by: Jade Veronique V. Yap 

Joshua of the K-pop group Seventeen shocked Filipino carats when he was spotted strolling around Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in September, which according to the K-pop star, was an "unplanned one." 

In a recent live stream, Joshua revealed to fans that he and his mother had originally planned a trip to Danang, Vietnam for Chuseok (Korea's Thanksgiving holiday), but things didn't work out as expected due to visa issues.

"On the day of our trip, we headed to the airport. While we were checking in, the staff asked us, 'You have visa to Vietnam, right?' I didn't. When I was planning our trip, there was nothing about visa anywhere," Joshua said in Korean, translated into English by SBS.

Vietnam doesn't require visas for Korean tourists, but since he and his mom are both American citizens, Vietnam immigration required them to have one, he said. 

"It turned out that I searched things on a Korean site and Koreans didn't need a visa to go to Vietnam. But I did, as I'm American. I had totally forgotten that I wasn't Korean," Joshua explained. 

Joshua revealed that the Vietnam travel incident cost him 3.5 million won (about P146,000).

As he didn't want to spoil the moment with his mom, he then decided to just book a flight to Manila.

"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," he said. 

Upon arrival in Manila, Joshua was welcomed with a series of unfortunate events including the taxi driver overcharging him, spending a lot of money on a lunch that "tasted horrible," being unable to use the ATM to withdraw money to pay because his cards won't work, and could not pay using his cards for a taxi ride and convenience store. 

"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…" he furthered

Although Joshua was happy to have spent time with his mother, he emphasized that things might not go as expected if you are not completely 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.

"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 added.

Joshua and the rest of the SEVENTEEN members will treat Carats to a two-day sold-out #BETHESUNinMnl concert this weekend at the Mall of Asia Arena. 
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