Believe it or not, I haven't taken a single photograph in Korea yet. I want to show everyone how geographically beautiful and breathtaking the country actually is. Starting tomorrow, I'm going to carry my camera and take pictures of EVERYTHING so ya'll can have a visual.
I went to Incheon last night to my grandma's place. I went with my aunt and little cousin because we had to help our halmonee out with "kimchi preparation for the winter season". Apparently, a lot of Koreans get into kimchi making mode around this time because... well, winter is fast-approaching and who the hell wants to make kimchi when it's bloody cold outside (during winter, Korea gets REALLY cold, btw... although with each passing winter, it's been getting warmer due to global heating). It was odd for me to digest at first but just think of it in a pragmatical sense-- a bear collecting its food ahead of time so that it can eat it while it hibernates in its cave. Lol. I wish I took some pictures of kimchi in its nascent stages. You see, it was quite the sight! It was like... something you might see happening at a kimchi factory if such a thing even exists. Kimchi KIMCHI Kiiiimchiiiiii sprawled allllll over the place!! The making of it all (from start to finish) is done so meticulously that it should be considered as a form of art. You know what else? Kimchi tastes so damn good.
On another note, the family ordered in Korean today. Our meal consisted of absolute gourmet-- jja-jjang-myun and jjam-pong... topping that off with fried mandoo and battered chicken. Hehehe. LOVE IT. <3 Where else can you get such luxury delivered to your own home for approximately $4 a dish? :) Honestly, screw pho. Haaargh.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Friday, November 27, 2009
Korean-Russian Majority
Today is the birthday of a dearest. I don't have a cell phone yet and was planning on purchasing a calling card but I still haven't been able to find one. ARGH. Well, I just got off the phone with her and upon her suggestion, checked out her blog. I would just like to wish her all the best in her future endeavours and I know great things will come her way because she deserves the very best.
I don't start work 'til Monday so I thought should have some little fun and adventure before then. I went out to Hongdae area (a huge entertainment district in Seoul; younger crowd usually) last night. I then met some interesting people in Gangnam (" "; more mature group) and had some drinks with them... I made sure to watch my consumption because I can be such a hyena after a couple of drinks. Including myself there were four of us-- two Korean-Russian corporate lawyers (male and female) and a Swedish man from Samsung Human Resources. Some entourage, eh?? LOL. While they were a tight-knit group, I was a complete stranger. The four of us got along smashingly well but there were a few awkward moments I had to endure... especially in the company of one particular person-- the Korean-Russian man.
This particular person was exceptionally eccentric. He tried to express his interest in me in peculiar ways. I don't know how they do it back in Russia per se but he tried to bite my ear. YES, you heard me. Obviously not like Mike Tyson-style bite but still like... BITE. Imagine MY reaction; my mouth was completely agape. What does one do when something like that happens..?!
Looking on the bright side, they were pretty cool and they introduced me to some good bars and eateries in the area. I'm beginning to discover that a lot of authenic Korean men (those born and raised on Korean soil) are fascinated by Korean women who can speak fluent English along with fluent Korean. Anywhoo, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to see them again. However, if I do, I will keep you posted. XP
I don't start work 'til Monday so I thought should have some little fun and adventure before then. I went out to Hongdae area (a huge entertainment district in Seoul; younger crowd usually) last night. I then met some interesting people in Gangnam (" "; more mature group) and had some drinks with them... I made sure to watch my consumption because I can be such a hyena after a couple of drinks. Including myself there were four of us-- two Korean-Russian corporate lawyers (male and female) and a Swedish man from Samsung Human Resources. Some entourage, eh?? LOL. While they were a tight-knit group, I was a complete stranger. The four of us got along smashingly well but there were a few awkward moments I had to endure... especially in the company of one particular person-- the Korean-Russian man.
This particular person was exceptionally eccentric. He tried to express his interest in me in peculiar ways. I don't know how they do it back in Russia per se but he tried to bite my ear. YES, you heard me. Obviously not like Mike Tyson-style bite but still like... BITE. Imagine MY reaction; my mouth was completely agape. What does one do when something like that happens..?!
Looking on the bright side, they were pretty cool and they introduced me to some good bars and eateries in the area. I'm beginning to discover that a lot of authenic Korean men (those born and raised on Korean soil) are fascinated by Korean women who can speak fluent English along with fluent Korean. Anywhoo, I'm not sure if I'm ever going to see them again. However, if I do, I will keep you posted. XP
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Say WHAT?
I'm coming down with something. I thought it best to drink some NeoCitran and that's exactly what I did last night. I woke up today feeling a little drowsy and was flicking through channels when I came across little snippets of the movie, Tell Me Something. It's a really intense film, one of my favourites. Anyways, I wanted to download the full version on "Kongdisk.com" (you can download just about anything Korean) and discovered I was unable to access the site (yes, I was able to access it in Vancouver). I suspect the Korean government blocked access-- it's equivalent to the Chinese government blocking Wikipedia in the country. But la question du jour est: WHY??! Kongdisk is HARMLESS...
I also went into a video store near my place earlier. My little cousin and I were in there for hours looking and finally picked three to check out. The video store owner would NOT let us take the movies because the movies were Rated R. I explained to him that I was over 21 and then showed him my B.C. Driver's License for proof. He looked at it and laughed. He then looked me in the eye and said that he was scared shitless at the prospect of police busting his ass for letting minors borrow movies that were subject to parental guidance. What the hell..? Needless to say, we walked home flabbergasted.
Oh, and I'm going to go sign up for a cell phone plan later on. I will be giving all of you a ring soon... >=)
I also went into a video store near my place earlier. My little cousin and I were in there for hours looking and finally picked three to check out. The video store owner would NOT let us take the movies because the movies were Rated R. I explained to him that I was over 21 and then showed him my B.C. Driver's License for proof. He looked at it and laughed. He then looked me in the eye and said that he was scared shitless at the prospect of police busting his ass for letting minors borrow movies that were subject to parental guidance. What the hell..? Needless to say, we walked home flabbergasted.
Oh, and I'm going to go sign up for a cell phone plan later on. I will be giving all of you a ring soon... >=)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
So far...
So. I'm here. Two days in motherland, to be exact.
At the moment, I'm sipping on a Papico (빠삐코) and just relaxing. I know, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm doing sippin' on something like this when it's winter. Believe me when I say this but for those of you who don't already know, I always prefer a cold beverage over a hot one, even when it's not an auspicious time to have one. Haaah.
Before I say anything else, I would like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who came out to our annual "Jicky" event. On that note, I'm so proud that we were all able to gather in unison and collect numerous pairs of socks to give out to the homeless shelter. It's all about taking little baby steps, right? ;)
On top of all this, I want to give a special thanks to my special friend who makes up the "cky" part of the Jicky epithet. The entire event would not have carried out smoothly if it wasn't for her dexterity and diligence. She literally picked the venue, created the invite, and was an excellent hostess throughout the party while I was stuffing my face in baked goat cheese (who would've guessed Jicky was actually going to be punctual and have the luxury of acting as hostesses this year??) In any event, I say this because I lack constant effort in the things I do (she helped me out a lot in this department) and I feel as though I'm going to have to learn that from scratch now that we're continents apart. :*(
Okay-- a few updates so far:
- I really tried to stay awake to watch some good movies on my flight (they have really good selection on Korean Air) but having had only 10 minutes of sleep the night before my flight, I spent most of the time passed out on the plane. Yeah, I'm infamous for passing out-- damn that hyperthyroidism. LOL.
- I tried looking for a long-distance calling card today and went into a couple of grocery stores. Upon my query, following a disdainful once-over, all the owners of the store looked at me if I was from Mars. Wow. How encouraging. And how homogenous I'm beginning to realize the country is. I suppose I shall go WAYY into downtown to find one. Hmph.
That's all for now. Yes, lameass updates but I will have exciting ones for all those blog junkies, I assure you. Hohohoho. ^-^
Anyways, I miss everyone dearly. I miss family, my friends. I miss James-- what the hell am I going to do without you?? I love you so much. Maybe I left too soon but I suppose we're never ready when leaving our dear ones. I wasn't going to mention this but I cried my ass off the night before and the day of my departure. I actually shed a vast ocean quantity of tears. Really.
At the moment, I'm sipping on a Papico (빠삐코) and just relaxing. I know, you're probably wondering what the hell I'm doing sippin' on something like this when it's winter. Believe me when I say this but for those of you who don't already know, I always prefer a cold beverage over a hot one, even when it's not an auspicious time to have one. Haaah.
Before I say anything else, I would like to give a BIG thank you to everyone who came out to our annual "Jicky" event. On that note, I'm so proud that we were all able to gather in unison and collect numerous pairs of socks to give out to the homeless shelter. It's all about taking little baby steps, right? ;)
On top of all this, I want to give a special thanks to my special friend who makes up the "cky" part of the Jicky epithet. The entire event would not have carried out smoothly if it wasn't for her dexterity and diligence. She literally picked the venue, created the invite, and was an excellent hostess throughout the party while I was stuffing my face in baked goat cheese (who would've guessed Jicky was actually going to be punctual and have the luxury of acting as hostesses this year??) In any event, I say this because I lack constant effort in the things I do (she helped me out a lot in this department) and I feel as though I'm going to have to learn that from scratch now that we're continents apart. :*(
Okay-- a few updates so far:
- I really tried to stay awake to watch some good movies on my flight (they have really good selection on Korean Air) but having had only 10 minutes of sleep the night before my flight, I spent most of the time passed out on the plane. Yeah, I'm infamous for passing out-- damn that hyperthyroidism. LOL.
- I tried looking for a long-distance calling card today and went into a couple of grocery stores. Upon my query, following a disdainful once-over, all the owners of the store looked at me if I was from Mars. Wow. How encouraging. And how homogenous I'm beginning to realize the country is. I suppose I shall go WAYY into downtown to find one. Hmph.
That's all for now. Yes, lameass updates but I will have exciting ones for all those blog junkies, I assure you. Hohohoho. ^-^
Anyways, I miss everyone dearly. I miss family, my friends. I miss James-- what the hell am I going to do without you?? I love you so much. Maybe I left too soon but I suppose we're never ready when leaving our dear ones. I wasn't going to mention this but I cried my ass off the night before and the day of my departure. I actually shed a vast ocean quantity of tears. Really.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Rice on Guantánamo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijEED_iviTA
I took a nap earlier today and can't seem to fall asleep. It's unfortunate because as a night owl, it's hard to get myself to bed at night time sometimes even without the nap. In any event, I turned to my usual source of amusement-- that being Youtube-- and found something interesting. It's almost 3 30 a.m. and I feel like a moron but the video is a MUST-SEE. It's Condoleezza Rice in a somewhat heated argument with a student on the controversial subject of torture at Gitmo (I say "somewhat" because it's more like Rice condescendingly lecturing the poor student. Whoever the guy is, I give him props because he has balls going against someone like her). Mind you, I've always admired Condoleezza and she's one extraordinary and brilliant woman, but the clip is rather disturbing, morbid. Honestly, do yourself a favour and check out the link in the title box.
I've been interested in Gitmo since its nascent stages. For some peculiar reason, all the issues surrounding Gitmo appealed to me because the concept of torture covers a wide spectrum of issues. Not only is it a political issue but it also spills into moral and legal grounds. What do YOU think?? I heard a while ago she signed a deal to write a book... I suppose I'll get it when it comes out...
I've been interested in Gitmo since its nascent stages. For some peculiar reason, all the issues surrounding Gitmo appealed to me because the concept of torture covers a wide spectrum of issues. Not only is it a political issue but it also spills into moral and legal grounds. What do YOU think?? I heard a while ago she signed a deal to write a book... I suppose I'll get it when it comes out...
Friday, November 13, 2009
Why a blog?
I am almost 22 and will soon be leaving my home in Vancouver (see image) to go back to my motherland, Korea for work and passion purposes. Contrary to popular belief, I tend to gravitate towards privacy and do not regularly divulge anything regarding my personal life. That said, I wouldn't have done this under normal circumstances but I created this blog so that I may share my experiences (for when I'm in Korea, that is) with my friends and family members. I don't know how long this blog is going to be around for but one thing is for sure: enjoy my posts to the fullest while you can. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
