Recently in Korea Tour 2008 Category

Day 10 - 10/05/08(Seoul/Singapore)

By
Jhui
on June 4, 2008 6:24 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Last day of the Korea trip. Boohoo =(

For the third day in a row, we had Mcdonald's for breakfast. I'm so going to miss the hash browns from Korea. So crispy and without the oily feeling...although I know that it's probably soaked in oil, like all the Mcdonald's hash browns in the world.


Was down to my last 100won after the crazy last minute shopping we had at COEX the previous night. I was so poor that Li Ming had to buy me breakfast. -_-. Spent it on a shopping bag when Li Ming went to do her crazy last last minute shopping at Hyundai Departmental Store.


Bye bye COEX, the awesome hotel with the pillow menu service :P


Was wondering if it's broken or it's meant to be like that. Sorry for being so ignorant~ lalala. I have zero knowledge in Art.


Took the KAL airport limousine to Incheon International Airport. Tried to sleep but the stupid caucasian guy seated next to me kept tapping his shoe on the metal leg rest and boy, was it irritating! People listening to their ipod can sway their bodies or nod their heads furiously for all I care but do not irritate others by tapping your shoes on metal stuff or blasting your music out loud. I do not want to fucking hear what you are listening to, thank you.

Anyway, reached the airport and I had like a hard time trying to load my big luggage onto the trolley. My luggage weighed a grand total of 30+kg and the check-in guy was trying his best to assure me that my luggage was only over the limit by a little. He kept repeating "Only a little" to assure me although I wasn't worried that it was overweight. In fact, I was already prepared to pay the charge for the excess baggage weight. So, yup, checked in, passed the security check although I had liquids in my bag(how safe~! wtf), saw Bi's posters everywhere and looked around for Lotteria only to realise that there was only one Lotteria and it was located outside. Damnit.


Decided to have Korean food and luckily we did. It was simply fabulous~! Li Ming's ox bone soup.


My soon dubu jigae was so delicious that I finished up everything...even the side dishes.


Last photo together in Korea~ While waiting to board the plane, I saw this cute Korean probably-30-year-old-plus-uncle and Li Ming helped me to take pictures...which I wont be posting up here. Lalala. Reminds me of the paparazzi days we had back in high school. :P


Boarded the plane, watched National Treasure 2 for the second time, slept, woke up because the stupid Korean kid seated behind me kept kicking the chair, ate the not-so-fantastic fish meal and pretty much slept again. After 6 plus hours, we finally reached Changi, passed immigrations, retrieved luggage, had one last look at the cute Korean uncle and went back home...only to find out that my stupid shampoo leaked and spent the rest of the night washing my toiletries bag.


So ta-da~ end of Korea trip~Wanna go back there again.

More pictures here: http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=150

Korea Day 9 - 09/05/08 (Seoul)

By
Jhui
on June 4, 2008 4:09 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Day 9 of Korea~

Like Day 8, had breakfast at Mcdonald's. Had to be thrifty because we were running low on money =(


Went to Namsan after breakfast. Unlike Rodeo Street, Namsan was so much easier to find because they had road signs directing us all the way there. Okay, it was a little difficult finding our way out of the maze-like train station initially though.


As we were lazy bums and did not want to climb all the way up and walk all the way down later, we decided to take the 7,000won cable car instead. If you've watched My Name is Kim Sam Soon, you'll realise that this is the place where Hyun Bin and Kim Sun Ah took the cable car in episode I-can't-remember. In the show, they had the cable car all to themselves because he lied that he was going to propose to her. I should've done that too because the cable car was freaking packed! OMG, luckily the ventilation was good or else I would've died there. Too bad both of us were girls so we couldn't use Hyun Bin's tactic. Boo~


The smoke-signal station...with "actors" walking down from it. Korea really takes her tourism seriously. They have all these staged performances at like almost every tourist spot. When we were at Insadong, they had people staging a Korean wedding ceremony. -___-


Go lock your partner up, so that he/she will be with you forever and ever~! Heh heh heh. wtf.


Sat down for lunch at one of the cafes there. Had this damn delicious bagel and a cup of orange juice. I look like as if the straw's stuck up my nose in this picture. *&#$*^#$


That's better~lalala.


Parents should really look at the design of the t-shirts before they buy any for their kids. Seriously, I don't think that he knows the meaning of 'fuck' lo. The whole thing read 'DSquared Fucking', with two cuckoo birds printed below the words. wtf.


There were like tons of high school kids that day, boys especially, and it was damn scary. None of them looked like the Korean guys you normally see on tv. =( They were eating cup noodles and the smell of the cup noodles was so good that Li Ming went to buy one too. =D


Cost us another 7,000won to go up to the observatory tower.


In the observatory tower with tons of high school boys who left shortly after we arrived. We were like 'Yay, finally we'll have peace," and then in came the kindergarten/primary school kids.


Waiting to take the cable car down. One of the kids dropped his shoe and kept quiet about it. I picked his shoe up and returned to his teacher, who later asked him why he didn't tell her about it. The sheepish face that he gave her was...priceless =D


Next, we went to Myeong-dong where I went to receive my complimentary coffee from Starbucks because I bought a bottle there. I wanted "Tall" but the guy kept telling me to take "Venti" instead. Eh, I take the smaller size=save Starbucks money lo but whatever la, I took "Venti" in the end.~


Come to think of it, was this some kind of publicity stunt for Kungfu Panda?


wtf. Ikko?!


Moved on to a departmental store. Had to cross the road but there wasn't any traffic lights and in place was a guy to direct the traffic. -_- At least you know that you wont get knocked down by cars if he's there.


On our way to DuChamp (one of the filming locations of My Name is Kim Sam Soon), we passed by Plaza Hotel, the place where the chef who made pastries in the above-mentioned show works at. Eh, this day is turning out to be like a My Name is Kim Sam Soon trail day.


Li Ming's seafood pasta.


My scallop dish.


Cakes that were yummlicious~ The restaurant was damn pretty, even the toilet~ Whee~


Took a taxi back to hotel where we shopped at COEX for a while before returning to our room to do packing. Almost couldn't fit everything into my luggage.


The tattered and torn map that served us well.~ Yup, end of Day 9~


More here: http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=149

Korea Day 8 - 08/05/08 (Seoul)

By
Jhui
on June 4, 2008 1:49 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Day 8 of Korea~

No more hotel breakfast so we ended up having breakfast at Mcdonald's~ Korea's Mcdonald's taste differently from Singapore's Mcdonald's. The egg tasted like as if it were fried with butter and the hash brown was crispy, not soggy like the ones sold in Singapore.


Took the Korea subway for the first time and it was such a cool experience! Firstly, we had trouble buying tickets from the ticketing machine because it's so different from the one we have in Singapore. To tell the truth, Singapore's ticketing machine is more user-friendly. =D Next, I tapped my card and attempted to enter but failed to do so...because I pushed the wrong gate. wtf. Thirdly, the trains are like damn old but hey, at least it's clean~ Oh, and I like the fact that there's no partitions on the seats because it means that you can shamelessly squeeze yourself onto the seats even if there's no more space. Heh~

Wanted to go to Rodeo Street right after we reached Apgujeong Station but had difficultly finding it so we decided to shop at Hyundai Departmental Store instead, because it was easier to find. Damn high end can, the departmental store. Boo, so yup, didn't buy anything from there although Li Ming did.~ The toilets there are like freaking chio! I think they have different toilet designs for different levels. I think only...because I only went to the toilets on two different levels and one had metallic purple walls whereas the other one had a nice country feel.


Bought strawberry daifuku~Why am I eating Japanese sweets in Korea...?!


As we were not sure of how to get to Rodeo Street, we tried to ask the counter lady at Hyundai but ya, she was so not helpful.
"I only give directions INSIDE the departmental store." wtf. The first counter lady I've met who wasn't willing to help us. I know that they are paid to direct customers of the departmental store but even if she's not willing to help us, it would be nicer of her to lie that she didn't know the directions than answer in way that made her sound like a unhelpful bitch. Other departmental stores in other countries have counter ladies who give directions no matter where you want to go.

Don't mess with me. Roaaar~


Anyway, we decided to find the place ourselves but failed to do so even after asking at least 4 Koreans for directions. Took a short break at this coffeeshop that served freaking expensive orange juice that cost 8,800won (about 12 SGD, wtf). Using my magnificient map skills that I learnt from Geography class(bah), we managed to find Rodeo Street after 1.5 hours of walking. Quite a long walk but the sense of accomplishment was great~ That is, until we found out it takes only 10mins+ by taxi to reach Apgujeong from our hotel. -___-


Shopped in Rodeo Street, got lost again, found our way out, ate lunch at New York Hotdog & Coffee. Lunch tasted heavenly after the long walking "exercise". After lunch, resumed shopping at the damn high end Galleria Departmental Store before taking a taxi back to the hotel.


Had ddeokpokki for dinner at Marche. Singapore's Marche is so much better, selection wise.


Li Ming's seafood pasta.


Halfway through dinner, I lamented that I did not have enough money left so we started figuring out where our money went to by doing accounts at Marche. WTF. -____- Decided that we were damn poor so we agreed that we'll do something that does not require a lot of money the following day.


Singapore's Marche is more high-tech in the sense that we scan the cards and not stamp on the cards, like Korea's. Okay, pointless but whatever la.


The hotel we stayed in was kinda cool because you get to choose whatever pillow you want from the pillow menu~ The pictures looked damn nice but what you see is not what you get. I requested for a chrysanthemum pillow which was yellow and traditional-looking in the picture but got a normal-looking pillow that was stuffed with chrysanthemum. -____- Damn nice to sleep on anyway.


That's all for Day 8~


More pictures at http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=148

Korea Day 7 - 07/05/08 (Jeju/Seoul)

By
Jhui
on June 2, 2008 5:46 PM | | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)
Day 7 of Korea.

Ate breakfast at the Jeju hotel but since we came down like 2 minutes late, there was practically no food left. Do not underestimate the kiasuism of Singaporeans!!! Satisfied our tummies with bread and porridge that nobody wanted to eat while waiting for the new batch of food to be served but alas, the bread and porridge made us too full to stomach any more food. Blast! (I've been watching too much Family Guy -_-)

After breakfast, we proceeded to the airport to take a domestic flight back to Seoul. I hate taking short flights because it means that no food's served(not even snacks) and don't you think that it's such a waste of money?! Like that time I took a flight to Malaysia, paid like 300+ per person and all I got was a lousy cup of water. Yeah, no peanuts, no nothing. =(


While on the way to the place to buy Korean foodstuff, Richie entertained us with a short song and dance. The video's damn funny but I guess I wont be uploading it here. Then again, if you really need to satisfy your curiosity, you can always email me for it.


Everyone practically went crazy buying Korean foodstuff, even myself, although it wasn't that cheap. One couple bought like 3 overflowing baskets full of seaweed alone! Wtf -_- Okay, I bought seaweed too but not as much as them, chocolate bars(damit, I ate them all up already), sweets, ddeokpokki and blah blah blah. Yes, I love grocery shopping. Here's a picture of the ddeokpokki I made last Saturday. Damn spicy but delicious~


After grocery shopping, it was time for the rest of the tour to take the flight back to Singapore. While waiting for them to check-in, Li Ming and I felt really bored so we started doodling all over the box that contained the food we bought. Whee~


We then took the airport limousine that set us back 14,000won each but heck, it was damn comfortable and I practically slept throughout the journey...although there was this irritating Korean girl who kept on whining to her mum.


Took a complimentary taxi to our hotel from the bus station~ The taxi driver's name was Kim Dong something. Seriously, so many in Korea have the surname Kim or Lee. The taxi driver's Kim, the photographer's Kim, Kim Hee Sun's Kim, Kim Hee Chul's Kim, Kim Dong Wan's Kim, Kim Sun Ah's Kim, Kim Ah Joong's Kim, Kim Jong Il's Kim...ya, you get the idea. I shall not go on to name the Lees.


We stayed at COEX InterContinental Seoul Hotel for our extension period and the hotel room was omg, so freaking pretty. Oh, and the temperature's adjustable! Most of the hotels that we stayed in had like central airconditioning so it kind of sucked to not be able to adjust the temperature. The first hotel was even worse. No matter what temperature you set it at, it'll automatically jump back to 27 degrees Celsius. Seriously...27?! Even though it's spring, it's not that cold(it was hot somemore) to justify 27 degrees indoors lo. wtf.


The hotel room~


And...finally, for the first time in a week, we had something that wasn't Korean at all~ Pasta~ I finished the whole plate somemore. Heh. Oh, the only Korean part of it was that it came with pickles...which I finished up as well.


Since the both of us were quite tired that day, we decided to shop around COEX mall instead of taking the subway to other places. COEX mall is like seriously such a nice place to shop at. There are soooo many shops there and though it's not that cheap, it's still nice~


Fast-forwarding the shopping, we had dinner at this Japanese restaurant. Bad choice. First of all, the waiter, obviously a high-school student who was a part-timer, spilt like hot soup over Liming and her bag. Then again, he tried to make up for it by giving us free colas and free temakis(that had like beansprouts/leafs in it...wtf). Secondly, the soba I ordered was like...a fusion of Japanese and Korean food...and it sucked.


Initially I was like, hey, my soba tastes weird but I couldn't tell what was wrong. Then as I ate, I bit into this horrible tasting PEPPERMINT LEAF!!! wtf?! So disgusting can! I hate peppermint leaf lo...in fact, I hate almost everything mint. Bleah.


The beansprout temaki btw.


So yup, that's basically the end of a very short Day 7~ Wait for Day 8!
More Day 7 pictures can be found here: http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=147

Korea Day 6 - 06/05/08 (Jeju)

By
Jhui
on May 26, 2008 8:08 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Korea Day 6.

The previous night, the tour guide told us to bring a jacket along with us because Jeju's very windy and it would be cold when the wind blows. Indeed, in the morning, the wind was freaking strong and everyone was clad in a warm jacket...all except me. I did not bring a jacket along with me from Singapore but instead I wore a 3/4 sleeved top. Should be warm enough right?

Day 6's breakfast was porridge with abalone...although the abalone wasn't very visible. According to the tour guide, the abalone's "mashed up" so ya, can't really see. -_-


First stop of the day was Seongsan Sunrise Peak. By the time we reached there, the sun had already come out and it was...so damn hot. Luckily I didn't wear a jacket~heh. The last time I went there, I did not climb all the way up because it was too windy to do so but this time round, I actually climbed all the way up to the top. Damn tiring but hey, at least I did it!


Climbing up was tiring but at least it was easy for me. The bad thing about ascending something is that you have to descend it...by hook or by crook...and I hate walking down slopes. Walking down this place wasn't fun because there were soooo many slopes. Arrgh.


Me getting caught in the act of "shitting" on public grounds. WTF.


After walking down(finally!), we went to look at the little shops located there. Bought ice-cream, chocolates and long xu tang. The guy selling long xu tang said that we were pretty(not again...) and that we looked like as if we were 15~16 years old. Liar!!! I certainly do not look underaged lo. Want to lie also must lie better lar...wtf


Had to rush over to our next stop to take the boat because English-speaking uncle misplaced his camera and it took a while to get his camera back for him. It took like 5~10mins to get to the submarine place and boy was it windy!...and crowded too.


Climbing into the submarine was fun and luckily I did not wear a skirt that day. The first part of the submarine was quite boring because we were just going down into the sea but it became quite interesting when the diver appeared to feed the fish.


Hungry fish following the diver.


The corals were also quite beautiful and this picture doesn't do it justice. Sorry la, lousy camera skills.


You survived the submarine tour, Li Ming~!!! =D


Next up was lunch~! Lunch was black pig barbecue buffet. Yummilicious. Had the whole table to ourselves somemore. Whee~


As we were scared that the BBQ smell will stink up our clothes, we changed before we went into the restaurant to eat. So, I wore my ACJC shirt which was originally supposed to be my pajamas but ended up becoming my BBQ shirt. Lalala.


Following lunch, we went to the shooting location for Bae Yong Jun's latest drama, The Legend. Once again, there were so many Japanese there...Japanese aunties somemore...all the Yon-sama fans. Damn scary can! They were all like going high-school-girl-crazy over things in there and buying up his memorabilia. Oh, and the sign reads "Yon-sama's tea", if you can't read Japanese. This was the only tea shop that was crowded okay, just because of the "Yon-sama's tea" sign. -_-


Though not very visible in this picture, the couple behind us was giving us -_- looks when we were taking photos on the bridge. Oi! Cannot ar?!


I was "forced" to do manual work in Korea!!!


Bought a can of coffee from the vending machine outside the theme park because I was feeling thirsty/sleepy. The uncles and aunties from my tour saw me drinking it and all wanted to buy one for themselves too but...they did not know how to use the vending machine. So Li Ming ended up teaching them how to use the vending machine while I enjoyed my lovely can of coffee.


Went to Jusangjeolli to see the wonderful, natural rock formations. Half-asleep by that time so yup, don't really know what that place was about, except for the rock formations part. Lots of school boys there that day and they were scary can. The way they talked sounded so rude(and they were rude words too), so vulgar. I still prefer Japanese school boys. Heh.


Next was the Teddy Bear Museum where I finally got to see the Goong bear, Alfred~ Other bears inside I've seen before so we spent the rest of the time shopping, eating Lotteria and gossiping with the tour guide. =D


Went to the Dinosaur Theme Park to see many obviously fake dinosaurs. When we got off the bus, we heard the song "Toxic" playing and we were like...wtf?! They actually play Britney Spears' song in a dinosaur theme park?! What's the link?!


Each of us received a dinosaur egg and this is Li Ming's, the one that cannot be closed up properly.


Drove past the Mystery Road but we did not get off this time but just switched off the bus engine and feel for ourselves how mysterious it is. Luckily I went there before le. =D Yongduam was up next and it looks really pretty when it's all lighted up at night, as compared to seeing it in the morning.


The mermaid statue with very black, exposed boobs...Why?!!


Maybe because it got molested by tourists once too many times? Everyone who took photos with the mermaid statue just stood beside only...all except for me who went to touch her...erm...ya, you get it. Everyone was laughing at me can. One of the young couples jokingly asked me, "So, you molest girls too?" -________- My reputation is ruined!!!.....Wait, what reputation?


Dinner was a mini imperial dinner that wasn't really appetising. Nobody at my table touched the raw fish and only I dared to eat the raw sotong. In fact, I finished the whole plate of raw sotong. Rice was delicious though.


The night was spent packing our luggages because it was the last day of the group tour. So sad...but it also meant that our free-and-easy tour was going to start soon! Whee~ Shall blog about it another day. Damn tired now. =D

More pictures at http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=146

Korea Day 5 - 05/05/08 (Seoul/Jeju)

By
Jhui
on May 26, 2008 2:20 AM | | TrackBacks (0)
Day 5's breakfast was a little better than Day 4's but still...not very delicious so once again, I didn't eat a lot for breakfast. In fact, we predicted that the breakfast would be almost the same as Day 4 so we bought a bun each the previous night from Lotte Hotel. I ate the bun while waiting outside the place where they sold ginseng and the bun was omfg good.


First stop of the day was Cheong Wa Dae, or better known as the Blue House. Korea's equivalent of U.S.' White House. The security there was pretty tight and I somehow pity the security guards becuase they have to stand under the hot sun for hours while clad in uniforms that covered almost every single part of their bodies.

Me and the tour guide, Linda.


On the way to Cheong Wa Dae, Linda gave us some facts about the place in Chinese and this made the English-speaking uncle pretty angry because well, he couldn't understand her. He made a big fuss out of it by saying out loud that he didn't know what she was talking about and that made me want to walk over and punch him in the face. First of all, most tours to Korea are Chinese-speaking tours and it's stated when you sign up for the tour so what are you complaining about?! Secondly, Richie, the Singapore tour leader, is going to give an English translation later anyway...why are you so freaking impatient?! I overheard him talking about him going to another tour agency to complain because he felt that the tour sucked. According to him, the tour agency refunded him $50(or something) per person in the end and to him, giving a refund=admitting that their tour sucked. Seriously...no lor! I think that they refunded him the money so as to please him so that he would shut up and get out of their faces. Okay, too much bitching.

Li Ming and me waiting for the others to come out of the toilet/finish taking photos.

Next stop was Gyeongbok Palace, which was like 5 minutes away from Cheong Wa Dae.


Since both of us have been there before, we decided to stand under the shade and talk instead of walking around again. One Korean uncle overheard us talking and realised that we're not from Korea so he came over to chat with us. -___- He offered to take a photo for the both of us and gave me a map of Seoul's subway. Nice uncle but still -_____-. Oh, and he said that we were pretty =D Should I be happy? Hmmm.


Damn cool innovation. Stick-like things are placed there to prevent birds from resting there and hence, shitting there. Cool right!


Richie and me. I am so freaking short can!


Li Ming wanted to be a ninth-grade officer (jiu pin guan) but that picture was taken too far away, with my lousy photography skills, so it was not that visible. Here is her being a sixth-grade/fifth-grade officer.


Me as a first-grade officer (yi pin guan). Whee~


Me and Kenny, the photographer.


My "artistic" photo at Gyeongbok Palace. Li Ming and I were a little wtf-ed when we were asked to pose with our backs facing the camera. I like how the background is blurred out although I look stupid with my sunglasses hanging from my neck like an old grandmother. Oh, and the photographer said that I was pretty~ Whee~ Seriously, I had like a few people in Korea who told me that I was pretty. How come that never happens in Singapore?! Boo.


Went to buy ginseng next and I bought like USD815 worth of ginseng. OMG, I'm so going to die when the bill comes. Shit. Lunch was chicken steamboat plus rice cake. Side dishes included kimchi (obviously!), seaweed, some other dishes and pickled radish! Whee~ I love pickled radish. I ate like 2 plates worth of it can! Kept asking for refill...so paiseh.


Shopping came after lunch and all the men on the tour were visibly unhappy. Of course la, pay for wife, hold purchases for wife, wait for wife, nothing else to see somemore...of course buay song lo. All the women, except for the both of us, were listening attentively to the saleswoman's skincare tutorial and trying out the products at A+ Cosmetics.


While waiting outside, I had nothing else better to do so I decided to take photos with the bus. -_- Engaged Li Ming's help to do so and one of the bus uncles(from another tour) thought that we were trying to take photos together and offered to help us, even though we did not have the intention of doing so. Eh...why got so many offers to take photos for us one?!


Next stop was the amethyst place and I was totally not interested in it so I sneaked off to the bus to catch forty winks. In fact, I slept so soundly that I did not realise that the bus had actually moved and when I woke up, I was outside The Face Shop instead of the amethyst place. I rock.

On the way to the airport to take a flight to Jeju Island, Kenny started selling us the photos that he took because he was unable to go with us to Jeju Island, i.e., not going to see him anymore. Everyone just chose whatever photo that they wanted and paid up...all except for one...the English-speaking uncle. One photo cost 5000won and if you want to pay in USD, it's USD5.50 due to the exchange rate that day. He was complaining that it was more expensive in USD and said that because he's buying the photos, he has lesser Korean won left. In fact, he kept going on and on and on and on and on...that Richie had to come over to settle the matter with him. The uncle still had the cheek to ask for discount although photographers do not earn a lot from the photos and they have to help out with food and luggages. The uncle was telling Richie not to ask so much tips from him because he had not much Korean won left. WTF is wrong with this guy?!!!! His wife was nice enough to intervene by saying that Kenny helped them alot and asked him to just buy the photos. He's the kind of people that makes me ashamed to be a Singaporean sometimes. Bah.

Kenny's drawing.


Reached the airport and while waiting to check-in, the uncle was still talking about the prices of the photos to 2 unwilling listeners. Kaoz. Macam radio like that. Oh, and while waiting near the pillar (note: totally not blocking the way), some Korean woman went to push me away so that she can walk on. WTF. If the airport was very packed and there was no place to walk, I'm okay with it if she pushed me away...BUT...there was nobody there and there was so much space beside me and she just had to walk on where I was standing. -_- Koreans like to push their way through seriously. I was telling my Korean teacher about this in class after I came back and she proudly told me that they do not have a habit of saying sorry after they push people away. -_________-

Had dinner at Lotteria, Airport branch. Lotteria is like damn freaking good!!! It's officially my favourite fast food outlet for now and there's none in Singapore. Damn.

The thing that vibrates/beeps to tell you to collect your food from the counter when your food is ready. Cool. The Lotteria branch at the Teddy Bear Museum doesn't have this but have a screen that flashes your order number instead. Then again, I prefer the Singapore/Malaysia way where the staff comes to your table to give you your food. I am lazy...cannot ar!


Me with my shrimp burger. My hair's freaking messy because I was too tired to be bothered to comb my hair after waking up in the bus. Anyway going to sleep in the plane again what...comb for what. Heh.


And indeed, I slept in the plane to Jeju Island...for the whole 45 minutes somemore. Reached Jeju Island and went to the hotel with the lousy toilet bowl that takes at least 2 flushes to flush everything away. I hate toilet bowls with lousy flush functions. Anyway, end of Day 5. More pictures at http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=145

Korea Day 4 - 04/05/08 (Yangju/Seoul)

By
Jhui
on May 26, 2008 12:04 AM | | TrackBacks (0)
Day 4 of my Korea trip~! Yes, I know that I'm damn slow in blogging about it, considering that I've been back for like half a month or something.

Anyway, Day 4's breakfast was at this Chinese restaurant that tasted really...sorry to say... horrible. Although it was buffet-style, I only ate one miserable piece of gyoza and a bun there. =( Since breakfast was so unappetising, Li Ming and I went to the 7-Eleven next to the restaurant to buy some snacks to munch later if we felt hungry.

Us beside the 7-Eleven. I looked seriously horrible that day. As I slept with my hair wet the day before, my hair turned out freaking shitty that morning. Also, I left my comb back in the hotel so I had no chance of combing my messy/tangled/dry hair.


I also went to take a photo with the cute bus uncle. =D He's like the only Korean uncle that I've seen who doesn't smoke in public and that's a good thing.


After breakfast, we went to the Daejanggeum Theme Park. There were so many Japanese tourists there that day that for a moment, I thought that I was in Japan or something. I think that there were like at least 3 Japanese tour groups there that day? Everyone was like queueing up to take photos with the Lee Young Ae cutout, even the ladies. Hello?! Guys rush over to take photos with Lee Young Ae I understand but ladies too?! What about Ji Jin Hee?!!!!!! Totally no queue over at his side. -_-


Japanese tourists posing.


Japanese tourists again.  -_- I initially thought that these two people were working as models at the theme park until I heard them speak.


Once again, everyone was finding Lee Young Ae's handprint to take pictures with it...wtf. Only I went to find Ji Jin Hee's.


"Be choked" if you can read English. I couldn't find any sentence that said "Be choked" in Korean, Japanese or Chinese.


I like the colour of this photo which was obviously not taken by me. My photography skills suck remember? My hair looks fugly in this photo. Bah.


Next up was lunch at A.N.D(?) where we had mushroom steamboat + instant noodles. I was so hungry that I managed to finish my rice this time. Li Ming was also so hungry that she ate 2 bowls of rice. Bap-tong power~!!!


After lunch, we went to Insadong where I got featured on the cover of Harper's Bazaar!!!...sort of. :P The only time that I get to be so freakishly skinny.


"Ssamjigil" mall inside Insadong. Damn cool place but due to time constraint, we weren't able to take a look at all the shops there.


The incriminating photo of Li Ming "vandalising" the wall!!


Her masterpiece.


Watched the Nanta Show after leaving Insadong. Was a little apprehensive about watching the Nanta Show initially and Li Ming wanted to sleep through it at first but to our surprise, the show was freaking interesting and nope, no one slept during the show. I was laughing like mad throughout the show...luckily no one was seated beside me that day. Phew~


Went to Shinchon after the Nanta Show and by that time, I was feeling a little hungry so I went to get myself a Marion Crepe. Fattening but heavenly~ Even better than the ones sold in Singapore. Then again, almost everything sold overseas tastes better than the ones sold in Singapore. Even KFC Malaysia is better than KFC Singapore. They sell CHICKEN RICE in KFC Malaysia okay!!! Cheap somemore. =D


Shopped around Shinchon for a while before it started to rain quite heavily. Luckily, I brought an umbrella along with me. I realised that I'm always ready overseas when it rains but I always get drenched in Singapore. Why like that?! Since it was raining too heavily to shop in comfort, we went to get a drink at Seven Monkeys Coffee.


It was a bad idea to eat the crepe and drink the green tea latte before dinner because dinner was GINSENG CHICKEN!!! I was like 80% full already when the ginseng chicken was served...fuck. Only managed to eat half a chicken or so and drank one miserable cup of ginseng wine. =( Delicious though.


Adult Entertainment was available in the hotel that we were staying at (Lotte Hotel). Of course I didnt watch it lar!!! Must pay one okay. You think free ar? Anyway, if you can read Japanese, read the second line. I found it quite hilarious. Whee~


End of Day 4. More pictures at http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=144

Korea Day 3 - 03/05/08 (Ichon/Seoul)

By
Jhui
on May 20, 2008 8:41 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Am back from the suckiest, or rather, half-sucky-half-good, Malaysia trip I ever had. Before I start writing about it, I shall continue writing about my Korea Trip, which was so much more better.

Day 3's breakfast spread wasn't that wonderful but the decor of the restaurant made up for it. I felt like as if I was on the set of 'Beauty and the Beast' or something.


First stop of the day was Yongin Everland, a themepark that I've been to the last time I went to Korea. As it was winter the last time I went there, it was a torture to walk against the cold wintry winds at that time, thus, I thought that Spring would be better. Better my foot la, it was so freaking hot that I thought that I was going to melt or something.

Took a group photo upon arrival. It was seriously damn paiseh lo. As that spot was like the tour-group-photo-spot, it was really weird to smile at the camera while...tons of people from other tours were staring at you with the 'hurry-up-lar-my-turn-already' look in their eyes.

Click to enlarge. (First row, far left: Linda, the Korea tour guide. Second row, far right: Richie, the Singapore tour leader)

After the pretty embarrasing photoshoot, all of us took a ski lift down for a short briefing before we walked around on our own.

Linda and Richie posing for the photo. Damn on can! Haha.

The try-to-do-heart-shaped-pose-but-failed photo


See how hot it was. No sunglasses seriously cannot survive because without them, I couldn't even open my eyes properly.


Took photos at this fountain place because well, it was pretty cooling there with all the water around it.


After taking photos for sometime, the stupid fountain died down so ya, it was hot again so we decided to go utilise our tickets by taking some rides. Didn't want to walk too far away in the hot sun so we decided to take the ride nearest to the fountain...which was...some random train ride that brought us around the garden in Everland. Totally bo-liao but hey, we got to sit down okay!


Next, we took the every-themepark-confirm-have Merry-Go-Round! Whee~ Luckily none of the people from our tour group saw us taking it. Haha, damn paiseh can. We were like vying for places on the horses with all the little kids there that day.


This is my horse ok, don't try to steal it away from me! Wahahaha!!!


After the pretty short Merry-Go-Round ride, we decided that we were pretty tired so we went in to this cafe to take a short 1.5hrs(or was it 2hrs?) break. Heh. We just sat there and drank coffee/chocolate/orange juice while gossiping and looking around at random stuff. There were quite a few Korean kids that day who were quite fascinated by our conversation, or rather, the language that we were speaking in. wtf. I basically hate little kids unless they are cute little boys. Whee...but, I'm no Michael Jackson hor.


The restaurants in Everland were like freaking expensive so kiam siap me bought a pizza roll for lunch. Not cheap okay! Still expensive for a small popiah roll. Luckily it was delicious.


Petting zoo was next but I didnt want to pet any of the animals because well, they smelt bad.


Went into the Night Safari, or whatever it was called, where there were many animals/reptiles in there. Saw porcupines in there and I was instantly reminded of Shimura Doubutsuen where Aiba-kun had to clean up some porcupines' cage. Didn't take a photo of the porcupines though. It was too dark and flash photography wasn't allowed in there.


The description in Korean's so freaking long but the one in English is relatively shorter. Hello, can I trust the translation or not ar?


Saw Jackass penguins and sea lions in the Animal Wonder World. Actually, we went there because we lost our way and not because we really wanted to see them. Oh, and also, the place where the Jackass penguins were was cooling so we stood in there for the shade. I'm such an animal lover =D


Passed by this prairie dog(I think) enclosure while on the way out of the Animal Wonder World. One of them, upon noticing my camera, came running all the way and posed for a photo. So cute can!!! Hehe.


The prairie dog stirred up my interest in looking at more animals so I went to see the Korean Tiger but...it was snoring away, enjoying a nice afternoon nap in the shade. wtf.


The White Tigers were sleeping also. So disappointing. =(


Went into this souvenir shop to erm...buy souvenirs? Li Ming, whose Korean is freaking fluent, conversed in Korean with the shopkeeper. Me, on the other hand, whose Korean is as good as my Tamil (I can't speak Tamil btw), spoke in English the whole time. In Korea, plastic bags come with a price of 100won and Li Ming had to pay for one because the things she bought were fragile and it was better to place them in a bag. However, I did not need to pay for one because the shopkeeper gave me one for free~

Hehe, I think it's because 1st, he knew that I'm a foreigner and 2nd, he gave me the wrong change. I bought something worth 5000won and I gave him 10,000won. He took my money, placed it in the cash register, closed it, and flashed the shopkeeper smile. I was like 'Eh, my change? I gave you 10,000won.' 'Oh, sorry sorry sorry,' was his reply and he hurriedly opened up the cash register to return me 5000won. Shit, I should've said that I gave him 20,000won. 0_0 Then again, there's no 20,000won note...right?

After searching for like an eternity, we finally managed to make our way back to somewhere near the entrance. Yay~ My map skills are getting better by the day. Took a neoprint together and I think that the storekeeper was somewhat scared of me. I was seriously amused by the fact that we had much difficulties operating the machine(even inserting the money) that I couldn't stop laughing. When I say laughing, I do not mean the demure 'hahaha' but rather, the very lunatic 'HAHAHA'.


After the neoprint, we decided that it was just too hot to walk around the non-sheltered themepark so we went into Everland's 30th Celebration Center, where it was, air-conditioned. We spent like the remaining time in Everland there.


While Li Ming fiddled with her phone, I dozed off~ No lah, I walked around the center to look at all the interesting exhibits in there. Oh, I also saw this video of the vet stroking a baby tiger's asshole so that it was easier for it to defecate. Seriously, the scene of the shit snaking out of the baby tiger's asshole wasn't that fascinating. It was nauseating.


Met up with the rest of the tour group and set off for Doota in Dongdaemun for some SHOPPING~ Linda told us that if we see any shops that have signs inside written in Japanese, it means that these shopkeepers are out to make money from the Japanese, i.e., prices are higher in those shops. In the morning while loading luggage up the bus, Richie said that I looked quite Japanese in my outfit so yar, I think that I was at a disadvantage while shopping at Dongdaemun. Somemore got one salesman came up to me and started talking in Japanese (I can speak Japanese. I have lots of fake branded stuff for sale.). Firstly, I don't think that Japanese are interested in fake stuff, they like the authentic, freaking expensive stuff and secondly, I do not want to buy over-priced stuff!!! I am cheapo remember?! So, I just acted blur and walked past him =D

Heard people singing as we came out of Doota. Took a closer look and realised that it was Fly to the Sky!!! Li Ming seriously went bonkers just by watching them sing.


Fany was wearing a pink shirt and so Li Ming was going on about how cute he was in pink until we realised that Richie was wearing pink too that day. So yup, Richie started zi-lianing about how good he himself looked in pink as well. -_-


Dinner was Dolsot Bibimbap and...


Shabu-shabu.


The place where we had dinner was like a seriously seedy place lo. There were lots of motels there and weird uncles along the street. Li Ming saw one uncle zipping up his pants in the middle of the freaking road okay! Kaoz, what was he doing before that?!

Slept in the six stars Lotte Hotel where everything was nice except the TV. The TV was not LCD like the previous hotels and the sensor was really lousy. I had to swing my arms about the sensor and press like 5~6 times before I managed to change one channel. Invest in a good TV can.


This post is getting too long so yup, I shall end here with a picture of Rain from the Lotte Hotel Magazine. I want the old Rain back!!!


Rest of Day 3's pictures : http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=143

Korea Day 2 - 02/05/08 (Daegu/Ichon)

By
Jhui
on May 14, 2008 3:53 PM | | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

First thing in the morning, we set off for the Wine Tunnel where they make persimmon wine. The temperature in the tunnel was supposed to be 15-16 degrees but to tell the truth, it didn't feel like 15-16 degrees in there. Then again, I'm not a thermometer so I don't really know how cold it was in there.



Each of us got to taste the persimmon wine and chomp on cheese with crackers at the same time. As it was just after breakfast, I was impressed by how people could still ingest the cheese crackers. Then again, being Singaporeans, everything also must be kiasu right! Come all the way to Korea, cannot don't try. =D
 


Li Ming and I bought a bottle of the persimmon wine that the current president of Korea likes very much. Wasn't cheap though. Cost us KRW25000.

After the short visit to the tunnel, we had to take a 3 to 4-hour long bus journey to Ichon. Luckily, the bus was quite comfortable and the roads were smooth so it didn't really bother me that we had to drive for 3 to 4 hours. If it was the lousy bus that we had in Taiwan plus the uneven roads in China, I will confirm curse and swear. Anyway, while sleeping, or rather half-asleep, I heard this interesting conversation between the couple seated behind me.

Wife: Where's the boy who was taking photographs for us yesterday? Didn't see him today.
Husband: Huh? We saw him at breakfast today. The one who helped us move our luggages.
Wife: No, not that one. That one is a man. I'm talking about the boy yesterday. (Actually, they were the same person -_-)
Husband: What are you talking about? You're talking about the one who took photos yesterday for us right? That's him!
Wife: No, not this one.
Husband: It's him okay. There's only one person.
Wife: But...but...
Husband: (in a wtf tone) Don't know what you are talking about. The conversation ends here okay.

I was trying soooo hard not to break out in laughter when I overheard the conversation. In fact, I managed to get somemore interesting conversation in the later days of the tour but, I shall leave that for later. Yes, I am an eavesdropper and I'm proud of it. Woohoo~
 


It was around noon when we reached Ichon so we were brought to this restaurant called 'San Cheong' to have octopus steamboat. One of the uncles initially thought that it was sotong lor...Seriously, does sotong have the suction thingy on them?!

Didn't really want to eat/touch the octopus at first because it looked freaking slimy but then I realised that it's the octopus or go hungry so ...sorry Mr Octopus, you were damn delicious. =D
Octopus aside, after one day of no eye candy, I finally saw the first cute guy(to me) outside the restaurant. No photo of him because it was weird to do so but he resembled Matsumoto Jun of Arashi. Cute enough? Heh~



After lunch, we went to this place called Duittle Kimchi to taste, make and buy kimchi. They allowed us to try the kimchi that they sold, along with some other Korean goodies. Since it was like 5minutes after we had lunch, I was once again amazed by how people managed to put all these food away into their stomachs.



Me with the kimchi that I made. I am a natural cook man! Wahaha~ The kimchi demonstration was really interesting. Firstly, the lady used Chinese to explain to us how kimchi was made. At the same time, the tour leader, Richie, had to do an English translation because there were a few people on the tour who had difficulties understanding Chinese. It was really funny because there were a few interesting mis-translations which made everyone roar with laughter.



We also got to try on the traditional Korean costume, hanbok, for free~ Okay, I know my face resembles the moon on the 15th of August (lunar calendar)...What to do? Food in Korea was simply too delicious. The hanbok looks damn nice right...in front that is...at the back was...

THIS!

Since all these hanbok are worn by tourists, I guess they didnt bother to let us wear the full hanbok set. I mean, we are just wearing it for the sake of taking photos and feeling Korean for a moment, so no need to let us wear the whole thing. So, everyone looked damn nice in front but the back...was obscene. Haha.



The hat reminds me more of Vietnam than Korea.



Am I cool? One of the men from my tour group actually went to find the exact same piece of clothing and posed the same way as the guy in the photo. It was hilarious. =D



Strawberry picking time! Each one was allowed to pick 5 only but Li Ming and I chose not to because they gave each pair a free box of strawberries anyway. Lalala.



Next up was the spa that Li Ming and I opted not to go and stayed in the hotel room to watch television. Dinner was at the same place where we had lunch but dinner was so much more delicious. If I did not remember wrongly, it was a sotong+beef stew/steamboat. Yummilicious. I ate like 2 freaking bowls of it...or was it 3? See, this is how my face gradually came to resemble a moon. -_-
 


My favourite was served at dinner too as well. Mushrooms~ I was like smiling whenever I ate a mouthful of mushrooms. My expression must have had been seriously disgusting but who cares man, mushrooms are delicious.



LCD television again in the hotel. =D However, the outside of the hotel room looked really scary because it wasn't lighted up and the whole corridor was pitch black. Didn't help that we were staying right across the laundry room where anybody could have had hid in. We practically ran back to our room.



Night was spent eating the free strawberries and watching 'We Got Married'. Damn funny show but wtf is wrong with Andy's hair? It's totally not flattering lo...at least to me.



End of Day 2~ As usual, more pictures can be found at  http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=142.

Korea Day 1 - 01/05/08 (Gyeongju/Daegu)

By
Jhui
on May 12, 2008 11:34 PM | | TrackBacks (0)
Hi to anyone who's reading this, I'm finally back from Korea~! Well, I'm back physically but my heart's still way back in Korea. I hate coming back to Singapore. Singapore to me = reality = mundane life (for me at least). Don't get me wrong, I still love Singapore. =D It's just that this Korea trip was just too fun, though there weren't many eye candies. Heh.

Left for Changi Airport right after my JS2222 paper on the 30th of May. Got sent to the airport by my mum's friend who is a taxi driver. He's the first taxi driver who did not help me load/unload my luggage. In fact, he had to wait for me to knock on the car boot before he even bothered to open it. It's not like as if I did not pay him lor...but whatever la, he's my mum's friend, not nice to complain further.

Everyone had like family and friends to send them off at Changi Airport...except poor, lonely me. Dad was at work, mum was playing badminton and sister was in Malaysia. =( Waaa~ Then again, I'm used to it because it wasn't the first time that nobody came to send me off. I am independent can! Whee~

After checking-in, Li Ming and I took a short rest at Coffee Bean before boarding the plane to Korea. The plane was really good and each passenger had a personal screen that's filled with all sorts of entertainment. Dinner was served at midnight and it was just so sinful gobbling down the whole bowl of bibimbap so late in the night/early in the morning. How not to get fat you tell me?! Then again, I only ate a lousy bun and a quiche the whole day so it wasn't that bad...I think.

Forced myself to watch this show called Enchanted even though I was already dozing off...no thanks to nights that I stayed up to mug. And before I knew it, we've arrived in Korea already. Incheon Airport reminded me of Thailand's and China's airport. They all look the same to me with the silver/white futuristic classy design that feels very unfriendly to me. Anyway, passed the customs, collected my luggage, met up with the local tour guide, Linda and photograher, Kenny, before leaving for Gyeongju.

Before doing any sight-seeing, we had lunch first. Finally!!! Something to eat~ Was seriously starving because they didn't serve brekkie on the plane. Ate barbecued chicken(or was it pork?) at this restaurant called 'Man Ri Jang Seong'.



The both of us sat with this young couple for lunch. Two 20-year-old girls + 1 young couple = disaster because nobody knew how to cook. Ours was the only table that had uncooked meat while everyone else was happily chomping on theirs lor. Best thing was that none of us could tell whether the meat was cooked or not. So yup, lunch wasn't a pleasant affair because none of us ate a lot.

 

Walked a short distance to the observatory tower after lunch. Was seriously damn tired by that time due to lack of sleep.
 


Went to Bulguksa next. Needed to use the toilet and was a little apprehensive about using the public toilet because public toilets are dirty and toilet paper's not provided. To my surprise, the toilet there was pretty clean and toilet paper was available. In fact, toilet paper is like available in every single toilet in Korea. Yay. I hate it when there's no toilet paper lo.



2 out of the Four Heavenly Kings. In China, they are there. In Japan, they are also there. In Korea, can see them also.
 


Me and Li Ming at the top of the staircase where only people of high status could use in the past. Damn scary standing there actually. The wind was so freaking strong that I thought that I was going to get blown off the staircase initially. Then...I remembered. I'm fat. Fat people don't get blown away by winds~ Whee~ See, the merit of being fat.



Next, we went to Bomun Lake...or that's what I think it is. See how sleepy I was that day~ It's written in the itinerary so I guess this is Bomun Lake.



Look at the pretty flowers there! Almost as pretty as me! Heh. Like real lar. I was so deprived of sleep that day that I think that I looked like Frankenstein or something lo.



Moo~ After that, we proceeded to Daegu, where we spent one night in.



Had dinner at this restaurant called 'Keun Hyeong Nim', which literally means 'Big Brother', if I'm not wrong. Barbecued pork this time round. The marinate was so freaking delicious and I must admit that compared to lunch, dinner was ecstacy. One bad thing about it was that because we had to sit on the floors there and the distance between one's feet and the stove was not that far, I seriously thought that my legs were getting barbecued too or something. Smelt like a barbecued pig myself after dinner.



Finally returned to the hotel after dinner and omg, the hotel television had a LCD screen!!! The selection of channels was good too~!  Had so much fun changing the channels to see what programmes were available.
 


Overall, the hotel room was good but the bathtub wasn't user-friendly. I didn't know that you could open the glass window to enter the bathtub so I went to crawl into the bathtub via the little hole at the end that had no glass window attached. And because my friend had just showered, the bathtub was kinda slippery so I...fell down. Luckily the television was loud enough to mask the sounds of me falling down. Kaoz, so freaking painful can! The fall resulted in a ugly 10-cm bruise on my leg...which is still there now. Everyone laughed when I told them about it, even my parents. The world's filled with unfeeling people lor!!!

Went down to the convenience store to buy a nail-cutter and plasters because firstly, one of my nails chipped and secondly, blisters formed due to walking too much. Returned to the hotel to use the free internet and blogged this entry. Another reason why this hotel rocks is because the internet's free after 8pm, unlike the other hotels where the internet is either freaking expensive or sucky.

So this ends my first day in Korea. Day 2 will be coming soon, I hope. More pictures can be found in the gallery. See if you want to hor.
http://mizu-kioku.net/gallery/thumbnails.php?album=141

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