Thursday 30 December 2010

Ice Skating @ Seoul Station

  
It's the last field trip of the year and we went ICE SKATING!

This is one of the nice things about staying in a country where there is winter. There will be new activities popping up here & there - one good example of a "pop-up" is that of ice-skating rink. And they "pop-up" at accessible locations where you won't miss - so if you ARE in Seoul now - or in Winter - GO check it out!

Our venue was at Seoul Station - same place where we had the massive kimchi-making exercise.

There is a small fee to pay for entering the rink, and you need to rent the skates and some other gear (if you prefer). I really don't enjoy wearing rented skates (who know how many thousands of feet has went in ther before -ewww. But gotta suck it up if I want to skate - no room for choices here.)
 



Because I am a roller-blade enthusiast, this was not too hard for me - the only hard part was squeezing with so many people! Gotta watch where you're going!

It was quite a successful field trip because everyone seem to have somewhat "bonded" during this trip. Look at them - they hardly talk in class and now they are holding hands?!

The other classmates cheekily peeking at those 2!

In the cold weather - these sorta exercise was pretty fun - keeps me warm and fuzzy!

And then. We went to Deoksugung (AGAIN)!

I was just there the last time before Winter.



See the snow by the side of the road? There are days where the snow gets mixed with mud and totally looks like "milo-on-the-rocks".



What used to be green-green grass of home has been covered completely by snow, so much so that it looks like a different place.

I like this shot the best - feels serene and peaceful!



*Checking out with a picture in the snow!* 
(I sneaked behind the fence to take this shot, notice the snow being rather clean with only a few foot prints? wa hahaha)

Monday 27 December 2010

Wonderful Homely Christmas!

 
*I'm dreaming of a white Christmas- just like the ones I used to know... Where the tree top glistens, and children listens to hear - Sleigh bells in the snow...*
 
 
I have never experienced a white Christmas and this is the first!

I LOVE CHRISTMASssssss....

I LOVE spending CHRISTMASssss at home listening to Christmas carols, doing special activities like writing a post card or just making food, and hanging out with my family.

Obviously, all these wasn't possible this year since I am in Seoul - we could at most SKYPE - which we did!

BUT. Christmas this year was still a special 1 for me cause I spent it with the Korean "family" (all of whom aren't related by blood!) whom I was so blessed to have found over the past few months.

I wasn't expecting a party or anything like that at home. In fact, I was half expecting everyone to possibly be dating and hanging out "somewhere" cause there were 2 couples in the house and I was obviously a lamp post. 
 
As Christmas eve was spent in the Jjimjilbang with the rest of the International gang, I woke up to a cold winter morning ready to go home and sleep the rest of the day!

Look at the icy White Christmas morning! Doesn't look as heart-warming as the song's lyrics!

I got home and found 언니 working on her little Christmas arts & crafts! These is want I call heart-warming!

 Inspired by her - I too, fished out a piece of random cloth that was meant to be recycled and started to make a Christmas Tree! (I know - funny as it sounds - that was what I did! haha)

My proud art of a 2D Christmas Tree "hanging on the wall"!

The day went on - with us just hanging out in our cosy half-basement home. 

As usual, 언니 always has her menu prepared. And today, we were going to go Italian!

I just found so much warmth being at home here in Seoul. Fuzy Oozy feeling!




Just went trigger-happy snapping happy moments of everyone! (Including the cats sitting by the wall)

And since everyone was busy doing something, I wanted to add in some more, so I baked! 
(The usual Christmas Cookies - which turned out really unusual!)

Everything was looking good - look at these evenly shaped cookies!

I was so sure they were gonna be tasty...

Until.

I took a bite in them and realized they were hard as stone!
I had stupidly mistaken the dumpling flour as the cookie flour, which explains why they turned out like "chocolate-chip stones"... *sigh*

This is seriously a classic joke that's gonna go down in history. 

And all those cookies went straight into the bin though each of the guys actually stuck their tooth (or at least they tried) into the cookies just as a form of support. *How sweet!*

By the time we were done making Christmas decos, cooking, idling, dinner was ready - yummy spread - compliments from 언니. 언니 고마워!

Super tasty, Italian Christmas cuisine!

Happy family portrait!


Of course, as per our habitual weekend plan, we almost always have dinner together, then start chilling out at our tv-less home. Chatting, updating each other about funny stories and then snacking some more with sweet food, tidbits and our home-brewed Americano.

Since it was Christmas, we got a Christmas cake to celebrate!

One of the best thing is - we always hang out till 1 or 2 plus, after dinner just chatting about random topics and when we got tired, we just all retired to our own rooms and left everything (including the unfinished cake) on our dining table just.like.that.

Because it was sooo cold, the house was literally a refrigerator and there was simply no need to pack the food into the refrigerator. No insects or creepy stuff attacked our unfinished business... haha


And this was what I did one fateful Christmas day in Seoul - Super enjoyed the warmth at home! 
Feeling absolutely blessed!



Sunday 26 December 2010

What did I do on Christmas Eve?

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

You see, Christmas in Seoul is not like in Singapore. Over here, Christmas is like a national DATING HOLIDAY. Everyone hangs out as a couple. It's not easy for a lonely soul when it comes to Christmas cause all your attached friends are DEFINITELY gonna be with their better-half. So what can I do when my better-half is in Singapore?

Now what did I do over Christmas?!

- Wrote AND MADE a birthday card to my better-half (which would reach him a little late for his birthday!)
- Celebrated with my entire class by buying them a Christmasy cake!
- Went out clubbing with a bunch of International friends from Namu Guesthouse!

(Background: Namu Guesthouse was where Rose stay over when she came, and somehow, I made friends with the guesthouse staff and boo! That's how I so-happen to have International friends to chill with on the eve of Christmas!) 
 Childish-looking hand made card! *Erh...*


HEY! It's a pop-up card ok!
(Like he can read Korean? LOL)

Cutie-Christmasy cake which I blessed the class with! YUMZZ!

Do you know that cakes in Seoul are so cheap (as compared to SG)
This one is 1 or 1.5kg and prolly cost 25,000 won.

At least, everyone was a little more restraint. After all, we were suppose to be having lessons in class!


But all forms of restraints do return with a vengeance. You know right? 
(just forget about poise and dig in!)



Look at the scene in Hongdae station.. Now why did I decide to club!

This is why I love Hongdae! Everyone is just spontaneous and alive! People just set up a camp fire, cuddle around and get warm!


There you have it, me trying to pose next to BIG BANG!

I did a super foolish thing here because I didn't know how "big" BIG BANG was and I actually sneaked to another club JUST BEFORE their performance started cause I felt that it was too packed! *duh*

Totally missed all the action!

My International friends and I. German, fellow Singaporean & one more from Netherland!

Having Spicy Chicken at 4am in the morning along with Soju and Makgoli was nice!



Cheers to a Merry Christmas!
The night ended with all having a sleep-over at one of the Hongdae Jjimjilbangs!

*And this was what I did on the eve of Christmas!*