Insa-dong and Hyehwa

23-24 April 2011


Sidetrippin' and Sleepin' Over at SNU


My class in Anam campus ended at 4:00 pm. I was excited despite my tired self because I'm about to go on a photowalk! My detox time! ^^


I reached Hyehwa station by 5:00 pm and there I met Tin!


Just when we were about to go back to her dormitory to leave my huge bag, we saw a performance across the street. So we decided to go see it! Several people were dressed in white with red, yellow and blue designs on the shoulder area and they were going around in circles while playing drums and many other instruments! It was the Traditional Korean Music and it was out of plan but making this sidetrip even more its worth! ^^


After the mini event was over, I had a mini tour of Seoul National University - Hyehwa and went to Tin's dormitory to leave my backpack.


1800 h


Antique Shops Lined the Street
We went around Insa-dong. It was full of antique shops and stores that sold small stuff like trinkets and just about any kind of souvenir for foreigners. The main street already had some lamps displayed as preparation for the Buddha festival. A lot of stores sold statues of Buddha as well and the deeper we went, the more antique shops we saw. Some of the store owners were kind enough to let us take photos of their displays. ^^


Traditional Korean Dessert
On our way back, we went to some booth that sold the traditional Korean dessert made of honey. At the first store, we watched four guys recite in Korean, describing their product and showing customers how the dessert is made. The second store was more entertaining cos the four guys recited in English and the "lead" even knew about the Philippines' SMB and kept repeating "San Miguel Beer, delicious!" LOL. We were waiting for free samples, too bad there were none! Hahah! It was fascinating to see how the "dough" separated into multiple strings - starting from one, two, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 ... and on it went until 16,384!


1930 h


Dinner at the best 토포키 place!


Menu: topokki with cheese, THE PIZZA, ramyeon and the free unlimited icecreeeeeam!
The pizza is to die for! I just gotta get back to that place and indeed, they had the best cheezy topokki! The chocolate icecream even had the hint of mint! ^^


The place has a very warm and inviting ambiance and it looked like a kindergarten classroom-turned-restaurant. ^^


We enjoyed the food so much that we realized how long we stayed ~ we wrapped up dinner for more than an hour! LOL.


Before we left, the restaurant owner asked where we came from and told us that he's a fan of Pacman! KEWL! ^^
love to go back again for the pizza, kindergarten ambience, cute pizza baker, really nice store owner :))


2100 h


Catholic Church at Hyehwa
We went to hear mass at the Catholic church and right after the mass, we each got a pair of Easter eggs! LOL.


2200 h


Photowalk at the University Street
If Manila has it's U-belt, Hyehwa has the counterpart. The place is also surrounded by numerous universities and is known as the "university street". After burning off some calories from walking, we went to a nearby hof for a round of Max beer and samgyeopsal! LOL. Yes, we foodtripped! That was one of the restaurants that served delicious kimchi so far, the second in my list. ^^ 


0130 h
Just before we headed back to Tin's dormitory, I did my trademark pose just outside the hof.LOL. c",)

Water Symposium

Environmental Engineering - Water Symposium
Location: Incheon


I lacked sleep but I tried to wake up at the first sound of my alarm. But I snoozed back. Meeting time was set at 6:00am at the laboratory. When I woke up, it was already 6 o'clock! Oh no! They must have left for the symposium already...But no one has sent a message or called me up yet. So I took a quick bath and prepared myself to go to the lab. I remembered that the weather forecast stated that the day would be rainy, so I brought my umbrella with me.


As I stepped out of the dormitory, MJ oppa called and looked for me. Again, I made it to the building just in time cos oppa has also just arrived! ^^


0650 h
I left the campus with MJ oppa and Changhong oppa driving the car. Even if I was so sleepy, I was also excited cos I will meet Joan and Ate Marla! And they will be presenting at the symposium, somehow, I will be able to understand at least two presentations cos most presentations are in Korean according to my oppas. LOL.

0930 h
We arrived at the research institute and I met Joan and Ate Marla. It was like an alumni meeting as Ate Marla was being teased by her professor that we're having our mini-reunion of alumnis. LOL.


Since most of my oppas from were staff of the event, MJ oppa suggested that I go with the Kongju students, Joan and Marla. Also for me to enjoy, I'll spend most of my time with my fellow Thomasians! ^^


Today is Good Friday and we're supposed to abstain. But too bad, both Joan and I were really hungry as both of us haven't had anything for breakfast and both of us also lacked sleep! So we ate whatever was served at the cafeteria even if the only protein source was meat. Awww...

1700 h
I had to go back to Jochiwon already and join Changhong oppa and Junsik on the way back. I bid my friends farewell then.


In the car, I met Yeongchoon oppa, a former graduate student from our university. He was a bit surprised when he first heard a Korean word that came out of my mouth, "oppa". LOL,


Changhong oppa drives fast! So we reached Jochiwon at around 7:30 pm and all of us were starving! I planned on eating some plain kimbap to abstain but oppa invited me to have dinner with them. The menu? - Unlimited Beef! Uh oh! LOL.


2000 h
We rode Ohkyung oppas' suv to the downtown and dropped Junsik off at the train station cos he had to go back to his hometown as soon as possible. So there were only four of us who ate dinner at the restaurant serving what seemed like a "buffet" of beef plus a bit of Cass and soju to warm up our dinner. LOL.


I was super full! Obviously, even without rice, that much beef that kept coming until they've decided to stop will really fill me up to the throat! It was Changhong oppas treat that night and as we went out, Ohkyung exclaimed, "Forget the name of the restaurant." LOL. The beef was just ok, at least for me, since I can't compare yet what a premium grade beef of that kind tasted like. LOL. Then in the car, I asked them to rate the food with 10 being the best and 1 being the lowest, they gave 0.5 for the rating! LOL.


Though I enjoyed the food as it filled up my stomach really well, their comments made me quite more curious as to what a premium beef would taste like. LOL


Til my next post! c",)

Detoxicating Sidetrips to Myeongdong and Yeouido

19 April 2011


We were dismissed a bit earlier from class today! And I've set my afternoon to meet up with my "lost sister", Tin!!! We're going on a sidetrip! YeaaaaahhhH!


1300h
I met up with Tin at Myeongdong station. It took less than 30 minutes by subway to reach Myeongdong station from Anam. I was too excited that I didn't even feel hungry. I just had some crackers with me for a light snack. ^^


We took Exit 2 and reached the Myeongdong main street. I needed a smart casual / formal dress for the symposium I have to attend on Friday. And what a perfect place to shop indeed and a lot of stuff are sold at quite cheap prices! You just have to be really good in scouting for the good quality clothes! Dresses, blouses, tees for under 10,000 won! After going through several shops, I finally found two dresses that I couldn't decide which one to pick, so I bought both! ^^


Then we went around and about the alleys where there are lots of beauty stores. Salesladies were in costumes and greeted passersby happily and handed out free samples and requested people to go in even just for window shopping! Because of that, my jacket pocket immediately got filled up with the free samples as we passed by 4 to 5 different shops! ^^


In the middle of the streets, we'd often meet some mascots from the various stores and restaurants. We even saw Snoopy and the weird distorted-looking Garfield! Hahah! But the best one was the street artist. We were inside Faceshop when suddenly, as I looked out, I saw a very tall man walking and was in full "clown"-look and the long red trousers. Tin dropped what she was about to buy and decided to go out with me to run after the tall man to take photos! Oh yes, we were in the place to take photos primarily, canvassing and shopping only came second. LOL.


It was quite an interesting view of Myeondong having a street artist in the middle of the road showing off his balloon art skills and even made a lollipop-shaped balloon for a little girl who was all eyes on him as she waited for her balloon (like she was waiting forever in vain...LOL).


Before we headed to the subway, we passed by a stall and saw stockings being sold for 3 for 10,000 won (it sounded like 3 for P100 -- no.1 rule though, never convert currencies!).


1400h
We went back to the subway to go to Yeouido. After around 30 minutes, we were already in Yeouido. We took Exit 4 and walked straight to Yeouido Park hoping that the cherry blossoms, our main goal for the day's sidetrip, are still in full bloom. Just before we crossed the street, we passed by a cozy coffee booth that had a very warm and inviting ambiance.^^


The Cherry Blossom Festival at Yeouido ended last Sunday unfortunately. We were not able to see the festivities and the many people that filled the park. As we reached the par, we were a bit disappointed since there is not that much cherry blossoms anymore. As we stolled along, we took photos of the stikingly pink flowers that adorned the sides of the pathwalks. We walked on until we reached the center of the park where we saw two full blooming cherry blossoms! That's were we did our photoshoot! LOL.


While filling up our cameras with photos of people, passersby, flowers, the view and the cherry blossoms especially, we saw a Chinese-Korean family with a very cute bouncing baby girl who was lying with her belly flat on the ground as her dad was enjoying the moment and took photos of his daughter. I couldn't resist the baby so I asked permission from the family if I can take photos of the baby as well. And where the baby was sitting, it was such a perfect pose and the background were the cherry blossoms as well! ^^ The baby kept smiling and laughing as Tin and I playfully took photos of her! ^^


1600h
Time's up and I had to go back to Jochiwon already. Sidetrip is over and Tin and I had to part ways as we reached the Seoul station. As I reached the ticket office, I made it just in time to ride the train which was about to leave in a few minutes! LOL. The train departed at 1643h and I reached Jochiwon by 1812h. And to save time, I rode the free campus bus that passed by the train station at 1827h.


Tune in for my next sidetrip! c",)

Typical Seoul Saturday

My first period class is Reaction Engineering. This is the course that I need to do a lot of catching up cos I never had this subject in college. During the class, our professor discussed only a few topics for today's lecture since he was not feeling well and decided to ask us to present the progress of our term project! Oh snap! I didn't bring a hard copy of my report, I just emailed it to him but he at least have already read my email. Still, I'm not prepared to present and I was still uneasy with the topic I'm working on cos understanding the equations and all were already taking much of my time in preparing the report! T___T" MJ oppa presented first and he was followed by KH oppa. Next was me! Oh no! Before the presentation, I scribbled all that I could remember from what I've emailed and the papers I've read. When I stood in front of the class, our professor who was just seated at the teacher's table on the side transfered in one of the nearby seats in front and was smiling at me as I was about to start! T___T" It made my feet colder! It was supposed to be a warm day but - dang! I was chillin' literally! So I started presenting and babbled whatever came out of my mind. The professor was so kind enough to guide me with the topic and offered suggestions as to how I can approach the project better! Whew! BIG WHEW indeed! It was "good" and as I walked back to my seat, MJ oppa made a silent clapping action. I smiled back and told him I didn't come prepared at all! And so was he! LOL.


After the class, I had lunch with MJ oppa and Badboi at the cafeteria below the gym. I had bibimbap again! I'm starting to feel like it's becoming my comfort food here! LOL. At lunch, I asked Badboi what his report was all about cos at first he started presenting in English and eventually spoke in Korean in order to express better and all I could figure out was that he drew on the board a stick drawing of a man and something with four legs. It was about some medicine concentration and that's all I understood. Then they explained to me that it was about a lab rat experiment on the concentration of medicine and the class was laughing at the topic. I was guessing the whole time what they were laughing about and I wanted to laugh back then at the fact that I didn't understand what they were laughing at and the drawing on the board. LOL.


My afternoon class was postponed to 3:30 PM cos Prof.JY had an emergency. I wanted to go see the flower festival at Yeouido but it seemed that this won't be a good time cos my class will end late. T___T"


1840h: I was walking out of the Anam gate and got a call from my professor asking where I was. So I hurried to the subway and there we met to take the subway together. At the subway we also met Tekken oppa but he was headed to another destination. My professor and I went to the Seoul Station and bought our train tickets. So there, I bought my ticket to Jochiwon and professor was headed to his hometown. Dang...I can't see the flower festival anymore T___T"


1920h: The train left for Jochiwon and I stayed at the cafeteria car again cos the seats were all taken. I plugged my earphones to my ears, sat on the carpeted floor, leaned on the wall and slept in the trip. ~~


2058h: Now in Jochiwon station! I went to my favorite kimbap restaurant and ordered 치즈라면 (Cheese Ramyeon) for a change - hahah! And to satisfy my cravings for something sweet, I was thinking of oranges but when I got to Buy The Way, there was no orange and all I can find to suspend my cravings was the Hershey's Roasted Almond Veil ice cream bar! Even if it was cold, I had ice cream! LOL.

치즈라면: cheesy, milky, creamy, spicy - YUMMY! ^^

Satisfaction Accomplished! ~~

Rendezvous at CBTL

"My First CBTL Ice Blended!"


1200h


Only Sok oppa and I were the people in the lab. The rest of the guys were in Seoul having classes. So for lunch, oppa invited me to join him and I'm glad that he's also not a fan of the cafeteria for the professors! I like bibimbap so much and so we went to eat at the place where I had my first bibimbap. I learned that oppa was planning to proceed his post-graduate studies in the U.S. and heard from my professor that he's one of the brightest students even during his undergraduate years. Seems like it cos he was a double major degree holder (Environmental and Civil Engg) during his Bachelor's.^^


At the resturant, oppa ordered spicy ramyeon and bibimbap and I didn't know that it was a treat! Cool! ^^, I was supposed to have lunch with a couple of friends but they had classes still. Because of that, I got treated for lunch! ^^


1320h


I met up with BJ oppa and Keo, who had his head shaved just before we met (LOL), in front of CBTL. They're the new friends I met at the English Cafe. BJ oppa bought coffee for us and since it was a very nice warm day (22 degrees), I decided to have white chocolate dream latte ice blended - my first ever ice blended drink at Coffee Bean here! LOL. We sat outside at the porch area and I was already brave not to put on a jacket or sweater. The warm sun was really such a bliss to my skin! ^^, I loved it!


BJ oppa told us about his interview with Asiana Airlines yesterday and when I found out he applied for FA, I was so amazed and said that that's one of the jobs I'd fancy and I definitely don't see it as a job, it's more of fun than work because it's traveling!!!^^ But it's funny that he doesn't like flying! Both Keo and him have phobias in airplanes! LOL. And so he's expecting not to get accepted, the experience of the interview was enough for him. kkk...

BIBIMBAP PLACE (not exactly the name^^)

2000h


Alone in the lab! Sok oppa already went back to Seoul so I have the lab all to myself and I can sing all I want! LOL. Just kidding! (Half - hahaha!)


I thought I would be having only oranges for dinner. But John came and so I went to dinner with him, Cindy and another friend of Cindy who's living in an apartment just outside the campus grounds. We went to a restaurant that's just a few steps from the apartment and Cindy told me to try the 청둑장. At first I was hesitant cos it was neither beef nor chicken and I didn't want to have pork as much as possible. Then she said something about beans. "Oh, soy beans?!" And I was thinking of tofu already - I'm not such a big fan of tofu. I was hopeful that the way the tofu was being cooked was tasteful even spicy cos I rarely eat plain tofu! When the dish arrived, it was a red soup filled with tofu! @_@ hahah! I didn't know what to say really and so when she asked me how it tasted, I just said "Ok". LOL. It smelled not so good too as what she said. Good thing there were lots of side dishes / appetizers and the seaweed wrap which they call "KIM". I preferred the sidedishes more than the main course we ordered. LOL. It tasted just well and blended with the kim and other appetizers at least, it wasn't that bad and it was just OK. c",)

청둑장

청둑장 (Ch'ong Dook Jang)

My First FILIPOS Day: Yeouinaro Photowalk

I was overly excited and woke up at 6:00 AM. I checked the internet last night and it said that there's a train to Seoul at 7:18 AM. I had everything prepared, my memory card, spare SD card, my battery - well charged, lens and body - cleaned --- all set! I brought some oranges for breakfast in the train. ^^


I walked to the train station and only to find out that the next train schedule is at 8:10 AM! T___T" I was supposed to be at Singil Station by 9:00 AM in order to meet Kuya Marco and Kuya Mon, the two FILIPOS guys whom I met in the train yesterday. Since I couldn't make it, I called them up and asked for the exact train station where the club will meet up. So yeah, I'm gonna be late. T__T"




10:20AM YEOUINARO STATION EXIT 2
As I got out of exit 2, I saw a group of people with dslr's. "This must be the place then and they must be Pinoys", I thought. And when I got nearer, some of them were staring at me cos I had my slr over my neck and seemed to them like I was looking for one of them. They were right! Then I met Kuya Marco and Kuya Mon and they introduced me to the rest of the members. ^^ I met Tin, whom Kuya Marco thought was me (because of the long hair probably) and from then on, she became my best buddy in the club, my so-called long-lost-sister in Korea. Hahah... Tin is a Nursing Management graduate student in SNU and is already in her final year and has also been into photography. We talked as if we knew each other already and it was a lot of fun knowing each other and meeting other people in the club! A few minutes later, Krish, who was already a member of the club also arrived and introduced me to his two friends int he club. He's my batchmate in UST and we haven't seen each other since I arrived in Korea. So this is like our mini reunion and a sort of grand gathering with fellow Pinoy photographers for me!


We started our day with a prayer led by one of the leaders of the club, Kuya Nads. Then off we went to take photos of whatever we can. The theme of that day's photowalk was Macro Photography. Ok, I like macro photography but it's something I badly need to develop. So whatever happens, I'll just try to shoot whatever I can macro on as creatively as I can. LOL.


Tin is also addicted to coffee and she hasn't had breakfast yet. It was already past 12:00 PM and everyone was still busy taking photos! ^^ Though the place was still not in full bloom, there weren't so much cherry blossoms yet, it still looked beautiful and peaceful and I enjoyed taking random photos of passers-by, portraits of children rather than the macro theme. LOL.


There's a Ministop nearby and that's where all of us had lunch at past 1:00 PM already. Everybody sure was hungry! The group was gathered once again to announce the winners of the last photowalk's theme - Pre-nup Photography. Ate Janice was the winner and also the people's choice! Girls are ruling! ^^,


Tin and I decided to go home by 4:30 PM and I took the train to Jochiwon. By the time I reached Jochiwon, it was past 6:00 PM and I had enough time to buy some stuff at the market.


For the first time, I heard mass with Sue! We've been planning to hear mass together but our schedules hardly jammed. Finally, tonight was the night! Hahah! She's an undergraduate student in our department as well and I knew her through my professor who gave my number to her in order to contact me whenever she'd hear mass in Jochiwon. Sue has been one of my good friends since then and has been helping me with some Korean phrases! ^^,


Before heading to the bus stop, we bought some bread at Jong Man. It looked similar to Breadtalk and they have a quite a good selection of various pastries too! ^^, Dinner that night - pizza bread! ^^,

FATE Brought Me to the Train and to FILIPOS

Extraordinary things happen...and today, it seems fate just brought me to the unexpected twists of my Saturday's routine...^^


For lunch, I went to eat with MJ oppa at the building, the one across the Biotech Bldg, where we also had lunch last time. At least this time, we're not so much in a hurry cos our afternoon class was adjusted to start 30 minutes after the scheduled time. I was treated with bibimbap for lunch and in return, I bought coffee for oppa hahah! Oppa was very tired cos the whole week he's been working on the project in our laboratory and has been staying overnight for 3 consecutive days in the lab. As much as I would like to help them with the report, there's nothing much I can do cos I barely understand Hangeul and the report is in Korean. T___T"


After the class, I went by myself to the subway cos oppa was going to meet his girlfriend before he goes back to Jochiwon. My Saturday Seoul to Jochiwon route has changed. I would now take the train instead of the bus so from Anam station at line 6, I get off at Dongmyo where I would transfer to Line 1 until I reach Seoul Station. Just when I got off the subway at Seoul Station, I saw someone familiar. When I looked, it was oppa and his pretty pretty girlfriend! ^^ I have never seen her yet in person, only her pictures at oppa's desktop in the lab. And indeed, she's so pretty!!! Chesca is also a Catholic, something in common we share. And she invited me to hear mass with her sometime in one of the biggest Catholic churches in Seoul. ^^


At the ticket booth, I had to go ahead cos they still had to go on a date (of course ~~,). In the train, since I got no seat anymore, I stayed at the cafeteria car. There I sat in front of the counter where they sell some food. A few minutes later, a couple of men boarded the train with a box of what seemed like an equipment, backpacks and DSLR's. They seem like professional photographers. My ears was covered with earphones but I turned down the volume of my music player. They seemed to be talking in a different language, it didn't sound like Hangeul. I kept glancing at them and I had a strong feeling that they may be my kababayans. When the train started, I decided to position myself and stood near them so I could hear if they were Pinoys indeed. Right then and there, I heard them talk in Tagalog! "Kuya, Pinoy po kayo?", I asked one of them. And that started our conversation during the whole trip. The best part is, they're members of FILIPOS (Filipino Photographers in South Korea) which is a registered club in the Immigration and because I've always wanted to join a group and develop my skills in photography, they eagerly invited me to join them and to come to Seoul for a photowalk with the rest of the club tomorrow at Yeouido! I was so excited, so happy, so full of energy despite the fact that I haven't had much sleep cos I studied for my exam since midnight and never went to sleep anymore! Though tired I may be, my brain was still full of ideas and thoughts about the Filipino community I'll be joining, the photography club, to be with professional photographers and all! Ooooohhh! I couldn't describe it perfectly that when I got off the train, I was still smiling and it's as if my smile won't ever fade! I had kimbap for dinner at a restaurant near the station and I was still smiling after even during my whole 30-minute walk to the campus!


As I went in the lab, I gleefully greeted Kiko oppa and hid behind my computer, bashful and kept my smile all to myself hahah! =) TOMORROW --- the photowalk! c",)