Chuncheon – Nami Island

Our last destination in Chun Cheon before heading back to Seoul was Nami Island. We left the shower room at around 6am in the morning, took a cab, followed by a train, then another cab, and finally a ferry before we reached our destination.

Nami Island is most famous as the setting for popular Korean drama, Winter Sonata. I haven’t watched it before, but Yong Hui did, and she was so excited the moment she reached the island. There are a lot of information posted everywhere on the island relating to the show, like where the main leads had their first kiss, where they met, where they dated and etc. Those who have watched the drama may find some of my pictures familiar.

Although I haven’t watched the show before, I was still smitten by the beautiful scenery of the place. Nami Island has really beautiful trees and plants, and there are animals running about freely, which is so different from most parts of the city.

And I can understand why the show was filmed in winter. When we got there, spring was beginning, and there were so many insects flying around! Yong Hui was basically screaming around every few hundred metres, and kept fanning herself to shoo off the insects. Hahah, really funny!

Chuncheon (Exerpt)

Wow, I am currently surfing the Internet from a shower room in Chuncheon, a town 2 hours ride from Seoul. I know I am pretty swaku, but this place is really unlike any experience I have ever had! The moment I went into the main hall (for men), everyone is totally naked! Woah lao, Ziyi and I were so embarrassed! I know I have showered with guys before in the army, but this is a totally different league! The naked men were talking, sleeping, chatting, bathing and making lotsa noises in the main hall itself. Wah, first time kena shocked liddat!

Apparently YH had it worse. I don't think she has ever bathed in the open before, and she said there were different shapes and sizes around the hall. Hahah, Internet time is almost up; will update more when I go back to Seoul tomorrow. Meanwhile, must go and explore around this place for now :)

Our shower building. 1 floor for women, 1 floor for men, and 1 floor for mixed. Of course everyone in the mixed floor is fully clothed. Really cheap too; only $8 a night, plus bed clothes!

All dressed in the typical shower room clothes provided here. Rather ugly, but beats wearing our old clothes from the day.

What we had for dinner earlier. Chun Cheon is really famous for their dak-galbi, which is some kind of chicken cooked with a spicy sauce, alongside rice cakes, potatoes, onions and udon noodles. Really tasty, but too much for the 3 of us! We ended up stuffing ourselves like mad. Only $10 a person!

Cherry Blossoms

Cherry blossoms are sprouting out everywhere in Seoul, signifying (finally) the beginning of spring! Yong Hui, Ruowen and I went over to Yeouido today to attend the cherry blossom festival. It’s probably a must-see for all visiting tourists, especially since the flowers bloom only for approximately 3 weeks, before they fall and get replaced by green leaves instead.

And we did not make a wasted trip! When we got there, the entire street was lined with cherry blossom trees, resulting in a sea of pink. This was the first time I got to see cherry blossoms, and the scene was really spectacular! And probably because the viewing festival was ongoing, the street was filled with people, even though it was a Friday afternoon. I saw dating couples, women walking their dogs, families with young children, groups of students and many tourists.

Besides cherry blossoms, many other flowers are in bloom too. Around Yeouido Park, there are plenty of flowers, creating a dazzling sea of colours. At first, we even thought the flowers were fake, cause we never ever get to see such a scene in Singapore.

And of course, being a festival, performances were held everywhere along the street. To add to the buzz, there were people selling food every few hundred metres. This one is probably selling some kind of rice cake. The most disgusting ones were the vendors selling boiled silk worms and some shelled insects. Wah piang, the stench can be noticed from miles away, and it’s extremely nauseating. No idea how Koreans can find it a delicacy!

As we walked, we caught an elderly group dancing a traditional Korean dance, a footballer demonstrating his nimble soccer skills and a mime act too.

We also took pictures with some mascot of the Korean police force, who was making all kinds of cute poses. There was also a pair of weird Korean what-ever-that-thing-is for people to take pictures with.

Here’s a picture that deserves mention. This is actually a mobile toilet! Damn nice right! The mobile toilets in the Singapore pasar malams all cannot make it one lor.

And to end off the entry, here’s a typical high school couple on the streets. Notice how the girl carried her backpack? This is actually the in way to carry bags for all school girls, and there are many girls on the streets that sling their bags this way, which I have no idea why this is so. It feels damn uncomfortable even looking at it!

Jongyesa, Changdeokgung (New)

Went over to a temple today, cause Yong Hui and I hadn’t been one here yet. We decided upon Jongyesa, cause it’s one of the more grand ones. And it was really really big and nice! When I first looked at the Buddha statues in the temple, I stood in awe for a while, cause it was so big and stoic, and seemed to fill up all the space inside the temple.

Actually the Buddhist culture in Korea is pretty strong. When I was there, I felt almost like it was Sunday church day, cause many families were here and participating in the activities. There were religious classes, bonding sessions for the children, dance activities for the elderly and more. It’s really a stark contrast from the scene in Singapore.

   

We chanced upon the canteen by accident, and the helpers there were so nice! They gave us lunch for free even though we were obviously foreigners. And the dishes were good too!

Since there was a palace nearby, we headed to the palace too. This one is called Changdeokgung (昌德宫). Like all other attractions in Korea, this one is pretty cheap too, only $1.50! We were lucky, cause we needed to join the English tour in order to enter the palace, and coincidentally the English tour just started when we got to the place.

Notice how the temple pictures on top looks like the palace pictures. In ancient Korean history, only temples and palaces can be painted in bright colours, hence the similarity in looks.

Notice the small sculptures on top of the roof: they are actually sacred animals that watch over the palace and protect the emperor and his people.

Here’s our English guide. I have no idea what her name is, but she was really engaging and told us much about the history of the palace. Without her, I don’t think the palace trip would have been so interesting and fruitful.

The small stones below are the place markers for officials to stand at, when addressing the emperor. Of course, the emperor sat in the palace, and the officials had to stand in the sun. The chinese words on each stone signified the different rankings, and the administrative officials stood on one side whereas the military officials stood on the other side.

The wooden panels below are actually the doors for the palace. In the summer, where the weather is hot, the panels were left on top, parallel to the ceiling, to ventilate and cool the place. In winter, the panels were let down, so that the doors could be closed, blocking out the cold wind.

Here, the guide is standing on a cement step, which was used in the olden times by the officials to climb onto horses.

The pavilion in the middle of the pond is known as the Lotus Pavilion, due to its lotus shaped roof. In the middle of the pond, there exists another circular piece of land, covered by lots of flora. There is a reason behind this as well. In the past, people believed that the Earth was flat, and the heaven was round. Hence, the water in the pond represented the rectangular Earth, and the circular part with the greenery represented the heavens. And since it was situated in the palace, it signified that the emperor was born in the place where the Earth meets sky.

To end off the tour, we went over to the Secret Garden, which is a giant garden behind the palace. This is probably the most majestic of all gardens in the 5 major palaces. Only 30% of the land is accessible to the public. However, since spring just began, we couldn’t see much of the scenery. Still nice enough though!

Sinchon (Updated)

Went for a project meeting outside of school today. Our consumer behavior group (consisting of me, Valerie, Suzy and Hyung Tak) met up at this cafe at Sinchon, which is the supposedly cool area for students, since 2 of the top universities, Yonsei University and Ewha Womans (Not typo hor! Correct spelling!) University, are situated there.

Suzy was the one who suggested this place. The exterior looks rather Marche-ish, and inside, there are individual rooms for people to rent. We went to one of such rooms. It’s rather cosy inside, with cushioned seats and a very large table for people to discuss. I guess the cafe is opened with students in mind, since they can meet up and chat or discuss projects in the comfort of an individual enclosed room. Each room is fitted with wireless internet as well, so that the guests can make use of the Internet.

The first 3 hours cost $5 per person, and subsequent hour costs $1. And we were allowed to ask for unlimited drinks from the menu, as well as a one-time order of food (we all had ramen, which was the most filling). Not too bad for a place to meet up!

One interesting thing happened though. When our 3 hours of booking was up, we wanted pay and extend our room usage. However, it was not possible, cause someone else had earlier booked the room. So, one of the waitresses actually came into our room and KNELT DOWN in front of us to apologise. I was so surprised that she suddenly made the move I had nothing to say. Suzy was cool though; she actually insisted we stayed till our time was up, rather than leave slightly earlier so that they can clean up. She probably has encounted such scenes often here.

Bottom picture: Sinchon. Like most other neighbourhoods, this place is pretty good for resting, eating, shopping and other leisure activities.

After the project, Hyung Tak, Valerie and I went over to a Korean-Chinese restaurant for dinner. This place is rather special, as it only serves one menu, loosely translated as phoenix chicken dish. And it is really really good! The stew comes with chicken parts, onions, rice vermicelli, potatoes and is really spicy! Especially at the end when the vermicelli started to soak up all the gravy; that was so amazing! The good thing was the chilli heat did not linger in the mouth and throat long; downing water relieved the spice immediately. And eating the chicken with rice was so satisfying! Woah, I have not eaten a meal that makes me sweat for a long long time, and I really liked it so much. Average cost per person: $8, but it was so good that I will gladly pay the same price to come again.

Before we went back, we went over to Yonsei University as well. For those who don’t know, Yonsei is one of the 3 top universities in South Korea, with Korea University and Seoul National University forming the other two (commonly known as SKY universities here). Unfortunately, it was really dark by the time we got there, so we couldn’t get a good view of the school.

Also, the place was rather deserted, probably cause it was a Saturday. Look at the picture below, doesn’t it look like a haunted house? I am so glad I am studying in Korea University. Apparently, the rivalry between Yonsei University and Korea University is so strong that KU students don’t dare to wear the school jacket around Sinchon, for fear of being jeered at. Exciting sia!

Forever 21 and me

Woah bought my first ever clothing from Forever 21 today. The Forever 21 store in Myeongdong is really huge, comprising 3 storeys, and sells male clothings too! (though I feel really wierd carrying the shopping bag, since Forever 21 only sells female clothes in Singapore)

I think Valerie is getting irritated with me, cause I keep practicing the Korean I have learnt in class on her. And of course, my Korean standard is really KNS, and I have to keep pausing so that I can think of the right word to use. Just now, I was in an underground tunnel and it was freezing cold, so I shouted out 'Cold!' in Korean, and the girls in front of me actually turned to look over at me. Later on, Valerie told me my wierd accent made it sound like 'I like you!' instead. Wah, damn paiseh!

And interestingly, my main medium of communication nowadays is actually Teochew and Hokkien! Cause there are more people who can understand Mandarin than English, and most of the time, when we Singaporeans don't want the other people to understand what we say, we speak in dialect. And we always get stares in our direction, probably cause we are speaking in such a wierd tongue. Apparently, Sheena, one of our NUS exchange friends, loves speaking in Hokkien, cause she can curse and swear all she wants and nobody would understand. And she really does that often (even said the full KNNBCCB in front of the class)!!