The Letters #3

Time flies, this is my third letter already. Reminiscing back the past 12 months, I noticed that somehow I've managed to draw the best people to me. Those who I failed to meet up last year, those whom lack of/lost contact, those whom I barely had the chance to know them better, we made it this year. Taking the initiative to attend a course on my journey to pursuing my interest, the Universe has brought me to meet many other great people too! I'm so lucky to be surrounded by them, who are willing to share their knowledge with me and guide me through. While there is this bunch of nice people being drawn to me, there are also few of whom have been drawn away from me. They say, everything happens for a reason. Maybe this is how the Universe works, it draws you closer to people who help lifting you up, and it draws away those who don't? I don't know if our parting distance is it just for now, or forever. I just know that I'm so blessed to have learnt so much from these people, really, from both the former and latter category.

X'mas 2015

I've been a big fan of Gossip Girl, especially Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass! I've always wanted to have a sleep over with close friends of mine just like what Blair likes to do. This time round, we made it. CT came over after her work on X'mas Eve. Oh well, I know how exhausting it is to work in retail on shift hours and especially on festive season! 

She came over with her laptop and some titbits to fulfil one of our agendas, watch movie on bed with popcorns! While she was trying to fully "utilize" my house's wifi, I attempted to try using the hair curler I bought from Korea as I had nothing to do. Little did I know that I needed an adaptor for it in order to fit into our socket! Ishh.. Jinjia.. Then, I think we spent like, one hour like that, trying to figure how the hell to use a curler because it's too mini!! We ended up kinda ruin our hair as CT said she saw her hair macam turned a bit choco color d.. LOL.. So yeah, we gave up~

XD

The movie was "Our Times", I would say it was rather over-rated lar, wasn't really up to expectation. So yeah, after movie, we turned of the light, lay on bed and talked about life. IKR, we are like old people like that, of all topics and gossips, we chose to talk about life, LOL.. Wanted to put on masks I brought back from Korea but she said it's not good to put it all the way till morning if it's not sleeping mask. Oh well, perhaps next time then. 

I think we fell asleep around 3 something in the morning and woke up at 9, getting ready and left to LRT station to meet YT. First time we got dressed up and put make up together neh :D

Aww

After we each had a burger at the station (ya, no time to eat before leaving lol), we went NU Central to shop for X'mas gift. First went to Typo but couldn't find any. Then, CT went to MPH while I went to Bath and Body Works. Gosh, super nice smell lar the shop! I was so tempted to buy some for myself leh TBH.. After spending like one hour in NU Central, we had finally settled down with our gifts and met up with YT in her orange hybrid car.

We wanted to try our luck at ACME Bar and Cafe but it was full house. So we proceed to a last minute Plan B, which was Black Market. The place was recommended by YT. I would say the environment and surrounding is ok lar, just that the entrance to the restaurant was a bit hard to tolerate lar, it smells like fish market lol. Anyway, we all ordered set lunch which comes with soup and tea of your choice.

YT with her pork burger.

CT with her Blank Market grilled chicken chop.

My Red Hot grilled chicken chop.

So yeah, we thought wanted to exchange gift after having lunch. Who knows the waiter came and said they were closing already and they were kinda rushing us to pay bill though we had hardly begin on our meal. Not syok lar ok.. So after we finished, we left without exchanging gift lol..

Then we headed to Pavilion because I insisted want to take photo with the X'mas tree haha.. It was super jam lar omg.. We spent one hour to travel 4.4km walao.. No wonder people rather stay at home during festive seasons than going out.. But it had been like, almost a year since our last hangout with YT. Though she "showed face" during our celebration for our friends' birthday but that doesn't really count because we hardly catch up anything.. So yeah, after a "horrendous" jam, we finally got a parking!

Aww, same color :D

Me with my out-of-shape hair LOL

Then, we passed by MilkCow and CT said she wanna try because it was quite popular. So yeah, as it is, just popular, the "natural ice-cream" tastes just like ordinary ice-cream. Too over-rated again. Then we visited the Samsung store as we both planning to change our phone. Then we teman YT to look for her Tumbler, went to G2000 because there was sales but couldn't get anything cause couldn't find the design that I like. Then went to Fossil to survey present. Then finally, we decided to find a place to sit and rest as I was alarming them on how pain my legs and toes were for wearing heals LOL..

Settled down in a typical place, Starbucks! Haha.. There was where we really had our time to chat lar TBH! Chat about what? We talked about life again!! LOL, but also abit about our travel plan lar.. I never really travel with CT and YT before neh omg.. So yeah, need to wait CT to get her postings news then only we can really plan and decide on the details. But just the fact that we are to have a trip together next year is so exciting seriously. Oh wait, which mean, its time to save money again ~~

Starbucks was also the place where we finally got the time and chance to exchange gift LOL..

:D

Then we headed to the entrance of Pavilion again as YT said there would be some "fake snow" starting from 8pm. Manatau when we reached there, it was so disappointing lar.. Idk how to describe it but it was very super overcrowded! And the snow was very "stingy" omg, langsung couldn't feel anything.. zzzz

So yeah, we left. YT sent us back to LRT station and there it goes, our X'mas hangout~~

This basically sums up the day.

Thanks for spending quality time together ok, thanks for the gifts, the talks and the laughters!! Hope you all love the gifts from me lar, it smells super nice ok!! 

Then, on the X'mas day itself, I had a sleepover with my cousie.. 

Awww~~~ ❤❤❤ over-loaded on this meaningful season :D
Hope whoever reading this, had a wonderful and unforgettable X'mas too :)

Seoul 6D5N: Myeong-dong (明洞)

Direction to Myeong-dong from Insa-dong (仁寺洞):

1. Embark on Line 3 at Anguk (安国) Station (refer figure 1) to the direction of Jongno 3(sam)-ga to Chungmuro (忠武路) Station;
2. Transfer to Line 4 to the direction of Myeong-dong (明洞) Station.

Exit 5 of Anguk Station.

We didn't go straight to Myeong-dong lar, our legs were aching like hell. Went back to our Namsan Guest house to have some rest then around dinner time only we headed out to Myeong-dong. It's just right across the street. Btw, remember to take note of where did you enter the Myeong-dong streets, because we nearly got lost and wouldn't be able to get the way out had I not taken photos and videos along the way! Seriously, those streets intersecting one another with all mouth-watering food and tempting cosmetic promotion/packages were making us losing our mind!! There are 4-5 outlets of respective BIG Brands in Myeong-dong alone, eg Etude House, Innisfree, Nature Republic, The Face Shop, Tony Moly and the list goes on! So yeah, don't make these shops your "landmark" please...

See the red circle over there? We practically used "Nine Tree" as a land mark ever since!

Didn't manage to take much photos on the food though, cause I was busy catching up my Jimui's footsteps!! She was super duper excited with all the cosmetic shops and showed her true colour of how vulnerable she is when it comes to cosmetic stuffs!! 

Oh well, let's not just talk about shopping. Though I didn't manage to snap much photos on all the street food available there, managed to find some from Google lar.. LOL

Just like our Pasar Malam.. haha..

Photos aside, actually I managed to record a whole deal of videos lar with those street food, the people, the atmosphere and all... Will plug it in here when I have time to edit lar ya XD

There are few shops that I heard quite famous:

It's just like our S&J or Memory Land~~~

That's all for now, stay tuned for next post :D
* In case you have not read about our Seoul 6D5N itinerary, please click here :D

Seoul 6D5N: Insa-dong (仁寺洞)

Direction to Insa-dong (仁寺洞) from The National Folk Museum:

1. Just go back to where we came from, the opposite of the Museum, and turn left without the need to cross the road back to the Museum again. Walk along the road side for approximately 15-20 minutes. 
2. A long the way, you would see this piece of display from their architecture engineering school (refer figure 1).
3. Basically, just walk all the way straight until you reach a rather big junction displaying a huge brush (refer figure 2).
4. Next to it, is the entrance to Insa-dong (refer figure 3).

Figure 1: I don't know what it is but quite artistic lar to me

Figure 2: It reminds me of the time when I learnt Chinese Calligraphy :D

Figure 3: Can see the red arrow? That is Insa-dong.
Btw, that's one of the Korean grocery chain stores over there, GS25.

These 2 rows of shops all the way to the end of this street is Insa-dong,
the place I spent most in Day 2!

There are a lot of typical souvenirs such as magnets, nail cutter, key chains, bookmarks, accessories, painting, traditional paper fan etc etc!! There are shops which sell the same thing but at different price, the point is not to negotiate, but to survey few shops before you buy. Basically, I've got everything I needed from the first few shops, the rest of the streets was just "window shopping". They don't give discount so no point nego. Anyway, there is this place where it looks alike a mini open shopping mall where the tenants are selling all the artistic and creative stuffs. Oh well, art comes with a price, so you can imagine the pricing of the goods selling there lar har...

If not mistaken, the name of the place is called Samziegil?

There are countless of cute and adorable and artistic stuffs ok? But Imma gonna show some here only ya XD

I don't think guys would fancy these kind of stuffs? But still I like them~~~

All these hair-bands made me so itchy hand know??
If I had bought it, it would be for collection purpose lar of course, wont wear it out lar.. lol

How could I miss out defocus shot right?

Korean version of angry bird?? XD

Walk all the way to the end of the street until you see this shop at the cross-junction, then turn left.

Oh well, not necessary have to turn left lar, we did because wanted to explore the other side of Insa-dong. You might as well walk back the same street to where you come from. As for us, we turned left and exited at another side.

This hat stall is actually right opposite the Tea and Coffee shop. *Itchy hand again*

The other tranche of the streets over this side are all full with galleries selling art pieces.

At the end of the street, you would reach the main road, turn left again (ya, we basically wanted to go back to the place where we came from because we are rather in lack of sense of direction.. LOL..) So yeah, please have a map with you!

Korean BBQ is literally everywhere ~~~

See? We managed to reached back to where we were.
Photo taken from the point we left Samcheong-dong on the way heading to Insa-dong.

I guess that's all for Insa-dong. It's basically a place tailored to suit your needs buying souvenirs for family and friends. I'm not saying you can't find souvenir else where, I'm just saying the price here is more reasonable to me. Oh wait, though it seemed like the case, I spent KRW 43,000 in Insa-dong alone!! Will share what exactly have I bought from Korea in another post, haha..

Stay tuned for more :D
* In case you have not read about our Seoul 6D5N itinerary, please click here :D

Seoul 6D5N: Bukchon Hanok Village

Direction to Bukchon Hanok Village from Samcheong-dong (三清洞):

Still remember the restaurant we went to for lunch? I mentioned it in my previous post titled "Seoul 6D5N: Samcheong-dong (三清洞)". Ya, you are right, it's the restaurant located on the left side of the photo attached below. Right beside it is the cafe that we went for hi-tea. See the staircase with a red arrow at the bottom right of the photo over there? That's where you'd start your "expedition" (Ya, we spent like half an hour or more than that to reach the Village because there was lack of signage and, all the intersected roads are like a maze again) LOL...

Went up along the stairs until you reach a high-ground then turn left, and look for this scene, or more importantly, the signage:

Then follow the track and walk all the way up hill.
If you have no idea which way to go, again, follow the crowd.. LOL

Please look for this sign, the Village is just around 5 feet from here.

~~~ May I present to you the Legendary Bukchon Hanok Village ~~~

TADA~~~

TBH, nothing much to see lar. It just basically this street with a row of houses on both sides. I think those houses have been in existence since long long time ago, given the construction design, I'd say during the old empire time? But there are still people staying there, and there are posters asking you to keep your voice low to avoid causing disturbance in the neighbourhood.

After taking few shots with these houses as background, we went into one and paid a visit. It's free, mainly because the owner/vendor are selling souvenirs in there. 

This was the one we visited.
See? So modern already, with a digital lock there. Haha..

We really took our time and wandered around and around and around until everyone left. Haha.. Guess why?

To take photos lar.. Abuthen? Haha......
I like this shot so much that I set it as my FB profile pic XD
Didn't manage to rent the Hanbok (traditional Korean dress) though 'cause it was quite pricey~~~
Else, this shot would have been more perfect XD

That's all from Hanok Village. Haha.. We actually wanted to visit the observatory deck to see the view from the above but who knows, the place was like a haunted house, dark and no one around. Even the houses nearby also were all silent. We afraid that it was some scam or something so we quickly left the place and headed back down. Along the way, there are some modern houses and shops too.

Is it some sort of apartments?

I like some of their designs, quite mature looking, but very pricey ~~~
All around KRW 100k +/-

That's all for now.. Haha.. Is it a bit disappointing? Like, you might have high expectation for this Hanok Village but seems like it has nothing much? (No offence to anyone here please) I know right... Oh well, there are more to come, just stay tuned! :D
* In case you have not read about our Seoul 6D5N itinerary, please click here :D

Seoul 6D5N: Samcheong-dong (三清洞)

Direction to Samcheong-dong (三清洞) from The National Folk Museum:

Just walk across the street from the Main entrance of The National Folk Museum.. Haha.. Then turn left and walk along the street.. You would see a lot of creative art displays, such as this:

Haha XD

Basically, we just followed the crowd (again~~~) where they came out from, then we went straight into that direction. We were kinda blur as we had no idea where we were (even though we had a map with us!!) We kept on exploring and wanted to find where exactly is this Samcheong-dong when the fact is, the whole area right opposite the Museum is already the Samcheong-dong! Zha-dou~~ LOL

Few photos taken while we walked along one of the streets:

You are right, it's a sloppy little hill..

If you could notice, there are staircases in between the buildings,
which lead visitors up into another shops located further in.

Ok, enough with street photos, there was this shop that we had our lunch. We were so lucky to have stumbled upon this shop while we were unbelievably famished walking all the way up the hill. Not only the food was super filling and spicy (it was too too too spicy for me though.. Until the extend that I couldn't stop the mucus from running down from my nose and the boss was staring at me with a concern pair of eyes when I literally couldn't stop pulling out tissue papers from her tissue case.. LOL), the staffs were friendly too (they are well-versed in Mandarin), and most importantly, the shop was just nearby the entrance to the Bukchon Hanok Village. 

The uncle over there is the owner, who can't speak English nor Mandarin.
But he was also the one pointing us the direction to Bukchon Hanok Village on a street map. *salute*

The bottom row was a-la-carte.. We chose the one on top. With the same price (KRW 8,000 per person),
a set of dishes was shared by my Jimui and me. Really worth it!!
I especially love their spicy stir-fried baby octopus, the one which made a scene out of me!! LOL

Actually, the whole tranche of streets intersecting each others are like a maze to me lar. I didn't really take much photos 'cause our focus that time was to look for the Bukchon Hanok Village. I did record some short videos though, would upload it perhaps? Hmmm..

After coming back from Bukchon Hanok Village, we had our high-tea session at 王嘉茶, one of the places that you might want to take note 'cause the entrance to the Village is right beside this Cafe. Probably one of the reasons we chose this cafe to refuel ourselves too :D

Top left: Mango Ginseng Yam Juice (KRW 6,500); Bottom left: Caffe Latte Hot (KRW 5,000)
Top right: Blueberry Rice Bread (KRW 1,500); Bottom Right: Green-rice Rice Cake (KRW 1,200)

Nothing better to do, so took one photo of Korean-generated receipts.. LOL

Actually, there are countless of shops selling varieties of DESSERTS!! Ranging from waffles, ice-cream, our kind of "ice-kacang" which I have no idea what they call it there, Korean-style snow flake, and many more that you could think of~~ But we were too full for that, first, and secondly, we were running out of budget. Haha.. 'Cause we allocated portion of it for our coming destination - Insa-dong!! Haha..

Oh well, that's all for now. Will update about the Bukchon Hanok Village in my next post. Stay tuned! * In case you have not read about our Seoul 6D5N itinerary, please click here :D

Seoul 6D5N: The National Folk Museum of Korea

We just followed the crowd and exited from the backyard of Gyeongbokgung (景福宫). We followed the garden trail and it brought us straight to The National Folk Museum of Korea. The entrance is free!

Photo taken right after we exited the palace, over-looking it from the outside.

The building on the left is The National Folk Museum.

If you'd like to have a "tour guide" showing you around the museum with some stories/histories, you may refer to the following "time table" whereby, they allocate different time slots for different language mediums. As we were rather rush for the day (few more destinations awaiting us !!), we opted to tour the museum on our own. No worries, there are English descriptions everywhere, you'd have no trouble understanding any particular piece of antics.

We were lucky that the day we visited, there was this special exhibition being held:

My Jimui said it's a common rule that no one is allowed to take photos in a museum, but there were still numerous of tourists doing it. So.. Erm.. I took a few lar.. Haha.. Not gonna show here though, visit it yourself to find out lar XD 

After nearly an hour, we completed the tour and headed out to take some photos. There is this Stone Garden right outside of the museum, consists of 12 Stone Animal Gargoyles representing 12 Chinese Zodiacs, each with a square piece of stone at the bottom of the Zodiac, with years of born crafted on it.

A defocus shot practice again :)

Me, standing behind the Monkey Zodiac (my Zodiac) pinching it's ear.
Ya, monkey is some what naughty a bit wan lar.. Oopss :p

Before leaving The National Folk Museum, we went and took photo in front of a palace that has been barred from entering. Not sure what palace is that though ~~

Was it my eyes? Or the sun was too bright?

On the way heading to Samcheong-dong (三清洞), there are few other stone sculptures alongside the pathway within the museum's compound as well. 

See? Not necessarily must go all the way to Jeju to see him :D

Dolhareubang

"Dubbed as Eseokmok, Museokmok and Boksumori, Dolhareubang, a stone sculpture known as the stone grandfather, can only be found in Jeju Island. Dolhareubang was place outside of town gates to drive off evil spirits as a type of shaman's totem pole."

Dongjaseok/Bucksu/Muninseok

"Dongjaseok is a modified version of a deity statue in a temple or a statue to be placed in front of a tomb. It is an object of worship and is believed to have a protective power."
"Bucksu is a type of Korean totem pole placed at the entrance of a village or a temple to indicate the boundary or to protect as a guardian deity symbolizing the folk religion."
"Muninseok is a stone statue of a scholar to place in front of a tomb for protection. It wears an official's hat while holding an official's plaque and it is always placed in pairs."

That's all for now. Enclosed here the MAIN entrance of The National Folk Museum of Korea (which we actually exited from there pulak.. lol..). 

By walking across the street, you'd find Samcheong-dong. Will update it in a separate post. Stay tuned! * In case you have not read about our Seoul 6D5N itinerary, please click here :D