Christmas '13

Maybe a short update on how I spent my Christmas this year... Before I throw in another post on my day 2 in Seoul? It's probably gonna be yet another post drowned in pictures again hahaha.

& so, this year Christmas was pretty homely, in a sense that... I spent it at home (not exactly at my own house but we had this potluck x house warming x Christmas countdown party at my parents' friends' house, which is only a few units away from ours). Anyhow, I woke up early that day to help out with some food preparation for my mom. She's those housewife/friend who would go on an extend mile to help with the parties, making herself seems like one of the hosts which isn't something that my brothers & I fancy.

I became a mechanic in removing the shells & lungs or the intestines or whatever it is called (on the top "spine" of the prawns), and slicing the guava... That's about it. My mom did all the cooking (black vinegar pig trotters & fried noodles), and ordering of roasted charsiew, roasted duck, roasted pork (sio yok), accompanying the host to buy party items... I told you, she was really one of the hosting committees.

Halfway through the prepping, I went to bake potato HAHAHA for a tryout. I always see pictures of mouthwatering baked potatoes on the Internet, so was trying my luck to see if I can recreate similar baked potato or not... Well, I can only say that people who tried it gave feedback that it was actually not bad. Not sure how I did it, I just stuffed in sliced sausages, pinches of erm, some seasonings like garlic & black pepper powder, oregano, salt... and topped with a slice of cheese. I didn't have any greens/ bacon bits to go with, so it didn't look good in presentation. No reds, no greens, just a plain potato covered with cheese. Failed in the appearance but hey, at least it fetched some good reviews for a virgin tryout on that dish!

Christmas eve afternoon was spent just like that... I can't even recall what else did I do, except of using laptop until it was the time to bathe and walk over for the party.

The moment I walked in, the whole table was already half filled with all the foodie goodies, it was not even full strength for the headcount yet, imaging the food that was still on their way to the place... Seriously, there was too MUCH food, WAY TOO MUCH, my tummy couldn't even handle it (but I am not even a massive eater tho).

For a puny brain like mine, I only can remember there was roasted turkey, roasted charsiew, roasted duck, roasted pork (sio yok), fried beehoon (one whole damn big tray, and a separate small tray from another auntie), black vinegar pig trotters, fried noodles, BBQ chicken wings, yong tau foo, BBQ satay, fried udon, fried rice, some chinese soup, some yam thingy dessert (I think, which my mom claimed it's nice), curry puffs, fried spring rolls, sushi, vegetable curry, some vegetarian vegetable dish, fried ngoh hiong, some malay kuehs, fruits, fishballs, jellies, etc... The total headcount was only, 30 at most? There was so much leftover, I suggested them to give some to the security guards (they are not Muslims), and in the end, my mom took back A LOT as well.

So, the 2nd morning, my family had the leftovers for breakfast... & even for dinner OMG. How is that possible... Not that I am picky with food (BECAUSE I AM NOT, my friends can vouch for me), ended up I had cornflakes for breakfast (switched my usual Blueberry Morning from Post to their Cranberries one instead, and it is equally good! Oh, I added slices of banana too!!) & self-cooked pasta for dinner.

OH, right... When it was 12mn, the neighbours displayed fireworks hahaha the good about Malaysia. You can just go boom boom boom in the sky with beautiful bursting colours without afraid of being caught. Not sure how much it costed them but it's definitely not a thing for my dad. He always says playing fireworks, firecrackers or something similar is equivalent to burning the money away. LOL true to an extent and we can always enjoy it when others are displaying them. #cheapskate

The night finally ended as we hit the sack at 3.30am omg can die. I woke up at 10am the next morning (xmas day) and have been doing this crap for consecutive days which my body finally caved in yesterday. I had to take a nap 3 hours after breakfast yesterday, my mind was really exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open.

This year, I didn't do any gift exchange but shamelessly, received xmas presents from people. LOL how can my life be so awesome... & they are not even cheap stuffs. Guiltiness at its maximum. My life isn't that bad after all, actually, it is really quite good for me already. Not complaining...

Thank you guys!!

One of my X'mas presents!

Key purse x cardholder from Porter International.

Black: Christmas present for 2013

Top Red: 21st Birthday present for 2012

Bottom Red: "Souvenir" for myself from Taiwan 2012

(Got it for myself when I was in Taiwan for a mountain climbing trip which I still haven't put it into a good use yet... 'Cos there isn't any compartment for me to display my instax... Not sure why did I buy it in the first place.)

Bottom Brown: Birthday present for 2nd bro in 2012

(I got it together with my red wallet in Taiwan. My bro used for awhile then he went to purchase a similar wallet of mine, but in black, with metallic logo so he discontinued using the brown one and so, I took back and use it HAHAHA)

I got a harness from my bitch as x'mas present as well, no picture because I didn't take any lolol what a redundant remark but anyhow, I hope it will be of FREQUENT use soon... Need to get back in climbing so I can haz awesomez body physique! Then also, she bought me the sequel to this SUPER INSPIRING book titled "The Last Lecture". This book she bought is titled "Dream New Dreams" by the late author's (of The Last Lecture) wife, Jai Pausch. I've yet to lay my hands on it 'cos it's not being wrapped yet hahaha I don't wanna get my book soiled/crumpled.

My life is kinda complete for 2013, I guess...

I will do a 2013 review of my life soon!

I just hope to now, nail the interview with NTUC LearningHub on next Thursday, can get a secure job with a stable income... It will be an awesome possum 2014!!! 

Happy TGIF, people!

Enjoy your weekend...

& have a wait-for-it... Legendary NYE countdown to welcome a new year with a BLAST!

x

Oh, there's a screen/monitor attached to the roof, similar to those that you often see in the coaches but throughout the whole journey, it was just advertisements, and ALL IN KOREAN... Even the magazines... So it's better if you prepare your own entertainment such as books (if you wanna step one intellectual), portable game devices, poker cards, crossword puzzles and whatnot. You could just use a nap as well, but just something that can keep you entertained throughout the ride!

 We got it at a cheaper price, youth pricing!

It's good to go into deep/intense research for an overseas trip if you don't wanna spend extra $$ on unnecessary items! Thanks to Shini a.k.a my BFF, lol she found all these good deals online, we got almost all our attractions, & transportation tickets at cheaper price hahaha.

& the train conductor didn't actually check our train tickets...

We played poker cards, listened to our own iPod, read some storybooks to keep ourselves entertained!

Look how clean is the KTX!

Totally worth every penny spent.

Ajummah is so comfortable with her foot saying "hi!" to you!

After a 3 hours 15mins or so, we finally reached Seoul!

Pictures taken before we left the platform!

Seoul Station.

We got out from the station & started navigating ourselves to our hostel!

The route we took daily to and fro from our hostel to the station.

Tadah, 21 Guesthouse!

It's super clean (with a super handsome hiphop style receptionist, totally looking like some ABC...) but if you have SUPER LARGE LUGGAGE, I advise you not to stay here... The room is kinda small, more of Asian fit rather than Angmoh fit hahaha so yup... But it was really a cosy hostel and the handsome receptionist is really really helpful. He helped us to list down directions - which subway line to take/exchange, buses to take to Naminara Island, and also helped us with the DMZ Tour which we didn't go in the end.

Our room key!

Or you could say, metric card.

After unpacking and stuffs, we proceeded to their Myeong Dong Street which is REALLY similar to Singapore's Orchard Road. It's packed with super lots of shops, especially those beauty, cosmetic shops. You LITERALLY can find at least... 5 along the same street like seriously. Oh, not to mention, their convenience shops are everywhere as well. E-V-E-R-Y-W-H-E-R-E.

Oh, we went to this... I forgot which building to this Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center.

It's a place where you can book your appointment and then try out their traditional clothing for free! You can only, and have to book a few days (or is it one day...) before the actual day I think. We didn't know about this so we just paid a visit there without trying the outfit (It's okie for me since I wore it before hahahahahaha but sad for Shini) and took some maps and guides for us to tour in Seoul.

We walked out from the building and started our food hunt omg hehehe I finally get to try my grilled shredded squids! Actually, it was the flat flat, fishy thing in the cup on the left middle of this above photo hahaha. I had it when I was in South Korea 4 years ago and had been wanting to try it again and so I DID. OH YAYYYYYYY!

We bought both the fishy thing and the shredded squids.

Guess what?

SHINI WENT TO SOUTH KOREA AND EAT SOTONG/SQUID.

REALLY, she is a picky-eater. She doesn't eat seafood, unless it's erm, LOBSTER, crabs, fishes... She doesn't eat prawns, octopus, shellfishes, clams, and whatever that's in the sea. It's not because of health problem, such as allergy... BUT SHE DOESN'T LIKE THE FISHY SMELL. RAGEEEEE, so fussy but then she ate octopus in Jeju Island, and hahaha this grilled shredded squid. HAHAHA I just kept psychoing her that there isn't any fishy smell, just try and eat it. WOOHOO.

Here's a picture of their police post along the street, look at the statues.

SO CUTE.

Oh, when I was in New Zealand, one of my parents' friends ordered this sweet potato snacks as dessert because she had it in South Korea when she went there to visit her daughter who flew there just to learn Korean.. Anyhow, it's coated with maltose candy (melted syrup???), so it's sticky and sweet. OMGGGGG totally similar to the one I had in New Zealand, another craving satisfied. Happy girl.

Eat, walk, time to hunt for a place for a proper dinner.

So, we entered this shop and had this typical Korean food which you can find it easily now in Singapore/ Malaysia. It's similar to the Uncle Jung Korean Restaurant in Malaysia, like they fry your order of chicken/beef, with rice cakes or noodles or both, and many cabbage, with their spicy sauce. Nothing's exceptional but good for some spiciness!

Why doesn't she look pleased... Hahaha.

After dinner, we continued walking, exploring the Myeong Dong Street.

As you know, South Korea really have a lot of such caps.

We came across this shop which sells array of different kinds of caps/hats, and we both bought beanies instead hahaha. I think beanies are much cheaper than the caps...

The theater at Myeong Dong Street like duh...

HAHAHA, they were having this NATAS show, supposed to be really worth watching but my friend nicknamed "Tadpole", told me that I actually can just watch it on YouTube HAHAHA so we didn't go for the musical. There's really too much things/ many places to cover in Seoul, we really didn't have the time.

Some random alley...

It's so crowded, even on a drizzling night, on a weekday.

THERE ARE A LOT OF MASCOTS along the street.

Here's one of them.

Buildings are slowly dressed in Christmas decorations.

Before we ended our night at Myeong Dong Street...

We really couldn't bear to walk past this stall without trying the sausages omg thank goodness we stopped and bought it HAHAHA not bad, one stick with different variety of sausages.

No idea what are the different variations but worth the try.

I only know the white thing you can see above, it's actually the rice cake being wrapped by the sausage!

Okie, we had that sausages before walking out to the train station and took the subway back to Seoul Station and to our hostel! A slow shutter night shot to end this post!

Happy Thursday!

Bear with it, tomorrow is TGIF and it's weekend!

Also, Christmas is coming!!!

Good day, everyone!

x