JSA (Joint Security Area)

As we all know, Korea is the only divided country in this world. Ever since the Korean War(1950-1953), the two nation has been divide for the past 50+ years. Roughly divided around the 38th Parallel, the two country's only neutral place is Panmunjom.
While the place used to be "neutral", in the sense that North and South Koreans could move about within Panmunjom, the place was again divided after an axe incident. The two guards shown in this pic are South Korean soldiers. The white building at the top of the picture belongs to North Korea.

Ski Trip (8-10 Jan)

Well, better late than never. Here's some photos of the ski trip I had early this month.
It was indeed a wonderful time. Learning a new skill while enjoying the fellowships of friends around.

We arrived in the evening of 8 Jan. Got out of the bus, unpacked our stuff, rented our ski equipment and started our basic training right away. The teacher brought a few students to another ski resort and taught them the basics there few weeks earlier. So they in turn taught us how to ski.

After the basic training on the 1st day and the "A" skiing style on the morning of the second day, we went up the very beginner's hill. It was the easiest ski site in the camp. We were escoted by our trainee on the 1st round, but after that me and my friend went up on our own. It wasn't as hard as we had expected. And it was FUN!!!!!!!!!!!!

As we didn't buy the afternoon pass, we couldn't go skiing in the evening. Instead we had a walk around the camp. Enjoyed the scenery and had a round of bowling.
The room where I stayed. All in all there were 5 rooms. The room was cozy and comfortable even though there were 15 of us in the room. We had endless provision of food, drinks, cakes and desserts during our stay (provided by our lecturer^^).

On the second night, we were each given a free pass, allowing us to go to any site we want within the camp. But of course, our lecturer only allowed us to play in the safer zone (though a few went else where and got themselves into interesting trouble^^).

The excitement is indeed beyond my ability to express. Skiing down the 1km slope with such high speed was indeed enjoyable. Trying not to bump into anyone along the way was even more exciting. Now I can actually understand why some enjoy "high speed" sports like racing^^

At the end of the day, I find skiing much more easier than skating. Will try to go for another ski trip if the opportunity arises^^ .

For another summary of the event by my friend please go here. Guess I should've blogged on it when my memory was still fresh. But don't think anyone will be reading this so it doesn't really matter^^

Drunk? almost....

-If a tiger begins to eat vegetables, what else is impossible in this world?-

Had a meeting at dytc on Friday to register for our course. So finally, I'm stucked with chemical engineering. There are all in all 10 of us Malaysian, 6 girls and 4 guys.

After the meeting went to look for a pair of ski glove at Lotte Mart but to no avail . We then went to have Sam Gyeob Sal (barbequed pork) for dinner. It's one of my favourite Korean dish- you're given the raw meat, and then you barbeque it on a grill provided.

The difference this time is that the normal shop I used to go is no longer there and this time I'm with 2 other friends that I like, but first time going for Sam Gyeob Sal with them. All in all there were 6 of us.

The owner of the store was fun. Few our seniors go there very often, so the owners know quite a lot about them. Later went to a pub to have a light drink. The owner of the pub is a relative of the owner of the Sam Gyeob Sal shop that we had dinner, so we got a plate of refreshments for free(costing ~RM25) ^^

Had a great time at the pub. Was my second time at a pub(1st time during my senior's b'day), but 1st time with friends from my own batch. Talked, joked, laughed etc. The other 5 used to go for drinks quite often last time, so I was the only "new" person at the table.

Thus one of my friend was trying to see me drunk(?) and gave me two Bomb drink(폭탄주) -where a shot of whisky is dropped into a glass of beer and then the whole thing rapidly consumed.

Luckily, thank God that I wasn't drunk after drinking the second one (my friends added a few shots of whisky into it). But was feeling strange in my head....(depends on how you define drunk, that symptom might be catagorized as drunk, but I don't wanna admit it cause if I were to do so God will kill me for being drunk :P).

But all in all, was indeed a wonderful time. Especially looking back at how my relationship with one of my friend was, it's really unbelievable that we'll be sitting together eating drinking joking and laughing.

Well, that's one thing I thank God the most throughout last year^^

Happy New Year^^

Hehe...guess it's a bit late but Happy New Year^^
May all of you have a blessed new year ahead^^

So, this year I decided not to make an actually list of resolutions. Been making new year's resolutions these few years, but in the end I end up not doing what I wanted to do...

BUT there are a few things I'll try to improve on:
1. Spend more time with God - longer quite time and spending more time praying.
2. Continue the Bible reading plan I started in November and finish reading the Bible cover to
cover within this year.
3. Spend more time on my studies.

Well then, will stop here for now.^^

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^^