Freezing+Kimchi+ Lost in translation
Better blog about this before 2006 comes :)
3 weeks ago, went on a long awaited family trip to Seoul. Don't ask me why, but I kinda thought that South Korea should be ok to get by, failing to think TOO much into the language barrier. Plus all those korean serials, the actors always spout a few english sentences what...so I was misled hehe. Interestingly enough, Korea seems to be pretty much influenced by China, apparently they follow the chinese characters till some time back when the ruler wanted to simplify the language.Palaces too have similar architecture to the Chinese ones.
Anyhow, a few highlights of the trip:
- Was a nice bonding trip among us kids, esp when all 3 of us are hardly at home at decent hrs. Bro is only back for 1 mth or so from his studies in UK, Sis works till wee hours every single day, and me? well have to say that my parents see me the most, though i have my fair share of eating out, going on hols, coming back late. So for us kids and parents, we really got to see each other more.
- Seoul was freaking cold, -6 and -9 ( I rem when I msned Chau who was in Finland that time, its only -2 at his side!) when we went up to the ski resort Yongpyong, incidentally that is where Winter Sonata was filmed. I am sure you korean serial junkies out there are all too familiar with that, which propelled Bae Yong Jun into stardom. There are even a Winter Sonata cafe and photo taking shots dedicated to it...amazing....:P actually while I was researching on the itiernary of the trip, I have seen Korean Drama Serial tour packs where they bring you to the location shots of those serials..omg! But funnily though all this cold weather reminded me of my times in Stockholm...:)
-Language is such a huge problem, its like a charade game where we have to act out what we wanted... It was like what Jonghoon said, he did the exact same thing when he was in Shanghai and he doesnt understand Mandarin. Even more so both of us are asian looking, so maybe we could pass off as Korean or Chinese. Sad to say, the youngsters don't speak much English as well, when I thought I would have an easier job to approach the younger pple.
- KIMCHI for Bfast, Lunch and Dinner....yes that preserved chilli vinegar vegetable which has a sourish smell was served at every course of the meal of a day. The concept of Korean food is that there are alot of small side dishes kind like appetizer before you get your main meal, but you still eat those small dishes ( which are normally refillable as you go along)...Well after the 1st 2 meals, lets say we pretty much left it ALONE for our other meals though it was served! Oh yeah, I ate never ending BBQ Beef, meat, grilled meat etc during our time there too, was craving for good old steamed, fried, whatever etc stuff back home...
-R-E-S-P-E-C-T what amazed me is that korea seems to be governed by civic morals in an everyday citizen. In the trains,though there are designated seats for the old, handicapped and pregnant ladies ( which really has only old pple seating there not youngsters) , it is a common sight to see youngsters giving up their seats to old people. In one case, this pregnant lady even gave up her seat to an oldie....I guess its nice to see the goodness of pple instead of implementing fines for all this to work :P, even though maybe in some cases where respect to the older / or seniors may come out to be more bad than good ( from what i heard from JH Park), when this all forms as an expectation.
Anyways its also through challenges like these that we encountered 2 very very nice locals...
Nice Lady A: When I approached her for directions to our ski bus pickup, (in that freaking cold weather where i just want to stay home), even though she had no idea, she went on another bus and approached that bus driver for directions and walked with us to that pickup point, that we spent around 20 mins. In the end, she said enjoy your ski trip!
Nice old gentleman B: I have to say I have yet seen such a good person in my life till i met him. Encountered a few problems upon reaching the ski resort as I couldn't find the counter to get the ski passes and arrangement, this guy is responsible for our coach transfer but he has one of the best English around, he on his own accord brought us around the resort, contacted my travel agent for the ski resort on my behalf and helped to settle some stuff. He even brought my sis and bro to rent the ski equipment and advice on taking lessons etc. He was such a nice person that we started wondering:" Why is he so nice?" Just turns out he is really a helpful, selfless and nice guy, shouldnt think twice, there are SUCH pple in this world but few.:)
It really takes 1 nice person to create a positive impression of a country etc, which made me think about this particular lady in the Swedish tax office when i wanted to draw my last paycheck, I was close to giving up understanding what i need to give this other lady ( no english thank you) some tax/income stuff that she came to the rescue and solved everything.I loved her then and there! Conclusion: You REALLY need 1-2 nice people in this world!
- Shopping, you can find anything in any colour and any design in Seoul. I am not kidding. We visited Dongdaemun ( apparently THE hip shopping place) and Nandaemun,the mall concept is so different from any country I know. Instead of nice spacious shops, its all in the form of cramped stalls selling the same things in every floor, so we would have Shoes and Bag then you will find stalls on that floor selling ONLY shoes and bags. When you go to malls with DEPARTMENT stores as its name then its the normal kind that i am used to. Myeongdong and Insadong are my favourite shopping streets! :)
Myeongdong & Insadong
- Weird, interesting gadgets/ happenings:
1. Phone Cell Recharger Locker - where you can just leave your handphone battery in the locker for designated hours to charge it up!
2. Let me introduce you to the Etiquette bell in your toilet cubicle. Apparently it exisits as well in Japan, Korean consider it rude to hear "sounds" when you are doing your business, and you can click on the red button of the Etiquette bells, instantly you are greeted with "the chirping of birds" ( thats what i got), or " the flushing of water" ( thats a fake flush of course)....i was very tickled with this concept!
3. Selling wares on the train- Oh before I forget, public transportation in Seoul is really really cheap, you pay only SGD$1+ to take to over 15 stations! And they have spacious corridors where pple can hawk stuff, like gloves, and torch lights! So spacious that we actually witness 2 old men fighting/ strangling each other on the other side of the train hehe
Oh yeah, a note to the girls, the guys there are not as HOT as those appearing in the serials, so you can save that plane tix and spend it on more serials!
3 weeks ago, went on a long awaited family trip to Seoul. Don't ask me why, but I kinda thought that South Korea should be ok to get by, failing to think TOO much into the language barrier. Plus all those korean serials, the actors always spout a few english sentences what...so I was misled hehe. Interestingly enough, Korea seems to be pretty much influenced by China, apparently they follow the chinese characters till some time back when the ruler wanted to simplify the language.Palaces too have similar architecture to the Chinese ones.
Anyhow, a few highlights of the trip:
- Was a nice bonding trip among us kids, esp when all 3 of us are hardly at home at decent hrs. Bro is only back for 1 mth or so from his studies in UK, Sis works till wee hours every single day, and me? well have to say that my parents see me the most, though i have my fair share of eating out, going on hols, coming back late. So for us kids and parents, we really got to see each other more.
- Seoul was freaking cold, -6 and -9 ( I rem when I msned Chau who was in Finland that time, its only -2 at his side!) when we went up to the ski resort Yongpyong, incidentally that is where Winter Sonata was filmed. I am sure you korean serial junkies out there are all too familiar with that, which propelled Bae Yong Jun into stardom. There are even a Winter Sonata cafe and photo taking shots dedicated to it...amazing....:P actually while I was researching on the itiernary of the trip, I have seen Korean Drama Serial tour packs where they bring you to the location shots of those serials..omg! But funnily though all this cold weather reminded me of my times in Stockholm...:)
-Language is such a huge problem, its like a charade game where we have to act out what we wanted... It was like what Jonghoon said, he did the exact same thing when he was in Shanghai and he doesnt understand Mandarin. Even more so both of us are asian looking, so maybe we could pass off as Korean or Chinese. Sad to say, the youngsters don't speak much English as well, when I thought I would have an easier job to approach the younger pple.
- KIMCHI for Bfast, Lunch and Dinner....yes that preserved chilli vinegar vegetable which has a sourish smell was served at every course of the meal of a day. The concept of Korean food is that there are alot of small side dishes kind like appetizer before you get your main meal, but you still eat those small dishes ( which are normally refillable as you go along)...Well after the 1st 2 meals, lets say we pretty much left it ALONE for our other meals though it was served! Oh yeah, I ate never ending BBQ Beef, meat, grilled meat etc during our time there too, was craving for good old steamed, fried, whatever etc stuff back home...
-R-E-S-P-E-C-T what amazed me is that korea seems to be governed by civic morals in an everyday citizen. In the trains,though there are designated seats for the old, handicapped and pregnant ladies ( which really has only old pple seating there not youngsters) , it is a common sight to see youngsters giving up their seats to old people. In one case, this pregnant lady even gave up her seat to an oldie....I guess its nice to see the goodness of pple instead of implementing fines for all this to work :P, even though maybe in some cases where respect to the older / or seniors may come out to be more bad than good ( from what i heard from JH Park), when this all forms as an expectation.
Anyways its also through challenges like these that we encountered 2 very very nice locals...
Nice Lady A: When I approached her for directions to our ski bus pickup, (in that freaking cold weather where i just want to stay home), even though she had no idea, she went on another bus and approached that bus driver for directions and walked with us to that pickup point, that we spent around 20 mins. In the end, she said enjoy your ski trip!
Nice old gentleman B: I have to say I have yet seen such a good person in my life till i met him. Encountered a few problems upon reaching the ski resort as I couldn't find the counter to get the ski passes and arrangement, this guy is responsible for our coach transfer but he has one of the best English around, he on his own accord brought us around the resort, contacted my travel agent for the ski resort on my behalf and helped to settle some stuff. He even brought my sis and bro to rent the ski equipment and advice on taking lessons etc. He was such a nice person that we started wondering:" Why is he so nice?" Just turns out he is really a helpful, selfless and nice guy, shouldnt think twice, there are SUCH pple in this world but few.:)
It really takes 1 nice person to create a positive impression of a country etc, which made me think about this particular lady in the Swedish tax office when i wanted to draw my last paycheck, I was close to giving up understanding what i need to give this other lady ( no english thank you) some tax/income stuff that she came to the rescue and solved everything.I loved her then and there! Conclusion: You REALLY need 1-2 nice people in this world!
- Shopping, you can find anything in any colour and any design in Seoul. I am not kidding. We visited Dongdaemun ( apparently THE hip shopping place) and Nandaemun,the mall concept is so different from any country I know. Instead of nice spacious shops, its all in the form of cramped stalls selling the same things in every floor, so we would have Shoes and Bag then you will find stalls on that floor selling ONLY shoes and bags. When you go to malls with DEPARTMENT stores as its name then its the normal kind that i am used to. Myeongdong and Insadong are my favourite shopping streets! :)
Myeongdong & Insadong
- Weird, interesting gadgets/ happenings:
1. Phone Cell Recharger Locker - where you can just leave your handphone battery in the locker for designated hours to charge it up!
2. Let me introduce you to the Etiquette bell in your toilet cubicle. Apparently it exisits as well in Japan, Korean consider it rude to hear "sounds" when you are doing your business, and you can click on the red button of the Etiquette bells, instantly you are greeted with "the chirping of birds" ( thats what i got), or " the flushing of water" ( thats a fake flush of course)....i was very tickled with this concept!
3. Selling wares on the train- Oh before I forget, public transportation in Seoul is really really cheap, you pay only SGD$1+ to take to over 15 stations! And they have spacious corridors where pple can hawk stuff, like gloves, and torch lights! So spacious that we actually witness 2 old men fighting/ strangling each other on the other side of the train hehe
Oh yeah, a note to the girls, the guys there are not as HOT as those appearing in the serials, so you can save that plane tix and spend it on more serials!
