Last nite of freedom...

Down e Rd...

Jus used the new Blogger image n uploaded tis pic I took on e first morn in Korea..
I gaf this pic e title...Down e Rd...

Quite like this pic n feel tt it fits my current mood perfectly..
Gg down this long winding rd, a foggy, misty one, n one which I'm feeling quite apprehensive n nervous abt...
It's my last nite of freedom n i was on e fone with best pal, asking her hw work has been for her...
She's e BEST la...gt 2 gold medals, one for Best Dissertation (meaning thesis for us) n another for Best in a subject...
Heez, congrats, dear ger!
n yupz, another of my gd pals, Lian...who gt First Class Hons n 4 gold medals...2 for Top Student n 2 for Best in Subject..
U gers shud hv passed me some of ur brains whilst we were still in Hwachong, eh?

Anyway, Jimmy's back frm Seattle after half a yr...
Shan's still in Tokyo with her other half...
JJ's coming back frm US with her guy on July 4th, finally after 4 yrs of separation..
Lian's coming back frm Germany with her bf on July 8th who's staying in Sgp for 2 wks..
n heard Zan jus gt attached...
n yupz, Yt is recovering n starting work soon, so sorrie, ger tt i wasn't there for u at ur lowest...I'm such a sucky fren..

Each of us hv our own direction, our own partners, our own careers n lives...
Yet it seems onli yest tt we were 13 yrs old, in tt familiar classroom overlooking the splendid Pandan reservoir view.
n yeah , the school building is in ruins nw....sigh...

No more slipping away to Sentosa on a lovely weekday afternoon for a private session of suntanning...
No more lesiurely shopping along Orchard Rd on wkdays...
No more waking up late...esp since I start work at e unearthly hr of 815!!!!
It's a gd thing I'm a morning person..

Sigh...last nite..last nite....
I'm determined to stay up as late as i can, shud be no prob since i spend the entire day sleeping away, anyway...
A lovely song playing on e radio nw, one which I kept listening to whilst I was in Korea...
about one embarking on a journey to find tt sthg infinitely precious, sthg veri beautiful which one has lost in e past n is nw trying to retrieve...
Perhaps, a veri special bond, a cherished memory or a veri impt someone..

Hmmmm..but I was thinking tt this quest may ultimately be futile..
Once sthg is lost, can it reallie be restored to its former glory again?
Esp when it involves feelings or emotions of some sort..
Like a faded frenship or a tarnished relationship...

n Blogger Images is reallie easy to use, beats Photobucket hands down! Nw we can all post pics with greater ease ah!
N was jus thinking back of my Korea trip since Yc who jus gt back frm Italy n Czech happened to be asking me...
Well...i did 2 things tt took a bit of courage frm me....
The les scarier of e 2 shud be taking e rollercoaster for e first time....
It was okie, i din feel all tt scared jus tt it was rather painful in e middle of e ride with us hanging upside down, our necks cud reallie feel e pressure..
The thing tt took a lot of courage was hving to go Full Monty at Spavalley...
We were flabbergasted when e lady coolly told us we had to strip to our bdae suit at e locker n then walk naked up a flight of stairs before reaching e hot spring..
We knew we had to strip but tot we cud strip in a toilet in e hotspring premises itself..
They gaf us a tiny towel e size of the normal face towel which wasn't of much help in its concealment purposes..
But it was quite an eyeopener when we entered the hotspring premises n saw naked Korean women of all shapes, sizes n ages...haha
The onli time I saw so many naked women was onli on e screen, in Schindler's List..
Bt in e end, I was e onli one amongst our grp to gif up walking ard with tt tiny strip of cloth covering e body cuz I figured it wud jus make me more conspicious..

But the funny part was when we went for this body scrubbing session n 2 of our tour members who had gone for it earlier said tt the Korean women who were dg e scrubbing clad in onli their bra n panties were exclaiming hw dirty they were..since well we Sporeans dun hv e habit of scrubbing as hard as they fo...
Then I went for it myself n my scrubber was exclaiming e same thing..seems like e onli English word in their vocab was DIRTY...
n then another fellow scrubber came in n since she had no clients then,she exclaimed DIRTY ! n swooped down upon me..
So there I was clinging onto tt slippery operation-like bed with my entire might, in full naked glory with two obsessive Korean women scrubbing furiously away at my veri delicate skin..
All tt was on my mind was.."I WANT OUT!!! HELP ME!!!"
Then one of them said, Singaporean gers so DIRTY! They had apparently gotten tt piece of info frm our tour guide n thus knew tt we were frm Sgp..
So I din wanna disgrace my ctry n i quipped, " No, no, I'm from Hong Kong..."
Hahaha!!!
I told my fellow tour members ltr on n we had a gd laugh abt it..
Cy will kill me for disgracing her beloved HK...

Yupz, tt Spavalley experience will def be one memory tt will stay with me forever....
Well, Live n Learn...I suppose..

N yupz, the term Korean hunk is jus oxymoron..There is perhaps no such thing as Korean hunks...
No ordinary guy out on e streets comes even close to being a hunk..
Jus by looking at e pathetic state of those Korean male leads n one shud ged a rough idea...
n according to our tour guide, the Korean woman still holds a pretty inferior standing in e society..
The KOrean mother-in-law is reallie fierce...n the wife needs to ged up nice n early to prepare e Korean brekkie fare of rice n soup for e husband!
Sheeeshhhh....plus the Korean men hv a tradition of wife battery...
n eh, a penchant for drinking n smoking..Sheeesh
So to conclude...abt Korea..
I like the clean toilets, cool weather n beautiful scenery..
Bt I dislike the pple who r too patriotic for my liking, too particular abt trivial stuff, rude in e sense tt they jostle n bump agst u without apologizing, fierce..
I din like e food too n e shopping is quite sucky as well..
n yeah, e gender inequality tt prevails in their society is totally abominable too!

I realise hw much I love our Sgp boys after this Korean trip, haha...
Most look decent, they're nt disgustingly fair, they're quite gentlemanly n they respect women quite a bit too..
Yupz....so well...
CiAoZ!

First Wedding in History...

Of cuz nt first wedding in history per se but first wedding of the history hons class for our batch...

Some pics...

Haha, wonder why they had their mouths wide open..I'm e onli normal one in tis trio, apparently..


okie...nw, they're making an effort at acting normal, haha..



Our table....of as Soph said, "ethnic minorities", haha...thanks, Hendri gang for supplying us with all e food!


Me n Nat..


Jen back frm e loo n Hendri looking like a puffer fish..



Finally dragged my lazy arse to e gym today, had a decent workout though my tummy felt positively queasy e whole day....
Work starting in jus 3 more days...


I'm gonna start this next phase of my life with a clean slate.
To wipe it clean n nt allow any residue chalk dust to bother me animore.
Running has taken a hiatus recently, it's time to ged back into e momentum...

Korea Part II

Continued..

Steamboat


Some more scenic pics...
The upward ascent was hard enuff, the downward was pure torture for my knees..







Pork cutlet rice..




Out for a walk by the hotel's pool after dinner...it was cold....Brrrr....


In e hotel rm b4 setting off for airport to take flight to Jeju


Chinese style brekkie..




Pic with hotel staff, he's one of e rare few in Korea who's slightly better looking bt too fair for my liking..



Awaiting flight to Jeju


Reached Jeju, the Honeymoon Island!


First meal in Jeju, Korean Ginseng Chicken soup...it was just okie..




Some sights in Jeju







Rice n meat again..



Jeju's coast..





Eating live squids..nt me!


Dinner was Emperor's meal, consisting of 10 plus dishes n used to be served to the emperor in e past, i din like it....sheeeshhh



First nite in Jeju..



Niteview frm Jeju hotel balcony


First brekkie in Jeju...Jeju abalone porridge, cud nt see any piece of abalone in e porridge at all!



By e waterfall



Climbing up to Jeju's sunrise peak...a long way up man!





Lotte HOtel....6 star hotel in Jeju....where the Korean drama All In was filmed



The casino...first time i stepped into a casino, spent1,000 Korean won onli, haha, tt's equivalent to S$1.70...Gambling is a vice...



Back in e hotel...last nite in Jeju


On e flight..



Back in Seoul! First stop: Kimchi making n traditional costume...

My kimchi...





Modern ger...


Tada! Traditional Korean woman...trying my best to look demure in tis pic, nt particularly successful, i noe..


I look pregnant


The couple on their honeymoon, both r onli 25 yrs old..known each other since kindergarden, been tog since they were 15, so a decade of courtship...
n I asked them...hw can u stand being with e same person for such a long time??
haha...


Out on e streets shopping n eating!


Tried this red bean cinnamon kinda snack...nt bad bt the next one is better


My absolutely fave food in Korea, think onli fave food..Red bean fritter bun!!
I had 2 at a go cuz it was awesome, esp fresh out of e wok!


Yum Yum!
I love red bean, the kind u can see little bits of red beans. N tokking abt which, Tong Heng has a new kinda crispy banana red bean tart, it is awesome too!
My 2 fave foods tog! Banana n red bean!

The Koreans r weird, they r obessed with toilet cleanliness yet they dun dump e toilet paper into e bowl bt in an empty bin beside e toilet...eeeksss...


Some KOrean gers...most r all dressed up in skirts or dresses, with rather heavy makeup..






Posing with my new shades cuz I broke the old one


Disgusting Chinese meal


At Lotte world....fun place! Indoor n outdoor amusement park, too bad onli had time for 3 out of e 5 rides my tix was entitled to....






The Magical Kingdom


I lurrve this pic.....was veri hard to capture e Magical Kingdom n the fireworks at e same time n onli succeded after several tries..


Last stop for last nite in Seoul..Hard Rock Cafe Seoul


Last nite in Korea....flopped on my bed!




Bathed n ready to sleep....


Last brekkie in Korea....hungry hungry cuz din reallie eat dinner e nite b4...
gd thing e brekkie was nt bad..a combination of Korean, Chinese n Western food


Shopping at Seoul's Woman Street, nicer shopping experience, more tranquil..






Last meal in Korea..Thai Chinese food....nicest meal ever cuz it was jus like local food! Nice, zen like ambience too


On board e ship to Weiwei Island....feeding e numerous seagulls in e skies..


Cute Jap boi with his equally cute doggie



At Incheon Airport awaiting for flight back hm! Finally...I can't wait..


On e flight..


Sucky airline dinner..washed down with white wine..


End of my Korea Trip...
Spore is still e bestest!