Korea Day 1- Hongdae

Once we exited the gate, we headed straight to the information counter to grab the railway map and brochures. We were told by some friends that it is important to get the brochures for some tourist destinations in order to get tickets at discounted price (same goes to jeju. grab the brochures once you arrive at jeju airport).

After which, we went to get T mobile card (3,000 won) from the 7-11 convenience store near the Incheon Airport metro station (note: it cant be bought from the counter at incheon airport station).

T mobile card works just the same way as ez link card in Sg. The good thing about their self-service top-up machine is that they have a lot of options of the amount you wish to top-up and it can go as low as 1,000 won (about 1 USD). So let's say you only want to top-up 3,000 won but you only have a 5,000 won note; you just click on the 3,000 won tab on the touch screen, feed the machine with your note and they will return you 2,000 won, IN NOTES. I just cant get why Singapore's SMRT top-up machine can't dispense notes. But the downside of their train system is that there is no such thing as control station. Therefore when people get stuck on either side of the gantry and it seems to be due to a problem with their T mobile card, they always look so helpless and anxious. We experienced that during the later part of the trip and we felt just as lost too. D:

Our hostel, Hongdae Uncle Residence is located 10-15mins walk from the Hongdae metro station. For anyone of you going to korea but still undecided on the hostel/hotel to stay at, I would highly recommend you guys to stay near Hongdae station. There are 3 railway lines intersecting at that station thus making it really accessible and convenient. For people with heavy luggage, do not attempt to take the train like we did. There is no elevator/escalator to help you to get out of the station!

We exhausted every ounce of energy we had in our body by the time we reached the hostel (which is on level 4 without lift). But I would still recommend this hostel due to their fabulous rooms. Every room is equipped with private bathroom, tv, computer, cabinets, shoe cabinet, fridge and washing machine, regardless of how the number of occupancies in each room. There are also 2 common hair dryers free for use.  Coffee, bread (toaster available), biscuits in the pantry are complimentary too!

Our meal was settled at a kimchi jjigae restaurant (B.S food) just right beside our hostel's bulding. Famished, we just entered the first restaurant we saw but it turned out to be our favourite restaurant of the trip! Ambience is good, food and service are fantastic. We ordered 2 portions of  kimchi stew with pork belly to share and the bill only came up to 12,000 won! SO CHEAP. Something unique about the rice they served was that millet (which is supposedly good for digestion) was mixed into the rice and it was really yummy!

Dessert at Michaya to complete the meal! We ordered a cake and 2 coffees to share. The mocha was soooo goood. Espresso bitter blended nicely with chocolate sweet- such perfect harmony on my taste buds! Needless to mention, the pure cheesecake was superb too. Every forkful of the delicious pure cheesecake brought us to heaven for as long as it lasted in our mouth. In fact, every cake on display looked so drool-worthy we had such hard time choosing!

It was a rainy first night so we just walked around hongdae. It had only been a few hours but I'm already in love. <3

Read More

Korea Day 0. Transiting at HK airport

8:42am Transiting at HK airport now.

We had a light meal at 翠萍餐厅 after getting off the plane. Food varieties are limited at the departure area. I just settled with anything that looks more appetizing to me (Tom Yum Kung). The noodles tastes surprising good! It is soft and QQ at the same time. The prawns were fresh and crispy toooo. I felt so deprived of seafood though I just had BBQ sambel stingray for my dinner last night. I want to eat pots of mussels in Korea! Hope I can find it at busan or jeju. *Slurps*

I think T and G are feeling rather lethargic by now. In fact, G is sleeping. hahaha. On the contrary, I'm really super excited for Korea! I think I haven't boarded plane for a long time thus the excitement and energy. So suaku :P

Read More

終わります。

17th May 2013

Poster day. It marks the end of my university life.

Even though I did not accomplish much for my FYP ( I chose an awareness campaign project rather than a lab-based project), I still felt a sense of achievement when I submitted my thesis and completed my poster presentation. On the whole, I had my fair share of fun and hard work in NTU which was evident from each sem's results. I'm glad that I pulled through it though the course I enrolled in was neither my interest nor my first choice. At least I attempted research work through attachment at a professor's lab before and the brief experience of a Research Officer life was enough to let me realise that it will never be considered as one of my career options. As much as I loved the lab's environment ( mostly due to the freedom to listen to music, chat with labmates ), it may not be the same in other labs and the nature of work is just too 'stifling' for me. I need to interact with people, I need to move to around.

My lab mates with Prof Valerie. 

(Sorry for the bad quality! but this is the only photo I had with them:{ )

Time passed too fast. So many things have happened in these 4 years. I forged new friendships, fell in love after a 6 years hiatus, lost a considerable amount of weight, experienced ups and downs in academics, and many more. I will definitely missed all the fun times with my coursemates. Although most of us are just acquaintances, you guys have brought much joy and laughter to me during my days in SBS, making school days less boring. I would also like to thank many of them for rendering help in my studies in one way or another. Most of you were so selfless when it comes to sharing knowledge though we were in fact competitors (or maybe my results are so bad that I'm not even considered as a competitor?? HAHAHA). Even though my academics performance was constantly and consistently below average, you all would still invite me to discuss past year papers together though most likely I would not be able to provide with correct answers/ useful explanations. I felt like I had made really sincere friends in SBS and I would miss all of you at some point of time. I wish all of you are able to land in your dream job and continue to bring positive energy and influence to people around you.

Last but not least, thank you Pyrox for being with me through my uni days!

Read More