같이 가자!

Coco Residence, 1601-6, Bongcheong 7-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul

코코레지던스 서울대점, 1601-6, 봉천7동, 관악구, 서울특별시

Instead of explaining what is a gosiwon (고시원), please check out the detailed info (and list of gosiwon) on Galbijim XD There are many gosiwon available and my only pointers on how to choose mine were based on my budget and strategic location of CoCo Residence to Seoul National University (SNU)… oh well and the fact that there is an option for room with attached toilet.

For CoCo Residence, it’s located within 100m away from Exit 2 of Seoul National University Subway Station (서울대입구) which is on Green Line 2. Once you get out from subway Exit 2  just walk straight all the way for around 3mins maybe. You shall see on your right side the following: 7-11, Mr. Pizza, T-World, Hana Bank, Caffe Bene, Outback Steakhouse, CoCo Residence. If you took the airport bus instead then you will be dropped off at a bus stop nearby Exit 3. As such you would want to decide on whether to cross the street to go to subway Exit 2 or drag your luggages down the stairs of subway Exit 3 to go to Exit 2 through the underground tunnel. If crossing street, you can walk further down from where the airport bus dropped you off (towards opposite direction of the subway Exit 3 i.e. you should be going the direction of SNU; you should see Starbucks, Paris Baguatte the likes along the way) until you see a traffic light. When you need to take the airport bus back to Incheon, the right nearest airport bus stop will be the one just nearby this traffic light (the direction should be going opposite from SNU). Do take note that there is no escalator nor lifts available at CoCo Residence which is housed on a 4-floors storey building. Be prepared to carry your luggages and good luck if you are at highest floor >.> 

I had some issues with CoCo though I won’t go into too much details here but just that I do not appreciate being informed on not having room with attached toilet after I was done with the booking deposit. As well when being informed able to change to room with attached toilet after several days staying in one without attached toilet yet still being charged same price as someone who stayed fully in room with attached toilet.  Especially when it was agreed earlier would be charged lesser. I think business like this should really stick to what was agreed instead of changes and then giving excuses such as language communications as barriers etc.

Nonetheless I will still provide a quick run through review on the overall of this place so that others can have better perceptions and expectations of what’s in store.  BTW you should know that the one who is handling the email enquiries (aka the owner) is not the same person as the one who is in charge in the gosiwon (aka the CoCo manager). My rental fee for the period that I stayed from 29/7 - 21/8/11 added up to approximately 400K won. 

My final room (since I had to change room as mentioned above) is an average small single sized room considering gosiwon is where you cramped live for study/temp stay. IMO it was more than enough for a temporary stay, I mean you wouldn’t want to end up having to spend a lot of time cleaning up the place (which is one of the task you have to do on your own, be it cleaning the room or the attached toilet). There is one single (creaking) bed, one study table with chair, one bar sized fridge, some upper head wall shelves, one small one-door closet and an old looking small TV. The bed comes with just the bed sheet and you have to bring/buy own pillow and blanket. If you are lucky there should be some leftover hangers from previous occupants otherwise you need to bring/buy those as well. The attached toilet has a toilet bowl, sink, mirror, and a moveable shower head. You have to buy your own cleaning tools as well cause I didn’t see any for public use.  I didn’t ask the manager for I have left over from the previous occupants XD Above the bed area there is a long railing where you can hang things. In my case I was a bit luckier in the sense there was a table fan when I moved into the final room. Apparently it was requested by the previous occupant from the manager. The fan was important because (1) I am one who can’t stand the heat (prior to moving to the final room I even went out to buy a small USB portable fan coz summer is crazy hot!), (2) the centralised air-con has timing to be switched on by the manager - switch on in afternoon (I forgot the exact timing) after mostly students return from the uni and then switch off around 5pm and then switch on again at 9pm till midnight. However depending on the weather on that day, the air-con is switch on/off accordingly by the manager. The (dirty) ventilation in the room is ok when the air-con is switched on. But the manager will probably tell you to keep your small room window (which faced the corridors) open  if you feel stuffy but as a female staying in a floor of males, I didn’t agree this is a good way especially I tend to forget the small window is open lol!

The kitchen is a cramped small area where you can cook (with stove or microwave) and dish washing. The good thing is that the water dispenser is free for use and there is also free cooked rice everyday. If you happened to be the last person to take the rice and if it’s still eating hour, you should cook the rice again for the next person ^^; There is a small table at corner with two chairs if you want to eat in the kitchen. None of the appliances, utensils etc are to be taken out of the kitchen though so you should bring/buy your own basic utensils. There is a laundry room in between floor 2 to 3. There are 2 washing machines free for use. You provide your own laundry powder/detergent. You can then choose to dry your clothes on the 2 racks placed in between floor 3 to 4 or go to the open space on the highest floor of the building to hang dry your clothes on the clothes lines provided together with the clothes pegs. You can request for the public use iron and iron board but as they are kept with the last person requesting to use them, upon new request to use them, the Manager actually have to get hold of this last person before the next requestor can use them. I found this a bit ridiculous since wouldn’t it be more efficient to use then return to the manager once having done with the ironing so that the next requestor has no problem in obtaining the items? O_o Oh and no shoes are allowed beyond 1st floor - shoes are to be kept in the shoes locker provided to each individual; don’t bother with locking it, doesn’t seem to work anyway =.=

One thing you will learn (if you haven’t) when you stay at CoCo is to separate your garbage for recycling purpose. As well as to clean your own room hand broom and dustpans are provided) and toilet (unless you are using public toilet then the cleaning lady will take care of it). At the end of the day when you leave/move out from CoCo Residence there will be room inspection to ensure cleanliness and room in good state before your key/room deposit is return by the manager. The deposit was 50K won for me, which is quite a lot. To be honest they wanted us to keep clean but then couple of times I had cockroaches visiting my room and even crawled onto my bed >.>

Anyhow, as I was there for only a mere 3 weeks, I didn’t really get to hang out much with the residents of CoCo but I did chat up 2-3 of them whenever I bumped into in the kitchen or up down the staircases. Most of the SNU foreign students stay at CoCo Residence though. As for food around this area, unfortunately I find that there is not much cheap choices or within what I would call students’ budgets >.< There are the usual fast food like KFC and Two Chicken, standard cafe like Paris Baguette, Caffe Bene or even Starbucks, standard restaurant or eatery places for local Korean food or even Japanese & Chinese food or street stalls food selling kimbap for 1000won. The convenience stores are always out of food like dosirak or bread due to the fact that the area is a students area! Anyway, I would like to recommend eating at Maru (마루) whereby the samgyeopsal (삼겹살)  is consider cheap for the amount they served together with side dishes and rice and they are delicious too ^^/ From CoCo Residence, you just need to turn to your right from the front entrance of CoCo, then walk for less than 2mins you will see Maru on your right side. There are quite a number of noraebang (karaoke) and motels surrounding the area though XD At the subway Exit 3 & 4 is the sorta big mall (forgot the name) but there is really nothing much inside haha.  The post office is just right across the street from CoCo Residence. Both T-World and Olleh shops are available in this area though do take note that reload is not available on weekend and when requesting for each reload you need to show your passport.

I probably miss couple of things but feel free to ask if anything ^^ For the pics, I was so sure I took pics of the toilet & shower stall but not sure why couldn’t locate them now >.<

3 weeks Intensive Korean Language Program (Special Program)

August 1 - 19, 2011 

Korean Language Education Center (KLEC) / Language Education Institute SNU (서울대학교 언어교육원), Seoul National University, Gwanak-gu Seoul

I have always wanted to try out studying Korean language in its own country and this year I am given the chance (and funding lol) when my application to SNU was accepted in June 2011. SNU happens to be the top university in South Korea and the tuition fee for this 3 weeks program is cheaper in comparison to other universities offering similar program.

Upon acceptance to the program (email being sent out in bulk to applicants to inform they have been accepted into the summer 3 weeks program) we were expected to take a placement test which was supposed to be held on August 1st (in which I assumed should have been while we reported for 1st day class in SNU) but suddenly was moved forward and became an online placement test instead. We were being informed through email on this around 2 weeks prior to the start of the program. The online placement test consists of multiple choice question (testing vocabulary and grammar) and 3 sets of short essays.  Your scores shall determine your level admittance into the program. 

There are 4 levels. You can obtain more information on the levels and some detailed information by checking out the above link to the program. What I would like to talk about instead is the fact that we were being put into Level 5. Yes you read it right- Level 5. What is Level 5? We don’t know as well until the first day of class in which we found ourselves surrounded by classmates who are speaking fluently in Korean and most of them majoring in some Korean studies for their degrees =.=; So based on the placement test results, apparently there were too many of us scoring unusual high marks thus resulting in the creation of Level 5. The academic structure of this Level 5 would be based on the Regular Program Level 4. (You can read up more on Regular Program Curriculum here). 

Unfortunately quite a number of us felt we are not on that level yet and as such requested to transfer to Level 4 (which is the highest in the Special Program). And I do believe we fit in just fine in terms of revision on things (grammar/vocabulary) we may have known of but at the same time still get to learn something new and practicing of Writing skills since we have homework of one essay per chapter learned each day. There is also Listening and Reading skill involved. Not much on Speaking skill though the teachers only speak in Korean to the students (in between once a while explaining with additional information in English when the students looking as if they don’t understand at all what were being conveyed). I do like the revision session which occurs once every 3 chapters learned (thereafter on the same day at the end of the final hour there would be a simple test of multiple choice questions & fill in the blanks). Apart from the standard revision of quick go through what were learned, we get to have brief role play session in learning to use what were learned, and also flashcards games practice in which we get to learn how to explain a certain word and be able to guess the word correctly. These activities proved to be helpful in ensuring the learned lessons are put to use and remained fresh in mind - well at least for me in some ways~ XD

BTW, there are 3 teachers for our class of 14 students. The teaching session depended a lot on powerpoint presentation aside from following the flow of the activity book used. We are using Active Korean 4 book. (You can check out the book here). It comes along with a CD and the content/instruction is in English. I thought we could use more on interactive session in which we practice the grammars/vocabulary learned on each chapter instead of just running through the book content accordingly. My opinion is that perhaps by subjecting the students to interactive session which requires us to make use what are to be learned hopefully the interactions stayed much longer and able to be of much more use when similar situation is encountered in future. Anyway, each day the lesson starts at 9am and ends at 1pm (making up approx. 4hrs per session not counting the 5-10mins breaks in between, I think maybe twice or thrice). At the end of the program, students will have to sit for speaking test (just maybe 10mins of random speaking based on topics provided one on one with the teacher) and paper test consisting of multiple choice questions, fill in the blanks and essay writing (testing reading, listening, writing skills). During the whole program, each student is scheduled to have to do a presentation (on chosen topic- you can select from couple of topics provided) of around 5mins in Korean in front of the class. You are graded for this presentation as well. I talked about Internet Shopping XD

As part of the SNU student, the school provided you with access to their library (though our barcode scan doesn’t seem to work with the main library which we tried to visit and we never got the chance to figure out why haha) and also the SNU tshirt as graduation commemorative item. Students graduating from this program who scored A (average of 90marks and above as total grade) will receive an extra Certificate of Excellence apart from the standard Certificate of Completion (stating your grade and marks breakdown for each skill) and Certificate of Attendance. The last day of the program was the Graduation Ceremony. Prior to the Ceremony, back in each class, we had somewhat a last attempt to get to know each other through the Message Writing activity (each student leave a simple message on papers belonging to another student - teachers are included). For the Graduation Ceremony, each Level class had a student representative elected to do a brief presentation (in Korean or English) and thereafter some Closing speech from teacher representative before we were treated to Papa John’s pizza & chicken nuggets for lunch.

As for me, I am happy and have no regrets taking up this program though even though frustration and worries were clearly there at the initial of the program when we had to choose whether to continue with Level 5 or downgraded to Level 4. Although we could have survived Level 5 by working extra hard but most probably we ended up hating this whole trip and experience XD Nonetheless, it gives a good chance to have a taste of Korean University Student life, more or less Korean practices and we did meet interesting people. Well from this experience I must say that my listening skill improves by a lot thanks to the numerous day-to-day usable vocabulary learned. This program or at least Level 4 topics main selling point would have to be the fact that they are teaching you things you can use on daily basis which is just about enough if you want to improve yourself and be a little bit more Korean when you interact with the locals ;)

Oh and just to add a bit on SNU… it’s a huge campus and the surrounding Gwanak-san (Mountain Gwanak) is quite a popular place for mountain climbing activities. There are free shuttle buses going back forth the campus from the bus station nearby exit 3 of Seoul National University Subway Station (서울대입구역). (To know more about the shuttle bus, check out here). And don’t miss the chance to eat at the cafeteria/canteen! The food turns out to be quite delicious and you only pay so little for big portion *_* I even saw some people getting refill on the side dishes (반찬). You get to choose between 2 different meals each day. You will need to buy the token money first from the cashier counter before able to buy your meal. I had 깐풍기 (Chopped roasted chicken) that came with red bean rice, side dishes of kimchi, eggplant and soup all for just 3000won. I am also so impressed with how everything is so systematically in order when clearing away used utensils etc lol! Everyone just do their part in ensuring cleanliness and nothing is left behind after using them ;)

I can’t think of what else to share anymore but if there is anything you would like to know more on the program please feel free to ask me ^^ I shall end with a brief breakdown in terms of number of days throughout this program because I am anal like that haha~ As you can see actual number of lessons (not including revision) is only 9 days matching with the number of chapters in the Activity Book 4 XD And the total number of days of attendance (not including final exam and graduation) is only 10.5 days! So this is what you are signing up for if you are looking to taking the 3 weeks course and during SUMMER! :P

1 – 3/8/11 (3days) = Chapter 1 – 3

4/8/11 (1 day) = Revision Chapter 1 – 3 + Quiz/Test

5/8/11 (1 day) = Chapter 4

8 – 9/8/11 (2 days) = Chapter 5 – 6

10/8/22 (1 day) = Revision Chapter 4 – 6  + Quiz/Test

11 – 12/8/11 (1 day) = Chapter 7 – 8

15/8/11 (1 day) = Public Holiday: South Korea Independence Day

16/8/11 (1 day) = Chapter 9

17/8/11 (1 day) = Revision Chapter 7 – 9  + Speaking Exam

18/8/11 (1 day) = Reading, Listening and Writing Exam

19/8/11 (1 day) = Get-to-know Session + Graduation Ceremony

Accommodation: A Beary Good Hostel, Pagoda St, Chinatown (exit Chinatown MRT turn to your right and you will see the blue signboard after 3-5mins walk) at USD23/night/bed (weekend rate). The shower place is too small and narrow IMO but overall the services are good, the bed is clean, there is free breakfast (which I didn’t try), wifi (weak in the room but good in the lounge area)…basically I am ok and don’t mind staying there again as the location is real strategic - right smack in the middle of Chinatown! If you are into walking, you can walk all the way to Clarke Quay which is an MRT station away.

+ One of the way to go to Sentosa Island is by taking the Sentosa Express monorail (SGD3 for return ticket) at Vivo City Shopping Mall, Level 3.Talking about Vivo, reminds me that I need to try The Soup Spoon the next time I go again *^* Anyway we were going to Sentosa Island for the Zuno showcase at the Resorts World Convention Centre. The MC was really witty and entertaining. I managed to take 2 fancams - one each for the Kim twins :3 (1) Junsu’s Greatest Love of All, (2) Zuno’s Just Once Before going to the showcase, I saw dolphin stuffed animal plushie at Chinatown, which I was so tempted to buy and to throw at Junsu while he is putting his heart into singing a ballad song LMAO!

+ After Sentosa, we went to Clarke Quay to meet up with friends who were having drinking session there. It was a good catch up and meeting with more new friends! The whole night was spent keeping various gadgets safe from the plopping of the soju into the beers ;p We took a cab back to our hostel but the cab driver “cheated” us by dropping us at no-where and we had to walk all the way back to Chinatown >:x

+ The next morning I had a look around Chinatown and stopped by at one interesting Chinese temple. Wish I took more pics but I forgot to bring along my camera and my handphone batt died after I snapped one pic of the temple >.<; In the temple, they have different deities taking care of each animal zodiac and I didn’t hesitate to pray in front of the Rooster’s deity ㅎㅎㅎ Anyway I found this clip on YT so if you are interested you can watch the temple pics lol! I am not sure what’s the name of this temple but it’s located near the food market. Last time I was in Chinatown, I also saw this interesting Hindu temple, Sri Mariamman.

+ In the afternoon I met up with Amanda for lunch at The Central, Clarke Quay. We had Korean food at Seoul Yummy, Level 3. The ddeokbokki was not spicy at all 8Db The pajeon was extremely small in size! Then it was a rush to Orchard Road to see what I can afford to buy x’D In the end, I spent my last SGD50 on a Sennheiser purple earphone - a happy customer when given discount! And I still have enough SGD to eat a galore at Chinatown Food Street for dinner before taking the night train back to KL….

On Oct 23, we departed from Gwangju back to Seoul for a 4 hours bus ride after the Gwangju Kimchi Festival. The bus ride was quite interesting because it was baseball game day and almost everybody was glued to the tv in the bus and even if you looked outside of the bus, you could see most Koreans were catching the baseball games on tv everywhere. In the news they aired the interview with David Choi who was in Seoul at the beginning of Oct to promote his album- I still wish I could have attend his concert but oh well with Bi and Dream Concerts, there was no competition right? xD

There were so many memorable things about being in Seoul itself that I can’t possibly fit into this one entry. For one moment I felt so comfortable being among the Korean crowds that I almost feel like it’s home to me except all the signages tell you that you are not ^^; I hope the pictures and some highlights will justify my 12 days stay in Seoul itself even though I didn’t get to do that many activities that I wanted [frolicking at Hangang, visit KBS Sukira, watch a movie, eat patbingsu (팥빙수), etc] or go to places [due to the cold freezing weather trip to one of the northest part of South Korea, Odulsan Unification Observatory (오두산통일 정망대) was cancelled, Namsan Tower, 1st Shop of Coffee Prince Cafe (커피프린스 1호점) at Hongik (홍익), etc]

Part 6: Seoul Part2 200910123 - 20091104

Accommodation: Travellers A Hostel - reservation from Innostel during Seoul Grand Sale with 20%

Highlights:

+ I wasn’t very keen on our final place to stay. And the fact that we arrived in  Seoul late evening at Dongdaemun with the place hard to find at a secluded corned (luckily the Koreans we asked were kind enough to call Travellers A to ask for direction and even walked with us to the place) just turned me off on top of the inconvenient key-slot lighting system in the room. But the location is really strategic if you want to take a walk at the nearby Cheonggyecheon Stream or to the Dongdaemun Shopping Heaven xD [Read my review on TripAdvisor][Photos]

+ Dongdaemun (동대문) is where you shop for decent clothings, accesories, bags, shoes, etc until the dawn. There are also lots of old bookstalls where you can find gems of old books/mags (though mostly fashion mags) if you have the patient to look through everything one by one. For e.g., I bought a good children Korean-English books ala dictionary which original price is 10K won but I got it at 2K won ;)) To be honest I don’t think I have finished exploring the entire Dongdaemun and its vicinnity including the big markets (like Chungbu or Bangsan Markets) around the area even though I stayed there :”) [Photos]

+ Mey with my Korean friend, Sera who brought us to Samcheondong-gil (삼청동 길) for a walk and samgyeopsal for dinner. The place was a beauty during night time and we had the most expensive choco drinks at 10,000won O.o We also stopped by Gwanghamun (광하문) and from this moment onwards I have lost the number of times I have been to Gwanghamun within these 12 days of time. [Photos]

+ Ilsan (일산)..oh Ilsan…I like it because it’s the first area with the finest autumn leaves I have seen so far throughout this trip *haha* The weather is chilly though it can be hot if you walk a lot. The MBC recording studio is located here and believe it or not we actually went to Ilsan like 3 times while in Seoul: (1) Misarang Imsil Cheese Pizza (임실치즈피자) for Papa Su’s pizza parlor and the pizzas were really smacking delicious that I think it could be the corn that blended together with cheese or something that made the taste so nicely different *^* [Photos], (2) MBC Show! Music Core (쇼! 음악중심) live recording session- well can’t really go to Korea without participating in the music shows I always enjoy watching right? ;p And also for Crebeau Belle [Photos], (3) Lyne won herself a spot to get SHINee’s autograph at La Fiesta so I accompanied her there and spent good amount time at Hanyang Bookstore ;p *prior to (3) we were at Kangnam-gu (강남구) area stopping by at Crebeau KISS [Photos]

+ Apgujeong (압구정) is where we met another mutual Korean friend where we ate quite a fulfilling lunch served with so many banchan (side dishes) and you can even ask for refill- only 6,500won/person *^* Lyne also treated us to gelato at TVXQ Micky Yucheon’s TimeOut Gelato. It’s 4,500won for two scoops and varieties flavour for you to choose from- quite delicious ^o^ We also tracked down SM’s Everysing (as well as e-table) because I have to help friends to buy stuff. And also SME building just for the satisfaction of locating it! We were at Apgujeong for 3 times and yet we totally missed out on Shinhwa Eric’s franchise of Market-O and we didn’t go to the posh-looking Galleria. Basically everything here in Apgujeong is P.O.S.H. [Photos1][Photos2]

+ If Myeondong doesn’t kill you with its available choices of shopping, then the shopping streets around Ehwa University certainly will *headdesk* We were too busy going into shops, browsing items, haggling prices, etc we didn’t even bother doing anything tourist like taking pics after the initial breakfast pics ;p Also stumbled upon 2nd hand bookstore, Book-Off that sells manhwa and CDs at the lowest 1,000won *^* [Photos]

+ Ittaewon (이태원) is er boring….I couldn’t locate where they filmed the Full House for Super Junior (슈퍼주니어), which was the main pt of going there for me after watching the TVShow because in the show the place looked epic. Other than antiques and if you are interested in buying more fashion items then you probably wouldn’t want to go there :”) [Photos]

+ The Cheonggyecheon Stream (청계천) [runs through the Dongdaemun as well] has many parts that are worth visiting and they are separated by bridges with different names, e.g. Laundry Site. In the guide book it said you need at least 3 hours to go from one end of the stream to another but I just cut to parts of it and walked from Dongdaemun Stadium all the way to Gwanghamun nearby Kyobo Building (in which the largest bookstore, Kyobo Book Centre, 교보문고 is located) and it took me 1 hour or so..uhm because I walked fast though I did sit and rest to check out certain bridges with themes. Overall this is my most fave part of Seoul, you can get to anywhere just walking safely without needing to bother on the traffics and you are not walking under the sun on most parts- IT’S REALLY GOOD~~~~~~~~ ^^b [Photos]

+ Tried locating the Baskin Robins where they filmed the You’re Beautiful drama coz I remember seeing the Gwanghamun Station entrance/exit but couldn’t find it T_T Gwanghamun is like the connecting point where you can decide to walk to Namdaemun Market (남대문) (aka ala Dongdaemun 2), Myeongdong (aka ala Dongdaemun 3) or Jongno (중로) (where huge Youngpoong bookstore is located and they have huge sections of stationaries as well as collection of books *~*)

+ Namsan (남산)..oh you just need to go up the hill (the Namsan Guesthouse is up the hill and you wouldn’t want to stay there, trust me..you wouldn’t want to go out everyday because it just takes too much of your power calf up the hill O_o) for the Namsan Tower. It’s expensive though for us Malaysians- 7,500 won for the cable car and then another 7-8K won for the tower admission. We skipped this because Lyne didn’t want to go and instead we back down to Myeongdong for more shopping and food!

+ Myeongdong (명동) is where you can go broke if you have no self control! You can buy almost anything and everything that your lil heart desire from fashion to books to music stuff to fangirling stuff and food and gadgets and so much more- IT’S DANGEROUS TO GO THERE IF YOU ARE UNPREPARED!!! D: Everything is like affordable and before you realised it you ended up with random things that you may not neessarily need and adds to your baggage limit O.o Don’t forget to visit Kwon Sangwoo’s Tea’US (more info)for the delicious hot chocolate! :)) [Photos]

+ There was one day and that is on Nov 2nd that the temperature dropped to 0 celcius and it was so freaking freezing cold that it was crazy to even walk around anywhere but I still did my best trying out the weather since it’s not always you get a chance like this. My plan on going to Odulsan as well as Seodaemun (for Shinhwa Dongwan) had to be cancelled and instead I walked around from Gwanghamun to Namdaemun and all the way to Myeondong with the crazy wind blowing non-stop ;; Also took the subway to go to Yeouido Park but it was freezing and I walked like half way towards KBS Building for Sukira before giving up \cries [Photos]

+ Well it wouldn’t be complete without visiting COEX Mall right? It was really huge and you could definitely get lost in it. I was there for the Piano Fountain although too bad no water *~* And prior to that we were at Crebeau Jeff whereby we had one of the bizzare experience ever LOL! On that day I also had my first pork cutlet burger from Lotteria LMAO! [Photos]

+ Few notes on the Koreans I have met in general along the way…

» Seem to really like to dump their belongings (and it doesn’t matter what it is) onto the floor just like that if they don’t want to carry them or are waiting for someone. E.g., A girl dumped her pizza on the floor instead of putting it down. A guy dumped his bag while another group of people dumped the umbrellas and so on.

» Perhaps walking too fast tend to bump onto your shoulders a lot and they never stop to apologise O.o Even when I avoid them they still knocked onto me *sighs*

» Seem to be very suprised if you can speak even just very minor Korean to them and in return if you speak English to them, most of them tend to shy away D:

» Very eager to help you when you approach them if you are lost or need to find something

+ What I will miss the most: kimbap, seeing signages in Hangul, almost all the places are connected by subways (although within seoul itself I seriously suggest walking because the amount of time spent and headaches in figuring which stations, lines, exits during transitions just urgh!), Cheonggyecheon stream, street food, Korean entertainment and stationaries 8Db

I am stumped on what to write for Gwangju. It was the most laidback stop and to one point I actually feel bored being in Gwangju itself and we had 4 days there to spend ;=; No offense to Gwangju people…the people are great…after rounding the whole South Korea, turned out most of the Koreans who can speak very good English are located here in Gwangju ^^” And I still remember the ahjussi who proudly claimed, “Gwangju is the city of education so of course our English is good!” or something to that liking. The bus ride to Gwangju from Busan costs 15,300won and probably took approx. 4hrs or less and there was a rest stop? I can’t remember anymore and didn’t jot down )): The bad thing is that the Gwangju Bus Terminal is far away from the cities area, well considering you have to take a cab to go them. Why I said cities? There are apparently the old and the new cities in Gwangju. The one and only Gwangju Subway serves both the cities though but not where we were living so that kinda sucks having to rely on buses wherever we go although most of the bus rides turned out to be quite a nostalgic trips x’D

Part 5: Gwangju 200910120 - 23

Accommodation: Motel Adria [무인텔 아드리아, 광주광역시 북구 신안동 141-17; Tel: (062) 529-3312, 15, Fax: (062)528-3310]

Highlights:

+ Once you are at the cities area, no worries on not being able to get a motel to stay because they are practically lining up everywhere especially near the Gwangju Train Station Terminal. Choose from various designs/themes and there was one called 개이 모텔 (Gay Motel) and another one that looks like a church *^* Actually the only regret was we were supposed to be staying in (at least one time) an 온돌 (ondol) room but in comparison to the motel, which was cheaper, we decided to skip the ondol ones )): The weather in Gwangju was chilly enough to try out the ondol ones *sighs* It was the first time that I started to wear my thicker sweater. The motel we stayed in was one of the best. Not only good service and facilities but also there was free jug of drink along with refill of free snacks each day. It’s only 30Kwon/night! And the funny thing was that the owner has to slot in money into the money love-box located at the door entrance in order for the electricity to power up, etc- so lame XD

+ If you don’t know what to do while in Gwangju, please do drop by at their Tourist Info Center and I highly rec the one next to the Gwangju Train Terminal because the lady was superb in her tour guide experience and she speaks good English! We were so impressed that we keep paying her visits LMAO! Based on her advices, we were all set for some insightful sight-seeing in Gwangju~

+ Highly recommended to visit in order to better understand the history of Gwangju and how democracy prevailed here was the May 18 National Cemetery [For quick info on the event, please read this]. You can take bus to go to the cemetery from the bus stop just near the Family Mart 5mins walk away from the Tourist Info Center/Gwangju Train Terminal (or you can take the bus no. 518 from the Gwangju Express Bus Terminal but it doesn’t make sense to go all the way there if you don’t live there). I don’t have a copy of the map in which the lady wrote down most of the information so I am unable to provide you with the correct bus numbers ;; The bus will pass by the Chonnam National Uni and the Malbau Market and the ride probably will take approx. 30mins- idk it felt long for me and the cemetery was really like at a secluded place ._. The sceneries were awesome though and we got to talk to 2 staff (idk maybe they are historical researchers) on our trip and about Gwangju in general. [Photos]

+ It got very windy and chilly in the evening but we decided to go to the Old City at Dong-gu (were told that it used to be the main city until everything governmental was moved to the New Metropolitan City Hall at Seo-gu). We slightly missed the 7080 Gwangju Chungjangro Festival which was held from Oct 13 - 18. I think we were basically tired from the bus rides (both the Busan to Gwangju and then to the Cemetery) so we just had dinner at where else but Kimbap Cheonkuk and for the first time I had the cheese ramyeon even though it’s spicy because it was starting to get a bit freezing with the on-going windy night. [Photos]

+ Damyang county is a must visit!! It’s accessible by bus from Gwangju (at the same bus stop near the Family Mart that I was talking about, take bus to go to Malbau Market and from there go take another bus or you can take direct bus from the Gwangju Bus Terminal. We stopped by at Malbau Market for sight-seeing ^^;) and although it’s a bit far away approx. 40mins bus ride from Malbau Market, once arriving there you can go to (1) 한국대나무박물관 (Bamboo Crafts Museum) [we skipped this and got off the bus right in front of (2)], (2) 죽녹원 (Juknowon) (we didn’t go in though because that would mean more walkings for Lyne ;p) [Photos], (3) 관방제림 (Gwanbangjelim) ie. River Bank Protection Woods [Photos], (4) 메타세퀴이아가로수길 (Metasequoia Road) [Photos] and many more others. Totally worth your visit with the enchanting Mother Nature sceneries and bamboo and (4) is where they filmed the famous Korean entertainment variety show 1박2일 (1night, 2days) :”)) And I made one of those Korean stamp mark just for 5,000won 8Db

+ We kind wasted one day in Gwangju because we were supposed to go to Soswaewon but instead dropped the plan because we were just too tired. I think the tiredness from so many days of backpacking caught up to us finally. I actually watched a lot of TV while in Gwangju LOL! We did go out and walked around but nothing much to see that were within walking distance. I am appalled at the boring state of the departmental stores here though O.o [Photos]

+ Finally of course we gotta do what Gwangju is really famous for ;D The 16th Gwangju Kimchi Cultural Festival (제16회 광주김치문화축제) was held from 23 Oct - 01 Nov, 2009. You can take bus from the bus stop behind the Gwangju Train Terminal, which will go straight to the Gwangju World Cup Stadium (by this time around this has been the 4th stadiums we visited on throughout our South Korea trip so who other tourists visits stadium like us do? LMAO!) and vicinities (Bitgoeul Sports Complex, Yeomju Sports Complex, All-Weather Tennis Courts, Kim Daejung Convention Center, etc). I will just let the pics speak for the event. Overall, I was very impressed to find out on so many different types of kimchi and the rest of the banchan gangs esp. the fermented seaweeds and everything else that the Korean fermented *^* There was also showcase of various Southern Province Food and we got to eat free duck meat which Gwangju is very famous for xDb You can spend the whole time just sampling food after food and kimchi after kimchi if you want~ The main performance, “Kimchi Flies In The World”, which was specially created for the Opening Ceremony of this event was a bit lame IMO but oh well everybody looked like they enjoyed the show ^^; [Photos]

+ There were other on-going festivals while we were there but we didn’t go due to lack of interests and not motivated enough to find out more info LOL! And I specifically remember these two due to the heavy promotions everywhere: (1) The Gwangju World Photonics Expo 2009 from 10 Sept - 05 Nov, (2) Gwangju Design Biennale from 18 Sept - 04 Nov

+ For more info on Gwangju, please visit the official metropolitan site

From Gyeongju to Busan it was like approx. 1hr+ and the bus fare was 4,000won. The bus will arrive at the Busan Central Bus Terminal and from there you are connected by subway, 노포동(Nopo-dong) to go to anywhere in Busan. Busan is how to say, very flamboyant for me XD  It’s like another Seoul but in a way much more glamorous? Prior to coming to Busan, few people already told me that nothing much is happening in Busan and I don’t need 4 days there but everyday that I was at Busan I got back to the motel very late at night ;p It could be because visiting it during Oct when there are a lot of events happening but it’s definitely worth another visit IMO~

Part 5: Busan 20091016 - 19

Accommodation: We booked Pusan Central Hotel but decided to skip it since you can get any motels once you get off at 연사동 (Yeonsan-dong) subway station. Sadly I forgot to take the name card of the motel we were staying in but I wouldn’t rec that motel either coz the place is a bit dirty and the lousiest motel we have been in so far throughout the trip. It’s Smile-something and it charges differently for weekends so overall we paid 145K won/4 nights *shrugs*

Highlights:

+ You have gotta go to Busan for the seafood yo~ Even though I have skin allergic from eating the fresh eel (although it could also be due to the weird tasting water in Busan, which we were joking recycled from the sea water) and considering that we have to pay 10,000won/plate of seafood at the 잘같치 시장 (Jagalchi Fish Market), you cannot not eat the seafood while there ok? ^^;

+ The Busan Jagalchi Festival occurs every early Oct. This year it was the 18th festival held from 15-18th Oct at the Jagalchi Fish Market area (get off at the Jagalchi subway station). There were many events and activities planned throughout the 4 days on theme of Oiso!Boiso!Noiso! (Come!See!Enjoy!) We only managed it on the 16th Oct though and I totally missed out on the Lighting a Wishing Lamp activity ;; We had to rush to the PIFF that day as well~ [Photos]

+ The 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) was from 08-16 Oct, held at the Yatching center near the 해윤대해수욕장 (Haeundae Beach) - so can we count this as we have been to the beach? XD Before that we were at the PIFF Square. Have you ever tried eating fried squids and other seafoods as snacks in replacement of your usual popcorns while watching movies? Total culture shock for me that was for sure ^^; Also the connecting Gukje Market really have a lot to see and buy and be awed of ^^b Anyway, it was really a frantic search for the 14th PIFF venue because we were just too clueless on it and after a madness random bus ride from Jagalchi Fish Market (Now that I did some research on it, you can take the subway and get off at the Busan Museum of Modern Art station and it’s a 10mins walk away) and then a cab ride (oh wow you can ask the cab driver that you want to get off during haevy traffics; if here in KL, you will be “glared” to death already uh no no) which costs us 6,200won due to the massive traffics, we arrived to find out that the tics were all sold out ._. So we could only view from the outside. We even missed the final ending red carpet. And we thought we have enough time for the final movie, etc but oh wow the time spent to locate the venue just urgh! We ended up eating our pau bought from the Gukje Market as dinner sitting outside the small park area of the yatching center. [Photos]

+ Actually I wanted to go to the 동래 온천 (Dongnae Oncheon) [Hotspring] [It was the first hotspring to appear on historic written records!] and we did go all the way to Dongnae subway station only to realise we were supposed to get off at Oncheonjang subway station instead ;-; So we didn’t get to go and to not waste the trip and subway fare we walked to the nearby Lotte Dept. Store- this was our first trip to Lotte Dept Store~ ^^; It was the first time I wanted to be the daughter of those so many rich ahjumma shopping like there is no tomorrow on all those branded items \cries

+ After the failure of Dongnae-gu that is, we went to 광안리해수욕장 (Gwangalli Beach) after the motel owner tipped us on the fireworks festival. Gwangalli was uhm breezy and apart from the beach we saw nothing else since once you got out from the Gwangan subway station everyone is headed towards the beach- probably a 10mins walk down the slope so when it’s time to go back yo know what you will be facing ;p [Photos]

+ The 5th Busan Fireworks Festival at the Gwangalli Beach was really fun and tiring at the same time. Never before I have seen so many people crowding one place at one time and then trying to leave the same place in one rush! *^* All the madness of pushing and rushing and trying to get into the subway was not something I wanted to go through again LOL! But yea everyone should do this at least one time- joining the mad throng crowds at the beach to watch a mere 45mins continuous fireworks display after waiting for like 5hrs+ xD And also try to have phones with you because if you get lost and separated at least you can locate each other back. I had a major panic attack after leaving my seat to go to the toilet and came back to the beach to find that everything looked the same and I ended up walking up down the beach, stepping on random people, trying to find my friend, Lyne! *headdesk* I was very happy to be able to use my THSK mat though ;p [Photos]

+ Yeonsandong was the area where our motel is located. We managed to find what we thought was 김밥 천국 (Kimbap Cheonkuk) but turned out to be 뉴-김밥 천국 (New Kimbap Cheonkuk) LOL! It looked exactly the same but there was the word “new” in front…franchise huh? It was also opposite this that we saw a Jaeho Oriental Medicine Clinic :DDv That was so random! [Photos]

+ Taejoongdae Park is a must-go if you want to stand at the southest part of South Korea, well at least for me it is the southest part that I was able to reach with public transportation xD Prior to departing to Taejoongdae, we had delicious 연양돌솥밥 + 해물뚝배기 (nutrituous hotpot rice + seafood) at 하정 해물탕 식당 (Hajeong Haemultang Restaurant) located at the streets along PIFF Square area. It was also here that I stole a Park Hyoshin poster from the street for his The Gift concert because I was sad I couldn’t go )): [Photos]To go to Taejoongdae, you can take bus no. 8 or 30 at Exit 6 of Nampo-dong subway station. It was quite a far journey and you basically will pass by the Yeongdo-gu District Office, Busan International Cruise Terminal, Busan Maritime High School, Korea Maritime University, Dongsam-dong Shell Midden Museum and finally the Cenotoaph for Seaman and the Monument Dedicated to the Medical Assistance Units in the Korean War before reaching the ending bus terminal. Why I bother listing all these places out? Because I craned my neck trying to read the sign boards and matching them with the info on my map while sitting in the bus, thinking damn we are lost again :p Basically ignore those people who will try to persuade you to take the sea cruise trip instead of walking by yourself because (1) they are freaking expensive, (2) it’s just more fun trekking by yourself along with the rest tourists and you get to ride the cute tram which will bring you round the main tourist attractions at Taejoongdae Park and it only costs you 1,500won. You can hop on and off the tram but mind the schedule of the tram services ok? You so do not want to get stranded up there! There are 5 spots altogether (a) 태원자갈마당 (Taewon Jagalmadang, Pebble Beach), (b) 구명사 (Gumyeongsa Temple), (c) 전망대 (Observation Platform), (d) 등대 (Light House) and (e) 태중사 (Taejongsa Temple). We only stopped by at (c)+(d) due to lack of time. At the Light House oh please if possible do go all the way to the bottom of it where all the big cliff rocks are because the wind is just amazing *^* The climbing up back to the top was a major turn off though LOL! [Photos]

+ After Taejoongdae Park, we returned to Nampo-dong to go to 용두산 공원 (Yongdusan Park) for the 2009 Korean Food Festival (Oct 14 - 18). Nothing much…I wasn’t so impressed with the food though and 5,000won for a plate of 파전 (pajaeon)?! :”)) There was some performances and basically just food and alcohol for everyone. After stuffing ourselves, we went to Gwangbokro St. which supposedly was the Dongdaemun of Busan (also there was the Gwangbokro Fashion-Art Festival from Oct 16 -17), and really enjoyed walking round the St. with so many shops and stuff to look and buy! The only thing stopping us was our baggage and thinking that we could do this at Seoul instead- so regretting it…things in general are definitely much more cheaper at Busan so buy there ok and don’t be like us xD  [Photos]

+ Seriously I feel cheated on the day I went to 금강 공원 (Geumgang Park) at Dongnae-gu esp. on the cable car ride up to the top of the Mt. Geumjeong which in the end costs me 7,000won because I had to purchase the tics 2 times instead of the return tic which costs lesser. I was being informed that I would be able to go from the mountain summit of the cable car to South Gate within 20mins but I was lost when the hiking trails were not visible and not enough signages along the way ;; Luckily I was able to return to the cable car terminal after endless walking around the same area *sighs* And most of the attractions at the park were closed at tha time- no shark aquarium T_T But I guess if you like the trees and nature and the fact that the wind is blowing like mad (but I was still sweating lot due to the hiking) then yea do visit Geumgang Park because if you have enough time and energy, I am sure the trekking across all the South, East, North Gates before arriving at Pumo Temple should be fun and interesting- I suggest for you to go with someone you can chat a lot with LOL! You can go here by getting off at Oncheonjang Subway Station and then walk approx. 30mins according to the signages to reach the main entrance of the Geumgang Park (or take bus No. 203 but Idk how since I walked). As for me, I really love the temples visits and my fave shot is this. [Photos]

+ As it was getting quiet late (didn’t expect all those getting lost would delay me so much) and since I had to meet up with Lyne at Samyeon for the street food in the evening, I decided to skip Beomeosa Temple and took the subway to go to Jungangdong for the International & Coastal Ferry Terminal and 40 steps Cultural Tour Theme Street. I practically walked up down the whole streets in very strong chilling windy weather LOL! It was much fun and I always love going as near as possible as I can to the sea ^^/ I also stumbled upon the Gwangbok Underground Shopping Center. I am really amazed at the number of underground shopping centres at Busan itself [Photos]

+ The food at Samyeon 1st Street Food Alley! ngom!ngom! xD I think this should be the cheapest food you could ever find in Busan and maybe even in comparison to Seoul. They tend to sell similar type of food but I was so excited to eat those cheap spicy ddeokboggi even when I can’t eat spicy food *^* There was fried chicken and squids. I stopped by at the Youngpoong Bookstore while waiting for Lyne and we also went to the Lotte Dept. Store, which was the HQ of them all together with the Lotte Hotel, Duty Free Shops and Casino. The underground shopping centres (Seomyeon, Daehyeon Underground Arcade) connecting with the Seomyeon Subway Station could make you feel like suffocating and lost if you are so frantic trying to look at everything at the same time ;p [Photos]

+ Ohmy I thought this Busan trip is never gona end for me, but for more info, please visit Dynamic Busan

It took around 6hrs to switch from Chuncheon to Seoul to Gyeongju- basically we slept. Bus fares were 6,000won to Dong Seoul Terminal Bus Station and then 19,500won to Gyeongju. There was one rest stop at Gimcheon for 20mins. Upon arrival at the Gyeongju Main Bus Terminal (it’s different from the Gyeongju Express Bus Terminal I think because it is in another building next to it) which is at the downtown city, you can just simply take your fave pick base on the exterior of the  many motels available near the terminal as your accommodation. Remember to ask for the price by walk-in to find the cheapest. If you can’t speak in Korean, they will call the operator to translate ;) Gyeongju is the place for sight-seeing and historical sites visits, so be prepared to walk a lot or pay 1,500won per bus ride or hire tour package ;p

Part 4: Gyeongju 20091014 - 15

Accommodation: W Motel [W 모텔, 경복 경주 노서통 181-2; Tel: (054)743-1900]

Highlights:

+ Sadly I couldn’t seem to recall anything on the motel maybe because I spent the least time in there and was so busy during my stay there. The only thing I remembered was that we chose the room based on this electronic board that displayed pictures of the rooms with their respective prices. It’s only 35K won/night/double.

+ At Jungang Market, had 순대 (sundae) for the very first time and it is not for the faint hearted okay? Very weird taste and I gagged most of the time ;; Also ate cheap 삼겹살 (samgyeopsal) at Daebakjib (Great House) which was like only 7200 won for 2 persons! The owner used to live at Ampang LOL! [Photos]

+ To go to 불국사 Bulguksa Temple (entrance fee 4000won), take bus No. 10 or 11 at the bus stop opposite the Seongdong Market (near the Gyeongju Train Station) and after a rough ride of 30mins the bus will drop you off at the Bulguksa car park area. If necessary you can go to the nearby Tourist Info Center. If not, you just follow the troop to go straight to the Temple. It takes approx. 10mins if you don’t frolick through the connecting park and more if you stop to buy souvenirs. But you should buy souvenirs from the ahjumma here than from the official shops at the Temple because those are bloody expensive! And use a lot of “kakajuseyo” with the ahujumma because they raised the price by lots too ^^; BTW no pictures allowed in the temples but you are allowed to take pictures of the surrounding sceneries. Overall, a great place to enjoy the Mother Nature and learn a thing or two on the historical sites. Oh and don’t forget to drink the free flowing natural water~ [Photos]

+ To go to 석굴암 (Seokguram Grotto), you can either take the one and only bus No.12 (1,500won) at the bus stop across the Tourist Info Center or you can take the cut-throat cab at 10,000won for that short distance journey. I chatted with an old couple who came all the way from Daejeon to visit the Seokguram and Bulguksa. They totally fried my brain again. 15mins ride up the hill on snakish road- I even fell asleep within that short period of time *headdesk* Entrance fee is 4,000won and be prepared to power walk up to where the Temple is located at because you only have one hour to complete the sight seeing and to come out from there to catch the return bus or you can take your time and wait for another one hour for the next bus. No pictures allowed in the temple again and you can pay 10,000won for a prayer on behalf of your family and to write down on the guestbook. Ok this is one (along with Bulguksa Temple) of the UNESCO’s Prestigious World Cultural Heritage sites so yea :”D [Photos]

+ I actually have to go to 경주 민속 공예촌 (Gyeongju Folk Craft Village) first because I missed the bus to Seokguram Grotto. Why I missed the bus? I was too busy haggling prices with ahjumma at Bulguksa xD You can take the same bus No.10 or 11 for return trip. Bus ride was like 10mins or less and you spent like less than 30mins there if you are like me not that interested in pottery stuff *haha* I mean what’s the point of visiting every single store/shop when you can’t afford to buy them and ended up pinning over them T_________T I saw a mug that I really like and it was just 2000won but with just one backpack there’s no way I will be able to carry so many things ;-; No entrance fee. [Photos]

+ There are many more various tourists sites within the downtown city itself as well as out of it but I have only one day so I tried my best to squeeze in as much as I can. Only managed 안압지 (Anapji Pond), 대릉원 (Tumuli Park) for Cheonmachong Tomb, Seokbinggo (Stoned Iced House), Geumgwanchong (Gold Crown Tomb) and 첨성대 (Cheomsongdae Observatory) because all of these are within walking distance of each other after you get off the bus at Anapji Pond (or the Gyeongju National Museum which is situated right across the Pond) Maybe it was due to the construction on-going at Anapji Pond but I really don’t think 1,000won is worth the visit *shrugs* Chemsongdae was 500won while Geumgwanchong Tomb was 1,500won I think (and so not worth visiting too)..Idk because I met a Korean girl after the Seokguram trip and she treated me to Geumgwanchong (well I refused to pay anymore for tombs, I mean they are dead already and yet still earning money ;p). The Korean girl was there to look for Queen Seondeok related sites after she watched the Korean drama LOL![Photos]

+ So anyway apparently if you are in Gyeongju you have to try their famous local made bread (which BTW not much different from the Chinese red bean bread) and there are two big bread stores selling these dorayaki styled bread: 경주빵 and 찰보리빵. Mind you they are not cheap going at 5 for 2,500won. There are also other types of bread but these dorayaki styled ones are the famous ones.

+ For more info on Gyeongju, please visit the Gyeongju Official Site

Sudden change of plan in our trip. Ditching Daejeon and Daegu to go back to Seoul to switch to Chuncheon. It was much more expensive but it was a compromise on Lyne and TVXQ U-know Yunho xD Bus fare back to Seoul costs 7,300won and then to Chuncheon from Seoul costs 7100won. Journey with all the switchings took at least 4hrs++ On way to Chuncheon there was one stop. It’s too bad we were only there enough to go for the filming and not to go to Nami Island, etc.

Part 3: Chuncheon 20091013

Accommodation: Ritz Motel

Highlights:

+ The motel staff were all very helpful and eager for us to tour the place; too bad we just didn’t have the time. They even insisted for us to take bus and then to get off a bit prior to arriving to our destination so that we could take a stroll and enjoy the beauty of Chuncheon ^^; It’s only 35K won/night/double. The only thing is all the cheap motels are located quite far away from the bus terminal so you have to take cab to go over to the other side of the town.

+ Experienced the feeling of visiting a filming set (for MBC Heading To The Ground drama) except it was an open air shooting scene at Chuncheon Stadium

+ Actually sat 6hrs+ with most of the hours spent under the drizzling rain- just lucky that I was not sick after that esp it was quite cold and windy that night

+ Shocking on getting interviewed and being mentioned from Malaysia O: but you will never see the daylight of the clip ;p

+ We borrowed an umbrella from the motel for Mari (a friend we met while there) and she accidentally took it with her when she left. We were apologising profusely to the ahjussi staff who was very kind and didn’t ask for us to repay, etc

+ First time eating instant udon while standing at Family Mart

+ For more info on Chuncheon, please visit the tour info