Hangang Park with Joyce

I am back with more pictures! Haha been quite awhile since I updated. Hm... quite bz with going out...haha NOT lab. LOL. I think I am having jet lag. I always refer back to Spore time when in Korea. Anw, for my last day of enjoyment I went to Hangang Park for picnic with Joyce and her Chinese-Korean friend. Quite interesting as I am able to speak Chinese again! Woohoo! He is amused by our Spore chinese. haha just like how I'm with the Konglish.

The weather is cool and its relly nice to relax and chat while watching dusk sets. We head bbq pork for dinner. haha as usual the guy will treat. =D But I also bought yoghurt for them =) haha it was a fun day =D

I'll upload the pics tml. Gota head for bed. Tml is the official start of school! I am so excited!! =D

Pictures from Dongaemun with Nat

I'm on the 12th storey =) Pardon for the blurry image. The koreans though boorish have a systmatic way of saving the environment. Everyone will separate their waste into 3 bags- Paper, plastic and I forgot what. den they'll bring it down to the apt and throw them into their respective bins. So, in my apt we have like 2-3 bins for diff waste. o.O

I've to climb slope everyday. The apt is on a hill so very windy during autumn. hee... My apt is the 1st block.

Many different types of kimchi and jang. Xiao Pang you want any? I can ask Jerry bring for you when he goes back. haha so scary to meet him agn!!

Wet market that opens till 9+pm.

On my way back to my aptm.

After dinner, a walk along Cheongyecheon stream is good exercise. Ahjumas performing music and dance. Their elders are really active.

The whole stretch of street side hawkers. Sometimes, they really freak us out by their fierce touting.

Tteokpokki, Odeng, Stir fried pork. =)

Nat with the super yucky soju. It taste like medicine. We drank only 1 smal cup and gave up.

Pojangmacha. At dusk, Dongaemun has lotsa street side stores to choose from.

So many leggings, socks, hosiery to choose from! Xiao Pang! You wana step on Bae Yong Joon? Buy a pair of socks. =D

This is so nice! I like the top and the hat. If I have the money, I'll surely buy it!! =D

Shopaholics Heaven! I'm a poor soul in Heaven =( Requested by my PRC friend who said she can also write in Korean. Haha you better make sure you write correctly!! Just follow the EXACT same thing. haha don't action and add anything yourself. =D

A Day In Dongdaemun...

and I never bought any apparels except Skinfood oil makeup remover! Can you imagine it? Haha. Actually this season the clothings not really nice except for those in Doota which are really expensive- SGD60-70. Its a good thing for me! =D

I met up with my Thai cyber fren who is also entering SNU this fall for her graduate international studies. We had a fun time walking ard those stores and eating pochangmacha and drinking the super yucky soju! She opens her own spree selling fans products. Can you imagine wearing socks imprinted with Lee Min Ho face or Kim Bum's? Surprisngly she told me, these products sell really well even to countries in the UK, US.

Every morning I ate ALOT. haha the meal is so healthy that after I ate, I will go to the loo within 30mins. There is alwys the usual pan chan, a bowl of hot soup (depending on the weather) and rice with either barley or beans. Sporeans might find it hard to accept, haha but I like it. Lunch was kinda special. I did not take a pic though. She blended milk and toufu and this mixture was added to the noodles and eaten cold. Haha surprisingly, it has a refreshing taste. Nice! Afterwich, she told me to try ja jang myeon. So for lunch, I ate 2 bowls of noodles and some pan chans. haha OMG... I din noe I can eat so much. haha I must be really hungry....as usual.

I did some journal reading...hm..ok...I only read HALF of the one journal paper b4 I decided I shall go out. haha so boring! I must max my enjoyment b4 term starts and I'll be in 'jail'. Dinner was in Dongdaemun with Nat. We ordered tteokpoki, stir-fried pork and soju. Odeng was serviced. Though this is the 1st time we met, but we had stuffs to talk about and she is not those isang type. haha so it was quite fun. Her faculty is way better than mine! All students in GSIS know English and they are so rich. One of her classmate stay in Cheongdam-dong and hangs out in Apkujeong!! Haha we stay in Shilim and hang out in Dongdaemun. World apart. lol.

Joyce told me that korean girls work so hard to get into Seoul National, Yonsei or Korea Uni with the hope of marrying a guy from these unis. Why? Common sense. Guys in these top-notch unis will become high fliers in future. Alot of TON & they can speak Eng. Haha no wonder the girls dress to the nines when though its just to sch. Koreans seem to think the ppl who can speak English are superior. Very weird mentality. Come on...French and German eng CMI! They still treat them as god thinking that theirs is the AMERICAN accent. ^___^'''

ok! I shall post some pics of my trip yesterday and my neighbourhood. Geuldari yo!

Pictures from COEX

Last night after the movie, the air was so chilly whn walking home. I slept w/o the fan. Recently I have been listening to korean radio. haha though I dont really understand the songs, I find the melody nice esp those super melancholic ones. haha I like depressed songs! =) I began to slowly appreciate Korea and its everything. When in Rome, follow the Rome way. haha maybe its the weather~~ LoL. Weather is good, my mood is good. Now I wana stay in Korea! Wahaha. Actually Seoul is a nice place to stay if you have money. If you are penniless, you'll find it takes ALOT of determination not to buy those really cute notebooks, nice shirts and dress, and not forgetting FOOD!! Haha imagine the mental torture! LoL. Nowdays whenever I have the urge to purchase, I will ask myself 'DO I REALLY NEED THIS?'. haha this qns really works for me. Lol. Joyce told me that in Korea, they have a saying, they rather die penniless than being not pretty (translate to chinese). They will use instalments to purchase branded goods etc. So you will see almost everyone even teenager carries LV, GUCCI, Prada- on instalment wahaha.

Another thing I know is that Korean man will pass ALL their earning to their wife. o.O
Wa...I can imagine the money conversion in my case: MONEY -> CLOTHES
They have a joke (can be true) saying that ' korean women must wake up earlier than their husband and sleep later than them'. Reason being: Wake up early to put makeup and sleep later so that their husband will not see their sans makeup face. haha =D

The more I learn about the Korean culture, the more interesting it gets. Haha I shall upate more if I hear of any absurb ones =) Below are the pics from yesterday.

Autumn- Ga-eul
Spring- Bom
Hae Un Dae yong hwa ticket. Korean movies are meaningful and well-made just that they don't have Eng subtitles... such a pity.

Me & Joyce infront of COEX. This is the time I feel cold once we stepped outta mall. Ga-eul is here! =D

MEGABOX, one of their many cines.

Our dinner total ard 12,000. Dunkin taste better in Korea. The overly exaggerated LMH advert on the LCD TV in store alwys make me laugh.

COEX mall has alot of cute stationary stores. The above are red packets use for wedding. Nice!

My first brekky during homestay. The meal is alwys healthy. haha the rice contains additional beans, barley etc. I like the pumpkin fried egg! =D

Autumn is here!!

Autumn is here! Yipee! =D

My korean friends can only meet me on Monday hence, I slacked the whole noon sleeping and eating lunch. Ard 3pm, Joyce suggested we can go for movie. YEA! =D

I watched my first Korean movie in COEX Samsung mall entitled, Hae Un Dae. Its about when tsunami strikes korea in 2009 ( haha they predict~~) and what happens to the natives living near the area. Hae Un Dae is a very nice beach near Busan. Starring Ha Ji Won. She is so pretty san makeup =) Though I do not understand the conversation, but I understand the movie. very touching!! MUST WATCH!

COEX mall is very crowded. Throngs of locals and isang couples. haha. The movie ticket costs 9000KRW abt 10+++SGD. Ex rite? For dinner Joyce treated me to Dunkin Donuts. We ordered 5 donuts and 2 drinks to share. So sinful. We waited for her korean oppa to join us for movie. haha and he bought us popcorn and drink. Yea! I spend only total 9000KRW for this trip =D Bringing an oppa out is good! It is BY RIGHT that we do not need to even bother taking out our wallet. Weird culture right?

Movie was 2 hrs. 10pm we were on our way back and the train is PACKED!! Human tsunami. Way worst than Spore. Do not even think of saying EXCUSE ME in Korea. Useless. Just PUSH those ppl aside.

Autumn is here! Once we stepped out of COEX, you can feel it! The air is cool, think ard 17-19 degrees. I am so happy!

Time for the leggings to party! =D

My Nest

Xiao pang! I put your notebook to use! Haha ajumma say you ippo and jinxy cute op da!

No wardrobe so I hang my clothes. Improvise ways to save money. Luckily I bought a dozen hangers w me =D

The living hall and balcony.

The view from my 12th floor apt. The sml sq grid is the wire mesh to prevent flies. See the mountain? Tts where SNU is located. Gwanak-san. I'm going to conquer it this Sunday.

My bed. See the pillow! I 'took' it from New Boolim hotel =D

My working desk.

MY ADDRESS: Gwanak-gu, Bong Cheon 6-dong, 1706 Woo Seong Apt 101-1207.

Oppa!!! Oneeeeeeeee!!! Cash, cheques and credit cards are most welcome! =D

Homestay

Everyone needs not just a house but a home. The feeling of staying with people I am not so fmailiar is quite strange. Esp the way I greet and behave in front of korean elders. It is so different. I must use the most formal speech when speaking to elders. haha cannot just wave and say 'GOOD MORNING!'. I must bow and 'anyonghaesaeyo'...a chim mo go yo?' haha meaning good morning, have you had your breakfast? I'll slowly get use to this I guess. It is quite interesting to learn about korean culture from my landlord. Sandra's cousin- Joyce is my translator. haha I am staying with her mother-in-law, her and her husband. Her MIL is quite a nice lady. Very healthy. She must walked 2 hrs everyday as exercise, attends health lesson and watch healthy cooking TV program and cook for us. haha the rice itself is healthy enough. She adds barley and green beans inside. =) Every meal she gave me 1 BIG bowl of rice and surprisingly I can finish the whole bowl inclusive of the various pan chan. haha coz I dun wan to spend money and buy snacks outside. =D

She will lay the table w nicely with all the food and then call me out to eat, afterwich, I just have to put everything in the basin and she'll do the washing. Initially, I helped her to wash but she refused. She has different types of cloth for different utensils, after washing must use another diff kind of cloth to wipe dry and place them back to their respective cupboard. Kitchen is the place where korean women ruled. She told me ' Time is money. So you have time, go and study and rest. Have rest den you will be healthy'. Haha so nice =)

I learnt many interesting korean culture. They have different food for different seasons, different bowls and plates for different season, they will use elaborate plates to host guests...

Seoul Pictures 2

Service is good. They have different grilling plates for different meat. Beef uses the 'wire mesh'.

We ordered enough to fill 4. Ate for 2 hours. God... how can I slim down ?!

Fresh pork bought from the market and the restaurant charge 3000KRW/pax for the bbq and pan chan.

Beef at 18,000KRW. The bbq uses charcoal. I can have it my own medium rare way! =D

Xiao Pang! Yeuido has all the broadcasting company. Din have the chance to walk to KBS coz it was raining! Otherwise, haha I will apply for the chit chat show & ask them got any part time job. MBC is for ahjummas and ahjussi so din bother to go in. LOL. If can work there during weekends so fun!! KBS! Imagine meeting lee dong wook & KHJ!! ^o^

Wanted to go to Hangang Park but the plan was foiled by the rain =(

Kimchi kimchi KIMCHI!! I eat this EVERYDAY for every meal. Haha no more constipation! =D

Cute little honeydews w lined carvng on their body. Quite cheap too!

Chong ryang ni si jang- Their wet market. Quite diff from Spore and it opens till late.

Peaches galore at a low price!

Mini honeydew that taste so sweet and crunchy.

Papa had ginseng chicken while mine is squid bibimbap. The ginseng chicken is not nice.

Hoam Faculty House.

Hoam Faculty House.

Anyonghaesaeyo

I woke up at 7am (6am Singapore time)!! So here I am blogging away. The sky is so bright as if its 9 or 10am. And my landlord is already cooking. The smell tavels all the way to my room. Well..cause my room is facing the kitchen. haha I'm so hungry now!! Yea! I'm going to meet my korean friends later in the evening! haha Jeju A and Jeju B (ok, I don't rem their names =X). I have friends now. wahaha. Went to make alien card yest and queue for freaking 2 hrs! Later I shall roam the shopping area in Seoul to help check out prices for skinfood, faceshop etc.

ANYBODY WANTS ANY KOREAN COSMETICS OR FACIAL PRODUCTS?

PRICE LOWER THAN SG & FAST SHIPPING!

Seoul Pictures 1

Seoul National Hoam Faculty House where we put up for the 1st 2 nights.

Night view of streets near Noryangjin.

Sliced sashimi! KRW 19,000

Hairy crab KRW 2 for 25,000? Cant rem.

We had 4 abalones, 2 hairy crab, 2 diff kind of fish, fish soup. I miss them!!

The live squid that will curl round your chopsticks with its tentacles! Dip in sesame oil add a little salt, a little jang..yummy!

The poor fish is squirming... this fish cost us KRW 15,000.

You name it, they have it. Squidy squid here I come to eat you alive!

Papa loves seafood too! Food always make me happy. It makes me forget I am there as a STUDENT. =(

Noryangjin Fish market. Finally! I wanted to go during my trip in Apr but din haf the time. Alot of seafood!! =D

Papa, Joyce and her friend from Singapore too! BBQ pork! My fav! Esp if you throw all the condiments inside, dip w a little jang, wrap in lettuce..ma si so yo!

1st meal in Incheon Lotte Mart food court. Haha I was the first to rush in and bought my meal! Bae go pa yo!!!