Destination 5.1.5 : Back to Seoul (in Gang)

June 7th, 2011

going back to Seoul once again
with the rest of the people here
Yvonne, Xiang, Ken, CongJie and ZhengJing

we haven't planned anything for Seoul yet
even place to stay
since there's no suggestion
we decided to go to Jina's place again
left our luggage there
and went for late lunch at somewhere nearby
now we are not more wondering what are we eating anymore LOL
we're all better than the time we came

then spent time and money at those punching machine
+ batting
then murphy contacted for our plan in Seoul
and he said that he'll be here tomorrow morning with us

then we went to see the night scenery at some very famous river
but it's kinda too early when we reached there

cause the sun was still hanging
been walking around for a while

+ have a cup of drink at Nescafe coffee shop
i drank sweet potato ice blended
it tasted kinda cute as it's sweet potato juice
it was the 1st time i drank sweet potato juice
taste good but not enough
then we spent quite some time to find toilet

then most of the rest felt tired and went back to hotel
i followed ken on walking to the 1st bridge for the main attraction
we walked for 5km almost an hour

on the way there
there's some interesting show going while we reached
one is the digital garden where the plants are displayed on the wall through projector
then it's the laser show on the water spraying as screen
finally we reached the 1st bridge with waterfall in nice lighting

btw... there's a lotsa polices in that area
wonder what's going on
maybe some kind of huge event is going to start soon
but we just went back and had my awful late dinner

why do i say so...
cuz it's a bow of cold soup full of pudding made of some nuts
i couldn't finished it after all
and back to hotel for another day

it's day to Lotte World XD


June 8th, 2011

it's time for Lotte World
the world's largest indoor theme park
we planned to wake up early in the morning
maybe around 8am+
but we slept till 10am+
vinny and murphy even arrived before we woke up...
+ brunch so we reached they quite late...
only congjie didn't join us
so there's only 7 of us went to Lotte World

reached the station there and asked for direction at the information counter there
received discount voucher from them
then bought tickets with our Alien card and got even more discount
from 39,000won to 23,000 won
really saved a lot of money

1st ride of the day
Atlantis Adventure
this ride was totally out of our expectation
high speed from the beginning till the end
omg... even better than roller coaster
the best ride i ever had
and we rode for 3 times
another times were evening and night (last ride of the day)

the rest of the rides were nothing special actually
i was putting a lot of expectation on the gyro swing

but it's not that exciting anyway
i felt nothing even with my hands free
only making me a bit dizzy

then we went for bumper car, kids ride

, 3D ghost cinema

gyro drop... not exciting also as the speed of dropping was not fast enough
some swinging tree that made everybody dizzy

i shouldn't ride that as all of my mood gone for that
then we went back to indoor for lunch + more adventures

actually nothing is fun in indoor

everything is designed for kids...

at least there are some performances going on the huge stage

+ parade

we spent our last ride on the Atlantis
and night scenery before we left

and it started to rain when we're about to leave

at late night
dinner with CongJie and then had our last drink together in korea
as most of the people are leaving (except people from Gwangju + me)

***IMPORTANT***
remember to get some "magic pass" for some long waited rides
you can only hold one pass at a time
and be able to get another one when the time for the holding pass is starting


June 9th, 2011 (thursday)

woke up quite late also but we need to check out
quickly packed our luggage and had our brunch
then headed to the airport with the airport bus
quick convenient for people with huge luggage

so why am i heading to the airport too?
to have my luggage store there
then i realized that i was so so so stupid
i should have left my luggage at the hotel
and went back to get when i'm going to fly
so i spent 9,000 won per days for a week...
just to store my luggage
i was so regret when i headed back to Seoul

so that's the starting for my tour in Korea SOLO

Destination 5.2.15 : Rewards from Busan

February 28th - June 7th, 2011

3months+ in Busan

>>> PEOPLE I MET <<<

Was started with totally no understanding about Korea

really thanks to the malaysian seniors we met throughout the training

Shirly, Yap, Whye Kit, Tim from DSU

then DSU graduates, Dom Dom, YY

people from PKNU (there's a lot)

bryan, sarah, megan + others juniors from PKNU

non-malaysian we who we hang out together

Gamy & Nana from China & Sharen from Hong Kong

(i hope i didn't miss out anybody from the list)

our professor, professor Kang

learned a lot of culture from him

sami, PJ and other labmates before we moved our lab

it's kinda sad that we didn't spend a lot of time in that lab

then Youngsil, BeumSu, DongWoo & Fahim for Jeju and after sessions

it's been really great to meet NackHyun & CG later

then everybody from UCDC (most of them are younger than me LOL)

so sorry that i can't remember the names yet

that's too many people...

it's really sad that i've been really busy around the end

and didn't go to training

although their english is not really good

but they've been trying hard to communicate with me

drinking sessions with them was really fun

and i've learned a lot of drinking games from them

i know there's lots more to learn

+ Max (the brazilian) considered met in UCDC too

everybody from the korean class

teachers : Ms. Chong Jin Yong & Ms.

ladies : Suzanna, Pola, Gaby, Haruka, Yoko, Sornia & YuanChang

gentlemen : only Bruce (just realized that)

really had lot of fun study with u guys

+ the great korean teacher we had

and the rest

(the way we met was kinda interesting)

Rim and ms 도 (coursemates of suzanna)

then Seulbee, GunTae & TaeYun (Japanese Major)

it will be more fun if we met each other earlier

although we met in the last week

it was really fun

last but not least

it's really nice be with you guys

roommate ZhengJing, Labmate CongJie

and the rest : Yvonne, SohYee, Ken, YungFu & Xiang

from Gwangju : Vinny & Murphy

precious memories we had

(OMG... it's so freaking long... more than a speech for Nobel Prize)

>>> PLACES I WENT <<<

compare to Seoul

there's not a lot of place to visit in Busan

Busan Tower & Nampo Street

since in Busan

of course Busan Tower is a must

Subway line 1 to Nampo

along the street in Nampo

it's a street for shopping

if you can find some yellow, red, blue landmark (gate like thingy) almost at the end of the road

go in and there's a lot of cheap items (and full of people)

+ souvenirs to buy inside (if you can find them)

almost everything in this street is bargain-able

spend some time visiting the Jalgachi Fish Market

you can find a lot of weird seafoods that we can't get in Msia

Haeundae Beach

was told that this is the best beach in Busan

you can visit this beach no matter which season it is

it is said that this beach is full of bikini girls in the summer

Haeundae is more than a beach

(can visit the information center at the beach there for more information)

along the beach there's more attractive places to visit

such as the Nurimaru APEC house, temple at the cliff, and many more

at night, the town is full of clubs

Seomyeon

shopping street like myeongdong

full of foods

here is the place for girls i am sure

because of shopping

and of course nightlife

Gwangali Beach & Gwangan Bridge

should go at the evening

and go for coffee till the night

cuz at night you can see the gwangan bridge in LED lights

there's nothing much here i guess

oh... the theme park near there

the bouncing ride is a must as

malaysia don't have this kind of ride

very fun (Seoul one is more excited)

Out of Busan

Gyeongju

it's kinda near to Busan

and can reach there by Express Bus

JUST DON'T VISIT Seogoram Grotto

just visit everywhere in the downtown

WITH BICYCLE will spend you a day

Jeju

a must visit place in korea

2.5 days are not even enough for us to finish

it is suggested to drive there

as the most of the tourist area are far from each other

>>> CULTURES I LEARNED <<<

compare to Malaysia

of course everybody think that Korea is better

not because of the food, but the people

(btw, Busan people don't spit everywhere like Seoul)

people

man can just grab another man's hand like girls

and walk you around

a lot of people do that and it's normal in korea

then they do feed people

just eat like that (with their chopstick or hand) when they wanna feed you

seniority

their seniority is really scary for me

because we don't practice this in malaysia

you have to greet your seniors or elder formally when you meet them

such as bow

if you didn't do that

most probably the senior will scold you right there

for me, i just follow what others do

since i'm not sure what's going on

while eating

only use one hand to eat

and that's right hand

just switch between chopstick and spoon

don't hold your bowl while eating

they believe that only lower standard people do that

as they wanna be fast and get back to work

while drinking (alcohol)

korean are really good at drinking

almost everybody can drink (even ladies)

why? it's because it's so cheap

1st glass -> one shot

if elder/senior treat you drink

you must drink

it's the manner

so when you are drinking

you have to move your head to the side

(cannot face the elder)

when other pour for you

lift your glass

and you cannot pour for your own

ask other to pour for you

>>> FOOD I ATE <<<

In Busan, there's a lot of tasty foods that can only be find here

(hopefully i typed them correctly)

국밥 (rice in soup)

밀면 (some kind of noodle)

C1 소주 (C1 Soju)

there's more but i don't remember...

>>> THINGS I BOUGHT <<<

Gmarket...

Total spent of 301,340won (~RM900) + 50,000won voucher

90% on cloths and long sleeves

since it's so cheap and accumulated to this amount

i felt guilty with this spending

but it'll either be guilty or regret only...

MLB NY cap >.<

you can find all around Korea

Hanbok, korea cultural costume

i think costume collecting will become my hobby soon

a bit of souvenirs ...

it's really hard to buy as every souvenirs are the same in Korea

i guess there's nothing else except some groceries for daily

for groceries in HomePlus

some of the discount items are only for member

so beware or check while scanning

>>> EXTRAS <<<

there's no need to bring a lot of cloths to Korea for long stay

as you can get a lot of cheap cloths in Gmarket

+ 2-3 days of delivery only

and even daily uses like shampoo are around the same price as Msia

only food is expensive

so you can consider bring food over

today is already 11th of July
it's almost 1 months+ i left Busan
i hope i didn't miss out anything important
i really appreciate everything in Busan