RENAMED: EAST ASIA TRIP (Korea Trip Plan!!! + Thai + Japan + Taiwan)

JAPAN
-Tokyo (? Shibuya?), Japan: Go to East Park Overpass and take a photo of the setting sun just like in Sunao ni Narenakute

KOREA
I gotta write down these places/highlights or I know I'm going to forget. Anywho, the amazing show 1N2D dictates that I have gotta go to:

-Gwanmaedo in Jindo Island (it's got beautiful stone walls & murals in Gwanho village, lovely pine forest in national park, it's an island with some caves on the sea, shiatsu paths on the road, silver magnolia tree also lovely sea view. I could spend 5 days in this place. Please refer to episode 210 for details.)

-Chang Kyung Palace, one of the main palaces built in Koryo Dynasty over 1000 years ago. (see My Name is Kim Sam-Soon episode 13 near start)

-Mt. Halla. This is one of THE places I have to go. It's practically a kdrama addict rite of passage. (see My Name is Kim Sam-Soon episode 12 near end)

-Gochang has a village for visitors to try agricultural life!!! (refer to ep212 of 1N2D) Must try watermelons, black raspberry (fruit & juice!) and peaches and that roasted specialty eel served with black raspberry sauce. Also there's Gochang Dolmens Site which is a UNESCO world heritage site...

-make that go to all UNESCO world heritage sites in Korea...and the world=DDD

-Jeju-do's Eongtto Falls (fall only exists when there's enough rainfall!! so make sure to go on a day after rain or during light rain during the summer) Episode 214 for details!

-There's another waterfall called Jeongbang falls, in case that one doesn't appear, so never fear! (also episode 214) It's the only waterfall that feeds into the ocean. It's located in Seogwipo, the 43rd national treasure. It's south of Hallasan (Is this THE Mount Halla??)

-While at Jeju-do might as well do everything on We Got Married & Boys Over Flower-ish. That is, horse back riding, flower sighting....and I forgot what else, please review prior to going. Walk along the Olle path.

-KBS Station is in Yeouido? Therefore if I hang out there....I'm bound to see a drama production van go somewhere....and that somewhere will lead me to a drama set??=DDDD

-jjimjilbang (public 24hour sauna!!)

-Episode 360...the appearance of Ji Won's new favourite food, one that looks absolutely mouthwatering: crab kimchi. Made with blue crab, famous from the Yellow Sea. In Taean, Chungcheongnam-do. Also try marinated oriental shrimp, it's only in Taean!! While I am here, must also try seasoned raw crab. And live octopus!! Should also try corvina kimchi from Tongyeong, Gyeongsangnam-do.

-Episode 370 Winter cuisine. Food to try: oyster rice soup, ppaettegi porridge (dried sweet potato porridge) in Tongyeong (this is the Naples of the East! (ie. good food lives here!!)), anything with cockle clam (it's clam royalty apparently), cockle clam shabu shabu in Chungcheongnam-do, seaweed fulvescens rice cake soup, seaweed pancake in Jangheung, Jeollanam-do (actually I also want to try the birthday type of seaweed soup), Guryyongpo gwamegi (winter fish dish, original way to eat it is to wrap it in kimchi without any sauce. Nowadays, ppl eat it like peking duck style: lettuce, then water parsley, chives, pepper, garlic, seaweed, sauce and gwamegi), steamed hwangtae is Seung-gi's fav dried fish dish & kodari gangjeong that looks like sweet & sour pork (Inje, Gangwon-do). Also in Tongyeong must try: honey bread (kkool bang), u-bean noodles (oo ccha, this is a mixture of udon & jajangmyung) and snail fish stew (mool mae gi tang)

-Pusan: Haeundae beach, PIFF zone (film festival area, check out the hands of famous people!!), Gukje Underground Shopping Centre, Gukje Shopping Market, Cha Gal Chi (world famous fish market, where raw seafood lives!!), Shinsegae Department Store (largest department store in the wooooorld)

-Queen In-hyun's Man filming location: Gyeongbukgung, the palace in Seoul.

-Seoul (seoul much to do, seoul little time):
-63 building, purportedly amazing view
-Mnet/whatever else random kpop concert (call 4 weeks in advance may be able to snag tickets?)
-coex mall (purportedly awesome)
-cool jazz cafe in Myeong Dong, Myeong Dong area is also good for shopping
-Namsan Tower!! Got Cable car ride and love locks!
-La Festa in Ilsan area has shopping & eating
-watch a baseball game!!
-Western Dome (no idea what it is, but a DB-er recommends it)
-pojangmachas (street foods, it's what I live for)
-shopping at Dongdaemun (JB recommends!!! she also says eyeglasses are cheap) lots of bargains, night shopping here is also a must
-around the Bun-dang area (around Yatap) there is a really great seollungtang restaurant called 감미옥 (Gam-Mee-Ok)
-Lotte World

-need to try this potato soup/ gruel in Gangneung that's described as crunchy and chewy, as seen on Episode 363 1N2D...while in the area, should also try Coffee Road located on Anmok Beach & Jung Ang Market Food Alley and add Jumunjin Seafood Market
-Sindang-dong Tteokbokki Town in Seoul. Tteokbokki is spicy rice cake.


-in busan, try shaved ice, hotteok, odeng, check out Gwangan Bridge
-40-year+ hangover soup restaurant in Jeongeup, which hasn't changed its design much and only has 3 tables
-also in Jeongeup is a 40+year old theatre where they filmed the last episode of 1N2D. You can't miss it, it's the only theatre here. They still paint the movie posters =D Also, they have projectors still
-7 treasures of the Silla Dynasty in Namsan, Gyeongju (all those Buddhas!!)
-cheonruk (tiger looking sculpture has it's tongue sticking out!) sculpture as you pass the bridge in Gyeongbokgung (best to visit during sudden rainfall as can see stones are designed to let rain flow a certain way)
-iron rings on stone tile floor of Gyeongbokgung were used to set up tents when there were festivities
-seokgyeon (aka rock dog) sculpture on the corner of banister has a puppy!! one of them is suckling milk, keke
-at the top level of the steps there are sculptures of the black tortoise, vermilion bird, azure dragon, white tiger. these are the 4 symbols of the chinese constellation. around here you will also find a foal sculpture. this foal sculpture is at the south part, and in korean "12 o'clock" is jeongo, "o" = horse, as the horse is the most south part in the chinese zodiac.
-deumeu are cast iron containers, they are very rare. deumeu are used to store firefighting water. also to ward off evil fire-causing spirits as they would be frightened when they see their own reflection.
-sajeongjeon is the king's living quarters and office. it's name means to ponder deeply.
-Gangnyeongjeon is where it's comfortable and cozy for the king, aka wife's support...ie. king's sleeping quarters. it has a missing ridge (the white thing that lines the top) in it's roof that makes it unique. Anywhere the queen or king sleeps can't have this ridge because you can't have a king ( a dragon himself) sleep under a symbol of the dragon.
-Gangnyeongjeon's chimney should be where the heating is. The chimney should be behind the hall but it's not. The chimney is an orangey looking column with white bricks that forms writing (written is "long, endless life" & "thousands of years" in chinese characters, you need to look from afar to see) that is attached to the hall beside Gangnyeongjeon that goes underground. Korea's floor heating is the most efficient, much better than the Western chimney that directs heat and smoke out. In Korea, they keep the heat but send the smoke out. The farther the chimney is, the longer you can keep the heat.
-The queen sleeps at Gyotaejeon. The chimneys for this are Amisan ("A"=beauty, "Mi"=eyebrow...so it looks as pretty as beautiful eyebrows) chimney and are hexagonal structures behind the building. On the chimneys are the paintings of the 4 Gracious Plants with plum blossom and the 10 traditional Symbols of Longevity.
-Jagyeongjeon is where the king's grandmother lived. Inside, there's a national treasure (treasure #810), which is Jagyeongjeon's chimney. There are 10 traditional Symbols of Longevity on it.
-You can enjoy Inwangsan & Bugaksan, the 2 mountains that are in view from within the palace.
-Gyeonghoeru (national treasure #224), built in 1412 & refurbished in 1867, is the most beautiful place in Gyeongbokgung. An artificial pond built in Korea's largest wooden palace. The pond is naturally circulated to avoid rotting. Closed in the winter and has restricted public access.
-5 palaces of korea: Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung, Gyeonghuigung
-Jongmyo in Jongno. This is the 2nd beauty in Seoul. It contains "The Parthenon of the East". It is historic site #125, a shrine where the ancestral tablets of kings, queens are kept. It's a UNESCO heritage site and national treasure #227.
-Inside Jongmyo there is a path of stones. The middle is raised because that is the path tread by spirits. Only gods, king and the crown prince can walk this path.
-Jongmyo Jeongjeon is really grand.

THAILAND
-this movie alone was enough to garner a Thai portion for my trip, so here's to the bridge (name still unknown... but if I really wanted to know I guess I could call up the production company "Sahamongkol Film International", haha...the lengths I'm about to go for this trip) in "A Little Thing Called Love"

News-News

So... I thought I'd just casually mention that it's been almost 3 weeks (tomorrow!) since I've found out that I got accepted into vet school. Y'know, nothing to brag about=P But yeah, still desperate to know how I'll fund this whole investing in my future business, otherwise I'm quite content. So you know, I was super ecstatic when I found out, like skipping-down-the-street-smiling-at-random-strangers-with-tears-of-joy happy. Now that the notion has settled, I'm getting into the groove of being excited for a new chapter of my life. Cliche, I know. Yet that's exactly what it is, though I'm having an inkling that it'll be more like a whole new volume of my life than just a chapter. The knowledge and the experiences that are just waiting for me to cross the threshold of.

Many people have since asked whether I'm excited about it, and being the suave fellow that I am, have given quite the nonchalant answer. Poker face, 'tis my middlename. It's just the same principle that I apply to dramas: keeping expectations low and in check help break the fall if (or when) the letdown happens. I'm petrified of living away from home. I know I sometimes secretly wish to have a place of my own if only to have multiple pets, but this is living away-away from home. Shameful to admit this, but I'm friggin useless for matters pertaining to household management. I can barely feed and keep up the hygiene when I'm left to my own devices. And without other likeminded people to talk to or to joke with, I get so miserable. OMG, just thinking about it makes me cringe in fear. And yet, I'm so excited to be doing vet school. Like finally getting to learn the stuff because by golly-gee I've always wanted to learn this stuff and doing such sparse volunteer/clinic stuff the knowledge rarely sticks and I always feel slightly stupid for forgetting things... So you see, I'm really on both sides of the coin for vet school at the present situation. Of course I want to do it!! But at the same time I'm so prone to homesickness and whatnot that I'm just a ball of nerves.

Did I also mention my stark surrender of drama watching for the next 4 years? Yes, I am committed to no drama watching for 4 long years..... Deserted from any dramas, not even specials, not even holidays, no siree.... (though I'm going to at least read about it... I mean, only if and when I'm done studying/need a break. Movies, I'm going to allow as a treat...I need to survive somehow...) So in this short summer that remains, I've selected my last dramas:
-Sunao ni Narenakute
-Hyena
-Hotaru no Hikari
-Alone in Love
-and whatever else I need to attempt to wrap up on, though we all know they're pretty much lost causes...

Dreaming Big

*cracks typing fingers* Man, this blog feels so neglected. Last night I was just thinking about the 3 ways of communication and I haven't really been doing much (any) writing as of late. I can talk til the cows come home, though 90% may be gibberish, but writing, m'dears, is a crafty thing for me. I struggle so hard to construct moderately coherent sentences and then I scrutinize every word choice until I throw my hands up in surrender. Because as it is, I was never excellent at bullshitting, so I tend to either drop the whole piece altogether or end in a very dissatisfying note. And now that I'm reading Shakespeare, the more inadequate I feel.

How can I write like Shakespeare? I'll settle for 30% of his talent. I should probably aim higher in life, but I also need to acknowledge real-life shortcomings. Obviously not being well-read as him is a big hurdle that I will need to overcome. But whenever I'm faced with the option of free time my mind immediately thinks of dramas. In addition, one can only really write about what one knows, and as it stands, my personal experiences are quite limited. Is this veering into self-pity?

Nope, just complaining about what's within a girl's reach. Half the time I'm not even sure what there is beyond my reach, so there. It takes courage and curiosity to try to go over those boundaries. I've got curiosity aplenty, but often times my heart wavers at the thought of doing something outside of my norm. And when this happens I look upon my favourite characters to steady my will. I know those characters are mere figments of other's imaginations, but that doesn't mean that they can't inspire. As a matter of fact, I believe fictional characters are a wellspring of inspiration because of their extraordinary adventures. And because they are created by someone based on what he/she knows, I am sure there are many real-life characters who have wonderful tales to tell as well. So in a roundabout way, I mean to say that I am going to become one of those amazing real-life characters who will go on to live an extraordinary life and then go on to inspire others.

I'll close with my favourite Kdrama quote from My Name is Kim Sam-soon.

Dance, like no one is watching you.

Love, like you've never been hurt before.

Sing, like no one can hear you.

Work, like you dno't need money.

Live, like heaven is on earth.