Foodie Hunt in SEOUL

Things to do before you visit South Korea:
1) train your tummy; and
2) prepare a FOOD bucket list .

BIG EATER (2 PAX)

Yes. BIG eater it is. If you are one of the buffet fans, I would like to recommend you to order the following dishes.

#1: Army stew.

#2: Extra spicy hot pot 

#3: Seafood in Noryangjin Fish Market

SET MEAL (1 PAX)
Following dishes are good to be enjoyed personally. A hot soup meal is suited during winter/ spring.

#4: Bibimbap

#5: Kimchi Jigae (Kimchi Stew)

#6: Samgyetang

#7: Rice in beef soup

HEAVY SNACKs

Considered as 'fast food' where you can get it easily and can easily satisfy your tummy as a meal- either as breakfast or dinner.

#8: Isaac Sandwich

#9: All sorts of Kimbap 

#10: Tteokbokki & odeng

LIGHT SNACKs/ STREET FOODs

The food that can substitute the unhealthy crackers/ biscuits.

#11: Korean spicy chicken skewer (Dakkochi)

#12: Eomuk

#13: Makgeolli and ramen for SUPPER

#14: Dried octopus

#15: Hotteok

#16: Korean French Fried wrapped hot dog

#17: Herb packet drink & baked egg

#18: Goldfish Bread (boong-uh-ppang)

 DESSERTs

Something to sweeten your tooth. A worth to try/ visit in SEOUL.

#19: Famous Korean fresh milk 
#20: Angel in Us

#21: Hello Kitty Cafe  

#22: Rice cake

#23: Soft ice cream

SEOUL Bucket List

If this is your FIRST time heading to Seoul and you have no clue on what you have to do or where you should visit, here is a short bucket list for you.

PHOTOGRAPHY

#1: Gyeongbokgong Palace

#2: Cheongwadae (blue house/ President house)

#3: Gwanghwamun Square

#4: N Tower

#5: Nami Island

#6: Petite France

#7: Ehwa Women University

#8: Bukchon Hanok Village

#9: Han River Rainbow Show

#10: Trying out hanbok in Myeongdong

#11: Myeongdong Cathedral

#12: Sungkwunkwan University

 #13: Yeouido Park

#14: Secret Garden

 #15: Cheonggyecheon Stream

SHOPPING

#1: Myeongdong for beauty products

#2: Lotte Mart for foods

#3: Underground shopping @ Express Bus Terminal Station for budget clothing

EXCITEMENT

#1: Tandem paragliding in Danyang 

#2: Jimjilbang

#3: Everland

8D7N Itinerary in Seoul

I have always wanted to write up on my Seoul trip for quite some time but I couldn't find a way to start it. Seoul (South Korea to be exact) has been one of my dream place to visit and what not I traveled and fulfilled my dream trip with my friend. Koreans are very friendly and need not afraid in asking help from them where sign language is very useful despite the languages barrier.

Planning

Started 2 months before the actual travelling date where both of us were busy in the beginning of the year (I just started working and my friend was away for training). We started with finding accommodations in Seoul and my friend was in charged for the bookings. Done with accommodations, we listed down the places that we wished to visit, things we wished to do and food we wished to try out in Seoul. Based on the lists, I summarized it and arranged the schedule. Be mindful that you cant follow 100% according to your initial plan.

Transportation

Getting around in Seoul is convenient with public transport. During our trip, we solely relied on subway and express bus (when we visited Danyang). For subway, buy the T-money card (2500 won that is non-refundable) at the convenience store (eg. 7-11, GS25, family mart, etc) and reload it at the subway stations. 

Stay Connected

The easiest way to rent (pick up/ return) a wifi egg is in airport itself. There are a few selections you can choose:
1. SK Telecom roaming
2. KT Olleh
3. LG U+

Accommodation

[1] Vin Guesthouse

Facilities:
Shared bathroom, free wifi, shared kitchen, free towel, luggage storage
Getting there:
Get off at Sangsu station (subway station line no. 6- BROWN line) . Get out from exit no. 1 (where there are like hundred steps of stairs), turn 180 degrees, walk straight before turning into a junction on your left. Walk straight and turn into second junction on your left. Walk straight again and turn into 2nd junction on your left. The guesthouse is located at the end of the junction.

[2] Namsam 3 Guesthouse
There are several Namsam Guesthouses located in Myeongdong where Namsam 2, 3 and 4 located down hill (nearer to subway station) and Namsam 1 & 5 located up hill (nearer to Namsam tower). I would recommend to stay in the guesthouse that is nearer to subway station (unless you REALLY loves to walk). There are so many good reviews on this guesthouse so google up on this guesthouse is not an issue.

Facilities:
Private bathroom, free wifi, shared kitchen, breakfast (bread and ramen cup), shared lounge, free hanbok, weighting scale, free towel, luggage storage
Getting there:
Get off at Myeongdong station (subway station line no. 4- BLUE line). Get out from Exit no. 3 and face Facific hotel. Go straight on the right side (way to Namsam tower) and it's located on the left side of the road.

Itineraries

Day [1]

• Hongdae
• Hello Kitty Cafe

Day [2]

• Everland
• Jimjilbang

Day [3]

• Paragliding
• Danyang Market
• Noryangjin Fish Market
• Banpo Bridge Rainbow Show

Day [4]

• Ehwa Womans University
• Myeongdong Tourist Information Centre
• Myeongdong Cathedral
• Shopping in Myeongdong
• Namsam Tower

Day [5]

• Petite France
• Nami Island
• Dongdaemun
• Shopping in Myeongdong

Day [6]

• Gyeongbukgong
• National Folk Museum
• Cheongwadae
• Angel in Us Cafe
• Gwanghwamun Square
• Cheonggyecheon Stream
• Changdeokgung Palace
• Huwon
• Bukchon Hanok Village
• Shopping in Myeongdong

Day [7]

• Yeouido Flower Festival
• Sungkyunkwan University
• Shopping in Express Bus Terminal
• Lotte World Jamsil

Day [8]

• Check out & Flying off

Personal Thoughts

I miss Seoul.... errr... i mean my friend and I miss Seoul. We planned our dream trip as much as we wanted to explore Seoul. Our heart raced when we realized we were heading to Seoul for real. Excitement continued when I lost my ipad on the plane and I managed to find it back. Thanks to my travel partner for walking extra miles and we coolly cancelled one of our itinerary. Adventure continued when I dragged my friend to try a height adventure and we both made it. Tried an extreme spicy tteokbokki hot pot and we successfully swallowed it. Experienced jimjilbang where we missed the junction and walked extra miles and got into our own trouble when we got a culture shock. Koreans are very helpful, kind and friendly throughout our stay in Seoul. An uncle told us where to get the t-money card with his limited English vocab, an aunty helped us during our Petite France trip and a young man that helped me to carry my luggage in the airport when a genius pressed the escalator emergency button and we were stuck at the middle feeling so helpless with the heavy luggage. Lotsa koreans thought we are koreans and spoke korean to us but thanks to our limited korean vocabulary (dramas and running man), we barely understood the messages that they were trying to tell us. I got warned for speaking banmal (which is impolite to elders) a few times because I didn't say "yo" when I ended a sentence. As much as we planned and as much as we coolly changed/ cancelled some of our itineraries, we both were super duper satisfied with our adventures. I went to the places I wanted to visit, she went to the places she wanted to visit and we went to the places that we wanted to visit. Sightseeing and shopping spree are both equal for our trip all thanks to our randomness and flexibility. Too many dramas and the script is rather too long which i don't even know where is the beginning and where is the ending. Seoul, i (we) definitely will be coming back for you.

27 is just a number...

8 months of disappearance, 8 months of losing my blogging passion and I'm back into this space after 8 months- just for a short updates.

Turning 27 yesterday. It was awesome. Family celebration was 2 weeks ahead and my colleagues sang a birthday song during the morning meeting yesterday. Well, I was trying my best to control my tears. Things turned out more crazy when they gave me another surprise in the afternoon.

I didn't expect this to be exact when people are being way thoughtful to prepare these. Thank you Lord for all the amazing people that You placed in my life. Not forgetting, thanks to all my hengdais and jimuis for all the crazy birthday wishes (which is 1 day ahead before anyone). Thanks to everyone who wished me on/ after my birthday. Im just another lucky girl to receive all the kindness. Thanks thanks and more thanks.

On the side note, life has been great so far. I've tried my best to live moderately as a daughter, a sister and a friend. Working life is challenging so far as I've turned on the reset button on my knowledge once again. Exploring both onshore and offshore life were pretty exciting. I was thankful that I got to experience sitting inside a chopper, met people from different backgrounds, exposed to various working cultures and gained some weights (which is a taboo for me... uh huh.....).

In addition, Seoul was awesome. Will update on that pretty soon. Stay tuned and be happy always.

Time Machine in 2014

Embark into another new year with full of dreams, goals and hopes. 2014 has been great with tight and busy schedules for the first 6 months followed by an ample rest for the remaining half of the year. I am not a wordy person. I like to keep things short and simple. In case if you feel that this post is getting longer, do bear with it as it took months for me to update something in this space. Perhaps, I should consider “updating blog frequently” as my major resolution this year. Here are some major events happened in 2014.

6th Anniversary

I started this blog as a diary concept, a place for me to express my feelings and a short practice for my writing skill. Then, I wrote about my personal lifestyles, families, friends and foods. I like to eat, taking pictures and travelling so I am willing and won’t be stingy in sharing my past experiences with you. Do kindly drop a comment if you have something that you would like to know and I will reply you as soon as possible.

Friends

I strongly believe that a human cannot live alone and we need a companion. Thanks to all my friends (hometown, USM, UTM, hengdais & jimuis) who always did things crazily and remain supportive for the past years especially Phon that has been accompanying me almost every day during my studies. We had meals and outings together as well as supporting each other during our busy schedules.

We celebrated New Year together and had my master project presentation the next day (2 Jan) so it was like a half day break for me.

Our favourite food spot. Dong Seoul, Sutera. I missed this a lot!!!!

Graduated again

Taking master in taught course mode is considered a good choice which you get to attend classes/ lectures/ seminars and you get to do a detailed research project. The good thing is you can complete your studies in 1.5 years (confirm) as long as you passes all the exams, master project presentation and complete the thesis writing. Looking back at my daily planner, master student life (taking taught course) is a real busy business. Imagine you have to attend classes as early as 8am until 1pm, lunch hour might be shorten to 30 minutes because the lecturers would like to extend their classes and rushing to the lab by 2pm to do several testing for your research. Worst case is when the technician is on leave, or the machines are break down/ spoilt, or you need to do the testing equipment bookings 2 months ahead before your actual testing day. So, everything deals with PLANNING. Another thing that I would like to point out is I am doing my master research project solely under a post-doctoral student with guidance under a Professor. I gain a lot of valuable knowledge and experiences when working with both of them. They are very strict with the research results outcome and I have to repeat 3 times for each testing. The course subject syllabuses that I took were slightly different from my previous university (the reason why I chose to study in another university). I am very blessed that I got the MyMaster (MyBrain15) scholarship which my tuition fees was fully waived. Graduation this time was a bit short and rush for me but I am thankful for those who attended and witnessed my less than 1 minute fame on the stage. Thanks to the crazy summer, kok sun and cyg that came all the way from Penang. Thanks to those who attended my graduation day and all the awesome gifts that you gave.

My coursemates. Congratz all!! 

with Phon

The crazy gang... thanks for coming....

Concert

I have always wanted to be a part of SHE concert and I missed their concert in 2013. Never ever gonna miss it again whenever they hold a concert in Malaysia. Thanks to my sister, we managed to buy Hebe concert ticket and got to hear she sang LIVE. It was AWESOME and unforgettable night.

Resolutions/ Goals in 2015

I don’t have any specific plan for this year. I got a job (not MNC) which I feel it is a good start as I get to learn a lot of new things. My colleagues are very friendly and helpful which I couldn’t ask for more. I get to travel again this year and hopefully I get to see the Sakura moment. In the meantime, stay healthy and positive.