Day 6 in Korea, Seoul (Part 2)

5th December 2010

We are heading to Rodeo Street. Well, it's a street famous for the best fashion style apparel and accessories. If you look through the street and shops carefully, you might be able to find authentic branded bags and apparels at a discount rate as high as 70%. You got to walk straight for 15 minutes once you exit from the Subway Stn. It's a really long walk and don't forget to enquire the local when you sensed something wrong with the direction you are heading for. It's impossible to see Rodeo Street from the Subway Stn.

Anyway, we ain't some smartass who never got lost. We did, and we really did.

Upon exiting the Subway Stn, we enquired an uncle about getting to Rodeo Street. He gave us the right tip to go straight, but he failed to remind us when to turn. I walked 3km or longer because of that uncle. Oh my goodness, I just can't stop myself cursing him mofos deep down in my heart. Oops, did I just speak vulgarities. Oh no...

Yeah, we got lost. We went all the way straight and ended up at Cheongdam-dong Street. I called it a street with luxury brands. It's unlike our so-called "town". It's a street as long as 3km ( or even longer than what we thought). It has all kind of shops. Escada, CK, Gucci, YSL, you named it you have it. Definitely, it's not the right place for me, as imma church mouse.

I'm glad that we met some tourists and enquired them about Rodeo Street. I'm so happy that they could speak english and told us to look out for DFS. So guys, if you are going to Rodeo Street, lookout for DFS because Rodeo Street is just somewhere near DFS.

I love their Christmas's decoration. It's so much more enchantic.

We finally headed back to Rodeo Street. Haha, the right destination for us.

It's my first time having Albino Curry. We select the lowest level of spiciness. It's sound so un-cool of us.. It gave us a warm feeling of curry on a winter night just to heat up our body.

The curry is damn nice. Bf finished all the sauce with rice. As for me, I'm someone who can't take very spicy food. In the end, he finished my share as well. The rice goes well with the curry and I really love the pork cutlet. Just imagine, after 20 minutes, the cutlet was still crispy. *Sound of crisp*

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As usual, we would shop around Rodeo Street after a scrumptious meal. You can even find Accessorize @ Rodeo Street. I wouldn't say it's cheaper, but definitely cheaper than what you can find in SG. They got a greater varieties and the store seems neater than ever.

I took very little pictures at Rodeo Street. Well, that's because the weather was cold and I just enjoyed tucking my hands into bf's or my pocket. Else, they might just freeze and fall off anytime, any moment, anywhere. By the way, it's less than 5 degree celsius. *Water vapour evolves*

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We trained down to Ehwa Women University Area. Oh ya, we are not heading to any university. Ehwa University Area was pretty known as a ladies street. It's famous for girls' stuff from facial, to apparels, accessories and footwear. It's pretty cool. The entire street was fully packed with shops and eateries. Well, the price ain't cheap.

It's easy to navigate around there because I remembered there is a Stn called Ehwa's Women University. All you have to do, is to alight at that stop. As easy as ABC.

You can never resist to the temptations all around you. Shops that look pretty rundown might boost your interest upon stepping in. I got many beautiful ribbon clips from shops. They are really cheap. As cheap as 2bucks and they look better than the ones you could buy from Diva. Therefore you got to open your eyes really big and wide and keep a lookout if you love buying clips and acccessorise. I'm not a very necklace person. Well, I used to be. Ever since I got into poly, it stop becoming part of my trend. A big thanks to my lovely korea trip, it just brings up my little passion for necklace once again. It's such a miracle.

Oh no, I've forgotten the name for this hotdog bun. Hey hey, you got to try it. It's really famous. It's the one and only selling hotdog buns there. The hotdog was big and they just grilled it on the spot. It's the best for cold days. You can get yourself a free cup of coke, self service though. Oh by the way, it's a little spicy but tasty.

It's totally palm size bigger.

Home sweet home after shopping around Ehwa's Women University's Area.

I'm feeling a little hungry and bf cook noodles plus luncheon meat for me. That's totally what's great about Ujiro, you can cook whenever you are hungry. Simply love that cosy little place.

Oh ya, I got this (above pic) while shopping at Rodeo Street. It's called Cinnamon sticks if I'm not wrong. Well, it's not going to taste like the one we usually use for cooking curry. It's sweet and crispy. I regretted for not buying more, else I can enjoy while watching tv in my apartment.

Time for me to head for bed. Good night everyone.

Have a nice day.

Cheers,

Jeanne

Day 6 in Korea, Seoul (Part 1)

5th December 2010

I came to Korea during winter to see fluffy white snow. It's already Day 6 but I haven't got any chances to see snow. Every morning, I would stare into bf's eyes whining about how much I wish to see snow. He would always gave me a pathetic look because he can't make it snow in the city. Anyway, we'll see how things went about later on.

Our destination for the day shall be Gyeongbokgung Palace. It's a palace from the Joseon Dynasty. I love history, especially historical events about famous people. Unfortunately, we don't get to major on that in Singapore. I did some researches and I will share with you guys later on. It's really interesting; well, at least to me.

I guessed I'm getting used to the chilly weather. I can go on street without any scarf around my neck. It's chilly but I considered it as tolerable. Bf was cold forever and ever. He wore ultra thick scarf that can fight the thickness of a towel and he still complained that he was cold. The funny part was, he wore thermal pant. Oh no no no, it's so funny and disgusting. It looks like some legging that fit tightly onto your skin. Wow, sexy and feminine of him. Oops.

This is a gate to Gyeongbokgung Palace. Definitely, it's not the actual and real one. It's a rebuilt version. There was a legend saying that you will never grow old upon passing through the gate.

It's lunch time again. I'm freaking hungry like crazy. Most of the time, I am. Haha. We decided to settle for lunch at one of the restaurants in National Palace Museum.

This restaurant serves cuisine that origin from the Joseon Dynasty. That means, the cuisine had been served to the kings and queens in the olden days. In the olden days, cuisine that had been served to the royalty must go through strict quality checks. They would ensure sufficient nutritious value and healthy choices of ingredients.

Oh, I missed out one important issue about the cost. They are sooooo expensive. Every single dish cost nearly 20, 000 won. Mmm, it's roughly about SGD20 plus. Well, since they had been taken by royalty of the past, I wanna try them out too.

Their kimchi looks a little different but tasty afterall. Oh, did i tell you?

I hate pickles.

We ordered one Bibimbap and one Mushroom Stew. Yums.

I called it a vegetarian Bibimbap. They had no meat except fresh veggies, beansprout and shrooms.

Oh btw, I'm a shroom lovers. I love to eat shrooms the most. Bf don't like Mushroon Stew and I ended up finishing the entire bowl. It's fucking delicious, but he just don't appreciate it. Fine fine fine, it's my fortune to enjoy the good food ALL BY MYSELF then.

Yummilicious Glutinuous Rice.

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The king and empress really had an enjoyable good life. I always thought they travel from one place to another in a sedan chair, or whatever you called it. I always thought it's the best royalty privileges. Just imagine, people carry you around and you don't even walk on your feet. How nice it is?

In fact, they lived a much more splurging life than what I thought to be. See below for more. That's the vehicle they travelled in from the past. It's just so cool. I love the vintage look of the vehicles.

At the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace.

You will get to watch traditional performances everyday. The officials would change shifts to guard at the entrances. Their uniforms come in many colours, design and printings. They would hit the drum and play traditional music as they parade across the field.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is the main palace of Joseon Dynasty. To me, I called it the root of South Korea. Let's get started with some historical knowledge of the palace. There were 4 famous king during Joseon times. The great king was known as King Taejo. It was King Sejong who invented korea languages.

Politics during Joseon times was chaotic. The royalty stooped low and murdered their closest kin to get the the throne. It was till King Sejong times, everything got better. It's a tradition that crown prince gets the throne. King Sejong was not the crown prince. He got 2 brothers above him. His eldest brother knew that he wasn't cut out to rule the country, so he decided to withdraw. His second brother was really happy when the eldest brother decided to withdraw. He thought he would be the future ruler. His eldest brother always knew that King Sejong had the best criteria among all. He was well verse in studies, martial arts and loved his people. Finally, the eldest brother managed to persuade the second brother to withdraw. It was then, King Sejong acceed to the throne officially.

Indeed, he was a good ruler. Because of him, korean language was invented.

Do you know where his inspiration of korean language came from?

It came from windows and shadows of windows.

I love their building sculptures. They got beautiful colours and paintings on their pillars and everywhere.

Gyeongbokgung Palace is really big. You might need a few hours to walk through thoroughly. Anyway, you can always join the language tour to know more about the histories. They are pretty interesting.

Our very next stop is National Palace Museum. I'm always into histories, so we went to the museum. You can see interesting sculptures or traditional costumes of the past. They displayed writing tools and script that had been preserved from the past.

Potraits of the king.

All the kings during Joseon Dynasty will have their potrait drawn. Their potraits were important and symbolize important meanings. The portrait represent the existence of the kings. Even if the king had passed on, as long as the potrait was presented, it means kind presence. Everyone must bow to show loyalty.

In the potrait, King must sit in upright posture, leg wide and balanced shoulders. They were not allowed to put on a smile to display their strictness and fairness. A smiling potrait was believed to bring misfortune and disrespect to the people.

Alright, this is the end of part 1. Stay tuned and part 2 would be up soon.

Have a good day everyone.

Cheers,

Jeanne

Be happy for who you are.

People likes to make comparisons, I mean never ending comparsion. Everyone in the world wants to look good in everything and every single way. From attitude to characteristics, from outer to inner beauty, from academic to realistic society. Even my mum likes to compare. That's the most disastrous part of all.

The Fillial Daughter

Apparently, I'm not referring to myself. Every now and then, she would tried her best to psycho me about her so-called friend's daughter giving a home allowance of $1K plus per month.

Oh gosh, do you think I give a shit fuck about it?

Unfortunately, I don't. The "daughter" claimed to work a full-time job, with tutoring jobs every single night ( Blah blah blah bla-ba). She's so hardworking yeah. Well, a month cost on transportation, food and billings etc can add up to 1K easily. My mum would rant about how fillial that "daughter" is/was. Well, I don't care. As long as I give sufficient monthly allowance to my mum, my job's done.

The Rich Girl

My relative ( a bitchy one though) likes to flaunt her future son-in law's wealth.

What's there to flaunt about?

Yeah, the son-in-law comes from a prominent family. He got car, cash and card. Wow, what a 3C boyfriend that all girls yearn for. Wait! Think again carefully.

Who gave him the wealth?

His dad.

Who's the rich man behind?

His dad.

Is that a big deal afterall?

Yeah, my bf drives. Oh, he only knows how to drive. I never claimed that he got a car because it's not his car. It belongs to his dad. I don't see the need to claim that I got a rich bf. I mean, what's the point? Sometimes, I do see naive girls claiming their own bf to be rich when their bf treats them an expensive meal, a trip to genting or whatever it is. A meal or a trip can never be enough to define wealth.

So? My bf brought me overseas for numerous times. Does that means he's rich?

He's not, apparently.

It's not important to get a rich bf. If it's all fated, then let the nature run your future. However, we should never be too materialistic. It's more important to get a bf with good character than money wise.

Who knows if he's filthy rich, yet he beat you in future?

Would you still want someone like that?

Education background differs

Before I get started, just a reminder; I don't mean offensive. My main point focus on comparison. Yea, I do have cousin(s) who might be scholar(s) someday. My mum do have friend's daughter/son who got into ITE or expelled from school. I mean it's a very common thing nowadays. My mum would always whine through the day wondering why none of her daughters becomes a scholar.

This makes everything so pointless. She always compare me with the scholar(s), lol. Well, that makes me look like a loser. Haha, sort of.

 Can't she compared me with someone that's worst than me?

Make me a successful example instead.

I don't care about having a degree or not. Yeah, there were people who urged me to further my studies. Oh, maybe SIM or whatever it is. I seriously don't care. I don't like to follow instructions of "people". Maybe I'm kind of rebellious in a certain way (but definitely a good way). Yeah, a degree can get you a better job.

So what?

There are so many degree holder in SG. 

What makes you think a degree holder certainly earns more than a diploma holder?

The naive me thought that way many years ago. Now, I just gonna disagree with the saying. I have friends who are degree holder. It's true, some of them are doing very well at the moment. They enjoy a good pay of 4-7K every month. It's true, some of them are not doing fine at the moment. They got retrenched due to bad economy, and ended up being jobless. Some of them got a really stable job, but the pay doesn't seem to be prospective, 2 -3K only.

Yeah, I'm just a diploma holder. I enjoy my current job. It's ultra flexible hours ( I can go shopping anytime I want). I'm not earning a lot actually, but it's considered a good beginning for a diploma holder. I can't disclose my salary here but it's really good and I'm satisfied. So, there's no point to compare a degree holder with a diploma holder.

It's just so pointless.

Hey friends, don't need to feel inferior just because you don't have a good education background. Feeling inferior is a form of mocking at yourself. Be satisfied and happy for who you are. Prove yourself with your actions. Don't be influenced by the others. Go for a degree if it's your choice, else it's ok.

We just gonna live with pride.

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Alright, it's getting late. I'm almost done with comparisons.

Good night everyone.

Cheers,

Jeanne