My world: The Cherryblossom Garden

Day 1
Our 6-days-visit consists of many interesting, famous places in Seoul. On our very first day,we were brought to the Seoul World Cup stadium 2002. The stadium is shaped like a traditional korean kite. My very first impression when entering the stadium that it is very large. (Duh!…it is for the world cup..haha!). We snap a lot of cool pictures and i recorded some videos with my handy cam. Superb…love it :-)  Later that day,before checking into Biwon Hotel, we went to Itaewon masque. Its the only mosque in Seoul. So, the muslims community in Seoul have to go there for Jumaat prayer. A malaysian student there told me, it takes them about 2 hours to go the mosque. hmm..

Second day, we went to Han Yang University. It is one of the leading private universities in Korea
with (if im not mistaken), a total of 20 various departments and 12 schools. I dont really know the difference between departments and schools though. We were given tours around the university, especially the engineering department. After that, we went to the Kimchi Factory. Kimchi,is a famous korean meal. A traditional korean meal is not complete without Kimchi, so i’ve been told. Its more like our very own "sambal belacan" maybe. It is a mixture of various picked vegetables such as cabbage,raddish,onion and cucumber. It is made spicy with the addition of red powder and garlic,i think..hehehe. In the factory, we were demonstrated on how kimchi is made,and we also tried it ourselves. It was kinda fun. After that, we put on the ‘Hanbok". The Korean traditional costume and I got a pink one. Yeay!!

Day 3

I would have to say, this is the best day..ever!. I cannot remember when was the last time i had that much fun. The day begins early. Firstly, we went to Min Sok Chon or Korean traditional Village. The place is well preserved and very beautiful. We have countless stops for picture taking, and  I really love the scenery. walla~..There’s traditional korean clothes,domestic houses & facilities,farmer dance, paper making,etc. Its a good place to learn korean tradition and cultures. Next, we went to everland. I have blogged about everland before. Unfortunately, we weren’t given enough time to explore everything. The rides were so cool (but nothing much different that we have in genting,though..), the theme park is huge with many different parts. Such as Magic Land and European. The rose garden is breath taking and we snapped so many pictures that day. Tired of smiling,and laughing. Hehe..oh,and my feet hurts so bad by the end of the day. Blisters, and everything..(sob sob!!). At about 7.30pm we start our journey to Vivaldi Park. The place is for skiing in the winter. It is so beautiful with hills and nice apartment view but a bit creepy i must say. Our stay there is short but we met two very2 cute guys there. Korean says, "Muji-muji minam" means very handsome. Hehe. They talk english very well also!! They helped us took some pictures and that was it. One thing we lack in this trip is chances to meet korean guys..Haha..!! should’ve done that more next time. I mean,there are all seriously cute!!..Oookay,wutever. We went back to Biwon Hotel the next morning.

Day 4

The fourth day we went to Ansan City, Seoul National University and Dinner at the Malaysian Embassy. Ansan City is an  industry-oriented city. Hmm..great suburb of Seoul i think. Hehe..nothing much to say. The fourth day was kinda blur. Maybe because i was tired, not sure. Hehe..dinner with embassy was quite nice. We had indian food and i ate a lot,since we didn’t get to eat proper meal  for the past 4 days. :p

Day 5, we went to visit the Blue house- the president’s residen, The Palace, some gadget shopping and more shopping and Myungdong and Namdaemun. On the 6th day, we return to KL. Before flying off,leaving Seoul (sob sob) we
were brought to a duty free shop to do our last minute shopping. So sad
leaving Seoul but at the same time, so glad to be home. :p

While visiting Korea,one of the best thing for me is of course that i get to shop..a lot!!..Seoul is a shopping paradise for ladies i think,men..hmm..not so much. I dont know why. Our tourist guide,Uncle Bob told us that the wives,  in Korean culture are the one that control the money and house expenses although the husband works for it. Maybe thats why they are the one who shops..hehe :p
We’ve been to several shopping complexes and wholesale market. Dongdaemun,Myungdong, Namdaemun and Itaewon. I prefer dongdaemun. I think the modern architecture of Doosan tower and Migliore is so cool. Differ than in Malaysia, the shopping centers feature night owl shopping. The atmosphere was hectic with loud music that overwhelmed me and my friends. the street was packed with young people, mostly. I am not exactly sure whether this market is the largest in the world or not, but i think it is extraordinarily large!! Having spent more than 5-6 hours roaming the streets of Dongdaemun, my sore feet are testament for how big it is. For some people, this place could be the shopping paradise for cheap item. Although the shopping malls are huge, when i stepped in, i was surprised and felt kinda weird because i didnt find any high designer goods at its best here. In Malaysia at least, we are used to shopping malls with little boutiques or shop but here, the malls was very clear-cut. I mean, for instance if you want clothes, you go to the first floor, bags on second floor, shoes on fourth floor, food on seventh floor,etc and each floor does not have outlets for brands or designer items like we have. One more thing, they dont have fitting room. Maybe they do,but i cant find any. Isnt it peculiar? However, the most funny part was the communication. We could not speak korean and koreans don not speak english. So we just point to the item that we were interested in and ask "ulmaeyo?" means how much.
But overall, it was nice. Something new for me because in KL, im not really allowed to go out at night. Hehehe..!!

 

THE ALL-AMERICAN REJECTS
"Move Along"

Go ahead as you waste your days with thinking
When you fall everyone stands
Another day and you’ve had your fill of sinking
With the life held in your
Hands are shaking cold
These hands are meant to hold

Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
Move along

So a day when you’ve lost yourself completely
Could be a night when your life ends
Such a heart that will lead you to deceiving
All the pain held in your
Hands are shaking cold
Your hands are mine to hold

Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
Move along
(Go on, go on, go on, go on)

When everything is wrong, we move along
(Go on, go on, go on, go on)
When everything is wrong, we move along
Along, along, along

When all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through
[x3]

(Go on, go on, go on, go on)
Right back what is wrong
We move along

Class starts this week. I re-arranged my schedule because i think 19.5 credit hours is a bit overloaded. Plus,i’ve planned my schedule until final year,even with minor subjects i dont have to struggle with that much credits in one semester. So, i dropped Probability and Statistics and replace it with Bahasa Malaysia 2 (yup..in UIA, even local students have to study BM!!). The first week seems fun. I have 2 classes with Peeps and Nita. We, as Biotechnology students dont really get to mix with other majors since our subject is totally different. Most of the other majors,they kinda mix around. (Sigh..) Ohh..and this semester,class are scheduled until late evenings and almost every night. So,i dont think i will get to swim or play squash with Nino often. Damn..thats sucks!!! Nino,sedihnyeeee camne nak masuk MASUM ni?? takle practice..hahaha..By the way,the korea-fever-thing dah kebah sket kut but the funny thing is everytime we run into each other at Kuliyyah we’ll do the "Anyong-haseyo-everland-hand-gestures"..hahahah..Cant wait to see all the pictures from everybody once compiled..Hmm.. :p

           I decided not to write another post about my korean adventure. The rest can just be seen in the pictures i’ve uploaded. A picture worth a thousand words right? Hehe..class will starts next week so i wouldnt have much time to blog by then,uisshh..how im gonna miss holidays

Okay,back to my entry. I watched a movie on hallmark sometime ago about an anorexic, cant remember the title. I dont know about you,but it really did catch my attention to find out what anorexia really is. Her story was so sad that i cried at the end. Its a true story so it gives more meaning,i think. From what i understand, anorexic is a shortened name for anorexia nervosa; a personality or mental disorder in which the victim sometimes dies from self-imposed starvation. I was surfing the net one day,and found a website entitled ‘Ana’s grotto. I found this website to be ironic, they are embracing anorexia nervosa as a lifestyle, claiming that they are not victims of a disorder or disease. Rather, they see themselves as free thinkers who have made an unconventional but self-satisfying choice to eat and behave differently than their “normal” peers. Surfing deeper i’ve found out that the term ‘pro-ana’ means they are for people who adopted ana’s groto as their lifestyle. There are few other sites like "Anorexic Nation",“Nothing tastes better than thin feels,“What Nourishes Me Also Destroys Me.” and "Fat like me" which gives some kind of advise and tips to be anorexic. However, the movie i’ve seen has proven quite contrary to their claims. The girl in the movie began adopting unhealthy eating habits at the age of 10, when her well-meaning mother put her on a diet. She was diagnosed at age 12 with severe anorexia, and since then she have been hospitalized more than nine times. To the untrained eye, she may look beautiful, wearing designer clothing in size 2, or even 0 but her heart condition didnt agree. All other condition that i dare not touch (because lets face it,for some of you biology is so boring..hehe) can lead to seizures, irregular or slowed heartbeat, murmurs, arrhythmias, angina, and eventually cardiac arrest. Aside from the physical and psychological consequences of anorexia, there are still more negative results of self-starvation. She Alienate herself from family and friends,she have to checked in into psychiatric hospitals quite often. Thats where she spent birthdays, Christmases, and Easters, in locked wards, watching liquid run through the tube shoved down her nose.

Well, this entry doesnt mean much,just something i wanna share. The funny thing is, some of my close friends who are apparently hoping to be anorexic,cant be one since they love food so much. hahah..okey,lets be thin and healthy not just thin,ok?? work out la,baru best!! heheh..so,to ruru n basyirah…will i be seeing u guys at gym,squash court or pool everyday starting next week?? Macam tak je..haha..takpela,kalau nak diet pun. Jangan extreme diet,ok? and please dont say you guys wanna be anorexic,i know you guys didnt mean it but dengar je pun dah risau..Hehe..love u guys to da bits,take care ok

So, the korea trip ended a couple of days ago. I cannot believe it. All the hard work paid off. The trip runs very smoothly with no major problems. Thank god. Oh, and im so glad i got my blogging mood back. I’ve lost it since last semester. Hehe..Anyways,i had a blast the whole time in Korea. Met cool people, make some new friends and of course i get to shop a lot…and i mean a lottt…huhuhu!

Oookay,where should i start? hmm..the first day of the trip we went to a mosque in Itaewon to meet with the Muslim comunity there. The dialogue session with the Imam was quite interesting. After that, we checked in to the hotel. To be honest, I had low expectations about our hotel so the condition of the room came as quite a bit shocked to me and Ruru. We had 24-hours free internet connection (flat screen monitor pc), errr tv with dvd player and a jakuzi in our bath room. Hahaha..it was so cool. We dont have any activity that night so me and my friends went out to experience nightlife in seoul. Hurmm..well,my ankles hurt like hell after about an hour walking but i dont really care..im in SEOUL !! we snap some cool pics and sang on our way back. Hahaha..

The next day and the day after that starts very early since we have a tight schedule to meet. Hmm..bla bla..Hanyang Uni,bla bla..The third day,we went to EVERLAND. We took a group picture at the entrance and it turn out very nice. I looove it. Hahah..i laughed a lot that day and the best part is the SUMMER SPLASH of course. We were soo wet. It was soo cool. I always wanted to dance in the rain. It was exactly how i imagined it would be,except "funner"…I danced my troubles away. All the pain thats been bothering me for these past few months were washed away that day. Seriously,i finally felt like im ready to let go of everything. Start a new chapter in my life,get over it and i think i really did