오늘 추석이에요

Today is Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节) and it is a working day in Singapore. In Korea, it is called Chuseok (추석-秋夕) and they have three days of holiday in a row - one day for the Koreans to make their journey back home; one day to celebrate Chuseok and one day to return to their place of stay. In China, I heard, they have a week of holiday when it comes to 'Zhong Qiu Jie' celebration.

In Singapore, Mid-Autumn Festival is about family reunion, eating of mooncake and pomelo and lantern parade. The festivity mood has been rather low probably because there is no autumn here in the first place and there is no public holiday for festival celebration. However, in the last few years, things are getting slightly better. There are more lantern parades organised. Chinatown was dressed and lighted up for the festival. A lot of creativity was also given to the making and packaging of mooncakes. Besides the standard lotus-bean paste mooncake, there are also novelty mooncakes like chocolate, ice cream and durian mooncakes.

To me, the festival always remind me that while people may be separated by distance on this Earth, we will always be looking upon the same moon.

얼굴과 몸

TheFaceShop and The Body Shop, side by side, in Myeongdong

TheFaceShop is a Korean cosmetic retail brand. It has a strong presence in Korea and it currently has 6 retail outlets in Singapore. The rise of TheFaceShop is quite a phenomenon. Barely three years have passed since it entered the market and it already commands over 500 retail outlets worldwide. Its popularity has since grown in Singapore following the visit of Kwon Sang Woo. TheFaceShop can do no wrong especially when The Body Shop is such a successful brand worldwide.

학습 환경

I passed by Cheongnyanni(청량리-淸凉里) quite often when I was studying at Kyunghee University. It was in the vicinity of Kyunghee. Cheongnyanni was also the place where I took the airport bus to Incheon airport on the day of departure. However, I must admit that I have problem pronouncing '청량리'. The pronounciation I heard over the public address system in the subway was something like, "이번 역은 청냥니. . ." In my mind, I was wondering why '청냥니' and not '청량리'. I was unable to resolve the conflict between what I saw and heard until I read something in my Korean language textbook.

When the ending consonant of the preceding word is 'ㅇ', the consonant 'ㄹ' in the current word will have to change to 'ㄴ' pronounciation. Hence, it was correct that '청량리' was pronounced '청냥니' and there was nothing wrong with my hearing. Because of Cheongnyanni, I was able to memorise this special deviation and I now pronounce '정리' (arrangement) as '정니' and '등록' (registration) as '등녹'.

The right environment is as important as a good teacher. I remember bargaining with a 아줌마(auntie) in 남대문시장 (Namdaemun Market) in 중국어(Chinese language). The 아줌마 was of course Korean but her Chinese was perfect. There was no way I could gain an upperhand in the bargain although I was very comfortable speaking in Chinese. The market, it seems, is a good environment for language learning. I bet that the 아줌마 did not enrol herself to learn Chinese. She must have practised her Chinese with the many Chinese tourists who patronised her shop over the years. I am also not surprised if she can also speak Japanese or Russian well.

The 아저씨(uncle) whom I met in the PC방(Internet Kiosk) also spoke good Chinese. I might have mistaken myself to be in China. The 아저씨 was no immigrant from China although I thought he was. He told me that he picked up the language because it was taught during his school days and he had the opportunity to practise it with the many Chinese students who visited his PC방.

Sometimes I just wonder, maybe I should stop paying to learn Korean. I might as well set up a shop selling Korean grocery and products in Singapore. I can then practise my Korean language with those Korean 아줌마 who patronise my shop. Isn't it wonderful that I can earn and learn at the same time?

저녁을 드셨어요?

Roadside stalls at Insadong

Roadside stalls 볼 때마다 맛있는 음식을 생각나요. The mental linkage of roadside stall to delicious food has a lot to do with my past experience of eating at the roadside stall. I remember when I was a kid, I love to eat the 'wanton mee' (만두 면) sold at this roadside stall. The stall was actually operating illegally at night. Nevertheless, people were queuing up for its 'wanton mee'. That was the best 'wanton mee' I have ever eaten. It was a pity that such good food was not allowed to be sold over a roadside stall.

Roadside stalls were banned in Singapore because of concern for public health. In the past, contaminated food was the main culprit in spreading diseases like Cholera and Dysentery that claimed many lives. To better regulate the standard of hygience in food preparation, all roadside hawkers were shifted to hawker centres to continue their fares. Hawker centres have since become something very unique in the Singapore food culture map.

Singapore may have ranked among the best in the world for public health but one of the casualty it claims along the way is the roadside stall which is a common sight in many countries that enjoy vibrant roadside food culture. Whatever it may be, if I do sit at a roadside stall overseas, it will probably remind me of my childhood day in Singapore.

커피 마셔요?

Personally I do not take to the coffee-drinking lifestyle very much. The cafes in Singapore are small and usually crowded with people. If only if the cafes here are as big and well designed as those in Seoul, I may consider changing my lifestyle. When I say big, the cafes in Seoul can be as high as four-storey and occupy one whole block of building. It is quite surprising that a western lifestyle can make it big time in Korea and not in Singapore. I guess maybe our local kopitiams (coffee shops) have been doing a fine job of brewing fresh and fragrant coffee every day at one-fifth of the price of coffee sold at the cafe chains. In Singapore, sitting in a cafe drinking coffee is a lifestyle but sitting in a kopitiam drinking coffee is a way of life.

Starbucks Coffee in Myeondong (Top Left). Coffee Bean in Insadong (Top Right). Inside Coffee Bean in Hurest Wellbeing Club, Myeongdong (Bottom)

인천행 비행기

이 게 뭡니까?

이 게 뭐에요? 빨리 대답해요.

몰라?

진짜?

Coaster가 아니에요.

For those who know what this is, pardon me for my ignorance. It may be common in Korea but I have not seen it before in Singapore or anywhere that I have been. I was issued this thing when I ordered my ice blended vanilla and tuna sandwich. The staff was explaining its function to me in Korean and I did not grasp any of her explanation. Anyway, I took it along with me to the seat while I waited for my sandwich and drink to be prepared. After a while this thing lighted up and vibrated. It was only then I realised that it was meant to inform me that my orders were ready for collection. How interesting. I was simply amused at my own ignorance.

예스마루가 뭐예요?

Yesmaru's identity has finally been revealed! I have photos as proof. So "Yes" and "Maru" are actually two apparel brands in Korea. Maybe Yesmaru 씨 can consider buying over these two brands in future and make them "Yesmaru". Don't think it's a crazy dream. Each and everyone is great because we dream.

사랑인가요

I first came to know about "궁"(Princess Hours) through its music video aired over "Pops in Seoul". Listening to "Perhaps Love" (title song of Princess Hours), sang by Howl & J, never fail to lift my mood. I bought the 24-episode 궁 VCD not long after they reached the shelf though I am not really into drama. Watching 궁 really tested my patient. 사실, I have yet to complete watching the drama. I am a "goner" when it comes to drama but I will probably finish watching 궁. 여하튼, "Perhaps Love" 듣는것을 아주 좋아해요.

날씨가 좋으니까 수원에 갑시다

Going to Suwon(수원-水原) was not because there was something that I want to do or see. I was simply captivated by the name "Suwon". Suwon, if translated, literally means "water plain" something like grass plain. When I think of grass plain, I will naturally picture the vast grass plain of Mongolia. So I was thinking that Suwon might have some breath-taking "water plains" to offer as well.

The subway from Myeongdong Station to Suwon Station took about 45mins to an hour and cost 1,400won. On arriving at Suwon Station, I was greeted by a shopping mall that housed both the rail and subway station. On exiting from the shopping mall, I found my way to the tourist information counter, a short walk from the station. The lady at the counter introduced Hwaseong Fortress(화성-華城) to me in flawless Chinese partly because she studied in Tianjin before.

팔달문-八達門

Following her instruction, I boarded the bus headed for Paldalmun(팔달문-八達門). I alighted at Paldalmun and walked my way to the Hwaseong Haenggung(화성행궁-華城行宮). Hwaseong Haenggung was the filming site for 'Daejanggeum' and 'The King and the Clown' which I later discovered. The entry fee for Hwaseong Haenggung was a token 1000won.

Hwaseong Haenggung was in fact only a small part of the Hwaseong Fortress. The fortress was so big that I just did not have the energy or time to walk one round of its perimeter. There was supposed to be this Hwaseong Trolley(화성열차-華城列車) with a cospicuous dragon head that drove tourists around the fortress for 1,500won. If I had just gotten onto one of it, it would have saved me a lot of walking. 다리가 정말 아파죽겠어요.

When I left Suwon for Seoul, I did not manage to see any "water plain". I was kinda of disappointed but I thought if I could have a few more days at Suwon, I might discover some interesting water features that befit the name Suwon. Well, whatever the thought may be, it will have to be next time.