Out of the loopy box

Fifth day in Korea (1)

2011-10-09T20:10:00.001+08:00

Today was the day the group split. While the rest headed on to Seoul by bus early in the morning, I stayed back in Gwangju to meet up with a friend.
Long story short, he was busy in Seoul and had arrived back to Gwangju by bus early in the morning. Allowing him ample time to snooze, I hung out at his friend's apartment.
By the time he woke up, it was time for lunch and the bunch of us decided to order delivery, taking advantage of having a local among our group.
The meal was around 5,000-8,000 Won per person, depending on what you ordered.
It was refreshing to see the delivery man arrive with a box filled up with containers of food that wasn't disposable items.

The delivery man chatted to me in Korean while I gave him a blank look.

According to our Korean friend, he thought I was a Korean, which explains a lot on why random people on the streets kept on conversing with me in the language.

It was an interesting experience, which made me feel a wee bit part of the culture.

Even when it comes to delivery, the side dishes are not forgotten, which really impressed me as preparing multiple dishes and delivering them seem to be a great hassle.

I got even further impressed when I was told that after the meal, all we had to do was pack up the utensils, place them in a plastic bag provided with the meal and leave it outside the doorstep for the deliveryman to return and pick it up.

All I could think of was 'Wow! That's dedication for customer service."

Fourth day in Korea (1)

2011-10-08T18:05:00.001+08:00

The fourth day in Korea was pretty uneventful as the whole day was spent travelling to Gwangju.
Much like the first day in Korea, an omelet and sausage breakfast was prepared by Pitto (and Ah Liang, I think), complete with a smiley face to start the day.

We took the 8am ferry from Jeju to Mokpo City, which was going to take us 5 hours to get there. I don't really remember the price of the tickets ( I vaguely remember it to be around 22,000 Won), but it was the cheapest class tickets, which isn't really that bad.
You basically just sit on the platforms provided in the ferries. There are also pillows provided if you wanna take a snooze, with ample space to lie down.

;

This was the moment when the weather turned from bad to worse in Korea (for those interested to visit Korea, keep in mind that this is mid-July).
The rain went from a light drizzle early in the morning to pouring profusely within an hour.
We were already drenched during our third day here and it was not the end of it.
The sky was dark and foggy:

And the waves were relentless hitting against the side of the ferry, rocking it more than usual despite its size:

The air was cold with the strong wind delivering the extra chill to the bone.

Outside the ferry, it was an unforgiving world.

But inside, it was a different story.

Warm and equipped, it made sure that its passengers are well taken care of with a cafeteria open for those who are hungry and water readily available in water coolers for those who are thirsty.

There was even a little boy who got pleasantly entertained with arcade games on the ferry.

By the time we reached Mokpo City, the rain was so heavy we could hardly see past a few metres ahead. Instead of keeping to the initial plan of taking our time to get to know the city, we decided to head on straight to Gwangju by bus, which took around an hour.

Through the drizzling rain, we headed to the nearest hotel with an English signboard in Gwangju called Classic Hotel (60,000 Won for four of us) and retired for the night, too drenched and exhausted to do anything else, waiting for the next day to arrive.

Third day in Korea (6)

2011-09-07T00:39:00.001+08:00

I've always been skeptical when it comes to product or services that has strong marketing. Almost always, the product ends up short of what is expected of it.
So when I saw Yeha guesthouse splattered strongly at the Korea Tourism Organisation booth for Jeju during the Matta fair, I was determined that it did not remain on my 'places to stay' list.
I must say though, I was proven immediately wrong upon arriving at the guesthouse (Teresa made the booking, which means I didn't have a chance to snub it).

If you remove the messiness caused by us, it's a really nice and comfortable stay. For a guesthouse, this place is pretty top notch.
We had planned on heading to Jeju Love Land after settling in, but the gloomy day we spent got to us. And after setting sights on such a cozy place, we decided to stay put and just relax.
This was the last night we were spending in Jeju, and I had yet to taste abalone porridge, which is a must have food item here.
Lucky for us, Yeha was already prepared with what guests had in mind and the girl at the counter immediately produced a piece of paper complete with a map with directions to several restaurants that serves Jeju's specialties.
I don't remember the name of the restaurant we went to, but it was really good.

Here, we have the usual side dishes.

But the soup was something different. Usually, it's served with bean sprout in clear soup. This was slight different with cucumber in red soup. It had a tangy taste as opposed to the clear soup.
The owner of the restaurant was pretty proud of her abalone dishes, especially the abalone rice hotpot which was featured on Korean television before.

It may not look appetising, but trust me....this is goooooooddddd......
The abalone slices were thick and plentiful. The owner was not at all skimpy with their end product. Throw in a slab of butter and some heavy duty stirring....and it is ready to be consumed greedily.

Hot, flavourful, delish.....and pumped full of luxurious abalone.

From the looks of it, the porridge doesn't look like much. But much like the hotpot, this bowl is buried with plenty of treasure from the sea. And the flavour, also superb. Yummm.....the downside? I can never ever have this in Malaysia....
Oh, abalone dishes, I miss you so.....
After the meal, we went back to Yeha for an early nightcap as we had a full day of travelling the very next day.

Note: We spent around RM70 for one night in Yeha Guesthouse. It is a really fair price considering we were in Jeju and the environment of the place is really good. Yeha even provides tours and has probably every question you had in your mind about Jeju prepared.
The abalone hotpot was priced 15,000 won while the porridge was 10,000 won.

Third day in Korea (5)

2011-09-05T20:44:00.001+08:00

By the time we arrived at Yongduam Rock, it was already 5.30pm.
Yongduam Rock, also known as the Dragon Head rock, is probably a popular place for visitors to sit at the nearby cafes and enjoy a hot, fragrant cup of coffee.

However, spotting the many tourists buses parked at the car park, we decided to beat the crowd and bag the best photo taking spot before every head of these tourists appear in our pictures.

After clicking the first picture, I took sometime looking at the rock, trying to figure out which part exactly was the head of the dragon. Maybe I'm an artistic moron, but after 10 minutes of staring without figuring out which part exactly was the head, I turned my attention to the sun setting behind me.

Not exactly a great picture, but I just like that the sea glitters from the sunlight.

Realising that there is a route along this direction, we headed to see what was on the other side of these rocks.

We spotted yet again, another Haenyo conducting business. Only this time, she had something that me and Teresa were dying to try since we stepped foot onto Korea.

It is a pretty gory experience watching the baby octopus being chopped up alive in front of us. First, its brain was completely scrapped away on the chopping board.

Then it was minced into a million wriggling pieces, which were screaming 'I'm still ALIVE!' with great agony.

And served up with many dashes of sesame oil accompanied with bean paste, chili and garlic, and wasabi with soy sauce on the side.

It was a difficult dish to savour considering the tentacles to be still wriggling and capable of sucking on to any surface it could get its squiddish hands on. I even had one stuck in my throat for a while before finally being able to swallow it.

It is hard to describe what it tasted like, as any fresh squid flavour was completely overshadowed by the sesame oil.

It would have been great to have a bottle of soju on the side, but it's not worth risking it walking on the rocks half drunk.

At 6.30pm, we were ushered into the taxi by the driver, who promptly brought us back to the guesthouse right on the dot at 7pm.

Third day in Korea (4)

2011-08-25T00:44:00.002+08:00

The saddest part of the rainy season is that the fog culminated from the cold air tend to block the most scenic views.
Thanks to the fog, I missed out on a supposedly great sunrise in India.
And in Korea, I missed out on a supposedly grand view of the volcano crater at Seongsang Ilchulbong.

What is supposed to be a view of the Seongsan Ilchulbong's 180m tall summit is all covered up by the fog. Nevertheless, as we were already here, there was no reason not to walk up the well-paved stairs up to the peak.
It looked like a long way up judging by the ant-sized people crawling up obediently in a line.

While Ah Liang and I decided to head up the summit, Teresa and Pitto pondered on whether to join us seeing as there is a big chance it would be a pointless walk up without a guaranteed view and the continuous rain had dampened most of our enthusiasm.

As expected, reaching the top didn't get us much of view besides a cloud of white. No amount of squinting or peering down at where the crater was supposed to be could get us a teensy weensy bit of a view. In the end, we had to make do with the view on the walk down as the fog gradually cleared as the temperature dropped by the metre. By then, Teresa and Pitto had decided to make the climb up as well.
The walk down was relaxing as we took the time to take in the view from the top.

There was even a cove down below which we were much too lazy and time constrained (the taxi driver had given us one and a half hour for this destination) to investigate.

To further amuse myself, I took a picture of this version of Wall-E who spends his lifetime looking at the ocean. I kind of envy him in a way.

Anyway, at 5pm, we loaded ourselves into the taxi and headed to our last destination of the day -Yongduam Rock.

Note: Ticket admissions to Seongsan Ilchulbong is 2,000 won. It's probably cooler to visit it for its sunrise as it is known in English as Seongsan Sunrise Peak.

Third day in Korea (3)

2011-08-17T22:36:00.001+08:00

Walking through the rest of Ilchul Land was mostly a listless affair.
First, the heavy rain had really dampened our moods as we were wet and tired. Second, Ilchul Land was more an array of touch and go experiences where you don't really get a deep sense of anything culturally interesting.
There were a couple of things that caught my eye though.
For one, this model of the Haenyo where i thought was a really precise interpretation of what they represent.

Made out of wiring and filled with rocks and fishes swimming in between, she definitely is one with the sea. It's just a little sad that this particular haenyo has to be so far away from the ocean.
Besides being well known for the dol haruebang (statues of gods offering protection and fertility) which can be found all over the island looking like this:

Jeju is also well known for its delicacy of black skinned pork, which can only be found on these islands. The meat however, is not black, it is in fact named for the black skin of the animal. While we didn't have the chance to have a meal on this dish (or maybe we had but didn't know it because everything was in Korean),we did see the animal in Ilchul Land, and yes, it was black.

They had the blackest, sleekest, shiniest fur I have ever seen, and they were too busy eating to actually pay us any attention. At least they have proper feed now. According to the information board, these pigs were fed human excrement a very long time ago where the farmers just built their toilets above the pig pen.
Yuck....but that's the way it was when conditions were poor and people had to survive.
After a while, we got tired of the place with nothing more interesting to see and headed to the exit.
On the way, I walked through a cactus garden and took a picture.

All I can say is..ummm....the cactus were really huge.
We concluded that this was not really a necessary place to visit. If it wasn't for the fact that we were not able to visit the Manjanggul Lava tubes, I wouldn't have given Mi Cheon Caves a second thought.
At around 3pm, we moved on to Seongsan Ilchulbong, also known as Seongsan Sunrise Peak.

Note: Entrance fee for Ilchul Land costs 4,500 won.

Third day in Korea (2)

2011-08-17T03:51:00.000+08:00

While the rain had already stopped falling, the air was still cold from the weather. What we didn't prepare for, was the freezing temperature outside of Mi Cheon Caves with the mist swirling all around us.

Despite its initial appearance, the cold seem to disappear into the air the moment we walked down the stairs and the temperature gradually became warmer.

The rest of the lava tube was pretty much, well, rocks. Most of its description were in Korean which was of course lost to us. So all we could do was to check out whatever was inside the cave.
There was a huge pool in the middle.

And one or two interesting rock formations.

And we of course had to be careful of our heads in certain areas as warned by the signboard.

The tube, which is 1.7km long, had only 365m opened to the public.
It was overall a really short walk and before we knew it, we were heading towards another part of the park.

Third day in Korea (1)

2011-08-09T04:04:00.001+08:00

It was a fairly depressing day as the rain was already splattering on the rooftops of Jeju Hiking Inn at the first sound of the alarm.
Crossing our fingers that it won't continue, we hailed a cab outside the road to get to our guesthouse in Jeju-si.
Along the way, the driver offered to drive us around Jeju-si for 100,000 won until 7pm, the price included the journey from Seogwipo-si to Jeju-si. Thinking it was a bargain, we agreed, only to find out later that he was willing to only cover one route in Jeju-si, which excluded the Manjanggul Caves that I had really wanted to see.
The continuous falling of the heavy rain contributed to the gloomy factor as we were denied entry into Seongeup Folk Village. There was a huge group of China tourists visiting the village.
Figuring it might be because of overcrowding, the taxi driver brought us to Micheongul (or Ilchul Land) which had the Mi Cheon Cave, also a lava tube like Manjanggul but is more a huge park that included the caves.
It was already around 12pm when we arrived and the rain was coming down on us fiercely.
Hungry and feeling slightly depressed, we decided to have a meal at a restaurant at the junction near the Mi Cheon Cave.

As a starter, we ordered this. We didn't know what it was called but the orange one is filled with sweet potato while the purple one is filled with vegetable and tau hoon. very much like some of the Chinese kuih we have here in Malaysia.
I wish I could describe it better so ummm....use your imaginations or just ask me when you see me how it taste like. Haha....
Next we had Korean pancake, which was between 10,000 won to 15,000 won per pancake, depending on the flavour.

The pancakes came with a side dish of pickled radishes and vinegar. This pancake is more common and can also be found in Malaysia whereas this one below, is quite special:

This is Korean seafood pancake. It's not the seafood or the greens that make it special, take a closer look at the colour of the pancake.

The pinkish colour of the pancake is actually caused by the use of cactus as an ingredient in the dish. The lady owner, who was extremely friendly also recommended that we try the rice juice that was unique to Jeju,

There were some bits inside which the texture was very much like barley.
After filling up, we headed on to Micheon Caves.

Second day in Korea (5)

2011-08-03T05:08:00.001+08:00

We were exhausted by the time we reached the top of the stairs an we took some time to rest our legs on the benches.
Thanks to the tourist information centre nearby, we found out that a bus comes by around every 20 minutes which will take us to the teddy bear museum.

Besides looking cute from the outside, there is a variety of re-enactments of real life events, personalities, art and historical figures all replaced by teddy bears.

These are a few I found interesting....

This muzzle bear, created in 1908, is one of the oldest teddies in the museum. I don't think I can accept the fact that it has a muzzle over it. Teddy bears are meant to be cute, not dangerous, aren't they? I rather think it'd be more appropriate to name it Hannibear Lector.

Here, we have Albear Einstein with his crazy hair about to have tea with a guest.

Not far from Einstein, we have Superbear busy saving baby bears from an explosion.

While all the commotion is going on, the very cool Elvis Bearsley calmly serenades his audience in the museum.

In another continent within the museum, archeologists are busy unearthing and studying the Bearracotta.

On a merrier note, Hong Kong celebrates its return to China.

Aside from the very cute bears making us all gush, there is also some disturbing ones. An example is the bear version of Auguste Rodin's 'The Kiss'.

Not exactly very kiddy friendly......

Moving on to another section, we also discover a grocer who tries to encourage us to eat more vegetables.

Noble....until I saw the vegetables......

Teddy carrots....a different sort of disturbing.....I'd refrain from munching on these as snacks.

The disturbing teddies later slipped from my mind when I saw this:

The cutest Winnie the Pooh I have ever seen!! If this were available at the gift shop, I'd buy him home in a heartbeat.

Unfortunately, this Pooh bear is only strictly for display.

From there, we move back to kiddie land again with scenes from well loved stories.

An example would be this scene from Robin Hood, where Maid Marion awaits his rescue.

Last but not least, this is, in my opinion, the best bear historical figure in the museum. You don't need a caption at all to tell who he is:

There is also an outdoor display of teddy statues which we headed to.

Unfortunately, the museum closed at 7pm and we were promptly chased out of the facility. As we had read in the Korean Tourism Organisation guidebook that the museum was supposed to close at 10pm in July, we left feeling slightly cheated of our time.

While waiting for the bus to take us back to Jeju Hiking Inn, we headed to nearby shoplots to purchase something to eat and later buried ourselves under the blankets before heading to our next destination the following morning.

Note: The entrance fee for the Teddy Bear Museum is 7,000 won.

Second day in Korea (4)

2011-07-29T01:51:00.004+08:00

Following directions from the owner of Jeju Hiking Inn, we were told that Jeongbang Waterfall took 10-15 minutes walk from the guesthouse.
Unfortunately, what he meant was, we would reach the main entrance within that time limit.
From the entrance, it was another 1km walk, which took us nearly an hour.
Lucky for us, the weather was cool and the clouds were busy hiding the sun.
The long walk was well worth it.
The view that greeted us was breathtaking even from afar.

Jeongbang waterfall claims to be the only waterfall in Asia that falls into the sea, well, to be exact, a cove by the sea.
At 23 metres high, legend has it that a holy dragon lives underneath it. There's even a story about a convoy sent by 秦始皇 to search for eternal youth encountered these falls along the way.
We had to walk down a slight of stairs to reach the falls. Peering down the the side of the banisters, we saw what appeared to be people having a picnic on the rocks by the sea.

Definitely envious with the activity these smart people thought of having, we realised upon reaching the bottom of the stairs that it was a makeshift eating place set up by the haenyo (meaning sea women), women divers which Jeju is well-known for.

As many young women do not really take on the trade of the haenyo as it is a dangerous and strenuous job, many active haenyo are of the older generation, doing what they do best by catching and selling raw seafood by the sea.

The seafood, consisting of abalone, sea cucumber, and some shell fish I don't recognise are prepared fresh on the spot. At 30,000 (approximately RM85) won per plate, we tried haggling the price by asking for only one or two seafood varieties. Unfortunately, language really is a big barrier.
While we thought we had succeeded in conveying our message by asking for 20,000 won for the meal, the plate eventually went to another customer, which was a result of miscommunication among the haenyo themselves. Oh well......

We took our seats on the rocks by the sea, preparing to have our 'picnic' as well.
The dish, was eventually served and accompanied with garlic and bean paste. You can even order a bottle of soju to go with it if you are in the mood.

It might come on a bit strong for the light-hearted.
And after a few mouthfuls of the abalone, I was left alone to finish most of it as the other three couldn't stand the raw flavour.
But it was also too much for me and much of the seafood had to be wasted.
We even an earful from the three haenyo in Korean, playful chiding us on the waste.
After the meal, which left a long-lasting taste of the sea in my breath, we headed on to the waterfall.

It was an extremely grueling task trying to get close to get a picture.
First, it was because of the rocks, which tend to be slippery.
Second, it was the droplets of water splashing at the camera due to the waterfall that kept on blurring my spectacles as well as the camera lenses.
It was so cold standing near the waterfall that I had to move away after a while.
After a while of being fascinated by the view and cooling off on the rocks, we headed up the stairs and prepared for our next destination.

Note: The entrance fee for Jeongbang Waterfall is 2000 won per person. This time round, I've made the pictures extra large but it clashes with the sidebars which can be annoying, so bear with it for a while...hehe...

To be continued......

Second day in Korea (3)

2011-07-27T04:00:00.002+08:00

Heading back to Jeju Hiking Inn, we decided to inquire the owner on where is best to have our lunch since we didn't know any of the restaurants nor understood the menu in the area.
I slipped away to use the free internet at the guesthouse and when I came back, Ah Liang had already gotten our meal information from the owner who recommended us to have something called 'Pork Bun'.
'Pork Bun?' I asked. 'There's a specialty in Jeju which is pork in a bun?'
We later arrived at this restaurant,which is around 5 minutes walk away, a bit skeptical if its the right place.

Judging by the only menu in the restaurant, the price looked reasonable with the most expensive dish being 7,000 won (approximately RM19.90).

Turns out, it was 'Pork Bun', but not what I initially thought it was.
It was so much more awesome and wonderful and...well...the nice words kept on pouring into my mind.
A whole table of glorious glorious food!!!!

The fish (which I think is okdom) was superb, the miso soup was flavourful and the steamed egg was excellent. The side dishes of course, were equally tasty.

All in all, a really, really great meal.

For 7,000 won per person, this meal was definitely worth every penny.

It was lucky we had a really big meal, because the next place we headed to, was an unexpected long walk.

To be continued......

Second day in Korea (2)

2011-07-26T04:15:00.002+08:00

First thing that caught our eye after walking through the entrance of Cheongjiyeon Waterfalls (it means a waterfall connecting to the sky), was this pathway that laid across the river, which we of course, had to cross.

Standing from the pathway, there was a good view of a mini waterfall before we hit the big one at the end of the short walk to Cheonjiyeon.

Not long after, we reached a bridge and peering down from the side, spotted the obligatory make a wish statue that requires you to throw a coin in for a wish.

The bridge, known as the Bridge of Prayer brings you to the 3 Fortune Stones, consisting of a mandarin duck, carp and turtle, each represents matrimonial harmony, success in life and a sound life in mind and body.

And if not for a signboard at the side of the bridge, I wouldn't have figured out what the animals were on the stone, well, except for the turtle with it's head sticking out, stretching for a look to see who the wish mongers are.

Finally, at the end of the walk, we were rewarded with a magnificent sight, where according to legends, fairies from the heavens used to take baths.

To fully appreciate its beauty, I just had to make this photo larger.

I have no idea who those two striking a pose at the rock are.....I thought they looked cute with the waterfall behind them and just had to take the picture. Haha.....

As lunchtime drew nearer, our stomachs growled louder and we headed back to our guesthouse in the hopes of searching for a good place to have a meal.

Note: Entrance fee for Cheonjiyeon Waterfall is 2000 won per person.

Second day in Korea (1)

2011-07-25T02:08:00.001+08:00

Our first destination on the island of Jeju, was to the pharmacy.
Pitto, who was already feeling under the weather before we headed off to Korea, was feeling sick that morning.
While the others scoured the local pharmacy for medicine in the town of Seogwipo-si (a short taxi ride away from Jeju Hiking Inn), I grabbed some breakfast from the convenience store across the road.
I love the convenience stores here, very reminiscent of Taiwan's....except well, all the labeling is in Korean and I had no idea what I was eating.

I was later told by a Korean friend that this was chicken.

After that short trip, we took another taxi back to the guesthouse. There were two famous waterfalls in that area and both were within walking distance from Jeju Hiking Inn, which was perfect.

But first, we decided to make a stop to the tourist information centre, which was around 10-15 minutes walk away.

The weather was cool and we were really lucky it was not raining (the end of June and start of July is the rainy season in Korea).

While walking down a slope, I spotted this signboard, which I thought was pretty funny:

And while looking at the sights on the way and heading straight on towards the tourist information centre, Teresa and Pitto were busy taking pictures behind me and Ah Liang.

By the time we reached the centre, we realised Teresa and Pitto had disappeared.

Not knowing what to do as Ah Liang and I had no international roaming on our handphones (ironically, the two with the disappearing act had roaming), we walked up and down the stretch of shops on the same row as the tourist information centre for close to one hour searching for them, even to the point of purchasing an IDD card to make a call to the missing duo.

Finally the two of them appeared. Apparently, they had taken a different turn at a junction after losing us and turned back to the correct route.

After a short outburst upon finding them, we purchased a ticket into Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, where the entrance was just next to the tourist information centre.

And thus finally, we begin our first official sightseeing on the island of Jeju.

To be continued.......

First day in Korea (6)

2011-07-23T23:29:00.001+08:00

As we passed out on the floor of Jeju Hiking Inn this night, it was a mixture of fatigue and relief.

After Cheong Wa Dae, we reached Backpackers Korea at around 6pm to pick up our luggage. As advised by the staff there, we took a cab to Gimpo International Airport for the flight to Jeju.
And that's when things got a little panicky.
To break it down simply......

Time of Flight: 7.30pm
Check-in Time: 6.50pm
Our Time of Arrival at Airport: 7.15pm

By this time, we had already split up the jobs between us.
Ah Liang will take our passports and grovel at the feet of the staff of Eastar Airlines (the budget flight company we were flying with) and Pitto shall run with her for moral support. Teresa and I will pay the taxi driver and lug all the luggage following behind.
It was a desperate move and Teresa, me and Pitto ran like mad women around the airport in the wrong direction when Teresa heard Ah Liang calling out to us from the check-in counter from behind.
It was the luckiest moment of our trip in Korea! Never have we been so glad that a flight we were taking was delayed!
Time of flight was pushed to 7.55pm and we were right on time to check in our luggage!
Landing at the Jeju airport at around 9.10pm, we caught the 9.22pm bus (they call it the airport limousine over there) to Seogwipo-si, where our hostel was at.
An hour later, we could finally put down our luggage and rest for the night.

To be continued....

Note: Eastar Airlines is a budget airline similar to Airasia. Early bookings may grant you a cheaper airfare to Jeju and you can also look out for promotional periods for affordable prices. The best thing, is that they have an English website available as most of the other airlines to Jeju only offer Korean websites. As I managed to book at a promotional price, my air ticket was RM113 for one way.

First day in Korea (5)

2011-07-22T03:42:00.001+08:00

At 3.40pm, we made it up the shuttle bus headed for the 4pm Cheong Wa Dae tour and solved the mystery on why we were told that the 3pm tour was the last one.
I present to you, our first clue on the bus for the President's house:

A guide whose name we do not know, whose jokes we weren't able to laugh at and whose introduction to Cheong Wa Dae we could not remember.
Because.......the tour was in Korean!
When we were told that 3pm was the last tour, it was actually because it's the last English tour.
So, we were left with no choice but to follow the crowd and enjoy the tour in an alien language.
Security is pretty strict, we had to go through metal detectors as well as to proof that our cameras were well, real cameras. We were required to turn the camera on in front of the staff.
The process was a little lengthy but the best part was, we each get a free gift. Yay! A souvenir cup from the Blue House.

Pitto suggested that it could pass off as a store-bought gift from Korea, which...is a pretty good idea. Haha... Although since I disclosed that idea here, neither she nor I will be able to pull this off. And for that matter, anybody else out there who has the same idea. Pray that your friends don't read this if you've already claimed it was bought.
And then, we were all assigned tags.

We were guided into a room for a short presentation clip featuring the President, whose appearance on screen was welcomed with a round of applause. The South Koreans really do love their leader.
We were then taken to a tour around the compound escorted by what I assume to be the South Korea secret service.
This tree in particular held some sort of significance as after one of the guides gave an introduction, there was a major flash of cameras going off.

Anyone who out there who reads this and knows the answer, please do enlighten me or I would be forced to put plan B in action....buying another ticket back to Korea and grab another one of those free cups.
And this majestic building I assume, would be the President's house:

And this building, I'm guessing is either a conference hall or multipurpose hall for international delegates:

The row of pictures outside are various gorgeous photos of deer. I guess the deer is a sacred animal to the Koreans. They're allowed to roam around the Blue House' gardens from my understanding of the clips shown to us. I just wish I understood the contents of the guide's explanations.

The tour which was supposed to take an hour, took longer than expected. It was already 5.30pm when we alighted the shuttle bus back at Gyeongbukgung.

Scheduled to be at Gimpo International Airport at 6.50pm, we had to rush back to our hostel, grab our luggage and rush off.

With hardly enough time to catch our flight to Jeju, we were resigned to fate as to whether we could catch the plane.

To be continued.......

Information on Cheong Wa Dae: Those interested in visiting are required to register via email with the Blue House through their website two weeks prior to the visit. You will need to provide your personal details which include your passport number and address in order to book a spot. Pay attention to the time slots for your preferred language or you might end up in the same situation as us.

First day in Korea (4)

2011-07-21T05:49:00.002+08:00

With less than an hour left to our designated tour to Cheong Wa Dae, otherwise known as the Blue House (the executive office and official residency of South's Korea's President), we were faced with the challenge of filling up our tummy within the time frame.
Despite the tight schedule, we had one advantage to our side, the free shuttle leaves from our current location at Gyeongbukgung, at the exit of the road - Samcheongdong-gil.
Lucky for us, there was a restaurant directly across the road.

Looks nice doesn't it? Actually, I wasn't even sure if this is a restaurant. The one we visited, was the shop upstairs. The one with the white signboard and the words 'Korean Restaurant'.

You can catch the words 'bibimbap' in the picture, which was exactly what most of us ordered. Pitto ordered the cold version of the dish, which had additional strips of meat. Ours came in a sizzling hot pot. Like this:

And what is a Korean meal without the customary yummy side dishes?

If you've enjoyed Korean meals in Malaysia, then trust me, it tastes even better in Korea. This meal cost us 7,000 Won, which comes to about....RM19.90. It sounds expensive when you convert it, but remember, there are always side dishes to the main meals and they can be refilled for free, which we did several times for the kimchi.

While we enjoyed the meal immensely, we completely missed the shuttle to Cheong Wa Dae.

We were told that the last tour was at 3pm (we were required to board the shuttle 20 minutes prior) but upon inquiry, we found out there was another tour due at 4pm.

Perplexed at being told about the last tour being 3pm, we nevertheless made arrangements for the 4pm session. It was only later that we found out why we were informed as such which I will explain in the next post.

Since we had time to kill, we headed out to a cafe nearby (we realised many of their outlets are kinda built into the ground - basement style where you had to take the stairs deep down under the building) and ordered dessert.

To the waitress' dismay, we made our orders Malaysian style - one item with four spoons. Haha....and with great effort (she wasn't proficient in English), she told us it was not allowed.

Before anyone brands us as cheapskates, in our defense, we were all bursting to the brim after the satisfying meal of bibimbap coupled with refills of the restaurant's wonderful kimchi.

So, we proceeded to order another cheesecake to accompany the ice dessert.

I was later told by a friend that this dessert is the Korean version of Cendol.

This time, we kept track of the time and went on to board the shuttle bus, right on schedule.

To be continued........

First day in Korea (3)

2011-07-20T05:20:00.001+08:00

Much like Changdeokgung, Gyeongbukgung was really huge.
The thing about historical grounds such as palaces, is that the magic is always in the stories.
There were plenty of grand buildings, much like this one:

And one in the middle of the lake, which I promise you is much more beautiful than this lousy picture I took:

But what left me with the deepest impression, is a story spouted by a tour guide which I overheard while strolling on the grounds.
It was the story of Empress Myeongseong (明成皇后), whom, if I'm not mistaken, we can relate with the Chinese Empress 武則天.
Apparently, the empress-to-be had met with her future husband on the very grounds of Gyeongbukgung without realising he was the king. Upon revealing his identity, she was betrothed to him and became active in her country's politics, which of course is something uncommon for a woman of that era to do.
Empress Myeongseong, while attaining power in court, had also single-handedly kept the Japanese in check, an act that her predecessors had failed to achieve.
I guess she must have really irked them, as she was later assassinated by the Japanese.
Although I'm not sure how much of that story is historically accurate, it did manage to spark some interest in me to learn more about her.
I heard the guide mention that a Korean drama about her is currently available. I wonder when would Malaysian television air it....hmmmm....

To be continued........

First day in Korea (2)

2011-07-19T05:53:00.002+08:00

Arriving half an hour later than the designated 11am with no sign of the others at the gate, I suspected that the rest probably headed in first to catch the tour into the secret garden at Changdeokgung. After a round of walking on the palace grounds alone, I decided to call the others from a public phone booth outside the palace. When none of the numbers I punched in got through, I got a little panicky and decided to head to a convenience store across the road to seek help.
Funny thing was, I bumped straight into Teresa after giving up with the phonecall. Apparently, they were even later than I was as they got themselves lost on their way to the subway. Since it was pretty late, they decided to skip Changdeokgung and head straight to Gyeongbokgung. We were pretty lucky, arriving around 1pm and managing to catch the parade of guard-changing duties.

It felt like an elaborate performance with the costumes and the showmanship, very much different from the guard-changing duties at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial in Taiwan, where those serving in the army took shifts guarding the place.
Like this:

But anyway, we spent quite some time watching the parade and it probably contributed to not keeping up with the schedule. With a 3pm appointment for our next tour, needless to say, we ended up late but not before having our first official Korean meal.

To be continued........

A little background on the secret garden: It was an extremely private area for the king where even officials had to be given permission to enter. Currently housing more than 26,000 species of flora as well as trees well over 300 years old, you can get a taste of how the king and queen enjoyed their stroll in the garden. To walk in the foliage of royalty, you need to make a note of the tour time (according to your preferred language). A separate ticket needs to be purchased for the garden.

First day in Korea (1)

2011-07-18T02:19:00.010+08:00

Fresh back from a trip to Korea, it's time I made some slight changes to my blog.
First up, bigger photos!
Ok, so this isn't a picture of anything quite significant about Korea, but nevertheless, it's an important first start to the day.
No, I don't mean breakfast, but rather, the hope of a good start to a first day in Korea.
Why, because the trip was not without mishaps.
Sure, in the morning, we were all happily digging into this warm meal of eggs made by Pitto, but who knew the night before, we were stranded outside our guesthouse at Backpackers Korea at Simseoldong because we were very awfully late and had no way to communicate with the locals.
It was not until Teresa went into the convenience store opposite and got the staff there to help make a call to the guesthouse that someone came down to open the door for us.
Phew!
Next up after breakfast, I split from the group to head up to the USO to pay for my tour to the DMZ.
We were supposed to meet up here at Changdeokgung at 11am.(I'm guessing the mini stone tablets were where the court officials and ministers used to stand when in the king's presence)
But....as with every plan made on earth, nothing went according to plan.

To be continued......

Resolution made simple

2011-01-07T21:59:00.003+08:00

At the beginning of the new year, it's not unusual to look back at what the last year meant to you and resolving to have a better year ahead by setting new year resolutions - I must exercise! I must visit the safari in Africa! I resolve to be a better person! I must....... and the list goes on.
But really....what is a new year other than making empty promises to yourself? Everyone knows by the end of March, the resolution would be long forgotten and new ones (repeated ones, in fact) are in the plans to be resolved at the end of the year. And the whole fiasco goes into an eternal loop until the day you die.
If you ask me, the trick into keeping a promise to yourself is to make a simple one that's easy to abide to. In fact, just choose one that makes you happy.
Repeat after me: I resolve to have an ice cream on a sunny day!
Well, lookie here...I already did.

What I ate in Taiwan (4)

2010-12-22T22:27:00.002+08:00

Formosa Chang's （胡须张）鲁肉饭....
I was surprised at how much I didn't mind the fat part of the meat. It wasn't 'blech' yucky at all. In fact, the rice would have lost the whole point without it.
It costs TWD20 per bowl, which was honestly a little too small for me.
According to a taxi uncle in Kenting, the meals there are too oily.
But I thought it was ok from my Malaysian standard.
I agreed though, after eating at a place in Kaohsiung he introduced us to (later post).

What I ate in Taiwan (3)

2010-12-22T22:17:00.003+08:00

Abalone mushrooms!
Giant abalone mushrooms in Jiufen!
Grilled with dark sauce spread on it...
Need I say more?
I just want more~~~~
Yum!!

What I ate in Taiwan (2)

2010-12-16T23:31:00.002+08:00

Ok, I should have taken a picture of what I ate, but I just wanted to point out that I had it in Monga (yes, that Monga as in the Taiwanese movie about gangsters in the old days).
I don't know exactly what 姜母鸭 is called in English but it's basically duck cooked with old ginger steamboat style where u can order side dishes and cook it in the soup.
I'm not a big fan of ginger but when you add rice wine in the boiling broth, you know it's the perfect dish for winter time.
The duck was tender and I liked the dipping sauce that goes with it. Too bad for my anti-ginger sentiments.
As time passes, the soup gets stronger with the taste the ginger. Woe is me, or I would have enjoyed it.

What I ate in Taiwan (1)

2010-12-16T23:16:00.005+08:00

What's more to a Taiwan trip other than food?
Here's some of the stuff I finally got to and can happily cross them off my bucket list (yes, food is definitely in the list).
Smelly tofu I had in Jiufen, not exactly how I imagined it to be.
I've had smelly tofu back in Malaysia and have always had the impression that it was a cheap imitation but apparently I was wrong.
To be fair, it might not be the best I've had in Taiwan as this fried version is actually considered Hong Kong style.
Taiwan has the grilled and soup version which I assume would be the better ones to be savoured.
Oh well, two weeks more to go and many more night markets to visit. Let's hope I hit the jackpot soon.

Attention!

2010-12-15T22:58:00.004+08:00

I'd say it was lucky we were at Chiang Kai Shek memorial hall at the right time.
We managed to witness the soldiers guarding Chiang Kai Shek's monument change shifts (pic), which was a long and lengthy process. They had all these marching and salutes which were all played out in slow motion.
I felt sorry for them for having to stand guard statue-style for an hour but I guess it's their way of giving back to the country.
But I wasn't the only one.
I overheard this conversation between two Taiwanese tourists while watching the whole process go on for more than 10 minutes on a route that takes less than 10 seconds to walk.

A: Why on earth would they agree to have this duty? I'd decline if I were them.
B: They're doing it for the country (long pause) and they were coerced by their superiors with encouragement: "OMG, you look so good in uniform, you should parade it at the memorial hall!" "Think of how dignified you will look in front of the crowd!" "Think of the girls!"

走出你的框框

2010-08-03T23:46:00.003+08:00

别太依赖活在自己的安全小框框中。
慢慢的，你就开始退化
慢慢的，你就开始忘记奋斗的感觉
慢慢的，你就开始忘记了年少时对自己的承诺
慢慢的，你就在不切实际的幸福中失去一切
跳出框框，挑战自己
就算是个错误的选择，你永远也不会后怀你曾经尝试过

Never gloat when you are having it good

2010-08-02T17:46:00.004+08:00

Two weeks ago, I was free, I was happy, and I had complete control.
I made the mistake of gloating my happy life to some friends and now retribution has fallen upon me.
I've had 12 hour assignments for two Saturdays straight, more assignments than usual, many badly timed phone calls from various companies, agencies and pr people from different fields, a leaking room at home, a fight with my mum (on msn!), handling a very lousy friend and the list goes on.
Not that I'm complaining about what a bad life I'm having, I'm just saying.....never ever gloat when the going gets good!
If you're having a great life, shut up about it. If you're having a bad day, karma would take away the good days from those who gloat and hand it over to you.
Someone out there is probably enjoying two happy weeks because of me...........curses.......

抓狂！

2010-06-04T00:19:00.002+08:00

慢慢的，已经变成一种习惯了。
每个礼拜的这一天，都会莫名其妙怒火上升。
做事怎么可以这么懒散？
我也算不上是勤劳的人。。。。。
但你这样，会不会太过分了一点？

Dedicated to Bebe

2010-06-01T18:00:00.002+08:00

Two years ago, I found a puppy shivering outside the roads of ss2.
Somehow, it fell into a drain and managed to escape looking all wet and dirty.
I've had plenty of experiences 'rescuing' animals and not knowing what to do with them in the end, which often ended on a bad note (i.e disappearances, deaths). And for years, I knew the best thing for me and the animal was to stay away from them no matter how sad or pitiful they looked.
But that day, I didn't know what came over me. I just picked it up, brought it home and gave it a bath.
Of course I knew I wouldn't be able to keep the puppy at my ss2 place then, who would have time to take care of it?
And then I thought of 8po, who had just lost her dog -Rambutan.
I was so relieved when 8po said yes to taking the puppy in. She came over a few days later to pick it up, naming it Bobby.
Of course, it took another few days later for her to find out from the vet that it was a girl and the puppy was renamed Bebe.
The vet said Bebe had very bright eyes and was really smart, which proved true, although she was also bestowed a playful character, which wasn't really the best of combinations.
But 8po seemed happy with her and Bebe spent two happy years living with 8po and her family.
All of a sudden, just this morning, Bebe died of poisoning, probably from eating weed killer.
To 8po: don't blame yourself for what happened. If you hadn't taken Bebe in, she wouldn't have a home and she wouldn't have two happy years.
For what it's worth, I think she lived a happy life.

How do you define common sense?

2010-05-23T00:48:00.002+08:00

Common sense to me is something that is very obvious to you...
For example: Hungry, then you eat. You see someone cry, move away or console them (depending on how well you know the person). See someone angry, first thing you do is avoid their wrath until they calm down. Stuff like that.
Common sense is something built inside a person, when you need to use it, it's there.
Unfortunately, not everyone holds the same concept to common sense.
My mum for example.
"You going to overnight at your aunt's place tonight with us, right?"
"No, I'm already out and didn't pack my clothes. Why would I know to pack clothes?"
"It's common sense that if your parents are here, you pack your clothes and overnight with them."
And listen to old aunties gossip the whole night and telling me what to do with my life?
Common sense tells me to stay as far away from them as I can.

The world according to Garp

2009-11-13T19:20:00.005+08:00

What initially appealed to me about this book, was actually the toad on the cover and the name Garp in the title.
I thought it'd be interesting to read about how a toad named Garp would view the world (before any literature groupies stone me to death, let me admit although I find the name John Irving familiar, I do not know who he is. For those who are on the same line as me, you may recognise The Cider House Rules, John Irving's work which was made into a film starring Tobey Maguire and Michael Caine.).
When I started the book, what baffled me was that I saw no sign of any toad named Garp.
Garp came slightly later in the story, and he was no toad. He was an aspiring writer living under the shadows of his feminist mother, who had Garp without the nuisance of a husband.
The toad on the cover was a reference to what was called an Undertoad (a feeling of something bad about to happen) near the final chapters of the book.
Despite the absence of a real toad, I was surprised at how much I really liked this book.
It may all be about Garp's life, but it's an interesting life nonetheless.
You get to read his fondness for a certain prostitute in Vienna (whom he frequents), his close friendship with a transsexual, and what is considered to be his inspirations for the stories he wrote.
The highlight of the book is definitely the accident he met, which changed the life of him and his family. It's tragic yet funny in a way because someone's penis got bit off in the process, reminding me of a similar story that came up in the Singapore news, proving that these things do come true after all.
Somehow, I think it's lucky that my interest in what seem to look like a thought provoking toad persuaded me to get this book.
They should put more toads on book covers.

Getting together

2009-10-07T12:09:00.005+08:00

I love get togethers, expecially uni mates, cos they are a bunch of really crazy people.
Of course, when I say crazy, it always refers to Ah Choo and Lithan.
Put two of them in an event, and the whole thing goes topsy turvy.
In this case, it was Yuki's wedding.
Only Ah Choo can come up with a plot to feed the bridegroom's 'heng dai' a mixture of XO and soy sauce.
The unsuspecting fellow took a quarter of a gulp...You should have seen the expression on his face...haha...It was so darn funny, especially when Lithan and Ah Choo were cheekily mimicking his expressions behind his back.
Lithan, on the other hand, was the only one who can make people down two glasses of alcohol drinks before the wedding dishes were served....
It has been a fun weekend.
Congratulations to Yuki~~~and thank you for bringing everyone together for one fun filled afternoon.

Reunion week

2009-10-02T17:58:00.007+08:00

This week has been a sort of a reunion week for me.
Teresa was here to stay for the week, and so is Lithan.
It's weird that we are under one roof, preparing to head down Bahau, Negeri Sembilan for Giam's wedding luncheon but all of us are taking different cars.
I'm setting off with Datou, Teresa is hitching a ride from Ah Choo, and Lithan is going with Lydia.
For the past week, I've been trying to return home early, hoping to do some catching up. Unfortunately, it was not to be.
Instead, my bed time became later than usual......sigh....sleepy.....
But guess what, turns out Yizi is coming down from Miri today~~
8po and I are planning to meet up with her....
The whole world is gathered in Klang Valley!! Woohoo!!
Hopefully this weekend will be better.

而我知道

2009-09-24T16:59:00.007+08:00

当初听这首歌的时候，并没有特别的想法。
只知道是五月天的歌。
然后，觉得好听。
有一天，哼着这首歌的时候，不知道为什么，突然很在意一句歌词 - 爱情很窄世界很大。
之后，这句歌词就一直回荡在脑中。
对我来说,这故事中的主角,并不是失恋的男生，而是知道自己要什么的女生。
女生，并没有因男生能给的爱而动摇自己的信念。
是他不够爱那个男生呢？还是有足够的勇气背对爱情？
不管答案是什么，希望这个女生，真的看到了世界的伟大。

冰块还没融化你在看表我笑的尴尬
你说最近很忙改天聊吧
那天我在楼下想了很久想你说的话
你说爱情很窄世界很大(而我们应该长大)
就这样吧就这样吧我想我听懂你话中的话

而我知道那真爱不一定能白头到老
而我知道有一天你可能就这么走掉
而我知道我知道这一切我全都知道我就是受不了
而我知道我们曾天真的一起哭和笑
而我知道放开手但不知道怎么忘掉
而我知道你走了以后的每一分一秒却还是这么难熬

微笑紧紧咬牙给你祝福你自由飞吧
你说温室没有灿烂的花(你总是很有想法)
就这样吧就这样吧
我同意可是我泪如雨下

I bid you adieu, Crayon Shin Chan

2009-09-22T17:13:00.007+08:00

When I first picked up manga back in primary school, Crayon Shin Chan was one of those that I enjoyed reading.
Crayon Shin Chan didn't have a storyline that blew you away. And it didn't have what other manga artists might call quality drawing.
It was crude in certain ways but maybe that was what I liked about it in the first place.
Over the years, Crayon Shin Chan's stories did not improve and the same formula was reused. The wait for the next book became longer and they were thinner than before. But I continued buying them anyway.
I remember laughing about the manga with my cousins and friends, talking about the crude things Shinnosuke did and becoming a public library to those who knew I had the manga collection.
It was very much a part of my growing up days, which was the main reason why I continued picking up the manga.
Now, Crayon Shin Chan is no more. I'm going to miss his pranks, his antics, his family, his friends and his adventures.
Goodbye, Shinnosuke. Goodbye Yoshito Usui.
You will definitely be remembered.

Free labour

2009-09-04T15:31:00.008+08:00

Behind the fun of enjoying a great concert in Singapore lies the sad story of a Malaysian being conned to do free labour in a foreign country....
You see....I had planned for the weekend to be strictly all about no business and all pleasure....
That is...until I received a phone call on Friday night.
I had to help Peang move house!!
All seven pieces of luggage from Singapore to KL........
Sob sob sob....sob sob.....
And it was for FREE~~~
SOB SOB SOB....SOB SOB.....
But then...What are friends for but free labour, right, Peang? Bila mau belanja?

I just had to....

2009-09-03T14:11:00.006+08:00

Peang tried to stop me.
But I just had to buy that masking tape.
Coming up with a masking tape as part of Mayday's merchandise caught me offhand somewhat, but you have to admit, it goes with the whole DNA theme.
You have five normal blokes breaking away from mundane life, banding together for a once in a lifetime break-in to steal and release John Lennon's DNA from a secret government facility. What better way to represent the whole fiasco then a roll of masking tape resembling police yellow tape? Right? Right? Right??????
.....................*thinks....................
Aiks, Peang would still go "黄淑贞！！！给你讲完啰！”
At least I was sane enough to get a CD not sold in Malaysia. And ummm....two sets of the same magazine with them on the cover....
Two is still an acceptable number. Right? Right? Right??????

Who sits in a Mayday concert?

2009-09-02T11:03:00.011+08:00

Okay, it's not a complete sea of blue, but it's good enough.
The wait was over, and it was well worth it.
Two encores in a night, with the concert going well past 12am!!
I've heard many stories on how Singaporeans were cold fish when it comes to a concert.
Well, either the stories were all wrong or Mayday just happen to bring out the wild child in them.
It was so cool that everyone jumped out from their seats the moment the first note struck.
Me and Peang were like...phew...we were worried for a moment that the concert was going to fall flat.
I should have known better than to worry though, it wasn't just any band, it was MAYDAY!!
In Malaysia, we would be ordered to sit down by the irritating RELA people, like in the Final Home concert.
Ashin even had to request for the RELA to go easy on the fans and allow them to stand!!! Apa lar.....
Who sits in a Mayday concert? Definitely not me.

Soon....

2009-08-28T10:39:00.008+08:00

I had my eyes on those front row tickets the moment I got wind of their DNA concert.
But, no~~~~ Those kiasu Singaporeans have to lap it all up and it was only January.
Although, seriously, who could blame them. It's Mayday we are talking about. I'm just as kiasu when it comes to them.
I even took a trip down to Singapore in May just so I could touch those tickets.
And it really hurt to leave them in the hands of another while I had to come back home and pine for Mayday's concert.
But don't worry, I'll soon be by your side again...SOON!!
Wait for me~~~~~~
In 24 hours time, we will be reunited....

What I learned during the weekend

2009-08-25T12:15:00.002+08:00

1. Experienced divers can have mounts of conversation underwater
2. Shooting stars are not that hard to wait for
3. "You may be right, but I'm not wrong"
4. The diver's sign for sting ray can be rude, but only if you want it to
5. I don't really need a life jacket while snorkeling, I'm just too lazy to swim
6. Handphones are practically useless to me
7. It's not easy to find the right people for activities
8. Tuna will not mistake me for food while they are feeding
9. Blood is green 18m underwater
10. When you get the hang of certain things, you think you are invincible, but in actual fact, you are liable to die anytime if you let it get to your head
11. Every minute, you are handing your life over to a stranger based only on trust
12. I can carry 20kg of weight on my back and not curse
13. I am capable of turning off my mind in a fraction of a second
14. Being cut off from the rest of the world for a few days is good for your soul
15. I'm glad I didn't die while diving or by bus accident
16. I really love the beach.....sigh.....

Water weekend

2009-08-10T11:19:00.008+08:00

It has been a crazy weekend.
I went white-water rafting and water abseiling in Gopeng and it was super cool!!
Waking up at 6.30am on Sunday was the hardest part. I thought I would definitely be half dead since I had a pool dive session the previous day from 10am to 8pm.
Surprisingly, I survived the day.
Not only I didn't die while water abseiling (which I honestly thought I would during the climb down), I even managed to wake up in time for work today. Yay!
Water abseiling was not as easy as I thought.
First, it was the height and the fear of falling to your death.
Then, there was the slippery rocks and the rush of water splashing down on your face.
But when I finally touched the ground, it felt so great!
I still can't believe I managed to finish the drop, twice!
Oh, and I also found the perfect place to spend a two day one night weekend. Another great find after the very cool Suk 11 in Thailand.

Nightmare

2009-07-30T14:51:00.004+08:00

It was supposed to be a perfect ending to a somewhat lousy day.
I had fried squid and 'Lala' for supper, I read a few pages off a book and was prepared to drift off to dreamy land.
And then i heard crackling. Scratchy insecty feet were scratching against each other.
Something flew by my ear, took a few steps on my arm and flew off.
Panicking, I switched on the lights and jumped around the room.
My somewhat groggy roommate could only muster a "What are you looking for?" and went back to sleep.
And then I saw it.
It was there, mocking me with its feelers.
Armed with an insect repellent, I chased this monster around the room while my roommate continued snoozing in the midst of it.
The nozzle was faulty, I sprayed myself while trying to aim at that critter.
But I emerged victorious and it now lays buried in the dust bin.
However, I had to spend the night wiping insect repellent off the floor and myself.
Sigh.....

一盏灯

2009-07-29T17:21:00.004+08:00

少了一盏灯。
一盏很重要的灯。
我做事情，每次都挺迷糊的。很容易就搞乱自己的想法。
很多时候，工作上，需要一盏靠得住的灯。
就算我的问题多瞎，也足以为我照亮方向。
可是，灯不是太昏暗，就是没点着。
每次都是自己在黑暗中摸索。
拿回来的成绩单，如果不够好，却又被责怪。
累。
可能是自己不会提灯吧。却又要在这行混。
自作自受。

What's wrong, Fat Rat?

2009-07-25T00:42:00.003+08:00

I'm worried about Fat Rat.
Something is wrong.
Two days ago, I saw him sitting in his food bowl, which was the first time he ever did that.
It reminded me when 鸡蛋糕 died. She had passed on peacefully in her food bowl then.
I came to the conclusion that it was where they felt the safest.
When I asked him what was he doing in there, he suddenly went into a panic attack and shot around the cage.
Something is seriously scaring him more than usual (he has always been a coward), and I don't know what.
Even today, he was still in a panic attack.
When he finally stopped, he froze.
I tried using food to calm him down, but he just stood a distance.
What's happening to him?
Sobs.....

我的方向感呢？

2009-07-24T14:46:00.003+08:00

一直以来，我对方向都不太敏感。
可是看来，我对自己的生活方向，也搞乱了。
对人对事，我发现往往都很容易没有了自己，尤其是当注入感情的时候。
只有在少数朋友面前，才会找到真正的自己。所以，会很感激身边有他们。
有时候，会因外来诱惑的因素，搞乱朝往梦想的方向，也幸得身边一些人对我的提醒。
现在，我的方向又打乱了。
脑袋只有一堆混乱。
自己在想什么也不知道，要什么也不知道。。。
谁来给我答案？

Annoying Razak

2009-07-22T03:29:00.006+08:00

This is Razak Ghazali, a photographer from Malay Mail.
I think his favorite past time in the office is bullying me.
When I'm on hotline, he makes prank missed calls to the hotline number.
When I go on his bike with him on assignments, he purposely makes sudden brakes to scare me.
During assignments, he would slyly 'tarnish' my journalist image by saying stuff to the interviewee like:"Makan bagi free. Dia memang suka free punya." and then proceed to give a big thumbs up sign to him/her with a big grin on his face.
He likes to announce to the world my fondness of free gifts.
He also likes to emphasize that I'm 'berjimat-cermat'.
He likes showing off the watch he won in a lucky draw to remind me how unlucky I was when it comes to winning a prize based on luck.
He posted a picture of me on a swing on Facebook and captioned it 'Matter of Discipline', saying I was too old to be on one.
But to be on the fair side, he's not all that bad.
Once on assignment, there was a super heavy rain and his bike went dead in the middle of the bike lane.
He made me wait under the shelter of a tree holding his camera bag while he tried starting the bike under the heavy rain. (Or maybe he was trying to get me struck by lightning...hmmm.....)
He didn't hold a grudge when I spiked his drink with pepper, although I'm quite surprised he finished the whole cup despite finding the taste funny.
And he did say he had a 'susah' time at work when I was off on holiday, cos he had to caption his pictures himself.
I took this picture after he came back in the afternoon from a 6am assignment in Pulau Ketam with Elsen.
And I knew I must use this somewhere, thus the birth of this blog post specially dedicated to Razak Ghazali, the orang tua with a mulut celupar.

Left forgotten...

2009-07-20T21:25:00.004+08:00

Have you ever been forgotten?
It's a scary feeling.
I remember once I was forgotten by a friend at a godforsaken place late at night.
Numerous calls were not answered and I got worried that something bad might have happened.
It was more than two hours of agony.
Turns out, when my call finally got through, my friend was having fun at another location and I was simply told: "I totally forgot about you! It's kinda rude to have my phone ringing here. Why didn't you just find some other way to go home?"
For the first time, I was totally crushed.
I've never forgiven this friend, and I know I will never see this person as a friend again.

A box of water

2009-07-20T00:59:00.003+08:00

To tell the truth, I've never really had a gift quite like this.
Before anyone prepares to go 'cheh!', I'd like to clarify that this is actually one of the best gifts I've ever received.
It is thoughtful, it is sensitive and it is very sweet.
I've never had a friend who would think for me like this.
So many times I've wanted to tell you - You may be an idiot sometimes, but you're an idiot that has been a very good friend to me.
And I have to say, idiots like you are very hard to find, but I'm glad I found you anyway.
Thanks for sticking around. Should there be a day I have to say goodbye, I hope this parasite would not be forgotten easily.

心酸

2009-07-17T01:53:00.004+08:00

真的。
一个充满抱负的人，即将结婚生子的人。为什么会有这样的命运？
如果这件事无法得到一个公平的结论的话，那么，正义在这个国家，就只是一个名词了。
我已经开始不相信了。
我不相信自己留在这里，还能作出什么改变。
迷惘。
该何去何从?
我想离开。
寻找属于自己的地方。

心中的天堂

2009-07-16T21:44:00.006+08:00

他坠下楼之前,心中是不是本来有个天堂?
他坠下楼之前,是不是充满着梦想?
他坠下楼之前,是不是发现梦想不再是梦想?
他坠下楼之前,是不是心中曾对身边的人道歉?
他坠下楼之前,是不是知道不是时候离开,但身不由己?
他坠下楼之前,是不是曾为自己的理想坚持过？
他坠下楼之前。。。。。。

Pick up that piece of paper!

2009-07-14T18:35:00.006+08:00

I remember back in Canossian Convent when Sister Mary used to make students pick up rubbish from the ground. Even when it was an itsy bitsy piece of paper.
She'd be especially hard on prefects and class monitors despite all of us thinking she was making a big fuss over little rubbish.
We were so familiar with this practice of hers, all she had to do was to point and we'll know exactly what to look for.
No matter how stupid we thought it was, you can't help but respect what she wanted. Because somehow, in the midst of all the grumbling, we knew she was right.
That was the kind of person she was.
She made us better people and she wasn't afraid to do the right thing.
I think I'm stunted at Secondary School stage. Cos since then, I haven't met anyone quite like her.

Friday night movie trailer....Starring G.Prakash!!

2009-07-12T21:01:00.007+08:00

Starring: G. Prakash and his friends

Plot: It was a day off for rookie Malay Mail reporter, G.Prakash. Taking a break from the deadlines, the confusing instructions, and sometimes, the lame stories. He walked out after a movie in Midvalley to find his car vandalised!!! The words "I *heart* U" were smeared on his windshield with tomato sauce. Who could have done this? A rival reporter from another paper? Someone he offended on his journalistic rounds? A jilted lover?
The only clues were a bottle of mineral water (with very little water) and napkins with the words "Use this to wipe it off".
Can G.Prakash solve the mystery? Who is the mastermind???!!

Challenge for audience: Try spotting G. Prakash. He is camouflaged.

Ratings: 5/5 (Completely based on effort, not quality)

Rude rude rude

2009-07-10T16:19:00.007+08:00

It's one thing to not do your work, but it's another to let your anger out and be sarcastic when people point it out to you.
Well, it's not that we didn't give you reminders. We even called you about it.
Yes, multiple phone calls on the same issue can be really annoying, but trust me, the ones making the calls are not amused either.
I tried to be nice about the whole thing, and...to turn it into a sarcastic attack is so not professional.
If you do not want to be in trouble, please just do your job.

蓝色梦想

2009-07-10T15:09:00.005+08:00

放肆是我的信仰！！
又是一首希望之歌。。。
真的。每次忘记的那一刻，都是五月天在提醒我。
也许，很多人会觉得很荒谬。
但对我来说,有他们,让我觉得世界是真的有希望的。
“再不去闯，梦想永远都会是一个梦想！”

Imagine this

2009-07-10T01:32:00.008+08:00

We go yumcha and you bring a kid for a gossiping session with us.
We see you at a mall and you are there with a baby in the stroller.
We go drink at Datou's holiday villa and you are the only one gulping down Yomeishu.
We yumseng at your wedding and you say "你Dom了吗？”
Seriously, I'm still trying to imagine it.
The world is upside down!!!!

寻找答案

2009-07-09T11:05:00.006+08:00

朋友的定义是什么？
这个问题很难回答吧。
一直以来，对这个问题，我都没有答案。
因为遇到了太多令我很累的朋友。
是我错？还是他们错？
又是一个很难回答的问题。
所以，够了！！我不寻找答案了！！
现在只知道，我过得幸福开心就好了~~
所以，只要是我的朋友，旧的，新的，每天联络的，很久没联络的，谢谢你们！！

Please stop being obnoxious

2009-07-09T02:53:00.008+08:00

Normally, I'm too lazy to even read stuff sent by friends, what more from someone that I find completely obnoxious.
I don't know why, but today, I actually clicked it open.
And wow, it felt like a total personal attack.
I could almost read between the lines:

"Dear Suzhen,

You were wrong. ABC is a wonderful person whom you should totally have a crush on. It's too bad you missed out on him because you've lost something great. You will grow old and die alone while other girls are still mooning over him. I'm sorry you lost your chance with him.

Love,
XXX"

Do you find it necessary to babysit your friend? You find him so great, you marry him!!

Why am I doing this again?

2009-07-08T18:47:00.006+08:00

I don't know half the people I was finding information about and I'm not even sure if I care enough to know.
My eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets by the end of the day and my brains were not functioning well after processing all those information.
I know it's important to learn these stuff.
But seriously, even if we do know so much, what exactly can we do except to be angry over the matter?
All we can do is write about what's happening. But sadly, it doesn't bring much change.
It sucks. But that's why I don't care.
I need someone to remind me why I actually cared in the first place.

Lights......Cameras....Action!

2009-07-08T15:02:00.006+08:00

The camera's in place and the actors were already briefed on their roles the night before.
They arrive on time and everything seems to be going well.
Except that the audience notice something amiss.
The lack of sincerity in the actors' professionalism.
They forget that they need to respect the audience too, not treat them as some by product.
After all, the audience does have the power to decide if the movie flops or makes it in the box office.

The scavenger

2009-07-07T18:13:00.005+08:00

It was a simple sentence.
But for some reason, I couldn't get that statement out of my head.
It's been bothering me the whole day, but I couldn't quite put a finger on it.
Until Jojep pointed out "The scavenger".
And suddenly, I'm enlightened.
Yes, the hyena is sniffing out the carcass.

A night out with the boys

2009-07-06T23:10:00.010+08:00

Night shift was interesting.
An uncle Cheah was robbed near Jalan Pudu and we ended up accompanying him to the police station.
Took three hours of waiting, translating, patiently listening to uncle Cheah repeat his story like a broken record and being covered with his saliva.
And for some reason, he made Elsen and Sharul squat down at the side of the road to conduct the interview.
The people you meet during the night. Interesting.

*For boring elaboration, read this: http://loopyboxedup.blogspot.com/2009/07/graveyard-shift.html

简单与复杂

2009-07-05T21:49:00.010+08:00

生活总是参杂着简单与复杂。
简单一幅图，感觉很简单，情绪却很复杂。
就好像一首歌，很容易就能拨动人的情绪。
旺福的<晴天娃娃>很淘气。。。总是忍不住，嘴角就露出一丝微笑。
这样纯纯直接的感觉，真的很好。。。
相比之下，阿信笔下的<盛夏光年>却是复杂的。
长得越大，对世界的丑恶越是敏感，心里那份纯真也越容易被吞噬。
长大难道真的是人必经的溃烂吗？

这是谁啊？

2009-07-05T14:35:00.006+08:00

拜六下午扭开电视，见到正播放“爱上陶花园”。
看着陶晶莹访问的艺人，样子很陌生。
心想着，到底是谁啊？
接着下来，节目就播出一张很熟悉的照片，一张这位艺人和周杰伦在日本逛街的照片。
侯佩岑？
怎么样子变那么多啊？是必然的蜕变？演艺圈的影响？还是。。。？也不知道为什么那么在意。只是觉得惊讶。

等待。。。

2009-07-02T19:56:00.002+08:00

生活总都在等待中。。。
等待巴士的到来、等待上司交待工作、等待有朝一日，日子会有所改善。
可是一再的等待，似乎到现在为止都没有什么回报。
久了，也忘记了自己当初到底等待着什么。
只是一味习惯性地继续等待。。。。

DNA征服世界

2009-07-01T16:54:00.002+08:00

快来占领马来西亚！！
真的是超爱他们这次的演唱会概念。
上次Final Home，让我热爱红色。这次，看来我生命中最新主题颜色，是黄色了。
可是，我的黄色衣饰简直寥寥无几。。。
难道要大血拼吗？
口袋空空啊。。。。。

I am a parasite

2009-07-01T14:31:00.004+08:00

"You're like a parasite lar," said Gan after I cornered him into giving me a lift home.
I am therefore, now known as Suzhen the parasite.
I cling to those who have transport.
But independence shall soon be in my grasp as the countdown to getting my hands on the family car begins.
Now to figure out which number to start counting down from.

Heaven in my tummy

2009-06-30T18:31:00.004+08:00

This is what I miss most in Thailand.
Known as 'yellow rice', we had this at a road side stall opposite the road from Aonang Grand Inn.
I was not too impressed by the looks of it at first.
But from the first mouthful onwards, I was sold. I was hooked to it and I am still definitely haunted by it.
The rice grains were separate and not clumped together. You could feel each grain burst with flavor in your mouth... *drools~~
The chicken, cooked with the rice was the perfect combination. It was not too tough and not too soft. Just perfect.
And when I thought it could not be more heavenly than this, the Thai sauce, sweet and not too spicy, revealed more staircases up to heaven.
Perfect~~~

There goes its pride

2009-06-30T16:59:00.005+08:00

I remember watching 'Aliens' during primary school in the middle of the night.
It scared me enough to stay awake for two weeks straight.
Even now, I still find them kinda gory and terrifying.
That is, until I saw this in the Damnoen Saduk floating market.
20 Baht (equivalent to RM2) for a photo opportunity sounds like a desperate call for money.
Is the economy that bad, even for aliens?
Seeing as I took this picture under sneaky circumstances to avoid payment (which explains the lousy angling), I guess it is.

Ayutthaya

2009-06-30T16:24:00.006+08:00

I loved that train ride to Ayutthaya.
Trains rides are a must no matter which country you are in.
You get to see the scenery, the people and even the food.
This particular trip gave a new experience.
When music started flaring through the speakers, every single person in the station stood up in rapt attention.
I panicked, thinking the train had arrived and we didn't have tickets.
Turned out, it was because the Thailand national anthem was playing.
Interesting. Malaysians would never do that.

五月台风来袭时

2009-06-30T10:43:00.003+08:00

放心。马来西亚的天气还没发太大的神经。。。
只是因为五月天得了金曲奖最佳乐团，让我在公司独乐乐而已。
不禁又想起八月份，要到新加坡看他们的演唱会~~ 哇！！！兴奋！！
现在满脑都是五月天五月天的。
不知道他们的音乐到底存有什么魔力，总是会令人振奋。
有时候会想，也许那份魔力，是来自他们对音乐的理想与执著吧。
如果我有像他们一样的勇气，那就好了。。。。。

Fat Rat

2009-06-28T17:08:00.006+08:00

This is my latest pet - Fat Rat.
I try to play with him when I can but...somehow or rather, he's only focused on the food and never attempts to try his hand (or rather his paw) at escaping.
There used to be two female rats who lived with him.
They were more focused on escaping and were quite smart in observing their environment.
However, they died within the week.
Fat Rat however, chose the more comfortable way of life, where food is promptly served on time and he had the whole cage to himself.
He's fat, and he's living.
Says a lot about the way of life.
Maybe you live longer if you choose the easy way.

Destination Bangkok

2009-05-12T23:11:00.004+08:00

Arrived in Bangkok this morning...
So sad to leave Krabi.....
Bangkok feels like Klang Valley in a lot of ways..
For one, the Chinatown feels like Petaling Street, and Khaosan feels like Bukit Bintang....
Sense of security here is so much lower than at Krabi, something often felt in Klang Valley.
Oh yeah, ate fried insects today...they use those mamee type seasoning in the insects, so there's a familiar touch to it...
They were crunchy too...
But there was one particular one which had some gooey insides. They kinda spurt out when I chewed...It was disgusting...but still edible...

Kayaking away

2009-05-11T18:25:00.007+08:00

It's a whole different experience today....no jellyfish kissing~~haha...
Kayaking through the mangrove is so different from beach hopping...It was quiet, peaceful, serene... You just move along the water way and listen to the sound of water beating against the kayak...
There are even caves leading to lagoons, which is something similar to Pocco Rosso's headquarter, but not as spectacular.
The lagoons were beautiful in a creepy way, where you can't help but feel there's a rogue crocodile or Anaconda lurking about, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
We also went to a river to have a swim. The water was so refreshing compared to the usual sea water... Cool and fresh....so relaxing...... Sigh...heaven~~~
P/S: Just so you know, the paddle in the picture is mine....

Krabi town

2009-05-10T00:27:00.006+08:00

I keep on finding myself wishing to go to sleep but Lee Yee has been threatening to pull off my earrings right through the flesh....*shivers.
So far, things are going great.
I have my new camera with me, am having a nice (but tired) time learning about the Krabi town, and most of all, glorious food~~
There's this ayam bakar thing here which is totally heaven. Am planning on having another one tomorrow...hehe...
We were also at the night market at Krabi Town today. According to the only lady licenced to sell cocktails in the market (which is something you will never ever see in Malaysia), it was started last year December by the Thailand government as another tourist attraction.
Imagine all the pictures of food I got...glorious...

Kissed by a jellyfish!

2009-05-09T05:01:00.002+08:00

Literally.
While at the snorkeling destination, hordes of baby jellyfish surrounded us...giving us burning itches on the skin.
I didn't realize they were jellyfish until i felt a sting at my lips.
I always had a fear of jellyfish, and after so many years loving the sea and the beach, I'm finally being attacked by not one, not two, but millions of them...
The guides didn't even to shout for us to come up the boat..
We had to make our own escape....
I think I like Malaysian guides better at this point....