놀러 와

The truth is stranger than fiction.

If someone were to come up and tell a 16 year old me, or even a 19 year old me of what would become of me at 21, I would not believe it at all.

First snow

We tumbled out of the club and found that it was snowing lightly. It is was pretty surprising because it only started to get cold two weeks ago. The best thing about it was also that I’m with people I care about, and I can point up and say “look! it’s snowing!”. When it is cold, you find that you need company more than ever.

Peppero Day

11.11, November 11th. It is the day where you give people you care about Peppero. Personally, I like the number 11. I wasn’t going to observe this day. And I did not expect anyone to give me any. I didn’t. Until the last minute of that day, one of my floormates who is from HK gave me a pack. She was going to give people on her floor. I thought it was incredibly sweet, especially when I had no notion of being nice to anyone on my floor at all. I would say that I see her differently now, and feel incline to hang out with her. Corny or commercial as days such as Peppero Day are, it gives people an outlet to express friendliness.

K-troubles

Korean is hard! Why do they have so many grammar points? And one grammar point can be subdivided into 3 points, each a little different depending if it is an action verb, descriptive verb, or a noun. Geez. And then there are the exceptions. There are so many exceptions.

How frustrating.

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A Day of Winter

O.m.g. Even with the sun out in its full glory, it is 0 degrees and I’m freezing. Winter in Seoul is gonna kill.

It’s fall!

Magic Cafe (Paganini Cafe)

On the Saturday right after exam, I read went to a cafe to read “Tuesdays with Morrie”. The cafe is located on the top floor of the building opposite Eehwa Women’s University so it overlooks Eedae.

When I flipped over the final page and looked up, it was already nightfall and I was looking at a bar even though I haven’t moved at all.

Since it felt like a bar, Lai-yee stopped studying and we talked for the few hours to come before we went to meet some friends in Sinchon. I felt absolutely unburdened by anything and it was the best feeling in the world. Reading a good book is really cathartic. So is having a friend with you.

Life Changing Food

Haemul soondubu chigeh. Seafood Tofu Stew. I had it in Gyeonggi-do, which is a local speciality. Soooo freaky tasty.

Kalguksu. Taste pretty chinese. I had it in Myeongdong. Free refills of soup and noodles. That’s so awesome.

Kalmeigisal. It is beef. It is so tender and juicy. Holy moly. And Koreans grilled it for us so it tasted really good. It was at a BBQ place near Wangsimrim subway station. I’m not sure if I know how to go there again. But holy crap, one of the best meat I’ve tasted.

Please request for these items if you come to Korea!

Korean Village

 

He is making straw sandles, which are traditional korean footwear.

Now available in different colours!

This is a traditional game called the Yut Game. Pretty fun. I played with a few koreans. The outcome was…this girl can’t believe she is losing so she messed everything up. haha.

Another game. Played by Korean aristocracy back in the days. You have to throw the sticks into the vase from a distance away.

They dressed up.

Goong! I think I should have dressed up as well.

It was really fun! It is located within walking distance from Chungmuro subway station.

A long weekend

I’ve been wanting to get out of Seoul for quite a while. Being in the city all the time just makes me go online all day. Or visit FamilyMart for snacks. There was a very high number of applicants to Yonsei University so the university had to cancel all classes on Friday to make space for the entrance exams.

However, since my Game Theory class is co-taught by a nobel prize winning American guest lecturer, that course was the only course to have class on Friday. At least it started early at 9am so I could get it over and done with. But that also means that I have to get up at 830am. =_=

So this was what I did starting from 9am  on Friday-

Game theory lecture -> Lunch with Mentors & Visit to a korean traditional village at Chungmuro -> dinner at Myeongdong followed by shopping and hanging out at a cafe -> Clubbing at Monkey Beach (Saturday) -> Noeraebang (although I slept there for most of it) ->chilled at a cafe for a couple of hours to wait for the first bus to start running at 5 or 6 -> slept for a couple of hours before travelling to Soraek Mountain in the next province (Gonggi-do) -> Stayed there and hiked, chilled at the beach until 2.30 on sunday and went back to Seoul. There are too many pictures to post, so I’ll do it day by day.

But let’s start with clubbing at Monkey Beach. It’s always fun. Always. Even though we were only a group of 5, it was so fun. I talked to Travis today, and he is always full of random information. He said that humans are the only species living on Earth that have this urge to dance to a beat. Crazy fun at Monkey Beach. I will really miss it when I leave Korea.