Korea Trip (6/22)

Our destination on the 3rd day in Korea was to visit the infamous Nami Island and Petit France. We rode the subway from Euljiro-Ga 1 up to Wangsimni Station and transferred to the Korail to arrive at Gapyeong Station, which is outside Seoul.

We initially got lost while riding the Korail. The map was quite tricky from Mangu Station onwards because there is another line connected to it. We eventually arrived at Gapyeong Station and waited for the local bus.

We rode the Gapyeong bus and dropped by Petit France. Petit France is known as the shooting location for several Korean dramas and series including Secret Garden, My Love from the Star, and Running Man. The houses are very colorful and fancy.

After touring Petit France, we rode the Gapyeong bus again to reach the Nami Island bus stop. We then took the ferry to go to Nami Island. The island was named after General Nami during the Joseon Dynasty. It is well known for its tree lined roads and was featured in the kdrama Winter Sonata.

We ended the day by going back to Myeongdong (using the Gapyeong bus & subway to Euljiro-Ga 1 station), and watching the musical show Cooking Nanta. It is definitely one of the best live performances I have seen. The actors and actresses were very professional in the way they sing, dance, and cook at the same time. It was quite impressive how they can catch all the knives while doing a skit. Unfortunately, cameras were not allowed once the show starts so we only took a photo of the stage at the beginning.

Korea Trip (6/21)

The following day after our DMZ tour, we decided to visit the palaces and the Gwanghwamun Square. We rode the subway around 9:00 am. Just as we arrived at Gwanghwamun, we saw a familiar picture hanging outside the building. Guess who?

The famous soccer player and frequent RM guest, Park Ji Sung 

We walked our way to the Gwanghwamun Square where we saw the statue of King Sejong and Admiral Yi Sun-Shin. King Sejong was said to be creator of Hangeul, the Korean alphabet. Hangeul was developed to simplify the Chinese writing system, Hanja. Admiral Yi Sun-Shin, on the other hand, is a naval admiral known for defeating Japanese armies. 

Admiral Yi Sun-Shin 

King Sejong the Great

Gwanghwamun Square is located in the middle of  two roads. As we walked past the statue of King Sejong, we saw several empty stalls which were still being set-up. There was one truck which unloaded some art crafts made of paper.

We walked further until we saw a traditional gate to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. It was almost 10:00 am by then so we witnessed the changing of guards ceremony.

We went to the ticket booth and opted to buy the combination ticket for all 5 palaces. We went inside Gyeongbokgung and had a glimpse of the King's throne.

The palace is big such that there are too many pavilions wherein royalties can relax and enjoy nature. Initially, we planned to wait for the free tour offered in English. However, since the tour will not start until 11am, we just decided to walk inside the palace on our own. We then reached the National Folk Museum of Korea which is connected to the palace.

We entered the museum and saw a tour guide who gave us a free tour of the museum. We were a bit surprised because she started the tour even though we were the only ones who joined the tour. She introduced the 3 parts of the museum clearly, starting from the traditional Korean lifestyle. It was really an educational experience.

Traditional Korean wedding 

Traditional wedding bed 

Heirloom for groom and bride

Rice offered with prayer to goddess of birth when wife gets pregnant

(Eaten together with seaweed after delivery)

Korean children in traditional clothes

Scholars during the ancient times

Healing the sick using acupuncture

Shaman performing rituals 

(when sickness cannot be healed using ordinary means)

Traditional Korean food

Kimchi fermentation

The second part of the museum focused on the 4 seasons: spring, summer, autumn, and winter. The tour guide explained to us the ways how people adapt to the changing environment. Afterwards, since there was no longer enough time, we skipped the 3rd part of the museum and went outside.

We stumbled across a food cart selling cinnamon pancakes and waffles. We bought one pancake and one waffle. They were yummy and sweet. 

We then proceeded to Insadong street where we saw the famous Miss Lee Cafe. I have wanted to try their lunch box meal since I saw it on a WGM episode. You literally shake the box to mix the flavour. 

The food is actually bibimbap presented in a lunch box. The taste is ordinary but you get to experience shaking the box :)

After lunch, we went to Chandeokgong Palace and the Secret Garden. We joined the Secret Garden tour and saw several pavilions as well as gate to houses inside.

We returned to Insadong to shop for souvenirs. Unfortunately, it was raining so we stopped by a few shops to cover ourselves for a while and then hurried to Gwangjang market to eat the Korean pancakes and fish cake soup.

Afterwards, we went back to Myeongdong to do some shopping and prepare for the next day. 

Korea Trip (6/19-6/20)

It has been one of my dreams to be able to visit Korea. Thus, when Cebupac offered the piso sale last year, my friend and I didn't think twice and immediately booked a flight bound to Incheon for 6 days. We were really excited about the trip such that we researched a lot of places and talked about them for several weeks. However, as the date becomes nearer, we had second thoughts on whether to push through with the trip or not since both of us just changed jobs. Luckily, we were allowed by our bosses to take a vacation and enjoy the trip. 

We went to Korea last week. We stayed somewhere in Myeongdong, which is known as a Hallyu shopping district. We arrived around 9 in the evening (Korean time) and took a bus (no. 6015) to our place of residence. Because it was too late already, almost all shops were already closed. Fortunately, we saw a restaurant open till 1am and had our first meal in Korea. The restaurant is called Yoogane and is popular for their dak galbi. We originally planned to order one dish. However, the staff told us that we need to order two dishes since we are two people. Thus, to not complicate things, we agreed and ordered two dishes of chicken galbi fried rice.

Chicken galbi sizzling in pan

Photo taken while my friend mixes the food 

The chicken galbi was stirred in a large pan in front of us. Rice was mixed once the meat was almost cooked. The fried rice tasted good. However, since I couldn't tolerate spicy foods, I kept on drinking water and wiping tissue. My friend was probably astonished. I noticed that she could eat spicy foods really well.

We went back to our place of residence after dinner and prepared for the next day. Our itinerary for the following day is to visit the DMZ between South and North Korea. We booked a tour with Kim USO in advance. Our meet up place was at the USO office which is near Samgakji subway station. We arrived around 7:00 am and rode a bus to DMZ. The bus ride was about 1-1.5 hours from Seoul to our destination (DMZ). We listened to the tour guide who gave us a brief introduction of DMZ. One thing to note was that Korea was once invaded by Japanese. Then in 1945 when World War II occurred, both US and Soviet Union declared war on Japan. Korea was divided into South and North, with the former being under US and the latter under the Soviet Union. The South and the North hold different ideals and had many conflicts during the past years. In fact, the tension between the South and North Korea remains up to this date, with the most current invasion attempt in 2013. 

We visited the JSA building, Freedom House, demarcation line, and Dorasan Station during the morning. An American soldier oriented us about DMZ in the JSA building and then joined us on our way to the Freedom House and demarcation line. We were instructed not to point fingers to anyone or do any other behavior which is not normal. Pictures taken should always face the North in the Freedom House and demarcation line.

Facing north from Freedom House

American soldier just behind the demarcation line

We had vegetarian bibimbap for lunch with unlimited kimchi. I really liked the bibimbap since it was not spicy at all and it was full of vegetables.

After lunch, we went to the Third Infiltration tunnel which was built by North Koreans using dynamites but was eventually discovered by the South. According to the tour guide, the tunnel had three layers of wall wherein water will flood when someone attempts to break the second wall. Camera was not allowed inside the tunnel. The real challenge of the DMZ trip is walking inside this tunnel since we had to go down the tunnel for about 10 mins with the floor steep and slanted, and go up again afterwards. We were quite exhausted by the time we went up and reached the entrance. 

We went back to USO office around 3pm. We also visited the War Memorial Museum which was quite near. Entrance was free to the museum. We then headed to Itaewon market and realized that Itaewon has several pubs. Crowds of people probably hang out here during the night. Since we still had time left, we went to Namdaemun market and Myeongdong. Many shops in Namdaemun were closed by the time we got there. We walked our way to Myeongdong and did some shopping. We ate at Lotteria, a fastfood restaurant in Myeongdong.

Sign of Changes

I had a strange dream the other day. It was not the usual black screen wherein I cannot even remember anything. My dream showed me that after 7 months, I finally went to a salon to cut my hair. I was thinking hard on what specific hairstyle I would like. The hairstylist recommended the straight cut short hair. I was okay with it at first since my hair was too long already and the weather seemed hot. So my hair was trimmed about 4-5 inches short. After a few minutes, I got a new look. It looked rather plain than what I expected, considering that my hair was permed before and now it looked so straight. As I was discussing it with the hairstylist, he suggested adding bangs on my hair, to which I didn't give any response. My hair was cut further and then somehow along the process, it became like a coconut husk which I really hated. I was about to cry, regretting that I even cut my hair. The hairstylist didn't even do a good job cutting my bangs since he did not consider my face proportion to check whether the hairstyle would be suitable or not. I was calling out for another person to fix my hair and even started lecturing the hairstylist about the "right" way to cut my bangs. I woke up from the dream afterwards with a pretty bad mood. Haha!

I knew this was not a usual dream since the "cutting of hair" seemed to have a significant meaning. Thus, I began my research and learned the following: "If you dream that you make a drastic change to your hairstyle, then it means that you are making a drastic, new approach to some issue in your waking life." In my case, I'm not pretty sure which part of my life does this dream apply to. I'm not really stressed about anything. It might be because I have recently changed job and am relocating to a new house.

Working with Style

Who says we cannot work with style? My style is to work heavily on a single day and enjoy my free time afterwards. While this habit of mine tends to be inconsistent sometimes, I do feel that this behavior best suits my line of work. However, can this be seen by my seniors? Probably. After all, they are calling me a zombie. Also, I have to admit that I am more active during the night when people are asleep. Thanks to the computer and internet which can be used 24 hours a day.
  

The SAPsters

The SAPsters. I define my IT Audit Team as individuals who are tasked to do research on SAP, the accounting system used by our upcoming client. We are originally composed of five IT audit associates who work inside the IT room, but one was assigned to go to CDO to perform internal audit. Each one of us was given a job to familiarize with the business processes in SAP and that includes doing the "Should Be" flowchart for revenue, expenditure, payroll, inventory, warehouse management, and financial statement closing process. The said flowcharts shall be used in identifying the gaps between the ideal and the actual process flow.  

Doing research on SAP is fun. I get to learn more on how to operate the system. However, after four weeks of research, I could say that this job gets to be boring. Well, I'm not complaining about it since this gives me an opportunity to be widen my knowledge on SAP. I started to identify the necessary controls and the possible risks when using the system. But facing reality, there are times when one will just stare blankly on the screen (mental blocked) after doing the same thing every single day. One loses the momentum and starts a conversation with his/her teammates who are more than willing to listen on the latest gossip in town. One finds him/herself guilty of not being productive as the day progresses by. One simply surfs the net trying to find something that could enlighten him/her to work again. 

That being said, research is not an easy task. Being a dedicated SAPster is hard unless that person is really devoted to SAP research. 

The Puppy is in the House

Sino ba yang naka-park sa labas ng bahay natin? Curiosity struck like a lightning when I saw an unknown black car parked at the front of our gate this evening. Suddenly, a familiar image went out of our home-- a thin Chinito boy wearing comfy clothes and greeting us. Yep, that's my cousin right there. Maybe he got something for my mom. I was right. It was a cute little Chow-chow, Doberman, and Askal hybrid puppy. Wow.

The puppy is a female dog about two months old. She has light brown fur and is called Miu-Miu for an unknown reason. Puppy, ikaw na ang Chinese! She was walking around our living room for the past few minutes before my arrival, trying to avoid our big Chinese Shar Pei 'Haley' who cannot seem to resist smelling Miu-Miu's butt. Miu-Miu was not comfortable with butt sniffling so the fight between the dogs started. 

Butt sniffling is a common dog behavior. I remembered having heard somewhere that butt sniffling is a form of greeting for dogs to get to know each other. However, butt sniffling does not always go well between dogs. In our case, Haley was quite tamed and fearful most of the time but for some reason she wanted to follow and smell Miu-Miu all the time. If I were a dog, I would also get irritated so it was quite understandable when Miu-Miu began to bark and put on a fighting stance. This led to my search for the whole meaning behind butt sniffling. According to an article on Psychology Today, butt sniffling can be described as a handshake between two dogs. It is a way for dogs to  get information about each other and make friends. However, unlike humans, dogs cannot categorize things such as friends thus they need to do butt sniffling every time they meet. They use 33% of their brain to process olfactory information which can help them recognize their breeder, and other social memories [See related article on Psychology Today]. 

Butt sniffling may also be referred to as an act of dominance. Based on an article by Shibashake, dogs are usually classified as dominant or submissive. Dominant dogs are those that would not back down in a fight and would tend to have an erratic behavior when scolded. They are quite aggressive and are usually the initiators of butt sniffling to get information from the other party. Two dominant dogs cannot be placed together. This might explain why our new puppy and our Chinese Shar Pei didn't get along during their first meeting. Nevertheless, I hope things will turn out well as time passes and our two dogs will learn to get along with each other. 

The Avengers

Last Saturday, I went out with my college friends and colleagues to watch the movie "Avengers". We went to Shangri-La Plaza at around 6pm and ate at Sentosa, a Singaporean Chinese Restaurant which offers a variety of delicious foods such as the Roti Canai (an Indian dish with flat bread and curry sauce), Yang Chow Fried Rice (a Chinese dish which many of us are familiar with), Pork Spareribs, and many more. Sentosa was actually owned by the Penang Hill and Tempura Group. I have to admit that eating at Sentosa for the first time didn't leave much impression on me since we were in a hurry to watch the movie and I was a bit late during the dinner. Perhaps given more time, I would be able to appreciate every bite of the food served by the restaurant.

We immediately went to the movie theater as soon as dinner was over. As the name suggests, the movie is about a team of superheroes called Avengers who are gathered together to fight the forces of evil. Its main casts include Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Chris Evans as Captain America, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, and Samuel Jackson as Nick Fury. The story follows the usual hero-saves-the-day plot with the Avengers defending the good-old-earth and its human beings. Although the movie lasted for more than two hours, I enjoyed watching it onscreen. The movie was nice and it was able to show several action and comedic scenes with some major graphic effects, in particular with the transformation of Hulk who was funny throughout the movie.  However, two things that I've noticed are the inconsistencies with the scenes when Hulk was finally able to control his anger and when Iron Man was able to escape death despite falling from the sky after the explosion of the missile/nuclear. During the last fight between the Avengers and Loki, it was mentioned that Dr. Banner (known as the Hulk) was actually angry all the time. That would mean to say that he could control his anger but making a mess in the plane at the first half of the movie was purposely made which doesn't seem to make sense unless he had undergone some training to distinguish his teammates from others. The incident with Iron Man saving the city and surviving after falling directly from the sky was another mystery. I shall leave the explanations for this to the viewers but well, it is after all a fictional movie. Maybe we simply need to enjoy watching and stop thinking for a while of what's logical and what's not. Leaving those inconsistencies behind, I think movie goers would definitely love this movie. It is an action movie played by all-star casts with a touch of slight comedy.