38 minutes ago
You were in my dreams last night with Colins. I don't know why she featured in my dream but, anyway, we were at the pools and it was really weird. We had to crawl through this tiny gap in the wall to access it and I was getting claustrophobic, wanting so much to get through but scared that I will get stuck.
Guess what? No more Thailand nor the Phillipines; no more beaches.
Explains my dream, doesn't it. Boohoo :(
- Finally went to a studio to get my films developed. Going back on Wednesday to pick them up. Hopefully they come out alright... Scared!
- Finally, also, bought my much sought out and needed pair of winter boots. I've been wanting a good pair of ankle boots for some time now. They had to be not too high in heel length, not too high on the ankles, comfortable and not too expensive. I thought some of the ones in Zara looked the best, but they were either too heavy or too expensive, and plus they didn't have one in my size, which was a bummer. I went around five Zara stores looking for the perfect pair, with no success, I'm not even kidding. Then I went to this Korean brand shop in a department store, called Spicy Color (the Koreans use American spelling, of course), and finally bought a pair. They were light and almost half the price, and very comfortable. It's funny because I had seen the pair during the beginning of my hunt, and so I've basically come round a long circle. It may be a tiring method of shopping, but I want my purchases to be well thought out.
- Went to a flatwarming party and assisted in D's first cooking session in his new kitchen. I bought him and T ingredients for guacamole, plus the knife and bowl to make and put the finished dip into. I thought guacamole would be a good way for him to get under way because it's easy to make. Also because it's much healthier than the usual ramens he cooks up. His knife skills were surprisingly good, and the dip was not too bad.
- Watched 'Looper' at the cinemas. It was a great movie, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt whom I like, and Emily Blunt was in it, too. The child actor who played an important role in the story was very scary, especially because he was so cute. The time travelling made me think of 'The Time Traveller's Wife' a bit, but I still enjoyed it very much.
Back home I counted a whooping 26 mosquito bites marking my weekend out. All over my face, neck and hands. And I'd thought the Summer was over...
I love Indian food. It's my favourite fast food to go in New Zealand. Butter chicken, chicken tikka massala with rice or naan and mango lassi are regular favourites, often with vegetarian options too, especially if eating on site at the restaurant. Plus vege pakoras if I'm feeling extra hungry.
My Indian love started in high school after that unforgettable day Dad and I were feeling adventurous one school day he took me out for lunch on (I can't remember the occasion). We suffered greatly the following day, causing Dad to be put off Indian pretty much forever, but I braved it to face it another time, and have not looked back since.
I have fond memories with Indian food. It was our favourite after school food during the last year of high school. Indian is still a popular choice for our reunion get togethers, which has been a bit overdue for some time now. During my uni days, I would often have kids size meals at the local food court.
Truth be told, I was scared to try Indian food while in France. I didn't want to be disappointed by the French style Indian cuisine the way I had been by their Japanese. I ended up having some in Toulouse, though, and it was thankfully not too bad.
This restaurant near my place, in Ilsan, is my first Indian place in Korea. I had heard good things about it before going, so I had my hopes up. The restaurant is big, and even on a Tuesday night it was pretty filled up with friends and couples. As we walked through the silky curtained entrance, we were greeted by Indian servers who were very fluent in Korean.
The garlic naan was wonderful, as were the chicken and vege curries. The mango lassi could have been better, they weren't mango yellowy enough. However, I was very satisfied with my filling dinner, and would very much recommend the place for its decor, cleanness, and friendly service, as well as the food quality.
This is especially so after the very average lunch I had at Idae this afternoon, which was a disappointment. The curry only had three pieces of chicken. Unacceptable. Apparently there are better Indian places near Seoul National University of Education and Shinchon, so perhaps will try those when the opportunity arises.
Asia Asia
410-380 Gyunggi-do Goyang-si Ilsandong-gu Janghang-dong 868
Westerndome B-dong 2F I-206/207
Tel. 031 901 0086/0787
My Indian love started in high school after that unforgettable day Dad and I were feeling adventurous one school day he took me out for lunch on (I can't remember the occasion). We suffered greatly the following day, causing Dad to be put off Indian pretty much forever, but I braved it to face it another time, and have not looked back since.
I have fond memories with Indian food. It was our favourite after school food during the last year of high school. Indian is still a popular choice for our reunion get togethers, which has been a bit overdue for some time now. During my uni days, I would often have kids size meals at the local food court.
Truth be told, I was scared to try Indian food while in France. I didn't want to be disappointed by the French style Indian cuisine the way I had been by their Japanese. I ended up having some in Toulouse, though, and it was thankfully not too bad.
The garlic naan was wonderful, as were the chicken and vege curries. The mango lassi could have been better, they weren't mango yellowy enough. However, I was very satisfied with my filling dinner, and would very much recommend the place for its decor, cleanness, and friendly service, as well as the food quality.
This is especially so after the very average lunch I had at Idae this afternoon, which was a disappointment. The curry only had three pieces of chicken. Unacceptable. Apparently there are better Indian places near Seoul National University of Education and Shinchon, so perhaps will try those when the opportunity arises.
Asia Asia
410-380 Gyunggi-do Goyang-si Ilsandong-gu Janghang-dong 868
Westerndome B-dong 2F I-206/207
Tel. 031 901 0086/0787
We ordered paninis. They were average but filling. Their drinks were average, and I wish they'd been served with less ice, but I'm sure we could have asked for them. We sat down on our place by the street chatting for ages.
Hu's Table
Jongno-gu Gye-dong 140-4 Seoul South Korea
Ferris wheel furniture room wardrobes and beds times two.
Room with three shower cubicles in different styles.
Master bedroom white bed; Papa's study office, golden bronze-y colour.
Déjà vu, in another dream, at another time.
C comes home looks for me.
I get back down from the secret part of the house and steal away into the deck area at the back, creeping along the legs of the outdoor deck chairs so she doesn't see me, until I feel safe enough to straighten up and greet her casually.
- Hey, I'm here, where have you been?
As if I'd been here the whole time.
Room with three shower cubicles in different styles.
Master bedroom white bed; Papa's study office, golden bronze-y colour.
Déjà vu, in another dream, at another time.
C comes home looks for me.
I get back down from the secret part of the house and steal away into the deck area at the back, creeping along the legs of the outdoor deck chairs so she doesn't see me, until I feel safe enough to straighten up and greet her casually.
- Hey, I'm here, where have you been?
As if I'd been here the whole time.
먹쉬돈나 eat rest money out. This restaurant is famous! It's been on TV in Korea and in magazines in Japan. I know, because clips of them decorate the walls of this place. There's always a line outside. We were lucky that our line moved quickly before us.
After a filling lunch we went to visit a few palaces. Also a temple, which is probably the first Korean Buddhist temple I've ever been to.
Apparently during the lantern festivals and Buddhist's birthdays it's amazingly beautiful.
There were three golden Buddhas and the ceiling was covered in lanterns. There was a festival of sort, and heaps of people were inside, praying.
Ssamzigil is popular for its many boutiques. The ambience is young as well as traditional. There are always many Korean couples visiting on dates, as well as foreigners.
Upstairs under the burning sun we enjoyed a bit of a tour of the wall of... what do you call these?! Promises of love forever, as with the locks in N Tower.
Now onto the real reason the pack met up on this day - to take a tour of the Secret Garden in Changdeokgung. This area of the palace was reserved only for the Royal family.
The sky was blue and the air hot. It was a shame the leaves hadn't yet turned red and golden. It must have changed by now, though.
Feel the harmony between the pagodas and the nature, our guide told us.
I imagine it would have been wonderful to have such a private garden in which to cool off and think or read or take a nap. Also for exclusive parties with a few select friends.
An hour and a lot of walking later, our tour ended. We were all pretty tired, already, but our day wasn't over yet.
In fact, there was a lot more walking to come.We walked along Chungyecheon, where there were busking musicians gathering a crowd, drawn by their fresh young energetic voices.
As well as the music, interactive arts approached us, literally. This work is 'Metamorphosis', after the work by Kafka. I'm reading the book at the moment, actually. Imagine waking up one morning to find that you've been transformed into an insect. Eek.
The day was turning into night. We had a last destination on mind, though. Duksugung is one of the smaller palaces dotted around the Korean capital city. It's my friend M's favourite palace. I think it's also because she's an artist, and there's an art gallery in the palace.
We came for the light show. Which was cool, but only lasted about 10 minutes. Oh..
Well, we had packed a lot into one day, and our energy was really draining by this time. On a faim ! we cried. Andong chicken, not spicy, please. It's chicken and potatoes and noodles in a special kind of sauce. Andong is a region in Korea, I think. This is the regional speciality. Yum!
I stopped by Emart last night after work to look for some cosmos flower seeds for Dad. I couldn't find any - sorry, Dad - but in the supermarket section I did spot something mighty familiar in the fridge section. OOH! Mainland Colby block cheese! Edam too! Seriously, I actually made an audible gasp of happy surprise, skated myself across the supermarket floor to place myself in front of the colourful blocks. Ilove cheese, and while these are no French varieties, I always love my Kiwi Colby blocks for everyday dishes.
Too bad I don't have the time to cook at home these days. They were on special, too. But if I bought it they would surely go bad even before I got a third of the way through. Oh, well..
Too bad I don't have the time to cook at home these days. They were on special, too. But if I bought it they would surely go bad even before I got a third of the way through. Oh, well..
Remember that time when J and I had to do with fish n' chips and nacho/burritos? Because the first time the wait was too long, and then the restaurant/bar was having a moving day. We decided to forget it, give up. J had no choice any way, since she was going back to Europe. As for me, well, I thought I'd try one last time. And I got my way in the end.
I have just come back from an amazing day in the nature. A couple of friends and I went to hang out at Mt Bukhan, which is part of the mountain ranges in the northern side of Seoul.
The tallest peak is at 825m or somewhere near it. We didn't have the time to get there this time, but still.
The weather was awesome and it was a good 6-hour trip.
Amazing, look at it!
Seoul is seriously a big white city. The tall apartment buildings are stacked up in uniform lines, like domino pieces.
From the top, we went from one peak to another.
Sometimes the path was steep, some sculpted, some not so marked. Going down was definitely harder than going up, I think.
But either way, very glad I got to see this today.
There were many other hikers like us. Koreans are crazy about mountain climbing, and also cycling. On the metros you will often catch middle aged men and women in climbing gear, shoes, bags, sticks, gloves... Often in matching outfits for couples.
We are well on our way into autumn now so the higher we went, the brighter the foliage. The leaves were dressed in hot bright red, they were so so pretty.
Some preferred to be in yellow.
Breathtaking.
Looking back on our progress. We walked all..
...along this.
On our way down, we got a bit lost. We found ourselves alone, the paths were no longer clear, the surroundings more wild. The sun was coming down. Finally we found a direction sign... only to find that we still had as much to go as when we had started on our descent! How was it possible?
We found our way out in the end though. Whew.
We came by this temple with the carved out Buddha, believed to be done in the 11th century.
Wow. What an adventure.
I have been keeping myself busy and expect to be so until at least the next month, or early December. Plenty of people still left to meet. Then hopefully I will have more time to take a sit to rest and breathe and think a bit more. Here's a good night to a week. Another week awaits us a sleep away :)
The tallest peak is at 825m or somewhere near it. We didn't have the time to get there this time, but still.
The weather was awesome and it was a good 6-hour trip.
Amazing, look at it!
Seoul is seriously a big white city. The tall apartment buildings are stacked up in uniform lines, like domino pieces.
From the top, we went from one peak to another.
Sometimes the path was steep, some sculpted, some not so marked. Going down was definitely harder than going up, I think.
But either way, very glad I got to see this today.
There were many other hikers like us. Koreans are crazy about mountain climbing, and also cycling. On the metros you will often catch middle aged men and women in climbing gear, shoes, bags, sticks, gloves... Often in matching outfits for couples.
We are well on our way into autumn now so the higher we went, the brighter the foliage. The leaves were dressed in hot bright red, they were so so pretty.
Some preferred to be in yellow.
Breathtaking.
Looking back on our progress. We walked all..
...along this.
On our way down, we got a bit lost. We found ourselves alone, the paths were no longer clear, the surroundings more wild. The sun was coming down. Finally we found a direction sign... only to find that we still had as much to go as when we had started on our descent! How was it possible?
We found our way out in the end though. Whew.
We came by this temple with the carved out Buddha, believed to be done in the 11th century.
Wow. What an adventure.
I have been keeping myself busy and expect to be so until at least the next month, or early December. Plenty of people still left to meet. Then hopefully I will have more time to take a sit to rest and breathe and think a bit more. Here's a good night to a week. Another week awaits us a sleep away :)
Pizza in Korea always come with accompanying pickles. Not sure why, just is. At work one night when they was too much to do. Probably before the day of an event.
There was another event today and I was so lost trying to find the hotel that I was half an hour late. I may have gotten off at a wrong stop then kept walking in the wrong direction. What. Ended catching the taxi to drop me off at the front gates. Argh. Will not happen again, I must make sure.
There was another event today and I was so lost trying to find the hotel that I was half an hour late. I may have gotten off at a wrong stop then kept walking in the wrong direction. What. Ended catching the taxi to drop me off at the front gates. Argh. Will not happen again, I must make sure.
Isn't it beautiful? I don't know what the name of this palace/gate is, but it was awesome with the light, looking majestic and still while lanes of cars whizzed past.
Green tea flavoured ice cream, shaved ice, rice cakes, cooling dessert.
After a burger dinner at a gallery restaurant. The couple behind us was talking in accented Korean, accented English, and accented French. Hmm. Just like S and I, haha.
S was really angry that I was so late to our rendez-vous, because work finished late unexpectedly. So so sorry!!
Story of near-Insadong with S.
Green tea flavoured ice cream, shaved ice, rice cakes, cooling dessert.
After a burger dinner at a gallery restaurant. The couple behind us was talking in accented Korean, accented English, and accented French. Hmm. Just like S and I, haha.
S was really angry that I was so late to our rendez-vous, because work finished late unexpectedly. So so sorry!!
Story of near-Insadong with S.