Random Date to Heyri

On Friday, Cindy and I were trying to find a cute place to grab lunch. Her cousin suggested Heyri. Without knowing how far it was, we took a subway and hopped onto a bus which took us 45 minutes out of the main city. We went into the countryside and finally arrived at Heyri which is a place filled with cool architectural exhibits and galleries.

Since our main purpose was to get lunch, we walked around only to find that most of the food places were closed! We finally found a cute little cafe called Lime Tree. I had a chicken/bacon sandwich and it was quite delicious.

Since I had class at 4PM, we walked around only for a little bit before heading back to Seoul. This is definitely a place I would like to come back when I have more time.

Children's Day Holiday

May 5th is Children's Day in Korea. So it was a holiday and thus no school/no internship. My suitemate Cindy and I decided to take an adventure to Gwangju which is a 2.5 hour train ride south. We woke up really early only to miss our 7:20am train by 4 minutes. We had to wait an 1.5 hours for the next one. Once there we went to the Gwangju Photonics Expo. It was a exhibition all about lights and light technology. Since it was Children's Day there were alot of families. The best part was the night when MC Mong came out a performed a concert. He is a really famous entertainer in Korea.

BUSAN/Gyeongju

Two weekends ago, I went to BUSAN with the EAP study abroad program. People usually take a train which takes about 2 hours to get down but since we had a handful of college kids, we rented a bus. It took us more than 5.5 hours to get down. We left friday night around 7pm and didn't get there until 1am or so. The first night we went to Haeundae Beach and then to a food/drink place to eat and have some beer with the entire group.

Even after only sleeping 4 hours, I woke up at 8AM to go on the trip to Gyeongju. I originally planned to stay in Busan but I got ready in 10 minutes and hopped onto the bus to Gyeongju. It was really beautiful. We went to a lot of Buddhist temples and the king's grave. We also went to a place with a field of flowers. The weather was really nice and so it was absolutely beautiful! I'll let the pictures tell the story.

That Saturday night after doing a lot of walking, the EAP kids split up at night time. I went to a club called Elune which was at Paradise Hotel in Busan, right next to the beach. It was really fun and the music was great.

After another night of 4 hours of sleep, we woke up Sunday morning to go to Jagalchi fish market where we at San-najki (live octopus).

After a tiring day of walking around the fish market and flea market, we headed back to Haeundae beach and had a delicious buffet at a place called "The Party." It certainly was a "party" to my taste buds! The food was delicious and I ate until I could barely breathe. My cousin and her family were also in Busan during the same weekend and so after the buffet, I met up with her and her kids. Then went back on the bus for a 7 hour bus ride home =(

this was only my FIRST serving at the buffet

But I have to say, I LOVE BUSAN and I can't wait to go back. The beach is beautiful!

Broken phone, Organic farming, etc.

So Friday night, I went out to Apgujeong to pre-drink at Ho Bar...the PLACE to be if you are looking for affordable drinks in the Apgu area. After Ho Bar, we went to Club Answer. It was quite an experience! I had a lot of fun. Stayed for about an hour and half and got pretty tired so we taxi'ed back home. While I was at Ho Bar, my phone started to SPAZZ out. First the screen went half white while I was trying to text. Then at Club Answer, the entire screen was out but the keypad lights were on. So I tried to turn it off and back on...only it wouldn't turn back on.

Saturday I went to the wedding without a phone. I never realized how vulnerable I felt without a phone. I went to SK Telecom and asked what's wrong. They said I had to go to service center to get it fixed. Usually in the states, if my phone was broken, I would go directly to Verizon or your service provider. But in Korea, you go directly to the service center for the phone maker (mine was Samsung). Since the service center wasn't open on weekends, I was helpless and home alone. DMC ville blocked our apartment phones from calling out because we are students. I eventually was able to use my boyfriend's skype credits to get a hold of my cousin. My cousin's husband who takes MBA classes at Yonsei on Saturday picked me up and took me to my cousins since I was helpless at home.

We went to dinner at Outback Steakhouse even though I had steak of lunch. Hey, I will NEVER turn down beef in Korea, especially when it's much more expensive here than in the states. After dinner I had a good catch-up talk with my cousin until 1am and we finally went to sleep.

Sunday morning we went to their organic farm land. As you all know, Seoul is tiny and no one has their own backyard to grow fresh vegetables. Luckily my cousin's husbands company (EMART) provides them with land and seeds and vegetables to grow! We went to go water the plans and put in some more. They had green onion, lettuce, radish leaves, tomatoes, green peppers, and some other stuff.

After the farm, I went to Sarang Church again and loved the message. I had dwenjang bi bim bap and it was so yummyyy!! Then went to Paris Crossaint Cafe to try patbingsu.

On Monday, I went to the Samsung Service Center with my cousin. They had to change the entire CPU thing on my phone. Took about 40 minutes. But Samsung REALLY knows customer service. Free coffee and water with computers for their patrons while they wait for their phones. They even had a tv lounge station where I sat and enjoyed a nice foot massage!

Phone is officially fixed. Thank goodness!

This weekend: BUSAN!!!!!!!!!!!

My First Korean Wedding

The wedding was held at the Seoul Plaza Hotel. I was fortunate to have been able to go such a nice wedding for my first wedding in Korea. My boss got married on Saturday, April 24. Like the states, hotel weddings are pretty pricey but even more so in Korea. If you have a hotel wedding, its a sign that your family is pretty wealthy.

Things I learned about Korean weddings:

1. They are super short. (this one lasted from 1pm-3pm)
2. Ceremony and reception are held together at the same time
3. No party
4. No alcohol, if you're lucky like me, you'll get a glass of wine
5. You have to pay as a gift the worth of your food
6. After the wedding, people grab the center piece bouquets and the front ladies wrap them up nicely for you to take home.

Beautiful Centerpiece

Bride and her father

KPC CEO was the guy who led the wedding. My boss can't get enough of KPC lol.

Pretty chandeliers! Must be a pain to untangle.

My team from KPC. The Sustainability Management Center (SMC) doing a dance and song for the boss. I was fortunate enough to sit this one out.

The delicious menu!

mmm steak..medium rare, just the way I like it.

This me and all the new hires that started at the beginning of April. They are really cute and fun!

ChangDukGung Palace

Thursday before my midterm, I was supposed to meet my boss to go over my work for this week because he'll be gone for his honeymoon. I told him I'll come Thursday and he makes me meet him in front of this palace called ChangDukGung where supposedly the king's mother lived. I met a fellow from Hong Kong who was the regional director for DJSI (Dow Jones Sustainability Index). He was here on business and my boss wanted to show him around. Yes, the palace was beautiful but did he really have to make me walk around this HUGE palace for 1.5 hours right before my midterm??? Anyhow, here are some pictures.

Secret Garden

There was a duck couple in this pond. It was actually considered a very unique and beautiful sighting to see these duck here.

P.S. Midterm went okay. I had listening and reading on Thursday. I had writing and speaking on Friday. I thought I completely bombed the speaking but I didn't do so much. I actually sucked the most on the listening part.

Yonsei Campus

I snatched a few pictures of campus while on the shuttle ride home. (DMC-Ville provides shuttle rides to and from campus on mornings and evenings) The flowers are blooming and so campus is getting prettier each day!

Oh yea, they were filming a drama on that bus across the street from our apartment. Also, if you see those big vans around Korea, it most likely means there is someone famous inside there.

Smoothie King = DELICIOUS

I tried smoothie king for the first time. They had the most amazing Strawberry Banana smoothie. It was called "Strawberry Kiss" and I'm not sure what all the ingredients are that go in it. But it tasted like Strawberry Banana. A MUST TRY. Too bad it's pricey to have everyday =(. I got regular size for about 4,900 won for about the size of a 16 oz. Jamba Juice.