Seoul + Jeju (3 July - 11 July)

The 1st shop of Coffee Prince

it took a long while for us to hunt down the original cafe along hongdae street (university street near hongik university)...

after much hand signing and exchange of whatever little korean i know...

we managed to find the shop!

my review: over-prized coffee shop who exploits the fact that it was part of a film set of a highly rated korean drama. coffee, iced lemon tea that costs $7++. cheese cakes that were only average tasting.

 haha. kk, you'll realise that the pictures are in no particular chronicological order. this was us on our cathay flight to Korea. it was a long, long flight that stopped over at Hong Kong, Taipei before finally arriving at Seoul. but at a cheap promotional rate of 560 bucks. it was worth it :)

the above food stall is located near our hostel "Backpackers Inside"  situated at Hye Hwa.

and everywhere we went using cabs, we would go "ahjeushi, ooo ri sungkyungkwan de hak geo ga him ni da" which translated to english means "uncle,we want to go sungkyungkwan university"

the university is located just beside our hostel.

 

our first meal in Seoul. we didn't understand a thing on the menu so we simply ordered the set menu w/o having a clue what was going to be served.

Set Menu

1. Barbecue Pork

2. Pancake with an assortment of ingredients, e.g. squid

3. Steamed egg

4. Mussel soup

next up...

Changgyeongong Palace + Changdeokgong Palace

we went to grab lunch before walking down from our hostel to the palaces...what's on the menu today (4July 2010)? Beef barbecue, kimchijigae, cold noodles (a bad choice cause it tastes nothing like cold noodles in Singapore, the authentic Korean cold noodles comes with crazy amounts of vinegar...so unless you're a fan of vinegar, stay clear of the cold noodles)...

back view pics of us walking along the streets of Seoul...

my fave place in Korea...Dongdaemun!

welcome to the city that never sleeps...

and shopping till wee hours in the morning of 5am...

celebrating Stephy's birthday at Doota! Expensive but a excellent department store for oogling at all the lovely local designer clothings...

night out at the pub to celebrate our 2 birthday boy & girl...

Stephy & Ben!!

sabo-ing the July babies...

with...

first up...

7 layers drink.

extremely potent with 7 different alcohols...

and that's not it...

they flamed it up...

*evil laughter*

and then the drink fest continued with beer, hard liquer (mixture of rum, tequilla, whisky, etc etc.)

and our birthday babies proved they were truly hard core alcoholics

by remaining almost SOBER by the end of the night

-------------

honestly in Seoul, i don't remember much except for the crazy deal of shopping...

and here's who we saw along the streets...

Kim Hyung Jong (okay, i know i probably spelt his name incorrectly but i'm not that good with korean stars names...)

@Cold Stone Creamery

the famous BonJuk outlet - from the famous "Boys Over Flowers"

nicest tasting porridge ever.

if you ever visit Seoul, don't miss out on this porridge, there are several outlets, you can find branches in Myeong-dong, Insa-dong & others.

best porridge on the house - Special Abalone Porridge

at the subway :)

Namsangol Hanok Village - traditional Korean houses near Namsan Tower

and then we climbed up to the top of Namsan Tower...

couples come up here with padlocks and it is said that when a couple locks a padlock up at the Namsan Tower and throws away the key, their relationship is sealed and will remain strong & lasting.

our hostel in Seoul - the hostel owner was a nice, rather good-looking korean fella called in Minyoung.

Everland! Theme Park!

more snapshots of Hongdae...i think...

haha, too many places, can't recall where all the photos were taken.

Korea Preview #1

at the changyeonggun palace @ seoul

i know i have yet to blog about korea but i have not uploaded the photos and honestly speaking, for ost part of the trip, we were shopping so there aren't many fantastic, scenic photos. The only travelling adventure that i did was climb a mountain for 10hours and half of the expedition comprised of trekking in the rain. some sorta adventure huh.

today, i just wana blog about a recent activity that i took up. i wana take this time to help raise awareness for people with AIDS.

recently i signed up for voluntary work to help out at the communicable disease centre. the purpose - to befriend and care for people who suffer from AIDS.

it's sad to know that there is still much discrimination and prejudice against people who suffer from this disease. because of this stigma, it makes it difficult for people to come to terms with HIV and interferes with attempts to fight the AIDS epidemic as a whole. on a national level, the stigma related to the disease deters governments from taking fast, effective action against the disease and on a personal level, it can make individuals reluctant to access HIV testing, treatment and care.

For example, in Singapore, the government only in recent times introduced AIDS related subsidies through Medifund. Even so, the patient will have to go through a lot of procedures in order to qualify for the subsidy; i.e. they have to prove that they are unable to afford the drugs by producing bank/income statements, going through interviews to examine their lifestyles and should they be smokers, they would automatically be disqualified. As a result, a lot of patients are turned off because they already feel embarrassed to be diagnosed with HIV but to have their lifestyle and every detail of their life scrutinized would seem too much.

in the short training that i had, i realised that AIDS drugs are really expensive in Singapore. this is because pharmaceutical companies deem Singapore as a developed country hence the drugs sold here are exponentially higher than that in Thailand. AIDS related drugs in Singapore can cost easily from 500+ to 900+ bucks per month whereas in developing countries like Thailand, they sell generic drugs for 1/10 the price. As the doctor from TTSH advised, there is no difference between the generic and original drugs as both are equally effective.

i understand that some people may feel that AIDS sufferers deserve it and because it is about sex, we often link it to promiscuity. However, i beg to differ. There are perfectly innocent kids who suffer from the disease just because their mothers contracted HIV, there are also women who contract the disease unknowingly from their husbands, then there are the gays who end up with AIDs. We should not discriminate the sexual orientation of people and even if the victim really was someone who was sexually promicuous, i believe everyone derserves another chance. Just like the yellow ribbon project.

a video showing a little girl suffering from AIDS:



I learnt that an AIDS sufferer's recommended food pyramid differs from that of a healthy being. In normal circumstances, a healthy being would shun oil, carbs, meat & sugary stuff. However, for a AIDs sufferer, they require energy, LOTS of it to fight against infections and bacteria. The sweeter the food, the better. The more engery, more carbo, more meat, the better. Weight loss will in turn increase the morbidity of a HIV infected person.

in the short training i've gone through so far, i have heard sad stories. Infected people who couldn't take social pressure and the consequences of bearing such a disease. Many times, there has been people taking their lives because they cannot live with the shame or because they feel that they have lost their life purpose. They become reclusive and avoid contact with their relatives/friends. And it's sad cause these are the people that are so important especially during this difficult time. they form the pillar of support.

the medical social worker likened people's emotions to that of an iceberg. what you see is just the tip, but what goes beyond the surface may be so deep and gigantic in proportions yet undecipherable to a passing man. imagine the torture of the AIDS victim. physical, mental & emotional...

i'll miss my interns :(