아름다운 날

Merry Christmas. Also don't forget to happy hor! ^^;

We have specially "reserved" a place for you to take picture with us.

Yesterday, while I was paying for my 9 additional days of room charges, I was told that 5% discount would be given since I am going to stay for more than 7 days. I was grinning from ear to ear. It means that I have more won to spend. After cancelling my Busan trip and with such cheap room rate, I am actually under-spending my budget for this trip. 어떡해...고민해...ㅋㅋㅋ

I have been longing to eat katsu for days and finally I got to have it as lunch at Myeongdong yesterday. I ordered a chicken katsu for 6,500won. The batter was of the right crispiness and the chicken meat was so tender that it almost "melted" in my mouth. Sorry, perhaps I have over-exaggerated but you get what I mean. The meat was so tender that I was wondering if it was indeed chicken meat. It was a satisfying meal.

After lunch, I went over to Natuur Cafe for ice cream dessert. I was looking for my favourite red bean flavour but was disappointed that it was not available. As I was checking out the flavours, there was this flavour called "라이스" which caught my attention. It took me quite a while to connect that it actually meant "rice". The shop assistant, seeing that I was puzzled, explained that "라이스" is "쌀". I wonder if his explanation would have help anything if I do not know Korean. Perhaps he thought that I am a Korean but anyway I was interested enough to try the rice flavour. So I ordered a double sccop, rice and hazelnut walnut flavour, which cost 4,000won. The rice flavour turned out quite nice.

My lunch - Chicken Katsu. Crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.

My indulgence-Natuur ice cream with rice and hazelnut walnut flavour.

I have an appointment with Kaye in the evening so before that, I spent the rest of my afternoon in Myeongdong. It seems to me that everyday is like a festival at Myeongdong and I like festival mood. Even though the place was crowded, there was absolutely no stress walking among the crowd unlike when I am stuck in a crowded airport. It is always good to see what is new at Myeongdong since things change quite frequently there. Every visit is a new feeling.

Caffe Pascucci and Bean Pole are two very nice buildings in Myeongdong.

A nice glass wall with a giant-sized Jang Dong-gun fronting it.

Is Kwon Sang-woo selling thefaceship or the other way round?

A pushcart selling "ho ddeok". A winter food that gives energy.

There are many small alleys in Myeongdong to explore.

One last look at Myeongdong before I went into Myeongdong station.

I was back to Hoegi again. I was meeting Kaye for dinner at 6:30pm to celebrate her successful attempt in landing a job in Korea. She proves what I believe in - If there is a will, there is a way. Congrats Kaye! (I think I have forgotten to tell you that yesterday evening.)

Back at Hoegi station again. Everything looks so familiar.

BBQ chicken on a stick made me hungry when I get out of Hoegi Station.

After the dinner, Kaye introduced me to a traditional teahouse near Kyunghee. I actually never realised that there was a teahouse there. It is called "nogwon" (녹원-綠園) and it is located at the basement. It was the first time I sat in a traditional teahouse in Korea. I really like the atmosphere here.

"Nogwon" definitely looks traditional. Messages left by customers on the wall

Be it cafe or traditional teahouse, the atmosphere is always great here.

While on way home on a taxi, I actually had a conversation with the taxi-driver in Korean. Naturally, the first question he asked was where I came from. So I replied I came from Singapore. He then went on to say that he heard that Singapore is a very good place but he has not been there. I was surprised when he brought up Mr Lee Kuan Yew later. I didn't expect that our MM is so popular in Korea to the extent that even a taxi driver in the street also know his name. So I asked him why Mr Lee is famous in Korea. He said that it was because of his thinking. Also, in the 70s, Mr Lee visited Korea and met with Mr Park Jung Hee, the ROK's President then. Apparently, it was a high profile meeting in Korea. He said that after the meeting, Mr Lee Kuan Yew brought back to Singapore what he learnt about the "Saemaul" movement, initiated by Mr Park Jung Hee, and from there, Singapore's economy went on an overdrive. By the way, "Saemaul" (새마을) or the "New Village" movement was credited for transforming the Korea's economy and Mr Park Jung Hee was always remembered by the Koreans for what he did for their economy.

After I get out of the taxi, I was smiling. I thought I passed my first simple conservation with a native Korean in Korean. It was that suddent realisation that I can finally speak that brought me joy. Just like the joy we have when a baby starts to speak a proper sentence. Perhaps, like what our SKS principal said, he suddenly found that he could speak Japanese after participating in a Japanese Speech Contest. I think he is right. ^^