Guess who got starstruck today??

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

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! :) :)

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 : )

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!!

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!

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!

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 : )