KIMCHILANDIA CHRONICLES: JEJU ISLAND – CHOCOLATE MUSEUM

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure

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Wow. I have been soooooo busy with my work-school routine that I am recently finding it hard to make time for blogging.

But anyway, since I am currently uploading bulk photos of my Aunt's wedding and his son's christening (rushing this for my dear mama who's so eager to see the pics since she wasn't able to attend because she is in the province), I will squeeze in posting this one entry.

Luckily, this is not too time consuming as there is no long story to tell.

not your ordinary chess set

That pictured above is something that you don't want to play with. Because that set, believe it or not, is food.

It is chocolate molded into chess pieces. And while you're reading this entry, you will see a lot of "cute-ly" styled chocolates, because well, this entry's about the...

CHOCOLATE MUSEUM! Are you ready to salivate?

Shortstride & Arigato by the entrance of the museum

the facade

the welcoming lobby is a chocolaterie

KIMCHILANDIA CHRONICLES: JEJU ISLAND – TEDDY BEAR MUSEUM

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure

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We kicked off Day 2 of our Jeju sub-trip by having a warm morning with teddy bears.

I used to love cutesy stuff when I was young. Figurines, collectibles, potpourri, stationery, anything scented, stuff toys. However, that affinity disappeared when I started college. I don’t really know why 

I stopped liking cute things maybe because Elbi made me realize that life is tough, and cutesy stuff are just impediments in one’s coping with the bluntness of reality. (huh?)

So anyway, enough of that uhm darkness. I’m here to talk about light, delightful stuff! What’s good about the Jeju Teddy Bear Museum is that it made me get in touch with my old self. Now I’m liking cute stuff again. =)

Move over Michelangelo

I mean, how could you not be joyed when you see these adorable bears...

KIMCHILANDIA CHRONICLES: JEJU ISLAND – JEJU FOLK VILLAGE

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure

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umi-emo si koya

Folk villages are a common type of tourist spot in Korea. It is one of the must-go-to attractions in Kimchiland, so I insisted that we should visit at least one. However, even if there was one near Seoul, we were only able to visit the one in Jeju (one of the two in the island).

The Jeju Folk Village features an actual village, albeit uninhabited except for dolls, where you get to peek inside traditional village homes, farms, backyards, etc. The village also features an administrative house, where the most influential man in the village ought to live.

The compound has some restaurants and souvenir shops where you can shop for neat Jeju thingamajigs. Plus, there's an area where you can don traditional Korean costumes, for a fee of course. And it even has a hut filled with Jang Geum memorabilia. Yes, that Jewel in the Palace girl.

Wait. Why am I spoiling everything? Here, take a peek of our experience in the Jeju Folk Village.

Enjoy!

LOMA 356

OW. EM. GEE!

Anxious weekend is over. And the best part is... I PASSED!

I really thought I'd fail this one because one, I did not finish the two handbooks; and two, I was distracted with my then upcoming entrance exam for MS Finance.

YAY! No salary deduction for me. :)

Thank you, Lord! Pramis, mag-aaral na ako para sa next exam. :)

KIMCHILANDIA CHRONICLES: JEJU ISLAND - LAVA RUINS, A LABYRINTH, AND A GIANT SAUCER

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure

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Seongsan Ilchulbung (see source at the bottom)

Gimnyeong Maze Park

Manjanggul Lava Tube

From here on, I will classify my Kimchilandia entries per theme. This is because our Jeju trip, albeit short, featured soooo many different tourist spots that putting all one-day’s worth of activities in one entry is a Herculean task.

And besides, I don’t want the amazingness of a particular attraction to diminish; which I think would happen if I would squeeze them in one entry. Especially as Jeju island is the home of 3 UNESCO World Heritage sites.

So anyway, let me start by featuring first the destinations that are ‘nature’-related.

THANK YOU, CITIBANK

A couple of weeks back, my annual membership(?) to Citi was renewed. By the way, I was able to renew my Citi Classic Visa card for another year FOR FREE, thanks to a tip from my boss. But that's another story. (Maybe I'll write a How-To entry on this next week). So anyway, my Citi card has just gotten better because of these...

FREE coffee and donuts!

I received an SMS from Citibank telling me that I have a free cup of coffee and 3 flower doughnuts from Krispy Kreme. Yay!

Thank you, Citibank!

Looks like the devil has a good side after all.

LONG TIME NO SEE... FORM 5

Lookie, lookie... At number 18. I MADE IT!!! :)*happydance* Uh yeah... uh yeah... uh yeah... Hello again, studenthood. I'm all fired up. Now you may let the hell life of working and studying, plus the uberly exhausting travels in between, BEGIN. :)

Bring it, baybehh!

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Okay, so that was last week and I forgot to publish it.

Update: Just this evening, I officially became a student of MS Finance. :) Bye bye many thousand pesos. Hello to lifeless life. :) lols

I missed doing this. :)

Kimchilandia Chronicles: Day 4 – CHANGGYEONGGUNG AND THE FLIGHT TO JEJU-DO

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure

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the mysterious palace gate

 

view of Jeju-do from the high heavens

Before I start, let me share with you our dinner after our Everland adventure.

To somehow counterweigh our expenses for the first couple of days, we decided to eat cheap. We bought luncheon meat, noodles, and bab (rice) in Family Mart, a famous convenience store chain in Korea.  I cooked, and then Arigato and Shortstride took turns in cleaning.

By the way, just another tip, if you will be on the move most of the time (just like us, since we wanted to cram a lot of activities in a short span of time), you might want to eat light meals in Family Mart. It is a lot cheaper than eating in restaurants, plus you get to finish more quickly. And then just make up for a heavy meal when you are not in a rush.

THAT JOYFUL OCCASION

I wanted to entitle this “The Wedding” but realized I already used that HERE. I thought of using “Dale Weds Aya” instead, but it sounded a little too dry. So, I ultimately decided to use “That Joyful Occasion”. Simply because... it was!

the handsome Groom

the beautiful Bride

Dale Satur & Malaya Manalang

I would like to tell a thousand stories about this day, but my mind is crapped out at the moment. So I’ll just tell you two things:

ONE, the event was EPIC! It was very dreamy that I felt like being part of a fairy tale story, watching the main characters swaying from one moment to another, so deeply in love, enjoying every second of their day.

And TWO, I was so haggard on this day due to the following reasons:

CONFESSIONS OF A DRAW-SOMETHING-A-HOLIC

 

Recently, I have been addicted to this mobile game called Draw Something. My roommate Jap said he had never seen me this addicted to a game since Plants Vs Zombies. I bet his comment was actually more directed to my crazy eyes. “You weren’t like this with Temple Run,” he quipped, and I didn’t even bother to object. Hehe

I have been trying to figure out the reason behind the addiction until I realized it was the activity itself. I missed being in touch with my creative side. Maybe the absence of dancing for the past four months is a huge factor. But anyway, I’m happy I get to create mini-obra maestras through this game. Not to mention the growing fanbase I am now gaining: my friends Princess, Lesele, and Jenina. Lol. I could only hope to remain grounded. I really don’t want this newfound fame to mess with my head. LOL

Here, let me share my art gallery

Kimchilandia Chronicles: Day 3 – EVERLAND

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure.

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Monday, 12 March 2012

It was Day 3 of our trip and we were scheduled to go to EVERLAND!

Arigato, Shortstride, and Lonewulf --> Happiness

Korevia # 4 When in Korea, it would be a sin not to visit Everland. Everland is a huuuuge amusement park that features not only the usual theme park rides but also some animal shows, exhibits, and restaurants. They even have a separate water resort (with indoor diving pools!) called the Caribbean Bay.  --- Everland is owned by Samsung (surprise!). Yes, that mobile giant that is currently the second largest mobile producer in the world. Apparently, it has businesses in different industries in Korea

By the way, Everland is not in Seoul. It is in Yongin, a city located south of Seoul.

THE GUY WHO WROTE MY HIGH SCHOOL HYMN

"...and fit all thy sons with wings, to lend us flight in the sowing of our gifts..."

A couple of months ago, Philippine Science High School Southern Mindanao Campus alumni batch 2001 (batchname: Prodigy) who are based here in the Metro organized a gathering of PSHS SMC alumni from Pioneers down to batch 2002, which is my batch (batchname: Gods). The event was called HOHOL: Hang-Out Hang-Out Lang (yes that's how corny nerds can get), and it was a simple gathering and reminiscing of HS memories held in a bar in Madison Square, which is by the way co-owned by one of our seniors.

The night was really fun and very nostalgic. Most people have matured and become even more gorgeous. But anyway, the reason why I am writing this post and bringing up HOHOL is that there was a question in a trivia game we played that night which struck me now as I heard a very recent news. The question went like this: Who wrote the Philippine Science High School Hymn? We were all dumbfounded. For years we've been singing the hymn and even until now my housemates and I sing both the English and Filipino version when we're bored, but never has it crossed our minds to ask who wrote the song. Anyway, cheater me used my 3G to google the answer. *grin* It was Mario Taguiwalo.

Now, I really knew nothing else about this person until this morning, when I read about his passing away last Sunday. Jessica Zafra (a famous writer and columnist, see jessicarulestheuniverse.com, who is also an alumna of Pisay) wrote a pleasant tribute to Mario Taguiwalo. Apparently, the guy was part of the pioneer batch of Pisay Diliman. He was an excellent educator, a prominent think-tank of the government. He was also an ex-undersecretary of health, and many other different things, including being an actor. Yes, he appeared in films like Gangland, Unfaithful Wife, and even Shake, Rattle, and Roll. What an amazing person! If you want to read Jessica's tribute, click this link, or visit her blog.


To the guy who wrote my high school hymn, may you rest peacefully in Heaven. :)

THREE ITEMS

Can I just express my disappointment? I just learned that I failed only one exam in the proficiency tests in MS Finance. /*Trivia: To get in the program, one would need to submit complete documents, pass the Graduate Program Admission Test or GPAT, get through the interview (for some), and pass the proficiency tests in Accounting, Algebra, Calculus, Statistics, and Mathematics of Finance*/ I failed the Accounting part. :(

It's quite acceptable though as I never took Accounting lessons in college. Not even as an elective. :( However, I have a few knowledge on the subject due to my role in my previous job, which involves analysis of financial statements. But that was not enough to let me pass the exam. And what's more depressing is the fact that I was 3 correct items short from passing the test. Three friggin' items! How unlucky.

On the brighter side though, there is a re-take next month. And I would only need to take Accounting this time. Plus, UP College of Business Administration offers review sessions before the re-take. I would just need to pay for the "workshop" for P4000, which by the way is the reason why I'm here in Diliman instead of being in the office. And then, I'll just show up in the review classes, which have 10 3-hour sessions, and most of which fell on weeknights. Oh yeah! Imagine the adventure I'll be having in my MRT trips, and bus and jeepney queues. And those are after I become drained from daily office work. Yay!

Three friggin' items!



But seriously, I'm glad I passed the other four. I just saved meself P4000, and the additional effort in preparing for the re-exam. Thank you, God! :)

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By the way, from now on I'd be seeing more of this...

And this...

Kimchilandia Chronicles: Day 2 – THE SEOUL CITY BUS TOUR THAT WAS NOT

Kimchilandia Chronicles – Chronological recounting of Lonewulf’s great Korean adventure.

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Sunday, 11 March 2012

Day 2 was allotted for Seoul City Bus Tour.

Korevia # 2 – If you want to optimize the appreciation of Seoul, you better board the Seoul City Tour Bus. It travels in a circuit that links the best places to see in the city like the great palaces (Gyeongbokgung, Changgyeonggung, etc.), N Seoul Tower, markets (Dongdaemun, Namdaemun, Insadong), Korean War Memorial Hall, and many more. What’s best about the tour is that you can purchase a one-day pass for 10,000-12,000 KRW and you can tour the city in your own pace. Meaning, you can get off in a particular attraction and stay for as long as you want, then just board the next scheduled bus.  Tip: The bus tours are not operational on Mondays. So make sure to plot your itinerary properly. Also, if you are serious about the palace tours, research about the tour schedules as English tours are only conducted in certain hours.

Sad to say though, as the title suggests, we were not able to do this activity. We were too exhausted (Go, go, muscle pains!) from the activities the previous day. Plus, factor in the lack of rest since we all came from work the day before that. So our ending: Photoshoot around Hwaseong Fortress.

GIL PAOLO BERNARDINO

Welcome to Earthland, Paolo!

The lenten season revealed to be a memorable time for us as my Aunt Nene, who lives in Parañaque, gave birth to his second son on Holy Tuesday. It was a healthy, good-looking baby boy named Gil Paolo.