Soju Night
After visiting the palace, we went Insadong but I'll skip that part because I think I'll visit the place again another day.

Crystal suggested that we head to get some soju cocktail. And I thought 'Why not?".. Clearly underestimating their soju (korean vodka).

After walking aimlessly in Sinchon, I decided to call my roommate, Andrew the ABK who was a serious alcholic (he's proud of it) to consult him for some soju advice. He recommended Festival in Sinchon which served soju at reasonable price. I was glad to have him as a roommate because there are just too many drinking places in Sinchon to choose from. One can literally spend hours standing on the streets and gazing at neon lights trying to make out the korean words and prices.

"Seoul, especially Sinchon, is a drinker's paradise". according to my roommate.

We ordered 5 flavours of soju cocktail, which were served in teapots. I found it quite intriguing because I have never drank cocktail from teapot or maybe I am just sua ku.


1st pic: from left to right (Peach , cherry, lemon, grape, yoghurt)
Limited colours because we had limited strength. Just 4 exchange students.

The cherry flavour tasted like some disgusting cough syrup.
The yoghurt soju was still the best and voted the favourite among all of us.

We ordered five teapots of soju cocktail for the 4 of us. The lovely and concerned waitress had to double check if we were out of our minds because we rejected the offer of any sidedishes (panju) to go with our soju at first.


Before: Li wei (rep from Taiwan). Winston, Crystal (Sg) and Adam (China).

After:

Taking a break. Li wei wringing the last drops out of the soju teapot.


The signs of intoxication.


I dunno what I was trying to do.



Getting ready for the ultimate cocktail. We left some residue each from the 5 pots and tried to mix the 5 flavours. I forgot whose idea because I was thinking about kimchi cocktail or something.

Anyway, I was half drunk and way past my limit. So I decided against drinking the concoction.



3 'strawberry looking' shots. Me stickin to my cherry medicine shot.



Li wei just kept forfeiting games and had to drink copious amounts of the remaining soju.
I was pretty drunk by then. I think its quite obvious from the picture.

Moments later.
Merlion appeared in Korea.


I puked my dinner and soju out.
I stared at my puke. For a long while before heading to the toilet. Its like your brain feels lighter after vomiting. I thought I experienced some sort of epiphany or Eureka moment, I actually thought of some complex Maths equation before puking a little more while inching towards the toilet.

I felt damn bad. Because I know the pretty waitresses would have to clean my ugly puke later. I actually thought of licking the puke up to ease their workload.

I felt worse that I had drinking buddies who did not help me but kept blinding me with the flashes of their cameras. Gnn. Haha.


Making our way back to dorm.
Ok enough of blogging..gotta do my work which I havent touched for 5 days. Lol.

Changdokgung Palace
After spending 3,4 hrs at the folk village (I never knew that I was that cultured, *beams), we made our way to the next stop of the day: Changdokgung Palace aka the 'Jewel in Palace" (Dae Jang Geum) filming place. Only Crystal and I paid to enter because the rest were rather shagged after days of walking and sightseeing.

We spent too much at the folk village and we missed the English and Chinese guided tours, so we had no choice but to the join the Korean tour.

Too many people walking around..nvm, I got little BoA in my picture.
The architecture was pretty impressive but they can't beat the sick Japanese carpenters of Kiyomizu temple who constructed the entire building without nails.

Some kid running around in the palace grounds. For some reason the kids love to run. I had to make him fall with my psychic powers. "FALL,Fall!" and he really did.
Thats for spoiling my picture. Tsk.

The hall where the ministers and officials gather. 陛下~ (pe-i ha)

A gate with my name. This gate should be made the UNESCO most valued World Heritage gate.

Their rooms. I think they need really good ERA agents to sell these rooms in that era. The rooms are much smaller than it seems. Photo taken by Crystal. To create depth, applying her pro film production knowledge.



Da Chang Jin's kitchen. Its so modern that its hard to believe that they filmed it there. Looks more like a kitchen that will serve kimchi pork cutlets with fried cheese ricecakes than traditional korean dishes.

The picture on the right is the toilet. Where they make their 大肠金 .



The pond where King Jungjong showed his affection for Janggeum.



Their servants quarters.



Celebrating Mid-Autumn Festival in Korea. To be continued.

Namsangol Hanok Village
It was the start of the Chuseok Holidays and we decided to visit some cultural sites since most of the shopping areas were closed during this major and most celebrated holiday in Korea. Our first stop was Namsangol Hanok Village. It was a little crowded as they were holding special celebration and events for Chuseok at folk villages and palaces in Seoul.

The Village contains 5 houses that once belonged to extremely respectable familes in the Joseon period to offer an interesting glimpse into the lives of the upper class called Yangban of that time.

Ariyo eyeing for an unsuspecting victim to send into the water.

They had a booth for kids to try out their art&craft skills. Lovely dolls.



小长今
The litte boy checking out the girls. lol.

Kids were queuing up to play a traditional see saw.
Princess PK Battle!

Little boy pounding rice to be used for rice cakes.
1-2-3!

"Hwa-ighting!" Girl getting encouragement from her father before tossing the coin into the wishing well.

Whats a folk village without old folks? An old folk telling some story.
Lim peh says.. 'Goldilocks had 3 bears as friends..Papa bear, mama bear, little bear"

Caught a lady slacking in the house. Trying to pose as a wax figurine.
Idea sia. Pro duang-ing. Respect.

Ajumma teaching the little girls how to beat mens..clothes dry.

A picture of their storeroom/kitchen. Right: place where they store their preserved food in containers to make kimchi and other fermented stuff like soy paste. Out of curiosity, I opened the lid of one and fainted.

A lady demonstrating how to pray. The korean style of praying: rubbing your hands together in a circular fashion like making glutinous riceballs, well if you watch lots of k-drama you'd probably have seen this.

A kid posing in front of a traditional bedroom/ love shack.

Me. The Seoul tower can actually be seen from the village.
Li Wei and I grinding rice with our feet.

I spotted some Koreans dressed in hangbok and asked them to pose for a photo with me.
I should have kept a beard for this. Wasted sia. De-Flower-ers 4.

Just for info: The Untold Scandal (the R(a) show which featured Bae Yong Jun as the playboy in the Chosun Dynasty) was filmed here.

A korean girl pounding little boys with the wooden pestles.
Another girl working on some ancient weaving machine, which resembled some SM machine.

A 100 year time capsule for Seoulites at the Time Capsule Park nearby.
I overheard an Ang moh asking her tour guide if there was any toilet nearby. Must be wanting to plant her 'capsule'. hurhur.

Btw the kid kept running round in circles on top of the capsule. Moments later...
I guess the next picture speaks for itself.

My artistic shot.

How to look like a Korean (by me)
How to look like a Korean (by Liwei)