Weekend Outing again~

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

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

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

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

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

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~