Russia 2008

Not Moscow or St Pete's, it's Vladivostok. only 2 hours away from Seoul and as excited as i was, i decided to treat myself to a timeless jovial meal of Macdonald's breakfast @ the Incheon airport before boarding.

woohoo.
so i went Russia.
and i return from Russia.
and i go again! how fun!

the story goes that silly me took the risk with the visa. Was stated 9 Oct but as there were KE flights only on 8 Oct, i bought the 8 Oct tickets. And so i got stopped at customs. And so got sent back to Korea on the immediate next flight. And so my first ever trip to RU lasted a total of 1 hour.

the small (not really for me tho) but expensive meal.
the small but expensive room.

i must have this affinity with fireworks. there were fireworks every night i was there! agent mentioned it's Putin's birthday apparently.
the very enthusiastic class of students.
the very jovial teachers gave me flowers!

very nice people.
caviar's their specialty. pity my taste aint that suited to such atas food.

very delicious Russian champagne tho! The red one's some wildberries drink that was equally tasty too!


due to the proximity to China, there are a lot of Chinese living and working in VVO actually.. hence one of these Imperial Palace restos.

i'm happy!

the Submarine, cant recall the name.


St Mary's Church.
Triumph Gate.

Golden Harbour Bay. There were all these yachts docked there the whole picture simply paints romance - to Singaporeans la.
me n my lamppost!


my hotel.

Had a Sunday morning to walk around before boarding the flight and hence went around my neighbourhood.

The billboard says "Great Minds Thnk Alike" and shows 4 men in exactly the same suits. Hm. I will have 4 diffrent suits from the same designers tho as i am sure if it's me, i won't like very much the idea of walking on the streets wearing the exact same thing as others..:P


the harbour. at this point i walked past a rubbish dump and a very big bee-like pest was apparently so attracted to me (or my smell) it kept hovering around me. i cldnt shake it off for some time and had to resort to running!

Electric tram! so exciting can!



Home Sweet Home! to Korea actually...

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!