Tips on courier services in Korea and the DMZ trip

*YAWN*
- woke up with body aching all over from yesterday's "falling with style" session.
- realized Tenang by-election is going on. Meh.. I would've been more hyped if it isn't the N-th by-election since the 2008 showdown. Still, going to keep an eye on the results and analysis.
- realized I COULD go watch LCW live in the Olympic stadium, Seoul..
- Chance to watch Nanta show tonight. Hmm. Decisions, decisions, decisions.


So right, I have stuff to blog about, namely:
1) The DMZ trip 2 weekends ago
2) My Outing with the tonggi, office stuff and AIESEC updates
3) Konkuk University and Korean Billiard
4) Ski trip yesterday


TIP on Korean's courier service:
Koreans are proud of their good courier Tegbae (택배) system and delivery. Most of them guarantee a next day or 2-day arrival of your parcel at its destination (depending on how far you're sending your stuff). I did mine at the post office, which was convenient. 


Items: A bottle of wine and a present-wrapped (sortof) flat box filled with colourful snacks.
Procedure: 
Go to post office OR get this, any standard convenient store near you. (GS25 and Family marts provide this service, not sure about the rest).
In my case, I went to the post office counter where they handled general stuff (such as stamps and weighing of letters). Tell the fellow behind the counter that you want a Tegbae service to XXland. They'll hand you a form. Fill out the form with the recipient's address, details and yours as well. Make sure you have the recipient's phone number so that they can contact your friend if needed.
If your stuff is already packaged/boxed-up properly, you may pay and send it right away after they've weighed it. If not, head over to the corner where you may find this guy who's in front of a huge pile of folded boxes plus polystyrene material. Hand him the form (sometimes, he'll be the one who give's you the form to fill) and he'll start packing your stuff expertly into a custom-made box. 


With a blade and ruler, he measured and cut at those boxes so quickly that mine was done in 5 minutes. The end product was a nice box in which he secured the flat box plus the wine bottle with buffer layers and small bits of polystyrene to fit the empty spaces. The charge was about 4500won.


Get a number and when you're called, pay the staff behind the counter (Mine was 4000ish won). Done. 


Total damage: 8500won
Time taken: 15 minutes


Not so sure about the convenient store, but I shall try sending something to my teacher some day.






So right, lets begin with the DMZ.


_______________________________


After receiving this recommendation from Gone Seoul Searching, I decided to sign up for this DMZ trip on "adventurekorea.com".


The excursion to the South-North Korean border is one of the important items on my to-do list and it was worth the money in my opinion. Besides, I don't think it's even possible for you to get a smooth ride into the buffer zone (Civilian controlled area) between actual south korea and the DMZ.


Even with the tour, we had to stop at an army checkpoint to allow an officer to board the bus and check all of our IDs. The trip was ok in general, will try to join more of these trips organized by them in the future. :)

Our first stop- Imjingak, where a lookout point above this building provided us a spectacular view of the river and mountains to the north.

Observation deck (free binoculars). Freedom Bridge, which was named so because of its significance in bringing the former POWs back from the North. It wasn't where the North actually released their prisoners but just one of the only South-controlled bridges in the Western region which served as a safe passage.

Btw, that isn't North Korea if you're wondering. It's just the DMZ.

I spy with my little eye..

An old locomotive which served its duty up til the Korean War. Riddled with hundreds of bullet holes, it was retrieved and placed here as a reminder of harsher times.

Along the barbed wire fence, peace messages gave the scene a somewhat livelier ambiance. Many were in Chinese (by chinese tourists?) with messages for unification or "We want peace!" (or stuff along those lines).

Peace Bell. By paying 10USDish, you get to ring the bell of peace. During less tense periods, or so I believe, many would chalk up some dough to let the air vibrate with the chimes of peace and reunification. Our guide gave us a little background on the situation in Korea, where the Sunshine policy was all but flushed down the toilet after the new conservative government came into power. He, and many koreans, are wary of the North's aggressiveness and military brutality, and yet remain quite fond of the idea of a united Korean peninsular where they can once be reunited with their families.

Yard of fermented stuff. Koreans keep their kimchis and whatnot in jars like those to let them ferment. It's a crucial part of the whole Kimchi-making process. (Taken after lunch with the tour ppl)

Gun used during the war. Location: Museum at the 3rd Infiltration tunnel. After the war, many shocking discoveries of tunnels almost certainly dug by the North were found in the South Korean side of the border. 

Our tourbus. All foreigners plus a couple of korean guides.

We're not supposed to snap pictures beyond this line. Pfft. Like I was saying to my new friend Will, RUBBISH rule. Someone with a bigger zoom- or whatever you ppl

THIS is where we sneak a peek at NK.

Saying "KIMCHI" with a couple of soldiers.

Dora station. The only station to supply material once a week into the North's factory complex (built by the south during the sunshine policy era of the previous government). Map of how this part of the world is interconnected.

Being silly: One of our tour members decided to have a nap on the tracks, just for jokes. It wasn't until....

.... a real train approached the lonely station. 

Group picture :).

Finding a part of home in South Africa

Met up with teacher Daniel (the guy who taught me how to read korean) and aunty Juanitta. It was the sort of warmth and familiarity that's been missing which I embraced last weekend when I met the 2 of them. It's funny how a married couple comprising a S Korean who hasn't been home for ages, and a South African can bring you closer to home than all the rest of my acquaintances in Seoul combined. (It does help that both of them have been living in Malaysia for awhile....)


The thing is, I know how some of the locals are very warm and they try their best to make you feel welcomed, but there's a certain limit to what they can do as friends. Very few would actually spend time to go the extra mile. One good example would be the simple act of explaining what the rest are talking about in lunch/dinner conversations; sortof like summarizing what they have been saying the past 5 minutes. Little acts like that can go a long way to make you feel less awkward. I have been poking my nose, every once in awhile, into their conversations but I have a feeling that overdoing it might just push them away from me. That said, one of them.. lets call him Ks- he's from the company. As part of our 동기 (Tonggi- meaning.. siblings, or rather, people from the same batch. In our case, it refers to this bunch of new interns at the company), he's been like an elder brother to me. We've been doing a little language learning exchange thing where he's been teaching me bits of korean whereas I am to teach him mandarin. We've barely taken off with this idea when the announcement came last week. 
He's going to Mexico on Friday. For 6 months. Dammit.
:(


Then there are my colleagues. Somehow, I feel that one of them is always avoiding me. Probably tired of straining to use English with me. We take the same subway home (I'm pretty sure), and yet, there's always an excuse to go to the bookstore, or divert to the shopping mall to get something. I've given up my part. Meh.


It's been a few times now that I felt that the only solution would be to turn to booze. The only thing stopping me now is the lack of companionship- ze very reason why I'm at the bottom of this valley in the first place. 
To list people I know here: the Hanyang AIESECers (most of whom are back home for the holidays, the few who're here are busy LC members planning for the 2011-2012 year), Chan (who's busy with his work and family matters), my office team, a couple of Malaysians on the other side of the river and my tonggi. The weather isn't make things any better either.


So yes, back to the meet-up with Daniel and Juanitta. Although I've only met Daniel for a span of 2 weeks in late September/early October, and despite the fact that Juanitta and I were meeting for the first time, I felt the heavy stones (in my mind, engraved with bold letters spelling 'USELESS IDIOT') being lifted from these shoulders. It was a break I needed. 


Really appreciate the companionship, even if it was only for 5, 6 hours. Thanks teach! :)

Sun Seng Nim> Daniel and his lovely wife, Juanitta. (the Chos)

Now, who's this handsome young man?

Delicious food (except the bowl of tomato... paste/soup)

Chic decor. Pretty good dining outlet if not for the steep price.

Gyeongbukgung Revisited + Sindorim 신도림

Before this, it was the exams when everyone was understandably busy with studies. With rest of the AISECers busy AGAIN this week [last week], I decided enough was enough! I took the initiative to make a few calls and send out some msges. As it was the new year weekend, most students seized this opportunity to go home (if they're from another province), which also meant that J. &Jh weren't around the area. It was Min sun and Crystal who finally agreed to come along with me to GyeongBuk Palace that Sunday.


10 minutes into our visit, it suddenly hit me.
I've seen this place before! 
I THINK I came here during the 2006 family trip. Everything, from the guards, the palace buildings, ponds,  elevated festival hall.. I've seen em' all before! 


Well, I didn't mind another tour. This time around, we got a free English tour guide who brought us around the palace. 온돌 Ondol (korean traditional floor heating system), restoration works, the king's quarters, the first place in Korea to use electricity, folk museum, the royal chronicles... just a few things she mentioned.

Despite all the restoration that had already been done, there is still much more to do. Even that is an understatement, as the people in charge estimate the restoration works to be finally completed in 2030.

한자 （汉字）. This was found in the folk museum within the gyeungbokgung compound. It has 3 main galleries and special exhibition halls. We only managed to finish 2 before our stomachs begged us to go get lunch. Shall return during springtime to see the other gallery.

Proceeded to Sindorim- a korean pedestrian street known for its art galleries, coffeeshops, souvenir stalls, STREET FOOD :P, and star-watching. 

Sweeeeet candy. Here's MinSun buying some 엿 (toffee) which was challenging to eat. It's so tough and sticky and YET, locals love it. Yes, I've observed that many a korean has a sweet tooth. 

호떡. Ho-tteok. DE-licious korean street food. (Also sweet. AND oily too. Greasy goodness. Mmm..)

After wandering about for a bit, we parked our cold asses in a nice, cosy coffee shop (It wasn't very spacious, but had 4 floors) where I had traditional berry tea (Again, SWEEET with an excess E for EXTRA). Chilled out and chatted for awhile: some politics, some history, some random stuff. At the same time, stuffed our mouths with those sweet toffees MinSun bought earlier. It was one of those moments of calm where everything slowed down for once. Rare, in the fast-paced korean racetrack of Seoul. I very much enjoyed it thanks to the dynamic duo of M and C.. whom- I forgot to mention earlier- incidentally got into a snow fight with each other that day. 


Day ended with me having dinner with Hyochan (the other Hanyang Uni AIESEC EP) and a couple of other people at a so-called chinese restaurant. Surprised by Jasmine, who was sweet enough to give each of us new year cards :). Retired to bed and slept soundly despite the noise from the restaurant downstairs. zzz

Happy New Year! (2011)

To all who are reading this in early Jan,


HAPPY NEW YEAR!
새해 복 많이 받으세요!
Selamat Tahun Baru!
新年快乐！




And for the new year post, I'll put up some overdue photos of random stuff I've managed to capture on camera in Seoul. 

Pink Floyd poster imported from my room in UK :).

양 lol.. Yang= Lamb meat. Mmm..

Snow, early in the morning on my way to work.

One of the busiest weekends :S.. Had to review a contract and translate another few files from Chinese to English.

Chan and I took a stroll (and a HUGE pizza dinner) near konguk University. Can't remember the street name. It was busy busy busy).

Year End party with my department. Opening dish. Some sort of porridge.

Suyeon and Mr ParkCS

Salad? Not very exciting, is it?

An array of neatly sliced raw fish.

After a bit, when all the sashimi were destroyed, they served tempuras!

From left, Mr Jun, Mr Lee(whom I refer to as the Boss), mr Han, Mr Jang, and mr LeeYc. Arm belongs to Mr LeeHz.

This is what happens after you drink 4, 5 bottles worth of soju.

Korean Tourism Expo at COEX mall.

GWP- Great work place? (I have no idea why it's called that). Our staff lounge.

View of the rooftop loading bays/parking lots outside.

The staff lounge is furnished with many different sofas, chairs, tables and most notably, plants. Other oh-so-very-minor additions include: 2 massage chairs, 1 drum room, 1 sleeping room, coffee+cold drinks(this is a must!), electric keyboard, guitar, a computer bay with 3 desktops, putting green, lots of books, flatscreen TV(although I've never seen it on), Eng/Korean music playing most of the time and lots of books.

..because of the past debacle with my rice grains, I decided to buy air-tight containers (or so they claim). Experiment here to test if they actually keep the ants out. (with Milo powder)

Another evening, out with seniors. Was really down and almost out because of bad health the past week. Good timing for my boss's promotion - . -... 

Despite the mood, MY mood, the food tasted great. 불고기 Bulgogi. Bbq beef.

My new toy!
It's come to this my friends... the day when I call the latest addition to my housing appliances.. a TOY.

Nifty looking vacuum cleaner. Charging it now. Can't wait to use it :).

Oh, while restocking, I found this....
I thought I was buying KitKat. Was looking forward to tasting something familiar. but NOooOoo, it's..

KicKer. More like KenaKonned.
Conner by "Crown", a korean confectionery manufacturer.

Gotta say they cloned KitKat pretty well in terms of packaging. :S but I still prefer the original.