Nicholas

KO-Yon Games Day 1

2007-10-22T05:26:00.000-07:00

KUBA Field Trip

2007-10-19T08:21:00.000-07:00

GyeongJu here we come!

2007-10-15T00:04:00.000-07:00

2007-10-10T06:24:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of the Busan trip continues from wher i left off previously.
First day at Busan , or the 4th day of our trip overall.
We are really fortunate to have aimei's cute buddy introduce us to the seafood pot here in Busan. It was great for me, as i simply adore steaming hot soup. The plus point must be the fresh seafood inside.

Skipped down to the beach straight after lunch. Busan, as i mentioned is a seaside town. So coming to the beach here is a def must. Anyway there's quite a no of really nice beaches here, but due to convenience, we went to the 1 nearest to the seafood restaurant.

Lots of sun, plenty of ppl = nice day out

View was spectacular from one side of the beach. There's this part of an island thats jus jutting out into the sea. If u squint ur eyes enough, u'll realise tat its closely populated with buildings and architecture.

Went to the nearby convention centre where the 2005 Apec meeting took place.

Magnificent view of the Busan skyline.. Notice the bridge behind me in the far distance.. I absolutely love the view from this coastal line.

This place sorta reminds me of our own Marina Bay.

Events Galore

2007-10-06T20:44:00.001-07:00

Been stone ages since I last updated anythin of real interest. So many things happened while I was missing. Hope that everything is settled and dusted down. Anyway 2 weeks ago, we celebrated the Korean Thanksgiving, Chuseok. (had almost the whole week off) Basically on Chuseok, Koreans will take this opportunity to travel to their hometowns and pay their respect to their ancestors. Me? i took this wonderful chance to tag along to other states outside Seoul (Gyeongju and Busan).

In order to attract more readership, I will like to share my experiences in the Gyeongju + Busan trip, KUBA field trip, Ko-Yon games in a mini-series format! (actually i'm jus too lazy to do it in 1 shot but wth, its really troublesome uploading so many pictures and thinking of creative words to go along with :P)

The pictures are in a rather jumbled-up order (its jus another blatant demonstration of my laziness)

This series starts from the last day of our trip at Busan. (no special reason other than i alr loaded these pictures up)

Saw this picture from the consolidated pictures file.

Somethin jus doesnt seem right with this picture...:P

THis is US at the harbour of Busan. Busan, being a seaside town is renowned for its famous fish market. This harbour is used for fishing trawlers that comes in with the daily fresh supply of fish to the market.

More pictures at the fish market... Because we were there on Chuseok itself, the crowd wasnt tat impressive. BUt nonetheless, the size and variety in the market is frightening.

Random pic 1

Mid-day: We stopped by for our much appreciated Donut pit-stop at Krispy Kreme.

Random pic 2: The buildings here are really packed real close and tightly.

On the subway!!

This is at the foot of some hill on which we can actually see (almost) the whole of Busan.

Random pic 3: Back at the fish market :>

At the top of the hill that i mentioned earlier. I forgot the name alr. ps. HAHAhahah

On some random street downhill. Its somewhat like the Myeong-Dong of Seoul, which is somewhat like the Orchard Road of Sg.

Random pic 4: Back on the hill. There's a viewing tower that's not too diff from the N Seoul tower in Seoul. From there, I supp one can witness the magnificent sights of Busan.

Random Pic 5: Saw this poster on a stall in the fish market. This is supp to portray a list of animals that this stall sells as food. There's some bugs and stuff etc at the other end of the poster that i didnt manage to shoot. Believe me, its gross.

On the street thats like the Myeong-Dong of Seoul which is like the Orchard road of Sg. I can get really sick of this...:>

Sunset on the street which is like ... u know wat .

Back at the fish-market

We saw some really gross decapitation of live fish at the fish market. There were more skinning of eels and killing of fish that jus turns the stomach away from any seafood for that day.

End.

If this entry seems rushed and haphazard, its because its really rushed and haphazardly done in between my studying breaks. Wat!?!? Study!?!?! Yes i do study here for the information of those misguided ones.:> My mid-term is approaching and there's a lot of mugging to do. However I do believe it is peanuts compared to my good pals back in BS who are fighting a war over there. Kudos to them, and gd luck!

Think like a Farmer>>

2007-09-17T06:38:00.000-07:00

2 weeks past, school for me is pretty much stabilized now. Had the 1st meaningful plant breeding class today. apparently genetics can be manoeuvred in many ways to facilitate farming. We jus need to think like a farmer. Fun. No sarcasm intended.

Anyway most of the lecture rooms here are nothin to boast about. Quite a variety of rooms though depending on the modules. Since the format here is different from that in Bs, we actually have to travel around quite alot in campus to reach different locations for our classes.

A brief intro on the geography here; Bascially Korea University is pretty much a rather spaced out campus. In fact it can actually be divided into the Seochang Campus and the Anam campus. Seochang campus is smaller and used mainly for humanities sub. Never been there myself.

Most students like me are at Anam campus, which can further be divided into the Science Campus and the Main Campus. Think North Spine and South Spine in NTU but on a much bigger scale. ie if i walk from the main campus to the science campus, it'll require ard 15-20 minutes admist a couple of streets / traffic junctions and rows and rows of shops and eateries etc . (more pictures soon i hope)

My plant breeding classroom

Break-time

As u can see, being farmers for an hour can be really exhausting... :P

Had a quiet weekend in Korea for a change. Anyway it was raining almost non-stop here in Seoul for the past weekend. Spolit the mood to go anywhere.. Skipped down to est's 5-star dorm to study at the lounge.

The lounge here is superb. Cable TV with soft comfy sofas, then nice clean desks + chairs for self studying. Vending machines nearby. More conference rooms round the corner.
5 stars out of 5!

It was still raining when we went out for dinner. Saw this nice road-side stall that I'm rather keen to try. So the auntie will actually fry some Korean snacks in a hot spicy sauce with lots of delicious rice cakes in it. Coupled with the cold weather now, it's def gonna be heavenly.

Anyway i didnt try it la.. haha (then still describe so vividly lolz)

Because we saw this. Instant street burgers shop tat serves free flow of soft drinks. WOoHOo!

Lots of youths jus cramping in a small shop space with denched rain-coats and folded umbrellas having their fav korean street burgers. Filled with onions, lotsa cabbage and minced beef, the burger is nothin to shout abt. But the environment is real cool. haha. And its cheap too! 1000W onli!

Anyway the weather is really getting cold nowadays. Will nid to start packing myself with more clothes at night. At least i'll recovered from my night coughing le, or else will be even worse.

More to come...

Hangang River!!

2007-09-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Went to the Hangang River last Friday. According to 100Sights in Seoul, it's a must-go for any 1st-timers in Korean. Before tat though, we stopped by at Eweha (Women) Uni Streets for more shopping for the gals.

A busy Eweha (Women) Uni Streets in mid-day..

Shopped til the sun sets..

We had dinner in our 1st ever Chinese restaurant in Korea..

Over-priced and not as nice as in Sg, at least the deco is stylish..

At the Han River..

The night sights are really hard to take in with my camera, so i guess most of them look either too dark or too fuzzy. But wth, its a wonderful experience. The cold winds, the night lights etc etc.. I've yet to visit Hk, but so far for me at least i do think the night lights in Seoul is particularly impressive.. the whole bridge across the river is lined up with bright colourful nights.. and when we passed by like 2-3 different bridges like tat u begin to see how beautiful Seoul is at night/. And i'm alr understating it. So its a def must-see!

Sch has started..wat a bitch, but at least the 1st 2 weeks are rather slack..

And my $$$ is being used up at an astounding rate..

Will try to update more pics on my campus when i get back to sch the following week ba..

cheers

1st Week of the Semester @ KU

2007-09-06T11:08:00.000-07:00

Sch finally starts here at KU (030907). So far it has been quite slack though. But most of the professors here tend to stick more to korean though. Will need to really pay attention to the notes and read up on my own if i wan to follow up.

Science campus

The bookstore in Science Campus

Welcoming Party

2007-09-04T23:09:00.000-07:00

On the last friday before sch officially opens, KUBA (Korea University Buddy Assistants) organised a welcoming party for us all exchange students. The buddies of KUBA have been extremely helpful and friendly ever since we arrived.

It was wonderful. Almost all the exchange students came, dressed to kill.

I'm trying my best to dress up with my limited wardrobe here.

Eh jus kidding; i jus grabbed the nearest top available in the cupboard..:>

from left (zhaowei,jingmin,aimei,fengcheng,kenny,me)

A Korean cultural dance before dinner..

Eagerly waiting for dinner...:P

Flashback 2!

2007-09-02T01:21:00.000-07:00

Been real busy these few days or rather, lazy these days to update on a regular basis.. so i thou i'll jus plaster alot of pictures and add a few captions yeah.

Anyway sch is starting soon, on the coming Monday. And not surprising, i'm rather looking forward to it after wat seems like an eternity slacking here. Not tat i didnt enjoy this extended period of break, but right now i'm also eagerly awaiting the unique chance to experience 1st-hand the education system here.

After all this IS one of the main reasons that i've decided to come over to KOrea (contrary to popular belief). OK, having fun and checking out the babes here are other slightly less important reasons too among many many others.

At Lotte World

The 1st ride

It looks childish now, but it was actually quite fun to ride on. And i do see ppl of all ages climbing onto the horses yeah.

The rest riding at the back...:P

Queuing up for yet another ride..

Some 4D theatre whereby we have cold winds and water sprayed right into our faces.

The ride sucks by the way.

The theme park mascots ( i dun mean us lol)

Anyway the entire theme park was HUGE. It consisted of an indoor as well as an outdoor component.

Lotte World at night

Exhausted....

Flashback!

2007-08-30T23:35:00.000-07:00

Jus an update of my trip to the the Deoksugung Palace and Insadong last Tue. Yeah tats how far i''m lagging behind. Blogging is becoming a chore for someone lazy like me. :P

The huge gates of Deoksugung Palace.

The lawn behind me where the past Kings of KOrea used to play golf on.

Jus kidding. Maybe they walked their dogs here? I'm no idea. No guided tours and i'm too lazy to read the plaques nearby.

Its like a desert out there. As i'm blogging now, the weather has already started to turn chilly. BUt u can see from my expression jus how hot and dry that day was. sweats.

A much needed break at the nearby pavilion.

My act-cool picture of the day.

nice picture of the palaces behind a backdrop of modern skyscapers. A unique mixture of new and old that i've really come to appreciate here in Seoul.

More pictures of palaces small and big. The King used to slept in one of these...he could really use an air-con in this weather..lol

Out at the gates, there's a guard-changing ceremony going-on. This ceremony re-enacts the process whereby the guards change shifts. just like our guard duty in which the keys and passwords are passed on to the guard commander of the next shift. I guess the guys who kena guard duty before will understand what i mean.

The guy behind me in black vest with a useful hat is the in-coming guard commander.

More formation marching and drum-beating during the ceremony.

Passed by the location for the Seoul Drama Awards again. The awards presentation is over i think but voting by interested passer-bys are still on!

Should i vote for this guy with this gothic look...

or this friendly (closeted gay) priest look? hmmm...

Continued down our trip down the city hall of the Seoul towards the oldest streets in the city, Insadong!

The street is littered with souvenirs shops as well as shops with plenty of cultural displays. A truely eye-opening experience. Lots of ancient stuff. Didnt particularly enjoy this part cos I was severely dehydrated by then. BUt i guess i'll be back to these streets again. There's really alot of interesting stuff on display here..

Managed to reach back Anam in time to join our Singaporean Gang for dinner at a nearby restaurant/eatery. we had stewed beef in hot chilly korean sauce wrapped between crunchy lettuce. Delicious!

2007-08-28T07:43:00.000-07:00

OOps..haven really been updating as regularly as I would have liked.

Starting to get used to ordering food here in Korea>>though the need to randomly pick off from the menu hasn't really changed, I'm beginning to recognise a word or 2 here that may indicate rice, noodles etc.. haha.. til now, ordering ramen is still the safest bet. Anyway the soup base here is real spicy and delicious!

A spicy challenge for lunch

We went to the shopping streets near Ewha Woman's University on Sunday. Fantastic for women shoppers, because the whole area are selling predominantly female items>>accessories, clothing etc etc. Amazingly we managed to run into the NUS ppl into one of the shop. So we joined them for their trip down to Myeong-Dong! the area we were at yest.

We were all introduced to this famous noodles stall in Myeong-Dong, which specialises in making traditional Korean noodles (cant rem wat its called in Korean le) In fact the signboard outside boldly states : the best Korean restaurant in Seoul!

We had to queue out all the way to the outside of the shop! (its a 2-story building by the way)

Finally the noodles arrived...At 1st taste, I thought the chief had overcooked my share, because it was rather soggy for me. However after eating the next few mouthfuls of the delicious noodles, i realised that the noodles are special in that although they are soggy in texture, they are actually quite QQ de. Guess onli those who've tried will understand this complicated feeling..

After dinner, Was ard the area when we saw the shop Krispy Kreme. Apparently this is one FAMous brand. Pardon my ignorance, i haven heard of it until now:P

The great donut factory at work...

We decided we'll get 2 dozens for breakfast for the whole group. Anyway we tried one and it was great! maybe even better than the brand thats making waves in sg lately :)

Cheonggyecheon re-visited!

It was nearby anyway. We stopped by Cheonggyecheon for a nightstroll. Even though I've been here alr the previous day, coming again this time rd with the NUS guys and gals were really fun. Think we stopped by the side for quite a long chat huh. wonderful interaction with them fun-loving ppl all in all. :>

More Night views of the City hall of Seoul. We missed the Seoul Drama Awards ceremony i think. can clearly see them packing up the stage and stuff. An eventful day nonetheless..

Best Day in Seoul so far

2007-08-25T08:54:00.000-07:00

A truely fantastic day out with est, ariyo and winston! Ist stop was to Myeong-Dong, supposedly the Orchard Road of Korea. Lots of ppl, lots of shops, lots of fun.

Somethin I noticed that’s really diff from sg, their shopping districts consists of 2 rows of shop-houses type flanking a single narrow road.

Everythin abt the korean youths here reeks of style. From the way they do their hair, to the careful adjustment of accessories on their classy attire, not a single action is done without elaborate thought. I realised too that a cap is really a part of their attire, jus as a top or bottom is. There’s pretty much so many diff types of things they can cover their head with, I doubt I can really name them all.. :}

Stopped nearby for lunch at a local eatery. We had some enthic korean food . NOthin to wow abt though.

Walking ard the streets on Myeong-Dong can be real interesting, thx to the variety of shops and stuff thats on sale here.. but mostly i cant help but be reminded of Taiwan's Ximenting. Rather similar in concept i guess..but interesting nonetheless!

More shops, more ppl!

After covering the Myeong-Dong shopping streets, we decided to cover an ancient catholic cathedral known simply as the Myeong-Dong Catholic Cathedral. This is where things start to get really interesting. We act managed to gate crashed into a korean couple’s wedding ceremony rites inside the cathedral! Amazing stuff since I’ve never witnessed a catholic wedding. And it certainly brings a moment of serenity when the soprano lets off with her wonderful voice during the ceremony.

And no, I'm not reminded of anything else when I'm here. :)

COming out of the cathedral, we walked a short distance to the nearby city hall subway station. From here, we actually see preparations being made for the upcoming Seoul Drama Awards. Gonna be a grand event from the looks of it. Maybe i'll pop by, if i can find out the dates of the event tat is. ::>

Dinner was at a nearby KFC. my 1st non-korean meal here and it was probably the healthiest Kfc i've eaten so far. Ambience was gd though, we actually started gossiping abt the gd old times and new in SBS>> LoL.

Make our way to cheonggyecheon finally... this is like a small river stream that's smack right in the middle of their business district!

We were treated to yet more intense heat treatment on our outing today.

the 4 of ur posing for a picture.. the sun is setting soon, can't wait for the impressive night life here to begin.

Cheonggyecheon at night!

This night view has to be simply the best so far.

A colourfully lighted stream of water running down a series of rapids, flanked by 2 rows of commerical buildings that seem to shine on 4ever in a city that never sleeps. And most importantly, koreans from all walks of life coming to enjoy this wonderful sights together with us!

Frankly the pictures really dun do justice to the sights.. one has be here personally to really savour and take in this delightful sight!

Leaving the canals of cheonggyecheon, we discovered yet another lifestyle in koRea. There's a large number of bars, pubs and restaurants right beside cheonggyecheon. But We were so tired after such a long day>> guess we'll have to explore them another day. But a definite must-go for party-lovers!

Summer Heat!!

2007-08-24T07:04:00.000-07:00

Been real busy over the last 2-3 days. Busy as in going out to sight-see ard Seoul tat is :) Although the weather continues to test my respiratory functions, we managed to cover quite a few sights indeed.

The subway system in Seoul is really extensive. Over a hundred subway stations connect the city of seoul.

my 1st visit to the subway station.

The entire subway station is clean and well-maintained. It really amazes me considering the no of stations in Seoul to maintain. But it surely helps make the subway trip a pleasant one.

Koreans show an immense amt of respect for the elderly here. No matter how full the subway can be, the 3 designated seats for the-elderly / pregnant / disabled- are never taken, unless of course by 1 of the above-mentioned groups.

We stopped by the nearby station, met up with ariyo and make our way up to Cheongdeokgung palace!

I kinda notice the peculiar nature of Korean architecture. The palace is pretty impressive from the outside. hmmm.. U wouldn't see it in these pictures, but there's actually a petrol station right across the street, and a few modern buildings flanking the palace. perhaps jus a little awkward on the eye I guess.

Saw tablets on the ground depicting the positions of ministers of oldern times. On impulse, I posed for pictures with my fav no.7 . Haiz then someone purposely went to tablet no.6 for pictures..Hope the ranking system doesn't apply in real life yeah.. Wat a nasty way to start the palace tour :>>

Beautiful pond with some fantastic structures to complement it. Along the tour, ariyo was demonstrating his ability to determine whether each lady we came across had gone under the knife.. pretty impressive stuff.

Its another hot hot day in seoul...

Reached the Dongdaemun Stadium after tat. There's a famous market here as well in what is known as 1 of the largest shopping district in Asia!

There's a live outdoor performance on stage! Since we dun happen to recognize any of the performers here, we are guessing that these are newbies doing their promotion acts. Judging by their performances today, maybe we'll be seeing more of them on TV soon..

Inside 1 of the many shopping malls here.. there's so many stalls here, I believe it'll take a whole day's effort to jus cover a single mall! The decor here is elaborate and classy. Super!

Desert time! (yogurt + fruits)

According to esther, the yogurt in korea is especially nice. She's ABSOlutely RigHT!

Self-high after finishing the desert. Its a must-try for health enthusiasts.

100% satisfaction Guaranteed! (pardon our tired look though)

More snacks at the roadside stalls.. jus because esther is not in the picture doesn't mean she didn't participate in this sinful act..:P I'm jus holding her snack for the pictures yeah hahhaa.

Arrived at a huge flea market situated right inside the stadium!

U name it, u (almost definitely) can find it here in this flea market.

Stopped by a nearby roadside stall for dinner.. food was fine but definitely overcharged. Well..take it as a lesson learnt ba.

Parted ways after dinner with ariyo and we went back to plot for the next day's activity.

Welcome to Korea!!!

2007-08-23T05:43:00.000-07:00

I'm Finally here at korea! Haven been able to undate straight away on the 1st day of arrival due to some 'technical' probs. But well, i guess everythin's pretty much settled dwn lo...

The overnight flight on the 1st day was terrible, jus cant get used to sleeping on the plane. But guess the plane ride did nothin to dispel my appetite for good food yeah :P

Anyway finally reached Korea Incheon Airport at ard 7plus am Tuesday. I guess i look haggard and tired fro the trip.. hmmm as for esther...she looks blur as usual :>:>:>

Coming to Korea, I've prepared myself by wearing my most 'Korean' style top ie. long sleeved with V-neck. haha.. turned out to be quite a joke. the weather here is beyond 30degrees and pushing.. I was sweating non-stop when dragging my luggage up to my hostel..

my 1st meal in korea>> was too hungry , jus entered the 1st food store we saw. the menu was all in korean. And being hungry as we were , we jus had to randomly picked off the menu. Not bad, esther managed to pick for herself some 'maggie mee' in hot spicy soup along with side dishes of kimchi and yellow pickles.. while i got rice with a few diff dishes-spicy tofu soup, fried egg bits, some striped fish cake and more kimchi....

After lunch, we went touring ard in the immediate vincity of our campus...

the weather was really hot.. and dry.. really very diff from wat we expected.

1st night in korea> the shops here r def eye-catching, with alot of light display boards.

some pictures of our campus .. i'm not wat these buildings house actually, haha. will find them out before sch starts i hope:P

Had dinner with esther as well as the Nus ppl on the 2nd day.

quite sumptous and meaty i must add.. haha

(awaiting more pics)

but in contrast to the day, the nights here are real cooling. And the night sky is amazingly clear.

(again awaiting more pics)

tats all for now i guess. I'll be going sight-seeing with ariyo and esther tomorr. More updates then!

2007-08-13T08:16:00.000-07:00

hmmmm jus another pic to add... kk i'm done trying out on this blog.:>

aNYway MOst of my updates here will be on my upcoming korea trip >>>200807>>

LoaDS of last-min prep to do, so i guess i'm unlikely to add on much here till then.

Cheers!

2007-08-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

my (2nd) 1st post!