Seoul Weekend Part 2

written on l6/09/2018 to remember things by (realized I lost a lot of pictures!)

We decided to go around Bukchon Village today, before heading back to Daejeon.  Happy to back here and see the old town.

 time to send those postcards!

 art on walls...

 they must really like Philippine mangoes. if only they were not so expensive.

 somewhere here, we found again Lee Minho's house in one of his tv series

 it's always Christmas in this churros place...

methinks I need more postcards!

Seoul Weekend

written 16/09/2018 to remember things by (as I realize that I've been losing my pictures - don't know why)...

My friends and I booked a room in one of the small hotels in Insadong. It's an ondol-type one good for the three of us with our own private bathroom. It's a good hotel for sleeping and leaving your stuff behind as you go explore the wonders of the old town Seoul.

We woke up early so we can maximize our days since the day is still short. We saw Insadong still asleep, with only a few sellers opening their stores. Luckily, the coffee shop was already open so we headed in for some coffee and bread. I expected to have traditional Korean bread or something but this coffee shop is very Western with all types of bread and pastries.

 what to eat?! so many choices!

hello there! I don't know what you're saying but I love your smile =)

We also visited Gyeongbukgung Palace to see the changing of the guards and to have a tour of the palace grounds, went around Bukchon Village (where I was able to still play - like a beginner - Somewhere Over the Rainbow on the piano), toured the Changdeokgung Palace, and went up to see the Namsan Tower.

 the morning changing of the guards. what i bright ceremony!

 so I guess it is still truly winter...

 the guide said that only the royal family can use these colors

the view of the Bugaksan Mountains behind the palace grounds

 so we did not know how large a Korean serving would be and we ordered one each. it took us ages to finish it because we were conscious about not finishing our meal and it was just tooooo spiccccy! but it was tasty.

frozen lake. there's a small gate on the left where people of lower rank had to go through. it is small so that when they pass through, they are required to bow low...

The best thing today though is making a new friend who is also a Pinay doing a training in Seoul. We gravitated to each other when we were waiting for the English tour to start at Gyeongbukgung. Later, we all decided to spend the day together - which was really fun!

So thank you, Lord, for the great day and the new friend. Amen.

Seoul Visit

written 16/09/2018

After our official meeting with government officials, we decided to be left behind to enjoy Seoul for the weekend. It is good to be back after last year's trip. Excited to go around the city again!

view of the Bugaksan Mountains, Gyeongbukgung Palace 

and statue of King Sejong at the Gwanghwamun Square

 so this is the typical Korean salad, i guess ;) 

I know the lettuce but the other greens, I have no idea at all

 subway tile art

yummy street food  at Insadong - crepe of strawberry and nutella with fresh bread

 gigantic pro-biotic drinks! 

learning hangeul

written 16/09/2018

It is funny to see adults learn a new language like little kids - saying the sound while writing the letter. I am glad we have this cultural period before the start of technical lectures. I will look forward to these classes in the coming days.

learning Hangeul is so much fun!

daejeon snow

written on 16/09/2018 to remember things by

Woke up to snow this morning! Can't wait to experience snow again!

welcome to daejeon

written 16/09/2018 to remember things by

Grateful to be a part of a learning experience in Daejeon. This will be the longest I will be away from work again after my Norway trip a few years back and I am especially excited if this would be as much fun as it was in Norway. I hope so, since I am accompanied this time by close friends from another agency.

Since it is February, and still winter, we arrived to a very cold temperature in Incheon, and lining up early in the morning for our bus ride to Daejeon was especially taxing after a four-hour flight. The bus stop was crowded by other bus riders and there was no place to hide from the cold winds. It was fun playing with our breaths and watching it come out of our mouths like little clouds or smoke.

 lining up for bus tickets at <0degc i="">

The bus ride to Daejeon took us around two and a half hours and you can really see that it was cold outside because of the fog that is forming on the bus windows. This is the first time for all of us in Daejeon and although we tried to sleep in the bus, we keep waking up to see if we have already arrived at our bus stop. From there, we had to take a cab (with all our luggages - I wonder how we will fit them in!) to go to our training center. As a preparation, we printed out our instructions to show to the cab driver who may not be able to converse with us in English. The Korean instructions would apparently give specific directions to the place but maybe not too specific because we were dropped off at the wrong building and we still had to walk a few more blocks.

But, on our way to Daejeon, I feel quite excited because I would be seeing new things, learn new things, experience new things, and get to know new people.

new set of meals for the next month

good night for now, Daejeon

Thank you, Lord, for the safe travels and new opportunities.

to south korea with my best friend

  *posting this on 01/02/2022 to fill up the missing parts of the blog (and for me to remember things by)

It was a dream for us to be able to travel together and I am so happy that we are doing it now! =) It took a lot of planning for us: timing for her, our itinerary, and where we're staying.

Ours was an early evening flight, meaning we will be arriving at our place of stay late at night but we never expected to arrive past 1am the following morning. The weather was not really good and it took a while for our plane to take off because of the weather and the number of planes wanting to take off as well. We are just lucky because the one who manages the place we booked waited for us.

Waiting for take off.

Arriving in the wee hours... it was also raining a bit

Our room at Doo Guesthouse, which was only walking distances to the palaces and Insadong

day 1 in seoul

 *posting this on 01/02/2022 to fill up the missing parts of the blog (and for me to remember things by) 

There were just a lot to see! Our feet hurt after a good day's touring and soaking everything in... I am just glad that my best friend is an avid walker and eater, too! =D

Just right outside our room early in the morning

Street art around Bukchon

Doors of Bukchon

Art installation near Gwanghamun Palace

Changing of the Guards at the Gwanghamun Palace

Inside the palace complex

One of the houses inside the palace complex

Inside the Changgyeonggung Palace complex

One of the views in the secret garden tour of the Changgyeongguk Palace

We also looked for the Mampo (something) bridge to see the fireworks at night but we got lost after walking so far and so long. But still, the view by the river at sunset was really refreshing.

Somewhere along the river

Happily hopping from place to another at Myeongdong, the shopping capital at Seoul 

Be Committed

Month Three of my Kendo training. 

Last Saturday, there were only a few who attended training as most of the regular, active members were participating in the HK Open. That meant that even though there were just a few of us, training went on, with the last batch of try out people being entertained. That also meant that training was a little bit more intense.

It was hard, yes, but I learned new set of moves today: kote-men and do. I also got to properly practice Kata 1 sitachi role with a senpai and I actually did pretty good. Then keiko went on from men, kote, kote-men, and do. From all these, I finally (finally!) realized that I had to learn how to do the suburi properly because I, from time to time, miss to hit men and kote properly (sometimes even missing them altogether!). But the most interesting lesson for that day was when I was hitting do with my Kata senpai partner. Since it was my first time to try do, I was afraid of hitting him in the wrong places so my hits weren't that hard. Senpai said that I must look where I am hitting and I am not hitting very well because I was not committed. Be committed.

Now one of the questions posed to me by one of my friends is answered. What am I gonna learn from Kendo which I can apply outside the dojo?

In life, in everything you do, Be Committed!

New Year, Post 1

So I totally missed out on blogging last year. Never again this year. I will write. I will learn to reflect more and put them in words. And to welcome this new year, here is my first post! :)

And to make up from missing out on blogging this year, I will look back from the year that was and write from time to time the highlights of that year. All in all, it was a good year although it is sad losing our grandmother. But then again, she is probably happier in heaven with Lolo, so it must be a blessing, too.