그녀의 스토리

Amazing or What..

2009-12-13T23:28:00.002+09:00

Geraldine is busy trying to survive the slew of project submissions and essays and examinations. But guess what? Her Korean friend just bade her goodbye and left the library for a drink with his other Korean friends. Not coffee mind you. Soju! Is this quite normal? Or is her friend just pure smart to have finished studying for his paper Tomorrow with a capital T?

Anyway some of you might have thought that Geraldine has disappeared for good this time. No! She will be back after she burns all her notes in celebration (or mourning?) of the end of Year 3 Semester 1 (okay fine, semester 2 in Korea). See you soon!

Table Manners

2009-11-19T01:08:00.006+09:00

Being a foreigner in another country really opens one’s eyes. Even just during a simple meal, Geraldine noticed how different the culture is between Singapore and Korea. Having lived in Singapore for the past so many years, she is used to sitting on a chair at the dining table and using both her hands to eat! With either a spoon and chopsticks or a fork and a spoon of course!
In Korea, sometimes there is a choice in the restaurant to sit at the standard table or a low table to eat. Of course, the “more Korean” way is to sit at the low table with cushions for comfort. One grouse that Geraldine has is that you will need to take off your shoes before entering the area with the low tables! Inconvenience aside, imagine the smelly feet! *pinches nose*
Like what they say “When in Rome, do as Romans do”. Geraldine tries her best to merge into the culture here in Korea.

#1 The main dish is right in front of you and the rice goes to the left side of it, like a calefare. You know how Singaporeans are used to having a plate of rice in front of them and the main dishes at the centre of the table. (Think zi-char) Once, Geraldine put her rice in front of her and the dish to the upper corner of the rice like how most soups do, and her Korean friend shifted her food around and told her that is the correct way. Even if the main dish is communal, there will be small plates for everyone around the table and of course, it should be placed right in front of them, with the rice at the side.
#2 When eating, Koreans only use their right hand. Which means at any point in time, only either the spoon or the chopsticks is in use. As a general rule, the spoon is used for rice and soups while the chopsticks is used to pick up the pan-chan (반찬) or side-dishes that Korean cuisine is so famous for. According to Geraldine’s friend, it is because of the perception of left-handers. Left-handers were seen as abnormal or weird in the past, so people avoid using the left hand. Though nowadays, Geraldine notices that the younger generation does not really care. Guess you can’t really just use one utensil when eating a steak.
#3 As much as possible, try not to lift up your rice bowl to eat. To Koreans, eating with the rice bowl lifted up is like eating like a beggar. Geraldine was once told that because the Japanese eat with their rice bowls up, the Koreans think that they eat like beggars. On the contrary, the Japanese think that the Koreans eat like dogs, eating with their plate down there. Of course, there is no right or wrong, just interesting cultural differences.
Anyway, doesn’t that dish in the picture look good? It is called Haejangguk (해장국) or literally “soup to chase a hangover”. It is like a life-saver after a night of soju! There are many different kinds of Haejangguk, but the one in the picture is Ppeo Haejangguk (뼈 해장국). The main ingredients are Pork ribs (뼈 means bone) and Gongnamul (콩나무) or soybean sprouts. Whether or not you have a hangover, it is still a delicious meal to have.

No Posts for awhile

2009-11-08T17:30:00.001+09:00

Geraldine's laptop's harddisk just went crazy so her friend, Zixu is performing a major operation involving a harddisk transplant on her laptop. Let's just keep our fingers crossed. 1st her camera, then her laptop.. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

Granny's Paddy Field 논

2009-10-23T23:53:00.003+09:00

Geraldine would like to thank Jaekeun오빠 for inviting her, Shuyi and Brianna to his Grandmother's farm in Eumsong 음성, and also driving them all the way there. 수고하셨어요!
The countryside-deprived girls saw a lot of things and they were very excited..

The house..

The boss.. She's 79 years old, but still strong and hardy. The mountains and air are surely doing her some good!Her golden ricebowl.. literally.The animals.. Do you see 한우? 한우 = korean beef = expensive stuff.. yums.
The plants.. veggies!

Lunch. Tea. Dinner. Thank you granny! 잘 먹었습니다!

Gifts for the girls.. aspiring housewifes. hehe~ hehehe~

*Geraldine's mini Korean classroom*
시골 (si-gol) - countryside
초대해주셔서 감사합니다 (cho-dae-hae-ju-syeo-seo gam-sa-ham-ni-da) - thank you for inviting me/us
잘먹겠습니다 (jal-mog-get-sum-ni-da) - literally "i will eat well", said before a meal
잘먹었습니다 (jal-mo-geot-sum-ni-da) - literally "i ate well", to thank the host for the meal
수고하셨어요 (su-go-ha-syeo-seo-yo) - difficult to translate but it's something like "thanks for the effort" <-- correct me if i'm wrong

Ajumma Power~

2009-10-22T23:36:00.000+09:00

Geraldine is going to refute the popular belief that Korean girls only like to shop and gossip and doesn't like to play sports. Whoever said that? And whoever told Geraldine that?!

Today she went to Wadong Badminton Hall 와동 배드민턴장 a little away from school with her Hanyang Badminton Team friends and she got quite a pleasant surprise. It felt like a Badminton Hall in Singapore, just that everyone was speaking Korean. Lots of ajummas and ajeossis or what Singaporeans know as aunties and uncles, were playing. At the distant court, some kids will be having their training with the coach repeating the same thing over and over again.

[Photo taken from semsem1004]

Geraldine and her mixed doubles partner for the upcoming tournament next month, played with some of the ajummas and ajeossis.. and lost every single game. >_<

Oh, and Geraldine bought new court shoes! Her 1st Yonex pair.. ㅋㅋㅋ

The ajumma at the shop caved in after she used her sweetest voice and said "깎아주세요" and "더?" So she got a 10000won discount, with a pair of socks thrown in. ^^
After 4 hours of grueling play, Geraldine went to the showers and this is what she saw at 1st. Doesn't it look like a nice, spacious shower room?

Truth is.. it's indeed spacious! It's communal! Certainly not a common thing in Singapore. Geraldine is still trying to get used to it.The above picture is not exactly the best picture but you can see how the space is shared. There were a total of 6 mirrors and shower heads.

*Geraldine's mini Korean classroom*
auntie - 아줌마 a-jum-ma
uncle - 아저씨 a-jeo-ssi
please give me discount - 깎아주세요 kkakk-a-ju-se-yo
more - 더 deo
badminton - 배드민턴 bae-deu-min-teon (don't you feel stupid after spending ages trying to read the korean?
toilet - 화장실 hwa-jang-sil
shoe - 신발 sin-bal
socks - 양말 yang-mal

Toilet = KFC?

2009-10-21T03:02:00.009+09:00

Guess what the following picture shows..
a) Window of a Toilet
b) Window of a Fried Chicken Stall

c) All of the above

Answer: (c)

That's where Geraldine and Shuyi got their Fried Chicken from! The delivery culture in Korea is simply amazing! The way students get around the dorm curfew and no food rule is amazing as well.

Here's a step-by-step guide to get yummy chicken when you are locked in dorm at 2am.

1. Call the shop and order.. Duh. (Thanks Jaekeun 재근오빠 for the help here!)

2. Wait for the call from the deliveryman

3. Go to the window of 2nd floor toilet if you are staying higher than that

4. Catch the glove that the deliveryman throws to you

5. Put money into the glove and throw it back down

6. Wait for the deliveryman to secure the chicken

7. Fish it up (Yes the Koreans call it fishing)

8. Unhook the catch9. Taadaa! Enjoy the meal!~

Cool huh?

Coffee Juseyo! 커피 주세요!

2009-10-20T03:44:00.002+09:00

It's midterms now and everyone's mugging madly in Korea. Geraldine is so not showing you her panda eyes. Not sure if it's the same with other universities, but at Hanyang Univ, Ansan Campus, midterms hold the same percentage as final term examinations. Ain't it weird? Finals have always carried a higher weightage in Singapore.

It's 3.59am now. Paper's at 11am. Geraldine is barely halfway through her notes. But oh well, thank God design studio session is optional tomorrow. Her flight to ZzZzZzLand has already been booked. Departure's at 1230pm.

Some words associated with that dreaded word that starts with E you might wanna know..
Midterms - 중간고사 jung-gan-go-sa
Stress - 스트레스 seu-teu-re-seu
Coffee - 커피 keo-pi (Yes it sounds like Kopi, my dear Singaporeans)
Arcade - 오락실 o-rak-sil

HAHAHA yes o-rak-sil is associated with jung-gan-go-sa! Because Geraldine needs to get rid of seu-teu-re-seu!

Be A Star! * - extended

2009-10-18T19:32:00.002+09:00

Geraldine just received news from her sister that the voting has just been extended till end of this month, 31 October. Please show Geraldine your greatest support! She will love you very much! ^^

***

(Post from August 11)

Geraldine joined a makeover/photoshoot for fun last month (secretly to get the freebies and free subscription to the magazine) and God knows how she managed to get into the final 8. The photoshoot is now out in the latest issue of Kozine, an English-Korean magazine in Singapore. Do have a look and give her your support! You are not obliged to vote for her though, if it goes against your conscience.

(Click on images for larger view)
Vote now for the 3 you think should be on our cover and stand a chance to win a goodie bag consisting of LANEIGE products, food vouchers and makeover packages worth more then $3,000. Only 30 goodie bags up for grabs! All you need to do is send an email to admin@mykozine.com indicating your 3 choices with your name, IC/Passport number, address and contact number by August 31 2009. Remember, it is a must to indicate 3 choices. Good luck!

우 선 저희 Be A Star 메이크 오버 컨테스트에 참여하신 모든 독자들께 감사의 말씀을 전합니다. 생각보다 많은 여러분께서 참여 하셔서 톱 8분을(파이널리스트) 선정하기가 힘들었습니다. 파이널리스트 8명은 The Makeover Inc.에서 재미있는 포토슛을 하였습니다!

다음 페이지에 라네즈 화장품을 사용하여 예쁘고 멋있게 변신한 8명을 소개합니다!

투 표하고 선물을 받으세요 파이널리스트 8명의 사진을 보고 가장 마음에 드는 3명을 뽑아 admin@mykozine.com으로 이메일 보내주세요. 이메일 보낼 시 성함, IC (주민등록번호) / 여권번호, 주소, 연락처를 함께 보내주세요. 투표를 하신 분들 중 30분께 선물을 드립니다. (라네즈 화장폼, 레스토랑 쿠폰, 메이크 오버 페키지 포함)

*이메일은 8월31일까지 보내셔야 합니다.

Publish Post

These are the 8 finalists. If you are lazy to look at pretty and handsome faces, you can simply send an email to admin@mykozine.com with the subject "Be A Star! Vote & WIN" and with the following:-

Choices:
1. BAS05
2. BAS(pick a random number from 1-8)
3. BAS(pick a random number from 1-8)

Name:
IC/Passport no.:
Address:
Contact no.:

If you would like to spam, go ahead! They didn't say we are not allowed to. =]] Spread the word and give others a chance to win the goodie bags too! ^^

If you would like to read the magazine, click on the icon to the right of this blog. Or simply go to http://www.mykozine.com/.

Have a nice day ahead! 좋은 하루입니다!

Green.Red,Orange.Yellow 단풍!

2009-10-17T22:32:00.005+09:00

Autumn is hereee! Sorry to all those who are in Singapore, Geraldine knows you guys are still being fried and toasted daily. If you want free aircon everywhere you go, come and visit Geraldine! She still remember what Jihye, her Korean friend said when one of the Singaporeans asked if there was a fridge in our dorm a few months back. Her reply was plainly "You don't need a fridge. The window will be your fridge."

Anyway, it's that time of the year to rummage your cupboard for the climbing shoes and sticks and get out there to enjoy the green, red, orange and yellow.

The following table lists the famous mountains in Korea and tells you when the 1st sign of autumn leaves will appear and when it's the best to conquer that mountain.

For the benefit of those who can't read Korea, Geraldine will romanize it just for you! Don't you feel loved? <3
If you want more information about the various mountains, here's a good site!

Blog Korea! Visit Korea! Camp

2009-10-17T02:26:00.043+09:00

Geraldine feels really fortunate. From a person who used to hate blogs, she became a person who is part of a blogging competition and has so far won an iRiver mp3 player and a free trip around Korea. For all you bloggers out there, visit here for more information. There should be a same competition next year as well! Ain't it exciting?

Anyway, during the 3d2n camp, Geraldine met other bloggers from all around the globe. Russia, Uzbekistan, Taiwan, China, Japan, Sweden, Malaysia, Australia, Indonesia, Korea, India. Did I miss out anyone? It was really interesting to see people from everywhere speaking Korean, no matter whether they are yellow, white, brown or pink. Seeing how much influence the other bloggers have on the world and how much they are achieving and contributing, Geraldine feels slightly guilty and she vows that she will try to up the quality of her blog.

How yul-jeong.blogspot.com came about was for simple reasons:-
1. to keep those precious memories
2. to show people how life of an exchange student in Korea is like. Geraldine doesn't want to just show people famous tourist attractions, those you can find anywhere else. She wants to showcase the everyday life, the little nuggets of culture and the struggles of bring a student in Korea. She wants to share something different from those amazing photos you see in tour packages.
3. to let her parents know that she is still alive.

Geraldine is nowhere near what her fellow bloggers are doing, but she will try. Thank you to those who shared on how they operate their blogs because Geraldine did learn a lot and is inspired. It made Geraldine think what on earth has she been doing all these while. Oh man~

Anyway, it's time to start sharing about the trip treat that the bloggers got!

Day 1 (20091014)
Gathering at KTO office, the HQ of it all
Seon-am Village 선암마을(한반도지형) where mini Korea is
Lunch - Grilled Beef at Dahanuchon Village
???
Jeongseon Railbike Ride 정선 레일바이크
Dinner - Goldongban Jeongsik at Unamjeong restaurant 운암정에서 골동반 정식
High1 Hotel
Day 2 (20091015)
Breakfast
Around the Hotel
Buseoksa Temple, Yeongju 부석사, 영주
Lunch - Sanchae Jeongsik 산채정식
Sosuseowon Confucian School & Seonbichon Village 소수서원 선비촌
Andong School of Etiquette
Dinner - Heotjesabap & Haemulpajeon 헛제사밥 & 해물파전
Check-in House of Korean Culture
Recreation Time
Day 3 (20091016)
Breakfast
Bloggers Sharing Session
Lunch - Dargjjim (steamed chicken?) 닭찜
Andong Hahoe Village 안동 하회마을
After-programme Programme
ㅋㅋㅋ Geraldine loves after-programme programme. Some of them went for a nice, warm samgyeopsal 삼겹살 dinner and a rice wine 먹걸리 "dessert". Geraldine wonders when will the next time they will all meet again.. ㅠㅠ

Thank you KTO and Vank for this treat! <333

PIFF 14th Pusan International Film Festival 부산국제영화제

2009-10-11T04:02:00.000+09:00

It is Geraldine’s 3^rd time at Busan 부산 but she is not tired of it. This time, she went there because of the Busan Film Festival! Woohoo!~~

In total, she caught a total of 8 films over 2 days and reserved the last day for her friends. On Friday, the 1^st day that she was there, she watched 2 films which are a compilation of short films. They were interesting. Some were cute, some touching, some quite impossible to understand and some just fed her to the zee monster.

She also caught Haeundae 해운대. Watching Haeundae the movie at Haeundae the place was quite an experience. This movie was a blockbuster in Korea just a couple of months ago. It was such a touching story that made Geraldine and her friend, Qiuyi, 2 losers sitting at the back of the cinema sobbing. Haha. Currently their favourite movie of all the reason movies they have watched.

That night, Geraldine and her friend caught the Midnight Passion too, which is a movie marathon comprising of 3 movies starting from 2359hrs. Geraldine watched the 1^st, slept the 2^nd and continued watching the 3^rd. The 1^st movie was about vampires in Japan and it was not bad. All the vampires were quite ugly except the king vampire. Obviously this time the humans won but get ready for the sequel. The 2^nd movie was about some police and gang, sorry Geraldine is unable to tell you anything much more. The 3^rd movie was about how evil humans are and some parts were so disgusting it made Geraldine’s stomach stir. The film revolved around 4 prisoners and how a simple poker card game ended up with someone dead. ㅠㅠ

Geraldine wishes that she lived in Busan so that she can attend the film festival every year. This year it is in its 14^th run. Ever watched a movie that puzzled you so much you wished the director was there so you could ask a few questions? At the festival, that’s just what you can do! For some of the screenings, there will be guest appearance of the directors and/or stars. And there will be a dialogue regarding the film.

There was one movie and Geraldine and her friends caught that was so puzzling and confusing and many people stayed behind to bombard the director with questions and it was interesting to hear what the others were thinking after watching the film. Apparently, many film major students were there too and it felt like a literature class at times.

Geraldine really loves the film festival. It definitely exposed her much more to the world of film-making and she for once begin to perceive a film as a piece of art instead of just something you go to with friends and eat popcorn, nachos and coke.

On the 3^rd and last day in Busan, Geraldine dedicated her day to her friends in Busan. She met up with Qiuyi for lunch and went shopping, eating, chatting blah blah blah. In the evening, she was suppose to meet her Korean friend but he had something on last minute so it was just the girls. They went to Dadaepo Beach 다대포, where every night at 8pm there will be free musical fountain show. It was beautiful and much better than the old sentosa musical fountain. At least there wasn’t any lame storyline. Just music, lights and lots of water.

[pictures coming soon..]

Geraldine just wants to grouse. Ain’t it hard when expectations aren’t met? Ain’t it hard when promises are broken time and again? Ain’t it hard when you know what’s left is just a fragment of a chance?

8.15 Mid-autumn / Korean Thanksgiving 추석

2009-10-03T17:33:00.003+09:00

The lunar calendar says 15th August and it means eating mooncakes and pomelo, drinking tea and looking at the full moon for Singaporeans. At the parks, kids will be playing with traditional lanterns or those omg-so-noisy electronic lanterns and sparklers. Naughty kids will be burning lanterns, candles, candle boxes and whatever they can find to start their own bonfire. Even naughtier kids will be trying to invent their own fire rockets. Naive kids will be throwing sparklers up trees and make a wish if their sparklers stay up there before burning out.

In Korea, it means everyone will be flocking back home, and school will be like a graveyard with the out-of-place foreigner who is left to fend for himself with supplies from the convenience store. Geraldine wants a little bite of the festive atmosphere too, so she started asking around if there is a house that she could visit. Her second plan would be to climb mountains with some Korean friends. Third plan would be to visit a museum with Chuseok activities. Fourth plan would be to rot in the dorm. Thankfully, Geraldine's friend, Shinho오빠 has a friend who is willing to welcome the both of them to his grandparents' house.

So today, Geraldine woke up at 3am to wash the bedsheets and left the dorm at 5am to catch a cab to the subway station. She managed to book a cab with her nursery school standard of spoken Korean! She had to leave so early because she needed to meet Shinho오빠 7am at Cheonan 천안, to take a bus to Jincheon 진천. All these to avoid the traffic jam around Seoul and reach the house early enough to join in the activities.

When the two reached the house, the family was doing ancestral rites, and they were kind enough to allow Geraldine to take some pictures. They then had breakfast and the food was wonderful. Homecooked! (Geraldine misses her mummy's cooking)

After breakfast, they went to seongmyo 성묘, which would be sao3 mu4 in chinese. Very interestingly, this family decided against the traditional tombstone and opted for a garden tomb. In recent years, it is in vogue and also definitely more environmentally friendly. In place of the intrusive blocks of stone, a tree is planted.

All of them then went back to the house for some gathering and relaxing time. Shinho오빠's friend's (Haeok오빠) cousins like skipping and Geraldine skipped a little with them. Everyone joined in, even the kid's daddy. It was fun. But Geraldine also realized that she has grown old and is not as energetic as before haha. The twenty-somethings also had a little chat after that and Geraldine honestly wished her standard of speaking ain't that of a 5 year old kid. Boohoohoo. She is able to understand most of what is being spoken (unless it's super fast with super difficult words) but it takes donkey years for her to construct what she wants to say and then it breaks the whole flow of the conversation. Aargh~

Then it was lunch time!

And photo-time with Geraldine's lousy phone-camera that kept saying "blink detected" and refused to take any pictures. Geraldine needs a new camera.. Anyone?

Just before they all left, Haeok오빠's grandmother shoved 10000W into each of the 3 kids' hands. According to Shinho오빠, this means that she really loved having them around and wished that they would visit again. How kind! Initially, Geraldine was really afraid of how the whole visit would turn out. Too many scary grannies and mothers in the dramas!

[Photos coming soon...]

Yangyang Songyi Mushroom Festival

2009-09-27T12:04:00.000+09:00

Mushrooms! Geraldine loves mushrooms.. So if there is a festival for mushrooms, you bet that she would go! Totally tired out by design mid-submission on Thursday and Cross-year on Friday but she still went to Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do with Albert and Shuyi for the festival. They slept overnight in Seoul at a jjimjilbang (찜질방) on Saturday and set off in the morning on Sunday. Maybe Geraldine will dedicate a post just on 찜질방 soon...

Anyway, the event venue is really mushroom-here-mushroom-there-mushroom-everywhere.

Even the express bus bus-stop and information booth are mushrooms!

These are are famous Songyi mushrooms that cost around SGD250 for a small box.. And the wine made from mushrooms! They walked around the event venue and saw this..

[video coming soon]

It's only in Korea!

The trio didn't know that in order to join the trip to go to the mountains to pick the precious mushrooms, they had to register online prior to the event. After that, the trio bumped into the organizers and the organizers asked if they would like to go on a pear-picking trip instead. The trio thought that it was better than nothing, so they gladly took up the offer (and paid 10000W each for it).

At the pear farm, they joined this tour group from Singapore. It was really strange yet familiar to be hearing that so unique singlish again. And that so Singaporean-auntie voices. Ha. Anyway, the pears were huge and they each got to bring home (I mean dorm) 2.

The mega-cang (spring onion? leek?) that Zixu loathes. Mwahahaha~

Not wanting to waste time doing nothing since they had already bought return tickets back to Seoul a good 5 hours later, they asked the organizers who happen to be workers in the tourism board for the city of Yangyang to suggest some places they could go. Apparently, there is a famous temple in the region, and the organizers kindly drove them to the temple.

The temple sits on the hill and at the peak stands a tall statue of the goddess of mercy and it overlooks the ocean. It was Geraldine's 1st time looking at a horizon without boats, ships, cranes or another country. (Think Singapore.)

[picture coming soon..]

Uh-oh

2009-09-26T16:59:00.002+09:00

Geraldine's camera fell onto the ground and the lens aren't working now.. ㅠㅠ

No more blog posts till she charges her LG camera phone or gets a new camera..

Geraldine is very sad now.

CrossYear Project

2009-09-25T12:01:00.001+09:00

Cross-year project for the archi students at Hanyang Univ! That means everyone will be split into groups and each group will be made up of people from different years. On friday morning, the archi dept hired buses to ferry the students and some professors to Incheon 인천. (Yes, that's where the airport is if some of you guys think it looks familiar)

Their 1st stop was Songdo International Business District 송도신도시, an island totally reclaimed for the purpose of a free economic zone. It is currently at the finishing stages of construction and as archi students, Geraldine and her coursemates were given a tour at the construction site. Unfortunately, it was in Korean and Geraldine is not good enough to understand such chim (singlish for complicated) stuff in a foreign language. Nevertheless, it was still interesting. Geraldine's 1st time to wear a helmet (and step into a construction site in slippers, omg right?). No one knew they were going to visit a construction site.

In the afternoon, they arrived at their seafront accomodation. It was lecture-dinner-lecture and barbeque! BBQ with huge chunks of meat/golgi 고기, and beer and soju. Geraldine secretly thinks that the whole point of this cross year thingy is the soju. The programme was such that they have to wake up at 6am the next morning to dig mud. If the project was the focus, then there would be no soju. Yeah? Anyway, the groups were suppose to think of a design for their landscape art. Landscape art is a reaction against commercial art blah blah blah.. They would have to design and build something in the mud when the tide is low and each group will give a short presentation, followed by some critiques from the professors.

Geraldine's group and their design! Taadaa!

It has something to do with the sun rays reflected onto the sea when the tide was in. She concludes that the group leader-cum-designer, Seonho (or SUNho as he spells it) 선호선배 really loves the SUN. ;;;

[to be continued..]

Good Girl

2009-09-21T22:09:00.001+09:00

Geraldine is a good girl, ain't she?

She has been updating her blog.. Heehee.

For those who are wondering why she is suddenly so free to do so many things in a short period of time, please look at the dates of the posts.. haha.

Pain 아퍼 ㅠㅠ

2009-09-20T13:52:00.001+09:00

Geraldine just wanna complain that she is still aching from head to toe. Don't make her laugh, she will bend over in pain. AARGH.

2009 Asia Song Festival 제6희 아시아송페스티벌

2009-09-19T02:59:00.001+09:00

Despite refusing to wake up because of extreme aches all over, Geraldine still managed to make her way to Seoul Olympic Stadium with the rest of the Singaporeans for the Asia Song Festival, featuring singers from around the region.

Taiwan - Show Luo Zhi Xiang
China - Li Yu Chun
Hong Kong - Zheng Yi Jian
Vietnam - Ho Ngoc Ha
Indonesia - Agnes Monica
Japan - V6, mihimaru GT, GACKT
Thailand - K-Otic
Ukraine - Rusiana (Geraldine didn't know Ukraine is part of Asia)

And of course..

2NE1
BIGBANG
Girls Generation a.k.a. snsd a.k.a. 소녀시대
Super Junior a.k.a. SuJu a.k.a. 슈퍼주니어

The concert was not bad, although Geraldine wished that there were more Korean singers. Yes yes, she does know that it's an ASIAN song festival. She wonders why Singapore or other Taiwan singers were not invited though. Stef Sun is too ex? FIR?

This makes Geraldine think back of the time when she attended the K-pop Night at Singapore Indoor Stadium with her Korean teacher and classmates. Difference is this time she actually understood parts of what the emcees were saying.. ^^

The Shining Stars of the night..

Sparkles sparkles.. 샤방샤방? 부셔부셔?

Poor Geraldine was s-t-a-r-v-i-ng for not having dinner and only having a pathetic kimbap for lunch, so she went for a nice meal with Zixu and Samuel while the rest went back to zZzZ. Look at what Geraldine ordered! Galbitang a.k.a. Ribs Soup a.k.a. 갈비탕.

Hugest ribs she has ever seen...

Yums. And good night!~~

Badz Badz Gal 배드민턴 동아리

2009-09-18T03:32:00.002+09:00

Geraldine did joke about starting a bball girls club in Hanyang Univ when she was still in Singapore, ever since she realized that it's uncommon for girls in Korea to play sports. She had many people telling her that she would be the only member. But she never did thought that she would end up joining the Badminton club. She walked past the booths during CCA orientation week a few times and just suddenly thought that joining one would be fun. Geraldine figured that badminton is an indoor sport that can be played even if it's minus 20 degrees outside. And she does miss those times when she trained till 1am. Those were the times..

Anyway, she went for the welcome dinner on Wednesday, got to know a few more people and has a cute dongsaeng (동생) who calls her Yuljeong Nuna 율정누나. And today she went for the 1st ever training session. Surprise, or maybe not at all, there were only 2 other girls. The coach paired everyone up and had a mini tournament. Geraldine and her partner managed to go to the final round but lost 13-15. ㅠㅠ

For the last match that Geraldine played, it was against the coach and this other guy. Lost the 1st and won the 2nd, so they went on to the rubble set. Started off badly with 2-10, but slowly bounced back. Made a few mistakes at the end and before they knew it, it was 20-20. Deuce. Geraldine hates the new point system. Okay fine, not that new. But she lost by one point. If only there was still the "Service over. 2nd server." Soon, she will show the guys that girls can do it too.. regardless of the new or old point system.

So for 2.5 hours non-stop, she lobbed.smashed.pushed.net.dropped.chopped.lifted.dived.

Anyway, Geraldine mentioned something about Nuna 누나 just now. Here in Korea, everyone is like family. If someone is older than you, you will have to show respect to the person and address him/her accordingly. Everyone is a sister, a brother, or an auntie/uncle.

Girl to Older Girl - 언니 Oenni
Girl to Older Guy - 오빠 Oppa
Guy to Older Girl - 누나 Nuna
Guy to Older Guy - 형 Hyeong

People who are younger - 동생 Dongsaeng
Auntie - 아주먼니 / 아줌마 Ajumeoni / Ajumma (Bet everyone already knew this)
Uncle - 아저씨 Ajeossi

Geraldine once heard a conversation among her Korean friends and thought that it was really food for thought. If everyone is either an 오빠/어니 or 형/누나, and only people of the same age or younger than you could you call by name, doesn't that mean that only people of the same age can be friends? The rest are either higher up or lower down on the social ladder. Is that good or is that bad? It is very obvious that the older ones will take care of the younger ones here. But at the same time, the younger ones usually have to do whatever the older ones tell them to. Hmmm........................

DMZ - 2 Koreas

2009-09-12T04:09:00.002+09:00

Geraldine, Albert, Alan and Zihua signed on a trip to the DMZ and spent half a day understanding a little history of Korea and the sad story behind the 2 Koreas. Because of the cheaper package that they chose, costing 48,000W, they didn't get to go to the Joint Security Area (JSA). You know that THE picture of 38th parallel? But they did go to a few places like the Freedom Bridge, 3rd tunnel, Dora Observatory and Dorasan Station.

At the Freedom Bridge..

People writing their wishes for the unification of the 2 Koreas or how much they miss their family on the other side of the border on ribbons.. ='(

The altar that South Koreans use to pray to their ancestors who were in the north whenever there are major festivals like Seollal 설날 (New Year) or Chuseok 추석 (Korean Thanksgiving)..

3rd tunnel.. One of the tunnels that North dug to the South to attack the South but was found out. Too bad photos are not allowed inside the tunnel. But story goes that when the tunnel was discovered, the North painted coal on the walls of the tunnel to pretend that they were digging for coal.

Dora Observatory. This is where you can have a full view of the north and the south, both flags (and the UN flag) and the famous fake village in the north. Sad thing that photos are not allowed once again.

Dorasan Station. This station is built for the hope that one day the Koreas will be re-unified and the train line will run from the south to the north to china and to don't-know-where.

They also went to a supermarket selling stuff from the north.. Pyeongyang Soju!

Mozzies the size of Zebras

2009-09-10T05:07:00.000+09:00

'Nuff said.

busy buzzy bee

2009-08-20T08:31:00.001+09:00

geraldine is busy once again and she knows she is owing a lot of posts.
in a while.....................................

we meet again.. ^^

2009-08-14T20:32:00.000+09:00

Remember the friends that Geraldine met in Jeonju? Subin is back in Seoul! So Geraldine met her up for dinner at Wangshimni, the place where they both stayed. Not knowing what to eat, they walked by an Italian restaurant at Wangshimni Plaza and decided to pop in.

After dinner, they had icecream at Coldstone and chat chat chat chat chatted. Put two girls together and that's what you get!

Subin told Geraldine about her studio apartment and Geraldine was really interested in it, so Geraldine requested for a mini tour. Geraldine did hear that accommodation in Seoul is exorbitant and she wanted to find out what one gets for paying 500,000W a month on top of a 20,000,000W deposit.

The room while standing at the door..

Panorama of the room from the opposite end..

Her wardrobe.. Too small! Girls need something much bigger! ㅠㅠ

Although it's really quite cool to have a bed, toilet, kitchen top, fridge and wardrobe within one step, Geraldine concludes that accommodation in Seoul is indeed crazy.

Friend. Chingu. 친구

2009-08-13T22:13:00.001+09:00

Geraldine is really glad to have friends in a land that she is not so familiar with. After work, she met Minyeong 오빠, who had gone to her school earlier in the year to present about Songdo IBD (송도신도시) and they had dinner together.

They met at Hyehwa Station 혜화역 and at first Geraldine wondered what was there since it was slightly out of the central area of the subway map but she realized after that that the area is popular with university students.

Minyeong 오빠 brought Geraldine to this restaurant called Donghak 동학, which used to be an old religion that many Koreans used to follow. However, of course the restaurant has nothing to do with the religion. Geraldine loves the ambience and the food...

Minyeong 오빠 being seriously shy..

The food, Geraldine forgot what it's called.. And bamboo wine that came in a cute bamboo clay teapot..

After dinner, they went to play pool and it really reminded her of when they were in Singapore with other friends. Geraldine thinks Minyeong 오빠 lost to her on purpose.

[Picture Coming Soon]

On the streets, Geraldine saw a guy playing the "chop-plastic-tiles-to-win-soft-toy" game but there was no girl beside the guy for him to impress. Minyeong 오빠 explained that those kind of games are for

1) Guys who want to impress the girls with them
2) Drunk guys

Geraldine wonders when will be the next time they will meet after she moves to Ansan.. =(

Chicky Ginseng

2009-08-12T17:20:00.001+09:00

It's summer! And the girls are in Korea! What else to eat other than Ginseng Chicken?! Samgyetang! 삼계탕! Tired of waiting for people to bring them to eat, Geraldine and Shuyi walked into a random shop near their workplace and ordered confidently in the little Korean that they both know. Compared to the Ginseng Chicken Soup that they are so used to eat in Singapore, the Korean version is not as herby and the yummy sticky rice is used instead of the Thai rice most Singaporeans eat. And the rice is hidden in the chicken! Geraldine remembers her tutor, Cheekien, who told her about how he ordered Samgyetang and waited and waited for the rice but it never did come. Mwahahhaa!

Quack Quack 오리고기

2009-08-11T17:58:00.000+09:00

When Geraldine's friends suggested duck meat for dinner, she was super duper excited. Geraldine misses lots of Singaporean food, like chicken rice laksa hae-mee kaya bak kut teh tomyum satay nasi lemak roti prata ice jelly hokkien mee wanton mee bakchoy mee kwaychap chilli crab koloyok rojak tauhuey zichar. So after work, Geraldine and her friends went for some exotic duck meat. It was delicious, albeit different.

And there is Jenny, being very satisfied with her food.

Be A Star! *

2009-08-11T11:54:00.000+09:00

Geraldine joined a makeover/photoshoot for fun last month (secretly to get the freebies and free subscription to the magazine) and God knows how she managed to get into the final 8. The photoshoot is now out in the latest issue of Kozine, an English-Korean magazine in Singapore. Do have a look and give her your support! You are not obliged to vote for her though, if it goes against your conscience.

(Click on images for larger view)
Vote now for the 3 you think should be on our cover and stand a chance to win a goodie bag consisting of LANEIGE products, food vouchers and makeover packages worth more then $3,000. Only 30 goodie bags up for grabs! All you need to do is send an email to admin@mykozine.com indicating your 3 choices with your name, IC/Passport number, address and contact number by August 31 2009. Remember, it is a must to indicate 3 choices. Good luck!

우선 저희 Be A Star 메이크 오버 컨테스트에 참여하신 모든 독자들께 감사의 말씀을 전합니다. 생각보다 많은 여러분께서 참여 하셔서 톱 8분을(파이널리스트) 선정하기가 힘들었습니다. 파이널리스트 8명은 The Makeover Inc.에서 재미있는 포토슛을 하였습니다!

다음 페이지에 라네즈 화장품을 사용하여 예쁘고 멋있게 변신한 8명을 소개합니다!

투표하고 선물을 받으세요 파이널리스트 8명의 사진을 보고 가장 마음에 드는 3명을 뽑아 admin@mykozine.com으로 이메일 보내주세요. 이메일 보낼 시 성함, IC (주민등록번호) / 여권번호, 주소, 연락처를 함께 보내주세요. 투표를 하신 분들 중 30분께 선물을 드립니다. (라네즈 화장폼, 레스토랑 쿠폰, 메이크 오버 페키지 포함)

*이메일은 8월31일까지 보내셔야 합니다.

These are the 8 finalists. If you are lazy to look at pretty and handsome faces, you can simply send an email to admin@mykozine.com with the subject "Be A Star! Vote & WIN" and with the following:-

Choices:
1. BAS05
2. BAS(pick a random number from 1-8)
3. BAS(pick a random number from 1-8)

Name:
IC/Passport no.:
Address:
Contact no.:

If you would like to spam, go ahead! They didn't say we are not allowed to. =]] Spread the word and give others a chance to win the goodie bags too! ^^

If you would like to read the magazine, click on the icon to the right of this blog. Or simply go to http://www.mykozine.com/.

Have a nice day ahead! 좋은 하루입니다!

Internship in Space

2009-08-10T08:50:00.002+09:00

As of today, Geraldine has survived 100 hours (10 days of 10 hours) in Space. She didn't see B-612 along the way so she couldn't meet her Little Prince. =(

Anyway, she promised that she will share about her working life so here goes..

0645h - Rise & Shine (although the sun would have been shining for more than an hour)
0715h - Bus and Subway
0800h - Reach office
1200h - Lunch
1300h - Back to office
1800h - End work

Did she mention that this is the ideal? It's more like..

0704h - Grumbles in bed
0726h - Chiongs to the bus
0808h - Steps into office building
1200h - Eat and grow fat
13++h - Still at lunch, drinking coffee or eating ice-cream (with colleagues of course)
17++h - Tea Time if the team isn't busy
18++h - Hangs around till she is given the green light to go

Reporting for 1st day of work..

Geraldine's table..

Stuff she received.. The 1st shows a floorplan and names and photos of her colleagues in her division. Her cute colleague, 현주선배님 gave it to her. It was really helpful. Geraldine wrote 习字 with her colleagues' names to try and remember everyone. By the way, she's quite sad that her name was spelt wrongly. =X

Lunch on 2nd day of work.. (Geraldine didn't dare take pictures on the 1st day of work) Barley rice bibimbap! Barley as a main course. Geraldine has always eaten barley as a dessert, so she was pleasantly surprised. Korea doesn't have barley drinks though..

Dinner with colleagues for the other intern, 두한선배 in the team who will be leaving. Chicken with beer.. Egg dish.. And Golbangi! (골뱅이) Which keeps reminding me of "Go bang head!" (Long pia).. Anyway Geraldine doesn't know if it's a shellfish or a snail.. And more beer after that.. Archi is really a male-dominated industry.

두한선배.. Didn't get to talk to him much during the 4 days that we were in the same team.. He says he is shy.. >.< Don't you wonder at times whether you should eat rice or noodles during mealtimes? Fret not! Just eat both! 부대라면?

Restaurant in the day.. Home in the night.. Isn't it smart? The two pretty ladies are Geraldine's colleagues..

Hyunsuk-seonbaenim 현숙선배님, modelling for the Kimchi Jjigae (김치찌개) and noodles..

Geraldine's 1st task - to do a scale 1:600 model of a mixed-use project, 강복미아 5구역 도시 환경 정비 사업. A compilation of the process..

The completed work..

Guess the difference between 감사합니다, 고맙습니다, 고마워요, 고마워. Answer: No difference! In terms of meaning.

The Korean language has different formalities, meaning you speak differently to people of different seniority levels even though you are saying exactly the same thing! It is especially evident in the office where everyone holds a certain position. Geraldine is glad that her superiors do not fault her at times when she did not speak formally enough. There are generally 3 levels of formality - honorific, formal polite and informal polite.

Honorific - for your grandparents, parents, big bosses, announcements and signages, customers
Common endings: -십시오, -입니다, -습니다, 합니다, -세요.

Formal polite - 70% of conversations are at this level. For people roughly around the same level as you, but maybe not so close, and seniors in school. Geraldine is most used to this.
Common endings: -이에요/예요.

Informal polite - For close friends.
Common endings: -야.

SingSingSing

2009-08-06T08:34:00.002+09:00

Geraldine sings Hallelujah because her friend, Zixu, managed to recover most of the photos in the SD card that went crazy... Pictures will be up really soon. And if you are wondering, Geraldine did not disappear from Earth; she was just too busy with internship but she will be posting new entries to show you her 8-6 routine soon..

Last TGIF of the Month

2009-07-31T08:50:00.005+09:00

On every last Friday of the month, it's CLUBDAY in Korea! That means you just need to buy one entrance ticket and are free to roam to any of the clubs! Sounds like a good deal right?

Geraldine and her friends went to Hongdae 홍대, near Hongik University, 홍익대학교. That area is dotted by clubs.

The girls dolling themselves up..

Buying the entrance tickets which come in a wristband form, much like that of an amusement park.

Look at the sea of people! It's crazy with a capital C!

But despite the madness of the crowd, Geraldine bumped into her Singapore friend! At Hongdae in Korea! How coincidental is that! Korea is almost 150 times bigger than Singapore!

Anyway the nicer clubs were so packed with people, you don't even have to walk. The crowd will carry you. The only way you could breathe was to go to the bar counter and stick your head into the bartenders' territory. (--.)~

So Geraldine's friends decided to get out onto the streets to have some Soju fun..

bootiful hair ^^

2009-07-27T16:25:00.000+09:00

Ooh im a guest blogger!~ okay, a vaguely squeal-y, sometimes emo guest blogger, but never mind. Anyway, I’m putting in a little bitty fun-sized post on gerri’s blog about our lovely hair day, since it was a biggg leap from our ‘old’ selves. Hair is totally as important as clothes and shoes, if not more. So since obviously drying out our hair with flat irons [ not that we possess any ] didn’t sound like a good idea, it was off to 이대 for HAIR DAY! Anyhows, being the impulsive people that we are we stepped into the 1st [ maybe 2nd] shop from the subway exit, ably assisted by a flyer toting auntie [ they call them ahjoomas here ]. You’ll probably see photos of gerri in the process of rebonding, but NOOOO not me. I forbade her to take photos of me on pain of DEATH. Oh alright, not death, but like, her beloved pink cat might mysteriously find itself at the bottom of our dormitory sometime ^________^ *smiles sweetly* I firmly believe in non-violent measures. Stuffed animals don’t count. Strangely, the process didn’t take as long as I remembered, but I was quite pleased with the results, even though I have a sneaking suspicion my hair isn’t straight enough and won’t last *cries* But I can hope. And Gerri’s hair is nice and long and straight [ mine grows like a snail ], although she’s absolutely sure it isn’t perfectly straight but im sure it’ll be fine! The back is poker straight anyway, heh. Alrightys, I’m all done *squeal* Shooooooyi says CIAO! Oh wait, wrong language. 안녕! ^^

Lunch with Professor Shin

2009-07-26T15:47:00.002+09:00

Professor Shin Sung Woo invited all the NUS students for lunch. It was quite a stressful lunch since it was such an important lunch meeting. So important that Geraldine's senior, Seonho-seonbae called/smsed/nateoned profusely to remind everyone not to be late.

During the meeting, Prof Shin gave a mini welcome speech and also informed everyone which company they are attached to for internship. Finally! Everyone has been waiting since forever, and were getting quite worried when no news was received other than the internship commencement date.

Geraldine is attached to Space Group, the best (because she's there =pPp) architecture company in Korea. http://www.spacea.com/eng/main.asp After lunch, everyone went to the famous COEX mall in Korea. Tired of shopping, Geraldine and Shuyi followed their Korean friends to the new art extension building and headed to the cafe for a nice cup of coffee, while waiting for the rest of the Singaporeans.

Lao Di Fang

2009-07-25T14:44:00.030+09:00

Geraldine misses her friends in Korea University of Technology and Education (KUT), so she went to Cheonan-city to visit them 2 days ago. They 1st met in January this year when Geraldine went for a student union exchange with KUT. They met again not long ago in Singapore when her friends came for the exchange, this time hosted by National University of Singapore (NUS). She felt like a VIP when her friends fetched her at the bus terminal and brought her around. They had lunch at Yawoori Departmental Store, the area in which Geraldine has quite a bit of memories of.

Guess who Geraldine saw after lunch!

Teeheehee. And Geraldine bumped into Seohui-oenni too! At the bookstore in yawoori. Donne, if you are reading this, the following picture was taken for you, as requested by Shinho-oppa.

And Geraldine saw super cute T-money "card" being sold in the bookstore.. If only they weren't so much more expensive than the normal boring card.

Just wanting to catch up with friends instead of rushing around to visit "famous" places like a tourist, Geraldine felt really satisfied doing things like just sitting in a cafe with her friends, taking neoprints (known as sticker photo in Korea or 스사), going for dinner and a game of bowling.

The group took a bus to the campus and Geraldine was shocked to find out that it's a 40 minute bus ride from downtown. Shinho-oppa explained that the parents wanted the school to be in a ulu place so that their kids would study.

When Geraldine reached KUT, she was pleasantly surprised by the VIP-like welcome from her friends. They were so cute to stand by the roadside!

One of Geraldine's favourite Korean food, samgyeopsal (삼겹살).

After dinner exercise..

Supper to replenish the energy lost. The 2nd photo shows Korean-style "co-lo-yok". You know that delicious fried thing that pretends it isn't fried? Otherwise known as sweet and sour pork.

The next day, Geraldine had a sumptious lunch and played squash and table tennis in the afternoon. Wondering why she played so many sports? Because her Korean friends know that she loves sports and they accomodated her. 고마워요!

Thanks to Youngji's senior, Minwoo-oppa, the girls had a crash course for squash. And for dinner, Geraldine had yet another sumptious meal. This time, she tried something most people might not like. Sundaegukbap (순대국밥). No, not sundae as in sundae sold at Macdonalds for SGD1.5 but unknown fillings (to Geraldine) stuffed in pig's large intestines. It was delicious though. Favourite sundaeguk restaurant of KUT students. Geraldine eats everything except insects and worms.

Being tired out by the squash game in the afternoon, Geraldine opted to go back to her buddy, Youngji's dorm to take a shower and a rest before meeting the rest up for a game of pool (known as pocketball in Korea).

At the pool palour, it was a surprise for Geraldine to see only a single pool table. The rest are pool tables without any pockets played with just 2 red balls and 2 white balls! Geraldine's friend explained to her that it's a game unique to Japan and Korea. How interesting. Geraldine later on figured out that someone who is good at that game, will be good at pool for sure.

After pool, they all went to a pub-ish place and had some beer. Geraldine hates beer in Singapore, but Korean beer is so smooth she doesn't mind a little. The atmosphere of the place was quite nice and she enjoyed the company of her friends. ^^

Thank you to all those who took time out to come and meet Geraldine for a meal or two and send text messages to Youngji to say goodbyes to her, and special thanks to Boram-oenni, Shinho-oppa, Youngji and Eunbi who accompanied her the whole way!

자네들을 친구사귀서 정말 내 해운이에요.
나는 재밌게 놀아서 고마웠어요.
다시 천안에 자네들을 만나러 갈거예요.
그 때까지 보고 싶을 거예요.
서울에 오면 연락해 줘요!

Joy in Jeonju

2009-07-22T14:01:00.023+09:00

Geraldine's friend, Dabin, is going into army soon. Unlike Singapore's army, when guys in Korea enter army, they really disappear for two years. Wanting to see more of Dabin before he evaporates, Geraldine made a trip to Jeonju herself. However, luck wasn't with her as Dabin's grandparents were at his house and he also had TOEIC to study for. There was some miscommunication and Geraldine found herself alone in Jeonju.

When Geraldine reached Jeonju, kind Dabin went to fetch her and had dinner with her. Geraldine heard that the bibimbap (비빔밥) in Jeonju is famous and wanted to try some but Dabin didn't know where the famous ones are. Geraldine thinks it's just like her not really knowing where to bring her foreign friends around when they were in Singapore. So Geraldine settled for some sushi thing and omelette rice.

Dabin found a nice little motel for Geraldine and left to catch the last bus. Feeling utterly bored, Geraldine decided to venture out onto the streets. It wasn't that late anyway. And guess what? She saw what she has always wanted to own in a little arcade! Those who watch 우리결혼했어요 the variety show would know. 서인영의 고양이!

Geraldine didn't have small change so she inseted a ten thousand won bill into the machine and was given 66 tries. She caught Cherri (yes, the kitty now has a name) within a few tries and was left with so many tries she didn't know what to do other than continue catching whatever looked possible. In the end, she rescued 4 more from the evil machine.

On the way back to the motel, she saw another arcade. This time with a basketball machine! Ignoring the fact that basketball is played mainly by guys in Korea, she inserted 300won for a game. That's like 3 times cheaper than in Singapore. Somehow, Geraldine was really on form that night. She just kept scoring, and she thinks she unintentionally stroked this guy's ego. Oops.

After going back to the motel with 5 new family members, she had a nice swimming pool-bathtub shower and slept sweetly, in preparation for the next day.

Yes, they tied a HUGE block of eraser to Cherri to make it difficult for Geraldine to rescue her.

The next morning, Geraldine was proud to have woken up without the aid of any alarm and set off to the streets armed with a hand-drawn map (artist: Dabin) and a Korean phrasebook. There were 4 places that she had chosen to visit, but getting to the bustop for the 1st destination was almost impossible. She was going to freak out. Luckily, she asked this deliveryman for directions and being not able to understand him, he gave the poor lost girl a lift to the bustop. At the bustop, Geraldine found the bus that she has to take to her destination. Wanting to check if it was in the correct direction, she asked this lady who was waiting at the bustop for her bus too. To cut the long story short, the lady's daughter is a student of Hanyang University, the school that Geraldine is to study at for the coming semester, so mother and daughter brought Geraldine around Jeonju. Geraldine's new friend is called Subin.

Following Geraldine's itinerary, 1st stop was Jeonju Paper Museum (반아시아 종이 박물관). Geraldine followed the history of paper and even made her own Korean paper (한지)!

Next stop was Jeonju World Cup Stadium (전주월드컵경기장). Not that there was a game there, but Geraldine read about the architecture. It is shaped like a fan. She thinks it's because of Jeonju's logo. There was really nothing much to see there. Not one ever goes there. In the day. At night, there will be food carts and people would be gathering at the large public spaces, Geraldine learnt from her Korean hosts. Sadly, the group weren't able to assess the internal of the stadium. It would definitely have been picture-worthy.

For lunch, Geraldine was treated to a sumptious meal of Jeonju's famous bibimbap. (Finally!) According to her Korean hosts, there are only 4 famous restaurants in Jeonju serving good bibimbap. In her head, Geraldine was thinking that no tourist would ever ever know secrets like this. Many would be fooled by every shop name that says "Jeonju Bibimbap", which are aplenty at the bus terminals, far from where the real deal is. Anyway, the four places are ????????????????????. The one that Geraldine went to, is Subin's mother's great-grandmother's favourite restuarant. How honoured she felt to be in a restaurant with such a long history.

After lunch, Subin brought Geraldine to Jeonju Hanok Village (한옥마을). Hanoks are tradtional Korean houses. If you watched 우결, remember Hwanhee and Hwayobi?

Following her mother's orders, Subin brought Geraldine to a major bookstore to recommend her an architecture book that her mom thinks is good. And then they shopped in the "Myeongdong of Jeonju". Hahaha. Meaning the shopping district in Jeonju.

When evening came, it was time for Geraldine to return to Seoul. She bade farewell to her new friend, but not without promising to meet for a movie when Subin comes to Seoul. See you soon, Subin!

Thanks to Subin and her mom, Geraldine enjoyed her adventure in Jeonju!

Shopping.Museum.Shoppping

2009-07-20T08:49:00.038+09:00

On Saturday, 토요일밤에! Geraldine and Shuyi went to Myeongdong for some retail therapy. They needed some exercise for all the late night suppers they have been having, which are so uncommon here in Korea.

They visited many, many shops not because they liked all of them, but because it was raining on and off and they darted from shop to shop to escape the rain!

And Geraldine spotted Hyunjoong in the crowd! ^^

For dinner, the rain forced them to quickly choose a place to settle down. They are happy with their choice amidst the situation though. You'd see why...

They had lots of fun cooking and eating it. It wasn't even very expensive. The side dishes and plain water are free flow. It cost 5000won each. In Singapore, it'd probably have been around SGD12++? Geraldine's guess.

On Sunday, they joined the rest of the Singaporeans who arrived the night before and 2 kind archi seniors brought all of them around. Seonho-oppa and Jina-oenni. 감사합니다! Seonho-oppa wanted to bring all of them to Changdeokgung Palace but it was too sunny so he brought everyone to The National Folk Museum of Korea. Aren't they such culture vultures?

Korean vases from different periods..

Traditional Korean kitchen..

Traditional Korean room..

Traditional Korean bed.. Looks cooling..

(One of the many) Traditional Korean dance..

Traditional Korean fabric weaving..

Traditional Korean basket weaving..

Traditional Korean straw mat weaving..

Tradtional Korean paper.. Hanji (한지).. Geraldine can't wait to go to Jeonju's Paper Museum..

Korean rice cake moulds.. which reminds Geraldine of mooncake moulds...

Traditional Korean Costume.. Hanboks (한복)!

Traditional Korean Sauce Pots.. Onggi..

Traditional Korean Masks.. (The two girls attempting the dance HAHA)

Traditional Korean Acupuncture..

Girl emo-ing..

Being such cultured people, the group went to Insadong (인사동) after that. Insadong is Seoul's Art District, something that Singapore's Waterloo Street tries to be.

Street performance in Insadong..

A walnut snack sold on the street that was delicious..

On route to Dongdaemun (동대문), the group saw something quite bizarre on the streets. Someone was selling little puppies for 90,000won (~SGD100).

Dongdaemun is one of the major shopping districts in Seoul. No tourist would not have heard about it. Although there are so so so many shops in Shoppers' Heaven Dongdaemun, Geraldine still prefers Myeongdong because people don't try to cheat her as much in Dongdaemun. Dongdaemun is probably Bugis Street in Singapore times 20 times?

At first afraid of being victims in a tourist spot, the group managed to find a nice little Korean BBQ restaurant and had dinner there. They had one of Geraldine's favourite Korean food, samgyeopsal (삼겹살), along with some beer (맥주) and soju (소주).

Remember Geraldine was talking about T-money (EZ-link) as handphone accessories? Her Singaporean friends bought them!

On Our Own

2009-07-18T03:37:00.021+09:00

The two girls woke up at 7.30am to take a bus to Wangshimni Subway Station to take the subway to Nambu Bus Terminal to take an express bus to Boryeong Bus Terminal to take a local bus to Daecheon Beach to attend the Boryeong Mud Festival (보령머드축제) (www.mudfestival.or.kr/index.html). The whole journey took them 6.5 hours. Along the way, they had a lot of fun. For lunch, they ate at another Kimbap shop. Shuyi had Meat Dumplings (고기만두) while Geraldine had Kimchi Kimbap (김치김밥). Geraldine loves the way the dumplings look. They are like sexy doughnuts.

The girls are really proud to have purchased their express bus tickets to Daecheon. It was a little scary because they had to make do with the little Korean they know, but everything worked out just fine. Thanks to the really efficient Korean transport system.

When they reached the event venue, they were pleasantly greeted by a carnival atmosphere.

They had to take many many photos to prove to those who thought that they weren't able to get past the bus terminal. Girls aren't that weak! Hng!~

Of course they couldn't resist the fun and the supposed good health effects of the mud..

Geraldine loves everything about the festival, even the dustbins..

And the girls made their own way back to Seoul. They spent a total of 10 hours travelling but they know that it's worth it for all the time and money. Who would have thought mud was this fun?

For dinner, the two girls attempted to order chicken delivery. The ajeossi at the shop doesn't speak English so Geraldine tried her best to understand him and she put to good use half of what she learnt to say during a delivery order on the phone. Hopefully her Korean teacher is proud of her. 30 minutes later when the chicken hasn't arrived, the two girls went downstairs to ask the guard if the delivery guy came and was told that food is not allowed in the dormitory. He just kept telling them that but luckily, a kind couple overheard and told them the delivery guy came and left. The girls called the chicken shop again and he came back, telling them he was unable to call them because it's an overseas number. Well, no matter what, the girls are glad to have food in their stomachs after the last meal 12 hours ago.

Korean chicken delivery consists of three important/basic components - fried chicken (프라이드 치킨), spice chicken (양념치킨) and radish cubes (무). Geraldine likes the spice chicken better as they don't make her feel as guilty eating the fried chicken. It's like go-lo-yok, Singapore's sweet-and-sour pork. It's fried but it's pretending not to be fried. The two girls love the radish cubes as they are refreshing after every mouth of sinful meat. The two girls also found weird chicken parts like neck in their dinner, and some parts were unidentifiable. Maybe Biology Class should have taught them something more useful.

Around The Neighbourhood

2009-07-17T00:48:00.023+09:00

Eunhae and Sowon, the 2 Korean girls who were exchange students at NUS last year, came to meet Geraldine and Shuyi today to orientate them around the area and helped them open a bank account. Anyone interested in depositing money into Geraldine's account please send her a private message. She was really surprised that it is possible to open an account without putting a single cent into it. They did that because they haven't seen an ATM with the cirrus logo so were unable to access their moolah. They also bought their T-money, otherwise known as EZ-link card in Singapore. What amazes her is that the Koreans are so innovative to make T-money available as handphone accessories too! (Sorry she didn't take any photos!) When you go out, you would definitely have two things with you - phone and transport card. Put the two together and taadaah!

They went to Wangshimni (왕십리), where the nearest subway station is, to buy some daily necessities like toilet paper. It is times like these (away from home without mommie) that you realize how important toilet paper is. And of course, mommie too! Haha. They bought toilet paper, shampoo, soap and detergent, and wanted to get tissue packets but Korean supermarkets don't sell them. That's because every restaurant in Korea have serviettes so they don't have the habit of bringing personal tissues around. So if you are wondering, no, obviously they don't have the I-chope-this-seat-with-MY-tissue-paper-you'd-better-go-somewhere-else culture. At the shampoo section, there are smell samples. How interesting! She doesn't know why Singapore doesn't have cool stuff like these.

The two girls attempted to make contact lenses at a spectacle shop and guess what?! Contact lenses can be tried on! They are so much cheaper than in Singapore and they will let you try before you buy! Geraldine tried on two pairs but they didn't fit so she didn't buy eventually. Shuyi got a pair and she's really happy with the bargain. Another weird thing about Korea, they don't have monthlies. They have dailies, bi-weeklies and 6-8 months. How strange. At least to Geraldine.

Today, they learnt how to take a bus too! It's the same as EZ-link, just tap-and-go, but the deduction system is slightly different. The moment you tap your card, the basic fare will be deducted. If the fare is higher, it will be deducted again when you tap your card upon alighting.

The girls really wanted to treat the Korean girls dinner for their really kind help the whole day, but both had to go home. =( So Shuyi and Geraldine went on their own adventure around the neighbourhood. They feel a great sense of accomplishment for being able to order their own dinner and have the ahjumma at the shop understand them. =] Food's good and not very expensive. Shuyi had kimchi ramyeon (김치라면) while Geraldine had dumpling ramyeon (만두라면).

After dinner, they continued to walk around, and they saw more zebras than they've ever seen on the road.

In all directions! Isn't it lovely? Bet Singaporeans would love it since we are always taking short-cuts in everything.

Last highlight of the day is that Shuyi and Geraldine managed to look for a shop with Go-stop cards and purchased them with not much difficulty. They went to a few shops and were told that they don't sell it, till in one of the shops, the kind ajeossi told them that a shop further down the road has it. In Korean.

Safely (Back) In Korea

2009-07-16T04:02:00.021+09:00

Geraldine and Shuyi left the Sunny Island for Kimchi Land yesterday morning. Thank you to all who came to see Geraldine off. She really appreciates it. Especially those who live on the other side of the country! <3

The flight was rather uneventful and the girls reached their destination on time. Hyunjin-oppa and Dabin, two of Geraldine's best korean friends were there to fetch them.

Thank God they were there if not they'd really be lost! Geraldine left a piece of my luggage on the conveyor belt and fortunately Hyunjin-oppa was there to speak in too-too-train Korean and make several calls to the different departments to retrieve her luggage. PHEW~

The journey to dormitory was long as it was peak hour. Han River is now flooded due to the heavy downpours the past few days. While in the heavy traffic, she saw something!

Hyunjin-oppa asked if they wanted some and she promptly said yes. They've all seen it in the dramas but have never experienced it - making a purchase from a vendor standing in the middle of a congested road. By "they", of course Geraldine means the two of them really "swagu" Singaporeans. She has no idea how much it cost and forgot the name of it but it's some rice thing that makes one feel happy and healthy eating it even though it's carbo.

They all met Jinhee and Eunhae at the dormitory and they helped the two girls with their check-in.

This is how their room looks like now! Complete with an aircon for that Singaporean in them and a heater for winter.

All 6 of them went to downtown for dinner and the Koreans treated them to a sumptious Korean meal and desert, making Shuyi and Geraldine feel really bad. On top of letting them trouble them the whole day, the Koreans fought with them for the bill. Literally.

Korea's Festivals

2009-07-12T05:54:00.007+09:00

Geraldine just visited KTO's homepage again and found out that they listed all the festivals that will be happening all around Korea till forever, so she started planning her itinerary till end of the year using excel spreadsheet. Perhaps she's being too ambitious but she went through the whole list and narrowed down to the "few" that she's interested in and chose a tentative date that she will attend the festivals. It looks like this for now..

17 July - Boryeong Mud Festival @ Daejeon-gwangyeoksi, Chungcheongnam-do
15 August - Gangjin Celadon Festival @ Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do
5 September - Yeongdong Nangye Traditional Music Festival @ Yeongdong-gun, Chungcheongbok-do
12 September - Hyoseok Culture Festival @ Pyeongchang-gun, Gangwon-do
26 September - Yangyang Songyi Mushroom Festival @ Yangyang-gun, Gangwon-do
27 September - Cheonan Heungtaryeong Dance Festival @ Cheonan-si, Chungcheongnam-do
3 October - Andong International Maskdance Festival @ Andong-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do
4 October - Jinju Namgang Yudeung (Lantern) Festival @ Jinju-si, Gyeongsangnam-do
11 October - Gimje Horizon Festival @ Gimje-si, Jeollabok-do
17 October - Gwangju Kimchi Festival @ Gwangju-gwangyeoksi, Jeollanam-do
18 October - Ulsan Oegosan Onggi Festival @ Ulsan-gwangyeoksi, Yeongnam

There are many more which she didn't give a chance to, but she guesses these will keep her really really busy. Altogether there are 34 Festivals from July to December. She wonders how many of them will she eventually get to go. As you can see, the peak period is during September and October. There are just 2 festivals in November which she ain't terribly interested in, and none in December at all. Not that she's complaining, because final term examinations will be in December and she will need all the time in the world to prepare for final project submissions and start mugging for written papers. If you haven't already noticed, all the dates are during weekends. She expects to be stuck in school during weekdays gobbled up by design work and site analysis visits. Let's just hope she won't become squashed in the weekend crowd. But then again, it may be a good way to slim down after months of Korean BBQ Pork Belly and Soju/Maegju/Somaeg. ^^

많은 곳으로 가고 싶다.
많은 것을 하고 싶다.
많은 사람을 만나고 싶다.
많은 친구를 사뀌고 싶다.
그런데 시간이 많지 않다.
6개 월이 길어 보이지만 사실은 많이 너무 짧다.

The First Step

2009-07-07T03:17:00.019+09:00

This shall be the treasure chest of Geraldine's memories in the land of Kimchi. From July 2009 till January 2010, she will be an exchange student in Hanyang University. It has been a long wait since application last winter and D-Day is looming nearer and nearer. The journey will start on..

15 July 2009, 0915h @ Singapore Changi Airport Terminal 3.

Everything still seems so surreal for now, but she guesses reality will sink in when it's

15 July 2009, 1645h @ Incheon International Airport.

아직도 한국에 가는 것을 믿을 수가 없다.
한국에 있어야 비로소 믿을 수 있다.
정말 정말 기대하고 있다.
기다리는 게 많이 힘들다. ㅠㅠ

Her Current Plan..

15 July - Arrival / Settle Bank Account & Phone
16-17 July - Shop for Necessities and Everything Else
18-19 July - Visit 다빈 in 전주
20-21 July - Visit 원식오빠 in 대구
22-27 July - Visit 한국기술교육대한교 in 천안 for two days / Go to Everland / Meet Jeannie & the Rest!
28 July - Start Internship ='(