Haeundae (해운대, 海雲臺) is touted as the Korea's most famous beach and one of the eight "must-see" scenery. Perhaps you will know why when you are there. 해운대 바닷가에 있었을 때 기분은 진짜 말로 표현할 수 없답니다.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
푸른 해양
I like this view a lot. It is as if I have come to the end of the world. If I say that this picture is taken in Japan, people will probably believe me. But no, it is taken in Yeongdo (영도, 影島), Busan. The building to the left of the picture is the Korea Maritime University (한국해양대학교, 韓國海洋大學校). The university is built on an island that is connected to Yeongdo by a causeway. Anyone going to Taejongdae will definitely pass by this place in Yeongdo.
태종대
My original impression of Taejongdae (태종대, 太宗臺) is that it is a white lighthouse with a observation deck that gives a good view of the South Sea. Actually I wasn't way off except that Taejongdae is a very big park and its landmark, the white lighthouse, is just but one site in the park. From the entrance of Taejongdae Park, the white lighthouse is like 5km away. There is a tram which called "Danubi" that brings visitors to the Taejongdae's observation deck and around the park. I didn't visit the lighthouse as I didn't feel like paying for the tram ride nor feel like walking long distance just to see it. Nevertheless, there were more than enough view in the park to keep me busy clicking away on my camera.
The road in the park was lined with flowering trees. Magnolia had fully bloomed. Fallen petals were sprinkled all over the walking path.
It is springtime and the Taejongdae Park is covered in a myriad of colours. It's wonderful to witness how nature comes back to live after the dreary winter.
There were many quiet and shady resting corners in the park. It was weekday so the park seems deserted. It is a blessing for Busanites to have nature so close at their doorsteps.
It's natural spring water flowing out from the tube. I drank a lot because I was very thirsty from all the walking. It's pure water alright because there was no taste or smell.
What is Spring without cherry blossom. Though there were not many cherry blossom trees in the park but they never failed to catch my attention when there was one along the way.
The "Danubi" tram, which brings visitors to the Taejongdae's observation deck and around the park, coming round the corner.
The sea at the Taejongdae's pebble beach. Exhilarating view.
Walking down the rocky and uneven steps to the pebble beach.
Naturally-formed pebbles. Need to be very careful with my steps.
Watching breaking waves at close proximity.
I didn't know that watching waves splashing up the shore had such a tranquilising effect on me. Perhaps there is some sort of natural rhythm in the waves
Pine tree, the South Sea and a misty horizon. Exotic combination.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
차이 사이에
Today I received a e-mail invitation from the production manager of the MediaCorp Channel 8 infotainment programme, Simply Overseas II (异乡人新鲜事2), to appear in their programme. They are looking for Singaporeans living in Korea to introduce Korean's lifestyle and culture from the perspective of a Singaporean. I think she mistook me as a Singaporean living in Korea because of my blog. Obviously I don't qualify because I am living in Singapore. If not, you will probably have the opportunity to see Korea through "my eyes". *^^*
Programme like "Simply Overseas" exploits the differences in culture and lifestyle to make itself interesting. Unfortunately, more often than not, differences are associated with hatred, conflict and hostility. If we could see differences in a positive light, they will bring with them fresh perspective and endless learning opportunity. Differences are exactly what make my Korean lessons interesting.
In today Korean class, some students were talking among themselves in Mandarin. One student was telling her friend, "错" (wrong as in wrong answer). Our teacher overheard the word "错" and thought that they were saying "추워" (cold as in the room is cold) because "错" and "추워" sound alike. 추워? (Are you cold?), She asked. We had a good laugh. Our teacher went on to say that Mandarin is quite interesting as there are many words which sound like Korean but have totally different meaning. She quoted an example. She was watching the Chinese news on TV and heard the word "儿童" (children). In Korean, "儿童" is pronounced as "a-dong" (아동, 兒童) but the Mandarin pronunciation of "儿童" sounds like "al-tong" (알통) which means biceps in Korean. She flexed her "biceps" just to show us what she meant.
Then she introduced us to this Konglish word "미팅" (meeting). We all knew what meeting means in English but when the Korean says 미팅, it means something quite different. It means a meeting between a group of guys and gals with the objective of finding a boyfriend or girlfriend. From "미팅", we further learnt about its differences with "소개팅" and "선". 소개팅 means a meeting between a guy and a gal with the objective of finding a boyfriend or girlfriend. 선 means a meeting between a guy and a gal with the objective of finding a husband or wife.
We were also taught a different way of answering the question (몇 살이에요?) about our age which is asked ever so frequently by the Koreans. If you do not know, asking for someone age is not a matter of curiosity for the Koreans. In the Korean society, age determines the kind of respect a person is accorded. It is important for them not to be seen as being rude to someone who is older than them. Now back to answering the question about age. We are usually taught to say, for example, 스물다섯살이에요 (I am 25 years old). Our teacher offered us an alternative and a more casual way of replying but only to be used with our Korean friends whom we know well. "I am 25 years old" can also be said as "2학년 5반이에요" (I am from Grade Two Fifth Class) and "32 years old", "3학년 2반이에요".
Differences can only be interesting if one respects differences. I like the meaning told by this Chinese idiom - 入乡随俗, follow the culture of the village you are in. Because of this, I can always enjoy myself in any place I visit. On the contrary, this world would be so much more gloomy if everyone just insists on maintaining their differences. We always have the option to choose how we like to see our world, don't we?
Programme like "Simply Overseas" exploits the differences in culture and lifestyle to make itself interesting. Unfortunately, more often than not, differences are associated with hatred, conflict and hostility. If we could see differences in a positive light, they will bring with them fresh perspective and endless learning opportunity. Differences are exactly what make my Korean lessons interesting.
In today Korean class, some students were talking among themselves in Mandarin. One student was telling her friend, "错" (wrong as in wrong answer). Our teacher overheard the word "错" and thought that they were saying "추워" (cold as in the room is cold) because "错" and "추워" sound alike. 추워? (Are you cold?), She asked. We had a good laugh. Our teacher went on to say that Mandarin is quite interesting as there are many words which sound like Korean but have totally different meaning. She quoted an example. She was watching the Chinese news on TV and heard the word "儿童" (children). In Korean, "儿童" is pronounced as "a-dong" (아동, 兒童) but the Mandarin pronunciation of "儿童" sounds like "al-tong" (알통) which means biceps in Korean. She flexed her "biceps" just to show us what she meant.
Then she introduced us to this Konglish word "미팅" (meeting). We all knew what meeting means in English but when the Korean says 미팅, it means something quite different. It means a meeting between a group of guys and gals with the objective of finding a boyfriend or girlfriend. From "미팅", we further learnt about its differences with "소개팅" and "선". 소개팅 means a meeting between a guy and a gal with the objective of finding a boyfriend or girlfriend. 선 means a meeting between a guy and a gal with the objective of finding a husband or wife.
We were also taught a different way of answering the question (몇 살이에요?) about our age which is asked ever so frequently by the Koreans. If you do not know, asking for someone age is not a matter of curiosity for the Koreans. In the Korean society, age determines the kind of respect a person is accorded. It is important for them not to be seen as being rude to someone who is older than them. Now back to answering the question about age. We are usually taught to say, for example, 스물다섯살이에요 (I am 25 years old). Our teacher offered us an alternative and a more casual way of replying but only to be used with our Korean friends whom we know well. "I am 25 years old" can also be said as "2학년 5반이에요" (I am from Grade Two Fifth Class) and "32 years old", "3학년 2반이에요".
Differences can only be interesting if one respects differences. I like the meaning told by this Chinese idiom - 入乡随俗, follow the culture of the village you are in. Because of this, I can always enjoy myself in any place I visit. On the contrary, this world would be so much more gloomy if everyone just insists on maintaining their differences. We always have the option to choose how we like to see our world, don't we?
Friday, May 02, 2008
바다와 파도
Busan may be the second largest city in Korea but there are things which Busan has that Seoul does not - they are sea and waves.
All photos are taken at Taejongdae (태종대, 太宗臺), Yeongdo-gu District (영도구, 影島區), Busan.
All photos are taken at Taejongdae (태종대, 太宗臺), Yeongdo-gu District (영도구, 影島區), Busan.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
부산탑
In Busan, I stayed in a 3-stars hotel at the foot of the Yongdusan (용두산, 龍頭山). At the top of this 49m hill are the Busan Tower (부산탑, 釜山塔) and the Yongdusan Park (용두산공원, 龍頭山公園). Since the Busan Tower and the Yongdusan Park were at my doorstep, it was only natural that I went up for some sightseeing. But I am not going to talk about the park as there was nothing worth reporting. If I may say, it was just "a walk in the park". There was however something interesting about my hotel. To be specific, I mean the hotel's receptionists.
Since my hotel did not have internet connection in the rooms, whenever I need access, I had to make my way to the "Business Centre". The Business Centre was merely a small room with a computer and internet access. From where I was seated in the room, I could see clearly what was happening behind the reception counter. One afternoon, while I was using the internet, I noticed the receptionist was squatting behind the counter. On a closer look, she was eating her lunch squatting. Frankly, that wasn't a big deal if you knew what the other hotel's receptionists did.
There was this male receptionist who was on the evening shift. Guess what he did? He was watching the Korean drama "On Air" and was laughing his heart out. I knew it was "On Air" because I kept hearing its OST - 한가지 말 by FT Island. As and when there were guests at the counter, he would move away temporarily to attend to them and then it was back to the TV. I was surprised by what I saw. I never knew that hotel receptionist on duty could be so relax. However, nothing beats the next receptionist.
The day I left Busan, I decided to check out early in the morning. When I arrived at the reception counter, there wasn't anyone there. So I tried to look for the receptionist at the Business Centre but the room was locked. I knocked on the door several times only to see a blurry-eyes guy opening the door later. I swear that my jaw was on the floor when I discovered that this hotel's receptionist actually slept while on shift. Anyway, after I handed over my room key to him, he just uttered "필요없는 것" (nothing else) to me and went back to his sleep. He is super cool right? Hurhurhur... I am very sure that I checked into a 3-stars hotel but what I saw really amused me.
Now, back to what is supposed to be the topic of this post - the Busan Tower and the Yongdusan Park.
Since my hotel did not have internet connection in the rooms, whenever I need access, I had to make my way to the "Business Centre". The Business Centre was merely a small room with a computer and internet access. From where I was seated in the room, I could see clearly what was happening behind the reception counter. One afternoon, while I was using the internet, I noticed the receptionist was squatting behind the counter. On a closer look, she was eating her lunch squatting. Frankly, that wasn't a big deal if you knew what the other hotel's receptionists did.
There was this male receptionist who was on the evening shift. Guess what he did? He was watching the Korean drama "On Air" and was laughing his heart out. I knew it was "On Air" because I kept hearing its OST - 한가지 말 by FT Island. As and when there were guests at the counter, he would move away temporarily to attend to them and then it was back to the TV. I was surprised by what I saw. I never knew that hotel receptionist on duty could be so relax. However, nothing beats the next receptionist.
The day I left Busan, I decided to check out early in the morning. When I arrived at the reception counter, there wasn't anyone there. So I tried to look for the receptionist at the Business Centre but the room was locked. I knocked on the door several times only to see a blurry-eyes guy opening the door later. I swear that my jaw was on the floor when I discovered that this hotel's receptionist actually slept while on shift. Anyway, after I handed over my room key to him, he just uttered "필요없는 것" (nothing else) to me and went back to his sleep. He is super cool right? Hurhurhur... I am very sure that I checked into a 3-stars hotel but what I saw really amused me.
Now, back to what is supposed to be the topic of this post - the Busan Tower and the Yongdusan Park.
The Busan Tower stands tall in the Yongdusan Park.
The Busan Tower and the statue of Korean hero - Admiral Yi Sun Shin.
Cherry blossom and pigeons at one corner of the park.
A closer look at the fully-bloomed cherry blossom.
At the observation deck. More than 180 deg view of the Busan city below.
Admiral Yi still overseeing Busan port after his last battle at Noryang in 1598.
유행어
I told myself not to be distracted but I just can't help it. I should be concentrating on brushing up my Korean but yet recently I have been wasting time surfing the web searching for explanation for some of the newly-coined Korean words. These words can't be find in the dictionary and neither will they come out in test. I guess I am bored to be doing this. Anyway, here are my "loots" after rummaging through numerous Korean websites.
훈남 (薰男) means a warmhearted guy. It is an abbreviation of 훈훈한 남자. A pre-requisite of 훈남 is that he must not be handsome, otherwise he should be called 미남 (美男). 훈남 has a lot of heart and if you are looking at him, you will develop a sense of warmth. My friend, Aini, likes to classify guys into two types - the cheesecake and the chocolate brownie. In her words, 미남 is cheesecake and 훈남 is chocolate brownie. 훈녀 (薰女) or warmhearted girl is also used but not as frequently as 훈남. I guess one reason is that most guys are only interested in 미녀 (美女).
완소 (完所) means the most treasured or the dearest. It is an abbreviation of 완전 소중한 (完全 所重). The word was first used among fans of the MBC drama, 궁 (宮-野蛮王妃) or the "Princess Hours" but soon found its way into the mainstream pop culture. These days, to use "보고 싶은 오빠" instead of "완소오빠" is not keeping up with time.
지름신이 강림하셨다 is an popular expression used to explain a person's act of impulsive buying. 지름신 means the god of impulsive buying and 강림하다, the descent of. 지름신이 강림하셨다 can thus be literally translated as the descent of the god of impulsive buying. The root words of 지름신 are 지르다 and 신 (神) or god. To explain 지르다 (or 저지르다) a little more - it is used to mean committing some negative act like a mistake, an error or a crime. 지름 is the nominalised form of 지르다. The situation to use this expression is when you are trying to give a reason or excuse for buying a lot of things on impulse which you have no use for. For example, 지름신이 강림하셔서 다 샀어요 (I bought all of them because the god of impulsive buying had descended upon me). Other expressions like 지름신이 다녀가셨다 and 지름신이 오셨다 mean exactly the same thing. If you feel a sudden urge to buy things, that sudden urge can best be described as 지름신이 강림하신 느낌.
I wish I can hand this up as my Korean homework. I am still quite behind in my homework. Kyunghee's Intermediate 2 workbook is more difficult than I thought. I just wonder where I found my gut to take TOPIK Intermediate last year. I was probably either too brave or too stupid. There are yet many more things to learn at the Intermediate level but somehow I am quietly confident that I will pass my TOPIK Intermediate this year. In addition, I shall try to repeat my "fooly" last year by taking TOPIK Advanced. ^^;
훈남 (薰男) means a warmhearted guy. It is an abbreviation of 훈훈한 남자. A pre-requisite of 훈남 is that he must not be handsome, otherwise he should be called 미남 (美男). 훈남 has a lot of heart and if you are looking at him, you will develop a sense of warmth. My friend, Aini, likes to classify guys into two types - the cheesecake and the chocolate brownie. In her words, 미남 is cheesecake and 훈남 is chocolate brownie. 훈녀 (薰女) or warmhearted girl is also used but not as frequently as 훈남. I guess one reason is that most guys are only interested in 미녀 (美女).
완소 (完所) means the most treasured or the dearest. It is an abbreviation of 완전 소중한 (完全 所重). The word was first used among fans of the MBC drama, 궁 (宮-野蛮王妃) or the "Princess Hours" but soon found its way into the mainstream pop culture. These days, to use "보고 싶은 오빠" instead of "완소오빠" is not keeping up with time.
지름신이 강림하셨다 is an popular expression used to explain a person's act of impulsive buying. 지름신 means the god of impulsive buying and 강림하다, the descent of. 지름신이 강림하셨다 can thus be literally translated as the descent of the god of impulsive buying. The root words of 지름신 are 지르다 and 신 (神) or god. To explain 지르다 (or 저지르다) a little more - it is used to mean committing some negative act like a mistake, an error or a crime. 지름 is the nominalised form of 지르다. The situation to use this expression is when you are trying to give a reason or excuse for buying a lot of things on impulse which you have no use for. For example, 지름신이 강림하셔서 다 샀어요 (I bought all of them because the god of impulsive buying had descended upon me). Other expressions like 지름신이 다녀가셨다 and 지름신이 오셨다 mean exactly the same thing. If you feel a sudden urge to buy things, that sudden urge can best be described as 지름신이 강림하신 느낌.
I wish I can hand this up as my Korean homework. I am still quite behind in my homework. Kyunghee's Intermediate 2 workbook is more difficult than I thought. I just wonder where I found my gut to take TOPIK Intermediate last year. I was probably either too brave or too stupid. There are yet many more things to learn at the Intermediate level but somehow I am quietly confident that I will pass my TOPIK Intermediate this year. In addition, I shall try to repeat my "fooly" last year by taking TOPIK Advanced. ^^;
부산에 돌아간다
The return journey from Oedo (외도, 外島) to Jangseungpo (장승포, 長承浦) took half an hour. Our ferry arrived back at Jangseungpo exactly at 3pm. The place of disembarkation wasn't at the Cruise Ferry Terminal as thought but at another ferry point some 200m away. What that meant was that I had to walk a longer distance back to the Coastal Ferry Terminal for my connecting ferry to Busan. At the back of my mind, I knew that the next ferry to Busan would leave at 4pm so I took some time to walk around the fishery port. Things which I always associate with a fishery port, like seagulls, fishing vessels and light beacons, were all there at Jangseungpo.
Geojedo (거제도, 巨濟島), where Jangseungpo and Oedo are, is the second largest island in Korea. To think that I actually spent less than half day on the island didn't quite do justice to the effort I spent to get there. But I didn't have the luxury of time and had to leave the island thinking about what I had missed. The ferry to Busan left at 4pm and I had one hour of really good sleep before the ferry arrived back at the Busan Coastal Ferry Terminal. With that, I concluded my trip to Odeo. I spent altogether 8 hours and 63,400won (~S$90) for just 1.5 hours of "paradise" at Oedo and I think it's worth it.
Geoje Fishery Cooperative Market (거제수협공판장, 巨濟水協共販場)
Fishing vessels and the calm water of Jangseungpo Port.
Seagulls (갈매기) basking in the sun on top a fishing vessel.
A seagull spreading out its wings, like a kite, over my head.
I like how the water sparkles under the effect of sunlight.
Back at Jangseungpo Coastal Ferry Terminal.
My ferry ticket back to Busan. It cost 19,200won one way.
Fishing vessel entering port. Two light beacons mark the port entrance.
Geojedo (거제도, 巨濟島), where Jangseungpo and Oedo are, is the second largest island in Korea. To think that I actually spent less than half day on the island didn't quite do justice to the effort I spent to get there. But I didn't have the luxury of time and had to leave the island thinking about what I had missed. The ferry to Busan left at 4pm and I had one hour of really good sleep before the ferry arrived back at the Busan Coastal Ferry Terminal. With that, I concluded my trip to Odeo. I spent altogether 8 hours and 63,400won (~S$90) for just 1.5 hours of "paradise" at Oedo and I think it's worth it.
Back in Busan at 5pm. Buildings over at Yeongdo (영도, 影島).
The Busan Bridge is next to the Busan Coastal Ferry Terminal.
The Busan Coastal Ferry Terminal in the evening.
Seagull flying over the blue water of Busan Port. 海鸥飞在蓝蓝海上.
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