Friday, December 20, 2013

Day 3 (6 November 2013) 

Woke up in the morning and you feel so blessed to have someone preparing breakfast for you.
Especially when breakfast is your most important and indispensable meal of the day!
I don't really know how to cook (haha..) so I helped out on the toast bread instead (of course, capturing the moments too!).
what a hearty breakfast to start off our day :)

Thank you Ailee & Karen!

 

I almost stamp these on my passport haha

First station of the day and last station before departing to Seoul: Sam Seong Hyeol (삼성혈), The Origin of Tamna Kingdom.
Follow this way
 (raw photos credited to Ailee)
Exhibition hall


Korean words were derived from hanja/ chinese words! (left)Figurines that depict Chunchudaeje, one of the sacrificial rites during the Joseon Dynasty. (right)

   (raw photos credited to Ailee)
hmm.. so the guys were holding their hands together? "o.O

Samsunjeon
 The shrine of the 3 memorial tablets for 3 Eulnas that was built in 1698.
Jeju tangerines?!

Sung Bo Dang
The academic arena for outstanding scholars was used in the year 1849, the 15th year of King Heonjong's rule.
Samsunghyeolunjeon
The place where the 3 demi-gods emerged from this site, then hunted and collected for living until they met the 3 princesses from Byeongnangguk of East Sea, according to the legend.

the kids are so adorable~
 2013 New Figure Debut Concert by Jeju Philharmonic Orchestra!
so this caught our attention when we were about to go to airport...
And and, they are gonna play Dvorak's Cello Concerto, Mendelsohn's Violin Concerto and... Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2.
It's my favourite piece~~~~~
Such heart-throbbing when we have to give it a miss
T_________T

in Seoul's subway and look, Choi Ji Woo is everywhere :D
Having Korean food is too mainstream lol
First meal at Seoul.

Feels good walking on the street of Seoul though it was drizzling.
 Cameras up!
Guess what's the shop selling?
Too cool for school: an attractive shop name will definitely pull the passerby to take a few more glimpse.

Myeong-dong (명동), one of the primary shopping districts in Seoul.
 Seriously, you can find one whole row of skincare and cosmetics shops, everywhere in fact which you can hardly decide of which to enter.
 (raw photos credited to Ailee)
How can one miss the street food?
keep keep keep eating xD
 (raw photos credited to Ailee)
massage, is all we need
Schneeballen, German traditional snack where we have to smash with hammer!
 Looks good and attracted by its appearance at first but honestly, it was not as crunchy and scrummy as I expected.                                                                                           (raw photos credited to Ailee)

"Welcome to the hell", our heart uttered.
It was not that we were so pampered that we hardly walk on our legs yet the pain after the mountain hiking on the day before was truly ineffable.

The pain did not end there.
We actually walked to the N Seoul Tower despite of the slope along the way up to the tower.

look at the staircase...
this photo was just showing a small part of it.

we are STRONG!
as if we were climbing a small Hallasan mount
you'll see a small hut upon climbing up the staircase.

"ah... the bench is mine"
we were desperately in need of rests, for our legs.
with the girls :)
nice shot Ailee!
weeee~
It was too chilly that we got ourselves some hot chocolate despite of the whopping price just to keep ourselves warm.
Oh how I love this corner.
N Seoul Tower laser show
N Seoul Tower laser show showcase hourly from 8pm-11pm for a duration of 10 minutes.
We took our own sweet time to rest up there in spite of the strong wind blew and eventually watched the show twice.
I like the fusion of their traditional drum and modern bboy dance!

hohoho... X'mas is coming!
thumbs up!
Barbequed meat as our dinner at some random restaurant near our place.
Should have jotted down the name of the restaurant, uh..

she was too tired...
hmm... so something sprang up in her mind and came up with this idea to kill her boredom:
Some entertainment after the dinner, inspired by Ailee.




Almost there... but we were really worn out before getting a successful shot.
Headed back to our room and sleeeep.

Well, it was really funny when the receptionist noticed our way of walking.
We were walking like a duck, or more like a zombie.
"What happened?" she asked with a shocked expression on her face.
Ah ha, that's the repercussion of not being trained before the mountain hiking followed by real long hours of walking.

Day 4 (7 November 2013)
Okay, so there was no stove for us to cook at this new place.
(raw photo credited to Ailee)
cereals, milk, peanut, toast bread and nutella!
Let's continue our Seoul journey.
 (raw photos credited to Ailee)

myriads of ecletic coffee shops.. haven of coffee lovers




In the end, we got into a Japanese style restaurant: Kokoro Bento to feed our growling stomach
 (raw photos credited to Ailee)

 chefs in action
Grilled Beef Bacon 11,000 won
Salmon & Salmon Roe 13,500 won

Takoyaki 4,000 won
Ice-cream challenge during such chilly weather - it was really tall! 

karaoke lounge! looks like a beauty mansion af first glance
Trick Eye Museum.
Let the photos do the talking alright
(raw photos credited to Ailee)
HELPPPPP!!!!!
we are boss!
it's smelly Aileeeeeeeee
sexay legss~
gulp gulp...
oh hey!
like a boss

Ice Museum
my favourite ❤
yawn~ time to sleep zzzz
duet with the pro!
COLD
Ice slide - chidlhood favourite
frosted specs - it was too cold!
the far-famed Taco Bells!

hmm.. a tad too small?

Pepero fight!
street view near Ewha
Ewha University right in front of us!
entrance of Ewha
Ewha campus
it's not a tunnel or walkway, but library and study rooms on the side
with the ladies

I really like the architectural of this university
oppss.. Ewha students were captured too

:)
red vine
a guy holding a bouquet of flowers was spotted, waiting for his special one I guess. how romantic!
violin and err.. what instrument casing was that?!
Seriously, I fall in love with the architecture and the environment of Ewha Women's University.
Elicited my urge to study over there.. haha

 performing arts guide!
apparently their arts & music culture are prevalent in their society
(raw photos credited to Ailee)
omg... where is the theatre... ... ...
phew... we are here finally!!
Nigel why you no smile?
setting up.. and I spot the double bass! woohoo~

Blue cast on the stage
mobile fashion store! how creative
Seoul Lantern Festival  서울등축제
Hidden gem under the bridge



the wind gets stronger

you know how and where to lodge your complain if you happen to meet illegal taxi driver

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Awesome November!

It has come to the end of the awesome November 2013.
I'll do some wrap up in the whole month of awesomeness.
Hey, it's my month! haha

 since we can't be spotted in the group photo.... let's selca!
1st Nov - Performed in Young Malaysians Go Classic Concert, an orchestra + choir concert conducted by Mr Kevin Field with hundred over performers on stage. Again, I got to play some arrangements by Ken Hor after few years!

3rd Nov - Watched an excellent Carmen Suite opera starring most of the locals while musicians were conducted by a French conductor.

4th Nov - Set my foothold at the land of the morning calm - the inspiring Korea! That was my 1st time seeing the maple trees in real! Oh hey, received call from the interning company that I got the offer.

5th Nov - Conquered the highest mountain in South Korea which is also a UNESCO World Heritage and earned myself a medal & a certificate! A streneous expedition with my buddies! Ah yes, our name was etched on the gold medal ;D

7th Nov - Watched an amazing live musical show where each performer showcased their expertise in various instruments!

8th Nov - Caught an ensemble performance at the Seoul Arts Centre in conjunction with their Korea Music Festival.

9th Nov - My birthday celebration at Korea! First sip on the soju. Also, it was the day where I experience one of the coldest day in my life - strong wind blew with a slight of sandstorm after the rain at the seaside. Oh my

10th Nov - Jazz performance! What a big surpise :D

16th Nov - Challenged myself for a 21km during the Penang Bridge International Marathon and bagged a medal. My very first half marathon in my life! Seriously, the repercussion of the run was nothing compared to the mountain hiking at Mt. Hallasan!


22nd Nov -  Enjoyed a traditional dance performance featuring 5 ASEAN countries.

24th Nov - 1st Christmas caroling at the Empire Shopping Gallery

27th Nov - Officially received notification from MPYO that my name is in their player listing. It's an orchestra that I yearn to play in since young but have yet to send my application! That was indeed a good news & bad news that it clashes with my final exam that I will have to forgo the opportunity this time :(

30th Nov - Again, I was at Plenary Theatre, KL Convention Centre upon setting feet on the 1st. Enjoyed the evening watching fantabulous peformances by the young prodigies around the world. Bravo to all the performers!

Besides all these delighting highlights of my life in one month's time, I am going through one of the toughest and pivotal period so far.
That immense workload and amount of tension..
Glad that I insisted to take some escapade in between to channel the tensity & divert my mind..

...Stay awesome!