Wintery Images of Seoul

Is it worth the pain?

11kg total for squats....felt nothing. Must up the weight next time BUT not sure if I'm daring enuff to go 15kg though. I may not be able to walk for days later.

5kg for tricep. 2 days after the class, my upper body are still very sore. Ouch! Crystal said we're gonna do the same exercise for next class and to maintain same weight......I'm thinking back to 2.5kg! What was I thinking carrying 5kg in the first place.

Shoulder exercise...as usual la, cannot complete the whole track...bleh...

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BTW, the stupid fridge has been fixed already. Cost me RM650..damn!

Extraordinary Way

What I have is nothing to my name
No property to speak of
And no trophy for my game
Intangible and worthless
My assets on the page
My coffers are empty
Any offer of safety has faded away
But what I have
What I have is

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky
God, I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have (what I have)
Means so very little to this world
A promise that I kept and a bridge that I saved before it burned
The sacrifice that I made
Brought me to my knees
A choice that cost me everything and set somebody else free
But what I have Is the value that you see in these things

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky God I'm lucky, so much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
'Cause what I have Is the value that you see in these things

And everytime I forget those things you bring them right back to me

With your patience
When I'm blinding mad
And your passion
When I'm really, really bad
And your eyes
Taking in everything I am
And your body and soul and the way that you know
How I treasure you

On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You turn to me and say, I believe in this

That makes me lucky
God I'm so lucky So much luckier than I ever thought I'd be
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way
You take what I can give and you treasure it
On an ordinary day
The extraordinary way

You turn to me and say, I believe in this


Artist: Conjure One
Album: Extraordinary Ways
Year: 2005
Title: Extraordinary Way

IS there NO end to all this bad luck?

First I lost my hp. Now my 2 year old fridge is giving me problem. It's still running but just not blowing any cold air. 2 bad luck within a span of 1 week is just too much..I was having a pretty good Year of the Dog...up until now, that is.

I'm striking LG out as one of my fav electrical brand. Clinton, my neighbour told me it's cheaper to send my fridge in to the repair shop rather than get them to come to my apt. Bummer.....I hate hassles.....maybe I'll just not use any refrigerator at all la....

So now I'm stuck. I dunno what to do...I dunno who to call. Clinton said he'll call David (another neighbour) and see if David's friend can repair fridge (he's an aircond repair man...).

There goes more $$ flying out of my pocket...bummer!

My new baby

Bought my Nokia 6233, black color. Adrienne, my gym friend bought one as well. Initially she was more keen on N70 but the sales guy managed to talk her into buying 6233. He went on and on about how N70 is more prone to virus attacks...

I decided to register for DIGI postpaid line...to get this phone at RM100 cheaper, though it is very highly unlikely that I will be keeping this line cos I love my prepaid number to bits.

But this new number isn't bad either... 016-xxx-1119.

Damn the thief

I lost my Alcatel 750 on Friday to a pickpocket. ...bummer :-(

I had put it on the side pocket of my bagpack on my way to the gym. As usual, I parked my car opposite the gym and walked across using the overhead bridge. It was drizzling a little and the bridge was packed on both sides of the staircase, leaving a very narrow lane for people to walk up/down. As I was waiting for some people to walk down, I was practically squeezed to the side. I guess some idiot must have picked my hp then...

I didn't realise my hp missing til some 5 mins later...which of course, by then it was too late to recover the missing hp. Damn the thief for making me walk all the way back to my car to check if I had left it in there...even though I knew I had it with me when I stepped down from the car.

Now, I'm thinking...my hp ain't no Nokia or Sony or Motorola...for god sake, it's an Alcatel...it has no resale value! The thief must be damn pissed over his "unlucky" catch of the day. This are just some of the problems the thief will face when he tries to use my Alcatel.

1. It has both PIN code and phone security code; thus making it inconvenient to use right away the moment he/she switched it off and on again.

2. The thief has to buy an Alcatel charger....good luck with the shopping, dude!

3. The phone was approx 2 years old so definitely there were some wear and tear...not to mention the countless times the phone dropped...and oh ya...I had purposely flung the phone to the floor when it was about 6 mths old (I was pissed at someone....long story....).

4. The middle navigation button doesn't work as well that smoothly anymore.

5. It has no resale value...need I say more!

Don't get me wrong..I like my Alcatel. It's not as user friendly as Nokia but there are certain functions which I absolutely love...especially call barring. Nokia's call barring function just ain't the same.

I guess I will reward myself with a new hp this year. Finally, I will get to buy a new Nokia hp..

Land of the Morning Calm

5 days in Seoul and there was no snow fall...how disappointing. The weather was very cold with temperatures below - 0 to 4 degree celsius daily. Our tour group consisted of 19 people + George (tour guide from M'sia) + Bob Lee (tour guide from Korea...very funny chap) + Philip (the photographer).

We landed in Incheon Airport at 7am. Bob and Philip were already there to meet us. As usual, being Malaysians, we were the last group to walk out of the arrival hall cos we were changing into our thermal wears to brave the cold winter weather outside.

Our itinerary covers MBC Studio, Nami Island, Mt. Sorak, Phoenix Park, Everland + Seoul City.

I like Seoul. I like Korean food too. There are just so many varieties; kimchi, seaweed, dalkabi, BBQ beef..just to name a few. I can't recall all the name of korean dishes I had. I noticed that korean restaurants/shops are very generous in re-filling the dishes. There's ample helpings...more like eat all we can. Kimchi is a big part of korean meals. Kimchi is basically spicy fermented vegetables, namely cabbages. Koreans eat kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Seoul is like food heaven, IMO. Everywhere in Seoul, there are street carts selling snacks. I couldn't believe my eyes at the amount of snacks available...so colorful and so tempting. KL street food is nothing compared to Seoul. If I have another day in Seoul, I would spend it sampling all the street food there. However, the snacks are not that cheap...from my observation, the food usually starts from 10,000 Won, equivalent of RM4. One jagung cost 20,000 Won....that's RM8. Do you know how many jagungs you can eat for RM8 in M'sia?

Shopping in Korea isn't exactly cheap either. But I'm amazed at the vast shopping areas such as Dongdaemun, Namdaemun and Myeondong..the 3 areas that I had an opportunity to visit.

Dongdaemun is a wholesale market which comprised of retail shops and wholesale shops. It's a huge area with many shopping outlets such as Doota, Migliore, Hello apM, Gwanghee, etc etc. It sorta reminded me of Bukit Bintang areas. There are thousands of shops inside one shopping plaza. Outside there are even more stores selling goods from ladies fashion, bags, sporting items, etc. There are also many small stalls selling good at dirt cheap prices, though no guarantee on quality. Shops open from 10am - 5am the next day.

Namdaemun and Myeondong are just opposite each other. Both are very Petaling Street like. The fashion here is also more aunty like too, compared to Dongdaemun. Quality is not a guarantee; although Myeondong is more trustable than Namdaemun. As Bob said...buy today, tomorrow can use as duster. These areas are extremely crowded with people looking for a good bargain. This is where negotiation skills come in. One important basic korean phrase tourist must know.."ulma ye yo"...ie. how much?.

Insadong is another shopping area filled with art galleries and antique shops. The streets are also very antique-ing like. The atmosphere here is more relaxed. There are plenty of crafts and souvenirs to see in this area.

One thing about Korea is that their people are disciplined. Koreans abide by the laws. There is no such "tidak apa" attitude that M'sians are very famous for. Their streets are clean, their signboards are not hidden by trees, their roads are not filled with potholes at every few meters, everything are so organised...and most importantly, their public toilets are better, cleaner and usable. They even provide toilet papers.

That is why I like Korea.

Annyong haseyo

That's Hello in Korean. Also can be used to say 'Good Morning', or 'Good Afternoon' or 'Good Evening'. Basically, all rolled into one..

In case you wonder why I bothered learning basic Korean phrases....well, that's because I'm leaving for Seoul tonite on a 6D 4N trip...yay! Now, I'm usually not crazy about tour trip cos the schedules are so hectic and there's hardly enuff time to shop. This trip is no different...looking at the itinerary, it seems like the group is going to a gazillion places within a short time span. But hey, who am I to complain...after all, expenses for this trip are all paid for....double yay!! I only need to bring moolahs for shopping....triple yay!!!

I'm all excited and ready to go. Packing for a winter trip isn't easy. Lugging around all those heavy clothings isn't gonna be easy either. That's why I decided to pack the minimal. Recycle clothes...that's the key. Hey, it's winter...who's gonna notice the same clothes I wear inside. Of course, undergarment must change la.

I've got all my sweaters, socks, thermal wears, jacket ready...and most important, my Timberland shoe. It's important to wear shoes with good grip during winter or else I'll look like a fool falling down on icy patches every few seconds...

Facing winter again will bring back sweet memories for me. I've gone thru 3 winters before...the coldness, the wind chills...which I hate the most. Am so looking forward to the cold weather again. But I've never been on a tour trip during winter so I don't really know what to expect. Let's just hope I'll have fun,fun,fun..and more fun.

I'm flying on Jan 12, 12.05am on Korean Airlines on a 7 hours 20 min flight. It's been a long time since I flew a foreign airline so I'm excited about this one as well.

Seoul...here I come...annyong haseyo

Rebirth of a new BLOG

Having not entered any entries into my old blog for the past 2 years, my old blog has officially died...along with its contents. I'm starting a new one and hopes that I'll keep it going this time.