Seoul | Seoul National University & Nakseongdae

Hola!

Figured I should start blogging about this 6-weeks summer program at Seoul National University (SNU) before I get lazy and procrastinate like how I did for my previous travels. Basically this program is for international students all over the world to come to the top university in Korea and well... study. The Uni provides a couple of modules for you to choose and depending on the course, you either have to take a test, come up with a product or write an essay to pass and 'graduate'. I think I made it sound a little daunting but I highly doubt it is difficult at all to be honest hahaha *fingers crossed*, I mean it is during our summer holidays anyway. Of course, SNU is not the only University in Korea that offers such a program! Oh, in case you are wondering, I'm taking Korean Language and Arts & Ceramics here. You might probably think like "wtf why these courses" well because I had enough of theory and business-related modules and it is my summer holiday so I just wanna chill and do what I like. Never the best in arts-related stuff but have always been interested in it so why not right? Then I can be like those Korean actresses in cheesy romantic drama series when I play with clay and look artistic L O L.

Oh and I only took 2 courses out of 3 because I really just want to enjoy my time here and explore Korea as much as I can!

Surprisingly though, there are tons of Korean-American students here, in fact I think majority of the students in this program are from America. One thing I realised is that it is easier to communicate with American students because it is easier for them to understand the Singaporean accent or something, Idk, could be just me. I remembered having to repeat my sentences a couple of times whenever I speak to British-educated students. But of course, the British accent hails above all la. Funny thing is, the Americans tend to say "Ohhhh no wonder you have an accent." after I told them that I study in England but I SWEAR I do not have it, maybe for certain words but that's rarely the case. It's just the Singaporean accent man but not the kind with the Chinese slang in it, lol ok I think I don't make sense now but I hope you get the drift. There's a couple of Singaporeans students as well, mostly from NUS this year, so yeah it is nice to know you have your fellow country men here with you even though we don't hang out in the same group haha.

So I've been meeting up with Inhye ever since I've arrived and it really makes things a lot easier because she does all the talking with the staff and all that -yay- hahaha first time having an international friend so I'm a bit excited. But the downside is that she will be heading off to Maldives in early July for placement so I am probably not going to see her for an extremely long time #internationalfriendsproblems

I had a pretty damn good flight on Asiana Airlines because the plane was practically empty thus I had an available seat beside me. Transformed it into a makeshift bed and had one of the best 6-hours non-disturbed sleep in a plane. But for some odd reason I was still shit ass tired when I got to SNU and crashed for 4 hours before meeting Inhye for dinner at Nakseongdae. The rooms here are all shared dorms so I am staying with this other girl who studies in U.S. We were really amazed by this bind thing in our rooms because it separates the 2 beds and gives us the privacy we need damn cool. And also, the dorms have the room mates names and pictures outside their rooms?! Don't know if that's a good thing though haha.

I told myself not to finish that bread but I succumbed to my love for carbs and down it all lol. 

The airport shuttle to SNU's dormitory

The dorm (spot the bind in between!)

Nakseongdae is like the bustling area in Gwanak where the Uni is located, it is about a 20 minutes bus ride down from the dorm I think? Got lost because Google Maps is extremely ineffective in Korea (but it is not like I could download other better navigating apps because they are all in Korean and I understand no shit) and her phone died so after a good 30 minutes we finally found each other. We kept walking to find a legit restaurant because Inhye wanted to give me a memorable first meal HAHA, finally settled on this random restaurant right beside the road called Chung Won for dinner.

Ordered the pan fried octopus, pork belly and teokkbokki and it came with several side dishes like kimchi, seaweed and steamed egg, as well as cold noodles (naengmyeon). WAS FREAKING GOOD MAN the octoupus was very chewy, the pork belly wasn't dry and the cold noodles was really tasty and ON POINT. The noodles are quite similar to Japanese's soba noodles but it's thinner. Damn sedap.

Flavoured soju was recently introduced in Korea not too long ago and it has been a big hit with the locals so here's Ms. Alcoholic showing off our blueberry soju which was indeed, really good. 

And then we had patbingsu for dessert at this cafe called Lga Coffee. Matcha ice cream with red azuki bean paste. Hot damn.

Oh yeah, and then there's the whole MERS situation. Like what I have been telling my friends even prior to this trip, media loves to blow things up man. There were quite a number of people wearing masks at the airport so I took out mine to blend in but once I was out of it and into central Seoul, I swear no one gives a shit hahahaha. Everyone's without masks except for the older people and yeah it is as though MERS never really happened.

But yeah here's a shameless selfie of me trying to blend in with the crowd at the airport.

Ok that's all for Day 1, bye! 

Hokkaido 2014 | Day 1

(This has been sitting in my Drafts for months, think it's time to get it published! Oh and I apologise for the bad photos, didn't adjust the wide lens properly therefore you will see tons of blur sides haha, and I did not exactly bother to edit most of the shots.)

Think I dragged long enough for my travelogues, and today I am in the mood to do at least one of them haha. Better rush them out before I head off to another country!

Gonna start on my most recent trip to Japan, Hokkaido!!!!!!!! Giving this priority because I take great pride in my work HAHAHA. Really wanted this trip to happen because it will be the last time I will travel with my folks and my aunt before I continue my studies. (Side note: my aunt became part of our travel clan because she was like my other half hahaha ever since I was 12 years old) 

It was quite a dilemma for my Mom because it was between going to Japan for a leisure family holiday or accompanying me to UK to help settle me down. I was 100% against the idea of coming along with me because I don't deem that as a holiday? They will probably be crazy stressed (even more than me I believe) with all the admin and boring stuff. Isn't it such a waste to spend thousands on a country if you aren't going to immerse yourself into it? 

So after much convincing, we booked our flights to Hokkaido yaaaaaaaaay! 

In case you ever want to know the planning process, here's a quick link to my previous post: Hokkaido Pre-Departure

Day 1 | Otaru 

We arrived at New Chitose Airport and took a 2-hour ride train to Otaru. Trains running to the different cities in Hokkaido are bigger and more comfortable, as compared to trains travelling within the vicinity. Here's some quick general knowledge - Otaru was a fishing village so the train ride towards this small town was breathtaking. We witnessed the transition from buildings to the blue sea, and it was very calming. I was hoping that the rest of my train rides around Hokkaido will be as beautiful as this but that didn't happen.

At least I had the chance to experience and feel that moment. It's so beautiful you don't even want to capture it, ja feelin' whud ayam feelin'? 

Took a 15 minutes walk down to our hotel - Hotel Vibrant Otaru. The structure had some Western influence to it, reception staff were very helpful and friendly even though they couldn't really speak English. The room was very basic and small but very clean - 1 double decker bed and a small toilet that could barely fit 2 people at the same time haha. But it was cosy and sufficient for us so no complains!

There weren't a lot of attractions to comb in Otaru but we only had slightly less than a day to explore this town, therefore we didn't manage to visit all that was planned in the itinerary. That's also because less than 2 hours in Hokkaido my dad brilliantly lost his train pass (which we paid SGD $282 for one btw) and he freaked. I mean if it was me I would freaked too because did I just bloody spend $282 on a one way ride to Otaru?!? And we can only purchase the train pass at the next city, which is 5 hours away ha ha ha. Thankfully, Lady Luck was smiling on my dad (and mom because she won't be spending any more money) and he found it on the pavement opposite to ours. 

How. Lucky. Is. That. 

Apparently the wind blew the stupid pass out of my dad's jacket pocket. He was so happy he shouted Hallelujah from across the road hahahaha.

While my Dad and Aunt were busy finding the ticket, Mama and I were slightly more awed by this on the sidewalk HAHA.

We were also delayed because we couldn't find the Otaru Canal. Eventually we did, and even though there were tourists around us we didn't feel stuffed or anything. It was a good feeling with a good view, with acoustic music playing in the background while we strolled along the canal.

Left the canal for Sakaimaichi Street for lunch and also to visit the Music Box Museum. That was where we had the most amazing and affordable tonkatsu set meals, and tried the tallest 7-flavoured ice cream in our entire lives hahaha.

The upsetting thing about Hokkaido in general is that their shops and attractions stop operating really early. By early I mean like 6 - 7 in the evening kind of early. So we didn't have time to visit Otaru City Museum because they closed at 5 or 6pm. Headed back to the hotel to take a quick nap before heading out to Sushi Street for dinner! 

Yeah. "Sushi Street" sounds pretty damn good huh. When I was researching on it, my imagination brought me to restaurants after restaurants serving authentic sushi, with tons of people looking for a place to dine in, and orange lights and navy blue curtains swaying with the wind. 

But naaaaaaaah hahaha. Yeah there were restaurants but most of them were closed. No crowd, they only people patronising the street were the 4 of us. Dark and cold. The locals said shops close even earlier during then because it wasn't the tourist season, therefore they had no reason to open either. What shiok life are the locals living man.

"Aiya today nobody one la, don't work today then!" Must be nice. Don't quote me though, I'm just assuming haha. 

Any case, we settled for some sushi set at a restaurant that required us to sit on the floor. We wiped out everything, can't tell if it was because we were really hungry or if the food was very good.

Day 2 | Otaru > Hakodate 

We left Otaru at 5 in the morning to catch the early train to Hakodate. The only reason why we did this was because the damn ride was 5 hours long. But it didn't feel like 5am at all because the sun was shining the shit out of itself already. 

Visited the Red Bricks Warehouse, where you can find tons of souvenirs, a chapel, a beer hall and a cruise bay. That's where my mom thought she tried the best cheesecake ever.

Went into a random ramen stall and it was by far the best ramen we had throughout our trip in Hokkaido. Every town has their own broth speciality - Asahikawa known for their soya-based broth , Hakodate's salt-based and Sapporo has got to be miso-based. I guess salt-based ramen are more to our liking? Its look doesn't blow your mind but damn, the taste will.

The owner also gave us free ice cream hehehehehehe.

Took the tram to Fort Goryokaku, a star-shaped citadel that houses lots of greenery, dandelions, a shrine, some mascots, large spaces and an observatory tower. 

It was so gorgeous.

Hokkaido has so many transport services sometimes it gets really confusing. They have the rail trains, then there is the trams and another one called streetcars. Almost board the wrong train to the Fort and we had to ruuuuun for 10 mins to go the right station, that's located right in the middle of the road -_-

Oh, and they don't use cards to travel like how we do in Sg. Instead, they pay by coins or they get tickets like the ones below.

The last pit stop was Mt. Hakodate, where you could watch the sunset and how the entire city lights up. I honestly thought there weren't a lot of people in Hokkaido because almost everywhere we walked to, the number of people around us are the number of people you see in like... maybe Punggol. But I guess everyone was parked at Mt. Hakodate lol it was so freaking packed I couldn't move. 

It was a nice view! But I expected it to be nicer. Well, expectation kills haha. Oh and we also saw this large ass crow snatching a girl's bread out of her hands so swiftly. Scary.

It was Hotel Kikuya for that night and it was the worst hotel we stayed while we were in Hokkaido. Never mind that it was small, it was a little dusty as well? And because we opted for a ryokan-style kind of setting, it was so crammmmmmmmmmed. 

I didn't have a lot of issues with it la but my parents did hahaha.

Day 3 | Hakodate > Noboribetsu 

This day got me so worried while I was planning. I guess Noboribetsu is one of the lesser frequented cities in Hokkaido as compared to the rest? It was such a hassle to plan the transportation means and routes around this onsen town. But I am really happy I went ahead with it anyway because even though this town is so small and quiet, it holds so much nature and beauty in it. I will follow up on that later. 

Before heading to Noboribetsu, we woke up crazy early because we wanted to visit their morning market. You have to visit a morning market while you are at Japan, doesn't matter which part you are at because there is bound to be one in your city. But we went there too early :-( Though the market opens at 5am, shops officially start business at 7 to 8am. So we walked around and tried their melon which is by the way, so darn sweet and juicy and just watch the fishermen load in and arrange the boxes of fresh crabs and fish.

On a side note, this is one bloody good croquette I got from a random convenience store. SEDAP MAXIMUM. 

Took the train (as usual) to Noboribetsu before switching to a bus that will bring us to the bus terminal of our onsen. Yay to sea view once again! 

The onsen was amaaaaAaaAaAaAAaaaazing. In terms of decor, space, service and food, they were really the best. Well, of course we spent a lot on accommodation there but it was so worth it! Going into a hot spring with a cold weather is really sedap.

While at Noboribetsu, we travelled out a little and visited Lake Toya and Mt. Showa Shinza via the Usuzan Ropeway. It was such a hassle to take the bus and shit to this place so I succumbed to convenience and signed up for a taxi package - which was really value for money, to be honest. We saved so much time because of that. 

After this picture was taken, a siren was activated and there was an announcement from a staff that instructed us to come down from the wooden railing immediately HAHAHA. 

Anyhow, I really like Lake Toya. All that headache and shit was tremendously compensated once I was up. The view was perfect, the weather was perfect, the lack of crowd was also perfect. That's where I tried the matcha and milk ice cream and that's my number 1 ice cream flavour during then.

Had some bbq/grill thing for dinner near our onsen town. They definitely are very generous with their portion hahaha.

The next day, we woke up to a King's meal. No kidding. We were pleasantly surprised man and it was really good.

Trekked along Jigokudani and I was determine to find that hot spring lake, where you can soak your legs in after a long trekking session. There was this point of time we took the wrong route and we realised a little too late that we were trekking along the edges of the mountain. The route was getting steeper and dangerous because there weren't any steps anymore - just different elevations of soiled ground. There were also mini goddess figurines on our sides as we walked. It was a very uneasy and uncomfortable feeling. We didn't stop though, till we were faced with a mini goddess figurine right smacked in front of our feets. Then okay lor no choice need to U-turn. 

Thank goodness we did. Who knows where that route will bring us to. 真的要谢天谢地。

After a long while, we finally reached the hot spring lake!!! Gorgeous view man.

Okay that's all for Part I! Bed time is in 30 mins so here's a picture of my fav aunt before we head to Asahikawa and will you look at that round face of mine literally ROUND simidaiji... 

Catch ya l8r buddies x.