One of my favourite purchase

Guess what is this?  This is one of my favourite purchase from Korea.
Its a fridge magnet which I bought from Nami Island.
I like it a lot becos I felt this magnet represents the Korean culture.
Ahh....I miss Korea very much....

Something interesting

Yesterday, I was still thinking to myself whether Koreans use umbrellas to shelter themselves from the snow.  Surprisingly, today I saw a post on FB by Seoul Korea, "One interesting thing about snow in Korea is the use of umbrellas. Lot's of countries with snowfall don't use umbrellas but Koreans do."

Its very cold in Korea now but I still wish I am there now...Not becos of the snow but becos 너무 너무.... 그리워요  Yeah I miss miss miss miss so so so so much  >.<

Gonna be my favourite alley of all ^^

I was so excited when I read this article from Visitseoul via FB last night!  Omggg....how can I not go to this Sundubu Alley????!!!!  I lurvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv dubu!!  Suddenly, I have a plan in mind!  Dobongsan's Sondubu Alley, wait up for me!!!  Won't be too long! 

Hmmm...I think I want to try cooking 두부버섯전골 Dubu Jeongol soon.  May not have the authentic Korean taste but I wanna try  ^^

Korean emoticons

 An interesting article from Seoulistic. 
  

Emoticon	Represents	Notes
^o^ | ^-^	Happy face  (two raised  eyes/eyebrows)	^^ is the easiest and most common form
ㅜㅜ | ㅠㅠ | ㅠㅡㅠ	Sad/Crying face  (vertical lines are tears)	ㅠ or ㅜ also works
^^; | ^-^;	Sweat running down  a face	Nervousness, apprehension, timidness (with a smile)
>//<	Shyness, Bashfulness	Guy: You’re pretty Girl: >//<
^.~	Wink	n/a
=_=	Sleepiness	Also used when uninterested in what the other person says
-_- | ㅡㅡ	Serious face	Used when feelings are hurt (often jokingly) Also used to express disbelief.
>_< | >ㅁ< | >3<	Cute face	When trying to act cute = 애교 (egyo)*
+_+ | ㅇ_ㅇ	Surprise	ㅇ_ㅇ requires Korean keyboard
~_~	Boredom or “wtf” in emoticon form	“wtf” = 어이없다 (eoieopta)*
★.★	Excitement	For stars, Yahoo Answers says press: Alt + 9733 (number pad)
♥.♥ | ♡.♡	Love	For hearts, this site says press: Alt + 3 (number pad)
ㅎ_ㅎ | ㅋ_ㅋ	Cute Face	Requires Korean keyboard

[우르오스] 차태현의 우르오스 셔플댄스_TV-CM

                            

There are just so many funny advertisements in Korea and I find them really entertaining.  This is one of the advertisement that gets drilled into my mind.  I like 차태현 Cha Tae Hyun cos I think he is so funny ^^

옹기

Finally, I learnt what these containers are called ^^ They are called 옹기 Onggi. Thanks to a reader, Kevin. I learnt the difference between 장독대 Jang Dok Dae and 옹기 Onggi from Wikipedia.org. There are many things that I don't know about Korean culture and still trying my best to learn about it. Please feel free to correct me if there is any wrong information given in my blog ^^  감사합니다.

Sibijisin - "Twelve (sibi) gods of the earth (jisin)"

This is so cute rite ^^   I saw an interesting article from english.visitkorea about the 12 horoscopes.  Its the same as the Chinese way but in Korean style.  I didn't know these twelve animals are also guardian deities!  First look at the cute rooster reminds me of the popular cartoon character in Korea - 뽀로로!   Pororo the Little Penguin 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 is very popular in Korea!    This also reminds me of the cute chubby Ding Dong in "최고의 사랑"   In that drama, Ding Dong has the 뽀롱뽀롱 뽀로로 mic that goes something like, "거짓말하지 마"  ㅋㅋㅋ 

Turtle ship!

Suddenly, I realised Jinhae has the replica of the turtle ships that I was curious about!
ㅋㅋㅋ 

Check out beautiful Jinhae @ discoveringkorea  ^^

ㅋㅋㅋ

선영 taught me what is ㅎㅎ, ㅋㅋ, ㅜㅜ and ㅠㅠ.  Today, I came across more common Korean slang from KOREAN BLOG.  So excited ^^   Here's the list obtained from Korean Language Blog

(1)    ㅎㅎㅎ
Means : hahaha

(2)    ㅋㅋㅋ
Means : kkk (noise of laughter)

(3)    ㅇㅇ
Means : short for 응, which is an informal way to say “yes”.

(4)    ㄴㄴ
Means : "No, No". The Hangul letter ㄴ makes an “n” sound and so this letter is used to represent a shorter way of saying the word “no”, which begins with an “n” sound as well.

(5)    ㅎㅇ
Means : "Hi".  It comes from the word 하이, where the first letter from each syllable is used to make ㅎㅇ.

(6)    ㅂㅇ
Means : "Bye”.  It comes from the word 바이.

(7)    ㅂ2
Also means “bye”. The Hangul letter ㅂ begins with a  “b” sound and so does the word “bye”. Hence that’s why ㅂ is used. The second part of this contracted word is the numeral 2, which in Sino-Korean numbers is pronounced as 이.

(8)    ㅇㅋ
Means "Okay". The ㅇ part of the ㅇㅋ looks like the English letter “o” and the letter ㅋ represents the “k” sound in okay.

(9)    ㅜㅜ or ㅠㅠ
Indicates crying or tears. The horizontal line in that looks like this ㅡ in ㅜ or ㅠ symbolizes the person’s face. The vertical line(s) are the tears streaming down the person’s face.

(10)  ㅇㅜㄴ
Means : "Disappointment" or "Discouragement". The ㅇ  is the person’s head and ㅜ  is the person’s body. The ㄴ is the person’s knees on the floor. All together it represents someone with their hands and knees on the floor in frustration or disappointment.

Fortune telling street at Mia-ri

Divination houses (or yokhagwons) in Mia-ri

Mia-ri, a small street in the northern part of Seoul, has long been a go-to spot for Koreans searching for a bit of comfort and reassurance from the words of fortune-tellers.

The neighborhood is so well known for its fortune-telling businesses by the Blinds.  What distinguishes Mia-ri, by far the most famous and most well-known in the country, from other areas is that all the area practitioners are blind. Since the street made its name, a number of non-blind fortune-tellers tried to open their shops, but to no avail. All faced fierce opposition from blind peers.

“This is a very close-knit society where everybody knows everybody,” said Kim Ik-joong, another longtime Mia-ri fortune-teller. “Mia-ri is the base of our livelihood, and we never let others come into our market.”

Getting there: Subway line 4 Sungshin Women’s University Station, Exit No 7

Above information extracted from http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2907086

Another article for reference http://thethreewisemonkeys.com/2010/02/14/in-search-of-divination-koreas-blind-seers/

Personally, I always enjoy trying out different types of readings whenever I go overseas.  Be it fortune telling, tarot card reading, rune reading etc...Its interesting to see the various methods used in different countries. At the end of the day, I believed its important to apply own wisdom(deep down) and faith in my own religion to interpret what was being shared to me.  So far, all led to the same prediction! Ha! 

I wonder if the fortune tellers in Seoul can speak English.  I would love to have a go during my trip this Autumn ^^

Village of ants(Gaemi)

Gaemi (Ant) Village, Hongje-dong is one of the city's few remaining daldongnae(run-down “moon-side” villages). The village sprouted up in the aftermath of the Korean War (1950-53) and it was where the poor started settling down.

Many lived in shabbily constructed tents that resembled Native American tepees in Western movies, and so the area was nicknamed, ``Indian Town.'' It then became known as Ant Village after the hardworking residents.

High up on the northwest slope of Mt. Inwangsan sits Gaemi Maeul—literally meaning “Ant Village.” Saved from development by the steep gradient on which it is located, Gaemi Maeul retains the character of neighborhoods that sprang up throughout Seoul during Korea’s years of rabid urbanization in the 1960s and 1970s.   This nostalgic atmosphere has made it popular as a location for shooting films and TV dramas, and even gotten it designated by Mapo Ward as a special cultural zone.   Narrow concrete flights of steps wind up between the terraced arrangements of single-story houses that look out onto the rest of the city far below. Cats lounge apathetically on the rooftops, eyes half open. 

Last August, with the consent of residents, Seodaemun-gu government, Kumho Construction and 128 volunteers from five universities have given the area a facelift. The project did not build new houses but art students embellished exteriors with thematic drawings and logos representing family, hope and eco-friendliness.Rather than being a tourist destination in its own right, Gaemi Maeul makes a great alternative starting point for a hike over Mt. Inwangsan, meeting the old city wall and following it downhill in a northeasterly direction to Buam-dong, another hilltop neighborhood with good places to eat and drink. Try Rabia for some pasta and pizza, or Club Espresso for an excellent selection of coffees roasted in-house and cookies.

More info

Rabia | (02) 395-5199 | Open: noon—10:30pm, 7 days/week (last orders 9pm)
Club Espresso | (02) 764-8719 | Open: 9am—11pm (last orders 10:30pm)

Getting there
Hongje Station, Line 3, Exit 2. Take maeul bus No. 7 from outside KFC, between Exits 1 and 2 of the subway station. Get off soon after the bus starts to climb the road into the village.
If you’re heading over the mountain, follow the road through the village until it ends at a park. Carry on up along the path, following the signs to Gicha-bawi Ridge. Follow the path over the granite mountaintop and across a short saddle to meet the old city fortress wall. Turn left and follow the base of the wall downhill. The path is a bit hairy. When you reach an iron walkway, climb it to the other side of the fortress wall. The path becomes much better—just follow it down to Buam-dong.

(Above is an interesting article which I came across at  http://www.seoulselection.com/seoul/?p=1061

Wish I can visit this place....)