Sunday, July 29, 2007

Yulpo Beach

Mom in law called and invited us to go to aunt's house because it's her birthday. Of course most of the relatives specially mon in laws siblings are there. Mom in law has decided to wait for uncle on the way to aunt's house so we waited for him for almost 30 minutes. Here's the view on the way to aunt's house.



While we were waiting, we've decided to go to this pension house near nokchabat (green tea plantation). We might stay there just in case the celebration would be finished late. Here's the pension house.



And here's the view from the pension house.



After waiting for almost 30 minutes, uncle finally came and mom in law tranfered to uncle's car. We thought she missed her brother so much and wanted to talk to him a lot but then we realized that it was their plan to visit their parent's (hubby's grandparent's) tomb.



Hubby doesn't like climbing up the mountain just to bow down to the tomb so we just went to the beach instead, while waiting for them. Here's Yulpo beach in Boseong.




We didn't spend much time in aunt's house because she said it was getting darker and not good for us to drive home late at night so we left earlier than we expected so we didn't stay in the pension house.

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

choichampandaeg

When we go on a trip, we don't use the expressway on the way to the place that we are planning to go. We just love looking the good sightseeings. The mountains, rivers, trees, farm, roads, etc...



While we were on the way to Cheonghakdong we saw the road sign going to Choichampandaeg so we dropped by there. Hubby said that it's also an old traditional village.


They called it apple village that's why we see some lights like an apple shape.


They shoot here the movie mannam ui gwangjang



Hubby asked me if i wanted to get in but because that's out of our plan so i've just told him to leave and go back next time when we have time.

Days of Love in Korea

Here are the days of Love in Korea

January 14: Diary Day

--- The day to give a pretty diary or planner to your sweetie.

February 14: Valentine's Day

---It is the day to confess your love for a man with chocolates.

March 14: White Day

---On this day, the guys get to confess their love for their girls with candy and flower baskets.

April 14: Black Day

---This is the day where those who have not found love mark their status as lonely hearts by eating black food.The dish for the day is chinese noodles topped with a thick black sauce (jajjangmyeon).

May 14: Yellow or Rose day

---Love- losers gather for yellow curry and companionship. Lovers exchange roses and celebrate this day as Rose Day instead.

June 14: Kissing Day

---The day to have a passionate kiss....with their loveones. ..opppssss....keys me...keys me...hehehe...

July 14: Silver day

---This is the day when lovers exchange silver rings.

August 14: Green Day
---Couples are supposed to dress in green and drink cheap liquor that comes in green bottles on this day. A bottle of soju (korean alcohol).

September 14: Music and Photo Day

---This is the day to harmonize your romance with CDs of love and by taking pictures with loveones.

October 14: Wine Day

---The day when lovers drink wine. Hmmm... i think this one is very romantic specially with candles...hehe...

November 14: Movie Day

---The day to see with a romantic movie with your sweetheart.

December 14: Hug day

---The day of giving hugs to endure the cold winter weather.

And another special day in Korea is---

November 11: Peppero Day

---This day is named after the pencil shaped cookie stick covered in chocolate ( like Pretzels) exchanged as an expression of affection.

Saturday, July 14, 2007

You know you've been in Korea too long when....

...you don't want to be in the sun because your skin will get darker.


...you can pick up a single strand of noodles with chopsticks.


...you ask for more "ko-chu" because the kimchi-chige soup is not hot enough.


...you don't leave home without an umbrella.


...your back is sore from bowing.


...you wonder where your pickles are for your pizza.


...you can eat barefooted in a restaurant with a foot in your lap.


...you expect corn as a normal topping for food.


...you use handtowels as bathtowels.


...you can fall asleep on the city bus and wake up at your stop.


...you prefer chopsticks to forks.


...you look forward to Chusok and the Lunar New Year each year.


...you think that Korea's greatest natural resource is good looking young women.


...you don't bless people when they sneeze.


...people ask if you want to go by car and you respond, "No, I'm in a hurry."


...you forget some countries can actually drink their tapwater.


...you go to the hospital because you have a cold.


...you wear white socks with a dark suit.


...you can use a public bathroom for both genders and think nothing of it.


...you carry tissues with you everywhere.


...you know all the words to the Korean National Anthem and you enjoy singing it.


...you can't think of the English for common sayings like "molayo" and "igo".


...you use extremely rough bath scrubs.


...you don't expect to pay more than $1 for socks.


...you forget there is such a thing as tipping.


...you find it easier to translate things to Korean rather than to English.


...you'd rather sit on the floor than in a chair.


...you start believing that you can blend into a large crowd of Koreans.


...you want to yell "chogi-yo" to call a waiter.


...you let your eyes be drawn towards any female whose hair isn't black.


...you answer the phone by saying "yoboseyo".


...someone says "mansion" and you think of a two bedroom flat in a 400-unit apartment building.


...you mutter "Aigu" when lifting a heavy objects.


...you start craving gimchi.


...you need rice with every meal.


...you select shoes based on how easily you can get them on and off.


...you answer "Nhe" even when speaking English to non-Korean friends.


...you don't freak out when the salad arrives with octopus legs still wiggling on top of it.


...you believe that ALL Korean food is healthy (and will cure SARS) .


...you think carpet feels strange.


...you feel guilty for walking into a room with your shoes on.


...you look for slippers to enter the bathroom.


...you make many mistakes in your English.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

50 Lessons learn from watching korean drama (Part 1)

1) Hot, rich, younger men love fat, older vulgar women.

2) If you have a best guy friend, he is in love with you. And secretly you are too.

3) You and your boyfriend will always playfully chase each other on an ice rink, at the beach, or in the leaves. And you'll laugh for no reason and your boyfriend will hit you "playfully" but the force of his push will have you flying across the room. But it's okay. Cuz you're still laughing like a crazy person.

4) Brothers/cousin/uncles-newphews will always love the same girl.

5) You're allowed to make uturns wherever you want in Korea. And there is never traffic on the side you want to u turn to.

6) There is a super quick payment device that allows you to pay a bill quickly enough for a guy to run immediately out of a restaurant after his angry girlfriend storms out.

7) Everyone has cancer.

8) If you're sick, all you need is an IV to make you feel lots better.

9) There is vomit and urine all over Seoul at nights.

10) Fighting at a pojangmacha with a random stranger is merely part of a normal night's event.

11) Soju must cost 10 cents. Everyone drinks it everyday all the time, especially the poor people.

12) If you're rich, you're a jerk.

13) If you're poor, you're an angel.

14) Women sleep and wake up with a full set of makeup on.

15) You're not studying hard enough unless you get a nosebleed.

16) If you have a nosebleed, you most definitely have cancer. And you have no money to pay for the surgery that will save your life. And your liver is missing. We're not sure where it went, but it's making your cancer progress faster.

17) If you work in a sool jeep, you have massively curly hair and wear flashy colors from the early 90's.

18) You always order orange juice or coffee at a cafe. And you never drink it. EVER.

19) You will always call your boyfriend by his job title. Or simply sunbaenim. Never his name. Never. He doesn't have one.

20) If you TRULY love each other, you must die together in the end. Frozen outside instead of finding shelter like sane people. Just frozen....

21) You go to America you come back miraculously successful. You go to England you come back amazingly fashionable. You stay in Korea the only thing that changes is your hairstyle.

22) And if you come back with no apparent reason then it's because you have cancer.

23) Everyone always goes to the same hospital no matter where they are.

24) If you stand out in the rain for more than five minutes, you'll end up with a fever and vertigo and people will rush you to the hospital to get some magic IV. And instead of taking an ambulance or driving they'll race you on their back.

25) Even if you're poor and can't eat, you never wear the same clothes twice.

Click here for part 2.

Friday, July 6, 2007

50 Lessons learn from watching korean drama (Part 2)

26) If you play a poor kid, you always have dirt on your face and your hair is always messy.

27) If you're saving someone from being hit from a car, you'll push them out of the way and wait for the car to hit you instead. biggrin.gif couldnt be more true, they're like a deer in headlights.

28) Everyone has a long lost sister/brother/twin. Usually one they didn't know about.

29) If you don't want to answer your phone, you can't just turn it off. The battery needs to be taken out.

30) All korean men can drink hard, smoke long, sing well and play piano. Usually all at the same time. And at the same restaurant that has a piano that they let anyone use.

31) If you're in a relationship, you must at one point leave and have your lover tearfully come RIGHT before you board the plane (vice versa applies as well. You can be the chaser). 60% of the time you see each other, the other 40% you're roaming around in circles and pass each other about six times, but miraculously never see them.

32) If you're getting off a plane, you're ALWAYS wearing sunglasses. ALWAYS.

33) All guys wear hideous tracksuits zipped up to their neck. Even if all they're doing is jumproping.

34) Girls will always storm off because they're mad and the guy will stoically grab them by the arm and swing them back- and by magic, not dislocate their shoulders.

35) Guys always look like they're 6 feet tall, even if they're only 5'10. Thank you camera angles.

36) Guys like to wear foundation, eyeliner and sometimes a smudge of lipliner.

37) You always get stuck in an elevator with someone who makes you feel uncomfortable. Even if there are six different elevators, you'll always be stuck in the same one with that bastard you hate (or just fought with).

38) Unless you're fabulously rich, your in-laws will always hate you.

39) So will your sister-in-law.

40) Your brother-in-law might be pining away for you.

41) There are only 2 ways to kiss. You either press your lips against theirs with your mouth completely shut, and just press away for a very long and uncomfortable time. OR you devour the other person and suck out their soul. In both instances, the world spins.

42) A guy will always get the right size ring, even if you're never held hands.

43) People stare off into space and ponder a lot. They'll just stop in the middle of the road and watch a leaf on a tree for a good three minutes, and just ponder.

44) You'll get pregnant the first time you have sex.

45) You'll get pregnant if he kisses you on the forehead.

46) Hell- you'll get pregnant if you hold hands.

47) If you overcome great obstacles to be together, one of you must die. Probably due to cancer.

48) One korean man can kick the butts of 6 gangstas. Especially when they all stand in a circle and attack the guy one by one. Then when each of them get their butts OWNED, they wise up and attack the guy at the same time. Then the guy will get pulverized and bleed out onto the dusty concrete floor of the empty warehouse they've found to fight in. There will be a fire in a trashcan somewhere. And the girl will have watched this the entire time, screaming in horror. Instead of calling 119, she'll just watch and cry. But it's okay. Cuz the next day the guy will be fine with a few random bandages and a few face scars. But never a black eye.

49) It ain't a real fight unless the gangstas fight dirty with a stick or switchblade.

50) If you study in the states (perferably Harvard), you are one of the top students and can speak perfect English (as assumed by the reactions of those around you). Why the rest of the world OUTSIDE of the TV can't understand a single word uttered out of your melodramatic mouth is beyond me.

Click here for the part 1.

Sunday, July 1, 2007

Sudeoksa

Sudeoksa is a head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism. It is located on the southern slopes of Deoksung-san in Deoksan-myeon, Yesan County, in the province of Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea.

It is one of the most wonderful temples that i've seen. Like many other temples, it is also located on the top of the hill with stairs that is used to climb up. But we see temples or some idols after climbing few steps.





I don't know much about buddhism so i don't know what these idols means are. We see them at the entrance or gate of the temples.






I was also surprised to see people posting some coins on the wall or is it a big stone? They said your wish will come true of the coin won't fall. They also offer some money to the idol.




Of all the buddhist temples that i've been to, this is my first time to see this kind of buddha. This is the only buddha that i knew when i was young.


It was fall when we went there so it makes the view more wonderful because of the leaves changing in colors.