화이트 데이

March 14, Wednesday, is White Day in Korea. Something went wrong with the Internet connection in my room that day. So I had to delay updating my blog until now. As much as I want, I find it quite difficult to keep my blog up-to-date with the activities I am engaged in here in Seoul. Nevertheless, I will try my best.

Taekwondo Lesson

On Wednesday, we had our normal morning lesson. In the afternoon, we had our cultural programme - Taekwondo. The lesson was held in a studio outside the campus. Kyung Hee's Taekwondo seemed to be quite famous here. There are many Kyunghee Taekwondo training centres in Seoul. I saw one in Apgujeong. During the lesson, our Taekwondo instructor taught us some simple strokes of the Korea national martial art while he demonstrated some difficult stunts like his "flying kick" which hit the ceiling about 3 metres above. We were made to practise our punching and kicking repeatedly for a while. Some students were invited to punch through a thin piece of plank. Everyone who did the punch successfully "broke" the plank into two halves. Of course, that was with the "help" of our instructor who was suspected of assisting to break the plank with his arm's strength. I must say that the instructor was quite well-liked by the Japanese girls. Cool chap.

Nolbu and Heungbu

We had Budaejjigae (부대찌개) for dinner at the Nolbu restaurant just outside the KHU campus. The name Nolbu came from a famous Korean folklore. It was said that long time ago, there lived two brothers Nolbu (놀부) and Heungbu (흥부). Nolbu was the elder brother. He was rich but mean. In contrast, Heungbu was poor but kind-hearted. One day a swallow built a nest at the roof of Heungbu's house. Somehow it fell and broke its leg. Heungbu helped to heal it back to good health. The swallow left Heungbu's house during winter but returned the next spring and dropped him a seed. Heungbu planted the seed and soon the plant bore melons which when cut gave gold and jewellery. When Nolbu heard about the news he also wanted the swallow to give him a seed. The swallow obliged. He planted the seed and waited for the plant to bear fruits. When the melon ripen he eagerly cut open the fruit only to find robbers coming out from it. All his wealth was robbed and he instantly became poor. The moral of the story is that it does pay to be kind-hearted.

The Nolbu restaurant which is well-known for its Budaejjigae.

Took a shot of Budaejjigae without knowing photography is disallowed.

Dessert Time

Canmore Fresh Fruits Specialist Shop. Lotsa of post-its left by customers.

One thing I like about life in Korea is that besides drinking coffee and taking in caffeine after dinner I have the option of eating yogurt fruit instead. We went into Canmore after dinner for fruit dessert. Similar to any other Canmore outlets, they have swings and rocking chairs in place of standard chairs. The atmosphere in Canmore is very relaxing. It is good to end the day with a nice conversation with friends in a comfy place.

Soft lighting and comfortable rocking chairs. Nice place to chit-chat.

White Day

I took some pictures of the gifts meant for the White Day along the street outside Kyung Hee. It was almost like another Valentine's Day in Korea. Besides those girls who received gifts from their boyfriends, the other group of people who were seen smiling were the retailers. After this, next month on April 14, the Jjajangmyeon stall owners will be the people smiling.

White Day promotional poster at one of the convenience stores.

Gift galore for the very special one. 귀업죠?

Bouquets of man-made rose for sale. 예쁘죠?

Baskin Robins ice cream cakes are so tempting.