Yalams in Korea

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written on April 21, 2017

Day 5, the day we headed back to Gimpo Airport and say goodbye to Busan till next time. Honestly, I did not want to leave Busan so soon because it was indeed a nice place to visit especially the attractions that we visited there. Eventhough the flight was only 45mins, I took the time to close my eyes because I was too sleepy from last night. Still not feeling refreshed, I visited Sulwasoo Flagship store and during that visit I wasn’t feeling like a sleepyhead no more. What made me enjoy the visit was the high end facial products and the design of the store itself. The store and the products were very unique and the prices gave me a shock. There was even a very fascinating facial cream worth 650,000won that is said to regenerate the cells to make a human younger. So out of curiosity, I applied a handful of it, and I felt so refreshed and my skin was so smooth like a baby’s butt. That was how good the product was and if I had the money to purchase it, I’ll definitely would. After that, we had lunch. Lunch was alright as we had vegetables, like almost every other day in Korea. I did not like vegetables but the trip made me appreciate them. With our stomachs full, we headed over to KBS Studio at Suwon. The place there were full props needed to film a movie. There were even actors that we saw there. The most exciting thing there was being able to pretend like weather forecasters in everyday news. I felt like a professional weather forecaster for a moment and the tour group also shared some laughs. After a splendid afternoon, we were excited to go to Dongdaemun for dinner and most importantly, to shop. We were looking for that part of day since morning to be honest. I got myself a nice shoe there and also tried some tasty street food too. I was so happy with what I bought for myself and I wished I could continue shopping but unfortunately my wallet was light as a feather by then. After a very enjoyable day, I went back to the hotel with a smile on my face and felt eager for what’s going to happen the next day.

Day 4 In Korea

written on April 20, 2017

So for Day 4, we started the day of at 7 to head down to the breakfast place which was at the hotel, a fantastic for hotel food, serving eggs with toast at unlimited proportions. Next on the agenda was a trip to Renault-Samsung Motors, which was a factory on the outskirts of Busan, it was surrounded by forests which like every inch of Korea was amazingly beautiful and we took more photos before heading to the factory. The tour was splendid with a earpiece for every student because the factory was way too loud to communicate normally. Within the factory, there were robots similar to that from transformers being automated and assembling each part with precision and it was mind-blowing at how efficient the whole process was with a car produced every minute. The workers in the factory were also given a dormitory and free lunch so we were thinking if we did not make it in poly, there is always a chance to work for Samsung. Following the tour we had lunch at a bibimbap place however we did not get to taste the savory bimbimbap and the muslim students gto vegetables with rice which made for a pretty healthy lunch and we also had a couple of squid hidden within the pile of vegetables, after which we went to a convenience store nearby to try some local snacks and i got bread with peanut butter inside, rating it 7/10 just because the bread was fluffy. After lunch we had an hour drive to Pusan National University which was huge, way bigger than any university in Singapore with most of the kids driving to school. At the university, we were guided by two tour guides, a guy and a girl. The girls were fan girling over the guy because he was good looking and I went and got his instagram. The university had multiple libraries with rich heritage which was very impressive. Overall the university tour was okay, not very interesting neither was it boring. Then we headed to a shopping area and we were already very hungry so we got a bag of donuts which was cheap about $5 for 4 and it tasted like heaven in your mouth, either that or I was just very hungry. We did a bit more window shopping and then we headed for dinner. For dinner we went to a fish market near to the shopping area where there was a buffet place and there was a lot of meat we could not eat so we had to settle for squid and muscles which was not too bad. At the dinner, the server thought me how to make the best noodles ever, that is the kind of noodles you will die for. Delicious. Oh the place also had cookies with ice cream. Big plus point. After the fish market we walked around for a bit and it was time to head back to the hotel so we took the bus back and waited eagerly for the next day and it's adventures.

Gyeongbokgung Palace, Shopping!! (Day 2)

written on April 20, 2017

Annyeong!! :) Dayana here and I'll be sharing about how our 2nd day in Korea was like.

Day 2 was probably the most exciting day of the trip as there were a lot of fun activities planned. First up was a visit to the famous Gyeongbokgung Palace. Not only did we enjoy the breathtaking scenery of the palace, we were also mesmerised by the rich history and stories regarding the historical site.

Gyeongbokgung Palace was built in 1395 and it served as the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty. It has been through significant world events such as the japanese occupation, which allowed the transfer of ownership of the palace to the then Japanese-Governor General in the early 20th century. Besides that, we also learned about the functions of each building of the palace. For example, the Gangnyeongjeon building served as the King's Quarters and Gyeonghoeru functioned as the main hall to hold important and special state banquets.

As seen from the pictures above, it was the perfect place to take Instagram-worthy photos due to the architecture and design of the palace itself.

Yalam family!!

We obviously couldn't leave the palace without an official group photo.

Next, we moved on to K-Pop dance session!! I honestly was not looking forward to it as I cannot dance at all. Nonetheless, it was a very fun experience doing so and I had more fun watching and laughing at my friends. The song we danced to was TT by Twice. Its so catchy that some of us Yalams could not stop humming to it on the next few days.

After lunch, we headed to Shinchon University Streets. Its very unfortunate that we were only given about an hour to explore the area as I realise that the clothes sold there were generally cheaper than the ones sold at other areas. I also realised that the shops are mainly targeted towards youths. This was evident in the style of clothes and types of accessories being sold.

After the short yet fun hour of shopping, we proceeded to the well-known Hongdae Shopping Street. We were given a few hours to shop, explore and have dinner on our own as well. Just like Shinchon, the area was generally filled with youngsters. This is due to the fact that most of the shops sell very creative apparel that appeal to the youth. It was here that I bought myself 2 pairs of contact lenses for 10,000 Won ($12 SGD)($6 a pair, what a steal!!)

I also got to try tiramisu ice cream for 4,900 Won ($6 SGD) and it was amazeballs!! No Ragrets.

it was too pretty for us to eat it! :/ but we did it anyway.

After an hour or so of walking around, my roommate and I found a cat cafe and decided to give it a visit. We paid 9,000 Won for a 2 hour visit and needless to say we did not regret it AT ALL!!!)

We did not spend the full 2 hours at the cat cafe as we were running out of time for dinner. Thus after about 1.5 hours, we left and had our meal at Taco Bell HAHAHAHA. It was overall, a well spent day and I learned a lot about the Korean Culture by just shopping and exploring the streets.

And thus, this concludes Day 2 :)

Day 6 & 7 !!

written on April 16, 2017

DAY 6

Hi, so it’s the last few days of our korea trip and it’s kinda funny how everyone was a bit sian on the first day, and thinking of when we can do more stuff or if the trip would be as we expected it to be.

But I can say, for sure, that we definitely had a really good time and experience in Korea!!! Even though for a majority of us, muslims, didn’t get to savour the full Koreans flavour, we got to indulge ourselves in such a history rich and smart country. Which brings us to what we did on Day 6!!!

On day the 6th Day, we started our journey really early, as it was a 2 hour drive up to Sejong City. Sejong City is the de facto administrative capital city for South Korea, furthermore, it is also a ‘Special Self-Governing City’. The city has cleverly integrated smart technologies to help improve the efficiency of which the produce is produced and marketed. These smart technologies are specially and proudly sponsored by SK Telecom, which is one of the largest wireless telecommunications operator.

One representative from SK Telecom explained to us in great detail the type of technologies and their functionalities that were installed in the Sejong Creative Village and Smart Farms. We thought it was really interesting at how these advancements were more targetted at the younger generation rather than the older ones, for the reason that there are more individuals being interested in Agriculture Studies.

During the tour, he showed us, how you could control the greenhouse virtually just with a tap on the screen, opening and closing the top row of windows, or even turning on the sprinklers when the crops get a lil thirsty. On top of that in the town itself, where the farmers commute to sell their produce, there is a risk of competitors from big corporations reselling it at higher prices aka stealing their fruits of labour and making a GIANT profit. So, SK Telecoms decided to install CCTVs on the various telephone poles to monitor and ensure that none of these stealing happens.

Who knew the solution was so simple??

After seeing models and mock-ups of the Smart Farm and Creative Villages, it was time to have a look at the real ones!!

In this greenhouse, they were growing cherry tomatoes, it was quite a pity that when we were there, these weren't ripe but we still tried one or two and it was so so sweet and crunchy

AFTER VISITING THE FARM WE WENT BACK FOR SHOPPING IN MYEONG DONG!!!!!!!! TIME TO SPEND MORE MONEYYYYYYY

DAY 7 LAST DAY :(

7 April. It's our last day in Korea and the weather is warmer today, so so so much warmer that all of us are stripping our layers. On the last day, before catching our flight which was at 1930 we still had some visiting to do. We back to Gangnam, Samsung D'Light shop. What's a Korea study trip when you don't go and visit one of the biggest Korean Electronics Company??

Whilst we were there, we saw right outside of the Samsung building were posters, from anti-supporters. It was interesting, because, in Singapore, you only hear of our unhappiness or read about it on social media sites, whereas these are actual boards and figurines etc made by the people and placed outside of the building.

After touring the outside of the building it was time to go inside!!!

We started our tour on the second floor. This section was called 'Connect Tomorrow'.

Basically in this level, it showed the semiconductors that are used in Samsung Electronics and how they will change in the future. This whole floor is an interactive and super high tech one. They show various scenarios where, a drone can help deliver a gift which you bought while on the way to an event just 10 mins before, to a bathroom mirror being able to tell you what is causing your complexion to be this way and what are the dermatologically tested and trusted products to use to help improve it.

Back at level one, aka the 'Start of the Samsung Experience', the guide was telling us that special semi-conductors were added in the visitor wrist tags to ensure that throughout their exploring the Samsung shop, they would get information and instructions in a language that they understood.

On top of that, you had to create a profile, where as you go along the shop and do the various activites, will tell you what kind of person you are.

It was more of like a fun and clever way to help discover more about yourself and the technologically advancements that they are using. At the end of the tour, she gave us 30 mins to go and have a try at the Rollercoaster VR!!!!!! Man, it was so life-like and entertaining!! It was truly such a fun experience at Samsung.

After the Samsung Experience, we went to visit YEONSEI UNIVERSITY!!!!!!

While in Yeonsei, we got to know a little bit about how the school started and a feel of the campus dyanmic culture. It had so many foreign students and it was so westernised. It was like we went to visit a US Uni rather than a Korean one. Just like in Pusan National University, they too had a place to showcase the Korean history.

This is the original building that was preserved.

It was nice to see that the Koreans value their history and origins so much that they would do anything to ensure that it is preserved and can stand the test of time. It is really the true embracing of "Never forget your roots".

Once the tour was over, it was time to head on down to the airport to check in and leave for Singapore:((

BYEBYE KOREA YOU WILL BE MISSED

Day 3 in Korea

written on April 16, 2017

ANNYEONG!!! I'm Zakirah and I'll walk you through our DAY 3 korea adventures. It was actually a really hectic and rushing start to the day because our wake up call was at 5am korean time (which was 4AM singapore time! Guess whose roommates had troubles waking their roommate up despite the countless alarms she had set for herself but ended up snoozing them instead🙋 HEH). We had to be down for breakfast by 6AM korea time and call time was at 6.30AM (none of us wanted to be late because the teachers had set the punishment for those who are late AND WE'D HAVE TO SING IN THE BUS IF WE'RE LATE HAHAHHA). It was the earliest call time we had throughout our 7D6N korea trip because we had a flight to catch to Busan. Anyways before I go on about what we did for the day, here's the itinerary we had for the day:

Breakfast @hotel
FLIGHT TO BUSAN
Lunch (Bibimbap)
Bulguksa Temple
Seokkuram Grotto
Posco Musuem
Dinner & Hotel Check-in

It was indeed a rushed morning because we had to leave the hotel by 6.30AM korea time to make it to Gimpo Domestic Airport in time for our flight. It was so cold the moment we stepped out of the hotel building with a temperature of 4°C and most of us were fascinated by the mist coming out of our mouths (you can never experience that in SG and you'll never have the same feeling stepping out of a building in SG because ITS SO HOT IN SG HALP). It was a short 30 mins bus ride to Gimpo Domestic Airport and I was kinda surprised by the amount of people in the domestic airport (there were more people in the domestic airport as compared to the international airport).

"Boarding the plane to Busan"

"Arrival at Gimhae Airport (Busan)

Upon arrival at Gimhae Airport after getting our luggages, we headed for our bus to start our Busan adventures. We headed for lunch and it was a long 1.5 hrs bus ride (more or less AND YES WE MANAGED TO CATCH UP ON OUR SLEEP). But the 3rd day was actually tiring because of the long bus rides, we spent longer time on the bus than on our destinations. So, our lunch place looks very countryside-ish (sadly there's no photos on that) but our lunch was bibimbap and soup stew with vegetables and mushrooms?? Most people won't really like the bibimbap cause its 90% vegetables except for the egg yolk and rice but personally I kinda feel that its actually not that bad BUT THE KIMCHI WAS REALLY GOOD (tbh once you've tasted the legit kimchi in Korea you'll never look at kimchis in Singapore the same way).

The six yalams all ready to eat vegetables 💆

After lunch we were given time to take photos and enjoy the scenic views of the cherry blossoms opposite the restaurant. (The streets in Busan are really pretty because the cherry blossoms are 💯, you wont really be able to see it much along the streets in Seoul).

Tbh no photos could do justice to how
beautiful the cherry blossoms were 😍😍😍

Alongside the cherry blossoms, there were these hills which are
actually tombstones of the kings

Afterwards, we returned to our bus for a 2hrs ride to our next destination which was the Seokguram Grotto. The journey reaching to the temple was quite dizzy cause its uphill and the bus had to go round and round to get to the temple.

FYI: The Seokguram Grotto is classified as National Treasure No. 24 by the South Korean government and is located at 994, Jinhyeon-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongsanbuk-do. The grotto overlooks the East Sea and rests 750 meters above sea level. It is recognised as the world's cultural asset by UNESCO and it examplifies some of the best Buddhist sculptures in the world. (Source: Wikipedia)

Once we got off the bus we had to walk up to the temple (more like trekking cause its like a slope going up and there were neverending steep staircases to get us to the temple but we were accompanied by the cold wind so that kinda made up to the tiredness from the "trek"). The tour to the temple was actually beneficial to many of us because we were able to learn about the history of it and there were so many historic monuments. We were also able to witness the huge Buddha statue in the temple.

This was the huge Buddha statue in the
Seokguram Grotto
(Source: Wikipedia)

The view from the Seokguram Grotto which is 750m above
level

People who visit the temple are willing to pay
a few hundred dollars for these lanterns to hang
along with their written wishes.

There was a spring water well and it is believed that if you drink the water from the well, it makes you younger. (It was really refreshing AND HAIKAL'S REACTION SAYS IT ALL HAHAHHAHAHA)

We had to descend back to return to our bus for the next destination which was the Bulguksa Temple which was just a 10 minutes drive from the Seokguram Grotto.
FYI: Bulguksa Temple is recognised as one of the world's cultural asset by UNESCO in 1995. It is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism and encompasses seven National Treasures of South Korea: Dabotap and Seokgatap stone pagodas, Cheongun-gyo (Blue Cloud Bridge), and two gilt-bronze statues of Buddha. The temple is considered as a masterpiece of the golden age of Buddhist art in the Silla kingdom and it is currently the head temple of the 11th district of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. (Source: Wikipedia)

Seokgatap Dabotap

Bulguksa Temple didn't require us to trek up to the temple (THANK GOD but we had to walk quite a distance and THERE WERE STILL NEVERENDING STEEP STAIRS). Bulguksa Temple had more monuments as compared to Seokguram Grotto.

The stairs to the entrance of the temple

Group photo before we left the temple

After the Bulguksa Temple, we headed for Posco Museum which was about 1hr++ bus ride from the temple. (and yes we slept again because the temple tours were so draining)

Posco museum was located in Pohang. It is a museum which tells us the history, achievements and vision of Posco which is a steel producing company. It represents the efforts and pride of Posco workers and community for their projects around the world. Personally, I feel that they deserve such recognition for their accomplishments because it's really not easy to master plan every major projects especially the construction of the Eiffel Tower in Paris and to be able to maintain their projects and achievements for years, it is indeed a great accomplishment. What really caught my attention in the Posco Museum was when they showed in detailed how the steels were made.

Group picture at Posco Museum

After a long and tiring day, WE FINALLY HEADED FOR DINNER (yass I was excited because we were gonna eat fish. Ok its worth getting excited for the muslims because we've been eating vegetables for days 😏 You can see how excited and glad we were to finally have fish from Haikal's expression on behalf of the yalams and yes the fish was really good. We were given a whole saba fish and it was SO SATISFYING)

After dinner (i was especially looking forward to this because...) WE WERE FINALLY HEADING TO OUR HOTEL after a super long day. I forgot how long the bus ride was but I think it wasn't that long. BUT the hotel was so comfy I had to admit. Its more like a home I was kinda surprised to see washing machines, a mini kitchen and stove because you hardly see hotels like that but I think its common in Korea?? But the first thing which caught my attention was the fact that there was a beach right in front of our hotel. We went for a walk by the beach and I JUST LOVE THE COLD WIND💓.

Yes.. a beach right in front of our hotel

I was kinda surprised to see so many high rise buildings in Busan. I thought Busan would be very countryside-like based on all the korean variety shows I've watched. I didn't expect Busan to be more city-like. From the beach, we walked to the street market which sells mainly live seafood. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time to roam around more due to the room checks and most of us were already DEAD TIRED knowing we'd have to wake up early the next day.

AND SO THATS THE END OF DAY 3 FROM THE YALAMS ✌

day 1 in korea

written on April 01, 2017

Annyeong Haseyo! Hui Ying here to tell you about our "adventures" on day 1. Hahaha. To be very honest, it was a reallyyyyy tiring day for us as the schedule is super duper packed. Anyway, here's a quick glance of our day 1 itinerary:

Arrival at Incheon Airport
Brunch - Hanyang Ginseng Chicken Soup
K-pop trial - MBC Studio
Lotte Stars Avenue
Myeongdong Market
Dinner - Andong Jjimdak

After about a 7 hour (torturous, uncomfortable, uneasy) flight on-board a flight with no entertainment and almost no leg room, we finally reached Seoul at 10AM! Yayyyy. The flight was so horrible that I only managed to sleep for 2 hours throughout the flight. SIAN.

We then met up with our tour guide in Korea, which is Miss Amy. Afterwards, we took a 45 minute (I think?) bus ride to Hanyang restaurant for our brunch!

Tadaa, Ginseng Chicken Soup! Looks delicious right? There's even abalone in the dish, OMG. The chicken is also stuffed with some glutinous rice. Verdict? 5/10 only lah, sadly. I found it to be too bland for me, probably because I'm too used to the flavorful dishes back here in Singapore. The texture of the chicken is good though, that's why I'm giving it a pass. The chicken is cooked until really soft that it's easy and pleasant to chew, while still maintaining the moisture of the meat (damn i sound like some legit food blogger lol). Overall, it's quite okay, except I'll probably only crave for this dish when I'm sick. LOL.

After brunch, we then headed to MBC Studio for a K-Pop trial. We had a tour in their studio, whereby we get to "interact" with some K-Pop stars virtually. We also get to take pictures with the celebrities... standee (better than nothing okay). It's somehow like Trick-eye Museum, just that it's K-Pop edition. Hahaa. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any celebrities when we were at the studio, actually I wouldn't know even if I did lah, cos they look so similar... LOL. BUT. There were lots of chiobus and lengzais who were there to interview for their news-casting anchor. Win liao lor. Hehe. Anyways, here are some of the pictures taken at MBC Studio:

No idea what they are doing HAHA.

Boys will be boys...

After a tour in the studio, we headed to Lotte Stars Avenue in Myeongdong and only spent 15 minutes there. I didn't manage to take any pictures there cos I wasn't interested in that place at all (not a k-pop fan tbh). In a nutshell, it's just some place whereby you'll see the hand prints and huge posters of your favorite idols, pretty much like the Stars Avenue in Hong Kong.

Then comes my favorite part - free and easy!!! We get to shop in Myeongdong Shopping Streets, for only an hour though T_T. Didn't have much energy to shop that day, so our group chiong for all the street food instead LOL. They are super delicious, but not cheap though, the cheapest street food I saw was ₩3,000 (S$3.80).

Grilled Lobster with Cheese - ₩15,000 (S$19.10)

Flame Grilled Scallop - ₩10,000 (S$12.70)

While shopping at Myeongdong, we also got to witness a live protest. I would say that we are considered lucky to have witness it cos we don't see this in Singapore. LOL.

At about 6pm, we headed for our dinner at Andong Jjimdak in Myeongdong. I think the dish is called Jjimdak? Its some glass noodle stew with braised chicken, onion and spring onion, topped with their very own home-made sauce. The glass noodle in Korea as compared to the ones in Singapore is more chewy, flat shaped, and has a more sticky consistency. The dish tasted sweet and was quite delicious, but I couldn't finish it thanks to those sedap street food HAHA. Verdict? 6.5/10. Didn't take any pictures of the Jjimdak cos honestly, it doesn't look appetizing to me. So here's a picture that I found on google:

Source: TripAdvisor

So after a long and tiring day, we finally checked in to our hotel, Intercity 365, and have some well deserved rest.

That's all for day 1 guys. Hope you'll have fun reading it cos I really tried to make this post entertaining as much as possible. HAHA. Cos honestly day 1 is quite boring... shh, don't tell the guides please. Haha.

Bye!