Smart Phones -- The Trend in Korea

Cathianne's Journal:

23 Feb. 2011

The Longest Waiting Time -- Buying A Smart Phone

Let me share with you my adventures for today.

This morning, I woke up at 8:00. I had some bread with me so I ate some for breakfast. Good thing the room had a couple of bottled water so I didn't have to go out to buy some drink anymore. After getting prepared and dressed up, I walked down to the laboratory and waited for GJ oppa. When he arrived, I tasted my first instant coffee in the lab with the paper cup vendo to put my coffee in. I'd usually drink coffee while sitting down and relaxing except for that morning. For the first time I was carrying a cup of coffee that was almost full while catching up with his pace because we were going to the downtown area to buy my phone! WEEEEE!!!

Upon reaching the place, everything was "deserted". Everything seemed still. Almost all the shops were closed! To think that it was already 11:00 AM. The SK Telecom store was also closed. It was where we were supposed to buy the phone. Then we went to Qock (I don't know exactly how it is pronounced but the logo looked like it was spelled that way) and it was open! Hurrah! GJ oppa knew I needed applications like wifi, free chats and internet services so he suggested several smartphone models. I ended up with a Samsung Anycall Android. I'm not a gadget geek but it looks great. The first and last time I bought my own phone was way back in 2005. This is the second and I needed oppa to help me out because the sales guy didn't know how to speak in English. Oppa did all the discussions. The phone came free with a 35,000 KRW monthly plan that I have to use for at least two years. Not bad for a smart phone!

Tic tac...

It's 12:00NN. Fortunately, I have eaten breakfast. Poor oppa hasn't eaten yet and I had just known that they had stayed up til morning in the lab finishing some final reports. I started listening to my sister's shuffle. Oppa did some talk with the local manager (probably asking how longer it will take...talk about waiting for an hour already!).

*** Cellphone store scenario: It's just a small glass enclosed store, probably with an area of 20 sq.m. more or less, we were entertained after about 15 minutes because there was a customer who came ahead of us. It seems that they can only entertain one person at a time. Then there came an old man in his early 60's maybe who was seeking their service. He also had to wait and ended up talking and having more conversations with the manager and sales guy. Oppa has already gone out for some air while I kept listening to the iPod. After about another 20 minutes, the sales guys said to just wait for 10 minutes more... Tic tac goes the time... I'm starting to starve and feel the need to go to the washroom because of the coffee!... Tic tac and a few minutes more..

Finally! Oppa got the paperbag with my smart phone! Yey! It was already 1:00pm in my watch. 2 hours?! Does it take that long to buy a mobile phone? Or was it just not a good day for the store... Oh well... I got what I needed anyway. ***

We walked back to the university, I was chillin' and really needed to go pee! [Oh, stop light, please give me a go green...NOW.] By the time we reached the cafeteria, everything was done and we can no longer buy our meal. *Sigh* Oppa brought me to another cafeteria. It was more of like a sandwich store because all they served were sandwiches and fruit juices. A good choice for the health conscious I guess. And again, thanks to oppa. If not for him, I wouldn't know again what to eat. Everything was written in Korean! I simply said yes to the suggested bacon sandwich and chose orange juice for my drink. All I could understand were the numbers. The sandwich prices ranged from 1,200 to 2,200 krw. The fruit juice were like from 1,200 to 1,500 depending on the fruit. And again we waited. What was cool about the place though was that it had a cellphone store inside it. Funny reaction by oppa: "oh, there's just one here [cellphone store]". The fact that we went out of the school and walked far downtown and waited so long just to find out there's one open inside the campus! Haha! *Charge it to my experience*. I also noticed that the caf had a TV that was tuned in to what seemed like a Korean drama series. But I couldn't understand anyway, so I didn't bother to watch anymore. *laughs*

After we got our orders, we walked to the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf where our other lab-mates where seated outside with their coffees. We ate our lunch there. I knew another lab-mate who was younger than I, Gwang. So I'm not the youngest in the lab anymore, hahah! Just the unica hija. He was "bullied" to speak to me in English.

We all went back to the lab after lunch. There, I learned to use the smart phone with the help of oppa. He changed the language to English 'cos it will be of no use for me if I couldn't read a thing!

After several applications, I tried downloading and installed chikkatext on my computer (so I can chikkatext even in the lab to send messages to family and friends in the Philippiens for free, hahah!). After a while, oppa gave me some lab reports to read. All I could read was the English part. And it was only 3 pages! The Summary. Bow. T_____T"

A few minutes later, he handed me a lab report which had "more" alphabets in it. Only to find out most of it were in Turkey language. (^_*) It was only almost 7 in the evening and we went out to eat dinner. I guess everyone was hungry.

This time, the restaurant didn't require the shoes or footwear removed! Yeah..! And the tables were the normal type where we all sat on chairs (not pillows on the floor). Poor me again, no idea of what to order because "I know no read". T___T" Oppa suggested something about pork that I didn't understand and I told them to order whatever is the best and as long as it's edible, I'm good with it! Hahah! A few seconds later, the famous radish in red (kimchi) came, and round yellow thin sliced vegetable (?) that I don't know what to call. Wayne oppa said it's also radish but sweet, not spicy. Then there came the ramen! Something to warm the stomach for the cold walk we just had. I was introduced to whom they kept teasing as Chinese. All I could remember was the first letter of his name -- it started with C... Too hungry to remember the names? He became too shy to speak because he was being pressured by the rest of the group to talk in English. Poor guy, not until I joked that I wouldn't eat him, all he could say was "Shy man" and everybody heard and laughed.

While waiting, I kept observing my surrounding and the show on the tv even if I couldn't really understand a word. I just knew they were advertising some cooking ware that made the food on tv look so tempting. The walls of the restaurant was covered with rose pink colored wallpaper with some flowers all around. It's like being in a doll house or origami!

The main dishes were served and I got PORK KATSUDON! I remember this being my youngest brother's favorite. The serving was big, really big! Or was my appetite just really small... Anyway, I was only able to eat one piece of the two-piece serving and finished the rice. I love the rice -- sticky! YUM! And I tried the ramen. It tasted way better. I guess I just have had enough of the katsudon, it tasted good too but the serving was just too much for me. For the first time, I paid my own meal and that pork katsudon cost me 4,000 krw. It was a good meal! That meal will be giving me a good night sleep now.

--- Til here for now as I'm signing off ---

Cathianne Sets Foot in Kimchi Land

Cathianne's Journal:

22 Feb. 2011

Warm Welcome in Kimchi Land

Incheon Airport (Google Images)

The plane touched down at approximately 5:50 am (Philippine time). The temperature was -1 degree. Finally, I touched down to Korea! My new adventure was about to begin!

In Korean time, it was 6:50 am. We had to get our luggages. Micah and I were about to start our Korean culture experience.

After getting our luggages, we met with our schoolmates from UST and waited for Micah's lab mates, the ones assigned to fetch her. I was supposed to go with them. The problem was, My luggages can no longer fit in CC oopa's suv because both Micah and I have extremely heavy and huge maletas! We were told to expect a cold climate and bring clothes for winter, so there...

Good thing, Kurishee was there to accompany me. The weather was really cold (for me) and I was blowing out fog from my mouth. We took the bus going to Cheonan where were going to meet our fellow Thomasian engineers who are studying in Kongju National University. The bus was big and the seats were comfortable. I was able to sleep well during the two-hour trip to Cheonan station.

Just as we got down the bus at Cheonan station, MJ oppa, my fellow lab student, caught up with us. He and Wayne oppa brought us first to Kongju where we had our small "Thomasian-engineers-in-Korea gathering". We met Ate Marla's professor who enthusiastically welcomed us.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOTE: Koreans are very particular with addressing those who are older or younger than them to show respect. The term "oppa" means "big or elder brother" for females.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a few minutes of chitchats, I had to leave with my lab mates because I had to check in at my temporary room in the dorm inside Korea University in Jochiwon, which is another 1 hour drive from Cheonan.

Upon arrival, MJ oppa gave me a small tour of Korea University and brought me to the dorm where I was given a reservation. The university was breath-taking aside from the cold climate that was giving me goosebumps and a nice feeling about my stay.

Back at the dormitory, we're using key cards! Cool! As I entered the room, all I could say to my mind was "awesome" with the internet cables, tv, two beds, cabinets, heaters, some bottled water and coffee, mini refrigerator, and a neat bathroom with a pair of bathroom slippers! I left all my bags and went to eat lunch with oppa at the nearby cafeteria. The best part of it all was the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf just across the dormitory! Sweet!

Just as my friend advised, they love having things through vendo machines. So indeed, at the caf just before getting our meals, we had to pay at the vendo machine to get our food stab for 3,000krw per person. Not bad cos the food served were kimchi, breaded porkchop with teriyaki sauce, some noodles, seaweed wrap, soup and steamy sticky rice. The meal was just good for my hungry stomach! I had to check out the toilet fast and everything was so clean and neat. Back at the caf, it's a CLAYGO or Clean As You Go system. It's good that they have a system for disposal such that garbages have to be separated from the plates and utensils. The spoons, forks and chopsticks were all metal by the way; and even the cup. There's a water dispenser (hot and cold) at the end of the caf and they have this neat way of collecting the cups just beside the dispensers. Wish I took pictures but I was still dizzy trying to pick up the pace to adjust to this new life! IT'S SO MUCH FUN!

MJ oppa asked me if I wanted to take a cab to the downtown or just walk. Knowing myself, I've always loved walking as much as I can (of course other than to save more, I also wanted to burn all the calories the simple way). At the downtown of Jochiwon, he accompanied me to KB, a local bank, so I can open a local bank account. Good thing indeed that MJ oppa was with me or else my nose would have been bleeding1 all day long cos I know not a single word in the Korean language except "annyong hasseo". That time, I also just learned to say "thank you" / "komhapsupmida". It started to sink in that I have to learn the language fast too! At the bank, I needed oppa to be my translator. Funny thing, I just remembered, it's also oppa's birthday. What an effort to tour a foreign student around on his birthday.=))

1 The term bleeding has been used in the 21st century by Filipinos to mean that they do not understand English or are having a hard time with the English vocabulary. It is also being applied to other foreign languages as well especially Chinese, Japanese and Korean since these languages do not use the typical 26 letters of the alphabet.

After I had opened an account, oppa brought me to a cellphone store and talked with a sales representative. He was told I had to present a certificate (which will be given by next week when classes will start) in order for me to buy a line because I'm a foreign student. So we had to come back next time instead. My Pinoy phone is about to die on me, only hanging onto 1 bar of battery! Oh no...

Sensing oppa got tired of walking, I agreed to finally take the cab with him back to the university. It's just a quick ride indeed. But I still find it fun to walk (as long as the weather is nice like a cold sunny day)... *laughs*

We went to our laboratory where I finally met our senior lab-mate, GJ oppa. He was the oppa who helped me out with my registrations and dormitory reservations while was still in my homeland. I had my own table already with the computer and some office/school supplies. What surprised me were the colored post-its! I'm about to go back to being "O.C." again!

As night fell, we all went out to dinner together. I wasn't sure if it was to celebrate MJ's birthday but it was a cool way to introduce me to their culture -- dinner at an authentic Korean restaurant. I was amazed by the appetizers alone! I thought they were already the main dishes but I kept wondering why the servings were small for a group of 8 guys and an unica???.. There were kimchi, oysters with spicy sauce, seaweeds, crab with spicy sauce, crispy shrimps, and more of which I cannot describe perfectly. The table was definitely FILLED UP. If only they could cover up each space on the table with the bowl of appetizer, they literally would; that's how FILLED UP the table was such that some of the appetizers that were still unfinished had to be taken out by the waitress in order to serve another set of appetizers. How is that for a meal?!

Then came the pork and more spicy sauce. I didn't see them eat the leaves at first cos there were about 3 plates with piles of purely leaves of various types and sizes. I didn't know what to pair it with until one of them gave me a demo by getting a leaf, putting it on his palm, took a pork with the chopsticks and placed it on the leaf, added some spicy sidings on the pork, wrapped the leaf around it all --- and chomped 'em. GJ oppa told me to dip it in the separate orange colored, more spicy looking sauce and so I tried it too. AND I LIKED IT! It would have been better though had I not tasted the fat. Then steaming black rice with some beans and whatelses were served to each one of us. Oh, I just remembered, they didn't serve water. It was cold service tea for the drinks. Weird but I managed anyway. And on the rice, some ate half of 'em and poured service tea on the steaming bowl, which made more steam because the cold tea mixed up with the steaming bowl. And I felt horrified at the sight of my rice being done with the same practice too by my senior! He told me it's the "real appetizer" for Koreans! Weird at sight but I tried again. Rice was eated with spoon by the way. With my spoon, I dipped and took some rice to my mouth and it almost burned my tongue! I had to blow just before eating. Almost lost my appetite for having to blow the heat off but it tasted...well...just ok...manageable...like "lugaw" but watery and less dense with more rough texture on the rice... And to top off the dinner, they served this "appetizer" or what might have tasted like dessert to me because of the familiar sweet, mint-like taste. It sort of had a hint of ginger to it... Anyway, I got FULL tasting almost all of it except for the mushrooms that looked scary to my taste buds...

This ends my first day adventure and now I shall rest here in my cozy haven! I just wish my permanent room will be as cool if not more awesome than this! *wink*