고 대한민국 고

Twelve years have passed since Korea's football team made history by finishing fourth place in World Cup 2002 which Korea co-hosted with Japan. It was the best performance ever by any Asian football team in the international football arena. Since then, a nation awaits for history to repeat.

It is just one more day to Brazil World Cup. Pundits are not optimistic about Korea's chances of going pass the group stage. Their former coach, Guus Hiddink, was not very encouraging too. It was reported he favours Belgium and Russia to advance at the expense of Korea and Algeria.

While the odds are stacked against them, the Korean football team can take heart the Koreans are always behind them. They are their pride, win or lose. As the saying goes, the ball is round, anything is possible until the final whistle is blown.

AOA - 그대 승리의 날개를 펼쳐라

Tiny G - Go Reds Go

Keepop - 외쳐라! 대한민국

가수 못지않음

Not all singers can sing and not all non-singers can't sing. There are many people around us whom we think should have become singer but who never will. It is always a joy to hear them sing because they don't release albums nor stage performance frequently.

Shin Bora is a Korean comedienne or gag woman. She is a regular in the KBS2's programme "Gag Concert" which is aired every Sunday night. Every week, viewers are entertained by how she or her partner insists on a break up for some of the silliest reason out there in the segment "The Discovery of Life". It is quite well-known that she has a good vocal but it is not until I heard her sang seriously in Yu Huiyeol's Sketchbook that I am smitten by her voice.

Shin Bora singing Kim Yeon Woo's "I love you is a common word" 

Lee Hana is a Korean actress. She made her debut in one of my favourite Korean drama "Alone in Love" as the quirky sister of Son Ye-jin. She is one of those people whom you will want to say, "You should have been a singer." She has a melodious voice which is rare in the K-pop scene. I kinda suspect people will remember her more for her singing than her acting. Life is full of ironies.

Lee Hana singing Janis Ian's Grammy award winning song "At Seventeen"

안녕 2011

Hello friends and strangers, Happy New Year! It is another year. I hope we are all wiser by a year, but the bad news is, we are also closer to the end by one year. As they say, you gain some, you lose some.

I do not believe in making new year resolutions. It is not because I do not have the resolve to achieve anything, rather, I do not think life should be led based on a list of checkboxes. So what if I have all the checkboxes ticked at the end of the year? Am I a better and happier person than the year before? What about the things I lose in the process? Checkboxes do not seem to take care of that. All said, I still do believe in making some plans so that I know where I should head toward.

I managed to watch "Hello Stranger" over this long new year holiday. It is a Thai romantic flick made in Korea and it is slowly gaining popularity through words of mouth here. Thailand is better known for its horror flicks but "Hello Stranger" is about to make change to this long-held impression of movies from the land of thousand smiles. The storyline revolves around two strangers who fell in love in Korea after being dumped by their lovers. Since they did not know each other's real name, they greeted each other, "hello, stranger" or in Thai's pronunciation - "In Dee Tee My Rojak". You will hear more of this expression in the 1st music video below.

After the show, a question suddenly popped up in my mind - what is the difference between friend and stranger? Sometimes, friend feels like stranger while stranger feels like friend. In some instances, I felt I have more things to talk about with a stranger than a friend. I think it could be that stranger is not likely to carry any bias of me and so, I may be less inhibited to reveal some of my innermost feeling. So, have you ever wonder why some people would rather call up some strangers in the radio station to talk about their problems than to discuss them with their family members or close friends?

Definition-wise, friend and stranger are as different as day and night but feeling-wise, I cannot differentiate both clearly. What this means is, even if you do not know my real name, we can still be good friend. "In Dee Tee My Rojak" ^^

Two very nice music videos from the movie, "Hello Stranger".

ยินดีที่ไม่รู้จัก (pronounced "In Dee Tee My Rojak"), Hello Stranger

รักไม่ต้องการเวลา, Love does not need time

옥상의 달빛

A feature of Korean buildings is majority of them have rooftop. Some owners will build additional room on their rooftop. Such rooms usually have cheaper rental because one has to put up with inconveniences like the heat of summer and chill of winter. However, there are plus points too. You can have a good view of the sunrise and sunset and not to mention, an abundant shower of moonlight.

Rooftop is a feature of Korean buildings

"옥상달빛" (屋上月光) or "rooftop monlight" is a Korean duet who do not know how to make 'complicated' music. "옥상달빛" has no special meaning and is just a combination of two of their favourite words "옥상" and "달빛".

The first music video by the duet is "옥상달빛". This fairy-tale like song is also featured in the Korean drama "Pasta". The song will make you feel like dancing waltz with all the people you love on the rooftop and singing about youth, yourselves, today and tomorrow under the moonlight.

"옥상달빛" by "옥상달빛"

The next music video is "하드코어 인생아" (It's a hardcore life). I really heart the lyrics. Sometimes, it doesn't really matter what is meaningful or what is important. When you have decided to walk on the road you have chosen, you have to know that it is a road built on your drooping shoulder and tear glands. Life doesn't allow you to move backward, so no matter what, you have to move on. Life can be like the ever-morphing clouds or the wriggling earthworms in the mud; it can also like those stars that sparkle in the night sky. I shall listen to my heart since that's life.

"하드코어 인생아" by "옥상달빛"

The music videos were shot at the Seoul Plaza. They reminds me of the good times I had there watching performances during the warm and breezy summer night.

One of my leisure in Seoul - watching performances at the Seoul Plaza

붉은 악마

In a football match, fans are as important as the players. The supporters of the Korea's national football team call themselves the 'Red Devils'. In Korea, 'Red Devils' (붉은 악마, pronounced as '불근 앙마']) is not merely a term, it is a culture. A simple proof is the Teddy Bear's Museum at Namsan included 'Red Devils' as one of its exhibits on Korea's modern culture.


To be a 'Red Devil', I guess you will have to wear red and learn to shout "Dae-Han-Min-Gook". Face paintings and 'horns' are optional though. In depth understanding of the game is also not required.

By next week, the 'Red Devils' will be set loose again as the Korea's national football team seeks to repeat the glory of World Cup 2002 at the South Africa's World Cup 2010.

With so much support back home, I think the Korea team should at least advance to the quarter-final so as not to disappoint their fans. To have a sense of the degree of support the team is enjoying back home, just watch the music videos below. With so much hype, you may be forgiven for thinking that Korea is hosting World Cup 2010.

"We Are One" - HAM [Credits: koreanpride2]

"Victory Korea" - Super Junior [Credits: sment]

"We Are The One" - T-ara [Credits: ThearmtvpHD]

"We Are With You" - Kara [Credits: ThearmtvpHD]

"Dreams Again" - After School [Credits: misocha]

"The Shouts of Reds" - Big Bang & Kim Yuna [Credits: taijizero2]

"The Shouts of Reds" - Trans Fixion [Credits: TheArirangseoul]

그 동안 즐거웠다

Watching the "S.E.O.U.L Song" music video brought back many good memories. I miss my friends in Seoul. I feel like going back now with my DSLR and ipod. I want to bring along the bulky full frame DSLR - EOS 5D. It looks cool in the video.

Below are pictures of the places shown in the video.

1년 후

Last year this time, I was waiting for morning to come. I was about to leave for Seoul on a morning flight. I didn't know how the coming year would unfold itself. The view in front was hazy. But, it ended like a dream. Not a dream I dreamed but a dream I lived. For that to happen, I paid a heavy price. But in life, lose and gain are but different sides of the same coin. A year has never been worth remembering until now - a year which I won back the control of my life.

반 앨범의 영감

I like to write about the inspiration behind the class album (embedded in the earlier post) which I created. I got my inspiration after watching a Samsung CF. A very nice CF if you can understand what is being said in it.

Just a brief introduction. The CF started with a couple playing a game of scissors, paper, stone to decide who will buy Caramel Macchiato at the stall next to them. The girl suffered from amnesia and the guy knew that she would always show scissors. Naturally, he won the game. The girl who was supposed to buy Caramel Macchiato ended buying ice cream for herself. Anyway, try guessing what the CF is trying to sell. Your first guess is probably wrong.



For those who have problem opening the second embedded video in the earlier post, there is no need to fret. The second video took its inspiration from the song "Graduation" (졸업) by 2AM. You will probably get the same feeling watching the music video below.

슬퍼도 행복합니다

I watched 슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기 at Megabox Dongdaemun yesterday. I must say I went into the cinema with a lot of bias. There was so much publicity and hype surrounding this movie before it was even open and usually such movie disappoint more than impress because of heightened expectation. It didn't help when we all knew that it is going to be a sad movie and someone is going to die in the end - a theme that is cliched by many other Korean movies and dramas of similar theme. I was predicting that I would feel cheated of my 7,000won but even that, I was ready to find out how much more sad can sadness be. I have a simple litmus test for this movie - make me cry. If my tears don't flow, it is a flop.

Singer, 이승철, made a cameo appearance in the movie. At the start of the movie, he played himself - a singer, trying to record the song - 그런 사람 또 없습니다 (the movie's title track) but somehow he felt he fell short of conveying the sadness in the song. That provided the stage for the sad love story between K and Cream to be told to him. Touched by their story, he returned at the end to sing the song again but this time with the right sadness that befits the sad story behind the song.

I would hesitate to call this movie a classic because it has nothing new to offer. Its plot about love and separation offers no surprises. However, the movie can still be considered a better movie because of the acting and more importantly, the way the story is told. Kwon Sang Woo should be credited for acting out his role convincingly with his pair of soulful but yet melancholic eyes. Word is a luxury for a person like K because there are so much things which he could not say. As for the story-telling, I like the part on time stop and time reversal. Imagine yourself losing everything you have in this world, it is almost like time has come to a standstill. It is like saying the time has stopped since the day you left. The movie presented this part quite well. And when the time starts reversing, you would be made to realise why this is a sad movie because all the details that were not previously shown or emphasised would be flashed.

What the movie or the director wants to say is in the song "슬픔보다 더 슬픈 이야기". The music video below has a lot of scenes that are not shown in the actual movie unless what I saw was an abridged version. The dying scene is downplayed in the actual movie probably because it is a known fact. Even that, the sad part is not about dying but the feeling of separation and the deep sense of regret. Just like the lyrics of song says, "Because love is giving. Because love is just giving. Even though I am sad, I am happy.". The lyrics totally make sense. Love comes with happiness and sadness. They are inseparable. For people who want love because of happiness don't understand love. You can only understand happiness if there is sadness and vice-versa. So what can be sadder than sadness? It can only be happiness. I think I feel so much happier after watching a sad movie.

무지무지 사랑해

무지무지 사랑해 is a cute Konglish expression which means I love you muchy muchy. It came out in the music video below, so that's how I got to know about it.

죽도록 사랑해 is one of my favourite songs recently. Not only does it make me feel warm, it is also sung by two of my favourite Korean singers - MC Mong and Lena Park.

MC Mong is one guy who is very humble and down-to-earth. Fame has not gotten into his head. If you happen to walk past him in the street, you probably won't even know that he is a star. With an average look, you can be forgiven if you don't take him seriously. His "매력" (charm) only shines when he starts to rap. While he may have this "stone" look, he definitely sings and raps with his heart and soul. That's why his songs are able to touch the heart of many people.

As for Lena Park, she will be holding a joint concert, titled "Sweet December", with the "romantic guy" Alex on 30 and 31 Dec. I am thinking seriously of attending her concert. It shall be a dream comes true to hear her sings live.

어린왕자

It seems like "어린왕자" or "The Little Prince" is quite popular in Korea. Not that this novella is not famous in other parts of the world, it is just that I see much more of Little Prince in Korea. Now, a Korean movie of the same name was made, though besides the name, there was nothing much else that was similar between the two. Despite that, I like its movie poster and apparently the poster is inspired by the sketches of little prince standing on a minute planet. "어린왕자" OST, December Romance (12월의 로망스), is sung by Glassbox (유리상자-琉璃箱子). The song gives a feel-good feeling which is kinda similar to how I feel after reading "The Little Prince". 이 노래를 들을 만해요.

요즘 매일 비가 온다

Recently, I am attracted to two Korean songs. One is 여우비 (Sun Shower) by J-Walk and the other, 매일 매일 (Everyday Everyday) by V.O.S or Voice Of Soul. I heard those voices many times while I was in Seoul, be it inside cafe or along the street.

여우비 is an interesting noun which I have learnt recently. Its literal translation is "Fox Rain" but I doubt anyone besides Korean will know what it means. I have not quite understand how fox has come to be related to rain. Anyway, 여우비 means light rain when the sun is shining. So "Sun Shower" is a more appropriate translation than "Fox Rain".

Kinda hard to see 여우비 in Singapore during December but it is definitely raining everyday in Singapore recently. Yes 매일 매일.

추억투성이인 거리

There was a time when I felt lost about what to do about my Korean study. After completing my Conversational Advanced Korean Level 6 course at NEX and with no Post-Advanced Korean course in sight, my Korean study came to an abrupt stop. During that period, I found my consolation in Lena Park's 미아 (迷兒, Lost Child). Lena Park's vocal, in my opinion, has no parallel in the Korean pop scene. It was she who first made me sit up and listen to Korean pop song. Her rendition of 미아 perfectly expressed the sense of loss which I was feeling at that point of time. When she sang "길은 어디에?", I was also asking myself, where is my road? After listening to the song for many times, I somehow found that elusive determination to seek my way out. First I went to Kyung Hee University for a short Korean language programme before coming back to continue my Korean study at the Singapore Korean School.

Soon, my study at SKS will also come to an end and it will be time again for me to seek out other options to study Korean. It may seem that going back to Korea to study is inevitable someday. The only unknown now is ... when?

사랑과 이별은...

It seems that love and separation are quite closely related. There are people who will go on a tour after separation to try to forget about the love that is just lost. This song, sang by Bae Seul Gi (배슬기-裵瑟琪) and Glassbox (琉璃箱子), is called "Yi Byeol Yo Haeng" (이별여행-離別旅行) or translated literally as "Separation Tour".

Something to learn from this Music Video - The sign language for "괜찮아요" (I'm okay) and "고마워요" (Thank you). Also when both of you get a bit romantic and decide to take a walk at the centre of a country road, always be reminded that a road is still meant for the car and not couple. Be aware of car coming from behind to spoil the mood.

What is the best sentence to say before separation? 마음 잘 아니까... (I guess you know my mind so ... ). Hmm... alright, don't think too much. Just appreciate the music video :)

영화 - 황진이

The left poster, meant for the local market, describes Hwang Jin Yi as "16세기에 살았던 21세기의 여인" or "A 21st century woman who lived in the 16th century". The right poster, meant for the international market, describes her as "Queen at her heart, Humble in her spirit". I thought the left poster's tagline summarises the movie better.

The Korean movie "Hwang Jin Yi" (황진이-黃眞伊) was released in Korea on the 6th of this month. This movie, which cost US$10 million and 4 years to produce, is starred by Song Hye Kyo (송혜교-宋慧橋) and Yu Ji-tae (유지태-劉智泰) . Given the popularity of Song Hye Kyo in Singapore, the likelihood of this movie being shown in Singapore is quite high but it will probably take another 3 months or more for the movie to reach our shore.

Hwang Jin Yi is a famous courtesan of the 16th century Joseon Dynasty. The movie is about her transformation from a noble to a servant at a time when social class determines almost everything. In the movie, Hwang Jin Yi's love interest is Nom Yi, the only man whom she holds in her heart throughout her life. Nom Yi is a servant by birth while Hwang Jin Yi is born a noble. Their love does not seem to be blessed from the start. This is probably a forewarning of a sad ending.

The original sound track of Hwang Jin Yi, "If you were me" (그대가 나라면-如果你是我), is sung by "Due", a duo which is new to the Korean music scene. The mixture of contemporary and musical singing style in the song is well executed and refreshing. The infusion of Tenor vocal gives the song a majestic feel. I think it will do equally well as a theme song for the Olympic Games or the World Cup. There is an Italian version of the song which is called "Se Tu Fossi Io" I guess it also means "If you were me" since "Se", "Tu" and "Io" means "If", "You" and "I" respectively in Italian . Happy listening.

학생 되고 싶어

I was a student again for a brief 3 weeks in March. The responsibility of a student is to study and do homework. Furthermore, I only have to be responsible to myself. I never thought that I actually like studying so much. When I think about it, study stress is nothing when compared to work stress. At work, there are responsibilities of all sort and kind. There are also so many people I have to be responsible to. When everything connect up I just get myself entrapped in a mess of stress.

As a student in Kyunghee University, I have to attend lesson everyday from 9am to 1pm. Afternoon and evening were usually free unless there were culture class or field trip. Having just four hours of lesson per day is a luxury that I don't get to enjoy when I was a Science undergraduate in the National University of Singapore. As a Science student I needed to stay in the laboratory for long hours and that effectively took up all the free time after lesson. I used to be envious of those Arts and Social Sciences students who got to enjoy so much free time.

Nevertheless, I finally to got to enjoy all the free time that I have wanted in the short 3 weeks in Kyunghee. The free time was used to travel around Seoul but even then there was still enough free time to do homework. Actually, our teachers didn't really load us with too much homework. In fact, there was only one time during the course that I had to stay up late to complete my homework. I remembered doing my homework in the recreation hall at the basement of my dormitory. The rear projection TV in front of me was switched to The KBS Drama channel. As I was doing my homework, I was also watching the re-run of the drama "The Snow Queen" (눈의 여왕-雪之女王). All I could recall about the drama was that it has a nice OST.

"첫눈애" (初雪爱) or "Love at First Snow" sang by Gang Seong Min (강성민-姜成民) is the OST for "The Snow Queen". In the music video, I especially like those snow scenes which were filmed in New Zealand. In the drama, Hyun Bin was supposed to be travelling to Lapland, a place described in the Hans Christian Andersen's fairy tale (of the same name) as the home of the Snow Queen. The drama is supposed to be a tear-jerker with a regretful ending. If warm tears can melt the "ice" in us why not let them flow. Just like in the fairy tale where Gerda's warm tears melted Kay's heart and releasing the troll-mirror splinter in it.

It seems that I may have detoured too much to talk about Korean drama but that was also a part of my student's life. A carefree life that affords me free time to travel around Seoul, do homework and watch Korean drama. I want to be a student again!

Hyun Bin in Lapland, the home of the Snow Queen.

"첫눈애"(初雪爱) or "Love at First Snow" sang by Gang Seong Min

미국은 은인이 아니죠?

During class recently, my Korean teacher at SKS was talking about tour in Korea when she mentioned about Gwanghwamun being a pick-up point for tour buses. I agreed with her because I used to wait for the tour bus, which took us to Jisan Ski Resort, at a place near to Gwanghwamun subway station. Just to ensure I got it right, I added that there was also a bronze statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin at the junction. My teacher confirmed that it was the place she was talking about. She went on to say that besides the statue, there is also the Kyobo Life Insurance Building and next to Kyobo is the US Embassy.

"I find it hard to understand why US is allowed to build its Embassy in the heart of Seoul." my teacher said.

"Isn't US the benefactor of South Korea? If that is so, why shouldn't they be given a prime land in Seoul to build their Embassy? I asked.

"Most of the Koreans don't think of US as our benefactor." she replied.

"Why not? Didn't US prevent South Korea from turning into a communist state?" I asked.

"Though I am glad that we did not become communist state, the fact is that many Koreans don't regard US as our benefactor. Do you know Incheon landing?" she looked at me waiting for an answer.

"You mean the Incheon landing during the Korean War." I responded.

"Yes. During the Incheon landing, the US killed a lot of Koreans who came running to them. Furthermore, the US soldiers raped many Korean women during the war. The Chinese soldiers, on the contrary, were more disciplined. They didn't go around raping Korean women and if they did they would be executed." my teacher explained.

I read about the Korean War but those books always carried the perspective of the Americans. It was enlightening to hear a native Korean's perspective about the war. As it is, history is opened to interpretation. It is also not about who was right or wrong, it is about what have we learnt from it.

Just a short note on the Incheon landing. North Korean Peoples Army (NKPA) went pass 38 parallel and started invading the South on June 25, 1950. Within 4 days of the invasion, Seoul was captured. By September that year, the NKPA was already threatening to overrun the Busan Perimeter. Just when the situation at Busan was in dire state, the Incheon landing was made at Wolmido on September 15. That landing was critical in reversing the tide of war in favour of the US-led United Nations Force.

I saw these two mascots of Wolmi Special Tourism Zone outside of the Incheon station. They are called "Worldee". Their head has the symbol of "taegeuk" or "taiji". Their ears are like seagull in flight and their legs are shaped like sea and wave. Looking at these cheery mascots, the pain of war could no longer be felt at Incheon.

Has the memory of pain faded away with time? Sometimes I do feel that the pain has found their way into the Korean dramas, movies and songs. Recently I have been listening to this Korean song "미안해요" (I am sorry) from the OST of the Korean drama "결혼합시다" (Let's get married) which was sung by Bobo. You will probably know what I mean in this paragraph after listening to this song. The song ended with this lyrics "그댈 잡고 싶지만 그 말을 차마 할 수 없죠… ". (I want to hold you back but I cannot bring myself to tell you that.) The song has that tint of sadness that I have come to associate with Korean song.

별처럼 반짝반짝

The post-advanced Korean language class at NUS Extension has finally started yesterday. As the class was in the afternoon, I managed to catch a morning show at Cathay Cinema. I have long to watch the movie "200 Pounds Beauty" since I was introduced to the song "Maria" during our Korean song lesson in KHU. The movie review in the Straits Time gave it a 2 stars out of 5. But that didn't really bother me. Even if that reporter has given it a 1 out of 5, I will still watch it. The storyline is simple, entertaining and touching. The movie's climax has all the ingredients to move one to tears. The most potent tear-causing factor was perhaps the song "Byeol" (별-Star). This song was played during the climax amidst the confession made by Kang Hanna. Kim A-Jung, as Kang Hanna, sang this song in the movie. There is in fact another version of the song. The music video below belongs to the SBS Korean Drama "Lovers" (연인-戀人) and the soundtrack "Byeol" is sung by Yumi (유미). Without seeing the lyrics, I can already feel the heartache in the song. Ouch.



미녀는 괴로워 OST 별(김아중,유미)

바람결이 창을 흔들고 내키만한
작은 나의방 위로 아름답게 별빛들을 가득 채워주네요

셀 수없이 많은 별들은 지쳐있는
나를어루만지며 내맘속에 가득담은 눈물 닦아주네요

많이 아파하지마 날 꼭 안은채 다독여주며
잘자라 위로해주네요
걷지 못할만큼 힘이 겨워아파와도
눈물이 앞을 가려와도
갖지못할내 사랑앞에도 나 웃을래요
잠시라도 곁에 행복했던 기억들을
가슴에 간직할게요
두눈에 수놓아진 저 별들처럼 영원히.

꿈을 꾸듯 다가오네요 유난히도 밝은 나의 별 하나
눈부시게 반짝이며 어깨 위로 내려와

자꾸 슬퍼하지마 손 꼭 잡은채 날 만져주며
따스히 날 감싸주네요

걷지 못할만큼 힘이 겨워 아파와도
눈물이 앞을 가려와도
갖지못할내 사랑앞에도 나 웃을래요
잠시라도 곁에 행복했던 기억들을
가슴 속에 간직할게요
두눈에 수놓아진 저 별들처럼 Oh-

나 오늘만은 안 울어요
눈물이 가득 차와도
저기 저 별들처럼 나 웃을래요.....

행복했던 기억들을
가슴 속에 간직할게요
두눈에 수놓아진 저 별들처럼 영원히......

월요병이 없어

Since I come to Seoul, I have good sleep every night. I fall asleep easily and wake up naturally. Life has never been so normal for a long time. Maybe the cold weather has something to do with my good sleep. It also helps that I live near the school and that the lesson start at 9am. It such a nice feeling going back to school and be a student once again. I look forward to having lesson everyday. I don't suffer from "Monday illness". In fact, I woke up so fresh on Monday morning. On the way to school, I dropped by Isaac for their "Special Toast". The toast came with ham, egg, cheese, shredded cabbage and pickles. It tasted so delicious and energised my day. Life cannot be better than this for me.

After the morning lesson, we had our lunch at the student's canteen before proceeding for our Korean culture class on Korean movie.

My lunch at student's canteen - Shrimp Fried Rice

The movie chosen for the lesson was a romantic comedy "야수와미녀" or "The Beast and the Beauty". From the title, it was not difficult to guess the storyline. Briefly, the movie was a romance between a kind but not so handsome guy and a blind but beautiful lady. However, when the lady gained her sight after an operation, the guy tried to fake excuses to avoid seeing her because he was afraid she would not like him anymore because of his look. The guy wanted to go for a plastic surgery but the doctor said he was courting death as the surgery would be too complicated and risky because there were so many things to correct for his face. In the end, the doctor only agreed to remove his scar. But then again, the surgery was not really successful because he lost his right eyebrow. Poor thing. Anyway, the movie had a fairy-tale ending just like "Beauty and The Beast".

The jazzy "My Romance" - OST of The Beast and the Beauty

That was the second movie, I had watched in two days. Despite a predictable storyline, the movie had so much interesting elements that I enjoyed watching it. It is a pity that not all good Korean movies make their way to the screen in Singapore. I think I shall go to the CD shop to hunt down a few more good Korean movies before leaving for Singapore.

Watching "Beast and the Beauty" during Korean culture class.

After the culture class, we took the subway to Yeouinaru station and had an evening stroll in the Hangang Park. The wind was blowing strongly and the air was chilly. There were very few people in the park. Our walk terminated at 63 Building where we had our dinner at its basement food court. Inside 63 Building, there were a IMAX cinema, a sea world and a skydeck but we visited none. Perhaps it was a good idea to save money for something else

The Han River with the Won Hyo bridge in the background

An Italian Cafe serving gelato by the riverside. Sweet treat.

A snack & drink store same as the one saw in Korean movie "The Host"

63 Building at Yeouido. Currently one of the tallest building in Seoul.

Took our dinner at 63 Square Food Court. Food was expensive.

A stylist cafe found at the ground level of 63 Building

눈이 오는날

Today started with another 4 hours of lessons from 9am to 1pm. Mr Yun Sang Cheol took us for the first two hours. We had some listening comprehension followed by lesson on the correct usage of ~느라고. Subsequently, Ms Cheon Eun Jeong (천은정) took over and taught us on the use of ~(ㄴ)지...되다 and ~게 되다. As it is, we have three teachers for this course. Mr Yun will teach us daily while Ms Jo and Ms Cheon will alternate. Ms Jo will take us for lesson on Tuesday and Friday and Ms Cheon on Monday and Wednesday.

Since there was a Korean culture class starting at 2pm, we decided to have a quick lunch in the student canteen at basement two of Cheong-un Gwan (청운관-靑雲館). I ordered "Tangsuyuk Deopbap" (탕수육덮밥) or sweet and sour pork rice. Tangsuyuk, like Jjajangmyeon, is one of those Chinese dishes which has since become popular in Korea. The Tangsuyuk tasted quite similar to the Singapore's version of the dish. However, I found that the sweet and sour pork tasted slightly sweeter in Korea.

Tangsuyuk Deopbap cost 2,500won. It came with a bowl of soup not shown.

We had our first Korean culture class which was Korean songs. The teacher who took us for the class was Ms Kim Hyeon Jin (김현진). Secretly, I called her the "noraebang queen" because she was having so much fun in the singing lesson as if she was in a noraebang (kara-oke). Of course, we too were having a lot of fun. She was so full of actions and that had sort of influenced us to open up and sing aloud. She sang, danced and she simply "rocked". She taught us two songs. One was 마리아 (Maria) by Kim A-Jung (김아중) the other was 풍선 (Balloon) by TVQX (동방신기-東方神起)



"Maria" is the OST of the Korean movie "미녀는 괴로워" (200 pounds beauty). We were told that the song was currently one of the hottest noraebang songs among the Koreans. An ultimate stress-reliever. As we were singing along with the music, Ms Kim was going around telling students "가수처럼, 가수처럼" (sing like a singer) as she rocked and sang "Maria Ave Maria" in her loudest possible voice. I have never before seen anyone getting so high in a singing lesson. She really ROCKS!



풍선 (Balloon) was another "fun" song. Ms Kim was dancing along with TVQX in the music video as we were watching it. We were all then made to move to the front of class to sing and dance along with the song. We had so much fun singing and dancing that we kept asking to repeat the music video. 풍선 has a bright and cheerful tempo and that really lifted my mood. The lyrics though a bit lengthy were not too difficult to understand (with the help of e-dictionary of course).

It started snowing heavily in the late afternoon. Finally, we could see some snow accumulating on the roof and street. Within minutes of snowfall, the street quickly lost its gloom and took on a clean white smile. We must have been very fortunate to witness snowing in the month of March in Seoul. First of all, due to global warming, it rarely snows during winter in Seoul these days. Furthermore, March is already Spring and temperature during this month is usually too high for snow to fall. But we managed to catch one of those rarest opportunity and for that our trip would probably have been worthed it. According to weather forecast, there will be more snow coming.

The scene of the small road, at which Osvill is located, after snowing.

In the evening, we went back to Kyung Hee to take picture of the snow. Most of the pictures turned out blurry. Probably it was because it was so cold that my exposed hand kept shivering while holding the camera. As a result I have hardly any good picture to post. Following that, we had our dinner at a Korean restaurant near the campus. I had Odeng (오뎅) for dinner. Odeng is "imported" from Japan and is something very much like our fishcake in Singapore. However, it tasted more like crabstick to me with a lot of flour and little fish meat in it.

A snow scene inside Kyung Hee University .

My dinner - Odeng, which is something like fishcake.