one day; one love♥: December 2009

.:[mood]:. wanting to go back.
.:[musiq]:. none, but 1.59PM's 기다리 다가 지친다 in my head.

안녕!!! IM BACK!! wow, i cant believe it was only a week in korea. 8 days on a 'Winter Tour with Lee An' with me and my mum; moving every day to different provinces in korea, non-stop FREEZING COLD [got to -10 degrees C on a few days]....and korean music HEAVEN in the urban areas. 2PM was EVERYWHERE i looked....Corby ads, Paris Baguette ads....*sigh* but unfortunately no jay T__T

edit: photos are up! and DO NOT HOTLINK. or you will die. thankyou=]

best thing: Lee An, his manager, the tour guide's helper, and various shop aunties + uncles said my korean was good. YAY! means im doing something right, at least. and yes, it was the first time i actually said anything longer than one word in korean; so i had to think of how to string the sentence together before i opened my mouth if it was of any complexity higher than "how much?" or "what is that?" ROFL. see, when im typing i have time to think and erase my mistakes rofl....

worst thing: hm. the COLD. i love cold weather but i failed to take into account my horribly poor blood circulation. and only taking a few thin pairs of socks and FINGERLESS gloves...yes. my fingers and toes absolutely DIED. japan in a few weeks, so i better pack smart and actually buy a proper pair of gloves and thicker socks -___-

So who is Lee An? well...i didnt know. turns out hes this upcoming korean singer who decided to be different and base himself in singapore, rather than korea - which would explain why i had never heard of him...ㅋㅋㅋ...quite cute, decent english, damn thin though. his blog is here...rofl photo of me in the last post^^: http://www.leean777.blogspot.com/

ok so here goes:

DAY 1 [saturday]:
took asiana airlines on friday night, met Lee An and his manager Boyi [보이] before we all flew to 인천 airport near seoul. we arrived in inchon airport at abt 4.30-5am local time? and there we met the local tour guide juliet/연희 and her assistant, this university kid Andy, who also doubled up as a photographer for us....he was sooo helpful through the whole trip...helped everyone get food at restaurants, helped ppl cook when we had BBQ, gave us food refills before he had even started eating, waited outside the bus for ppl to get on and off, loaded/unloaded all our luggage...such a nice kid.

had korean-style udon noodles for bfast before taking a 5-hr bus ride to Kyeongju/경주....i had a taec dream in the bus!!! HAHA thats what u get for listening to 2PM whilst sleeping...pretty much just taec complaining abt his coordi noona for making him look like he had..lumpy jeans ROFL. he stood up from the dinner table [it looked like their one in hot blood] and said sth like, "AHH 코디 누나!!! what did she do!? now i have a lump there!!!" ..and pointed to his crotch...ahahah!

udon..

local snack foods are DAEBAK. mmm. tried sth called 호두 과자, which are small cake balls which resemble walnuts + are filled with red bean + walnut bits. mmmmm^^

later had some mushroom steamboat for lunch, and then went to the Shilla Milennium Park, where the dramas 'Queen Seon Duk/선덕[sp?]여왕' and 'Boys over Flowers/ 꽃 보다 남자' was shot....mmm...aside from the water show and a martial arts show, it was cold and rather boring. blame my intense dislike for sightseeing. rofl.

dinner was 삼겹살/samgyupsal [and guess who i thought of? KHUNNIE] + 된장찌개...mmm yummmy. the ladies who ran the restaurant downstairs went psycho when they saw Lee An and demanded photos and autographs, ahahah^^ he asked me why my pronunciation of korean was so good? *secretly felt better*^^

삼겹살!

stayed at Kolon Hotel.....first thing that popped up on tv? STAR KING!!! its so exciting to see the shows i love on...real tv instead of youtube. ROFL.

mc hodong is WIN.

DAY 2 [sunday]:
7am wake, then packed nd left at 9am for the 불국사 temple nearby, sightseeing as per usual...[-___-]..i told 보이 and one of the mothers on tour that i liked 2PM + was sad over jay...and the mother was like "aiyahh hes coming back in JUNE! i know that for suuuree."mmm mebbe i was being a bit sensitive but that comment got me a bit annoyed haha...iv been following this conspiracy every single day since it began with other hottest; and unless something occured in the last week; i heard different....

lunch was traditional style at a nearby restaurant; sat in mats on the floor in little huts..pretty cool! albeit cramped legs afterwards hehehe.

bus to DAEGU/대구 after! [hello junsu!]...went to 계명 대학교/kei myong university, another film site for 'boys over flower'...ahahaha we got lost. funniest bit was the tour guide 연희 scolding two students [boy + girl] in korean for quarreling with each other...she said sth along the lines ofl, "YAH! behave yourselves!! there are foreigners here!" ㅋㅋㅋ i ROFLed when i heard her say that hahahahaha.

went to Herb Hills, this childrens themepark?? or sth like that...decorated our own candles, and made soap [im not sure of the relevance of korea to this activity; but it was ok]...friggin cold!!! first time i ordered food in korean while we waited for our soap to set....i got fried squid for my mum; but i misheard the guy when he asked if i wanted butter and i nodded anyway. whoops; sorry for giving u an extra grease attack, mum...

its really annoying...that cuz im not so used to talking in korean that i dont form very coherent sentences...and then when i think abt it later...i figure out how to say it properly. but by then the moment has long passed. DOH!

later went to downtown daegu to 동산노[sp?] street...a shopping district=] roamed around and found a store that stocked colonize hoodies! and THEN got even more excited because JAYS PHOTO WAS IN THE WINDOWWWWWWW. along with some other 2am boys, shiwon, etc....the photos i took of that photo were a bit blurry though=[

i got so excited when i saw this...my geriatric blurry shorty♥

bought this cute new design colonize hoodie [the cartoon was depicted against winnie the pooh!]....and found BANC hoodies at another store!! unfortunately they didnt stock the right size for the design i wanted, so i had to comprimise and buy a slightly bigger one. YAY! i was kind of amused that the storegirl called me 언니...did she think i was older than her!?

Corby cf photos were EVERYWHERE [cuz of all the electronic stores], and 1.59PM music was blaring EVERYWHERE. bittersweet T__T

i also found 2PM socks!! so i bought...like 9 pairs. ROFL!! the ajummas at the store asked where me nd my mum were from, and complimented me on my korean when i said australia^^ hehe yayyyy=]=]

junsu's paris baguette ad in his hometown=]

stayed at the Grand Hotel Daegu....and guess what was the first thing that popped onscreen when i turned on the TV?....WILD BUNNNNYYY!!! episode 4!! so i got to feel the jayness for another 20-30 mins or so=]=] good day, good day....

"ah 자....자라고!!!" *laughs and smacks taec* MISS YOUU!!

DAY 3 [monday]:
6am wake...i turned on the tv to see 'Heartbeat' playing!! and had a Khun dream! something where he was helping my auntie pack..books onto shelves?? or sth and i said that he was the only one on the paris baguette posters etc..being the only one on the front of the shop..and he was all *uneasy look* "why would i be the only one on the front of the shop!?" "ohh no i meant with kim tae hee!" and then he seemed to relax a bit....=S

off to an apple wine factory in...i dont know where. ROFL. but it was remote, and cold, as per usual. got a photo taken of us, which was later given to us to stick on a bottle of apple wine which we got to fill, cork and seal as a souvenir. also got to try one of their local apples...which was MASSIVE!!!! and really sweet=D. the starr there also made apple pancakes for us, which were YUMMMYYY!!!

huge apple + bag; apple wine

YUMMMY

lunch was at the apple wine factory - some chicken steak thing with spicy apple sauce, not too bad...ended up with a lot of red-faced asians leaving the factory after all the wine consumed. ehehehe=P

left for a scholars village [not sure if this was still in daegu...i kept falling asleep in the bus and missing info]...some of the other ppl on tour [my mum included] acted out a traditional korean wedding ceremony in full costume..SOO funny the groom was this tall, very VERY reluctant boy on tour...and he literally had to be dragged into the dressing room to be changed into the costume. HAHA.
...the ajusshi who took us around had very good english! and we learnt how to make rice cake/떡 [and yes, i thought of JYP] from scratch...so helped the ajummas there pound the rice/water mix with a massive wooden mallet...which they afterwards covered in a bean powder nd chopped up for us to try....pretty nice!!

떡!!

dinner was some mushroom steamboat again, then we stayed in the 대명/Daemyeong Resort in Danyang, a traditional style hotel in which we slept on mats on heated floors....huge place, pretty lights and even had a supermarket and a few restaurants + games arcade downstairs.

mushroom steamboat dinner...look at all the side dishes!

this is called: LEADJA coffee ㅋㅋㅋ

Mnet Super Concert was on!! but i didnt see any 2PM=[=[ mustv missed it when they were on...

DAY 4 [tuesday]:
6.30am wake...had another 2pm dream, of which i cannot remember...and 'Heartbeat' was on AGAIN, the minute i turned the tv on 0__o 너무 이상해....

took the bus to Suanbo for skiing...bought 보리떡[barley pancakes? i think?] at one of the rest stops, pretty nice...surprised another ajusshi ["아! 깜짝 놀랐어요!"] with korean when my mum was complaining abtthe price of some neckwarmers nd gloves for skiing...he thought we were from hong kong..

stopped along the way to Phoenix Park to pick up ski jacket/pants/gloves/goggles...then pork + squid hotpot lunch before going up to the mountains. freezing cold!! -6 degrees in the afternoon when we went up to the Mont Blanc peak by gondola, i dont think my thin socks did anything to protect my feet from the cold snow....koreans seriously have the coolest snow gear. all colours and...they just look...cool. rofl!

squid + pork hotpot

massive corby ad facing the gondola.

not a great photo...but a view of some of the slopes from the gondola

can u spot lee an? hes in the black jacket in the middle. first time i did the splits in like 3 months...painful...

rented skis/boots/poles, and 연희 taught everyone how to ski. i think me nd my mum were the only ones apart from lee an, 연희 + 보이who had skiied before, so we had to help out a little here nd there with ppl falling down everywhere and having trouble moving^^ 2PM songs playing over the loudspeakers! "only youuu..."
after abt 40 mins or so, i left with lee an/보이 to ski down some of the slopes....did a easy/green run, but lee an was complaining it was too short so i went with him to the other side to do a intermediate/blue run...which he also complained was too short rofl! too awkward/shy? to say much on the ski lift up, so we both just sat there and shivered and complained of the cold hahahahah....although it was -6 degrees...it was SUPER windy, so it felt more like i dunno....-10, -12 degrees...and poor circulation so my fingers felt like blocks of ice.

we skiied back to the others, and i took the same green run with 보이, who talked to me in korean on the way up ㅋㅋㅋ...we had to help one of the girls lee hwa down the slope because she had a lot of trouble skiing [she fell over twice and i tried to help her], but in the end the ski staff were clearing the slope, and so i had to leave her and let them help her...so i felt bad=[

dinner was at a connected restaurant near the ski resort hotel, 만두국 [and i thought of...WOOYOUNG]!! quite yummy....my mum was complaining that we didnt get enough ski time due to all the beginners lessons, so she coerced me back onto the ski slopes after dinner. temperature had dropped to abt -10 degrees, but it wasnt as windy so it was bearable, for the most part. except for the top ofthe ski lift where the wind was strong and after a while my fingers and toes died again....so we only skiied for another 1-1.5 hrs before i had to go warm up...for fear of frostbite haha -____-

DAY 5 [wednesday]:
7.30am wake....looked out my window and there were ppl skiing down at phoenix park already! and it was how cold? -14 degrees. GAHH!!!
we took a bus to the Korean cuisine Institute, and watched the ajumma there make ginseng yoghurt [although it was more like a smoothie with a crapload of banana and ginseng], and watched her make 비빔빕 in a HUGE wooden bowl....both very tastyyyy=D i left a msg in korean in their guestbook + surprised the busdriver; but then he confused me by trying to tell me to write the date in korean...i was all "il chon gu nyeon...???.....OHHHH!! 2009.." i blame it on lack of sleep -__- and brain freeze.

ginseng yoghurt + 비빔밥

we bussed to 수원/suwon to Everland, this massive themepark..and it was the coldest yet. felt mebbe abt -5 to -8 degrees again...but fingerless gloves do nothing omg in such weather -__- it was really hard to stand being outside, i was shaking for a lot of the evening T__T

ahh my poor mum. she didnt think and went up and smacked her hand right onto the portable heaters outside, burning her fingers and leaving grill marks in the process.....not smart mum -__- 보이 got quite scared and went to get help for her, but it was ok...i think if the weather had been any warmer, the skin damage wouldv been worse.

saw two xmas parades [most of the dancers were caucasian!], spent a lot of time in the gift shops where it was warm...OH and guess what i bought!? anyone remember the furry white paws/scarf thing jay had in idol army ep 3? when he got a wink from khun + danced to 'nobody'? i found them!! and bought them=D and bought a black polka-dotted variant as well. heheh soooo cuute!!!

yes; they are one and the SAME=D...nearly^^ thanks to briar for the hat design!

allll the xmas lights there lit up was sooo pretty!! its like they covered every tree in lights, as well as in a canopy fashion over a lot of walkways...it was soo magical looking! but my camera ran out of battery!! so i didnt catch a lot of it unfortunately=[=[

the camera cant really capture how pretty it was!

so i declined one of the spinning rides earlier because i was afraid of the cold wind hitting me in the face during the ride [like..ICY COLD]...but i was silly enough to agree to go on the Viking ride [pirate ship] later with some of the others. bad, BAD idea...as everyone knows the pirate ship isnt scary. at ALL. but i think all of us were screaming our heads off because every time the ship swung, it would be like an icy cold PUNCH to your face and body....so, so unbearably cold on the ride and it went for soo long!!! i was next to lee an and both of us had bare fingers....could not feel a THING for half an hr afterwards or more, it was that cold..and my fingers did feel exactly like blocks of ice. gahh>.<

DAY 6 [thursday]:
7am wake, left at 9am for 수원 화성[sp?] fortress, the filming site for '대장금/jewel in the palace'. so friggin cold yet again -___- drove to seoul, and then went around in this little train thing to see...ROFL. i cant remember now -__- it was a wall and some other things in seoul. sigh. my memory fails me at this point il try and fix it later when i remember...

lunch was 삼계탕, and mum's patient's brother joined us there for a brief meeting. he is chinese + has been in seoul for nearly 5 yrs...but cannot speak any korean. i guess thats what happens when u are a wealthy enough businessman to get around witha driver and translator rofll.

삼계탕

paris baguette ads at the store outside the 삼계탕 restaurant=]

went to the National Ginseng Centre...where everything was so expensive everyone lost interest straight away and got annoyed at the persistent salesgirls. HAHA.

next stop: the Face Shop! gahh now i realise how much cheaper it is in korea...we went to the tourist variant; which was jam packed with chinese speaking salesppl and crazy singaporeans/malaysians/mainlanders grabbing everything. safe to say i think everyone walked out of there with a massive bag of stuff! hahaha

onto myeongdong/명동!!! which was clearly 대박; i loved it! kind of reminded me of mong kok in hong kong at night....bright lights, lots of people and street food and cool things everywhere! managed to find some BANC; but i didnt like the designs so didnt buy=[ sighh!

so prettty...

went with some of the other girls and my mum to a small CD store...bought brian's new album, b2st, big bangs older albums, 2pm merchandise! posters, a magazine of them + shinee/2ne1/shinee etc, fanmade calendars and the uncle at the store gave me what he claimed to be RARE, OFFICIAL HOTTEST MERCHANDISE. i dunno if i believe him but thats what he said so...i dunno. inside is a black 2pm jacket, 7 individual [photocopied] handprints and messages of all the boys [i squealed at jays 'AOM baby' at the end of his msg^__^] and i think a card holder? or sth else with the boys photos on it. im not sure; i havent opened it properly yet.

EDIT: here are the photos now!

inside the package...it says '2PM 1st Fanclub Goods' on the bottom.

the contents..

'즐거운 하루 되세요' - sth like, 'have a nice day'.

one side of the card holder.

the other side

2PM phone chain^^

junsu's sig=]

taec's sig=] ROFL i love his okcat pic!

khun's sig=]

wooyoung's sig=]

chansung's sig=]

jay's sig=] love the 'AOM Baby!' hehehe♥

junho's sig=]

'hottest 1st' on the right arm=]

2PM zip!

'HOTTEST = pride of 2PM'!! on the back=]

some of the other girls bought the 1.59pm album....i didnt want to impose my opinion on them but...BLAH IM NOT BUYING ANYTHING 6PM. NOTHING UNTIL JAY RETURNS.

bought a scarf inside Migliore [the 언니 there also complimented me on my korean^^], and tried 호떡 + 만쥬 custard cake things. mmmmmm~

호떡

off to 동대문/dong dae moon afterwards - mmm i didnt think it was as good as myeongdong....because all i really wanted was hiphop streetwear which i couldnt find there>.<

xmas lights outside dutto; inside.

my huge fishcake thing; vanilla waffle

DAY 7 [friday]:
today. 6.30am wake, left the hotel at 7.30am....chinese buffet bfast at some tourist joint, and then off to the Amethyst centre...again many ppl not buying due to the price. we dropped by a tourist supermarket place to buy snacks and seaweed etc on the way to the airport...

best engrish on a cookie package EVER. AHAHA

...all our goodbyes at the airport! everyone exchanging business cards, taking photos...for once Andy was the star and was IN photos instead of TAKING them! hehe^^ 보희+ lee an came to say goodbye....T___T didnt want to leave!!!!!

all in all, korea was fun. i do wish i had more time in seoul though - and i DO wish i was there for xmas...im missing 2pm in gangnam....and epik high's last concert! AHHH T____T

hope this hasnt bored u all too much. happy reading!! ^^

EDIT: i added these photos on Christmas Day. i hope everyone has a wonderful festive season and Santa? please grant me my christmas wishes...to not have to do my oral supplementary exam...and to bring jay back to his brothers. Christmas isnt complete without grandpa and his supplements.

MISS YOU JAY!!