Where for art thou, O Kimchi?

Unexpected Coffee Treat

2010-04-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

I returned home from dinner with Maiko at her new school when someone knocked on my door while I was at the loo. Panicking thinking it was the guy who manned the goshiwon, I hurriedly cleaned my room and opened the door. It was the ahjumma of the guesthouse, who is the boss. Turns out that she was waiting for me because she wanted to buy me dinner before I leave for Singapore. We went out for coffee instead because I already had dinner.

I was hurriedly ushered out before I really knew what was going on, and when I realised she wanted to buy me coffee, I was really touched by this simple gesture. She had always been very nice to me, always asking after me and if I had get on well. She especially looked out for me, because I was here alone, unlike most, who came here with friends, and had no one to look out for me. I guess it's her motherly instincts that triggered within her to care more for this girl who came here all alone in winter, away from home with no one to fall back on.

It was a cold Thursday night, yet my heart was warm as I sat with her in the small cafe just across the street (that serves really good coffee which I found out too late), drinking my white mocha. We chatted with my limited Korean, which she commented was a lot of improvement from when I 1st came. She had wanted to look for me earlier, but she had been busy since February, and because of a wedding tomorrow, she would not be able to see me off. All of a sudden, I felt a twinge of unwillingness to part with this dear lady who always looked out for me. It makes me sad to know that it would be ages til I see her again.

Goodbye ahjumma. Thank you for the coffee, and the care you have shown me during my stay. I'm glad to have met you and I'll always the white mocha that warmed my heart this cold Thursday night.

New Year weekend

2010-01-05T01:48:00.000-08:00

Last weekend was tiring. Really. I guess the cold weather contributed to the lethargy and with the days shorter and sun setting at 5.30pm and dark skies by 6pm, it feels like the night is extremely long. We had been waking up like after 10am, except Sunday, and by the time we finish breakfast and all, there were only a few hours left to enjoy the sun. T_T I didn't want to pack the schedule too tightly because I didn't want Xixi to overtire herself because she still has a full week of activities with the church, which was the main reason why she was here for.

We had breakfast at Paris Baguette, which reminded me of Doris because she loves Paris Baguette. I was too greedy and grabbed one too many bread, but they were all so nice I finished them all.I think my stomach has been so stretched out during this few weeks that I'm getting worried.

When you come to Seoul, it is a must to visit at least one of the palaces, and in this case, we visited Gyeongbokgung, the primary palace in Seoul. I think it's also one of the largest, if not largest palace in Seoul. Palaces in Korea are nothing compared to the Forbidden Palace in China (must go there someday), but still, it carries historical value and takes one back in time. I find it pretty amazing for palaces to exist in the middle of a city, side by side with modern day buildings, the old and the new. It's a pity that Singapore did not have a long and deep history with stories of the old, so I envy the countries that do.

New Year's Day was spent at Gyeongbokgung. Even though I had visited Gyeongbokgung in Autumn, the palace feels like a different place in winter, with the palace grounds covered with snow and the lake frozen to become ice. In my opinion, the palace looks amazingly beautiful, with a kind of peaceful, quiet, mesmerizing charm that's probably due to the snow. Everywhere was white and pure.

Then we visited the National Palace Museum, which was just beside the palace. I didn't finish viewing the museum the last time because we were too tired to walk further, but this time round I did. I was especially taken with the cars used by the king and queen during the last days of the Korean Empire. It was very vintage, just like the type you see in the old shanghai streets in movies during the 1920s, 30s era.

It was too late to enter the Folk Museum so we gave it a miss. There was a street peddlers out selling street food and Xixi was mesmerized by the bbq-ed meat. Turns out it was fish but it tastes great as always.

We walked down to Insa-dong, which wasn't that far away from Gyeongbokgung. The street was bustling with people and tourists, unlike the last time I came. I like Insa-dong, because there is this arty and antique feeling as you stroll down the streets, a mixture of old and new. We walked and explored for a bit, and then decide to settle down and have dinner. We found a nice, quaint place that serves bossam, with smiley and cute boys as waiters. I meant as in like little boys kind of cute. I'm not a cradle snatcher. We placed our order, and I'm satisfied enough with the service to say that we were served pretty well the entire time we were there. Maybe because we spoke english, and the boys find it fascinating or something, but our side dishes were always refilled. :) Xixi was satisfied with the meal, mainly because of the meat. Carnivore. lol.

The night was still young and so we headed off to Myeongdong for Xixi's benefit. I have been there quite a few times so it holds no charm for me. We walked around for a bit then went home because she couldn't buy much as we would be coming back again for the cosmetics and skin care shopping. Xixi wanted to try eating odeng and ddeokbokki at the street stalls so we went for more food. She was totally enthralled by the odeng. haha..

We had breakfast at this nice and cosy cafe, Arista Coffee, near the guesthouse the next morning which served waffles. But to my disappointment, the waffles they serve are the extremely baked ones which means they are kinda rock hard. My jaws were so tired out from the chewing.

We headed off to Coex Mall, and Xixi bought quite a number of stuff (like 3 pairs of pants). I bought a few as well, and finally got the Uniqlo jacket I wanted. Hee. We went off to Gangbyeon's Techno Mart in search of headphones, but turned out that the price there isn't that much cheaper than what was sold in Coex. And the variety was much lesser. So we headed back to Coex again and bought Xixi's headphones. We returned back to the guesthouse to put our stuff down, and went out again, headed for Dongdaemun (groanz). We shopped until almost 3am and went for waffles and coffee again at Beansbin Coffee at Doota. The waffles is amazing! It's a must try for their triple chocolate waffles. Xixi wanted to eat odeng again but it was too cold so we headed for home.

We couldn't wake up in time for the 9am service in the end on Sunday and went for the 11am service at Yeouido Full Gospel Church. Xixi wanted to see the church even though she would be there the whole week this week. We met a fellow Singaporean (can't remember her name) and sat together when they took us for a foreigners' briefing. She was here for a holiday with her friends and decided to attend church while her friends are still sleeping in the hotel. Wow. We aborted plans to go Lotte World because we were really tired and went to Ewha University area instead. We parted ways with the girl and went off to have lunch. Saw a store that has jjajjangmeun but it was not really the same. I can't say it wasn't nice, but just not the way I wanted it cause I wanted to eat the real jjajjangmeun. There was ddeok inside the hotpot and it tastes weird, not because of the taste, but because I always ate ddeok with the ddeokbokki sauce.

We didn't explore Ewha Fashion Street in the end because Xixi wanted to go back to sleep a while before heading out again. She looked kinda green and I guess the fatigue and cold must have got to her. Turns out that she was really feeling unwell and slept the whole afternoon and evening away. We decided to stay in and watch tv, so that she won't be too tired out. Joey was home and we talked a lot before Xixi came out from her nap. He's cute, but kinda not too mature and too talkative for my liking. Haha. Then I braved the cold and went out to get dinner (so sacrificial of me) and we watched tv til way into the night.

Seoul i Guesthouse

We had to check out on Monday, so we dragged our tired bodies out of bed to pack and all. Got a huge shock when we opened the door because the snow was above our ankles overnight. Everywhere was covered with snow at least ankle deep and cars were totally submerged under the snow. Turned out that 4 Jan 2010 was the day when Korea experienced the heaviest snowfall in 106 years. Double wow. It was fun and not fun at the same time because Xixi couldn't pull the luggage and had to carry it. We finally got into a cab but because of the snow, traffic was extremely congested. Military men had to be deployed to clear the snow on the roads so that traffic could move. People everywhere were trying to clear the snow on the porches, roofs and doorsteps. It took a long time to reach my place, where Xixi had to deposit her lugagge for a week. She was really shocked to see how small my place is, even though she had already seen the pictures. She never imagined it to be this small.

Coffee and toast at Hoegi, where I stay

On the way to the hotel

We headed out again to the hotel she's staying with CHC, which was in Mapo. Public transport was exceptionally crowded that day as well due to the snow. Most people opted to take the public transport because of the heavy snowfall. The hotel was pretty decent (it has to be when you pay that kind of price) and her room-mate was pretty nice.

We headed off to Hongdae again for Coffee Prince because there wasn't much time to do anything much. I hope this will be the last time I'm going because there's seriously nothing much there and 2 times is more than enough. At least we both tried different coffee which sounded exotic and tasted pretty exotic as well. I can't remember the names, and they didn't exactly taste bad, just not the way I like it.

We headed back to the hotel again and waited til they were about to set off before I left. She didn't know anyone before she came. Hopefully, she would get to know some, which I know she will, by the end of the trip.

Getting home took a long time because traffic everywhere was really congested. I need sleep. Really. I haven't been able to sleep much at the guesthouse somehow. I can't skip school tomorrow again cause I already skipped today. Haiz..

New Year's Eve

2010-01-01T00:42:00.000-08:00

Last day of 2009. Time really flies and it's time to say goodbye to 2009 and hello to 2010. Sadly, there is still class and this means I can't go and fetch Xixi from the airport. Hopefully she'll find her way to the guesthouse.

I had lunch with Penn and friends cause I had a follow up appointment with the urologist for a review on last week's examination results. Misa brought us to 바다사랑 (bada sarang), a shop famous for it's 회덥밥 (huei dop bap). It's like bibimbap, just that the ingredients are replaced with sashimi and seaweed with the Korean chili paste. And it comes with saba fish. All for 5,000won. Totally worth it.

I had to leave early for my appointment then rush off to find Xixi. There wasn't anything wrong with my urine tests so the urologist deduced maybe it was due to a change in my menstrual cycle or something. He prescribed painkillers for me and thankfully, I do not have to pay anything this time round. Phew.

Then I rushed home to pack whatever last minute stuff I had to pack and went off to Hongdae to meet Xixi. She was wearing eye makeup! Was pretty surprised even though baby Minghui has told me about it. We made our way back to the guesthouse for check-in because Xixi had arrived too early so was unable to check in. She met another Hong Kong-er, and hung out with the girl til she met me to kill time. The guy, Chris, looked like he was in serious need of sleep and smoke. His dark eye rings were horrendous. Anyway, we got our room and went up to unpack, with the help of a few guys to lug Xixi's luggage up the stairs.

The weather was really cold today, and we hesitated if we should go out for the countdown because of it, and plus Xixi doesn't take to the cold that well. We met the guy whom Xixi was liasing with on the booking of the guesthouse, Joey, and he could speak reasonable\y good English. Pretty cute looking too. We finally decided that we would go out, 1st to have dinner, then decide if we wanna go for the countdown depending on how cold it is. But it would be pretty wasted not to go for the countdown cause it's our 1st countdown out of Singapore.

Turns out that the area was the area near the Coffee Prince Cafe, where I had bbq meat with Cat and Mel last Oct. We picked a not to crowded bbq shop and ordered our dinner. We ordered 삼겹쌀(samgyeopssal) and 갈비(kalbi), which I insisted that we must order cos it's really nice. And Xixi agreed. Sh enjoyed the dinner, which I was glad for, and she paid for dinner. Hehe. Thank you Ximei!

The weather was still cold, but we decided to go all out. After all, we are already in a foreign land. We took a train down to Jonggak for the countdown at 보신각(Bosingak Belfry) and the amount of people there was humongous. There were people everywhere, and loads of police. We manage to get out of the place and there were more police. Many roads were blocked and we had to walk one big round to get to the road opposite the Bosingak. The roads were not yet closed o we had to wait til the roads were closed before we can make our way over. The number of police deployed that day was really amazaing. I've never seen so many police before. Finally, the roads were closed and everyone rushed forward. And somehow, we managed to squeeze up to the 2nd row. But it wasn't really a pleasant experience because of the pushing behind. Your body gets so squashed up that it was difficult to breathe at times. We waited like eons before the concert started. It was mainly cultural performances and the only celebrities we saw were like Seeya (Xixi don't even know who they are) and Son Ho Young (she doesn't know g.o.d either). And the countdown was pretty sudden and before we knew anything, we were counting down the last 20 secs of 2009. Then it was goodbye 2009 and....

HELLO 2010!!!!

Fireworks were released, mainly the individual ones, and nothing as spectacular as Singapore's. Honestly speaking, both me and Xixi felt that the countdown was pretty anti-climax, except that the crowd was really huge. And with loads of policemen. We left shortly after the countdown, getting irritated with the never-ending jostling and pushing.

Goodbye 2009 and hello 2010. May the new year bring new blessings and new opportunities. :)

The start of snow

2009-12-30T23:31:00.000-08:00

It started snowing a few days ago, but I think it snowed more last night because most surface were covered with a thin layer of snow when I stepped out this morning. There is a certain beauty to the snow, a peaceful feeling that brings a smile to your face. There were times I wish I had chosen to come during a warmer season, but I think a huge part of me actually likes winter. Autumn was cool when I came last October, but somehow, I never really loved the weather, except find it a great weather for shopping. But when I feel the cold is too unbearable, I find myself thinking of the weather back home, and not the autumn weather. I like extremes I guess. It's either the very cold, or the hot (not very hot. No, I don't want that).

School feels like a different place with the snow covered gardens and all. Looking forward to tomorrow because Xixi will be here. :)

9th day of school

2009-12-29T23:55:00.000-08:00

I'm getting lazy to blog everyday cos I'm wearing out. Haha.. so I'll only update as and when I'm free and available or when there are actually things happening.

I came across a new food today - 라벆이 Rabokki, which is a fusion of Ddeokbokki and ramen. Not too bad I guess since I like ddeokbokki. But mind you, it's pretty spicy so if you're not one who can take spicy stuff, best to arm yourself with plenty of water to defuse the fire raging on your tongue later.

I met 선생님 at Sinsa Station today for my consultation with the plastic surgeon. The 1st woman I saw was a scary looking ahjumma, who obviously looked like she had works done on her face, with super trendy clothes. Faith level? 0. Then we got ushered in to see the surgeon, who couldn't speak English I think, so I had to rely solely on 선생님 to translate for me, except for a few words that I understand. Then her friend came in (she was working there, her mother's friend's daughter whom she has never seen before) and introduced herself. Basically, the doctor accessed my face for a while and told me that I only need to augment my nose. He felt that there wasn't really a need to reshape the bottom portion of my nose because of my cheeks and chin. I can cut the sides of my nose to make it smaller but he doesn't think I should sharpen the tip of my nose. Cost of it is 1.5mil won.

We felt that the doctor was pretty honest and doesn't sound like an unscrupulous businessman. So with that, I made a appointment for surgery on the 22 of January, after my mid-terms. They said I could eat like anything after the surgery, even seafood. Quite surprising for me. But I'm not taking risks.

After we got out of the clinic, 선생님 suggested that I go consult other PS surgeons and hear what they have to say. Seriously, I don't feel like doing so because 1. language barrier, 2. I'm lazy and 3. I'm kinda relieved to hear that I only need to augment the bridge of my nose.

We went to Apgujeong's Hyundai Dept Store to get side dishes for my dinners. Her parents have been nagging at her to get me to buy side dishes I think, and she herself doesn't like the idea of me eating rice with just kimchi for dinner. But that's how young people eat! Hahaha..

Kyung Hee 60th Anniversary Celebration - Orchestra

2009-12-26T23:21:00.000-08:00

The orchestra performance was to be held at Kyung Hee's Peace Concert Hall at 6.30pm. It was at the top of a hill and the going up was real steep. It was really dark at 6.15pm, the time when I was supposed to meet Ayako and Maiko.

The building was really pretty, and it looks majestic and magical at night. Kinda like Hogwarts School of Magic in Harry Potter. Lol.

First was the awards ceremony, which they gave out a few awards, but I'm not too sure what awards they were and there wasn't a lot of awards given out. Just about 3 I think.

Then was the orchestra. The performance was split into 2 parts. The first part had a violin soloist and a pianist but no choir. The pianist was really good looking. And it only added to the charm that he plays the piano beautifully. Beautiful, beautiful, just beautiful. Then after 2 pieces, the violin soloist and pianist left the stage and in comes the choir and more orchestra members. The stage was filled to the brim. All conducted by Maestro Jung Myung Hoon.

We had a break time and the queue for the ladies room was ridiculously long. And the restroom wasn't even small. Gosh. There were drinks and titbits and Maiko was really the kiasu one. She swept a lot of instant coffee mix and titbits into her bag while no one was looking. I was quite shocked to see the quantity she had. Haha.

It was super cold when the performance ended, like almost -10 degrees and we were still taking pictures outside. We were shaking so much by the time we reached the gates of the university.

Saturday gone just like this. Somehow, I'm not too worried. :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-25T23:22:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! Christmas is finally here and it started off with rain and fog here in Korea. I had wanted to wake up early to attend the 11am service but due to my ill-discipline last night, I slept at almost 4am watching tv and failed to wake up on time so in the end, I went for the 1pm service. It rained when I reach Yeouinaru Station and I had no umbrella. I haven't bought umbrella yet thus had no umbrella to bring. Fortunately out of the unfortunate, it wasn't raining heavily. I covered myself with the hoodie of my jacket and walked to church. And was still a littlle late. Only about 10 mins? There were no more seats facing the main sanctuary and had to watch the tv. The choir was really amazing. And the solo performance by the harpist was simply beautiful. It was really amazing to see her fingers plucking the strings of the harp and the sounds it produced. And thankfully, the rain took mercy of me and stopped by the time service ended, the rain had stopped. But the temperature probably dropped degrees down.

And of course I couldn't stay home on Christmas could I? I met Maiko and headed for Myeongdong, because everyone's like going there. And true enough, it does look like almost the whole of Seoul's there. It was really crowded and we practically pushed our way out of the station. And there were so many people giving out free hugs. I don't know what's the Korean's obsession with free hugs, but people were really going to the students holding up the free hugs placards. And there was really cute boy who was giving free hugs but too bad his queue is like never-ending. Girls were like going to him non-stop for a hug. Haha.. I would have gone as well if it wasn't for the never-ending stream.

The streets of Myeongdong was really lively, with the constant shouting of the vendors. Maiko really loves to shop, and you can really see her eyes lighting up whenever she see the word "SALE". Haha. We walked a bit for a place for dinner and finally settled down for ssamgyeopssal, since it's xmas and thus we're giving ourselves a treat. :) I really like kalbi and decided the next time I go for ssamgyeopssal, I'm just going for kalbi. hee..

It was snowing after we finished with dinner! SNOW!!! 너무좋아! It wasn't snowing a lot but it was really cold. But once you get used to it, it's really not that bad. It stopped for a while and then started snowing again, more and more. It's like rain, cause it condenses once it touches the ground. It's beautiful when it's snowing, but it's slippery so you got to be really careful when you're walking on snow. We decided to go for coffee at Dunkin Donuts to warm ourselves a bit, and did more talking. It was really a challenge trying to have a proper conversation, one Japanese and one Singaporean, both trying to get our points across in Korean. But it's good practise, cause it helps us to revise the things we've learnt.

Then we returned home and I watched more tv. Gosh, I should really stop switching on the tv cause it's really distracting.

6th day of school - Christmas Eve

2009-12-24T02:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve is here!

Felt good when I got up this morning because it's the last school day of the week and Christmas is tomorrow. The only thing that dampened my spirits was the oncoming urinal infection. I have seen it coming and was hoping it would not, but I guess I'll have to see a doctor later cause going to the toilet is a nightmare for me now. :(

I reached class real early today. I was like 2nd in class cause Ru Jung was already there. She woke early cause she had to move house today, and received notice only today. She was going to do it tomorrow, only to be told this morning that the house movers ahjusshis do not work on Christmas day. And she had to vacate her current house tomorrow, which leaves her no choice but to move today. Had to go off early to move.

Having time to spare, I went over to talk to Haiyang, who was in another class. He was going back to Jeju to spend Christmas there. How nice. He talks really fast when he's excited and it was hard to understand because Chinese Chinese is really different from the Chinese we learnt in Singapore. Ours was really the simplified version of the real Chinese. But whatever it is, I'm thankful to be able to speak Chinese because there's like lots of Chinese in the school. :)

And Stefanie's going Busan with her friends from last semester. She wanted to ask me for lunch today but I had already promised lunch with Penn and Maiko. No such luck today. Class was pretty fun. Sonhee son saeng nim had us grouped into teams and to come out with team names. Our group was called "Him", which meant strength, because we had the most number of members with 4 (others only had 3), and more people meant more strength, courtesy of Ryeo Ryuk. So I got into a group with him, Nami and Wang Bong. It was pretty funny, cause we were struggling to talk to one another with our fobbrish Korean, though they're all better than me. Haiz. We were to ask one another what our hobbies are and to talk more about them. Was pretty fun, as we started talking and all, and another group joined us and more talking was done. Scary Kazakhstan woman was from that other group and she joined in as well. Her Korean's good and she was doing the asking most of the time. But she's nicer today so I shall not call her scary anymore. Ha.

We had sweets from the teachers today as Christmas presents and no homework! Hurray! But there's still leftover homework from the past few days. I'll do them over the weekend and enjoy these 2 days. Hee..

Ryeo Ryuk was nice enough to show us the building where the performance on Saturday would be held. In celebration of its 60th anniversary, Kyung Hee will be holding a orchestra performance by a world renowned Maestro Jung Myeong Hoon. I got a ticket for it since I don't have any plans on Saturday and it's free anyway. :) Will meet Maiko and Aiko and go in together.

Penn brought 2 of her classmates along, Misa, a Japanese, and Peiru aka April, from Taiwan for lunch today so there's like 5 of us today. I've seen Misa before and I had thought she really looked like a doll. And she doesn't look Japanese at all. She kinda look like those who live in the borders of China/Mongolia, near Russia. Really exotic looking. Really pretty. Peiru's the typical cute and sweet Taiwanese girl. She's an exchange student now at Korea U, which very near Kyung Hee. Her english's pretty cause she majors in International Trade and Business and they teach in English.

Misa wanted to bring us to a bibimbap place which she said was really nice and cheap, which turned out to be the place Penn and I had gone for dinner on the 1st day of school. Seems like we have good taste. Lol. The 4 of them ordered bibimbap with beef while I ordered bibimbap with chicken, which was 500won more than theirs at 4,000won. The price was pretty ok for 3,500 to 4,000 won, which is about S$4-5. You could find cheaper alternatives in Singapore, but in Seoul, this was pretty much considered cheap. It helps that there's food back at the gashiwon, which helps to cut down on expenses when I eat back home for dinner.

We chatted quite a bit and turns that Misa's boyfriend's studying in Kyung Hee as well, as in Kyung Hee University Student, and not IIE. He's Korean and it was pretty interesting how they got together. Apparently when Misa first arrived from Japan (her hometown's Osaka, same as Maiko), her boyfriend was helping out at IIE to offer help to new students. He was really helpful and because he could speak Japanese, he helped her out a lot on her first day. She found him cute and passed him her number. And from there they got to know one another more and subsequently got together. His Japanese was really good because he studied in Japan for a while. No wonder because Misa's korean wasn't that good and we wondered how they could have communicated with just her Korean.

I went to the hospital after lunch to see a doctor.It's just maddening to think about it, although there were some people I've met who's nice. I misunderstood the instructions that were given to us on orientation day so I ended going to the wrong place even though I had gone into Kyung Hee University Medical Centre intially. Anyway, realised halfway while going into the school that I had misunderstood the instructions and should have stayed at the hospital and asked for consultation. I decided to go IIE and ask if they could help me out since I was nearby because I was wondering if there is a department at the hospital who caters to foreigners since there are many foreigners around studying at IIE. The ladies in the office can't seem to be bothered with you, like you're a pest for bothering them. They weren't much help by the way, so I went back to the hospital. Even the receptionist there is much more helpful and way prettier!

Anyway, I got directed to International Centre, where a lady could speak just ok English, filled in my particulars, paid for consultation which was more expensive than usual because it was specialist, got directed to Urologist, whereby I consulted a young lady doctor with really minimal English skills. I had to pre-guess her questions most of the time cause she takes a long time to come out with the questions. She's nice though, just that her English conversational skills leaves much left to be desired. Then I had to wait again to consult another urologist. I guess the lady was just doing a preliminary examination and the much older male doctor is the real thing. Anyway, he was nice, with better English (but could have been better). I was a little worried that he wouldn't really get what I was trying to say. Anyway, I was directed to pay again (for the urine tests) and go back to the urology department for the urine sample collection. I have to go back next Thursday for follow-up, which I just remembered is the day I'm supposed to meet Xixi. Damn. After the sample, I went back to the Int'l centre to ask if they could put my English name and passport number on the receipts so that I can claim insurance. No help on that. Don't ask why. Don't wish to think about it. Then, I have to go to a pharmacy OUTSIDE the hospital to get the prescribed medicine and pay another time! In short, don't get sick overseas cause it's really troublesome and frustrating!

And here's my account of Christmas Eve. I'm going to stay at home and recuperate cause I've got church in the morning and Myeongdong in the afternoon. I hope it snows though. Then it'll be a white Christmas. :)

5th day of school

2009-12-22T23:03:00.000-08:00

I forgot to mention. One guy from class was made to sing as a punishment for being late, and thankfully, he's got a pretty good voice and it was quite pleasant. It kinda funny because he initially didn't want to sing, but when he started, he kinda like didn't want to stop. It seems like he wanted to carry singing. I think the class thinks the same way too cause everyone started laughing when the clapping had stopped and he was still singing. But the teacher was someone with sense and she tactfully ended the song for him and asked to go on in.

My reason for telling the above: it made me so stressed up about not going to class late because I don't wanna suffer the same fate. I was like "oh shucks! Hurry up, hurry up. You don't want to be late." this morning when I was preparing for school. I was early again though (this never happened in Singapore, I'm sure many of you guys know) and maybe, my time management is finally getting better. Wang Bong was late again, and we suspected maybe, he wanted to sing again. Haha.

Class is tough as usual. Penn told me that Kyung Hee emphasizes grammer a lot more than other universities and I really believe. The amount of 문법 we learn each day is amazing. And the amount of vocab my classmates know is amazing as well. Gosh. I should have enrolled earlier and gotten started earlier instead of struggling right now. I'm so getting an electronic dictionary though I'm a lot better at using my dictionary.

I went over to Hai Yang's class during break cos I wanted to look for Lum and ask him if he's seen Hi. We haven't been able to meet her up yet ever since we changed classes. No luck cause he didn't see her too after that day at the bookshop. While I was talking to him, a girl approached me and ask if I was Singaporean. It turns out that she too, was a fellow Singaporean! Yippee! Her name's Stefanie and she's started studying in Kyung Hee since last term or semester and was in the same class as Nami, who's in my class this term. I guess Nami told her about me cause I saw Nami hovering outside the door. Lol. I didn't manage to speak much to her because her teacher came in and I had to go back to my class. We exchanged numbers though and will probably go out to lunch next week.

Met Maiko when school ended outside and asked her out to lunch with Penn and I together. I thought she had friends but turned out she was here alone like me. But she's planning to stay in Kyung Hee for about a year, whereas I'll be going back in April. Envious but not so envious at the same time. I like Korea, the shops, the food etc, but I'm not so sure if I'm going to enjoy living here. Lol.

We had a hard time deciding on where to eat, and finally came to a shop selling kalkuksu and rice. I was really hungry by then and ordered bulgogi because I wanted rice. But I regretted when I saw Penn's Al Bab, which was bibimbap with fish roe. Shucks. I'll have that another day.

Maiko, as it turns out, was the same age as me. Surprisingly, there are many who were of the same age as me. Although many have told me I look a lot younger. Kamsahapnida!!!! :D

Time to do homework, and hopefully, start with my CFA notes.

Day 5 of school

2009-12-22T00:09:00.000-08:00

Nothing really happening in school so I shall just skip that.

We had lunch at a 닭갈비 shop near school. We walked around the same street for quite some before before deciding to settle for chicken. There's many eateries around school, enough to last us for like 10 weeks.

It wasn't crowded probably because it wasn't on the main street. We didn't know what to order, we asked the ahjumma for advice. We ordered dakkalbi for 2, and fried rice later on. They served us throughout the entire time we were there, cos like mentioned, it wasn't crowded. The food tastes good. Comparing the 9,000won I spent yesterday on the marinara spaghetti versus today's, the dakkalbi wins hands down.

The chicken gets fried first, and we were wondering when the rice would go in. Maybe the ahjumma saw our thought bubbles cause she came shortly after and put in the rice. Or maybe it's just the way to wait til the chicken is almost finished, then put in the rice with whatever is left and fry them. The portions were quite a lot for 2, maybe because Penn's not a big eater. I think I'll skip dinner tonight. My plan to lose weight is going into shreds at this rate I'm eating.

And now, it's time to mug and get off the laptop because it's taking too much of my time. Til tomorrow!

4th day of school

2009-12-21T00:16:00.001-08:00

I'm running out of steam to update this regularly cause it takes up a lot of time. But I'll do it while I still can, because I'm really going to study hard while I'm here. I really am.

I've come to a conclusion that the Koreans here are not too friendly. Let me state an example. I was going to the kitchen to get water, and there was another girl (I bet she's korean) who was going to do the same. If we were driving, she would have had the right of way because she was going straight and I had to turn left into the kitchen. But well, we're walking so right of way goes to the person who reaches the door 1st right? In my case, it didn't seem like it though. I kinda reached the door a little earlier than her and was about to turn into the kitchen when I realise that the girl isn't going to slow down any moment and it would mean a collision if I continued. She would knock into me when I turn into the kitchen. In my moment of hesitation, she knocked me and I had to stumble back a little to let her in, and went in to get her water. She stole a side glance at me (don't assume I didn't see that, pink lady!) and walked out of the kitchen. I don't expect an apology, but I still find that a tad too rude.

I tried to sleep early last night, but to no avail cause by the time I finish my homework, it was already like almost 12am. Time flies really. I really need to get the electronic dictionary, because there's a lot of words that I can't get the meaning out from the dictionary. With the rest of the class already ahead of me, I need all the help I can get. Maybe I should go to the office and request for a Korean buddy.

Class was fun, and our seats got switched . I really think the Kazakhstan classmates hates me, because I took her seat on Friday. Well, she didn't come into class on Friday until the 2nd half, and I was late and class had started, so I took the nearest seat available to avoid disrupting the class. She was like shooting daggers at me when she was looking at me. I got her hint and wanted to let up the seat to her, but Lee Sol (the chinese girl sitting beside me, btw, she's very helpful) asked me to sit back down and asked the lady to sit at the seat on her other side, which was empty. She refused still and stood there, until the teacher asked her to sit. And today because I was early, I took the same seat cause I was sitting there on Friday, and then she came in, and didn't looked too happy to see me. There were like many empty seats and even though people asked her to sit, she kept insisting that there isn't enough seats in the class. There wouldn't be enough if there was full turnout, but even on Friday, there were students who did not come. Then I packed my stuff and told her to sit at where I was sitting and she kinda like pounced on it immediately. And told me to get another chair from elsewhere. Well, I might have misunderstood her actions and body language, but it would help greatly to avoid this misunderstanding greatly if she didn't look and acted so hostile always.

The rest of the class was really fine, but it was kinda hard to make friends because everyone else has their own cliques, being there for a few terms. The chinese stick with the chinese, the japanese with the japanese and so on. I would have done the same, but I was the minority though. Lol. I'm fine with it, because lesson time is only until 1pm. :)

Met Penn after school. I thought she didn't come to school today because she didn't call in the morning. We had lunch at this cosy little place that serves italian food but it wasn't too cheap. 9,000won for a plate of marinara spaghetti. It costs about the same in Singapore I guess, but it feels extravagant for a student to spend this much. I'm pretty sensitive to dollars and cents these days, having to keep tab of my expenses. There are a lot of things that you overlook when you are staying with your parents, but once you're out alone, you'll realise there are many more things in running a household than just cooking, cleaning and laundry. And I'm just running my 'own room'. Lunch wasn't too bad, just that the marinara didn't taste like marinara. It was quite tasty, if I had ordered something that goes like Aglio Olio.

Going off to do my homework now. Hopefully, I'll be able to touch a little on my CFA notes. I'm getting worried but I'm still going to put all my faith and trust in God that I can do it. :)

Sunday is church day

2009-12-20T00:31:00.000-08:00

There isn't a morning ever since I reached Korea that I had not had to struggle with waking up. I was so tempted to just skip church and sleep in the whole day but I knew if I did, I would continue to miss church because I'd always have reasons for them. So I dragged myself out of bed and got ready for church, even though I didn't really know where it really was.

I got off at Yeouinaru Station and got out at exit as per instructed and began my unsure walk to the church. I had seen it once while take the Han River Cruise but never really knew where it was. It was a pretty long walk as it turned out, and I was so happy when I finally got to the church. I'm attending the Yeouido Full Gospel Church, which is found by Pastor Cho Yonggi, and is the biggest church by congregation in the world. I was led to the foreigners section, where they had translators kit at the seats. Pretty cool but expected from a church that is so frequently visited by foreigners. I'm not very used to the way worship is held because they sing hymns, but I'm still glad to be in the house of God.

Pastor Cho looked younger than his 70 years. There was a certain glow in him, that I guess comes from a man of God who shares an intimate relationship with God.

I didn't really manage to concentrate because I was using the translator. Hopefully, my korean will be so good that by the time I leave, I have no need for a translator. Possible right God? :)

Service ended and it was back to home sweet home. Or just a room. It wasn't as cold as reported and the skies were beautiful. There is a certain kind of beauty in those withered tree branches, starkly naked against the blue blue skies. A kind of melancholic beauty, at least to me.

I really ought to do my homework or else school will be terrible for me. Not to mention having to study for my CFA. Lord, bless me with wisdom, time management and productivity to realize my potential I have in me. Amen.

Day at Ansan

2009-12-19T06:31:00.000-08:00

Weekend is finally here! Woke up a little later. The walls are so thin that you hear almost everything that's happening outside and other rooms. Like last night, there was this korean girl who was talking on the phone (I think) and I could hear almost everything, just that I didn't understand it. Anyway, I woke up because I had arranged to meet 선생님 at 12pm at 상록수 station, which I had not checked where it was. To my horror, it's more than an hour away by subway cause it was in Ansan. I had thought she would be meeting me in Seoul itself.

I took the subway, which pretty crowded. One thing about korean subway is that you've got to be prepared to be pushed about, sometimes a little too hard, by people forcing their way in or out, and not getting an apology. Don't expect and "excuse me" too, because you'd only get disappointed.

I reached Ansan at 1.15pm, almost a 2 hour ride because I had come out at 11.30am. 선생님 was a little surprised that I was wearing so little, according to her standards. haha.. I didn't feel that cold, except that my fingers feel cold despite wearing gloves. I really need a thicker pair of gloves. 선생님 was covered from head to toe like a mummy. I didn't know she was there until she called out to me. haha..

Ansan is in the suburbs of Seoul, less crowded, less busy, but feels more beautiful. We walked to her place, which was just a 5 minute walk from the station. Her father and mother, very hospitable people, were at home and made me feel very at home. I had a nice lunch and dinner, and was so full that I do not think I can eat anything tomorrow. They had this huge stove like thing which they could use for baking sweet potatoes so 선생님 asked him father to bake some. And I had to finish ALL of them. I was so full I thought I couldn't walk. But I had a really good lunch and dinner there. Homecooked, authentic korean food. :)

선생님 went to do her long awaited IPL and PRP (dunno what's that though) and her face looked she got pressed with a wire gauze. She got like injected on the face like 50 over times because the treatment requires drawing of your own blood then mixing with something and injecting it back into the area where you want baby smooth skin. She said it's a new kind of skin treatment in Korea and her friend had baby smooth skin after receiving the treatment. Ah, the price of beauty.

Saturday passed just like this and soon it was time to go. On the walk back the station, we saw signs of 1st snow. It was so few and small that they look like dust. I couldn't even capture them on camera. haha..

I hope I'll see them again because they were really lovely people. Night.

3rd day of school

2009-12-18T03:53:00.000-08:00

Got a message from Hye Young son saeng nim last night telling that my class has been changed. Penn's class has also been changed and we'll be in different classes. We still met on the way to school then went separate ways. :(

The new class is bigger (as in there's more students) and it's in the IIE, compared to Buk Kwan yesterday. And younger. Half the class is Chinese, and half of the half Japanese. Most of them, esp the Chinese, have been studying there from beginner semester. The Chinese girl, Lisa, who sits besides me is very helpful and most of them are nice. Haiz.. I've got a lot of studying to do.

We didn't see Hi, and wondered if we're going to see her anytime soon. She's not in the same building as us anymore, and she doesn't have a phone yet. And her internet connection is not up as well. Hopefully we'll bump into her soon.

Had lunch at a Kalkuksu shop and went home. Went shopping for room stuff, hoping to make it neater and more organised. Was planning to study but.. well. I can only pray to God to give me more discipline. T_T

2nd day of school

2009-12-17T22:00:00.000-08:00

Results was out today and surprise, I got into Intermediate class 1 with Penn. We were put in the same class and seroiusly, I think it's a miracle on my end because she is definitely better than me.

Anyway, we went to class and started class. The class is good, like seriously good. 3 of them are students at Kyunghee IIE for a few semesters, some staying and studying in Korea like Penn. So it was only me and another Japanese girl who just came out to Kyunghee for winter semester. It was really hard to catch up because the standard differs too much. I asked the teacher for a switch to Beginner's 2 because I don't want to waste my time trying to touch the sky. The teachers were nice though, and they encouraged me to have another try. I am happy to be able to get into Intermediate, but was afraid that it would be too tough.

We met Hi at the hallway, and went Myeongdong for window shopping and shopping spree for Penn. We had lunch before we went, but Hi seemed still surprised by the prices. I felt bad for her, but also kinda glad for her because if I stick around with her, I'd save money too. :) Went to Penn's dorm (Leader's Dorm) to put her textbooks. Kinda regret not taking a dorm because it's so much more spacious. But then again, the thought of having to move out after term ends, I think I'm happy where I am.

We walked around Myeongdong for a bit. It wasn't cold because we were indoors most of the time. I really wonder how the street vendors could stand hawking in the streets out in the cold.

Dinner was at this Seollontang shop which Penn recommended. She said it was famous for their ox soup, and it was good for the body. It did taste good, and exceptionally satisfying cos soup always does that for me on a cold day.

On the way back, we encountered a mad/drunk man who looked like he was ready to hit someone. He kept pulling his fists, looked fiercely at someone, then put his fist down. He was carrying a huge bag and swung it around without care for people around him. The train was pretty crowded for it was peak hour, being after work, and the guy beside got hit with the bag. He came quite near and suddenly pulled his fist again and for a moment, I was afraid he would really punch out and hit me. Then he reached his stop and on his way out, pushed a lady who was talking on the phone and standing near the door. He pushed so hard that she almost fell flat on her face. Then 2 old men who just came into the cabin berated him and you've really got to give it to the halabojis. So forceful and commanding even at their age. Salute halabojis!

Then it was back home and await another day of school.

1st day of school

2009-12-16T23:55:00.000-08:00

I woke up totally tired out, not over the fatigue of yesterday, but had to wake up all the same because it's 1st day of school. I arranged with Penn to meet her outside Baskin Robbins which is near the school and where she comes out from the dorm to have breakfast before going to school. I was a little late so I told her to go into one of the cafes to get something 1st because it's cold to wait like outside.

She's pretty. Damn. Haha. Tall, slim and fair. And young. So not fair. But well, we got along well and she's the 1st friend I have made in Korea. :) We had coffee at Holly's then walked to school. One thing about IIE is that they didn't give us much information on where is where so we had to find our way in the cold. We finally got to the orientation place after sometime and met another girl, Hi, from Vietnam. Hi's korean's good. Think she'll be in different classes as us. And Penn's korean's better than mine. She's studying in Daejeon on scholarship in a business university which takes in mainly foreign students and so curriculum is taught in English. Weird huh?

We had lunch at the school canteen. You have to pay for what you want to eat at a counter, then queue up at the respective stalls where you will get your order like high schools we see in tv. A different experience. Price was pretty reasonable; 2500won for veg bibimbap. Water is provided and you have to clear your own desks. Very different from Singapore. Hmmm... maybe the clearing your own tables isn't that different. I'm been away from school too long. haha..

Placement test was next after lunch. There wasn't enough space for all of us so we had to wait while they prepare another room for the written test. The test was easy enough in the beginning and I was like "Ha! That's easy." Then my snigger soon turned into stress because I couldn't understand what the paper's trying to say. Then there was oral test and we were done. Test results will be out tomorrow and I won't be surprised if I get into beginner's class. haha..

We walked around the school a bit and bought things here and there. I brought them to the supermarket my landlady brought me to and shopped for groceries. I feel like an auntie already. lol. We parted ways to go back and rest.

Then Penn and I met for dinner because Hi had to meet another Viet. We got walked around a bit but it was too cold so we quickly into some shop we thought look good. Wasn't too bad because it had soup and soup is good for a cold evening.

I talked to Minghui and mummy and a bit at night and it felt like we're a lot closer than we actually are. It was nice to chat with them, and I thank the advancements in technology for it.

Goodbye Singapore, Annyeong Korea..

2009-12-15T11:55:00.000-08:00

... for the next 3 and a half months that is. For those who still do not know, yours truly here has registered for winter school at Kyung Hee University in Seoul. It's effectively a 10 week programme, after which I will stay on for another month just to wander around. Not so much of wandering though, cos I'll be in Seoul like the whole month cos I'll be showing people around.

So, today is the day that I will leave my home (home is where my family is) of 26 years and leave for Korea. I know many people are envious and happy for me, for being able to do this, and I do thank God for this opportunity. My feelings had been going on a roller coaster ride ever since I decided to go for this programme. Sometimes I feel I can do almost anything and I should just go for it, sometimes I worry about not having enough funds and not getting used to it and all.

But now the day has arrived, and it's too late for regrets. I remember the day when we were climbing Namsan. The going was tough, and it looked as if we weren't going to make. We were given 2 choices; to carry on and walk on, or to turn back and retrack back our steps, putting all our efforts at getting this far to waste. Going back looks even harder after all we had done, so it wasn't really an option for us. So if there was only 1 option, you can only walk on. It reminded me of my situation now, when I have only 1 option that is to leave all fears and worries and go, and trust that God will lead me and has a plan for me for my going.

And here I go, away from home, away from sunny Singapore, to cold and wintry Korea for a new experience and adventure.

My family and Xixi came to send me off at the airport and we had dinner at Dian Xiao Er before my flight. Food was pretty good, though mummy was a little taken aback by the bill. We had coffee at Wang Jiao because I still had time to spare. I had checked in earlier and the staff was nice, overlooking my excess weight for luggage, but hey, 3 mths is a lot to pack! Then it was time to go in and for a moment, I questioned myself if I was ready to go, to leave my family and friends for 3 months. It may seem like a short time, but it was still time away. I miss them already.

Dinner at Dian Xiao Er at T3 before my flight

Taking pics just before I go in

I went in earlier and Grace called so I was like talking to her the entire time I was in transit area til I was going into transit area. There were many koreans in the boarding area, and the ahjummas are really loud. Excitement was mounting up in me as I boarded the plane and waited for take off. Thankful that I could make this trip, grateful that I have a great family that supported me.

I couldn't really sleep on the plane, so I watched Coco Avant Chanel, and I have to say, it was pretty good! Audrey Tautou's a good actress, but she looked a lot older and more haggard than when I last saw her for Amelie, when she was fresh faced and vibrant looking. I finally was able to drift off to sleep, only to be disrupted for breakfast, at freaking 3am in the morning! How nice..

Waiting to fly and during flight

On my way from Incheon airport to Seoul

I reached my hostel pretty early, like 9plus in the morning. I took a airport limousine bus to Cheonnyanri station, and from there hailed a taxi to the gashiwon because there is no way I could have lugged the luggage down the stairs to take a subway to Hoegi then lug it up the stairs again. No way. I was lucky because the taxi uncle stopped at the right exit albeit being lost in the beginning, a friendly ahjumma helped me carry my luggage up a small flight of stairs, and the landlady ahjumma came down exactly the time when the lift door opened. Thank you God! I know you have been looking out for me. :)

The room is small, but functional. Bed, study table, wardrobe and bathroom. Only thing is that it's so small I don't know where to put my stuff at at times. I went off to get a blanket cos it's too cold to sleep w/o one and my lovely landlady offered to bring me there. I got one comfy and plushy green blanket at 55,000 won, a little steep, but it was really thick and really nice to myself myself into. And she managed to get the owner to throw in a pillow as well. Then later I had to hunt the place down for a convertor for my laptop, and that was when I navigated and walked almost the whole of the nearby area. I found one, but it was pretty pricey too. Bought a pair of pirated "Ugg" boots as well, and that's going to be my winter shoes for the whole winter season. ha..

My home for the next 3 1/2 months. Small but functional

Misc. Street snack, view from room and below

Dinner was just Kimchi with rice, which really wasn't too bad. I stayed in at night, in the comfort, instead of venturing out into the cold and colder (lack of vocab, excuse moi) street. IIE sent an email asking us to take a online placement test which I couldn't access, only to send another email telling us that it was only for new student and apologised. I got confused and asked them about it and about the reporting time and place but it was after office hours and so I feared that I was not going to get an answer for that. So I bcc-ed everyone in the email list and asked if anyone's new like me and if we have to take the placement test and where to report to ie. directions to IIE. I kinda admired myself for having the guts to do that, cos I got to know a thai girl named Penn, who's like me, and she's meeting me before school for breakfast.

I know that if my God is for me, then who can be against me? And I have been proven right, again and again. Thank you once again God. Maybe your grace, mercy, anointing and presence be with me always.

Amen.

Start of new journey

2009-10-19T08:48:00.000-07:00

I've been wanting to set up this blog for a long time but never got around doing it because there were so many things to accomplish but yet so little time. But it has been nagging at me constantly and finally I decided to start it on the eve of my 1st trip to Korea!

My real 1st encounter with anything Korean was watching the popular K-drama, Full House, by pop singer Rain and actress Song Hye Kyo in 2005. Since then, I have been exposed to more things Korea, ie. dramas, pop culture, varieties, culture, language etc. I started learning Korean with a fellow Rain fan (yes, I was a fan but now have moved on to DBSK, or TVXQ, Tohoshinki in Japan) and haven't looked back since. In fact, I'll be going to Kyung Hee Uni in Seoul for the winter language programme for 10 weeks, after which I'll stay on for another to explore and experience a new culture and environment. It was a huge test of faith, but I'm sure it'll be worth every bit.

I'm therefore starting this blog to share with friends what I have experienced, encountered, my thoughts, opnions as well as information I have gathered.

So look out for more exciting things I endeavor to bring to you guys!

For now, annyeong and hear from me soon!