Top 10 Surprises That Inspired Me To Love Korea More

I shared how Korea just took 5 simple steps to inspire me to start loving Korea. Now what inspired me to continue the love? Here are "Top 10 Surprises" I got to know, from people, by reading, and by observation, and it inspired some thoughts in me.

SURPRISE #1: EVERYTHING IS FAST

In Korea, a lot of things are fast. Many people take the subway because it is convenient. People walk very fast in the subway station, especially when changing stations, you have to walk fast in order not to miss the next train; some even run! Fast food are really fast too! Once you placed your order, the next second it's right in front of you! Even when you are sitting in a public bus, most of the time you have to stand up before you even reach your bus stop! Korea has a food delivery culture and the most surprising fact is at times, the delivery guy even came to collect the food before you even get to finish it! They are fast!

Inspiration - Time is precious!

SURPRISE #2: MIRROR MIRROR EVERYWHERE

If you are in Korea you'll notice there are mirrors at the subway stations. Take a lift, you'll find  mirrors at all four corners. On the way to the toilet, you'll see mirrors lining on your left and right. Enter the toilet cubicle, you'll be shocked with mirrors surrounding you, or at least in front of you there's one piece of mirror! I then learned that making sure you are looking clean and good is a type of manners in Korea. It can boost self-confidence too. So you'll always see people in Korea always checking themselves once a while if they pass by a mirror, or anything which is reflective.

Inspiration - Dress yourself up, look clean & confident in life!


SURPRISE #3: EXERCISE AT 10PM!

In Seoul there are a lot of parks. When the weather is good you get to see people exercising, running on tracks, or playing badminton. It happens at 6am, 5pm, 6pm. The shocking part is that when my friend pulled me to exercise at 10PM! What's even shocking is that the park is still filled with people running around at 10PM! I wonder is this part of the reason why they are slim!

Inspiration - Health is important!

SURPRISE #4: REFILL HEAVEN!

The best part about Korea is that there are always refills. Water or tea is free, and side dishes are always refillable without any extra cost! One day I asked whether can I refill "makkeoli" which is Korean rice wine, and the staff laughed. Yes, wine is not refillable though. 

Inspiration - Be generous on basic necessity!

SURPRISE #5: SHOP THE GREEN WAY!

Home Plus is a chain hypermarket in Korea. On and off you'll see people pulling a trolley bag to this hypermarket. Why? Because they charge on every plastic bag you take. So instead of plastic bag, people get to have their very own shopping trolley bag and place everything inside. Those who doesn't have, can do so by placing in card boxes provided by the hypermarket. Or else, get charged for plastic bags!

Inspiration - Go green! Take care of the environment!

SURPRISE #6: DRINK, DRANK, DRUNK!

Koreans can really drink liquors! They have a high level of tolerance with alcohol! You can see them drinking from one bar, to another, to another, until they get drunk. They have very awesome drinking games too, guess that's what make them drink more! Look out for Soju or Makkeoli (Korean rice wine).

Inspiration - Erm, drink till you are drunk? Joking. Drink if you can, it's part of the Korean culture. If you can't, get uksusucha which is Korean corn drink.

SURPRISE #7: TUITION TUITION TUITION!

Summer holidays in Korea is a great time for kids to learn new skills, pick up new hobbies, and also do more revisions. I realised Koreans are very hardworking, they read alot, and they do a lot of revision. Kids are always send for extra tuition classes during the holidays, or to swimming lessons or drawing classes to pick up a new skill. If they are lucky, they have a lot of books!

Inspiration - Use every opportunity to learn something!

SURPRISE #8: SOGAETING TO MEET NEW PEOPLE!

Some Koreans like to date on one-on-one date, it might be a blind date. This is called "Sogaeting"! Usually they'll either go for movies, or cafes, or perhaps some activities.  Many youngsters like to chill and bond at cafes and there are  alot of nice concept cafes at Sam Cheong Dong which is just across Insadong, an area which display a lot of traditional art crafts.

Inspiration - Meet new friends, why not?

SURPRISE #9: GO NAKED!

The best way to appreciate your own body is to go naked, or so my Korean friend said, haha! Public saunas are very common in Korea, which was a culture shock to me too when I first stepped in. The public bath is always separated according to genders (of course!), and everyone in the bath has to take off their clothes to enjoy the hot bath. When at the public mixed area, traveller's get to eat boiled eggs and also a cold rice juice called "sikye"!

Inspiration - Appreciate your body, and always bathe!

SURPRISE #10: HOT & SPICY!

I only thought Kim Chi was spicy. But I came to learn that Koreans cannot miss the sensation of not just a warm, but spicy at a level of 10 (rating from 1 to 10, 10 being the highest) soup! You have spicy food like fermented cabbage Kim Chi, spicy rice cake Dduk Buk Gi, Kim Chi soup which is welknown as Kim Chi Jigae. The spiciness usually comes from Go Chu Jang which is actually fermented red chili paste! If you are enjoying such food, make sure you'll breathe in "ssssssssssss" to express how spicy it is!

Inspiration - Hmm, stay hot and spicy! Like 2PM & MISS A!

Big Bang Sponsoring ME?

Such a lovely night it was last night!

I was thinking about Big Bang's concert.

"I must get VIP seat, must grab it!"

I was looking at one of my most favourite Big Bang album.

And opened it!

I loved this album a lot mostly also because it's their 1st mini album, and I love the skies!

As I wanted to open the CD case to browse through the album...

Super shocked! Since when I had RM300 in this hidden place?

In my head I imagined Big Bang saying this:

To that old forgetful me (perhaps weeks ago, months ago, or even YEARS ago)

Thanks for keeping that RM300 there.

It was such a sweet surprise.

I would like to have a fangirl imagination that the secret hidden souls of Big Bang actually hid the cash in it!

HAHA!

DAEBAK!

5 Steps That Inspired Me To Start Loving Korea

*A post I wrote for a competition but didn't win, so re-posting up here*

Malaysians are a very united race. Regardless we're Malay, Chinese, Indian, Sabahan, Sarawakian etc, when it comes to supporting Korean culture and Kpop music, you'll see we all speak in one language, and that one phrase we'll always chant - "SARANGHAE!".

It's not hard to get a Malaysian to love Korea. It took 5 steps to inspire me to start loving Korea:

STEP 1: KOREAN DRAMAS SHOWED ME THE BEAUTY OF KOREA

It is through K-dramas that most of us came to know more about Korea, the country itself. I was particularly attracted to how beautiful it is and I appreciate how the Korean filming crew always fight to get us the best scenery ever!

"Coffee Prince" drama got me to know that Hong Ik is a very artistic area where youngsters hangout for clubs, foods, and fashion. When I was there myself, it was indeed a very happening and lively place. Walk up the streets and you'll be able to find all kinds of fashion stores and appetizing foods on your left and right; not to mention the artistic graffitis on the walls as well as the designs of each and every shops.

Hong Ik, inspired by Coffee Prince

Watching "IRIS" drama also brought me to wow at how marvellous Han Gang river is during the day and in the night. Han Gang, or more known as "Han River" is a place where Korean couples love to date, and Korean families love to hang out. A place which is called Han Gang park, near Yeouinaru, is a place where Koreans love spend time during the summer either cycling or dipping inside the manmade streams.

Han Gang & Han Gang Park, inspired by IRIS

Drama of the year 2010 "City Hunter" showed us how beautiful is this hidden gem called Riverview 8th Street, an observatory situated below Gwangjingyo Bridge. This was portrayed as the office of Jin-Pyo in City Hunter drama. If you would like to enjoy free jazz or other music performances, feel free to drop by. I personally enjoyed a great Jazz performance!

Riverview 8th Street, inspired by City Hunter 

Idol drama "You're Beautiful" never failed to show us how pretty Seoul's shopping heaven - Myeong Dong is! I've always wanted to shop till I drop at Myeong Dong and I really did it when I was in Korea. Up trend fashion styles, yummy street foods that you cannot resist, and also the everflowing free samples you get whenever you enter a store! Myeong Dong is a shopping heaven for everything pretty for every girls, and also guys!

Myeong Dong, inspired by You're Beautiful drama

Hit drama in 2003 "All In" surprised me with the natural beauty of Jeju Island! The All In house at Seopjikoji was lovely and cosy, and at another part of Jeju you'll find Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak), which is a UNESCO heritage, always packed with visitors who were there for the beauty of nature. The Cheonjiyeon (God's pond) is also a pretty landmark where a lot of dramas and commercials are being filmed there. Head to the west side of Jeju you'll find a calming Hyeopjae beach with lots of seaweed!

Jeju Island, inspired by All In Drama

STEP 2:  KOREAN LANGUAGE TAUGHT ME MORE ABOUT KOREA CULTURE

Through Korean dramas, I was fascinated by the Korean language, particularly two words:

Korean language is fascinating. It has the formal language, informal language, and the polite language. I then got to know that adding a "-yo" behind every ending of a sentence means being polite; and ending a sentence with "-nida" is a formal language. 

Not long after, I started to pick up the Korean language and I learned that what kind of sentence endings you use actually sort of shows your relationship with that person. Close friends usually speaks "pan-mal" which means informal language without the "yo"s; and newly met friends with the same age usually add "yos" to every sentence making them sound like they are rapping; while speaking to adults always use the ending "-nida", especially during work.I loved the language so much so that I actually created my own flash cards to share with Korean language lovers around me!

Sharing a few useful Korean phrases for you to use in Korea:

Anyonghasaeyo: Hello!

Otteoke Kayo?: How to get there?

Odieyo?: Where is it?

Olmaeyo?: How much is it?

Kamsahamnida!: Thank you!

I was inspired by the beauty of the language and I passed the TOPIK beginner exam!

STEP 3:  DELICIOUS KOREAN FOOD MADE ME CONTENTED

From watching drama and getting inspired by their beautiful scenery, to picking up the Korean language, it led me to Step 3 - to appreciate all kinds of Korean food Korea has!

From healthy Kim Chi which is actually made from fermented cabbage mixed with spicy sauce, to the welknown mixed rice with vegetable known as Bi Bim Bap - Korea never fail to surprise me with their variety of food! My favourite is Sam Gye Tang which is Chicken boiled in Ginseng Soup, it's light and good for health, great to be served as a morning dish or during the cold weather. Gam Ja Tang which is known as potato soup is also a great food to have when you are craving for something warm! 

While it's summer,it's good to go for a refreshing bowl of noodles deep in cold soybean soup which is known as Gung Guk Su, or perhaps a bowl of cold noodles with ice which is welknown as Mul Naeng Myeon! Of course when it's hot, it's always great to opt for some icey cold dessert filled with all kinds of fruits, nuts, ice cream etc like Pap Bing Su! I've learned that Koreans also like to bond with family and friends over a good session of BBQ Sam Gyeop Sal which is known as 3 layers pork, or over a cup of beer with awesome spicy chicken or fried chicken, also known as Chi-Mek (Chicken + Beer)! Not forgetting, remember to grab a Kim Bap as a snack, it's rice with different ingredients rolled with dried seaweed!

STEP 4:  PRETTY KOREAN TRADITIONAL DRESS MADE ME A LADY

After the first 3 steps, it took step 4 to make me love Korea culture even more because the traditional dress, or also called "Han-Bok" in Korean, changed me from an ordinary girl to a pretty lady! It is exciting to know that there are different designs to indicate different statuses of the people who is wearing it. Also, it also has its designs made according to different purposes for example - common daily dress, wedding dress, ceremonial dress etc.

STEP 5:  AMAZING KPOP MUSIC MADE MY HEART SKIP A BEAT

Korean dramas showed me the beauty scenery of Korea, Korean language taught me on Korean cultures, Korean food let me see more of Korean's everyday life, Korean traditional hanbok helped me to learn to have respect for different statuses. The last step that took me to go full swing loving Korea - is step 5 - Awesome Kpop music from Korea!

I started to have an affection for Korean pop music for it's beautiful music arrangement and the fact that they like to include amazing raps into their songs regardless it's a pop song or a ballad. Not to forget, the lyrics are meaningful and some are even inspiring like a song from "Dream High" which encourage us not to give up our dreams! Korean Kpop concerts never fail us, they are grand, and always interactive and fun!

So there you go, 5 easy steps that inspired me to start loving Korea!

Step 1: Korean dramas showed me the beauty of Korea

Step 2: Korean language taught me more about Korean culture

Step 3: Delicious Korean food made me contented

Step 4: Pretty Korean traditional dress made me a lady

Step 5: Amazing Kpop music made my heart skip a beat 

...and I've started my journey to love Korea!

A Whole New Shopping Experience - World's First Virtual Shopping Store opens in Korea!

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I Miss Sikhye!

Sikhye is not a guy, nor a Kpop artist.

Sikhye is this:

COOL DRINK: Sikhye or also known as Korean Rice Beverage

Credits: Shira @ Naver

I just got back from badminton and at times like this I really wished I could drink Sikhye! I, no I mean anyone who goes to Jim Jil Bang 찜질방 in Korea will definitely order a bottle of Sikhye to cool down themselves. You'll also see some ajummas selling Sikhye at tourist sites like hiking areas or waterfalls.

TOP 6 THINGS YOU MUST KNOW ABOUT SIKHYE (식혜)

1. It's pronounced as Shik - Hye!
2. It's sweet!
3. It's fermented from Korean rice!
4. It's readily available in cans or plastic bottles!
5. It's a local popular beverage among the Koreans especially at public saunas!
6. It helps digestion!

If you're ever going to Korea, do order a bottle of 식혜 Sikhye! It would cost around 1000 won a bottle. :)

Type Korean Like A Pro!

I've always love playing typing game! I guessed that was how I got my typing speed fast! Well that's for typing ABCs. Ever played Korean typing game?

Last time I used to practise my typing by following lyrics and I just kept on typing and typing and typing!

Later on I found out there's this cool site to practise your typing speed! Although I can type Korean without looking at the keyboard now but once a while I still make some mistakes thus, I'm still playing this typing game!

First thing you need to make sure: 
You have a Korean keyboard set. In order to do that just go to Control Panels and add Korean as your language.

Introducing you Daum Kids Typing Game!

There are 3 categories: Character, Words, Sentences.

Category 1: Character

 All you have to do is just to type the specific hangul word and click enter to kill off the bombs!

Category 2: Words

 This category has 7 levels and the speed of the bombs are faster as the level increases. So type it and hit enter before it lands! If you aim to type fast, you should practise Category 2 more. I always had a hard time when it's double consonant because I've to press shift! 

Category 3: Sentences

For most advance typers. They show you your scores and your accuracy. See the numbers below? 

First row (L to R): Your current score / Your average score

Second row (L to R): Your highest score / Your accuracy

Unfortunately I don't know how they count the scores haha. So I always look at accuracy and keep making sure my scores are higher and higher every time. Anyone knows how they count? If you love to see how accurate you can be, Category 3 is the best start for you!

Click here to SITE

Have fun typing and hope it helps you improve your Korean typing skills! Do you know of other interesting sites?

My Top 10 Kpop Christmas Song!

Christmas is near, so near! Koreans celebrate Christmas with great decorations, church performances and yes, Kpop Christmas songs! In South Korea, the population is majority Christians if we exclude those without any religions. You can see churches everywhere. At night, the cross on the churches will be lit up and if you see it from above, you'll be able to see many lighted crosses! Mostly in red or in yellow. That's not only during Christmas season, but every day! Did you know that the largest congregation (more than 1,000,000 members) in the whole wide world is in South Korea? It's the Yoido Full Gospel Church. I've personally been there and I can tell you it's amazing, everything is so magnificent and you can totally feel God's presence! Yeap, I'm a Christian!

Now back to our topic - Top Kpop Christmas song! I've a few which I really love dearly.

#1 - SHOW ME YOUR LOVE by SUPER JUNIOR & TVXQ
This is my very very very first Christmas song by TVXQ and Super Junior when they just debuted! They looked so different years back then, so pure and innocent, so fresh! I'll always remember how YooChun rapped "not that CALL". Seeing this video made me teary, I miss Kibum, Han Kyung, Kang In, JYJ!!


#2 - THE FIRST NOEL by TVXQ
The peaceful Korean version. Again, I miss them as a whole. Don't all Cassiopeia misses them?


#3 - PRAYER by SHINHWA
Every Kpop fan who grew up since the H.O.T. era, would greatly appreciate legendary Kpop like H.O.T & Shinhwa. They're the first generation of the strong Hallyu wave. They are the ones whose songs and dances are always covered by the Kpop artists now like U-Kiss or Beast! This song is so lovely, and the lyrics are exactly the words you would want to hear when you are discouraged and you need strength!


#4 - EVERYDAY IS A MERRY CHRISTMAS by PARK JUNG MIN
Park Jung Min's voice never fails to serenade me to sleep. Although his 'Not Alone' is a great song to comfort us that we're not along during Christmas, I would still pick this song for the season!


#5 - CHRISTMAS WITH YOU by SE7EN
Se7en was one of my top Kpop artist for his song writing talent and dance! I particularly like this song from his album 'Must Listen'. It's really a Must listen! It's that kind of song you would love to play at the background while you and your lover are having a great time together with champagne under the mistletoe!


#6 - FIRST SNOW FIRST KISS by DALMATION ft BEAST YOSEUB
Ok this song makes me sway to the left and to the right when it comes to the bridge! Totally love the bridge!


#7 - THIS CHRISTMAS by JYP NATION (JYP, 2PM, 2AM, WONDERGIRLS, TABLO ETC)
You know how Entertainment companies love to produce their own special company Christmas vids? I love JYP's most because point number one, JYP is in it; point number two - somehow their video seems more homely and warm. Maybe it's nice to see the director singing along with them. JYP is one different outstanding director in this field, he sings, dances, writes, choreo and more!


#8 - CHRISTMAS SERENADE by 4MEN, MI & BEBE MIGNON
Everyone loves 4Men's voice don't they? The beautiful voices playing at the background of the drama "Boys Over Flowers". This song was made perfect with Mi & BeBe Mignon added into it. Their vocals are so complementing! Makes the song feels Christmasy too!


#9 - MERRY CHRISTMAS IN ADVANCE by IU & THUNDER
I always thought that IU's voice is suitable for Christmas song :) I'm right! And MBLAQ's Thunder add a sweet twist to the whole song and I love it!


#10 - NO OTHER by SUPER JUNIOR
Honestly, this is not a Christmas song. But I think it's totally great for it to be dedicated during Christmas! Would it be because they're giving gifts or doing special stuffs for their loved ones that's why there's such Christmas feeling? :) Dedicate it to someone whom you want to tell them that there's no other like him/her and he/her is such a great gift and lovely person!


UPCOMING - WHITE CONFESSION by INFINITE
This is the teaser which stirred all Infinite lovers. How will the song be like? The background music made it seem it's gonna be a lovey dovey christmas song to someone you love again!


So, WHAT is your favourite Kpop Christmas song or which song you would like to dedicate during Christmas and WHY?

Looking For My Horse

I'm looking for my horse! 말 찾아요!!! (mal  cha-ja-yo)!

말 mal : Horse
찾아요 cha-ja-yo: Finding/Looking for

It's one beautiful necklace I bought when I was at Korea. I bought it at the streets of Hong Dae, the most famous clubbing area of Seoul. But today after my meeting, the only thing left hanging on my neck is my chain not the horse :(

This is the picture of my horse captured in 하늘공원 (ha-neul: Sky | gong-won: Garden). If you ever visit Seoul you must take a subway to World Cup Stadium and visit this Sky Garden it's really lovely :)

A picture of my lost horse:

Book Review: Special Date

Anyong! 

I love So Nyeo Shi Dae's comic book series! In fact, I got to know that elementary school girls love to read such comic books! Thought it would be great for me to read up and I took one of my host's daughter's book to read.

If you have some decent level of Korean language, you will really enjoy this comic series a lot! Every book is on different topics, ranging from fashion, to hair style, to food, and my favourite would be "Special Date". In Korean it's called 특별한 데이트 (teuk-byeol-han de-i-teu)

특별한 teuk-byeol-han: Special. It comes from the Chinese word 特别

데이트 de-i-teu: date (this is pretty much obvious)

Note that the "특 teuk" is same as Super Junior's 이특 Lee Teuk's "teuk"

Anyway back to the book! The Cover! Isn't it lovely? :)

For those who can read Korean, you will realised the conversation is actually quite simple! Trust me, you'll be able to enjoy this book a lot if your Korean level is intermediate, and you'll be able to learn a lot through reading as well! Well that's one of the ways I picked up Korean. Some snap shots:

Let me pick 2 phrase to share (it's based on the last 2 dialouges from the above picture):

1. 좋아하는 사람 (cho-a-ha-neun  sa-ram): Someone you like; 喜欢的人

좋아하는 cho-a-ha-neun : like

사람 sa-ram : person

So let's say if one day you want to show off some skills by saying "I have someone I like", just add 있어요 (is-sseo-yo: have/exist).

So the sentence will be: 좋아하는 사람 있어요 (cho-a-ha-neun sa-ram is-seo-yo)

2. 누군데? (nu-gun-de): Who is it??

Pretty easy right, these 2 phrases? ;)

Hope you learned a thing or 2!

For those who are interested to order this comic book do write to herkoreanthings@gmail.com! :) 

Halloween The Kpop Way!

Anyong! Happy Halloween 해피 할로윈 (Hae-pee-hal-lo-win)!!!

It's Halloween! I've celebrated on Saturday night it was awesome! 재미있어!

I know this is rather late but anyway I finally had some time to post about Halloween, the Kpop way! Better late than never, 맞죠 (maj-jyo | right)?

How was your Halloween and what were your costumes? If you are having Halloween party tonight and you have no idea in mind yet, this super last minute post might help you out!

MC Mong - Red Indian

Orange Caramel - Fairy Tale Characters!

So Nyeo Shi Dae - Bond Girls

 Boys Over Flowers & Play Full Kiss - School Kids!

 Dong Bang Shin Gi - Animal Costumes (From 'Balloons' MV)

Wonder Girls - Pucca 

T-ARA: Cats

B2ST - Policeman

These are a few I thought of! :) I personally like B2ST, they look so smart in it! By the way, Halloween in Korea is very happening as well especially in Itaewon, the place famous for foreigners. Was reading Chris' blog and he posted a picture of what happened in the subway. 

FREAKY! Credits: Chris@chrisinsouthkorea

무서워요!

MU-SEO-WO-YO

It means SCARY!!!!

해피 할로윈! Hae-pee-hal-lo-win!!!

나 (na: me)