bae hye han is in korea!

2008-12-25T06:11:00.000-08:00

Hmm, how should I even begin to write about my Christmas Eve.. I had a lot of fun, the company was perfect and even though we celebrated it in Ansan where there was hardly any christmas cheer, the people I was with really made it feel so special.

The morning of Christmas eve started with us frantically packing and moving. We had to move from the familiar dorm 2 to dorm 4, because the school wanted to conserve electricity by gathering all the leftover students in one dorm. So christmas eve for me started off on a slightly sad, and literally heavy note. My best korean girlfriend Juri, came over to help us move. Thankfully she was around because there were some paperwork that needed to be settled with the people at the dorm office and she being there just made the communication so much smoother, and well, more efficient. So we bidded our 3month old crib goodbye, said thank you to the friendly guard for the last time, and headed to our new home for the next ten days, before we finally head back home.

Byebye room - the moldy and rusty heater that sounds like a train when it's turned on, the leaky pipes and the thin mushy piece of sponge we collapse onto after each long tiring day. It's funny how I started off hating everything about this rundown room, but yet they have all grown to be such a personal part of my life in Ansan. I think I'd never forget all the memories of this place..

And byebye security ajeshi. I've grown so used to saying hello to you almost every day and seeing your nice cheerful smile. It always brightens up my day. Saying goodbye to you was harder than I thought it would be.

After we settled things in the new dorm, we dressed up and headed to VIPS, a restaurant famous for steak and ribs. Chang, Disheng, Zhongxian and Sky came to join the girls.

All dressed and ready to go!

When we got to VIPS, we were told that the waiting time was 2 hours! So we headed to the arcade to kill some time, and by the time we started it was already almost 9pm! We had a 3 hour long dinner - eating and chatting, and at some point in time, I laughed till my sides ache and I couldn't sit up straight, and that's when I realised that these people mean a lot to me. I've grown so much in the past 5 months; grown to be so much more independent, and so much more assured of my own capabilities. And these are the people whom have shared this journey of growth with me, simply by being such a big part of it. I'm not sure what will happen in 5, or even 10 years time. Maybe the koreans and the singaporeans might have grown apart, or maybe the singaporeans themselves would have drifted apart from each other, but one thing I know for sure, is that no matter what happens between all of us in the future, I'd always remember and treasure moments like these. Some things in your life, you just don't ever forget.

We spent the first hour of Christmas day singing at a noraebang (korean karaokae). Then we headed to a bar and ate the log cake after singing "we wish you a merry christmas". After a lot of beer, korean wine, cocktails and snacks, I walked back to the dorm feeling very very happy, and warm despite the minus zero freezing weather outside.

I have no idea why, but even as I sit writing this in the new dorm with facilities way better than the previous dorm, I somehow miss the old, dilapidated, scruffy room I had spent my last 3 months in. Is it just me, or is there someone else feeling the same way?

Anyway, I had a very very good Christmas. I hope you guys had a good one too, if not better! Merry Christmas, and may you all be abundantly blessed with everything good in life!

2008-12-20T08:51:00.000-08:00

Yuting and I visited Hongdae a couple of days ago! I accompanied Yuting to the cafe where they filmed the very popular korean drama Coffee Prince!! Yuting was extremely excited but when I got there I wasn't exceptionally impressed haha. But Yut says it's because I didn't watch the drama. But still, I'm glad I had her company of walking through the dynamic streets of Hongdae and caught a glimpse of the vibrant night life.

Inside coffee prince cafe, those people who watched the drama probably would find these familiar heh

Before we headed to the cafe, we were distracted by the boutiques along the street. Actually Hongdae is the area outside Hongik University, and it is famous for its clubs, cafes and boutiques. Yut and I were wondering how the students can concentrate on their studies when they have to trudge through so much temptations when they go home from school. If I studied there, I would be shopping everyday after school haha! But I guess that's what makes the lives of korean teenagers so different from us singaporeans. They somehow can achieve a pretty even balance between study and play, so they enjoy what they do, and do what they enjoy. And it shows.

Anyway, we spent so much time in the shops that by the time we got to the coffee prince cafe it was 11. We left the place at around 12, forgetting that there would be no train!! So we got stranded at Guro, which is maybe a 45 mins drive away from our dormitory, with a bunch of drunkards, at the Guro subway station not knowing what to do. We tried to find a jimjibang (a public bathhouse where people can stay overnight for a very cheap price) but that area was very isolated so we failed to do so. Previous experience (it was the second time I missed the train and got stuck at Guro!) told me that it would be extremely difficult to get a taxi because most cabs would not want to travel inter-city distances to bring us back to Ansan. We considered going to the police station and act like we were lost students and wanted to see if we could get a free ride back. Haha, crazy things people do when they're desperate. But in the end we dropped the idea when we heard a taxi driver walking around and yelling that he's going to Suwon, which is near Ansan! So we ran towards him, not knowing that at the same time two other guys were doing the same things as us too! Haha, so the most ridiculous thing happened. Yut and I jumped into a cab with two unknown strangers, and had to pay 30,000won (35-40$S) for the ride. We found out later that those two guys were uni students like us, but were from a neighbourhood uni. They were very very impressed with us because apparently Hanyang University is one of the top unis in the whole of Korea. Impressive huh haha. On the way back, we got stuck in a traffic jam and witnessed an accident, and a dead man lying in the middle of the road. And just when we thought things couldn't get any worse, we were locked out of the dorm. Roomie had to come down and wake the security guard, and we were unlucky because it was the horrible one that was on duty! He let Yut and I in on the account that it was raining outside and really really cold, but not before giving us a lecture in Korean. Oh well, it didn't bother us anyway, because we couldn't understand a single word he said hahaha.

It was indeed an adventurous day for us!

2008-12-09T10:40:00.000-08:00

Submission and Crit went pretty alright, but ended on a rather depressing note because for the koreans, it means that they would all be moving home to their hometown soon, and for us, it signifies the end of our time here in Korea. The exhibition was held at this posh gallery, and I was very impressed with how the school handled it. Everything was done very professionally, very well coordinated and organised. It seems like over here at the Hanyang side, they take this exchange very seriously, and it is a very prestigious joint venture between two schools. But the NUS side doesn't seem to care as much. The representative that they sent over, was a professor who didn't even teach architecture!
But anyway the exhibition went very well, and it was very satisfying seeing not just my own hardwork, but the works of everyone's labour displayed publicly. I was pretty contented with what I produced even though I know there's so much more I could push the design towards.

My panels and my model

Juri my best korean friend :) More like a sister to me.

Yut in front of her work..

Nicole and hers..

Sungil my eyecandy in school hahaha!

Dahee and Juri. On crit day, I spent some time going through their scripts with them because they were worried about having to present in english. I don't think I did much but I think they felt a lot more assured after going through their presentations a couple of times. In the end both of them did our studio proud by getting an award presented to the top 12 most interesting designs! And honestly, I felt so genuinely proud of them, and happy for them! Especially Juri who didn't turn up for school for 2 weeks during the semester cos she wanted to give up. I'm so glad she didn't and fought till the end. Sometimes it's funny how someone else's story could inspire me so much and gives me courage to fight my own battle instead. These girls have been amazing friends and I think it would be so hard when the day comes for us to say goodbye...

This is an urban design project. Combine efforts by Marc, Juri and I. Guess that's when I started growing so close to Juri. All the overnights and the late night walks back to studio together did provide us with many opportunities to talk. And surprisingly, we're so similiar. There are so many things in her life that I can relate too, and likewise, she understands me so well.

Check out Richard at the back destroying this picture of Chang and I haha.

Nicole and Juri!

Juri and I sneaked out during crit to get snacks because the crit sessions were getting really draggyyyy..

That's Heewon, the best looking korean in the third year! He's very very stylish I think, that's probably what makes him so attractive.

Melissa and her "egg" building!

Lirong trying to act studious. hahaha but cute larh.

haha catching a glimpse of my eyecandy!

All the profs standing in a row waiting to give out the awards

Our studio! We have two professors because prof kim (the old one) is a very coveted professional in the country and he is very well known for his designs of museums especially. So he is barely in the office. I tried to look for him in his office 11 times over the span of two weeks, but failed to find him!! Maybe that's why the school got another guy in to share his teaching duties. That probably explains why we're not close to either professor. But even as a studio we're not close, which is such a shame actually because I really wished we could do more things together as a studio. Truth is, we've never dined together as an entire studio before. Sigh.

Haha HYU and NUS joint project. Juri and I always go on joint shopping trips together. Occasionally I stay over at her dorm, and sometimes she sleeps over. Gotta treasure such times because there really aren't many days left.

This is our second proffesor, also known as prof kim, but more endearingly known as young kim among the studio people haha. That's how we distinguish the two profs, old kim and young kim. Guess I'm closer to young kim and somehow we're like friends. Think I've been very blessed because he has been very nice and encouraging towards me. He told me at the end at he is very proud of me and everything that I've done, almost made me cry..

That's old kim and I. I don't know why the picture turned out this way :(

At the end of the day when we had to bid each other goodbye. Prof said he was really happy to be able to teach us. He said we made him very very happy and that if he could, he would have given an award to every single one of us. Some people think that he's just being nice and saying very diplomatic things to us. But I was genuinely touched, and encouraged.

And as I pondered about the whole semester, I think I'm very glad things turned out the way they did. The studio I was allocated to, the people I met, the dorm groupings, everything happened for a reason and ultimately God was in total control. I don't know why those things made me so upset in the beginning, but maybe God was trying to test me and see how I would react. And through it all, I think I can safely say that I did not fail terribly. I know I've made some blunders along the way, but still God would be proud of me and how I've chosen to deal with all the situations. So yea, I've learnt so much this semester, not just about architecture, but also about myself and my relationship with God. It hasn't been easy, but I think I got through pretty alright. Like what they always say, what doesn't kill you will definitely makes you stronger :)

edit*
After the end of the exhibition, I popped by my old office in Spacegroup to pay my colleagues a visit. Sadly, most of them weren't there because they had stayed overnight the night before so many of them stayed home. Thankfully, I still got to see my big boss Mr Park, and Sun On-ni! When the boss saw me, he opened his arms wide to welcome me like he would a daughter. He took time to dig out the files on the projects I worked on previously, and explained to me the progress of the projects since I left. He pointed to the facade of the design and said to me "See, can you recognise this? It is your idea!" and then promptly pointed to the table I used to sit at and said "table still empty, table still waiting for you to come back!" Sobs, his kind words and gestures made me wish that time would stand still and that I can work in this team forever. I took some pictures with them, and then with more hugs, bidded them goodbye. I left the office with tears streaming down my face. Seems silly, but I really couldn't control myself. I think I will never forget this beautiful country and the wonderful people who have made such a difference to my life.

2008-12-02T15:03:00.000-08:00

Today was the last studio session of the semester, which means, I don't have to wake up at 9am anymore! Prof Kim wanted us to pin up our work and make a presentation to the studio, like a mini crit session. What really inspired me was when he said that the crit session was supposed to be a celebration, because I've never thought of it that way. To me, crit sessions were always dreadful and everyone's just praying they won't get slammed. But Prof is right, it should be a celebration because it marks the end of everyone's hardwork, and we should all come together to share our "harvest" for the semester, whether it is good or bad, because after all, it was still something we worked really hard for.

Anyway, my presentation went pretty well, considering the fact that I did not sleep a wink the night before. Prof said he was overall quite satisfied with everyone's work even though we all had some stuff lacking. It ended on a rather bittersweet note when he apologised for pushing us so hard, and said he feels very lucky to have us as a studio.

For me this semester has been quite a challenge, not because the design project was difficult but because of the lack of resources. Back in Singapore we had the luxury of having scalebar that made printing so much more convenient. The school provides us with desktops, and the environment is just so much more condusive to work in. Over here, the students bring their own desktops and printers, and there is nothing like scalebar around. Sometimes we get the korean students to print for us, but after a while it got a little embarressing to keep asking them, so butter paper became my best friend. If I wanted 5 copies, I drew it 5 times. On top of that, books especially, were very limited. The school library did not have a wide collection of books that were in english, and the national library was a 2 hour ride away. And as I took some time to sit down today to reflect about the semester, I realised that when we are thrown into a foreign environment where we no longer had the luxury of certain tools, we resort to the most primitive ways, using our hands to draw. I am actually quite proud of myself because despite having limited help and resources, I could still design, and produce something fairly decent. Language sometimes became a barrier too, but after a while I realised that the inability to communicate effectively made me rely a lot on visuals. I started sketching a lot more, especially perspectives, just to get my idea across. I learnt that instead of being very frivolous with my words, I was forced to reduce everything to its essence and express ideas in the most succinct manner. This semester, I really learnt a lot, and as everything is coming to a close, especially with the upcoming submission and exhibition, I really hope I'll use the rest of the time I have left, to enjoy everything about this place - the weather, the food, the environment, and most importantly, the people and the friendships..

2008-12-02T08:44:00.000-08:00

I have a million and one things to blog about and there are a couple of backdated entries sitting in my draft folder but I just can't seem to find time! And it's not helping that I have been religiously glued to the screen watching ANTM and Project Runway. I actually finished Season 5 of PR in 2 days!

I have been working slightly harder for studio also. I ought to anyway, after slacking for 3 months. Since two weeks ago, the studio has turned really cold, so for two weeks I have shifted my workspace to the dorm, and converted the floor into my drafting and modelling table, resulting in the "sea" of tracing paper and models strewn all over the floor. And because of that for two weeks poor roomie had to walk through the trecherous pile on the floor as though someone planted landmines in our room. Anytime she misses a step, there is a high possibility that she might crush my models effortlessly with one single move of her feet haha. Ah poor roomie. But for the past few days, I decided to shift back to studio again, simply because we cleaned up the room and I don't want to mess it up again. And I am just more motivated in studio, maybe cos other people are slogging along with me. Misery really loves company mann haha.

Anyway, I realised I forgot to write about the dinner I had at a korean friend's place. My roomie and I received an invitation from her mentor a week ago. And gosh can I say how much I love Korean moms? They are really amazing cooks. We had some chicken stew that is kinda similiar to our curry chicken back home. Even the rice we had was exceptionally fragrant because the mom added beans, barley and a little bit of glutinous rice. Roomie and I thought it would be more polite for us to bring something so we bought strawberries! I think the mom was exceptionally impressed with us muahahaha. What I really loved about the meal was the homemade kimchi, one of the best I've had since I got here. It was crunchy, fresh, with just the right amount of spices! We got to experience the traditional korean dinner, sitting on the living room floor and eating on a foldable table. One thing I realised is that Koreans really use a lot of bowls when they eat! Each of us used like 5 bowls and there were 5 of us eating. That makes 25 bowls and many other pots. Poor korean moms. Now it seems like my mom got it easy with the washing back home :) My korean TA invited me and Lirong to her place this friday! Roomie and mel are coming along too, I think it will be fun!

2008-11-30T08:46:00.000-08:00

昨天晚上和roomie一整夜的交谈让我想起了以前，那种情窦初开，年少轻狂的日子。那时，看待着人与人之间的关系和人生中的一切事物都是用着好玩的心态。处理事情来也比较轻浮、狂妄，不会深思熟虑，把每一件事都当做个所以然。
以往的那些日子，有着和许多人太多太多的回忆。不禁想起自己好多次的拖泥带水，讨厌自己庸人自扰，逃避问题的性格。也想起了几次落花有意，流水无情的时候。有时以为自己能够果断坚定的处理，但是最后却发现原来那是自己到达不了的境界，最后还是做不到。也因为如此，伤了别人的心，自己的心，也因为自己很不确实际的想象，有了太多的期望，造成了多次的失望。
有时我会不知觉的问自己，喜欢我的人，为什么都喜欢得那么辛苦呢？而我喜欢一个人时，也为什么会喜欢得那么辛苦？可能是太自私了吧。常常想要保护着一个人在我心中的完美形象。发现到那个人的好时，就会不知不觉的陷进去，越来越喜欢他。但是一但领悟到他的不好，就想要慢慢的把自己拉开，只想要保留一切美好的，不想要让做过的美梦有一丝变成噩梦的机会。痛，当然会啊，自己也知道世界上没有完美的人，一切都是靠着包容，体谅和了解。但以前总是过不了自己这一关。
现在，以过了好多年，自己也从一个懵懵懂懂的小妹妹变成了一个小大人了。一生中的跌跌撞撞，也让自己学到了许多，成长了许多。如今，问自己，还在寻找吗？其实，也不以为然了。不是因为不相信或放弃了，而可能是比较看开了吧，也很满意现在的生活，觉得很满足，很快乐，有很多人疼，有着家人的爱和好朋友的支持，真的就很足够了。不像以前那么执著，也相信很多事情，上帝都有所安排，自己要信任他。

所以，我真的是很幸福的。:) 希望我身边的人也都能一样的幸福，那也应该是我最大的快乐吧。

2008-11-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Housework is no longer a chore when you have good company and good music. Yesterday we spent a couple of hours cleaning out our entire room while listening to Lisa Ono, Michael Buble, Frank Sinatra and singing along to christmas carols. I don't know why, but Adeline has the ability to turn things I dread doing into times of fun and laughter. I really don't know how things will be like without my roomie and her megawatt smile and contagious spirit!

In our little room, she has been conferred the title of "man of the house". And I am of course, the lady of the house. Roomie is known as such because she does all the manly things at home. She fixed my wardrobe the last time it fell apart, single-handedly using superglue. On another occasion when my laptop died on me with multiple "blue screens of death", I was so depressed I stayed in bed and wallowed in my sadness. Roomie however, with her undaunted spirit, utilized all her resources to fix it and backed up all my files for me. On top of all that, she is the one who takes the room fan apart, washes it and fixes everything back together again. She is the one who buys hooks and sticks them on the wall so that we can hang up our clock. She is the one who ties ropes across our room to create laundry lines for us to hang our laundry. Today, she broke her own "manly" record - she single-handedly carried a 22kg box of my stuff which I intended to ship back home.

It might be such a random thought, but I realised how I've grown to be so dependent on this girl, and so used to her presence...

Cheers to one more month of roomie-hood, and many more years of friendship!

2008-11-25T03:48:00.000-08:00

We got your love! Thank you Hello Kitty, Maymay and Ah Ma!!! :)

See how happy we are???

Thank you for the pieces of home you've packed into the box, and the much needed love :)

2008-11-24T10:05:00.000-08:00

Yes you're right Pris, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me"
Your bit of love made my day :) Thank you dear!

2008-11-20T21:26:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was one of the coldest day I spent in Korea. I travelled to Seoul with a Korean friend to visit our site for our research paper. We took a one and a half hour long subway ride and found ourselves in downtown Seoul, exploring the walled up compounds of the Deoksu Palace. Located in the heart of Seoul city, it portrays a charming contrast of modern Seoul with traditional Korea. In the palace itself, the striking difference in architecture styles is more vividly illustrated. Interestingly, there were buildings of classical styles within the palace compounds, which to me, stuck out like sore thumbs. But on the other hand, it really goes to show how architecture should always be of it's time, and how they always portray a snippet of history.

2008-11-18T13:12:00.000-08:00

Two Sundays ago, Professor Park, who teaches architectural planning, brought his students on a field trip to visit some well known temples in Korea. He invited the NUS students along. It was the peak of autumn and since most of the temples are sited in very untouched areas, it was the best time to experience the beauty of autumn in Korea. And indeed, it was the day I truly fell in love with Korea.

Having just gotten my new camera the day before, I just had to bring it out for a test shoot. So here I present to you, my virgin shoot with the DSLR haha, not very good pictures, but I think it's not a bad try for a first timer cum amateur! :)

That's Juri, my best korean girlfriend, also my studio mate. I really love her to bits because she makes school life so much more interesting for me, and she's a good shopping partner. She has been so kind to me ever since school started. Whenver I feel cold in studio, she'd put a blanket over me, and that's only one of the many kind gestures that she has done for me. I am so blessed to meet so many kind people over here. How can I not fall in love with this country and her people?

A short trek into the jungle where the temple is sited. Mel scaled all of these stone steps in wedges! Respect mann!

Notice the two layers of roof eaves? The inner bottom layer was constructed first, and the top layer added on at a later time.

I absolutely love the above two pictures. Notice how they marry the old and the new?

Roomie and Mel, nice picture i think, albeit overexposed

Us with the korean girls

Love this tree. It's so sculptural.

Love how the tree is being framed up in this picture

These shots were so overexposed and I had no idea why. I am still having difficulties working my DSLR urgh

Suyeon and I

The Singaporean girls..

Me with my cabbage field, while my country boy is somewhere else taking pictures!

I think my roomie and sky are nice to shoot, they're so natural!

We met this horrible kid who stays in the temple coz his parents are caretakers of the temple. He called my roomie an ajuma (which means auntie) and called me gorilla! Hello which part of me looks like a gorilla to you huh? hahaha

I really love this picture of Suroh! So "caught in the moment" larh! heh

The korean boys. Oh and did I mention that Korea is the land of DSLRs? Somehow almost everyone has one!

Sungil and Hee-won. I think it's true when they say that goodlooking people stay together, because Hee-won and Sungil are best friends, and they are the best looking guys in our batch, and both are tall too!

This village specialises in Persimmons! Not quite hard to tell right? haha since the whole shopfront is decorated with the fruit.

Autumn colours.. Wished I could capture them more vivdly with my camera though.

Roof detail...

Sungwook acting emo, lousy actor haha

Upon entering the temple we saw this really beautiful tree on the right. It's probably one of the most beautiful trees I've seen in Korea so far. The vibrant colours were just soo perfect for a romantic picture. Haha but because my country boy was nowhere to be found, I took a shot with Mel muahahah.

Haha I hope I won't get killed for posting this but I really think it's such a beautiful picture. Very satisfied with this shot.

One of my favourite shots of the day.

Painted ceiling

I love how the little wooden shed fits into the setting. So idyllic.

I caught a family trying to take a family shot! But the mother was having a lot of trouble getting the kids to sit still. Look at the little boy jumping around. How cute!

Suroh being very cheeky.. A pavillion with very weird proportions. Too huge a roof! Seems almost uncomfortable to me..

Nicole in the midst of the golden leaves..

I snapped a picture of Sungil snapping a picture of me..

Prof explaining.. only the guys are interested in listening haha..

Roomie and I!

Sky and Adeline.. So cute!

I was trying to take this shot of the roof details, when Adriel asked me " why are you taking upskirt pictures?" Haha that was so sick, so random, but so funny. Totally cracked me up.

I think this is a nice picture of Richard! He looks like some extreme sportman scaling some impossible mountain.. but guess how it's taken?

Like that! haha what cheats!

I really like this picture I took of Adriel! One of my favourite of the day as well!

Wishing stones! The koreans believe that if you pick up a rock, make a wish and stack it on top of this pile, your wish might just come true!

Nicole and Adeline posing for a emo shot..

Sky mumbled to us " I feel like climbing a tree", and went on to climb that tree. How spontaneous.

That's Suroh, Juri and me! Juri is in a tree trunk, and like what Richard said, she's is living proof that a tree house is possible!

That's Richard and Sky playing a self devised game called " the leaves are lava" or something like that. Anyway the rule is simply not to step on the leaves larh haha so they started jumping around. Boys, they never grow up..

The quiet and quaint little town.

The colours of autumn, the greens, the reds, the yellows and the orange.

And I'd end off with the best picture I took for the day, using sky's camera. But I caught the moment! I really really love this picture, think it's one of the best pictures I've taken :)

Going to places like these makes me fall so deeply in love with Korea. I really don't want to go home!

Lirong's 25th!

2008-11-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

Lirong's birthday lasted a total of 29 hours, starting with a quiet dinner with Yongseok, Mel and I on Saturday evening. We headed to Seoul to have dinner at VIPS! Yongseok being thoughtful as usual, turned up with a cake, a present, and a party hat specially for the birthday girl! Lirong was made to wear it the whole time, even when she went to the salad bar hohoho.

Birthday girl and her roommate

We saw this really cuteeeeee little girl who looked like a watermelon haha

Check out the menu. yum

The toughest decision for the day: Steak or ribs??

Very happy wearing the hat!

The infamous party hat!

We got home that night when the clock struck 12, and so with a hug, we ushered in Lirong's birthday! Mel and I wanted to give her the present in special way, so we decided to pretend that she got a parcel from Singapore! We got a box, put in the present, and proceeded to tape it up. But, we had no tape! So Mel had to go back to her room and borrow tape from Lirong. The worse thing is, Lirong borrowed the tape from the post office so it had "Korea Mail" printed all over it. But we figured that Lirong would probably be too blur to realise. Haha so after preparing the props we headed down to the letterbox and deposited it inside. Then we decided to get Nicole to go into Lirong's room and said that she saw a parcel in their letterbox. That girl, she deserves a best actress award I tell you. She went into Lirong's room and whined about her roommate sleeping so she had no one to talk to about design, and then proceeded to rattle on and on about design before telling Lirong about the parcel. All the time, Nicole's roommate, Yuting, was acting too! She had the most important role which was to act that she was asleep! hahaha. At the same time, yours truly the camera woman and my roomie were waiting patiently in our room until they came over to ask us to go down and "check out the parcel together" haha. So off we went, trying our very best to pull off a very ridiculous story, hoping that Lirong won't realise the many loopholes haha. But sadly, when she saw the parcel, she went "HAHAHA WHAT ARE YOU GIRLS DOING?? SINGAPORE POST BOX WITH KOREA MAIL TAPE?" hahahah! Okay, so our surprise failed. Actually there were too many loopholes la, because firstly, why would the postman come at 12midnight to deliver a parcel? Plus the tape was really too obvious. Haha but think it was a fun surprise and we all had a good laugh. We then headed to Nicole's room and guess what? Yuting was still engrossed in her sleeping role hahahahaha! Gosh it was so hilarious. So the birthday girl proceeded to open her present, which was a really pretty watch that looked soooo nice on her.

Lirong and the award winning actress!

On Sunday which was the actual day of Lirong's birthday, many of us had studio, including the birthday girl. Urgh it was excruciating because studio dragged all the way until 12! Prior to that we had plans to go for a drink and then head to the norebang (korean karaokae) to have some fun but sadly it didn't materialise. In the end we decided to celebrate in studio and ordered beer and chicken delivery! Poor Lirong had to down a birthday drink, because it was a Korean tradition. Basically it was a concoction of various ingredients added by the people present. This particular one had cake, chilli, mustard sauce, coke, beer, chicken, radish, salt, pepper etc. Me being evil as usual added cake and had the honour of stirring the mixture. Hee-won added some super disgustingly bitter medicine, which he said was for old women hahahah! Thankfully birthdays are only once a year! Richard asked me when is my birthday and I said " I have no birthday!" hahaha thankfully my birthday is not spent in Korea if not I'd die a very horrible death hahha.

Ah so all in all it was really fun. I think I speak for everyone when I say I had a really good time. But most importantly, I hoped the birthday girl had loads of fun, and I really hope what we did made her feel really special. Happy 25th Birthday Lirong!

2008-11-14T01:11:00.000-08:00

I am so freaking in love with this! It's sooooo pretty! Haven't been so deeply in love with someone, or something for that matter, in such a longgggg time! I must get my hands on this, would be soooo pretty matched with a little flowery dress! Bad news is, they don't ship internationally, so whoever has friends in US, please please please let me know! Love you guys : )

2008-11-11T21:17:00.000-08:00

It's Pepero Day in Korea today! Peperos are actually the pockys we have in Singapore, and since its November 11th (11-11), they have termed it pepero day because the '1s' look like stick biscuits haha. Pepero day is a day when girls or guys give peperos to the person they like! So most korean girls will end up making their own peperos in all shapes and sizes, isn't it cute? heh :)

haha roomie looking psychotic eating the handmade peperos!

My roomie got a nice box of peperos from Sky, and a skirt! The skirt is actually really meaningful, because roomie saw it while we were shopping and it looked really nice on her when she tried it on. But roomie being the sensible and good girl decided not to buy it coz she didn't need more clothes. (when did buying clothes become a need anyway?? I always thought it's a want hahah but that's my roomie the good girl for you) Anyway, Sky the nice sweet boy decided to get it for her and so I was sent on a mission to attempt to bargain in korean and buy the skirt while Sky diverted her attention. After buying the skirt, I sort of forgot about it and kept it in my cupboard, until I finally remembered to pass it to Sky recently. So tadah, what better day to present such a sweet present other than on pepero day! That resulted in a very satisfied roomie, and a very happy me : )

Haha so obviously I didn't celebrate pepero day because no korean fling yet haha. But I got my share of handmade peperos from the really sweet girls, and chocs from Chang haha..

Check out the huge and long pepero!

So that's how I spent my pepero day, hope you guys had a good one too!

2008-11-10T10:39:00.000-08:00

I took these on the way to school today. The trees have already turned into vibrant shades of red and yellow. Every morning when I walk to school in the chilly winds, the crisp leaves will be falling off the trees. And that's when I will think of the girls most. Sometimes I can even imagine hearing anna or pris squealing " ahhhh so prettttyyyy!!!!" with anna going on to pick up a leaf.. And not forgetting Shun's manly voice.. and charm and steph's laughter. How nice would it be if we could experience this together. I'm really falling in love with Korea. I really want to stay here, but I know I'm never complete without my family and friends, so see you girls when we're all back in Singapore! Love you girls!

*know you're going through a rough patch prissy, but rest assured we'd be supporting you with prayers, love you so much hifey!

Happy 57th Birthday Papa!

2008-11-09T09:57:00.000-08:00

Dear Papa,

When I took the school bus for the first time, you were the father who drove and followed behind me all the way to school. When I came down the bus and vomited, you told me it was because I had motion sickness. From that day onwards, you woke up at 6am every morning, and drove me to school.

When I was 9, I fell down and was sent to the clinic for stitches. You rushed over, and when I looked at you and asked if I was going to die, you were the father who told me off gently, and told me “不要乱乱讲话”But your vision never left me, and you held on to me. I remember feeling so assured and so comforted.

Every Sunday, you'd bring me for swimming class. But what I secretly enjoy most, was breakfast with you. We would go to A&W for waffles, and sometimes you'd reward me with an occasional treat of ice cream rootbeer float. Now that I'm all grown up, I still love waffles, beacause each time I enjoy a waffle, I remember the joy of spending time alone with you. Those were part of the happy times we spent together, just you and I.

Dear Papa,

I remember the day you stuck out your thumb and said that the size of my foot when I was a newborn, was the same size. For you, that was how you remembered parts of my life. And now I find myself in the same situation, trying to remember every bit of the times we spent together.

Throughout my life, you have had such high expectations of me, you were never generous with your praises. But everything that you have done shaped me into the person that I am today. You never gave it to me the easy way. But you’d always ask for my opinions and respect them, and because of that, I have grown to be a strong lady with opinions of my own, with goals that I want to achieve in my life. You have allowed me to have a mind of my own; to choose my own paths, without ever forcing your views upon me. You’ve given me the opportuinity to try out everything I wanted in life, because you never had such a privilege.

I have grown up to be so different from you papa, and yet the same as you in so many ways. We have had our share of disagreements, like daughters and fathers often do. There were times I felt like you didn’t understand me, there were times when I felt like I had to get away from you and all the rules that you have subjected me to. And then there were the times I wanted you out of my life, because I felt that your strict parenting efforts were stifling me. But now that I'm older, I know those were just your ways of protecting your children. And now as I learn to love you with all my heart, be patient with me, and allow me to spend the rest of my life being the best daughter I can be, to you papa.

I really hope I have grown up to be the daughter you wanted, and that whoever I am now, is a reflection of the great father and great man that you are. I hope that who I am and what I have achieved so far have made you proud to have a daughter like me. And even as you celebrate your 57th birthday today, I hope you'd realise how much I love you, and how amazing a father you have been to me. You have been the most important man in my life, and will always remain so.

Happy Birthday to you, Papa.

My new toy!

2008-11-08T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've thought day and night about it, it's always at the back of my mind and the top of my wish list. It's finally mine now! Hyehan is a happy camper! : ) : )

Nami Island

2008-11-02T03:49:00.000-08:00

We took a trip to Nami Island, where Winter Sonata was filmed! 8 girls, 2 guys, and we came back with lotsa memories, a lot of fun, and truckloads of pictures!

Not typing much because the place is honestly beautiful beyond description. I'm really falling in love with Korea..

*the pictures are all taken by yuting, realised I keep forgetting to credit the photographers everytime I put up their pictures! thanks yut~

2008-10-30T09:33:00.000-07:00

Remember how people always say that challenges make you discover things that you never knew about yourself? I got through one of those challenges last Saturday.

Professor Han, one of the design tutors brought his studio on a hike up Mountain Kwanak. Professor Han is easily my favourite tutor in the school. He is a part time tutor and works in Spacegroup! He was the one who got us the chance to intern in the office and after our internship, he invited us for lunch in Seoul and presented our certificates and salary to us! I haven’t been taught by him before, but my short meeting with him over lunch was a very pleasant experience. He looks like Tadao Ando, and is very affectionately known as H-ando amongst the students. He’s charismatic, eloquent and has a very very charming smile! His mannerism reminds me of the oriental version of Richard Gere, somewhat like a good bottle of wine cos the older it is, the better it gets! All these charisma probably comes with age and experience.

Anyway, the hike was the most dangerous thing I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve never been so close to death ever in my life. The feeling was overwhelming and still continues to overwhelm me now each time I relate the story.

We all knew it was going to be cold, so the night before we dug out our thickest clothes and prepared ourselves for the weather. I guess growing up in a cosmopolitan city like Singapore with absolutely no mountains made us think that it was just going to be a normal, ordinary hike, just like the ones back at Bukit Timah hill. I mean how difficult can it be right? What we didn’t expect was the intensity of the hike, the insanely steep slopes, the undulating terrain, the rough surfaces. It was climbing, abseiling, repelling, cardio workout, mental fight all mashed up into one. And halfway through our hike it started raining so heavily and the rocks got really slippery. You gotta be there to really grasp what it was like. Some parts of the hike, we had to get down on all fours and use every ounce of energy in us, to propel ourselves up that ice cold piece of rock. Other times, we had to slowly lower ourselves, sit on the rock, look for a flat rock surface below, slide ourselves down and at the same time mentally estimate our landing, while constantly keeping our eyes on the next rock to grip after the jump. It was a hands, feet, muscles, brains, eyes coordination. Not forgetting the crazy palpitations of our hearts. I’m so glad I don’t have a weak heart if not I really would have just fainted on the spot. I don’t know, I can’t even begin to describe it. It’s like an all-consuming but yet excruciating moment. For a moment I thought I wasn’t going to make it down the mountain alive, or that even if I did, I wouldn’t have gone through it without hurting myself. I kept having this mental image of myself falling, or slipping. But my friends were very nice, they probably were feeling just as distressed, or maybe they were distressed coz I was so slow and helpless, but their constant encouragement and hyped me up quite a bit. I’ve never felt so determined to get out of the mountain alive, and boy am I glad that I did.

This is Prof Han, all ready to scale the mountain! It was the last I saw of him because once we started he was blazing a trail of his own. He was so fast. Either he is very experienced or he was mountain goat in his previous life or something. I would very much like to believe its the former : ) Anyway because he was so fast, we got split up into two groups. The faster bunch managed to keep up with his pace. But obviously I was slow so I was in the second group haha. Some of the guys in our group were really fast but took the initiative to stay behind together with the slower girls so I was really impressed : )

Mel and I before the hike! I looked like I was ready to scale the mountain but it really wasn't the case. I almost gave up halfway hahaha! Mel on the other hand was "ordained" with the name of Frodo because she surprised us by being so fast and agile hahaa

Before we got to the foot of Kwanak mountain we had to trek up this little village. There were so many aunties and uncles there and the amount of North Face and Solomon equipment they own is really remarkable. But then again Korea being the number one country with the most mountains per square foot in the world, it is not surprising that mountain climbing is probably their most popular activity. And it is nowonder that they are real good at it.

The first part of the hike was already quite torturous. I was sooooo slow the guys decided to carry my bag. I need to exercise more hahaha!

Anyway the mountain we climbed was in the shape of a blazing fire. So there were several peaks. Here we are at the first peak. We took some time and hung around for a while to enjoy the scenery and to take pictures, moving off only when the Prof called and asked us to hurry up! haha

That's Chang (korean) and I on the first peak! Mel the paparazzi sneakily took this picture from some angle and accused me of holding Chang's arm and putting my head on his shoulder. I did not!!!! The girls call this the scandalous photo and kept teasing me about it. But I'm posing this up anyway cos I think its a nice picture muahahah.

That's Mel and I on the second peak. The view was breathtakingly beautiful and I couldn't help but take some time to marvel at God's beautiful creations. I like how the little buildings are built so densely together and how I had a panoramic view of the whole area

See the little humans on the face of the mountain? Yep that was how we climbed up the mountain. On all fours. When it got too steep, there were ropes to help us propel ourselves upwards. There are times when there are no footholds at all, so we had to use the rope and our arms to pull ourselves upwards, all the time clinging onto the rope for dear life, while hearing the guys repeat time after time "keep going, keep going, DON'T look down.."

That's He-won the Korean guy who can pose damn well. We got to one of the peaks and there was a Korean flag and that got He-won feeling very patriotic. I really like the last picture of him, he looks like a soldier!

That's Chang looking lost in the woods haha

Yuting took this series of pictures of us and I think they turned out very very well! Look at the red, yellow and orange of the leaves!

At this point we started hearing monks chanting and it was really really eerie. My roomie thought that they were chanting for the souls of the people who died on that mountain! How freaky!

Alright that's me and the people helping me. Gosh I don't know why I was so lousy but I was really grateful for their help!

There's a fort at the top of the mountain...

H for Hyehan!

Us! The second group, at the helipad!

Looking back, this adventure has really been the challenge of a lifetime. I'm still unsure if I'll ever do this again, but I must say that I totally enjoyed the trip and the great time of teamwork and unity.

2008-10-29T09:41:00.000-07:00

I got a package from Charm the dotty today!!! Yay so happy : ) That very sweet girl sent a copy of 8 days (!!!!), my favourite snacks, and PORK FLOSS!!! Oh mann I feel so loved : ) Hee the hello panda and porky reminds me of hwachong days! Thank you dearest dot, it was such a pleasant surprise : )

2008-10-27T08:34:00.000-07:00

because I'm homesick once again
because I'm feeling stressed and depressed and desperately need some cheering up
I have finally decided to open the packet of bah kwah that the lovelies sent many weeks back
Just for the taste of something familiar, a taste of home.
the comfort is very much needed in a time like this

where is my vip and whining buddy??? :(

2008-10-27T00:10:00.000-07:00

“Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, it makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it even if I didn’t have it in the beginning.”
- Mahatma Ghandi

2008-10-26T10:39:00.000-07:00

I had the girls over in my room for dinner this evening cos I finally managed to borrow a pot! Plus we were kinda paralysed from the hike the day before. So we ended up with a scrumptious dinner of abalone and chicken porridge with egg, hot and sour soup and chinese seafood soup! Despite them all being instant, they were still delicious and a really good and much needed break away from the outside food we have everyday.

The chef and the hungry people waiting for dinner!

Abalone and chicken porridge, with eggs (donated by yingying) for added fragrance and to thicken the porridge (my brilliant idea muahaha!) I know it doesn't look appetizing in the picture, but the porridge was so heavenly! The pictures don't do it justice larh!

Muahaha, yours truly, the sponsor of the evening's meal!

Mel the very satisfied customer!

Oriental seafood soup

Hot and spicy soup!

All the instant food pictured above were from the package that Chek sent earlier on. Thanks Chek! I reall enjoyed them : )

Sky made a SHOERACK for us!!!

2008-10-24T09:52:00.000-07:00

because roomie and I randomly mentioned how messy our doorstep is because of all the shoes!!!!!! Haha I feel so loved : ) Even though he probably wouldn't have made it if his girlfriend was not my roomie, but still, I feel very loved! Haha.. It's the epitome of sweetness larh, handmade shoerack : ) A few days ago, I was saying I hate Sky, but for now, I love Sky!!! Yays :)

Haha check out the shoerack with all our shoes! Out of 11 pairs, 9 pairs are mine muahahahah!

Both of us feeling super loved and proud of our new shoerack : )

2008-10-23T23:55:00.000-07:00

Today I braved the chilly winds and headed to the post office to mail out a parcel! Upon payment I was shocked at the cost of the postage, and even more shocked (more like embarrassed actually) when I didn't have enough cash to pay! Haha thankfully the bank was just next to the post office and I quickly rushed over to withdraw some money. Anyway, even though everything was expensive, but I figured that if it could bring a smile to someone's face then it's money well spent! So you! I hope you like the surprise and everything that I've sent over. I just want you to know that you're really really really loved, and that you're still remembered, even though you are so many miles away! I hope the parcel brings a smile to your face, I love you darling! :)

2008-10-22T23:23:00.000-07:00

Remember this? I said I'd blog about it but I never got down to doing it. So I decided that since I'm free today.. hmmm not really free actually because I've got two mid term papers next tues and fri, hmmm.. but don't care, I shall write about it anyway because
1. a party I was supposed to go to later in the evening got cancelled, and I actually threw on a cute little dress for the event! -sulks-
2. I promised to write about it eons ago and people have been bugging me about it
3. My roomie is out, and most of my neighbours are sleeping after staying up to work on a presentation for class today, so I shall self-entertain.
3. There are new developments, but not very positive though!

Alright so here goes. He is a wine sommelier at a wine bar I went to back when we were still in Seoul. One day we decided to explore Samcheongdong, one of the more upmarket streets in Seoul well known for the bars and high end shops. We had dinner at a hotdog cafe and made friends with the boss Mr Jhops Lee. Jhops Lee is a super cool and gentlemenly old man, very charismatic as well. He invited us to his wine bar, also located in Samcheongdong, and that marks my first encounter with him at the wine bar! His name is ShinWoo Park, but more endearingly known as Shino Park among my friends and I, because I got his name wrong the first time we met. Hahaha. It was only when we went back to the wine bar a second time to visit Jhops Lee, that I found out what his real name was. He is an architecture student at Hongik University (famous for their arki department), but put his studies on hold for the moment, to pursue wine appreciation. Now, that's really charming too don't you think? Hehh. Architecture and wine, what a romantic and passionate pair! Haha..
It has been a month or more since we last popped down to the wine bar. But recently I got a call from Jhops, inviting us to the opening of his new art gallery. We went down on a wednesday evening, me in my new silk dress (which I totally adore!!), mel and lirong in their pretty dresses, all excited to meet Shino Park (aiyah, actually I was the only excited one larh hahaahha). But, I couldn't find him anywhere :( -sadness- We concluded from a short chat with Jhops that Shino Park left the wine bar :( :( -double sadness- That means that I probably will never get to see him again :( Came home and whined like mad to my roomie and Yut. Roomie said "有缘一定还会见面“.. hahaha so encouraging! And Yut gave a very cute comment " HUH I never expected it to just end like that..", to which I was thinking to myself "Aiyah it has never started in the first place" HAHAHAHA.
Yea, so that concludes my very very short but memorable "Korean fling" episode.. haha and all I have left is just 2 pictures we took together hahaha..

2008-10-22T00:15:00.000-07:00

Last wednesday was a good night away from the uninspiring and barren life in Ansan. Mel, Lirong and I headed off to Seoul in the evening to attend an opening ceremony of our friend, Jhops Lee's new art gallery. I probably have mentioned how we got to know Mr Lee in previous posts. But I think I haven't mentioned how cool he is! He is this old, unshaven man with silver locks. The coolest thing is that, he only wears red and black! And with that he always wears his signature black bowl hat. He is the coolest gentlemen around, plus he's so artsy and friendly!
I enjoyed the night tremandously. It was the night we met many successful Korean people - lawyers, business women, people from many walks of life. It was a night I tried to put on my best behaviour and tried to act like an adult, making small talks and receiving namecards that people my parent's age tip out to me. It was a taste of what I'd probably be doing very often when I step out into the society. But most importantly, it was a much needed break from the boring life we lead in the villages of Ansan.

The man himself!

There was a really comfy little wooden deck on the third level of the gallery, overlooking Samcheongdong all lighted up at night, where you can linger with a glass of wine and enjoy the sights and sounds of the area.

All of us! The lady with the orange scarf is Dawn, this fellow Singaporean whom I got to know through Mr Lee. She has been working here for 2 and a half years already! We had a really good chat about all the things we miss back home, and it was really comforting to hear familiar street names like Toa Payah and Chua Chu Kang. All those made my heart skip a beat! haha.

2008-10-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

I totally forgot about the pictures taken in Jeju until someone asked me about them just now! There are simply too many to be uploaded on this blog, but thankfully Mel has very diligiently uploaded them all in facebook! So here are the links, hopefully they work! :)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=157808&id=854285313 Day 1 (Mel's cam)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158047&id=854285313 Day 1 (Lirong's)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158071&id=854285313 Day 2 Part 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=158093&id=854285313 Day 2 Part 2

Day 3 and 4 coming up soon!

My camera died on me so there are no pictures from my camera, but.. it means that I'm THAT close to joining the ranks as the owner of a DSLR :)

2008-10-14T10:57:00.000-07:00

Our first overnight shopping escapade, which lasted from 10pm to 5am! Check out our loot for the day! We are happy campers!

Crit day

2008-10-14T03:45:00.000-07:00

I realised i have yet to blog about crit day! So here goes...

I had my first official crit in Hanyang on thursday! Submission and Crit were on the same day so we went back to wash up at 9am in the morning despite working overnight the day before. Overall it went quite well and it was quite an experience. There wasn't an official list of presentation sequence so the tutors just called up random groups as and when they liked. Plus there was one particular smart alec prof who spoke more than he should and kept showing off. It was like the groups presented for 10 mins, and the prof goes on to reiterate what the group had just said and then goes on to give his critique for the next 20 mins. And this goes on for every single group! But I think he was quite interesting and insightful, and he studied under Peter Eisenman! Anyway, I was the official photographer for the day, albeit a self-declared one! heh.. I just hogged on to Sky's camera for the whole day and started snapping away.

Check out my 10cm high heels hahaha! I almost couldn't make it to school. Had to sit down and take a break twice throughout the journey to school.. and on the way back to the dorm I had to walk barefooted cos the shoes were really killing me!

What people do when they're bored during crit...

Or when they didn't sleep the night before...

Guess who got starstruck today??

2008-10-10T10:34:00.000-07:00

It's all too surreal to me, I still can't believe it happened! : )

2008-10-06T09:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a whole load of fun with really good company! It was Korea's founder's day, so there was a fireworks competition held at Yoeido in Seoul. Lirong, Mel and I really wanted to check out the Leeum musuem because the buildings were designed by famous architects such as Mario Botta, Jean Nouvel and Rem Koolhaas. So we took a long subway ride, switched trains 3 times, and finally met Yongseok and Byongwoo at the museum in Seoul. Yongseok and Byongwoo are Lirong's friends whom she met when she was travelling in Vietnam! They're studying in the Air Force academy, and it's kinda like a university also, just that on top of having normal lectures, they learn how to fly planes too, like fighter jet pilots! On top of that, they're on full government scholarship and have to go through interviews and examinations before they are finally selected. In other words, only the cream of the crop can get in I suppose. Haha, so they pretty much have the whole package cos they're rather good looking, smart, and really nice and gentlemenly! But... they're only 20! hahahah!

The museum trip was rather boring because we were really hungry, and every art piece that I saw reminded me of food!!! I think there was a painting or sculpture by a guy called Jean Debuffet or something along that line. And then suddenly Byongwoo said " ahh PEAGUPAKKKK" (which means hungry in korean), and then covered up "Jean De-" leaving only "buffet". Hahaha it was really quite funny. I couldn't remember much about the art in the museum because in the first place we were more interested in the architecture of the museum itself. We didn't manage to get into the Rem Koolhaas building cos that one usually only opens when there are special exhibitions. We did get a glimpse from the outside though. I think out of the two buildings we entered, I kinda prefered the Mario Botta one, as compared to the one designed by Jean Nouvel. Mario Botta's design was his usual signature brick cladded facade, just that this time round, he created a curved form, inspired by traditional korean pottery if I'm not wrong. I like how the walls slant slightly on the interior, which made me feel slightly giddy actually, but I guess his intention was to direct our eyes towards the centre of the rotunda, which has a skylight on the top. I really liked how the spaces are created around a high volume space in the middle and each gallery is like a strip of space circling the rotunda. When you are in the gallery spaces, it is dark, but as you approach the rotunda, you start seeing natural lighting flowing into the gallery space, and its very poetic how you are just drawn towards the stairway in the rotunda (that brings you to the other galleries on other levels) and how natural lighting just flows so gently into the spaces, while allowing the deeper parts of the gallery to still be dark. It's hard to describe, guess one just has to be there to experience it. But here are some interior shots of the rotunda I found online.

Credit: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/472448683_0f751a31b4.jpg?v=0

Credit: http://www.sidhin.com/Calumn/building/images/leeum_4.jpg

Credit: http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1128/762407150_fdb0b51b4f.jpg?v=1183998395

The one by Jean Nouvel on the other hand felt really messy. I felt that the spaces weren't very organised and somehow there wasn't really a clear indication of where to go etc. It felt like the spaces had no guiding principle behind them. But well that was just my own personal take on it, I might be wrong haha. Still, one particular thing I like about the Jean Nouvel one was how the spaces had different volumes and different heights, so it allowed a lot of interaction between the different levels.

After the museum, we made a trip to myeong dong for Indian food! We had 4 different kinds of curry, tandoori chicken and butter naan, garlic naan, and honey naan! Haha but not many pictures cos we were too busy eating to do anything else.

Then with a full stomach it was time to head to Yoeido for the fireworks! We managed to get a good seat climbing up this terraced slope and sitting on the crash barrier, which was really tough on the bum haha. And on that night I realised how thoughtful and sweet yongseok is. The night before we met, he text Lirong saying that it'd be cold watching fireworks by the Hangang river, and reminded us to dress warm. In the afternoon when we met him, he was carrying a big bag and I was wondering to myself why he brought so much barang barang along. But when we were waiting for the fireworks to start, he suddenly fished out two blankets from his bag! He actually brought the blankets cos he thought we might we cold! On top of that, he brought along cookies and snacks too. Haha I was really impressed by how thoughtful he is. Whoever becomes his girlfriend is really really lucky larh haha.

Mel and I waiting for the fireworks display to start.. It was going to be an hour long!

That's Byongwoo at the extreme right, and Yongseok next to him.

All of us, except Lirong who is taking the picture!

The expressway next to the river. When the fireworks started, all the cars just stopped to watch the display. No one cared about the traffic haha.

That's me, and Byongwoo's shoes with the cityscape in the background! And the insane amount of people who gathered for the display. Somehow I like this picture haha.

And finally, the fireworks! I think it was one of the most magnificent display I've seen. There was one part where they put fireworks under the bridge and the whole bridge lighted up like a waterfall of sparklers! It was soooo gorgeous :) Some of the fireworks just looked so beautiful it was as though God sprinkled gold dust from heaven :)

Yep so we parted after the display, with Lirong, Mel, Sungwook and I heading back to our prison in Ansan, and Yongseok and Byongwoo heading back home. I really had an awesome day, and each time we hang out with Yongseok and Byongwoo it's always a lot of fun. Can't wait for the next outing! :) :)

2008-10-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

My roomie eloped with her boyfriend to Busan over the long weekend, leaving me alone at home for 4 days and 3 nights! I woke up and saw this stuck on my table haha.Anyway being nice as I am, I decided to clean up the room so that roomie will get a surprise when she comes home to a spanking clean room!
This is our room before the major clean up. hahah check out the mess!
My table
My bed with a million things piled on top.
And this is after half a day of packing from 2am to 6am! (yes i packed in the middle of the night, im nocturnal haha) I cleaned up the common window ledge we shared, usually to put the shared items like fruits, water, tissue etc.

I dug out all the hangers and hung up roomie's jackets and coats, and folded the clothes that were strewn all over her bed, and hung them up neatly.
I hung up my own coats too! and finally made the beds, the first time since we got here? haha usually we are so busy rushing to class we don't even bother to fold the blankets, since we're going to use it again at night haha.

After packing, I swept and moped the floor, packed my cupboard and did a bit of laundry. And now the room is so clean and neat and I feel so domesticated! haha : )

2008-10-04T10:09:00.000-07:00

My father called a few days ago because he said that my mom wanted to know if my cold was getting any better. At that time I was in Seoul shopping. My father asked if I’ve been shopping for warm clothings and I told him that I got an autumn coat for less than 100 bucks. He asked if I’ve gotten clothes for winter, to which I replied “还没有啦, 但是有看到一件喜欢的，不过很贵，两百多块。”

“aiyah, 冬装都是那个价钱的啦，百多两百块，喜欢就买啦.” was my father’s reply.

And that came from someone who would think twice before even spending that amount of money on himself. I really am so loved.

爸爸的爱真的大过于一切。

More Love!!

2008-10-03T03:28:00.001-07:00

Wheeeee!! A second parcel came in the mail yesterday! I'm a happy camper! haha :)
I came home after sitting through 6 hours of crit, sleeping through 1 and a half hours of history lecture, and one whole night without sleep to see my name written on the board!! My heart skipped a beat even though I was dead tired and exhuasted. So I went to the guard house immediately, but not before putting down all my barang barang, digging out my camera and taking a picture!

This time round its love from Chek!! hee look at the box covered with stamps hehh.

It's speedpost ok! The postage must have costs a bomb :(

More goodies for Huixian!!!! yayy!

Haha Chek sent me a little keychain with my name on top which she and William got for me during their trip to Penang to visit Will's grandparents. It says 友谊万岁! haha damn old school right, like the kind of presents we used to get for our friends when we were in primary school! But I like it a lot, easily the best thing in the parcel :) The present is very Chek, simple, a little bit orbiang, hahahaha but very very sweet, genuine, and very meaningful! I likeeee :) I'm using them for my dormitory room keys now! So when I open my door everyday, I'd think of you Chek! haha :) Chek sent panadol too! Cos I complained about the hospital being very far away and that there are no pharmacies around here! Heh..

Then there's bah kwah too!!! Omg, individually vacumn packed pieces!

And I just had to lay all the food down on my bed and take a picture of it. Look at the insane amount of instant food Chek sent haha. My fav's the instant porridge, especially the duck flavour one. My ah ma always cooks it for me whenever I stay home for lunch. ahhh I miss my ah ma :(
Haha yea so that almost sums up what Chek sent me. I feel very loved :) Thank you Chek, and I love you!!

Love from Singapore!

2008-09-30T18:54:00.000-07:00

I was woken up at 7am this morning by a call from the guard house! He spoke in korean which my roomie couldn't understand so she hung up. I remember mumbling some gibberish and went back to sleep after that. At 8am, he called again, and I managed to make out 3 words he was saying amidst the string of korean - "lobby, now come". Then it suddenly dawned on me that I borrowed the key from the guard house yest afternoon cos I forgot my keys, and have not returned it! So he probably called because of that. I went down quickly with the keys. But when I got there, he handed me a package and asked me if it was my name written on the box. For a moment I couldn't recognise the name, who is "Bye Hye Han"?? haha then i realised it was me!!! It was a package addressed to my room but I wasn't registered as Bye Hye Han in the guard's log book, that probably explains why he personally called instead of writing my name on the board next to the stairs like he usually does for all packages. So I signed for the package and happily brought it up to my room. All the time feeling really warm even though I was standing there for a good ten minutes only in shorts and t-shirt. I opened the package, and realise it was love from Yuxun and Qinyou and Ellyn back home! It was such a pleasant surprise and I would have cried if I wasn't in my sleepy stupor. So now that I'm more awake, I took pictures of the package and am writing about it, cos it's really such a nice feeling receiving love from home, and everything in the package was just what I really needed! Yay :)

A pretty sweater, my favourite pilot pens which I couldn't find here in Korea, chocolates, and BAH KWAH!!!! And on top of that, a whole box of love from home. What more can I possibly ask for?? :) :) :) I can't wait to be home!

Thank you lovelies!

2008-09-27T10:48:00.000-07:00

I bought my new autumn coat today! at a steal for 69,000 Won, roughly 100 bucks sing! hee navy blue and really really cute : )

2008-09-24T11:17:00.000-07:00

My roomie came home drunk today!!!! haha so I being evil as usual, took unglam pictures of her.. hahaha but she's still the drunkard I love the most in the world : )

hahah the drunkard posing for a picture..

hahah okay larh, I shall be nice and end off with a really pretty picture of my roomie. She's a really nice girl and I really do love her. We talk a lot and sometimes from dark to dawn! I'm a blessed girl cos I've got a roomie who spreads peanut butter on my bread, leaves breakfast for me on my table, shares her food supplies with me, tells me I'm perfectly fine when I whine about being fat, and most importantly, tolerates my dirty living habits and my constant grumbling. She makes everything a lot more bearable, so meet my roomie everyone : )

2008-09-22T10:46:00.000-07:00

I spent my first overnight in studio on Monday, and I felt so miserable. And it didn’t help that my eyes were watery and my nose wet and runny. I exploded at some people, because I felt like they didn’t understand what I was going through. But its because I’m always like that when I’m sick, feeling vulnerable and miserable, and therefore highly irritable. So I’m sorry to all the people who had to bear the brunt of my misery. Be patient with me alright?

After studio I went back to the dorm to sleep until my roomie came home. I was in so much pain I had difficulty standing but the hospital was really far away and there were no pharmacies or clinics around. I was tossing around in the bed because the pain in my stomach was really too much to bear, until I reminded myself that at times like these, I should just pray. And it was only after I prayed that the pain subsided and I fell asleep. I’m still sick now, down with a bad cold and sore throat. And the weather is starting to turn harsh already. Today I left the dorm with a cardigan and scarf, and still I felt really cold in studio :( My nose and fingers felt frozen. Gosh I’m so not prepared for the sudden change in the weather. I should do some autumn and winter shopping soon…

Mentor-Mentee Outing + Haircut!

2008-09-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

My mentor brought me to Ewah for a haircut today :) She's a really pleasant and helpful korean lady majoring in English. When I told her I needed to go for a haircut, she went online to the forums to research for a reputable hairsalon, and asked all her friends for a good place. So we ended up at a salon called Marshall, in front of Ewah Women's University (that place is well known for beauty shops and shopping!). I ended up buying my first ever pair of super heels, 10cm tall! hahah :) Bought a t-shirt for my brother also cos it's his birthday on the 28th of Sept!

before the haircut!

after! haha still very much the same :) And that's my Hanyang student ID card!
After the haircut we met sky and adeline, as well as this other korean friend of ours, majoring in mechanical engineering. He's a really really kind guy, and funny too! Makes me laugh a lot :) We went to the area in front of Hongik University, well known for the bars and clubs. But, we ended up in a cafe instead haha, with rocking chairs and swings as seats! Throughout supper I kept thinking to myself that Jordan, my korean friend looks like some superstar, but I couldn't pinpoint who it was exactly, until I came home and googled, and told Adeline about it. Then we both concluded that he looks like Andy Hui!! hahaha check out the resemblence mann.

So with that, I ended my day feeling very happy, both with the haircut, and the wonderful company!

2008-09-19T09:57:00.000-07:00

credits sparklethots

ahhh I really love love love love love this! It's so cute and dainty! but it's only available from a singaporean online store. someone offer to buy it for me please? for christmas? hahaha joking la, some kind soul back home please offer to buy it for me first and I'd pay you back when I get back : )

haphaphaphappiness!

2008-09-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

4 consecutive late nights have made my eyebags bigger than I've ever known them to be. And this morning, I have finally reached my limits! I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed, so I skipped class, and slept in, till noon! Haha.
But today was a really really happy day! The professors opened up a competition for the architecture students to design a new entrance for our school building! All the architecture students across the years were divided into 18 groups, because there are 18 students from Singapore. We were given one week to conceptualise the ideas, produce detailed drawings, 3D images, and a model 1:50 scale. Today I had the honour of representing my team to share our ideas with the profs and all the students. Unfortunately, or fortunately, we drew lots and my team had to go first!

The presentation went pretty well I guess, maybe cos I don't know most of the people that's why. Anyway, allow me to present to you, my group's design for the school entrance. The concept was to create a cosy and intimate space that allows for interaction, creating an entrance space that is for the students. It's really simple actually.

Interior spaces with varied furniture heights. We studied how the height and width of a single block could provide different functional uses, like 450mm for seat, 700mm for table, 500mm for planter box etc. Then we created a configuration of all these elements which encourages the most interaction, and divided the area into 3 main enclaves for people to use.

And the good news is, we won second prize! The truth is, I really enjoyed these few nights of discussion. Though we always discuss till unearthly hours, but I like the interactivity and the enchange of ideas! Everyone will open their sketchbook, lay their design sketches on the table and all of us will hover round the table and discuss. Shouldn't this be the way architecture should be taught and learnt? I think our hardwork really paid off, and I can't be more proud of what we produced in the end : )

Oh, and guess what was our prize from the profs? We won ourselves a carton of cup noodles! The winning team got TWO cartons hahahahaah!

Half of my lovely lovely team, with our carton of noodles, and our certificate of award! I'm so so so proud of us!! :):)

2008-09-17T10:42:00.000-07:00

"I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man in there had not brought Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to marry Heathcliff, now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am.Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton's is as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire."

-Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte

I have a sudden desire to re-read this book, such a powerful and poetic depiction of both love and hate..

안녕하세요!

2008-09-15T09:50:00.001-07:00

헌국 [han-kook] -- Korea
한양대학교 [han-yang-dae-hag-kyo] -- Hanyang University
건축학 [kon-chuk-hag] -- the study of Architecture
안녕하세요 [an-nyong-ha-seh-yo] -- hello/how are you?
감사합니다 [kam-sa-hap-ni-da] -- thank you!

and this is my name: 배해한 [bae-hye-han]

: ) : ) : )

My mentor came down to my room to help me with my korean homework. And after just 20 mins, my brain feels like I just sat through a 5 hour studio session! My brain is fried. Korean language is so difficult!

2008-09-13T09:39:00.000-07:00

This is a constant reminder of how loved and blessed I am. I don't say this often, but I love you papa and mummy. Thank you both for being the best thing that happened in my life.

2008-09-12T20:55:00.001-07:00

“But he must acquaint himself with many narratives from history; for architects often incorporate many ornamental features in the designs of their works, of which they must be able to give a reasoned account, when asked why they added them.” (Vitruvius, I.i.5)

My Metropolis!

2008-09-10T10:56:00.000-07:00

I made my own metropolis in studio today! haha they're so tiny and cute, really made my day : )

2008-09-09T01:00:00.000-07:00

It has been a very humbling experience these few days for me as I learn and think about many issues in life. It has become extremely evident to me recently, the importance of edification with our words and actions. During service on sunday, the Pastor was talking about 2 Tim 2:15 - " Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." , but the verse that jumped out at me was the following verse "Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly." It's important to note that "avoid[ing] godless chatter" was the first and therefore most significant instruction God gave for us to obey in order for us to be "approved". Maybe it's because we live in a society where we often share in each other's lives. Maybe it's because humans are generally curious creatures and we're always wanting to be "in the know". Therefore we unintentionally indulge in gossips. How often is it that we find ourselves asking "what what what? what happened? tell me about it!"
These few days, I've been pondering a lot over this, and asking God how I can be in the world but not of the world. Which explains the anti-socialness, really. I remember my mom used to tell me "if you have nothing good to say then don't say it". I used to hear that all the time, but I wonder how come it never got into my system. These few days, I've been trying hard to practice that, to be edifying with my words, to encourage instead of discourage, to compliment instead of criticise. Yet at the same time, it's important not to end up indulging in flattery, or senseless humouring. I guess at the end of the day it is important that we say something only if we mean it.
I'm glad I'm going through this whole contemplating phase, because it made me realise how long it has been since I stopped to reflect on my life, on myself, and my walk with God. It made me realise that in the process of trying to keep up with the rat race and the self-gratifying indulgence that life offers us, I have neglected a lot. I know I have been rather down lately and haven't been very good company and I apologise to those people who had to put up with my striaght face and monosyllabic replies for the past few days. This will probably be one of the last few emo entries because I want to rejoice in the Lord! Can't shun away from people for too long also cos it's unhealthy, and how to share God's love when there's no interaction? All the people back in Singapore, please continue praying for me yea, that God will continue to tame my tongue, and continue to mould me throughout my stay here in Korea.

Continue to pray for my family also because I really really miss home, not because it sucks being here, but really because I just want to be back in the company of my parents, to have them nag at me, and simply because I know that no human on earth would ever love me as much as they do. Urgh I really really miss my parents :'(

2008-09-06T07:47:00.000-07:00

People who understand me know that I would never have meant it that way. I'm sorry if it bothered you or if my actions and words have made you feel less of a friend to me. But believe me that I never wanted things to turn out this way.

I feel as though I'm terribly misunderstood. A part of me thinks that I should confront, I should try and clarify things. But I asked myself, what would Jesus have done? He probably would have left it as it is. Many times during Jesus' life, He was misunderstood. The people thought He was a cheat, they scorned Him, they treated Him badly. But Jesus never once tried to retaliate, He continued to do what is right, He continued to allow God to work through Him. He died on the cross for sins He did not even commit, but still, He trusted, and He obeyed. Jesus, the one who is so perfect and so pure, allowed Himself to be misunderstood, what about me, a flawed and tarnished person? Would I have done the same if I were Him? My pride tells me that I should prove them wrong, but God tells me to surrender, to submit.

I guess you're right, not retaliating or fighting back is not a sign of meekness or weakness, neither is it a sign of acceptance to what is going on, it's a sign of surrender, a sign of resillence.

I was disappointed and hurt, but now I'm fine and I feel God's peace within me. At the end of the day, I'd emerge from this stronger, and closer to God, and that's all that matters.

2008-09-05T00:09:00.000-07:00

My korean friend came by and gave me flowers today! It's handmade! : ) really made my day!

2008-09-01T06:08:00.000-07:00

I was telling myself this morning that I aspire to be the Eternal Optimist, but I figured that it's going to be awfully tiring being cheerful all the time. I'm human, and I have my frowns too no? So forgive me while I take a moment to be by myself and embrace the overwhelming emotions that I'm feeling right now..

2008-08-31T06:50:00.000-07:00

This is my address in Korea!

Student Residence Hall 2 Room number 311
Hanyang university,Sa-Dong,
Sangrok-Gu,Ansan, Kyunggi-Do,South Korea

The people in Singapore, you guys know what to do! I am craving for bahkwa, kaya, pineapple tarts...
and the weather is turning cold too! So all the love from Singapore are welcome :)

2008-08-25T17:58:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary,

Today is the saddest day of my life since I arrived in Korea. It’s one of those days which I just feel like gradually fading away, not see or talk to anyone, and just retreat into my safe little world.
Today, I went back to Spacegroup to look for my team, just to say a final goodbye before I move to the Ansan campus. I left them a Polaroid of myself with the bouquet of flowers they gave me, because the boss said they wanted to remember me.
Today, I’m leaving Space for real, leaving that nice team of people who have been so kind to me ever since I joined them. I wished I could be better at expressing my gratitude but when I bidded them goodbye I found myself at a loss for words. All I could do was to keep saying “thank you”. My boss gave me one last hug. And when I left my office I shocked myself because tears starting welling up in my eyes and I just couldn’t stop myself from crying. I know I’m sounding like some emotional wreck but I just felt really sad when I realized that I probably wouldn’t get to see some of these people again. I’d never forget how they tried to make me feel like I was part of the team, how they were so supportive of everything that I did and gave me so many opportunities. They didn’t brush me off just because I was a year 3 student without much knowledge of how this industry works in the real world. They made me feel appreciated, like I meant something and it’s a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction I get when I work with them. I don’t know why I’m so emotionally attached to the place and the people, despite having spent only a month there. But all I know is that this office really feels like home, and these people are like family to me. I don’t think there is anything I can do to repay them for their kindness, so I left them my Singapore contact details, and hopefully one day when they visit Singapore, I can be as good a host to them, as they have been to me.

And off to church we go!

2008-08-24T07:25:00.000-07:00

This is how I typically spend my sunday here! Marc, Richard, Lirong, Mel, Sungwook and I will usually go for contemporary service in the afternoon, then we'd have a scrumptous lunch, followed by dessert, and then shopping! :) :) It's great company, great food, and great fun!

This is Songwook the korean with Mel's pink umbrella.. I realised koreans can't stand the heat during summer. Most of them will take summer holidays to escape the heat. Either that or they will just shamelessly snatch a girl's umbrella, like what Sungwook did haha. By the way, Sungwook is this guy who came to NUS for exchange last sem, and because he was the leader back then, Prof Shin gave him the sacred job of bringing us around this time round. So that's what he has been doing since the day we arrived. No wonder he says he feels like a baby sitter, I would too haha.

That's Richard, the guy who takes really telling and thought-provoking pictures.

Omu- rice!Someone mentioned that I always look happy with my food! Well who wouldn't be right? Check out the fish cutlet I ordered! Comes with really savoury jap curry!

Mel looks happy too! Think she's having hamburger steak with omu rice.

And here's Richard again, trying to fix the chair that he broke. hahaa

Dessert for the day! Yoghurt ice cream at red mango! I think it was really expensive! Think 30 bucks for 2 of that?

The satisfied customers

The REALLY satisfied customer! Anyway Richard took shots of us without us knowing, and I think they turned out really well! : )

2008-08-18T06:49:00.000-07:00

I took a weekend trip to Gyeongju and Busan because Friday was Korea’s independence day so we had the day off from work. It was a rather spontaneous trip, we just booked the accommodations, packed our bags, and left. I must say I really enjoyed what I saw and experienced.
We arrived at Gyeongju after a 5 hour bus ride. Stupid me left my ipod on the bus despite reminding myself to take it just a few minutes before we reached the destination. I think all the coffee that I have been drinking everyday in the office must have been killing my brain cells because my memory is getting from bad to worse. So yea, obviously I was upset coz it was a Christmas present from my uncle, but no point moping over it, really gotta be more careful with my belongings the next time. Anyway our day at Gyeongju started in the mid afternoon and it was quite miserable. It was one of those “i-woke-up-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-bed” days where everything seemed to go haywire. We visited the Bulguksa Temple, which I heard is a must-see in Gyeongju. The temple was really lovely with all the intricate woodcraft accentuated with vibrant spouts of colours.

It was right at the peak of the mountain and so we took a rented vehicle up to the halfway mark, and trekked the rest of the way. I got increasingly excited as I approached the temple on the peak because it was foggy and it eventually dawned on me that I was about to be in the company of the clouds! For a moment it really felt like we’ve all gained enlightenment and I felt so so close to heaven!

Haha. Then it started raining, and that was the beginning of a horrible trek up the mountain to see some Buddha statue carved out of a granite cave. The trek up the mountain was pretty therapeutic because the delay of the circulation probably allowed us to calm our minds and hearts and prepare ourselves into a state of “worship”.

But halfway through it started to rain so the skies turned grey and gloomy, and it didn’t help that there was a whole thick canopy of trees that blocked out the already limited amount of sunlight we had. It became extremely miserable when it started to pour with accompanying winds. We ended up cold, hungry and miserable. Some of us got quite wet we really looked quite pathetic.

Our dinner was bad as well because we met a table of cheekopeks who tried to talk to us. The food wasn’t comforting at all and so we ended our horrible day eating snacks we got from the supermarket nearby, all the time praying that the next two days in Busan would be good.

And well it was indeed better. A feel hiccups here and there which tested our patience, but really reminded me again, the importance of compromise. We took a 1.5hr bus ride and arrived at Busan feeling really hungry. We went our separate ways to check in at our various dorms because we couldn’t find one that could accommodate all of us. Our dorm was a residential apartment converted into a 10man dorm. I meet people from Netherlands and Denmark but they weren’t very friendly, so yea ain’t particularly happy with the accommodation.
Our first destination for the day was the UN War Memorial.

There’s something about memorial spaces that always makes me want to quieten down, retreat into a peaceful corner and just dwell. Memorial spaces somehow make me feel calm and secure, but yet it resonates with feelings of deep loss and absence that penetrates right into the depths of your emotions; I cannot help but be overwhelmed by the whole experience.

The Wall of Remembrance presents the names of those who sacrificed for world peace. Each name, lined in neat print is carefully etched onto the highly polished granite, and allows one to see his own reflection on the wall with the names as a backdrop.

Seeing my own reflection on the wall was a good reminder of how these people sacrificed their own lives, so that we can have a chance to see ourselves live, As I ran my fingers across those names, feeling the textures of those etched surfaces, I mumbled my prayers, and gave thanks for everything that I have.

We visited the APEC building where Korea hosted the meeting in 2005. I’ve never heard of this building prior to this, the only thing I remember is the news showing the representatives from each country wearing the Korean hanbok specially designed for this event.

And my own take on this piece of architecture? I don’t think the form is very enticing; in fact I didn’t like the circular plan cos it makes the building look rather trivial. But, I think that there were some really good experimentation with materials and it was a harmonious marry of steel, glass, and timber. The best part though, was the garden! There were a lot of open green spaces for people to interact and relax. Maybe I’d visit again in autumn, when all the leaves start turning orange and red, I bet it’d be super gorgeous!

The most memorable part of the night was going to the jinjibang (public bathhouse)! It was such a crazy experience. It started out really traumatizing because I’ve never seen so many naked women all contained within one place. Everyone was walking around in an extremely indifferent manner. It kinda reminded me of the story of the king’s new cloak haha. My friends and I chickened out coz it was just too awkward for us to strip naked in front of each other, So we got changed into pink clothes (which looked like those you see in mental asylums) without showering, and headed to the sauna upstairs. After close to 45 mins in the 50degrees steam room,, I felt like a little shriveled prune with all the liquid evaporating out of my body, I left the sauna, and after some persuasion from my friend, finally mustered enough courage to try the pools. It was definitely a super embarrassing experience but after a while no one stares anymore. Because there were so many naked women you just get super immuned, and then you’d just look at what is above the neck, instead of looking at what is below the neck. Haha. It was nice because after soaking in all the hot and cold pools, there’s a little vanity corner where they provide moisturizer and lotion. So everyone just slaps on lotsa moisturizer and leaves the place feeling really happy and pampered, It was definitely a bizarre experience, but nonetheless I had fun! : )

The third day we had an architectural tour! We visited Beomeosa Temple in the morning. Again it was one of those colourful temples built out of primitive olden day materials, but was breathtakingly beautiful because of the craftmen’s skills.

Second stop was to the Busan Stadium by Spacegroup! All along I’ve only seen the model downstairs at the lobby of my office, and I can’t believe that I actually got to visit the architecture. I think its really one of the more iconic buildings that Space has done, and I feel so proud that I can call myself a part of this firm. The stadium was spectacular nonetheless, especially when we had the whole stadium to ourselves! When I was there I had this overwhelming sense of happiness. Seeing something so spectacular made me fall in love with architecture all over again. I'm so in love with this profession!

We made a brief stop at the National Pension Corporation building to take a look coz it won the Korean architecture prize or something. But, nothing spectacular, its one of those double glazing steel and glass buildings again.

Had street snacks for dinner before heading to the station to catch the train back to Seoul.
So yep, that was what my weekend consisted of – food, fun, laughter and inspiring architecture.. now it’s back to work...

2008-08-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

"I'm looking for selfishness. Perfect selfishness. Like, say I tell you I want to eat strawberry shortbread, and you stop everything you're doing and run out and buy it for me. You come back out of breath and get down on your knees and hold this strawberry shortbread out to me, and I say I don't want it anymore and throw it out of the window. That's what I'm looking for."

"I'm not sure that has anything to do with love," I said with amazement.

"It does," she said. "You just don't know it. There are times in a girl's life when things like that are incredibly important."

"Things like throwing strawberry shortbread out of the window?"

"Exactly. And when I do it, I want the man to apologise to me. 'Now I see, Midori. What a fool I've been! I should have known that you would lose your desire for strawberry shortbread. I have all the intelligence and sensitivity of a piece of donkey shit. To make it up to you, I'll go out and buy you something else. What would you like? Chocolate mousse? Cheesecake?"

"So then what?"

"So then I'd give him all the love that he deserves for what he's done."

"Sounds crazy to me."

"Well, to me, that's what love is. Not that anyone can understand me, though. For a certain kind of person, love begins from something tiny or silly. From something like that or it doesn't begin at all."

- Haruki Murakami

2008-08-09T23:56:00.000-07:00

And so, I ended up taking a picture with him at the winebar..
will update how it all started when I get back from the office tmr :)

Dogporky!

2008-08-09T11:12:00.000-07:00

Mel, Lirong and I had a really good day of fun! We started our day with dogporky, which is korean ricecake with cheese, seafood, dumplings and maggie noodles all in a pot of spicy soup! After you finish eating the ingredients in the soup the lady will remove most of the soup from the pot and add rice, seaweed, corn, and mix everything up! Mashita!

2008-08-09T09:29:00.000-07:00

Our virgin trip to the toy museum in Korea saw us taking many insane pictures, some of which are too embarressing to be uploaded. But here are some selected shots, all in the name of good fun!

Spiderman!

This one's for you spidey! :) :)
Awww..I grew up watching sesame street! Lirong's feeble attempt to look like batman hahaha..
I obviously loveeeee batman, if you haven't already realised.. This is mel and her attempt to imitate Angelina Jolie. Hahaha this picture looks damn bian tai mel!!!
Mel looking at Darth Vader intently, but our dear vader doesn't seem to interested!But I still love Darth!

2008-08-09T08:20:00.000-07:00

We just had to do this in a bid to show our patriotism for good ol' sunny Singapore. So there you have it, the Singapore flag that we proudly hung outside the girls' dorm. Happy Birthday Singapore! :)

Krispy Kremes Day!!! :):)

2008-08-05T07:46:00.000-07:00

Today was one of those days when I have a tremendous craving for chinese food. So off we went after work to search for a chinese restaurant! Check out what we found!

Clockwise from top left: Sweet and sour pork with rice, mixed sauce noodles (cha-jiang-mian), seafood fried rice, fried noodles! They were horrible actually, nothing like the ones we have back home. But still I'm thankful for the break away from korean food and kimchi haha..

We were at Myeongdong, so Sungwook finally fulfilled his promise of bringing us to Krispy Kremes! The last time I had them was a year back!

The korean doesn't look very excited about the donuts..

The LEGENDARY donuts! They were 1100won each, so about S$1.50. We got the original glazed ones coz they were the best! Crisp with sugar glazing on the outside, and so delicately soft on the inside.

Final picture before we left for home..

2008-07-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

I just got these pictures from Lirong and just had to blog about this meal we had!! Haha it was at this traditional korean restaurant in Myeongdong that our friend brought us to. Look at the spread!!! I think we counted and there were at least 30-40 dishes? The only dishes we ordered were the big plate of pork in the middle and the steam egg, everything else came free!

2008-07-25T00:28:00.000-07:00

Day 1: Upon reaching the airport!

The girls pointing to our flight, KE 642! We took Korean airlines and I thought that since it was Korea's national airline the service would be at least decent. But I was so wrong. They served their meals at weird timings, and woke everyone up at 3am for breakfast! Lirong had to take her medicine before that so she asked if they had some small finger food but the air stewardess handed her a pack of peanuts and said that's all they have. When Lirong asked if they have something a little more filling, the most absurd thing happened. The air stewardess handed her 2 packets of peanuts! HAHA I cannot imagine that actually happened.

Us waiting for our luggages. I realised that my luggages, including my laptop bag and my top, are all in shades of pink! eeeeks looks super bimbotic together haha.

Meet Yuting my room mate! She's going to be the first person I am going to see when I wake up every morning. (Thankfully she's pretty!) She's going to be the one who will have to put up with the mess I create, listen to me whine when I miss home, and hopefully save my ass if anything happens. Room mate I love you!

Another one of the people I'd have to depend on when I'm in Korea. Mel is blur and forgetful, but patient and forgiving, I'm slightly more alert but impulsive and stubborn. Think we're gonna need to rely a lot on each other to stay out of trouble!

Meet our friendly dormitory security guard, who insisted on taking a picture with my roommate and even asked for her email. What a lousy pickup line. Looks like I'd have to start protecting my roommate from chee ko peks loitering around. Yikes.

And this is our room! Not too bad eh? We're all quite happy with it coz it comes with an attached bathroom!

Outside the guy's dorm. The girls are in another block. This is our regular meeting place!

Sights and sounds of the Korean streets..

Sights and sounds of the streets in Korea..

Neighbourhood wet market

This is where we had our first meal in Korea. In Korea it is very common to find such small family owned restaurants. These are more or less the cheaper places you can find, with the cost of each meal roughly 3000-5000W (about S$5-7).

Hotpot! It's the first of many hotpots that are to come my way. I'd better train myself to conquer chilli instead of letting it conquer me :(

Then we took our first subway ride! From Hanyang University station.

My roommate being spastic haha. I think she's really happy with her new T-money card, equivalent of our EZlink.

And so we took the subway, and headed towards Insadong, also known Art Street. It's a very quirky but artsy little street. I love how the whole street is adorned with art installations and stone sculptures. I think it is the most realistic portrayal of disneyland because there are surprises almost everywhere and if you keep your mind open and let your imagination run wild, it could be a very amazing experience.

I absolutely adore how they allow for an abundance of greenery, whether real or virtual! It just injects a lot of life into the area. And in fact I feel that the buildings become a really beautiful backdrop for the greens instead of the other way round.That's Yuting looking really satisfied : )

I have no idea why Mel has such a pained expression on her face while eating the melon. But even with that pained expression, she still makes the melon look really yummy, for some odd reason I can't pin-point haha. Anyway its quite interesting coz there's a truck that stops by the side of the road selling fruits, you buy the fruits and the boss lends you a knife. So everyone ends up standing by the side of the road cutting up the fruit and eating it on the spot haha. Koreans are really efficient eh?

Haha yep so we had a sneak peak into the lives of koreans and their culture on our first day. Hyehan is happy!

Greetings from KOREA!

2008-07-25T00:06:00.000-07:00

We're finally in Korea! This is our first group shot upon reaching the Incheon airport after a 6 hours long flight. It signifies the beginning of a journey that we're about to embark on, without our families and friends, with only each other to depend on. It will be a journey of independence as we experience the good and the bad of Korea. It will also be one which we'd get to discover more about each other, and learn how to compromise and forgive. At the end of the day, let us all just let loose and enjoy the trip while it lasts : )