Wong Fu's K-POP Rendition

Ever since I watched the first YouTube video about "Yellow Fever" from Wong Fu Production back in 2006, I've been obsessed with them ever since.

I've been watching their creative videos and short film clips over the past decade. It's been a source of entertainment for me growing up, especially on nights when I'm bored and browsing the net. This is definitely my Asian nerdy side when I'm not out drinking and dancing!    

One of their newest music video that connects to me dearly right now is their version of an attempt to be a K-POP boy group. Since I'm currently in Seoul, this stood out to me the most. The lyrics were incredibly funny and made NO sense whatsoever.    

To give you an idea, this is a sample verse:
Please open the refrigerator
Give me the salt quickly
My back is itchy
The sun is really far
I have no friends...

Need I say more?     
I highly recommend checking out the video here for some good laughs:
https://youtu.be/beZFLT0Ixag

Side Note: The YouTube response videos of Korean people watching this is even funnier because of how ridiculous the lyrics are. Seeing people's reactions and their commentaries are priceless.  

My Korean Hanbok Experience

Taking a photo with the guard at the palace 

I've wanted to do this for some time, but I just never got around to it. So, when my mother decided to come visit me, it seemed like perfect timing. I mean, mother and daughter time wearing traditional Korean Hanboks, posing in front of the Gyeongbokgung palace...Why not?!

I searched on Google and found this foreigner friendly site in English about an all-day Hanbok rental. There were two locations and we choose the Gyeongbokgung palace branch near us.

We arrived around 11am, right before it started getting really busy with tourists. Unfortunately, due to height restrictions, I had limited selections for someone my size (I'm 5'2 by the way). The pretty ones I personally liked that I often see in the streets, are for taller girls. Nonetheless, I was happy with the purple and gold print two-piece hanbok I selected. My mother had a purple one with a mix of floral designs, which suited her very well. The rental for a day until 6pm can range anywhere from 40,000-70,000 KRW, depending on the style you choose. You can store your belongings and clothes by the front desk as well and they will give you a ticket. You also get to pick a little cute purse of your choice to put things you'll actually need in there while you walk around taking pictures. For an additional 5,000 KRW, you can get your hair done with accessories, so of course we did that too! 

The moment we stepped out of the shop, we immediately transformed into photographers documenting our exploration of the palace. We were also frequently interrupted by tourists inside the palace who wanted to take pictures with us. Definitely felt like a celebrity! We visited the Bukchon Hanok village after the palace tour for some good old fashion shopping and eating. The stares continued from strangers all around us but we didn't really care.   

Honestly, though, it was a hot sunny Saturday and we were both sweating in our layered hanbok outfits. Needless to say, we did not make it until 6PM and, instead, only lasted 'til about 2PM before we decided to switch back to our normal clothes. Overall, it was an amazing experience and something my mother really enjoyed. She likes to dress up in pretty costumes, she likes to take pictures, and she likes doing something fairly relaxing, all of which fit into this hanbok experience.

Even if it may seem like a tourist trap at times, it is something quite unique to Korea so no wonder so many people do it!

See website here here for details of where I rent my Hanbok!

For your information, the one I went to:
Hanbok rental shop 3355
45 Sagan-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, Korea
Tel:+82-2-720-1255

Go Green Korea!

People often say they want to be eco-friendly but saying is one thing, doing is another. Korea, however, is pretty damn serious about recycling and sorting their trash. This definitely took me by surprise.

How did I learn? Not from a friend's advice, but through personal experience.
I stayed at hotels my first two months in Seoul so the simple task of taking out the trash never occurred to me. Now that I am living in an actual apartment building, one where the lobby guy does not speak English and refuses to try to understand me, this has now become a painful and daunting task.

A week of furniture shopping and unpacking left me with A LOT of trash and cardboard boxes. We usually leave these in the little side rooms of the floor where people generally take the trash down. Or so I thought. I did this twice in a week until one day, these signs magically appeared around the walls of the little side room next to my apartment door. I suspect that they didn't know where I'm truly from, but to ensure I get the message, the signs were in Korean, Chinese and English.

I now clearly know I've been illegally taking out the trash. They now have CCTV recording me so I should take it to the basement B2 to avoid fines. B2 has a huge garbage room where it is sorted by pure food waste, general waste, paper, plastic and cardboards. I've been told you need a special waste bag for food only, nothing waste. I have failed to secure this "bag" after a few attempts to purchase it at the local convenient stores near me. I did successfully order a food waste bin online, so I will eventually get on buying that bag.

I'm impressed Korea, go green!

Life as a WIFI Seeker

It was a regular Sunday afternoon. I was on my way to meet a friend for lunch. 

Meet at line 1, Jegi dong station, exit 2 at 2:45pm. 

Simple task. 

I arrived 5 minutes early so I just waited upstairs by the exit. 

2:50PM- Maybe she is downstairs waiting for me while I am up here, let me go down

3:00PM- Hmm, it’s been 15 minutes. However, I don’t have a working phone. I should walk around and try to find wifi, there’s usually wifi around the subway exits. Walking…nothing.

3:10PM- She is much later than usual. I wonder what happened. My stupid phone doesn’t work, what is the use of this phone if I can’t reach anyone? I should just pay the 1 hour wifi usage from SK wifi, it’s cheap enough…Proceeding to payment…

It’s been this page for a while now, why doesn't it work? They don’t even want my money? You have got to be kidding me. 

3:15PM- it’s been 30 minutes. I should probably set a limit to this waiting time. I’m getting really hungry. I think 1 hour is long enough. Oh wait, here she is! 

Times like these, I really wish I had a proper working phone where I can perhaps use it to dial and call people. The real purpose of a phone...And trust me, I've tried. However, ever since I've moved to Seoul, my phone situation have been rather difficult.

The first week is all about settling in, plus I had wifi, so I was not in a hurry to get a phone plan. I then learned you need a foreigner's ID to get a phone plan but that requires an approved Korea visa. Since I am still waiting on the visa, a temporary prepaid plan is my only option.

Attempt # 1
I ventured out on my own one afternoon to the nearby phone store Olleh to get the prepaid plan set up. After getting a ticket, waited for 45 minutes, asked for help then realized no one spoke English, I left the store phone less and frustrated. What a waste of my time!

Attempt #2
I learned my lesson with the language barrier so I took my Korean colleague with me the next day to a different phone store. The guy who was helping us initially turned out to be a trainee and our situation was way too complicated for him. After wasting 30 minutes, we had a more senior staff assist us. Everything was going well until he told us something was wrong with the phone and the SIM card is not picking up any signal. He tried changing the settings and called multiple people for help, but none of it worked. After 2 hours and 2 staffs trying to help us, we left the store phone less and frustrated yet again.

Attempt #3
I went with a different colleague this time back to the same store later that night. She had the same issue previously since her phone was from the US and it was fine after adjusting the settling. 45 minutes and 3 stores later, nothing.

Attempt #4
We received information from a friend of a friend to get a prepaid SIM at a specific store that help foreigners so perhaps this would work! Jongno 3 ga exit 15 train station, this is where the magic happened!

Long story short, the store guy planned to switch my internal hardware from a US one to a Korea one, so that it would work with the Korea SIM. This is the cheapest since I don’t want to spend a fortune on a new phone. I dropped by after work to pick up my new phone only to hear that the switch doesn't work since US and KO phones are made differently. I was seriously about to give up, but the guy handed me another smart phone with a phone case and temp SIM, with all conutacts transferred! 

This totally made my month! I Should have totally brought a lottery that night, oh wells. 

Sunday is not a rest day

This past Sunday has been an eventful morning to say the least!

Currently, I am living in hotels until I move to my own apartment in May. I actually have to move to a new hotel this past Sunday so I was up since 10AM packing away. Between stuffing shoes in bags and sitting on my suitcase to close it, I was finally able to finish packing by the 12PM checkout time. Right on the dot. I managed to get a taxi within 10 minutes thinking I was well on my way to the new hotel. Now the fun part begins here…

I told the taxi driver the neighborhood I was going to in Korean- Success
He asked for the specific hotel name and address, I handed him the booking confirmation I printed that is bilingual with both English and Korean- Success
He asked a few questions in Korean but I can only said “Sorry, I don’t speak Korean” and pointed at the confirmation sheet- Success

So he inputted the hotel name into the GPS but nothing came up- Failed
He inputted the address in Korean into the GPS but nothing came up- Double Failed
He asked if I could call to ask the hotel but I told him I don’t have a working phone. So he used his phone to call the number but the number didn't work – Triple Failed
(I actually asked my Korean Colleague afterwards and learned that the Korea country code is 82, the Seoul area code is 2, and the hotel number included 222...I think all the 2s confused us)

After all attempts failed, he then suggested going to the police station to seek help. You know, with me being a foreigner and all…We both laughed hysterically at how ridiculous this situation is as he drove to the police station. Just when I was about to give up hope, I saw the road name in the interaction stop of the “correct” road of where the hotel was located. It matched the English address on the paper 100%, so we finally managed to find the hotel.

Icing on the cake: when I took a second look at the confirmation paper, I realized that the English and Korean address actually don’t even match up! The numbers are totally different. It doesn't take a Korean person or genius to know that the Korean address was WRONG. Epic Failed.

Good thing I saw the road sign just in time, so there’s an itty-bitty bit of luck on my side. Can you image if I had to go to the police station just to find a hotel?! 

Actually, that would be an awesome story…but not so awesome of a Sunday for me. Sunday should be rest day. However, for me, this Sunday is not a rest day.

#JustanotherdayinKorea

BUT, I’m glad I found my new hotel because I love it!

Break It Down

I went to my first dance show in Seoul tonight for a bboy musical: the Expression Crew.

Actually, it's been a while since I've been to one so it's a nice yet different thing to do after work. It reminds me of the good old dance days back in college. Oh, how time flies!

They are quite good and I was impressed by the creative story line, use of props, lighting and technology. The scenes with the ghost busters and transformers are probably my favorites. As expected though, bboy techniques are great but choreography can be stronger. Personally, I think it's difficult to excel at both free style and choreography. Even friends of mine fall into either one category or the other, they are just so different. There are always exceptions of course.

Alright, it's time to start looking for some hip hop classes in Seoul! 

Check out our photo with the dancers after the show in the lobby! Yay :)

Some cool videos as well:

Expression Crew on Youtube

#Justanotherdayinkorea

There's a Saying

My colleagues and I explored today and went to a new place for lunch. On the way there near City Hall station, we walked by a palace surrounded with people sitting outside sipping coffee. Beautiful day!

Apparently though, the walkway surrounding the palace has this saying, almost like a Korean urban legend.

If a couple walks down this walkway together, then their relationship will not last long.
"WHY?"
I asked, but I didn't get a real answer. 
"Just because."
That's what they've heard and how it's always been.

Guess I won't be walking there with anyone I'll ever date. 

#Justanotherdayinkorea

P.S. I just found out as well this is one of the most common superstitions. Check out this link for more information:

Korean Superstitions

Daily Routine

Given that I've only been in Seoul for a month, everything is new and strange to me.

I started noticing that girls always brush their teeth in the restroom after lunch. Maybe it's a one off thing? 

Nope, it's not. 

Maybe some girls have that habit? 

Nope, not that either. 

It's pretty much EVERY girl, like a social norm. 

I mentioned this to my colleagues who all giggled at my "expat" remark. Shortly after, they all took out their own tooth brush and tooth paste they kept in the drawers at work. Off to the restroom they go...

I guess it's time I buy myself an office tooth brush and tooth paste. 

#Justanotherdayinkorea