{Fraser Place & Around}

Fraser Place Serviced Apartment - Central Seoul. This is a really neat place. 1BR apartment, fully furnished with a kitchen, washing machine & dryer 2 bathrooms, dining and living area. The washing machine and dryer is really cool coz it's one of those that allow you to wash and dry your wool clothings without shrinking or spoiling it. You can also dump in all the colors and whites and mix them together and they don't get stained. Cool yeah!  They clean up and change your towels everyday. Located at the "CBD" area of Seoul. Busy during the day, a little quiet at night, especially after everyone has gone home for the day.

It's a nice area to live in, lots of food around, a 7-eleven just across the apartment and within walking distance to Namdaemun and Myeong Dong. Just a few stations away from Dongdaemun. We are basically living at the center of Seoul city - City Hall subway. Just 3 mins walk to Korean Air, which is great, that allowed us to walk to the pick up point just outside the Korean Air office building and take the 9,000 won limo bus to the airport, rather than pay 90,000 won for taxi or 110,000 won for hotel airport transfer.

It is also because of this location, that we are able to walk pass the fabulous red bean pancake which I've been raving about. Had we not lived here, we'd probably never find out about this jewel. If you ever visit Seoul, do try this. There are many hawkers selling these on the streets and it taste good, but this is beyond good :)

{Seoul - The Land of the Morning Calm}

We took more than a thousand pictures. What you've seen is just a portion of the fun we had. I have to say, this is one of the the most enjoyable trips I've had in my life.

Food was like what I've described and what you've seen in the earlier post - so me!!! Spicy, gravy and mixed up... absolutely love it!

M had his unexpected moments when he simply cracked me up with his strange sense of humor. His patience was commendable :) The hours I took just window shopping.
Sightseeing locations were actually fun and not boring. I'm so glad we did not follow a tour and did not need to visit any Ginseng factory or Amythyse factory. Phew!

Although I think we spent a lot more free and easy, but I'm sure we had much more fun visiting specific places that we really want to go, like the various Korean series sights, lots of shopping, food that Koreans eat (not tourist food), lived in an apartment on our own, ate street food, woke up at 10-11am daily woohoo! Didn't have to spend 70% of our time travelling on buses. Got to learn how the subway works. Had some thrill when we got stalked twice.

I have so much to say, but I'd end with this - I'd love to return to Seoul again and again and again!

{Yoido Full Gospel Church}

Yes! We made it for the English service on Sunday morning. The world's largest Christian church with 780,000 members. The service was in Korean, but the slides were in English, Japanese and Mandarin as well. They also had ear phones with translators for various languages just to accomodate foreign visitors. The most memorable part for me was that as we exited from the Sanctuary after service, it started snowing. It was a stunning sight and an answered prayer. It was very memorable.

Disclaimer: The angels and polar bear is not part of Yoido Church. It's actually the Christmas Decor in the hotel that leads us to the subway :)

{Having Fun}

Just some random shots of us having fun, as if nobody else is watching :)

{Prince Hours}

Remember the teddy bears you saw before the start of each chapter of Prince Hours. Well, those were not random teddy bears put together, there really is a Teddy Bear Museum that showcases the historical culture of Korea. Interesting, I like it!

Oh and here's a post-card-worthy shot just for you :)

{Boys Over Flowers}

This is the N-Seoul Tower where Jandi was suppose to meet Jun Pyo and left him waiting in the cold, only to end up spending a night in the cable car. Well, it's not that romantic when you're squeezing in a single cable car with 46 other strangers and a wife who gets frantic when led up to high places (excluding roller coasters - don't ask me why). I was holding on to M with my eyes closed throughout the ride. It was a torture.

That being said, it's a really nice sight when you get up there. You get to see an overview of Seoul. You see those locks in the photo below, couples come up to N-Seoul Tower, purchase these locks, writes their messages and lock them on these metal fences. Tons and tons of them.

We decided to go for the sticker tile with our picture on it instead. I'm sure they will remove it eventually, but if you are visiting any time in 2010, do look out for us there!

{Beethovan Virus}

For those who have watched the Korean series Beethovan virus, don't be fooled, like I was. The series was never shot in France. It was in this little replicate village called Petite France in Seoul :) Yes!!! Of course it wasn't as impressive as FRANCE itself, but it's a nice litte French village for those who have not visited France.

This piece of table and chair deserves to be singled out coz' it's so innovative and beautifully created!

{Winter Sonata}

I didn't watch this series - it was simply too slow and the ending was too tragic. But nonetheless, we decided to visit Nami island where this series was shot, simply because the scenery looks fanastic. Here's some snapshots...

The picture where M was holding me with a picture of the TV series poster behind us, this was one unexpected moment. My dear M, who is normally camera shy suddenly blurted out, hey let's take a picture and follow the poster behind. It was so funny!

{Coffee Prince}

Thanks to the friendly Seoul City Tourism Information counter, I was extremely excited as they directed us to the famous Coffee Prince Cafe where the Korean series was filmed. Capture every corner of the cafe. I must say, if it was not for the TV series, I don't think many people would go there. It was quite out of the way and quietly hidden in a corner away from the main shopping area. Most of the customers who came were fans from the TV series as you see them frantically snapping away - yup, I'm one of them :) I overheard one of the female customer commenting that it was precisely because of the TV series that we are paying for twice the amoun for a cup of coffee :) Oh well. Just once in my lifetime, I think it's worth it. I must say the chocolate drink and cake was pretty good. The hot lemon drink was too sweet and too sour :(

This was a hilarious shot. I was trying to take the coffee prince signature canvas above the guy's head. At the moment when I snapped, he looked into the camera. I don't think he realised I was taking the canvas coz' he kept looking over and had that "why did you take a picture of me?" look.

{Food is good for you!}

As we touched down in Seoul, I started my search for Kim Hyun Joong. Come on, I'm in his country... I might bump into him right?!?!?!?! As we were checking out the streets of Seoul, early morning upon arrival, I spotted, not Kim Hyun Joong but... someone even better!!!!

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Tada! Lol...

My hubs off course lol, who can be better than him, lol.

This was served before our main dish and I saw Koreans sipping them by the spoonful and I thought, how nice, hot seaweed soup... To my horror, it's cold and that clear liquid is vinegar. Yucks! I got "tricked" twice, then I learnt.

Other than this and Kimchi (which I still cannot appreciate), ALL the other food we had were absolutely mouth-watering. These are just some snap shots of the food we've consumed, check it out!!

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I love the feshly baked walnut red bean cake - YUMMY, and the street food is sooooooo delicious.

The Black Chicken Korean Ginseng Soup warms my heart! So sweet! This is the best shabu-shabu ever. The beef literally "melts" in your mouth!

The dark choco is heavenly! Even our home-cooked instant noodles were so good!

 

Did you konw that zha jian mian is pronounced the same in Korean? It's the bowl of black gooey stuff below. It taste MUCH better than the ones I've tasted in Singapore! And the egg cake is soooooo hmmm... lovely! :D

I've had the BEST textured noodle ever. Don't be decieved by its plain outlook. It's the most smooth "slurpable" noodle I've ever had. It's chewy, yet not too doughy.... it's PERFECT. The best, really! The store only sells 3 dishes and it's always packed with customers. Now I know why...

Oooo and those freshly fried red bean pancake - BESTEST of the best! Quietly tucked away in a little corner of the subway station. It's my must-have snack every night before going back to the apartment. Crispy, tasty, sweet, salty, tsk... it's just super mouth-watering!!

Our final meal at the Incheon airport. We decided to go for the food court food - YUCKS! :)

OK all these images are making my tummy growl. Time for lunch. More photos later!

{We love Seoul!!!!}

Food is superbly delicious. Not sure if it's the cold weather, but everything hot taste yummy! Our fav. food list:

• Ginseng Chicken Soup
• Brown Rice Porridge
• Bulgogi Beef
• Bibimbap
• Street Food - Those crispy deep fried Korean street food found in the Singapore shopping malls really brings injustice to the street food in Korea... The ones in Seoul are really yummy! It's crispy, hot and absolutely delicious. Very cheap too! Comes with a cup of free spicy, clear soup - very good for the cold weather.
• Hershey's Ice Cream Cone - Not sure if it's totally Korean, but didn't see these in Singapore
• Spicy Tofu Stew
• Korean Seafood Pancake
• Corn Pancake
• Egg Pancake - This is really tasty. It's like those red bean pancake, except there's an egg instead of red bean in it. Sweet. Tasty.
• Deep Fried Red Bean Pancake - one of my absolutely fav. Eat this almost everyday from a little stall in the subway on our way back to the apartment.

I'm sure there's more that I've missed, overall, I love Korean food! Spicy, lots of gravy, everything mixed together - that's the way ah ha ah ha I like it, ah ha ah ha  (lol)


Shopping is pretty amazing in Seoul. There's just endless shops selling beautiful items at very reasonable rates. Too bad they were all selling winter clothes and boots. Would love to return for the shopping during summer. Tried to bargain but most of them were not willing, since they know we are tourist. Or I'm just bad at it :)

Walk. Walk. Walk. So many flights of steps at the subway!! Where's all the escalators???!?!?Every evening, the final flight that we have to take is 60 steps.... That's just one of the many we take in a day.

Friendly people everywhere... especially if they know that you are a tourist. They speak English and Mandarin. Not hard to move around on your own at all.

Yoido Gospel Church. Largest Church in the world. 780,000 members. I thought it would be more like hillsongs, but it was more like traditional hymns with the 1980s band :) The beautiful part of this was that right after service, when we stepped out of the sanctuary, it snowed.... it was like an answered prayer for this trip. Woo hoo! After that the snow stopped. It was as if it snowed just for that service. Made it all the more special.

Oops gotta eat lunch now. More to come!

iLoveSeoul!!!!

{Counting Down}

We're leaving tomorrow.

We still have:

• Some misc. stuff to pack
• An itinerary to plan
• A wedding to help and attend.

Then, we'll be gone till near Christmas!!

{Holiday?}

Till today, we have nothing planned for our trip. We might just end up shopping in Seoul for 8 days... time, time... I need more time

Just did some sorting out of clothes for the trip, not sure what I'd end up wearing, nothing matches... O well, it will work out some how like it usually does. If it doens't, I'll just shop there :D Will drop by town to pick up some tops for the trip.

I'm hoping for really cold weather so we get to make use of all the winter stuff we bought, ear mufflers, scarves, beanies, gloves, boots (color is so ugly, not sure why I bought them :D Will go look for new boots when I'm there.)

Am I looking forward to this trip? For sure. I'm hoping a time of rest, relax, shopping and plain fun. Almost drained out of energy from the renovation works and packing. Shortly after we return it'd be Christmas.

I used to enjoy Christmas and Chinese New Year. Now I almost dread it coming, coz' it's one of the busiest time ever. Getting ready for the parties, serving, cleaning, entertaining... In the past, it was straight forward, just one family gathering. Now there's 3-4 family gatherings. Too many.  I really like to just spend it quiet and away from all these. Festive seasons are never the same again....

We used to get one week off for Christmas which I really appreciated because that's when I really get to rest after all the gatherings. Now, the Board has eliminated that one week leave... hai... that means I have to return to work after Christmas.... How to start the year afresh?

{Sneak Peak}

Styrofoam "Canvas" above our bed.

My lil ribbon pole. It can only hold so many ribbons, I still have one box of ribbons packed away in the cabinet. Extendable pole from Daiso - no drilling required.

Our bedside lamp. Body and the shade comes from two different lights. Made the light salesperson mix and match for us a few lights and finally settled with this.

Lil' scrap cabinet - Closed.

Added 2 rows of red ribbons for the flip up shelve & pull-down table. Realised that the white woody laminate get's finger print stains pretty easily. Added the ribbons at the areas where I would pull the doors most, hoping it'd prevent finger-print staining.

Two panels of glass cabinet allows changeable displays.

Lil Scrap cabinet - opened.

There's an additional pull-out L-table, a flip out study table. The panel above the study table can actually be pushed up. And of course a roller bench that can be neatly tugged in when not in use.

{Getting Happier by the Day!}

I'm almost done decorating our room. I'm really pleased with it! Had fun using the staple tacker and the hot glue gun to create a "canvas" look alike on my wall. Used the 3M velcro to stick it onto the wall. Very good!

Why a canvas look alike and not a canvas? The big difference is that this weighs much less coz' it's made out of styrofoam boards :) I was afraid the canvas might drop on us while we're asleep. At least if the foam board drops, we won't get hurt lol. But it looks just like a canvas. Bought cloth to wrap it up and added some ribbons, flowers and butterflies. Looks really simple, but I like it that way!

Bought 2 sets of new beddings, can't wait to use them!

I wish I could post some pictures online, but my paranoid hubby locked all his camera in the dry cabinet. Yes! Even the small digital camera. So I kinda have no access to it. Will get him to take some pics and have them posted up.

Feeling so excited with the new room!!

The carpenters will be in again tomorrow to install some extra drawers that we've requested. PLEASE do not drill extra holes! Pray please!

Did I tell you that the shelves in the book case started to warp coz' of the weight of the books. Oh well, they said they'd replace with thicker wood... we'll see....

That's all for today! Counting down to Sunday!

Before that, we have so many programmes lined up. Friday - farewell dinner for his cousin who's leaving Singpaore. Saturday - helping out at his friend's wedding. Sunday - Seoul here we come!

{I'm Lovin' It}

They've officially handed over the renovation project last Thursday.

Other than the fact that my flip down writing table snapped once (they came to fix it), I'm really pleased with what we've got (minus away poor workmanship). What I'm really saying is... I love the way "I" designed it ha ha ha ... (ego...ego) It's very functional and I could fit all my scrap stuff into my lil craft area.

I've packed, labeled and organised a total of 3.5 rooms - study room, sister's room, our room and landing area. That's like a 4 Rm HDB flat!!!! It took me a minimum of 52 hours over the last 5 days. That's like a minimum of 12 hours on a non-work day... Ouch! My back!!!!

M did the furniture (a 3.2m study table + two 3-drawer room cabinet) fixing from ikea. Lesson learnt. Pay for ikea installation. He took 2 days to fix up all the furniture, it's really a lot of work. It was hilarious when he sat there in the midst of wood and screws, looked at me and said, "Aiyo, next time don't buy ikea furniture. Cannot finish fixing..." Ha ha... If you knew M, that would be funny, coz' he's normally an accomodating person who SELDOM complains. When he does complain, I actually find it hilarious :D

Finally, today's the 6th day since packing started, I think we're 95% done. Just some final bits to touch up. Then, we have to start planning for the Korea trip. We're leaving this Sunday and our itinerary is still not out!!! We're going on a free and easy trip to Seoul. We don't speak Korean... I don't feel at ease to just go without a plan... Any recommendations? We decided not to go for the ski trip since both of us have been before and are not keen to go again, we decided to invest in a good spa package :D

Good times. Happy times. Relaxing times. Looking forward!

{What's Happening?}

This is suppose to be a happy scrap blog. Why has it turned into a ranting blog that sounds so frustrated and defeated...

{At the Edge}

I recieved an SMS that encouraged me...

God opens doors. If you feel like you are at the edge of a cliff, don't despair coz' God will either teach you how to fly or hold you when you fall.

I kinda feel like I'm at the edge right now.

Renovation works are suppose to be completed today. But like you guessed... things are still done wrongly. So it has been pushed to Thursday.
- Magnet on cabinet is not aligned to the metal plate on the flip down cabinet door. Cannot close properly. I dunno why they deliver things like that.

- Screws not screwed in properly.

- Hinges are screwed in crooked.

- Laminate damaged from carpentery work.

- Sliding door is done wrong TWICE with the SAME problem even though I've offered them the solution before... WHY WHY WHY!!!!?????

- Thursday after the movers shift everything up, I'd have massive amount of packing to do...

Mum's in hospital still - lung infection.

Dad started bleeding suddenly. He's getting rashes and blisters from chemo treatement.

Recommended a curtain lady to my paternal dad to get their home curtains fixed. Knowing my dad's temprements I can anticipate his overreaction when he finds out the lady cannot deliver what he wants... I'm not going to deal with it... gave her my parents' contact and asked her to deal with them directly. One renovaiton project is more than enough, not going to take on two.

I'm rushing everyday at work to complete everything before I go on leave...

Got news to lead at the Youth church camp workshop next Tues. I'd like to decline it but the worst part is I actually do have a conviction to do it. Even though I have no confidence, no energy, no time to prepare, superbly unsettled from this whole series of ridiculous and unfortunate events.... I have nothing... everything is drawing me away... I've been so unsettled, so mad, so angry, so pissed off... I... I... I.... am speechless....

In response to the SMS I received. Lord, I want to fly... I will not go through these for nothing. You will take me higher and closer to where You want me to be. All I'm doing now is submiting my will to you...take over.