Us at the Prof's cafeteria where he felt like he got "Banan" and blamed me the whole time for recommending that place. "Banan" is a french expression which has a similar meaning as being "cabbaged" in Singlish.

A regular meal in school's cafeteria.

Haven't been updating my blog for almost 2 weeks already. OOPS.

Anyway, life here's great. I party every weekend and visit touristy places maybe once a week. I met some really good friends here - esp The Crew.

what we do at times on a lazy night.

and then a crazy night. I was almost 2M tall on his back!

Pic courtesy of Alex.

Alexis and Nicolas are from France. They're my floor mates. I feel really as if we're a small family. Maybe they're two big brothers to me when I'm drunk and I'm the big sister when I'm clear minded. Haha. Sounds weird to put it this way but it's quite true because they take care of me most of the time especially when I'm drunk while I sew their clothes for them and maybe help with washing the dishes during the weekdays. Nico is quite a smart cook. Last Friday, we went to do some grocery shopping with Kai and Martin (the Giant). We came back and he prepared dinner - tuna with rice and milk. Yes, milk with rice and tuna. Never would I imagine adding milk to rice and tuna. It was very simple but it's creative and healthy :) Awesome.

Cook at work.

Nico's one interesting and charming guy who always get checked out by the girls here in the uni. Someone who knows who I truly am. He knows me so well that I was surprised. He points out to my flaws that I'm eager to change them so that he stops pointing them out. Treats me like i'm his little sister and always calling me a small thing.

Alex is one of the most talented non-professional photographer I've met. He takes great pictures with his Canon DSLR. He is one of my most appreciated friends I made here. He takes great care of me when I feel down. He's always looking out for me when we go to parties but appears to be a meanie when I'm sober. He's always pretending to be mean but he's not at all. Maybe just boyish at times which may not be a bad thing afterall.

And Martin, the german giant. Like he said, "it's always funny to watch the both of us together." He's 1.96M tall. My tallest friend ever. He's kind, lovely and absolutely honest. Always so real. That's what I like about him. And yea, he always get drunk (with me). Haha.

And Rio, a girl from Japan. She amazed me with her beliefs (as with most Japanese) and thoughts. I never knew that Japanese were so "asian". I mean, conservative, in some ways.

We make a great crew. Though there were times when things had not been so good, I think we're all good now :)

It was Jonas's farewell party on Friday. Daniel was leaving in 6 hours. I was drunk that night so I could not remember a lot of things. From what I heard, Daniel cried hard because he had to leave Seoul. This place holds so much memories for him and I'm sure it will for me too. I cannot imagine how I would feel on the day I leave this place. The friends I make here are better than awesome. I could never imagine me getting to know people like Nico and Alex. We're such good friends in just 4 weeks? Now I truly experience the phrase: Life's like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you'll be getting next.

The crew and two other newly made Korean friends visited Kyung Bok Kung on Sat. It's a palace with great structures that looked totally ancient and located right in the middle of the city (which is strange when you look at all the modern buildings from inside). It reminds me of those Korean dramas like Da Chang Jing. What was missing were people dressed in traditional Korean costume. I saw only 1 lady in the Korean traditional costume. The place is so touristy that you see tourists everywhere.

Yesterday, I finally FINALLY went to a wine bar in Seoul since I got here. I've been missing wine SO much and I finally got the chance to taste it, again. :) It was pretty awesome esp with the company of Nico Alex Martin and two Korean buddies. I love my time here.

Us having food at a road side stall because of the 1.86M tall Alex. He's always feeling hungry.

On a separate note, I'm taking Korean Ceramics now!! I was at buddy lunch (a daily affair where intl students and buddies may gather to go to lunch tgt) and Nico was gonna head to his Ceramics class after lunch. It was third week of school already but I am really interested in it. So Nico brought me along and I was lucky that the Prof had 1 more vacancy left. The course registration deadline has passed which means that I will not be getting credits for the class but it does not matter to me. It was so fun. It reminds me of primary school days when we had to do Art & Craft. Last week's task was to make a house. I'm almost done with mine. It's a Korean traditional house. I hope it'll turn out good :)

Good things come with the two brothers - Nico and Alex. I love them so much.

At the same time, I miss my family and friends in Singapore too; but not SMU.

Had an awesome party on wednesday. It was Daniel's birthday. and last night, it was basti's birthday and we party again. It was an insane night. SOJU is a real bitch.

I couldn't remember a lot of things that happened. I remember I was drunk at the place we were eating. Then we went to karaoke. I didn't sing at all.

Then I remember we went to Barfly for some clubbing. By then, I was sober. The music was so loud. I couldn't stand it so I went out but it was freezing cold outside so I went back in again. Then I saw Martin, alone, looking drunk. I helped him out and he got wasted, so wasted.

After I got home, I was so shocked to see my bruises. I was falling all the time but I didn't know. There're bruises everywhere on my legs. What's up, seriously. SOJU is a real bitch.

I've never felt being such a representative of my country before. It may sound funny to put it this way but some of the newer friends whom I don't know well refer to me as the girl from Singapore. I think it's because there are only a few Singaporeans here. The exchange students are mainly French and German.

I should not drink so much in future. It was a crazy night.

Korean house visit tip 1: take off your shoes

When I just checked into the dorm with my buddy, I went into the dorm with my shoes on because my luggage was killing me. My buddy was so shocked and she said, "in Korea, you have to remove your shoes before entering the house." Ahh, first lesson learnt.

Anyway, I'm wrapping my textbooks now and I really miss my primary school days when mummy used to do it for me and my brother. How nice. I miss mummy and my home.

Living by myself is not easy at all. I have to take care of my own laundry, food, administrative matters, clear the bin and above all, be sociable enough to make more friends here so that I won't feel alone. So far, it has been good. My korean and international friends here are really nice. I think it's because we are all we have. So we tend to be very friendly and treat each other really nice. Whenever I meet someone new, I would feel the need to introduce myself and get to know that person better. It's very different when I'm home. In SMU or anywhere else, we could have seen the same person for a hundred times but never got to know the person and we're still perfectly fine with it. But here, it's different. I will feel uneasy somehow. I guess it's the same for everyone.

Waking up at 8am in the morning for the past 2 days have been killing me. I've got more to come. But I think it's worth it. Korean language (Hangeul) is interesting :)

I went to Namsangol (Southern Mountain Village) with the exchange students and buddies. I think some parts of it is artificial. Anyway, we tried on the Korean traditional clothes. It was cool. haha. I wouldn't say that we look good in them because we don't have the oriental face but it a great experience. :) Hang out with Shalini Oni Alexis and Wisara later on. Awesome bunch :)

Just came back from buddy lunch. It's a weekday affair where international students and the Ewha peace buddies meet to go to lunch together. It's not compulsory but it's sweet of them to organise these outings so that students like us won't be short of lunch mates. We had shabu shabu! yes, beef is spicy soup with mushrooms and veges. It was awesome.

Meng xuan, Kyung Mi, Youna, Jonas, Johan and me

I just bought my Korean cell phone. Couldn't imagine that I survived 1 week without a cell phone. haha. Dinner with them was AWESOME. one of the best I've had so far. the food is FREAKING GOOD. I mean it. It has chicken and vegetables mixed in spicy paste and served on a pan and topped with cheese. It was really spicy but it's very nice and flavourful. And after we finish the chicken, the pan with the remaining bits of chicken, veg and gravy was used to stir fry rice. Video below!

Though food here is great, but i still miss singapore food. Fried carrot cake, roti prata, fish soup (because I havent had fish since I came here), hokkien mee, nasi lemak and home-cooked food is nowhere to be found. I bought SKIPPY PEANUT BUTTER yesterday for this morning's breakfast and it has never taste better. My SMU friends and I will be having home-cooked style dinner (though it'll be more like can-food style because my dorm has no stove, sadly, but it has a microwave oven) at my dorm's kitchnette. We'll be buying microwave rice and some can food from the mart later. It's gonna be fun ! :D yay :))

Day 6. Freezing cold.

Imagine streets filled with shops like these right outside my school gate. Really A LOT of shopping to be done.


Dinner I had few days ago with fellow exchange mates.


At a Ski resort with Vivian :)

my lunch for today. If you've watched the Korean drama that was shown some time ago (couldn't remember the name of the drama) and wonder what Chao Ma Mian is, this is it. Nice! It has texture of something in between ramen and udon. I like it :) it was cooked in spicy seafood soup. Really very very spicy but good to have on a freezing day. today's temperature is -6 to 2 deg C. MADNESS. My jacket is not thick enough to keep me from the cold.

The super chio performer of the musical - Ballerina who loves B-boy

I went to trim my hair today at a salon. After the hair stylist was done, he curled my hair for me. He didn't ask if I wanted it nor did I asked for it. Maybe it's their culture to do up the customers' hair for them. It was temporary curls and I didn't have to pay for the curling. It cost me about 18SGD for the haircut. So, pretty value for money :)

Orientation day

Yesterday was orientation day... Nothing special about the program to mention.

Somewhere near my school there's a Singapore Kopitiam toast cafe. They sell Kaya toast! I went to try it yesterday.. the toast is good except for the pathetic slab of kaya but the coffee didn't really taste like yakun kind of coffee. I think the condense milk they use is very different. Well anyway, better than not having home food here.

Then, joined a group of international exchange students for dinner. Met friends from Sweden, Finland, Germany, France, US, Japan, etc... and what really amazed me was... they really don't know much about Singapore other than its existence. There was this guy from Sweden who thought that Singapore was part of China. SERIOUSLY, are you kidding? Sg is so different and far from China. Well, this shows that Sg is insignifiant. There was another guy from US who was quite surprised that I speak good english. Then I told him that it's because we speak english in Singapore. Then he asked, "What's the national language of Singapore?". I said, "English". He goes "Really?! don't you guys speak Singlish?" Trust me, he didn't know that Singlish meant lah leh lor. I was like "No! hahaha." I think I changed his perception of Singapore totally.

We hit a club at night. It was organized by our Korean exchange buddies. It was a typical college kind of party. Very typical... some were kissing and hugging at the end of the thing. Of cos, not me. haha. anyway, it was cool. I really feel that I am an international student now.

AND this morning, I went to ski!!! that ski resort is VERY far. It's located almost at the outskirts of Seoul. We kind of lost our way initially but we were lucky to meet a group of very very helpful and friendly Ajumma (Aunties) and a kind uncle who helped us find our way there. They were making phone calls, helping us to check the correct way to get there. Generally, koreans are quite rude. There was once I helped a lady picked up her groceries which she dropped on the floor and she didn't say thanks. I dunno why but maybe it's because the elderly here are very much respected. So maybe because I was younger than her, she didn't see the need to say thanks. So this group of Ajumma really changed my perception of Koreans. They're really nice...