Amsa-Dong Prehistoric Settlement Site

We were asked to make a short video clip as part of our assignment. So, since it's holiday, we thought of catching 2 birds with one stone - visit an interesting place in Seoul while doing our assignment.

This place represents the largest neolithic settlement site in Korea. During a flood in 1925, many pieces of comb-pattern pottery was uncovered, therefore revealing the site of the settlement.

22-26 Dec

Quite a few things came up this few days....

Firstly, my deepest sympathy to Usha on the death of her father.......

22nd- Our lecturers brought us to the ice-skating-ring at City Hall. Not my first time there, but
first with nearly 60 other Malaysian students^^
Went for dinner after skating. Food was delicious: tofu stew, tuna stew, steamed egg and
fried squid.
Went to Chonggyechon with my friends after that. There was a Luminarie in Seoul event
being held there.
And finally to end the night, our lecturer, Mr Ham brought us to Starbucks and bought us
coffee^^ 2nd time going to Starbucks and 1 st time in Korea^^















24th- Went to my piano teacher's place. This year there's 6 Malaysian. 4 from my batch and 2
juniors. Had seafood soup and 2 cakes^^
Stayed at her place till nearly midnight.
6 of us waited at the bus stop for quite a
while,but no bus came our way.However
we did see a pedestrian quarrelling with
a taxi driver..and imagine on Christmas
eve!!
Decided to take the subway instead, but
by the time we reached the subway
station, it was closed.
So had no choice but to take the taxi.
Got a phone call from my aunt at 12+am.

25th- (Strangely, surprisingly, sadly) didn't go
anywhere else besides to church. After all, it is a celebration to remember Christ's birth^^

26th- Went to ebs broadcasting centre to attend "Morning Special", an english radio program, as an audience. 6 other friends came along as well. For being there, we were each given an
international calling card worth 20,000won.
And for simple saying a few sentences, I got a Estee Lauder whitening essence (they told
me it's worth 100,000won ~RM400). Not that I have any use of it...so decided to bring it
back and give it to my mom next year^^

Pilot G-2 pens

Bought two pilot pen through the internet.
After opening an internet banking account, I've been going through stuff on the internet.

Am using a G-2 pen, find it comfortable and nice (thought sometimes the paper gets dirty because I accidently touched the undried ink)

As the one I'm is gonna finish soon, I tried to look for it at a few stationaty shop near my house and at school, but couldn't find it.

So, searched on-line and found an on-line company. The price for one pen is 1,500 won. Filled the forms saying I'll pay when I receive the goods, and asking them to sent it next door in case no one is at home.

And it actually went next door, but since I wasn't at home, they didn't collect the money. One of my housemate was asking me not to pay them till they phone, but thought that it's not a good idea so phoned the company and ask them for their bank account^^

반계탕- Half a chicken soup(?)

Hahaha^^
Had half a chicken for lunch this afternoon.
At first I thought I'd skip proper meals and take some light snacks for lunch, but when I saw the chicken, it was just too tempting.

Half a Chicken Soup, at least that's what I think the menu said.
Usually when we cook at home, 1 chicken can be cooked into 2 meals for 10-12 people.
So I feel "xing fu", blessed^^

The price was the normal school canteen price- 2,500won (~RM 9). And considering that the price for a chicken in korea is about 4,000won, it made us wonder whether it was imported from some country with bird flu....

Last Semester of Korean Language

Well, it's the end of the 2nd week of my last semester in Language Education Institute, the place where I learn my Korean.

Before I go any futher, just a bit of updates about my holidays 2 weeks ago:
11/30 - Went to Suwon's Folk Village and Hwaseong Fotress with 7 of my friends. The village was
nice, but would have been much better if we were there during spring or autumn.


Ok, back to my topic.
It's the last semester of my Korean Language. Though I know that my Korean language skills are still far from "ok" and Dong Yang Technical College(DYTC) is not the best institute of higher education in Korea (heard that it ranks 88, though in terms of Technical College some say it's the best), I'm eager to graduate from here and start a new live in the college.
Maybe it's because we've been stucked there for nearly 1.5 years...looking for a change..

And hmm..well not much to talk about I guess...celebrated 2 of my housemates' birthday.
Got addicted to a Korean drama (Jewel in the Palace) and to Stargate Atlantis (My brother put it in my com but never touched it till recently).

Stargate was still ok, as it's a series and each episode has a story of its own. But the drama was so interesting, the plot, story line, suspense, and etc making me eager to know what'll happen next, so I watched 2-5 hours a day.
But finally decided that it's bad for my health^^ and a disturbance to my study, so going to pause it for a while and wait for my week-long-holiday end of the month.

And ya, sent a few Christmas cards to my friends. But guess it won't reach them in time^^'..

Well then, guess I'll stop here....

Oh ya, started a cover to cover Bible reading plan after hearing the sermon of a pastor. It really challenged me. Seeing how little we know about the God's word. The little time we spend reading the scriptures compared to the time we spend studying.
And imagine a doctor in the emergency room suddenly asking:"O my, where's the liver?" , picks up his medical book and going through it in the middle of an operation.
It may not be as "severe" in our lives, but how much do we know about the Bible? How are we to answer when we face problems in lives or questions from others?

I was even more challenged when I accompanied one of my friend to the house of a Jehovah's witness. Though I do not agree with the doctrines she believes in, but one point about her conversion strikes me right at the spot.
She said:" When I 1st met those Jehovah witnesses, I was amazed. How come they dare to go around preaching and sharing the word of God? Unless they know the Bible well enough and know where to refer to each time someone asks a question."

Well, will stop here now.

A day out all by myself^^

After planning for more than a year, finally I set foot on the grandest palace in Seoul - Gyeongbokgung.

Set my alarm at 8am this morning, but turned it off and slept till 11am.
Got out from my house at 12 noon and arrive at the palace site at about 1pm. Waited till 2pm for the english tour guide to start.

The palace was indeed beautiful...built in 1395 during the Joseon Dynasty, it was burnt down by the Japanese in 1592.
In the year 1868 it was restored back to its' former glory, but to be burnt down again by the Japanese in 1910.
Plans of restoration was carried out by the government in 1990, and the current palace is but 30% of it's original scale...The palace is still under construction and by 2009 40% of the original buildings will be complete.
However, sad to say but it can never be restored to 100% cause information concerning the palace isn't complete.......

A place that one shouldn't miss if you're in Seoul...the guided tour is only 1 hour.

Next to the palace was the National Folk Museum. Went in, had a look and followed a tour group which I didn't recognized....just to listen to the guide who were explaining some of the stuff in chinese.

Went to Kyobo bookstore after coming out of the palace. Kyobo is the biggest bookstore here in Korea. But the collection of english book is still quite unsatisfying..and you can hardly see any chinese novels....

Spend 2 hours browsing around the book store and bought some Christmas cards....can't believe it, but Christmas is just around the corner^^

Went for dinner at Burger King which was just outside of the bookstore.
Had bacon double cheese burger set- 5000won (RM 18.00!!)
Spent 2 hours in there having my dinner and reading some magazines..it's just so...fun...and relaxing..Nothing to worry, just enjoy my dinner and reading...something I haven been able to do for quite some time...

Before coming back home dropped by at Lotte Mart, the biggest supermarket near my house. Bought some snacks to teman me for this week, when I'm watching movies or reading^^

A day out..all by myself...never thought that it can be quite fun as well^^

Thanksgiving Dinner^^

It's my secong year in Korea and it's my second time 'celebrating' thanksgiving as well^^ For those who don't know, the American Thanksgiving is on the last Thursday of November.

Last year I was the only Malaysian, but this year another of my friend, Hock Siang, went with me as well.
This year it's held at Ps William's place, cause he has the biggest apartment among the absk members(?).

Anyway, the night was fun...had turkey, TURKEY for dinner^^ It's my second time eating turkey in Korea. The first time was at Sarang Community Church last year.

And after dinner we had a fun time playing sequence. It's indeed an interesting game. Thinking of buying this board game if I come across it...

Hmm..thus ends the first day of my week-long holiday^^

updates...

Had a supposedly busy 3 weeks.....

On the 7 of November our lecturers brought us to Lotte World, the most famous indoor theme park in Korea and also the world's largest indoor theme park. It's also the 3rd theme park that I've been to in Korea, the other two were Everland and Seoul Land.

On the 12, we had a Hari Raya open house. As most of you might know, I'm currently staying with 4 Malays and another chinese guy. So my Malay housemates held an open house and they were busy the whole afternoon preparing all the food and stuff.

Then on the 13, we had an annual dinner. It's a time when all the Malaysian students under JPA comes together and have dinner (duh....) with the ambassador and the officers who are in-charge of us. This year it was held at Holiday Inn and we had quite a lot of raw fish.....which didn't really appeal to most of us.....and I wasn't in time to grab the lobster....

After coming back from the dinner, I stayed up till 6am just to finish a report and a slide show that I needed to present in the afternoon. I had been procrastinating the thing for one whole week...but luckily was able to finish it in time and I could at least sleep for 5 hours....

On the 19 we had a PPMK Annual Meeting. PPMK stands for Pelajar-pelajar Malaysia di Korea.
So basically it was a meeting where all students meet together and hear the report of the AJK's in the last session and elect new AJK for the next session. This year's meeting was quite interesting because they were a few students who quarreled with the officer in-charge..the student was actually writing a memorandum to sent to officer back to Malaysia....
Anyway, the meeting lasted from 1pm till 10pm...

From the 22nd till 25th I was packed with exam....
22nd- Korean language exam, with some Korean form 4 science subs in it as well..and as the syllabus isn't totally the same as M'sia, there were quite a few things new to me.

23rd- Had my physics exam,or actually "open your book and copy the answer onto the answer sheet exam". It's one of the mosty ridiculous exam I had in my whole life.

24th- Had my computer exam. It's was quite fun....never thought that I'd come to like it...^^

25th- Math exam. I planned to really study hard for my math since my mid-term exam...but didn't really manage to. All my housemates were playing around and I didn't have the mood to study as well throughout the week...so I can just imagine how my Maths' result will turnout to be.....

2nd Mt Gwanak Trip

My second trip to Mt Gwanak.
My first one had some bad memory with it...but this one was good.
Went with Hans, one of the member from ABSK bible study group.
The whole trip took about 4hours, and after the trip we had 산체비빔밥 (rice with mountain vegetable) for lunch^^

Hari Raya

Selamat Hari Raya to all my Malay friends and any Malay who's reading this post^^

2nd Raya in Korea.
As usual, my housemates got their parcel's of cookies and stuff within last few days.
This is the 2nd year they'll be celebrating Hari Raya away from home, and for the next 4 years they'll not be able to celebrate it with their families...


But with the advancement of science and technology, they can hear the voices and see the faces of their love ones^^

Flunked My Maths Exam as well........

One of the worse Maths exam I've had in my life.
It reminds me of my Form 4 days when the Add Math teacher gave us 3 logarithm and index questions for our test.
And the result? I got 14 that time...

Quite a number of us thought that it was an open-book examination like my physics, so when we found out that we can't refer to our books, I was horrified.

The exam began at 11a.m. But after 10 minutes, the teacher realized that most of the students can't do the questions. So she permitted us to refer to our text-book.
After another 10 minutes, the teacher again walked around the room, and found out that despite being able to refer to the book, lots of students still weren't able to solve the questions. So she began to gave us tips..little by little till the whole exam lost it meaning.

Not only that, they were students discussing around and passing answers here and there!! One of the worst exmination hall I've seen.

For me, before opening the book, I could only do 1-2 out of the 10 questions. And even after refering to the book, there were 4-5 questions left which I couldn't solve. In the end I actually circled the answer that were being pass around for 1-2 of the objectives.....

Man!! What in the world is wrong??!! The other class had exactly the same questions, and lots of them knew how to do it.
Some of the students would put the blame on my Maths teacher, blaming her teaching method and so on....
But for me I fell that...if I'd just studied a bit more..if I'd just memorized a few more theories...if I'd just did some more exercise......I could have done better and not disappoint myself, my Maths teacher and face God without shame.......I feel guilty not spending more time on my studies....

But let the past be the past...I'll try to do better next time. This is something I promise myself.

Flunked My Physics Exam

I think this is the worst physics exams I ever did.

There were only 12 questions, 8 structure and 2 essay.
Besides the 5 questions taken from the textbook and the 2 general essay about engineering, I didn't know how to do most of the rest....and imagine that it was my first open-book-exam!!!!!

And even for the questions from the textbook, I simply recopied the answers from my textbook...

Man!!! What am I doing with my LIFE??!!

Though I'm not the only one, it feels kind of weird not knowing how to do 45% of the test questions......

And I have no confident at all for my Maths exam this Friday......

The worst thing is to fall sick during exam period, and that's the condition I'm at right now....
Having fever, cough and flu for the past few days.....
Worst still, I have to worry about my house problem, whether to move or not to move and where to move to and with who....

95%

Got my Level 5 mid-term exams results back on Thursday.

From the results of the students, the exams this time seems much harder.
No more 99% student for my batch.....the highest was 96%.

Some might put the blame on the Science subjects, which is somehing new for us. At first I thought my marks would be pulled down by the science subs as well since I didn't do sufficient revisions for it, but thank God all my blah blah here and blah blah there was accepted as correct answers by the teacher^^

For me personally the listening part was a bit hard. Couldn't here all the words clearly.....think I should watch more Korean dramas to improve this skill.
Then my pronounciation is another problem as well. I tend to have this "interesting, weird tone" which I do not know what to do about it....

But anyway, glory and praise be to HIm^^

Daniel Dawn Prayer Meeting

Went for my church dawn prayer meeting at 5.30 this morning.This is the second dawn prayer meeting I attended this year.

Basically my church is having an event asking the church members to bring their friends and non-christian to church this Sunday.
They had the hold thing planned few weeks back. Sending letters, calling the people they intend to bring.

So this week's dawn prayer meeting is focusing on this event.
Though I doubt I'll be bringing anyone, but attending the service and praying for others that will be turning up is the least I can do.....

But due to the Tuesday Service last night and the dawn prayer meeting, I slept less than 5 hours last night and was drowsy the whole day at school...

Tuesday Service

Went to a Tuesday Service with few of my church friends.
The service is organized by YWAM Korea, every Tuesday evening. They usually hold their service in a church building belonging to Yoido Full Gospel Church at Kangnam.

The service started at 6.30p.m. and was attended mostly by young adults and youths. From what I heard the congregation ranges from 2000-4000 each week. I think quite a lot didn't turn out last night due to the university mid-term exams..

Anyway, the service was wonderful, from the aspect of praise and worship that is, and also prayer. Well, I guess it's something to be expected from people who would come to a churh service on Tuesday evening. They were passionate. In their worship and prayer (not that I understand all, in fact I can hardly understand what they mumble during prayerㅠㅠ).

Now do I understand how come the Gospel could spread so fast within Korea. It's by the effert of all these prayer warriors. Those who are serious in seeking God. Seeking His Kingdom.

Guess there are lots of things I can learn from those bunch of people....

A Week

I don't think there has ever been a week that I wished it passed by faster except last week.
Having a bandage around my mouth and not able to talk and eat as I wish is really something unbearable for me....
And having to cook porridge for myself 3 times a week is something new as well.

BUT, all those are gone now^^

Went to the hospital just now and had my check-up. The doctor said that the "thing" was cause by the blokage of the saliva glands in my lower lips, at least that's how I understood it.

After searching the net to get more details on it (I got the name from the doc: mucocele), this is what I got:

Pathophysiology
1.Results from traumatic rupture of Salivary Glands
2.Results in mucin spillage into lower lip

Signs
1.Benign lesion 1-2 cm diameter on lip surface
2.Round, regular, translucent or bluish Nodule

Management
1.Surgical excision

And here are some pics of it.

Well, at least now I don't have to worry any more, Thank God^^

Pumpkin Porridge...

Was thinking of having something soft and easy to swollow for dinner, so went to a shop near my house and ordered porridge.

At first I thought of ordering red bean porridge, but they have pumpkin porridge, prawn porridge, beef porridge; but red bean porridege wasn't on the menu......

So, fearing that the prawn might cause my wound to become itchy, I ordered...pumpkin porridge.
The first few scoop was quite alright, tasting something different, but half-way through I gave up..it was..err....doesn't suit my taste...

I believe the tuna porridge I cook the other day was better. And even my pineapple porridge during my financial crisis early this year was much more bearable.....

Minor Surgery

Went to the hospital this afternoon to have a check on my mouth.
Had an ulcer since 2 months ago, the ulcer grew and burst, burst then grew again.
So, at first I thought it was due to some virus or bacteria, so didn't take much note of it, but it became so big last week that few of my friends and seniors suggested me to go to the hospital.

But yesterday when I woke up, the ulcer burst again, and it seemed to be getting much better, so I was thinking " still need to go see the doctor ar?".
But as 2 of my friends were going to that area this afternoon, so I thought of going with them, after all no harm mar. All paid by jpa^^

But after the doctor had a look at it, he said that it seemed like something, some foreign object got stuct in my lip (inner lower lip), and right away they started to take it out.
And what seemed funny to me was that the doctor even took pictures of it before doing the surgery.

The whole surgery process wasn't that painful, I was still awake, they only gave me anaesthesia for my lips. But the doctor asked me to closed my eyes and covered my face with a piece of cloth(?) so I weren't able to see what they were doing....

The thing that I can't figure out is: the thing was inside my lips, how come I have a bandage outside??

Right after the surgery I didn't feel any pain, but after an hour I could feel my swollen lips and it was a bit painful...
And I can't even brush my teeth for the next few days.... The doctor gave me medicine for me to wash my mouth after every meals.....

So, for the next one whole week I can't go swimming, and had to cancel my plan of going rafting tomorrow....

But Thank God everything was alright lar^^ Hopefully I can recover faster...for a talkative like me, not being able to talk as much as I want is something much more painful than the pain on my lips itself...ㅠㅠ

Glad^^

Met another of my church member today in Campus.
I know 3 of the church members that attend SNU, the first one I met last year when I first came(though I wasn't that church's member yet), and today another one.

Was indeed really really glad. It's like...well...it just feels good to met another church member in school...kinds of reminds me of the the times I used to see the other church members in Batu Lintang....

Had lunch with him, and as what I expected from a Korean who is much older than me(6 years), he paid for my lunch^^

My Name is Kim Sam Sun

Just finished my first Korean drama in Korean without any subtitle this week^^
Strange that, though the Korean drama fever has been around for quite sometime, I never actually finish one whole drama from beginning to the end. Either I was interested in it or didn't had the time or miss a few episodes due to my tuition and stuff like that....

My Name is Kim Sam Soon- quite an interesting drama. Can even be considered as this year's biggest hit drama (in Korea maybe). The influence of the drama on the society was indeed big, especially for the not-so-skinny women^^

But what I like best was her job as a baker....hmmm...yummy yummy^^

2nd, 3rd B'day Cake^^

Pulling out the candle with your mouth(a Korean tradition? ^^)


My housemates waited till midnight on 9/18 for me to come back, but I was with the other chinese seniors and juniors having our Mooncake Fest gathering....So celebrated on Monday night^^



Seniors taking me out for BBQ pork during dinner time^^.
Actually the other chinese seniors and juiors were eating else where, but we didn't join : P


With Senior



With church friends after church service. Our Bible group leader brought the 5of us to her family's shop, Cold Rock, near Dong Yang College^^


My first ice-cream cake^^

Birthday Pics

19 Years Old....

This is my last "teen"age years....but actually in Korea, I'm 20 today cause they count the age 1 year older than the actual birth date....

But anyway, had a great time just now^^

Was with my friends at a pondok(small shelter) next to Anyang river (about 20mins walk from my house) just now. The weather wasn't on my side. At first we planned to stay at a basketball field by the river, but due to the rain the ground was too wet. So, we changed our location to a pondok opposite the river. But come to think of it, isn't it romantic? I mean, how many people get to celebrate their birthday in a pondok beside the river on a raining day? ^^

So, the 8 of us gathered there, with 2 BBQ chicken, a cake, 1.5 packet of bak po , a bottle of beer, a packet of twisties and a bottle of home made soya bean milk. With that, my friends celebrated my 19th Year old birthday with me^^

This is my second time celebrating my birthday overseas, in a foreign land far away from my families. It's during such times that you really appreciate the presence of your friends around you....

So after the dinner cum supper, came back home and waited till the right time to come on-line^^ And just as the clock on my com turned 12, my msn messenger was flooded with birthday wishes^^ It was indeed really really fun^^ Thanks everyone^^

Here I'd like to thank those who sent me all those creative, cute, beautiful e-cards, all the msn greetings and wishes, all the friendster's birthday testimonials, all those who spent the evening with me just now, and the presents that you all spent the time searching and buying, THANKS^^

Thanks a lot you all^^ Really really appreciate it^^

Outing^^

Today we had an outing, 60+ of us students and 3 teachers.

We gathered at Yeoido (an island in the middle of Han River, and where the world's largest church, Full Gospel Church is located) at around 2.30pm and started our bicycle hiking at around 3.30pm after some warming up.

The trail that we took was along the Han River, from Yeoido to Jamsil (where the Olympic stadium is located). All in all it took us about 2hours to complete the 19km journey, with a few stops in the middle to have a rest, admire the surroundings and take pictures^^

Then from Jamsil, we had our dinner (food provided by lecturers^^) beside the river. Food was nice, scenery was great, and the atmosphere was wonderful!

After dinner, we rested till 7.30pm. Then we took a boat (a bit similar to the beautiful mini ship in my Sarawak river^^) back to Yeoido. The 1 hour cruise trip was something me and my friends planned since a year ago but didn't have the chance to ride. At last tonight we can fulfill another of our plan : )

The 1 hour on the boat was indeed something amazing. Most of the students were quite, I'm not sure whether because of the bicycle hiking or what, but most of them just sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the view. Some of them were deep in their thoughts...(thinking about their relationship thing I presume)

Indeed it was a wonderful day. My cramped leg didn't do anything stupid today(Thank God^^).
And it was just..fun...going biking with friends, talking, playing along the trail, having dinner together and coming back on a cruise together as well....
Coming overseas to study...this is something which ought to be cherish...the fun, memorable time we spend with our friends^^

Cramp....

Just received the photos that I sent to wash through the internet.
It's my first time buying something throught he net, and indeed it was quite interesting^^
First of all, the price is much cheaper, about 40sen for a 4R digital photo. And secondly, you just need to do a few clicks on the keyboard and everything will be send to you...well that's for most cases..but for mine case, cause I don't have a credit card and my h/p is a prepaid phone, I had to walk to a nearby bank and transfer my money to the online shop's account....but the whole process was fun^^

All in all I printed 285 pics (33750won, RM 118 including delivery fee). But now I'm facing the problem of how and where to keep my photos......

Talking about pictures, I was planning to take a pic of my biten hand last night and blog about it. But later on was just too tired and cancelled my plan..

Here's the story:
I was having my swimming lesson as usual yesterday morning. After about 30mins, I felt a bit of cramp in my right leg. But since it's not the first time, I didn't really cared about it, just rested for a while then return to my lesson.

Then suddenly, when I was half -way through the pool, my leg strarted to cramp like mad!! I stabled myself with the rope at the side of the pool and pulled myself to the side.
When my teacher saw me, she asked:"Are you alright? Come out of the pool."

It's logical that if your leg cramp you should come out of the pool, but right at time I couldn't even bend my leg, how am I suppose to come out? So I asked again:" Come out of the pool??"
And she said:" Yes, come on out!"

So with much effort I finally managed to I pull myself out of the pool. (And imagine that the teacher didn't even lend a helping hand!! I suspect she wasn't feeling well cause she didn't enter the pool throughout the whole morning)

But just as I stepped out of the pool, the other leg started to cramp as well!! I was shouting there and couldn't even sit straight nor stand up right!!
Seeing this, the coach quickly came and massage my legs. But the more she massage, the more painful it was!! I had to bite the back of my hand just to stop myself from screaming out loud!!

My cramp kept on worsening till my lady coach had to ask another guy coach to help loosen the cram on my leg by rubbing and massaging it.
I was like:" Ouch!!! Ouch!! Don't you have any medicine to stop the pain!? Ouch!!"
And both the couch kept saying: " No, no, we have none of those medicine!!"

But finally after long last the tightness in my leg started to loosen up bit by bit....Thank God!!

Though my leg is much better right now, there's still some pain in it....and we'll be having a bike hiking tomorrow! Arghh...!! Not sure whether I can complete the whole course (more than 10KM) with my injured leg....

After 2 Months

Hmmm....it's been 2 months since I updated my blog. So, what have I been doing all this while?

First of all, continuing from my last post, which was the result of my Level 4 mid-term exam.
At the end of Level 4 the teacher gave us the result for the whole semester, and well, I'm quite satisfied with my result.
1 mark less than the previous 3 levels, I got 96% for Level 4 ^^

And the day right after I got back my exam results, I was on my way back home --my sweet sweet Malaysia.

I had 3 weeks holidays. Spent the first 5 days around Selangor.
I thought I'll be staying with my aunt most of the time, but it turned out that I spent 2 nights at my friends' place and 3 nights in 2 different hotels rented by my aunt....don't know what they were thinking...

Anyway, visited lots of my friends from INTEC, but sadly weren't able to meet up with my friends from secondary school and primary school who were in KL.

Throughout my 5 days there, I went to Shah Alam 3 times: friday night, monday afternoon and again on tuesday afternoon.
Saw my juniors (all here in Korea right now) in INTEC. About 30 chinese this time, one of them my friend's sis from SMK Batu Lintang.

And ya, met another one and his dad during my stay at my friend's place. It so happen that My friend's father has a friend who's son was offered jpa coming to Korea as well. What a small world^^

Then was back in Kuching for 2and a half weeks. Met some of my friends, but not all. All the form 6s seems so busy... : ( Then went for breakfast with one of my primary school class teacher as well.

Was watching animations downloaded by my bro most of the time: Shaman King, Gundam etc...
Tried to stay at home more just to teman my family....

And it was also a coincidence because my aunt from US came back for a friend's wedding, so I was able to see her as well. Who knows when I'll be going back again? Though I have my own plans, those may not be the plans God has for me right?

So there goes my 3 weeks summer break. Visiting friends, spending time with my family, got a laptop, renewed my bike's L license, watched some anime and read a few comics and story books...

Well then, guess I'll need to wait for another year before I have a longer holiday^^

93.3%

Haha...breaking my Korean Language Test history...got only 93.3% for this mid-term exam.
Meaning that the chances of maintaining a 97% for this level is near impossible unless I get 100% for the final exam, which is harder than plucking the starts from the sky^^

But at least I was among the top 8 people who got 90% and above for this exam. Man, was it hard! I was shocked that I got 4 wrong for my listening test. Well, I couldn't hear a question properly, so I thought the most I'll make is 1,2 mistakes. But 4 !!??

The lecturers complain that we're worse than our seniors. Not in terms of intelligence, but in terms of hardworking. We put in much less effort than our seniors. At least that's what the teachers said...

Guess I need to watch more Korean drama within this month to improve my listening skills...

Juniors

Juniors are in INTEC!!!!

Well, it's hard to explain why, but I'm excited to hear that my Korean Programme juniors have finally arrived^^

But then....yet again....
I was excited to meet my seniors as well last year, before coming to Korea, and so were the seniors, can't wait to meet us....
But after coming here, I rarely see them at all.
And the excitement of meeting seniors vanished quicker than it first came...
Well, maybe it was due to the unreasonable orientation....but even excluding that...we seldom meet our seniors...
Guess this is life....
Will history repeat itself between me and my juniors?

I'm glad by blogs could be of help to some of them...knowing what to expect, 3 months in INTEc and life here in Korea....
At least that's the least I can do for them...
Well, hope you all enjoy your time in INTEC....as I've said, I miss lots of my friends back there....

Ghost Pic

Picture taken during one of my friend's birthday.

We had some sort of makan-makan at 근린공원, a park near our home.

Notice the darkened lips...not photoshop effect...

But yet again, I'm not the sort to believe in ghost pictures...

Cyworld

So, I'll do some random updates for the things that happen throughout the past few weeks...
It may not be according to chronicle orders...

After much persuasion by my student, I finally registerd for a cyworld account.
It's something lots of Korean, maybe 1/2 of them have. It's a cyberworld where you can write your diary, share your pictures, post notices, visit other friends who are using cyworld...kind of like Friendster...but more complicated....and you need to buy the stuff to decorate your "mini room", something which I haven't done...firstly no $, then the process of buying is quite troublesome, for foreigners....

Here's the chinese version of it.

Homestay

The homestay family that I stayed with for a weekend on the 11-12/5.

We went to a movie shooting place, something like a small Hollywood for Korea.Even the famous Taegeukgi was screened here.

Besides that place I basically spent the whole time in their house, at Incheon. The father is a pastor, so he was busy preparing for the Sunday sermon.They invited their relatives over for dinner, and I had fun playing with their two primary school cousin.

One thing that surprised me was that most of them slept at 10p.m. I always have this thought that Korean stays up till late at night. But seems that I was wrong. The girl(3 years younger than me, High School 1st Year) kept herself staying up till 11p.m, watching a video that we rented. But eventually she was too tired and went to bed as well.

Well anyway, I'll be seeing them again end of next month when we invite the homestay families to our school.

Way

Distance

Hanji

We had a class on Korea's famous paper, the Hanji.

Went to the Koea House near Samsung Station. There we made this beautiful boxes.

Well, though we didn't make the square box, we pasted the Hanji around, in, out and above it.

Beautiful isn't?

Another student??

Was suppose to go to a Noraebang with my Soul Friend (small group in youth) group members as it was our last gathering(starting next month we'll be divided into other groups).
However, our plans were interrupted preparation for the "Adult Ceremony", a ceremony for those who are 20 this year.

I stayed and watch the ceremony, the pastor prayed for the "adults", had a speech from a youth and a reply speech from a parent.

And ya, after church service this afternoon, I was approached by a fellow sister who's majoring in Chinese.
She wants to have Chinese conversation class with me, asking when am I free. Talking, as most of you know, is one of my hobby. So I agreed to it.
So from now on I might be busy on Monday and Thursday evenings....

1st Anniversary- Entering INTEC

A year ago, I walked passed the main entrance of UiTM INTEC, having received a scholarship offer from Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (Public Service Department).
I had mixed feelings at that time: on one side, I was happy and thanked God for offering me a scholarship, though it wasn't the country I chose; but at the same time I was quite worried that I'll be having a hard time coping with the language and the "study pressure" that Korea is famous for.

But looking back at all the things that happened throughout this 1 year, I'm glad that I took up the offer.
Studying here is not as hard as expected. My Korean language is progressing at a normal speed, though I think my pronunciation is a lot horrible that some of my friends......

On the other hand, my social circle is much smaller than it used to be. Last time there were classmates, schoolmates, tuition classmates, church friends, primary school friends......
"But here, I'm faced with the same people everyday and go out with the same few each day. Well, it's not something bad, you get to know them well, but then when they're busy, you have no one to go out with...." that was what one of my friend said to me.
At least I still have my 3students and the few church members I see once a week^^

1 year, quite a lot of stuff happened. It's a pity I couldn't record all that happened, but this blog in itself was written so that I'll have something to remind me of....

1 year, my relationships with my friends here in Korea grew better and closer, except for one, which after our quarrel in INTEC, we're still like having a cold war......
Regrettable, but then again things can be viewed from a few angles. If I were close to him, I might have broken more of the hostel rules back in INTEC and I might have done a few things that I don't think pleases God, especially when we first came to this Land of the Morning Calm...
But frankly, given me another chance, I think I'd have acted differently....

Well, anyway, this is a good chance to start a new resolution, after seeing, hearing, experiencing all these...

5 more years to go.....^^

Busan's Pic

In Busan Tower

At Daecheong park

View of Busan from Daecheong Park

At Taejeongdae

Busan- Day 2

Slept till 9,10 a.m before preparing for out journey.

Our first destination was Jagalchi Fish Market, the country's largest fish market. Before going there, I kept wondering what's so nice about this fish market. After all, it's just another fish market. I've seen lots of that. Back in Malaysia, and even in Seoul.
But after being there, I'll certainly recommend it to anyone that's going for a trip to Busan. Even if you're not planning to buy anything, it's a good place to see all the strange, weird, gigantic sea creatures, for FREE^^

Had ikan bakar(grilled fish) for lunch before moving on to PIFF Square, a modern youth street like Petaling Street. Later we headed to Gukje Market (International Market) which I think is Busan's largest market. (But doesn't really interest me)

In the evening we went to Daecheong Park, where we had a wonderful view of Busan from Democracy Park. The Daecheong Park monument was also quite interesting. A place to remember those that were sacrificed during the wars.

Lastly, we went to the famous Yongdusan Park, with the 118m Busan Tower located in it. Though we were disappointed by the so called aquarium (we thought we would be in some tunnels, but in turned out to be some small aquarium, like that of a normal roadside fish shop), the night view of Busan from the tower was able to cover that part.

Before taking the 11.00pm train, we dropped by at a roadside stall and had our dinner.

Thus ends our 2days2night Busan trip. The trip in itself was wonderful, beautiful scenery, fresh air, friendly people.....but what I liked most about the trip was the precious time I spent with my friends^^

Busan (1)

Although I think it's a bit too late, but then I just don't feel like skipping this post on my trip to Busan. Thus, I'll just put up a quick and short one^^

We left for Busan on Wednesday night(11/5) taking the 11.09pm train. It was my first time riding on a train, in fact only 3-4 of my friends took a train before.

Knowing that we'll be having two long days ahead of us, I took the opportunity to get some rest in the train. Though most of my friends didn't manage to get enough rest, I had a good sleep^^

Arrived in Busan train station at about 4.20a.m. Our first destination was Taejongdae Park.
The park was indeed cool and refreshing. Coincidentally, we met a guy in the park who was there for a walk, and he voluntarily showed us all around the park. The weather was perfect that day, allowing us to have a good view of sunrise.

Next we traveled to Beomeosa, where according to my Lonely Planet guide book, some consider this magnificent Buddhist temple as the best sight in Busan (but I strongly disagree!!)

After that we had lunch before heading to Busan University. Well, frankly I don't remember why I wanted to go there....is it because of it's fame? or possibly because my friends might be studying there next time...I don't know why, but we WERE there, where my friends began to complain "I am tired" "Let's find a place to rest first" "Can't we go to the beach faster?" "I want to sleep"

But after an hour of complain and half an hour of rest inside Mc Donald, we continued our journey east to Haeundae, the most popular beach in Korea. It is said that during the peak season umbrellas mushroom across the 2km beach and about 500,000people drop by annually.

From Haeundae, we went to look for a motel near Gwangalli. We found one that was very near the beach, and the price was quite reasonable, though at first we didn't know why the manager asked one of my friend to show her identification card, only to find out later that there was a sign infront of the motel with "above 19" written on it.

Had Seafood Soup for dinner, which cost about RM30 per person, and enjoyed the night view of Gwangalli beach and the nearby Gwangan Bridge, which was magnificent at night.

Went back to our rooms at midnight, chatted for a while and dozed off

Seoul Land

Went to Seoul Land yesterday.
All nine of us who are going to Busan this Wednesday night went there.

The place was indeed fun. Though it's not as glorious as Everland and some of the buildings seems a bit old, there were quite a number of rides there.

We played most of the EXCITING rides, double decker, pirate ship, roller coaster, Aladdin's Carpet and all those.
This time I think I did quite well, vomiting only at the end^^

The Aladdin Carpet was really interesting.
After playing most of the fun stuff, we were just walking along the park when we saw this old, not-well-maintained "thing" with no body on it.
Since we were a bit exhausted after the whole day, we decided to take the relaxing carpet trip.
When we walked near it, we saw a few Koreans who had the same idea. So we hop on to it.
WOW!!!!
We were nearly thrown out of our seats.
The carpet was fast and a bit scary. What's more was that we were expecting a soft relaxing ride, so we weren't prepared.
And when the ride was coming to an end, a Korean cried out "Ancho" and the operator, after being bored for a whole day, decided to grant him his wish without consulting the rest of us!!
So they we were, flying on the magic carpet again!

Another interesting ride was the SKY-X.
" Flying as high as 55meters above experiencing thrills like Bungee jump and Sky-diving. Imagine that you are flying high above in the sky! You will fell like a flying bird."
-taken from Seoul Land's homepage-
Though I still think that Bungee jump will be more scary and exciting, the ride was worth our 8,000won.

But to me, the highlight of the day was when we came out of the theme park and gathered outside the subway station to play games and finish our Kimbap.
At tried playing a few games at the beginning, ghost story, but it was all too boring.
So finally we agreed to play Truth and Dare.
I was asked the question:" We heard that there's two people that you like in our batch, so who are the two?"
Of course as you all know, I'm good at playing with words. Since they did specify the gender, I told them the two male friend that I like.
But I may not be as lucky if they play this game again the next time.

AND, one most important secret that we were able to korek from one of our friend was the girl he likes the most in our batch^^

A day worth remembering!

After 20 days....

It's been more than 20 days since I last posted. Had been quite busy. Missed me? Hope you guys did^^

So here's the updates:

Still having my Discipleship Training every Wednesday evening and Chinese Class every Tuesday and Saturday evenings.
Got my first pay in Korea end of last April: 100.000won, about RM380. It's not much, but it feels nice to work and earn some money while meeting people.
And ya, currently I have 3students all in all^^

Then I finished my back stroke, and registered for frog style this month, but unfortunately I missed two lessons last week. Hopefully I can still catch up with the rest.

Then we had our level 3 Korean Language Exam, and the result came out just as I predicted, I got 97% AGAIN!!!! That's 3 times in a roll....

And now I'm having my week-long holidays^^

Planning to go to Busan, the second largest city in South Korea. Let's see whether our plans succeed or not....

Black Day

So it was Black Day yesterday.

In Korea, we have Valentines Day when girls give boys chocolate; White Day when guys give girls sweet and candy. Besides that, we also have Black Day, a day for those who have no couple to gather and eat Jajang Myeon (a type of Korean Chinese food, something like soy sauce noodle).

I were expecting the canteen to have Jajang Myeon as one of the menu or at least side dish, but to my disappointment there was none.

After lunch I was busy till night. When my friend came back from his Taekwondo lesson, we went to the pasar to look for Jajang Myeon, but all the Chinese Food hawker stalls were closed. So we had fried squid instead for supper.

My first Black Day yet I missed the chance to celebrate it....

Discipleship Training

Went for the Discipleship Training Programme last night at church.

At first I wasn't sure whether to join or not, since my time is not fixed and schedule are in a mess. But on the last day of registration one of the sister encouraged me to join, at least for the sake of understanding the Sunday sermon better.

The whole course is divided into 3 "levels". Level 1 will be held for 7weeks, Level 2 about 10weeks, and Level 3 for a year(?!).

So there I was last night, the first lesson of the course. And again I couldn't follow completely what was being said and discuss.
But fortunately last night was more on introduction of the course and getting to know the other group members better.

Well, hopefully things will turn out better...

Language Exchange (2)

Had our first language exchange class last night, and things turned out more or less like what I predicted.

We had some small chat before I started the class. He was like saying,
"Since we're doing it for an hour, let's divide the time into 3parts. For the first 20minutes You'll teach me Chinese, the next 20minutes I help you with your Korean, and the last 20minutes we'll do revision by our on."

But as things turned out, the whole one I hour I was the one doing the teaching. He was curious why didn't I bring any Korean books along, and I told him that our teacher teaches little by little everyday and goes according to our standard, so usually we can understand all that the teacher taught in a day.

He seemed a bit embarrassed, since it was a language exchange yet I was the only one teaching. So he told me that he majored in computer graphic design, and if I feel like learning it I can go to his office and look for him.

Haha.....but I doubt that I'll do that...

Language Exchange

Just when I thought that my life was too routined, there's something coming up.

After church service yesterday, two of the church member came up to me and said that they would like to either learn Chinese or improve their English, and since I'm learning Korean, they can assist me in the field, why not do a language exchange?

Frankly it was a bit unexpected, both of them in their late 20s and early 30s......to learn a new language right now?

The idea of language exchange did appeal to me when I first came to Korea, but now I'm packed with piano class, swimming lesson and danso lesson that I'm not even putting much effort into my studies.....
What more is that our lecturers are good, meaning not extra classes won't be necessary for us...

But then I thought that it was a good chance to get to know people, and maybe practice my Korean conversation. What's more is that it'll give me a good reason to revise my Chinese...

And ya, they were saying either English, which is the international language or Chinese, which is becoming more important by the year, so I decided to teach them Chinese.
One of the reason is that I think it'll be easier to teach them something new rather than to change or improve something they already know.

Changes are difficult, that's what I believe....

So starting this week I'll be busy Tuesday night and Sunday after service....

Arbor Day...bye bye

It's Arbor Day today here in Korea. Arbor Day started off as a public holiday after the Korean War, until this year. This is the final year Arbor Day will be celebrated as one of South Korea's public holidays....

It all started during the Korean war in 1950. The war between the communist North and the democratic South was so severe that forest and mountains were destroyed, along with the trees on them.

So, on the first spring after the end of the Korean war, the South Koreans had a country wide celebration of Arbor Day to begin the reforestation of the war ravaged country.

The Korean government designate April 5 as Arbor Day and made it a time for all the citizens to plant trees and other plants. Decades later, the forests have returned. Nowadays, citizens still plant trees and flowers and clean up the surrounding hilltops and mountain areas, and the day serves as a reminder to respect nature and the environment.

But from what my lecturer told us, the government decided to cancel this public holiday starting next year due to a few reason.
One is that since last year, most company and civil servants only work 5days a week, which causes slight drop in productivity.
The other reason is that now a day not many actually participate in tree planting on April 5, thus it's pointless to keep such a holiday.

Anyway, bye bye....my sweet public holiday

JEJUDO(3/29-3/31) Day 3

The last day on the island.
Visited 2 places before we headed to the airport.

The first was Mysterious Road.
After driving up this road, turn off the engine, shift to neutral, and the car will appear to roll up hill. Amazing?
It's actually an optical illusion due to the the angle of the road and our sight lines^^

The last spot that we went to was Yongduam Rock, Dragon Head Rock.
As it's name suggests, it's a rock that looks similar to that of a dragon. And if you look closely, you can spot not only the head but the tail as well.

Well, that ends my Jejudo trip^^

JEJUDO(3/29-3/31) Day 2

The places covered on the second day include Udo, which literally means Cow Island. Located just off the northeast coast of Jejudo, it's a relaxing place despite its 1800 inhabitants.
The island is known for its beaches: one has white sand, one has black and another has coral.
We visited all the 8 Sceneries of Udo, which took about 2hours all in all.

After lunch we headed to Seongsan Ilchulbong,which is actually an extinct volcano.
Ilchulbong means the peak where the sunrises. Thouht we weren't in time to see the sun coming up, but it was still a splendid sight.

We also went to Seobjikhoji, the place where the Korean drama 올인(allin) was filmed.

Another of Jejudo's attraction that we visited was the Gimnyeong Maze.
It's something like the hedge maze that we see in European movies.
The maze's outline mirrors that of Jejudo Island, and it is said that when viewed from above one can see icons pertinent to local culture:horse, ship etc.....none of which I was able to spot though....

Like the previous night, we didn't do any sight seeing during the night.
Instead, we had a camp fire. We were quite worried whether we would be able to have to camp fire as the wind was very strong. But fortunately the wind was on our side. No BBQs though. Just some games round the fire and BBQed potatoes and sweet potatoes

JEJUDO(3/29-3/31) Day 1

We, (65students +5teachers) went to Jeju-do for a 3days 2nights trip. We are the first batch that went to Jeju-do with our teachers instead of going to Gyeongju, where our seniors told us that it was so boring and the only thing they looked forward to was the meal.

Paradise, Hawaii, Disneyland......Jeju-do has been compared to all three and all three comparisons have their place.

Jeju-do, the biggest island of Korea, a place where honeymooners flock to, was interesting. Though we didn't get the chance to climb Hallasan, the tallest mountain in S.Korea, we were able to visit quite a few places.

We departed from our house at 5.30am to catch the 7+ flight.

The first place that we went to was Hallim Park, which is famous for it's lava tube cave, botanical garden, and a mini folk village.
The cave was most interesting as it's one of the few lava tubes in the world with stalagmites and stalactites.

We also went to a Teddy Bear Museum, where the world's smallest teddy bear is located(if I'm not mistaken).

We were at a tangerine(mandarin orange) farm, just for the sake of taking photos. As the season for tangerines is in autumn, we were not allowed to pick any of the fruits because if we do so, the part won't be able to produce any more fruits.

The other places that we went to on the first day was Jusangjolli Rocks and Cheonjiyeonpokpo before heading to our chalets and prepare for the night activities.

Each class came up with a some performance(all dramas). My class got second, but the present was something I like.
And as I was the mc for the night, I was given vouchers worth 10000won^^

Dawn Prayer Meeting

Well, as I mentioned when I was still in Intec, I finally joined the famous Korean Dawn Prayer Meeting.

Woke up at 5am just now and went to church. But frankly, the people who turned up are much lesser than what I expected, and not many youths were there.

Anyway, it was quite good. As this week is Holy Week, the passage today was about the death of Christ on the cross.

It did seem quite weird for me yesterday, going to school on Good Friday. I nearly forgot that it was Good Friday since there was no holiday.
Kind of unexpected from a country with 25% of its population being Christian.

And tomorrow is Easter Sunday. I'm still not sure whether to go to the stadium in Jamsil and see the combined Easter Celebration or go to church and see how the church celebrates.
The combined celebration is not something done often, so I want to go: but on the other hand this might be my only year attending Gocheok Church and I want to see how they celebrate......

Ah~~~

Maths and Com Exams

Just sat for my Maths and Computer today.

I thought I did quite well for both this time, but my teacher told me that I made too many careless mistakes here and there, and most likely I'll be getting lower than 90% this time :(

Well, looking at the brighter side of things, my com was perfect this time. There were all in all 4 questions: the teacher shows us a Hangeul(Korean Word, something like Microsoft Word) document and what we have to do was create something like the teacher's within the given time.
The previous time I wasn't able to finish 2 questions, but this time I did it all =)

Well, will just wait till my results come out next week.

Bamboo Flute

My friends and I are taking up a traditional music instrument course at the The National Center for Korean Traditional Performing Arts. The course is especially designed for foreigners to help them understand Korea's tradition and culture better.

So for the next 11Saturdays, I won't be able to sleep till 10,11am in the morning, geesh....

I'm taking up Bamboo Flute, an instrument created during the The 3 Kingdoms period. Well, actually I wanted to learn the 12-stringed music instrument, but I won't be able to keep it as a souvenir after I finish the course and buying one is out of the question( 1million won!!!)

Anyway, back to my Bamboo Flute, it's not as easy as we thought, even after the first 1and a half hour lesson , some of my friends still couldn't make any sound with it.

Hmm, let's see what we can accomplish after 11 more lesson......

97.3%

Got back my exam results today.

As it's clearly shown, I've got 97.3%......can't seem to run away from the number 97.

Praise and Glory be to God^^

Frankly most of us (the Chinese students, those who studies Chinese) thought that this time it was much easier and were expecting a much better result, but then, it turned out the other way round.
The oral was much easier but the listening and writing was much trickier.

But amazingly I've got a friend who got 99.9%!!
But she did put in a lot of effort (at least compared to the lazy me) and sure deserves it^^

Arghh....sick....again

That's right, sick again.

And this time it's not just sorethroat, I'm having flu and I think some fever as well.
What's more? I'm having my mid-term exams next two days!!

Yesterday was White Day.
Nothing special to me. Not that I have any special person to celebrate with........
I actually bought some candies to give to those who gave me chocolates the other day, but since I didn't meet them during piano lesson, guess I'll have to eat it myself^^

I'm waiting for Black Day which is more appropriate for me.

So fast......

Heard that SPM result came out yesterday.
It's been a year.....
Still remember that I was having my driving lesson while the news came out on radio announcing that SPM result was release last year.
I wasn't really content with my results. But hey, what more to complain? I got my JPA scholarship, though it's not where I wanted.
But looking back at things, I'm glad I was given Korea. Met lots of interesting people, new experiences....
And I don't think I can study well in an environment like INTEC.
But one thing I really miss is the fellowship with my Christian friends......

Getting busier......

Was out at Sinchon on Sunday night with Debbie, a friend from China. We went to this cute shop that specializes in bean curd, from toppings to drinks to dessert to main dish. Splendid! Delicious!
After dinner we dropped by at a Board Game Room, it's a place that has a similar concept with a cyber cafe but with comfortable chairs and tables and they have different collections of board games, card games and the sort. Funny I never knew that such a place exists in Korea after being here for half a year.
Enjoyed my time:)

Starting this week, my swimming lesson is at 7am in the morning. I repeat 7AM!! Meaning that I have to wake up by 6am!
Well, sleeping at 4,5 o'clock in the morning is something I'm quite use to now, but WAKING at such a time is something I've not done since my trip to Seoraksan. Worst still is that it's 3times per week!
Kind of reminds me of my secondary school days......

SNU Philharminic Orchestra 26th Concert

Bulgogi/ 6 Months

6 Months!

It's actually 6 months since I set foot on this Land of the Morning Calm.
How ever did I survive without my Kolo Mee, Laksa, Teh Tarik, Chah Kueh Teow, Wanton, Kueh Chap, ABC, Rojak and all my favorite Malaysian food?!

Well, enough talking about Malaysian food. Yesterday marked the 1/2 Anniversary of my arrival in Korea, and it so happen that the Bulgogi making lesson which was suppose to be on next Monday was brought forward to yesterday.

The Bulgogi was indeed delicious! It reminded me of the first time we ate the beef wrapped in lettuce and mint leaves(?) last year during Moon cake Festival.

Will upload the photos later on.

Going for an orchestra performance later on.

Ah! My hand hurts!

After not swimming for more than half a year and suddenly swam for about an hour!

I'm taking up swimming lesson as well stating this month. Well, I know I'm already busy with my piano lessons and was busy with my mask dance and calligraphy before that, but I just can't help it.
I like learning stuff. And I would have registered for the Taekwondo class near my house if I had the money to spare.

Anyway, its' my first time going to a swimming pool after coming to Korea, but as I've heard from my seniors about it, so I wasn't shocked when I couldn't find any personal changing room and seeing people walking around naked.
And since I'm here, I just followed the culture and did what others did.

But then the question of whether it's wrong to do such a thing came across my mind. Well for the Muslims it's definitely a taboo to simply stand naked in front of others, but for me...?
The chapter on Abraham and his son came across my mind, but Iconcluded that the main concern in that passage was him being drunk.

Well, anyway, if someone has an answer, tell me. If not I see no point pondering over something I cannot solve.

Youth Revival Festival

Joined the revival meeting organized by the church from 27/2 till 1/3 (Sunday till Tuesday) .

Frankly, I saw the leaflets few weeks back, I'm really interested about it but had quite a lot of worries as my command of Korean is still very poor.
And I really dislike sitting alone in a corner of the hall and being the only person in the whole room who can't understand what's going on.

But then, my soul friend, sister 혜진 (Hye Jin) encouraged me to go, saying that there's lots more other activities beside the sermon. So I decided to follow her advice and registered for it.

On the first day(Sunday afternoon), Hye Jin came to me and said that as her brother's going to the military the next day, she needs to go back home. But responsibly she asked someone else to "look after" me.

Well at first I was quite lost. Not knowing where to go and what to do. We played games in teams in the afternoon. And as the games were quite easy, I agreed to participate in one of it when 흥렬(Heng Ryeol), the brother who's taking care of me asked me to.
BUT, it seems that God's favor wasn't with me because out of all the games, the one I participated was the only one I couldn't understand at all!!

However, things came to a turning point during dinner when I was introduced to quite a number of people. They were nice and friendly. Although I was introduced to more than 20 people, I couldn't remember more than 2 names.
But accordions to Heng Ryeol, at least I can remember their faces next time I see them in church, and they'll most likely remember me. The main purpose was so that I won't feel so lonely the next time I come to church, one of the main problem which I had been facing.

On the second night, we had small group discussion till 12midnight. After that I was out to movie with 3 other members till 4.30 in the morning. And THAT's really something new to me.
I really enjoyed my time(though the movie was different from what we expected) with them.

And on the last day (yesterday), we had group activities in the afternoon. Our group was assigned to take photos with the grandmothers in a park nearby and then go to a subway station to give away tissues (with the salvation message written on the cover).
Though I've seen such scenes every week at the subway station, I never thought that I'll be in their shoes. But it was a good experience. For me I carry the hope that someone might actually come to know Christ through the words written on the tissue cover.

The last service was indeed very challenging. Well.., it wasn't exactly the sermon that challenged me (I had to gather all my might just to keep me from falling asleep), but rather the worship songs.
It's been quite sometime since I last felt such....such ...I don't know...feelings? The Spirit of God? But no matter what we call it, it's a feeling I long for everyday. The longing to live for God. To be holy.

Good for nothing LG

As I've mention in my previous post, I got a hand phone. But to my disappointment I can't send any international sms =( Thanks to that good for nothing LG company.

They actually had the sense of creating a phone that can only insert 11 digits, that's enough for domestic sms, but short by 3 digits for international sms:access code(002)+ country code +phone number, which requires 14.

And considering that the model came out less than 2years!!!

But than there's nothing I could have done about it. Even the h/p sellers didn't know much about international sms....

Handphone

Sooner than I expected, I got a handphone.

Went to Yongsan in the afternoon with 3 other friends. One of them were planning to get a second hand phone, and having the thought of buying one myself soon, I decided to follow them and see what's the price and options.

So after dropping by 3 shops, I finally decided on getting an LG Cyon phone. It's not a new model, has been around for more than a year, and the phone itself has been used for about 6 months.
But as I'm not the type who care so much about fashion, and the purpose of owning a phone is plainly for communication purposes, I bought it after some consideration.

Now the only information I'm looking for is how on earth do I send an international sms!!!?

Mask Dance

Photos with my mask dance friends.

The two girls are from Japan while the other guy is from Germany.

Went out for dinner on friday evening with the black hair Japanese girl, German guy and our teacher as our German friend, Schilling was going back on saturday. The dinner was great, had a few glass of beer(actually it's the most I've taken one go, but I think I can handle more than that).

Millionaire

...at least nearly. Just received my February and book allowance, accounting to 840 thousand all in all^^

Frankly I might have bought a com right away if my March allowance was given as well. But, according to the embassy, they forgot about it!! What a joker. Not likely for someone to forget about 70 million won(460thousand*150students)!!

Well, anyway, though I'm not planning to get a com so soon, I doubt there'll be much money left after the first week of March.

I'm having piano classes; planning to take up swimming lesson next month, which means I need to buy my swimming equipment; planning to register for the Spring Semester Pronunciation Clinic to improve my Korean pronunciation; going to Jejudo Island at the end of March.......
Moreover, I plan to get a handphone soon if there is a good bargain. Didn't think I'll need one so soon, but like what my friend told me: Handphone is a necessity in Korea.
Though I don't fully agree with him, but having one will surely be more convenient. What's more? I can send sms back to my beloved Malaysia as well^^

Upgrade Hotmail Account

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it's time to upgrade your hotmail account from 2MB to 25MB....for FREE
Check it out here.
I've increased mine^^

Chap Goh Mei (15th Day of Chinese New Year)

Went to 국립국악원, The National Center for Korean traditional Performing Arts with Kai Rou, Lelong and Jie Ying.

There was a Royal Performance, bringing to live the scene in the king's court in the olden days. We had free admission as my mask dance teacher who works there gave us free ticket^^
After the Royal Performance there were some outdoor performances: Samullori, campfire and Lion dance.
The whole thing was really interesting, worth skipping my homework:P

But as usual, I forgot to bring my cam along!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What's the point of having a digi cam if I keep forgetting to bring it with me every time I go out?!!

But yet again it's something to cherish in my memory. If it were captured by a photo then we won't have much space to elaborate isn't?

A Series of Fortunate Events

Last Saturday, Hadi, my housemate, and I were walking home from the market after getting some stuff.
Just as we turned into the alley in front of our house, a middle age woman came up from behind and tugged my friend's jacket. She took out a packet of strawberries from a plastic bag she was carrying, and presenting it to us saying :"Take this."
The two of us were quite surprised, but we took it and thanked her for the gift.

Last night my housemate, Faisal, who rarely goes out window shopping, suddenly suggested that we go to a shopping centre in Yeongdengpo. I was quite reluctant to go as my backside and leg were still hurting due to a fall I had before the performance yesterday morning.
But after being persuaded and wanting to look for a pair of swimming trunks, eventually I went with him and Hadi.
We went to Yeongdengpo, but weren't able to find what we wanted, so on the way back I suggested dropping by at Guro Station to see whether the stores are still open. But to our disappointment, the stores were all closed. To make the stop worthwhile I brought the two of them to CGV theatre as they've never been to the one in Guro before.
After walking around the food court, arcade and applied for a CGV card, we decided to go back. But just before we went downstairs, I thought it'll be good to check out what movie is being screen at the cinema.
And ta ta! As we were looking at the timetable, a lady approaches us and asked whether we were planning to buy movie tickets. She then presented us with four movie tickets for the movie "Red Eye" and asked whether we want to watch it. She further explains that she bought the tickets but wasn't able to watch it and would willingly give it away for free.
Though Hadi and I don't like horror movie , we decided to watch it anyway as the ticket was given to us for free.

Coincident? Luck? Whatever it may be I believe we met few of the nicest Koreans in town^^

Barbecue Chicken and Draft Beer (with butterfly larvae as well...)

Went out with my piano teacher, her friend (who's also learning and teaching at the centre), her daughter and Chiam Yu.

Actually my teacher and her friend were planning to go alone after lesson because my two Malay friend who are taking lessons there can't eat the non-halal chicken.
But, today they so happen to go back half an hour earlier rather than wait for me and Chiam Yu.
Thus, the two of us were able to follow our teacher out for dinner.

We went to a eating outlet near Dong Yang Technical College, which specializes in barbecue chicken. Ordered two chicken for the five of us and 3 glass of draft beer for Chiam Yu, our teacher's friend and me.
One thing about Korean is that due to the limited amount of land they have, they do not have garden to organize outdoor barbecue.
This is my second time having barbecue, first time was at Mt Seoraksan, and first time finishing one whole glass of beer by myself. Well, once you get use to it, it's quite ok.

And ya, tried butterfly eggs for the first time as well. The smell is still too strong for me, so didn't really eat much. But it is said that it is high in protein and good for men's health^^

Photos

Some photos of Everland uploaded.
Though it's 2 months late, but drop by and have a look here or at the sidebar under Memory Lane.

Valentines Day

     Happy Valentines Day to all the couples arond the world. May you cherish the love that you now have. And to those who are still single, just tag along...
      Well, this may be the first year I didn't receive any angpow during Chinese New Year, but it's also the first time receiving so much chocolate (or is it the first time) on Valentines Day      

      Strangely in Korea, most of the people who gives chocolates on Valentines Day are the females. Heard that there is another day when it's the guys turn to give away chocolate instead, but not so sure when it is. will update on it. 

      The pictures show all the chocs that I received, except the one that my piano teacher gave to me. Didn't cross my mind to take a photo of it before digesting it with my enzymes. Anyway, it was a mini ice-cream shape chocolate.

      All the ones listed are given by my friends, except the packet in the middle (ate a few from it) which was given by the church. And ya, talking about church, I  advanced from the »õ°¡Á· (New family Group) and am currently attending the normal group. Their discussion wasn't that diffucult to understand, at least compared to the sermon. Anyway will give more deatail about it next week. 

Chinese New Year

Summary of my first Chinese New Year being away from my beloved family.

New Year Eve
Went for a movie entitled "A Series of Unfortunate Events" by Jim Carrey with 2 of my church members in the morning. This is my 3rd time watching a movie in a cineplex after coming to Korea.
Went out with 3 other friends accompanying 2 guy from Malaysia. Brought them for skating at City Hall and after that to Myeongdong and tried out the squid burger at Lotteria.
Dropped by at Home Plus on my way back to buy my new year's clothes. After shopping for half an hour, got a pair of jeans and a shirt. Broke my record by buying the least new year clothes since my birth(?).
Lepak at a cyber cafe having Starcraft tournament with my friends till 2 in the morning then overnight at friend's house.

Da Nian Chu Yi (1st Day of Chinese New Year)
Woke up at ten and came back home.
The four Chinese girls came to visit and we chit chatted till late afternoon before watching a ghost story (The Grudge?) on my friend's computer.
Went to the girl's place at Gocheok for a combined Chinese New Year and Awal Muharram (Islamic New year) celebration.
Made a few calls back to Malaysia to give my friends some surprise^^
Went again to cyber cafe and came back at 1am.

Da Nian Chu Er (2nd Day of Chinese New Year)
Stayed at home all morning, then played a round of Generals before watching Spy Kids 2(dubbed into Korean) on the TV.
Went to the girls place in Daerim at 5pm. Their place have more of a Chinese New Year "flavor", mainly due to the cookies and keropok sent all the way from Malaysia.
Played cards, ate and talked till 10pm before I came back.

Thus ends my 3 days of holidays and New Year celebration. Well, hopefully it'll be better next year.... ",

"See You In Heaven"

Imagine these words coming out of a 14year old boy!
And I thought I was the only one who would use such a phrase...

On my way back from class last week, I met these bunch of people who were giving out leaflets about some gathering for Chinese during Chinese New Year at a Chinese church.
The first of the gathering was on Sunday, and those who are interested were to gather in front of the Language Education Institute at 5pm.
At first I planned to go, but then when I got back home from 고척교회(Gocheok Church, the church I'm currently attending), it was already 4pm.So I thought of going out to get my New Year's clothes instead.
Thus I called up a girl who stays near my house whether they want to go with me. But to my surprise, they were actually planning to go to the gathering. So eventually the 5 girls and I went to LEI.

When we reached there, they were not a single soul in sight. We thought we were tricked. Moreover when I called one of the phone numbers provided, the person had no idea of what I was talking about!
In the end, the girls decided to accompany me to buy my clothes.
But just as we were walking out, there came the guy whom we met last week. Seems that it's God's will that we should be there after all^^

BUT, to our surprise, the place that we were heading to was actually in Incheon! Well, guess I should have expected it, after all that's where the only China Town in Korea is located.
Upon our arrival, we noticed that it was actually some sort of Evangelical event, trying to minister to those Chinese who are working here in Seoul.
However, we didn't tell them that 2 out of the 6 of us are actually Christian, and they don't seem to expect Christians coming out of Malaysia...

To cut the story short, we had a good time fellowshipping with them the first night, except 2 of my friends, one who didn't really understand what was being said and another who seemed to be offended by the message.
But what caught my attention most was the pair of twins who were present there. They're Korean Chinese who went to study in china last year and back for New Year gathering.
And it was due to their persuasion that the four of us went again the following night.

On the second night before dinner, I was talking to one of the twins, saying that we wouldn't be able to come on the last two days as we have other things planned.
And again he came up with the question that he pounded us with the previous night "What happens if you die tomorrow night? Where would you be going?" Imagine, a 14year old child!
But in reply I said that I'll be in heaven if I were to die. And he asked "And how can you be sure of that?"
So I said,"Because I believe that Christ died for me and took away all my sins."
And my, he was so shocked, saying to himself " hey! He answered correctly!" (I had the feeling I was bullying a small kid:P)

And after confirming it several times, he was so shocked and happy, but wanting to make sure of my salvation, he dragged me to few of the adults, but who seemed to think it's too offending asking me directly, except his dad....
But I was really touched and encourage seeing him. Though we know that heaven rejoices over a sinner who's save, it was the first time I see someone being so happy about my salvation.
And I was encourage seeing someone so young yet so passionate about God and the salvation of others.

In the end when we were about to come back, he came up to me and "See you in heaven."
My I was shocked! But indeed very happy^^

Visiting Minister

Was at and Indian restaurant, Ashoka Restaurant, located in Itaewon's Hamilton Hotel this evening.

Our Malaysia's Menteri Perdagangan Dalam Negeri dan Hal Ehwal Pengguna, Datuk Shafie Apdalis in Seoul.
As such, the Malaysia Embassy organised a meeting between the minister and student. Due to the number of seats available, only 100 students were chosen, and I was one of the lucky ones.

The meeting was supposed to start at 4pm, but as usual he and his wife were late for about half an hour.They just came right from shopping.

In his speech, he spoke about the recent tsunami issues, that the department donated money to the MERCY team in Aceh. He said that as Indonesia is our close neighbor and that Aceh was one of the main factor that our country diidn't suffer much the tsunami caused by an 8km wide crack on the bottom of the sea. Unfortunate for Aceh but fortunate for us because if Aceh was not in the way the states of Kedah and Pinang would have suffered much etcetra etcetra.
Followed by his speech was the normal questioning session. Among some of the questions were consumer's right, doing business as a student and women's role in our country's economy and politics.

All in all it lasted an hour and ten minutes.

And after that was DINNER. Great food. I liked the fruit custard best.
Ate till our heart's content^^

Grandma's Care

I was coming back from class on Thursday when I saw my neighbor who stays on top of us. And as usual, I greeted her.
So she was like asking me, what panchan ( Korean side dishes like radish, kimchi, spinach, bean sprout, ikan bilis) do we usually eat at home. And I told her that we usually just have one or two main dish without any.
So she says she'll bring us some kimchi and cuttlefish later on.

And when she arrived at our home, she looked around and told us that the way we handle our garbage is wrong should separate the bottles, paper and plastic. And so she began to dug out our garbage one by one and put in into several plastic bags.
Then she opened our fridge and saw that it was dirty, and asked us to clean it, saying that we'll fall sick easily with a dirty fridge. She even kindly "adviced" us how to arrange the items in the fridge.
And finally, seeing that we have barely anything in our fridge to cook, she asked us what do we usually eat? And proceeded to make some kimchi stew with the kimchi that she just brought for us. She even returned to her home and brought some tofu and gave it to us^^

End of Starvation : )

Finally, after bearing for a few weeks we can come out of our starvation :)

Got out allowance today, just when I have no more than RM 3 to spare. Praise be to God.
But we thought we would be getting our January and February allowances at one go, but it seems that February's allowance will come in much later....
Anyway, at least now I don't have to depend on pineapple porridge to survive and six growing youths don't have to share a can of sardine.

Coincidentally, today's my piano teacher's birthday. Having no present prepared in advance and no money to spare, I cracked my head and finally had a great idea of changing a card I made some time ago into a birthday card.

After our lesson, she brought us for dinner. We had some sort of fish stew and kimchi beef stew. And my, after not being able to eat such a decent meal for a week, I wallop up 3 person's portion.

Anyway, it's good to be able to live a normal life again^^

Starvation

Thanks to our scholarship sponsor, JPA, we have the rare chance to experience what starvation is.

We thought that we would receive our January allowance around 18 of January, so we budgeted just enough with hardly any to spare.
BUT according to the information I just received, we'll be getting our January's allowance around the first week of February.

So my housemates and I had the experience of eating oiless fried rice, plain porridge, pineapple porridge, plain rice with chicken-less curry and much more.....

Thanks to that and the cold weather these few days, I'm feeling sick all around. Malnutrition. I'm so tired I slept for 12 hours today and am feeling tired even right now....

If the money doesn't come any sooner I might become a skeleton lying beside the main road....

Salt vs Sea Water

A way to look at things:

Which is saltier: salt or sea water?

Which ever your answer may be, the point here is that some sea water can taste so salty that we chock at it.
But the truth is, even the saltiest Dead Sea contains no more than 8% of Sodium Chloride(table salt).
Such a small amount of salt when dissolved in sea water can produce such amazing result!

We as Christians are the salt of this world. Shouldn't we be able to produce great impact towards the society around us?
Yet according to this, the world percentage of Christian is dropping.....

Wasted Time

I used to like holidays a lot, but now I think that holidays are more of a life wasting than fun thing.

I'm coming to the end of my week-long holiday. I actually had a lot planned before the holidays: revising my Level 2 Korean, doing some preparation for Level 3, finish Odyssey by Homer, wake up early and exercise at the park near the place I'm staying....
But in the end I only manage to learn some basic typing...with a hopeless speed of 60+ per minute. I can type faster using just two fingers.

One week...so much that I could have accomplished....

Incheon: Korea Open Badminton Championships & China Town

Went to Incheon to watch the Daekyo Noonnoppi Korea Open Badminton Open Championships Incheon 2005.
There were all in all about 30 students who went. I, for one, am not so keen about badminton, but just to give support to our own Malaysian players, which we were not able to wait till their turn to show up.
Anyway, we met a Malaysian couch who's couching the Korean national team. He told us that most of the interesting matches with Malaysian players will be on Thursday and asked us to come back again on Thursday.
Still haven't made up my mind whether as to go or not this Thursday, but we'll see.....

So about 3pm, we decided to go to the beach, since we were already at Incheon. The idea was quite tempting, as none of us have been to the sea since our arrival in Korea.
As one of the tourist guide book told us that we could reach the sea at the next station, which is the second last station before Incheon station, we decided to save 800won and walk there instead.
So off we went, and the whole journey to the sea actually took us more than 2 hours, because there were no beach or sea at Tong Incheon station and we had to walk further down to Incheon station.
The view at the seaside was...erm....not bad, BUT the air pollution there is horrible. You can literally fell the dust sticking on your face.
We took a walk around, then went back to China Town, the only China Town in the whole of Korea.
As it was near dinner time, we decided to have our meals there. While the others wanted to try the Ajumma restaurant, those typical Korean food stall,my friend Weng Joe and I insisted that we try some Chinese food since we were in China Town.
So after much debate the rest gave in and we went to a Chinese restaurant. At first we had only Jajang Noodle in mind, which is about 2000won. But after entering the restaurant and looking at the menu, we ordered set dishes for 6-7 people, which cost about 10.000won per head.
And so the 12 of us Chinese celebrated our Chinese New Year's Eve dinner way in advance^^