the death of verbal communication // what teaching itself has taught me

sometimes all i wanna do is pick up the phone spontaneously and ring up a friend i want to talk to very much.

-

but the idea of phone calls in society today have become something so obsolete that it feels so foreign.
when i was younger i used to anticipate with excitement all the phone calls i would get after school everyday.
i loved chatting with my best friend on the phone for hours at no end, narrowing the physical distance between us while we both watched a tv programme together.
i felt so much closer when i spoke with her on the phone as we shared laughter, made innocent remarks and formed childlike opinions about the show.

as i grew older the frequency of phone calls declined too, as with my enthusiasm for socializing.
gradually my phone calls with friends have reduced itself to nothing but a mere solemn discussion about academics, wracking our brains to solve challenging questions or just discussing over group projects.
there was nothing like a good ol' phone call that rang with light-heartedness.
it was quite sad to see such a priceless tradition die away like that.

i am indeed a real sucker for genuine heart-to-heart talks but where are they now?
everything has been stored in our mobile memory in the whatsapp application.

in the past we'd be like:

"hey! i'll call you once i'm home!!!!!"
"ok!"

and now we're like:

"ah i'll just whatsapp you later"

it's a real pity that everything is done over whatsapp.
there's no more spontaneous unreluctant phone calls that warm up your heart, there's no more exchanging of house telephone numbers.
it's sad how we're talking to our phones rather than to the intended party itself.
it's like as if our phone has become our messenger and everything is so robotic nowadays.
we punch in something we want to convey and punctuate it with appropriate emoticons in hopes that our friend could make out what we were feeling there and then, command our phones to 'send' the message and boom, our friend receives the message.

sometimes i cringe at myself for constantly using whatsapp. in fact i think the whole online chat community should feel ashamed of yourself.
i hate conversing via whatsapp, like really.
and i hate myself for using it so much even though i detest it.

communication has become so regimental and half-hearted because it's no longer unsolicited like before.
over the phone we would just speak so freely but at the same time we'd know what to say and when because we can control our words.
however over online chats it's become so much like writing an essay rather than speaking freely.

*crafts message* *deletes message* *crafts message again* *sends message after 99 times of editing*

it's like we were being forced into perfecting our words into a politically correct/socially acceptable answer instead of opening our mouths without constraint.
the latter i believe, is the true art of human connection.
there is always that loophole of online chatting - misunderstanding.
so much for the vagueness of interpreting one's emotions by conjecturing stupid theories of "oh no she last seen on me so she must be angry".
the invention of the emoji keyboard isn't serving its purpose very well either, everything can be so easily concealed with the touch of a finger.
why play guess and check when you can clearly tell how one feels when he/she speaks to you?

sometimes we fail to understand that the spoken voice is so much more powerful than written words, and it's sad.

miss having someone i could call readily/anytime i wanted and he/she would be there to listen :(

working hasn't been altogether relaxing (i mean, when is work ever chill LOL) but it definitely has been enriching and rewarding.
i never expected myself to even inch into the field of teaching because i know it really isn't my cup of tea.
i cannot stand having to deal with students because it not only is stressful on the academic part but there's also the aspect of emotional stress.
i've never liked kids and i don't think i will...
but unexpectedly (and to my own surprise), i can't believe i've landed up in this tuition job.

at the same time not only am i teaching others but i myself have learnt a lot.

as a super hot-tempered person myself this was probably the key reason why i couldn't picture myself in this job.
but over the months i have learnt how to deal with students of different personalities.
the extroverted ones and the extremely-quiet ones - each and every student that i've chanced upon at the centre is really so different but i'm glad to have crossed their paths.
whether i am teaching them personally or not i must say that i really love interacting with all these kids.
love in the sense that because i know this is kinda temporary a job, but yet i want to make as much difference in these kids as possible.
i want to be their friend and someone they can look up to/look for in times of need because we've been through all the joy and hardship of school life.
but no i won't teach for a living hahaha too stressful.
also it's made me more sensitive/aware about the things i say and do because afterall, i'm a teacher and they're my students.
like who knows if one darned word from my mouth scarred them for life.... oh no the repercussions are scary hahaha.
the best part about this is probably having my friends with me to teach alongside too :-)
when you have your old pals and new friends with you, that's a happy life :-)

little tricks, tips and trinkets about travelling to seoul

*posting this first - will update the list when i've filled in those gaps in my train of thought hoho*

after staying in seoul for 17 days, i think we've been rather accustomed to the way of korean life and have experienced a pretty decent amount of interaction with the people there.
so today i'll share some tips and tricks on saving money/getting around/fitting in and everything else :-)
i hope that this will be a useful post for those who are planning to travel to seoul because i have learnt a lot from others' experiences online on their blogs so i hope i can pay it forward too!

the planning

collate all your information on google docs

the most travel-friendly document sharing platform that i've used so far would probably be google docs.
while planning the itinerary for seoul i've done countless of drafts on pen and paper, some on microsoft word, but i always end up having to re-write/re-type information...
and what's worse is your travel buddies can't keep up with what you're planning.

so the best solution is probably to start a document in google via google docs, and just plan everything from top to toe there.
my favourite part about google docs is that it is a shared document and real-time edits can be made so you know who amended what or who suggested something.
in our google docs, we included the itinerary, a budget plan, basic survival tips (some conversational vocab list), our accommodation choices etc.
it came in really handy during our entire planning process and we could easily share the document with our parents via email invitation too so they could know where we were headed.

choose your flight/airline company wisely + BUY EXTRA BAGGAGE

forgot to mention that we took asiana airlines to korea!
air tickets are reasonably cheap when it's off-peak periods i.e. non-school-holiday months!
that's why we decided to fly by asiana, if not forget it we'd better off be flying budget.
we paid $780+ for a 2-way trip and i felt it was pretty decent for a korean airline company.
meals were provided and there was in-flight entertainment.
though we could've got other cheaper flights but nah i shan't complain. asiana was good enough.

however if you're flying during the peak periods, i'd reckon sticking to a budget airline, but obviously without compromising on the flight quality.
i think scoot/tiger airways are reliable (wait does tiger even fly to seoul i'm not sure haha) enough!
i don't see why it's necessary to splurge on air tickets because it's only a 6-7hr long flight anyway so just endure through it!!

also, i don't exactly believe in/like the idea of transit flights.
as much as it saves you a certain load of cash, the time wasted during transit is really *ouch*.
furthermore, transiting also means 1) higher possibility that you might miss your connecting flight and 2) higher possibility that there'll be a case of lost baggage.
my friend paid about $400+ for a transit flight (china eastern airlines if i'm not wrong).
i think topping up an extra twice the amount is worth it - kinda like insurance ya know? lol.

i know some may beg to differ, but what i'm trying to get at is that you ought to work out a budget plan and weigh the pros and cons of flying.
depending on whichever will suit your needs better then decide from there! :-)
just know your limits and see if every cent you are going to fork out is worth it.

OH AND THE MOST IMPORTANT REMINDER OF ALL: PLEASE BUY EXTRA BAGGAGE WEIGHT.
i cannot emphasise this enough because it was a very heart-wrenching experience for van and i.
the idea of buying extra baggage completely slipped our minds i don't even know how.
if you jolly well know you are going away for an extended period of time, do buy extra baggage (it probably only costs less than S$50) from your airline company.
don't wait you exceed the limits upon your return flight and end up having to pay $200+++ for overweight baggage.
i know how it feels because that's what happened to us both at incheon T_T
it sucks, really.

you don't need to live in a luxurious penthouse or a 10-star hotel when on holiday

face it man, we're all guilty of this when planning our idyllic holiday.
seriously, if you just do away with some of the luxuries you could be saving on a lot of cost in the long run.
if you're on holiday, you're most likely to be out and about busying yourself with exploration and cultural immersion. you're not going to be cooped up in your room/hotel/apartment all day long so why bother spending extravagantly on lodging?
i'm not saying that you pay like a meagre twenty-dollars and live in a rathole but my point is that you just have to get a reasonably comfortable apartment without burning a hole in your pocket.
and that brings me to my next point about finding cheap lodging while having a host to help you navigate around a foreign land.

airbnb is probably my personal favourite

there are many other competitors out there renting out their apartments at cheap rates such as couchsurfing and lastminute.com.
but couchsurfing seemed a bit too shady and unreliable because the website didn't seem very trustworthy and looked very underdeveloped.
lastminute.com was also pretty expensive for my pocket so i decided airbnb was the safest option.

well, airbnb is a really popular platform due to its commercialization so what i like is the wide range of apartments and how you can filter your dream lodging to your liking.
van and i both had individual preferences when it came to booking an apartment.
van wanted a big bed to herself, a washing machine (so we could do our laundry) and a television.
but for me i was looking out for was space and convenience - and i was somewhat insistent on staying in a duplex apartment then.

we didn't have much choice because we booked really late (like a month before our trip) so we had to make do with what was left.

we paid only S$76/night for the both of us which meant that it was only S$38 per person.
i think it was really reasonable considering the fact that it fulfilled both our needs.
and plus our host was really friendly and place was really just nice for two of us - check out his listing here!
he is the kind soul that made our journey back home possible because he helped us carry our severely overweight luggage to the subway station for us.

convenience is key when deciding on accomodation

after 17 days in seoul we have realized how much walking one must do when in here.
if you are travelling with many people and can't seem to decide on a suitable (by suitable i mean cheap and good) apartment, when desperate times call for desperate measures, get a place that's near a subway station.
this is very important because not only is it easy for you to locate, but it really saves a lot of trouble from getting from place to place.
also, by staying near major train stations (such as seoul station, hongik university, myeongdong, dongdaemun etc.)  you can easily cab straight back to the subway station and walk from there, rather than you living in some abandoned outskirts of seoul where you HAVE to give the cab driver the specific address (neighbourhood + street + district) before he can take you home.

initially, i was feeling regretful that we didn't get to stay near dongdaemun or hongdae because that's where the nightlife happens - and if anything happens while staying out late, our lodging would just be nearby.
but i realized that seoul station is probably the most convenient of them all.
it is situated right in the centre of seoul with 4 different subway lines that you can transit to.

perks of living near seoul station:
1) it lies on the same line as major shopping districts such as dongdaemun (line 1), myeongdong (line 4) and hongik university (arex line)

2) seoul station is the last stop for the airport express railway (arex) which means that you can travel directly from incheon airport to seoul station in 45mins for a cheap cost of S$10.

^ you may think S$10 is expensive for a train ride but you really travel in comfort because there's storage space for your luggage, the seats are really comfortable and you don't have to worry about going hungry on board too. compare this to a 1hr-long cab ride that'll probably cost you more than S$20 and you have to sit through traffic jams with a full bladder?

3) just beside seoul station is the lotte outlets + mart, a departmental store that sells everything from clothes to accessories to food to toys. food is readily available (though not 24hrs) but it's good for quick grocery shopping if you're intending to cook.

4) namdaemun market, myeongdong and namsan tower are all within walking distance (about 15-30mins) from seoul station (yes this is tried and tested by van and i because we've walked from namdaemun back home before)


packing

keep a checklist so you don't miss out

being a forgetful prick i am, i know that i always leave out small but important things like maybe a toothbrush, sanitary pads, or even my passport (?)
yes i am that forgetful....
so i decided to do myself a good favour and pack according to a list.
i found a really concise packing list from smartertravel which really helped me in my packing process a lot.
what i like is that they even sort out your belongings-to-pack into different categories like clothing, luggage and carry-on.
so if you're a clumsy, forgetful one too then this packing list is for you!

pack extra sanitary pads

this is for the girls only.
but really, even though you might just be away for 1 or 2 weeks, anything can happen.
because of weather differences your body may not be able to adapt well and hence your monthly friend may visit earlier.
well, at least that's what happened to me.
mine wasn't even supposed to come and i was only prepared for about 2 or 3 days, so it was quite annoying that i had to purchase them in korea.

well, the thing about buying sanitary pads in korea is not that it's difficult to find (unlike what i've read online).
you can buy them from all the convenience stores (gs25, c&u etc) and it's readily available.
but the main problem is that they cost a bomb!!!!!!
i know it's kinda weird ranting about the cost of pads in korea but honestly, for the same quantity it was about almost triple the price!!!
i don't even understand why, do korean women not experience the monthly horror?
like why are they even so expensive, isn't a sanitary pad a necessity for all women?
someone please enlighten me, i honestly got a bit of a cultural shock seeing the crazily jacked up prices for a ..... life-saving commodity.

so, to save yourself some pennies (or rather, won), do pack extra of these because you'll never know when you'll need them.
they might take up considerable luggage space but think about it as a long-term investment!
saves you all the trouble and the cash too.

the next section of this post will encompass everything from saving bucks to acclimatization.


tips and tricks (and maybe some things i've learnt) about the way of korean life

people and communication-wise

most koreans don't really speak english well

well i am not being a racist or underestimating their english abilities, but throughout my 17 days that i've spent there, there were really few people who could converse with us in english and actually be understood.
half the time we used hand gestures to communicate and all... we've tried countless times to use as simple english as possible but nope to no avail.
you might be surprised, even the young generation isn't very fluent too.
i thought that they'd learn some english in school but turns out not?
i met a girl at the sm entertainment building and i tried to speak with her in english but she really just didn't understand me - she just kept shooting me questions in korean which i obviously fail to catch too.
luckily she had chinese friends there so we were still able to communicate with each other!

however with that being said, that doesn't really affect communicating in korea.

but don't worry about not being understood

this was probably one of our greatest fears before and even the first few days of the trip.
it honestly won't be a problem surviving in korea while just using sign language and big hand gestures.
picking up very very simple korean will definitely come to you naturally after you've stayed there for a while, and honestly you don't really have to know how to form complete sentences to ask for things.

here are some words/phrases that i've either picked up beforehand/learnt along the way which came in really handy for us during the trip:

sajin - photograph (like if you need someone to take a photo for you, this word will suffice hahaha)
hwajangshil eodiseoyo? - where is the toilet? (super handy when you are in need of an immense release of waste matter and desperately need to find the washroom)
..... hana juseyo - one of xxxx please. (didn't really use this because for quantities i just used my fingers, but yeah it's easy to pick up)
anieyo - no (i used this word out of anger towards an ahjumma when she demanded us to pay a crazy-high price for our dinner)
kamsahamnida - thank you (you better know this)
annyeonghaseyo - hello/goodbye (even worse you die also must know)

okay that was a pretty short list....... i didn't anticipate that lol.
basically the trick to being understood in korea is really to just speak your english in a weird/unusual way.
i don't really know much korean myself (even though i'm trying to learn) but for people who watch a lot of korean shows/dramas i think you can sort of pick up their pronunciation pretty quick.
let me just reiterate the fact that you don't exactly need to know how to structure complete sentences, but rather, just speak everything with that tinge of korean to it.

(note this is my self-created nonsense but useful guide)

1) include the enunciation of the letter "h" when possible (taxi to tekshi, seaweed to shiweed-eu)
2) expand all your nouns by increasing the number of syllables and sounding "weaker" (toilet to toilet-eu, breakfast to beulakfast-eu, holiday to hOliday-eu)

yup that's basically jamie's 101 guide to being understood in seoul.
hope it works ;)

most of the locals are actually really friendly

initally van and i thought that koreans were pretty reckless/aggressive people because of all that shoving and pushing when commuting on the train.
like seriously, if they want their way, they will literally grab you by your arm or bag and push you away just so they can squeeze onto the train earlier than you actually step foot into it.
like why the hurry man???
ok actually only the older ones in korea do that, the young ones are still pretty docile and less 'kiasu'? lol
so this was actually what we observed about them initially since we struggle with the train commute every single day.
but then as time passed we realized that there was more to them than a fierce outer appearance.

people who knew minimal english saw helpless tourists like us two and offered with a big heart to help us get around.
the few days in seoul meant that we were just like two lost sheeps roaming around.
we even got lost at seoul station, the train station nearest to our place - which meant that we couldn't find our way home LOL
for your information, seoul station has 14 exits, so you can imagine how huge the place is.
so we actually ended up all the way at the other end, but a kind local went out of his way to help us when he saw we were struggling helplessly in front of the signboard.

another man helped us get from seoul folk flea market to cheonggyecheon stream and told us pretty good directions to get there :-)

so thank you very much to those who helped us get around!!!! :-)
it was nice being welcomed by your warm hospitality.

toilets are a rare gem

you know how there are crazily desperate times when you just need to relieve yourself HAHAHA
there were so many occasions that i had to go to the toilet damn urgently but couldn't find one - omg i really thought i was going to die or something.
like wtf ALL MY PEE.........

my suggestion for you is to visit the toilet during 3 crucial times. the first being before you step out of your home, the second at the train station (if you need to) and the third being during your meals.
if not you will really pay the price whilst on the subway/shopping on the streets/roaming around some abandoned historical site...

there were so many damn times i needed to pee and couldn't find the toilet.
i remember very clearly how we were on the bus to nami island and petite france but what even the minute we got on the shuttle bus I NEEDED TO PEE.
so we nearly screwed up our itinerary for the day just because of my bladder (like we wanted to stop by nami island first but petite closed at 6 just 'cos the bus stopped by the former first)
i was so desperate i just kept jumping around in the bus.
thank god we got a seat after the crowd disembarked at nami island and therefore i slept my urgency throughout WELL DONE.

so please remember to go to the toilet when necessary HAHAHAHA don't wait till like you really are on the verge of dying then you do so LOL

korea isn't a conservative society like i expected

well i got this impression mainly because of the jimjjilbang aka the saunas.
they're everywhere and honestly i kinda wanted to experience what is was like to go into a sauna and the activities that await.
until i found out that there was some point where you have to be FULLY NAKED (i think it's the hot pool)
like omg my jaw dropped when i heard this.
i know it's kinda like a cultural shock but i just cannot bring myself to be undressed in front of people that i don't know.
rather than a self-conscious mindset, i guess it's because we come from a conservative society hence it's a little uncomfortable for me.

not sure how true that all jimjjilbangs require you to be naked in the hot pool (i mean after that can change into the sauna clothes and towels and all that) but after i heard it i was like NO I'M NOT GOING ANYMORE.

saving money-wise

visit attractions that have no admission charge

here are a list of noteworthy places that van and i visited on our 17-day long trip excluding shopping destinations of course (and some that we missed too due to the lack of time):

seoul children's grand park
bukchon hanok village
namsan seoul tower (yes it is completely free if you bring your own love lock or just any old lock you wanna discard AND decide to take the 1.5hr hike up which we did so you can save on the cable car)
samsung d'light museum
national museum of korea
seoul forest
hangang river
cheonggyecheon stream
war memorial of korea
heyri art valley
all your entertainment companies LOL

but then again good things do come with a price tag.
of course there are some places that you definitely cannot miss when in seoul because it's just so prevalent in their culture!
and here is a separate list of attractions that require admission fees and also a reason to decide why you should pay or not to come:

gyeongbokgung (3,000/1,500won) : honestly i think the palace is worth the money. it's only about S$3+ or so for admission into the vast palace grounds and accompanying it is free admission to the national folk museum of korea. so why not? gbg is really the highlight of korea's history.

petite france (6,000won if you present your boarding pass): admission into petite france cost us about S$7+ which i think was quite worth it. but visit this place only if you really like "you who came from the stars", adore "running man" or if you want to bask in a foreign culture in seoul. nothing much for the adventure-seeking but you'll return with a load of touristy photos because thumbs-up for the phototaking experience~

nami island (8,000won): this place is a little pricey because you have to take a ferry separately to the island itself. personally i feel there's nothing much here unless you want to be cliche and do the "nami island forest jumpshot" thing. with loads of greens, blues and browns, the seoul children's grand park and seoul forest can make an even better alternative for picnics than the expensive nami island lol. plus, if you are totally against insects, nami island at night is equivalent to a fly infestation party.

stock up on breakfast from convenience stores/e-mart/lotte mart

okay let's define this right.
the korean convenience stores are basically gs25, 7-eleven, storyway and cu.
e-mart and lotte mart is like our giant hypermart, where groceries are sold super cheap.

so if you want to save on breakfast at a lavish restaurant or exotic cafe, i suggest rounding up your morning ammunition at convenience stores.
now don't you underestimate the variety that they can offer you.

in my neighbourhood there was a family convenience store run by an elderly ahjumma whom van and i loved so much.
she was really cute and friendly and gave a 10% discount to all foreigners lol~
be it a commercial convenience store or a family one, they really have everything.
there's like 10 brands of milk to choose from, 20 different types of cup noodles to try, a range of instant food such as spaghetti, tteokbokki, sausages, onigiri, burgers etc.
and they all cost below S$3!!!
i'm certain the variety is enough to last you more than a month.

i fell in love with a brand of udon cup noodles that i ate 4 times (or was it 3) for breakfast.
i must be crazy, but it was so worth the savings.

when shopping for clothes look out for these fixed prices racks of 5,000 and 10,000won

the key to buying more with less money is really to focus only on these racks.
like i mentioned in my earlier post all my clothes are from the 5,000 or 10,000won racks.
i only exceeded once for a jumpsuit at 15,000won (but i bargained from 28,000won).

the downside is that after 17 long days in korea, these racks start to get repetitive and boring so you eventually get quite tired of browsing through the same old clothes.

but i think what really helps is that you don't have to worry about dealing with the challenge of bargaining.
because these clothes are already so cheap and discounted, there's no room for bargaining so you don't have to bother opening your mouth to ask for a lower price.
and you don't have to incur the wrath of stingy and calculative ahjusshis trying to scam a mountain-load profit out of your bare pockets.
bargaining is pretty sensitive in korea i feel, so i try not to agitate them by haggling for too low a price or settling for a price that's still too high.

so the point is: just glue your eyes to these racks and you will be free of all troubles

if they aren't on the discount racks, then buy only if it's love at first sight

yes, really, trust me, buy only if it's LOVE at first sight.
LOVE.
sometimes it's just that moment of impulse that you need to withhold so you don't get ripped off.

let me share with you my experience.

i was in ewha when i saw a pair of shoes that were really pretty.
i liked it, but i did not love it that i had to buy it.
but i stepped into the shop anyway to ask about the price. you know, like market testing.
i tried on and found my fitting size.
so the lady told me "30.000won" and in my head i was doing that math and that was like close to S$40.
okay no way was i going to buy a pair of shoes for S$40 from a commonplace shop like this.
just as i was about to step out and leave, she held me back and told me "i give you discount!!!!"
then she punched into her calculator "24,000".
i hesitated for like two seconds and then she was like psycho-ing me to buy "discount! very cheap!"
so i just nodded impulsively and paid S$30 for that pair of shoes.
little did i know that after popping by the next store, the shopkeeper there told me that the exact same pair of shoes was going at 20,000won and he could give me further discount to 18,000 if i wanted.
i nodded politely and left the shop.....

my heart died then i swear T_T
it was so so so painful because i could've saved that money.....
oh well.

so lesson learnt, please hop around the stores (because they are selling the SAME thing everywhere) before deciding to buy.
unless it's already discounted or you really love it, then don't buy it.
i have warned you.

facial products in korea are not that cheap either

hohoho cultural shock ain't it????
just when everyone thought that korea is the land of the make-up and cosmetics, the superficial idea that everyone once had has now been eroded under the knife (lol).

i was quite surprised upon finding out that facial products aren't dirt cheap or what.
ok i don't care if i get judged for being an extreme cheapo girl but whatever i am poor and i admit that
anyway, the comestics here aren't cheap UNLESS THERE IS A SALE!
when they have like make-up week (probably in mid-may like how we experienced it when we went) or like some other crazy promotions then only is like your nature republic facewash going at S$5 or like maybe your face shop pore minimisers going at S$7 or something.
otherwise on a daily basis when there is barely any sale, the facial products are merely a $2-$3 off the usual price back here in singapore, which is kinda offset by your airplane ticket so what's the point lol.

so just buy your hauls of makeup only when there's super great sales ok!!!!!!!! just look out for it there'll be lots of promotion by the staff and also the price slash is more than 50%!

seoul, south korea, day 15-17

25 May. Day 15 - Itaewon, Han River

today was a touristy-kinda day where we went to the places that most foreigners would visit when they come to seoul!

as usual we woke up only in time for lunch so this was something van herself wanted to try in itaewon!
it's called sigol bapsang which is a cosy little eatery that is very famous for serving authentic korean side dishes called banchan. (quick directions: walk straight on from exit 2 of itaewon station for about 10-15min and spot the prominent orange sign)

strangely the maxmimum occupancy of this place is probably about 20-30 people because there's only like 5 tables?
and because there's so many side dishes, the tables are long and even if there's only 2 of you, you'll both occupy an entire table, leaving only 4 tables left!
you can also choose to dine the traditional korean way by sitting on cushions on the ground (tosokchon has this too) or sit on normal chairs/benches.

the interior is really small and cosy but it isn't cramp at all.
it was a really warm place run by 3 ahjummas and 1 male waiter and i felt really welcome.

the menu consists of the banchan (side dishes) for only 8,000won per portion.
you can order other dishes for a separate cost as well. only the banchan is compulsory.

van and i decided to get an additional steamed egg and a haemul pajeon (again!)

look at that spread omg.
i think it was really quite a lot for two people but who cares, we are in korea and we are here to eat!

overall reviews: i'd give it a 10/10 seriously omg
- this was my happiest meal in korea without a doubt, because the delectable spread really reflects the authentic way of life at the dinner table.
- the haemul pajeon is one of the best i've had in korea. they were really generous with both the squids and the spring onions so.... (Y) the pancake itself was super crisp and delicious too!
- the dishes are reasonably priced (for some reason pajeon is always damn expensive in korea idk why)

we sat there for almost 2 hours before finishing all our food and leaving the place.
the only thing we didn't finish was the pickled green peppers which were too strong for our tastebuds to take lol.

^ lol look at that mona lisa HAHAHHAA
because itaewon is most famous for being a foreigner land, there's all these different countries and their plaques engraved onto the ground!
didn't manage to see singapore's one though - we're probably too small and insignificant to make it there.

FINALLY FOUND THE CHANCE TO TRY SOFTREE FOR THE FIRST TIME.
and omg it is the best soft serve i have ever eaten.
i have done research prior to the trip and discovered that softree is the best/original/smoothest milk soft serve there is in korea!
there are a lot of different brands of soft serve like milkcow, sweettruck and milkybee, but softree seems to be everyone's favourite!
decided to try the liquid honey ice cream and omg it was love at first lick.
IT WAS DAMN GOOD OMG IDK HOW YOU DESCRIBE THIS BUT this soft serve is really super creamy and luscious and the honey is really thick and good!!!!!
though the portion's a bit small but the quality is really to-die-for :)
now that i think about honey creme in singapore...... ew, no fight.

there wasn't anything much to explore in itaewon - the only thing i would rejoice over would probably be the fact that i managed to find my favourite pair of floral vans at abc-mart!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so happy that i managed to find my size because it was a crazily discounted pair - i got it only for S$43!!!! damn cheap omg.
thinking of buying a pair of nike roshes too thanks to van who bought a pair ah so gorgeous :'(

itaewon doesn't really have much unless you're with a big group of friends and you wanna drink and chill out in a bar/cafe.

other than that the streets are pretty wind-down and there isn't much activity like there is in hongdae or dongdaemun.

it's a really peaceful place though.

anyway, our time in itaewon ended pretty quick with a cup of churros.

we walked on to noksapyeong station to train back to dongjak, to the han river we go!!!

^ this is noksapyeong station's interior. find these crazy stairs familiar?
yup this is where they filmed the office workers' race (episode 223) where they completed the morning commute mission.
the huge space where kwangsoo destroyed the cleaning ladies' mops and the humongous flight of stairs where sukjin took forever to climb hahaha!
go watch that episode omg it's probably one of the funniest!!!

reached the han river at around 7pm and sigh the view is gorgeous.
the sun sets pretty late in korea that's why i managed to capture the color gradient of the sky on camera!

yes that tiny little circle in the last photo is the moon :P

there were some sort of exhibitions going on and we were hoping to grab a bite because by 8pm all our massive banchan lunch had been digested and our stomachs were in search of dinner.
but boohoo there wasn't anything really nice to eat here so we left.

this is probably the banpo bridge where we wanted to catch the light shows but there wasn't anything that night????
not sure if we were too late or we got lost or whether the weather conditions that night were just not favourable.
what a pity we didn't manage to catch the light show sigh i've read around that it was really good but oh well just our luck :'(
at least we got to see some stunt cyclists trying to master the skill - i salute all the guts that they have man i can't even cycle a 2-wheel bicycle normally.

we walked on all the way to the express bus terminal station whilst following a crowd of girls and boys hahaha.
our hunger pangs were satisfied after i had a bowl full of tteokbokki omg there were at least 50 pieces of rice cakes swimming in there i'm not kidding haha!
the stallowners were pretty nice and the 2 boys talked to us a lot in chinese!
it was quite funny seeing them dance around to the music that was being played while they worked and cleaned.

such humorous and friendly locals heheh i like!!!!!
what a good end to my day despite being unable to catch the light show :'(

26 May. Day 16 - Express Bus Terminal, Myeongdong

we didn't even initially plan to come to the express bus terminal - this was like an impromptu thing after our supper last night lol.
there's at least 200 odd shops in this underground shopping area - all the shopping there can really take you the entire day.
we stopped by for lunch at shinsegae before embarking on our crazy shopping adventure there.

settled for bento-looking stall again and i bought this.
i thought it was some damn good teriyaki chicken and was so eager to dig in.
but guess what.... it was just kinda like minced meat/fishcakes/tofu sighpie i was so disappointed LOL

i had my 2nd cup of softree here and i finally tried the honeycomb soft serve!!!!!!!!
omg it was so damn good - my $6 was totally well spent hahaha.
the honeycombs were so chewy that i lost myself and dropped my spoon 'cos i was so excited and hence careless HAHA.

anyway when our real shopping finally began after a good lunch and dessert, it was time to go crazy spending oh yeah.
i thought i took a photo of the entire stretch of shops lol but i didn't.
the stretch of shops is really endless and there's just SO MANY clothes to look at though they're mostly repeats 'cos i am a cheapo and look at discount racks only.

^ there was even a sanitary pad shop called hannahpad and you can actually buy like patterned sanitary pads that come in different sizes lol. from pantyliners to overnight HAHAHA i wonder how much were these...

express bus terminal has probably like 2 sections, one for clothes and the other for home furniture/flowers/home & living etc.
look at that pretty nautical themed decorations!!!

van and i left the ebt fully loaded with loads of clothes and some other rubbish as well HAHA.
our arms were this close to breaking so we decided to stop by home before heading out again for myeongdong, which was where we planned to do our last-minute spree on facial products ;)

so this was our first and final glimpse of the evening sky outside seoul station because we have never been home at this time.

then off to myeongdong we went!!!!
stopped by for some mouth-watering mandu from an ahjumma ;)

for some strange reason the streets of myeongdong were kinda quiet for a tuesday night?

usually the place is bustling with citizens from all walks of life, be it a young couple on a romantic date or a group of hip ahjummas just hanging out together.

we happened to walk into this little snack mart and i wasn't planning to buy anything (left all the seaweed buying to the last day hahahaa last-minute travellers) but guess what i found?

EXO ON THE PEPERO BOX!!!!!!! (2nd row from the bottom)

all my fangirl fireworks were exploding again so yup i obviously grabbed a box :P

it would've made such a great souvenir for an exo fangirl too lol the packaging was damn nice and it came with an exo photocard.

after 16 days.... we confess that we have yet to try patbingsu (shaved ice) or any kind of korean dessert.

LIKE HOW CAN RIGHT.

so we forcibly searched for the korean dessert cafe and yes we finally found it :-))))

decided on a patbingsu and an injeolmi toast (toasted bread with grilled rice cake in between, topped with soybean, azuki, sesame seeds and honey!)

for all you panivores out there, injeolmi toast is the bomb. it has such a unique texture because of the grilled rice cakes in between but the powdered soybeans really did the trick.

I AM NOW OFFICIALLY MARRIED TO INJEOLMI TOAST.

and this patbingsu was some serious stuff man.

the one at tom n toms in singapore totally pales in comparison to this.

the shaved ice in korea is super fine and melt-in-your-mouth kind but still retains a thick milky taste to it despite its thinness.

and i absolutely love those muah chee-looking things on top hehehe i think their chewy rice cakes but wtv they're muah chee to me ;)

after dessert we did more facial product spreeing again and as i quote van, "jamie has stepped into nature republic (different stores) for at least 10 times".
aiya can't help it there's all the cute boys endorsing right ;)

^ THANKS TO HIS CUTE STANDEE I BOUGHT HAND CREAM WHEN I DIDN'T EVEN NEED IT BUT ALSO THANKS TO THE ANNOYING STAFF THAT FOLLOWS YOU AROUND LIKE A PARASITE THAT I COULDN'T TAKE A PHOTO WITH MY LIFE-SIZE STANDEE HMMPH.

but we ended up buying i think 100 masks that night, some hand cream and other useful but useless facial products like a 7-day anti-acne cream and a tube of lipstick.

van bought a turkish kebab home mmmm while i ate my favourite udon again from my favourite ahjumma again lolol.

need to replenish all that energy/calories lost from carrying all the shopping you know.

i am now crowned nature republic's most loyal shopper.

that night i dare not even count how much i spent hahaha but ah well since the trip was coming to its end it was time to go all out~

27 May. Day 17 - Lotte Mart, Incheon Airport, Home Sweet Home

because we crashed so late last night (5am) due to hectic packing we only woke up at 11 in the morning...

mind you van and i each had like 100+ masks to pack, 20 over clothes, 4-5 caps, heavy artbox hauls, 6 facial cleansers, 6 bags of potato chips (that's me) and a lot of other things plus the souvenirs AND OH NOT TO FORGET MY TOTORO

it was such a hard time packing but we finally stuffed everything in our luggage + duffel bags while handcarrying another TWO bags each.

so in total we had like a bagpack, a luggage, a duffel bag and 2 handcarry bags to lug all the way to incheon.

but we did it :')

we should've taken a victory dance/photo to commemorate our amazing packing skills HAHAHA

so we walked over to emart and grabbed our last-minute supply of seaweed - which also meant that we bought pretty little seaweed because our storage space only had 0.01% available :'(

i'm sorry guys if i didn't buy enough seaweed back.

my last meal in korea was a bowl of soba IN lotte mart lol i love how korean supermarkets have like little eateries for you to sit and eat after shopping!!!!!

we even packed all our seaweed packets into a big cardboard box that we created at lotte mart fastened pretty well with raffia strings hahaha.

so this was goodbye, for real. :'(
took a few final shots of our apartment (that is in a really messy state) before we ATTEMPTED to lug everything down the stairs (there was no lift..... so much for living on the 3rd floor which was the highest sigh what luck)
just in case you're curious how our place looks like, yup here it is!!!
it's just nice for two and maybe a little too cosy for three.

the weird and lucky thing was that we only met our host face-to-face on the very last day of our trip.
we only communicated with him via kakaotalk for the past 16 days and we never actually saw him in the apartment.
but he was a really friendly and patient guy who answered all my stupid questions about operating the floor heater and even gave us directions to nami island :-)

so when he met us in person that day, he saw us 2 struggling so helplessly to carry everything down the stairs.
and he volunteered to help us carry our luggage omg....
ALL THE WAY TO SEOUL STATION SOME MORE?!
he's such a kind soul omg thank u so much :'(

thank you yong!!!!

thanks to him we managed to catch the 2.30pm train to incheon :')
and i cannot imagine what would have happened if we didn't, because....
the story continues below.

on the 45min train ride to incheon which we arrived at about 3.15pm!!!!
our flight was at 6.45pm so we figured hmm yeah thankfully we're early! :-)

this was everything that we had to lug from seoul station all the way to incheon.

i really wasn't exaggerating hahaha see it for yourself!!

but our worst nightmare just had to happen.

so to begin with the ending, we nearly MISSED our flight. no joke, we boarded 2 minutes before the gate closed.

why?

i think it taught us a very painful lesson because we kinda took the efficient administrative processes at the airport in singapore for granted.

we presumed that since incheon is quite a world-class airport itself the waiting time to complete our immigration processes wouldn't be that long and that we might even have the time to stop by my long-awaited charlie brown cafe.

but we were wrong, so wrong.

the queue to check-in was so bloody long and i think we queued for almost an hour just to check in our luggage.

but because we exceeded the baggage weight limit, we had to proceed to another counter just to pay the overweight charges.

and obviously it wasn't cheap - i paid like S$150 for my fatass luggage.

not only was i feeling so annoyed at the inefficiency, having to pay all that cash was even more heart-wrenching.

i thought nothing could get worse then but we were told we had to make our way to ANOTHER counter just to check-in our overweight luggage.

like seriously is having overweight luggage some sort of privilege so much so that we had to check it in separately from the others?????

and the queue was so damn long - and it was ALREADY 5.30pm then.

we still had a shitload of tax refund receipts to deal with.

at that point in time i totally abandoned the thought of even going home.

i'm just like, forget it i'll just book another flight home we'll never be able to make it on time.

thankfully at 6.10pm we found some really kind-hearted souls who let us cut the queue because we told them our flight was at 6.45pm.

"oh you better run along!!!!" - one of them even exclaimed to me brightly.

thank you so much for saving our butts :'))))))

van checked in the baggage while i dealt with the tax refund receipts.

the language barrier was quite bad but all i knew was that i had to report to row 20-something in the departure hall just to claim all our refunds.

and as usual to even check into the departure halls it was pretty slow and we barely made it into the departure hall at 6.25pm.

our flight was at row 45 and row 20-something was all the way at the opposite end.

by this time i thought i was going to cry or something.

so our almost-$300 worth of tax refunds had to be abandoned because we reached our row at 6.32pm.

boarding gates close 10 minutes before departure time right?

so yes we made it just in the nick of time.

it was a relief that we caught our flight, but at the expense of our unclaimed tax refunds that could've covered my overweight baggage charges.

though i'd usually separate my tips/tricks and personal lessons learnt from the entire trip, i think this is a very important point that i'd like to stress here.

head to the airport at least 6 hours before your flight time.
no wait, maybe i should say, just be there 8 hours beforehand.

if you're catching an evening flight like us, just be there in the morning.
if it's an afternoon flight, you better be there at like 8am or something.

it's not about being kiasu but sometimes as singaporeans i think we take our efficient immigration system for granted, just like how we neglected it.
you never know what is going to hold you up at the airport, throngs of tourists and huge crowds, overweight baggage, wasting time trying to find counters after counters and the list goes on.
i'm pretty certain that there's no other airport like singapore's that is so speedy and efficient.
so please be early and buy an extra luggage beforehand if you know yours is going to explode.
i can't believe it didn't even occur to either of us to buy when we both knew that we had to pay a hefty amount for all the shopping we did (too much of). :'(

ah but anyway, on a more positive note, we were more than relieved to have caught our flight back home.

goodbye incheon, goodbye seoul.

anyway i am finally growing up and out of getting sick on airplane rides!!!!
usually i'd close my eyes and sleep peacefully on the plane because the pressure on board just makes me feel giddy and nauseous.

but this time i couldn't even sleep one wink so i ended up playing a lot of stupid games and laughing at our self-created inside jokes on the plane with van :')

we had a fish fillet rice for dinner and a slice of pizza for a night snack!!!!

yumyum :-)

so after 16 long days, we touched down in our homeland at midnight!!!!!

really going to miss everything about the country sigh :'(

so thankful for this enjoyable overseas trip which wouldn't have been possible without my parents and van aww i love you all so much!!!!!!!!! :')

and with that i've finally finished narrating my 17-day experience in seoul!!!!!

#seoulfarseoulgood

see you sometime again soon korea, you are a beautiful country :)

click here to read days 0-4 in seoul, here to read days 5-9 and here to read days 10-14~