4th July 2010: A day at the Korean "Land of Festival for 365 days"

This was the most exciting day in Korea...so much in a day!

We have a free and easy morning in Seoul. Adventurous Sze Wan would not waste any time abroad lingering in the hotel room. :D So early morning I dated the 2 other Lims to join me to visit the Gyeongbokgung Palace. However both the Lims just didn't have the fate to witness the palace greatly blessed by heaven.

The front desk personnel was very helpful. He gave me a map and lead me to the palace on public transport. I traveled on subway line 5 from Yeouinaru to Gwanghwamun. It took me close to an hour to get to the palace from our hotel, a short walk from hotel to the Yeouinaru passing the Yeouido Park and the LG twin towers, the subway ride and another short walk along Gwanghwamun Square.

I arrived at the palace minutes before 10am. Got my ticket and digital guide both at close to RM10 each. Reasonable charges...but too bad that my digital guide didn't work out at first, wasted much of my time. I have less than 45 minutes to spend in the palace but I enjoyed my visit. The architecture was impressive. Really a lot of restoration effort placed in maintaining the 6 centuries old palace. I could not find appropriate words to describe the palace but I would name this palace as a must visit place in South Korea.

I rushed back to Lexington after the short visit...took a little break at the Haechi Madang. 'Haechi' is the mascot of Seoul. It guards Seoul citizens by bringing justice, safety and fortune to the people. So before leaving the exhibition, I got myself a Haechi shaped bookmark. May it keep me safe and well at all time.

I got back to hotel minutes after 12. Relieved to discover that I wasn't the last but on the other hand, I felt bad for branding Malaysia wrongly. After awhile we departed to Yongin for one of the Asia most exciting theme park. We experienced a little havoc during lunch distribution. Thank god that they have a little to spare and managed to pull it even.

We arrived at the Everland Resort Home Bridge Cabin Hostel a little bit ahead of schedule. So I got some time to refresh and for our contingent meeting. Oh not to forget to mention, I got a room to myself again :D.

By 3.30pm, we were all in the hall for mini camp. This was the first official meet up with the Mexican and Alzerbaijian delegates. We were suppose to present our country here but as usual, our presentation was ok after a last minute spice up suggested by me. Initially, we were to have our NL to give a short lecture on general and geographical facts about our country and I translate it, we added a simple 'Rasa Sayang' song into the presentation.

After the Three-party Mini Camp I, we were divided into 3 small groups as usual and with the guide of So Young and Gisu, we ventured in the Everland. This was surely one of the most exciting theme park that I have been to. I really scared everyone off. The 1st ride that we were on was the T-express. It is the world steepest wooden roller coaster...hooray!

The park was so huge. We, the adventerous few with the company of Inae and Jisu. Our day in Everland was filled with thrilled and adventurous ride, Double Rock Spin, Rolling X-Train, Hurricane, Amazon Express, Mystery Mansion and Rotating House...hooray! We stopped for dinner at the Holland Village. I loved the Kimchi Fried Rice with Pork Chop. As usual the appetizers were provided free, but I wished to highlight their marinated turnip...a little sweet and sour dish and very crunchy.

Besides those adventurous rides, we manage to catch the Moonlight Parade. The nicely decorated and brightly lid flower cars and mascot together with the cheering background song, it was like I am back to my childhood. The most impressive performance in Everland was the Dream of Laciun light, water and fire performance. The scale of the performance was huge but everything was so detailed and precise. The sound effect was good even in an open space. We love Everland and were so reluctant to leave the park for the Three-party Mini Camp II.

Anyway it was a great time at the Mini Camp. For at least we have more opportunity to mingle with the Mexican and Azerbaijan. I guessed it would be a cooler party if we could get some drinks there. The party ended at 11pm...a little too early for us. The night was still young for the 3 LIMs. Initially we intended to join Jungeun for a couple of drinks but we ended up having pillow talk with Souk Hung. So much that we could talk about...so much has been shared...the talk continued till wee hours.

Another extreme and fantastic day in Korea. Glad to have met so many superb Koreans!

For more photos,please refer to FB album

3rd July 2010: Another great museum visit

Woke up refresh and recharged in this Korean soil. It was a long and interesting day for me.

My day started with breakfast at 8am in the hotel's coffee shop...yummy sausages and sashimi :P After meal, we met up with a group of Korean youth delegates which includes Soomin, our guide to Myeong-dong on the night before.

We were brought to the Seoul COEX, Convention & Exhibition Center. Here we were divided into 3 smaller group and each assigned 1 or 2 Korean youth guide. I was in 3rd group with KB and 3 others and being guided into Seoul Auto Salon Auto Service 2010 by Grace. She spoke fluent English and to my surprise she majored Scandinavian Languages in Hankuk University. Interesting major...wonder if we have this back at home.

Those interior and exterior modifications exhibited at the auto show were nice but i doubt they were legal on road. Nevertheless, the cars were interesting but the models seemed to be more interesting to many. I enjoyed photographing both the cars and models. I really wished if I could grab hold of my 1000D and captured all this great stuffs. Lesson learned, never travel without my DSLR no matter how difficult it is to carry them everywhere.

As we have some time to kill after our visit, we headed to the shopping mall on the basement. Many familiar brands could be found here. We visited a music stores. I discovered that the average price of albums in Korea was almost similar to Malaysia. Even Koreans production was as expensive as in Malaysia too. And I learnt that Wonder Girls, Super Junior and Rain were not that hot in Korea after all. There were much more better ones.

During noon, we headed to ...could not recall what that area was called now. We took our lunch in a typical local restaurant but not the typical Korean dishes. We got toufu as the main dish and few other cold dishes. It was a nice to experience the Korean food using the Korean way, with flat chopsticks and long spoons. Not to forget their rice in stoneware which one could filled it with some water to produce tea like soup for after meal. The environment was nice as well. Our delegates were mingling well with the Koreans delegates. "사랑해요, Sarang he yo" was the most spoken Korean words by the group.

After the meal, we went to the National Museum of Korea. This was the most interesting program of the day. We were give 1 and a half hours in the museum and another hour to watch the summer cultural performance. 1 and a half hours were not enough for KB and I. We have Grace to guide us through the museum and she was pretty good in explaining about their history to us. We could only cover 2 stories out of the 3 stories exhibition hall but we really did enjoyed it. We wished we could have more time in the museum.

At 3pm, we were back at the entrance of the museum to catch the cultural performance. It was interesting to see how they were able to swing the ribbon on their hat so easily and surprise to discover that they too have their version of 舞虎. The performers also sang a traditional folk song.

Next was dinner time again. This round, we got a whole grilled mackerel to go with 밥 Bap...short-grain rice, thick miso and numerous cold dishes. This meal was really enjoyed by everyone.

After the full meal, we were transported to the ChongDong Theater for the Traditional Korean Arts Stage, MISO. We also got to try on the traditional Korean clothing, the Hanbok 한복. We looked gorgeous in it but seriously the head dress was too heavy for me. My head was tilted all the time.

Then at 8pm sharp, MISO began. It was a story about the love of a lady. In that one and a half hours performance, they managed to showcase to us the Korean traditional dance move, musical instruments and narrative song as well as more of their traditional clothings. It was an interesting performance but I was just too tired and at some point some scenes were too long. I actually dozed off at some points but still managed to capture the message of the performance. Blame it on me please!

poster from visitKorea site. No photo shooting or recording was allowed in there :S

It was an interesting day and we have got a lot of interaction with the Korean youth delegates. All of them have very interesting profiles. Grace majoring in Scandinavian languages, Cha Hee did her internship in Sweden, Soomin doing some international relations(Japanese) and many more with unbelievable profiles. Envy of their system. They really do promote diversity but at the same time still preserved their national identity.

For more photos,please refer to FB album

2nd July 2010: Impressive Koreans

~Written on the Korean soil~

We finally touched down in Incheon International Airport at about 7.30am. The airport facilities was impressive, there were AEDs everywhere. Though it was not as happening as Singapore Changi Airport and Hong Kong International Airport, it deserved the to be in the list of world 5 stars airport ranking by Skytrax with the other 2.

At the arrival hall, we were greeted by the program manager, Ms. Yu, Mr. Park, Mr. Kim and Ms. Sung. They all spoke fluently in English. We were then transported to the Lexington Hotel passing the Incheon City into the Seoul Metropolitan , experiencing the Seoul traffic.

Malaysian delegation with Ms Yu and Mr Park

When we finally reached the hotel, wao....never thought of getting such a luxurious accommodation. It was a 3 or 4 stars hotel and I was lucky to get the room to myself.

After refreshing ourselves, we gathered at the lobby and went to the hotel restaurant for buffet lunch. This was the first hiccups for the Korean. Our fellow countrymen did not eat those food saying that the food was non halal. With all due respect for my friends, especially the one seated in front of me, I didn't eat much as well despite the superb food being laid.

As I was appointed to be the interpreter for our Malaysian delegation, I have to explained our situation to the Koreans and asked for more vegetarian or seafood meals for our team. It was really hard to explain to them on our Malaysian understanding of 'Halal' food. Got to cover the type of meat, slaughtering method as well as the utensil used. :S Just discovered that the middle East Islamic followers were less strict in terms of food selection.

After the meal, we headed to the Seoul Transport Operation and Information Service, TOPIS operation center. This was the control and monitor hub of the transportation system in Seoul. They have a super impressive and well organized system. The system covered managing the subway system and public buses as well as road traffic management. They have CCTV to monitor the traffic flow as well as the monitor regulation violator. Summons could be issued remotely from here. The visit ended with another round of hiccups from our delegation. Some irrelevant questions were asked :S

monitoring illegal parking violation and issuing summons

We got back to hotel at close to 4pm. The original plan to visit to Cheonggyecheon Stream was canceled due tot he heavy rain. Anyway we 3 LIMs managed to sneak out when the rain lessen and before dinner. We walked around Yoido and stopped by the Yeouido Park, a huge green park in business hub. We discovered many interesting signages and landmarks. We even got to try eomuk, 어묵 by a street vendor.

It was in heavy rain when we went out for dinner at a nearby restaurant, 'Spaghettia'. We were served with vegetarian linguine and seafood spagetthi. It was a quick arrangement by Kim to cater to our special needs. Thank him for such a quick respond!

We also got to meet a new Korean friend, Soomin during dinner. She was so nice to guide us to Myeongdong Market after dinner. So this was my first subway encounter in Seoul. We took the subway line 9 from the National Assembly and transited at Dongjak to Myeong-dong on line 4 subway. After the ride I could only conclude that Seoul was really huge. It took us close to 45minutes to get to our destination.

Anyway it was a worth while journey as I enjoyed shopping for facial product there. They were so cheap here, close to half the price they were sold in Malaysia and all the stalls were so generous in giving away freebies and samples. Luckily we only have limited time there if not I could finish all my money in a night :D

The journey back was interesting as well. Thanks to Soomin for those clear instructions and my excellent instinct *got used to traveling alone in foreign places :P, we didn't have any difficulty getting back to our hotel.

As a whole it was a short day but I enjoyed being in a foreign place and to explore the differences. Looking forward for more on the following days and hope that the rain would stop on the following days!

Not to forget to mention about great Korean hospitality. Kim equipped us an umbrella each after learning that we were not prepared for the weather.

For more photos,please refer to FB album

2nd July 2010: Approximately 25,000ft above sea level

Despite the sucks PDT, I believe this will be a truly enjoyable trip. The PDT started on the 30th in the Kompleks Rakan Muda Mont Kiara. With the lack of planning, we wasted most of our time there. We made full use of our time by doing last minute shopping and got our name card printed.

Our journey from the kompleks to KLIA was really terrible. The bus was in bad shape, moving at average of 10km/h, dragging the wheels all the way to Putrajaya where we were transferred into another bus. We were worried that we would not make it in time :S

Upon our arrival at airport, we headed to the check in counter and glad to leave our extra huge luggage behind. Never on any of my trip abroad, I have such a loaded bag. I would have packed differently if I were being informed about itinerary earlier.

Anyway, there's nothing to worry about the huge luggage as we were flying on business class. For me, it was superb to learn that I was entitled to the MH frequent flyer miles :-). As we are flying on business class, we got to use the golden club lounge. I tried to psycho the team into the terminal earlier so that we could enjoy and indulge there but some suggested that only light meals will be serve there hence we got to stay out till 9pm.

When we finally got into the Golden Lounge, many regretted for having their dinner out. PT and I enjoyed savoring those yummy delicacies and not to forget our refreshing shower after the sweaty and smelly bus ride.

We boarded our flight on time however there was a short delay due to other connecting flights delay. Anyway it was a pleasant flight on a super spacious and comfy seat. My seat could be lowered all the way and still would not caused any uneasiness to the person behind. After the satay at supper and a shot of Tia Maria, I just laid down and dozed off till the time for breakfast a little while ago.

What more can I expect on this trip? Looking forward to Korea. The next post I have will be written on the Korean soil.

감사합니다!

For more photos,please refer to FB album

True Meaning of Exchange Program

I was in Korea for Korea Malaysia Youth Exchange Program which was jointly organized by Ministry of Youth and Sports Malaysia and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Korea. This was my 2nd exchange program abroad. My first was a 2 and half months in India under AIESEC, :-) another cool NGO run by youth and especially for youth development.

As I was not given any prior hiccups on the program itinerary in South Korea and with my tight and tiring schedule at work, I didn't have much time left to do any reading on South Korea culture. I went to South Korea with an open mind and without any expectation.

With this mindset and perhaps with my past experience being in exchange program as well as running the program itself, I could cope with the cultural difference very well. Through my experience, I found many have the wrong perception of cultural exchange program. In my opinion, cultural exchange program was not just a program where people go abroad and shout out loud about their country or parade with their flags.

For the visiting delegates, I personally felt that it was time where we learn by interacting and listening to people. Of course there were times when we should promote our culture to the hosting country but that didn't mean that all our conversations only revolved around my homeland. We didn't need to call for intensive Malay language class. In my case, I did talk a lot about non Malaysia related issues. This didn't mean that I don't love my country; instead it reflected the maturity level and intelligence of general Malaysians.

Secondly I found it very annoying when people were not sincere and honest in their speech and gesture. We all respect each other individually. The best way to make friends is to be honest to each other. There was no need to say you love the food or pretended that you enjoy the food when you didn't even eat them due to religious believe. I would prefer my guest telling me that they couldn't eat them and would prefer an instant noodle instead.

In an exchange program, host country plays an important role as well. It is really a difficult role to play especially dealing with a big group. On one hand, he needs to promote his culture to his guests and on the other hand, he needs to respect their needs and preferences. So it is best for the host to always communicate with his guests to know their cultural acceptance limit as well as their preferences.

As a whole, the Koreans have done a great job in sharing their culture with us while we fellow Malaysians have a lot to brush up on our hospitality way and we seriously need to raise our cultural acceptance level...maybe CCAP program Korea can be adapted here ;-)

Lastly I would like to thank my host especially Kim, Bryanna, Ms Yu and Park for being such a lovely and accommodating host. Not to forget my new found friends, the group of energetic youth delegates from Korea. I enjoyed my stay there very much thanks to you all!

To all my fellow countrymen heading abroad and to all our exchange program hosts to be, please prove to the world that Malaysians no longer live in our own caves. We are part of the global citizens.