Final Countdown: 2 days.

Shiok, the feeling to know that today is gonna be my last day in Daejeon makes me extra boosted for my Movie and Society exam in the morning. Wah lau eh, the exam is like only 5 questions, each question 20 marks, but non-essay style; just pure definitions. Piang eh. I finished the exam early, then go for early lunch, then chiong back to Hwaam dormitory to pack up my stuffs and check out!! The feeling is so "SONG".

I came back and put my barang barang in Mr Jungil Lee's office, then went to my final Intro to Communication lecture where Miss Lee gave us back our scripts and our total final score was imprinted on the scripts. I got a whooping 97/100!! Thank God I did well. Miss Lee also treated us to Holly Cafe coffee since it will be our last meeting.

Time flies and we had to return for the farewell party for the exchange students (which is me!!). We meet up with the undergrads, as well as the grads and post-grads students and had a jolly good time eating and taking photos and chatting. I took quite a lot with everybody and suddenly, I don't feel like leaving @ all. I mean, friendship and bonds have been forged, no matter how sucky it is, they still remain a memory in me and I am gonna miss this bunch of coolios when I am gone *uGh*

So with a mixed feeling, San-In and I left for Gangnam in Seoul. We took a 2 hour bus ride to the station and a grueling 20 minutes walk to his house (trust me, the walk to his house is like a maze). We left our stuff @ his place, then went to Gangnam area to find Fen, Euwin and Chris. We met them @ this coffee joint, which I forgotten what is the name liao, then walk to a beer place to have fried chicken and beer and soju. Do you know how much good it felt to be hanging around your own people and chatting the same frequency as them. Finally, I feel so alive. We catch up on all the things we missed on each other's life while we are in Korea and share all our funny experiences throughout our stay. Due to the late timing and meeting tomorrow, we had to leave early. However, as we parted ways, San-In brought me to go clubbing @ this place called Noise Basement. It is ultra funky and hip and dirrrty as well. When I go into the club, I only have 1 objective in mind - just dance. I saw so many drunk innocent girls waiting to be preyed on and I feel really sorry for them. The guys are merciless and they will stop @ nothing to get what they want; some don't even dance, they just scout the area for drunk ladies and then get their hands all over them. I feel so sick, but San-In told me it is normal; like what the?? We danced till we got ultra sweaty, then ciao back to his house. I tell you ah, the taxi driver no give face one. His house damn near to the club but they don't wanna fetch you. They rather fetch those going to far places!! We waited 20 minutes in the cold before this kind uncle came along and fetched us home.

Do You Know That...
Despite the biting cold weather in winter, girls will alway have the strong will and strength to wear mini skirts with a pair of legging!! Welcome to the fashion world of Korea!

Final Countdown: 3 days.

Today is major day for me - 2 major exams but I am glad to have said I conquered it with confidence (not that I know I will do well, but I know where does my confidence comes from).

1 more paper to go, but not so important, but still I will give my best to do well definitely and have no regrets (like what my capt in KR says, "Nobody who gave his best ever regretted it."). How true indeed.

My next exam, Movie and Society will be my final lap before heading to Seoul for a real good, no frill holiday!! And the thing is, this subject has no mid term but only 1 term paper and the enitre semester lecture is only 37 slides worth (ultra pathetic).

Everybody seem to be finishing their exams and I got this paper tomorrow. Cui~ Luckily Akmal and Fawaz treat me eat Pizza Manna for the last time (ever). Now I feel so sad, like don't want to go leh, but then I have to go, so bo pian, must leave my buddies behind. Parting is always the hardest especially when friendship and bonds are forged.

I will never forget you guys. Please don't forget me too. Remember the noise and the "This looks good" motto man!! Take care buddies.

Do You Know That...
A plastic bag @ a Korean supermarket cost 5 cents equivalent to Singapore currency. Hmm, a step in going green or pure greed for moolah? You decide.

The Final Countdown: 4 days.

Today nothing special though... Mugging for the big day tomorrow...

Do You Know That...
If you meet a girl and subsequently become her boyfriend, you must give her a rose on the 100th of your anniversary. Aww!! Pocket spoiler!! *lol*

The Final Countdown: 5 days.

Today weather is starting to get a lil better and I started my day with an Isaac's Toast MVP Burger!! Nice-si. That was accompanied by a cuppa caramel latte from Vero Espresso (cheapest place for students to get coffee). I went to school after lunchie to study Game Theory; to be honest, I read the entire chapters for at least 2 times liao and this is my 3rd go (can't believe I am so hardworking right?). Bo pian, the culture here sucks to the maximum spider and when you got nothing to do in school, this is what you become - a mug machine!! Muahaha!!

I met Emilie and Anne and we agreed to go Shabu-Shabu for dinner @ 6:30pm. Umm, the dinner was so good and I reckon it would be my last time trying it.

It was a pretty short day though since time flies real quick when I am mugging and before I knew it, I am going home. Anyway, time to watch Heroes liao. Enjoy~



Do You Know That...
Koreans have 2 different ways of counting numbers - 1 is purely for monetary related matter; while the other is mainly for anything else that are non monetary related.

The Final Countdown: 6 days.

Shiok, today the temperature rises a little bit and the cold is not as biting as last weekend. I woke up @ 2 plus and washed up, then I realized I have to carry Matthew's and my barang barang to the post office cuz I am mailing them back to Singapore, to reduce my lugguage weight. Man, those stuffs are really heavy and I look like a kukubird carrying so much things around.

Then, I was held up @ the post office cuz the dum dum Matthew never pick up his phone and I have to send it back to my own address zZz. And oh, I finally have my watch repaired @ Expo Core. Power, now I can wear my watch and Daddy sends me some allowance to last me till end of the month. Everything is going smoothly.

I went for my first cuppa Caramel Latte @ the place where Emma brought me, then slowly track back to ICU to do my mugging. Hmm, I read through all the lecture slides for Intro to Multimedia (ICE2312) and I submitted all my projects for the semester. Now I feel the weight slowly being lifted off my chest. I just have to concentrate on the last 3 papers and then I will be set to go to Seoul for my final 2 days!!

Life is so good, but the guys back home started IHG training liao. Siao eh, I must faster go back and join them.

Do You Know That...
In Korea dining, it is difficult to eat alone because the restaurants are mostly catered for group dining and so you cannot order food for 1 person. Hmm, I pity the loneliness person living in Korea because eating is such a chore!!

The Final Countdown: 7 days.

Today I had very little sleep cuz I watched Arsenal match last night. Heng we won *lol* So I went to church (for probably the last time in Daejeon). Hmm, they all threw me a mini partay and the pastor gave me a present before bidding me farewell. I am so gonna miss you guys @ Sae Ro Nam church :) See you guys soon (I hope).

I went to visit Pem after the party and brought her some cake. Now I see she can sit up and like got more freedom of movements, I feel happy for her progress. I chat with her a while and this is probably my last time seeing her before I head back to sunny island Singapore. Get well soon!!

I then chiong down to E-Mart (man, it is a great store) and got some socks cuz my socks are tearing apart and a shoe stick that helps to put ur feet comfortably into the shoes + a pair of shoe soles for my current gonna-be-cui Converse. I went to check out Galleria and grab my new pair of fresh Converse shoes from there. Now I put on my new pairs of toe socks (those glove-like socks) and put on my new Converse and walk proudly and happily. I am not retiring the old pair since I need it to play takraw and street soccer :)

Later I chilled a little @ Starbucks and now is X'mas season, which means the Toffee Nut flavoured latte is back!! I have waited for a year since 2007 to get this. I thought they discontinued this flavour cuz it taste really good @ the same price. Man, I am in love with Starbucks all over again. It gave me no reasons to turn to other coffee joints!! I did some self study for Game Theory until 6pm before taking the bus back to ICU. Oh, later we gonna go to this Algerian restaurant that I went earlier when I was in Daejeon - Ali Baba.

Amin took us to the restaurant in his car and we met Malaz and Enazi there, together with Dennis and Muugii and some other friends from the States - Janet, Lora and Lynette. We had really good appetizer and main course (Lamb Shoulder with Yellow Rice and Potatoes), but unfortunately, for big bottomless pit like me, I am never full. But it was fun just to sit down and chat and not think about school work. I like this kinda life

Do You Know That...
Koreans add a year to their age e.g. if I am born in 1985, I am 23 in Western system but 24 in Korean system. This is because they believe that the moment you are born, you are already one year old. Hmm?

The Final Countdown: 8 days.

The day has come for me to present my project on OpenGL (Graphics Library). Since everyone was unprepared, the T.A told me to go first. So I obeyed and went up to do my presentation. I try to relax the mood as best as possible and the work the crowd a little bit since they look like they just recovered from coma. The presentation was fine and I presented all my points clearly and demonstrated on how does 3D modeling work (since the whole part I am already well-versed in CG lecture in NUS, as well as CA lecture in ICU). As usual, there are lotsa questions which I managed to answered back in a very steady and fluent manner and apparently, my answers are well received. The T.A wants me to use my project for next semester as 1 of the laboratory homework. Awesome dude!!

Now I have gotta meet Travis and Kevin cuz they wanna buy me lunch as farewell. Man, these 2 American guys really crack me up for the longest time in Korea. No matter what we talked about, they will subconsciously link it to the American Economic stuffs and start ranting @ how bad situation is right now. As the ignorant Singaporean guy, I just have to listen and eat my food as I listen cuz I have no clue of what is going on exactly *lol* But darn, we had minced pork with tofu and kimchi stew + this dessert that tasted ultra horrible to me. But it was a good time to spend with my buddies before leaving. We head on to Tous Le Jour (a Delifrance style store) where we had real authentic western dessert - hot Latte with a Mocha Scone. Nice~ Time flies and we parted ways, but it will be the last time I will be seeing Travis because I won't be attending church next Sunday and he is leaving for Seoul for the week. See you Travis, always will be missed. But I will see Kevin tomorrow so no goodbye yet haha.

I got a call from Annie and San-In and we are supposed to dine out with the exchange peepz @ Time World. I quickly chiong down to E-Mart and purchase my beanie + this really cheap winter jacket (since weather is really getting cold, like below freezing point) and went strai8 after to meet them.

We had a different style of Shabu Shabu today and it tasted good. Obviously, the moolah we forked out is also "good" man. Annie invited her siblings to join us - an elder brother and a younger sister. We met up @ Coffee Bean and got ourselves some caramel latte (thanks Annie, you rock!!).

We had a good chat and realized they were all born in the States *lol* ABK - American Born Koreans!! That is how cool lah!! Good times usually fly really fast, don't know why. We parted ways with them as the French girls took a cab back to dormitory and San-In, Muugii and me took the other back to ICU.

It was a wonderful day, as far as I am concerned. 3 more exams and I am done. Let's go!

Do You Know That...
In Korea, you cannot pour your own drinks. The opposite parties must do that for you and the same goes for you to others. Weirdo or respectful?

The Final Countdown: 9 days.

Wah, today got a final (really last liao) class for Movie and Society and super sian, he told us got final exam, but then the exam is like freestyle writing on personal opinion cuz the lecture is scarce and like most of the time, we just watch movie only zZz. This is serious nonsense.

Anyway, it was a good day cuz today marks the end of my semester with the school and next week will be the real exam week (although I got exam later on @ 4pm for Intro to Comm). This school's timetable a lil screwed though.

I went for the exam and it was fairly okay :) Not too difficult I would say because only 4 of us. Dong Hyun and I left the exam room early and went to Jeonmin-dong to eat @ this chinese restaurant - Xin Dong Yang. We ordered JjaJangMyun and lemon chicken and fired Gyoza!! Darn, 10,000 won per person. Expensive bodoh for a meal. It is probably our last meal together *sob sob*

After dinner, I head back to Computer Room to prepare for my Multimedia Presentation tomorrow. Hope for the best!

Do You Know That...
In a Korean restaurant, you will be served more side dishes than the main dish itself.

The Final Countdown: 10 days.

Finally, it is down to 10 days and I begin this day with a huge reluctance to go for my final Game Theory class for the season. Even said, I just dragged myself out of bed and go. Argh! We are finishing the last part of Auctions. Hmm, time flew and it was lunch liao. I went to Jeonmin-dong to have Isaac's Toast since I got time to kill before the Computer Animation exam.

Actually I am pretty like heck care for the exam, but I still study because I will feel bad if I don't do well. The final hour came for the exam and it was 25 questions of comparing-2-terms questions and 1 more extra credit if we can come up with our own 2 terms and compare them. Hmm I wouldn't say difficult but I know He has the strength to carry me through. I am thankful the 2 hours past just like that.

I am out and alive and breathing and happy. Now I have to re-edit my Computer Animation project to suit the professor's need. Darn~ And yah, to Matthew, I received your C.K. belt already; looks darn good and I am considering one for myself too.

Okie, finally I managed to redo my Computer Animation project and I gave it an ultra cool camera animation unlike before. If I have the chance to, I will upload for you guys to see.

Also, it SNOWED TODAY!! YUPPIE!! Now I am gonna start a series of "Do You Know That" about the Korea culture, practices and everyday life. I think it would be a fun reflection of what I have discovered in Korea for the past 104 days that I have lived here. Today will be the first installation.

Do you know that...
I don't know about other cities, but in my school and in some public toilet, the guys just finish his business and leave the toilet WITHOUT washing their hands.

Day 104 in Korea!

Countdown: 11 days.

Today I finally met up with Nam Koong to have lunch with him. He brought me to this place where we ate the mixed pig organ soup. Darn, it is so nice and rocking. I love it to bits and pieces; it is like what we call "zhu cha tang" in Singapore. I realized he was sick, but he still bothered to take me out for a nice lunch. I feel so comforted. In the end, I treated him to a cuppa warm caramel machiato, then we walked back to school.

I had a presentation for the Computer Animation project I did on Bomber Man. Man, that 10 minutes inside the office, presenting to the T.As and the professor felt like 1 hour to me. They asked me lots of questions blah blah blah and I know my project isn't very professional, but I have like 4 other subjects to cope with, so I didn't have enough time to do a power-up one, compounded by the fact that I had to leave early so I have to complete and present the project 2 weeks before the deadline. Take that!

After the presentation, I went to meet Melodie and we chiong down to visit Pem. She got into an accident last week and was stuck in hospital. I hadn't had the time to visit her due to heavy work schedule, but finally today I gave myself no excuse even though I have exam tomorrow. She was warded in the LG hospital and when we arrived, she just woke up but looking very fragile. We sat and watch her and chat with her before I left with Melodie to E Mart to shop for our daily groceries.

It was getting late, so we took a cab back to school. She went back to dormitory from school and I stayed on to revise for tomorrow's exam. I still have to redo the Computer Animation project :( Sucks!!

Day 103 in Korea!

Countdown: 12 days.

Wah sian tiao, I am late for Game Theory class and then I submitted my assignment late and now I suffer a 10% discount off my grade. Shittified man!! I submitted only 1.5 hours late and must discount till so jialat. Sucky school.

After class, I went for a sulky lunch @ the cafeteria then brought Emilie, Anne and Melodie to this cafe where we had some nice caramel machiato with latte art on the top of the coffee. Umm umm, smells good, taste good and looks good. The lady was nice enough to play classic French tunes for us (although I am clueless, but it sounded good). I had to rush for Intro to Multimedia lecture and it is my last lecture for this course. Rock on!! As usual, his lecture is boring, but considering it is my last lecture, I shall bear the pain.

Today I finally finish the production of my Computer Animation project and ready to present it tomorrow to professor. With everything set in motion, time to chiong for a SoMac (soju + beer) with Young Chang @ Dasarang. Again, I fell prey to the Koreans when he made me dunk the SoMac right away. I was almost gone, but this time I held my ground and stay firm. We talked about many stuffs, including girls, politics, Cheena-Korean differences etc. blah blah blah. As usual, I get away from the gathering scot-free cuz Young Chang offered to pay for me. Muahahahaha!! I am so cheapo right? Bo pian leh, Singaporean style!!

Now I am back in my room enjoying a warm shower and watching Heroes Season 3 Episode 11.

Day 102 in Korea.

Countdown: 13 days.

Today I was supposed to meet Nam Koong for lunch, but my usual self acted up and I can't seem to wake up, but luckily I messaged him somehow to tell him to postpone to Wednesday. Heng~ I went to Jeonmin-dong to makan Isaac's Toast again and then go to school to encode my project for Computer Animation. Freaking take super long time to encode the entire software and hardware version of it, but I did it anyway.

Since it is my free day, I make full use of it to study and review the chapters for Computer Animation (exam on Thursday) + finish up my project report. I also managed to squeeze some time to watch Madagascar II. Man, I tried to control my laughters, but the show is awfully hilarious!! It is rated 4 out of 5 for me. Please go watch it. The penguins and the newly added monkey alliance is ultra "OFF-The-Globe" funny.

My day ended with a meat pizza I ordered from Pizza Manna (6,000won) and I finished it while watching some teevo shows.

Day 101 in Korea!

Countdown: 14 days.

Sunday suddenly seem so shivelry; haha I tried to start the blog with an all-S lineup, pretty neat. Anyway, Pastor Peter came to pick me up for church as usual and we went for Sunday service together. It was a good time to fellowship with friends since I haven't seen them in 2 weeks.

After service, Pastor Peter was nice enough to accompany me to shop for a warm jacket since the winter has arrived. Unfortunately, the designs he chose for me are abit "Ah-ju--ssi" styled and thus, not applicable for young trendy men like me *lol*. We parted ways and I came back to ICU to do my work and revise for the noon since I had nothing to do and I think life here is so darn boring (as most people would have related to, in my previous posting). I was really tired since I did not have enough rest, so I went back to dormitory around 4:30pm and slept through till 7pm before meeting Emilie, Anne and Dennis @ Shabu-Shabu house for Shabu-Shabu (duh!). The boss owner recognizes us and gave us extra portion of the beef (woohoo!). Love it man + it is warm + cosy + tasty etc. After that, we went to Coffeeteria for a nice cuppa Caramel Machiatos. Umm umm, the best thing to do in this season is just "nua" one corner cuz the weather's so cold, it cripples you.

The night ended with Akmal and I watching Arsenal versus Chelski!! A late 2 goals by v.Persie sealed the game for the derby. Wonderful performance, though I am rather pissed off with some players. End of the day, the Gunners stood strong and held their ground against derby side Chelski. The next to bring down is . . . . . Liverpool!!

Day 100 in Korea!

Countdown: 15 days.

Today don't know why, so cold and I almost died in the cold weather. As usual, I woke up late and so I made the SAFE club waited for me *lol* We took 3 cabs to go to Nam Sun ice skating rim. Along the way, guess what happened? To some people, it may be trivial, but to me, it is MAJOR - I SAW SNOWS FLYING IN THE SKY!! Like many many flakes were flying all around. Woohoo~ Welcome the winter season (although I am not a big fan of coldness).

We went in and get our skates and get wrapped up and chiong into the rim. To be honest, it has been a long time since I skated so I was a little apprehensive about my skating skill. I went slowly, for fear I malu myself. After about 10 rounds, I got used to the skate and my balance and I am ready to chiong. The siren rang and we all had to evacuate the rim cuz they got smoothen the ice with that vehicle thingy, so I went to buy latte and drink (since I am still zoink out). I met this little girl (8 years old), Jane and initially, I tried to speak with her in Korean, but she totally shocked me with her English (with accent somemore). From the conversation, I realized she started figure skating about 2 months ago and have been regularly patronizing this rim. So I went in and skate together with her and chit chatting. Man, I tell you, this girl is so nice lah - knowing that the skates is not good, she went out to take 2 sponges for me to cover my ankles (the skates really suck; it cause major blisters on my 2 ankles). She looked just like a younger sister to me; if only I had a younger sister *sulks*

We skated for an hour before her mom came and pick her up. That was the last I saw of her. Suddenly, as I was skating, this bugger from behind pushed me and he is none other than the guy with the white tiger headwear. He is seriously a major a-hole. Because of his seniority, you know in Korea, they pick on juniors like us. Dammit man, I fell right on my butt, but lucky got too much meat to cushion if not I will kill him on the spot. He not only pushed me, but the other guys as well. Ultra buay tahun.

After skating, we went to So-Dal-Gu-Ji for a nice and warm spicy chicken broth (with chicke inside of course). What a slack day~

Day 99 in Korea.

Countdown: 16 days.

Hmm, today no Movie and Soc class, so can sleep in later cuz the weather is totally killing me, like this invisible monster biting hard on all parts of my body. I went to school for my last Intro to Communication lecture, but don't know why it is the most boring of all the lectures. Firstly, she over-explained, she paused for too long and she dragged the lecture for too long. My final exam for this course will be 1 week after and I am slapped with a final assignment. Tooooooooooooooottt!!

After class, Dong Hyun and I chiong to Jeonmin-dong and we ate @ Buldonseongdo, a restaurant opened by the mother of an ICU student and selling cheap Sam-geok-sal (bbq pork). We were relieved that the classes and the season is coming to an end and we can all go back to our homes respectively for winter break. The dinner is a

We separate paths after dinner and I have a final soccer match with the ITTP buggers before the season ends. It will be my last soccer match in Korea before I hit back shore. The weather is totally unconducive for sports now.

The day finally draws to an end.

Day 98 in Korea.

Countdown: 17 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 980 won.
Temperature reading: 6 degree celsius.

Ah, today is a long day for me, but I made it longer when I decided to stay up late to watch the UEFA Champ League - Barca vs Sporting Lisbon. Darn, I only had 3 hours to sleep or less. Nonetheless, I made it to Game Theory class. As promised, professor Kwon brought me and the 2 French ladies, Emilie and Anne out for lunch @ Bibi Space, an Italian restaurant near the school. The meal is uber delicious and we had a fun chat with the professor.

Later I came back for Computer Animation class. Wowee, today is my final lecture and next week I will ocmplete my solo project presentation + final exam for this subject. I can't wait for the next week to come and go. I wanna just finish whatever I have and just get on with life.

Today they are supposed to have a bazaar @ around 5:30pm so I went down to take a look, only to be disappointed by the size of the bazaar. Darn it man, these people don't put in effort to plan anything. They just think of an idea and they go ahead and do it. See the picture and you know why. The variety of items is crappy and somemore some of the stuffs are fake, zZz.

I finally finished all my projects and reports and stuffs, so I am now free to do my self study for the exam. I am pressing on!!

Day 97 in Korea.

Countdown: 18 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 977 won.
Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

Last night was a head spinner; I woke up @ 3:45pm today and went to school to do revision for Computer Animation class + finish up my project report + finish the camera animation for my project and I am done. Everything is falling right on schedule. Swee~

Also, we attended a concert in school, performed by my friend's band Carpe Diem. To be honest, I don't really like their renditions of the music, but as friends, I went to support. I was not disappointed for the night cuz I won the lucky draw and they gave me 10,000\ as prize (see pic above)!! Song boh!! Come to concert and get free moolah - it would only happen in Korea *lol*

Heroes Season 3 Episode 10

Day 96 in Korea.

Countdown: 19 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 983.
Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

Hmm, today for Game Theory class, my professor looked @ Emilie, Anne and me and proposed to take us out for lunch on Thursday cuz according to him, he did not have time to interact with us and so the lunch is to compensate for it. WOWEE!! I love it.

The day was normal, but I finally solved the problem for my project. I realized the old laboratory work I did for Computer Graphics class in NUS, which I intended to use for a current project in ICU had some compatibility issue. But thanks to the wonderful multimedia collection in ICU, I am able to install a MS Visual Studio 2005 version into 1 of the computer room computer and get my project up and running. Luckiest of luck is that my teaching assistance agreed to accept the project, despite the compatibility issue. Now my project and the report is done!! SHIOK!! One project down and one more to go.

In the night, I met San-In and his friends for beer @ Dasarang. They are nice people, but lethal to hang out with. You know, guys like me, don't really like my ego to be compromised, so when they dunk soju sand beer together, I gave the green light and I finished a couple of the mixture in 1 swallow. After 5-6 swallows, I am completely on the high and wasted. What happened after that I cannot remember, but I know I woke up again 7am to go to the loo and dunk loads of water before falling back to sleep again. Shucks man.

Day 95 in Korea.

Countdown: 20 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 940 won.
Temperature reading: 6 degree celsius.

Today I finally met up with a fellow Singaporean - Christina Tay. Okie, I must first admit I was quite afraid to meet her because firstly, I am shy when 1-to-1 with girl. Secondly, if she is the quiet type, then I am GG-ed for the night. I had to finish some work in school before coming out to meet her. I was supposed to meet her @ 6:30pm, but you know lah, Singaporeans timing is as elastic as the rubber band one. Haha, actually I was caught in jam (darn, what a lame excuse right?).

And so, I finally met her @ 6:50pm (oops). I think we both can recognize each other from far, but I purposely act bodoh and walk past her *lol* It is part of breaking the ice eh. We greeted each other (ice still a little cold) and chat as we walk towards the duc-khal-be place. You know, the usual questions like "How are you?" and "Where have you been to?" and "What have you done in Daejeon?" blah blah blah nonsense. Surprizingly, it was very smoove haha (maybe from my perspective only). We arrived @ the restaurant after a 5 minutes walk, settled down and ordered our food. We begin to tak photos of each other and just converse while waiting for the foodies. It is fun to know how much things have been happening in Seoul all these times when I am stuck in boring Daejeon city. I have to admit, she looks very adorable. Half the time she was talking, I wasn't paying much attention to the content but her (pardon me). Man, Seoul is so much fun and I have made up my mind to spend my last week in Korea in Seoul, no matter what. At least I must leave this place with beautiful memories.

I felt so relaxed for the first time and I finally met my fellow Singaporean friend. There is no where closer than this familiarity that makes me feel so comfortable. However, good times are short-lived. I walked her to the subway station before she took the train back to the terminal and subsequently the train back to Seoul. Poor me have to return to school to finish up my project.

Sian~

Day 94 in Korea.

Countdown: 21 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to won.
Temperature reading: degree celsius.

Today is lazy day. Sleep sleep and sleep.

Day 93 in Korea.

Countdown: 22 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 977 won.
Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

*Brrrrr* Suddenly it becomes too cold for me to get out of bed. The moment I opened my blanket, the cold wind rushed against my body and I had to take shelter in the blanket again. Darn. The weather is a killer. I woke up finally @ 3:45pm and had my lunch @ Isaac's Toast (to be honest, I don't know any place here that you can eat singularly because everywhere in Korea, they encourage group dining). I went to school to do my self-study for Computer Animation since exam is round the corner and then meet up with Akmal and Fawaz to go shop for groceries and Pem's birthday cake.

We finally returned to Hwaam kitchen. Pem and Enazi did the cooking while all of us tucked in to eat. Finally, the main event of the day - Pem's birthday celebration. I don't know but maybe as people gets a little older, they don't usually like to celebrate birthday parties. It was just a simple singing of the birthday song + wishing + blowing of the candles and we are done. Haha. We stayed on a little later to watch some Premier League matches and toot, Arsenal lost to Man City 3-0. I am so gonna cry!!

Day 92 in Korea.

Countdown: 23 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 989.79 won.
Temeprature reading: 7 degree celsius.

Tiring day it is, but I have the privilege to sleep in late cuz my Movie and Soc class is cancelled for both this week and next week due to the professor's marraige. Yahoo! So I only come to school for a guest lecture by this guy, Mr Park Young Min from a local animation firm, which produced an award winning animation, Tree Robo @ some expo convention. Down side, the lecture is in Korean (like what's new right?). Lucky I got a friend who can translate for me. Else, I will be left dumb founded for the entire session. It is fun because of the animations and all the effects we can achieve with computer animation + they are all over tv commercials and advertisements - good for my future job. But due to the language barrier, I can't understand what he is saying, so half the time I am just focusing on the slides and some slides are in Korean. Darn it man. These people are really pro Korean, aren't they? It is damn disgusting when people speak a language that you don't understand. If Korea is a close country, I can understand. It is a freaking international country and English is the standard yet their level of English is really poor. No offence, but I feel that in certain ways, they are acting on closed system basis.

I will be leaving in 23 days and I can't wait to go home. People here are really boring - all studies and little play. I came here to enjoy, not to mug, but people are too obsessed with getting A's, so let them be. I can't stay in this place any longer. Seniors usually tell me how much they enjoy during exchange, but mine has got to be the worst among all SEP students. I don't even need a freaking grade, so I don't care about whether I can score an A or not. The competition here is cut throat. People sacrifice leisure time for the sake of scoring an A. If grades are everything that determines their quality, I feel really sorry for them and the system they have to live with.

I feel so angsty now.

Heroes Season 3 Episode 9

Day 91 in Korea.

Countdown: 24 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 945 won.
Temperature reading: 9 degree celsius.

Haha, today I managed to wake up early for the Game Theory. The quiz is of okay standard but I think the last question I removed the wrong strategy and calculated the probabilistic average of the 2 remaining wrong strategy combi and now I am gonna kill myself. But hey, I don't need no A's for all my credits, so chillax only!!

Today is a good day cuz my Computer Animation lecturer decided to give us a break from the lab session, so push the lab session earlier (since we got a 3.5 hours lapse in between the lecture and lab session) and we can go enjoy some cultural performance which is happening in the auditorium tonight. After the performance, I went with the French ladies to eat Shabu shabu, then coffee @ Coffeteria.

Now I can't even sleep with singlet and boxer shorts. I must wear jeans and jacket to bed. This sucks. I wanna go back to Singapore, the sunny island.

Day 90 in Korea.

Countdown: 25 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 949 won.
Temperature reading: -3 degree celsius.

Today weather is a chilly killer. The moment I opened my blanket, fwah! I immediately close it back cuz the weather is too darn cold for me. Literally freezing point. No choice, still must get up and wash up and change out and go have my lunch *ugh* Thanks to the coat Kevin loaned me, else, I will really die in the open with my yellow Adidas jacket.

Nothing much happened today; just mug mug mug in school cuz weather too cold, so no more soccer training + tomorrow got quiz. I tried to mug in the study room today but I end up dozing off cuz too quiet and after the 1st page, I literally laid flat on the table. Hmm, unproductive day. The dinner menu today was a little better than before - we had a potluck on top of the rice + kimchi + blah blah blah. Shiok!

Day 89 in Korea.

Countdown: 26 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 934 won.
Temperature reading: -2 degree celsius.

Let's see, the weather is getting colder and today is a fine example, -2 degree celsius. It may be okay for some people, but definitely not for me. The hot sun whacking my face in the morning with the occasional bombardment of chilling breezes drives me up the wall. For the first time in my life, I feel so helpless; totally submitted to the mercy of the climate I have been put in. Goodness!

Emma brought me out to this little coffee house (really little + cosy) just by the alley near to Mr Pizza place in Jeonmin-dong. We went in for a dosage of artificial adrenaline, Machiato for her and Caramel Latte for me. The lady running the store is really young and she makes really good espresso + her latte art is superb!! I took the photo on my phone camera but I don't how to transfer it over to my comp. Sian tiao.

For the rest of the day, I just spend time doing up my Game Theory assignment (3 out of 7 questions done) + trying to complete my Computer Animation project (Bomberman Revolution). Things look promising and I should be going back home soon.

I miss the warmth and humidity of sunny Singapore. The weather here is totally unbearable. You can't many outdoor sports and you can even feel the chilly spikes indoor - whatever happened the heaters man?

Tomorrow, Saudi Arabia takes on South Korea for the 2010 World Cup Asia Qualifier. Tae-Han-Min-Guk!!

Day 88 in Korea.

Countdown: 27 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 919.7 won.
Temperature reading: 9 degree celsius.

Okie, today is a very routinal day for me and I came to school @ 3pm after having my MVP Toast @ Isaac's. I finally finished mugging for my Game Theory quiz which will be happening on Thursday. Sian + I just received a new assignment today. Wah lau eh, these people are crazy!! Exam is round the corner, still wanna spam assignments!!

I met Mengistu, a Utopian guy for dinner and have a chat with him over meal time. Later I wanted to go to Lab to do up my Animation project, but there is a class so now I am stuck in the computer room slacking and maybe doing some project report.

I can't wait to get back home.

Day 87 in Korea.

Countdown: 28 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 919 won.
Temperature reading: 12 degree celsius.

I almost couldn't wake up for service this morning. Lucky Uncle Pete called me to wake me up. Nothing much interesting happened today. Just went to Dunsan area to have coffee and went for a final full dress rehearsal for the performance and then performed and bailed out and came back to dormitory and rest.

However, the weather is getting colder. Fortunately, Kevin loaned me his coat for the remaining days I have in Daejeon. Uber nice guy!!

Day 86 in Korea.

Countdown: 29 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to won.
Temperature reading: degree celsius.

And so the day arrived for our match against KAIST. We were all prepared on the field @ 1pm and had some fitness training + briefing by the coach before the match goes underway. Man, I don't know the Korean system, but they are playing 4 quarters - each lasting 30 minutes; like WTH?? I played in the third quarter, together with the reserve squad and I was assigned left wing back (zZz, I am right footed + my usual position is center midfielder, but I just took up the post nonetheless). I realized their idea of playing football is that everyone is comfortable with their positions - nobody make runs to empty spaces, nobody call for ball, everyone just stands static and wait for the ball to arrive @ their feet nicely. I did an Evra overlapping on the left and was told off cuz they said I played out of position. Yeah, it is easy for me to just stay behind the right winger and watch him struggle with 2 guys pressing on him hard and the center midfielders just stand in the middle watching and hoping this guy will do a miracle pass. They don't understand the meaning of slowing the game down and do some passing to gain momentum. No, their soccer is filled with 30 minutes of pushing and attacking, no rest, no time to hesitate, just go as near as position to the goal and shoot and hopefully, they can score. We conceded one goal in my quarter when I overlap the right wing and his pass was so superb that the ball went to the opponent instead of me and they attacked our left side hard and the center defender is like "gong" for awhile + he got no speed or muscle to hustle the guy and with an uber tight angle, he shot and scored in between the keeper. I rest my case.

After that quarter, I was a little frustrated but there was this Korean girl (a student in the university) supporting us and I looked @ her and suddenly, I don't feel so angry anymore. I got changed out swiftly and left for Dunsan-dong cuz I have to practice for a performance in Sae Ro Nam. It is an international event whereby all nationalities would come and celebrate and sing song in different languages. So I was tasked with the duty of playing the guitar. The practice went on smoothly before we are dismissed @ 9pm and I went to E-Mart to buy gloves and groceries before heading back to Hwaam dormitory.

Today, Akmal agreed to cook for us and so I eagerly anticipated his food. Shucks man, it is the same ol' tuna with spaghetti sauce and potatoes. Pem added to the variety with her homemade sauce for the rice. Malaz made brown rice this time. We all ate and talked and have fun. They are like family to me man. Later, because the television in the kitchen got some problem, we had to leave for school to watch the soccer matches in the ITTP lounge. The place is really comfortable and warm, especially in this season of coldness. We watched MUFC vs Stoke City and the home side beat them real badly with a score line of 5-0. On the other side, Liverpool beat Bolton 2-0 to stay ahead of the competition. Arsenal (my favourite team) is trailing with a loss to Aston Villa by 2 goals on away ground *sob*

We then went to Enazi's apartment to collect a mixer from him and took a cab back to dormitory to make fresh Banana juice *yummilicious*

Day 85 in Korea.

Countdown: 30 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 919 won.
Temperature reading: 10 degree celsius.

Today for Movie and Soc, we watched a movie again, featuring Hilary Swank - Boys Don't Cry. It is based on a true story about a biologically borned female, who prefer to be a male and enter a new town to hang out with a new group of people. He/she eventually falls in love with the hometown beauty, but subsequently his/her secret was discovered and his/her life is being ripped apart. As usual, this show is filled with sex scenes and for those who haven't seen Hilary's boyish side, PLEASE GO WATCH THE MOVIE.

Anyway, the same old usual routine (needless to explain) but today we had a last minute training session in preparation of tomorrow's game against KAIST (sister university). I was so immersed in the training that I totally lost count of the time and I have a lecture @ 4pm. Fortunately Miss Lee is an understanding person and she let me joined in the class even though I was half an hour late. Today Dong Hyun is doing the presentation on Problem Solving in group. I totally look up to this guy cuz his english is not proficient @ all, but he still gives his best shot. Awesome effort.

San-In ain't free today, so I had to have dinner on my own and after that, I went to look for Emma to loan her bf's bicycle to go Jeonmin-dong buy a cuppa hot Latte before going to L409 to do my Animation project. I am quite happy with my progress and I should be able to finish the entire complete project before end of the month. As planned, I have a futsal friendly with the IT Tech Program dudes after their Taekwondo lesson and today, we have got a rare guest - Malaz. To be honest, I am totally worn out from the noon soccer training and this and tomorrow got match. My body is gonna collapse soon.

We came back to Hwaam, showered and cleaned before gathering @ the kitchen to cook supper. Akmal and Malaz prepared tuna with potatoes (one with onions and the other without). Vioreh (not sure if it is the correct spelling of his name) the Moldovan guy prepared mushroom soup. I cooked eggs with little bit of tuna and pepper. Malaz cooked yellow rice too and we all had our fill. Pem made us some nice fragrant tea.

What a wonderful night.

Day 84 in Korea.

Countdown: 31 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 919.483 won.
Temperature reading: 9 degree celsius.

I hate Thursday cuz I got 3 lessons - Game Theory, Computer Animation lecture and laboratory. What a busy day for me and my lecturer announced next Thursday got class quiz and an assignment coming up!! Like WTH!!

My lecturer for Computer Animation is not feeling well, so I got early dismissal and so I sneak back to Hwaam dormitory and steal some winks. I left with the 4:40pm shuttle bus to go back to ICU and helped the ICF out with guitar playing since the worship leader personally asked me to play :) After ICF worship session, I went for dinner with San-In and Steve (again) and had ice cream @ the snack bar before I leave for my lab lesson. Today we did wonderful effects with paint brush and made trees, flowers and loads of stuffs. Woohoo!! The lecture was about half an hour and the remaining time we are off on our own to do our animation project. My Bomberman still looks very 'cui' but I will properly model and animate that bugger before the end of the month, which means I only got about 2 weeks to do it. Good luck!!

I meet up with Fawaz and Akmal after class to go Isaac's Toast for a warm supper. The weather is getting chillier each day and I can feel the cold wind slapping my face over and over again. Darn. I need a pair of gloves and probably a face mask to shield from the crazy weather. We took the 12am bus back to Hwaam and I just got showered and I am going to the kitchen to cram alil. Ciao.

Day 83 in Korea.

Countdown: 32 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 880.83 won.
Temperature reading: 16 degree celsius.

Today I met 2 female friends, Narae and Sohyan for lunch @ Jeonmin-dong. We are supposed to meet like 2 weeks ago, but because of studies and personal commitment, we had to postpone week after week till today. Finally they gonna bring me to eat "Sung Gate Tongue" (not some animal's tongue, just the hanyu pinyin of the name of the dish), otherwise known as Herbal Chicken Soup with delicious rice stuffed inside this poor little bugger. I heard that it is supposed to keep your body warm in the cold season (which is like now) and they loaded some cheap ginseng into the soup. Awesome stuff!!

After that, we went to Vero Espresso for Caramel Latte and then come back to ICU cuz Sohyan has a class @ 2:30pm. I went to computer room to do my review while Narae hits her comfort zone on level 3. Time striks 4 and I chiong to the field to train soccer with the IVP team. Somehow or rather, I am quite comfortable with playing right wing back position. You know in a soccer team (in Singapore context), not many people wanna be a defender. They just wanna stand @ the front line and be scoring goals. I find defending a very interesting job, but trust me, it ain't an easy job. Defenders usually get the blame if things go wrong because they are like your last line of hope. Okie I babble too much, so my point is, this Saturday we gonna play against KAIST (a sister university) and hopefully I will get fielded in the first 11. Considering my consistency in skill, strength and stamina, it shouldn't be a problem *lol*

After training, I washed up a little and had dinner with San-In and Steve and then come back to computer room again to do my review + watch Youtube + listen to music + slacking. Gotta catch the 9:30pm bus back to Hwaam. Ciao.

Day 82 in Korea.

Countdown: 33 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 899.57 won.
Temperature reading: 11 degree celsius.

Hmm, boring day in school. Game Theory class in the morning, followed by Introduction to Multimedia quiz in the noon. Talking about which, I don't even know there is a quiz today. Jialat, I think I will flunk badly, but it is only a quiz so chill :)

I had dinner with San-In in the cafeteria and played some table tennis after the meal before he made his way to his night lecture and I came back to computer room to do my Game Theory review + watch Heroes Season 3 Episode 8 (like finally) - http://www.sidereel.com/Heroes/_watchlinkviewer/22961#

Then, I met Dong Hyun (my classmate from Intro to Communication) and Enazi and we all went to Jeonmin-dong, Dasarang bar to eat pizza and drink some bar. Dong Hyun taught us some Korean and we taught his some English and Chinese, played number game and drank a whole lotta mixture of weird juices with beer and pickles *lol*

After that, I took the shuttle bus and come back to Hwaam sweet Hwaam.

Day 81 in Korea.

Countdown: 34 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 890 won.
Temperature reading: 11 degree celsius.

Today is the beginning of week 12 in ICU. I had lunch @ Jeonmin-dong and went to school to do some revision for Computer Graphics. I made an appointment with James to have dinner. We ate Jajangmuen and fried Gyoza + pork before coming back to ICU again. I need to rush my project proposal for Introduction to Multimedia, which has to be submitted on Thursday.

Damn sad, now the Heroes Season 3 like never update, so cannot watch newer episodes. Anyway, I am going back to Hwaam kitchen to hunt for more foodies. Take care peepz.

Day 80 in Korea.

Countdown: 35 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 884 won.
Temperature reading: 13 degree celsius.

Sian, today I slept in too late and missed the church service in the morning. I woke up @ about 2pm and had to walk to school since we got a soccer match @ 3pm and there ain't any shuttle bus. Fortunately Emma was heading to school too so we walked to Jeonmin-dong together and had short chats about ICU life. We parted ways in Jeonmin-dong because I was late for the soccer game and I couldn't have lunch with Emma and her bf, but next week we will meet for coffee @ some cafe in Dunsan area.

Due to lack of players, we started 1st half with 9 on 9. We were badly beaten due to lack of coordination between players. Everybody just want to score, but nobody wants to come back to defend. Stupid graduate students and also, the Vietnamese, though they are small in size, but they are large on attack. I was taken down twice by this shorties and one of them shouldered my chest ultra heavily. It is just a friendly match, but they treated it like death match. I was literally man handled on the pitch. What a bad day for me.

Malaz, Akmal and I went to shower and head to Jeonmin-dong for Duc-Khal-Be. We were joined by Pem and Mongista (not sure if that is the correct spelling for his name). After that, we packed our stuffs and head back to Hwaam sweet Hwaam dormitory. Chelsea versus Blackburn coming up~

Day 79 in Korea.

Countdown: 36 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 884.34 won.
Temperature reading: 11 degree celsius.

Saturday is a super good day to sleep in and today was no exception. I woke up @ around 2:30pm and had my lunch in the dormitory kitchen, warming up the pizza leftover from yesterday.

Today I went to Yong Mun area with Yong Han to go explore the area. The whole area is mostly food places, so in the end, we settled @ Lotte shopping centre. We shopped in the Young Plaza department and I got myself a pink tee + a light grey cardigan. Yong Han bought a fleece for himself. We then went back to E Mart @ Dunsan-dong to do groceries shopping for tonight dinner (I am cooking yay~). Fawaz, Enazi and Akmal joined me in the shopping. We went back to Hwaam and I started cooking shortly after. I whipped up macaroni with carbonara sauce + fried eggs with onion. Surprizingly it turned out fine :) It may be a motivation to cook in the future. I wanna try new recipes out. While eating, we are eagerly watching the much anticipated match of Arsenal versus Manchester. It was a tough game, but I am glad Arsenal pulled it through, with the help of 2 goals from French man, Samir Nasri.

After the game, there were some macaroni left and so I used the remaining Prego sauce to cook something and thanks Malaz, Hussain and Azzudin for helping me finish the food. Now we are awaiting dessert from Enazi - Custards!!

Day 78 in Korea.

Countdown: 37 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 890 won.
Temperature reading: 10 degree celsius.

I am contracting the "Wake-Up-Late" disease cuz everyday my average sleep time is 4am plus minus. Darn. My biological clock is ultra cui now. I went to Movie and Soc class late (approx late for 50 minutes) and they were discussing about the relationship between watching a movie and developing a desire for its content. Then he starts to talk about desire for women and the sexual desires and blah blah blah. Omg!! There is a girl in class and he is talking about it outrightly. I feel bad for the girl. After class, Sekwon and I went to Jeonmin area to eat DonKatSu (some Japanese food). We chat about his successful entrance into Samsung Corporation (a dream job for many Koreans) as well as some economic stuffs (hmm, I never imagined myself to dig into topics like that). He was nice to treat me lunch, so in turn, I bought him coffee and we head back to school because I gotta finish up my lab homework and print Intro to Comm lecture note. Today Farhad is presenting, so I gotta be there to support him.

Clock hit 4pm and we were all settled into the class. Farhad stepped up to present the lecture on group communication and leadership role. Man, there is so much I can learn from this guy in presentation. He gave really good examples and tonnes of them + he explained them well and he flow with the slides and time. I was just rushing through the presentation last week because of the Halloween party and I think it was a little rush since I ended the lecture in half an hour *lol* Power.

I went with San-In for dinner after class and played table tennis for a short while before we came back to school. I had to submit my lab homework and retype the lecture note for Intro to Communication, then chiong down to the basketball court to play street soccer with the taekwando guys. Darn, we lost 7-4 but Fawaz and I each bagged home a goal.

Amin fetched us back in his car and we showered and get ourselves cleaned and head over to the kitchen for sumptuous Pizza Manna!!

Day 77 in Korea.

Countdown: 38 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 852 won.
Temperature reading: 16 degree celsius.

Thursday again, SIONG day alert. I woke up late today again, but no I didn't miss my morning lecture; I merely came in a little late. Ooh, I sat beside the TA and saw the pile of mid term scripts in the bag. Hehe, I am gonna get back my result soon!! As I was sitting behind Hye Ji the entire time, she was busy sms-ing man. Hmm, don't tell me she is attached?? I couldn't care much though cuz I was busy following the class. Lecture ended and the TA distributed the mid term test and our assignments and I happily went forward to collect my script. Fwah!! I got 85 for my mid term and 63 for my assignment!! Song boh~ I think only in Korea university can I ever get such good score!! I was literally on cloud nine, considering my other mid term results are fantastic as well.

This calls for a celebration. Just nice, Amy arranged to bring us (the 4 French ladies + me) out to Jeonmin-dong to eat Shabu Shabu (beef with soup and side dishes). Hmm, memories memories memories. I had this with a dear friend before I left Singapore *sigh* We met Yong Han and his senior in the Shabu Shabu place as well. Cool, but we didn't eat together cuz they were already done when we arrived. Amy did all the ordering for us cuz none of us are fluent with Korean language. All I could recall of that place is that I kept eating and eating and eating and we took photos with the beef + did some Wonder Girls poses!! So blonde-ish can!! After the beef, there was noodles and Korean porridge. Man, this is the best lunch for the week!! Thanks Amy, you roxXx!! Emilie and Anne left early cuz they meeting some Korean students to do nail art. The rest of us left later cuz I got class, Melodie needs to go to the hospital for checkup, Nina and Amy are going back to dormitory to sleep. Today Computer Animation class we went through some advanced modeling stuffs and it was quite interesting and I had a short conversation with the lecturer after class to see how did I fare and she told me to study hard and I should be right on track. Hmm, I don't need the A's so a slipshot work would get me somewhere, but obviously I don't wanna slack off since I am motivated by my good grades. Darn~ I hope I won't transform into a mugger toad.

Today dinner we had loads of people - San-In, Steve K, a girl, Muugii + me. We discussed some plans to go to Seoul maybe during or after school semester cuz now everyone is bogged down with work/projects/assignments and it is hard to coordinate a common time. We might go to Appujeong + Samsung station + Gangnam + club @ night; that is just tentative. I am guilty of not traveling since I was so lazy and I kept sleeping and sleeping and sleeping. Piggish me. After dinner, I went for my Computer Animation lab session and we did some C++ programming for the Maya programming, but from this week onwards, lab session will cut short to half an hour, so the remaining time we can use to do our project work. I am currently working on a mini Bomber Man project, so wish me luck cuz I have little time (really little time) to complete it with report.

Later I met Akmal, Fawaz and Malaz to go to Shisha house. Darn~ I told myself not to smoke them Shisha, but I was tempted and gave in real badly. I took a totally of (countless) puffs. Now I am feeling so giddy. We had pita + honey cappuccino before taking a cabbie back.

Time to shower and sleep *snores*

Day 76 in Korea.

Countdown: 39 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 854.54 won.
Temperature reading: 16 degree celsius.

My second free day of the week; I slept @ 4am and got up @ 6 plus cuz I got a bad tummyache and then went back to sleep til 2pm. I went to Isaac's Toast (like what's new right?) and have my usual menu. Today I met an unexpected guest - we call him engineer Muujipp. He is a tall Afghanistan guy and his fashion is cool. I look up to him (like lterally). We had a short chat and he begins to pour out his thoughts and feelings to me. You know, I alway have a mindset about graduate students - I used to think that they are lifeless buggers working their asses off day and night to get good grades, in the hope of getting a better pay and a better life. Looking at Muujipp turned my perspective 180 degree. Little did I realized that often, they do not crave for this kind of hectic life. I mean, who doesn't want a good life in the futre? Everybody does, but the journey towards that goal is often plagued with sleepless nights and brain squashing assignments and more researches after researches. Poor fellas.

So then, I came back to ICU to do my lab project. Hmm things looking good so far except that my programme couldn't do face detection, which is critical for the homework. I need to work on it more. But guess what, time is up for soccer match!! Yipee, time to go get changed and chiong down to soccer pitch to play soccer with the Aquila team. I am so thankful to have a team to train and play soccer with; kinda help me to keep in shape before going back to KR for IHG in December.

After soccer, I went to makan alone :( cuz San-In has a class @ 7pm and the menu today is good - rice, seaweed soup, kim chi (forever), bean sprouts and mini Octopus with rice cakes. Shiok!! I eat until wanna vomite siah.

Later I came back to computer room to watch webcast for yesterday Game Theory class cuz I missed it. Argh, I better dun miss the class tomorrow. A 'siong' day awaits.

Day 75 in Korea.

Countdown: 40 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 860 won.
Temeprature reading: 9 degree celsius.

Darn, today I missed my morning lecture :( I guess I shouldn't sleep late anymore because my biological clock is changing from time to time. I woke up @ 1pm and went for Intro to Multimedia lecture. We went through the 2nd part of Bitmap Imaging. Sucks, we got a term project but I don't think it is gonna be difficult because we got probably 1 month or less to do it.

After class, I chiong down to Galleria to change my trench coat for a casual blazer (the lady is nice to let me exchange) and I went to pick up Matthew's Lakland bass + my Ibanez double guitar bag!! Korean won is appreciating and now it is not so profitable to shop. Somemore I have to pay Matthew SGD $62 for the Timbreland boat shoe that we spreed and SGD $53 for a pair of Papillio sandals I ordered from Hui Juan. I should stop my shopping spree. Evening came and I had my dinner @ Isaac's Toast. One thing I really like about Korean High School Girls is that they mature really fast (in terms of their appearance) and looking very good @ tender age. Singapore High School Girls look kiddish, compared to these pretty Korean ladies. Haix, I can't complain.

Anyway, I am working on the KR Rockers' Tee Shirt Design and I had a little draft. Please give some feedback. Thanks.

Day 74 in Korea.

Countdown: 41 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 872.88 won.
Temperature reading: 13 degree celsius.

What a wonderful day to sleep? I promised the soccer captain that I will be there for training, but I totally missed it. Yesterday soccer match drained too much of my energy. I slept like a pig till 2:30pm before moving out to Isaac's Toast for my lunch. Hmm, the weather is beginning to turn cold, but luckily I can strut my trench coat around *lol*

I came to school to review chapter 8 of Game Theory before I cannot catch up. It is darn boring siah. I went for dinner after that @ 6pm and now I am back here slacking. No happenings for today, so I shall keep it short and sweet.

Day 73 in Korea.

Countdown: 42 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 838.88 won.
Temperature reading: 12 degree celsius.

My Sunday morning was greeted by a call from Deacon Yoon who offered to drive me to church since he is free, so I accepted the offer. Nice guy eh. I met Divyan in church and today is a special day for him because he is gonna get baptized and invited me to watch the ceremony, so I accepted the offer as well. The main church interior looks good man and I saw many Korean people there. Luckily they got a trans-receiver for English translation. After the baptism service, I left for Galleria to buy my trench coat from Tate :) Looks good man and some more it was on offer, so I had to grab it but I totally have no clue of how I am gonna wear them in SG. Darn~

I rushed back to ICU after my purchase for a friendly soccer between the graduate students and Akmal invited me to play for them. Hmm, not bad a score 2-2, considering most of us are unfit (including me). It is fun to play with a bunch of uncles and I didn't even know Fawaz and Akmal can play good futbol. Kudos!! We proceed to shower after the game and went to Jeonmin-dong

Day 72 in Korea.

Countdown: 43 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 838 won.
Temperature reading: 11 degree celsius.

Weekends are alway good for resting, so I decided to sleep in till 3pm before moving off to Dunsan-dong to go shop and buy some groceries for the week. I arrived @ Galleria around 4pm and went to shop for my Fall/Winter outwear. I have surveyed many brands before settling on Tate London trenchcoat. It cost around SGD $106 given the poor exchange rate now, but still look feasible in Singapore (I guess). I then head over to Vivace Music Store to order Matthew's Lakland bass and the Ibanez dual bag for the 2 guitars to bring back to Singapore. Next, the sole cushion of my Lee Cooper loafers are as good as gone, so I had to replace them @ the cobbler near Galleria shopping mall; it cost me 8,000 won.

Later @ around half past 5, I shopped @ E-Mart (been a long time) and met Jack (the Mongolian guy who lived in Jeonmin-dong) and his friends. We had a short conversation before we broke off and shopped individually. I bought bread, ham, jajangmuen and Maxwell House 3-in-1 coffee. Then I proceed back to ICU for dinner. Man, I haven't had lunch and dinner tasted so good!!

I will be going back to Hwaam to watch the EPL matches @ 12am. So see you guys.

Day 71 in Korea.

Countdown: 44 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 831 won.
Temperature reading: 8 degree celsius.

No wonder today feels so good to sleep; it's raining man (hallelujah) and it is ultra cold in here. I am freezing my butts off over here and I was late for Movie and Society class. I came late cuz I missed the earlier bus (Hwaam dormitory sucks) and heard lots of murmuring!! Darn it. They are watching a French film with Korean subtitles. Great~! I can't understand both language and throughout the entire 1.5 hours, I just sat down and enjoy the motion pictures. Without fail, the show is filled with sex scenes. The lecturer is a really horny guy!! 3 films I watched in his class are all sex-filled. Gosh. After class, I chiong to Jeonmin-dong for Isaac's MVP Toast and bought myself a Halloween mask, which I will wear for the partay later. There is this new Coffeeteria opening today so I went in and ordered a cuppa caramel Latte. Price is reasonably cheap; 3,300.

So now I return back to school to help setup the haunted maze as sort of like a pre-event appetizer for those who are anticipating the party. Fortunately, I have 3 able-bodied men to work alongside me. Tae Su, Muugii and Farhad. We had a tough time setting up the maze with just plastic thrash bags, but we did it anyway. I ran a little late for Intro to Communication class, but was forgiven when I gave a thorough presentation on the topic given me. As promised to the class, I finished 1 hour early (duh she only gave me 8 slides and how slow can I possible go?). So we were given an early dismissal. Farhad and I rushed back to work on the maze and prepare our costume for the night. My theme was on Scream trilogy, so I had to put on the mask and made my costume out of cheap plastic bags *lol* Cost saving and effective.

The clock hit 7pm and the crowd started coming in through the haunted maze. It was a great turnout; I am quite surprised to see so many students turned up and in their respective costumes. We also screened the movie - The Corpse Bride for them to enjoy since it is Halloween. Time to unwind and get in touch with your wild side. Oops, I saw Hye Ji!! Wah, heart pumping too fast I almost got choked. She came and enjoyed the party too, but as usual, I am too shy to talk to her. Oh I forgot to mention that the ICU Mixer Club agreed to help us out with the party by providing booze (of course it ain't free cuz they have to buy the drinks and stuffs). I had a cup of screwdriver + white Russian. They mix pretty well and they gave us a performance with liquor flame art. Impressive.

San-In entered the Pumpkin craving contest and his group got 2nd. Australian Outback Voucher worth USD $100!! What the?? The event spans from 7pm all the way till 12 midnight. It was really fun and interactive, but the cleaning up is definitely not fun @ all. It took us an hour to finish clearing up all the rubbish and dirt!! The SAFE club president then took us (the helpers) out to Dasarang in Jeonmin-dong for a sumptuous supper treat with Hite beer. We talked and laughed and played silly games and drink ourselves to the fullest. Finally, I am back in my dormitory showered, cleaned up and ready to hit the sack.

This has gotta be the most fruitful day in my entire period in ICU. I am so gonna miss SAFE meetings.

Day 70 in Korea.

Countdown: 45 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 991 won.
Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

Thursday is siong day for me. Game Theory in the morning, followed by Computer Animation in the noon and evening time. Wah, cui. Today for Game Theory, we going through chapter 8 - Mixed Strategies II in Simultaneous Move Games. This course is really good because it helps me to analyze economic situations, as well as many other scenarios where I could employ weighted probability average to second guess my competitors and to measure my payoff against theirs. Of course, to speak in such term is too simplified, much information would still be required to make sound analysis. This is so exciting. I never felt more interested in class than this before. After class, I went for lunch with Emily, Melodie and Anne. I forgotten my lunch appointment with UnI peepz. Darn. We went for SAFE meeting after lunch and we had to complete our work plan for tomorrow halloween party. We will be joined by the ICU Cocktail Club to host the party in school. I am gonna do the planning of the entrance maze. Time for some trick or treat!!

Then it was Computer Animation class and we went through some Advanced Modelling Technique. I was given a little present cuz I scored well for the so-called "Golden Bell" quiz in class last week. First time I am feeling so smart. The animations that the lecturer showed us was amazing. A simple fractal could be utilized to make some much complex stuffs for modeling. Awesome!!

Divyan wanted me to play guitar for ICF, so I agreed to help him out. It was a great session but I had to leave early for dinner and then my Computer Animation lab. Woohoo, today we learnt how to make fire, explosion, smoke effect, fireworks etc. I am gonna need them for my final project on bomber man. So far, things are looking good for me. I need to keep my work consistent and I will be back to Singapore soon before I know it. I really miss the food, my friends and family. Coming to a strange land with loads of strange people makes me feel ultra strange. I wanna come home to sunny Singapore!!

Day 69 in Korea.

Countdown: 46 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 972 won.
Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

Today I got 2 calls in the morning - one from Emma and the other from Emily. Emma called me to asked if I can find the other French ladies cuz Melodie is sick and she needs her insurance number. Wah!! Sounds serious but I am in my room and they probably be in school and I don't have their number. How to contact them? So I told her I will call her if I have any lead. Emily called to tell me that we had to postpone lunch to next week cuz she needs to go fix her phone, so it is good news for me. Time to sleep!!

At about 1:30pm...

I woke up finally and went to Jeonmin-dong for Vero Espresso + Isaac's Toast. Hmm a warm and tasy lunch before I kick start the day. Since today is my free day, I shall do some catching up for my Game Theory lecture cuz I didn't really understand the concepts the lecturer went through yesterday. Time flies when you are revising and before I knew it, it is already 4pm. I got changed and head onto the field for soccer game. Today was quite fun cuz we managed to do more one touch passing and down-the-flank attack/crossing. That went on to about 6pm before we call it a day. I went back to computer room to wait for San-In and we went to Cafeteria for dinner with Steve and Yong Han. We were discussing on a plan to go to Seoul some time soon and visit Appujeong (the place flooded with pretty girls; mostly plastic I heard). After dinner, I chill out with San-In @ the Munji dormitory to play table tennis.

We left the place @ 8pm and I am back here in the computer room chilling, rotting and slacking!! Time for Heroes action - http://www.sidereel.com/Heroes/_watchlinkviewer/20777#

Day 68 in Korea

Countdown: 47 days.

Currency exchange: SGD 1 to won.

Temperature reading: 7 degree celsius.

*uGh* what a tiring day. I think my biological clock is constantly changing and sometimes I can sleep early, but other days, I just can't sleep till wee hours in the morning. I slept @ 4am and woke up @ 9:50am. Uber shagged and tired and fatigue is kicking in. I reached school @ 10:20am and bought myself a cup of coffee before attending Game Theory. We received our quiz result and shite~ I got 20 out of 100 points. Ultimate cui~

I went for lunch with Anne and Emilie in the cafeteria and discussed about our results and all of us are worried stiff. After lunch, I went to chill out @ my favourite hangout spot in school - the computer room. I spoke with this classmate that I haven't even spoke with since the start of our multimedia class till now and I only realized last Friday that he is also in my Movie and Soc class. His name is Paul Han. He looks a little metrosexual so girls definitely would like him alot. I met his friend Joo Yan, who is, in my honest opinion, a little too HOT to be an engineering student. We spoke a little about Seoul and its major shopping places cuz both of them are originally from Seoul. They recommended me some places to go to catch nice clothings and young ladies *lol*

Then, I went for the most boring and my last lecture for the day - Intro to Multimedia. The guy is a mumble fumble (he talks as though he is talking to himself). Darn! The lecture was supposed to be 1.5 hour but this incredible dude took 1 hour to explain JPEG Compression till everyone wanna koon already. He finally stopped the class in 1 hour time and let us have an early dismissal. So I went back to computer room to read up on the Game Theory lecture cuz a little chim and I want to try to understand it so I won't have difficulty for my final exam.

San-In came @ 6pm as usual and we head over to the cafeteria for dinner. Song Jin and Ha Mok joined us shortly after and we chit chatted a little, destress and joke about Chong Tak Chong (poor dude). I parted ways with them @ the pyramid and went off to buy my oreo ice cream. Now I am back in the computer room chilling and slacking and maybe, I will watch We Got Married Episode 29 now.

*YAWNZ*

Day 67 in Korea.

Countdown: 48 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 954 won.
Temperature reading: .

Yet another boring start to the new week. I woke up @ 4pm today and missed my morning soccer training due to my late night watching Liverpool beat Chelski and Arsenal munching on some West Ham.

I came to school to do up my class presentation for this Friday's Intro to Communication lecture. I am supposed to lead the class discussion as part of my final assessment. Hmm, 6pm came and I had dinner with San-In. He told me I could crash his place if I wanna head over to Seoul so I guess it is good news for me. Man, I am back to all these mugging stuffs again. Argh! Gonna quit em' now and chill with the dvd I rented - Step Up (featuring Mario Winans).

Laters~

Day 66 in Korea.

Countdown: 49 days.
Currency exchange: SGD 1 to 946 won.
Temperature reading: 13 degree celsius.

Sunday morning is a good day to go to church, especially since I am playing for the praise team for the first time ever and for the first time ever, Divyan is late *lol* We had a really good time in church and there is this backup singer, Jinny Park. She looks pleasant and I kinda glanced at her half the time, but she looks a little too old for me *sulks* Anyway, I managed to shake her hands before she left. Hmm, then I went over to Sanette's house (a South African lady) to help her fix her iBook G4 since I am supposed to the computer whiz but it seems like something is wrong with her hard disk so I don't dare to go anything beyond the surface. I left shortly after to E Mart where I had Popeye chicken for lunch *yum yum* I proceeded to the Galleria to shop for a nice thin layer jumper, as well as a cardigan. Just then, I met Sekwon, my Movie and Society classmate whom I alway see in school but never really spoke to. He invited me to have coffee with him @ Beans and Pieces, level 9. We have some friendly discussion on Singaporean and Korean cultures + a little men talk on women (like what's new right?). We head off to shop for Sekwon's 2000 days anniversary present for his girlfriend. I bet all you SG girls would be so jealous when you hear this - he bought a USD 300 tall boots for his gf + a couple sweater from Tate + flower delivery service + anniversary card!! This dude spent roughly about USD 500 just for the event!! Easily put Singaporean guys to shame.

We took bus 750 back to ICU and on the way, we are surrounded by tonnes upon tonnes of pretty girls (but sorry guys, they are ultra minors). I can't believe how Korean girls can look so beautifully mature @ such tender age? It is almost unbelievable. Anyway, I am back to ICU now and I am gonna watch Chelsea and Liverpool fight it out later. Arsenal FTW!!

Day 65 in Korea.

Countdown: 50 days.
Exchange rate: SGD 1 to 946 won.
Temperature reading: 9 degree celsius.

Iis finally the weekend and temperature is hitting below 9 degrees in the night. Today, I followed Divyan to this international event @ the Daejeon convention hall where there are cultural performances, different food stalls for all the international delicacies, accessories stall and used clothing sections for those who wanna get bang-for-bucks kind of winter wear and fashion apparels. I volunteered to help the Sae Ro Nam church sell hot dog buns since I got nothing much to do and 3 Korean ladies commented that I look handsome!!! *LOL* I know it is lil BHB and I refuted them, but I can sense my head exploding already. I didn't know that hot dog buns are the favourites of the locals and within half an hour, we cleared all the stock we have. Awesome. I had some time to roam about and so I went stall-hopping and ate my share of foodies and look @ some of the winter clothing. Nothing very fanciful though, so as I was walking back in the direction of the stall, I met Natasha, an Indonesian girl who is attending the same church as me. We chatted a little and I told her that I wanted to grab a trench coat (if there is any) but there isn't, so she suggested we go to Lotte Departmental Store and see cuz they got loads of stuffs there. We went there by the subway train and there it is, another whole new world waiting to be discover - Yong Mun (pronounced as Long Wen in Chinese *it is written on the wall*). I ate this pastry that looks like peanut cake on the outside, but there is an egg inside. Incredible and delicious. The whole entire place is like Galleria, but a little smaller and less poshier, but the usual stuffs are there. We went to the 8th storey - young plaza and started scouting for the trenchcoat. However, the price are crazy, so instead of getting a trenchcoat, I fixed my eyes upon a slim fit jeans in UniQlo (some Japanese brand). I tried, satisfied, requested for alteration and collected it 2 hours later. During that 2 hours, I had coffee with Natasha at Angel-in-us coffee place right across the street. Hmm, from the conversation, I learnt that she had been to Singapore before, so it is easy to talk to her about stuffs back home and she plans to come to NUS for graduate programme.

When we are done, I went back to UniQlo to collect my jeans before we head back to Dunsan-dong by subway. There we had duc-khal-be (again) at a different stall and it tasted great as well. The usual Bok-geum-bap right after we finish whacking the duc-khal-be. Then, being a gentlemen, I walked her to the entrance of station before heading to the nearest bus stop to hail a bus back to ICU. What a wonderful day.

Time to go back and watch EPL action. See you guys.