seoul in transit

rings..

2011-07-07T07:37:00.000-07:00

my stash of rings from F21....

이태원 - 부다스 밸리

2011-07-06T00:18:00.000-07:00

Got a huge craving for thai food after watching 런닝맨 on mon, so i'm going to 부다스 밸리 in 이태원 for dinner tonight! hope the food is better than what I had at 여의도 a couple of months back! can't really seem to find gd thai restaurants here in seoul..

will update with pictures & reviews once i'm done with dinner tonight. :)

aside from work, nothing exciting has been going on in my life recently. will be starting acoustic guitar lessons at 홍대 this sat.. hope its gonna be good! the fact that i get to use the practice rooms for free is a HUGE plus! the rooms come with recording equipment plus pianos/guitars too! i've only seen the rooms on the 2nd floor & they look pretty cool already. I can totally see myself there on weekends/days when i'm free. :)

and so, my 4th trip to China in 4 mths will be coming up soon. n this time, its gonna be to Huizhou. i do enjoy biz trips n all, but i do wish that they would send me to somewhere else besides China. the extra mileage gleaned from longer trips would be a plus. that and the fact that the food would be much better & not salty or oily. I am crossing my fingers that the food in Huizhou will be much better, considering the fact that its located pretty close to HK & is predominantly Cantonese. I rather like Cantonese food & hopefully, this trip won't disappoint. if we are flying to HK and getting a chauffeur to drive us down to Huizhou, i wonder if i could possible take the weekend off in HK and return to Seoul at a later date.. that would be fun.. :P but, since nothing is confirmed yet, i'll just have to wait & see...

omg....

2011-07-03T04:10:00.000-07:00

ASOS & F21 are evil....... look at the amount of stuff that i've amassed over the past 2 weeks! its seriously freaking unfunny! OMG....

i need to start a shopping ban... like NOW... esp since i've signed up for guitar classes & am gonna be 150,000won short every month. i suppose it shd be fine if i just don't shop...

최고의 사랑 국보소녀 VS 내게 거짓말해봐 공무원

2011-06-26T01:16:00.000-07:00

내게 거짓말해봐 - 공아정

최고의 사랑 - 구애정

**credits: July issue of Ceci**

judging from the attire of the 2 lead actresses in both 최고의 사랑 & 내게 거짓말해봐, it appears that loose fitted shirts are all the rage these days. that and funky accessories to match. the striped shirt that YEH's wearing in 내게 거짓말해봐 is currently retailing at dongdaemun for 25,000원. according to the stylist, it wasn't any fancy brand that they chose, but was really sourced from dongdaemun itself. :)

i've been on a shirt rampage these days.. n i think i'm gonna end up with way too many shirts by the end of summer.. which is not gd. whatever am i gonna do with them in WINTER?!

**mind control.... ** (ala 독고진)

i've finished watching 최고의 사랑 within 3 days. :D haha. but i wasn't really focused on it cause i already read all the spoilers beforehand. 공효진's as cute as ever.. similar to her Pasta days.. but 차승원's not really my style. i still prefer 이선균 from Pasta. heheh. :P

홍대 맛집 - 심슨탕

2011-06-25T01:00:00.000-07:00

심슨탕

visited 심슨탕 at Hongdae last Saturday with Debbie. (Kim left for SG early in the morning)

the 반찬 was pretty gd cause i got to eat my 멸치! ^^

심슨탕 (소) - 15,000원

we ordered a stew + dumplings. the dumplings were pretty oily, so i wouldn't really recommend it though.. other than that, it was all pretty gd. :)

Map of 심슨탕

of 장마, 소셜 마캐팅 등...

2011-06-22T22:15:00.000-07:00

어제부터 장마시즌은 한국에 시작했다. 좀 귀찮지만 무더운 날씨보다 월신 더 낮겠다. 바람이 많이 부프고 공기도 넘 좋고 아주 아주 시원해.

프로잭트 2주일 전에 끝나고 요세 좀 한가한다. 4~6월 엄청 바쁘더라. 친구, 친척, 출장, 여행 다 하고 자기 쉬는 시간 별로 없었다. 휴..

나도 wemakeprice에 뭐가 샀다! 아디다스 셔트는 15,400원(배송비 보함)을 샀어.. 63% 활인 받았다. ㅋㅋㅋ

담에 시간이 돼면 홍대에 있는 맛집 더 하나 소개시겨줄게.. ^^

fed up

2011-06-21T18:03:00.001-07:00

honestly, i've had it with anal people who think that they get to boss u ard just cause they bought stuff. n they can take 1 mth to reply you, but get all pissy & angsty if you don't reply within a few days. hello.. do the math here... i offered to send out a 2nd package cause the 1st was lost & this is the thanks that i get in return? some people are just so hard to please. acting all diva like isn't gonna get you anywhere in the real world. it would do you a lot of good if you could just understand that people have work to do & lives to lead. they don't just sit in front of the computer 24/7 waiting for emails.

i'm just gonna ignore such people from now on. they aren't worth the trouble. no point getting worked up over people who don't matter.

홍대 맛집 - 홍대연가

2011-06-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

i've decided to do a series on good restaurants in the Hongdae Area. There are such a plethora of restaurants out there that one can get pretty confused on where & what to eat!

I tried out 홍대연가 with Debbie on Sunday & it was pretty good! It is a BBQ restaurant, with beef & pork options. There were also sides such as 추억의 도시락, 냉면 etc, that you could order to go with your meal. NOTE: The restaurant will give you a free 추억의 도시락 if you visit them before 6pm on a weekday.

the interior of the restaurant

various set menus on offer

Debbie & I ordered 1 추억의 도시락(2,500원) & 2 servings of 대왕칼비(9,900원 * 2). The service was pretty good & our food came rather quickly as well. my personal fave was the 추억의 도시락.. :P

the menu

추억의 도시락

I've attached a map on how to get to the restaurant below.

Directions:
Take exit 9 of Hongdae station and walk towards the main shopping street. You will see a Taco Bell, Il Mare at the T Junction. Walk through the main shopping street till you come to a crossroads. You will see a Lush on your left and a Mr Kebab diagonally opposite it. 홍대역가 is in the lane behind Mr Kebab.

Map of 홍대연가

** will update with more photos soon!**

literary reads

2011-06-14T21:16:00.000-07:00

i grew up on a diet of enid blyton, roald dahl & sweet valley. thanks to my mum, who inculcated in me a love for reading since i was young. word has it that i started reading on my own at 2, which was no mean feat for a toddler. needless to say, my book collection has grown exponentially ever since then, with more to come as long as books keep on being published. i want a library like 김주원 in 시크릿 가든 as shown below..

what an awesome place to sit n read.:P

anw, the reason y i started talking abt books was because of my new fascination with a new series of books, The Lying Game, by Sara Shepard. she is the writer behind the Pretty Little Liars series. I've already polished off the 1st installment in the series & am eagerly anticipating part 2, set to be released in Aug 2011.

The Lying Game is the first book to The Lying Game series. The story is about child Emma Paxton, who comes to believe she has a twin sister. She goes on Facebook, and sends a message to the girl, Sutton. Sutton writes back saying that they need to meet. However, Sutton is actually dead. Emma goes to the Sobino Canyon, Arizona. While waiting for her sister, she is attacked by a group of people. They take her across the street, and remove the burlap sack over her head. That's when Emma finds out that it's just Sutton's friends playing a prank.

The friends believe that Emma is Sutton, and take her to Nisha's party. Back at Sutton's home, Emma still goes on with the charade as being Sutton, since they are identical twins. The next morning, Sutton's younger sister, Laurel gets a note. She gives the letter to Emma without reading it. The letter says 'Sutton's dead, keep playing along'. Emma is drunk, but goes to the police station, however she is not taken seriously because of Sutton's past lies. When Emma goes to school, Garret, Sutton's boyfriend, takes that Emma is Sutton like everyone else. Emma begins liking a boy named Ethan.

Emma learns about a game Sutton and her friends play, "The Lying Game", an elaborate pranking game. Emma also learns that one day that Sutton's friends took TLG too far, and almost strangled Sutton. Ethan told Emma that he saved Sutton that night that she almost died, so Emma concludes that Sutton died after that incident and anyone could have killed her. Emma runs off with Ethan and he finds out that Emma is pretending to be Sutton, but he promises to keep her secret and help her find the killer. Emma decides to stay and pretend to be Sutton so she can find out who killed her sister. Emma returns to Sutton's home, celebrating her and Sutton's birthday. But Emma doesn't know, Sutton's murderer is always watching...

Got my hands on an ebook & have been enjoying myself for the past hour reading. Hands up if you would like a copy of it too. Just leave a comment in the comment box with yr email & i'll send it to you. ;)

also, for those who like Jane Austen & all things related, I've another series by Victoria Connelly to recommend. It's a trilogy, with 2 out of the 3 books already released & available for your reading pleasure.

A Weekend with Mr Darcy
The Perfect Hero

both books are available on bookdepository. The last book in the series, Dreaming of Mr Darcy will be out this Winter. can't wait to read it! :P

Do you have any good recomendations for books?? drop me a note if so! ;)

the power of deal-of-the-day websites

2011-06-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

i have recently found a new hobby & that is surfing all the deal-of-the-day websites for the juciest and best deals! Such sites have been in existence since 2008, but it was only recently that they started gaining in popularity.

There are currently 4 of such sites that I know of operating in Korea.

1: Groupon

2: Ticketmonster

3: Coupang

4: WeMakePrice

It seems that all the sites operate pretty much the same way, with nothing much to differentiate them from the rest. The only thing that would make them stand out would be the 'deals' that they can offer the consumer. I mean, no one would really care which site they are purchasing from as long as they can get the 'best' or rather, their desired deal. I suppose that if the site is able to partner with 'good businesses' (and i use this term rather loosely), it'll help bring in more revenue.

Another thing about these sites that annoy me is the layout. I think that they should categorise the deals in a more orderly fashion, instead of just placing them in the side bar.

That being said and done, I have already made 4 purchases off 2 sites yesterday.

#1: KFC Twister meal for 2,650원 (50% off)

#2: 1 Mth gym membership for 30,000원 (80% off)

#3: Entry to the N Seoul Tower for two at 9,900원 (45% off)

#4: Trick Eye Gallery for 6,500원 (50% off)

as you can see, i have been getting a little too 'click happy'. but then again, only the 1st 2 deals are for myself. the other 2 were purchased for my friends who are currently visiting korea. :)

well, its only 8 more hrs till the next deals appear! can't wait to see what they have in store for me.. ;)

more shopping... and summer rants

2011-06-08T08:18:00.000-07:00

just got myself a new pair of heels from Nine West after seeing them on TV! its exactly what i've been looking for! oh so vintage-y but yet comfy at the same time! Tried them on at the store & it was love at second sight! (first was when i saw it on TV).. :P

Nine West Conjur in Taupe Kid

and i got myself another pair of skinnies from F21! F21 carries the Divine Rights of Denim line that is sadly unavailable in Korea. So i ordered from the US site, to be shipped to Singapore.. n hopefully, i'll manage to get someone who's coming over soon to pass me my jeans! :)

Divine Rights of Denim is supposedly a premium brand of jeans that retails for anywhere between USD$70-100 & up, but they have teamed up with F21 to offer a more affordable, but still fashion forward denim line. I haven't worn/seen the brand before, but after reading about all the positive reviews, I'm pretty excited to get my hands on them.

Divine Rights of Denim Ankle Zip Skinnies

i actually bought this pair of jeans 2 months back? n i'm getting them from Jieting tomorrow! hehe. can't wait to try them on!

Divine Rights of Denim Distressed Skinnies

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

i suppose its early summer now.. n though the slightly warmer weather is a respite from the cold, i have to say that i throughly hate the insects and bugs that come with it. I have been sleeping with my window open cause its pretty cooling at night.. but the stupid flies & insects that come in are downright gross. looks like i have to switch on my air conditioner soon to avoid these pests.. grrrrrrrrrrr

Taiwan Day 3 - Jiufen/Shifen

2011-06-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Headed to Taipei Main Station real early in the morning to take the TRA to Jiufen/Shifen! Was kinda lost at first cause we went to the wrong platform. But thank God we were early, so it didn't matter all that much. :)

the TRA train

Platform 4! the RIGHT platform.. :)

a group of Korean ahjumma tourists.. using a rose in place of the usual flag!

Yvonne & I on the train.. i look real tired & disheveled. >_<

to Ruifang

To get to Shifen, we had to take the TRA to Ruifang first before transferring to one of those smaller inter county (?) trains. I rather enjoyed the ride throughout as it was pretty scenic and old school. :) However, to purchase the train ticket from Ruifang to Shifen, we had to get out of the station and head to the main ticketing counter instead. How troublesome..

at Ruifang

the platform where we were supposed to take the train to Shifen

cool designs on the floor

sign pointing the way to Jiufen!

train route to Shifen

super old school huh? :)

the train ticket to Shifen

the train!

**to be continued**

SBS 내게 거짓말을 해봐

2011-05-30T07:41:00.000-07:00

엠투엠-안녕 정말 안녕

어디쯤 갔니
나를 지나쳐 떠난 너는
넌 괜찮은 거니
내 곁이 아닌 다른 거기서
니가 올까 봐
기다린 나의 시간들이
이젠 보내라고 해
너를 지우라고 해

아름다운 우리 시간들은
추억이 되어
미치도록 너를 그리워한
눈물마저도
혹시라도 니가 올까 봐
멈췄던 시간
이젠 너를 두고 떠나려고 해
안녕

못찾는 걸까
내게 다시 돌아 오는 길
더 있어야 할까
나 여기에 더 있어야 할까
다시 올까 봐 기다린
나의 긴 시간들
이젠 보내려고 해
정말 끝내려고 해

너를 붙잡았던
내 사랑이 점점 흐려져
미치도록 너를 그리워한
내가 변해가
혹시라도 니가 올까 봐
멈췄던 걸음
나도 이젠 너를 지워야 하나 봐
정말 AH AH

내 사랑도 여기까지였나 봐
끝날 것 같지않던 기나긴 그리움들
목이 메어서 나 할 수 없었던
이별이란 아픈 그 말

아름다운 너의 기억들은
이제 나를 두고 떠나려고 해
눈물처럼 내 사랑이 점점 흐려져
미치도록 너를 그리워한
내가 변해가
혹시라도 니가 올까 봐 멈췄던 걸음
나도 이젠 널 지워야 하나 봐
정말
지워야 하나 봐
이젠 널 지워야 하나 봐
안녕

am i the only one or is this song strangely reminiscent of a japanese song? the melody arrangement seems like one of the j-pop songs that i've heard a long time ago.. but the tune is rather nice and comforting, so i'm not complaining.

got pretty hooked to Lie On Me! can't wait for the next episode cause its gonna be v exciting! pray that i won't have to work late tomorrow so that i can come back to watch the drama! OR, i could always sneak up to the female rest area on the 4th floor to watch the show.. haha. BUT, i'm sure that i won't stay THAT late... *crosses fingers & toes*

did some retail therapy at The Book Depository just now. hehe. the 10% discount ends tomorrow, so i thought that i might as well make good use of it..

not forgetting a belt @ Forever 21 for 4,500won

flower pots to welcome spring/summer?

2011-05-16T23:58:00.000-07:00

shd i get myself some flowers/cactuses to brighten up my place??
i think it would look nice sitting on the ledge in my house.
hm... but i have the blinds drawn every moment of the day, so leaving them there would be kinda useless ain't it??

Taiwan Day 2

2011-05-16T07:27:00.000-07:00

Gonna attempt to blog down my taiwan trip... with FB these days, i rarely blog as much as i used to. But i still think that despite the saying that 'A picture is worth a 1000 words', descriptions and narratives are still very much important. I don't think that I can remember everything about my trip just by looking at my pictures 2 years later..

Yvonne found this really cool hotel, Ambience Hotel and I was pretty impressed with it!
Its a boutique designer hotel that wasn't too pricey.. i think it cost us only S$500+ for 5 nights for 2 pax? Plus breakfast was provided too! The service was exceptional as well. :) Highly recommended!

Ambience Hotel

the room!

Went to a japanese departmental store at Taipei Main Station to get some ettusais products as Korea doesn't carry this line. Am quite pleased with the results! ^^

I arranged to meet Shalin & Dingdang on the 2nd day I arrived & since we had some time to kill before meeting them, we headed off to Ximending to soak in the atmosphere!

Outside Ximen Station!

My 1st meal in Taiwan was the Ah Zhong Mian Xian that everyone was raving about online!

Ah Zhong Mian Xian!

It was pretty tasty too.. n cost only $2 or so for this whole bowl! I shared half with Yvonne as I didnt' want to spoil my appetite for the buffet that we were gonna have!

Check out all the food!

We headed to a buffet restaurant on the 2nd level of Rainbow Hotel (note: the buffet restaurant is not inside the hotel, but outside it!) and it cost abt NTD$450~ or so for a free flow of food n drinks + desert! But the downside was that the food was limited to 3 orders per item. Even then, we were pretty stuffed by the 2nd order, so i suppose that its more than enough. The beef was extremely good!

Yvonne brought me to this 'wholesale like' store that sold cosmetics, masks and other toiletries for a pretty cheap price!

the entrance to the store

the building opposite it.

Its located on the outskirts of Ximending though.. anw, i bought like S$60+ worth of masks & toiletries! hur hur hur.

Ximending wasn't all that impressive. in the sense that the shopping wasn't really my style. Cheap though it may be, the quality just didn't justify the price tag.. We adjourned to a nearby Starbucks for a toilet break. The interior decor was really cool! I think it must have been a teahouse or sth at one point in time. :)

interior of Ximending's Starbucks

The MTR has priority seats for the elderly and handicapped, similar to what Korea has! However, there weren't that many seats to begin with though...

inside the MTR

Met up with SHalin & Ding dang @ Taipower MTR station before heading off to Shida Night Mkt for shopping! the clothes were markedly better, though albeit at a much higher price. And most of the clothes were imported from Korea. Didn't make much sense to buy them since I could get them for a much cheaper price in Korea..

It was really great meeting Dingdang after 3 years! n Shalin after 1 month (she came over to Korea in March!) would love to go back someday to catch up with them more.. Dingdang's pretty busy with her store, so she hasn't been out of the country since 2008! Anw, i'm not done with exploring Taiwan too! so yup, that gives me a good excuse to go back to visit!

Shalin, dingdang and me.

my loot for the day

답답해..

2011-05-15T07:48:00.000-07:00

방금 부모님랑 통화했어..
남친의 얘기 다시 나왔어... 왜 아직 없냐고... 다른 사람들 곹 결혼한다고 너도 빨리 찾아야 됀다고..
넘 짜쯩말이야..
나 준비도 없고 원하지도 안고
그냥 일을 잘 하고 뿐인데..
이해하기 그렇게 어려워?

운명이 오면 그냥 말이 없는데
지금 없잖아!

흠...

우리 목소님말에 따라서
진짜 원하면
그냥 기도하고 어떤 사람 원한지 얘기하면
운명 그냥 올거야...

스트레스 받지 말고 그냥 하나님이 믿으면 돼..

왜 그것도 이해할 수 없어?!?!!?

짜쯩나!!!!!!!!!!!

of church, work & more

2011-04-25T07:25:00.000-07:00

i miss going to NCC.. miss the sermons, worship & everything.. somehow, its not the same here..
think i'll get myself a guitar soon.. so that i can play nice songs on it.. though i wonder how my neighbours will react to that.

received this bookmark together with my new book from bookdepository. wonder if its a sign that i shd get my guitar soon? :P

been so busy these days that i hardly had time for myself & church. felt a need to start attending services again.. n listening to more sermons.. guess i'll give ps cho's church a try once more..

might be going off to qingdao from 1st - 3rd May before heading to Taiwan from 4th-9th May for my short but well deserved break! can't wait!

a short break in btw

2011-04-13T05:01:00.000-07:00

its been a whirlwind of a ride this april. what with my mum & aunts visiting, an impromptu business trip to shanghai, kaye, suz and debra visiting PLUS work on top of it all! it has really left me with no/minimal time to rest!

but i'm pretty much enjoying myself here at EY, so i'm not complaining. my team for my current job's really good & i've gotten a whole lot more exposure to how DD is done. i wouldn't say that i know it all, but i am definitely picking it up along the way. :) its been OT and more OT this week, but surprisingly, its been pretty ok despite the 12/1am hours. guess a good team really does make a whole lot of difference. :) my senior has been joking that the 'upper mgt' ppl like me a lot. well. i guess its gd if it does translate to more projects n stuff where i can learn. honestly, i wasn't too psyched up about the china job in the first place cause it was really last min & hello.. its china.. how exciting can that place be? but, i'm glad that i went.. cause i made new friends (EY HK colleagues) and got to know my own team ppl a whole lot better!

been having really good food for lunch + dinner these 3 days too.. let's take a look at my lunch/dinner menu:
Monday: Lunch - thai, Dinner - Pasta
Tues: Lunch - ginseng chicken, dinner - BBQ beef!
Wed: Lunch - bulgogi, dinner - burgers & fries

yums... and not to mention the coffee bean ice chocolate drink and lemon tea breaks in btw! i have to say that EY does make sure that we never starve! hahahaha. but of course, all things in moderation. too much of a good thing is not good. :)

my schedule appears to be free next week.. do hope that i can get in a short rest before i jet off to Taiwan in early may.. n i may get sent to china again in may, depending on how the mgrs arrange it. well, it beats not having to do i suppose.. though the food could be much better.

wanted to do a really detailed and in depth post abt everything, but i suppose that some things are better left unsaid..

pictures will be up if/when i remember..

요세... 어떻게 지냈어?

2011-03-23T08:13:00.000-07:00

그냥 일하고 친구랑 만나 뿐이지..
근데 요즘 드라마 별로 재미없더라..
시가 끝난 후에 방송에 나오고 있는 것 다... 별로이야..
그래서 드라마 포기하고 예능 보고 있어.
영웅호걸 다 봤는데 지금 런닝맨 보고 있어.. ㅎㅎ
월요일 커플보다 송송 커플 맘 더 들어. ㅋㅋ
시가만큼 재밌는 드라마 있으면 좋을 텐데....

낼도 일찍 일어나야 돼.. ㅠㅠ
돼게 싫어.. 날씨 좀 쌀쌀하니까 자기 돼게 좋아..
담주에 진해에 벛꽃 보러 갈 거니까 좀 기대해.. 오래만에 여행.. ㅋㅋㅋ.

올해 시간 참 빨리 지냈어.
내가 한국에서 그래?
왠지 한국에서 시간 훨신 빠르게 지내는데..
나의 환성인가?
벌써 4월 올거야..
봄도 돼고..
계절의 변화 따라서 신간도 마찬까지야..

서래마을 - the french village of Seoul

2011-03-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

visited seorae village (서래마을) yesterday with suyeon.. we got kinda tired of hanging ard myeongdong & doing the same 'ole thing so we decided to explore seoul. :)

Took a bus down to the Express Bus terminal from myeongdong.. though u can take lines 7/9/3 to the Express Bus terminal station and exit via exit 5 if i recall correctly.

we were greeted by a long bicycle track lined with bare trees. i imagine that it'll be really pretty in spring & autumn with all the leaves/flowers in full bloom. it was a 10 min walk or so along the path to the entrance of the 'village'.

we had to cross an overhead bridge to get to the opposite side of the road

Seorae Village is supposedly populated by the French, with a French school and French cafes/eateries. However, the people whom I saw along the way were mainly Koreans, save for a handful of French. at least, i assumed that they were French. They could have been Europeans for all i know.

wandered ard the rather tiny 'village' which only took us an hour or so on foot.

'menu' of a cafe?

entrance to a cafe

it was rather picturesque, but did not emit the 'frenchy' vibe that i had expected. it seemed to be just another upscale place that was reminiscent of samcheongdong and garosugil. we decided to have dinner @ O'Fete (오페뜨), a cafe along the main street of the village.

the exterior

the interior

our dinner - waffles with gelato & cranberry cheese bread

the waffles were really good! tasted kinda like butter cake though. hehe. but i think we OD-ed on carbs for the day though..

left at ard 9pm cause i was getting kinda tired.. guess it must have been work. haha.
its already sunday night! the weekend really flies by.. >_<

삼척 - 12월21일 ~ 22일

2011-03-16T22:58:00.000-07:00

kinda late to be blogging abt my Samcheok trip 3 months later, but i guess its better late than never. :P

headed to samcheok over in gangwon-do for 2D1N with jieting, becky, kelvin, janet, weiling & zhengyu.. the entire bus journey took approx 3.5hrs?
i must say that travelling in winter is not v fun cause of all the excess baggage that u'll have to bring along.. n knowing me, i have loads of extra rubbish... >_<

anw, we stayed at this really quaint pension, Rose Valley which was the filming site for a few korean dramas/movies!

view from the front!

the girls stayed in 화목

while the guys stayed in 소망

we wanted to dump them in 사랑 or 낭만 or even 신혼 but they were so adamdant against it. Pity..

Anw, samcheok's a quaint little seaside town that's pretty near donghae. would have loved to check out the caves, but there wasn't enough time. >_<

We settled for a lovely bike ride along the ocean instead! The Samcheok Ocean Rail Bike! It cost 60,000won for a 4 seater. They do have 2 seater bikes as well! The view along the way was really lovely!

the entrance of the rail bike station!

rail bikes

view on the way

view inside the tunnel

i think we went thru 2-3 tunnels along the way & each tunnel had a different theme to it.. lovely dioramas though..

we took a stroll along the coastline after we were done!

the obligatory group photo on the beach (courtesy of my wonderful timer function)

welcome to rose valley!

i guess it was a pretty relaxing trip in all.. though it would have been nicer in either spring or autumn..

a bored blogger blogs

2011-03-10T21:41:00.000-08:00

managed to get some aliteration in there.. ;) am free right now & its relaxing. compared with the hectic week(s) that i've had since end jan. hehehe.

have my eye on quite a few, ok.. MANY things.. but its economically impossible to get them all. 1st, the jeffrey campbell boots that cost USD$140,

a pair of floral shorts from F21 that cost USD$17.80,

a pair of heeled leather boots that cost ard 70,000won.

think i've been spending a little too much these days.. plus, i'm going for a musical next friday! its 천국의 눈물 & its been getting rave reviews. decided to watch it after listening to 들리나요 by 이해리.. :) friday's gonna be one of the days where she's acting, so that's gd. :)

its gonna be held at the 국입극장 near 총무로 on line 3.

can't wait. hehe. opted for the cheapest tickets that cost 30,000won though.. hopefully the view won't be that bad.. :P

my 1st musical in korea! nice. will update after i've watched it. heheh.

meanwhile, i'm still very sleepy. i can't wait to go home to sleep. hehe. we went for a walk by the Hangang after lunch today & oh boy, was the wind strong! i guess it was cause there were no trees/buildings to block the wind.. it just came on full blast!!! it sure was refreshing though...

but i'm sleepyyyyy..... n i still have 회식 tonight!

adding on to my library of books....

2011-03-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

its past midnight & i'm still in the office. well done. its a very long story, one of which i shall not repeat here in case, by any chance, someone does come across it. let no evidence be found here.

anw, did research for my TW trip coming up in May + bought 5 books from Book Depository! yes. i know.. FIVE! haha. i've been devouring books at an alarming rate. i mean, who buys 11 books in the span of just 1 month? n i've already finished half of what i bought just cause the rest were pre orders...

there's something abt korea that makes me read even more. it must be the lack of english being spoken that i feel an innate need to retain my english speaking/writing capabilities somehow. n the best avenue is through reading.

i can't wait for the books to come though. hehehe. i love receiving presents in my mailbox. :) bought the following books:

hehehe. exciting.. and i'm eagerly waiting for this book to arrive..

its book 2 in a trilogy series on Jane Austen books. :) its gonna be published in 43 days, so i suppose it'll reach me 2 weeks after its been published! hopefully it arrives soon. hehehe.

of books & more

2011-03-07T22:25:00.000-08:00

with last week being a rather eventful week, this week has began with a rather muted pace.. not that i mind that much.

sat was spent somewhat in a daze, owing to a severe lack of sleep. i think i had only 4hrs of sleep before i went off to class at 종각. headed off to Bandi & Luni's for a look see before going home. i realised that due d, being very diff from audit, required some in depth knowledege & what little i knew wasn't really gonna serve me that well.

stumbled upon the Mckinsey Valuation book in Bandi & Luni.. n it was going for only 48,000won (USD$43.44) as opposed to USD$54.88 on Amazon or USD$63.53 on Bookdepository

there were quite a no of textbooks on valuation to choose from, but i chose this cause of the Mckinsey brand.. haha. i know its a pretty lame way to choose a book, but that was about all i could do, seeing as how the books were sealed up in plastic wrap. but it seems that i made the right choice, cause most of my colleagues had the textbook (the korean version) in the office! haha.

am now waiting for the textbook to be out!

but i suppose it'll probably take some time to arrive in Korea. its pretty pricey even on Bookdepository, going for approx USD$30? and around USD$20.55 on Amazon.

n i've booked my tickets to Taiwan!! or rather, redeemed my mileage. hahaha. Yvonne found a really classy hotel for quite a gd price! though its a little out of the way, i guess we'll survive. :P will update with pictures/price/location of the hotel when i get back tonight or sth!

and and! i'm going for steak @ Tony Roma's tonight with 수연! one of my colleagues passed me a one for one coupon & we're gonna make use of it before it expires. though i'm really full now.. had a pretty filling lunch with the partner + 2 other colleagues. 안심토마토파스타! i've no idea how i'm gonna have steak tonight too...

basket...

2011-03-04T09:21:00.000-08:00

its freaking 224am & i'm doing nothing again......
basket.. )(*%!#)($*!#

i've plenty of things to do at home (i.e: pack my box to be mailed out) before going to the 학원 (my class starts at 10am). n i'm sitting here wasting my time again. freak.

i'm gonna be damn late for class. n i can't even skip class cause i need to achieve 80% attendance for them to actually reimburse me. n since there are 4 classes in 1 mth, missing 1 class means that i'll only achieve a 75% attendance, which effectively means that i can't miss ANY lessons.. how wonderfully planned.

its times like this where i miss my MCs.......

n i guess, i might just move on after 1 year. within the country....

i need my sleep.

the longer this goes on for, the more heck carish i'm starting to become.. i dunno if its a gd thing or not.. honestly.

BASKET(@*&#(#*^$

edit: i think i need to pray against ever working with funny Ps that seem to have endless energy.... this is my 2nd time working with the P & its not funny AT ALL. i'm am not amused in the least.
this is the only way that i can vent my anger for now.. writing is cathartic. at an unearthly hour of 233am in the morning. i have a gd mind to go off somewhere to sleep... my eyes are barely open & my contact lenses feel damn bloody dry. i'm highly pissed & i think its damn obvious. but i couldn't care less.

ARGH

my new umbrella!

2011-03-02T07:09:00.000-08:00

my pretty new umbrella that i got @ Kosney for 14,000won. it was going at half price! i wanted to purchase it when i was at the myeongdong branch with suyeon the previous week, but the high price put me off.
and as luck would have it, the edae outlet was selling it at 50% off the original price 1 week later! :P

met up with shalin & walked around quite a fair bit.. chanced upon SBS filming Heroes @ Edae too!
managed to see everyone except Nicole! though it would have been better if the cameramen weren't in the way.. >_<

Rules for watching the filming

narsha, lee jin, shin bong sun, noh hong chul, hong soo ah, seo in young & jung ga eun (click to enlarge)

will update more soon.. kinda bushed today..zzz
am expecting to work late tomorrow cause the report's due on fri. i only pray that i won't end up staying till 5am like the last time..

onnuri, 부대찌개 & more

2011-02-27T06:33:00.000-08:00

headed to onnuri today with 해나언니 today. service was gd.. though i missed the worship.. >_< really miss NCC's worship though.. sigh.. guess i'll just have to DIY.. haha. planning on getting my own guitar soon.. n prolly some classes as well. :) i do think that the service was a tad short too.. ps prince can just go on n on for hours.. hehe. :P

we're getting a holiday on tues! gonna hang out with xialing.. she's in KR for a short trip! will look her up when i go over to TW in may with yvonne as well!!! hehehe.

don't really feel like writing much today.. hmm. n my blog doesn't have that many pictures of me too. haha. as compared to 2008. :P most of my pictures are up on fb.. haven't really been taking pictures either.. guess its cos i'm too used to the place that the need for pictures don't surface.. :P

to round off the end of the work week...

2011-02-25T08:14:00.000-08:00

my haul of books! with 2 more on the way!!! :)

received 4 out of the 6 books i ordered via Book Depository on Tues. However, the postman left my books in no 525's mailbox instead of mine! (no 524). n it wasn't the 1st time that this happened! Thank God i managed to claim my books before anything happened.. its peculiar how they can't seem to tell the difference between 524 and 525.. its not even written in korean for goodness sake.. weird..

the new project that i'm on is pretty interesting.. learnt a lot more abt the korean banking system & the differences from the SG banking system. i realised tt SG's banking system is really transparent & a lot more stable. the korean banking system seems to be a mishmash of various small players & a few big fish that eventually swallow up the small ones.. loads of M&As, loans, suspensions going on around here.. in fact, they just suspended 8 savings banks due to a lack of liquidity/failure to meet the BIS ratio(capital ratio).. still prefer banks over manufacturing/regular companies for some reason. its a lot more challenging but yet interesting.. :) hopefully i'll get put on more of such jobs.. hehe. nice Ms and SMs make a whole load of difference. :)

i think i'll try heading to Onnuri this sunday.. think i still prefer english sermons.. hmm.. something's missing somewhere. hopefully i'll find the missing piece to this puzzle on sunday..

retail therapy & more

2011-02-18T08:21:00.000-08:00

my excellent haul of F21 goodies within a span of 2 weeks & after working horrendous hours over a few days..
why do i foresee even more things to come?
this is bad.. tsk tsk tsk. i should really kick this bad habit..

had dinner with 해나언니 @ 광화문.. she had to work late even on a friday.. poor thing.. though i faced the same fate sometime last week. the perils of work. oh well. i guess its something that we all have to go through.

looks like i'll be heading to Qingdao in April on a biz trip.. hope that its not too bad.. my very 1st trip to China. how exciting indeed.

and its Taiwan in May & maybe Europe in Sept? though i'm not sure how the Europe trip's gonna work out with just 2 of us.. accom's gonna be a killer! eeeeks. and i guess i'll round off the year with a trip back to sunny SG.. lovely 2011 indeed!

of olive young & random things

2011-02-17T05:49:00.000-08:00

stopped by olive young @ times square today for some retail therapy.. n bought useless stuff just cause the packaging was pretty! though i know that its a really lame excuse!

My Beauty Diary Chocolate + Bulgarian White Rose Mask(13,800won) + Organic Aqua Tissue(1,500won)

the color combination's really nice!

i'm using the Bulgarian White Rose mask right now & it really has a v nice smell! hehe. my 1st day home early this week & it feels really great.. :) worked till 1am on mon & 5am on tues! the horror! i broke my personal best record of 230am in SG twice over in KR! but overall, i still think that the work here is better than SG. the projects aren't really consecutive, so you only really have to work late when the deadline draws near.. unlike SG, where i was booked back to back for the whole year!

i got placed on a banking advisory job cause they found out that i did bank audits back in SG. perhaps i shd have kept my mouth shut. then i would have had the whole week free.. but oh well. its a gd opportunity to learn. so yup. i shd grab the chance to learn more for the time that i'm here.. :)

waxing lyrical - the angst within

2011-02-14T21:34:00.000-08:00

there are times when i feel empathy towards it, that poor lost soul oh so misguided & deluded. but for the vast majority of the time, i just feel like grabbing it by its shoulders & shaking it real hard to get some sense in.

is it human nature to always believe that we are the best despite what other people say? maybe that so called air of superiority stems from a severe lack of confidence & inferiority? you don't see it at first. but slowly & surely, it creeps up over you and threatens to engulf you with its stifling hot air.. the hot air that one always boasts of. but what goes up, always comes down.. that's the law of gravity.

perhaps i should learn to cut loose and not take things so seriously. but something about that smugness just irritates the hell out of me. and like everything else, you have to grin & bear it.

it might not be too early for me to start searching for my own refuge.. like an oasis in the desert. the Gobi's too far away, while the Sahara doesn't entice me. i suppose i'll have to be content with good ole' Hangang. i'm not ready to return to the tropical waters as of now. Although someone has been enticing me with a nice fat carrot over there, but i guess i'll pass for now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ended up spending USD$50 at www.bookdepository.co.uk for 6 books. got a couple of chick lit books + murakami. am eagerly anticipating their arrival. somehow, i feel starved of good literature. perhaps its the fact that i'm placed in a non-english environment, so much so that my inner shakesphere's struggling to get out..i used to read a lot more in JC/sec sch, probably due to mine being in the arts faculty.. i probably had a lot more time on my hands then. i really enjoyed the carefreeness of studying then. Arts was really a whole lot less taxing than your typical science combination.

I sometimes wonder what would have been had I chosen to major in literature at NUS instead. would i still be here? would i have been happier in my job? would i even be able to find a proper job? but i guess this is the path that God has chosen for me & though its not that bad, i'm waiting to see how it'll become even better....

spring!

2011-02-05T23:49:00.000-08:00

my haul from F21

my spring wishlist! though i have like 3 of them already. ;)

ridiculous

2011-01-31T08:41:00.000-08:00

How many ways can u say ridiculous in?? i dun think it makes much sense for
them to keep me in e office doing absolutely nothing but sure the net at 143am in e morn. yes.. u heard me right. its suc such a waste of productivity n energy. its so obvious tt im free n they know it.. heckk,im even surfing the net onmy phone next to e partner....
tt is whati dun understand. im notdoing anywork so y canti leave.i have never been ever so glad tt i gt a smartphone. the longer i stay here... the more i feel the urge to spew vulgarities for some reason or other.. staying up here isnt making me lucid but instead, is threatening to bring out the worst in me.
♥~(**#**!*??*#-!#;5~#
there.....
i have no desire to stay late just to warm e seat when i cld be happily sleeping at home. suffice to say, this is gonna be the first n last time its gonna happen....
it isjustifiable if i have work to do butnot if im sitting here like this...
its almost 2 in e morn n they r still here.n i dun even have e opp to take an mc... utter rubbish. n he is still going on relentlessly....correcting the reportof which i haveno part to play in.
well done.
this is korean inefficiency at its best.....

cpa singapore

2011-01-29T04:53:00.000-08:00

its 9.53pm & i'm still here in the office... no prizes for guessing why.
anw, shall not expound on it further but instead, provide updates on my 6 weeks in KR thus far!

just got back from a short biz trip in daejeon yesterday night.. spent 1.5hrs in the freaking rush hour jam (seriously no joke). but i guess its better than squeezing into the sardine packed train with my duffel bag & laptop? even though i felt supremely carsick.. pftttttt. headed down to meet suyeon @ itaewon for fish & chips + shepard's pie! i have to confess though, that her shepard's pie was way better than my fish & chips. Fish & Co wins hands down anytime though.. so much for the supposedly best fish & chips in seoul.. left itaewon at ard 11pm & missed the last train back to oryu-dong at 1159.. ended up alighting at Guro & walking abt 10 mins in -10degrees to the nearest bus stop to catch a bus back home. thank God that the bus ride was only abt 5 mins. :)

colleagues n work have been pretty much ok. though i guess i'm still pretty new in the company to really feel like i belong yet. partners & mgrs have been really nice in showing me the ropes n stuff too. welfare here is quite gd, save for the fact that i don't get MC. >_< but its still considered pretty acceptable overall.. in fact, they just gave out 300,000won worth of lotte dept store vouchers, so i'm not complaining. :)

i hope the mgr gets tired soon & i can go... my myeongdong shopping trip got cancelled cause of this.. pftttt.

cases for my optimus!

2011-01-24T06:56:00.001-08:00

the cases i got for my phone!

v pretty!! ^^

yoido church tomorrow!

2011-01-22T07:11:00.001-08:00

time for church tomorrow. :)
went to the english site of Yoido Church in a bid to find out which service that ps cho preaches in, only to be met with a bunch of information on service timings and such, but nothing on the preacher!
and just as i expected, the korean site had everything...

http://yfgc.fgtv.com/y2/02.asp

for those who are curious... seems that ps cho is preaching in the 4th service (1pm) tomorrow! since it takes me abt 40mins or so to get to church, i can wake up at abt 11am & leave my place by 12. :) perhaps i should wake up earlier, have some food before heading off to church since it seems like the service is abt 2 hrs.. thank God for good weather tomorrow. heheh. no more freezing my ass off. :P heheeh.

will update more abt the service tomorrow! pretty excited. :) since the last time i visited the church was in 2008. didn't manage to hear ps cho speak then..

and... i've got a new phone! the LG Optimus Mach!

can't wait to see what it can do. hehe. it's sure gonna come in useful esp since i'm heading to Daejeon next week for a biz trip. :)ho ho ho..

time to sleep & wake up early for service tomorrow! ^^

just how many freaking coats do i really need?

2011-01-17T03:45:00.000-08:00

this is not good... i want this coat!!! sob...

its abt 169,000won, which works out to be approx $200! do i really need it?
i've 2 wool coats, 1 puffer coat & 1 bomber jacket on the way... if i get this, it'll be another addition to my wardrobe & i'll have a total of 5 coats!!! acccks...

too many things i want!

2011-01-15T21:42:00.001-08:00

there are just too many things that i wanna get!!!!eeeks.. this is very bad.. whatever happened to saving $$ ??

#1: AE Rugged Bomber Jacket

#2: Alice In Wonderland

#3: Cape Coat

#4: Star Sweater

sigh......

edit: just took a look at what i've posted & realised that almost everything has to do with secret garden! gosh....

edit 2: succumbed & bought #2! :D

edit 3: bought #1! looks like my list is getting shorter!

2nd week of work!

2011-01-13T19:53:00.000-08:00

as the 2nd week of work draws to a close, i suppose its time to evaluate my 2 weeks spent at work. it has been somewhat mild to a certain extent, with not much being asked of me yet. i suppose its cause i'm new + the fact that there are no new jobs on hand at the moment. but well, i've been enjoying this lull in my new job before the jobs start coming in!

thank God for nice mgrs/colleagues/partners who have been ever so willing to show me the ropes. :) am quite excited as to what my 1st job will be. hopefully it'll involve some travelling (crosses fingers). not to china though!

i wonder when spring will come... the weather is nice and all, but not having the house properly heated is a pain. >_< i suppose i'll have to move once the lease is up.. grr. its a pity cause the location is really pretty gd. close to my office n all. there are a few direct buses from my place to the office & its pretty convenient overall. :)

will be heading down to 종로 later to look for the 학원.. its time to start korean lessons again.. plus, the sales have already started & its seriously tempting.. but i shd not shop in order to save for my planned upcoming Europe trip in sept! i'll be setting aside $3,500 for the trip. i hope its enough! it will be fun watching all the Disney characters speak in French. hehehehe.

managed to take more pictures of the office! will post them up v soon! ^^

back in seoul...

2010-12-23T09:35:00.001-08:00

well, i'm back this time to work & i guess it does feel different in a way... there's this certainty that i'm actually staying in this country for the next few years at least. it felt really different when i was here the last few times for studies + holidays.. there was always this sense of urgency. urgency to keep on doing things, with the fear that i wouldn't be able to do them before i left. but now, there's just no hurry.. it is a lot more enjoyable cause i can do things at my own pace. as w.h davies said: "What is life if full of care, if we have no time to stop & stare". i get to appreciate seoul a whole lot more now. n not just for the shopping itself.

headed down to the office this morning to sign some documents & was pleasantly surprised by the lovely office building & its working environment. i had expected something close to that of HL building, or perhaps DBS tower at best, but the posh-ness of the office was definitely more than what i had expected. :) will try to put up pictures of the interior soon! managed to snap a picture of the exterior though.. (will post up pictures once i get them!) was supposed to go for an impromptu lunch with my whole dept, but couldnt' as becky was with me! i suspect that they were all waiting for me to go downstairs... *whoops* but i'll still have my 'welcome' lunch when i start work on the 1st day. :) will be going for orientation on the 3rd & 4th before starting work officially on the 5th!

reflections

2010-12-15T20:31:00.001-08:00

and so, as 2010 is drawing to a close, its always apt to look back upon the year & see how things have turned out.
truly, this was the year of Restful Increase. managed to achieve 2 of my aims & i hope to achieve the remaining 3 next year! the year has passed by at a considerably constant pace. it was also a year of change. for me at least. stepping out of my comfort zone into something familiar, but yet unknown. i wouldn't say that my past 2 years in a***t has been all that bad. it did allow me a chance to grow & see the good & not so good sides of people. but of course, the good was more than the bad. made many new friends, friends whom i hope i'll still keep in contact with for many years to come. and let this be the foreshadowing of more good things to come! ^^

but of course, life always has its ups & downs. its how you take the downs that matter the most. there were times when i thought that it was almost impossible, but God always came through miraculously, meeting ALL my personal deadlines & criteria. seriously, i was almost going to give up, but He came through. :)

2011 is gonna be an even better year ahead & i can't wait to see what He has in store for me! cause i know that it is & it will be good! ^^

my new workplace!

2010-12-13T08:32:00.001-08:00

unfortunately, this was the best picture that i could find! will update more soon!!! :D

ji hyo & hyun bin = secret garden??

2010-12-08T00:01:00.000-08:00

haha. ji hyo's a closet hyun bin fan? :P

CFA's in 2 days time!

2010-12-02T06:44:00.000-08:00

2 more days to the BIG DAY!
sigh.

i can't wait for it to be over. but yet, i don't feel really prepared for the exam. >_<
there's just so much going on right now that i can't really focus on the task at hand.

have been listening to Christmas Carols to get myself in the Christmas mood. hehe. can't wait for HK/Seoul!

abstain: to restrain oneself from doing something

2010-11-12T00:28:00.001-08:00

i was supposed to abstain from shopping. but well. a lunchtime trip to IMM left me $20 poorer & 2 pairs of shorts richer. but cute shorts they are! with heart prints on them and all. there was even a promotion going on! 2 pairs for $20!

ok. this is not making much sense. i just sound like i'm trying to convince myself that what i did was right. hah.

i can't wait for 530.

busy..

2010-11-09T23:57:00.000-08:00

been really busy with loads of things lately.
so much to do but so little time. >_<

am i supposed to feel excited?

i dunno

i don't seem to feel anything really.

2AM!

2010-11-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

VIP석! ㅋㅋㅋ

갈 겁니다!!! ^^

moving on...

2010-10-27T03:07:00.000-07:00

well... 1st things 1st.

Thank God that He answered all my prayers & more! :)

will just have to get through my exams on the 5th of Dec & its time to pack after that!

handling visa matters/studies is definitely not easy!

let's just say that sth has to take a backseat for now & its definitely not any of the 2 above! ;)

tick tock.. tick tock..

2010-10-09T06:36:00.000-07:00

and so, with the exams looming in just 2 months time, i so need to start intensive revision. weekends make for good studying time, though albeit short. would love to put in more hours during the weekdays, but somehow, work + study just doesn't cut it for me. sigh..

many of my best buds have moved on, at a much faster pace than me.. though i did start earlier. i suppose its a case of slow & steady wins the race. hopefully my turn will come soon! at the time that i want it to come. am faced with 2 very attractive yet different choices & i've no idea which one i should choose. part of me just wants God to close doors that should be closed & open those that should be opened. but the other side of me wants to have choices.. well, just to say that i've got a choice. human nature is as such.

soon soon.. i can feel it.. i just have to be patient.. n i do need to learn patience. for it is not one of my best virtues.

prison break

2010-09-30T08:34:00.000-07:00

한국이 넘 그립다
여유가 있는 시대 넘 그립다
다시 돌어갈 수 있을 까?

도망하고 싶다
떠나고 싶다는 말이다

인생 왜 그렇게 복잡하는 냐?
도대체 왜?!
ㅠㅜㅠㅜㅠㅜ

여행의 계획

2010-09-29T01:31:00.000-07:00

잘 돼면 대만, 한국과 홍콩에 갈 겁니다.
ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

부럽지!

그렇게 할 수 있었으면 완전히 대박있지!

그것 불구하고 쉴 수 있다고 생각합니다. ^^

ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ

그림의 떡?

2010-09-25T09:39:00.000-07:00

원하는 것 돼게 많는데
다 얻을 수 없어

진짜 좋을 까
아님
그냥 나의 환상인가?

담에 한 걸음...
어느 향에 가면 좋을 까?

ambivalence

2010-09-24T01:03:00.000-07:00

so, nothing's really been confirmed yet. i would like to say that it has, but nope, nothing's been set in stone. well, the best is yet to be. n i trust that it'll be so! do have an appt set up next week, though its something that i'm not really interested in, can't hurt to try i suppose.

have not really been in the mood to work for quite sometime now. although i haven't really been working my ass off. haha. i suppose this is what happens once you get past the stage of not caring. some ppl just seem very motivated. too motivated i would say. but whatever for? it has gone beyond my comprehension.

would like to clear the exams & hopefully get a nice relaxing holiday (read: winter holiday) before i start the next phase in somewhere great!

meanwhile, as always, its time to countdown to the weekend...

does this mean i get to go?

2010-09-13T01:04:00.000-07:00

would be nice if everything fell into place just how i want it to.. :)

that tingly feeling of excitement, but yet a slight fear mixed with trepidation.. the potential in the what ifs & what could have beens..

a new start to everything in the new year.

sounds pretty good to me alright. :)

we shall see..

i'm quite confident that the weeks ahead are gonna be very exciting indeed.

아테나 - 2010년 11월에 등장!

2010-08-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

박효신 - 널 사랑한다

넘넘 기대해.. ^^

아마 아이리스만큼 좋을 걸? ^^

the leaves are fallin'

2010-08-21T02:08:00.001-07:00

(i spy a ray of hope peeking through those falling leaves)

am all hyped up about fall (though we don't get it here in sunny singapore), but i do so love the cool breeze and falling leaves that autumn brings. that and the lovely muted hues on clothes too.

just as with the changing of seasons, perhaps, just perhaps, my turn may come soon...

patience...

2010-08-17T08:59:00.000-07:00

i'm someone who can't stand ppl who are slow. i guess that's one of the things i need to learn. Patience.

like if i'm walking behind someone who's walking reaaaaaally slowly, i feel like pushing them away and rushing on ahead. i do things really quickly. be it walking or work. i like to get things over n done with so that i can have more time for whatever i enjoy doing.

but i guess there are certain things that can't be rushed and i suppose i'll just have to wait it out and see.

there are times like these when 1 day literally seems like a 1000 years. and no, i don't mean heaven.

*crossing fingers & praying that my turn will come soon*

polyvore

2010-07-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

i just discovered a new gem of a site, Polyvore! Basically, its a site that functions somewhat like your online wardrobe, allowing you to 'snip' pictures of clothes/accessories that you fancy from various websites and compile them into a mini collage!

vintage by asocialnot featuring Charlotte Russe

Charlotte Russe - Open Front Ruffle Sweater
$20 - charlotterusse.com
More Charlotte Russe tops »

Floral Cropped Cardigan
$9.49 - charlotterusse.com
More Charlotte Russe cardigans »

shoes-sandal
17,850 JPY - hfm.co.jp
More sandals »

Juicy Couture - Multi Chain W/Feather Bracelet (Multi) - Jewelry
$128 - zappos.com
More Juicy Couture bracelets »

Charlotte Russe - Woven Double Buckle Belt
$9.50 - charlotterusse.com
More Charlotte Russe belts »

French Roses Marble Coasters :: Coasters :: Tabletop and Linens ::...
$11 - elizabethsembellishments.com

Charlotte Russe - Straw Tote With Seersucker Lining
charlotterusse.com

this is what i've done for myself. looks a like amateurish i admit, but its really fun! hehe. try it out! ^^

2010-07-20T08:42:00.000-07:00

요세 싱가폴 얘들이 진짜 어이없어.
조금 돈이 있어서 넘 도도하고 불구하고 그렇게 지내.

엄청 짜쯩나..

정말..

나중에 싱가폴 어떻게 됄 거야?

그래도 좋은 사람이 있는데 이 그 사람들 나쁜 사람보다 더 많아 바래..

to dream or not to dream

2010-07-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

You wake up everyday and work from Monday to Friday, and often, Saturday too. If you finish work early, you and your partner go to your parents’ place for dinner and see your child for a few hours. If you work late, you buy a packet of char kway teow from the hawker centre but eat it at home because it’s too warm to eat there. You’re not crazy about the job but you know that if you keep at it, you can afford a car in 3 years’ time, and in 5 years’ time, buy a condo close to the primary school you want to send your kid to. Your conversations with people are either for the purpose of networking, work, or for familial obligations you cannot avoid. On weekends, you play golf with your friends at your country club or watch a movie with your partner. Once a year, you go on a ten day vacation to New York, London, or Paris, and when your children are big enough, Disneyland.

Alternatively, you wake up and you have no idea what is going to happen today, tomorrow, 6 months or a year later. Ironically, because of this uncertainty, all possibilities exist for you. You can be the Prime Minister of Singapore, you can make a movie, you can cook a meal you have never cooked before, eat at a place you have never eaten before, you can color your hair red, you can skip instead of walk, you can volunteer at the school you have always wanted to volunteer at, you can write a book, or you can have a baby even though you don’t have a maid. You have conversations with people who set your heart palpitating and your mind on fire. Your weekday is not so different from your weekend because everyday you are thinking, creating, and more important, imagining.

Most of us recognize the first story and its pursuit of the 5 Cs of “cash, condo, car, country club, credit card.” It is the Plan, which imposes a conclusion on you, and you work in order to make all the pieces fit. A bus stop advertisement I saw recently said it best: “We spend all our youth chasing money, and when we attain it, we spend all our money chasing youth.”

A Dream, on the other hand, carries you on its wings to worlds that your heart and mind have never known.

extracted from Popagandhi

i wonder, how many of us are actually brave enough to chase after the 2nd option. especially in this pragmatic society that is Singapore.

[27/12/09] Jisan Forest Ski Resort 지산 리조트

2010-07-13T08:38:00.000-07:00

ok.. here's a v v v v backdated post! my first ever ski trip! ^^

we were supposed to go to Kongjinam instead of Jisan. tried calling Kongjinam the night before we were supposed to depart, but to no avail. sooo, we decided to take a gamble & head to Kangnam to wait for the bus. However, we were unable to find the bus stop from which we were supposed to take the bus.. >_<

thank God i spotted the shuttle bus for Jisan - 지산 리조트 and since it wasn't full, the bus driver allowed us on. :) and so, that's how my 1st ever eventful ski trip started off. it took us ard 1 hr to get to the ski resort since it was outside of seoul. however, i wasn't feeling too gd that day. i suspect it was due to the super duper oily food that i had been having for the past few days..

the rolling ski slopes of Jisan

so we decided to sign up for lessons since all of us had no experience in skiing, with the exception of LX. thank God she had the Samsung card, which gave us 50% off everything! :P hehe. and so, we proceeded to undergo 2 hrs of training, which i don't think helped that much. haha. i couldn't stop no matter how i tried & i ended up crashing into the orange barrier. screaming at the same time of course.. i couldn't think y no one came over to help me but just stood and stared.. >_<

but of course, i think esther aka KJI was the ultimate! hehe. she ski-ed (if you could call it skiing) down from the 2nd tier of the ski slopes, but couldn't control herself and ended up sliding under the orange barrier into the training area. haha. n she crashed into the 'mini ski travellator' as well.. hahahah.

the training area

LX

KJI

but i have to say, the ski outfits that were loaned to us were really like military uniforms. plus we had our number tags to boot! haah. straight out from boot camp!

JT & myself!

it started snowing halfway thru & it was really fun! hehe. skiing while the snow fell... hehe. didn't take that many pictures cause my camera decided to be temperamental and not behave... >_< i think its time to trade it in for a new model. ho ho .

falling snow

blurry photo of us taken on the way out of jisan!

snow covered bridge

since it was snowing pretty heavily, we decided to leave early cause it was likely that the roads would be congested. and true enough, instead of the 1 hour that it usually takes to get back to seoul, we took almost 3! since we missed the shuttle bus back to seoul, we had to go back via public transport. n that involved us walking in the snow for ard 30 mins out to the bus stop, taking a city bus to the inter city bus terminal, before transferring to the express bus that brought us back to Seoul. on our way back, the bus was really stuffy and hot.. plus we were all bundled up in our winter wear.. unimaginable.. pfttttt. we saw trucks sprinkling salt on the snow so as to increase friction to prevent accidents from happening. n of course, our bus driver drove v v slowly all the way back to Seoul. partly because of safety and partly because of the huge jam on the highway.

but it was a rather memorable trip all in all! but, the next time, i would like to try tobogganing instead. hahaah. i think its much much safer. the skis were rather cumbersome & jutted out in all the wrong places!

the start of something better, i believe...

2010-07-11T09:58:00.000-07:00

am finally going for my 1st real interview tomorrow. though its not really sth that i'm THAT interested in, i suppose its a start!! n let it be the start of many more good things to come!

was re-reading some of the entries that kaye & myself posted back in 2008, when we were still in korea, and i realised that we were really happy with the life that we were leading back then. i guess that's y we keep wanting to go back somehow.. i don't know if things will still remain the same, 2 years on, but i would like to believe so. :)

for some reason, i feel more at home in korea than in HK, even though i've lived in both before. perhaps its the air pollution and the practicalness(?) of HK and its people that make me more adverse to living there? i should start exploring other countries soon. n 1st up, will be vietnam! but i don't feel as excited as i felt when i was going to korea/hk. maybe, its still a long way away from the trip for the euphoria to set in? or perhaps its just work. haha. i seem to be using work as an excuse all the time. actually, its the perfect excuse for everything. like how u want to get out of gatherings with people whom you don't really like, u can just say, oh, i'm busy with work. i've a deadline coming up. or if you want to escape those dreaded family gatherings, work is always there for you. its the perfect all encompassing excuse. :)

when can i get out?

과거, 요즘, 미래...

2010-07-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

가끔식 좀 우울할 때 한국에 있었던 시간을 생각이 나..
다른 사람은 듣기 해도 지치겠지만 내 맘이지.. ㅋ

여행을 다시 가고 싶다.
8월초에 게이랑 배트남에 가기로 했어! 원래 일본과 한국에 가려고 했는데 일 떔에 계획 좀 바꿨어. 좀 섭섭했지만...

지난주에 여가치가 싱가폴에 놀러 왔어.. ㅋㅋ. 괜 오랜동안 안 만나거든! 1.5년 쯤?

(여가치의 조카, 여가치, 나)

만나서 넘 반가워.. ㅎㅎㅎ.

경희대에 만나던 친구들.. 요세 어떻게 지나는지 넘 궁금해.. 좀 게으러서 우리 서로 연락 잘 안 하는데.. 몇 명만 아직 연락하고 있어.. 수연,주영(X2), 사치코, 갑철 오빠, 수경 등...

아... 물라 물라...

많은 사람들 나 왜 한국에 일하고 싶냐고... 그냥 아직 어린니까 해외에서 일하고 싶고 다른 문화를 경험할 겸 다른 나라에서 살고 싶은 뿐이야.. ㅎ

단어 많이 까먹었어.. ㅠㅠ. 안 사용해서 그럴 까? 근데 이상하는데 어제 갑철 오빠랑 채팅할 때 나의 한국어 실력이 올라가라고 저번에 보다 더 자연스럽다고 얘기했거든! ㅋㅋㅋ. 좀 자랑하고 싶어.. ㅋㅋㅋㅋ. 그래도 나의 수준이 그렇게 좋지 않아.. ㅠㅠㅠ. 더 잘 하고 싶은데...

CFA위해서 공부해야 돼.. 이제 부터 진짜 진짜 열심 공부해야 겠다.. 12월까지! 화이팅!! ^^

조권 - 고백하던 날

2010-07-01T09:33:00.000-07:00

조권 - 고백하던 날

어떻게 말할까 수백 번 생각하느라
잠을 설쳐서 얼굴도 엉망이고
오늘따라 머리까지 맘에 안 들어
하루종일 안절부절

어느새 너를 만나기 한 시간 전
꽃집에 들러 꽃을 좀 사려는데
장미를 살까 다른 꽃 살까
에라 모르겠다 "아줌마 예쁘게 해 주세요."

오늘은 널 만나면
예쁘다고 말하려 했는데
얼굴 보자마자
"내가 꽃 샀으니까 네가 밥 사!"
어쩜 이런 말만 나와

도대체
멍청한 건지 아님 순진한 건지
이렇게 한심한 말만 튀어 나와
사실 내가 하려 했던 말은 말이야
난 널 사랑해

밤새워
연습했던 말 다 잊어 버리고
멋없이 그냥 건넨 꽃다발에도
밝게 웃어주던 많이 좋아하던
넌 천사야 You're my angel

밥 먹고 이런 저런 얘길 나누며
언제 말할까 기회만 엿보다가
지금 할까 지금이야
사실 나 이젠 아무것도 안 들려

내 맘은 너 아니면
안 된다고 말하려 하는데
둘 다 외로운데 한 번 만나볼래
계속 이런 말만 나와

도대체
멍청한 건지 아님 순진한 건지
이렇게 한심한 말만 튀어 나와
사실 내가 하려 했던 말은 말이야
난 널 사랑해

밤새워
연습했던 말 다 잊어 버리고
멋없이 그냥 건넨 내 고백에도
밝게 웃어 주며 고갤 끄덕여 준
넌 천사야 You're my angel

널 사랑해 널 사랑해
밤새 연습하고 하지 못한 말
널 좋아해 널 사랑해
꼭 해주고 싶던 말

도대체
멍청한 건지 아님 순진한 건지
이렇게 한심한 말만 튀어 나와 (너무 한심해)
사실 내가 하려 했던 말은 말이야
난 널 사랑해 (너를 너무도 사랑해)

밤새워
연습했던 말 다 잊어 버리고
멋없이 그냥 건넨 내 고백에도
밝게 웃어 주며 고갤 끄덕여 준
넌 천사야 You're my angel

You're my angel 내가 더 잘할게

지붕 뚫고 하이킥

2010-06-28T08:47:00.000-07:00

원래 로드 넘버원을 보려고 했는데 좀 무섭고 우울하니까 보기했어.. 오늘 지붕 뚫고 하이킥이 보기 시작했어. ㅋㅋ. 생각보다 넘 재밌고 웃겨. 그냥 그렇게 5회를 봤어.. ㅋㅋㅋ. 126회가 있는데 아직 한참 걸려.. ㅋㅋㅋ. 좋다... 근데 마무리 좀 슬프다고 들었는데.... ㅠㅠ 그래도 즐겁게 봐야지!

on Singapore..

2010-06-03T02:00:00.000-07:00

i came across this post while web surfing and thought that the ideas from this post were so beautifully written that I should share it with you guys. Any attempt on my part to reconstruct it would probably massacre and change the original flavour of the post.

so here goes...

Every once in a while friends and acquaintances, often those who haven’t stepped outside of Changi airport, decide to tell me their views on Singapore. Sometimes, they tell me it is such a beautiful efficiently run city. Some others just can’t believe how people can live in a place that has such a stifling government and care about nothing else, but their materialistic needs.

I don’t usually bother to argue. At the end of the day, its not my home country and my feelings of loyalty are, at best, stretched. But I can’t help but feel that Singapore is misunderstood. Singapore is the quiet girl in the class who gets straight As in the exams, but is never really popular in school because she is such a prude. Yet she tries really really hard to be the cool-kid. Her parents tell her that she should “seriously” have fun! Yet, they tell her that grades are all that really matters. The poor prude girl is really confused. Could anyone have known that beneath the pristine doll-like image, there is a silently troubled child, with a complicated and sullied inside, every bit as human as anyone can be.

People don’t see the real Singapore – the real Singapore doesn’t exist in the tall financial centers or the huge malls or the parliament buildings, where they make us believe democracy has some role to play. Singapore is not limited to the yuppies who aspire to buy the latest Porsche or the Armani-aspiring corporate mogul-wanna-be who couldn’t care less about what happens around them, as long as they get their 5 (or is it more now? )Cs. Thats just what is presented to the outside world. In fact, even many Singaporeans see themselves through those tinted shades.

If you want to see the heart and soul of Singapore, wander not through Millenia walk or Suntec city, but through the narrow roads of China Town or Little India or Arab street, or even the little parks around Bishan or Ang Mo Kio. The fat lady who sells you the Char Kway Teow or the little girl who brings you the ice kacang at the hawker centers, has a story to tell, if only if you had the time to listen. Singapore is not a land of boring, law-abiding people who don’t think and who work and walk like machines – its a place with as much life and emotion as any other, if only you would look beyond the surface.

If the heart of India is in her villages, the heart of Singapore is in her HDB flats. Thats where the dreams are dreamt and tears are wept. If the Singapore government doesn’t hear the collective sigh of the heartlands, they would miss out on reaching out to the real Singapore. And if they don’t let us see the real Singapore, we will all go back with our own false images. If Singapore seems to you like a land straight out of Pleasantville, its only because someone has put a thick filter which blocks out all the colours, somewhere between your eyes and the reality. And you know who that someone is. It is often one’s flaws that makes us human, and thus beautiful. As you desperately try to hide your flaws, you also hide yourself. Singapore, isn’t it about time that you let us see the real you?

The next time someone talks to me about Singapore, I just wish they would talk about not just the concrete buildings or the super clean streets or the democracy that doesn’t seem to be, but something less superficial. Lets talk about the heart of Singapore, shall we?

extracted from Silenteloquence

다시 떠나고 싶다...

2010-05-31T02:52:00.000-07:00

요세 스트레스 땜에 쇼핑을 많이 했어. 5월동안 전에 한국에 들어왔는데 왠지 다시 출국하고 싶어.
아까 친구한테 2년 전에 보냈던 이매일을 읽으면서 좋은 추억도 기억하고 그때 인생이 참 편하고 생각해. 역시 한참 일하고 있는 사람의 생각이 완전히 달라..

올해에 일본, 한국, 태만에 가려고 하는데 언제 갈 수 있는지 잘 몰라. 왜냐하면 지금 단 대에서 취직하고 있고 비행기표도 비싸니까 좀 기다려야 돼..

지난 토요일에 친구랑 벼룩시장을 참가했어. 넘넘 재미있을 뿐만아니라 친구랑 서로 얘기하는 것도 넘 좋았어. 돈도 벌고.. ㅋㅋㅋ. 근데 그날에 날씨 넘 무덥고 해빗도 심했어... 나의 피부도 까만졌어.. ㅠㅠㅠ. 하도 재미있어서 7월에 어차드에서 있는 벼룩시장을 다시 참가하려구.. ㅋㅋㅋ. 옷, 구두, 액세서리를 다 팔구.. ^^ ㅎ 옷장에 자리더 있고 새로운 옷을 살 수 있어! ^^

우리 '가계'

벼룩시장 끝난 후... 우리 피곤한 표정.. ㅋㅋ

희망

2010-05-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

한 걸음 더 다가가
네 목표에 간다.
포기하지 않게
더 노력하면 좋은 결과를 얻을 수 있는 법이다.

catharsis

2010-05-22T08:27:00.001-07:00

its not that i'm weird
its just that i'm unique

its not that i'm crazed
its just that i love it

i'm pretty normal just like everyone else
its just that we like different things

so stop trying to judge based on what you see externally
but empathize and appreciate that everyone's a special being

busy week ahead

2010-05-21T02:00:00.000-07:00

its gonna be a very busy week ahead!

tues: CFA Derivatives Lecture
wed: Macquarie Warrants Seminar
thurs: gathering with ex-classmates
sat: hooked on flea #2 @ Homeclub
sun: 노래방 with kaye

when i'm free.. i'm really too free. and the opposite is true as well..

i dunno if i prefer working or schooling. with school, you get all the complications, angsty moods, emo ppl and exams. i can't say that i miss all of that, but i do miss the camaraderie that my JC class esp had.. i think JC life was the best out of all.

work life is gd cause i get to earn $$. but the lack of personal time is seriously bad. >_< even more so cause i'm in a***t. sigh.. i need to get out soon.

topik 고급

2010-05-10T08:14:00.000-07:00

i was trying out the advanced level for TOPIK listening just out of curiosity & managed to get a score of 70 and above for the paper. though i wasn't able to fully understand everything, i was able to guess what they were saying for some of the questions. Since a score of 70 n above connotes a Level 6, i suppose that my listening is definitely above par. But trying to focus & understand the dialogue gave me a headache towards the very end.. haha.

However, my writing/reading still has a long way to go before i manage to catch up with my listening skills. i guess all those drama/variety show watching has paid off somewhat.

i need to improve my writing/reading!!!! any tips?

Samsung Galaxy Spica

2010-05-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

i want one of these!!!! ^^

검사 프린세스

2010-05-02T07:53:00.000-07:00

최근의 에딕션! ㅋㅋㅋ. 생각보다 넘 재밌었어. 게다가 배우들이 영기가 좋고 뿐만 아니라 넘 멋있어! ㅎ. 특히 박시후! 진짜 대박이거던! ^^
아이리스에 김소연의 개랙터가 좀 더 진지하고 웃음이 별로 없은 사람이었어. 복한의 에이전이니까 감정을 신경해야 하고 말투도 신중해야 했어.

근데 검사 프린세스에 성격이 180도로 변했어! 이젠 우울하지 아니라 성격이 넘 발랄하고 웃음도 많아졌어. 역시 마혜리이다... 검사 프린세스가 점점 찌릿하니까 결과를 어떻게 돼든지 넘넘 궁금해! ㅋ

그리고.... 드라마에서 마혜리의 패션 센스가 넘 좋다! 하고 좋으니까 내가 퍼에버21에 $80 옷을 다 사버렸어! 기갑이 좀 아프지만.. 기분이 넘 좋다! ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ

잘했어지! ㅋ

로드넘버1

2010-04-19T09:09:00.001-07:00

많이 많이 기대하고 있다!!!! ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

a lazy sunday afternoon & more

2010-04-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

was a v nice & lazy sunday afternoon today! went abt my usual activities. n i got to explore Parco @ Millenia Walk as well as take the newly opened Circle Line!

according to this, it'll only take me 10 mins to reach Promenade from Paya Lebar station!

i'm quite sure that i'll be early for work tomorrow. hehe. esp since the Promenade station is right in front of Centennial Tower. hehehe.

i love the new Circle Line already. ^^ best of all, the distance in between transit stations isn't v long! in comparison with the North East Line (NEL). hehe. nice. ;) looks like i've to find another form of exercise.. n that's gonna come in the form of ice skating!! hehe. it shd be fun!

visited Parco @ Millenia Walk as well.. the 1st 2 levels seemed pretty quiet, but the 3rd was a buzz & hype of activity! families were lining up for lunch at the various japanese eateries. it seemed a tad pricey to me though.

the queue outside Saboten

price for a tonkatsu!

prices @ Saboten were definitely higher than that of Seoul. i wonder why.. maybe its because it costs more to fly the ingredients over to Singapore as opposed to Korea? :P that aside, there seemed to be many patrons in the restaurant.. Singaporeans are an affluent lot indeed.

MPH was having a 30% discount storewide!

would have bought a book there, if not for the fact that they only carried the hardcover version. >_< the difference in price btw the soft & hard cover is $12. n it would be more practical & cheaper to purchase the softcover version. oh well. i shall wait for Kinokuniya's storewide 20% discount. hehe.

passed by this interesting exhibition @ Marina Square on my way to church. Apparently it was a design competition for Google. The shortlisted participants' artwork for each age category were displayed on the boards & passer-bys could vote for the design they liked the best in each category. i got a free google sticker for voting! :) some of these kids can really draw! even those 4-7 year olds. i don't think i can even replicate their work. no matter how hard i try. yeah, i'm hopeless at drawing. i can't draw to save my life! hahaa. that's y, u should never play 'Win Lose or Draw' with me. you're sure to lose. haha.

yet another audit joke

2010-04-12T08:07:00.000-07:00

i'm sure all u auditors out there have received this email at some point in yr audit career.

for the uninitiated, here's a peek into audit life.

Enjoy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Your alarm rings, signalling another brand new day. You get up, looking
forward for another new day of challenge, another new day to learn.
After washing up, you put on your office outfit, giving you that
professional look, one that you believe many out there envy. Breakfast
follows (perhaps), and you head off to your office. You're one of the
earliest to arrive, ahead of all your superior and when they come in
later, they greet you and you feel all charged up for another productive
day. Plenty to do and learn and hence, you are prepared to stay back
late to do all that is necessary.

If you're currently doing a degree in finance, accounting or law, the
above is probably what you've been waiting for all these years. You work
your ass off (well... most of you) in university because it's your dream
to join one of those big glamorous firms out there in the market.
Lawyers and accountants are the usual suspects for this curse. Once
graduated, all of them will run like headless chicken towards those big
firms. If you're an accounting student... you want to be an auditor in
one of the Big-4 right?

Well, if you do make it, it's like a dream come true. In such firms, you
get a personal computer, maybe a notebook (wow!). All your stationeries
are free, and it's also the first time you step into a 'pantry', where
you can make your own coffee, just like those nice offices in TVB
series. Next, you get an exclusive e-mail, the domain after your name is
not the ordinary @ gmail.com or @hotmail.com
or @ yahoo.com ... No, it's
not, it's your-name@a-big-and-glamorous-firm.com
. You can't wait to tell
that to your friend.

Then comes the feeling of giving a business card with your name on it,
and it's not any other business card, it's one with your name on it,
it's one that signifies you're an employee with
a-big-and-glamorous-firm. And... the word below your name is not a lowly
"accounts executive"... the word below your name is exclusive... the
word below your name is... "Associate". And when your friend gives you
the "Wow, you're an associate with this firm?"... you get into instant
orgasm.

3 or 6 months into your job, you will then be experiencing the euphoria
of saying... I-am-very-busy... I-have-a-lot-work...
I-worked-till-very-late-last-night...
I-can't-make-it-for-the-gathering-cos-I-have-to-work-this-weekend. Yeah,
it's an euphoria because to you, it's a privilege to be busy, it's very
cool to work late, you're very proud to work in during weekends. When
you utter such words, a sense of arrogance and pride radiates from you.
You feel great because working so hard means you learnt a lot of things,
those not in the professional industry somehow looks lowly to you. You
feel big, you feel you're a level smarter than them .Reality will tend
to sink in within 2 years or so, though the duration seems to be getting
shorter and shorter now with the younger generation.

First, you will probably ask yourself, how come a graduate like you must
do all sorts of donkey jobs such as photocopying, checking invoices,
going through pile and pile of documents and filing. You will also be
wondering how come your superior whom you once looked up to have to suck
up to clients. Oh yeah... most all clients are unreasonable.

If you're an accountant, you will probably realise that there is no such
thing called a 'balance' sheet. It's balanced because you did the
balancing act so that your big boss can sign on it and certify it as
'true and fair'.
Yeah... signing on accounts, the job that you once dreamed of... isn't
exactly all a bed of roses. You then realise that you will probably
never reach that "just-need-to-sign-only stage" but hey... it's ok, you
probably hate that job by now. When you tell your client something,
chances are you are just as blur and confuse as them. But you have to
act as though you're an expert because you're the con-sul-tant. This is
just a glimpse of it.

Now, all the late nights and irregular meals will probably caused you to
age 8 years in 2 years. Those I-am-very-busy... I-have-a-lot-work...
I-worked-till-very-late-last-night...
I-can't-make-it-for-the-gathering-cos-I-have-to-work-this-weekend will
take its toll on your body and it will show. You will probably look very
skinny... or very far... you will certainly look old and worn out.
Working late and spending weekends in the office is no longer a cool
thing but absolute stupidity. But hey... you will still have to do it,
because there's still much work to be done.

By now, all your friends who ended up as salesmen or doing other thing
except being a professional, those whom you felt superior to are driving
anything but a proton. But for you, it's time to think whether you
should buy a proton cause your perodua is beginning to give you problem.
Of course, if your father is well-connected fella, things can be
different.
But if you're not, tough luck. You'll be wondering how come you're
generally under-paid. Those exposure and learning curve that you once
craved are no longer relevant. You want to make more money. But unless
you're a partner of the glamorous firm, money can be a lil tough to come
by.

At this point of time, probably after 3, 4 or 5 years, you finally
realised that document you signed when you first joined the glamorous
firm was nothing but lies. Then, you decide to ply your trade in the
commercial world, you leave those glamorous firm. You think joining a
commercial firm will bring about a good change, not knowing that such
move means you switched from being a 'profit centre' to a 'cost centre'.
One of the main effect of the switch is that you will be working doubly
hard compared to the profit centre, which probably includes a lot of
late nights too... but your salary and bonus is much lower compared to
profit centre. What does this mean... a story for another time.

One thing for sure... your morning will now be something like...

Your alarm rings, signalling another day... another weekday. You get up,
after snoozing the alarm a million and one times. You hope today is
Friday, but it's not, and you feel like shit. You think of a million and
one reasons to take MC, but you realised you have to go to office
because you failed to finish the report due today though you stayed till
10pm last night. You tell yourself you need to change job, just like how
you have been telling yourself in the last 1 year. Once in office,
you're in a dilemma cause you want time to go slower so that you can
finish your work but yet, you want time to go faster so that you can
leave the office and go for lunch.

During lunch, you will b**** with your colleagues about work and
probably the bosses. You will all talk about so many people who seem to
be doing so well except for you. You realised you should have done
something else while in university. You realised you may have made a
mistake in life... a mistake in being a professional... you have made...
a professional mistake.

spring cleaning

2010-04-10T09:57:00.000-07:00

this organiser from Target would be pretty cool to have in my room! as u guys all know, i'm not exactly the neatest person on earth. my room somewhat resembles an earthquake disaster zone right now. books, papers & knickknacks are covering my work desk with less than an inch to spare. i'm sure anyone who's been to my room can attest to that. even if i clean up my room, it's gonna return to its old state in less than 3 days. i guess i just don't have a knack for tidiness.

speaking of spring cleaning, i guess i should do it pretty soon. seeing as how its spring. hahaha.

i need to clear out my wardrobe, which isn't gonna be an easy task. but clear out i must! but being the big procrastinator i am, i wonder when i'll get it done. next year at best? hah...

팝콘 노래방 - 짱이다!

2010-04-09T09:15:00.000-07:00

팝콘 노래방

popcorn norebang beats all the other norebangs hands down! the interior was pretty clean & they had all the latest songs! (4월까지!) 맘 넘 들어.. ㅎㅎㅎ. 방도 크고 깨끗하고 위치도 넘 좋더라고.. 내가 보기에는 이 노래방이 인기가 넘 많을 걸 같에...

문이 몇 칠 전에 방금 열어서 거기에 가면 팝콘이 공짜하고 1시간 - 30달러이거던! 다른 대 비교하면 넘 싸!

누가 관심이 있어? 우리 거기서 모임하자!! 어때? ㅎㅎㅎ.

브라운아이드걸스 - Mini Comeback?

2010-04-05T19:04:00.000-07:00

매직 - 브라운아이드걸스 (페스타온아이스)

점프 - 브라운아이드걸스

두 노래가 넘 좋더라. 싸이 황동을 끝난 후에 드디어 컴백크할 거야.. ㅎㅎ. 넘넘 기대해. 근데 이번에 느낌 좀 달라. 다 배러드이야.. 지금. 사실은 그전에 모습이 좋기한데 브아걸들 배러드를 부르는 것 더 어울린다고 생각해.

일하면서 노래들 때 기분이 넘 좋다. ㅎㅎ.

of spring, florals & more

2010-04-02T19:51:00.000-07:00

i've been doing a fair bit of shopping lately, which really shouldn't be the case! but all those pretty florals have been tempting me quite a fair bit. it would be really nice to visit the countryside for a peek into country life and all. its a pity that SG is a city. a quick getaway to the countryside would be idyllic, not to mention relaxing in the least.

do check out LiebeMarlene for fashion related stuff & more. I really like her blog. i think the pictures help a lot. its all dreamy & romantic. v old school style of photos. i can totally imagine myself in a fair no of outfits that she has been posting up. :)

i should be studying for my CFA, but i foresee myself reading this new book that i got at Kinokuniya just now.

that and waiting for my new sandals to arrive! ^^

i should really stop this bad habit of mine. but it is easier said than done. hah.

Suspects in Love - Flora Chan/Joe Ma

2010-03-29T18:39:00.000-07:00

ultimate combo!!! i'm so gonna watch this! starts next mon! hehehe.

its her 1st return to TVB after 6 years! i can't wait!!!!!:

추노

2010-03-28T09:41:00.000-07:00

지금 추노 보고 있는데 생각보다 넘 재밌더라.. 내가 원래 세극 별로 좋아하지 않은데 이 번에 좀 달라... 오지호인가? ㅋㅋ. 넘 멋있어! ㅎㅎㅎ. 노래도 좋고 연기도 좋고 마지막 회에 시청률이 30% 넘어가는 것 신기하지 않았어..

좋다 좋다.... 이제 점점 재밌을 거야.. ㅎㅎㅎ

6월에 김하늘의 로드넘버1를 나올건데... 지금 촬영 중인데.. ㅎㅎ.

요즘 좀 바빠.. 해야하는 일이 엄청 많거든! 하루에 24시간 진짜 부족해.. ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

kate spade or longchamp?

2010-03-27T10:12:00.001-07:00

Longchamp Le Pliage (Custom Made) !

Kate Spade CHELTENHAM EAST WEST ADDISON

i'm in a dilemma as to which bag to choose. If i were to choose the Longchamp, it would cost me approx USD$105 (excluding shipping) from France. The best part is that i can custom make it. i.e: choose the colors. the picture above's what i've chosen. What do you guys think abt it? It's abt the same size as a medium le pliage.

Kate Spade's having an additional 25% off on sale items. n so, the bag above costs USD$191 (excluding shipping). the Le Pliage's made from Nylon while Kate Spade's made from Leather. eeeeks. i've already placed an order for kate spade together with angela.. but honestly, i m secretly hoping that it goes OOS so that i can get the le pliage instead... hahaha...

eyeing a new macbook?

2010-03-25T03:26:00.001-07:00

well, i sure am. aiming to get my hands on one by the end of this year. since apple usually releases their new range of laptops ard June~July, its safe to say that i'll be keeping my eyes peeled for any updates! time to change my old trusty, albeit slow, ibook for a new and swanky macbook pro!

am v much looking forward to what it can do & more!

a new ipod wouldn't hurt either... i think an ipod touch shd do the trick. :) this is where the education discount will come in handy. Apple usually has an education discount for students/teachers where you get to save a certain amt ($250 if i recall correctly) off any ipod. an ipod touch costs abt $308, which means i'll only be paying $58 for it! what's there not to like?!

i wonder what can i do with my old ibook though... any suggestions?

Mac Rumours

31/12/09 - North Seoul Dream Forest 복서울 꿈의 숲

2010-03-21T08:44:00.000-07:00

decided to visit the dream forest after watching Iris (아이리스). there was a very unique observatory that appeared in the drama. since i heard that its at the dream forest, i made up my mind that i absolutely HAD to visit that place. :)

it was opened on Oct 17, 2009, so it can be considered a relatively new park. :)

alight at Seoggye Station, Line No. 1. take bus no 14. it takes abt 10mins to reach the entrance of the park.

bus stop

esther & myself

the entrance to the park

map of dream forest

the park is rather picturesque, with wooden platforms & metal sculptures forming the core structure. there was even a mini bamboo forest tucked away in a corner. i would have liked to explore the place, but due to a lack of time, i had to content with snapping pictures from a distance, albeit far away.

bamboo forest in question

the day was rather chilly, which made exploring a little problematic as snow covered the ground. my shoes weren't made for walking on snow.. they have zero grip on the snow, which meant i was slipping n sliding all over the place. it would have been fun if not for the fact that i was afraid of falling flat on my face.

see the observatory in the distance??

esther & myself

kim jong il on the bridge..

i love the tranquillity of the park. it has this ethereal quality to it. maybe it was because everything was covered in snow? i like snow. i don't know if it has something to do with my birthday being in dec, but yes. i like the cold, snow & everything that comes with it. i like being bundled up in my coat & scarf, holding a cup of hot cocoa, walking around in subzero temperatures. it just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling inside.

observatory

**to be continued**

MBC 로망스 - 줄거리

2010-03-18T02:15:00.000-07:00

내가 지금 보고 있는데...재밌더라... ㅋㅋㅋ

1999년 4월 벚꽃축제가 절정인 진해 군항제에서 채원을 만난 관우는 첫눈에 반해 고등학생이라는 신분을 속인 채 채원과 달콤한 1일 데이트를 하게 된다. 그러나 아버지의 갑작스런 죽음으로 두 사람은 아무런 연락처도 교환하지 못한 채 헤어지게 되고 채원을 향한 관우의 그리움은 커져만 간다. 그런데, 아버지의 죽음 후 진해의 집을 정리하고 전학을 간 서울의 학교에서 관우는 국어선생님인 채원과 충격적인 재회를 하게 된다.

선생님과 학생이라는 관계에도 불구하고, 채원을 향한 관우의 사랑은 점점 깊어만 가고, 불쑥불쑥 나타나는 채원의 남자 친구, 은석의 존재는 관우를 더욱 더 자극하기에 이른다. 하지만 채원은 애틋한 속마음을 숨긴 채 관우에게서 달아나려 하고, 자신을 향한 채원의 마음을 아는 관우는 무력한 자신의 사랑이 가슴 아플 뿐이다.

도저히 채원을 포기할 수 없는 관우는 은석을 향해 달려가는 채원을 돌려세우며 절실하게 딱 3년만 기다려달라고 부탁한다. 서로를 사랑하는 지금의 이 마음 그대로 자신의 곁에 있어주기만 하면 반드시 3년 후엔 채원 앞에 당당한 남자로 서겠노라고. 마침내 채원도 관우가 내미는 손을 더는 뿌리치지 못하고 채원 역시 관우를 사랑하고 있음을 고백한다.

하지만, 두 사람의 사랑은 선정적이고 추한 스캔들로 부풀려져 학교 사회를 뒤흔들게 되고, 급기야 채원은 관우를 지키기 위해 제자를 유혹한 부도덕한 선생이란 낙인을 안고 영원히 학교사회에서 추방 당하게 된다. 이후 채원은 매일같이 찾아오는 관우를 만나주질 않고, 관우는 열리지 않는 채원의 대문을 향해 기약 없는 약속을 하기에 이른다. '당신이 뭘 염려하고 있는지 안다. 좋다. 내일부턴 찾아오지 않을 거다. 대신 3년은 기다려주겠다던 약속만 잊지마라. 3년후에 만나자. 2002년 5월 O일 0시, 우리가 처음 만났던 그곳에서 당신 앞에 당당한 남자가 되어 당신을 기다리고 있겠다.'

그리고 3년 후, 2002년 5월...
어느새 22살의 청년이 된 관우는 압구정의 패션학원과 자신의 동대문 매장을 오가며 24시간을 48시간처럼 열심히 살고 있다. 공장에서 옷을 떼다 팔면서 간간히 실험적으로 자신이 직접 디자인한 청바지를 상품으로 가게에 내놓기도 하는 관우는 아버지의 뒤를 이어 청바지로 인생의 승부를 내겠다고 결심하고 고등학교를 졸업하자마자 동대문으로 뛰어든다.

오늘이 있기까지 지난 3년간 관우는 정말 지독하게 일만 했다. 악착같이 돈을 모으고 억척같이 뛰어다녔다. 그 모든 것이 관우에겐 채원과의 약속을 지키기 위한 노력이었고 언젠가 만나게 될 채원 앞에 부끄럽지 않은 당당한 남자로 서기 위한 것이었다. 그리고 마침내 2002년 5월이 오고야 말았는데….

random

2010-03-16T03:00:00.002-07:00

border="0" alt="You are .mp3 The kids love you. You get along with just about everybody except the music industry. You really make yourself heard.">
Which File Extension are You?

잘못했어 - 2AM

2010-03-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

Markowitz Portfolio Theory

2010-03-13T07:26:00.000-08:00

i never thought i would be studying such stuff again.. and voluntarily too!!!

Expected return:-

Where Ri is return and wi is the weighting of component asset i.

Portfolio variance:-

where . Alternatively the expression can be written as:

where ρij = 1 for i=j.

Portfolio volatility:-

For a two asset portfolio:-

Portfolio return:
Portfolio variance:

the things i do to get out of audit....

reminds you of a very bad day in finance class, doesn't it???

i now have to dreg up what is left from stats/finance class during JC/NTU days & try to put them in practice...

thank God i have till Dec...

Bubble Love - MC몽, 서인영

2010-03-04T06:47:00.000-08:00

Bubble Love - MC몽, 서인영

조영수 with 서인영, 그리고 MC몽
사랑의 All Star Compilation
사랑의 물방울처럼 투명해지길
그리고 그 사랑에 모두가 행복해지길

널 사랑해 너보다 값진 건 없어
널 사랑해 세상 누구보다 더
저 하늘에 빛을 따라가다 만난
오직 나를 위한 한 사람

톡톡 튀는 우리들의 bubble love
kiss 처럼 입술 모여 부는 bubble gum
행여나 혹시 그댄 내 맘 알까
얼굴만 봐도 뭘 안 먹어도 배 불러
1 step 2 step in 한 걸음 더
니 맘을 열어줘 조금만 더
니 목소리만 들어도 난 너무 좋아
끊지 말고 통화하자 5분만 더
this sweet bubble love 너무 새콤달콤해
투명한 니 맘처럼 너무 깔끔해
crystal clear 널 향해 달려
up in the air 날려 날려
don`t be afraid blow it away
걱정거리들 모두 밀어내
너와 나의 약속 서로를 위로해
마치 엄마 약손 바로 치료돼

널 사랑해 너보다 값진 건 없어
널 사랑해 세상 누구보다 더
저 하늘에 빛을 따라가다 만난
오직 나를 위한 한 사람

세상은 정글 험한 가시덤불
그 사이 날 막아주는 튼튼한 건물
내 몸과 마음의 치유효과를 높이는
그대는 지상 최대의 내게준 선물
널 위해 살아갈께 I will never stop
눈물조차도 I`ll never make it drop
모든 걸 담을 사랑의 물방울
커져가는 bubble love never let it pop
길거리를 걷다가도 아침밥을 먹다가도
피곤해서 졸다가도 니 생각만 나
방송을 하다가도 가사를 쓰다가도
노래를 부를때도 니 생각만 나
쓰라린 내게도 이젠 봄이 왔으니
저 물방울처럼 투명해지리
빛은 어둠속에 밝게 빛나니
그대는 내곁에 더 밝게 빛나리

널 사랑해 너보다 값진 건 없어
널 사랑해 세상 누구보다 더
저 하늘에 빛을 따라가다 만난
오직 나를 위한 한 사람

붕붕 뜨게 i be keepin` it up
계속 배워가고 있어 사랑 지키는 법
내 사랑은 투명한 bubble bubble love
내 사랑은 투명한 bubble bubble love love
붕붕 뜨게 i be keepin` it up
계속 배워가고 있어 사랑 지키는 법
내 사랑은 투명한 bubble bubble love
내 사랑은 투명한 bubble bubble love love

내 입가에 미소가 떠나질 않아
너 때문에 난 너무나 행복해
저 하늘에 빛을 따라가다 만난
오직 나를 위한 한 사람

Damyang (담양) - 22/12/09 ~ 23/12/09

2010-02-09T19:04:00.000-08:00

ok. i know tt this is waaaaay overdue, but i'll just try to update so that i don't forget.. the scariest part is forgetting. don't u think so?
that's y blogs are useful in that aspect. they help u remember the best parts of your life.

so here goes.... Day 1 ~ 2 in Damyang...

stayed @ this pension called Myungawon in Damyang. found it off naver.. place was clean & the owner was v nice! they had a v cute dog as well. :) i THINK its name was sweet potato..but i can't really remember... haha.

tourist map of damyang

the exterior of 명아원

view from the place.

entrance to our room

the room!

it was pretty cool cause the owner told me that the bedding n all was stuffed with natural fibres such as pine to give us a more restful sleep!

dog in question 고구마? ㅋㅋㅋㅋ

went out to tour the place before it got dark!!! met this nice taxi driver who offered to bring us around for abt 50,000원 for the day. if i recall correctly..

on our way to the Metasequoia Road (메타세쿼이아 길), we passed by the dam.. n the scene was so picturesque that we just had to stop to take pictures!

look at the sky!!!!

i like the clouds!

check out the dam!

i'm really amazed at the tranquillity of the place. i guess its cause i'm used to the hustle & bustle of cities. such scenes seem too perfect to be real.

메타세퀴어아 길

for those who are interested, this was one of the filming sites for My Fair Lady (아가씨를 부탁해). ^^

next, we went to the Slow City in Damyang. we wanted to get down to walk around, but as it was getting dark soon, we decided to drive through instead.

the beautiful sunset...

next stop was 소쇄원

jieting trying to act scary..

the temperature drops by approx 8 deg when u're in the bamboo forest! so its cool during summer BUT freezing during winter! i think it'ld be cool to come during summer. esp since korea's summer's really hot!! we were feeling pretty cold then. haha. look at us all bundled up!

wanted to go to the bamboo forest, but sadly, there wasn't enough time as it got dark!!! >_< nvm, i'll save that for my next trip! ;)

we went to this really traditional place for dinner & everything was served out in bamboo plates!

반찬

떡갈비

계란 찜

damyang's famous for its bamboo rice & tteokgalbi. i forgot to take pictures of the bamboo rice though.. >_< it was really fragrant! ^^

it's a really nice place to visit.. n hopefully i'll get to go there in summer soon! ;)

more updates up soon!!! i hope! ;)

the wheels are set in motion....

2010-02-09T00:55:00.000-08:00

now all we can do is wait.

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

2AM 조권, "가인과 사귈 땐 남몰래"

[티브이데일리=최준용 기자] 2AM 멤버 조권이 가상커플 ‘브라운아이드걸스’ 멤버 가인에 대해 언급했다.

조권은 오늘 방송된 SBS TV '좋은아침'에서 ‘가상 커플에 대한 주변의 관심이 부담스럽지 않냐’는 질문에 “큰 관심이라고 생각하기 때문에 좋게 생각한다”고 밝혔다.

이어 “정말 가인과 사귀라는 분들이 많지만 우리가 사귄다고 해도 공개하겠습니까? 만약 그렇게 된다면 몰래 사귀겠습니다”라고 밝혔다.

또 “사귀고 안사귀고의 문제는 우리 둘만의 문제이기에 많은 분들이 사귀라고 해주시는 것은 그만큼 큰 관심을 받고 있다고 생각하기에 정말 좋습니다”라고 덧붙였다.

한편 2AM 멤버들은 오늘 방송에서 “데뷔할 때도 그렇고 지금도 god를 롤 모델로 삼고 있다”며 “아직은 멀었고 더 열심히 노력하겠다”고 말했다.

"2AM Jo Kwon says that he'll keep it a secret if he were to date Ga-In"

2AM's member, Jo Kwon mentioned his fake wife, Brown Eyed Girls' Ga-In during an interview with SBS's Good Morning on the 9th of Feb 2010. 'Despite receiving a lot of attention from people around us, I don't feel burdened at all. Its good that we're receiving so much attention.', said Jo Kwon during the the interview.

In response to the question if he would date Ga-In if the chance arose, Jo Kwon said, 'Even if i did, I would keep it a secret. The decision to date is between the two of us. But i'm happy that so many people are concerned about our relationship.'

Meanwhile, the members of 2AM expressed that they'll continue to work harder despite having attained success.

personally, i think that both of them are dating.. judging from their behaviour n actions.. hahah. but we wouldn't know, would we? Jo Kwon's one secretive guy indeed....

가끔식... 넘 그리워

2010-02-03T18:53:00.000-08:00

바쁜 시간에는 여유를 그리워... 이렇게 바쁜지 않으면 맘에 원하는 것 더 할 수 있도록 후희없이 살 수 있겠다. 우리 꿈을 많이 꾸지만 얼마나 진짜 이뤘어? 운도 필요하고 노력도 필요하고 언제든지 얻은 것 잘 모르겠다.

아는 친구들 거의 다 여행하는 것 좋아한다. 좀 이상하지만 사람을 끼리끼리 모아서 항상 같은 취미가 있다. 영어로 말하면 'birds of a feather flock together'.

넘 불만해서 그런가? 다른 대에 가서도 더 좋은가? 언재까지 사람이 만족할 건데? 아니.. 영원히 할 수 없다. 아마도? 우리 살은 세계에서 경쟁력이 넘 심하고 가끔식 호흡이 어려워..

역시 학생의 생활이 더 좋더라...

최근... 내 인생

2010-01-28T07:52:00.000-08:00

진짜 오랜 동안 한국어를 안 썼어! 넘 바빠서 그래. 근데 그렇게 하면 단점이 있는데 한국어를 점점 까먹은 것 같에. 그거는 내가 잴 무섭게 생각해.

우리 인생에 다 선택해야 돼. 음식도 그렇고 학교도 그렇고 일도 그렇고.. 가끔식 한국어 더 공부하고 싶은데 넘 피곤해서 먼저 자야괘 는데 아니면 낼 회사에 넘 졸려서 일할 수 없데. 왜 그렀을 까? ㅠㅠ. 올해에 내 목표 괸 많이 있거든!

1: CFA 1급을 본다
2: 한국어 능력 시험을 본다
3: 일본에 여행하러 간다
4: 한국어 실력이 올라갈 수 있도록 더 공부한다
5: 한국에서 취직한다

많이 있지? 좀 육심이 있는데 다 얻을 수 있었으면 좋겠음! ㅎㅎㅎㅎ.

최근에 우리결을 보기 통해서 한국어를 좀 공부하다가 스트레스를 부르다. ㅎ. 아담부부 진짜 웃기다! 가인이랑 권이 진짜 사뀌면 좋겠음! ㅋㅋ. 두사람 참 올린다. 이번 주의 '우리결' 넘 기대하는데... ㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎㅎ

늘 그렇헤 생복하고 싶어...

estranged from normal-cy..

2009-10-26T01:33:00.000-07:00

been reading through my seniors as well as my ex classmates' blogs and am, dare i say it, envious of the life that they are leading right now. coming from very much an Arts background, where literary reads, art and music were the norm, i never expected myself to end up in something so practical like accounts. perhaps its reality that scares me. somehow, i have always envisioned myself doing the thing that i love and not what i need. money over enjoyment, practicality over dreams. is there really no space for dreamers in a pragmatic society such as ours? whereby money, fame and fortune are the rules of the game?

we were allowed to dream, allowed to imagine ourselves travelling across the world, exploring, eating and enriching ourselves through our travels. we saw the world through the pages of books. but it was not enough. it left us wanting more. sadly, graduation saw us grow up, don suits and ties and enter the rigorous working world where cash is king.

perhaps i'm jaded, or perhaps its resignation.. i really don't know..

오랜만이다..

2009-10-23T01:23:00.000-07:00

괜 오랜동안 지나구나!
여기 별로 오지 않아는데
참 외롭다.. 여기
그래도 여기서 다 좋은 추억만 가지고 있어
힘들 때 가끔식 여기에 와도 돼

어떤 AM 몇칠 전에 사표했어
좋은지 아닌지 잘 모르겠지만
인생을 계속 지내야지?
암튼
더 좋은 미래 위해
힘내고 화이팅!

samcheongdong

2009-08-12T19:10:00.000-07:00

떡갈비

met suyeon for lunch @ samcheongdong on sunday. apparently, the 떡갈비 is extremely famous. but oh boy, did we have to walk a distance to get there! and on top of that, the weather hit a fabulous high of 35degrees! samcheongdong's pretty arty farty, with loads of quaint cafes nestled along the sidewalk. it would be a good place to take a stroll at if not for the disgusting weather. >_< i came in autumn/winter & it was extremely enjoyable! :D

we had to queue for almost 30 mins in the sweltering heat! i felt like my legs were on fire on something. it was THAT hot. but still, the wait was worth it. :P koreans don't seem to mind queuing up for good food too! hehe.

the exterior... sorry its in B&W. i forgot to change the settings. :P

we adjourned to Paris Baguette for cake & patbingsu awhile later... it was so hot that i couldn't think straight. >_<

Paris Baguette

@ edae

2009-08-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

headed to edae for a haircut + shopping yesterday. :P only bought a pair of shoes n nothing else. hehe. i'm proud of myself. ;)
met up with juyeong & suyeon for grilled mackerel @ sinchon in the afternoon. ohhhh, how i've missed the delicious grilled fish! yum!^^ headed to paris bagette for patbingsu after that.. the green tea patbingsu was absolute heaven! hehe. but i seem to be eating a lot. i better control.. i so do not want to put on weight again.

meeting suyeon @ samcheongdong to eat ddeokgalbi later.. see.. its FOOD again. hahaha. more pictures to come soon! stay tuned! ;)

back... in seoul!

2009-08-07T19:27:00.000-07:00

finally back in seoul after 7 months or so.

feels weird but yet really good to be back. :) although i felt like i was in a dream for most of yesterday. i suppose it was due to the lack of sleep & the fact that i can really slack and not think about work contributed to it. :)

reached seoul @ an unearthly hour at 445am. filled in loads of forms (due to the H1N1 scare), grabbed my bags & somehow managed to make it to 대학로. functioning on 3 hours of sleep is absolutely NOT funny at all. was pretty overwhelmed with the fact that i'm actually back so much so that we(호림 & i) spent 1hr plus walking ard trying to find something nice to eat. :P finally decided on 떡만두국 . :) i think we walked ard 대학로 more than once trying to find a nice place to eat. :P

since i was only meeting suyeon @ 7 in myeongdong, we decided to sit down in o'sulloc for a nice cup of green tea. :P

o'sulloc cafe

my green tea with apple!

met suyeon for shabu shabu @ jung son and she bought me a strawberry cake!

hehe. but its filled with cream! but still, i <3 suyeon!!! hhee.

ms cpa/sia/unni/esther wants me to get a chocolate cake with strawberries for her!!!! v funny. hahaha.

off to edae later! ;) time to cut cut cut my hair. ;)

눈이 왔다!

2008-12-06T21:04:00.000-08:00

ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ. 오늘 일어났을 때 주영랑 수연의 매세지를 봤어. '눈이 온다고....'!!!! 눈이 비처럼 하늘에 흐렸어. 진짜 신기해! 그래서 밥 먹은 후에 아즈랑 같이 사진을 찍으러 갔어.... ^^ ㅎㅎ

이따 도 나가야 돼....... 마지막 주말이니까.... >.<