After listening 933 on how my sis is enjoying her tai tai life, I decided to go to a cafe to chill and order my favourite drink and cake which I dont remember when is the last time I did this. Atmosphere of a cafe is really important, unlike starbucks or coffeebean, local korean cafe offers cheaper and quieter environment. I am surprised that some korean cafes started implementing the 3hours rule which means that if you wanna stay longer than 3hours, u will need to pay more. If I have a cafe in SG, I will sure implement this rule.

After 1 and a half years in Korea I am very used to people thinking I am Korean, in fact if they speak to me in english when I am doing my payment I will start to wonder what what gave me away, isit my accent, my pronunciation, my choice of words , my appearance(not likely since it fool almost everyone) or how I hold my money? hahaha.

I used to go to this CD shop to buy my ost and whenever I make my payment he will type the cost on the calculator and shove it to me. But I didnt speak a single word at all how on earth did he know I am a foreigner? I am really curious and got this urge to ask him. Anyway 1 reason could be that Koreans dont buy CD from those kind of shop or I have just too many pimples on my face which could never happen on a Korean.

Met up with Cindy's bf yesterday and somehow I found myself struggling to come out with chinese words when I talk to him. It took me like 10secs to remember the chinese word for pillow, omg... The only time I speak chinese these days is when I call my mum once a week and those arent consider conversation.

Example:
mum: how are you?
me: not bad, everything the same
mum: u got learn korean or not?
me: a little
mum: eat more, u r like monkey le
me: ok......
mum: is it cold there? (she ask me this question all the time even when is 37 degrees in Korea haha)
me: no.....
mum: u got make korean friends or not?
me: yes, of course
mum: u got korean gf or not?
me: no...................
mum: ok, i gtg, wanna talk to dad?
me: NO!!! (only my sis will understand why, haha)

Yes my mum speaks 3 times more than me. I find it so scary that sometimes I am not able to complete a chinese sentence fluently and with my "powerful" british english level and kindergarten korean level, I feel really gifted in language. 

Met up with a korean friend for dinner just now and somehow we managed to come upon this topic of getting a korean girlfriend and he said that is really tough these days to get one. I was really curious what could be make a korean guy say this and he replied calmly "because of stupid drama"

He said that many korean girls are now going after guys with height, good skin, good dress sense etc.. thanks to the "effect" of korean dramassss. So now he even has to wear a 5cm insole, take care of his skin (which he never bother in the past) and start to dress well to attract girls. He gave this example that girls wear make-up, wear high heels to "cheat" so now koreans guys have to do even better to "cheat" too haha. I never know Korea is such a scary place, hahaha.

But this also explains the good complexion and dress sense in both korean guys and gals which I think many Singaporeans are envy of. I remember that when I first came Korea I was quite shocked to see guys applying facial product but after 1 and a half year here, it is actually nothing. In fact I am starting to think why most Singapore guys arent doing it? haha. What I am still amazed of is how on earth do they have all these facial products in their bag all the time?

I know a korean friend who wear insole. Alvin, zx and book know him too but I dont know if they notice. Main point is the visible part of the shoe sole is already quite high and there was once we have to take off our shoe for a meal in a restaurant and i saw the inner part, wah! I was surprise to see an inner insole which is more than 3cm. Indeed height is important for korean guys.

Less than 5 months till graduation. Seriously how on earth did time pass so fast?

Just came back from my "korea tour" and I really enjoy this trip despite sleeping only 3 to 4 hours everyday. Experience many new "culture" and eating korean version of ice-kachang every few hours thanks to the crazy hot weather.

Is my first time taking a korea train (not subway) and i had a culture shock. When I reach the station I was like preparing to show my ticket to a train staff or someone like that but I realize there isnt such a person even when I reach the train platform and on the train. After asking my korean friends I found out that the train company got this "i trust you" policy whereby no one will check your ticket when you board the train. However there will be random check during the ride and if you are caught with no ticket, you will need to pay 30 times the original fare. Wah, if I live in Korea and my destination is just 4 or 5 stops away I will just hide in the toilet, cant imagine the amount of train fare I can save!! hahaha

The train have this nice cafe and this is where I stay for my 3hours ride. Yes because I have no seat!! This is another shock for me. Because we bought this unlimited ride for a certain number of days and we are given no seat numbers so we have to like "find" our own seats. I didnt know about this so I happily occupy some empty seats until I was like being chased away 3 or 4 times then I came to the cafe and seat in front of the computer.

My accommodation for the first day is considered the second best throughout the trip even though the size is smaller than a chalet size. Each person has to pay around 30,000won per night.


The worst accommodation was the second night, I wanted to get out of the place so much that I forgot to take picture of it. The accommodation was a motel and I was thinking how bad could it be but when I was told that we just have to pay 3,000won per night, I started to have this weird feeling. And INDEED.... can you imagine when you push open your room door, there are already 4 strangers inside and you are going to spend a night with them in a small tiny room!! Is was the worst experience in this trip.

Forgotten the name of this place and I think this is the best part of the trip because the view is too crazy. I never know that Korea has such a place.

Went to busan and visit the famous Haeundae Beach. I got to know this beach from a korean movie call Haeundae where a tsunami strikes the beach. Anyway the weather in bushan is way hotter than Singapore so  I stayed under one of the rented umbrellas while sooyoung n moonkyo went to play in the sea. When they came back they look so pale and they told me that they almost drown cause the wave was too strong and they have to be rescued by lifeguard. Wah, scary...

Is my first time to korean style spa/jimjibang and I got a shock. I already know that korean spa is very "open" as in everyone has to be naked. When i went into the spa area, I see naked old man lying on the tanning chair sleeping, naked people eating ice cream, naked people eating snacks, naked people in strange position on the ground... arent they suppose to be all in the spa enjoying the hot steamy water? It took me a while to get used to this open world. My friend then ask me why sg dont have this kind of spa. I think not in my lifetime ba.. now even tekong toilet got door, dont think singaporeans can get use to this parade style spa.

It was until I saw the pictures in the shop then I realize I will be eating pufferfish for that lunch. It doesnt taste good to me but it taste like some dragon meat to my korean friends, they love it. Anyway when I was eating I saw a familiar face at the table in front of ours and I realized he is the guy who acted as the brother of the main actress in BIG. And his girlfriend is quite pretty!

I have been hearing this word 수고했어요 instead of 감사합니다 (thank you) after koreans pay at the cashier or after people did something for them. It sort of means thank you for your hard work and is like "辛苦了" in chinese.

I had an interview with cyberoro last week and to be sure of this word  수고했어요, I asked him when and why korean use this instead of the normal thank you. And he told me it means thank you for your hard word and please work harder. I burst into laughter immediately when I heard that but he was not joking at all. He even told me there was a movement to stop people from using this word because it sounds rude. Hahaha, can you imagine you are the cashier and the customer tells you, you worked hard, please work harder. Hahaha!!

I have been forgetting it's existence for the past 1 and a half years in Korea and i told myself that I will never need it. But on 6th August 2012, 10.34am, just when I was on the brink of going mad I decided to on the dirtiest machine in my house.

Yes. The air-con, man's best friend in summer. I have been waking up in sweat every single morning as if I having some nightmare and there will be visible sweat stains on my pillow. Yesterday night I even put my super turbo fan 10cm away from my face hoping that the sweating will stop but NO!! IT GOT WORST!! I woke up earlier than my alarm which have never happen before and it was so hot that I wanted to SOL (scream out loud). I have never dread summer this much....

Of all the kimbap I have eaten, I think tuna flavor taste the best. I used to thought that the "all in" kimbap which has a little of all the flavor will be good but it taste weird cause I have no idea what I was eating.

I remembered I used to experiment on the art of tuna kimbap making before coming to korea and of course, it taste like shit. There are just too many ingredients needed to make a "real" tuna kimbap, I think I will need my maid to get all those hahaha. And I discovered the secret to good tuna kimbap and that is the mayonnaise where the shop owner spam like mad.

Went to the english academy for my part time job today. The last time I went there was 1 year ago and I am glad that some crazy kids I know are still studying there. In one of the class today, we came upon this sentence

" Sometimes, it is a bit lonely on the island. But I do have my best mate, Max, with me"

So, I wanted to test their english level and I asked "who is Max?"

Not 1 not 2 but all 5 students shouted together "맥주!!" (beer)

It took me a few seconds before realizing what they were talking about. I seriously laugh out loud. Is so amazing how kids can give such cute answers and how on earth do 9 years old kids know about beer brand?

Recently I started watching this UK drama call Sherlock and I wonder why did I get to know this drama so late because is a really good detective show. After watching this drama, I tend to be more "observant" when looking at ppl, hahaha. Honestly I think is better than the US movie. So far there are 2 seasons and there are only 3 episodes in each season each lasting an hour. Go watch it, is worth your time!

Almost all my friends know that I am a person who prefers hot weather to cold weather and I think I can endure heat very well (so proud of this ability). BUT this summer in Korea proves me wrong! The weather in Korea now is damm f******* hot. I am so sorry but besides the F word I cant think of a better english word to describe the weather. Is 35°C today and our dear weather forecast happily tells me that is 36°C tomorrow. YEA!! so excited! I am so surprise no one die from heat stroke yet.

Going back home these days is a nightmare to me. When I open my door I can feel the hot air in my room gushing into my face and I am so proud that the 2 fans in my room are blowing out hot air. Due to the position of my air-con and the condition of it, it is quite difficult to on it. It is so f****** hot that for the first time in Korea, I started bathing in cold water. This is a really big breakthrough for me because even with the hot weather, the cold water here is ice cold!! I cant imagine who can stand like a normal person when the water touches your skin. So every night when I bath, is like me going to some dancing class. I think my mum whose life motto is "i will never bath in hot water" will be so proud of me.

I will be going on a tour with some Korean friends next week for 5 days. Is quite ironic because the "tour" is not outside of Korea but in Korea and my friends are so excited about it. I guess this is the best part of a big country, you will never be able to go to every part of it so to them it is considered traveling. Imagine me asking my Singapore friends "hey lets go traveling around Singapore for 3 days", I think he will give me the stare and say "not funny loh"

Finally!!! There is Gong Cha in Korea!! If I remember correctly we are not able to choose the ice level in Singapore but we can do it in Korea. The menu is a bit different from Singapore's and they have this white pearl which is harder than the normal black one. And the Gong Cha here is like a cafe which has 2 level and people can sit in to chat and stuff. Of course it is difficult to have it in Singapore because when you want to look for a seat, you will feel like you just entered a library with people studying everywhere.

When I saw sis's blog entry today, it reminds me of the story on how I got my chinese name. Have you ever wonder why did your parents choose this particular name for you, what is the meaning behind it?

So as a very curious boy, I asked my mum this question few years back- why did you choose 陈汉松 as my chinese name. As I waited excitingly for some cool or romantic reason,

she replied "oh, we saw this old man in the hospital and we ask him"
me: "ok..... so who is this old man?
mum:"ahh, dunno and we couldnt find him after that"

I was like . . . I thought I asked about the reason behind my name, why on earth is my mum telling me a ghost story...

Never mind. So on a random day I suddenly asked my mum why I wasnt given an english name (daniel is not  my registered name) and just when I was expecting her to say "my english not good lah" or "i am not christian lah"

she replied "ahh, actually I wanted to give you an english name but your aunts said no"
me: "wah! which is???"
mum: abalone
me: WHAT??? WHY???
mum: because it sounds so nice

Indeed, her english is not good... And I feel really grateful for my aunts for stopping my "crazy" mother.

So in sis blog entry, she was supposed to interview Elvin Ng and I think before the interview starts he asked sis 1 question she hated most " are you from china?" hahahaha. Not that she she hates china but just because her name has 2 characters (陈宁）almost everyone thinks that she is from China.

My mum's wonderful reason for sis 2 character name is that she was afraid sis would be lazy in future. I seriously have no idea how on earth she got this thought.

And my mum told me that she should have name me as "陈宇" because it looks cool for siblings to have name with just 1 stroke difference  陈宇, 陈宁. Thank you my creative mum.