this is what i call paradise.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

random weekday life

random post about my weekday life. XD

13/11 (friday)

we ate at this ramen shop in anam. it wasnt very authentic but i guess it tasted ok. and when we got out of the shop, we saw this line forming and guess what? it was because people were queuing for free coffee bun and chocolate drink. i guess the queuing for freebies culture is not restricted to singapore~ XD and so, being singaporeans, we joined in too. and it got me thinking, this is something i will never do back home, yet, here i am, in seoul, doing it. haha! anyways, the reason why roti-roti was giving out free food was that rotiboy (yes, the singapore brand) just opened a new branch in the next street and was giving out free buns as part of their opening gimmick. and since roti-roti sells the same kind of stuff, they had to follow suit so as to not lose out.

left: in the shop; centre: me and peiling; right: yun ling and wan ling

our not so ramen tasting ramen, especially mine. i ordered miso ramen but it was 된장 (doenjang; fermented soy bean paste) ramyeon instead. was rather disappointed. :(

queuing in the rain for freebies

look at the queue in the cold rain. there was smoke when we opened our mouth to talk. that was how cold it was and yet we were queuing.

fruit of our labour

the coffee bread had kaya filling. but the kaya filling didnt have the feeling of kaya. instead the filling had the feeling of sugar only. the filling didnt have the feeling of coconut nor pandan leaves. (can you get the feeling that i'm trying to play with the filling feeling pronunciation??? XD)

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

this will be simply a photo blog on mel's 21st birthday in korea~ (12/11; thursday)

at TGIFriday. the food was good~ it was super worth it. the two photos in the middle were what i had, chicken mushroom pasta and boneless spicy wings. and together with the brownie, it was only 17000won, about $20? :D look at the quantity, can you find such prices back in singapore?!

and this is the brownie. damn good!!!!!

the crew at TGIFridays singing mel her birthday song~ i had the video uploaded in my facebook account.

the birthday girl, shy at all the attention she's receiving XD

left: wan ling and yun ling; right: mel and i~

mel, me, marcus

happy birthday!!!!

group photo!

after dinner, we headed to look at the lanterns that were on display along the river which name i forgot. but the lanterns on display were quite pretty considering it was part of their lantern festival then. we went on the second day and we missed the opening where SS501 performed. XD wan ling totally regretted no going on the day it opened. haha~ no photos, because the quality was kinda bad. i see no point in uploading it.

Friday, November 13, 2009

21st birthday celebration in koreeeeaaaaa~~~

this was photos from my birthday. we were at myeongdong and here's what we did. shopped, ate, karaoke!

look at huge ice cream! only $1.20

jjimdark (spicy sauce chicken which was so good), mandu (dumpling), samgyetang (ginseng chicken soup, 2 of it)

pajeon (seafood pancake), chicken salad on the house, how our table looked like

my cake from cold stone! cookie and cream ice cream cake!

on the box of the cake, how appropriate~ XD

our dear peiling who was sick that day trying to hide from my camera. actually, she got the H1N1 virus but she's well now~

the sick one on the left dancing and singing with gen on the right. not looking too sick right? XD

neoprints!

and yup, this concluded my first day of 21-ness~ thanks guys for the dinner and noraebang! <3>

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

오늘 빼빼료데이이다~

it's 빼빼료데이 (bbaebbaeryo dei; pepero day) today! happy pepero day everyone!

let me tell you how this day come about. it is actually a day that lotte came up with. and on this day, people would give each other peperos. friends would give it to friends, couples will give it to each other too. and i heard that you could even confess with it. haha!~ and why 11/11? well, dont you think that the four 1s look like four peperos? so, basically it is because it resembles pepero closely that this day was made into pepero day. haha~ smart of lotte to come up with this gimmick to sell their product right? maybe when i get back to singapore, i'll make 11/11 pocky day! since i doubt there's pepero back there. XD

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

the rainy weekend 出游 within seoul.....

saturday (30/10)

it rained this weekend as predicted accurately by the weather forecast people, so we stayed back in seoul and slacked our day away, going from one restaurant to another. haha~ we started with edae first, where we had our breakfast. yummy porridge which tasted way better than 본죽 (bonjuk; some branded porridge place in korea since it was the restaurant featured in boys over flowers). then after that, we headed to lucycato, a chocolate place where we had our dessert. we stayed there for quite sometime because of the rain. around 2 plus 3, we headed to hongdae to meet sandra. we were at hongdae to karaoke! haha! the place was really cool. and for the first time, sandra wanted to extend our karaoke time. oh my~~ and the songs that she sang, the lyrics were...... ahem.... ya.... haha! after we had enough of singing, we headed to myeongdong for our crystal jade dinner!!!! something familiar after soooooo long! we ordered one xiao long bao for each of us and six other dishes. a lot right?! we even got a complimentary mango dessert. XD being so fulled up, we walked to the seoul financial centre to look for 亚坤! but! when we got there, it was closed........ so instead, we chilled at coffee bean.

at the porridge place

the chocolate place and the cake i got is called 'Checkmate'. any idea why i ordered it?~ haha!~

me and Checkmate~

left: group photo~ right: how the shop looks like

~~karaoke~~ noraebang place~

crystal jade!

where is our food?!!!!! *stares at kitchen*

yay! xiao long bao!!!!!

our 6 dishes~ XD

our complimentary dessert

see what i spotted on our way to the seoul financial centre?! :DDDD

cloooooossseeedddddd......

sunday (1/11)

our initial plan was to go brazil churrasco at cityhall for buffet (yet again) but we realised that there was a korean wedding reception being held there only when we got there. so in the end, we headed to brazillian bbq steakhouse in apgujeong instead. the food was not too bad and the service was good. the senior waiter was very attentive and cleared our plates promptly. and the meat serving guy who was a true blue brazillian was friendly too. all in all, it was rather pleasant to dine there. after lunch, we went to the seoul race course. it was my first time visiting any race course and it was really quite an experience! the three of them bet in two of the races but i just watched. wan ling was the only one who won, albeit only 80cents net. XD after betting, we headed to seoul financial centre once more for 亚坤, but, it was closed, again!!!!!! !@#$%^&*!@#$%^&* so, we walked to myeongdong instead to check out if the cd shop there has the tokyo dome concert dvd. but no, they do not. so i left the guy my number and asked him to message me once they have it. please let it be soon! at least when i'm still in korea!~ and sandra was soooooooo funny that night! i think it was her uncle looking hat that she had on and the umbrella she had with her. she was totally behaving like an elderly out on a trip with us. while we were at the cd shop, she was pointing with her umbrella at different posters and commenting on them. i remembered the one on dongbang the most vividly. she was like, *point with umbrella* he's the guy right? the one right? *she's referring to jae* he's the most handsome among them.... at that point, yunling and i both cant stop laughing because we both agree that sandra was being very aunty-ish. it was really hilarious! you have to see it for yourself to understand what i am trying to say. XD lastly, we ended our 出游 day with sundubu dinner which was really good! oh ya, and we bought breadtalk too. oh my gosh, breadtalk here is soooooooooo expensive it is ridiculous. especially their trademark pork floss bun. the pork floss on the bread was so pathetic. my gosh, seriously. not forgetting rotiboy. it is really expensive here when it is sooooooo cheap back in singapore. and the kaya at yakun is scarily expensive. it is selling at 14000won per jar which is about S$15. like WTH! you can buy like three in singapore?! *faints* it is just like how korean food is so highly priced in singapore but so affordable here. XD

left: yunling and i; right: one of the waiters serving us meat

my food and i~

the interior of the place

the food served; from left, sausage and wings (the sausage was soooo good); sushi, awesome banana fritters and calamari stick; roast pork

left: pork burger i made with the ingredients they had they. it was good~ right: deeeeelicious apple!!! sweet and crunchy!

group photo~

studying the racing tips *hmmmm, which horse shall we bet on?*

outside the race course

inside the race course

inside the building

we sat in the foreigner's lounge

them deciding on which horse to bet and me taking photos of them XD

view from our seat

the race program in english

a SIMPLE introduction to betting on horse racing but look at how many pages it has. it is double sided mind you. not that simple after all.

me chilling while the rest place their bets

wan ling with her winning ticket~

yunling and me while waiting for sandra and wan ling to place their bets

handsome white horse!

the starting point

keeping the gantry..... end of racing for the day....

our sundubu dinner!~

so, to summarise, this week's 出游 had a certain singapore feel to it~ XD

Monday, November 09, 2009

Gyeongju Busan post~

as the title suggests, this post is about 경주 (gyeongju) and 부산 (busan).

friday (23/10)

the four of us met at 5.30am to catch the first train so that we would be able to take the first bus to gyeongju. so basically, i didnt not sleep at all the night before and slept on the trip there instead since it took about 3hours 40 minutes by bus. we arrived at about 10 plus and headed for brunch. there, we met this really nice korean who was eating with his not-so-friendly-with-two-hair-curler-on-her-hair wife. he told us what to order and talked to us a little in his limited english, much to his wife's dismay. and when he left, he even attempted to give us 10000won to help pay for our meal. but of course, we didnt accept it, much to his wife's delight. she was like asking him in a rather unhappy tone why is he giving us money. oh wells~ after brunch, we headed to sight see! we went to Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory, Gyerim Forest, Wolseong Fortress, Gyeongju Hyanggyo Confucian School and Old House of Choe. it seemed like we covered a lot of places right? but that's because they were located very near to each other, around the same area. particularly, i really enjoyed the time at the Old House of Choe. the housekeeper of the place introduced and explained to us the whole story of the Gyeongju Choe in very good english. i felt like i really learned something from him. he's actually quite old, a grandfather figure and i think that he taught himself english. very impressive. after that, we went to Imhaejeon Site (Anapi Pond), Hwangnyongsa Site and attempted to go to Bunhwangsa Temple. but it was closed by the time we got there. so, we decided that we should look for a place to stay for the night. we stayed in this motel where the guy was really nice. he reccommended our dinner place and even got the person to come fetch us there. very nice right~ then after dinner, we played bridge in our room till it was about 12.30am. we were very noisy throughout the game but when it was 12.30, all of us were so quiet, focused on the tv. why you may ask. because! dongbang was on tv!~ mbc every1 showed the documentary of dongbang's debut till now. they really worked so hard to be where they are today. it will be a waste if they end just like that. it's not their time yet. i really liked how the documentary showed their hardwork and success both in korean and japan or for the matter asia. i always think that korea is undermining their success in japan. very touching to watch if you're a fan.

my ticket to Gyeongju~~~

a series of photos from Cheomseongdae Astronomical Observatory, Gyerim Forest, Wolseong Fortress and Gyeongju Hyanggyo Confucian School

the tower

right: candid shot of them looking at the map to find our directions

right: i like this~ left to right, sandra, yunling, me, wanling

maple leaves~ red and green together!~ pretty!

doggy! at the Old House of Choe~

with the grandfather~ really learned a lot from him :D

at the coffee shop where we took a rest

at Anapi Pond

left: sunrise on the way to Hwangnyongsa Site; right: on the train track~

saturday (24/10) we had 순두부 (sundubu; spicy tofu soup) for breakfast and it was really good. it tasted very different from the ones we had in seoul. maybe because of the dried shrimps and sesame oil they added in the soup. after that, we took a cab and went to Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa Temple. the taxi driver was really interesting. he was kinda like a tour guide, helping us take group photos and stuff. but, the photos didnt come out. i think he doesnt really know how to use a camera. XD then, we headed back to the bus terminal and got out tickets to busan. but before that, we bought some gyeongju speciality~ but! they spoiled a few days later after we got back to seoul. i'm like soooooo sad because i really liked it. :((((( anyways, the bus ride to busan took only about 45 minutes. we had our lunch that which was 짜장면 (jjajangmyeon) and 당수육 (dangsuyuk; sweet sour pork). the noodle was gooooooooood! the best i had so far. but the pork was so-so, not very fantastic. after lunch, we headed to Beomeosa and Haeundae Beach. Beomeosa was really cool because it felt the most authentic amongst the temples and relics that we've been to. the wood used for the structures were really old and peeling. XD when we were at Haeundae Beach, we saw this relatively new boy band performing; 제국의아이들 (jekukoui aideul; which translates to children of the empire). it consisted of 9 very young members. the oldest was even younger than me. crap. what am i doing with my life man. *think about 100 songs resolution* anyways, they performed a couple of their own songs which i thought was ok. they also sang rain's rainism and dongbang's mirotic! when they got into formation on the stage, i immediately knew they were going to do mirotic. haha! cool! but really couldnt compare, the stage presence is different. i wish it was the boys themselves performing though. siggggghhhhh....... anyways, i felt that they did a better job at performing female songs than their own songs. they were totally shaking their butts when they were doing jewelry and snsd's songs. *faints* after that, we headed for our seafood dinner which was below expectation since busan is known for its seafood. then, after dinner, we headed to Gwangalli Beach to find a place to stay for the night. initially, we wanted to stay in a hotel because we were sick of sleeping on the floor. so, we headed to this hotel which had the worse service ever. the receptionist was such a bloody bitch. wanling was asking her if there was a room for us. she replied asking if we made reservations of which we said no. then she continued with, they were fully booked. and gave us the dirty look like we couldnt afford to stay in their third rate hotel. like what the hell. how snobbish can she get. it's not like the hotel was hilton or what. it was just an ulu, no name one. then we concluded that the korean females in the service line arent the most friendly ones. like how the woman at the korea embassy in singapore was such a bloody bitch too. irritating. all of us had several unhappy encounters with her. so it wasnt just me being biased here. anyways, we settled for a motel to stay for the night, again. haha~ i guess it was the cheaper alternative. oh! and we set off fireworks here! it was soooooo fun! korea is the only place to do this man! no way i could experience this in singapore! :DDD after that, we spent our night at tom toms where i felt my throat becoming increasingly sore. we went back at around 3am and slept till 9 plus the next morning.

at the Seokguram Grotto

at the temple Bulguksa Temple

our cool cab driver~

Gyeongju's speciality, chalbori bbang

at Beomeosa

left: the three lings at Haeundae; right: 제국의아이들 children of the empire; female version of snsd since there are 9 too

our seafood dinner

our seafood dinner 2

sunday (25/10)

we headed to the Jagalchi Market after we woke up and saw many different kinds of seafood. but it smelled quite bad though. so, we decided to find a place for brunch. we were walking along the street where yunling spotted a buffet sign. and that was where we went to eat. haha! totally spontaneous. the buffet was quite cheap comparatively to singapore. and the food was not bad too. especially the squid. maybe because it was really fresh, it was very sweet and retained it's original squid taste. we ate a total of three i think. XD and the good thing was the waiter there helped us with the barbecuing of the squid, part of their service i guess. and after our very very full and satisfying brunch, we headed to Kookje Market. well, they sell the same stuff in seoul, so there wasnt really any point for us to buy anything there. but, the street food looked really good. however, we were too full from the buffet to want to eat them. XD we left the market for the bus station at around 3 to catch our bus back. the journey back was seriously a torture. we were caught in traffic and we took about 2 hours plus to reach our mid destination resting area. and throughout this time, we were steaming in the bus. it really felt like we were baking in the oven. it was sooooooooo bad. then the second half of the journey was a little better because the guy in front of me opened his window. so i had some cool autumn breeze. but the rest of them continued to bake on the bus while still stuck in the jam. all in all, we took 6 freaking hours to reach the express bus terminal. add another 35 minutes, i could fly back to singapore by SIA. seriously, the jam was crazy.

gwangalli beach in the morning

at the fish market

left: the buffet place; right:the view from our table

our food!~

boarding our bus back

left: group photo before the torturous journey back; right: yunling and me~

the jam after it was much better

at the train station with me looking rather bored and almost looking pregnant with yunho's child

my thoughts for this trip. i really liked being at Gyeongju and really disliked Busan. i liked Gyeongju for its natural feel and warm people. i disliked Busan because of the people (remember that bitch hotel receptionist? and the place being too commercialised. i get the feeling that they want to be like seoul but is falling short of it. maybe the main reason why i didnt enjoy Busan was that i didnt get good vibes from the people and place and not to mention, i had a sore throat while i was in Busan.

Friday, November 06, 2009

i'm 21!

at the struck of midnight, i suddenly entered the 21 year old club.

wow. i'm that old now. XD

happy 21st birthday to me!

and thanks to everyone who remembered! i love you guys!