Seoul n Busan Days Oct 2008

Still @ Seoul

Took the express train to Busan this trip.. it went as fast as the cars in F1! N Busan is beautiful! Perhaps also coz i had good company this time since student's from Busan and knew the way around..

the very picturesque scenary along the way.. taken while the train was running at top speed!


i SO regret i didnt get this specs.

the SEASIDE hotel i checked into was GREAT with a FANTASTIC view! it actually made me guilty as i started hallucinating i am on holiday instead....

I can see the Gwang An beach and the Gwang An Bridge from my room can!

a pity these doors won't budge. if not i can appreciate the scenary while taking my bubble bath. :P

used the pink pack of bath salts that very night!

very hi-tech room.. with electronic control.. call me a suaku but this is the first time i've seen this! :P
having fun woohoo!

the light switch is cool la!

tap, lights on. tap, lights out!
4-pillowed bed somemore! yay! I so know i can so sleep so very well tonight.

The lighted bridge at night was amazing. esp viewed from my room.

a walk along the beach..
there were these buskers and am i lucky or what. It was the Pusan International Film Festival and they had fireworks display that night! cool breeze great weather buskers on the beach beautiful fireworks - what a fantastic combination.

my hotel!

PURPOSELY bought my fav bulgogi burger from lotteria and PURPOSELY went back hotel to sit and eat beside my window. cheap thrill but how many such chances do i get! ha.

can u not be mesmerised when u wake up to this view? i so wanna skip my fair!

was lucky to catch this naval display as there happened to be a maritime defence fair going on at the same time..

student's mum brought us to this wonderful resto for buffet dinner..

cant stomach this ginseng-like tuber well but the flower bun in the background was my fav tho!

one of the beautiful desserts which i didnt touch.

i was at P.I.F.F! ;)

After Busan was Russia immediately. I officially declared Incheon as my favourite. Yes Changi is displaced. Shall explain this in my next post on Russia but so the story went that i had to spend the night in Incheon airport and i discovered this wonder jimjilbang right at the airport!

i can bathe. i can blow my hair. i can do my usual skincare routine. even water is provided!

was able to get this private lounge to sleep too! very small but enough for a night's rest. at least i had a comfy bed!

To be continued...

The Other Angle

My Korean student cannot understand:

1. Why Singaporeans like Milo
2. Worse, why Singaporeans drink Milo with Big Mac. he thinks it's disgusting.
3. Why Singaporeans like half-boiled egg.
4. Why Singaporeans put condensed milk in coffee ( tho that made him love Singaporean coffees!)
5. Singaporeans' craze over Bubble Tea
6. Why hot drinks are put in plastic bag for takeaways, especially when Taxi uncles takeaway and hang them so precariously in their taxis. ("Isnt it harder to drink?")

This Singaporean friend of his also cannot understand:

1. Why Koreans don't appreciate Milo but like Hot Chocolate (read: hoto cocolat)
2. Why Koreans can drink hot coffee with cold noodles but not iced milo with Big Mac.
3. Why Koreans can mix raw egg in bibimbab, but cannot tahan half-boiled egg.

Further,
4. Why Koreans have never played Tic-Tac-Toe before. No it is not an isolated case, I further proved it with 3 more of his friends here.
2. Why Koreans pronounce V as B, hence pronouncing "Very Very Strawberry"as .............................. (try it yourself)
3. Why Koreans pronounce F as P and P as F, hence pronouncing Farrer Park as ..............................(fill in the blank yourself )

what amazing exchanges when cultures criss-cross!

The Day Before, Yesterday n Today.

The Day Before: Am in Sparkling K and so happy! After scoring a small coup with the years of lobbying, Chub decided it may be time to lax a bit and order room service again!

.

They got REAL WHOLE SOTONG and crab parts inside! i tot it was so worth the price!

of cos i slurped it all!

YESTERDAY: Agent bought us dinner at this Seafood buffet place where you get access to the SUMPTIOUS and WIDE VARIETIED buffet spread as long as you order one main dish. We had Alaskan Crab.

Big Alaskan catch!

special crab scissors to pull the meat out.


hairy crab!

Today: It's national holiday here in Korea and I was lucky to have company again! Went Insadong where we spent an astonishing 8 hours there! so much time to kill there were 1 lunch, 3 sessions of coffee/tea and 1 dinner.

BURP

this wonderful Korean style zajiangmian was sold in one of the most famous Chinese restaurant in the Gwanhuamun area actually. Was a treat from agent before we went to the nearby Insadong.

National Treasure No. 2: 10-Storied Pagoda.


the Samsung building taken over by the Korean govt.. kio tio lor!
Teahouse # 1

Pomelo Tea, some limey tea and rice crackers.

After the walk around the free art gallery, popped by the opposite Ssamziegil too.

Student says this was his father's generation's army uniform on this ice-cream man.

the holiday crowd!

(act) diva!

There was this shop whose owner collects a HUGE amount of old toys! It's open for viewing at 1k KRW each.

toys...

toys..
more toys...

some more toys...
scary toys...

favourite toys!

Coffeehouse #2 - tried very hard to finish...

no. no more coffee. It was this ONLY-KOREAN-STARBUCKS-SIGN-IN-THE-WORLD that i was taking.
Bossum Dinner w bean paste soup!

Teahouse #3 with student n his friends.

Ginger Tea - a great booster for the weekend fairs.

I'd say, bring them on!

For My Darlings ;)

Stop making funny faces Ms Feng! And Argh! what's that ultra SPARKLING thing on Suami's finger? Argh Argh Argh! So shiny!! So striking!!! Argh!!! muacks! hee.