Visit: Lotte Mart, Seoul Station

It's always an amazing adventure to visit a foreign country's supermarket.

There's tons of food to hunt for and be curious about. I decided that to share some of my favourites! :)

Most photos credited to lotte mart online shopping website.

1) 쌀 (ssal) = uncooked rice)  -> 밥 (bap) = cooked rice
I'm not sure about the other countries but in Singapore, it's extremely expensive and difficult to get good rice mix. There are many different choices but I have put the photo of rice I bought myself :D
I dug out the content list from the mart: 연화현미, 찹쌀, 현미찹쌀, 보리, 검정찰현미, 백태, 옥수수쌀, 찰보리쌀, 차수수쌀, 녹차압맥, 서리태, 팥, 율무쌀, 늘찰보리, 발아현미, 강낭콩
It's going to be really tough for me to translate everything and I think google translate may be accurate. So, just to list some that I can understand: corn, barley, kidney beans and of course, brown rice! :)

2)  빙그레 바나나맛우유 (bing ge rae banana mak wu yu)

This banana-flavoured milk tastes super awesome!! Try it to believe it! :D There are also other brands available in the market. However, i didn't managed to try them. :( Just a point to note, it's banana flavoured milk not banana milk. I know a lot of people like to lable this as banana milk but I think sometimes it come be a bit deceiving. at least I was deceived until... :P

3) 떡볶이 (ddeok bok ki)

This is seriously addictive! I could finish one pack at one go@ Amazing! During my visit to lotte mart, they had a 2mini-pack for 970won deal. Bought a lot of these home! :D

4) 옥수수차 (ok su su cha)
In Japan, my favourite tea is hojicha (oven-roasted tea). For Korea, hands-down winner is corn tea! :D Be careful when you buy the tea, as some brands might have it less flavour-ful. I always like my tea strong. So, I always get pretty disappointed when the tea bag is of low quality. >.<

5) 쿠크다스커피 (ku ki da si kall bi)

Yummy junk! LOL. Despite many raving about the market-o-brownies, I prefer this more. :D

6) 유자차 (yu ja cha)

Another amazing citron tea to die for! :D Like the corn tea, it's also have lots of good benefits.

I know it's difficult to read the labels since they are in korean. But I like to give some important warning to all buyers! Most citron tea bottle are transparent so have a look inside the bottle. Compare the different brand content and you might see some difference. First, the more citron you see inside the bottle, the better. My mom bought one bottle in our local store and there was more honey content than citron inside. SO, DO SOME COMPARISON, PEOPLE!

Visit: Amazing trickeye museum!

First thing first.

There's a discount coupon on the official Korean Tourism website. You can get 3000won discount! SO GET IT!! :D
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/IngEventMain.kto?func_name=couponList&lang_se=ENG&md=enu

I was really anticipating my visit there as there had been so many good reviews about it! True enough, it's an amazing experience inside. The museum is filled with interesting and eye-catching graphics. At the side of some 'stations', there will be advisory pictures to show you how to pose with the graphics.

While you may enjoy these things, there will be other tourists around as well. So, do prepare to spend at least a good 2 hours inside if you plan to enjoy every single piece in the museum.

The objective is to be as creative as possible to really have a good time. Be as expressive as ever! :)

The ticket to entering the trickeye museum is tied together with the ice museum. So cold~ The museum is much smaller than the trickeye museum. However, there is a slide for people to play with (if you can take the cold...)

With the trickeye museum ticket, you can get a discount at the love museum (B1) which is at located above the trickeye museum (B2). Unlike the sex museum in amsterdam or paris, this love museum is highly interactive. I think it's equally a must-go for adults. Might not be a good idea if you have kids with you.

When shopping in Korea (Good read for visitors)

I know the korean fashion and cosmetics are really a big hit in many places around the world. Hence, it's extremely tempting to travel to Korea to get your cosmetics at a cheap price. and yes, it's a good idea to do that. However, today I would like to share a bit about my experience shopping in Korea.

Tax refund is 10%!
Once, I walked into an etude house store near the university and managed to choke up 30,000won. Since I was a tourist, I am entitled for the tax refund. For some reason, the store lady (from you know where) nicely exclaimed that she would be able to directly provide a discount and so you won't need to go to through the hassle of the refund process. I got a little happy and turns out I was CHEATED!!! The lady only gave me a 1% discount! The unfortunate thing was that I only realised this after walking out of the store. >.<

So, moral of the story, get a 10% refund!

Many stores sell the same thing
When you go to places like hongdae, ewha and myeongdong, there is a very high chances for some stores to be selling the same thing. Sometimes, different stores sell different colour of the same product. So, be a bit hardworking, shop around first! :) I know that sometimes you might not return to the same area again as the itinerary doesn't allow it. However, you should at least, within a single area, do some hunting before buying.

Ewha Vs Hongdae Vs Myeongdong
I can only speak for the girls. sorry boys!
Ewha is known for their cheap clothing. This one I would agree. Most of the stuff you can get around 10,000 won. Furthermore, some of the street food like egg bread is actually cheaper at ewha.

Hongdae, on the other hand, is slightly expensive. If you are in the main shopping street, then yes. Slightly expensive or sometimes comparable to ewha. However, there are many back alleys which you can also enjoy amazing korean fashion. Their clothing store are really unique and sometimes one of its kind. Thus the prices may hit sky-high. On top of that, there is flea market on saturday and sunday. Most sellers look like student-cum-artist. You can see the seller busy making new products while waiting for the customers. Truly one of its kind!

For myeongdong, I suggest you visit ewha and hongdae first then visit before going there. Get what I mean?

Made in China VS Made in Korea
I did made a conscious effort to buy items that were stated "made in korea". Why? Simply because i'm in korea! Sometimes, the stores may have deliberately mixed them together. So beware!

Duty Free shopping or Go through tax refund?
If you visit duty free shops, you will not need to go through the hassle of queuing and getting your refund back at the airport. However, you may only get a limited selected items at the duty free store. Furthermore, it's extremely crowded (NO KIDDING) It's packed with you know who.

Tax refund can be a messy thing. For the amateur, you might not like it. For the regulars, you probably can guess the protocol. There are several refund companies. For korea, as far as I know, it's not just global tax blue and global tax free. So, imagine this, you got to queue at least 2 times to get the money back at the airport. On a good day, the queue is short. On a bad day, maybe we can do without tax refund... Days with no queue? I doubt it...

Final suggestions (for those staying longer than 1wk)
If you are planning to buy cosmetics, go onto the cosmetics website in korean. Yes, in korean. Don't worry if you don't understand them because I truly think that it's extremely intuitive when we see 1+1 and 50% off. So, for those who are staying for longer period, keep a watch-out for days when the stores suddenly enters into a 50% off. It may only happen for 3 days or sometimes longer periods. Seriously, 50% off is way better than a 10% refund! :) Unfortunately, cosmetics stores at tourist area really seldom do 50% off. I'm very sure of this because I knew faceshop was having 50% off for most items but none of the faceshop at myeongdong was having that sale when I was there!!! :(

VIsit: Noryangjin Fish Market

The fish market is really easily accessible from the train station. From the train station, it's a short walk to the fish market. We will enter the fish market from the 2 floor. So, you can get a pretty good view of the whole market.

Of course, as a visitor you would instinctively bring out your camera to take photos of the fresh seafood you see everywhere. With that, you also become a prey for the fishmonger trying to sell you their seafood. So, be prepared to be annoyed by their aggressiveness.

When you finally decide to pick some seafood to eat. They will lead you up to a restaurant which will help prepare your seafood.

You can try to haggle for the cost of the seafood, but the service charged by the restaurant is fixed. So, good luck!

Visit: Toilets in Korea

Today's topic is just to share a bit about my experience with the toilets in korea. If you are a foreigner travelling to korea, it's very likely that you will be staying in a hotel or bnb (bed and breakfast). Toilets are usually clean and you will be able to flush the waste paper into the bowl. Yes very westerner style.

HOWEVER...

If you are living in a korean house or an older facility, toilet system is different. I've taken a photo of a toilet you may find. See the blue container by the side? Throw everything in there. Yes. I mean all the waste paper you use into the container! :)

Does it smell?

surprisingly, it doesn't!

Unlike in the some of the warmer south east asia countries which have such a system, it actually smells. I think it's because the weather is dry and not warm, so fly and insects don't come gathering. Hence, it doesn't create a lot of unpleasant odour? It's just my opinion.

Apparently, if throwing the waste paper into the bin will choke the toilet bowl... I've never tried it yet. never know...

What do I think of this toilet system?

Well, to be really honest, I'm not used to it and I don't think I really like the idea of having to throw the waste paper into a container and the next user actually see that ugly sight...

General Opinion of Koreans

HIGHLY SENSITIVE TOPIC.

READ WITH OPEN MIND.

UNDERSTAND THAT I DREW MY OPINIONS FROM MY EXPERIENCE.

ok. let's begin.

First, my landlords are really nice people. My stay here in seoul had been amazing because of them. They spoke english hence it was easy to communicate our thoughts and feelings to each other. With that, we were able to chat and enjoy each other company.

Then, there was the Koreans in school. Well, there's only these few Koreans I would meet in school. (you can guess, right?) Somehow, I feel that they don't really know Singapore and that Singaporeans speak English. One teacher checked with me if I wanted english or mandarin instructions sheets, while the other teachers gave me mandarin sheets without asking. Haiz... Wouldn't blame them. Furthermore, the students generally are Japanese or Chinese from Hong kong or China. I'm the only Singaporean in the class.

Now for the other Koreans I have met in restaurants, students, etc.

There was once I walked into a mini stall for dinner. The ajumma found out that I wasn't local. Her treatment was very unpleasant. She smiles and greets the other customers and when it comes to me, the face change and was not really nice.

Another time, I was hiking the Dobongsan. A 30-ish couple spoke to me in Korean but I told them I didn't understand them. They thought I was from China. Then I explained that I was from Singapore (see! why not Singapore???? >.<) They asked a few more questions but I couldn't understand them. Nevertheless, I could sense their positive vibes and when they bid goodbye, I was really happy.

Students are the worst of the bunch. The university has a canteen that have an interesting system for servicing food. First you would go to the display counter to see what's on today's menu. Then you would head to a money machine to get a ticket in replace of the money for the food. Then, head to the stall and give the ticket to the stall lady. So, the annoying thing about these students are that they like to cut in front of you while you are looking at the displays. It annoys me a lot. It has happened more than 2 times...

I'm not sure what to take on when it comes to the Koreans. One thing's for sure, Singapore is probably unheard of...

Poor Singaporeans...
We are crazy about korean drama, songs, fashion, etc...
but they know nothing about us...
that's quite disappointing.

Done with the language test!

Now that I'm done with the korean language test. I could actually write a bit more about my overall feeling about the course.

Teachers

Let's start with the teachers. Depending on the course, you may get two teachers alternating the days they teach. The good is that you get exposed to various style of teaching. One of my teacher sternly told us that she will only use korean to explain and teach us and that was in 2nd week (my 5th class?) In a good way, I was forced to listen to what she have to say. Honestly, I was beginning to understand her instructions nearing the end of my 2nd week. On the other hand, I am afraid that I might misunderstand what she is trying to explain. It had happened before and so I wasn't really glad about it. Thankfully, there's always classmates to help you out. This teacher also sternly restrain us from using our own language to communicate. The other teacher was more energetic and I enjoyed her class a lot. I guess it really depends on your luck.

Books

The teachers adhere closely to the syllabus in the books. So, you will need to buy the textbook and workbook for the course. The textbook is highly pictorial which is a plus point. Both the textbook and workbook have a cd rom. You will need something to read the cd rom because there will be homework that requires listening to the cd. Overall, these books reminds me of the japanese textbook I used to have. Pretty decent. On top of these books, there are worksheets given. These are important when you revise for the test.

Test

There are a few components to the test - speaking, writing and listening. To be blatantly honest, some of my classmates weren't revising on a regular basis. Hence, when the test came, it was extremely stressful. I'm not saying that you have to revise daily, but a good pace, say every 2-3 days would be good. I thought that the test wasn't very difficult. I could answer most of the questions given.

Would I do this again?

Ahhh... the golden question. Well, if I had time, I would actually return to ewha and do a longer course instead of a 3-week course. Personally, I enjoyed being overseas and living another lifestyle. Traveling for about 10-14 days is not the same as staying somewhere for the same period of time.

Visit: Thanks Nature Cafe

This cafe, located in hongdae, is known for the real sheep living at the cafe. It's a good draw for curious people. Besides that, it think their waffles are pretty decent. Making it a good place to chill with your friends.

First impression:
Visited the place on a sunday. Maybe so, there wasn't many visitors. The cafe doesn't have many unique facets to its interior. The main draw of the cafe is the sheep.

I ordered an espresso waffle which costed 9000won. In general, it tastes quite good although I really hoped that they used coffee ice cream of better quality

Here are some pictures of the cafe.

There were some students who ordered drink or waffles and studying at the same time!

introducing the one of the 2 sheep at the cafe.

The owner was cleaning their mini house and patting them with love. :)

Visit: Naksan Park

I decided to take a short morning trip to Naksan Park a few days ago. For those who liked to go there, make sure you check the weather forecast. Why? Because at Naksan Park, you'll be able to get a good view of Seoul and also take a look at the fortress remains. The view of seoul is not a 360deg view, just part of it. In which, in my opinion, a good enough view.

The walk from the train station to the park is relatively intuitive. Once out of the station, there are some directional signs if you are unsure. Don't worry. I got my information from here: http://kidsfuninseoul.wordpress.com/2013/11/27/naksan-park/

One thing I've started to notice is that the korean like to do wall graphics/painting. And they are pretty good at it! It definitely shows one's creativity and character. I don't think you'll be able to see them at the main street so be brave and explore the smaller roads! :)

Visit: Nami Island with school.

Early morning, we met in school and took an approx. 1hour journey to a terminal. Once I got off the bus, I was FREEZING. The weather looks really good but It's really cold. Then, we had to take a 10mins ferry ride to the island.

Throughout the entire trip, I was feeling really cold. I wore 2 thermal layer and it was still not sufficient. My hands are so cold that I could hardly feel anything. :(

Once we reached the island, we took a group photo and headed for lunch. Our teacher brought us to the bbq chicken restaurant for lunch. All you got to do is wrap the meat with the letture and dip some spicy sauce and put it in your mouth! Yummy!

After lunch, it was free and easy. Just to share a bit. Nami island is a nice place for family and family, although it targets couples. For locals, I'm not sure how much it would cost. However, for tourists, it's 8000 won. This includes the entrance to the island and the ferry ride. The journey to the ferry terminal is not included.

Nami island has a lot of interesting sights to enjoy. Here are some pictures. :)

Visit: Air Cafe and others.

I was planning to find a book-toy cafe at Hapjeong station area but I couldn't find it. I landed myself at the Air cafe instead.

The cafe guy preparing my food. Menu is pretty cool since the theme of the cafe is airport/air plane.

Side seats have a lot of interesting photos of different countries. I'm guessing either the owner is a professional photographer or he had sourced out these photos.

There's a really cool wall with the world map print on it. Makes me think of my next holiday location!!! >.<

Another cool corner of the cafe. :)

The cafe look quite nice but there was no one around especially for me and another group of customers. Well, maybe it's because I was there about 12 noon? My quiet experience helps me soak up the serenity of this cafe.

This toast with ham and cheese reminds me of croque monsieur (French toast). This taste pretty good. It costed 5500 won. By the way, there's free wifi at the cafe too. :)

There were lots more cafes around this area. Here are some photos of their exterior.

Visit: National Museum of Korea

I made a trip to the national museum of korea yesterday.

First impression:
I didn't think it look very grand considering my experiences in europe and their museums. (Purely personally opinion). It's had a big but stony feeling to it.

As I entered the museum, I realised that I might have been the first visitor for the day. There's literally NO ONE in the museum. maybe it's because I visited in the morning. The museum opens at 9am and I arrived about 9.45am and it's not crowded. Well, compared to lourve museum in paris (sorry to compare), I had to queue to get into the lourve museum even when I went in the morning.

However, it's got a pretty sight of the Seoul tower. I think they strategically did this. Nevertheless, good job as I was pretty awe.

There are 3 floors of displays to enjoy. Unfortunately, due to time constraint (thanks to school, >.<) I had only gone through the displays of the first 2 floors. Well, it's not possible to remember everything you see at the museum. I always like to have some key memories or information I learnt for a trip. So, here are some.

1) There are different types of materials and designs at different layers of the roof.

 2)  According to korean folklore, those who died young before having children lives as spirit and bring misfortune to the village. So people make these figurines to calm their spirits

3) seriously beautiful cases for brushes. I'm not sure what kind of brushes.

4) Symbols/Animals that have different meanings in a painting. Quite similar to the chinese culture. Best one would be - cat = 70 year old man!!

School Update (short one)

Hi all,

I will share couple of thoughts and feeling after 2 days of classes.

1) Fast learning pace and intensive

The class are pretty intensive. For the past 2 days, we had been drowned with hangul characters and alphabet. It's non-stop learning. To be really honest, come prepared to go as fast as a bullet train. If you are slightly slower at learning, do take time after class to master (seriously).

2) Revise

Each class, the teacher is covering a whole lot of different things. By the looks of how the flow of the 2 classes, the teacher doesn't go through everything from the previous class. Only key things you need to master will be reviewed before the start of the class.

3) Homework

Ok. Despite how I dislike homework, there is quite a fair bit of homework to do. You will have to make a conscious choice to finish your work or go out to sight-seeing.

4) Class schedule and timing

This is the worst thing I'm going to be wincing about. My class is in the afternoon (2-5.50pm). I had plans to go sight-see in the afternoon because I thought that the classes were supposed to be in the morning. Now that my class is in the afternoon. THIS IS REALLY BAD. According to one of my classmates, she explained that march short-term course is the only one that starts in the afternoon. WHAT~~~~~~~~~ totally ruin my plans... :(((((

So, lesson learnt: ask before coming.

5) Field trip

The field trip is 'compulsory'. It's part of the curriculum so if you miss it, it's like being absent for two sessions. So, advice: just go. The field trip can differ depending on the month you enter. So, stay excited for this one! For this march term, we are going to Nami island! wohoo~

6) Important dates

Exams schedule and field trip dates are all released on the first day of school. Don't miss it! Apparently, there were 3 girls in my class who were told the wrong dates or maybe some miscommunications had occurred. Be intelligent and look at the date stated on official website. Come and attend your placement exams. That will get everything started.

7) Other activities

The school also offer some extra activities to enhance their korea experience. This time around, it's k-pop singing or dancing classes. Each activity consist of 2 sessions for 10,000 won. The activity and the cost may differ. So, look out for it! :)

placement test at ewha

Today all students have to attend the placement test arranged by ewha. If you have read my previous posts, you would know that I'm quite perplexed to be attending a placement test when I'm a pure beginner.

The walk to university took about less than 15mins. I blended in with the marching students. Majority or at least 99.9% of them were girls.

First impression of ewha: The school is pretty nice and grand.

Ok. back to the main topic.

The placement test included a written test and a speaking one. For a pure beginner, there is no way I could have written anything. Thank goodness they predicted that there were such people and provided instructions for that. However, you would still have to go through the speaking test. It's basically to find out what level you are at. The person would ask you questions. For me, it's easy since I didn't know any korean. lol. So, I completed the entire session within 30mins. For those actually doing the test, prepare to stay.

For those who are doing the written test properly (aka you have korean background), you will, unfortunately, not know your results. All you will know is the class you are assigned to.

On my way out, I took a stroll around the school.

A traditional house within the university?

Saw a group of ajumma sitting at the stairs listening to some speech. It was in Korean. Couldn't understand.

Their university bookstore (I'm not sure if i'm allowed to take photo inside, but nevertheless!)

I've got a weakness for bookstore and the smell of new books so I stayed there quite some time. Majority of the books were in korean. (duh...) However, I did find a section of a pretty decent size on mastering english. A few books on learning european language. I also found a biology textbook in korean. (thinking: I would die if I have to study biology in korean. LOL.)

For those hunting for cheaper stuff, their pens are quite cheap. Some marginally cheaper, such as the uni-ball sigma um151. Only Singaporean will know this pen model by hard because everyone back home uses them. It's 5cent (SGD) cheaper, if that pleases you. haha.