Seoul is Asia's costliest city for expatriates...
make that for exchange students too.
Hoho, why am I not surprised.
I am getting so poor now..even shopping for souvenirs costs a bomb. Sigh.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Winter Kimchi
Kimchi, the uniquely pungent mixture of fermented vegetables, is a superbly palate-pleasing kimchi to delight every taste. A global favorite, kimchi is a food that adds zest to all kinds of meals and its appeal cuts across all social, economic, ethnic and geographical boundaries. You see the poor and the rich consuming it in Korea, whether its Gwangju, Jeongju, Seoul or Pusan. Its everywhere. Kimchi adds zest to all goods. Kimchi is an excellent contributor to the human body. You just need to visit most male toilets to find out. People leave testament of unflushed long coils of sausages. The length is absolutely amazing.
Yonsei University collaborated with KT&G (Korea's one and only tobacco company) to organise a Gimjang (winter making) event to make kimchi to distribute to needy children and monks.
Cabbage and gochujang sauce in bags. Cabbage bags. The ajummas volunteers who are working on it. We got a hang of it after a while but our production speed was much slower than the ajummas.
So much blood. Haa our baby that we produced. The frills resemble the umbilical cord.
No points for guessing what we had for lunch. Kimchi with pork. Kimchi really goes well with anything..no matter how bad the main/side dish is. Look at Ariyo's painful expression, lol.
The international group. Well..actually we were the only students that were helping out. Btw the girl with the white cap is a looker. Shes thai and hotter than kimchi. Damn hard to concentrate on making kimchi. Ha.
After a while, two broadcasting stations came and needed to grab some international students for their interviews, so Tomoyo and me was 'arrowed' to do the interviews.
However, if u watch the clip, you wouldn't see my interview because I think they cut my portion. -.- Wa lao. But I was featured in the other stations' broadcast just that I am unable to find any online clip. In this one, you can see me faking the kimchi making process for the camera though. Haha. Btw this post is super backdated, I'm getting lazier to blog...
Kimchi, the uniquely pungent mixture of fermented vegetables, is a superbly palate-pleasing kimchi to delight every taste. A global favorite, kimchi is a food that adds zest to all kinds of meals and its appeal cuts across all social, economic, ethnic and geographical boundaries. You see the poor and the rich consuming it in Korea, whether its Gwangju, Jeongju, Seoul or Pusan. Its everywhere. Kimchi adds zest to all goods. Kimchi is an excellent contributor to the human body. You just need to visit most male toilets to find out. People leave testament of unflushed long coils of sausages. The length is absolutely amazing.
Yonsei University collaborated with KT&G (Korea's one and only tobacco company) to organise a Gimjang (winter making) event to make kimchi to distribute to needy children and monks.
Cabbage and gochujang sauce in bags. Cabbage bags. The ajummas volunteers who are working on it. We got a hang of it after a while but our production speed was much slower than the ajummas.
So much blood. Haa our baby that we produced. The frills resemble the umbilical cord.
No points for guessing what we had for lunch. Kimchi with pork. Kimchi really goes well with anything..no matter how bad the main/side dish is. Look at Ariyo's painful expression, lol.
The international group. Well..actually we were the only students that were helping out. Btw the girl with the white cap is a looker. Shes thai and hotter than kimchi. Damn hard to concentrate on making kimchi. Ha.
After a while, two broadcasting stations came and needed to grab some international students for their interviews, so Tomoyo and me was 'arrowed' to do the interviews.
However, if u watch the clip, you wouldn't see my interview because I think they cut my portion. -.- Wa lao. But I was featured in the other stations' broadcast just that I am unable to find any online clip. In this one, you can see me faking the kimchi making process for the camera though. Haha. Btw this post is super backdated, I'm getting lazier to blog...
http://www.pixcow.com/empasv/yonhapnews/40235
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Gwangju
Gwangju is supposedly well known for its art and culture (paintings, traditional crafts). Unfortunately we just missed their art festival which ended a day before we arrived. And most of the stalls weren't open when we were there..which was a shame.
For our lunch, we went to a famous BBQ restaurant, which was recommended by the locals, for some barbequed pork.
We ordered a bottle of soju, which turned out to be complimentary (i love their 'service'). Our faces were still red when we boarded the taxi to the bus terminal. The taxi driver asked us if we drank soju and we just laughed it off.
The skyline as we boarded the bumpy bus ride back. Took us 5 hrs to get back to Seoul. It was so bad that I nearly puked on the bus...for anyone going there next time, I recommend taking an express train, KTX.
Gwangju is supposedly well known for its art and culture (paintings, traditional crafts). Unfortunately we just missed their art festival which ended a day before we arrived. And most of the stalls weren't open when we were there..which was a shame.
Works of budding artists on display at the subway station.
Works during their middle age.
Epic works produced at the peak of their artisan careers. I couldn't resist a caress.
Epic works produced at the peak of their artisan careers. I couldn't resist a caress.
For our lunch, we went to a famous BBQ restaurant, which was recommended by the locals, for some barbequed pork.
Pretty classy and good ambience for a BBQ place.
We ordered a bottle of soju, which turned out to be complimentary (i love their 'service'). Our faces were still red when we boarded the taxi to the bus terminal. The taxi driver asked us if we drank soju and we just laughed it off.
Cheers! Eh, wheres my cup?
The skyline as we boarded the bumpy bus ride back. Took us 5 hrs to get back to Seoul. It was so bad that I nearly puked on the bus...for anyone going there next time, I recommend taking an express train, KTX.
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Cheongup, Naechangsan aka Maple Story
After our night in the motel, we grabbed some mandus (dumplings) for breakfast and squeezed our way up an awfully packed bus all eager to head for Naechangshan.
"Eh, nabei cheebye la, chao gina heng lui la!!"
"Ok uncle, relac la"
The best place to head to admire maple leaves in Korea was Mt Seorak but we had missed the period as we were having our mid terms. Therefore we decided to settle for the second best: -Naechangshan where lots of Koreans from different parts of Seoul flock here just to admire the maple leaves.
Its such a big event in Korea that They even had helicopters from SBS and KBS (Korean Tv companies) to cover this. We tried to wave but they think we must have appeared pretty idiotic. But it turns out that, the rest of the people saw us and stared up to the sky to wave to them, Lol.
Makeshift Roadside stalls selling food, snacks : persimmons, grapes, corn, candies, honey products, dong dong ju (another traditional rice wine). Check out the huge pig on the grill.
They even sell birds. I have no idea what species they belong to but they sure don't look like chicken, judging from the size. Two poor birds with their legs spread-eagle. I bet they were caught while they were mating.
Along the way the trees were tinged with brightly coloured leaves.
At the entrance to the park, we were discussing and figuring out the price of the admission fee, when we were approached by this Korean girl who asked us, " 你们是中国人吗？"
To which, we vehemently answered 'No' and proudly replied that we were Singaporean, Taiwanese and Hong Konger. Her face lit up and asked us to follow her. It was a warm feeling, having people bringing you around, especially if you are a stranger in this foreign place, haha.
She and two of her friends were studying Chinese in Jingang University and she was the most proficient in Chinese, having studied the language for 3 years.
The bunch of us walked and talked, engaging in halting Korean and Chinese dialogue and occasionally posing for pictures and taking snapshots.
After having a great time admiring the autumn tintage, we decided to head to Gwangju. It was already 9 plus when we reached there. We had this crazy idea of buying a bottle of Dong Dong Ju (a different version of rice wine) and spend our night on the streets drinking it to keep us warm.
However, our innate need to find a proper shelter was so strong that we decided to scout for a decent accommodation. Slightly tipsy and weary from an entire day of walking, we walked along the streets and stumbled into a sleazy part...which happens to part of Gwangju's red light district. And there were pretty looking girls tugging our sleeves and calling us 'Oppa', they were saying that they will throw in 'service', Lol. Due to our budget constraints and moral conscience, but more of the former, we didn't manage to experience that bit of Korea. Aww.
We finally found our lodging.
Yet another motel.
Cheongup, early in the morning.
After our night in the motel, we grabbed some mandus (dumplings) for breakfast and squeezed our way up an awfully packed bus all eager to head for Naechangshan.
"Eh, nabei cheebye la, chao gina heng lui la!!"
"Ok uncle, relac la"
The best place to head to admire maple leaves in Korea was Mt Seorak but we had missed the period as we were having our mid terms. Therefore we decided to settle for the second best: -Naechangshan where lots of Koreans from different parts of Seoul flock here just to admire the maple leaves.
Its such a big event in Korea that They even had helicopters from SBS and KBS (Korean Tv companies) to cover this. We tried to wave but they think we must have appeared pretty idiotic. But it turns out that, the rest of the people saw us and stared up to the sky to wave to them, Lol.
Makeshift Roadside stalls selling food, snacks : persimmons, grapes, corn, candies, honey products, dong dong ju (another traditional rice wine). Check out the huge pig on the grill.
They even sell birds. I have no idea what species they belong to but they sure don't look like chicken, judging from the size. Two poor birds with their legs spread-eagle. I bet they were caught while they were mating.
Along the way the trees were tinged with brightly coloured leaves.
At the entrance to the park, we were discussing and figuring out the price of the admission fee, when we were approached by this Korean girl who asked us, " 你们是中国人吗？"
To which, we vehemently answered 'No' and proudly replied that we were Singaporean, Taiwanese and Hong Konger. Her face lit up and asked us to follow her. It was a warm feeling, having people bringing you around, especially if you are a stranger in this foreign place, haha.
She and two of her friends were studying Chinese in Jingang University and she was the most proficient in Chinese, having studied the language for 3 years.
The bunch of us walked and talked, engaging in halting Korean and Chinese dialogue and occasionally posing for pictures and taking snapshots.
Canopy turning brilliant crimson with the autumn leaves.
Lovely.
Lovely.
Oh fall. Thats what I came Korea for.
Ok I think I'll skip the comments.
After having a great time admiring the autumn tintage, we decided to head to Gwangju. It was already 9 plus when we reached there. We had this crazy idea of buying a bottle of Dong Dong Ju (a different version of rice wine) and spend our night on the streets drinking it to keep us warm.
However, our innate need to find a proper shelter was so strong that we decided to scout for a decent accommodation. Slightly tipsy and weary from an entire day of walking, we walked along the streets and stumbled into a sleazy part...which happens to part of Gwangju's red light district. And there were pretty looking girls tugging our sleeves and calling us 'Oppa', they were saying that they will throw in 'service', Lol. Due to our budget constraints and moral conscience, but more of the former, we didn't manage to experience that bit of Korea. Aww.
We finally found our lodging.
Yet another motel.
VHS collection somemore. Haha. So retro.
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