Monday, May 26, 2008

addy 언니 finally joined us young'uns (heehee) for a long-awaited korean bbq dinner and soju! well, the food is NOTHING to rave about, very disappointing actually... but well, it's the company that makes it fun! fellow slacker-korean-classmates-who-don't-do-much-homework-but-still-end-up-best-in-class that enjoy all things korean together...

miserable slices of 삼겹살 pork's belly...

k-class slacker gang!

3 babes of k-class! hazel, addy and me~

小妹妹 hazel, me and 돼지오빠 재석!

acting cute pose

some weird and confused pose

me and 오빠!

me and beloved addy 언니!

돼지-morphied!

haha... the last pose was one of the many we made him take with the ears. actually they are doggy-ears i got from lotte world in seoul, but they're the closest to piggy-ears i could get. the photos were made possible after making him down about 4 shots of 소주 and half a can of 막걸리... we will use it to blackmail him if he dares make fun of our singaporean accent again! but then again... he's trying to morph into one of us also. like, i think he knows singapore better than me lor. -_-"

Sunday, May 18, 2008

i'm back after almost 2 weeks holiday! it ain't easy telling a long story of my 12 days in korea, so i'll let the following photos do most of the talking!

~7D JEOLLA-DO GROUP TOUR~

= mt maisan, jeollabuk-do =
("maisan" means horse-ears, which the mountains are said to resemble)

our first meal in korea... MUSHROOM 전걸 steamboat.
(actually it was black pork steamboat, but bcos we had a muslim couple at our table, we went vegetarian...)

the black pork they were roasting looked really yummy.

the temple at the entrance of mt maisan.

only one tree-lined road leads to mt maisan...

the lake in mt maisan provincial park. there are those swan-boats which people get in and paddle in around the lake. haha.

finally, we arrive at tapsa, the temple nestled in the midst of mt maisan. i think maybe a bigger deal for the buddhists. i just climbed a bit and came back down.

= boseong tea plantation, jeollanam-do =

oooh... i think this was one of my faves in the trip! boseong tea plantation is BEAUTIFUL! amazing scenery, amazing fresh air! no wonder so many commercials and tv serials were filmed here... long journey to get here.

that's green tea shrubs behind me. and no, you cannot smell green tea. the air is really good though.

the stairs i climbed to reach the top of the hill. it is THAT steep.

love the rolling green tea fields...

definitely worth the climb to the top! (and i am afraid of heights still y'know.)

potted spring blooms on sale at the souvenir shop. wish i could have brought one home...

wiggling squid 전걸 steamboat lunch... mine was beef though.

= damyang, jeollanam-do =

the damyang bamboo museum. i had such high expectations. alas. i have no comments.

= jeonju traditional culture centre, jeollabuk-do =

my cooking partner, ros. we're learning to cook the famous 전주 비빔밥 jeonju bibimbap!

our instructor - she prepared the 비빔밥 bibimbap in record time man... well, i think i finished eating mine in record time too.

the korean traditional house, hanok. we're on our way to learn samulnori korean drumming!

i thought it'd be some old man hobbling out to teach us. it turned out to be this cute 오빠 oppa around my age i think! he's really good with the drums! makes me wonder what he's doing in this small town.

전걸 steamboat lunch. AGAIN. no joke.

= sangsoo herbland, chungcheongbuk-do =

i've always wanted to see sangsoo herbland, bcos they're always so generous to us in kto singapore... and they always work so hard and so passionately during natas fair! turned out to be not a very big place, but really interesting! nice to be surrounded by beautiful flowers and sweet-smelling herbs!

our group photo with the director of sangsoo herbland (holding the little girl). he's REALLY enthusiastic about his herbs! made us laugh a lot, and we also gained some useful knowledge about herbs and their uses.

starting our tour into sangsoo herbland...

group photo in front of the infamous dinosaur rock (i shall not mention its name).

some lovers' heart thing which they use during weddings.

can u believe this cheshire looking cat is actually a STRAY. looks like it fits right in.

the pride of sangsoo herbland - a thousand-year-old pine tree.

the one and only foxglove in 20 years that grew out looking like a sunflower.

tunnel of lavender... their scent lingers throughout the whole place.

the love tunnel of roses...

couldn't resist getting myself a sangsoo herbland ice cream cone (even though it was quite cool weather)... chocolate-something-and-vanilla-mint!

= everland, yongin, gyeonggi-do =

our pork cutlet bbq lunch before entering everland theme park! my yummiest meal during the tour, a wonderful change from all the steamboat!

the largest roller-coaster in everland, built only using wood so as to have more impact. and no, i am not a rides person and i did not get on it.

everland was crowded with so many school children on their school field trips... the queues for the rides were madness, something like our church ones. me and 2 other girls my age on the tour decided to queue for some mystery-mansion-ghost-shooting game... we waited 40mins for a game that lasted the whole of 3mins, which we didn't know how it worked until it ended. -_-" so we gave up on the rest. the went to find their parents for dinner and i went exploring on my own...

love the flower gardens and the european village... there's even a choo-choo festival train that goes around the village!

that's the ferris wheel behind me which i didn't get to take either...

in fact, i didn't get on any ride. just went for some 4D show and the safari. quite interesting to see the lions, tigers and bears walking freely - i queued 45mins for a 5min ride. thank God it's included in my paid-for tour so i don't feel the pinch of wasting the rides. the everland entrance ticket with rides costs more than SGD$50 i think!

= strawberry farm, gyeonggi-do =

just so happened to be nearing the end of the strawberry season, so we got to pick some strawberries in one of the farms. do you know korean strawberries are never sour, always sweet!

so gorgeous, the strawberries are really fat and they grow in bunches with little white flowers like those you see in strawberry shortcake pictures!

sigh. but on my way out, i slipped and fell on some strawberry patch, smashing some strawberries, including the fattest ones i had picked. felt like strawberry FATcake. risked my life for nothing, bcos after we got on the bus again, our guide gave us each a box of beautiful strawberries as above. my jeans with smashed strawberries made me smell like them THROUGHOUT the rest of my trip (even after washing).

= kimchi factory, icheon, gyeonggi-do =

we went to a kimchi factory and learnt some kimchi-making skills... drank some ginseng milk and ate some korean cookies... then they also have this tacky touristy thing - wear the korean traditional costume hanbok and pose for photos. but of course, what is a trip to korea without it.

me and the 2 sisters on the tour - regina and renee. i had no choice but to wear that neon-green hanbok, it's one of the few that fit me. i swear the next time i wear the hanbok i need to bind my chest. or get a tailored one.

another cheesy pose.

= daejanggeum theme park, gyeonggi-do =

interesting to see an old korean village... although it was EMPTY. i didn't watch daejanggeum (jewel in the palace), so it was like "oh ok" for me. renee and i came out soon after and bought yummy strawberry (yeah) ice-cream to enjoy!

= gyeongbokgung palace, seoul =

the main palace. looks quite similar to the forbidden city i went to in beijing years ago.

the octagonal pavilion, supposed to be the most beautiful spot in the palace.

= outside the blue house presidential residence, seoul =

posing with the "goguryeo soldiers"... looked like they stepped right out of the set of "jumong".

they gave a martial arts performance, which takes place every friday at 11am.

전걸 steamboat lunch and 비빔밥 bibimbap. sigh.

= lotte world, seoul =

i was so excited to be going to lotte world, not bcos of the rides, but bcos finally i get to see the filming sites for some of my favourite korean dramas!! like "full house" and of course, "stairway to heaven"! like, i made the long pilgrimage here last may only to find it CLOSED for major renovations.

magic island! i didn't go for the rides (as expected), this was taken from above on the monorail. this was also where rain was escaping his screaming fans in "full house".

what i came to see!!! the carousel from stairway to heaven! this was where kwon sang woo found choi ji woo, his long-lost love! classic k-drama scene!

trying hard to hide my excitement!

and finally!!! i fulfill my long-time dream to get on the horse! maybe kwon sang woo touched the one i was on before! woohoo~ it's so nice to know that they have no height, weight nor age limits. haha. the horse goes up and down and round and round... reminds me of the one i used to take at parkway parade when i was 5 yrs old for 20cents.

my 비빔냉면 cold noodles dinner at lotte world.

= saying goodbye to the group =

with frida and jeffrey... they're a really nice couple who took care of me (bcos i was with the tour alone), made sure i had enough to eat. haha. and also took photos for me.

saying goodbye to my new friends at incheon international airport... and i embark on my free & easy tour with sheryl!

~7D SEOUL FREE & EASY~

= namsan guest house =

kicked off the 2nd leg of my trip by switching accomodations... from 5* hotel sofitel ambassador to guest house...

namsan guest house. paid KRW 40,000 per night for a double room, which is around SGD43. nice and relatively clean. they have really friendly and helpful people who offer you advice on where to go and what to do. the only minor setback is bcos it is located on mt namsan, we had to climb this really steep slope up every time. got a lot of exercise... think i lost weight. haha. but the fact that it is located 400m away from my absolute fave shopping district of 명동 MYEONGDONG overrides everything else!

= dunkin' donuts, myeongdong =

finally my first most decent breakfast in korea! doughnuts and mocha!!!!! no more vegetarian rice and what not!

some cam-whoring. haha.

OHH! i met my other 오빠... 공유 GONG YOO!!! his face was plastered in 명동 myeongdong subway station, so i got to see him every day! :D

= 인사동 insadong =

traditional korean cultural street with many antique shops, art galleries and traditional teahouses.

vehicle-fee on a sunday afternoon for the flea market to be set up.

hanging art displays in 쌈지길 ssamziegil... i love this place! many lovely craft shops selling handmade ceramic items like earrings, and of course korean handicrafts.

this guy is hammering korean traditional rice cake 떡.

and i finally meet someone with a bigger head than me! muahaha... that's the korean cartoon character dalki (딸기 = strawberry, for obvious reasons. -_-" watsup with me and strawberries...). there was a whole store selling dalki stuff, which i couldn't resist getting for myself also. act cute mah.

oooh! i forced sheryl to come into this lovely cafe for a rest stop... the whole cafe is designed to look like a railway train, with the tracks leading you to the tables and seats from old trains! the name of the cafe is also quite funny - "오!자네왔는가" meaning "oh! you came"... haha.

got to eat my delicious 팥빙수 patbingsu and 오미자 omija (five-flavoured tea) for KRW 13,000! a little splurge for a unique experience.

= hangang park & 63 building =

hangang park next to the river, where lotsa young people are having their picnic. you can see the LOOOOONG string of kites flying, and the golden building is the 63 building! haha, another filming site from one of my favourite dramas "my girl"!

me and sheryl enjoyed the long walk along the river in the cool weather to get to 63 building. hangang park is actually quite like our east coast park. people cycling and all.

the lift that goes up to the observatory at the top of 63 building! i tried holding my breath throughout the ride, like how they did in "my girl"! haha... but the 1min18sec ride is no joke. i gave up at 43sec. and again no, 오빠 did not appear when the lift doors opened.

i did not pay for the binoculars either. just posing. haha. the observatory entrance ticket already cost me that much.

= krispy kreme doughnuts, myeongdong =

my breakfast before making the long trip to incheon! perfection i tell you... krispy kreme doughnuts are the ultimate. i don't even like doughnuts much, but these are delicious! my mocha with an original glazed and kookie crunch doughnuts! sheryl and i got hooked on coffee and doughnuts, and quite sadly, that was mostly what sustained us for the whole day. and also the the rest of the trip. one doughnut costs from only KRW 1,000, about SGD 1.40.

= wolmido island, incheon =

it was buddha's birthday public holiday in korea on 12may, so we took a 1.5hour subway ride from myeongdong, seoul all the way to the last station incheon to avoid the crowd. had wanted to visit the original set of "full house", but we arrived too late. :( it was past 4pm, and if we weren't gonna stay the night, we would miss the last ferry back to incheon at 6.30pm bcos it takes another 2 hrs to get there. sigh. so we took a bus to wolmido island instead...

wolmido is actually quite nice! they have this huge amusement park with 5 viking ships! reminds me of the scene in "2 faces of my girlfriend" where jung ryeo won pukes on the viking! it's very 90's style, but there were a lot of young people around enjoying their public holiday.

my french-fry-coated-breaded-hotdog. too much. you can get to try this in singapore too, from "dongdaemun" seoul street snack stalls in vivo city and bugis junction. i would say the one in singapore nicer to eat.

the pierside cafes are really quaint. took a leisurely stroll along the coast people-watching...

enjoying the cool sea breeze and watching the sea gulls overhead.

there were quite a number of caricature artists along the way; this one was really good.

= n seoul tower, mt namsan =

after we got back from wolmido, we went to n seoul tower, 200m away from our guest house. another filming site! heh... remember in "my lovely sam soon", how hyun bin got onto the cable car alone with kim sun ah (sam soon)!

alas, no hyun bin. we had to squeeze with a whole bunch of 아저씨 ahjussis...

we arrive at n seoul tower! i like how it lights up in different colours at night. so touristy hor. like how the koreans go to our sentosa merlion and love it.

the night scene of seoul. there were many padlocks locked onto the railings around the tower, i think it's some lover-couple thing. EVERYONE is attached in korea. -_-"

at the top of the tower, seoul's tallest point! we are 4,651.90km away from home!

the cute mini teddy bear museum with a moving teddy cable car and the n seoul tower.

our other source of sustenance, free 신라면 ramyun from the guesthouse...

and we also got hooked onto this milk - cheap at KRW 550. we bought one to drink every night from the nearby mini-mart.

= coffee prince cafe, hongdae area =

woohoo! my ultimate pilgrimage site! the 1st shop of coffee prince! ok, maybe not the first... this is actually not the original one. this was later set up and licensed by mbc productions. we had such a hard time finding this one that i did not dare try to look for the original one (for fear of incurring sheryl's wrath bcos she is convinced i cannot read maps).

the cafe was so quiet and empty, we thought it wasn't open...

but it was! yayy!

of course we ordered the coffee with the art. haha... the one with the leaf is sheryl's cafe latte and mine with the heart-shape is cappuccino. is the heart a sign from my gong yoo 공유오빠?! :D

our gorgeous ice-cream waffle!! it's definitely the best i've had in my life! better than gelare's (and probably costs about the same)! the waffle is soft yet crispy on the outside, and there were peaches, bananas, kiwis and strawberries... plus THREE scoops of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry and lots of whipped cream and chocolate sauce!

our side order of new york cheesecake, just as yummy! not too rich and really soft.

however, we did not find any coffee princes... :( there was this really sweet and pretty coffee princess though! she looks a lot better in real person. my head looks so big next to hers. tsk.

some shots of the cafe...

managed to take a photo with the princes min yeop, ha rim and waffle sun ki! funny thing is they have lcd televisions showing scenes from the drama in the cafe, but no photos of gong yoo nor yoon eun hye.

but other than the fact that it is THE coffee prince cafe, i really enjoyed my time there. love the ambience, the food is delicious and the coffee is good. somehow if we had one here in singapore, i think it won't be as quiet.

= kto headquarters =

visited my bosses in seoul headquarters. it's BIG. and a lot more people compared to the 6 of us here in singapore, heh heh. ms kim n mr joo were so nice, arranged for me and sheryl to watch 3 performances for the next 3 nights - JUMP, Breakout and NANTA! i have renewed motivation once again.

they are all really good comedic performances! JUMP displays taekwondo, Breakout shows beat-boxing and breakdancing, while NANTA shows percussion and drumming. my favourite out of the 3 is JUMP, and up till today me and sheryl are still laughing over the funny scenes! it was really one of the highlights of my trip to seoul... i'd highly recommend everyone to go watch them!

anyway more photos from kto hq tourist information centre... met the biggest hallyu stars!

hooked up with rain...

song seung hun...

choi ji woo...

jang dong gun...

lee byung hun...

and kwon sang woo!

and also found out my hand is as big as rain's. either my hands are big or his hands are small, considering i'm 1.7m tall and he's 1.84m. hmm.

= cheonggyecheon stream =

cheonggyecheon turned out to be one of my favourite spots in seoul... and i kinda miss it. so relaxing to walk by the running waters or just to take a rest on the stones. we ended up walking along the stream 3 times during our trip. it was really cold at night bcos of the rain earlier in the day, shiok! a lot of pat-tor couples and emo old men.

= subsequent random shots =

had more krispy kreme doughnuts and coffee for breakfast!

dunkin' donuts for our dinner before watching JUMP...

sheryl doesn't like spending on food. at least mr shin from the guest house treated us to 떡뽁기 tteokbokki, 순대 sun dae (pork blood and vermicelli sausages), 김밥 kimbap and 소주 soju! typical korean fast food...

we met our friendly singaporean merlion outside lotte department store in myeongdong! i think stb was having this roadshow to attract the high fliers for the f1 grand prix.

we found singapore coffee and toast! this one was in sinchon; there's another one near the jump theatre. they also have papa roti and roti boy coffee buns, which the koreans queue for like how we queue for doughnuts here! quite expensive though...

my total shopping... most expensive buy being the pink handbag which a cute 오빠 cooed me into buying... KRW 35,000!!! no regrets though.

robin, manager of namsan guest house. really friendly!

before my flight in incheon international airport... my last few dollars spent on a large strawberry xtreme smoothie and custard pie!

my load of hand carry bags...

chose the trolley with the beautiful song hye kyo!

going home to singapore...

the plane i took... if you see carefully, the other plane behind has daejanggeum's pictures on it! haha... anyway, 6 hours flight is really quite unbearable. i dunno how people take for more than 20 hours on economy class!

well, back in singapore now... missing the cool weather there. i realise the probable reason why i don't feel any spectacular excitement already... maybe bcos i'm too familiar with seoul. when i was there, it seemed like my 2nd home. could fit into the crowd... of course my korean is still not that fantastic at all, can get by lah. only my top 3 phrases came out really korean-sounding:

1) 안녕하세요? hello...
2) 얼마예요? how much is it?
3) 저는 한국사람이 아니에요. i'm not korean.

they didn't give me much opportunities to use the more expressive and intelligent phrases. -_-" even the cute manager for NANTA spoke to me in mandarin... tough to beat his beijing-accented mandarin leh.

i am really thankful that God's hand of favour rested so heavily on me... so evident. i was treated like a princess! well taken care of throughout... before my trip, i planted my miracle seed into the one-north building project for our church, and i was telling God, "i know You know what is in my heart, and i know my harvest will not be only as big as my seed. it will surely be multiplied in quantity and quality!" indeed... my seed multiplied 2x during the 12 days in korea! received gifts, and sponsored tickets to wonderful performances! received kindness from people along the way... something money cannot pay for.

it's back to work for me... and i feel rejuvenated, inspired to do better! dunno when my next trip will be, but i sure hope it won't be too far off!