Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Myeongdong


So after having cabin fever after only a day of being stuck indoors, it seemed well enough with the weather to go out and explore some more! I asked my friend Kristen to go to Myeongdong with me and so we set off at around 6pm!

I’d heard it doesn’t get very busy or exciting until then, so we grabbed the subway and made our way there as the sun went down…which was awesome, because you got to see all the incredible lights.
They have literally every brand here…what can you spot?


Converse, Nature Republic, Timberland, Landrover, Nike, Spao…and that’s only one small section of a street in Myeongdong! This place is amazing…this is definitely what I’ll miss when I go back home! There’s so much you don’t even know where to begin, you just know that you want to right away! We originally went for a specific Kpop store (I have friends to send gifts home to!) but we stayed for about five hours because it was so amazing. Have you ever seen a three story Dunkin Donuts in person?


No, you probably haven’t. But I did, and I about screamed. There was even a huge BSX store there that was clearly endorsed by G-Dragon of popular hip hop group Big Bang.


He was everywhere inside that store, and since my friend was a huge fan of G-Dragon, we had to stop in! They had some great clothes, just too expensive for this trip to Myeongdong. There are also nature republic shops EVERYWHERE in Korea! There had to be four or five at least in Myeongdong alone.


Jang GeunSuk is the model for Nature Republic so he was also everywhere. You literally cannot escape his face in Korea. The store that we went into had the coolest wooden exterior though, it was beautiful. It was two stories up for an entire make-up and skin care store…GeunSuk everywhere…


This Nature Republic building was the building we had to go into to get to Music Korea, the kpop store we’d planned to visit. The kpop store was on the 3rd floor of the building, and you instantly knew it as soon as you saw the posters and giant wall sized posters!…took this for my friend Kirtie, I knew she’d enjoy it~


I didn’t want to take any photos inside the store, I didn’t know if that was allowed, but it was so amazing…walking into a store and seeing Kpop CDs was really weird, but really great. All the MBLAQ things they had I already owned, so I bought Two-X’s debut mini album and TaeTiSo’s Twinkle album for myself and picked up Beast’s new album “Midnight Sun” for Kirtie and Ukiss’ “Neverland” album for Ali! I hope you guys like them! 


After that store, we continued to walk around and we found this cool building.


I love rainbows, so a huge rainbow building is something I had to take a picture of! Then we made our way down some more back streets…to be honest, no street is a back street in Myeongdong! Every single street is filled with people and shops…


We even found the really huge ice cream street vendor and we shared a cone! Seriously, they’re supposed to be about 30cm in length…and they were huge! But so, so delicious…


This is my friend Kristen who went with me showing off the ice cream. Haha, we were so sweaty by this point that ice cream was exactly what we needed! As we walked, we couldn’t stop staring at the architecture of some of these buildings! This was the entrance to a 3 story Forever21…it was so beautiful! Wooden looking beams and everything! 


After exploring for so long, we hobbled home exhausted and went our separate ways. Finally taking my shoes off was so nice…my feet ache! But I still managed to get a few shots of what I bought in Myeongdong!

First, I was bummed I had everything MBLAQ has released so I got a small clear file-like thing from a street vendor, haha! Only 2$, and it’s about the size of my computer screen!


I also got a shirt, but I have no idea what it says. I just thought it looked funny with the lady’s leg on it.
I also got a hat that I’d wanted for a long time~


My webcam is mirrored, but it says “KING” on the front~ (please don't mind my face...I'm really exhausted and sweaty! ㅠㅠ) I didn’t take a picture of the blemish hider I got from Nature Republic because it’s pretty standard like the states~ I can’t wait to go back to Myeongdong and pick up more things! Dad, if you’re reading this…don’t worry! Everything tonight cost under 75$ total!

So today really ended up being eventful! I’m very excited, and also…my favorite group announced they’ll be releasing their concert dvd in Korea! I can go buy it, hooray!

I hope everyone is well!

Love from Korea~
Kai

Monday, August 27, 2012

Food post 1!


Today I didn’t do much…I’d planned a skype date with Andi, and we went a little overboard.

So after talking with her for a long time, I went downstairs to the convenience store and bought some food…I was running low on things to drink and had no food left to eat for lunch or dinner. As I was down there browsing foods, I decided to get some stuff to review for the blog, since I was completely aware I’d have nothing of interest to write about today.

For lunch, I got the same sandwich that I’d gotten before. The bulgogi meat patties on a bun. I took a picture this time to show you!

It really isn’t that bad, even the second time eating it. When I’m in a pinch to eat, that might be my go-to food item to buy. It’s cheap and fills me up. I also decided to get a snack to try…I’d seen some American brand snacks that I wanted to try in Korea, so I picked up a bag of Doritos.


I go the Nacho Cheese since the other flavor was something along the lines of “REALLY HOT”, and if it’s really hot to everyone else, it’s simply mild to Koreans. They like their “HOT AND SPICY” to be “burn down your esophagus and fizz your eyeballs out”. I didn’t want to try that flavor just yet. The flavor isn’t as strong as the Nacho cheese back in the states. It’s not as orange as back home, either. I like it though, it’s more of a mild taste. It’s definitely still nacho cheese (even though it’s not as strong tasting). After grabbing the nachos, I got a bottle of Milkis.


Along with Chilsung, I used to get this back at home all the time as well. It’s a really strange drink to describe but I love its flavor. It tastes like a soda float to me…like ice cream and sprite. When you pour it out, it doesn’t look very appetizing…


Kind of like dishwasher detergent, right? I think that Milkis is something that you either love or hate. I love it, but I know of other people who really hate it. But if you can find it, I recommend you to try it! For dinner, I picked up a boxed Tonkatsu lunch.



I’d been eyeing these different box lunches for a while and when I saw Tonkatsu, I decided to buy it and try it out! It was only 3,000won so I’m not sure how it’ll taste. It’s got the pork cutlet, small portion of kimchi, rice, and what looks like….curry, maybe? It tastes to me like curry. The tonkatsu part is okay, it’s nothing compared to the restaurant style made here, but that’s to be expected. The rice isn’t half bad either. The kimchi has a bit of a seafood taste, which is different for me. Since I’m not a huge fan of yellow curry, I think I’m gonna pass on eating it. With my meal, I decided to try the ever famous Korean banana milk.


This drink is hugely recognized because it’s shown all the time in dramas. Since I’m not a fan of banana flavored things, I wasn’t sure if I’d like this at all, but figured I’d give it a shot. When I say I’m not a fan of banana flavoring, I mean I actually hate it. But the banana milk…isn’t bad! Since it has more of a milk taste than a banana taste, I actually enjoy it. I’m pretty shocked!

Well, this was the food I tried today. It’s said that the typhoon is supposed to hit tonight or tomorrow, and all the things that were scheduled for tomorrow have been postponed until an unknown date. I think that they forced schools to close tomorrow, too. It’s starting to get windier outside.

This is the view from the common room on my floor. It’s so beautiful, despite the fact it’s getting dark. 


Added: As it got dark, the sky got pink and blue! So cool!


Anyway, I’ll update you all later! I might have a really unproductive day tomorrow as well, if it’s raining…oh well!

Love you all!

-Kai

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Home Plus


Today I called up a new friend, Kristen, and she agreed she would go to Home Plus with me! I’ve wanted to go for a while but I’ve never known where one was. All I could find was information about a Home Plus in Jamsil, close to Lotte World. It’s far from Yonsei, but we decided to go anyway.

When we got there, we were amazed…it was about 5 stories high with every floor being for something different! They even had criss-crossing escalators that had no steps and you took your cart on them! It was amazing and I genuinely wish our stores back in the states were like this.

We each had lists of things we needed, but we wandered quite a bit, haha. I got several things I needed like...

a cup/fork/spoon set (which technically was in the children’s section, but I’m a child at heart) that had Miffy the bunny on it,



a super cute umbrella with really adorable details (I WILL find a way to get this back to the states), 


towels,

a shirt that I thought was hilarious,

house slippers,

and a present for Andi back home (and presents for others, but those are a surprise so no pictures!)
I didn’t take a picture of the cute cardigan I got (I don’t know why) or the extra pillow I bought, but it was a pretty productive day.

After the long subway ride back, my arms packed full of things to hold, we stopped by a Holly’s Coffee where I got a sandwich to take home for dinner and Kristen broke a 50 for change to use a cab to get back to her hotel.

When we parted ways, I had to walk all the way back up to SK Global house…and it was scorching hot again. I was sweating so bad and that was about when I realized I hadn’t eaten anything all day. My stomach was crying out in pain…I rushed home and immediately opened the sandwich to eat, but not before I got a picture to show~

It was ham and cheese, I think, but it was great. The bread was awesome! The whole sandwich was only around 3,000-4,000 won. After I ate it, I downed a good bit of Chilsung Cider and felt a lot better. The air conditioning is on and I feel pretty good~

I’m exhausted though, because I walked a lot. We weren’t exactly sure where the Home Plust market was when we exited the subway, but we found it after a long bout of walking. Either way, it was a really fun day and I had a blast with Kristen.

We have a lot in common so I think it’ll be a fun semester with her~

Tomorrow I have a skype date with Andi, so who knows if I’ll do much aside from that! I’ll update you all later!

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Lazy day…


Well…today I woke up with a little cold. I must have caught it from being in the rain for so long last night! >____< I slept in really late because I didn't feel good…

When I finally woke up, I took a shower quickly and went to the G25 (pretty sure that’s the name of convenience store) in the basement of my building and got some things to eat…I didn’t want a lot so I just got a microwave sandwich and some Pringles. The sandwich was bulgogi patties (or at least that’s what the packaging said) on a long bun with lettuce and mayo…I took the lettuce off because it got soggy from the mayo and I thought it looked gross.

The whole sandwich itself didn’t look too terribly appetizing, but after heating it up and taking a bite, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. In fact, I ate the whole thing. Back in the states, I never ate mayo because I thought it tasted weird. Here in Korea though, I’ve noticed you can’t be too picky with your food: sometimes because what you don’t like just comes on it anyway and sometimes because I have no way of communicating what I don’t want on my food (or even knowing what DOES come on it).

Anyway, the Pringles were just Sour Cream & Onion…they taste about the same as back home, but the individual Pringles themselves are smaller, which I like.


I also got a big jug-o-Chilsung Cider. Those who know me from back home know that I got Chilsung from Hana, the Korean Market at Purdue, all the time…and I’m excited that I can go anywhere here and get it. It’s one of my favorite drinks.

I also got a free bottle of PU:R water! It tastes like water, surprise. It’s safe to drink filtered water here, so no worries to those who weren’t sure about that back home. The pink drink is Vitamin Water, which we also have back home in the states. I got this flavor, which is supposed to be Kiwi Strawberry…and I regret it. It really doesn’t taste good at all, because it’s not like Powerade. It’s definitely like watered down powerade…bleck. I kept it anyway because I paid money for it and if I really need a drink, it’ll do. Ha.

After eating, I decided to try and find the fitness room since I was tired of just laying in my room. I still didn’t feel too well but I had antsy legs…I had to move or go somewhere. I wandered around on floor B2 and eventually stumbled upon the fitness room. There was a guy in there lifting weights that looked like they’d weigh what I weigh…I was impressed but also slightly intimidated. I didn’t want to look like a pansy in front of this guy, haha.

I got on the really awful elliptical and switched to a treadmill after a bit because it was in such bad shape. After about ten minutes on there, I felt really sick…so I had to leave and run back up to my room. I figured I should be done for the day…I didn’t want to get MORE sick.

Coming to dinner time, I figured I could start my laundry and grab some eats while they were washing. Laundry here is cheap, about 1,000 won for one load. That comes out to a little less than $1 USD. While waiting, I hopped over to a restaurant by the G25 store in the basement. I don’t remember the name, but I always read it as “Kinki”…that’s not it, but oh well.

There were very few people inside and I made it just before closing. I got Tonkatsu, or pork cutlet. It was about 6,000won (a little less than $6 USD)…it was called “big pork cutlet”, but for 6000won I expected a regular portion. When I got it, the cutlet alone was the size of my head…and it came with a side of rice, small salad, a few sweet pickles, and some fried potato skins. I was so shocked. I could only eat about ¾ of the cutlet and half of the rice! I picked at the salad and left the potato skins alone…I didn’t want them. But I love sweet pickles, so I devoured those~ Korea tends to like sweet pickles with a lot of things, so I was really happy to notice that! Thank you, Korea!

I had a while, so I picked at my food for a long time until the timer on my phone went off, signaling to go check on my clothes. I got back and had a few minutes left, and I started to wonder how I would get my sopping wet clothes back to my room…I had brought them down in my suitcase, but forgot that they’d be wet going back up (they don’t have driers here for students unless you get your clothes dry cleaned). I noticed a wall vending machine that sold big plastic bags for 500won…about 00.45 cents in USD. I bought one and was pleased when all my clothes could fit in it!


I made it back to my room and set up the air-drier that we use here. I know all the people older than me reading this will say “that’s how we had to dry clothes when I was young, that’s no big deal”…but for me, I’ve always had a drier! So for me, this was a new experience. I managed to get it set up on the tiny balcony and get all my clothes on it…oh boy, I’m not a failure! We’ll see what they’re like tomorrow morning. I just really hope it doesn’t rain tonight…


I decided to play it safe for the rest of the night and just hang out in my room. I’m still feeling a little under the weather, but tomorrow I have hopes of making my way to Jamsil to hit up a HomePlus…I really want to see what one is like! I’m just in my room now relaxing, listening to Nell, and writing. Not a bad ending to my day.

I hope my parents had a good flight back and enjoyed seeing our puppy dog again! I already miss her loads…hi Maddie (parents, that’s a queue to give her a big hug and kiss from me)! I also hope my brother had a good First Nighter with the Glee Club…miss you guys back home and I’ll try to skype some of you soon!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Orientation Day


Today was the first day of orientation at Yonsei! The orientation itself was….really, incredibly boring. It was the same stuff over and over again. I skipped out on the optional orientations because I was so tired that I came back to my dorm and took a nap.

I did get my student ID and proof of enrollment, though, so that was exciting! I took some time to go to the stationary office (which has a bunch of school supplies and stuff), and managed to pick up some cute un-lined notebooks, a small wallet for my Korean items I have to carry, and a clear file.


The two notebooks where impossible to pass up…here in Asia I can find Rilakkuma items, but at home it’s impossible and I have to order it import! If Rilakkuma is at my fingertips it’s hard not to buy~

I’m very happy with my desk space in my dorm room, I feel very comfortable here working on stuff~


Anyway, after I had my nap and went to the stationary store, I waited for the Mentor’s Club orientation to start. Mentor’s Club is a club on campus that pairs international students with a native Korean Yonsei student. Each Yonsei student has a group of six or seven international students, and we all meet up and do activities together.

I met up with my group, group six. They were all really, really great! We went out to eat and stayed there for three or four hours just talking, laughing, and playing Korean games! We drank rice wine and had Korean potato pancakes with warm kimchi. It was really great…I had an amazing time and met some great people! I’m excited to see them all again!

When we left, a few from the group and other groups wanted to go to a bar, but I passed…along with a couple others. We all decided to walk back to the dorm together, and it was pouring down rain….of course we had no umbrella! So we walked as fast as we could, but it still took at least 25 minutes to get back. We finally got back and went to our respective floors.

I could barely walk because I was so soaked. I took everything off at my door and grabbed a towel…after drying, I went to the convenience store in the basement of my dorm and got some Coke and Oreos…I needed some comfort food after getting so wet and cold!


Now, I’m sitting here watching the Simpsons and trying to get warm again. It was a good day and I’m glad I finally got to meet some new friends.

Ah, and on move-in day I bought a Korean cell phone…it’s really the smallest phone I’ve seen in a long time. It’s not a smart phone, and it’s hard to live without my touch screen and never-ending data plan! TT____TT


Oh, and Korea is bracing for the strongest typhoon to hit the nation this summer and possibly in years. " 


So we went from smoltering heat the last few weeks and now I’ll be swimming to class! I’ll keep everyone updated~

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Insadong


Today we went to Insadong, which is a place everyone says you have to go if you’re visiting Korea. It’s pretty tourist-y, but also incredibly fun to visit. It’s an open street market with cute shops and amazing food vendors.


We first made our way to the most well-known spot in Insadong, the building that you walk up with a bunch of different stores. Insadong is also an art district, so there were tons of galleries, but also in this building there were lots of names and things drawn on the walls. A few support beams were made up to look like trees.

On the walls, lots of people write their names, cool sayings, or their own names with their boyfriend or girlfriends names. I was standing next to a pillar and turned to see that someone had scribbled MBLAQ right at my eye level. It was weird because that’s my favorite group, and they’re not extremely popular in Korea…but I was happy to see it!


Up one of the stairwells they have a huge statue of a rose…it’s really awesome how they integrated art into their building as well as all over it on the walls!


It’s an upwards outdoor mall-like building, and you make your way to the top to see all the stores. It’s a really cool layout and fun to look at! The street kind of takes you out of the city and puts you down in a place that integrates the buildings in with nature. It’s really relaxing and calm.




We then passed cut-outs of Yunho and Changmin from DBSK and mom had to have her picture with them~



Throughout the entire city there are back alleyways with lots of places to eat. They all smelled so good TT__TT We stopped and got some Mandu, which is Korean dumplings. We got the deep fried one just to try, and it was so delicious.


As we were walking, we did get sucked in by the men making Korean candy. They were really fun and hilarious…I’ll post a video below too, hopefully you can hear them!


Here's a link to the video that I uploaded on youtube~


Tomorrow we go to Yonsei in the morning to move me into my dorm in SK Global! I'll give an update about that tomorrow~ I hope everyone back home is enjoying school so far and that the weather has been good!