo, Seungkwan, and Dino are set to hold their sold-out, two-day “Be The Sun” concert at the SM Mall of Asia Arena on October 8 and 9 under Live Nation Philippines.
