View from my Apartment

What I like the most about my apartment is the wonderful view of it. We are living in the highest floor of the building and it is located near downtown so it has a great view. But I'm afraid of the sun so I always close the window blinds and curtains during the day and open them at night. But one time as I was cleaning the house and shook the dusty rug on the window, this wonderful view has caught my attention again so I grabbed my camera and took a picture of it.

Here's the view on the left side of the building.

Here's the front view.

And the right view where you can watch the sunset.

Neighborhood in Seoul

My hubby always feels bored when we are in my parents-in-law's house. So whenever we visit there, we always go out for a walk in the neighborhood. So, the last time that we went there, we took a walk in the neighborhood again.

We usually take this route which is very close to my in-law's apartment. Just go down the building and you'll see this walking course with artificial (man-made) stream.

We decided to walk a little bit farther and this lane made me laughed. It's just few steps but we had to wait for a few minutes for the traffic light to be changed before we can cross the street. I also live in one of the largest cities in Korea but I've never seen traffic lights in a very narrow street. Although there are lanes but no traffic lights so when there's no car coming, you can just cross the street anytime you want. Well, I just thought that this is Seoul, the capital city of Korea.

The next day, we decided to change our route. We walked and walked until we reached this beautiful village. It seems like we are traveling out of the country. I've never thought that there's something like this in Korea specially in Seoul. My in-laws who live in downtown of Seoul where there are lots of high buildings, so for me, this kind of view of Seoul is something unique.

Oh, that cute little puppy looks very sad staring outside.

Want To Marry a Korean Guy?

My father in law asked me to find a Philippine woman to get married a korean guy. He said, find someone who's as kind as me (I was happy to hear that but would be happier if he said as pretty as me ^-^). The guy is over 40 years old. I was willing to find a Filipina when my father in law said that the guy was his nephew (his sister's son) and my hubby's cousin. Later on, I found out that the guy is a farmer living in the countryside. My husband is against it. He said the filipina will be very pitiful. She can't have some money and will have a hard time living in the country. She will live without friends and work in the farm even in the cold weather. Not to mention the language barrier, the weather and homesickness. I agree with him.

The next day, my father in law invited us to visit his sister. His nephew's (looking for a filipina wife) mom. We went to their house. It's an old house in the countryside. It was too cold so we stayed in one room with old, dirty and cracked wall. It was grandma's (my hubby's aunt's mother in law) room. I couldn't go out of the room because it was too cold. The living room, the kitchen and the bathroom were too cold. I was freezing. The living room doesn't look like one because of lots of stuffs stocked that are mostly crops. The small dirty kitchen has lots of big old pots. The cold bathroom has also lots of stuffs that I couldn't imagine if someone could take a bath there. There is no shower and bathtub, just faucet and bucket under it. There are lots of basins and washing machine is also there. It is too stuffy. I'm not sure if there's hot water to use. My hubby was too sleepy so they told us to use the other room and sleep. But my hubby's cousin's niece was there using the computer. Beside the two tables was a quilt and heavy blankets. We lay down but we couldn't sleep because it was too cold. So, do you want to get married this guy and live there?

I don't know why people from the Philippines think that once you got married to a foreigner, you are lying in the bed of roses. There are so many women out there dreaming of coming to Korea and get married to a korean guy. Don't you know that those who are looking for Filipinas are those who got divorce or old guys who couldn't get married to Korea because Korean women don't like them? Most of them are farmers or fishermen living in the countryside.

Do you still think that all filipinas who got married to korean have good lives here in Korea? I'm telling you. You are definitely wrong! You don't know how hard their lives are, living with someone they don't know well. You don't know how they suffer specially to those who live with their parents-in-law. (Most of them are living with their parents in law. Another reason why Korean women don't like them (korean guy married to foreigner) because Korean women can't live with their in-laws.) Don't envy those filipinas because they are married to korean guys. You are luckier than them. Living in the Philippines is more fun with friends and family. Nothing can compare to the happiness when you talk in your own language and eat filipino dishes. I think most of you have even better house than the other filipinas here in Korea.

There are some who live well but don't expect that you will also do, specially if the married is just a match. For those who got married because of love (courted in the Philippines), some of them still face some problems here in Korea because of the against parents because if the korean has good education, young and live well in Korea.

Apartment Disease

Korea is covered with sprawling apartment complexes throughout the country, whether it is in a metropolitan area or a rural area. With limited space, if everybody wanted to live in a warm cozy home, what would it take? Although you can't smell fresh soil, apartment would be the only alternative. People live in apartments with the same size, design and layout shared by their neighbors. Given that the Koreans cannot stand falling behind others, anything different immediately catches the eyes of neighbors. Like when you get a wide screen TV, the rumors would then fly all over the apartment complex. It would spread like a plague so fierce competition ensues and other will get wider than your new TV.

People send their kids to all kinds of after-school tutoring programs like English lesson, piano, art, taekwondo, school subject lesson, computer, etc. to keep them ahead of the pack. The Koreans have taken their "equal profit sharing" mentality to a whole new level, which in this modern day has taken on a new name "Apartment disease". If the kid next door goes to tutors after school, they can't just let their child sit at home and play.

Korean Money

Korea has four types of coins, the 10 won, 50 won, 100 won and 500 won. They symbols of Korea on them such as the crane, admiral Yi Sun-sin, an ear of rice, and the Dabotap (a pagoda in Bulguksa, a Silla era temple in Gyeongju).


There are also four types of bills, 1000 won ($0.83), 5000 won ($4.1), 10,000 won ($8.3)and 50,000 won ($41.6). On them, you will find the creator of Hangeul named King Sejong and the Jeoson era Confucian scholas, Yi I and Yi Hwang.

In addition to cash, Koreans frequently use bank checks and credit cards. People usually use credit cards even when they buy a small amount of thing. Koreans don't usually bring cash.

In Korea, you may ride the subway or a bus for 1,000 won within the same city. No matter how far or near your destination is, you just pay the same amount of money. About 10,000 won allows you and a friend to enjoy lunch or have some coffee.

Public transportation (bus, subway, taxi) is relatively cheap but housing and education are very expensive. The prices of the houses depends on the location or city. Housings in Seoul (Korean capital city), are expensive which makes it very difficult for young married couples to afford places to live. There are lots or apartment building in Korea because most people prefer to live in an apartment than in Korean traditional houses. Living in an apartment is more comfortable and warmer in winter.

Tanch'ong, Multi-colored Patterns

Official buildings and temples were decorated with tanch'ong multi-colored patterns that were first used during the Koguryo period. Since the use of the colorful tanchong patterns was restricted to temples and palaces, even upper-class houses were not painted with colors but featured many decorative elements. The houses of the lower class were generally made of logs and had little decorative woodwork. They were usually thatched.

No ordinary house, be it of the upper- or lower-class, could exceed 99 kan (a term referring to the square space inside four pillars).

Korean Traditional Houses in the snow

I had to post this earlier but because I didn't have time so it's late again. Anyway, I just wanna show you this picture that was taken last Monday. It snowed a lot here last Sunday. Me and my hubby went out to take a walk. Then we dropped by to the market and stayed there for more than an hour. We didn't have any plan to buy something but because we stayed there for more than an hour, so it's a shame to go out without carrying anything so we bought some snacks and drinks. When I woke up in the morning, I looked out and saw that it was still snowing so I took a picture. This is actually my first picture in this year's winter so I'm posting it here.


They are the Korean traditional houses in front of my apartment.

Now, it's a little bit dark. I'm wondering if it will snow again. I hope it won't. I just wish that winter will be over soon. I hate walking on the ice.