Sunday, September 23, 2012

Things I want to do in Korea!

Well, since my blog is already maybe...80% occupied with Korea posts, here is a post for a contest organized in collaboration of  BuzzKorea, Korea Tourism Organization  and Korean Air SouthEast Asia. There are already soooo many contestants as you can see from BuzzKorea website here but we all (at least my regular readers)  know my love for Korea so this will be like a promotional post too!


I love Korean Tourism Organization (KTO)! During my time there they had promotions for Korea Pass (they still have it now for Visit Korea Year!) Got lots of discounts and coupons which we used happily! :) We can return both to get the card deposit back but we chose to kept both because the cards are so pretty!

 
And thank you to KTO I managed to see Taeyang (my idol) for the first time during Hallyu Beach Concert at Busan, for FREE!! Saw PSY before Gangnam Style even went viral! And despite not knowing much of his songs that time, we actually stood up and danced!!


Thank you for the foreigners privilege!



So as you can see, the topic can either be Things I want to do/see/hear in Korea and why did I choose Things I want to do in Korea? Simple, seeing and hearing both means you are doing something. Means "doing" is a general term for EVERYTHING you want to DO in Korea! :)

Honestly, 41 days in Korea was not enough. Korea is such a huge peninsular, I feel that I've not experienced enough of that country. Many love Korea for Kpop and Kdrama but mine didn't came from either much. I do love Kpop and Kdrama, well more of a Kpop (huge fan of particularly Big Bang) but through a volunteer program, I get to stay away from town and many other things besides Seoul activity caught my attention.

1. Korean language

I had been learning Korean language on my own and it is in fact really difficult because I cannot put it into practice. Korean language is something which really interest me and people around me actually thinks I am crazy to focus so much on this language. They ask me why Korean? Why not French? Or German? I know French is more widely use but Korean language sounds....amusing to me. I aim to understand songs without translations, aim to watch Kdrama without subtitles. When I stayed in Korea, I learned a lot from what I can't get from my books. So I hope a trip to Korea will help me boost my Korean language!


Everyone study Korean should know this website: TalktomeinKorean.com


 I learn Korean language through songs lyrics as well! Cause most of the time I would want to understand the meaning of the song rather than just listening to the beautiful melody :)

2. Observe

Sightseeing! Of course! Who would want to miss this chance in Korea! For a week in Korea we were quite in a rush and there are still many places which we want to visit and those places I visited and yet we spent so little time there that I had not much memories. I wish I can go there again and with better communication I can ask and know more about the places (the stories, histories etc.) I love traveling, be it for scenery or food, I never miss to bring my camera along!












 
 





3. Rides

Lotte World, Carribean and Everland! Due to the tight schedule we had, we had to skip all these 3 places T____T I wish the next time I get back to Korea I get to go to these 3 places and enjoy all the rides and water activities. *all images from Googleimage*



4. Eat

What not! If you follow me on Twitter and my Instagram you would know that I never get sick of Korean food. Despite so difficult to get (100% authentic) Korean food in Malaysia, we went a distance just to get them! And eat Korean food at every chance we got! My love for Kimchi chigae, Ddeokbukki, Samgyeopsal, Samyetang, Bulgogi never fades! *drools while typing this and posting these photos*














5. Air

Well, not that the air in Korean is different (though the weather is much more cooling and my skin was great when I was in Korea >.<) but I mean to watch Idols show on-air (live!!) I wanted to attend the music shows Music Bank, Inkigayo etc. but again due to our schedule, it was really hectic and it was difficult for us to wait all day for the show~


 cr: googleimage
 Inkigayo

 cr: googleimage
 Music Bank

 cr: googleimage 
 Music Core




The many other things I want to do in Korea:

6. Meeting up with Korean friends: The fact that we had been communicating online for all this while, I really hope one day I get to meet them. And those host families and friends I met during my voluntary program, I wish to meet them again one day. They are really great people and helped me so much throughout the trip!













7. Visit all the islands: Though we went to the "dream" island which is Jeju Island, I do wish I can go to other islands such as Nami Island.  Islands are really beautiful place to be at.



8. Club & Party!: The last time I missed this chance and I totally regretted it. Since now a Korean friend agreed to bring us the next time we land in Korea, I won't want to miss the chance! I would really want to visit the chains of clubs in Hongdae. Club hoping(?) is what they call it! ^^

 cr: googleimage


 cr: googleimage
 
And I met a friend who is a DJ and is now working for Mansion, wut?! I can't wait to see him spin!



More info about clubs in Hongdae, Seoul? Check this page from VisitKorea 

Or if you're an "owl" or "bat" and enjoys night life, visit this helpful site: http://seoulparty.wordpress.com


I'll stop at 8 because that's a lucky number! Plus am really missing Korea right now, may just break down especially thinking about Haraboji, Halmoni and the host families back in Korea. *sobs* I wish you would want to go to Korea as much as I do! Remember, it's way moreeee than just Kpop and Kdrama! 

Anyways speaking bout Korean Air, I managed to get a picture of it when I took off from Jeju!^^


And for girls, how bout some cosmetics hunt at the ever famous Myeongdong!!


I guess this post besides for the contest is also a summary of my 41 days in Korea. It summaries most of the stuffs which you can do in Korea! It's not all about Seoul and Busan! The villages and islands are really amazing places! Since according to BuzzKorea itinerary, there are soooo many things which I have yet to try, visit Cube Ent., Samsung D'light, Skin Care program, Lighting Festival etc., I would be honored if to be picked as a lucky winner!

Dsiclaimer: Most of the photos used are my own unless stated :)



With Love,
Mei Lin