twinkling of paradise

Taiwan trip~

2007-08-05T00:52:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I apologize for not blogging in ages... I am just too lazy to post entries... This post is on my recent trip to Taiwan with my family. We visited a few places there... including Hualian, TaiChung and Taipei...

On board our flight, my sister and me having a picture taken by the friendly flight steward.

And the sightseeing pictures... my family at Hualian. We took a train there from Taipei which took us 5 hours... Luckily we got to taste their Railway Lunchboxes which was surprisingly good. Comes in two variations- Pork rib and Chicken leg.... Both come with a braised egg and vegetables. Yummy~

And in Taipei, saw a huge board advertising Dongbangshinki's upcoming concert in Taiwan. Not a huge fan of them, but some of my friends are, so here's the picture for the them. Other pictures here include the city view from Taipei 101, at the cable station at Beitou for our hotspring experience and shopping at Raohe night market. We visited other typical tourist spots like Shihlin night market, Ximending, Keelong and others as well.

The weather was too hot as it was summertime when we were there, with temperatures hovering around 35 degrees. That's like Singapore or slightly hotter, I could not stand the heat! For food I think they just tasted normal, not as good as I expected from my impressions formed from Taiwanese variety shows such as Shizilukou. Shopping wise, the items are mostly available on spree websites so I did not see very unique items.

I have to commend that Taipei has a very good public transport system. The subway is new and clean, and the people are all very considerate in standing on one side on the escalator to give way to others. And the taxis and buses are cheap and easily avaible. The taxi uncles were all friendly and helpful, giving us recommendations on what to do and where to go.

Overall it was an ok trip, the best part would be the sq flight which I enjoyed the most. Hahaha~

At Shinhwa's Fried Chicken Store

2007-07-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Dear Kitty visited me with her friends and we met up for dinner at Shinhwa's fried chicken store at Apujeong. Its actually a franchise of a popular fastfood chain in Korea and the store has been decorated with loads of Shinhwa's posters and stuff. The chicken taste average, not exceptionally delicious. But the main point of visiting the restaurant was to see Shinhwa's merchandise so food was secondary to me! Hahaha~

A poster of my Dongwan and me at his table...

And the food... the chicken was too spicy for my liking...

Lastly, a group photo of the Singapore girls and with Kitty...

Back in Singapore

2007-06-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! I am back in Singapore, the 4 months in Korea passed so quickly, it seemed like it was just yesterday when I just arrived. And now I am back. Overall it was a wonderful experience, I have met many friends from all over the world, visited many interesting places and tried many new things. I am glad to know the Singaporeans as they were my closest friends there and I really enjoyed their company very much. I also enjoyed the slack life as an exchange student.

I will be blogging about the things which I did in Korea for the past months but had no time to blog. The place we visited in this entry was in downtown Seoul and its Cityhall. The weather was good, so we just hung around there on a lazy weekend afternoon.

Soccer match

2007-06-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

I revisited Seoul World Cup Stadium this time and watched an international friendly between Korea and Netherlands. I sat with gil, et, sq and our dutch friend, Mansy. All of us were dressed in red, including Mansy who was forced to dress in the same costume as us even though she obviously supports Netherlands. Haha.

Korea lost 2-0 but I enjoyed the match a lot as the atmosphere was great... there were lots of cheering (dae han min guk~~) and the fans were so supportive of their teams, even the kids!

And my favourite player for the match... He's called Cho Jae Jin. I think he is one of best looking korean players. Heh~

This is my favourite picture of the night, taken with the Korean national team (I wish I could). Ha!

(Photos courtesy of et and gillian)

Spring Sonata

2007-05-30T01:04:00.000-07:00

We visited Nami Island and Chuncheon during a weekend trip and had great fun. The places were the filming sites for the korean drama Winter Sonata. Bay (our taiwanese friend) was the tour guide for the day and others include the usual Singaporeans, Mansy, Michael, Nam and Kai from Holland.

The journey to Nami Island was quite tedious actually as we had to take the subway, train, taxi and then ferry to reach it. But the journey was worthwhile as we got to see the nice scenery around the island. Some of the memorable scenes from the drama are above... Do you remember them?

Our last stop was a meal at Chuncheon where we ate the famous takgalbi (bbq chicken) and did some sightseeing at Chuncheon's Myeondong ( there's another one here in Seoul). Takgalbi is the specialty food in Chuncheon and there is a street called takgalbi street where the whole street is lined with takgalbi restaurants.

And lastly, thank you Bay for being our guide and Engteck for the photography! =)

Weekend trip to Gyeongju

2007-05-21T09:58:00.000-07:00

I went to a weekend trip with rouxin, flora, shaoqin and bryan (from hongkong) to Gyeongju, in Southeastern Korea. Gyeongju was the capital of the Silla Kingdom for 1000 years and has a great concentration of historical buildings, temples and artifacts. It was 4 hours bus ride away from Seoul.

We visited many cultural places, such as the Tumuli Park, Gyeongju National Museum, Underwater Tomb of King Munmu, Three Storey Pagoda at Mujangsaji Temple Site and a few others.

Here's a picture of a royal tomb and standing on top.

And some other pictures from the trip as well...

Outings with KU friends

2007-05-16T19:43:00.000-07:00

I've been hanging out with Singaporean friends from Korea University, Gillian, Onwah and EngTeck, and here's some pictures of our activities. Really enjoyed their company and glad that we know each other here~

First up was visit to their school. Their school is so pretty, looks like castles and there were green pastures around. The cherry blossoms were really pretty as well. As the weather was great, people just sat on the grass and had picnics. Dont think people will do this back in Singaporea as the weather is too hot.

Next was chilling at a cafe called "The Palace" at Hongik University area, which is a famous place for its pubs, cafes and clubs. True to its name, the cafe was grand and ambience was good. A perfect place for quiet gatherings for friends to chill. We ordered a pot of tea each (rx ordered a cocktail) and our orders came with complementary bisuits and ice-cream to go with our drinks. The service was good as well, we had an enjoyable time there.

(Credits to Gillian for the photos)

Seodaemun Prison History Hall and Independence Park

2007-05-09T01:16:00.000-07:00

We visited two places that were really near our school on a Sunday and the first is the Seodaemun Prison History Hall which is a living education site for the part of Korean History when Korea was occupied by Japan. The site was originally a real prison used to house political prisoners and is now a museum.

Some disturbing pictures exhibited in the prison...

In front of the prison museum is the Seodaemun Independence Park, which was a site where Korea used to receive Chinese envoys in the olden days. The building inside was later torn down and a granite structure called Independence gate was built in place to symbolize freedom. As the weather was great on that day, we happily took many pictures there. Credits to rx for the photography and editing of photos! =)

I saw Minwoo~

2007-05-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

We went to the opening ceremony of Hi Seoul Festival 2007 last friday and saw Minwoo from Shinhwa! So happy to see him... and I was at the front row (there was still a distance from the stage actually but still he was clearly visible from my view). Mr Eng Teck kindly helped me take pictures of him with his pro camera at the front row. Thanks to rx, a video of him performing 2 songs was taken as well. Presenting to you Minwoo...

Hi Seoul Festival is a 2 week long festival which showcases the culture through colourful festivals of events to encourage participation from Koreans and non-Koreans. For the opening ceremony, a pop concert was held and other singers such as Lee Sooyoung, and Soh Jiyoung performed. And at the end of the show, fireworks were also displayed. The fireworks were really pretty~

Another member of Shinhwa, Andy, will be appearing in another Hi Seoul Festival event, so stay tuned for updates! heh~ Really hope I have the chance to see all 6 members of Shinhwa during my stay in Korea...

JSA/DMZ Tour

2007-05-01T00:41:00.000-07:00

After learning so much about the Korean war from my history lessons and the visit to the War Memorial of Korea, we finally had the chance to visit the Joint Security Area and Demilitarized Zone to experience for ourselves. We were really looking forward to the tour as we've heard so much about the place. The tour is organized by the US Army and there are many rules and regulations, for example Korean nationals (except military personnels) are prohibited from visiting; people from Mainland China, Taiwan, Macau or Hong Kong have to apply for permission to visit; photography is restricted to certain areas and there are strict dress codes imposed as well. And here are some snaps on route to Camp Bonafas.

At Camp Bonafas, our guide (a US army personnel) gave us a brief introduction of the history and places we were visiting, followed by the distribution of our UN guest tags which had to be pinned on our left collars at all times in the area. We also had to sign a declaration form indicating we would not hold them responsible should any accident happen to us.

Behind us is North Korea, which is mostly a yellow patch. We could use binoculars to look more closely and I saw houses and factories in the sparse land. There is no handphone signal and other forms of transmission of information such as radio and other signals near the area and within North Korea as the governent controls the transmission of information. And here's a viewing post of the North Korean soldiers. All our actions were closely monitored by them as well.

This is called The Bridge of No Return. After the ceasefire (Korea is technically still at war), soldiers from both sides could choose which Korea they want to go to. Once they have decided which side to go, they cannot revoke their decisions, and hence the name of the bridge was coined.

And this is the famous Panmunjeon, which is the meeting place for North and South Korea officials, and with the UN officials as well. Soldiers from both sides stand guard inside the blue buildings and photography with them is allowed. However, we are not allowed to touch/speak/gesture to them. Inside one of the pictures are our guide and our professor. Our professor's full time job is the chief negogiator for the US Army with the North Korean side and he teaches Korean War in our school as well.

We also visited Tunnel 3, which was a tunnel dug by North Korea to infiltrate into the South and was discovered subsequently. Photography was prohibited in the tunnel. And a last picture which I found interesting to end off this post. It shows the North Korean propaganda for its soldiers at the JSA. It was overall a great experience, there were so much to see and was definitely worth the visit.

The War Memorial of Korea and Namsan

2007-05-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

I visited the War Memorial of Korea with flora and rx on a weekend out. The place is really meaningful as it displays the various records of the war and soldiers. The remains of the soldiers who devoted their lives for their country were also collected, preserved, studied and exhibited there. Among the exhibits, I liked the ones on the Korean War as the displays, simulations and explanations were comprehensive and real. I felt as if I went for a live history lesson.

And during one of the weekend nights out, we visited Namsan and took a cable car up. Namsan cable car tower is the filming site for scenes from My Name is Kim Samsoon. As there were yellowsand storms during the period, we had to wear face masks to prevent from inhaling too much yellowsand. The night scene was really blurry as the yellowsand was quite thick that day. So we decided we should revisit Namsan again in the day to take more pictures.

Cherry blossoms at Yeouido

2007-04-30T07:57:00.000-07:00

I went to see the cherry blossoms at Hangang along Yeouido some time ago and took some pictures. The flowers are really pretty but I prefer the ones in my school as they are more colourful. Compare the two places...

And Deloitte's building is there too. Yeouido is the business district of Seoul, so there are many office buildings in the area... and so are TV stations like SBS and MBC and the famous 63 Building (filming site of some scenes from My Girl).

And walking along the streets, we saw people filming but did not know who are the actors as we've never seen them before.

And by the way, I've received a parcel of food and letter from home... Really happy to receive them~ I love bakgwa, pork floss, mee goreng and muesli bars~ Haha!

The Cultural Us~

2007-04-24T00:55:00.000-07:00

We did some cultural activities during the past few weekends and here's the update. First was the visit to Samcheonggak with my classmates TaeHo and Mamiko. We had to visit a cultural site and submit a short report on the place and our thoughts as our midterm assignment for our class on Korean Language and Culture. Samcheonggak was a retreat for past emperors and aristocrats in the olden times and is now open to the public for visit. There were structures built along the mountain slopes and the compound was scenic and tranquil.

We also went for another project outing with sq's group and visited the Seoul Museum of History with Minjin, Katherine and William. The museum teaches the public about the history and culture of Korea's capital city, Seoul, from the prehistoric age to modern times.

And lastly, we watched a play called "Line 1" with our Korean friends and the KU people at a small theatre along Hyehwa street. The streets in the area are lined with many small theatres and cafes and have a rich cultural atmostphere. I felt that the play was interesting as it was actually a rock musical, which made it very lively. I liked the story and music as well. Here's a picture of us taken with cast.

Dinner with Korean friends

2007-04-19T10:21:00.000-07:00

I went out with 2 korean friends some time ago and was brought to nice places for dinner.

First was with Ahmi (Flora and RX's classmate), who brought the 3 of us to a nice italian restaurant called Nolita near school. The restaurant is tucked in a quiet corner of the busy Ewdae street and is small but cozy. The ambience is good and has the perfect setting for a nice dinner with pals. The food was delicious as well and according to Ahmi who lived in Europe before (she went to Finland for exchange), they serve authentic italian food. I enjoyed the spaghetti, salad and bread a lot... It's really a refreshing taste from the usual korean food which I've been eating. Thanks to Ahmi who introduced us to the place, as the restaurant is really quite difficult for foreigners to locate.

Next up was dinner with Minjin, my classmate and language exchange partner, Flora and sq. Minjin is a korean who emigrated to Canada since young and has lived in Japan for a year before and is now back in Korea as an exchange student. We will meet up informally whenever we can to learn new languages over a casual setting. I'll teach her Chinese and she'll teach me Korean and Japanese. Dinner that day was grilled chicken, vegetables, noodles and rice tossed in hotplate, followed by dessert of fruit yoghurt. It was a happy night out as dinner and dessert were yummy and we learnt many new Korean and Japanese vocabulary from Minjin~ =)

More Spring Pictures~

2007-04-14T11:33:00.000-07:00

RX, Flora and I have made it a routine to take pictures around our school every friday after lessons in order to capture the changes of the trees and flowers during spring time. So here are the photos for this week. I think the buildings and scenery here look pretty, especially with the blooming flowers and greens.

Later in the day, all 4 of us went to cut our hair at a salon in Ewdae ( Ewhwa Womens University street). I guess my new hair looks pretty much the same as my normal hairstyle, so I'm quite happy with it. Here's the before and after pictures for comparison. =)

After getting our hair done, we ate japanese food for dinner at an eatery in the area. Everyone looked good in the new hair, especially Shen Nan who looks so much like a korean girl now...

And more pictures of us in our new hair. Heh~

Happy Day in Everland!

2007-04-11T01:24:00.000-07:00

We went to Everland with the KU people on Sunday and had a great time there. The weather was bright and sunny but a little cold.

As it is spring now, the flowers are in full bloom and there were flowers festival and parades held there. The theme park was crowded with people and there were even helicopters from MBC and SBS hovering in the air to capture the images.

And this is the filming site for some scenes of the korean drama "My Love Pazzi" featuring Kim JaeWon, Jung Nara and Kim Raewon.

The kids there were so cute... And the whole theme park was filled with them. Take a look...

And lastly, more random pictures of us. Mr Eng Teck took more than 900 pictures alone on his camera, so you can imagine how many pictures we took in total. It was indeed a happy day for all of us and we enjoyed ourselves very much~

A Fun Filled Day

2007-04-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

We went to the Seoul World Cup Stadium 2 weeks ago and had a good time exploring the place. The atmosphere was great as Korea was having an international friendly with Uraguay that day, so there were volunteers there early in the morning for preparations and fans were spotted as well. Security was extremely tight as the Korean team was practising in the stadium while we were there. It was a pity that we could not enter the stadium to see the players or how it looked like inside.

In the afternoon, we went to Itaewon, which I personally find it boring. The streets are lined with stalls and shops selling hip hop clothings and accesories and sportswear mainly. The place is frequented by many Americans as there as the American army camp is based near the area.

In the evening, we went to Hangang at Yeouido Park to celebrate sq's birthday and stayed there till nightfall. We had a fun time there playing with firecrackers and enjoying the night scenery of the river, even though it was chilly at night.

Next, we proceed to Outback steakhouse nearby for dinner. Along the way, we passed by MBC ( one of the TV stations here) and here's the pictures taken for the night.

And finally, presenting to you my favourite picture of the day... (Credits to Mr Eng Teck for the photography and editting of the pictures!)

Out shopping with rx

2007-04-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

Was feeling bored one of the weekdays, so rx and I decided to go shopping for shoes instead of joining flora, sq and the KU people for a movie at Sinchon. In the end we didnt manage to see anything we fancy. Here are some random pictures taken along the way...

And on our way back, rx was helping me take a picture in front of a shop selling hanboks (traditional korean costume) when a drunk ajorshi popped up and requested to take a picture as well. Look at his fat fingers and fat face. I think he is really a twaeji (pig in korean)...

Dinner with Singapore friends

2007-04-03T00:29:00.000-07:00

We met up with the KU people again. Eng Teck's best friend from Singapore, Melissa, also joined us for dinner. Melissa is a SQ girl who flew to Seoul for a day and so we met up for a hearty meal of Samgyeopsal ( bbq san cen rou) and Galbi ( grilled ribs) at a restaurant in Dongdaemun. We also helped her takeaway a dozen Krispy Kreme to bring back to Singapore. Its a pity that Singapore doesn't sell Krispy Kreme, the doughnuts are simply delicious! But I have to admit that they are extremely fattening as well... =(

The service was good as the ajuma was very friendly and helpful. The food tastes not bad too, overall it was a good experience, even though we smelled bad after dinner because of the smoke from the charcoal and meat.

After dinner we proceeded to MyeongDong to get sq's birthday present. MyeongDong is one of the favourite hunts of local youngsters for shopping, there are many stalls selling clothings, accesories, skin care products, shoes and food. So for people who are interested in visiting Korea, be sure to drop by MyeongDong. We got 2 pairs of boxers for sq in the end and he found them very useful~ hahaha~

Spring is here~

2007-03-29T07:51:00.000-07:00

Spring is finally here as leaves have started growing on trees and flowers are blooming. The weather is slightly warmer (though not a lot), and it is still cold at night and during cloudy/rainy days.

The flowers are really pretty, there are pink, yellow, white and red ones. The campus is famous for its spring time scenery so I'm looking forward to seeing the full blooms.

Credits to rx for her photography and not to forget her canon camera~ haha =)

And yeah I've received another parcel~ Its a carton of instant food this time round. I miss Singapore food...

More activities during the weekend

2007-03-23T10:25:00.000-07:00

After visiting the village and Insadong, we saw a group of people staging protests at Myeong Dong area along the way. It was quite a spectacular sight to see as there was a big group of people gathering at a place, waving flags and shouting slogans; and there was an even bigger group of policemen standing guard. The motive of the gathering was to protest against the South Korean government from sending troops to Afghanistan.

The following day, I went to Yongsan technomart to get my handphone with the help of flora's korean classmate, HyungMin. The place is really similar to Sim Lim back in Singapore and the shops in technomart sells a huge variety of nice handphones ( those which you can flip, slide, turn... You can also watch tv on some models. Really cool phones!) I bought a used Samsung slide phone which costs 30,000 krw (sgd 50) and comes with 2 batteries and 1 charger with no contract. I think its a bargain as the condition of the phone is good and I like its design. Too bad Korea uses the cdma technology for its handphones and thus the phone is not usable if I bring it back to Singapore.

Later in the night, we meet up with the KU people for dinner and had a meal of "chicken rice". Here is a picture of the chicken...

Namsangol Hanok Village

2007-03-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

We visited Namsangol Hanok Village during the weekend with flora's buddy, yoon jung and her 3 friends, 2 koreans and 1 japanese. We had an enjoyable day there as it was a beautiful village displaying tradtional korean living from the Joseon Dynasty.

And we also witnessed a traditional wedding ceremony between a french man and his korean bride taking place. Notice the lady dressed in khaki behind the groom. According to our korean friends, she's actually an actress and relative of the bride, though we have never heard of her before.

The next place we visited was Insadong which is a cultural street bustling with activities. It sells lots of traditional arts and crafts and has numerous art galleries, antique stores, traditional tea houses and other shops. Lunch was traditional korean cuisine in a tea house and we also tried the famous cinnamon bun there which is delicious. Insadong is definitely worth a visit~

COEX Mall

2007-03-18T09:09:00.000-07:00

Last saturday, I went to COEX Mall with rx and flora to visit the famous COEX aquarium, which a few korean dramas featured in their scenes. It was not that spectacular after all, as it was kind of small in terms of the varieties of marine animals displayed and the area of the place.

We also window shopped around the mall, which is really similar to Suntec City. It has convention halls, hotels and shopping arcades in the mall that are a few times bigger that those in Singapore. To end off our day, we had a sumptous dinner of egg omelette rice with hamburger steak at the foodcourt . It was simply delicious, a refreshing change from the usual korean food which we had been eating for the past few weeks.

And along the way, I saw an advertisement of a sports brand featuring Lee Jun-Ki and took a picture of it as I think he looked really different from his usual image. Quite cool and good looking. Heh~

TGIF~

2007-03-16T00:19:00.001-07:00

Yeah another friday has arrived and its time for play~ Met up with 2 friendly koreans, BonHong and MinJae who went to SMU for exchange last semeser, this time. As usual, there were 3 rounds of activities for a typical night out.

Session 1: Dinner

We ate traditional korean dishes for dinner, which consisted of pa-chon (korean pancake fried with sotong, assorted vegetables and tastes delicious... similar Singapore's or-lwa), bbq pork trotters (I did not really enjoy it. The taste is alright, just that it is kind of fatty) and a pot of korean rice wine. The rice wine is definitely much nicer than soju and beer, its slightly sweet and light in taste. In addition, there were other korean side dishes to go with the main dishes, so we had a satisfying meal.

Session 2: Drinks

We went to a pub for drinks next and played drinking games. I think I'm really bad at playing reaction and number games, drank till i felt sleepy. But luckily, the next session of activity woke me up!

Session 3: Ktv at Noraebang

And the last session of the night, Ktv. I had a fun time playing with the tamborine. MinJae told us the ktv etiquette here is to sing only happy songs. No sad or slow songs are allowed! Look at Bonhong sing... It was obvious that koreans enjoy singing alot~

Pizza in Seoul

2007-03-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

We went for dinner in this pizza chain called Mr Pizza at Sinchon due to our cravings for pizza. We decided to try something different and ordered 2 large pizzas: Bulgogi (korean style bbq beef) and Potato King (which has ingredients such as potato, sweet potato and such) and were pleasantly surprised by their good taste, especially the potato pizza which is so special. Though its fattening for its high carbohydrates, we still could not resist it.

And thanks to my sis for sending me stuff. Look at my happy face when receiving the parcel. Heh~ Hope to receive more in future... =)

First Day of School

2007-03-11T07:23:00.000-07:00

School has finally started so I'll have to start waking up early for lessons. Fortunately my classrooms are all near my hall so I wont have to travel long distances like what I did in NTU. I'm taking 3 subjects here and one of them is Strategic Management.

My prof is a Korean who's educated in the States, so he speaks American ascented English. I'm taking this subject at Yonsei's Business School ( I heard it is quite famous in Korea), so there's a mix of Korean and exchange students. I'm glad that I'm in the same class as Flora and RX as I have companions to go for lessons together and we'll be doing projects in a group too.

The other 2 subjects I'm taking are Topics on Korean Language and Culture and The United Nations and International Organizations. These are taken at the Division of International Exchange and Education, so my classmates are all exchange students. I hope it will be quite slack as there is no exams for this 2 subjects, so that I can relax and enjoy this semester.

The days that snowed

2007-03-08T21:20:00.000-08:00

The weather had been cold for the past week. I heard that it gets especially chilly in the first week of spring, so I hope the weather will turn warmer by next week. It snowed thrice here in Seoul since I arrived, so here's some pictures to share.

The snowfall on Monday was very light. But we were still very happy and excited to see the snow flakes falling, so we just dashed out from our hall without changing into warmer clothes to take pictures. As it was too cold to walk any further, we had instant rice with korean dishes for lunch.

On Wednesday, it snowed again and this time the snowfall was heavier.

It really felt good to see the snow falling and walk around in it even though we were freezing cold. Our ears and hands felt numb as though they were going to fall off anytime. But we had a great time playing with the snow and taking pictures. I think its really nice to live in countries with different seasons. My friend told me people living in these places have good complexion and whats more, they get to change their wardrobes every season. Isn't it great if Singapore has 4 seasons too?

Weekend Outing again~

2007-03-06T23:55:00.000-08:00

We met up with the Korea University people again last weekend afternoon. This time we also had sn, my roomie, with us as well. The first place we visited was Myeong-dong. At Myeong-dong we went to Shinsegae, a high class shopping mall selling luxury brands. The place is really posh, so we had a good time window shopping there. Myeong-dong is a place where many Japanese visit in search of luxury goods, so the place has strong Japanese influence in terms of service, product display and packaging of products.

Next up is Namdaemun...

We also walked pass Seoul train station and took some pictures.

In the evening, we visited Korea University with the guide of the KU exchange students. The school is nice as it has beautiful scenery and some buildings really look like palaces.

To end off the day, we had a cosy dinner of hot plate (which consists of ramen, vegetables, ham, beef and spicy sauce fried in a pan) at an eatery called Biya just outside KU.

And on our way back, we bought face masks on the streets that cost 1000krw ($1.60) for 3 pieces. It was really a bargain as the quality of the mask is good and they smell nice too. Really satisfied with the buys~ =)

Ski Trip

2007-03-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

I went to ski at LG Gangchon Resort with the girls (sn, rx and flora), sq and his korean friend, Bon Hong who was also our ski instructor for the day. The weather was sunny, a great day to ski! Although this was my second time skiing (my first time was coincidently in Korea too, at Yong Pyong Resort a few years back), I was still very bad at it, so it was basically quite tiring as I kept falling down. Getting up required alot of effort as the slopes are slippery and the ski gear was big and heavy, so it really hindered my movements.

Pictures of our ski instructor and rx, and the 3 of us (my roomie kindly helped us take this picture)

During lunch I was casually asking Bon Hong if he was tired from teaching us ski but he could not understand what I meant. He replied "Huh, I'm not on a diet". It was quite awkward and funny so all of us began laughing as we realised our Singlish is really bad. The people here speak proper US style English, so we have to speak properly in order for them to understand us. Haha.

After lunch we continued skiing and the weather had turned warmer by then, so the snow began melting abit and the slopes became even more slippery. On the final slope back to the ski house, rx skidded and rolled down the slope. She had to stitch up her wounds and her face was also bruised as she landed on her head. The whole incident was quite scary when it happened, so I decided to only ski on the gentle slopes if I get the chance to ski again next time.

A picture of rx at the hospital getting her wound stitched up. Looks scary isn't it?

Night out with the Singaporeans

2007-03-04T08:27:00.000-08:00

Had a fun night out with fellow singaporeans from SMU and NUS today. Met up with Gillian, Eng Teck and OonWah from Korea University as well as Joshua from Yonsei but staying off campus for a Saturday night of activities.

Session 1: BBQ pork dinner

Dinner was delicious! San Cen Rou fried with cabbage, bean sprouts, kimchi, mushrooms and spicy sauce. No porky smell at all! Heh.

Session 2: KTV at a Noraebang ( KTV room)

Singing is definitely more fun with the tambourines because it is more noisy! The ktv here has a selection of chinese, english, japanese and korean songs but they are in midi format, so the sound quality is quite lousy. Nonethless, we had a good time singing and laughing.

Session 3: Drinking session

Drinks are really cheap here, soju (local vodka) and beer being most popular. Pubbing is the typical activity for koreans after a meal rather than going to cafes as coffee is much more expensive.

After 3 sessions of activities till late, we finally headed back to hall. Here's 1 last shot to conclude our night. Plans were also made for more of such outings in future. So stay tuned! =)

On the roads

2007-03-03T21:25:00.001-08:00

After topping up our student cards (which is also our ezlink), we were finally able to explore other parts of seoul by bus and train. We visited Dongdaemun which is really a shopping haven for both koreans and foreigners; the Seoul Olympic Stadium to catch dbsk's concert (we didnt have the tickets so we could only hang around the place to feel the atmosphere... haiz) and finally settled our alien registration. All foreigners residing in Korea for more than 90days are required to apply an alien ID.

On the bus and train...

There are 8 subway lines in Korea and dozens of interchange stations to transfer, so it gets rather confusing for foreigners to travel around. And it gets really crowded during peak hours so you wont even need to walk into the carriage as there will be people behind pushing you in. And also, there's seats on every carriage specially reserved for the elderly, disabled and pregnant ladies. Its the protocol that you give up your seats for them or you will be scolded/hit on the head by them, especially the aunties and uncles who are known to be very fierce. Haha.

Walking on Seoul's streets

2007-03-01T03:18:00.000-08:00

For the past few days, I've been exloring my school area with my exchange mates from NTU namely Shen Nan, Rouxin and Flora; and Shaoqin, another Singaporean from SMU we met in our exchange university.There are 3 universities in the vicinity and 1 of them is the world largest women university, hence the streets are filled with students and there are lots of restaurants, clothing stores, cafes, cosmetics stores, hair salons etc that cater to their tastes and needs. The stores here close late too, at 11 pm or later. So its always bustling with activites all day and night.

Some familiar stores...

Things from the face shop are selling very cheap here, so do other korean brands such as Laneige, Skin Food, Missha etc. Imported brands on the other hand cost significantly higher so we've been buying korean brand toiletrettes here.

We've been eating tradional korean food for the past days so we got kind of sick as its either rice with soup, ramen or kimbap (korean sushi). There are many roadside stalls along the streets where we can get fried rice cakes and other snacks conveniently and cheaply whenever we feel hungry. Meat is really expensive here so we will only eat bbq pork, fried chicken and other meats once in awhile, during the weekends.

My first post finally up

2007-02-24T19:32:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone! Presenting to you the first entry of my blog. I shall be updating the happenings during my stay in Korea here so do stay tuned! First up, I would like to thank my dad, mum, sis, Uncle Jimmy, Missy Liting and Jojo for sending me off so early on 20 Feb 2007. You guys will be deeply missed! =)

Next up, on board the flight to Incheon International Airport. I catched The Departed on krisworld before falling asleep...

And finally, some shots of my school, Yonsei University in Seoul. I think the scenery is beautiful, isn't it? Scenes from My Sassy Girl were shot here too. The weather is cool in the afternoons, about 10 degrees, and cold in the mornings and nights.

I would like to apologize for the messy layout as this is the first time I'm blogging and I do not know how to change the positons of the pictures. Any kind soul who can help me organize and beautify my blog is greatly welcome! I'll be posting more pictures up so till then, chill~